DC3 : Barbarossa under beta

[Alcibiades]

So Berkut didn't win, but for you guys that have had the game for a while.... is it honestly worth getting?  Single player in particular?  I'll be OCONUS in two weeks for an extended period so multiplayer will be out of the question.

I want to get this, but I'm concerned about replay-ability and a $50 price tag for it right now is making me very apprehensive..... 

[Drakken]

It is my definite 2015 Strategy/Wargame of the year. So yes just buy it already.

As for replayability there are so many variables that can hamper both sides that even if the gameplan is similar (it IS Barbarossa after all) no two games are the same. The AI is quite good (only 1 game in 10 are PBEMs according to metrics) and the devs are very sensitive about making it a great game experience for singleplayers.

[Drakken]

Fuck Zhukov. The real hero of the Patriotic War and the saviour of the Soviet Union... is Kliment Voroshilov.

Look how his military genius magically inspires the Red Army.

[crazy canuck]

Went to pull the trigger on this game, saw the price was 50 bucks US, ok - but it looks like a lot of fun.  Hit the download button and the price in Canadian dollars popped up 

About 80 bucks!  Is it worth 80 bucks?

[PDH]

Hmmm.

I like it so far.  However, I still have a few quibbles, like elements of the 56th Pz Corps not being able to reach Daugavpils/Dvinsk in 4 days, or some of the initial dashes of the 3rd and 2nd panzer Groups in the initial week.

Of course, the problem of a game is how to show the initial first few days within a system that shows the latter weeks of the campaign, and there will always be some compromises.

Overall, I am on the fence here.  I really need to play more to decide.

[Alcibiades]

Bought it, it's alright.

Really hitting a wall as the Germans around September (currently at 02 September) despite putting nearly 1.9m Russians in the ground or in camps and destroying almost 200 divisions.
 

North/Central


Central/South


South



Only bright side is im about to ensnare 15 divisions around Mogilev, 5 divisions are trapped in Kiev, and another 4 in Odessa about to fall.  Started out with Rostov as the Objective but it was switched last month to Moscow by Hitler.

[Alcibiades]

Also - why does it spam me to relocate my FSBs every two turns, usually trying to get me to move them backward?

Every other turn or so it asks me to relocate my FSB from Minsk back to Grodno or Brest.  Also back randomly in the South and North as well.  They all say they are closer to the depots, but fail to say that they would be much much farther from the HQs.

Am I missing something here?   



Is there a way to make battles show a breakdown of killed/lost like when you are simulating AI turns? On the Battle screen what is the difference between the White/Red Icons besides your divisions?

   
This screen is way better

[Alcibiades]

Ended up snagging 48 divisions around Gomel.... Still lost. 

[jimmy olsen]

Ended up snagging 48 divisions around Gomel.... Still lost. 

How is that even possible?

[Alcibiades]

Ended up snagging 48 divisions around Gomel.... Still lost. 

How is that even possible?

The Russians seriously have a lot of units.  I've taken heavier than historical casualties as well, they still outnumber me, of course:




December was really rough for me - I lost a lot of divisions due to low morale and integrity.   Need to read up on what causes integrity issues, lost quite a few divisions to single turn attacks, which was extremely frustrating.    Basically couldn't do much after Mid-December due to low integrity and morale for about half of my units across the front, but it seemed random as to which units were affected by it.  Supply was as good as could be expected, so not really sure... I know they take a hit for winter hitting but the units were as prepared as the game will let you - more so than historically.  I had also refit most of my armies and had changed their stance from blitzkrieg to offensive. 

I ended up all but surrounding Leningrad, a hex away from Rostov (the Southern Objective), but I was only able to get to Smolensk/Bryansk in the Center.  Soviets had a wall of death I couldn't penetrate there.  If you look at the screenshots above from September, I left the bulge West of Gomel/North of Kiev and the Soviets pushed several armies there which harassed my flanks pretty heavily.  I was able to close the pocket with 1st PZG from the South which pushed East of Kiev Northeast to Kursk and 2nd/3rd PZGs sliced through the Soviet Armies South of Smolensk eventually closing the pocket near Kursk.

Slowly liquidated the pocket but I guess Siberian troops just filled the gaps I made?  My Northern front was severely hampered around October/November near Polotsk.  Soviets pushed 30 divisions right where my theaters met, a weak point.  Was eventually able to cut off 18 divisions and destroy them, but not before they took vilinus and shut down my entire supply to the North for a few weeks.  So that hurt.  Finland is a disaster.   

[PDH]

The soviet new units seem to come in a bit too prepared.  They can quite easily shut down the Smolensk Front it seems.  AGN can make some dashes when Pskov falls, but you are correct that the AGN/AGC division is a focus for Soviet shenanigans.

Perhaps I am not getting the mechanics, but the initial dashes in the first month and a half seem to end too rapidly.  2nd PGs movement on the Dnepr bend seems to become a slugfest, the Pripet Marshes are loaded with more troops that seem well entrenched than I tend to think could exist - causing the 4th Army and elements of the 6th to become far too strung out.  All of this leads to massive slowdowns it seems.

[Alcibiades]

[PDH]

Just a note - I looked at 1.02 and some of the changes do seem to help on turn 1 at least.  The different start areas of AGN seem better thought out and more realistic.

[Alcibiades]

Just a note - I looked at 1.02 and some of the changes do seem to help on turn 1 at least.  The different start areas of AGN seem better thought out and more realistic.

1.03b Beta was posted to the forums today.   

[Drakken]

While the beta patch is mostly about rebalancing PBEM to help the Soviet players, 1.03b significantly rebalances things for single-player also.

a) The German siege gun is not a roaming Death Star anymore; it is limited to German-converted gauges and the decrease of entrenchment is not instantaneous anymore, never below 100.
2) PPs (and VPs also IIRC) are given to the Soviet player for holding strategic cities passed a certain date, making forward defence worthwhile.
3) APs for non-activated Soviet Armies has been increased to 50, to allow them to fallback across rivers.