Operation Winter Storm

[LordDeadwood]

Hi LD

I was all set to play the big France 40 Campaign on the expanded map but found that despite updating to the latest version it would not load. No idea why. All the other huge maps open fine and I have a pretty decent PC with big capability. Very odd.

No big issue as there is never any shortage of big Campaigns

It can be a challenge! When I first got France 40 I had an i3 processor and 8GB of memory. It took about 7-8 minutes to load. I upgraded my processor to an i7 and added 8GB of memory. It now loads in about 1-2 minutes. It's the only title that has ever taken any time at all.

[devoncop]

Ah that may indeed be the issue then.

Moscow 41 Campaign map which is huge and Stalingrad 42 Op Uranus both load in about a minute so it is just odd that France 40 takes so much longer. Optimisation issue maybe or does the more complex terrain in the Western Front title make a difference....? No idea but it is not worth me worrying about...life is too short

[Plain Ian]

Agree totally Strela.

I very very rarely play the AI at all now and am currently playing no less than six PBEM's of which five are biggies, namely Stalingrad 42, France 14, East Prussia 14, Kharkov 42 and Sicily 43.

I am fortunate to have some very reliable and quick opponents (usually two Op Uranus turns a day) and the value in these big campaigns is incredible. Lots of little mini dramas on the different fronts that you never get with the smaller campaigns.

The next on the list are Kharkov 43 and Moscow 41.

Can I also plug Moscow '42, there are some amazing operational/strategic conundrums for both sides in that title. If nothing else do yourself a favour and download the Designer notes (there are winter and summer ones) to see what is included and the overall scope. The frontline alone in the January 22nd campaign is unlike any other Panzer Campaigns title. I am using this game in particular for a lot of the situations that will be in Panzer Battles Moscow.

Yes this is an impressive sized map with a very interesting opening situation. I've noticed that the 10th Army has a command radius of 79 hexes while all the other Russian Armies are set at 39? 79 hexes is used for the Front command rating so is this a mistake or is it deliberate as its 3 Divisions are poised to exploit the gap in the German lines?

Edit - I had a quick look at #a996_Reference_Winter_All_Counters and I can see that 27th Army Berzarin has a command range of 7? This Army doesn't start in the January scenario and I'm not quite sure what scenario its used in?

[Strela]

Yes this is an impressive sized map with a very interesting opening situation. I've noticed that the 10th Army has a command radius of 79 hexes while all the other Russian Armies are set at 39? 79 hexes is used for the Front command rating so is this a mistake or is it deliberate as its 3 Divisions are poised to exploit the gap in the German lines?

Edit - I had a quick look at #a996_Reference_Winter_All_Counters and I can see that 27th Army Berzarin has a command range of 7? This Army doesn't start in the January scenario and I'm not quite sure what scenario its used in?

Hi Plain Ian,

Thank you for the call out of the Army HQ's. I have just gone back and checked and determined the following:

The 27th Army Bezarin value is incorrect. It has been picked up from a Divisional HQ, I will correct this for the next patch, but is inconsequential as that Army and sub units are not used in game.

For the command radius of 80 for 10th Army, that is correct. Please have a look at the #1206_01 Grand Campaign Moscow '42 scenario in game and you will see that this army had a very extended (defensive) front to hold. The army command radius was increased to prevent the German player being able to destroy the Soviet forces on the board edge piecemeal (i.e. when detached). You are correct in highlighting that this causes an anomaly later in the game, but it was a conscious decision to have the higher command range across the various scenarios.