Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

[Asid]

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

This is one to watch!. From the same dev who created DC: WTP & DC: Case Blue





 Attention Grabber

http://www.matrixgames.com/images/Barbarossa_DC3_8.jpg
Grey Dawn. Murky ersatz coffee not doing it’s job. Bustling headquarters. Oberleutnants pinning army dispositions on the wall map. Markers relentlessly pushing eastwards. It’s a big map. Ostland. A nagging, slow burning, realisation of just how big it is. Bottom corner of the map flapping in the draft. Bolshevik cold overwhelming a proper Germanic wood fire.

Sipping mud. Pondering army realignments. Squinting suspiciously at the growing pile of reports on your desk. Staffers spiking ever more teleprints and summaries. In competition with a second pile. Requests. Arbitrations. Judgements. Something to do in between incessant phone calls. Berlin demanding you drop everything. The Führer has called a conference. Again. Colonel Rattus Facius, currently in dispute with your Quartermaster General, is impatiently waiting for you next door, striding up and down in his black, SS, leather boots, demanding that you intervene.

People. Strongly defined personalities. Under pressure. Fighting a war. Fighting for their own corner and agenda. Equally capable of helping or hindering. Decisions. Delegation.

AND CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHY THE HECK F.M VON BOCK WANTS TO SANCTION THE 10th PANZER DIVISION?

Because you ordered them to make a hasty attack, 30 km’s southwest of Smolensk, low on fuel, in poor visibility with limited reconnaissance. Because they unexpectedly ran into three dug in Soviet Divisions. Because GenLt. F. Schaal, their commander fumbled the assault, ColGen. Guderian declined to cover for him and now F.M Von Bock is on your back demanding an official sanction.

COMMAND. It’s this gnarly, gritty experience of front line, Operational Command that the game seeks to capture.


More here...

Product page:
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/558/details/Barbarossa:DecisiveCampaigns

Dev site:
http://www.vrdesigns.nl/?p=679

Scenario bank: http://www.advancedtactics.org/.
community project wiki pages: http://www.vrdesigns.nl/atwiki/doku.php?id=dcx


The Proving Grounds: Decisive Campaigns III design blog #11
Posted on December 18, 2014 by Cameron Harris   
http://www.vrdesigns.nl/?p=867



Theatre: Eastern Europe
Players: 1-2
AI: Yes
PBEM: Yes

[Asid]

Barbarossa Screenshot #1
Posted on September 10, 2015 by vic   

It might be a good moment to release a Tsarist general to take-over the Southern Front

[Asid]

Vics Barbarossa AI Log #1 : The Soviets need to hold the line
Posted on September 13, 2015 by vic   

Beta testing is well under way and one on my big tasks is to get the artificial intelligence (AI) in to tip-top shape. I thought it could be nice if to take the readers along for the ride in some regular AI dev logs.

Current results from the beta group playing versus the Soviet AI were positive, but some more experienced players had a bit more mixed results. Some of them managed to crush the Soviet AI just a bit to easily.

Let me show you a video of an AI-to-AI game which mimicks an experienced human German player versus a regular AI:



The way I code and improve the artificial intelligence is by making analysis of its current behaviour and then designing a plan to improve its behaviour.

Analysis of current behaviour:
-The Soviet AI in the North is losing to much troops before the Germans reach the defensible swamps and forests around Leningrad. Because of this the AI does not manage to keep the line later on.
-The Soviet AI in the Center almost manages to stop the Germans, but it might have made its stance just 2 or 3 turns to early. Furthermore it seems to hold the southern part of the center front (Bryansk) quite well, while giving to much terrain on the key highway Smolensk-Moscow. Eventually this leads to an early fall of Moscow.
-The Soviet AI in the South gets a lot of armies in this playthrough but it doesn’t manage to hold the Dnjepr-line as well as it should.

Plan for improving the AI:


Considering everything the Soviet AI needs to:
1. On a few exceptions (Riga, Odessa, Pripjet) retreat as many troops intact to a defensible line. Which is roughly the Leningrad forests – Smolensk – Dnjepr line.
2. Better understand (like in the center) where the enemies main drive is and move the brunt of it forces there. Especially if it concerns a direct attack on Moscow.
3. Hold the Dnjepr line at all costs. This means holding it to the hex and making aggressive counter attacks against bridgeheads while they are still small.

Cannot make this log to long, since I have to get back to coding
But I hope you join me again in my next AI log to see if I got the Soviet AI to toughened up as intended.

Best wishes,
Vic

Rest of article including responses:
http://www.vrdesigns.nl/?p=984

[Asid]

Barbarossa Screenshot #2
Posted on September 16, 2015 by vic   



At -12 degrees celcius 17th Army is still managing to slowly advance on Kharkov

Original post: http://www.vrdesigns.nl/?p=994

[Asid]

DC:Barbarossa box artwork revealed!



Top left-to-right: von Bock, Halder, von Leeb
Below: Stalin, Zhukov (behind map) and Krushev (right of Stalin).

You might have noticed the image above is not of a DVD-box but actually a book. Its the hardcover book manual that will come with the game.

[Asid]

Barbarossa manual sneakpeak!

To help you in this epic challenge, the game will come with an ultra-detailed hard-cover manual. This book contains all you need to know to master this game-changing simulation.

Chain of Command, manoeuvres, logistic system, weather changes, all of this – and more! – is perfectly depicted in over 330 pages! The extensive list of chapters shows the detail, so take a closer look at the Table of Contents below or check the pdf here! http://www.docdroid.net/XjYxiFq/dc-barbarossa-prelims.pdf.html





[/img]

[Asid]

Barbarossa Soviet & German Leaders



PDF Download more info:



PDF Download more info:

 Even dictators have to fight their way through the occasional rough patch. Obsequious, complaint, subordinates aren't enough. Having the power to forcibly remove those opposed to you is small comfort when you have your back to the wall with the most experienced and professional army in the world invading your homeland.

In Decisive Campaigns Barbarossa, you take on the role of Stalin. Absolute power is only of use to those with the willingness to apply it ruthlessly and without regard for consequences. All that matters is that the hammer and sickle remains flying proudly over the Kremlin.

But power always comes with a catch. Paranoia be thy name. There is an entire officer corps of men, rapidly learning the lessons of war, gaining in popularity. Those that don't die at the hands of the Germans, or your own trusted henchmen,  stalk the dark corridors of your mind.

Are you willing to tolerate competence in your Marshals when you know that it comes with an implicit threat to your authority or will you settle on thinly spread mediocrity from the 'Yes' men?

[Asid]

Live Twitch Feed

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa - (Nov 12th 20:00 CEST / 18:00 UTC / 2:00 PM EDT)

[Frankie]

What a manual! I have never seen or heard of a hard cover game manual.

[Asid]

World in Flames by Matrix Games

Expensive BROKEN software!

Official page: http://matrixgames.com/products/296/details/World.In.Flames




Physical Map is HUGE



Total size of the map is height 9ft (2.7 meters) and lenght 21ft (6.4 meters).  That's nearly 200 square feet of map!

[Asid]

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa - (Nov 12th 20:00 CEST / 18:00 UTC / 2:00 PM EDT)


Video Here: http://www.twitch.tv/slitherinegroup/v/25429610

[Asid]

Barbarossa Manual Abstract!



http://issuu.com/matrixgames/docs/dc_barbarossa_sample

 In this sneak peek you will finally have a better foretaste of the amount of details, the scope and the complexity simulated in Barbarossa!

The “Fatigue Levels” introduces you to one of the critical features a German player has to take in consideration, if he wants to maintain the efficiency of his divisions surrounded by the Russian steppes!

If you play as Stalin, better be careful on your level of “Paranoia”! It could affect your decisions in many ways!

Logistics play an important role in Barbarossa, and above all is crucial to learn how to master the Rail System to constantly resupply your units, especially if you have to decide the priorities when converting the Russian railroads to German standards!

[Beef]

I have this strange burning sensation in my pocket where my wallet use to be...

[Asid]

I have this strange burning sensation in my pocket where my wallet use to be...

This is Beef....Oh and me..... 

[Asid]

Warhol compilation of the 57th infantry division



First row: default mode, ownership shading, zoomed in
Second row: minimalist nato, minimalist siluet, zoomed in minimalist
Third row: siluets, zoomed in with siluets, zoomed out with siluets

DC:Barbarossa has three settings for displaying your counters.
First you can choose between ‘nato’ and ‘siluet’ mode.
Second you can choose between ‘default’ and ‘minimalist’.
Third you can choose one of three zoom levels. On top of these three settings when you are in ‘zoomed in’ mode you can opt to use smaller sized counters (as shown in the center image) to avoid the well known graphical obstruction caused by stacking.

Almost everybody should be able to configure the counters to their personal tastes!