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Everyone has incredibly WASPy (WSA?) names. Where are all the Tatars / Ukrainians / Moldovans etc?
Xander77 fucked around with this message at 13:17 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 09:12
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Xander77 posted:Everyone has incredibly WASPy (WSA?) names. Where are all the Tatars / Ukrainians / Moldovans etv? WSA? White Slavic...what? But since you mention it, I have noticed that Soviet/Russian war movies like to insert token non-slavic folk in groups that seems to consist solely of Slavs otherwise. There was this one movie I can't remember the title of which had a token Kyrgyz, and in Белый Тигр the loader(?) was a mongoloid fellow of unspecified nationality. Then again, how did this work historically? Is it really likely that there would be a noticeable amount of ethnic diversity in the units depicted in the game?
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May 11, 2014 10:57
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Kopijeger posted:WSA? White Slavic...what? quote:But since you mention it, I have noticed that Soviet/Russian war movies like to insert token non-slavic folk in groups that seems to consist solely of Slavs otherwise. There was this one movie I can't remember the title of which had a token Kyrgyz, and in Белый Тигр the loader(?) was a mongoloid fellow of unspecified nationality. Then again, how did this work historically? Is it really likely that there would be a noticeable amount of ethnic diversity in the units depicted in the game? ... The answer is no. If anything, relegating said ethnic representatives to the role of token minorities is a misrepresentation of the actual demographics and their contribution to the war effort.
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May 11, 2014 12:07
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Xander77 posted:Follow the logic of letter substitution. It's not exactly a nefariously difficult puzzle. Shouldn't it be WSO then?
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May 11, 2014 12:34
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Kopijeger posted:WSA? White Slavic...what? But since you mention it, I have noticed that Soviet/Russian war movies like to insert token non-slavic folk in groups that seems to consist solely of Slavs otherwise. Just like in media everywhere on the planet
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May 11, 2014 12:47
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Xander77 posted:Follow the logic of letter substitution. It's not exactly a nefariously difficult puzzle. Atheist? Not a cultural category like "protestant" is. And is it even possible to be considered Slavic and non-White at the same time? quote:Are you asking whether the USSR army had racial / ethnic segregation? I was thinking more along the lines of "units would likely be composed of whichever nationalities were common in the area it was recruited from", i.e. you shouldn't expect to see very many tatars or armenians outside units that were raised in Tatarstan/Armenia respectively. But if they mashed all kinds of nationalitites together haphazardly, then I suppose that fictional depictions should reflect that. Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 12:56 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 12:51
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Kopijeger posted:Atheist? Not a cultural category like "protestant" is. And is it even possible to be considered Slavic and non-White at the same time? quote:I was thinking more along the lines of "units would likely be composed of whichever nationalities were common in the area it was recruited from", i.e. you shouldn't expect to see very many tatars or armenians outside units that were raised in Tatarstan/Armenia respectively. But if they mashed all kinds of nationalitites together haphazardly, then I suppose that fictional depictions should reflect that.
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May 11, 2014 13:08
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Xander77 posted:I'm pretty sure the 19th century / WWI made that practice obsolete. You're German or whatever - I'm fairly certain that when your classmates went to do their bit in the army they didn't all get sent to the same "Second Buchenwald Regiment", right? Uhhhhh, why would you NOT want to keep (potential) military members from the same area within the same group? The only reason why that wouldn't apply would be if you had quotas to fill or specific "jobs" that would require you to transfer out to a different location.
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May 11, 2014 13:18
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Xander77 posted:I'm pretty sure the 19th century / WWI made that practice obsolete. You're German or whatever - I'm fairly certain that when your classmates went to do their bit in the army they didn't all get sent to the same "Second Buchenwald Regiment", right? Not German, here is a hint for you:  And this is a digression, but when I did military service every conscript in our air defence unit was from the three northernmost provinces, so there was certainly an element of "regional" recruitment. And the original question was about historical practice in the RKKA.
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May 11, 2014 13:22
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Uhhhhh, why would you NOT want to keep (potential) military members from the same area within the same group? Since the Soviet army (like other armies, but let's not get sidetracked) was also viewed as a venue for political pedagogy, mixing the various populations and making sure every soldier ended far from home and in an odd environment was (unofficial?) policy. Xander77 fucked around with this message at 13:44 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 13:40
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Xander77 posted:You're basically asking for a major increase in mutiny / mass desertions (less immediate but also unpleasant is that a single lost action can depopulate an entire city / region, instead of spreading the losses out) as the loyalty of the troops is misdirected. The Germans have learned this lesson first hand when forming collaborator armies out of members of the same nationality. Half the fighting force of the Tatar legion "Idel Ural" deserted to join the partisans / cross over to the Red side, while the rest refused to go into battle. That is a horrible example. There are many examples of foreign volunteers that didn't change sides. The Tatars just chose the winning side because the alternative was much much worse. I could point out that the "Charlemagne" division, which was composed of French volunteers was one of the last, if not THE last combatants to surrender during the battle of Berlin. Having people from the same location, background, etc. within a unit promotes cohesion between members. It may not be as prevalent this day and age, and with Kopijeger's example, situational based on country, location, regiment and so on.
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May 11, 2014 13:50
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Jobbo_Fett posted:
Every other "Eastern" legion - Armenian, Gruzian, (It goes without saying that there's a major difference between volunteers and conscripts [much less conscripts from the ranks of war prisoners] - the same shared loyalty can emphasize the united commitment to a shared ideology, or the hardships of being forced to be in an fight you never asked for) For that matter, look at the history of rebellion in 18th and 19th century US forces, which didn't drop the notion of regiments raised in the same locale serving together until after the civil war.
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May 11, 2014 14:05
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So we can agree that conscripts, volunteers and traitors don't work, which invalidates your whole point since this essentially started with the concept of recruiting native units within a country's own military forces. A regiment is also small unit when compared to a corps or an army, which means that getting enough people within the same region wouldn't and isn't hard in a modern army. You don't see the Canadian Army send all their French speaking members all over Canada because they are worried about them mutinying and the same goes for a unit in World War 2 that is native to the country they fight for. There are always exceptions, as we have both noted, but there are plenty of examples that would clearly show that prove otherwise such as the English Highlander regiments, the Royal 22nd Regiment in Canada and so on.
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May 11, 2014 14:19
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I was under the impression that the Soviets, in theory, did recruit entire units from specific localities (including examples of entire classes of students being made into platoons). However, during the war, it became a matter of getting as many men into the fight as possible, so units became more of a mishmash, especially with the incorporation of the remnants of depleted units into newly formed ones. I don't think there was a clear and consistently implemented ethnic policy one way or another. Rather, units represented the particular circumstances of their construction. I imagine the unit created by drafting the populations of liberated areas would be pretty homogenous, for example. Fangz fucked around with this message at 14:31 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 14:27
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Jobbo_Fett posted:So we can agree that conscripts, volunteers and traitors don't work, which invalidates your whole point since this essentially started with the concept of recruiting native units within a country's own military forces. Also, you have a very odd idea of "native" units. There was only one class of "natives" within the Soviet Union - ethnic Russians born in Russia.
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May 11, 2014 14:28
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Xander77 posted:We can't and don't though? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USSR#Ethnic_groups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army#Organization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divisions_of_the_Soviet_Union_1917-1945 There are many ethnic groups in the USSR. "In the mid-1920s the territorial principle of manning the Red Army was introduced. In each region able-bodied men were called up for a limited period of active duty in territorial units" "The Red Army formed at least 42 divisions during the Second World War which had substantial ethnic majorities in their composition derived from location of initial formation rather than intentional "nationalisation" of the divisions, including four Azeri, five Armenian, and eight Georgian rifle divisions and a large number of cavalry divisions in the eastern Ukraine, Kuban region, and Central Asia, including five Uzbek cavalry divisions"
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May 11, 2014 14:33
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So, we're all learning something today.Jobbo_Fett posted:"In the mid-1920s the territorial principle of manning the Red Army was introduced. In each region able-bodied men were called up for a limited period of active duty in territorial units" Now let's go to an actual Russian source: As of 1938, "The territorial system was finally abolished, with all remaining formations converted to the other 'cadre' divisions" (mentioned in the article you've linked, oddly enough). However, the harsh conditions of the war (primarily the huge losses of manpower in the first few months) forced the High Command to ignore the principles of unity that motivated the abolition, and form divisions "on the spot" out of the forces available on location. However, even among these "national" divisions, the numbers of the ethnic majority rarely breached the 70% threshold. The "national" divisions survived until the mid-50's, at which point they were abolished once again. So let's see if I've got this right: 1. During WWII, ethnic minorities fighting side by side with ethnic Russians would have been a common sight. 2. However (despite what I assumed), there were divisions / regiments / other units which would have had a majority component of a single ethnicity.
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May 11, 2014 15:14
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During the first war with Finland didn't the Russians have major problems because they took men mostly from the South that weren't used to the region's weather/environment/crazy Finnish people? Also, something fun you can do in the penal battalion mission: If you skip the intro at the very start there is a truck in the Russian blocking trench. You can have someone get in and then you ram the truck into the german trench. The machine guns can't kill your truck quickly enough, and you can park it to totally block all of the MG's shots so your forces take almost no casualties on the charge.
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May 11, 2014 16:52
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I'll click through some soldiers in the next battle and see if any of them have ethnic names.
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May 11, 2014 17:44
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Great update, as always. Still trying to get used to the interface in these games. Also, where barrier troops actually used in any noticeable amount to justify their representation as "always there" in media that depicts the Soviet Army during WW2? I suppose you will end up posting something about it in the next history post, but as far as I know barrier troops where a thing that never paid out in practice due to the damage to morale they caused, the fact that units wanted those men actually fighting and they existed on "paper" till '44. But it's been a long while since I read this, so I may be wrong/misremembering. 
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May 11, 2014 23:01
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Put in the song that I forgot to. Oops. Also yes, I'll talk about blocking units in the historical update.
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May 12, 2014 02:06
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God, this mission. This mission... is a bitch. One thing you didn't show off is that you can actually go up the hill to the left of the village. It doesn't really help with your objectives directly, but there's an anti-tank gun you can steal for use against the second line of german defenses, which is nice. Ensign Expendable posted:
I'd forgotten until this post, but you just reminded me of one of my favorite moments from playing this game. So. Defending the hill. A German fighter comes in, strafing the convoy! The anti-air guns fire, and knock it out of the sky... ...straight onto the convoy. Three tanks are crushed by the fast-moving wreckage, and the entire convoy is stalled until they can slowwwly move around. The most beautifully Men of War moment.
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May 12, 2014 05:34
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Historical Notes: Mission 5 T-26  The T-26 took its roots from the Vickers 6-ton (Mk E) tank, developed in Britain. The British government had no interest in it, but almost everyone else did. The tank came in two versions: Type A (two machinegun turrets) and Type B (one turret with a cannon). The USSR built clones of both, later re-arming the Type A with a 37 mm cannon or a flamethrower in one of the turrets, and the Type B with a domestically designed turret and cannon. The Type A rapidly became obsolete, and only improved versions of the Type B continued being built. The tank remained in service with the Red Army for over a decade, and had many vehicles built on its chassis, such as an AA SPG, chemical tanks, teletanks, etc. The tank's first combat was under the flag of Spanish Republicans in the Civil War. They were secretly shipped to Spain along with Soviet volunteers: tankers and instructors. The multinational nature of the Republicans posed a problem in effectively using tanks, but this was mitigated by the fact that German and Italian tanks used by the Nationalists were awful, and could only harm the T-26 at very close distances with their machineguns. The next opponent of the T-26 was Japan. Japanese tanks were just as lightly armoured as the German ones, but they had real cannons on them. Failing to spot your nemesis first would lead to your death, all tanks could punch through each others' armour at any reasonable distance. There were many inter-war projects to replace the T-26, but none panned out for one reason or another, and the T-26 continued its service until the end of WWII. Soviet T-26 tanks were sold off or captured and re-captured, and pop up in Asia for many years after WWII ended. Read more about the T-26 here. The specific tank seen in the game is a model 1939, evidenced by its sloped turret and turret platform. As the tank has grown to over 10 tons from the 6-ton Vickers on the same suspension, increasing the armour was no longer feasible, and creative ways had to be used to make it more protected. Even the added protection from the sloping was not enough to protect the tank from anything but the lightest of cannons. PzIV Ausf. G  In 1941, the German army was shocked to discover that the Soviets had new KV and T-34 tanks, virtually impenetrable by their tank and anti-tank guns. They needed to mount the most powerful gun they had on a tank chassis as soon as possible. That gun was the PaK 40 (the KwK 36 was still ways away), and the natural choice for the tank would be Germany's most advanced vehicles for the time, the PzIII. Unfortunately, the turret ring of the PzIII was far too narrow to fit a gun that big. Engineers had to settle for the inferior PzIV tank. The tank also received upgraded armour. While all these upgrades led to decreased speed and reliability, overloading the front bogeys, the PzIV became a very dangerous opponent. Gone are the days when we could blow up any enemy tank from the front with the tiniest gun. At this point, the armour advantage is going over to the Wehrmacht. PzIII Ausf J  Just like the PzIV, the PzIII was continuously modernized. Even though it could not fit a long 75 mm gun, it received an upgrade to its 50 mm gun. In game, you see it equipped with additional armour screens for the turret and "skirt" armour, but unless I am mistaken, Ausf Js never received skirt armour. Unlike the PzIV upgrade, the armour of this tank is still vulnerable to all of our guns. PaK 41 Visually, this gun is almost indistinguishable from the PaK 37, but the way it works is vastly different. Instead of the barrel having constant diameter, it becomes narrower towards the muzzle, squeezing the projectile out at a higher velocity. This increases the penetration of the shell, but has major drawbacks. For instance, the barrel wore down extremely quickly, resulting in very poor accuracy. Another disadvantage was that these shells used an absurd amount of tungsten, already a deficit metal in Germany, and much needed for factory tools. These guns were not very widely used. Flakvierling  Remember that FlaK gun on the PzI that we saw a while back? If one is good, four is better! Four of these guns increased the density of fire, and therefore the odds that you'll actually hit something. Much like the single 20 mm FlaK gun, these guns were mounted on a number of vehicles, like the SdKfz 7 halftrack we saw in the game. That does it for the guns and vehicles. Now, the controversial things! Penalty Battalion/Company (Shtrafbat/shtrafrota) Officially, penalty units were introduced with the famous Order #227, in October of 1942, so it's a little early for our hero to end up in one of them. Soldiers and officers accused of desertion, sabotage, defeatism, etc could be sent into one of these units, as could criminals that decided to shorten their sentence. A month in a penalty unit was worth ten years of imprisonment (although criminals, especially vory v zakone, were mistrustful of the government, and seldom picked this option). Those sent to these units were stripped of their rank and decorations for the duration of their service there (although there were some milder penalty units that did not do this). The officers commanding a penalty unit had one day of service count for three, and therefore were paid three time as much and advanced in rank three times as fast. Memoirs of one officer told that he learned a huge amount, since everyone he was commanding was a senior officer temporarily stripped of their rank. Aside from serving your term (which ranged from one to three months), you could be freed from the penalty unit by suffering a wound (like the game says) or committing an act of heroism. As the song goes "if lead doesn't end up in your chest, a medal for bravery will end up on it". Acts of heroism also removed you from Smersh or NKVD suspicion, if they thought you were working for the enemy. Penalty units were not uniquely Russian things. Germany, for instance, had penalty units as well. Those serving in them retained their titles and awards, but were not eligible for promotions. Additionally, there was no way to leave the unit early, and instead of three months, you were stuck there for the duration of your service. Blocking Squad (zagradotryad) Order #227 also introduced blocking squads. In Western popular culture, they sit directly behind the soldiers and gun them down if they retreat (or don't advance quickly enough). This was not a thing that happened, nor was it a thing that the squads were designed to do. Their purpose was to detain fleeing troops, reform them into combat capable units, and send them back to the front. While soldiers that ran from battle could be sent to a penalty unit or executed, a very small percentage of soldiers detained by a blocking squad actually were. Most were simply returned to the battlefield. These squads were formed by each infantry unit (not from NKVD troops), and were not very well liked. Commanders did not like them either, and occasionally used them to guard important objects in the rear (headquarters, supply dumps) instead of for their primary purpose. The squads were supposed to be staffed with politically reliable men with strong morale, but this was not the case. In at least one instance, a soldier previously detained by a blocking squad was later assigned to the same squad. There are also cases of these squads abandoning their orders and joining the battle along with regular units. Very few units actually had such a squad behind them, but the possibility of encountering them if you ran was always there. A veteran's memoirs describe the apprehension: can you run, or can you not? There were some men behind our lines. Who are they, reserves, reinforcements, or a blocking squad? There's no way to know, so you stay and fight, just in case. Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 17:37 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 12, 2014 17:34
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I went back trough the posts, added a thematically appropriate song to the start of each one that didn't have one yet (with subtitles whenever possible, separate lyrics when not).
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May 12, 2014 18:14
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Uhhhhh, why would you NOT want to keep (potential) military members from the same area within the same group? The British did this briefly after the first year of horrifying losses in WW1, hoping to boost the morale of the army. As has been said, it turns out having entire villages/towns receiving the news that all of their men died at the same time tends to sap morale at home. The "experiment" didn't last very long.
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May 13, 2014 12:08
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Some points on obscure systems in this game: Soldiers can have different competence levels in different weapon classes, shown by the amounts of stars on the weapon icon when they have it equipped. More means better accuracy. It goes by weapon class so pistol+smg/rifle/mg, just as ammo does for weapons with bullets smaller than 12.7mm. After that, each gun uses it's own unique ammunition with very few crossovers. Snipers are a bit weird in this game. When they aim at a target, a red crosshair appears over that person and gradually fills up over ~5 seconds. After that, if the victim has not broken line of sight, the sniper will blow off the target's helmet if he's wearing one or instantly kill him if he doesn't. It is possible in theory to juggle infantry in and out of cover without getting sniped. Another semi hidden thing is the stamina bar, which your soldiers use for sprinting, activated by double clicking somewhere like in the Total War games. Vehicles also have a fuel bar that goes down when they move and has to be refilled by an infantryman taking a fuel can(found in the inventory of most tanks) to either a fuel store(there's one in the south east of the first mission) or a resupply truck in MP. Vehicle inventories work different from human inventories, allowing some objects like grenades to stack(they don't in human inventories) and increasing the stack limits on ammo(1000 vs 100). An infantryman can carry only about 8 tank shells because they don't stack but a tank can have 50 of them taking up the space of 1. The best way to resupply your tanks is to have the ammo truck crash into them or use motorcycle couriers, manual loading will take ages. There is also no limit on how many shells you can take with you based on historical limitations(tanks can carry thousands of shells in this game) and no common sense cap either so an MG 42 + tripod lugged around by two soldiers comes with it's own Bag of Holding that can be used to quickly and efficiently transport hundreds of anti tank mines. Lastly, the game is a bit... arbitrary with what weapon is a vehicle and what isn't. Aforementioned tripod MG 42? Won't budge unless a second soldier shows up. M2HB? Best hipfire weapon in the game.
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May 13, 2014 15:19
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Arelon posted:The British did this briefly after the first year of horrifying losses in WW1, hoping to boost the morale of the army. As has been said, it turns out having entire villages/towns receiving the news that all of their men died at the same time tends to sap morale at home. 90% of Newfoundland's contribution to the war died in a single charge! 
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May 13, 2014 15:38
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Kopijeger posted:And is it even possible to be considered Slavic and non-White at the same time? Depends on where you are. American social justice warriors love to claim that racism is "white vs. POC", but they tend to fumble when they see white people suffering institutional racism. Take the Irish 100 years ago, for example. Depending on which country you're in, virtually any ethnic group could be "non-white" even if Americans would call them white people. Some countries and time periods hate Italians, Irish, Slavs, Poles, Sami, etc.
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May 14, 2014 12:53
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chitoryu12 posted:Depends on where you are. American social justice warriors love to claim that racism is "white vs. POC", but they tend to fumble when they see white people suffering institutional racism. Take the Irish 100 years ago, for example. Europe has been practicing white v white racism for almost as long as white v POC. When you hear some people talk about the Italians. Or the Germans. Or the French. OR the Scots. or the Irish. Or the British. or... (Polish and Irish jokes have been common here for ages.)
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May 14, 2014 14:16
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Americans STILL call police detainment trucks 'paddywagons' because of rowdy Irish immigrants' tendency to fill them to the gills by getting drunk and starting fights in the street. That hasn't been an actual problem since the Great Depression. Though, since most Irish people don't seem to give a poo poo about a little racism, most people in America have forgotten it was even racist in the first place. Language is a funny thing.
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May 14, 2014 14:48
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Oops, forgot some history. PzKpfw II Ausf. L "Luchs  Germany is best known for ridiculous heavy tanks, but what a lot of people don't know is that it had its share of ridiculous light tanks, too. These tanks were largely conceived for the purpose of reconnaissance. Prior to Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht's scout units were composed of armoured cars. When they got to Russia, the old saying "Russia has no roads, only directions" came into effect, and German scout cars were no longer so great at scouting. The Wehrmacht needed a new means of reconnaissance. Pz38(t) and PzII tanks were used, but neither was really fast enough for the task. Luckily, German engineers started working on a new reconnaissance tank before the war even began. One of those tanks was the VK 9.01 (9 ton tank, first iteration). Formally, it was considered a modification of the PzII tank, but it had nearly nothing in common with it, only armour thickness and armament. The suspension was replaced with interleaved road wheels, like the ones that will be later seen on Tiger and Panther tanks. The VK 9.01 did not enter production, but its successor, the VK 13.03 entered service under the index PzII Ausf. L "Luchs" (Lynx). The armour was thickened (but still no more than 30 mm) and the gun remained a 20 mm autocannon, just longer. Later, 50 mm guns were installed in 4-6 Luchs tanks, but in a new, open top turret. Production of the tank began in August of 1942 (uh oh, game, showing things too soon again!), but only 136 units left factories between then and January of 1944, so this was a relatively rare vehicle.
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May 14, 2014 21:22
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xusrTOxoASw Lyrics in description  In a completely unpredictable turn of events, Crimea has been invaded! Sevastopol, a major port city, is in danger.  The Germans are breaking through to the north side of the harbour.  Last Line of Defense. June 18th, 1942, Sevastopol, Crimea, three kilometers north of the city center.  Sevastopol, June 18th, 1942 We're being bombed!  Despite the bombing, defenses are being built.  Civilians and heavily wounded soldiers are being sent off on ships.  Sailors with guns in hand are lining up to defend their city.  Viktor (he got promoted straight up to Captain in the cutscene and given command of a whole regiment) receives his orders.  The ships are sailing out.  Those sworn to defend them take up positions.  Disembodied voice time! Here is out first line of defense. The Germans are coming from the north.  Reinforcements we call up will come up from that bridge.  If the first line falls, the Germans will have to be stopped at the second. Minefields between the lines will slow them down.  We get a coastal defense gun! It can put some serious damage on the Germans.  If we lose the bridge, the only way to call in reinforcements would be from the sailors to the west of our positions.  If the Germans break through, they will be able to put heavy guns on shore and destroy the evacuating ships.  Viktor Smirnov: Spread out on the first line! Move artillery out! Faster, the Germans are already attacking!  Viktor Smirnov: Reserves are assigned to us. They can be called in from the city if necessary.  I spread my guys out in the trenches.  Hey, here's a proper ZiS-3! We've seen it in the first mission, but this is the first time we actually get to use one. Hilariously, the crates behind the gun are labelled "weapon" and "explosive". Sweet immersion.  Viktor Smirnov: The Germans started their artillery barrage! Take cover!  Heh, look at these suckers, all their shells are falling short!  Oh gently caress.  I was going to use that truck! Viktor Smirnov: The bastards have ranged in on our center. I think the first wave will hit there. Make sure your AT guns can hit the center, especially your ZiS-3s.  A cinematic pans over your troops and shows the Germans running in from the north. Viktor Smirnov: So, comrades, we must hold this line until new orders are given. Prepare for battle, looks like it's starting!  Viktor Smirnov: Cannon commanders, open direct fire at enemy vehicles! Let their infantry come close, save your ammunition.  Viktor Smirnov: Reinforcements are here, commander! Viktor will notify us whenever reinforcements arrive.  Reinforcements come all the way down from the city, and trucks drop them off where the T-26 is right now. From there, they will go on foot. For infantry, that's not so bad, but when they have to push guns, it becomes painfully slow. You should use your trucks to help them out, as I could have if they didn't get blown up immediately.  Viktor Smirnov: Reinforcements are here, commander! Might as well take a moment to explain the reinforcements system. We get something that you may not have even noticed before, a points limit. It was around in the Moscow mission, but our reserves were so huge, it was never a problem. Now, we have to be careful what we call in and when, as the amount of points we get is extremely restrictive. Points are obtained for killing enemies. Bigger things cost more points. For instance, a rifleman squad is 10 points, an SMG squad is slightly more expensive, at 12 points. A squad of sappers costs you 15 points, and a 45 mm cannon costs 20. 76 mm cannons are out of our reach, for now. You should probably call up sappers once in a while to supplement the minefield, but the life expectancy of a 45 mm cannon is so low here that you will likely not have points for anything else. Heavy Infantry is also another good thing to request, as it comes with AT riflemen and machinegunners that will keep both enemy tanks and infantry at bay.  Viktor Smirnov: Those without ammunition should refill immediately! You can find it in crates in the trenches or in vehicles behind the forest! That's what the weapon boxes were for. I didn't experience a need to restock, since soldiers would die way before using up all their ammo. In case it wasn't obvious, this is a bullshit defense mission like the factory and Moscow ones, and holding the Germans back will be harder than ever.  Viktor Smirnov: There are new orders from HQ. The situation is difficult. Sevastopol will fall any minute now.  Viktor Smirnov: We cannot, I repeat, cannot allow this. Those ships have your wives, daughters, and sons on board. We will stand here to the death! Objective added: do not let the German forces reach the shore. Hold until all ships have been evacuated from the Sevastopol harbour. By the time we actually get a real objective, my forces are already pretty beat up. We have to wait until 12 ships leave, and they take for loving ever. Well, nothing to do but try to hold on!  Viktor Smirnov: We have lost the left flank! Holding on is not going so well.  Viktor Smirnov: The first ship left the harbour and is headed out to sea! One down, 11 to go. Sadly, a full third of my forces are already dead.  The Germans are bringing in heavy guns. Not that they need any, I don't have any serious tanks.  Viktor Smirnov: Back! Hold your positions! Do not retreat until the order is given! As far as I can tell, this voice clip is triggered randomly and has nothing to do with whether or not you are retreating.  Viktor Smirnov: Another attack, right flank! The right flank has been quiet this whole time. If you sent your AT guns away from there to help the left and center, hope that they haven't been blown up.  Oh, and if the tanks weren't enough, you will constantly be bombed.  Viktor Smirnov: Another ship has left! One sixth of the way there, and I've only lost the left and center!  Viktor Smirnov: The Germans have broken through the center and are threatening our flanks! I haven't got much flank left at this point.  Objective failed: Hold the first line of defense. Do not retreat until the order is given. Whoops. It's possible to wait until you get the order, but it takes a reaaaaaally long time.  Viktor Smirnov: The Germans have taken the right flank! My first line is completely gone, and only two ships have departed! Maybe the second line will hold better.  Viktor Smirnov: The coastal defense turret is under your command. It will become useless for several minutes after firing, since loading takes a long time. Remember this, and use it wisely! You must hold the Germans here. Good luck, commander. Oh yeah, we get this sweet toy. No idea why we couldn't use it before, but oh well. Let's see what it can do.  BWAHAHAHA! Viktor Smirnov: The Fritz's artillery is firing at our second line of defense! They will attack soon! My artillery is firing too! You get three shots per burst. I recommend firing it in direct control mode, partially because you can control where each shot goes, and partially because it's awesome. The two and a half minute reload, however, is not.  Viktor Smirnov: Their artillery is hitting our right flank! Hold on!  Viktor Smirnov: More Fritz to the right! All reserves to the right flank! The right flank was the most lenient on the first line, but not here. Luckily for us, there are already many guns there, and the AI controlled guns across the bridge help too.  Viktor Smirnov: Air raid! Take cover!  Viktor Smirnov: drat it! Their planes are pounding us into the ground! If only we had something against them!  This is as good a time as any to point out that we have two new reinforcements options: a 76 mm gun and a 37 mm automatic AA gun. Sadly, the AA gun is very expensive and awful against tanks, so it's really tempting to not get any.  The Germans send in a minesweeper to clear the minefields.  Viktor Smirnov: Hold the center! It is of utmost importance! Yeah, yeah. Oh, and only one additional ship has left since we got back here. Those fuckers are taking their sweet time.  Viktor Smirnov: The Fritz have reached the road! Now we can't use trucks to get reinforcements! If the Germans reach the road, you can't use anything that has to be towed, like the cannons, but infantry squads are fine. Keep in mind that they come from the west now, like in the cutscene. You can beat back the Germans to recover access to reinforcements.  Viktor Smirnov: Another ship has left! A third of the way there! We won't last much longer though...  Reinforcements that you get from the west are visibly different. They will be composed of sailors instead of infantrymen.  Viktor Smirnov: A German tank wedge is coming from the left! Ready the defenses!  Oh gently caress, that's a lot of tanks. My AT rifles can knock off their tracks, but they will still fire on us.  Viktor Smirnov: The right flank is under attack! We cannot give it to the enemy, otherwise our reinforcements will not pass! That ship has sailed, Viktor.  Viktor Smirnov: The next ship is departing! Almost halfway! Surely my 10 men and the coastal battery will hold off the Germans for the other half!  Viktor Smirnov: Do not let them get to the gun! If you give the Germans enough time to sit around your turret, they will blow it up.  The turret is still a very powerful weapon, especially when enemy infantry clumps up like that.  Oh hey, more new vehicles.  A cutscene! Something big and gray is coming in from the forest. It's a Karl heavy mortar!  TWO Karl heavy mortars! As if there weren't enough Germans already.  Both fire at my turret, but thankfully miss.  Viktor Smirnov: drat it! The Germans pulled up heavy guns and are hammering our positions! They haven't ranged in yet, but soon it will get tough! We must do something about this. I'll send a report to HQ.  Viktor Smirnov: Another ship is departing! Objective failed: do not let the Germans reach the shore line. Hold until all ships have evacuated from the Sevastopol harbour. Looks like I had enough men for exactly half.  Mission failed. The third assault on Sevastopol in June of 1942 was the largest battle in the south of the Soviet-German front. The enemy did not have this much artillery in any other operation. The German command saw that the interruption of sea routes was necessary for a successful offensive. Soviet ships constantly had to deflect attacks from bombers and torpedo bombers. Defenders of Sevastopol stood to the death, but no one could hold the city under the bombs and artillery fire. Viktor Smirnov died on June 21st. The Germans blocked the exits from the north harbour, and soon entered the city. Crimea was fully captured, and the Black Sea Fleet retreated to the Caucasus and settled down to defend it for a long time.  All right, let's try this again. This time, I last a little longer... Viktor Smirnov: We received the last tanks in the reserve. You must use them to break through to the enemy's rear and destroy those guns! Now, this game is hard. Sometimes it's brutally hard. Sometimes it's completely bullshit. For instance, see those nice three tanks?  BOOM! All gone before the cutscene even ends. Thanks, game. gently caress you.  I could hit the Karls with my heavy guns, but I doubt I will last until they reload once more, let alone twice.  Many, many tries later...  I can actually afford an AA gun this time! This is what it looks like. Just like regular guns, they get pushed around by a crew of two (very, very slowly), but this one can fire 5 rounds in quick succession before having to reload. It's not much good against anything but planes, however.  The Germans are all lined up in a single file, perhaps to hide their numbers.  This is what the FlaK gun that's on the Flakpanzer I looks like when it's not on a vehicle.  The 305 mm guns never get old.  Our AA gun fires in the air!  A hit!  A crash!  Viktor Smirnov: Excellent! Our AA gunners got one! Not their last, I hope. The bombing decreased severely. It may have even stopped altogether.  If you know where to look, the Karls will spawn shortly before the cutscene. That means you can blow them up early!  Take that! The game blatantly ignores my sequence breaking and shows both Karls in the cutscene anyway.  Our reserves come in again (this time from the bridge, since I didn't lose it).  Viktor Smirnov: Excellent, one gun down! Somewhere, there is another one... If you play with fog of war on (I don't since I  Viktor Smirnov: We did it, brothers! All ships have left the harbour! Now it's not scary to die... Forward! Show the Germans how we fight in Sevastopol! Objective complete: Don't let the Germans reach the shore. Hold until all ships are evacuated from the Sevastopol harbour.  I get a few minutes to fight the Germans after victory is resolved, so I'll blow up their last Karl.  Always great fun!  Viktor Smirnov: Now that's something! We silenced those drat guns. Objective complete: Destroy the Karl guns that are firing on our positions.  The cutscene Germans are pouring in!  The defenders try to hold them back.  The tanks open fire!  Someone tries to be a hero and throw a grenade bundle at the German tank.  Heroes don't live long.  Mission complete. On that day, we did the impossible. The enemy attacked again and again, but we held. We fought for every scrap of land, every inch. The ships left the north harbour and out to sea. Some of the civilians were evacuated from Sevastopol, but we could not stop the Germans, there were too many of them. In this last desperate battle, I was injured. I awoke only on board a ship that was taking us away from the doomed city. Enemies destroyed: 1044 men, 63 vehicles. Allied losses: 182 men, 38 vehicles. Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 01:58 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 01:52
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Aww. I think it would have been more interesting had we taken part in the Yevpatoria Assault. Interesting bit of trivia - at the time, the USSR didn't really believe in "Elite troops", the Red Army being highly egalitarian (the very notion of slightly special privileges for officers being re-introduced shortly before the war). However, the Marines (or even the ordinary sailors) had to go through a more rigorous application / training process, which turned them into de-facto elites in comparison to the everyman soldier. Germans apparently dreaded the notion of encountering the "Black Jackets". Xander77 fucked around with this message at 03:01 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 02:30
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Xander77 posted:Aww. I think it would have been more interesting had we taken part in the Yevpatoria Assault. Hence the first expansion for Men of War, which is all about the Soviet Marines. (Pity it wasn't very good.) Not too much to say about this mission. It's very hard, and the bombing is a pain in the rear end. If you can sneak infantry through enemy lines, it's totally possible to de-crew and steal the Odin and/or Thor mortars. Good luck managing to move them anywhere before they're destroyed by enemy reinforcements, though!
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May 15, 2014 02:58
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I'd rather do the Malaya Zemlya landing and play as a dual DShK wielding Leonid Brezhnev.
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May 15, 2014 03:13
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Ensign Expendable posted:I'd rather do the Malaya Zemlya landing and play as a dual DShK wielding Leonid Brezhnev.
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May 16, 2014 08:51
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Asehujiko posted:Don't think the engine can do dual wielding but Brezhnev is actually in Red Tide. Wasn't that the only time a politruk appears as a character in the game? Plus, he could swim across a wide river/lake in full uniform, quite the action hero. 
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May 16, 2014 09:31
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Historical Notes: Mission 6 Marines  Prior to the start of WWII, the USSR did not have marines at all. As a part of post-Winter War reforms, a single marine brigade was established. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Navy had many more sailors than it could actually fit into ships. Reservists and volunteers were sent into marine brigades. The marine brigades were use in amphibious landings, due to the sailors' experience with the sea, but also occasionally fought as regular infantry. Their black jackets earned a nickname from the Germans: Black Death. This nickname was well deserved. The marines fought with unseen ferocity, as they were not used to retreat. Where can you retreat on a ship? It was considered the height of prestige for a marine to discard his helmet (the only element of infantry gear any marine would ever agree to wear), put on his sailor's cap, and attack at full height. As frightening as it was for the Germans, this led to a large rate of casualties among marines. Soviet marines are famous for various amphibious landings in the Black Sea, but also fought courageously in the north (for Leningrad and Murmansk) as well as in the Far East. ZiS-3  In 1941, Soviet engineer Grabin began the development of a new divisional cannon to replace the ageing F-22USV. The resulting gun used a lighter carriage (borrowed from the ZiS-2 gun), a muzzle brake, and had both aiming flywheels on one side, reducing the crew requirement to four men. However, Marshall Kulik did not like this gun, as he was of the opinion that new divisional guns should have a caliber of at least 85 mm. Despite Kulik's objections, Grabin decided to build the gun anyway, in secret. After the gun's successful service, Grabin showed it to Stalin personally, who was impressed enough to officially sanction its production. This confirmation was only ceremonial, as the gun was already being produced and used by then, although it did cause the official name to be "76.2 mm divisional gun model 1942", despite the gun beginning service in 1941. The weapon was very reliable and simple to produce. Over 100,000 guns (not including ZiS-3 guns for SU-76 SPGs) were produced, making it the most numerous cannon of WWII. 61-K  This is technically a 70-K, the naval version of the 61-K, but I thought it would be more thematically appropriate. The USSR has been toying with automatic AA guns since the 1920s, but never really got around to mass producing one. The 37 mm automatic AA gun model 1939 (61-K) was inspired by the Bofors 40 mm AA gun. Aside from AA use, this gun was used in AT roles in 1941, but due to its bulky size and increasing armour of enemy tanks, it was removed from AT service in 1942. It was also used on ships, armoured trains, and on self-propelled mounts made from trucks, tanks, and the SU-76 SPG (making the ZSU-37). The 61-K design remains in service in many nations to this day. 12"/52 gun model 1907  The 12 inch (305 mm) gun was developed for Tsarist battleships, but a 305 mm shell to the face never gets old, so the USSR used them extensively, even issuing new manuals for them. The guns were used in either triple turrets (MK-3-12) on ships and coastal batteries or on railroad platforms (three guns, one per platform, scavenged from a sunken ship). The rate of fire of this gun is somewhat decreased in game; even the railroad version of the gun with many of the loading assistance mechanisms removed could achieve 2 rounds per minute. PzIII Minenraumer  Even the mightiest of tanks cannot withstand an anti-tank mine. Since the PzIII chassis was basically the bee's knees, it was turned into a minesweeper. The hull was raised to protect it from damage caused by exploding mines. The shock absorbers were reinforced. The turret was removed, but a machinegun remained for anti-infantry protection. A pair of rollers rolled in front of the tank to blow up any mines in its path. It is odd that this tank appears in the game, as it was only a prototype. Very few (likely just one) were built. Sturmgeschuetz IV  The value of self-propelled guns, armoured against bullets and fragments, was very well known to German armoured warfare theorists. Unlike the clumsy conversions of obsolete vehicles we have seen before, the StuG III featured a 7.5 cm gun like on the PzIV, in an immobile casemate on a PzIII chassis. Tank forces first discarded this idea as ridiculous, and these vehicles were relegated to infantry units, their effectiveness was soon discovered, and they were widely used in the entire Panzerwaffe. Upgraded to a long 7.5 cm gun along with the PzIV, the StuG III became an effective tank killer, claiming more enemy kills than any other vehicles in the German army. As the Allies cranked up the bombing campaign in Europe, factories producing the StuG III were damaged, and the PzIII was pretty much obsolete. The vehicle was in danger of cancellation, but front line units raised such a stink about it (for comparison, the Tiger tank went quietly and with no complaints), StuG III production continued, and a new StuG vehicle was developed, the StuG IV, on the PzIV chassis. This is another vehicle that appears too soon, as the StuG IV was not even conceived until 1943. Karl Gerat  In 1936, Germany began researching heavy self-propelled guns to be used for breaching the Maginot line. These guns featured a stunning caliber: 60 entire centimeters, the largest SPG to date. Six vehicles were built in 1940, each with a name: Adam, Eve, Thor, Loki, Odin, and Ziu. A seventh experimental SPG had no name. In 1942, three smaller caliber (55 cm) longer barrels were produced to increase range. Despite the original intention, these vehicles were not ready in time for a war with France, but were only prepared for Operation Barbarossa. The showing in Barbarossa was poor. The guns broke down constantly, had supply problems, and did not appear to achieve any noticeable effect. In 1942, two of these guns did indeed attack Sevastopol, and were used against coastal batteries, but did not achieve much effect here either, even with direct hits. Karls did not see battle until 1944, when they were used to aid in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. In 1945, three of these vehicles were captured by the Red Army, and sent back for evaluation. The result of the evaluation is unknown (at least to me), but now a mix of parts from Ziu and Odin stands in the Kubinka tank museum marked as Adam. The rate of fire of these guns was boosted for this game, as in real life they fired once every ten minutes, and that would not be very interesting.
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May 18, 2014 00:20
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This mission is long. It's long because it's a two-part mission, and there is a lot of content, but it's also long because you will gently caress up and lose and have to restart. A lot. A hell of a lot. Not because you are bad, but because of random chance. You'll see what I mean. Through a combination of the above, I have accumulated 2.5 times as many screenshots as the previous missions got on average, so it will be split into two parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7dBsCnAHN0  It is the Spring of 1945. The Red Army has liberated wait what? Nineteen forty five? Welcome to Men of Half a War, where the years of 1943 and 1944 don't exist.  The Red Army is attacking Seelow Heights, one of the most fortified defenses on the way to Berlin.  Behind Enemy Lines. April 15th, 1945. Germany, 1st Belorussian Front sector  This time, we are dumped right into the disembodied voice map. Here are our lines, here are the Germans. It's night, but No Man's Land is being constantly bombarded by flares from both sides to make sure no funny business happens.  It is our job to perform some funny business! As a part of the attack, we want to go through this road here.  There are probably all sorts of tanks and guns all over the place, but we don't know where they are yet.  Also the road is probably (read: definitely) mined, you might want to grab a mine detector from the truck and check that out.  Seelow Heights Sector, April 15th, 1945 Hm, the cutscene comes after the maps this time. Odd.  Alex (in the camouflage suit) runs into Viktor again!  Such a joyous reunion.  They share a pixelated hug.  The only mention of the past two years is in this conversation. Viktor is now a Major (going by his rate of promotions in 1942 he ought to be a Marshall by now), and Alex is a much more gradually promoted Captain.  Alex's scouts have a cigarette before their mission. You'd think scouts wouldn't smoke, but oh well.  The game cuts right back to a conversation between Alex and Viktor. Viktor mentions that some of his men went behind enemy lines and did not return.  Alex and his silly moustache promise to look into it.  Viktor Nikolayev: Finally, you are here!  Viktor Nikolayev: The enemy has well fortified positions in front of us. We will attack at dawn, when our main forces arrive. While the officer is talking, he whips out his pistol and points it at our squad. Everyone is paranoid about spies, it seems!  The officer has kneeled for a better shot. Maybe he's taking aim at a spy in the bushes! Alex Kuznetsov: We cannot wait until the morning. We have to reach the objective by the designated time. Viktor Nikolayev: Yes, Major Smirnov told me that you will help us if you are able. Alex Kuznetsov: We will try. If everything goes smoothly, we will find out what we can about the enemy's positions. Viktor Nikolayev: The Major also told us that you will need timed explosives. They are ready. The timers are synchronized and will go off when our attack begins. The explosives are in the truck. Put it in enemy vehicles or next to them. Alex Kuznetsov: Understood: snoop out German positions and mine their vehicles.  Viktor Nikolayev: We are counting on you. Good luck. By that time, our squad has left Viktor (presumably to let him shoot at spies) and gone for the truck. The truck is important. This game is micromanagey enough to not give you the explosives OR the metal detector, you need to grab them from the truck yourself. If you forget, you will not be able to complete most of your optional objectives.  Viktor Nikolayev: Oh, one more thing, we have partial information about the Germans' right flank.  Viktor Nikolayev: One of our scouts returned unharmed, meaning that it is likely easier to get through their lines unseen here.  Alex Kuznetsov: Thank you. This information won't be superfluous.  While they are talking, the camera pans up the side that was already scouted out. You see the vehicles and troops places here, but the rest of the map is woefully incomplete. You need to get close in order to see what's there, even with Fog of War off.  Let's take a look around the base. Why, it's our old buddy!  Machinegunners are periodically taking shots across No Man's Land. Maybe that officer was not the only paranoid one.  We are pretty well armed here, no one will break through! A quad Maxim gun emplacement and a ZiS-3 in the bushes guard this road.  Ooh, a new toy! This is a 152 mm D-1 gun-howitzer. Sadly, we will have to wait until morning to play with it.  Flare out! The flares fly across the map for a few seconds, illuminating things directly beneath them.  A group of soldiers gather around a fire. Looks like they have a paranoid guy too!  Finally, different T-34 models! I was wondering if they were going to drag the model 1940 all the way to Berlin. Here we have a T-34-57 mod. 1941, with a T-34-76 mod. 1942 in the middle.  A T-34-85 mod. 1944 is in the back. We don't get to drive any of these either, at least not yet.  And a T-26, for some reason. Considering that vehicles this old were shipped off to the less important allies or to the Far East when it went through repairs at this point, this is one tough cookie.  Some sailors are still hanging around. And look, TWO paranoid officers! No spies are getting past these guys.  All right, enough sight-seeing, we're off!  We first run into some trenches. The ones to our right are almost blind, but flares will go off once in a while, and there is a spotlight up there. The ones on the left are less likely to notice us, but also more annoying, since there are snipers in them.  It's pretty trivial to take these guys out. They are far away from everyone else that you can even use loud weapons. That halftrack in the back patrols the area, and will slaughter you if it sees you. Hide from it in this trench.  Oh no, it's headed right for me!  It's stuck. loving really? Get out of my trench!  Finally. Let's move on. The halftrack didn't see us, the Germans are just as paranoid about spies as we are.  Here is what happens when you make a sniper snipe someone. A crosshair forms around their body, section by section. Four sections, and that's a shot! Unless it bounces off their helmet, it's a one shot kill. Sergei Filatov: Hmm, the right flank is not as strong as it seemed. Just some artillery...  When the spotlight operator is dead, his spotlight goes off. We hide in this little log cabin. There are a lot of these things, and they are good places to hide, provided that they are unoccupied.  OH gently caress I'VE BEEN SPOTTED  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA If the fire touches your guys, they'll run around for a while and then fall over dead. This mission lacks expendable conscripts, so we cannot allow that!  Ahem. Let's try that again. Let's use a throwing knife to silently take this guy out. A throwing knife is like a grenade (you can even arc it over obstacles!), and kills someone in one hit. Shame you don't get many of them.  Stepan Grishenko: drat, I've been seen! Okay, almost silently.  When the enemy sees you, the flares will be thrown directly at your position, instead of at a predetermined location.  Let's slowly work our way up here. Unlike the previous areas, there is a ton of guys around here.  Thankfully, we have this nifty little gun here! It is a 7-shot suppressed revolver, and can take out enemies almost completely silently. We get more ammo for it than for the throwing knife, but it is louder.  Let's try out hand to hand combat. Click the fist, click the sleeping German.  Pop! One hit kill.  Let's take out this machinegunner here.  Punch this officer, shoot his buddy.  Steal his hat!  The Germans get a new toy too. It would be a shame if something happened to it. Alexei Kuznetsov: Here you go, Fritz, a gift from a Soviet soldier. It doesn't look like much, but it ticks!  Alex Kuznetsov: This is a good place for this bomb, it will be fun!  Here's another cabin. This time, it's full of guys. Don't try to hide there like I did.  Segei Filatov: drat! We are leaving too many tracks! A little more, and the Germans will rise up, call in reinforcements, and then we're hosed! Wait, I'm not supposed to kill everyone in my way? Sigh. Fine, game, let's do it your way.  Look at all these guys I'm not allowed to kill! They're up to something for sure!  Sergei Filatov: I think the road is mined. We should walk by with a metal detector... Objective added: discover the minefields on the road. This is what happens when you don't kill people. By the way, at this point, we can just go up the road, leave, and complete the mission. But what good communist disregards the needs of his comrades? Let's help them out!  Using the metal detector involves going to the inventory actions panel, and then clicking the "Remove mines" button (even though it only detects the mines).  When performing mine detection, your character walks very slowly and cannot fire or run or crouch. In order to do any of those things, you have to manually put away the metal detector.  Veeery sloooowly. Oh look, there's one.  Time to walk to the next one!  There it is, let's move on. Alexei Kuznetsov: That's all for here, we can check further.  Let's climb over here to avoid the lights.  Another Hummel. But there are men all around it! Looks like it will be a pain to blow up.  More novelties for the Germans. The crew is sleeping next to it, short of one guard. There are a lot of sleeping people on this map. Usually they do not bother you.  Ivan Chernov: Ah, there is their base. I'll pop in, since I'm in the neighbourhood.  Sergei Filatov: Their radio center is here. We need to destroy the transmitter and make sure they can't communicate! Objective added: destroy the radio transmitter.  Sergei Filatov: Now we know where their main forces are. In the upcoming battle, this will save the lives of hundreds of our comrades. Objective completed: discover the location of the enemy's main forces. Another new toy! The Germans are geared up for this.  Oh hey, a Tiger. Maybe if we get inside, we can blow it up. Sadly, the base is closely guarded, with spotlights at every entrance.  Maybe I can get in through here.  Okay, not through this side. There are men patrolling the back way, and if they see you, they will alert everyone in the barracks. There are a lot of people in the barracks.  The game keeps telling me that sending one man is sneakier, so I'll send Alex to do this one alone.  Careful, there is a tank outside the base too, as well as patrols.  This side isn't being patrolled. Look, more new vehicles, a Wirbelwind and a Panther!  Alexei Kuznetsov: I think I can get through here without excess noise... This corridor is a pain in the rear end to navigate. You can't just click inside the base and go in, you have to manually tell Alex to climb over each bump on the way.  Important looking boxes! A good use for our explosives.  Taking out this fuel dump will surely aid our comrades. Shame I only brought one bomb with me. Let's pull up the rest of our guys with some more.  gently caress. I leave Alex alone for a second, and a bunch of Germans congregate on his position.  Ok, this time everyone goes.  Alex gives up his hat and metal detector if it means carrying more dynamite into the German camp.  This is a neat thing that loading screens keep telling us about, but we don't see a lot, an armoured chestplate. This makes your infantry a little bit bulletproof, like a helmet.  Okay, one stick for the fuel...  One for each tank... Alexei Kuznetsov: Done. We should wire more German vehicles to blow! They will pay for their laziness.  There goes the Panther.  That's how it is. One bomb, and come sunrise all this metal will be scrap.  A bunch of ammunition for AA guns next to lots of fuel barrels, this stuff should go up in flames nicely.  There's that radio. Maybe I can shoot it. Oh, wait, no, it's bulletproof.  Grenade!  OH COME ON  drat IT  There. Perfectly silent, a regular Solid Snake.  Aleksei Kuznetsov: drat, I've been seen! A bunch of tankers follow us out, but they can't climb over the knee-high rubble.  A Panzerschreck soldier stands on guard for any spies that might sneak into their base. Tank spies. Also I am impressed by how the flamethrower guy can sleep in full gear. At least take the tank off!  Well, the Panzerschreck guy saw us, and now the tank is going to get me.  He can't see me, but he can sense my presence. Maybe it has a keep sense of smell.  REALLY, GAME?  Oh hey, an unattended Hummel. Better chuck some explosives inside.  This screenshot shows off how paranoid the Germans are. At any point, one of them can take off running in a random direction. You can see not only the guard to the bottom, but a group of tankers coming from the base bolting towards...something. These guys are like cats.  Unlike cats, they can't see very well in the dark.  Let's see if there's anything worth stealing or blowing up on this flank.  A box of mortar rounds! These will pop nicely.  Time to sloooowly sweep this road for mines.  Objective failed: remain undetected, do not raise the alarm. Aleksei Kuznetsov: Curses, the alarm! They will call in reinforcements, and it's the end! We have to leave, quick!  Aleksei Kuznetsov: What a clusterfuck. We barely made it out. Stepan Grishenko: I cannot remember such a failure. Ivan Chernov: How will our guys do now? So many will die... Alekse Kuznetsov: We can't do anything now. Our work is not done, we have to concentrate. I will not allow myself another mistake.  Objective Complete: Make it behind enemy lines. So there's one bullshit part, the entire failure component is completely random! For instance, I reloaded the save right before the alarm and it didn't go off at all. loving game. By the way, the "failure" just means you can no longer achieve the rest of your optional objectives, the rest of the mission continues as normal.  Nooooope, we're doing this. Properly. And slowly. Very slowly.  This halftrack is a pain in the rear end. It will keep patrolling this road, and can see you very well, even if you are not in the headlights.  Veeeeeeeeerly slowly.  Another soldier that decided to go for a sudden jog. He stops right by that hut and doesn't do anything interesting.  Waiting for the halftrack to pass. This is sure some exciting gameplay.  Oh, this time he saw me, even though now I'm crouching and the last time I wasn't. I take a direct hit from a cannon, only lose half my health, and it immediately forgets about me. That's the power of the breastplate, I guess.  I tape up my wounds and move on.  Oh hey, a dead sniper. He must be a part of the scout crew Viktor was talking about. I wonder if finding them is a secret objective.  Nope, he doesn't even have anything interesting on him, just standard scout gear.  There is another one, with even less stuff.  Stepan Grishenko: Looks like this line is done. FINALLY! It was on the other side of the barricade all along. Now I'm free to move on, I hope.  Objective complete: remain unseen, do not raise the alarm. See? Completely random.  Objective failed: Discover the minefield on the road Uh, what? I totally discovered it! You saw me!  Objective complete: pass through enemy lines. I didn't get a screenshot, but the game failed me for the explosives objectives too. Apparently I didn't put them in the right places? Who knows. Join me next time for the part of this mission that isn't bullshit. Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 18:13 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 06:38
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| # ? May 22, 2024 09:58 |
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Time skips and bad game trigger.
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May 20, 2014 07:23
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