Updated Korea'85_Alt and Danube Front'85_Alt

[Volcano Man]

Hello all,

Head over to www.volcanomods.com and get the latest Korea'85_Alt update, as well as the new Danube Front '85_Alt expansion (see the readme and notes files in both for specific changes and tips).

I am trying to limit the notifications to the announcement emails from the site, but I wanted to mention it here because DF'85_Alt adds a new campaign scenario:

850610_01: Götterdämmerung - Twilight of the Gods_Alt

This scenario has already been added to the Blitz db for game reporting and it is best played with Nuclear Termination optional rule ON. This campaign brings the full weight of all forces to the battle, including the WG territorial units, the US REFORGER units and the second soviet echelon of cutting edge equipment (T-80U, T-64BV, T-72B) from the Baltic and Byelorussian Military Districts.

Big thanks to Marc Belizzi for assistance.

Oh, one last thing. Feel free to make your own scenarios based on the MKW db as well as send feedback and balancing suggestions / discussions to the forum at www.volcanomods.com. I only ask that if you use the OOB or base any of your own scenarios off of the MKW db then please give credit where it is due -- these values do take a lot of work. Thanks and have fun!

[Volcano Man]

As a side note, someone asked the question on how the Warsaw Pact plays in the _Alt.

Through some initial play testing it was quite fun to play as the Red Horde in the _Alt scenarios, and they are difficult to stop. They are certainly not invincible, yet they are very... Borg-like, for lack of a better term. The balance for the WP player is not incurring too many casualties in your push, and knowing when to adjust your attack accordingly. The question of whether or not you can take an objective is really only limited to how many VPs (in casualties) you are willing to sacrifice in doing so.

Anyway, give it a try and see if the horde can be stopped.

[Zemke]

I looked over the OOB very closely and was particularly impressed with the data model. Now if we can get this data for vehicles into Bolt out of the Blue scenario, we will have the most accurate WWIII sim going.

[Lowlander]

Is this designed for HTH Pbem only or can the AI handle one side ?.

Again, thanks for another great work of art and HUGE expanded campaign, which l missed at first glance.

[Volcano Man]

Ideally it is made for PBEM and solitaire but, sure, you can play with the AI as one side. The AI orders are unchanged in the scenarios, so it is dependent on stock scripting in this regard.

[Landser34]

Just a question for Korea 85 for the stock and your alt scenarios why does it take 12 Days for any American Reinforcements to arrive and why isn't the 1st Marine Division included for Korea. Im sure they had preposition ed stuff in Korea for the Army, also I was Stationed on Okinawa with the 3rd Mar.Div in86 and when we went to Korea by ship it took 2 days and if there was a war going on im sure they would get there quicker .The 3rd Mar Div had the 4th and 9th Marine Regiments and in Hawaii is the Marine Brigade which is the 3rd Marines. Reason I ask this is because in both Campaigns which I have played from both sides a couple of times The game is usually over well before the Americans arrive.

[Volcano Man]

In the stock campaign, the basic idea is that the 3rd Marine Division is initially held back and arrives in conjunction with other US arrivals to support them, rather then being rushed to Korea to be some sort of speed bump. But you have to also realize that the war in Germany is also occuring during the coarse of this title, as well as any other hot spots... which are not currently covered. In other words, the way the story goes is that the 1st Marine Division is sent somewhere else (I have no idea where and they were basically off limits to me). If you disagree with that then by all means, bring in the 3rd Marine Division sooner as well as the 1st Marine Division. An easy option would be to allow the allied player to rush the 1st Marine Division into action to be a speed bump, maybe with a fatigue increase on arrival and have them restricted to the south map edge (play balance to still retain some reason to choose the delayed options). Maybe I will add this to the _Alt campaign one day.

Anyway, from everything I have seen (and the campaigns that I have played), it is the NKPA that needs the help, so having more US units arrive, as well as the Marines arrive sooner does not balance out, unless there is some sort of trade off of course.

[alaric99x]

Well, I'm not so sure that the NKPA needs any help at all in the Alt version of this scenario.

I'm playing Dennis (Landser34) in this scenario and things seem to be pretty easy for my side (NKPA) so far. I hesitate to say too much about that because I'm still kind of new at these games, have never played this scenario before, and we're only on turn 10. Also, I might end up being surprised later on because it is so early in the game. Still, I've played Dennis a number of times and he's a skillful gamer who usually does better than what seems to be happening in this game.

Again, I want to be careful to say it's just beginning to "seem" like this particular scenario may have ended up balanced in favor of the NKPA, I only have a "feeling" that this is the case.

[alaric99x]

Not that I should give the wrong impression here, I really like the Volcano Alt scenarios, I prefer all of them to the stock versions. I'm particularly happy to note that it's now possible to kill helicopters and you have to be more careful and play more realistically if you have helicopters.

In this scenario, as NKPA player, it makes sense to never use chemical weapons. It seems that the Allied side never gets to use chems and nukes as long as the NKPA side doesn't use WMD first. It seems that this factor gives the NKPA a better chance to win. If I had ever played a version where WMD are used by both sides, I would have a better idea of the comparison. Once again, this is just the impression I get from playing a few turns of this version.

[Volcano Man]

Good observations. I am currently playing in a team game as the NKPA. The allies were initially causing great loss to our attack across the DMZ, but this might have baited them to stick around longer than they should have. There is a fine line in the campaign where the allies must withdraw, but it seems that the natural tendency is to hold on until they are incapable of withdrawing. The way the _Alt is designed, the NKPA are weaker and more susceptible to loss but they have the capability to replace those losses. The allies must cause losses without the intent of stopping them initially, just cause losses with the goal of accumulating the most VPs that they can, then fall back. In is probably pointless to try and stop the NKPA horde until they have been drawn further down the peninsula and when their supply levels begin to drop and the weather gets worse.

Oh well, on the one hand it is good in the _Alt if the NKPA does not need any help. I say that because once the US reinforcements arrive with M60s and M1s the NKPA will be hopelessly outclassed since the best tank they have is the T-62. I would rather that the NKPA can meet success until this point, otherwise the situation would be completely hopeless for the NKPA from the start. I do think that in the _Alt the allies are *initially* at a disadvantage, and must be played by the more experienced player.

In regards to WMD, what I found works best is to not use them UNTIL the US reinforcements arrive, or until you are in a situation where the street fighting in Seoul requires extra force to overrun the city. In the case of the former, you can judge whether you need to use the WMD (which are greater in number than the allies' tactical nukes) to block the roads that the US units are counter attacking along and buy time. Or you can use them on large concentration of those units -- but it of course should be a last resort. I think it is a good thing to represent it that way, you are reluctant to use it because it would open up Pandora's Box, so to speak. In the case of the latter, it might be necessary to use the chemicals to overrun Seoul if you get too bogged down. But both are judgment calls. I would certainly avoid using them right for the start.