"Unity Of Command" forum

Yes there is a good peer to peer mode, and the scenarios are amazing.

I hope you like Kursk OMA!

 

Hi Hawkerace!
FIrst one of these-and on a campaign opener to boot! A couple lucky hits made all the difference and hint to ya'll out there-SS units are vulnerable to air.
JeffinMNUSA

 

I think I'll be picking this up today or this week myself.

 

Just purchased this on Steam.

Will give it a shot - tiny download took about 10 seconds.

 

I think I am going to have to play with the sound on and do a tutorial or some such. Not sure what scenario I was playing as the Germans, but I lost more men then the Russians when I both attacked and defended against attacks.

 

Keep fiddling with it-you will figure it out. And if a scenario stumps you you can always go to the UoC forum and get some clues; http://unityofcommand.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=40&sid=94d0705e827681fd1afa374ba8c70136
JeffinMNUSA

 

The logical first move for the Sov player on the Dneper/Donbas scenario...; cut the Axis supply with your out of supply armored unit (avoid the zone of control of the Romanian unit in Melitopol) and use your Partisans to seal off the last two hexes. Then run your armored unit like a rabbit back to friendly lines and he just might survive to fight another day; and the Axis forces in the Donbas will be weakened.
In the UoC games-as it was in reality-the Axis has the advantage in unit strength whereas the Sovs have the advantage in numbers. Supply is everything in these games and the Axis player will find himself striking at supply sources while the Soviet player will find himself using his numbers to outflank and encircle his opponent on certain specific areas of the battleground.
How historical are these series of games? Well not very ("Unity of Command" was a pipe dream back in the GPW/WWII)-but the physics of the situation are rock solid.
JeffinMNUSA
PS. More on breakthroughs; http://unityofcommand.net/wiki/Shuffling_units_to_create_a_breakthrough

 

Not a UoC post directly-but the reason that all computer war games have bored me up until UoC; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m4SCUaBHS8
Too much art-little to no science-and they are mostly "shootemups" involving little strategic thinking (my old wargames were of massive help in my career on the railroad involving as they did strategic planning, foresight, and the ability to adapt to changing situations). I would guess that the UoC designers have some real world military experience whereas most game designers do not. Then the designers of "COmpany of Heroes" cite Vasily Grossman as a source-if so it is a massive distortion of Grossman's frontline observations. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/nov/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview8

 

Greetings!
These BV's are possible but you do need a bit of luck. The trick is to stagger your attacks on powerfull enemy units with the veteran armour/air doing the initial assault followed on by normal armour and/or infantry. Once the big dogs are down the rest are easier prey. AND...drop whatever you are doing and drive for the rear whenever a chance to cut supply presents itself!
JeffinMNUSA
PS. I do hope UOC really is working on a Western Front game.
PSS. Some Youtubes; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCu_wX4hGbc NOW on the Rovno scenario I have been doing some rope a dope-but the scenario demands you charge right out swinging! Them are some POWERFULL enemy armoured out there on the plain! But the last thing you want to do is to go into any but the most local of defensive postures. Some reviews; http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/03/27/unity-of-command-unbalanced-history/ http://www.wargamer.com/article/3127/Unity-of-Command http://www.wargamer.com/article/3312/press-release-unity-of-command-red-turn-released https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/7674-unity-of-command/

You can download these Player designed scenarios onto your UoC console; http://unityofcommand.net/cs/index.php On Mac you download the game off the site-next you go to your UoC console and go to the "load game" function. Next you go to the "open saved games" folder. Go to the "user" folder then simply pointer drag the desired games from your download folder into the user folder. Shut down your UoC game and restart it. The downloaded games will then appear in the "Scenario" screen under the "User generated scenarios" button ready to go.
Some of these are vast, corps levels scenarios involving the entire front, using actual order of battle deployments. Some of them are clearly "missions impossible." If you want an appreciation of the scale of this titanic conflict download and try them out!

 

An example of a User Generated scenario, andjust one small piece of the game! I would have to have a whole day to myself before diving into this!
Then there are a few whatif? scenarios and it is best to know your way around the game mechanics before you tackle any of these. Later...I played the Kursk scenario last night with some massively over historical strength Axis units-I smashed the Kursk salient and destroyed most of the Steppe Reserve and still "lost" because I did not get to Voronehz! Ah well...

 

This mini scenario requires you to strike the objective hex with your cavalry while using the infantry as a screen to keep the Axis re enforcements from getting into your supply. If you are very lucky you can do this-otherwise your valiant troops will be crushed by armor and air.
I played the massive "OSTFRONT" scenario yesterday and it seems to be a mission impossible as you cannot starve out besieged units in cities.
JeffinMNUSA

 

This 23.07.-19.08.41 Barbarossa scenario is the most playable of the big picture user designed games-if you don't mind playing the Axis. It is a daunting task-fighting the Russki forces and the terrain-but the Axis player has all manner of tools in his chest as well as historical overwhelming tactical superiority. You must take 11 widely scattered targets in just 7 turns and-as with all UoC scenarios-miss one target by an inch and you lose! This one I played today it occurred to me to do a historical "whatif?" and send the Finns with Air Support towards Leningrad. BUT it occurred to me in Turn 2 and that was too late! Getting around the landscape is the trick on these.
JeffinMNUSA

 

I tried the 1st Barbarossa full theater war game and it is pretty good also! Missed cutting the mustard by 3 objectives on this one!

 

Here's another good User designed game; "The Encircle of Stalingrad". It gives the Axis player a chance to defend his flanks against Operation Uranus until the arrival of the big dogs on turn five. What is surprising on this one is the strength of the Romanian divisions while dug in on defense. A good game.

 

Hi;
The Winter "Storm" scenario certainly seems like a mission impossible! The best I could do was to airdrop supplies into the Kessel to keep those forces from destruction, then to break into the ring to get some land supply in. After that Soviet pressure forced all units Southward, and if the game hadn't allowed me to place a temporary bridge over the Aksai both the relievers and relieved would have been trapped as the Sovs recaptured the Aksai bridge target. So...I captured precisely zero targets but perhaps proved that Von Manstein might have gotten a few divisions out of Stalingrad. A good game. http://www.academia.edu/3230848/Did_Operation_Winter_Storm_have_any_real_prospect_of_success
JeffinMNUSA

 

So how would have the Wehrmacht done if the head NAZIs would have all been dead and Von Bach in command of Operation Blue? Pretty darned good if this scenario is any indication! I won this big map scenario on my first try, and I am still fumbling about with terrain issues on the big ones! Screen shot is of the Von Bach Wehrmacht knocking at the gates of Stalingrad and notice the SS and Italian divisions playing "desert rat" (you can air supply up to 4 divisions behind the lines in this scenario!) North of town. http://unityofcommand.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1997

 

Now here's a Barbarossa phase campaign length game I can recommend! The To the Gates of Leningrad scenario! This is not on the regular "user generated" list and you have to download it off the forum; http://unityofcommand.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1817 I am reminded of that scene from As I play this I keep thinking of the scene from the Cross Of Iron movie where the James Mason charactor says something about "this vast country seems like it could just swallow us up...". You are pushing your forces down railroad lines through fen and forest, with the Russkis stopping you at every choke point. Much of your infantry you have to use for supply line holding as the Partisans will choke off supply every chance they get. A good game!
JEffinMNUSA
PS. None of the Soviet side games have been very good but I am certain that something will come along.

 

Otto;
No problem...I actually won on that To the Gates of Leningrad scenario-and I would rather squeak by the first time on these UoC scenarios than win a brilliant victory (BV) any time after that. The first time bears a closer resemblance to what Front commanders went through, bouncing around in command vehicles with only a some maps and radios. It's the best of the downloads that I can make out-AND taking Velikeye Luki is quite the adventure; what with the horrific landscape and Partisans cutting supply every chance they get. The Red Army? Not much more than speed bumps throughout this whole scenario( except for that one tank unit that came out of Leningrad), though it can cause backups on the twisty, turny paths towards Velikeye Luki-send two Panzer Divs AND an armored infantry unit with engineers on ahead. AND MAKE SURE that you leave a trail of units behind-about every 9 hexes or so- to protect your all important SUPPLY LINES! AND send them out on constant patrols to expand the controlled hexes around the lines, and I guess I have an better understanding of the Wehrmacht's hatred of Partisans after this one-sneaky bastids! At any rate-a good way of fooling A1 into expending Partisan points is to send one of your guarding units into a Partisan stronghold (it's a fact that there were vast tracks of land in the Russias where the Wehrmacht never went) just deep enough to where A1 can cut it off for one turn-then send it running for the supplied areas the turn after that. Or keep it going if A1 does not bite.
JeffinMNUSA
PS. I am still eagerly awaiting Hawkerace's Yugoslavian scenario to show up on on the User Generated list!
PSS. Photo is a re engineered B&W of my Uncle Frank at Igualzu Falls in Brasil in 1939-and has nothing to do with the subject other than I was working on it off and on all day.