0.0 hours played
Written 1 year and 2 months ago
I recommend this DLC [b] Strongly [/b] to anyone who has not yet purchased it. In fact I would probably say that this DLC is the best for new players to be introduced to the Graviteam Tactical System, the other being the Chewy Gooey Pass DLC for the separate game (but basically functionally identical in all but setting) Tank Warfare Tunisia. The DLC is cheaper than an ice cream so considering you are likely to get 15 or so hours out of the DLC (if you don't speed up time in battle), it is absolutely a steal.
This operation is weighted against the Soviets, but not badly enough that you can't win. Through utilising your tank reinforcements well, you can pull off a pretty good counterattack if you clear out their anti-tank, artillery, and infantry. The important thing is that you need to hold Odinstov for as long as possible.
The repair troops (the ones that are in retreat) are useless against any sort of supressive fire but act as good garrison and scouting units to avoid enemies from sneaking behind your main force or occupying a key point. Your machineguns and mortars need to be used with the express purpose of counter-battery of enemy support weapons; otherwise your force will be supressed and then routed.
As the Germans, you have a balanced force composition with good supports for both onmap and offmap artillery, and you later get Marders which can pierce through the side armour of the KV-1s which the Soviets receive later. Your infantry is not invincible, but not too low on morale either allowing you to get them into close combat when you assault the town and the treelines the Soviets tend to hide in.
Conversely to Soviet support weapon use, you need to use your artillery to saturate enemy defensive positions to allow your troops to maneuver, while giving your machine guns good line of sight to cover your men as they close in. Be sparing with offmap artillery though, it burns through ammo quite fast if used this way so save at least 100 rounds for the last stage of the battle.
The battle map is really beautiful and interesting, with a main road to the south and lots of treelines which can obscure your movement from enemy vision. The town is nicely modelled the North-Eastern part has a small river and hilltop area which you most likely will send your armoured counterattack through. The map is to exact scale, as always with Graviteam; they never skimp on realism.
This DLC will teach you how to use basically every tactical tool Graviteam has to offer; Tanks, Offmap Artillery, Infantry, Support Weapons, Supply/Repair Groups, and utilisation of terrain to hide and maneuver. Only aspects of combat not included in the campaign of this DLC are mines and plane support, but those are rare anyways in the game and not things you can actually manually control.
Plus, buying the DLC supports the devs who live in a city barely 50km from the Ukranian frontline. This game probably gives them the money which they can use to bribe the conscription official to avoid beings sent to their deaths for a useless war. So, you have fun, keep someone employed and alive all for a dirt cheap price. What more could you want?
