Steel Division 2 Brings Single Player Strategic map campaign similar to totalwar

[Destraex]

Yeah. I used to be a stickler for only doing axis vs allies... I still don't like it. But competitively it's kind of interesting.

[Destraex]

Pixelated Apollo doing a steel division 2 cast. Hope this brings more players to Steel Division 2. The game certainly deserves them in my opinion.
This guy is hilarious. He literally has zero idea what he is doing or what any of the units do. Very entertaining to watch. Most things I have seen him call so far have been patently wrong. He has a set of balls doing commentary like this  O0
I wonder if he was paid as it's one of the more hilarious things I have seen on youtube.

[Jarhead0331]

I really like his game. Much more than the first WWII title, Normandy 44. I love the look. It's very dark and just oozes eastern front. One problem I have though is the sheer size of some of the maps and operations. Just too overwhelming to play solo. It's  what keeps me away from the army general battles. They are just too big and daunting. But a skirmish on a small or medium map...awesome.

I'd love to see them do North Africa or the Pacific..

[Apocalypse 31]

I'd love to see them do North Africa or the Pacific..

Now we're talking.

[fabius]

The overwhelming thing for me too.
Not the operations map. I love that. Not even playing the battles.
I just fire up the game, come to pre battle troop placement and shut down again.

Can anyone say the auto troop placement is any good ?

[Jarhead0331]

The overwhelming thing for me too.
Not the operations map. I love that. Not even playing the battles.
I just fire up the game, come to pre battle troop placement and shut down again.

Can anyone say the auto troop placement is any good ?

Yeah...same issue pretty much. I max out at managing three to four potential points of contact or avenues of ingress on any given map. Any more than this and the game becomes more stressful than enjoyable for me.  Some of the maps have nine to twelve, plus, potential points of contact. It's just impossible for me to maintain defensive and offensive operations across such a wide front. Yes, I could pause or slow things down, but it still seems more like work than play to me.

[fabius]

Yeah...same issue pretty much. I max out at managing three to four potential points of contact or avenues of ingress on any given map. Any more than this and the game becomes more stressful than enjoyable for me.  Some of the maps have nine to twelve, plus, potential points of contact. It's just impossible for me to maintain defensive and offensive operations across such a wide front. Yes, I could pause or slow things down, but it still seems more like work than play to me.

Yeah yeah, the 3 or 4 points of contact is a decent max point!

I am not knocking SD2, it looks gorgeous, has the true operational level that makes the outcome of tactical battles worthwhile and engaging for me. (oh CM why did you leave that path  :'(
But just too much work especial as the welcome 3D element means busy click work checking fields of view.

I reckon some of the issue is with me. I like to see all the action going on and be very involved. So keep getting the idea to try it with a more Command Ops2 level head on. Don't concern myself with min maxing, just mostly give higher level group orders and pretend/ role play it as being more commander. See how that plays out.

[Destraex]

Perhaps you boys should play 10v10. Because you end up cramped into a small area in those games. Another suggestion would be to put AI in with you on a small map... heck even have a friend coop with you on a small map. That takes your area of responsibility down by half.

Here is what some of our coop games end up like. You see those order lines. That's my area of responsibility before we start. We have approx 2 bridges each to cover and 3-4 flags to protect each. The mini map shows you where the other two I am playing with in this game are covering. I am the blue on the left and they are the green dots on the right.

[Destraex]

BTW guys. Here is a mod that pretty much changes everything about steel division 2, a complete overhaul. I want to play it but have not got around to it because I believe it now requires every DLC to load? Where before they did not include any divisions but the base games so that everybody could play. I believe it was all or nothing. So this means I would not be able to play the mod with friends.
It may however provide what you guys need? Because it focuses on more realism. Perhaps it makes things even slower?

[hellfish6]

The overwhelming thing for me too.
Not the operations map. I love that. Not even playing the battles.
I just fire up the game, come to pre battle troop placement and shut down again.

Can anyone say the auto troop placement is any good ?

Yeah...same issue pretty much. I max out at managing three to four potential points of contact or avenues of ingress on any given map. Any more than this and the game becomes more stressful than enjoyable for me.  Some of the maps have nine to twelve, plus, potential points of contact. It's just impossible for me to maintain defensive and offensive operations across such a wide front. Yes, I could pause or slow things down, but it still seems more like work than play to me.

I routinely play skirmishes vs the AI. Typically 2 vs 3 on a small map. It gives me half of the map to work with, which I find more manageable, and 2 vs 3 is usually enough of a challenge for me with a well-balanced unit. It also depends on who I'm fighting - if it's me as Germany, I almost always give the Allies and edge (with no maintenance issues, Panthers are amazing). If I'm playing Allies vs Germany, I might go 3 vs 2.

There's a lot of customization available to suit your playing taste, which is why I think I still play SD2 several times a week and why I prefer it to the CM series.

[Destraex]

Hellfish, a shame you are not in my timezone. What difficulty do you play the AI on?

[Destraex]

Just noticed in the video at 31:30 or so the reviewer says the first thing to notice is that vehicle speeds are a lot slower. It seems the mod slows the game down significantly.

[hellfish6]

Hellfish, a shame you are not in my timezone. What difficulty do you play the AI on?

I play whatever the default is. Medium, I think?

[Destraex]

Yeah medium is the default. Which is a shame because medium is the old easy setting. Hard is the actual setting that the AI is best on and has no help with. However Eugen bumped medium to be called hard because people had trouble beating it, even though it had no advantages. Settings higher than hard get buffs of course. Therefore we always play on hard here.

[fabius]

I routinely play skirmishes vs the AI. Typically 2 vs 3 on a small map. It gives me half of the map to work with, which I find more manageable, and 2 vs 3 is usually enough of a challenge for me with a well-balanced unit. It also depends on who I'm fighting - if it's me as Germany, I almost always give the Allies and edge (with no maintenance issues, Panthers are amazing). If I'm playing Allies vs Germany, I might go 3 vs 2.

There's a lot of customization available to suit your playing taste, which is why I think I still play SD2 several times a week and why I prefer it to the CM series.

Thanks hellfish6 and @Destraex

I initially kind of dismissed your suggestions, just because I'm mostly SP, and the draw for me is the Operational layer. But was thinking that the whole tactical and operational link is pretty unique in the level of detail in the Operational layer too. So shifted to thinking you guys are onto something. Play a few small skirmishes to learn the new group commands, reboot the muscle memory for the others and that'll give another go at a campaign a better chance.

Cheers !