Hey all as you play Fury of the Bear scenarios if you could post feedback one the ones credited to me it would be apperacited. I'm always looking for ways to make better scenarios so feedback is crucial

thanks in advance

BJAFFE01

BJaffe01 said:

Will do. Rumor at my local game store has it that the game will be here next week...

I have been browsing and searching all over. I realy have no clue where on this website the (custom) scenarios are hidden. Can somebody point me out?

BJaffe01 said:

Will do. Even better scenarios for the Pacific expansion is something we all want!

Kingtiger said:

Yes! What he said!

BJaffe01 said:

I finished the 5th scenario. The Germans won by a margin of one VP in the last round.

The Russians made the mistake of not forcing the Germans to move more earlier in the game, but closed the VP gap several times during the game and once took the lead by brewing up a tiger.

The game almost ended in a draw but in the last round, the Germans got one more T-34 and all heroic efforts by Russian tanks and infantry were not rewarded with success in that round.

The Russians need to negate the long range and superior firepower (especially given the Elite Tank Crews) by staying out of sight and shootig moving tanks with Op Fire, I guess.

KlausFritsch,

that's exactly what i hoped for when i designed that one a tense battle until the end.

thanks for the report

BJaffe01

Ive tried Prelude to breakout scenatio this morning and i dont see any chances to win as soviets.

Germans have way to much tanks so they can just rush for one of the victory hex. Thers no way that those 2 ZiS 76,2 AT Guns can stop 2 Tigers 2 Panthers and Panzer IV.

In my game Germans needed 3 round to get all victory hexes.

Alsoe scenario uses 8 Half-tracks and base game have only 6 ...

Any ideas how to balance this scenario ?

Zorak said:

Amen! Same thing here. We just played it back-to-back and by Turn #3 (before the Soviets get their ONE T-34/76 reinforcement), the Germans had gotten the bridge.

The two sides have the same composition of squads (the Germans get 2 Elites vs 1 Elite for the Soviets). 5 tanks for the Germans vs 2 ZiS guns for the soviets. 8 Half Tracks for the Germans. And the Germans only have to get ONE of the objectives by the end of turn 10?? Oh yeah, let's also give the Soviets Command Constraints (pay to remove a pinned token or pay 1 command), Lack of Tank Radios (no move or shoot and move unless you pay 1 command point). Sure, if you SURVIVE to Turn #5, you get to make one of your T-34/76 units range of 7/firepower of 11. But you won't survive that far.

Oh yeah, let's also force one of the ZiS guns to be placed on board 39. Makes the gun totally worthless on the first turn.

I don't see where the 4 hidden Soviet units are the "balancing" ingredient here. The Germans only have to race up with their half tracks to get the bridge. There are only 4 squads surrounding the bridge (that's all you're allowed to have on that board). By the end of Turn #2, the Panthers and Tigers are there, the half tracks have made it to the edge of town, have unloaded their personnel, and you're doomed (if you're the Soviets).

Forgot, throw Snow Squalls in there too! 50% of the time, you won't get to use that ZiS that you stick elsewhere because the LOS will only be 3.

The ONLY thing that the Soviets have going for them is the fact that there are no command points available to the Germans. None. None in their start zone, nothing until they make it across the board. And by then, they should have secured one of the objective tokens and won the game.

Fury of the Bear Scenarios are batting .000 so far. (#1, #2 and #4 all appear to be unbalanced).

Already know that there was a typo on the scenario (Ground Attack Air Support deck doesn't exist). Maybe the Soviets should have gotten some Anti Tank squads? maybe some armor to start with? SOMETHING?????

Well that's interesting plays of scenario #4. maybe the folks i test with are to conserveitive in their play. but i don't remember any plays of scenario 4 ending before turn 9. thanks for the info zorak and scammer i'll take a look at it.

BJaffe01

BJaffe01 said:

I see no reason for the Germans to hold back. There is but one weapon that the Soviets have (the ZiS not on board 39) that might hurt one of the 5 armor pieces. And even then, when it's exhausted, there's nothing to prevent the German advance. The half tracks moving at 7 will make the woods easily.

Perhaps your playtesting outfitted the woods with the hidden units? But even then, what defense are 2 hidden units against 7 half tracks, 8 squads and 5 pieces of armor (4 of which have heavy armor attributes)? There is simply nothing to hinder the German advance. Yes, a machine gun set in Op Fire at the edge of the woods is a nice thing to have. But remember too, the Soviet machine gun squads are weaker than their German counterparts. Only firing 3 against squads and 2 against armor.

No, I'd like to see how, as written, scenario #4 is even only SLIGHTLY balanced to the Germans favor.

Hi!

First: i haven't played that scenario yet, but if I understand correctly, the victory conditions state that germans have to control at least one VP at the end of the 10th round , so getting to the bridge at the end of the 3rd is not enough, the point is to hold on till 10th... And I think, that the weather condition (LOS 3 and move -1) favours soviets, plus they have 4 hidden squads which can move rather pretty freely being undetected as long as the snow op card is in play. And you can pretty mess up in german plans with only the presence of 4 hidden squads!

So I don't think this scenario is unbalanced, rather it demands from soviet player much more tactical mastery than from the germans. Well, as soon as we playtest this I post if my opinion is right or not.

greets!

Ive also tried Tank Fight at prokhorovka - i like big tank battles but this one is way too random for my taste. Soviets can get from 3 to 9 tanks as reinforcements. In my game they had only 4 of them and Germans won scenario 9 - 4 at round 5. I would prefer fixed number of reinforcements. Does any of you tried this scenario ? What are your results ?

poniek said:

The scenario states BY the end of Round 10. Not AT the end of Round 10. Again, a big difference in semantics. And therein lies the difference. We checked the other scenarios, to note consistency.

And I would contend that the LOS limits would favor the Germans. The Soviets can at least damage the incoming tank assault with the ZiS (mounted on the hill). With a LOS of only 3, the guns are neutered and the tanks can roll on in unencumbered.

As for the hidden units, to what end? Sure they can run around in the woods undetected until.....what, they pop out and try to hurt the Tiger I's or the Panthers that just rolled by? Now, if they had the Anti-Tank specialization token, I'd buy your argument. But the Half Tracks and Armor are simply going to roll on through until they see squads in buildings and things to shoot. Wait, it's too late then because the bridge has already been taken and the game is over as they have the objective BY round 10.

Hm, what do You mean by the end of r. 10? I mean till the end of 10th round; not before. Do I misunderstand something? And about hidden squads: you can put them in op fire mode in the woods, or on the bridge, this is enough to stop the first coming tank... for a while at least. Then You can use one AT gun to damege another one, and maybe weaken germans before the 3 T-34 arrive; well You need to be lucky a little, but it could be done.

'by the end of round 10' means they win if they take the hex before round 10. Big difference

BJaffe01 said:

My hat's off to you for the effort you're making!

BJaffe01 said:

Hi Bill

During the setup of scenario 6, Counterattack at Orel, I noticed that the set-up instructions prohibit the Germans from setting up in the entrenchment on the hill on map 31B. The set-up instructions say "Any of the hexes with trenches on map 31B". Is that intentional?

For my set-up, I ignored that, because this is the only sensible hex for the AT gun. Squads in trenches cannot operate AT guns and setting up both the gun and a squad in the open made not much sense to me.

KlausFritsch said:

Hello. Squads in trenches are entitled to operate AT-guns, as says the errata for Days of the Fox.

von Stichen said:

Squads in Entrenchments may operate AT guns. Squads in Trenches (introduced in FotB) may not, as per the new rules of the Furry Bear.

KlausFritsch said:

Personally, I think it should be able to set up AT guns in trenches with squads. These AT guns would then be unable to move, though. Well, that can always be covered by a scenario special rule.

poniek said:

Can't stick a hidden squad on the bridge (an objective marker). They're no longer hidden (due to the objective marker). Besides, the road allows a clear shot to the bridge, they're unhidden the minute a Half Track hits the road.

As for sticking hidden squads in the woods, that's fine. That King Tiger or Panther comes rolling by and you're gonna roll 4 dice against their 5 or 6 armor. And one of your hits is negated due to the heavy armor. Squads only have a range of 1 against armor, and thanks to the Tank Riders card, in conjunction with the 8 Half Tracks, all of the German squads are being transported to the front. Lastly, the setup puts half of the Soviets on a far map (although, protecting one of the objectives). So if the Germans are smart, and concentrate on the bridge, you're outgunned 2 to 1 in squads alone.

It just seems that there's something wrong with the scenario.

Scammer said:

From what you're describing, it certainly seems that way. Will still have to find out for myself.

Someone else wrote that the meat grinder is also unbalanced. This may be true, but another poster also suggested counter-strategies for the Russians. He said they shouldn't rush in but first weaken the German squads from far away with tank fire. It was also said that the germans can easily move up to tanks and attack them at short range hitting on 4+ and rolling double the number of dice, since the Elite formations op card is in play. However, here it would seem to me that you'll have to protect your tanks with squads surroubnding them so that at best those germans squads would be firing at your vehicles from long range. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: perhaps somone will still figure out a way the Russians can better deal with the Germans in this particular scenario as well.

Kingtiger said:

Hey, I'd love to see a Soviet strategy that had a snowballs chance! Scenarios don't have to be perfectly balanced, but for gods sake, at least make it playable for either side.

As for Meat Grinder, you've got 6 turns to get across the map and secure all 3 objective markers. So you can't be too slow. Also, on turn 3, 2 more Panthers and 2 more squads show up for the Germans. Right on top of one of the objective markers. So being slow and selective doesn't seem to be an option. You need to make judicious use of your limited armor, because the Germans out gun you there. And with LOS issues 50% of the time, you never know when you might be able to use the armor. Granted the Germans are limited LOS as well, and their armor and AT guns are hampered, but the Germans are in the defensive position. They don't HAVE to move. They can simply remain hunkered down, in op fire, waiting for the Soviets to come sauntering in.

I'm done with Meat Grinder and I'm done with Prelude to a Breakout. A pair of scenarios that just don't seem right. Unbalanced to the point where it produces an un-fun playing environment. They need tweaking and changing. I was anticipating FotB, it finally showed, and I've been disappointed thus far. that's all.

Scammer, what if the panther 5 were changed to panzer IIIs? Do you think that make it balanced, or do the elite formation card also have to go.