I have a thing for DB - most of my TS20xx routes were German. Currently I have the default Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen and the TSW1 default Main-Spessart Bahn via 'preservation.' What should I add to these first? Munchen-Augsburg sounds nice overall but I understand it's buggy. (Oh- what are my personal play preferences? Not crazy about S-Bahn and other commuter rail. Love freight).
Ruhr - Sieg nord for sure. It's one of the best routes and the only German route with some proper freight. Both loco dlc for it are great too, especially the br 363 shunter which adds lost of life to the sidings.
If you like freight then I'd probably recommend Ruhr-Sieg Nord also ,it's a very nice route with a lot of freight, especially if you also get the DB BR 155 or DB BR 363 (I'd highly recommend both), which really makes the route feel alive. With regards to Munchen-Augsburg, I don't think people say it is buggy at all, its main problem is there are performance issues which are primarily on the last gen consoles in the Munchen area, if you are playing on a reasonably good PC you will have no problem with it. I'd say its probably the best german route so far - and you have main spessart bahn so you would about 35 extra services on timetable mode with the Dostos as well as some extra freight services too (I think about 10-15 freight services). It also has passenger information boards which are very nice and a lot more timetable ICE runs than Koln-Aachen. However if you prefer freight I think Ruhr-Sieg Nord is what you'd enjoy most.
I agree. Besides MSB (which you own, solicitr), RSN is the best route for German freight at the moment. I would recommend purchasing the Br 155 loco add-on with the route. It is easily my favourite loco to drive in TSW. If you're into shunting/switching, the Br 363 is a lovely loco for that and worth every penny if you ask me. Exactly. With both DLC, it really feels more like an actual route. I'd like to add that we'll get a Br 232 for RSN in the near-ish future developed by TSG. A lovely six-axle diesel-electric loco mainly used for freight today.
I like all german routes due to it´s signalling and also their industrial areas. Rhein-Ruhr Osten is my favourite so far as it integrates many of them and also has some exotic signalling cases such as the stop boards. Cheers
RSN is a good choice. RRO is very nice, but in your case MSB will take advantage of having RSN as well and RRO will benefit from both MSB and RSN. RSN also has two awesome loco DLC: BR155 and BR363
When You buy Ruhr-Sieg Nord (so called Preserved Collection) expect broken loco sounds. Compared to TSW 2020 version many sounds are missing - mostly bogie rolling (in cab), engine cooling systems, rail joint sounds and some others. This affects driving experience heavily. There is another problem - awful distance views. Even Microsoft Train Simulator had a special feature called 'distant mountain view'. Everything close to track looks pretty good in TSW 2 but long distance view is horrible. And that was already a case with Train Simulator 20xx. Thanks to god those areas You need to work with BR 363 shunter look pretty okay. Manual junction levers don't have any sound.
Yeah, the RSN locos have pretty bad sound, as well as the BR155 in my experience. Might want to wait until they finally fixed it.
I just bought MSB and RSN, I can't believe how much they add to SKA, it makes it finally come alive. I was playing SKA at the weekend and it gets old pretty fast - the ICE is very one dimensional and the S-Bahn is a bit more engaging but there is hardly anything else moving on the route. Now I have four more items including 3 more locos, freight trains and Dostos and more services. I would recommend to DTG to include MSB in the base game of TSW2 when it gets refreshed as currently anyone buying TSW2 without owning anything prior to that gets a fairly lifeless first impression with SKA. I understand HMA also gets a shot in the arm from these two DLC so if you don't have them it is almost a must-have to enjoy the newer German routes.
Thanks, guys. I followed your advice and bought RSN and the 155, to get in before the end of the Steam sale even if I have months of unplayed TSW content now. However, as a shunter instead of the 363 I got the 204, to take advantage of the previously unused yards and industrial sites in MSB.
It is very nice to use these yards. And the Br 204 has one rather long and engaging scenario that you'll enjoy. For future reference: The Br 363 adds around 8 freight services to the Br 182.2 and Br 155 which include stopping at yards and dropping of wagons and a lot of wrong line operations (for all 3 locos). To me, these services are a lot more interesting than just straight A to B, but that's just preference. If you end up enjoying RSN, the Br 363 is almost worth it just for those services alone.
