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Thanks hendriks65. Glad you're having fun. I set France to have a 50-50 entry chance, since historically they hesitated over Poland if only a few days. I had not considered the England-only path to keep France neutral, so I could add some French mobilization scripting similar to USSR and USA increases if England is invaded. There are some interesting new strategies to consider if France remains neutral, but the jury's out on how effective they are? Aircraft distances too much?? Same scale as the board game. Strategic bombers have some extra reach beyond escort range, as they should. So I don't understand the comment. For armor, sure you can max out and blitz early, but how far can you go without your infantry support?? Again, interesting strategy choices to consider!

All countries should try to invest in IT and PT. I've kept all those increases the same, 5%, with some countries like Germany which had 50% growth rate being able to go to L5 and Italy which had 20% only being able to go to L2. It's not perfect but maintains the old sense of growth rates as best as possible. USSR and USA get some additional scripted economic growth, gaining new resources on certain later years. The reason I did this was to ensure relatively historical Allied economic growth without relying too much on the randomness of IT and PT research with larger increases, like up to 25%. If the Allies got these tech advances too fast or too slow, it really skewed the game. Now the research provides modest variation without the adverse effects. You'll still notice some Allied advantage if they get rapid advances and vice versa, so games will remain interesting and unpredictable.

All of this is actually explained in quite some detail in the 15-page pdf "A3R Design Notes" included in the download(s). Basically the original unit factors are used where a 1-3 infantry with combat factor "1" and movement factor "3" has attack/defense factors of "1" and AP of "3". The 3-3 infantry has attack/defense of "3", thus relatively more effective than the 1-3. The visuals help show the strong units versus weak units, adjusted by the strength value of course. Ah, nostalgia! These are four separate campaigns, starting in 1939, 1941, 1942 and 1944. All based on the four original board game scenarios. I know many players don't bother with anything but the whole shebang, but sometimes the later year historical situations offer their own challenges. I previously had only the 39 and 41 campaigns for the PDE version, but once I got everything up to speed in this GC version it wasn't difficult to add the other two. Sorry no. Frankly I prefer the ETO and I'm just not into the PTO and global campaigns. Others are welcome to take up the torch and create a Rising Sun adaptation. I would actually like to spend some more time playing my mod rather than making it. That was my whole selfish motivation all these years; I'm just sharing my toy with y'all for free!

OK all the campaigns seem to be available now in the Battlefront Repository. I'll monitor here for comments and suggestions. DesertDave and I are into a pbem game to have some fun and assess the head-to-head play balance. Other game reports are welcome. I'll probably make an update in several weeks as necessary depending on how things go and other feedback. Enjoy!

The screenshots I provided were from a hands-off AI-vs-AI game, meaning Axis AI versus Allied AI from 1939 to 1945. That's not to show how brilliant the AI is, but it is fully capable and will provide challenging gameplay for both sides throughout the war. As shown in the example game, the default results were fairly historical. On higher difficulty settings the AI is tougher and may pursue alternative strategies: Sealion, Spain, Turkey, 1943 D-Day, etc. Let me just say that even though I scripted this myself and generally "know" what to expect, the game still surprises me every time and I cannot afford to be complacent.

I've uploaded the 1939 campaign and it's pending Battlefront review. Once it's official and I verify it's working OK, I'll then upload the other three campaigns.

Combat Target Values (Data), all the individual combat and movement data for each unit type and each country. This is a PITA to redo.

Conversion from PDE to GC takes some effort but is certainly doable. From my A3R version notes:

Looks like Moon opened a Global Conflict section in the repository yesterday so I'll upload my A3R campaigns later today. Patience fellas! Enjoy Global Conflict in the meantime.

The AI-vs-AI feature has been around since Patton Drives East. At the initial Main Menu screen before selecting New Game, you can use the F-keys: F1 - DEBUGSAVE, to save every game turn for later review F2 - DEBUGLOGS, to generate log files for decisions, diplomacy, planning, research, and weather for review F3 - DEBUGANIMATION, to skip over the animated movements F4 - DEBUGAI, to substitute the AI for the human player There is a also new F5 key in Global Conflict for generating a summary log file of activity. For example, in the playtest game I ran: I just cannot say enough how useful these features are for running games over and over to help find and fix issues. Despite the hundreds of games I've run in AI-versus-AI mode or the many games I've played myself against the computer opponent, I make no guarantee that I have found and fixed everything! LOL.

For those who are interested, here are the complete Version Notes:

Spring, 1945. Gotterdammerung for the Third Reich. Allies are closing in on Berlin from both directions. Germany continues to hold Budapest and southern Germany. Germany will surrender unconditionally to the Allies in Jul 45, when Red Army troops finally take Berlin.

Summer, 1944. The Red Army summer offensive of 1944 is in full swing, pushing the Germans back. USSR has retaken Smolensk, triggering a reduction in Lend Lease and Murmansk Convoy economic aid. The western Allies will now retain more of their MPPs to continue their own offensives into Germany.

Summer, 1944. Allies launch D-Day invasion of France in Jun, 44. Paris will be liberated in Aug 44 and Vichy France will surrender.

Summer, 1943. USA has invaded Sicily and is preparing to invade Italy. Italy will surrender unconditionally to the Allies in Aug 43 once USA has units on the mainland within range of Rome. Germany already has garrisons in northern Italy and is prepared to occupy Rome and Albania.

Summer, 1943. Despite the lackluster summer offensive of 1942, Germany held the initiative and has managed to push deep into the Caucasus up to the gates of Grozny and Astrakhan. USSR prepares to turn the tide.

Winter, 1942. In the south, USSR continues to hold Kharkov and Rostov against the Axis summer offensives of 1942. In North Africa, Axis fails to make much headway against Egypt and the Middle East. UK has managed to push back and take Tobruk.

Winter, 1942. Germany's 1942 Fall Blau offensive in Russia seems to have been focused in the north and towards Moscow.

Winter, 1941. Fairly balanced situation in Egypt. Germany has committed some combat power to North Africa but Rommel did not deploy. Usually a German Army Group HQ is sent to Libya, but sometimes not.

Winter, 1941. Axis advance into Russia is proving sluggish. USSR continues to hold Smolensk in the north and Dnepropetrovsk in the south. Russian Winter and Siberian Transfer troops will help hold the line for a while.

Spring, 1940. Same situation with the alternate 3D graphics now provided for players who prefer them.

Spring, 1940. Situation following Fall Gelb invasion of the Low Countries in Spring 1940. Germans would occupy Paris in Aug 40 and France holds out until the following month.

OK, I'm ready to open up about my latest A3R mod. Desert Dave has been very helpful with playtesting and fine-tuning this beast over the past few months. I believe the mod is playing very well now and should provide players with interesting and challenging games. So, what's new in this Strategic Command - WWII Global Conflict version for Advanced Third Reich? - Now includes all four scenarios (1939, 1941, 1942, and 1944) - Updated military counters with classic Third Reich AF-MF for better visuals - Updated 3D icons for players who prefer the 3D visuals - Revised force pools to use the anti-tank slot for Italian and Russian 2-3 infantry, British 2-5 armor, and new variant units - Adjustments to movement and combat parameters for improved game play - Adjustments to economics to provide more Axis advantage in early years, with increasing Allied advantage in later years - Reduced Diplomacy costs and generally reduced chances of variant events, making Diplomacy more interesting - Revised AI scripting for generally improved computer opponent performance - Added more variants such as French 3-3 infantry, Free French, German 2-6 armor, and new Army Group HQs I'll provide some comments and screenshots for a playtest game completed last night. This was for a hands-off AI-vs-AI game on default difficulty settings, which actually played out pretty historically without any major surprises. (Don't be too disappointed; there ARE surprises in every game.) UK and Italy adopted naval strategies, USA adopted a land strategy. France entered the war over Poland, which held out until Oct 39. Denmark surrenders in Jan 40. Luxembourg and Netherlands in Apr 40, plus a pro-Axis coup in Norway. Belgium in May 40. Italy entered war in Jun 40. France held out until Sep 40. Yugoslavia in Apr 41. Germany launches Barbarossa in June 41. Greece in Nov 41. USA conquers Morocco and Algeria in Dec 42, Tunisia in May 43. Italy surrenders in Aug 43. Vichy France in Aug 44. Finland in Dec 44. Romania in Apr 45. Germany surrenders in Jul 45. In diplomacy, Turkey was up to 78% allied influence at game's end, almost close enough to enter the war against Axis. Some screenshots to follow. I'll be wrapping up the scenario packages for posting at the Battlefront repository.

Good ideas. I like the evasion percentages. For the intercepts, rather than code changes perhaps suface feet modes like subs have could be considered. Instead of Hunt/Silent they could be Combat/Cruise, with pros/cons. For the bloody engagements, I agree but these can also be offset with lower CTV values. The fundamental challenge is the abstract nature of naval movements/combat, which many games resolve with sea zones or off-board boxes. Those can be more historically accurate in many ways but just don't provide an operational feel for moving and engaging individual ships. Having played both, I kinda prefer the SC2 hands-on feel.

In the new Global Conflict game, the AI will have a spotting advantage at higher difficulty settings. That's not the case with WAW and other current games. There may also be Intelligence tech in play, providing the AI some additional spotting. There is some AI logic in there to help sub hunting, and since PDE I believe all players see the sub raiding icons to know generally where subs are hitting. It does make for some exciting encounters. As for scripted events, players can always open up these script files and review for themselves what the AI is likely to be doing. You could also try playing some AI-AI games with the "F" keys (PDE and later versions) to help review what happens during a game.