Bill101

It's not possible I'm afraid without significant engine changes. But some sort of technology transfer with an MPP cost is an idea for us to consider for the future.

Hi akmatov Yes, these are all included, at least in the Breakthrough version. Some, but not all, were included in the base game too. The British blockade will reduce Germany's National Morale, and the more ships involved, the more effect it will have. If Romania enters the war on the side of the Entente, then Austria-Hungary will lose 50 National Morale points a turn, representing the loss of food imports. The same applies to Holland in relation to Germany. As to the Ukrainian grain, Germany gains both National Morale points and MPPs when Ukraine is independent AND friendly to the Central Powers. This requires keeping four German units within 5 tiles of Warsaw as their presence will hinder Bolsheviks or others from taking power in the Ukraine - and stopping the grain exports to Germany. The Ukrainian grain is explained on pages 61-62 of the 1914 Call to Arms Strategy Guide, Breakthrough Edition. This can be found in the Manuals folder. Romania will provide Germany with grain if the Treaty of Bucharest is signed, and this is explained on page 63. There are also images of the Pop Ups that appear in the game relating to these subjects on pages 68 onwards. Bill

True, and we decided to incorporate it with shell production as after 1915, its use was mainly as an artillery weapon, fired by shells. Having it released from cannisters as it was in the 1915 battles on the western front wasn't going to be easy to represent, so we chose to include it with improvements in artillery, hence the research tech of Gas/Shell Production.

Hi akmatov The research gains aren't shared and all majors must invest themselves to gain advances. This way the Germans might be well ahead of their allies - at least overall, as sometimes the Austro-Hungarians might advance quickly, depending on investments.

Of course, Hubert is right as I was forgetting that it's not the lack of rail connections that reduces a resource from 5 to 3, but the lack of a connection with friendly territory that is at the higher supply value.

WMDs and Atomic Bombs aren't represented as such, but in the Graphs section that is contained within the same area where you've been looking at the Loss Table, you can see the MPP cost value of casualties. Every MPP worth of casualties will impact to the same value on the National Morale of the Major suffering those casualties, so inflicting losses will help bring them to their knees.

This is intentional as they will mobilize to a war footing only when the Ottomans join the war - in fact normally a turn later. Forces will then deploy in these areas that can be used for a campaign in Palestine or Egypt.

Hi Ashes Fall National Morale will have some moderate impact on the unit morale and capabilities, as per the chart below: The Effect of National Morale on Unit Morale National Morale 0 - 40% -> unit.morale = unit.morale * 85% National Morale 41 - 75% -> unit.morale = unit.morale * 90% National Morale 76 - 90 % -> unit.morale = unit.morale * 95% National Morale 110% or higher -> unit.morale = unit.morale * 110% So in the game you're playing, Soviet unit morale will be reduced to 90% of what it would have been otherwise, while the German unit morale will only be reduced to 95% of what it would have been. Subtle differences, but with differences in HQ ratings (which are important factors) and (if applicable) supply, then those would explain why your units are performing better. Especially if they are on average more experienced. As to your question about supply, I agree with you. This wouldn't be the case if the supply settings have been changed from the default (as this is editable) but in the standard campaigns (and I've just checked 1941 Barbarossa) resource supply is calculated based on railway connections, so it should in normal circumstances drop from 5 to 3 as you've described. Can you post a screenshot of the situation so we can take a closer look? Bill

Hi Mook881 That is correct, you will be in control of all the Allies. In terms of which one to buy, one thing to bear in mind is whether or not your fictional wars will be fought out more like WWI (i.e. with trench lines) or like WWII with more mobile warfare. The reason being that the WWI games use an engine with slightly different settings, so choosing the right editor will be important - and the Assault on Democracy expansion to Strategic Command Global Conflict is our most up to date WWII editor/game we produce. Bill

Hi akmatov Action Points do equal Movement Points, though some will generally be used up if the unit attacks before it moves. So a unit that attacks then moves, cannot usually move as far as a unit that just moves. Land units have attack values against air and naval units so that if they attack the former on land, or the latter in port, then they can inflict damage on them. That's right. As to rivers, the attacker suffers a penalty when attacking over a river, reducing their combat power and making rivers into good defensive positions - as long as they aren't outflanked.

Hi Whiterider There is a work around method as described here: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=91324&highlight=hotseat

Hi Sharkman There are scripts in place (I'm looking at Global Conflict Gold) to move the USA, for example, 15-20% towards the Axis if the Allies declare war on the Dutch East Indies. However, looking at the scripts, the oil embargo imposed by the USA on Japan from the summer of 1941 will occur regardless, and this does move the USA towards the Allies by a small amount every turn (1-2% until December 1941, 4-6% thereafter). Some fine tuning may be possible, such as by increasing the penalties for a Soviet DOW on Japan, and for the Allies' aggression against the Dutch East Indies. We'll also have to think of a method to prevent the oil embargo being imposed in such circumstances, so thanks for pointing this out. Unusual circumstances as they are, you are right to think that the USA wouldn't be so keen to enter the war with all of this going on.

Hi Isnogud The occupier will be the country whose unit has taken the resource, just as long as the enemy country the resource originally belonged to hasn't surrendered. So an Italian unit moving into a Soviet resource originally captured by the Germans will mean that Italy now occupies the resource and gains any MPPs from it that it might generate. However, if the USSR has surrendered then all resources will belong to whoever the USSR surrendered to. Does this help explain the Japanese situation you've mentioned? Bill

Hi Honch I find WWI totally fascinating so I think that should answer your question! Bill

Interesting point Ancient Demon! One thing that could be done, would be to make the actual Partisan trigger locations vary from game to game, so that they cannot be predicted before the revolt occurs. The Ottomans may therefore get lucky with their dispositions, or they may be surprised by the Partisan locations when they appear. The only thing about this is that it's a move away from the approach we've adopted with Partisans for some years - that the occupier can see where they will trigger. This was because in SC1, and the early years of SC2, players had no way of telling where partisans would deploy, apart from learning from experience and remembering/taking notes for future games. I have in recent months wondered whether we've swung that a little far, and that somewhere like Arabia could be a good location for trying out more variable Partisan trigger locations. They would only vary from game to game, rather than during the game, and wouldn't be shown to the Ottoman player until the revolt is about to launch. What I'm therefore proposing to do, is to have it so that outside of Medina and Hail, and also not including when the revolt spreads to Syria, the locations of the Arab revolt can vary.

Amazing photos, are they from a film?

Yes, it was as a result of the armistice between Finland and the USSR in September 1944. Finland had to cede some territory to the USSR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Armistice

Hi Mike Good post, and here are a few off the cuff suggestions for things that are possible with the engine. The disruption caused by the loss of the oilfields could be to implement Supply scripts affecting all Soviet Industrial Centers, Capitals, and Primary Supply Centers when they fall. Not so much a long term effect but at least to cause some temporary disruption. The penalties for having Moscow fall could be increased with the use of a National Morale bonus to Germany, a penalty to the USSR, coupled perhaps with a Strength script to reduce Soviet morale temporarily. Again, Supply scripts like in the above could be used too to reduce Soviet supply overall temporarily to reflect the disruption caused by the fall of Moscow. For the tonnage war, this is a bit harder but scripts could be used for the presence of naval units to trigger National Morale losses for the target nation, e.g. the UK. Bill

Hi Mike Good post, and here are a few off the cuff suggestions for things that are possible with the engine. The disruption caused by the loss of the oilfields could be to implement Supply scripts affecting all Soviet Industrial Centers, Capitals, and Primary Supply Centers when they fall. Not so much a long term effect but at least to cause some temporary disruption. The penalties for having Moscow fall could be increased with the use of a National Morale bonus to Germany, a penalty to the USSR, coupled perhaps with a Strength script to reduce Soviet morale temporarily. Again, Supply scripts like in the above could be used too to reduce Soviet supply overall temporarily to reflect the disruption caused by the fall of Moscow. For the tonnage war, this is a bit harder but scripts could be used for the presence of naval units to trigger National Morale losses for the target nation, e.g. the UK. Bill

You're quite right, and I think I can fix that. Thanks!

I'm afraid not, this is a bug that we should have fixed shortly. Fortunately as this AAR game is using a beta patch that is currently under testing, we have time to get it fixed for the release. It's a shame for the Entente as it was a good move to land in southern Turkey. The British long considered just such an operation during the war, but I think Gallipoli contributed to putting them off trying it.

That's a valid question Sharkman and I think it would be interesting to consider the consequences if Italy doesn't immediately enter the war. I wonder, would the Allies then find themselves in some circumstances having to declare war on Italy? There are ramifications if countries have to declare war, which would need to be considered, due to the upset it would cause the USA, whereas the way we make Italy enter the war at the moment is handled differently and can avoid that. But first, the reasons why it's set that way are: a) because Mussolini didn't follow what Hitler wanted, e.g. the attack on Greece, so this represents the lack of control that Germany had over him. to also save players from having to click on the war map and declare war all round. We have experimented with players having to do this at times, especially in the earlier iterations of WWI, and it did cause a fair amount of confusion. I see what you mean about pulling the garrisons from the Med. Do you think that is a gamey tactic to trigger Italy to enter the war while France is still relatively capable?

Ancient Demon, luckily for me, this time it's not me getting a hammering here! Hyazinth von Strachwitz who also posts here is playing this against the Entente AI. I see what you mean about Ottoman supply levels in Syria and Palestine, and will have to check with him to see if he can shed any light on it.

The low NM will certainly have a moderate effect on units' fighting ability, so it won't be good to let it get that low.

Hi Watch the Kaiser storm to victory in Hyazinth von Strachwitz's latest After Action Report playing our 1914 Call to Arms campaign! It's in German but due to the numerous pictures the details are fairly easy to understand if you don't speak German. You can follow the action here: http://www.si-games.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26282 Bill