Bill101

I do have some other questions I have come across: In this scenario, Indochina (Owned by France) could be divided up into three possible nations. When this is done, will the Viet Minh tiles be swallowed up as well as the French ones since I list all possible tiles that are part of the country proper? Can I avoid this?

A French division is destroyed north of Metz, and we were tempted to enter the fortifications themselves, but prudence took hold and suggested we wait a little while longer. The French counterattack near Nancy is interesting, because look at the changed strategic situation which this has exacerbated the distance between the two French armies: And most of Alsace is now ours!

They can bluster all they like, but the smell wherever we go in France is pretty much the same, and we can't tell if it's the soldiers' wives or their cooking!

Nice painting! Von Werder is following up his victory at Strasbourg by marching on Belfort. Lead elements including a cavalry division capture Mulhouse this turn, so Napoleon had better get some forces into Alsace soon if he doesn't want to lose another important fortress. Further north, we have now well and truly crossed the Moselle! Only some French cavalry put up any resistance this turn, and as one would expect, they didn't stand up well to our Needle guns. We've also decided to liven things up a little at Metz, where the French garrison have been taunting us from the ramparts. So it's time to attack, and before the day is out we have driven one French division from the defences of Metz!

Hi Aryaman There is a 40% chance per turn once there is 1 Axis unit within 3,5 tiles of Leningrad. Bill

Hi The bonus points are added to your National Morale. This boosts your unit's morale slightly, and also helps out in the long run as if your National Morale falls to zero, then the country concerned will generally surrender. You will need to research technologies in order to be able to buy higher level units. There is a research tab on the right hand side. It costs MPPs to do so, and the research itself will take some turns, but once done you'll be able to upgrade your units and buy better ones too! I would also suggest checking out this thread as there is a lot of information that you'll probably find useful to help you get started: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=107356

Ok, it's time to start dealing with the enemy, so the first thing we do this turn is to hammer the French forces guarding the Moselle crossings. Two Garde Mobile units, and one regular Cavalry Division are destroyed in the operation. Take that Napoleon! A Garde Mobile unit at Marieulles just south of Metz proves more resilient, with the survivors still clinging to the village at the end of the day. The image will certainly make a nice painting after the war. Meanwhile, it's time for another grand move, as von Werder launches his forces in all out attack on Strasbourg! It is more successful than we could have hoped for, and now we can exploit our success here to move toward our next objective. Could our next objective be Belfort, an advance through the Vosges, or even a thrust north west to secure Nancy?

Thanks for taking the time to write this, and as Big Al said, we do appreciate the feedback.

Thanks Rankorian, and yes, the French handling of the campaign at the start was really bad. Their leadership in the shape of Bazaine, the Emperor and MacMahon, wasn't any good at the time. It was quite ineffectual, with Bazaine dithering, and MacMahon managed to get his army almost totally destroyed at the battle of Sedan. It is very hard to fully replicate this first stage of the war due to the benefit of hindsight. However, the French face tough choices which mean they have a certain inferiority right from the start, and if they take too many risks then a catastrophic defeat can be experienced. Their commanders are poor quality, and useless without reinforcing which is quite expensive to do. It's also much harder for the French to replace their casualties, which is why I am able to take more risks in this campaign. Most units Ivanov has battered have been reinforced or will soon be replaced. The French don't have this luxury. But France has a certain amount of staying power, and new forces will be raised with time, though none of them will ever be of the same quality as her starting units. I used books by four authors in researching this campaign, all of which were very useful, and in case you're tempted to study this war, here are the details: Michael Howard - The Franco-Prussian War Geoffrey Wawro - The Franco-Prussian War Douglas Fermer - Sedan 1870: The Eclipse of France Douglas Fermer - France at Bay 1870-1871 Quintin Barry - The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71: Volume 1: The Campaign Of Sedan. Helmuth Von Moltke And The Overthrow Of The Second Empire Quintin Barry - The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71: Volume 2: After Sedan. Helmuth Von Moltke And The Defeat Of The Government Of National Defence I enjoyed them all, and they are all somewhat different from each other. Barry's second volume covers in great detail the attempts by the new French Republic to raise new armies from scratch to break the siege of Paris. This aspect of the war has come to interest me more and more than the initial phase, as some of them did better than expected. Plus by this time lots of International volunteers were arriving in France to help them, the most notable being Garibaldi.

I'm glad you sorted out the localization.txt issue, and yes, sorry I forgot to answer your other question. You will need to use TERRITORY scripts, with the capital of the new nation being the first map position in the list of tiles the script will require. Essentially, every tile listed will form part of the new country when the script fires. It would be a good idea to look at some of the Territory scripts contained within the 1939 World at War campaign as a guide.

Hi Gustophus Every line in the localization file that relates to the Axis also has one nearby that relates to the Allies. So if you find the Axis ones, the relevant Allied one will generally be just underneath it. The localization.txt file to use is the one that is installed into the main game's folder, and it contains lots and lots of rows of text. On my installation it is in the following location, but yours may be different: C:\Program Files\Battlefront\Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict GOLD Copy that and paste it into your new campaign's folder (this will overwrite the one you already have in there, so best make a copy of that elsewhere first if you want to use any of the data in it). Then open it up and start changing Axis to Communist, Allies to French Union, etc. As you do this, it is best to delete all the rows where you haven't had to change anything, as otherwise the game will take longer to load. Hopefully this will work, and good luck with the campaign! Bill

Thanks for sharing that Kool Kat, and good to see you found some opponents. Happy gaming in the Pacific!

I can see that, but it doesn't look like a pocket in the screenshot as the deployment location is connected by rail to Kursk which appears to be connected to the Soviet hinterland. Of course, I cannot see more than that in the screenshot, but if that is the case then that doesn't appear to be the same as units being deployed in cut-off pockets such as Soviets in the Caucasus.

First thing to do this turn is to replace the mediocre von Steinmetz with a much better commander: August von Goeben! Goeben's name should be familiar from WWI, where the Cruiser named after him played a pivotal role in bringing the Ottoman Empire into the war. Von Goeben takes over command of our forces near Metz, and his appointment comes at a time when we are intending to increase our pressure on the enemy here. In the meantime, things are hotting up to the south of Metz as Friedrich Karl batters the Garde Mobile defending Dieulouard, while the Crown Prince continues to advance in support. The French line seems very weak in between Metz and Nancy, so will we go for Nancy or shall we reinforce our crossing of the Moselle and outflank Metz from the west?

Hi Eisenhammer I've just been looking further into this, and all the War Entry scripts I mentioned are actually set to fire ONLY if the relevant countries have a pro-Allied political leaning at the relevant time. However, I did locate another script which I think must have been the one that caused Mexico to enter the war, which is triggered by the location of Axis naval units in the Gulf of Mexico from 1942 onwards when the USA is in the war. So this is the only one that needs to be switched off if you want a chance to get Mexico into the war on the Axis side - provided you invest heavily in diplomacy significantly before 1942, because if Mexico still favors the Allies in 1942 then they will enter the war on their side. Bill

Just to explain to those new to the series, Industrial Centers were introduced to avoid situations where, for example, the Axis would take Stalingrad and by doing so they could then guarantee conquering the Caucasus because no new units could be deployed there. This was a frustrating situation for Allied players, and it certainly didn't feel right to not be allowed to build any new units in this area. This does have merit, however it could be frustrating if we take a situation where your capital is bombed, reducing its supply down below 10, and you can't then deploy that Tank Unit or Army that you'd saved up your MPPs for to purchase. Especially during a really tough fight around crucial areas like your capital. That said, there may be a variant of this that could work. However, are we getting into the realms of adding complexity to the game that will reduce its fun aspects? Generally, it isn't the best idea to raise new Tank units in a cut off pocket, and in competitive multiplayer it will probably be rare to see such units raised there. But should we prevent it being possible? If we were to do so, then the Axis could virtually guarantee that no threat will come from a cut off Caucasus, and could then concentrate strong defensive forces to their east/north east, while completing their conquest of the Caucasus. It is overall more realistic, but it reduces the strategic potential and would probably come to be a standard Axis move in the campaign. That isn't necessarily a good thing, as the game is more fun if your opponent's moves aren't too predictable. I will be interested to hear a wide range of opinions on this, as introducing any new features here would result in a fundamental change to some aspects of the game.

Essentially, the connection doesn't have to be via rail for the deployment of new units. I'm not sure that this is necessarily wrong, as new units can be raised in the areas unconnected by rail to the Capitals or Industrial Centers, but their supply will be low and they will take time to reach a higher supply area, as they will have to march there. This to my mind represents the raising of forces in less economically developed areas, that won't be as effective as those raised in higher economic areas until they have been moved to those. Of course, they can be used to defend the less economically developed areas, but given the supply constraints (their resources being at a maximum of 5) their combat potential is lower.

Hi Barry Yes, unlicensing the game on your laptop should allow you to install and license the game on your PC. Here's a link to the section on the Knowledgebase: http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=44&nav=0,34 And here are the instructions on unlicensing: http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=47&nav=0,34 Bill

Hi Duke of York Just looking at your screenshot and there are two Industrial Centers still owned by China, Sian and Lanchow, which therefore allow units to be deployed elsewhere. The purpose of an Industrial Center is to both allow for full capacity production and supply in areas only linked to it, but also for the production of new units. Just to clarify, if a resource is cut off from both the capital and all Industrial Centers, then no units should be able to be deployed there from the Purchase Queue.

The French are continuing their retreat, and given the fiery nature of their counterattack at Pont-A-Mousson, it is time for the Crown Prince to come to the aid of Friedrich Karl. Our forces are on the move! In the meantime, we destroyed the French 5th Cavalry Division that had attacked our artillery, and further to the south east, Strasbourg is now fully surrounded by von Werder's army. We may even launch an attack on the city shortly. So far we've been able to replace most of our losses and bring our units back up to strength, so despite the stiff actions we've been fighting, our armies are in better shape than the enemy's.

That's great, thanks very much Amadeus for writing it and also for sharing it with us here!

Is this something the AI is doing, or something you are able to do? Only I would imagine that the units you mention as being deployed in isolated areas are arriving by script, because without having a connection to a Capital or Industrial Center such deployments from the Purchase screen aren't possible.

Hi Eisenhammer There are a number of War Entry scripts that bring countries into the war on their historical dates, and what's happened here is that the script has triggered Mexico into joining the Allies. I would suggest switching these scripts off before starting a new game if you would like to have an opportunity to bring these countries into the war on a different side to the one they fought on. Bill

Hi JJ Denver There are a whole range of scripts relating to declarations of war which will affect other neutral powers, including the USA and USSR. So every act of aggression needs to be considered before its made because the diplomatic consequences will if made by the Axis, be likely to bring in the USA and USSR into the war sooner, while if made by the Allies, drive the USA and others away from your side. Other minor neutrals can also be influenced by acts of aggression, and the quickest way to see them before trying out an attack in a real game would be to fire up a new game in Hotseat and just carry out the specific Declaration of War you are contemplating - though bear in mind that most scripts have variable parameters for their diplomatic effects.

Pont-a-Mousson is occupied by the 24th (Royal Saxon) Division, and the Garde Mobile nearby are now isolated so they will probably have to withdraw, giving us the opportunity to occupy more of the Moselle's west bank. The French fortress of Phalsbourg has been taken by storm! Despite the casualties, securing it clears up any doubt about who is boss in this region. The bombardment of Strasbourg continues, and reinforcements are on their way to join our armies so as to replenish our losses ready for the next stage of this campaign.