Bill101

Hi The game was great fun and I thought I'd post a few pictures here: The situation at the start The 15th Scottish and 47th London Territorial divisions go over the top! Our London Territorials advancing on Loos, with some units bypassing the town to the rear

The enemy will get to see a '?' showing their possible location, and come out and hunt them down, plus the raiding ships lose supply as they raid.

Four new Red Army units deployed this turn, and we have four more Army Corps and one Artillery unit due to arrive in the next few turns. We are now upgrading our infantry and artillery, and when these enter battle we will either drive the White forces from Moscow, or die in the attempt. There is much skirmishing going on at present as both sides jockey for position, and it will be interesting to see if the Whites can press their advantage, or if our new and improved units can take it away from them. One danger is that Poland is steadily turning her gaze eastwards, with her greedy eyes focused on Minsk. Having to face Piłsudski and the Whites may well prove the ultimate challenge! It hasn’t helped that Comrade Lenin has been suffering from a bad cold, yet his workload prevents him from retiring to his bed to rest. But he will continue the fight regardless!

Thanks for posting this Sapare, you make some good points, some of which we will certainly be addressing in the first patch, and a few more that I'll look at and report back on in the next few days.

Hi Panzer There is a Manuals folder that comes with the game, and in that you'll find a guide to 1939 Storm over Europe which includes information on how to avoid upsetting Stalin too soon. Here is the info from it: Axis units required on the Soviet Frontier After conquering Poland, the Axis will need to maintain garrisons in both Konigsberg and Warsaw to discourage Stalin from strengthening his relations with the Allies. In addition to their units in Warsaw and Konigsberg, from January 1941 the Axis will need to deploy two more units in the east. · If Germany honored the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, then these will need to be stationed in the vicinity of Tilsit and Siedlice. · If Germany didn’t honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then these will need to be stationed in the vicinity of Tilsit and Wilno. In addition to the above, if Germany annexes Lithuania then another unit will have to be stationed at Siauliai. Failure to do so will lead to the USSR increasing its leaning towards the Allies. Having too many units in the east will also lead to increased Soviet mobilization. · If Germany honored the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then having six or more units near Tilsit or eight or more near Siedlice will cause the USSR to swing towards the Allies. · If Germany didn’t honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then having six or more units near Tilsit or eight or more near Wilno will cause the USSR to swing towards the Allies. · If Germany annexes Lithuania then having six or more near Siauliai would also trigger USSR mobilization. In or adjacent to the towns mentioned should do.

Good point and I'm going to introduce a couple of things for the Dutch and Romanians to reflect their increased preparedness for an invasion as the war progresses.

1939 Storm over Europe is on my list to upgrade, as I have been asked to do that by quite a few people. As to the others, if there is enough demand for them to be upgraded then I'll happily make the time.

Stalin has noted your name on his list...

White forces have marched into Moscow a turn too early!! :eek: For we are only now starting to deploy large numbers of new Red Army units, with more to come shortly. We have just developed improved Infantry Weapons, and the Whites have just been struck by another uprising in their rear to the south of Moscow. Can we retake the capital? That is going to be difficult, but we will have a go and let the forces of history decide whether the world is yet ripe for a proletarian revolution.

The enemy have failed to secure their rear! We have two groups of Bolshevik partisans roaming behind their lines, ensuring that their food and ammunition reserves will remain low for some time to come: Our Horse Army launch further attacks, smashing both the Kuban Cossacks and their supporting artillery. More reserves are arriving and we send some Armored Trains into action near Moscow. In the next month we will have a mass of new units deploying, including more artillery, and we look forward to seeing how this ends up!

Yes, thanks for the AAR, it's always great to follow your action!

Yes, it's not far to go home, though as a club member I'll have to help set up the show and take it all down again at the end. But the show funds our club throughout the year, so it's all worth it - and great fun playing at it too! Here are some pics from last year's show: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4186.0.html I'm not in them, but I'll be easy to find by just asking a club member where the Battle of Loos game is.

Hi The differences between a Main and Mini-Campaign are first and foremost the size and scale, as the Main campaigns tend to last longer, be more likely to involve diplomacy and research, and are generally what we would think of as the package's flagships. The Mini-Campaigns are therefore less likely to take as long to play, often use much smaller maps, and will tend to focus more on just one battle rather than the whole war. The bonus WWII campaign, 1939 Storm over Europe, runs on the base game engine, but comes with a patch. It will be best after purchase to ensure that the base game is patched up to v1.06 as then you'll get all the improvements relating to the base game and 1939 Storm over Europe. That said, I am hoping to update 1939 Storm over Europe for the Breakthrough engine, as the new supply rules and other improvements will make it a lot better. Hopefully later this month! Bill

Not a warning as such, but you would be able to see it by going into the Advanced -> Scripts area yourself when you are sent the turn, and it can only be done when starting a multiplayer game, not later on.

Yes, they can happen in the game.

The Battle for Moscow is really hotting up now. Budyonny’s Horse Army and other units are going into action, launching hit and run attacks and inflicting damage on a number of White formations. More Red Army units are arriving all the time, and there are plenty more soon to complete their formation and deploy for battle. Our strategy has been to draw the Whites north towards Moscow, where they are far from home and low on supply, in order to fight a decisive battle there. If defeated, and defeated they surely must be, the Whites will be broken and forced to concede that they have lost the war.

Hi Sapare This is an oversight and I can fix that, and I'm glad you've mentioned it. Good point, I can work on this. This is a bit trickier, as one just cannot predict with any certainty which Entente Majors will or won't be still in the war when Austria-Hungary collapses, nor where Entente units might be. That's why with regards to the Ottomans, the Decision is a British one, because they are more likely to be still in the war than Russia later in the game. Another factor is that self-determination of the nations formerly part of Austria-Hungary, and also of Poland, was a major part of President Wilson's 14 points. So to say no to allowing them to form runs counter to US policy at the time. Obviously we cannot guarantee that the USA will be in the war when Austria-Hungary collapses, but this just adds to the complication. One thing I have wondered is whether to just make the new nations automatically join the Entente, thus enabling Entente forces to march through their territories into southern and eastern Germany. This is a much simpler solution, and removes the need for an Entente decision. Thoughts?

Yes, when you start a game, click on Advanced and then Scripts. A list of all the scripts comes up, sorted by type, and the ones you don't want to apply can be deselected. Make sure you have your opponent's agreement in a multiplayer game of course!

I've been thinking some more about this one today, and it would make sense for balance in a multiplayer game to disable the scripts whereby the USA gets annoyed with the British for imposing the blockade on Germany. Although this wouldn't be historical, I think this would be fair as that way the UK will get more aid from the USA even if the latter doesn't enter the war, and those extra MPPs can be used to assist either France or Russia in their struggles. For AI games, keep the scripts in there as that way the Entente get a tough and challenging fight!

Hi On Saturday 17th November I'll be at Warfare 2012, a UK wargaming convention held in Reading, Berkshire, taking part in a public demonstration game. The show is held at the Rivermead Sports Complex, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ. More details here: http://www.wargamesassociationreading.co.uk/ I'll be commanding the British forces, refighting the British attack at the Battle of Loos on the 25th September 1915, in a tabletop re-fight of the events of that day. Our game will cover the southern half of the British attack, where three divisions managed to advance about 2 miles into the German lines in just a few hours. This battle witnessed the debut of several of Kitchener’s New Army divisions, and was the first and only British offensive to be preceded by a discharge of cylinder-released chlorine gas and smoke. I thought I'd mention this as if anyone here is able to come to the show, please feel free to pop along to the game and say hello. Wish me luck too, because in our practice game this week, the dice weren't at all friendly to me! Bill PS More information on the battle can be found here: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/1318-the-battle-of-loos-1915

Yes, there are some scripts to represent Teddy Roosevelt and the Preparedness Movement in the USA pushing their country to enter the war. These scripts are only set to fire once Italy has joined the Central Powers. I'd be interested to know if these scripts fired, or perhaps if Italy didn't enter the war?

Ok, it is August 1920 and it’s time to start the Battle for Moscow! First steps are to strengthen the garrison of Vyazma by replacing the Militia with an upgraded Corps. Secondly, elements of Budyonny’s 1st Horse Army spring into action, spearing thousands of Kuban Cossacks just to the south of Vyazma. Thirdly, we are withdrawing from the Baltic. That was just a feint to keep the enemy away from Petrograd while we prepared for the ultimate battle. Fourthly, huge numbers of reinforcements are daily expected, we remain confident of victory and the enemy’s advance is just their last blast of the trumpet before they pass into the dustbin of history.

Hi Ataman That's great to hear and we are currently working on some improvements to the RCW campaign to make it even better. We welcome feedback from the playing community too, so please feel free to get engaged where applicable, as it is always our aim to make these games as good as possible. Bill

If so, he hopes to be back for a rematch!

I look forward to that! Designing scenarios is a lot of fun and if you have any more questions then don't hesitate to ask here.