Bill101

So, the siege of Petrograd has begun! It is now winter so the pace of combat has slowed. Kharkov remains in our hands, the Ural Whites aren't making much progress at the moment, and fighting continues at Tsaritsyn. If 1919 was the year of the Whites, what will 1920 be?

Petrograd is under threat, or at least that’s what the Whites would have you believe. But our forces there are stronger than they have been telling you, and the White units are very low on supply. Winter isn’t a good time for such an advance, and the city is safe! As the image shows, this is clearly a foreign invasion, led by Finns and Estonians, with the British in command and the German Freikorps waiting their chance to plunder Russia’s great city. Where are the White Russians, and why do they invite foreigners to dominate and wreck the country they profess to love? Our efforts to force the British and Americans to withdraw from the war are gaining in strength, as the UK’s commitment has suddenly plummeted to 72%. The USA is even lower, at just 37%. The enemy failed to take Kharkov last turn, showing that they are weaker than they claim, while we have huge forces massing ready for a great counterstroke. Is Denikin really ready to face Budyonny?

Hi Rabelesius Thanks for the feedback! 1) Originally we did have it end sooner, but the problem was that if the war hasn't been resolved with a clear winner by the spring of 1913 then it felt a bit odd, as there wasn't really a reason for it to end if one side or the other hadn't been defeated. It was also the case that if a good battle is going on then it can be a let down to have it end without good reason. So we extended it a bit further. 2) It's true that the initial deployment does require some relocation to commence a siege of Adrianople, but the current set up does ensure that Sofia cannot be taken by an Ottoman assault at the start, and these forces can be marched to Adrianople within a turn or two if the situation is felt to be secure at Adrianople. Or are you thinking that the Bulgarians lack the force to besiege Adrianople even later in the war? 3) There already is a fortified line in front of Constantinople. Are you thinking of something which is much tougher to assault? As to the overall game balance, it can be changed if we have a consensus that the Turks are too strong. I'll be very interested to hear more on this issue. Bill

It’s interesting to see how the Whites are claiming that Comrade Stalin hasn’t taken part in the defence of Tsaritsyn. Is there are a reason why they are trying to airbrush him out of the picture like this, perhaps in the vain hope that they won’t have to face him in battle? The Whites have also been crowing about their supposed successes in the north, yet it is our Red Army that has trapped a White force from Shenkursk that has been trying to cut our supply lines. The Red Army units under Trotsky's command are now taking up new positions near Kursk, while further east we are withdrawing ahead of the Ural Whites until we will be strong enough to face them again. New Military Policy Announced! The changing situation requires that we try something different, so the Central Committee have met and after some deliberation, are pleased to announce the launch of the New Military Policy. The New Military Policy will involve sacrifices, but our military experts are confident that it can reap huge rewards and it will be the way to bring the Whites to their knees. Trotsky, Architect of the New Military Policy As a first step towards introducing the New Military Policy, our great Commissars are currently introducing an improved method of defensive warfare throughout the Red Army. Things will get much tougher for our opponents from now on.

Just to let you all know that in the Manuals folder contained within Breakthrough can be found documents containing information to help you play on the following campaigns: 1912 First Balkan War 1914 Call to Arms - Breakthrough Edition 1914 France's Struggle 1914 Ostaufmarsch 1914 Russia's War 1915 Siege of Kut 1916 East Africa 1918 Russian Civil War And also the Expansion Notes which are a guide to what's new in Breakthrough!

Hi With regards to the surrender of either the Don or Kuban Cossacks, or indeed of any other minor, if they have any units remaining within their country when their capital is taken then they have only a 50% chance per turn of surrendering, and none if they still have two units within their country. So, capturing the capital isn't enough, but their forces will have to be smashed or driven away too. Ghost of War, (or Karhu, if the situation was identical with you with respect to the Don Cossacks) I know that you said that the Kuban Cossacks had no units left. Do you have a saved turn that would show this? Only they should surrender in this instance, and if not then we'll have to investigate. Thanks! Bill

Lenin is busy trying to come to an agreement with representatives of the Czech Legion, who are offering us gold in return for safe passage to leave Russia. If successful, the gold will help stabilize our economy and fund the war. But even if the Czechs prove treacherous, we will fight on to victory regardless! Here is the latest picture of our great comrade at work: The Whites are celebrating a little prematurely as our defences remain intact in the Ukraine and elsewhere, and the siege of Tsaritsyn continues. Yes, some casualties have been suffered, but Russia is vast and our reserves are far from exhausted. Budyonny’s Horse Army is on its way to the front, but where will it go? Stay tuned to find out!

On the question of ambush, it can increase damage by 25%, but it is class based, so that a superior type of ship, e.g. a Battleship, will not be ambushed and suffer damage in this way from an inferior type, i.e. a Cruiser or Destroyer.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's great to read and please keep it coming!

Hi Sapare I've just looked at the Verdun victory conditions and think that you're totally correct. I think we do need to add something else in there, to award the French for a good defense which holds their main positions.

One problem with making Battleships harder to sink is that it will then be harder to square it with the general perception that the Royal Navy could have lost the war in an afternoon. Make them harder to sink, and naval battles become less decisive, and instead they will turn into hard fought slogging matches. By keeping things dangerous, the battles are faster and more decisive, hence both sides need to be careful to know when to risk battle and when to avoid it. In addition, if losses are greatly reduced then players will become more carefree with their use of their fleets, whereas as we know from WWI, both sides were anything but carefree with them.

Both the Events and the AI scripts need to be checked, which is why this may pop up twice. Though it may be the case that the scripts have an error in them, in which case it is best to update the relevant script by selecting it and then hitting the Update button. This will check that script, and advise you of the line number where it first finds an error.

You could try using a Territory script to reactivate them, tied in to a Decision event for the trigger, and a Mobilization script if needed.

The time has come to adopt a different approach to the war, one which will enhance our mobility and striking power to deal with the many threats we face. Trotsky has therefore decided to raise the 1st Horse Army at Moscow. This formation comprises four Cavalry units with a Headquarters staff under Budyonny, and if anything can change the direction this conflict is taking, it will be this. The first tentative steps are taken by our new Army of the Urals to attack the White forces besieging us near Samara, and the White general Sakharov is wondering what happened to his bodyguard. At Narva, reinforcements arrive to improve our defences for when the Freikorps next attack. We’d been wondering what the Whites were up to in this area, and now they are playing their hand. But don’t they realize that these Germans aren’t here for the good of the Russia they profess to love? Remember those Whites Wolves that were the spearhead for the enemy’s offensive in the Ukraine? Well, they have met our new Armored Train, and they did not like what happened. Two new units, the 23rd and 32nd Army Corps have just arrived near Kharkov so the battle to save the city is on!

Yes, that does sound a bit strange as the system used by WWI shouldn't need to be input again after installing a patch. It just needs to be input once on the computer and that's it. You can even instal the game multiple times on the computer, as I have to do for all the testing I do. Out of interest, which game did you have trouble with?

Hi WWI doesn't use elicense. Instead, when you instal it, you type in the License Key you are given, and once you've done so, this licenses your computer to be able to play the game. There is a lot more information on it in the Knowledgebase: http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=view&parentcategoryid=34&nav=0 Basically, with the new system you are allowed to activate your license 4 times (so that if you reformat the computer or buy a new one you can do so) and you can obtain a further activation every 365 days. Bill

Definitely.

Good points all round on the feedback and we'll be looking into them.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

The enemy are advancing from the Urals and dealing with this will require some drastic measures, but fortunately we already have a new Army forming to hold this front. No screenshots just yet as we don’t want to give away its strength and location, but it will be of better quality and under superior leadership than its predecessor. The French have left the Ukraine and this is providing us with a good opportunity to strengthen our units and bring up some more reinforcements. More good news is that the US is losing the will to remain, and the “Hands off Russia” campaign in Britain is starting to have an impact. Plus our first Cheka unit has deployed ready for action.

We underestimated the traitors within our mist!!

That is effectively what the Anti-Submarine Warfare upgrade represents in the game, because the Destroyers would carry out the protection for the Battleships. At the start of the war Destroyers were pretty ineffective against submarines, so it was only later that they developed their role that we know them for now.

Given the serious situation, we have taken the decisive step to increase the power of the Cheka to root out those whose commitment to the revolution is less than 100%. The White tanks in the Ukraine come under attack once again from our Armored Train, and once again they suffer from so called “mechanical failures”. This shows just how much the White propaganda machine can be trusted to tell the truth. Our forces in the Urals are going to have to attempt to get to the west. It won’t be easy, but the survivors will be stronger for their struggle. Meanwhile, we have a new Armored Train deployed and ready for action. This war is not over yet! And the French are packing up and going home!! Oh yes, forgot to mention that our war economy is also cranking up production, so Denikin's days are numbered!

Hi Hellfirejet No names are hard coded as such, but it isn't possible to rename a ship to have the same name as another. It may be that the name you are trying to use therefore belongs to either a ship that is currently on the map, or to one that is scheduled to arrive in the Production Queue? Some ships, like the Agincourt and Goeben aka Yavuz Sultan Selim are scheduled to arrive by script, so if you do want to change any like that then you'll need to change the UNIT scripts.

Hi There have been some discussions previously on this forum about naval warfare, and various adjustments made on that basis. I don't recall this subject coming up before in the same way, but I've certainly got an open mind to suggestions like this, will definitely think about it, and welcome other contributions too. Thanks Bill