Bill101

Hi Ivanov Sorry for the delay in replying but the good news is that a lot of work has been done to improve the balance in this campaign. You might be right about the French mutinies needing a bit more impact, and it will be the first thing on my list to consider for future changes! Bill

Yes, there was a bug in the combat calculations so that attacking across a river was leading to more losses for the attacker and less for the defender than there should have been. It will be fixed in the first patch and I think Amadeus is right in that fixing it will help the Japanese a bit in China.

Hi JJDenver The distance requirement is within 12 tiles of Troyes, so the British units can be anywhere within that range.

It's actually units destroyed with supply of less than 5, so not only are they the easiest to destroy, you are really punishing your opponent by doing so. Pick on them first and he won't be pleased!

It's funny, turns for me take an average of just 5-10 minutes. I guess we're all different, and maybe in competitive play some spend more time planning than others. I tend to assess the situation pretty quickly and then just starting moving and attacking. Admittedly later in the war it will take longer, but I would say 15 minutes per turn is my max. Though I don't generally watch the video so that will of course save time!

Hi Mike I know I've seen this done before, but can't remember in what campaign offhand. But you are right because some lateral, creative thinking can really get more out of the game than might be apparent at first glance, and your suggestions in principle all sound perfectly doable when modding.

Hi Mike These are off-map resources that come into or out of play depending on various events during the game. Basically they do represent, as you've rightly guessed, foreign aid, most notably over the Hump once Burma is in the game. In addition to flights over the Hump, there are ones representing: Trade With China Via The Hanoi-Kunming Railway Trade With China Via Mandalay And The Burma Road Japanese successes can and will prevent the flow of aid to China, so Japan has a strong incentive to aggression in South East Asia if it is to succeed in conquering China.

Hi Ivanov Yes, there is. It is in the Charts under MPPs, because this has figures on MPPs collected, MPPs spent, and on the MPP value of units lost. So, it could be possible for this, maybe combined with National Morale figures at the end of the game, to be used for comparison purposes. Bill

These sound interesting, and I think I might have seen some volumes in the past in second hand bookshops. Unfortunately the amount of shelf space required can be a problem, but they do look pretty good! There is at least one thematic encyclopedia in existence in English. A friend photocopied a section of one for me some years ago because it contained a really good article on artillery in WWI. But when I was initially researching this game I came across an ebook encyclopedia that cost an amazing $450!!

Wait for 1.04.

Thanks SeaMonkey! I like it!

Glad you worked it out, and don't hesitate to post questions like this if you can't find the answer!

Kursk and Smolensk are ours, and both Rostov and Leningrad are now under threat. Where will we strike next? The Combined Fleet is now moving off to its next destination, while our troops move into Malaya and Burma, and the garrison of Hong Kong is destroyed. A Dutch submarine is battered in the Java Sea, and we have moves afoot to blunt the Chinese attacks near Peking. Alas, the weather has hampered our operations slightly, but our bombers are now operating from bases in Thailand against Dutch targets in the East Indies, and despite opposition from some US planes, reports suggest that the capital of Batavia is now in ruins.

The Pacific is now a theater of war! Rain over the Philippines nearly makes me postpone Pearl Harbor, but no, the show must go on. The planes go in and despite some enemy Fighters, three Battleships and a cruiser are sunk! I'm glad I didn't postpone the attack due to the weather over the Philippines because our aircraft weren't even needed to capture Manila. The shock of our SNLF landing there, destroying the US bombers as well as the local defenders has given us a quick victory! Meanwhile, Italian Special Forces units land and capture the oilfield at Tarakan before moving into Brunei. This was a special plan of Marc's that I'm following through, because they were sent to the Far East a long time ago from East Africa. Mussolini exacts revenge for the loss of his African Empire... in Asia! Other places to fall are Thailand, Guam, Wake, and they won't be the last! Back to the Eastern Front, both Kharkov and the Ukrainian mine are ours, and Smolensk will soon fall unless the enemy can launch a significant counterattack! Perhaps the best news of all is none of this, but that Franco is now drawing up plans for the mobilization of the Spanish army... let's hope he doesn't change his mind at the last minute!!

The US Congress has been alarmed at the warlike stance recently adopted by the US Navy. Great, because it buys us more time before we have to fight the USA! Our forces encircle the Soviet Corps that is defending the last remaining Ukrainian mine, and batter the defenders of Kharkov down to half strength (a success which surprised us). Most of our units have been replenishing their strength ready for the coming spring offensive. Huge stockpiles of weapons have still not reached our frontline troops, and are sitting on railway sidings all the way back to Germany. We will have to find the time to distribute these to our forces before too long, otherwise Stalin won't receiving the good hiding that we've got planned for him! 1942, could it be the year of the Axis?

Hi Mike The evasion gives a 20% chance of evading damage every time they are attacked, so what you've seen is perfectly possible. From my experience it's probably best to set it slightly lower, say 10-15%.

Hi Mathias, exporting the data into a new folder on your computer, and then importing it into the other editor is the way to do it. If it works, then it will have transferred everything apart from the scripts.

I’ve been following this thread with interest as the question of supply has been on my mind for some time. I do think that supply has come up more in the WWI game than before because the power of the defensive is more than in WWII games where a Tank Group and some Tactical Bombers can generally destroy any cut off units that aren’t in good supply. I’m all for simple ideas that can be readily grasped by players, including myself, and it is also important that the penalties for low supply are understandable, with any unintended negative consequences avoided as much as possible. Anyway, here are a few ideas that I thought I'd throw into the mix. Idea 1 This idea would be a quick fix to the problem of cut off units being able to reinforce to strength 8, pending the implementation of more comprehensive changes. The idea is to set the minimum supply value of resources like towns to 4 (i.e. they will be at 5 if connected by rail to a supply source, but 4 if not). At the same time, the minimum requirement for operating by rail/transports would have to be lowered to 4, so that all such places can still load and unload transports or trains. The effect of this would be to lower the maximum reinforcement value of a cut off unit without a HQ to 7, less if it is actually outside the resource or the resource is damaged. This would make it easier to destroy. One problem is that this would mean that supply in all those minors that did hold out well during WWI would be lower than currently, i.e. Serbia's resources would be at four, as would Greece and Egypt. This could be a problem. Idea 2 I like the suggestions relating to the zone of control having an impact on resource supply. Therefore, how about leaving everything else as it is, but introducing a new rule: The presence of 3 enemy land units adjacent to a friendly resource will reduce that resource's strength, and therefore its supply value, by 1 per turn. The presence of 4 or more enemy land units adjacent to a friendly resource will reduce that resource's strength by 2 per turn. I'm really thinking of an automated SUPPLY script, built into the engine. Idea 3 This idea is the biggest change in mind, though its foundations lie in the current supply model. The idea is to change the current Supply Centers that we have in the game. Just to clarify that I’m talking about the concept of Supply Centers as outlined in the manual, rather than using this phrase as a catch all to describe all sources of supply. Currently Supply Centers only work for Majors and provide supply at a value of 10. Instead of just having one type of Supply Center as currently, there would be two: Major and Minor Supply Centers. A Major could supply a maximum of 10 and a Minor up to a maximum of 5. All Capitals of Majors would automatically be Major Supply Centers worth 10, all Capitals of Minors would automatically be Minor Supply Centers worth 5. Alternative Capitals would become Supply Centers on becoming the capital. Anywhere not connected to either type of Supply Center could perhaps have a maximum value of 3. A lot of Supply Centers would have to be set around the map, including places like Malta and Gibraltar, but this change would mean that any units in a resource that isn’t a Supply Center would have very low supply unless supported by a HQ, and would be able to reinforce to only a maximum of 6. The difference between a maximum reinforcement value of 6 and 8 (as currently) is quite dramatic, as the former was the maximum value that Axis units cut off in the USSR in earlier games in the SC series had. Such units rarely lasted long! So, the rule would be: lose your Supply Centers, and unless you've got a connection to a friendly country, then all your resources fall to a maximum supply of 3. Cut off units won’t generally survive for long at that supply level.

I haven't reported on it much, but at the same time as we launched Barbarossa our U-Boats also set sail for the British convoy lines in the Atlantic, and have been enjoying their hunting there, despite the loss of one crew last turn. Our U-Boats finally sink the Marat Battleship that is the last remnant of the Soviet fleet in the Baltic. In the USSR we've been hammering away at the enemy's entrenchment in Smolensk and Kharkov, while also repairing our units now that the ravages of winter have passed. It is now February 1942 and there are strange moves afoot in the Pacific... on those, more soon!

Riga is ours and Manstein arrives on the Eastern Front to take command of our northern drive into the USSR, while our forces are now massing around Kharkov and the eastern mine. In the east, the Yamato is launched and our bombers pound the Chinese cities of Kunming and Nanning. The enemy's fighter opposition is feeble. Finally, Soviet Winter Strikes. It had to happen so I'm glad that it's out of the way.

Hi Mike The reason you may not have been able to buy back the BB in your game could depend on its supply level when sunk. The minimum supply level needed can be set in the same place in the Editor, and I'd probably pick a fairly high number, as this will reduce the amount of ships sunk far out to sea after a length combat to the minimum. Bill

Although Riga remains in Stalin's evil hands, solely due to the weather, the Ukrainian mine is ours! Our spearheads have now reached Kharkov and we have the choice of aiming for the city or the industry to its south in coming turns. It's very quiet indeed in the Far East, at least as far as the enemy can see!

It would either be to the UK or to the Ottomans.

Hi It'll probably be due to the zone of control exerted by enemy forces nearby. Thus you've breached the enemy line, but exploiting it is a lot harder, and at least one more enemy unit adjacent to Arras would also have to be destroyed or forced to retreat. A fair proportion of the time it will be possible to exploit such a breach, for instance if one of the units that started its turn adjacent to the destroyed enemy unit still has sufficient action points to move into the vacated area. Or if you have cavalry very close behind the front line. But, supply, the weather and terrain will all be a factor in determining whether or not you will be able to exploit your success.

Both Minsk and Kiev fall, and our forces are now preparing to seize the Ukrainian mines. The Finnish army advances, their place in Helsinki being taken by a German Corps. This will hopefully buy a little delaying time! Italy is stepping up plans for homeland defence, while Japan is stepping up its plans to cause lots of offence. The turn ends with a nice set of tech results, so that contrary to Stalin's expectations, the Germans aren't inferior to him in tech, we just haven't had a chance to implement it all yet. Japan has also develops some new landing craft (level 2) that will come in handy fairly soon!