Robert Olesen

Yes, I think switching regions should be possible. It did happen, after all, esp. for the Panzers. Not sure about the Soviets, but I don't see why they shouldn't have done it. My gut feeling is that it should be voluntary, probably with a time limit to keep you from switching back and forth - something like having to stay 6 months for infantry or 3 months for armor. But I need to get the rules in place for the other regions first. They should be ready for 0.95, as I don't want to publish a new version every other day I have a plan for suggesting a PanzerGruppe Guderian campaign, giving you a ride from Poland to Moscow June to December 1941, or perhaps extend it a bit further. It would use the basic rules for the Central region with a few modifications - no set battles with fixed times and maps, as that is not my force. It's so easy to come up with sexy German campaign suggestions. I'm interested in good suggestions for Soviet campaigns.

I'm back. My dad pulled through and is apparently stable, though he has lost most of his maneuverability. He can barely move his legs and has trouble controlling his arms. But his mood is fine when he's not too tired. Thanks a lot for the praise It warms my heart. I used the free time to read more of "Barbarossa" by Alan Clark, and that inspired me to change the way Operational Orders translate to battles a bit - so that you can get (with a small probability) a defensive battle under offensive orders or vice versa (counterattacks, which appear to be quite frequent). I also got quite far in implementing the Northern and Central region. Thanks for the files you sent. Keep 'em coming. JAT, why are you sitting on yours?

I'm going away for a few days. I don't know how long, as my father most likely has decided that it is time to pass on one of these days. Don't worry, it's certainly time. He has had a long, active and eventful life and is in pain and not able to do very much on hos own any more. I'll not respond to emails while I'm away but I might pop in here from time to time. This was one reason why I decoded to publish 0.94 so soon. Keep sending those files.

Lesson number 1: Better make it too difficult (i.e. challenging) than too easy (i.e. boring). Thanks, JAT. Lesson number 2: Don't change the rules too often, or people wil lrun out of printer ink. Thanks, Andrew. That said, I'm about to disregard the second lesson. I have changed the Favor calculation a good deal, roughly halving the amount you got from 0.93. Get v0.94 here. I won't be able to update the pdf files until I get to work, unless one of you can do the conversion for me. Feel free to email me the files if you can. The good news, Andrew, is that you only have to print the section concerning Favor (5.6). The rest is unchanged from 0.93. My current goal is to balance the Favor calculation, then deal with Experience. And deal with any minor problems that arise ofc. No need to change your current campaign, just start using these rules from the end of your current battle, when you get to favor calculation. And keep sending me spreadsheets. [ August 15, 2003, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Robert Olesen ]

I'm inclined to halve all the Favor factors in 0.93 for Attack, Advance, Delay and Hold. JAT, how would that affect the example you mention above? I'll sleep on it and give you a chance to comment. And Andrew, I'll bear your comment in mind. I do not need to publish a new version to make this change

No :confused: Are you alluding to the amount of paper my campaign produces? It shouldn't be that bad. If you use the spreadsheet directly, then the amount of bytes should exceed the amount of pages rather quickly

Updated to 0.93. Get it here. I know it's soon after the previous update, but I found a few things I wanted to change: Core Force upgrades now based on the cost of Regular units. Favor distribution changed a bit for Advance, Delay and Hold orders. Updated Favor calculation for Losses and Kills. Changed cost of adding units to your core force from triple to twice the editor cost. None of this should stop you from continuing an ongoing campaign.

Had a small snag with file access on the download page (case sensitivity). Fixed now.

Sardaukar, are you using the spreadsheets? I'm interested in endgame saves and spreadsheets if you have them.

Version 0.92 is out here. Lots of detailed changes, particularly in the Favor and Experience department. You should accumulate more experience now, and the veteran / crack limits have been reduced. I just hope I haven't gone overboard giving you Favor, but then there's still a fair number of digits left before I hit version 1.0 I think it's better than it was. Detailed changelog in no particular order: Replacement experience table changed to allow for higher experience, albeit with small probability. Formulas for purchase limits added to 26 in the Battle Sheet. Fitness table changed slightly. Hills table modified to reduce chance of flat terrain and remove Flat/Open combinations. Force purchase handicap decreased a bit, and a max handicap value has been set based on player experience. Experience limits changed so it is easier to make Veteran or Crack status. Units get more experience for causing infantry casualties. This will in particular increase the experience accumulation for infantry squads. Note that some of the casualty base values have been changed. Be sure to check the values used by your core force if you have an ongoing campaign. A random percentage of a unit?s casualties are now allowed to return to the unit between battles, as these are considered to have light wounds that can be fixed between the battles. Clarification of transfer rule (6.2.1). A transfer is only supposed to happen to a unit that has been eliminated. You can now spend Favor to affect the die roll for the experience of your replacements. Tweaked the replacement experience table. A few changes to the Battle Type table (5). Favor calculation changed radically. Check it out. There is now a differentiation between vehicle types in favor and experience calculations. Let me hear what you think.

I have been working on that Favor issue. The main problem seems to be that with reasonable favor values, the available forces in e.g. a 900 point game don't generate all that many Favor points. I'd rather not skew it so much that you could get 100 favor just from killing AFV's of you were lucky enough to run into a bunch of them, or so that you could get 100 favor from destroying a human wave attack. JAT's recent report delayed 0.92 a bit, as I'm trying to factor in the quality of the troops you're opposing, as well as differentiating favor from vehicle kills (and to some extent experience) according to the type of vehicle. But I'm getting close now to something that at least bears testing.

I have contact with two others who play and give feedback. There are others who have said they will try it. That's not a lot, but it's a whole lot better than 0 or 1. I knew from the start that this concept wouldn't appeal to everyone, so I'm quite satisfied with this response, in particular as I do in fact receive a lot of valuable feedback.

You're right, that needs to be fixed. The die roll tables are first priority, but using predefined maps would be nice too. Unfortunately, the map editor cannot load a map from a file - rather strange when you think about it. If your core force is small, repurchasing it and editing the ammo and other stuff is doable, but for a whole infantry company that's a bit much to ask IMO. Let me know how Mapping Mission works out. Is it freeware? The tables are a bit difficult. I probably have to define some sets of tables and pick a set based on region and time period. A bit like operational orders. I'm trying to simulate the russian steppe with those modifiers, and I'm obviously not succeeding. Until further notice, remove the -2 modifier from the Hills table and feel free to reroll when you get that Open/Flat combination.

A couple of corrections: The 0.91 spreadsheet had an unfortunate reference to another file. That has been removed, so get the update at the download page. Table 27 (months to next battle) did not account for the die roll of 9. If you do roll 9 you should advance 1 month. On table 28 (replacement experience) you can, if you prefer to implement this change now, have - a roll of 9-10 give 15 experience - a roll of 11 give 20 experience - a roll of 12 give 25 experience

Made a small update to the Excel file - just formula fixes so that it is easier to use. No rules changes. Get it at the ROQC download page

24 favour sounds pretty good to me - and having both platoons get away cleanly. And I didn't tighten exploits very much in 0.91. Can I see your spreadsheet? I'm a bit concerned about the realism issue here. Is it good practice to send a group of AFV's into the enemy hinterland in an area that hasn't been properly secured? But there's really no other way to simulate this concept using the QB generator, and it's good fun as you say.

I have updated the rules and tables to version 0.91 Here's a summary changelog: Rules for handling exiting units in an auto ceasefire added. Rules for handling units that didn?t made it off the map in a retreat battle added. Ammo and handicap modifiers changed a bit for exploit and retreat battles, to make them a bit harder and to minimize the risk of setting up a battle that starts out with an auto ceasefire. A clarification: You cannot gain or lose more than 80 Favor in a single battle. Several minor error corrections in the spreadsheets and rules. There's should be no need to restart a running campaign, the changes are mainly error corrections and balancing issues.

Another small update, this time the Core Force sheet. The field for experience of replacements (below tje column number 19) should be blank. Get a new set of tables from the ROQC download page.

I have updated the Favor sheet with those two error corrections (thanks). Get the new xls file from the ROQC download page. There's also a small update to the Battle Sheet xls page, also thanks to atiff.

To atiff and others who use ROQC If you use the spreadsheet tables: Please save them and send them to me zipped at robo_at_tele2adsl.dk That will help me balance the campaign. I tend to make a new page of the battle, core force and favor sheets for each battle - or you can just keep a copy of the whole file for each battle.

Thanks I'm afraid this is a leftover that should have been removed. Disregard that sentence. Congratulations! Exiting 4 tanks, 4 infantry units and 4 HT together with a 57% victory gives 54 Favor in my book. What's the difference? The Autoceasefire could create problems in Exploit and Retreat battles. Please add this paragraph to the end of section 4.5.3: If you play an Exploit or Retreat battle and the game ends by an auto ceasefire, those forces still on the map that you are sure could have exited if the game had continued to the max number of turns, are considered to have done so, excepting immobile vehicles in an exploitation force. You?ll have to use common sense here. Basically, the units have to be close to the proper map edge with a clear run to the edge, not impeded by enemy fire that can pin or destroy the unit.

I just found a few glitches in the Battle Sheet - a few fields that contained data from the example but should have been blank. Get an update of the tables from the ROQC download site

Good to get some feedback I deliberately spent a good deal of effort to make the rules easy to use. On the relentless exertion aspect: It doesn't go all that well with the monthly wait between turns. One would expect such a unit to often fight more battles than one per month. I originally had rules for replacement of men and equipment, but they complicate things a lot. I might add them again, though, as they do force you to make some choices. And on automated support like BiltAid - I have neither the time nor the required programming skills to make such a tool. It is a lot of work. [ August 03, 2003, 03:36 AM: Message edited by: Robert Olesen ]

Great, atiff. I played BCR myself. It's a great campaign, but a lot of work and a lot of detail. I wanted something simpler, so set out to do it.

Btw - the ROQC discussion should move to this thread