Robert Olesen

Get it at the ROQC site. There are a large number of changes in relation to version 1. The most significant are probably the introduction of core force replacements, the addition of the Raid and Relief operational orders and the change in the way player difficulty is handled. I highly recommend using this if you're still on version 1. There are a few tweaks from the latest beta (2.00j) so you should upgrade from that too. Read the list below to learn about the detailed changes. Error corrections: · Citation for core force as a whole computed incorrectly: Core force citations were never awarded in 1.00 · Using 50 Favor to return casualties will now give the proper +4 modifier. It was +3 in 1.00. · The briefing for your own force would show the axis fitness setting even if you're allied. Modifications: · InText macro removed from spreadsheet. · The probability of skipping June 1944 in the Finnish region decreased. · Experience of core force additions added to Control Sheet to help you when upgrading the core force (the value is a copy of the replacement experience value from the previous battle) · Support force points increased for core forces with point value at least 1200 to allow for more variety in battle size. · Demotion limit changed to -20% of Favor limit · Unit experience update after battle changed so that you now get points for mortars, and tanks with 75mm guns or larger gets less for killing vehicles. · History sheet is now automatically updated (if not done already) when you generate the sheet for the next battle. · Handling of difficulty levels changed considerably to allow you to progress in ranks more easily. There are now 5 generic difficulty levels that have a significant effect on difficulty. Gaining in rank still increase difficulty, but not as much. The rank names have changed a bit as well and you can choose to use national rank denominations. · You can choose to always fight with your own division type instead of a random nationality and division type. · The amount of Favor you get from a battle is adjusted for the difficulty of the battle. Large handicap die rolls battles give you a Favor bonus and small handicap die rolls give you a negative favor adjustment. · A demotion will now halve any negative Favor you might have instead of costing you 20 Favor. · Rarity table modified to allow for wider spread of results. · Force Purchase Handicap values reduced to decrease the probability of getting a negative support force purchase allowance. · Core force replacement rules revised completely. You are no longer assured a complete replacement of all losses, and may have to go to battle with a reduced core force. This change affects the rules in a number of places, too many to list in detail. · Core Force sheet expanded to allow for 160 units in the core force. Beware however that the history sheet only shows the history of the first 93 of these, as there is a limit on the number of columns in a page in Excel. · History sheet updated with more information. This causes a problem if you want to copy the history from a previous version into the spreadsheet for 2.00b. See 2.3.7 for more info. · Relief battle added, which is about passing a number of supply trucks through the enemy lines to a surrounded force. The frequency of Retreat battles has been reduced so that Retreat and Relief combined have approx. the same frequency as Retreat used to have. · You can now use Favor to delay the date of the next battle so that you get more time for rest & refit. · Raid battles added. A Raid is a local attack with the purpose of achieving a specific objective, followed by a withdrawal to the original frontline. · Map Contours set to Gentle (1.25m) in a large Town (to avoid those steep roads) and Normal (2.5m) otherwise. This is now a very good and comprehensive rule set. I don't expect it to develop much except for error corrections. I'll still take suggestions however - I'm always open for ideas. And some of the changes incorporated into the CMAK version may filter down into this one. I'll now focus my efforts on the rules for CMAK, which are getting very close to a beta release.

Is that on CMMODS? What do I search for to find it? I tried, but had no luck in locating it.

I'd really like to know how this is randomized in the QB generator.

BCR has a much narrower scope than ROQC, and is also more detailed. It served as an inspiration for me in making ROQC. ROQC is very flexible and allows you to play pretty much any core force anywhere in the war. You should check it out - but be sure to get the latest beta: 2.00j. Biltong got caught up with RL and passed the responsibility to Scarhead, who also seems to be caught up in RL at the moment. I don't know what the status of BCR is now. Why don't you dig up the latest BCR thread (do search in this forum) and ask?

Thanks, that's good stuff. My problem actually came from the introduction of Raids into the campaign (in case you're interested). They require you to buy some enemy units in the editor, and these should preferebly be the same nationality as the force you'll be fighting. That force is determined randomly by the QB generator, as the rules work now. Hence the question. The problem is that you must specify the division type with the nationality in a QB, and the job of specifying (in the rules) and automating (in the spreadsheet) this selection is rather large, as there are a large number of possible and impossible combinations for the different dates and regions. So. I'm going to do a shortcut for now and make these raid targets British or German. This will allow me to - hopefully - publish the first beta of ROQC for CMAK next week. Believe it or not, but several people have actually been asking for it :eek: [ January 25, 2004, 02:19 AM: Message edited by: Robert Olesen ]

I have found that I may have to divide the North African and Italian regions into two each in ROQC - an East (British) and West (American) region. This leads to some questions, however, that might just find an answer here: Did the Italians fight against the Americans in North Africa? It seems that the French and Polish fought exclusively with the British in NA. Is this true? Did the Frensh (and Polish, if applicable) fight with the Americans or the British (or both) in Italy? I could probably dig this out somewhere myself (and may have to), but my time is limited and any answers I can get here will shorten the time it takes before I can publish a ROQC version for CMAK.

In CMAK, there are three ground types: Dirt, Arid rock and Sand. This is defined in the first Parameter screen in the editor. I assume the QB generator randomizes this parameter, as it is not an input in QB generation. In ROQC, the map is generated in the editor, so the ground type is imported into the battle with the map. This value is so important that I have to specify it in the rules, which leads to some questions. Dirt shows up as a nauseous brownish colour in North Africa and East Africa, and perhaps as a slightly more greenish colour (though it may in fact be the same) in Italy. It would seem to me that: North Africa should be Arid Rock and Sand (perhaps half of each) and no or very little Dirt. Is Dirt appropriate in NA? In Tunis, perhaps? East Africa should probably be about 1/3 of each, perhaps more rock and less sand. Is that a good assumption? Italy should probably be Rock and Dirt (ca. half of each). Sand could conceivably be used to simulate beaches, but a Sand map in Italy looks decidedly odd when generated randomly. It would be very helpful to know how the QB generator randomizes this setting.

No, I don't read Italian, but I can see that a good part of it is in English. Thanks, I'll check it out later. It looks like it's useful.

Thanks, guys. The links by Michael Dorosh and drbassie gave me enough to go by, though I could wish for a bit more. I'm looking for the flow of the campaign and info on the general supply situation, not individual scenarios (but thanks anyway).

I have some difficulty finding a source - preferably online - that can tell me what happened in East Africa and when. Can someone point me in the right direction, or perhaps give a summary here?

jamesroe16 (and others), check out my release mail list It's an easy way to get info about beta and official releases for both the CMBB and CMAK versions.

I'm working on a port of ROQC to CMAK, but it all takes time. It's simpler than BCR, but still somewhat complex. I guess you could mix the core force and favor concept and the battle type generation from ROQC with your own maps.

I forgot one thing in 2.00j: Add 10 turns to the game length if you have a Raid battle. You need time to get back in good order. You can simply do this manually when setting up the game until you get the next version.

Beta Version 2.00j is out. There are several good changes from 2.00e, in particular Raid batles (which are a somewhat unusual challenge - requiring you to enter enemy territory, destroy a target and - here's the interesting part - withdraw to your own lines). And Retreats are back, albeit with a lower frequency of appearance. This time I really don't expect to change anything from this version to version 2.00, except for error corrections and balance adjustment of parameters. It's pretty much ready for a release as 2.00, but a complete release is a good deal of work e.g. with updates of all the example campaign files. It only takes one spreadsheet change to invalidate all these campaign updates. So, I'm going to let this simmer for a while, probably a couple of weeks, then go for 2.00. Version 1.00 was a great product, but I think it has come a long way since then. It is much better now, and a good base for conversion to CMAK (I have in fact started the conversion based on this version).

Eeh, I just sent you 2.00i, not 2.00e. Don't worry, it's better than 2.00e. I don't have any problems accessing the files on the ROQC site. Just checked.

You're the first one to report any problems. It probably just had a downtime period. Drop me an email and tell me which files you need, and I can email them to you.

I got these from Craig Watsford. The problems exist in 2.00i. (in table 1 both ranges were 1 square out) Also the blank 2.0i sheet still has some dice rolls from the example sheet in the core force tab

NavyDiver, padlocking works fine in ordinary scenarios AFAIK. My campaign is a bit special, in that you use the editor to prepare a map with some troops on it, then import that map into a QB instead of generating a map in the QB generator. That's where the problems crop up. Several things that work for scenarios don't work when imported into a QB with a map. I have identified padlocking, reinforcements and exit zones so far.

I find that the colour changes give me a pretty good grasp of elevation differences, though not in detail.

Two changes to 2.00i: If you raid a gun battery, edit the ammo of the howitzers down to 1 HE (and no other ammo). Padlocked units that are imported into a QB with a map can in fact be moved by the AI during setup, so you need to use setup zones with a separate color instead. Also note that the die roll that checks if an Attack or Hold is converted to a Raid can be found in cell E6 in the Auto sheet.

I did a few tests and found this to be true. The AI does not respect padlocking when setting up units imported with a map into a QB It does respect different setup zones, however.

It seems that they cannot, see here. I'd like confirmation of this behaviour, if possible. If true, can I remedy the situation by using different coloured setup zones (the aim is to limit the AI during QB setup)? This is something to think about in the next generation - there are way too many differences between the way the scenarios work and the way a map imported into a QB work.

I wanted to share this as some of you may be inclined to try it and the changes are quite important. But you should know that I haven't had time to test it very much. I plan to do that asap. 1. I decided to reimplement Retreat battles. It was simply a shame to let all that good work go to waste. But their rate of appearance has been reduced a good deal. 2. I implemented Raid battles. A Raid is a local attack with the purpose of achieving a specific objective, followed by a withdrawal to the original frontline. To get more info about Raids, read sections 4.2.1, 4.3.5, 4.4 and 5.2.9 in the rules. There are eight raid types/targets: · Regimental Command Your intelligence has located a Regimental command post in a Manor house close to the front line. You are to raid the post, gather as much information as possible and return with as few casualties as possible. · Command Pillbox Your intelligence has located a Battalion command post in a bunker close to the front line. You are to raid the bunker, gather as much information as possible, destroy the bunker and return with as few casualties as possible. · Mortar / Gun Battery A battery of mortars / howitzers positioned fairly close to the front line have been harassing us for some time. AA guns protect them, and in any case we don?t have enough aircraft to spare for such a small job. Our artillery is busy elsewhere too, so you are to raid the position, destroy them and return with as few casualties as possible. · MG / Gun Pillboxes We are planning an attack, and have located some pillboxes that needs to be taken out first. Destroy the bunkers and return with as few casualties as possible · Supply Depot The enemy is planning an attack, and has placed a forward supply depot, which our intelligence has managed to locate. Destroy it before they have the chance to attack, and return with as few casualties as possible. · Repair Shop The enemy has placed a forward repair shop, which our intelligence has managed to locate. We suspect that they are using it to prepare for an upcoming attack. Destroy it before they have the chance to attack, and return with as few casualties as possible. You can get a Raid each time you roll an Attack or Hold order. There's a 1/6 chance that it is converted to a Raid. This still needs some balancing, but now I _really_ want to stop adding features before I turn to the CMAK version. Just a bit of testing first, and balancing. I'm of course interested in any feedback you might want to provide. Oh, and the files. Get them here: http://www.roqc.cdgroup.org/files/ROQC_Rules_2_00i.zip http://www.roqc.cdgroup.org/files/ROQC_Sheets_2_00i.zip http://www.roqc.cdgroup.org/files/ROQC_Sheets_2_00i_Example.zip Enjoy, Robert.

sepruda, your questions are fine, keep 'em coming. I think you got a bug or two. I really need to see that spreadsheet to see if you did something wrong or if there is a bug. Even if you are the "culprit", that's useful info to help me prevent others doing the same. The men in unit column (which is labelled 1, not 0) should not be changed unless you change the unit itself. It shows how many men there are in the unit according to the TO&E, not how many there are currently. Column 3 does that. That probably explains why you don't get replacements. I don't know why the men who don't participate gets experience for surviving the battle. they shouldn't, and my spreadsheet looks fine. Please send me yours.

I assume you're talking about the columns labelled 3, 4 and 5 in the core force sheet. Read section 3.7.6 in the rules There are two possibilities: 1. You use the automatic generation of the spreadsheet for the next battle, in which case they should be filled out automatically. 2. You are updating to a new version, in which case you need to fill them out yourself. Check the example - that's probably the best way to see how it's done, apart from reading that section I mentioned above If it's 1. and it doesn't work, then please send me the spreadsheet - preferably both the one from the previous battle that you used to generate the new one and the new one for the next battle.