Hubert Cater

Thanks! It's always the little things I miss

I've seen it where some games handle partisans by mostly background calculations that initiate the partisan activity with automatic supply reductions over wide spread areas. This was something I wanted to avoid and decided to model partisans much more realistically with actual units as you've correctly understood. So let's say in Yugoslavia you decide to leave your occupation forces a little thin... well then expect the increased possibility of partisan activity there. (Hint: esp. in the mountains ) The same will go for let's say the Pripets in the USSR. This may force you to tie up some units and/or resources to quell the partisan activity or to prevent their appearance altogether. What are the possible consequences? Perhaps a diversion of your forces from other operations or even delays to new operations and so on. Ignore the partisans and they may become a real headache as they threaten your rear and/or your supply lines!

Hi everyone! I think there was a little bit of a confusion with the original wording describing the scenarios for the game and just how long they last. This has been clarified on the product description page and contains the following updated content: "There are 6 major campaigns to play from either the Allied or Axis side and each begins at a key moment in history and lasts until you achieve ultimate victory or surrender in devastating defeat. Begin in 1939, on the eve of the German invasion of Poland or 1940 as the Axis turn their eyes toward the Low Countries and France. Launch Operation Barbarossa in 1941 in the East or start in the summer of 1942 as the Germans aim to clear the Volga and capture Stalingrad and key resources in the South. Take command in 1943 during the Kursk offensive or prepare for the Allied invasion of Fortress Europa in 1944. Rewrite history by snatching complete victory early or fight to the bitter end throughout 1945 and beyond." The actuall full length/time line of the game that will be possible from the existing campaigns as well as from custom made campaigns will be from January 1, 1939 to May 7th, 1946 (1 full year beyond the historical end of the war) Hope that helps! Hubert [ April 20, 2002, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Hubert Cater ]

Zdravo! Bad news is that Ljubljana will not be in the game, but the good news is that both my parents were from Slovenia (Celje) so I feel your pain for more of a presence in the game Hubert

One of the main goals was to make the game play as flexible as possible so that if you wanted to try a unique strategy you will be more than able to do so, the main argument for this is that you would otherwise be stuck playing the traditional strategies and no "what-if" type of game play would be easily entertained So this could include Allied units fighting in Russia if that be an option someone would like to pursue, but as you can imagine it would not be easy to do so. If you really want your British and American forces fighting there, you would have to transport them by sea and run several gauntlets through either the Baltic or through the Med to the Russian southern front as would be very risky either way. There are inherent cooperation and restriction rules though you've all guessed, operational movements for land and air units are somewhat coordinated for the standard partnerships like GB and the US and Germany and Italy, (so you won't be able to operationally move an Air Fleet to Russia, you would have to fly there which might be hard to reach depending on the territories you control and vice versa), and restrictions include how HQ's influence units in the field. So if you happen to move Monty's 8th army into Russia, don't expect Zhukov to have any influence over this unit's readiness Hubert

Oh forgot to add, I'll be fixing England to refer to Great Britain and Russia to refer to the USSR. Thanks for pointing that out! Hubert

Yes they may look similar, it is a similar scale and the it is the map of Europe at that time so the borders, rivers and city locations will by default be the same, but I would safely say that it is a very different game... although there are bound to be similarities with any type of grand strategic game that covers the European Theater. Having played and loved games like Clash of Steel, Panzer General, Axis and Allies (some a lot more than others ) there will be influences here and there, but what I have tried to do is create a much more realistic model of warfare for this type of grand strategy game which most likely has not been done quite this way for this scope/level (can't say for sure I haven't played every European Theater game out there). Things like real to life HQ's, entrenchment, experience, true strategic bombing of individual cities, ports, mines, oil production areas etc., full individual naval units that can be freely moved around the board and so on which I think European Theater fans will really enjoy. I just read a post on PC-Games-War-Historical that described their initial assesment as follows: "There have been only a few decent WW2 grand strategic wargames on the PC (non-shareware). I can only think of Third Reich, High Command, Clash of Steel and Axis and Allies. Strategic Command looks like it combines the best of all four games." I think that this is probably a very good way to describe this game (not even including some of the novel features), and if you've ever played any of these games and enjoyed them then I think that this will be the game for you! Hubert [ April 19, 2002, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Hubert Cater ]

Hi guys! OK I'll try and answer as many of these questions as I can. Correct the experience medals are just a graphical representation of a numerical value, basically experience is alotted for attack and defence, but will be reduced any time a unit is reinforced... simulating green replacements etc. HQ's will not only act as supply wagons (refer to the Few Questions threat) but their command ratings are essential for determining a unit's readiness in the field. The higher an HQ's command rating, the higher the readiness of all units attached to that specified commander. As a bonus, HQ's also get experience from combat with respect to unit's under their command. The better attached units do, the higher the experience for HQ's will become, do poorly in the field and your HQ's experience value will drop. How does an HQ's experience transcend to units under its command you ask? Great question! An HQ's exeperience also transcends as a combat morale bonus to units under its command as well added on top of a unit's readiness. So this gives you the opportunity to reorganize HQ's that have done well in the field to help out areas in need of stronger command etc. The numbers over the ports refer to the operational efficiency of these resources. These can be bombed and damaged and will not only affect your overall production capactiy but will also affect unit's supplied by them. I go into a little more detail on the supply aspect in the Few Questions thread if you want to check that one out For diplomacy in general there are declarations of war as you would expect, and there are options to control the entry of the Axis and Allied major and minor countries (i.e. neutral, random, historical) as well as in game mechanisms that control when and where countries like USSR, US, Italy and various minors get involved, i.e. you will have to balance your game play between over aggresive play vs. being too passive. Both types of play may be rewarded depending on how you look at things, but you have to expect to pay certain prices kind of thing The scenario editor is fully featured, it will be identical to the one I am using except scenarios will be flagged custom built scenarios. Good point will consider that for Hitler As of right now cutoff units cannot be supplied by air and there are no paratroop units, but naval units are fully featured (no background activity I'm happy to say ) with full naval battles including diving subs, shore bombardments against cities, ports, and even land units. There is also unit transports that can be protected with escorts and so on! Units do deteriorate through combat and even explode when destroyed! Hope that answers the major questions, btw I should be posting a FAQ questions guide soon to hopefully answer all and more of these! Hubert [ April 19, 2002, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: Hubert Cater ]

Hi everyone! Very happy hear to the feedback already, keep your ears peeled for further announcements and don't forget to check out the Strategic Command discussion area for the latest news. I'll be putting together a manual very soon which will be available for download that I hope will answer all your questions. Hubert Cater President Fury Software

None taken For the most part it may seem that way, but there are a few surprises in there that I think both tactical and strategic level gamers will enjoy. For example, and now keeping in mind that supply is calculated from your proximity to the nearest city, cities and other resources can be bombed to reduce their efficiency which in turn will affect your supply from that city (not to mention your overall production capabilities). Let's say the nearest city is running at 100% efficiency, then your supply will be 10 - distance in hexes from that city, including costs for various terrain like mountains etc. Now let's say that city has been damaged from bombing and is now running at 60% efficiency. Now your supply will be 6 - distance from that city. Tie this in with generally reduced efficiency in countries that your forces have occupied as opposed to home cities, as well as the scorched earth strategies on the Russian front where the Russians effectively destroy their cities as they retreat and you could really be running into a logistical nightmare trying to maintain unit readiness with good supply values. So what are you left with, maybe protecting your cities with Air Fleets, making sure your HQ's are kept close to your advancing forces but not too close to have them vulnerable to attack and so on. Hope that answers your questions! Hubert

Correct

Game play is for only 2 players, an Axis and an Allied or a single player against the AI. Multiplayer is supported as well with options for Hotseat and PBEM. LAN play will be included as a free patch in the near future. Hubert

Correct!

Good questions, and my fault for not having an online manual quite ready yet (something I hope to have up and running in the next couple of weeks) For the most part your guesses are correct, but to answer a few more specifically... yes all units are modelled with different action point values as well as different values for various attack and defence types, i.e. soft units attacking tanks, tanks attacking tanks, etc. There are no roads used in the game (simply a design decision for a game at this level) but supply is calculated properly to include cutoff units. In general supply is determined by a units' proximity to cities or their respective HQ's (which act as supply wagons). Operational movements are included which act as rail transport between friendly connected cities and a unit's current location and so on. There are also action point penalties included for trying to cross over unfriendly rivers and attempting to pass through enemy unit formations etc. Hope this helps, Hubert

Thanks Dave!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Strategic Command - European Theater discussion area. As Moon as already mentioned, I will be your host, so feel free to fire away any questions you may have regarding the game or it's development. The quick history for the game is that it has been in development for just over 2 years now and covers the entire European Theater with full features for strategic bombing, industrial production, research and development, declarations of war and much much more! For more details please check out the products page for Strategic Command and keep your ears peeled here and on the Battlefront.com homepage for further announcements. Fury Software is a new gaming company that was founded in 1999 and the mandate has been commitment to quality from day one. Hope you enjoy this one! Hubert Cater President Fury Software