Gen.Metaxas

I bumped into this sight by accident www.pocketwargames.com Basically, its a WWII game like SC for your palm pilot. The game is a scenario based lower scale and limited version of SC. But I have found their demo fun to play. They also have added some additions to combat factors including which direction the unit faces. The game is still in development despite its release and reminds me of the pre-release days of SC. The developers are constantly looking for sugestions and continue to refine the game. The game is not SC2 or SC in gameplay or depth however I thought you guys will be interested to see what a palm version of the game may look like. Cheers General Metaxas

Helo All Can't wait for SC2, I think the last time I played SC1 was probably last fall. Its probably too late for a major change however here goes. How about puting all of your good ideas into one system. Lets assume every country puts 100 mpps/per turn in each tech and based on history we get the following semi gauranteed results. Rockets Germany get an advance in say 4 turns Russia get an advance in 4 turns Great Britain gets an advance in 5 or 6 turns Subs Germany 4 England 5 Russia 8 Us 5 Bombers England 4 US 4 Germany 6 Russia 7 Basically the ammount of MPPs required to get to the next tech is based on history. Which I am not an expert on. But simply put Germany and Russia had good tanks Italy din't. Germany and Russia had forms of rockets everybody else din't. Now to add variability we add two items. 1) Economics - each country can allocate as much as they can afford and in any or all techs if they want. However each country will have a predetermined easy or hard time of achieving that tech. 2) Luck - depending on the ammount of money you are spending monthly on a tech you recieve an opportunity to recieve free tech points on you path to collecting enough tech points to get the tech you have been developing. Bottom Line Each technology requirs X tech points to achieve. The X tech points for each technology is different for each country based on history. Its upto the player to decide how many mpps he will spend on each turn and on each tech. However the ammount he spends will increase his chances to win free tech points. In such a scenario the game will be more historical and when you see your enemies tanks are kicking your infantry's ass you can make the desicion to focus on anti tank tech immidiately at a cost of not buying more cheap cannon fodder. Any way its a thought, so what are yours?

I like the Idea probably good for SC2. One solution is add intelgince technology to the thech research table. You have to spend money to develop it and if one country's Spy tech is higher than the other he gets some info benefits such as location of enemy HO's if they move location of enemy ships when in port location of ports when enemy transports troops enemy Tech advances and so on. If enemy tech catches up benefit is elliminated. Gen.Metaxas [ October 18, 2002, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Gen.Metaxas ]

To be honest I do, simply by looking at the change in the experience graph for each unit. Trying to weigh effectiveness of strength vs. experience. In doing so I noticed the graph move down less if I did it in steps. However, I never bothered to convert it into a formula, but sounds right. Gen.Metaxas

I love SC and its potential. I don't play Cos anymore. I don't care to discuss which one is better except in terms of learning and improving SC. SC is a great game but its still developing, many of the issues discussed on this forum, the COS developers encountered them almost a decade earlier and built solution rules. Now if you are interested in learning what made COS a great WWII European Theater simulation read the following 26 page analysis of the game written by Jay Purvis in 2000. http://grognard.com/info1/steel.pdf

Sounds great now all we need is Hubert to agree and do update SC. :cool:

One more thing and It's probably mentioned somewere else. In addition to adding a different mechanism to ship troops to alexandria by England, How about adding an option for Germany of not accepting a Viche France state at a risk of increasing US and Russian War Readiness. France would have to continue to fight but move their capital to another city and if that was captured all french territory would surrender. Any Opinions? Gen.Metaxas

Great suggestion and thanks for the feedback. For the last two months I was playing against the AI at expert, +1 or +2 which explains my reduced chances. Now I am playing 4 PBEM games and was wondering what the chances were going to be for free french Navy. Thanks Again Gen.Metaxas PS: I think Free French teritories in Africa would add more game play in the Medeterenian and require additional contingent planning with this added probability.

I must have played 50 allied games but have never recieved any Free French Navy even if they were in English Ports. When the AI is allied he seems to get Free French Navy as often as not. Can anybody clarify any special rules that increase the likely hood of this occuring. Thanks Gen.Metaxas

I dont know if this will help you. I play at Expert, +1 I have accepted that France will fall so I only use them to the best of their Isolated ability. Invest in Frances defence with french mpps and hope to delay the German AI. When things start to colapse send french air unit to England and if you build a French HQ, boat him accross as well. During this time with the Brits I invest my first 250 in industry research and when mpps are available I build HQ then Tank then Army. When each unit is available I ship it to Egypt, including the Canadian Army. Then operational move Free French Air unit to Egypt. During the transport use all allied medeterenian ships to screen their movement incase Italy joins the War. Once this contingent has reached Egypt amass them on the Iraqy border and DOW. When you have conquered Iraq you will be getting the mpps to build and research to your hearts delite. Just dont waist too much british money in Frances defence otherwise you will be delayed and Italy will go to war and the opportunity for safe passage through the Med will be lost. At this point unless German Tech goes way ahead. Victory should be yours. Just make sure you play a smart defensive game in Russia. Gen.Metaxas

I think you have something there Dragoon19. I am not sure about the programing involved, However it sounds like a balanced approach. Hope Huebert is interested.

All I can say is WOW! :eek: Those look ausome. Can't wait to see the whole set. Hurry, Hurry Definitly in my opinion the dots are a must. Keep up the great work. If your finished, I would love to have a copy (frankf@nbgbank.com) Gen.Metaxas

Good News for CANADIANS I received my copy yesterday. I hope this means everybody in Canada should receive their copy by today. The game still has allot of surprises for demo users. Unfortunately that means I dint get much sleep last night and I am paying for it at work today. :cool: But the pattern will repeat tonight. Good gaming! Gen.Metaxas

Its Sad finaly a great game from a Canadian Developer and we will be the last to get a copy. Well I guess I can play my 643rd game of the demo.

I read Australia got it. So much for FREE TRADE! I live in Montreal so if any Canadians have received there copy please tell me the good news. Gen.Metaxas

SO Its funny you mention this I use this tactic when I play as the Allies against the computer. I land a corps on the west side sieze the cannal and then I land two armies and a HQ through the port attacking the Airforce that is usually in the city. 8 out of 10 times I will manage to destroy the airforce and capture the city in one turn. And you are correct my experience is that the german computer player never rcaptures the port unless you retreat north with the corps instead of evacuating. Gen. Metaxas

Hi Hubert Sorry to here the bad news. However, its obvious you have alot of support and anctious admirors of your hard work. Hopefully, Hags was only impatiant and did not mean any real harm. Well that's between the two of you. The worst thing about piracy is that it ruins a fun industry (PC Gaming) for both the creator and the buyer. The owner/creator feels exploited and is required to spend more time and resources to circumvent any future exploitaition. In the end the game gets delayed, the creater spends time away from game development (what i asume to be the fun part of any game programing)and finaly the purchaser (the true supporter) ends up waiting longer, has less input, limited flexability in moding and generally pays a higher price to cover the cost of piracy prevention. Huebert, In short I like what you and battlefront have done with pc war gamming. I appreciate your efforts and look forward to your full release. Unfortunately, piracy is a part of life and hackers will allways find a way to hack protective measures. On the bright side I think you have built a strong legitimate following for your game and your approache to game development. So take the time you need to fix this glitch and dont let anybody rain on your parade. I truly enjoyed being a tiny part of your beta testing through this forum and I and all your eager fans will be here to buy your game when it is ready. What ever you do dont stop making war games you have a talent for it! Have a great weakend! Gen.Metaxas

Playing as the Allies I was kicking German But. I had Conquered Italy and was on the Southern Border of Germany. I had liberated Denmark and was pressing Kiel. The French Boarder was defended by the French on the Maginot Line and 2 units in Belgium. Italy fell in one turn - so the German had pulled troops off the French Front. With Fog of war on I could see 1 Army in Antwerp 1 tank to the south of it, 2 armies neer Kiel and 1 Army south of Munich. By This point in the game I had destroyed 2 German tanks and 1 air force. So I decided to chase down the german air force in southern germany. So I moved the Magino Line forward into Southern Germany, unfortunately my first unit got ambushed and took heavy loses. At his point I decided to send a second unit behind the first to protect the first army's rear. With my plans foiled I decided to trap the german tank in Belgium. So I moved a French army through the ardennes forest and attacked the tank from behind. Unfortunately, I took heavy Losses but the Tank remained at full streangth. With both Fr and Brt Air fleets below 5 I decided to reenforce them instead of attacking the tank. Then I moved my last unit to the front. At this point I expected the Germans to retreat and regroup to prepare for a three front war. Instead the Computer attacked the unit infront of the tank with air units and an army destroying my corps and then drove his last tank straight into Paris which was left unedfended. To my complete shock! The words that came out of my mouth at that point included mother and sounded like trucker. At the end of the German turn France surrendered and in the next turn the Germans were on their way to kicking my ass out of Italy and Denmark! That Day I gained some respect for the Computer. Gen.Metaxas

Thanks Hubert I can't wait to see your full game version. On and off I played Clash of steel for probably 8 years if my memory serves me right. Based on the demo and your proposed changes I think SC should hold me another 8. This is definitly my favourite scale and war. Thanks Gen.Metaxas

While I am waiting for the full release I have been creating strategies for Italy. Delema Use Italy as part of Barbarosa or Fulfill Musolini's Dream (Turn the Medeteranian into a Romen empire) In the demo's 1 year time frame I have been able to conquer Swiss, Yougoslavia and Greece before the game ends, using only italian units + some german air strikes. Has anybody done better or used a different strategy with the Italians. Thanks Gen.Metaxas

I can't wait for the full game and so I am posing a question for Hubert or any of the Game testers. It is hard to tell from the demo because the Computer Russian player doesn't seem to get a chance to get things together. My question is wether the Computer is able to create a solid front line in Russia? In my demo games he seems to create alot of units to protect a specific city but does not try to create a front. For example he mite place 6 corps around a city neer my units. As a result my tactic is to bypass the city with my tanks to cut it off and then hit the units with my armies so that it cannot effectively reenforce. Then if the computer can releave the pocket he will spend money to transfer the units far back out of harms way, reinforce them and then transfer them to a new city near the front again. Each time losing the city as a sole deffender is left. The computer seems to be reactionary versus having optional stratetegies. What I would love to see the computer do is to use the initial units to slow the Axis advance and make a decision as to were he should build a defencive front using his mmps effectively. For example by the time I reach Moscow I should see a line of corps dug in. This never seems to happen. On the computers defence he mite not have enough time because I always conquer the Baltic States. Which brings up the point that the Axis should not be able to DOW on Sweden, Swiss and Baltic States (My usual plan) without Russia preparing for war. Perhaps there could be different levels of preparedness. For example so many units and starting positions depending on how close the country is to entering the war. (for example after 50% each 10% increase adds units and or changes starting positions for the troops. One last thing have you guys considered giving mpps on an monthly basis so winter turns (1 month) will get 4 times the mpps of summer turns (1 week). I am not sure how this will affect the game in other theaters but I think it will help the Russians initialy to create a solid front as they would be able to get the troops to the front faster then the Germans in winter months. Thanks Gen.Metaxas

I haven't played a pbem game yet. However I have played the game extensively and found tons of tricks to beat the computer. Example: 6-turn defeat the USSR 3-turn defeat the USA, Britain 1-turn defeat Italy, Sweden, Greece, Swiss, Vichy, Yougoslavia I was wondering if PBEM players have come out with any ground rules to make the game more historicaly accurate or fair. Or is a human opponent unough to stop gamy plays.

Thanks for the reply Hubert I thought the creation of units for minor allies might be a strategy to protect from invasions. I will have to wait to see what alternative solutions you have come up with in your gold demo.

Is the only way to get allied land troops to Egypt via transport through the medeterenian? (Clash of Steel had an option to send troops via Cape of Good Hope) AND Is there any plans to be able to build new minor allied troops (Canadian for example) in their home country. Perhaps up to an annual limit. (For example Canada can have up to 2 armies in 1940 and say upto 3 or 4 by 1945)

Winning the Game with Germany is Easy. Playing at defualt settings + Fog of War and Hex Grid on. As the Germans I had the Game Over window pop up after both England and USA surrendered both in the same turn in the month of April. If you want to figure the strategy on your own stop reading! Turn 1 Stage I - Conquer low countries. Ignore northern corp, attacked city with two air units, two armies from the east and one panzer from the south. Stage II - Break French Line of Defense Hit the FR-army in the forest with one Army Hit FR-army west of it with one air unit and one panzer. Air to Air combat will weaken the FR air unit. Trap is set. Response - allies pull back center but destroy panzer unit on western border of Low Countries. Turn II - Destroy all retreating French troops aroud Paris. Stage III - Ignore Magimo and the 10 point resource beside it unless extra units can reach. Send in second line to destroy retreating french and clear the path for your two remaining panzers. Must destroy fr air unit before it escapes, isolate allied units nort of paris and suround paris. Turn III - Take Paris France's Surrender is a matter of luck. I was lucky France surrendered that turn. Stage IV - Prepare for Double invasion (England & US) You will need 4 armor, 3 HQs and all of your armies and corp units bar 2 on the Russian front. 3 subs atlantic, 1 sub two cruisers north sea US land 1 armor, 1 army, 1 HQ north map edge take oil fields and hit costal city 1 army, 1 corps in mid hit air force & navy 1 army in south hit navy UK land 2 HQs, 2 armor, every one else atleast 2 units north of London the rest from English Chanel use 1 sub and 2 cruisers in North Sea to protect troops. use atleast two subs in west side of chanel. atleast 3 air units as air cover. You must capture London and one US city as soon as possible. The rest will be history You need London and Mancheter to beat England although Canada will fight on. You need Washington to beat the states. If both fall game is over even if Canada is not conquered. Winning the game with the Allies is tough and you need some luck to beat the clock. Stage I -Deffend France Key here is to slow the Germans down at minimum cost and try to destroy his tanks at almost any cost. 1 - Bring both french units in africa to france do not commit any UK forces to France except BEF. 2 -Load all UK and CAN forces from all over the world and head for Italy. (Leave one corp in UK's northern city) 3 -English Fleet around England - Leave north Fleet staitionary until the 2 Germ subs find you. West coast Fleet move to attack German Coast and Block the Baltic. - French Fleet West Coast- Attack German Coast - English Med Fleet Move One Batelship next to Rome and 1 Carrier with 3 hexs from Rome. Stage II Conquer Italy Invasion Force 1 corp to land beside venice 1 corp to land on the heel of the boot 1 corp to land in sicily CAN Army north of Rome, 1 Corp South of Rome, 1 Corp East of Rome. 1 HQ 2 hexes South of Rome At the same turn you DOW on Italy and invade try you should use one FR corp to Go accros the Maginot Line and One accross ITL FR border north of Genoa. You should land two UK corp North of Kiel in Germany and try to attack the plane usualy stationed in that city. It is important to capture the hex north east of the City as it gives you the port (germ -10 points, UK +5 points, easy future landing) If you dont capture Italy in one turn Germany will try to re-enforce her allie from the french front. That is a Great trap aslong as you can take rome and seal the italian german border on your next turn. Stage III Invade Germany After the surrender of Italy you should have over 1200 credits. At minimum buy 1 HQ, 1 Tank and 1 Army. In the next 2 turns as you struggle to move your troops through the southern German border. Move your units on the french border forward. Use your northern Navy to attack german North Sea coast and the Denmark City. Land your germ invasion force at your port northeast of keel and attack Keel. You have to take it your first turn. If you still have one of the two corps you landed there during the Italian invasion send it to liberate denmark. At this stage you should have already eliminated Germanies 3 tanks and start hunting for his 3 planes. Once securly landed the German does not have a chance to create a solid 3 boarder front. Try to take as many freebies as you can but in order to win you need to take Berlin and 5 cities. I won on the last turn and held Berlin, Kiel the two French border cities and Prague. WOW if it wasnt for the time limit I would have never tried. I think the AI needs some tweeking when the unexpected happens. Germany does not protect itself until it is too late. Easy to set traps. UK did not try to protect England from an invasion until after it happenned and did not try to land any troops in Europe although I had left no defence. Italy can be taken out guaranteed 1 to 2 turns. US can be taken out guaranteed 3-4 turns. I love the game though and will still buy it when it is finished.