Panzer39

I think I have to agree with you that America and Canada should be "off limits" for now. However there still needs to be a way to knock the US out of the War. Maybe once England and Russia falls the US could just throw in the towel? I personally would love to see an expanded map in either this version or a future SC that would show more of the USA and Canada. It would be nice to launch a real operation against them. Even better would be a world wide SC like the one mentioned in another post. Mexico goes Axis and the Desert Fox has a field day in Texas

In my last game (Axis Expert +1) my Germans took the US in July 1941. After quickly running over France thanks to the prematurely declaring war on the Low Countries while some of my forces were in Sweden (which happened to fall on the same turn France invaded) So after buying 2 tank groups I quickly ran over France before June and than took Vichy. Here is where I decided to try something new. I stationed 3 airfleets and an HQ to watch the Channel, brought in my subs from the Atlantic to France and over the next two turns loaded up almost my entire army (2 Hqs, 2 Armies, 3 tank groups, 2 corps) and sent them on their way to America. It took another two turns to get them in place along the northern and southern tip of Maine. My subs watched out for the RN who did not make an appearance so I declared war on the US. After landing my troops, I took the southern city and operated two Air Fleets in. The US Battleships ran off for some reason and by December the US had fallen (I only took 2 cities Washington and the southernmost). I plundered 700 with which I quickly bought some more tanks and an HQ. I sent most of my army back to Europe and some to take Canada. Russia who went up to 85% war after the US fell prepared for war as soon as I put my men in place along their border. However with the extra MPP from the US along with knowing I did not have to worry about a second front, I quickly plowed through their forces and as of now (August 1941) Have taken Moscow and am pretty much just mopping up. Sadly neither Spain or Turkey joined me after the US fell so I will most likely run over them before finishing off Britain. I know this strategy was pretty "gamey" but it worked surprisingly well. I would have liked to have seen the RN defend the US coast a little better and the US to have declared War once transports were sighted off their coast (some were adjacent one turn prior to my declaration) Maybe a patch can address this?

What kind of support problems Hubert? If it would be simply dropping down a city or mine tile I think it would be fairly easy. For one I think the personal customization would allow the player to add the changes he wants to the map without petitioning you (example a port in Belfast or Suez City) and upsetting other players who do not want to see them added. I understand if this cannot be done for SC because of design decisions etc, maybe for SC 2 or a future project? I also understand that SC only promises a Campaign Editor, but a campain editor can mean a lot of different things to different people. One could see it as a list of options to check like in the SC option screen, or as similar to the one in SC, or even as something that lets you paint your own map. I for one am not asking to be able to make my own map, that would in fact be closer to a game engine builder, but modify the map you have made by placing/removing mines etc. You have made a great game that appeals to many people, it would be nice to be able to modify the map to appeal to our own individual challenges and tastes.

I can see your point about a map editor if the AI is in fact hardcoded to the extent that it would not recognize new objects added to the map. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case? I find it odd that some would vote against the ability to edit the map. I always opt for more freedom when available. Yes, some very unbalanced scenarios could spring up, but who would have to play them besides the creator? I think the pros would out weigh the cons. Each player would have the option to adjust the map to his tastes and challenges without having to ask for it to be changed for everyone. It would eliminate a lot of requests to Hubert because we could do it ourselves. As for multiply, the standard map would be the only one allowed. Thoughts?

One more thing I forgot to mention. I think Vichy France should be an option either in the game itself or on the option screen like USSR partisans. If I am the Axis player I find it silly to take all of France, have it turn Vichy, than have to invade Vichy. This is especially true if I have taken over all the French Cities before it falls. I understand it is Historical but if the player is rewriting history than he should have the option of taking France entirely. I would like it to be an option within the game so that one can make a strategic choice than (do I want the extra MPP or now or the smaller front to protect when the allies invade). However if that is not possible it would be nice to see it on the option menu. Also how about some random MPP sabotage in France by the French resistance?

First I would like to say that yes this is my first post to this forum but I have been following it for over a month now. I have also spent plenty of time playing SC, playing through every Campaign that came with the game and giving the allies a trashing on Expert +2 in the full campaign several times. Now than, on to the improvements to this almost perfect game. Lets start with the editor because I think that with a few improvements most gamers problems with SC could be solved if they had more options to work with 1. The player should be able to activate a country for the purpose of giving it additional units and than deactivate it so that it can come into the war as normal in the full campaign. Example: The player wants to have a harder time beating USSR so he activates them, adds 3 armies around Moscow and bumps up their experience. The player can than deactivate USSR so that they are not at war when the game begins. 2. Placing or deleting resource hexes in Editor. This would make those who feel that USA does not make enough MPP happy. All a player would have to do is add two or three mines to the US mainland to up their MPP production. This way a player who wants more US MPP production gets his way without upsetting those who like it the way it is. 3. A map editor. Similar to above, this would allow the placing of cities and fortifications to the map. Those who want a port in Ireland could add one, those who want a Suez city could do the same and those like me who would like to make the USA harder to take could add fortifications there. Everyone is happy and Hubert does not have to worry about responding to every little gripe. Now game play. 1. Better diplomacy. This has been mentioned a lot so I will not go into great detail. It would be very nice to "persuade" smaller countries to join you or at least know if they will or will not. Show a percentage of the likelihood of the larger minors joining and the option to get them to join by bribes or threats. 2. Peace talks. Give the option of ending the war with one country before the entire war is over. For example, Germany takes Moscow and soviets move capitol a dialog box comes up and the player gets to select if he wants to talk peace with the Russians. If yes the Soviets surrender, Germany plunders MPP but than all troops leave USSR, similar to when Poland is conquered. USSR is than neutral for rest of the war. Same could be applied to all major countries. 3. Axis Navy. The axis surface ships should also disrupt allied shipping like submarines. This was their main mission after all. However, I am not sure if the current unit setup could be moded to reflect this since their are no national unit differences. Therefore, perhaps a new commerce raider unit could be added the game. Or maybe every surface unit could detract MPPS if close enough to an enemy port. In a way this makes sense because every counties navy impeded enemy shipping in some way. 4. Submarines. Again this has been discussed in another post so I will not go into great depth. Right now they are to strong against enemy fleets and to easy to detect. My solution. Make initial sub value 5 and upgradeable to 10 with research while reducing sub deception and sub cost. This will allow for more realistic, cheaper, weaker, sub fleets to be produced. The Royal navy will have a harder time hunting them down and the Axis player will find it easier to buy them and use them like they were used in the war. Good for attacking shipping but to weak to go up against capital ship fleets. Each sub would still disrupt about 10 MPP per turn. Once found though they would easily be destroyed. 5. Larger map. Everyone seems to agree with this one. A little more to the North, South, East, and West would benefit all. North would allow easier break out for the Kriegsmarine, South would open up North Africa, East would open up the Middle East, and West would widen the North Atlantic and maybe give a few more hexes to America making it harder to run over. AI issues. 1. Allied AI is to eager to launch an early D-day. Maybe a check could be programmed into the system to make the AI have a minimum amount of air coverage, HQ's and land forces balanced against what they know the Axis has before launching its attack. It would also be nice if they randomly went after North Africa or Spain (if conquered) first regardless if it felt it could perform an early d-day. The US went after Africa first to give their troops some experience, it would be nice if the AI did the same sometimes to. Maybe a dice roll could randomly determine where the AI initially attacks. This would at least keep the player guessing. Minor fixes. 1. This is just personal but I would like to see a different message if the AXIS knocks out the US. I mean would we really surrender if they took Maine, please.... Maybe a message that states US sues for Peace would be more appropriate. 2. The Axis player should not lose if he holds out to the end of the game. In my last game Expert +1 I was holding the Ukraine, France, and Everything in between when the game ended in an Allied victory -180. I even had a few more unit kills than the AI. 3. Combining like units. Someone else mentioned this and I think it would be a great idea. Instead of having to pay the cost of refitting units and losing their experience you could combine two like units into one. 4. A overall population limit. What I mean is an overall max amount of armies/tanks/reinforcements a country can produce before it runs out of people to man them. For example the War goes into 1946, Germany has lost a boat load of armies. The program lets you know that your population no longer can supply reinforcements or new units. It's over 5. War weariness. A percentage similar to the one that tells you when USSR will enter but instead this one counts from 100% backwards. It will go down when you lose a lot of armies, a major allies falls, a HQ is destroyed, or the enemy crosses into your boarder. Example. USA starts with 100 percent but after UK falls it goes down to 80% Than when Patton, 4 armies, and a Battleship are destroyed in one year it falls down to 70% If it falls below 50% the US citizens get tired of fighting the European War and protest that the Japanese are the real enemy thus making the US end its war with Germany. Example 2. 1945 rolls around and the Allies have landed in France, taken out Italy, and the Russians have taken over Konigsburg. Germany's War Weariness level is at 60%. However, they launch a Operation that takes back their city and pushes the allies back to the sea. Their war weariness jumps back up to 75% and you can stop thinking about which General will assassinate you. To play balance, some triggers would effect war weariness more than others and the Percent value where a country would succumb to the will of its people would be different for all. Example, Higher for the USA but lower for USSR 6. Has anyone tired not invading Russia when they declare war? I had line of 8 Armies along the Konigsburg-Warsaw line and did not move them because I was engaged in Sealion at the time. The Russians attacked for a few turns and than backed off. A year passed, they attacked half heartily while I took UK and US. The built a large army/corps force but deployed them all in the northern area by the Baltic states and to the south by Romania (I did not own Romania) For the next two years they just sat their occasionally hitting me with rockets. All the time I only had a single line of armies there, no air cover or armor, just two HQ's. They did flood Turkey when the Italians invaded, but not action on the German front. Very odd. Well that's my 2 cents worth on what I think would make SC better without turning it into something else or SC 2. Agree or Disagree?

Maybe a compromise can be worked out. Instead of having weekly turns all year round, the game could simply follow the two week formula that it uses in the Summer for the entire year. This would add about 18 turns to a year (please correct me if my math is off). There would be no need to reduce unit movement across the board. Instead units on the Russian front would receive a supply and movement penalty in winter months which in my opinion would be more realistic anyway. Of course this could all be done in the back ground so as to not turn off the casual player. This would also clear up the silly slow in production and research in the winter months. The only problem I can foresee with this idea is that the AI might be to weak to fight a war that lasted 26 turns per year. Maybe that is why Hubert set up the turns like they are to begin with?