Edwin P.

KDG I agree with you on the Naval Warfare system in SC. I like it. The only thing open to improvement is that you always know where the convoy routes are and that air fleets always spot naval units in range (no allowance for cloud cover, bad weather, etc). I was thinking that selectable convoy routes would make things more interesting, especially if the air units could only spot subs 80% of the time (instead of the the 100% spotting chance now). I was also thinking that perhaps cruisers should have a Sub Attack Bonus to reflect their advantage in subhunting as opposed to the battle ships. Thus cruisers a greater advantage against subs vs Battleships. But I agree, this change is probably not needed. Other than that I like the naval system, especially with FOW turned on.

Here's one way to implement diplomacy in SC2: D6. Diplomacy Diplomacy chits cost 50MPP to influence a friendly leaning country and 75MPP otherwise. Each diplomacy chit assigned to a country increases the result of your diplomacy effect roll by 4%. You can make one diplomacy roll per country per turn where you have a positive number of diplomacy chits. The net effect of diplomacy is your countries investment less the investment of the opposing force. (Allied 2 Chits minus Axis 1 Chit = +1 Allied or +4%). Each diplomacy effect roll uses up 1 or 2 diplomacy chits (90%/10%) assigned to that country. Thus if you make a roll when you have 3 chits assigned to a country, you might end up with 1 or 2 chits after the roll is made, regardless of whether your roll was effective. This reflects the use of political capital capital to affect the outcome. Procedure: Each turn a player can assign Diplomacy Chits to a neutral country(s) OR roll for a diplomacy effect(s). You can not assign a chit and roll for diplomacy effect in the same turn. Thus your opponent has a chance to counter any diplomacy investment that you make. You need at least a +1 chit balance to roll for a diplomacy effect. German Leaning Countries – Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania Allied Leaning Countries – Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Norway Neutrals – Iraq, Sweden, Switzerland Diplomacy Effect Table: 01-40: No Effect 41-60: Cancel pre-existing diplomatic agreement with other powers. (see below) 61-70: Government shares intelligence on troop movements within 2 hexes of national border. 71-80: Will accept military assistance (i.e. you finance the building of neutral units in that country at half price – you provide the equipment, they provide the manpower) 81-90: Will serve as a source of supply for friendly troops within 4 hexes of national border (i.e. Turkey may supply German troops attacking Iraq without entering the war as a German ally) 91-99: Will allow prepositioning & repair of troops in their country and naval ships to transit their ports (ie Spain will allow UK to station 3 UK armies in their country to deter German invasion) 00+: Will ally with major power [ June 17, 2003, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Could it be due to the amount of tech chits invested in Jet tech and when? Italy, Russia, and the US will normally invest in Jets much later than the UK (although the US starts with Jets-1) and often the UK will invest in Jets before Germany can, as the Germans are buying units with which to conquer France.

Congrats, I would be interested in reading about how you executed Sea Lion, perhaps, the game designers would consider adding it to a future version of SC or SC2 .

I like the Siberian transfer, and realize that no patch is coming but I would like to see; A. Siberian transfer event covered by FOW so Axis does not know it has executed. B. The Soviets have the option to direct the Siberian transfer troops to appear in in the south of the country around Stalingrad. PS: Hubert, thanks for a great game, its simple, "well balanced", fast playing, realistic, and great multiplayer. I play it about once a week. Looking forward to SC2 in Dec 2003 [ June 16, 2003, 11:22 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Here are the 10 items that I would like to see in SC2, if it is focused on Europe AI Improvements 1. Canned (and Moddable) strategic/tactical routines to support Fuzzy Logic Example: a. UK Conquers Ireland with 1 Corps, 2 Carriers, 1 Battleship b. UK Fleet concentrates Forces in Med to Destroy Italian Navy c. German Invasion behind Riga 2. AI uses different stratgies to achieve same objective Example: a. French Defense - Disbands naval units to buy corps - or evacuates France for UK or Builds a HQ to support defense of France b. Russia Defense - Forward defense, or pull back to defensive lines defense (ie strategy Manual) or create bastions of defense around cities or UK takes Iraq to operate in Air and Land units from Egypt 3. AI that gets harder to beat at higher levels. Example: UK AI attacks Ireland (0% Novice, 20% Beginner, 60% Intermediate, 90% Expert) or Germany Attacks Denmark on Turn 1 (0%, 20%, 60%, 90%). Improved FOW Currently the FOW is all or nothing, realistically a plane flying over a sea hex didn't spot the naval or sub forces in the hex all the time and spotting chance was influenced by weather and enemy combat air patrols. 4. Range, Enemy Air Units, weather, terrain, and unit type in area affect spotting chance (Leopard suggestion) Diplomacy(Night Suggestion) Neutrals can receive aid from Major powers to increase the size of their armed forces. Ie UK can send Spain military equipment for 2 corps, thus, if attacked Spain starts with 2 extra Corps. Friendly neutrals may grant Transit rights to operating air units or share intelligence about enemy forces along their borders. --------------------------------------------- Diplomacy chits cost 50MPP to influence a friendly leaning country and 75MPP otherwise. Each diplomacy chit assigned to a country increases the result of your diplomacy effect roll by 4%. You can make one diplomacy roll per country per turn where you have a positive number of diplomacy chits. The net effect of diplomacy is your countries investment less the investment of the opposing force. (Allied 2 Chits minus Axis 1 Chit = +1 Allied or +4%). Each diplomacy effect roll uses up 1 or 2 diplomacy chits (90%/10%) assigned to that country. Thus if you make a roll when you have 3 chits assigned to a country, you might end up with 1 or 2 chits after the roll is made, regardless of whether your roll was effective. This reflects the use of political capital capital to affect the outcome. Procedure: Each turn a player can assign Diplomacy Chits to a neutral country(s) OR roll for a diplomacy effect(s). You can not assign a chit and roll for diplomacy effect in the same turn. Thus your opponent has a chance to counter any diplomacy investment that you make. You need at least a +1 chit balance to roll for a diplomacy effect. German Leaning Countries – Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania Allied Leaning Countries – Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Norway Neutrals – Iraq, Sweden, Switzerland Diplomacy Effect Table: 01-40: No Effect 41-60: Cancel pre-existing diplomatic agreement with other powers. (see below) 61-70: Government shares intelligence on troop movements within 2 hexes of national border. 71-80: Will accept military assistance (i.e. you finance the building of neutral units in that country at half price – you provide the equipment, they provide the manpower) 81-90: Will serve as a source of supply for friendly troops within 4 hexes of national border (i.e. Turkey may supply German troops attacking Iraq without entering the war as a German ally) 91-99: Will allow prepositioning & repair of troops in their country and naval ships to transit their ports (ie Spain will allow UK to station 3 UK armies in their country to deter German invasion) 00+: Will ally with major power ------------------------------------------------ Weather SC does a good job of reflecting weather effects with its reduced turns during winter months, so the changes here I propose are minor. 5. Snow effect (ie hexes are speckled with white)covers hexes in Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and north atlantic during winter months. Rivers are frozen over (units can cross, no movement penalty) and spotting chance of aircraft may be reduced and range of air units reduced in bad weather. (ie Winter - 20% Major Storm Grounds Planes, 40% Reduced Visibility and Range ,40% Clear Skies) Units a. Engineer Units to build fortresses or increase maximum entrenchment value of cities. b. ASW Air units that are cheap to build to spot submarines, do not intercept, Strength 5, coupled with new SA (sub attack) bonus and no AA (air attack) bonus. c. Parachute Corps (expensive, limited to 1 per country, range 4 hexes, must be in supply and at full strength to airdrop) d. Marines - Can attack land units from sea hex and advance if enemy unit is destroyed in combat. Technology 7. a. Intel, b. Counter Intel, c. Partisan Support, d. Infantry Tactics to improve readiness of infantry units, e. Mining/SynFuels to increase max production of resource hexes from 10 to 11 to 12 etc., f. Armor Tactics to improve readiness of Armor units, g. A-Bomb tech Option (I know many people don't think its realistic, but heck, have it as a game option you can turn on or off, you can only build it when you reach level Tech Level 5, it only affects 1 hex, and you can only build 2 bombs every year), h. Winter Preparation (gives units extra AP & improved readiness during Winter turns in Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unit Commanders 8. Option to purchase unit commanders that give a penaly/bonus to the single unit they are assigned to. Example: Patton commands 1 Armor Unit = +10% readiness, +1 AP Events 9. Random, but rare events such as: Capturing Ultra code machine, General dies in car accident, German u-boat sinks US ship in Atlantic (does Germany 1) Apoligize but continue attacking shipping (US Readiness +10%) or 2) Stops all attacks on Convoy routes for 6 months (US Readiness +0%) Map Changes 10. Larger Map at same scale or Northern transit that allows German subs to reach north Atlantic and Allied reinforcements to reach northern Russia, and hex for Greenland/Icelandic Airbase. Improved Naval Warfare 11. Selectable convoy routes, Sub Attack combat rating, reduced chance of spotting subs Random Starting Locations 12. Less Predicatability in Starting Locations of Units Example: Italin Bari Fleet could start in Adriatic (20%), German subs could start in south Atlantic (10%), Egyptian Fleet might be reinforced with a Cruiser from the North Atlantic (10%). Partisans can appear in City, Swamp, Forest, and Mountain hexes. [ June 17, 2003, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Night, I was thinking of how your concept of Neutrals aiding the allies would be executed, and it could be most interesting; 1. Intelligence from neutral embassies in major power countries (ie Swiss embassy in berlin might provide information on technological reasearch status of Germany). 2. Intelligence on movement of troops near their borders. 3. Right to operate air units in and out of their country ( if detected - say 20% - other side could demand that transfer facilities be stopped, at least for a while with likelihood of stopping threat linked to military forces close by; ie Span would listen to threat by Germany but not by Russia, Turkey would listen to threats by Russia and Germany, but not by UK, Italy, or USA).

Many thanks for the latest update to the 1.07 Beta.

Night, I like the idea of being able to give aid to a country, before it enters the war or after it does too. Before a neutral is attacked you could give it the equipment for a corps, an army, or an air unit, however, it would take 4 turns for the unit to show up and if the neutral was conquered before then all of these military supplies would be lost (ie captured before men could be trained). Thus spain could start the war with an extra 2 corps if given the resources to equip them. You could also create a merchant ship convoy route to ship aid from the US to Russia (during non-winter months) or from the US to Spain (year round. This would take x turns to arrive. Aid from Germany to Italy would take 1 turn to arrive. [ June 15, 2003, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Leopard and all others I really like the concept of updating the FOW rules in SC. Currently the system assumes a 100% to spot anything in range. In my mind I would include Intel (as per Leopard), reduce chance of spotting at extreme ranges for Air units and account for the presence of enemy air units in the area being spotted. Example:Air Units Spotting Base chance to spot of 90% Extreme range: -20% (ie 70%) Presence of enemy air units in interception range gives -20% per enemy air unit. (Thus 70% chance when 1 enemy air unit in area, and when 3 enemy air units in range this drops to 30%) Intel gives +10% per level, thus At Intel Level 3, base chance to spot at less than extreme range is 120%. Bad Weather -60% (ie assume a 10% per turn for bad weather that limits visibility and flights) Subs -30% to spot submarines. Just a few ideas. [ June 15, 2003, 01:18 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Wolfe, Excellent posts on the affect of different terrain types.

SeaWolf Great Idea, something does need to be added to the program. I would allow transports to be offshore, but I would have it increase Italian readiness by some amount. Thus the Axis could operate in corps to stop an invasion if Italian war readiness triggered Italian DOW. Perhaps - 2 transports offshore +50% readiness, 3 transports offshore +100 Italian War readiness and of course if any allied transports or naval ships enter the Adriatic +100% readiness. As for adding an extra corps, I would much prefer to see the number of troops remain the same, but that the location should vary. So if a transport is close to Bari then on the first turn there is a 60% that the Venice corps will appear in Bari, ie Italians see transports offshore and rush troops to threatended area. If the transport is there for more than one turn the chance for moving a corps to Bari increases to 100%. Another idea might be to give the Italians a Str 1 or Str 2 corps in the threatened area (say 25% of the time). This would represent troops rushed to the area at the last minute. The italians could reinforce it to full strength, if it survives and it would not be as unbalancing as giving them a free corps or two. I would also like to see the Italian naval forces outside of Bari have a random chance to appear in the Adriatic sea. [ June 05, 2003, 10:30 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

My thoughts on Reclaim Research Chits AI 0% per turn Novice, 5% per turn Beginner, 25% per turn Intermediate, 90% per turn Expert Thus the AI reclaim chits sooner at Expert level than at beginner level. 1. The UK AI would reclaim all research chits if London or Manchester was captured by the Axis. 2. The UK AI would reclaim all research chits if 5 or more Axis were in the UK. 3. After 1941 the German AI would reclaim all research chits if Italy has surrendered. 4. After 1941 the German AI would reclaim all research chits if two of 6 minor countries were liberated by the allies: France, Low Countries, Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Hungary. 5. After December 1942 the German AI would reclaim all research chits if more than 15 Russian land units are spotted within 1 hex of the German border or that of its minor country allies or if Germany held 2 or fewer Russian cities. 6. After 1941 the Italian AI would reclaim all research chits if two mainland Italian cities were captured (Venice, Bari, Florence, Salerno) or Germany has surrendered or if 4 of the following countries have been liberated by the Allies: France, Low Countries, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungry and Yugoslavia. 7. The Russian AI would reclaim all research chits if Russia controlled 9 or fewer Russian cities. 8. The Russian AI would reclaim all research chits if the Germans conquered one of its three capital cities. 9. The US would reclaim its chits if the UK and Russia have surrendered. [ June 04, 2003, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Air Units Spotting SC assumes that Air Units can see all opposing units that are in spotting range. In reality this was not the case, due to bad weather or enemy air units or deception campaigns. For FOW games may I suggest Air units have a base 100% to see units within 2 hexes of their locations, except for submarines which can spot with an 80% chance. Air units have a base 70% to spot units that are 3 or more hexes from their locations except for submarines which they can spot with a 50% chance. If the enemy has an air unit within spotting range that percentage chance drops by half for spotting units that are 3 or more hexes from your air unit. This means that the enemy is unlikely to see your HQ unit if you have air cover in the the area, and even if you don't there is a 30% that the HQ unit will not be spotted. [ June 04, 2003, 02:22 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Also in reference to the ideas proposed by Panzer_39 and elaborated on by JerseyJohn 1. DeGaulle HQ Unit I support the idea of a DeGaulle Unit in the UK HQ list, but I would also have a chance for it to appear as a free bonus unit with a reduced strength of 1 that the UK could reinforce. This would effectively cut the price of the unit by 50%. Basically, for each turn that France survives the chance for receiving a DeGaulle bonus unit would increase by 5%. Thus France which fell in 10 turns would only have a 50% of receiving a bonus DeGaulle HQ, if they held out for 15 turns the chance increases to 75%. Ah, the randomness of war. 2. Tech when a country Falls I agree that the UK would have shared its technolgy with the US if it was in danger of falling to the Germans and the sharing strategy proposed would go a long way towards balancing the game as each major nation fell. 3. I think that giving the UK a bonus Free French corps at a greatly discounted price (ie Strength of 1) is a good idea, but I would also have it be based on how long France survived against Germany, as the longer that France holds out the more Frenchmen can cross the English Channel. And as Dan suggested perhaps a -20% penalty to the chance of this occuring the Allies attacked Ireland or the Low Countries. 4. Simialarly for the Free Poles unit, a corps unit with a strength of 1 that could be reinforced by the Brits if they wanted to spend the resources. Now comes the hard part, playtesting these proposed changes to make sure that they don't tilt the game balance too far one way or the other. [ June 04, 2003, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Bill Many thanks for the clarification of the Expert settings. --------------------------------------- Santabear Excellent summary of the weaknesses in the AI and how to address them. -------------------------------------- Also, in another game the intelligence settings of the AI determine the chance of the AI using the best solution, then the second best solution, etc. Example: In terms of SC most players consider the best strategy for the Allies would be to attack Ireland on turn 1 or 2. The second best is to attack Ireland after the US enters the war. At greenhorn level the AI would have a 0% of attacking Ireland on turn 1 or 2. At novice level 20%, at beginner level 50%, intermediate level 70%, and at Expert level 90%. When the US enters the war, if the AI did not attack Ireland earlier, the AI would have a chance to attack it now. Greenhorn 0%, Novice 20%, Beginner 50%, Intermediate 70%, and Expert 90%. Note how the percentages remain constant. Progammatically, this might be a simpler way to implement what I suggested in my first posting. [ June 03, 2003, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Santabear I second your idea of Partisans appearing in hexes other than swamps. In my opinion, they would be most likely to show up in cities( , mountains, forests and swamps. [ June 03, 2003, 09:57 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I agree, lets have the US Pacific Fleet sail into the Atlantic in January of 1946 after Japan surrenders in September of 1945 or 4 turns after Axis troops land in North America. [ June 02, 2003, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Santabear, thanks for your idea on turning the FOW off and on, I never thought about that. Great Idea. Really Good Idea. And I agree with all of your other points. The later scenarios are especially hard to beat. [ June 02, 2003, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

In SC the AI level settings only adjust the amount of plunder that one gets from a conquered country. In a future game I would like to see these settings make the AI more aggresive. Thus players wishing to face a strategically tougher opponent would select the higher settings. Example 1: Allies Attack Ireland Novice - 0% Allied AI will DOW Ireland Beginner - 20% Allied AI will DOW Ireland after US enters war. Intermediate - 50% Allied AI DOW Ireland on turn 1 or 2. 50% Allied AI DOW Ireland after US enters the war (if it did not DOW earlier). Expert - 95% Allied AI DOW Ireland on turn 1 or 2 and 100% Allied AI DOW Ireland after the US enters the war (if it did not DOW earlier) Example 2: German Conquest Strategy Str1: Limited Offensive (Poland, LC, FR) Str2: Historical (POL,LC,FR,DM,NW) Str3: Greater Historical (POL,LC,FR,DM,NW,SW,GR) Str4: Greatest Historical (+ Vichy,Spain,Portugal) Str5: All of Europe (+ Egypy + Iraq) Novice: 90% Str1, 10% Str2 Beginner: 50% Str1, 40% Str2, 10% Str3 Intermediate: 25% Str1, 25% Str2, 30% Str3, 10% Str4, 10% Str5 Expert: 40% Str3, 30% Str4, 30% Str5 [ June 02, 2003, 11:27 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Interesting, I have never built carriers as the UK.

Here's a simple way to handle partisans that would reflect the likelihood of partisans for countries as diverse as Denmark and Russia. Partisan Tech = + 5%/level to base chance of partisans appearing. Proposed base percentage chances for partisan activity are listed below: Yugoslavia – Base 15% / 75% (winter) Spain – Base 5% / 25% Turkey – Base 5% / 25% Russia – Base 15% / 75% Norway – Base 0% / 0% (No Partisan activity without Partisan Tech level 1+) Greece – Base 0% / 0% (No Partisan activity without Partisan Tech level 1+) France - Base -5% / -5% (No partisan activity without Partisan Tech level 2+) Denmark - Base -15% / -15% (No partisans until without Partisan Tech Level 4+) Iraq - Base -15% / -15% Low Countries - Base -20% / -20% (No Partisans until Partisan Tech Level 5)

I like the way that the game handles Free French units now as I like rushing the units to the port and then onto transports before Paris can fall to the Axis and I feel that if the Germans destroyed French units that none of their equipment and few of their troops would make it to France. (Its just more fun moving units). I also find that the Free French corp units moved from Beruit and Algiers to the Suez is a key element in delaying any Axis conquest of Egypt. I do like the idea of French units upgrading their Anti-Tank level to that of the UK as this would reflect the fact that they are using British Arms and are being trained by the Brits. It would also increase the incentive for the UK to invest in Anti-Tank technology. I also like the idea of a DeGaulle HQ Bonus unit appearing in the UK, perhaps the chance of this happening could be based on how long Paris holds against the German onslaught? [ June 01, 2003, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

How would the final French Military Value be determined?

As John DiFool said, perhaps the best solution is to have Italian War readiness skyrocket. Ie: IF if three or more allied transports are adjacent to the Italian coast then Italian war readiness increases to 100% and Italy enters the war when the Allied turn ends. Ie: IF any Allied units enter the Adriatic Italian readiness increases by 100%.