Edwin P.

Question: In SC1 the AI was focused on the land war in Europe. In SC2 will the Naval Units be controlled by improved (ie more active) AI routines?

It would be nice if SC2 allowed players to set desitnation tiles for Naval units. In SC1 if I want the UK Carrier in the Med to move to the Atlantic I have to move it each turn and sometimes I forget. Ideally you could select a naval unit, click the distination tile and at the end of each turn the unit would auotmatically move towards that hex.

In the time prior to WWII Iraq and Egypt were both technically "independent" nations but in reality both had governments whose actions was approved/strongly influenced by the requirements of the British Government.

Try operating the Polish AirFleet to France and hiding a unit or two in Polands eastern Border area. Poland's surrender may be delayed for a few turns, even if the Axis takes Warsaw. Also, you might try attacking in the West while Germany is attacking Poland in the East.

Excellent, simple and elegant. Does not require a new unit, easy for the AI to manage. What more can I say. Idea (just an idea, not needed but here it is): Have this option in effect only if the player has a Naval HQ unit - This limits Italian subs to the Med (Assuming they don't purchase a Naval HQ) while giving German subs (the only Axis power that can afford to purchase a Naval HQ) free range in the Atlantic. [ July 13, 2004, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

"What is a Milk Cow? The Milk Cows were U-boats of type XIV and which their role was to support the operating VII and IX fighting U-boats by delivering supplies and ammunition. These boats were successful while operating out of US coast where their location 1000km out of New York permitted the smaller VIIC Atlantic boats to operate in US waters, and in the Caribbean during 1942 but vastly improved allied radar and better air coverage of the Atlantic eliminated them during 1943 and 14 other XIV were cancelled. The Milk Cows were of course a priority target for all allied forces. The first 'Milk Cow' (U-459) was commissioned on November 15 1941 and went out on its first patrol in March 1942 after training and trials in the Baltic. The last 'Milk Cow' (U-490) was sunk on June 11. 1944 on its first operational patrol. She was sent out to support the Monsun boats in the far east (India Ocean)."

Allow the axis to create a submarine supply ship from a corps instead of a normal transport. It has no attack value and no defense value. It can supply 3 submarines that move adjacent to it - ie Submarine Combat Readiness returns to 100% before starting its gradual turn by turn decline once again - and after supplying those 3 subs its strength is reduced to 1 and it must return to port. Would allow Axis submarines to continue to operate at Sea and reduce the need dfro subs to return to port.

Independent Active Neutrals Option. Neutral nations (ie Spain and Turkey) can become Active Neutrals with a limited Defensive AI allowing them to to attack, build, entrench and move within their borders without being controlled by the Axis or Allies unless they join the Axis or Allies. 01. Selected Neutral Nations could become Active Neutrals based on specific events. Example: Germany attacks Vichy France AND the UK expends a diplomatic chit on Spain. This causes Spain to become an Active Neutral nation. 02. Active neutrals can use their production base to produce new units while they are an Active Neutral. Example: With 3 Cities and a Mine Spain can produce a new Corps in 4 turns. 03. Active neutrals can move and entrench their units while still neutral. 04. Active neutrals, who have not joined a major power, have an AI that can move and attack enemy units that have entered their territory. 05. Active neutrals can return to neutral status. Example: Spain becomes an active neutral when Germany attacks Vichy France, later when Germany attacks Russia Spain may return to Neutral Status as the threat of an Axis invasion is minimal. 06. Possible Status for Neutral Nations: Neutral > Active Neutral > Allied 07. Active Neutrals would have a simplified AI limited to the defense of their territory and lands that they have annexed. [ July 11, 2004, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Here is my list of the top four features that I would like to see added to SC2: 1st. Friendly air units shield friendly units from being spotted by enemy air. 2nd. Generic Naval HQ Unit that benefits Naval Units. 3rd. Increase maximum number of major nations and minor nations. 4th. Independent Active Neutrals Option. Neutral nations (ie Spain and Turkey) with a Defensive AI allowing them to to attack, build, entrench and move (only within their borders) units on their own without being controlled by the Axis or Allies unless they join the Axis or Allies.

An excellent point, better leaders lead to better training, better equipment, better morale, better small unit and operational level tactics and better results in battle. In Russia's war in Afghanistan Soviet units with better leaders had performanc levels and casualty rates orders of magnitude better than those of less well lead units. Military Review - A Journal of the US Army War College

From reading the various posts on SC2 over the past few months have shown me that SC2 has the potential to be a most challenging game. The greater range of technology research areas and the carefull balancing of them will eliminate the tendency of most players to follow one strategy: Jets and Long Range. The switch to tiles, the larger map, and limiting reinforcements of units on the front lines will make for a more fluid game and more hard decisions for players. Reducing the spotting range of aircraft and allowing subs to avoid spotting by running silently vastly improves the fog of war and makes a battle for the Atlantic a viable proposition. Introducing amphibious units that can land on the same turn that they reach the coast makes it harder for players to guard their coast with a line of corps and rely on countering an invasion by operating in units. One must now maintain a garrison in threatened areas. Allowing bombers to attack resource hexes even when units are on top of them makes Strategic Bombing a viable option and forces players to consider investing in air defense and committing air fleets to guard their cities. With players able to give air units commands your opponent will not longer be able to force your air units into deadly interceptions early in the game. Weather makes the timing of offensive operations more important and force players to deal with the vagrancies of nature The promise of diplomacy and events promises to keep players from relying on one standard strategy while adding a limited amount of unpredicatablity to the game. Although, myself and many others, have made suggestions on the game engine overall I think that perhaps it does not need any changes at the current time. [ July 10, 2004, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I would settle for adding three more major nations to the existing limit of 6. This would allow Spain, Turkey and Canada to produces units - and prevent them from sharing their MPP with other allied nations, except perhaps for Canada via merchant ship convoys from Canada to the UK. Thus Spain might join the Axis but its MPPs could only be used to produce Spanish units and would not directly increase German production. It would also allow one to create a global game with France, UK, US, Russia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan and Swaziland

It Spain or Turkey was allied with the Germany they would sue for a negotiated peace and not join with Italy, a nation whose leadership and skill at warmaking (aka Greece) was seriusly impaired.

Simple - Create an event that says if UK surrenders Canada becomes a US Minor Ally. Then the US has access to Canadian Production and can produce Canadian Units.

Any chance of the Allied AI occassionaly trying an "Allied Air Strategy"? and will it know how to effectively use bombers? In SC1 I found them most effective when Axis Air Resources were deployed elsewhere. Example, unlike the AI, I bombed Bergan in Norway to build my experience without the fear of being intercepted. [ July 09, 2004, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Here's a simple idea to consider: Enemy airfleets can't spot units next to a friendly airfleet if the friendly air unit can intercept. This simulates the presence of friendly air patrols that prevent recon by enemy air units. Or add a new command (to Auto/ Intercept/ Escort/ Ground) called Patrol. Air Units on Patrol prevent enemy air units from spotting units (Land, HQ or Naval) within two tiles of the Air Unit on Patrol. Of course, air units on patrol cannot attack or escort and have their spotting range and strike range for interceptions reduced to 2 tiles as their area of operations is reduced. A unit can only patrol while their strength is 5 or more. This reflects the fact that a decimated air unit can't mount an effective patrol of the surrounding skies. If a patroling air unit is attacked and its strength is reduced to 4 or less it can no longer protect units from spotting by enemy air units. A spotted air unit on patrol would slowly rotate (an animated unit), to indicate that they are on patrol and enemy air can't determine what is, if anything, within two tiles of their location. I proposed an animated unit as this is a visual indicator and better than adding a P or some other indicator to the patroling air unit. I think that this one change would really enhance the already much improved FOW for SC2. You want to lure the enemy into a trap, mass a few armies and let an airfleet keep them safe from spotting. You want to bluff an enemy into not attacking. Move an airfleet into their spotting range and let it patrol the skies. Are they hiding something or not? [ July 08, 2004, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

One area that SC1 ignores is that enemy air fleets strongly limit your ability to conduct reccon behind enemy lines. Perhaps a simple way to reflect this is to say that each enemy airfleet reduces your ability to spot within the enemy air fleet's spotting radius by a percentage - say 25%. If you want to spot an enemy unit within an enemy airfleet's Spotting Radius of 3 you have a 75% to do so. If that hex is within 3 hexes of 2 enemy airfleets you have only a 50% to spot that unit. Just an idea, any comments? or to get more technical. The chance to spot an enemy unit is reduced by Enemy Air Strength/Max Strength x 25% or an enemy air unit at strength 5 would reduce your chance of spotting by 12.5%, while an air unit at strength 10 would reduce your chance of spotting by 25%. One enemy air unit at strength 10 and another at strength 5 would reduce your chance of spotting a unit by 37.5%. This also means that you can reduce your enemy's ability to spot your units by concentrating air units in an area. [ July 07, 2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Is there any news on what the Diplomacy feature will involve? Can the neutral nations use their peacetime production to purchase diplomacy chits and use them? For example - US wants to counter German influence in Spain, USSR wants to counter Axis influence in Sweden.

John DiFool the 2nd, excellent point. So you now have; Base Chance of Air Unit to Spot Submarine: 80% Minimum Chance: 10% Highest Chance: 100% Modifier 1: Submarine is Running Silently: -10% Modifier 2: Each Level of Submarine Tech: -10% Modifier 3: Bad Weather: -10% to -80% (subject to play testing, varies with weather) Perhaps: ------------ Clear: No Effect ------------ Overcast: -20% ------------ Storms : -50% Modifier 4: Proposed Naval HQ Unit: +10% due to better coordination and analysis Modifier 5: Anti-Submarine Warfare: +10% per tech level Example: 80% Base + 10% (Anti Sub Tech 1) + 10% (Naval HQ) - 10% (Sub Tech 1) + 0% (Clear Weather) = 90%. Note: The proposed generic naval HQ unit (limit of 1 per country) would 1. Give a readiness bonus to 5 Naval Units anywhere on the map, 2. Improve Naval Intelligence and 3. Give a bonus to Naval Attacks by Adjacent Air Units. [ July 06, 2004, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

P R Squared is good formula to keep in mind. Why? At a radius of 50 miles - 1 tile the area is about 8000 square miles, at a radius of 100 miles the area to be searched is about 32000 square miles, at a radius of 3 tiles the area increases to 81000 sqaure miles. It shows that the area to be searched increases geometrically as the radius of the circle expeands. An airfleet can't give the save coverage to 81000 square miles that it gives to 32000 square miles. I do think that the farther out you are from your base of operations the reduced the chance of spotting the enemy an air unit should have.

Another good point. At this scale I would favor limiting spotting % to Submarines and during bad weather reducing the spotting range of surface naval units of another by 1 tile. Thus Battleships would spot other surface ships 2 tiles way, except during bad weather when the visibility would be reduced to 1 tile.

Interesting observation and quite true. The only change I would make in light of your refinement is that airfleets should always have some chance to spot submarine fleets. To do this I would suggest that the spotting rules, proposed above, say that the minimum chance for submarine spotting is 10%. Thus even under the worst conditions an airfleet would have a 10% to spot a sub within its spotting range.

Building on SeaMonkey's comments on air unit spotting, in my view air units should have a percentage chance to spot submarines as they presented a much smaller profile than surface ships. For example: Base Chance of Air Unit to Spot Submarine: 80% Modifier 1: Submarine is Running Silently: -10% Modifier 2: Each Level of Submarine Tech: -10% as improvements allowed submarines to run submerged for longer periods. Modifier 3: Bad Weather: -10% Modifier 4: Proposed Naval HQ Unit: +10% Example: 80% (Base) + 10% (Naval HQ) - 20% (Sub Tech 2) = 70% Spotting Chance Example: 80% (Base) - 30% (Sub Tech 3) - 10% (Bad Weather) = 40% Spotting Chance Additionaly, I would have air units' ability to spot surface naval units and transports reduced by 10% during periods of bad weather. This would reflect cloud cover obscuring their view of surface ships. [ July 06, 2004, 10:44 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I agree with SeaMonkey that there should be a % decrease in recon disclosure as range increases as the area of a circle is Pi R Squared. Moreover, no intelligence is 100% perfect as SeaMonkey points out. [ July 06, 2004, 02:39 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

From my prior readings: Soft build penalty Each unit built in excess of your soft force pool limit costs more than the previous one. If you have a soft limit for Carriers of 2, and build 4 then the 3rd one costs more than normal cost and the 4th one costs more than the 3rd one. Hard Force Pool Limit Maximum number of units by type that cannot be exceeded. Industrial Modifier I believe that this is a production multiplier - say 50%, 80%, 100% that can be changed by events to reflect increases in production as an economy moves towards full mobilization for war. Cost of Each Unit You can edit the cost of each unit. [ July 05, 2004, 04:39 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]