Scook

Operation Overlord? Or the older title pre- 1943, Sledgehammer (I think)?

Here are a couple links I found, both with US air transport capability: http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/airlift_&_airborne_ops_wwii.pdf http://www.315aw.afrc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3818 The 1st is a long and rather interesting read. Both articles show that the thought process involved airborne operations to include only paratroop and glider drops. If you were to move large formations that would entail taking planes off of supply detail, away from the paratroopers, and from moving men to be used as replacements for units. That would be highly unreasonable. We do have some troops who can airlift, the airborn. I think we should leave it at that. I do have some books that do have Germany airlifting some units at a regimental level along the Black Sea, but their equiptment and staffing were still sent by train, so they were essentially warm bodies milling around along the coast. This proved to be fatal later in the war when Lufftewaffe divisions were flown into the Crimea, and were promptly overrun in 1943-44. If I can find those books, I will give titles. For modern perspective, the US uses two divisions on ready for RDF deployment, that can be anywhere in the world within 24 hours. However, no heavy equiptment goes with them, so it's men, rifles, and guts as they dig in, set up landing zones, and get their gear as fast as possible. It MIGHT be possible to move a corps size unit now within the scale of SC2, but it's expensive and many things don't happen when this airlift occurs.

It is a good point, as US had the P-47, and Germany used the FW-190 version F and G for ground support aircraft. But, imo, this would muck up the game too much with a level of detail not fitting to the game.

Major powers can set levels of how much they can send. Go to maps, then choose convoys. You can then click on each nation and set how much they send. US can go from 0-30% to UK, UK can go from 0-40% to USSR. All minor send 100% as there is no reason not to.

Air was so devastating to subs, once they go down, they didnt come back up for a long time, either voluntarily or not. I would propose once a sub successfully evades an air attack is is marked 'Silent' and cannot be further air attacked. That would do 1) The sub will not raid the convoys that turn, 2) have the AI use all that air for something else (pound France and Germany). The scale is not perfect, but air suppression was huge in WWII. As for part one, I vote yes on the mine being connected to the railway system. It would make sense to load up railcars that far north than to truck it to the port. Besides, that does make Leningrad that much more key to both sides.

My thoughts: #1 I only put 1 or 2 chits in anything and go for more random number generator hit across the board. You are having bad luck, plus, I think Intelligence still affects rolls. I havent looked it up, as I am waiting for my manual to be mailed still (hint hint). #2 Each Vichy territory is treated as a seperate entity, and there are 4 of them. It's the best way the game engine can handle it, and although kinda artificial works decently well. Syria has problems when anyone declares war on it. Read the scripts for exact percentages of when something will pop up. #3 You have to operate aircraft. With that said, some aircraft cannot be operated to some places. The Canadian bomber has to stay there for coastal patrol. I am not positive if it is because minor AC cannont be operated or if it because its supposed to stay there. Also, you can only operate to a city that is strength 5 or above. #4 You cannot move factories. If you notice in the beginning, the factory and mines in the Urals are 0 production. Once the trigger occurs they each go up 1 point per turn. This is to simulate the factories moving east. For production, the USA and USSR both greatly benefit from investing in Indutrial Technology, as this will only affect production in your home territory, and both countries have a lot of it. Production Technology makes things cheaper, so everyone benefits from that. I do find that the AI gets benefits in more units, as Britain does in the desert, etc. It makes it tougher for humans to beat the computer.

Our propagandists were better than their propagandists! But then, we had more material to work with.

Always try to enjoy present company, as time changes things. Look back to the old SC1 community with fondness, and try to live in the present here. My only regret after finding the original SC is not coming online then and check out the community.

Poor Frenchy problems go back to 1914. How many men existed in France between the ages of 40-50? Hardy any. An entire generation of men is gone because of inept leadership and machine guns. Yes, Britain and Germany lost multitudes of men too, but per capita France lost it all. I would smoke cigarettes, drink lots, and make movies about nihilism if I were in a country that lost it's purpose. As a dichotomy to France, this is how Hitler came to power. Germany had old leadership (aka Bismark), and here comes along Ole Adolf and inspires enough people to bring pride to a nation. Germany could have fallen into the same funk that held France sway. Makes me believe this happened with purpose. I cannot see how random chance would affect our planet so profoundly. Maybe our fate is written?....

Biggest reason is the limited manpower the Nazis had. Easier to set up in the cities and kill people there than try to hunt down everyone in a rural area. So, less Nazis with guns in the country means more uprisings there.

The most amazing thing to me is less than 50% of people in Death Camps were Jews. Hitler had it in for a lot of people. I am guessing if he had his way with an Aryian world, he and his cabinet would have plunged themselves into the pits of Hell after they purged the world of all sub-humans.

My mother was 12 at the time the photo from Iwo Jima was published in America. She remembers it bringing much relief and happiness here in the States, the Allies were winning and the war would be over. One photo like this has a very poignant effect on the morale of a nation. One film remains vividly in her mind, it was a color film (one of the 1st at the time) of the invasion of Tarawa. She remembers the bodies stacked up on the beaches, and the water running red. It was real war footage, not a movie. One thing she is wondering about, there are so many movies being made about WWII, she thinks it might be cheapening the sacrifice the men who fought made, making the whole thing as real as say, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have no opinion either way, just an interesting thought. I, for one, am looking forward to the release of the above movie. The cast, the director, and all the people behind it speak quality to me. Oh, and who cares what critics think, I enjoyed Flyboys, thought the aerial scenes were overly dramatic but fun.

Interesting, in my first game vs. JJR (aka Legend) we had an Eastern Front about the same size, but neither had the tech this high, and it was 1945.

For point #3 from Yodl, add Ireland to that list. Big hit from all the pressure the Irish immagrants put on Congress. Do NOT take Riga as Axis, it will push USSR close to war too quick. V1.02, Turkey can be a quick win for Axis. Do not use amphib assault to take the Caucasus. Whatever direction you head in Russia, go strong, make the Russkie dog pay, and read what Yodl says very close. EDIT: Bah, the Ireland thing, just thinking from an Allied viewpoint on that one. Take Ireland if it helps you take Britain, but avoid it for the US hit otherwise. [ October 03, 2006, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Scook ]

Heh,I have printed it to peruse it better, this looks like the Cliff's Notes edition! Nice job! I can imagine the amount of data you could have used and have it sifted down to this. Only thing I could think to add would be two examples with screenshots and walking through two different attacks to get to the approximate losses. This is good stuff. The only (very very minor) thing I see missing is capital cities have a max entrenchment value of 6. Your analysis, is it from the formulas from the book, or based upon data taken from game observation?

I generally wait until later in the game to buy HQ for USSR, have 2 or 3 on the map for the USA by mid '42, and whenever I can afford one for Britain.

The funny thing with elite units, they have these circles painted on them, with alternating red and white colors, ending with a big red dot in the center. Death by Communist hordes, or death from above in the form of rocket firing P-47's. From my Squad Leader playing days, I say, "Send zem to ze Eastern Front!"

Heh, thats why we likes the rematch, don't we, my Precious? Yes, we do, do we, Precious! I will just throw some numbers out, say a good player will win 70% of the time. In a short run, the record can be something like 4-10, then hit a streak of 20 in a row. So, I would like to see a best of 5 or 7, that would really help minimize luck. Oh, and yes, SC2 is about attack. But don't help the bad guy by bleeding yourself at the wrong time. I see too many people lose patience in winnable games and attack, only to lose a very high number to the riposte.

If you want to use the poker analogy, only a handful of players win consistently in a game of luck. Say, for example, Chris Ferguson (Jesus); he finishes in the money more often than not. Does he win all the time? No, and one hand never kills his whole match. Recovery from the unexpected is key in both poker and in SC2. Oh, and not giving up too early helps too.

Hitler's fixation with named locations: Paris, Kiev, Sevastopol, Stalingrad, Leningrad, Moscow, Malta, etc. Put a name on something and der Furer wanted to spare no expense.

Any HQ dying comes back with the name "Lazerus", has a rating of 6, except for USSR. They just promote party men to rank of general.

Hmmmm

I am not sure how many countries you would have to conquer to get 370 morale. 3 gets you to 170-200ish morale. Generally, I would be in favor of having Belgium and Netherlands as separate countries, but you would have the Belgium/Netherlands/Denmark taken out in one turn making France that much easier to take, or someone holding off on all 3 until the invasion of USSR. I am sorta mixed on the morale issue. It lasts 2 turns, and if you know your opponent, you can work to counter it by helping against invasion (hard), or keep yourself in position to take one or two minors on your turn (easy).

Hmm, I have one directory called "Strategic Command 2 Blitzkreig" and another named "Strategic Command 2". I just alternate which one gets the latest patch. I will try to do it again and give some instructions, unless some other nice person can beat me to this punch. The good stuff, pbem games are about 1 meg in size, down from 1.5 meg in previous versions. If you started V1.03 and upgraded to V1.04, it still is 1.5 megs.

In the english version, you can use the 'ctrl' key and do waypoints, very handy.