Big Al

Wow new one. Quite happy.

infrastructure affects how HQs act out of supply and the cost of operational movement. The level dictates what their isolated supply level is.

I decided to add B2B and Bag after its release. People requested it so I included it. Yes Italy is fixed.

is this for global or Guadal Canal scenario?

Thanks I fixed the weather zones. The research I am leaving alone for players to decide what to do. My main concern was production for it.

Bumping this back to the top for new AoC gamers. A few more notes. GERMANY - Just in case it wasn't clear above... you want to split your armor between north and south of the Pripyat Marshes. Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk are key cities to hold. In general blasting through Kiev and turning south is the better plan then cramming into Dnepropetrovsk in which the soviets can defend it easily. The resources in that area are of vital importance. There are 80MPPs between Kiev to Kursk to Rostov. You should at least grab 80MPPs in the area. Another strategy would be to go for Moscow area. There you have 70 MPPs from Kiev to Kursk to Kalinin with less terrain to deal with but a farther area to get to. On the Leningrad front if you plan not to take it in 1941 it is ok to form a defense line on the west side of Narva Pskov, Opochka, and Velikiye Luki. If requires less units then storming up to Leningrad and the Soviets have to put tougher units to defend the weaker line. Near Leningrad they can put weaker units due to the swamps and supply situation for the Germans. SOVIETS - Even though Finland looks weak and you think you can take them out in 1941 I caution you. It will take more resources than you think to do so and give valuable time for Germany to advance. Before summer of 1943 you have to take Helsinki to beat them. After than time you don't to force a surrender.

Thanks for the input and review. AoC has a learning curve for both sides. Hopefully you will find that in every game you play you realize new strategies to employ. I put up a general strategy post a while back. Take a look at it.

I mean learning CURVE not curse.

The German learning curse is steeper than the Russian one IMO. But once you learn how to play Germany it will be tough on the Russians. Skill plays a huge role in AoC.

The date signifies when it comes in. I'll check it out and thanks.

You have to surround a city with 4 units to drop its supply level or bomb it strategically to reduce this supply value. So if you have 1 city with 9 soviet units around it the city value won't drop. As for combat values.... I designed the scenarios where the Germans should always be 1 tech level ahead of the Soviets. Early in Barbarossa the Germans have experience advantage and tech advantage. German corps are SA/SD 2/2 +1/+1 = 3/3 Soviet armies are SA/SD 3/3 So they are equal. The difference is the Soviets have more armies, planes, and tank groups than the Germans have. So late in there war this makes a difference along with the production differences. The Soviet production increases and the Germans start being subject to the Western Allies on the Italian Front, Western Front, and strategic bombing. I read all the AARs and examine in detail how games progress. I also consult with some of the better wargamers on balance. The general consensus is that the game is pretty well balanced where skill take precedence. Historically the best the Germans could hope for was a stalemate vs a historical Soviet action. In AoC we have hindsight and fun factors included. So the game is balanced for 4 possible victories situations #1 Soviets crush the Germans in 1942 #2 Germans crush the Soviets in 1942 #3 Germans get held and Soviets push them all the way back to the main objectives winning the game before time runs out #4 Germany cripples the Soviets enough where they can't achieve an objective victory by the end of the scenario but they don't conquer them. Skill and strategic planning is very important in AoC. It's very much like chess in the sense of how much skill and experience in the game matters. I played 20 games myself and I was never short of trying out new and better strategies as either side. I am pretty critical of my own work too.

AoC/AoD is the latest in the series with the best A.I. adjustments and most features. It is an expansion to SC2 Global if I am correct. AoD would be your best bet if you want to use the most graphics for the most countries because it's global. You can't micro manipulate the countries. Either all are A.I. on a side or all are Human.

This is my opinion and the opinion of someone I know who it extremely well educated and brilliant on military strategy and the 2nd world war. Germany could not have won the war vs Russia as it played in history. At best they could drive for a stalemate exhausting the manpower of the Soviets later in the war. With that said AoC was designed considering hindsight and a possibility for the Germans to win outright in 1942/43. So skill level can have an effect on a game pretty large. Knowing where to defend, how to defend, where to counter attack, when to counter attack are key. Waiting for Soviet tanks in late 1942, knowing to put them in the rear with good HQs to build up their readiness to engage tired panzers. I posted a whole strategy guide on how to play AoC. Ask on the forums too. I had a game similar to yours in which in 1942 the Germans made a critical mistake and it cost them the offensive early. They attacked too soon for Baku and I positioned myself near Moscow also. Kind of historical. My best suggestion is think about how the play went after the game is over, take notes, and discuss it with your opponent. You will find some interesting discussion and should hopefully you will be as eager as I was to start the next game and try the new strategy.

I designed AoC so I'll answer your questions. A lot of thought went into this expansion. Some ideas I had were ping-ponged back and forth between play testing and what I originally designed. I play tested my self ~20 games with 2 very excellent opponents and 1 close to my skill level. Some of your points I do agree with but practically they are not appropriate to the design system itself. #1 Tanks - I lowered bomber de-entrenchment a good deal. Only the few TAC units de-entrench like the normal TACs in SC. The level bombers are reduced and I think the STRs have a 0. Tanks need de-entrench. Originally I had them not de-entrenching with the idea of combined arms where a plane would hit, infantry would break the line, and tanks would bust through. While in concept it was a great idea within the game it failed. A little too off the mark of what was expected, it made the game variance higher due to a tank imbalance. The larger it was the more advantageous exponentially. As for Leningrad, we have hindsight. If the Germans packed enough punch up there they could have done the same. Your opponent probably moved his best planes and a significant portion of his tanks to the area. Think of Kursk 1943 and how both sides massed up units. Look in Wikipedia at the casualty reports. They are huge in comparison to others battles. #2 & #3 The Russians are always at a disadvantage in technology. They have to be. Otherwise they will roll over the German lines. At the start of Barb 41 the Germans have experience and levels. As time progresses the Soviets start balancing out. in 1943 their production advantage starts becoming quite large. Look at Bagration and you will notice how many more MPPs the Soviets have over the Germans to compensate for their "1 level behind" situation. They also have more tanks and more planes. Any more than what is in the force pool starts throwing off the game too much. The idea of the force pool is that you generally can't attack everywhere at once with all your units. One must pick and choose their battles in 1942. I did this to better simulate the victories of 41, battles of 42, and onslaught of 1943. Also late in the war the Germans need to divert some resources to the Western and Italian Fronts. As a designer sometimes excellent ideas don't work in a game system. Sometimes they are too complex, overly dependent, or increase the variance skill. So adjustments need to be made. The strategy for AoC isn't easy and there is a learning curve of many levels with complex solutions on dealing with many possible approaches. It also has a dynamic approach to each year's strategy for both sides depending on what is where on the map. After 20 games I wasn't lacking in boredom or new ideas to try, and I designed the game. I am very critical of my own work. But SC model is flexible. You can go in the editor and adjust whatever you want. Open the scenario you want, do a "save as" and name it something else. Then work in that model to adjust what you like. That's how I got started with Brute Force 1939 and that mod is one of the most popular mods out there. I am very glad you are enjoying the game. Thanks for the compliments and feedback.

I've played wargames for over 30 years now so I have seen them come and go. One of my main focuses is deep thinking strategy and A.I. for the games I make. I've seen a lot of games come and go that offer no real significant critical analysis in their play. It sounds like I'm tooting my own horn but I played over 20 test games myself with some very good opponents and I always ask for honest feedback. With one beta tester who is pretty brilliant at strategy even he kept learning new tactics each game we played. We tried every way to attack and defend finding loopholes in the game and balance issues. In there end I think we never discovered all the strategic possibilities. Each game you play you will learn something which keeps the game fresh. The skill balance between 2 players isn't linear, its exponential in difference just like it is in chess or no limit holdem. A wrong strategic decision would affect a whole front line. I posted some strategy tips in the AoC forum. For the Germans think is dislodging a position and forcing a retreat more than "I gotta blow up X units" because if you force a retreat you remove their entrenchment and its a lot easier to destroy them. If they stay in the face of the line break you have some nasty encirclements.

Got it 4 formed. Forgot to change it in the scripts.

Russian crowding - well that's why they would lean on armies not divs for most operations. Finland - they fell that summer so they are suppose to take a beating Research - they have as much chance to hit as normal but they have to stay ahead of Soviets 52nd corp - found the fat finger in middle suppose to be 42nd corp FIXED Cheap AA - AA guns are AA guns no matter where you put them VS units - yea well they are just a cheaper event for free units mostly for flavor. VS units are basically Screenshots - that is already fixed Typo? Where? When? I don't see any typoes? what are they?

Thanks I will look into those

How do you both feel about the scenario? Too hard for one side? Challenging?

Its how far the A.I. will look for units of that script based on the 1st #FRIENDLY_POSITION= location.

Noticed something else caused by an internal bug in the editor.

Lemme check again. 2m later... its working Italy is getting MPPs. There are 2 hotfixes up there currently. Be sure you get the .02 one.

I believe I corrected that bug for the next patch

Im must surprised it didn't go up late in the war when the Soviets were smashing German units. When did it hit zero? Can you give me a sum up of the NM swings? When?

Ahh I have to look at Persia. I might have forgotten to put them on the list. I'll run a test on my end. I think you have an earlier version.