Some Queries by a Newbie

[shri]

Hi all,

Bought this game a week ago, playing my first PBEM since yesterday (hate AI plays so just played a couple of small scenarios to understand basics).

 

Some queries- 

A few things i find odd in this game, not complaining per-se, but historically funny!

 

1. I saw movement of the Italian Unit in the Replay, they are still not in the WAR!!.

2. Also Ottomans cannot protect their territories in Mesopotamia and Israel-Palestine. 

3. There are no naval mines, giving the Entente a HUGE advantage to land anywhere.

4. Also, French need not attack into Alsace headlong, thus negating Schlieffen strongly.

Maybe they can get a strong NM penalty if they fail to attack or fail in attacks. 

5. Russians mobilise very fast and very early, the Russians were in force only by last week of August

and in Beginning of September they fought those big battles in Gnila Lipa, Rawa Ruska etc known as Battles of Galicia. 

Historically, the Russians had to travel a lot to reach the front and this saved Austria though this advantage was squandered by Conrad.

6. Also buying Corps once destroyed is not allowed, this was done historically by all armies in all wars.

7. Germans are 1/2 Cavalry corps short and maybe some infantry short (Historically), Why?

Germany mobilised 9 Cavalry + Guards + Bavarians + one Freikorps type cavalry - 12 divisions, 4 corps give about 8 divisions only.

All this in August 1914.

 

[Will95]

I'll do my best to answer these;

 

1. Countries that haven't yet made a DOW can still move their armies, invest in research and other non-aggressive movements. Their MPP income is severely restricted until they enter the war though so don't worry about some huge army being amassed.

 

2. It is certainly difficult, but far from impossible. With a single connected rail line it is also possible to bring reinforcements from Europe (either German or A-H).

 

3. Amphibious attacks are extremely expensive- a full scale assault involving multiple corps and a HQ, for example, would be practically impossible without making massive concessions elsewhere. It is far cheaper to defend against any small incursion than it is to plan and execute one.

 

4. I think this is just taken as a given of the scenario in a situation where we have the gift of retrospect. Likewise in the WW2 scenarios, France and Britain are not obliged to hold the line at the French border in 1940 and in most playthroughs you see the Allied player employ the (far more effective) defense in depth of Paris itself. It works both ways though- you are not obliged to obey history.

 

5. I don't know enough about this to comment too much. All I will say is that if the Russians 'hail mary' your Austrian front line, it's perfectly possible to hold on to the lions share of your territory provided you send the Austrian reserves there and invest in entrenchment early enough- the Russians have no cannons and that makes taking down fortresses almost impossible unless they get completely surrounded.

 

6. ? I'm not sure I follow. You can replace lost units, although if they are destroyed out of supply (ie less than 5) then you will have to pay full price for them rather than the normal reduced cost.

 

7. Again, I don't know enough history to comment.

 

I'd say that most of these can probably be put down to either being made that way for the purpose of gameplay, or being made that way simply because there was no way to totally accurately remake history in the ways you describe, but I'm sure one of the devs can weigh in with a more thorough answer.

[Bill101]

Hi Shri

 

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your questions.

 

Will95 has answered most (thanks for doing so! ) and I'll just add a few extras.

 

1) With Italy, they start with a few units that they can move/reinforce. But there's not much they can really do with them, and the vast majority of their forces will deploy only when (or if) they enter the war.

 

2) The Ottomans will be able to defend their territories, but these territories only activate subsequent to the Ottomans entering the war, at which point forces will deploy in all of these areas.

 

5) The mobilization for both sides is worked out to follow the overall speed it had, coupled with the length of time it takes to launch offensives into the game. Russia did historically mobilize quicker than expected, and the mobilization schedule in game does allow them to launch their offensives pretty much in line with historical timescales, and this will probably become more apparent as more turns are played. Bearing in mind that each time period only belongs to one side in this game.

 

7) I recall cutting down the number of Corps slightly on all sides for the sake of space and playability. Otherwise the map would have had to be bigger, and coupled with more units it would slow gameplay and AI turns down without necessarily adding much in the way of extra fun. The compromises are pretty equally distributed to both sides, so any reductions shouldn't penalize either side.

 

Mobilization continues for all sides for a number of turns, so that the initial unit count is not the same that you will have after a few turns, if we ignore losses.

 

I hope this helps, and good luck in your PBEM game!

 

Bill

[xwormwood]

Hi shri!

 

Just in case that you haven't already found this thread on your own:

 

this forum offers a very nice introduction of the game mechanics. Feel free to read it, as this will surely help you in your games against human players, or the AI (btw.: good decision to play Pbem! It is way much more fun than playing the AI)..

 

Cheers

 

Claus

[shri]

Guys. Thanks for the Great Responses.

Unfortunately my first PBEM is ending in a total and unmitigated disaster.

Swapping units, Supply, role of HQs all were ignored by me and rightfully exploited by my opponent.

 

One more query-

My opponent did a BIG NAVAL Rush into the Adriatic Sea-

My Austrians have just 3 "Safe port" and 5 overall (2 on borders and can be targeted by land units), i was totally out-gunned and destroyed. 

Maybe the Austrians can be helped with 1/2 ports. Historically, the Austrian navy didn't sink till the armistice due to NAVAL mines in Adriatic. 

[xwormwood]

You could try to block the entrance to the adriatic sea, at least for a time. The AH sub could help a bit as a naval mine. If your opponent unexpectetly stumble into your sub, there is hell to pay for him. I've played games where such a rush ended in disaster for the Entente player, and i saw quite the opposite.But i can understand your pain. In situations like this I've always wished that the game engine would allow stacking, at least within ports...