Scenrio setup

[Jeff Heidman]

One thing that I always liked in board wargames that is almost always lacking in PC games is the ability to place your at-start units where you want.

Will this be possible in SC?

A couple other questions:

1. When?

2. When will we see some more screen shots?

3. How about some AARs? (Ahem! Ted!)

4. When?

5. How about that demo?

6. How do you deal with the incessant demands that people like me make in regards to when the game will be done?

7. How soon will the game be done?

8. Could you define "soon" as it relates to the claim that the demo will be out "soon"?

Thanks for answering all of my questions!

Jeff Heidman

[Hubert Cater]

With the Campaign editor you will be able to place units wherever you like, as well as adjust their strength, experience, as well as entrenchment to name a few other capabilities.

Hubert

[Jeff Heidman]

Originally posted by Hubert Cater:

With the Campaign editor you will be able to place units wherever you like, as well as adjust their strength, experience, as well as entrenchment to name a few other capabilities.

Hubert

OK, but thats not really what I meant.

I want to know if the players of scenarios can setup their starting troops wherever they like, or within some kind of limits. So, maybe to start the 1939 scenario the german player wants his army massed on the French border instead of near Poland, or whatever.

Jeff

[SuperTed]

Jeff,

1. When?

Soon.

2. When will we see some more screen shots?

3. How about some AARs? (Ahem! Ted!)

I'll have Poland in the bag tonight. Once that is accomplished, there will be a detailed report posted ASAP.

4. When?

Soon.

5. How about that demo?

Agreed. How about that demo. :cool:

6. How do you deal with the incessant demands that people like me make in regards to when the game will be done?

Mas despacio por favor. No hablo ingles. :confused:

7. How soon will the game be done?

Soon.

8. Could you define "soon" as it relates to the claim that the demo will be out "soon"?

Not later.

I hope that helps.

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by Jeff Heidman:

...I want to know if the players of scenarios can setup their starting troops wherever they like, or within some kind of limits. So, maybe to start the 1939 scenario the german player wants his army massed on the French border instead of near Poland, or whatever.

Jeff

Jeff,

The units are stuck where the designer places them. Sorry.

[Titan]

no objection to that,we do want it to be historical

[Hubert Cater]

Correct, for the historical campaigns the units will be where they were for these dates (as best fits a hex system), but if you would like to set them up in a different position all you would have to do is open up the campaign in the "Campaign Editor" and then replace as you like, and voila you 've got your troops poised on the French border or whatever etc.

Hope this helps,

Hubert

[Straha]

In fact, apart from historical correctness, I'm even happy that we do not have to set up forces before the game starts (like in Panzer General) for another reason ... having to set up forces in games is always such a chore ...

Straha

[Preacher]

... having to set up forces in games is always such a chore

Plus it gives one more excuse when things go poorly.

"...if I'd have been allowed to set up my OWN units..."

Preacher

[Jeff Heidman]

Well, that's too bad. I always liked setting up my own units.

As far as what was historical, that is kind of irrelevant. They were in those positions historically because historically Germany made certain decisions. The entire point of games like this is to let the players maybe make *different* decisions. On August 31st, 1939 German troops were massed at the Polish border because Germany was about to invade Poland. If the player doesn't want to invade Poland, but would rather invade Norway, then it makes little sense to start the game with all your troops parked in Danzig.

Not a huge deal though.

Jeff

[BloodyBucket]

The scenario editor seems to be the answer for this. If the setup can be saved and posted, I'm sure that scores of "What if" scenarios will be available for download, and if you and your opponent are dead set on free deployment for a PBEM (or TCP\IP in the future) people will come up with a way to do it.

I guess it depends on how flexible the editor will be. For instance, there might be some constraints due to political considerations (no French-German alliance allowed, etc.), and if it will allow you to edit the map (what if the Maginot line went through Belgium).

[Mr. Clark]

I personally can't wait to see what the people here do with the scenario editor! We have some fun times ahead!

[vonManstein39]

Originally posted by Jeff Heidman:

Well, that's too bad. I always liked setting up my own units.

As far as what was historical, that is kind of irrelevant. They were in those positions historically because historically Germany made certain decisions. The entire point of games like this is to let the players maybe make *different* decisions. On August 31st, 1939 German troops were massed at the Polish border because Germany was about to invade Poland. If the player doesn't want to invade Poland, but would rather invade Norway, then it makes little sense to start the game with all your troops parked in Danzig.

Not a huge deal though.

Jeff

Hmm...if Germany attacked Denmark/Norway in 1939, would Poland have declared war on Germany? Probably not. From Hubert's comments in another thread, I don't believe you can start the game with Poland neutral.

[Desert Dave]

And, in a grand-strategy sense, why would you not want to first pick up those MPPs just laying there in front of you?

After all, MPP calculations are made turn to turn so you'd want to build up your war-chest as quickly as possible.

I don't imagine Britain will attack Norway for fear of alienating the other minors in the neighborhood. So Norway can wait?

[Straha]

I fear that there is maybe one problem, though, even with the editor: aren't the UK, Poland and France automatically at war with Germany at the beginning of the game, regardless of the rest of the setup?

If yes, then it would be great if this constraint would be lifted. If I'm wrong, it is even greater.

Straha

[Hubert Cater]

As it stands now, these three countries have to be activated in some way, and this could be either any combination of at war with the Axis or surrendered to the Axis.

There are a variety of reasons for this (and I won't get into all the gory details) but it all has to do with the original game design as it was not planned for hypothetical events prior to September 1, 1939 (as there would be very many hypotheticals), but anything after that is fair game.

I might be able to at least lift the restriction on Poland, let me think about it a bit, but again no promises

[pzgndr]

In lieu of open setups, perhaps an optional turn 0 redeployment for a limited number of units could be considered? That way we could at least shift a unit or two from the historical setup if we want to try something different. Likewise, the enemy situation would always be slightly different and may present a surprise once in a while. Combined with FOW, this could be really interesting.