AoE and Axis High Tide - A few suggestions for the patch

[Robby1]

Having just played through a few games of Axis- High Tide and Axis of Evil, I had a few suggestions for tweaking in the upcoming patch or in future patches:

AoE - I played as the Allies for the first time. It is a very enjoyable scenario. However, there was one major glitch and one possible minor glitch that I noticed. The scenario only really works if both Axis powers are very aggressive, moving quickly to take advantage of their pact and gobble up as much territory before the Allies can fully mobilize.

However, in the game I played, the USSR failed to declare war on China, its main prize. It took over Manchuria and then spent a lot of turns swiping ineffectually at Japan and the Korean peninsula. It massed significant forces on the Chinese border and could have swept in and claimed a lot of MPPs, but it never declared war. The result is that the entire game was rendered artificially easy. All the Allies had to do was finish off Germany, which is not hard given that there is no action going on in the East, and then go after the languishing USSR.

IMHO, a DOW on China should be automatic once the capital of Manchuria is taken. DOW on other Asian states should take place more or less automatically as the USSR advances through China. Every Asian state should be up for grabs and it can inject an exciting element of uncertainty as to which state the USSR will go after. But however it is set up, the USSR cannot be allowed to stall and then wait around to be clobbered.

The one possible minor glitch that I noticed is that US vessels get no readiness/morale boost when they park in Japanese ports. They can fully repair, upgrade, and replenish their air wings, but their readiness/morale levels don't improve. When I move the same US vessel to Wake Island or the Philippines, the readiness/morale goes up. Similarly, US vessels get readiness/morale improvement when parked in UK or French ports. I don't know if this is intentional (perhaps to reflect the fact that US sailors aren't given much hospitality in Japanese ports) or whether it is just a glitch.

On Axis- High Tide, I find it hard to win with the Axis. That is not, in and of itself a problem. However, I was puzzled as to why many Axis units begin the game in a weakened state. In particular, many Japanese naval units are at reduced strengths going into Midway. Why is that? Their main naval losses as of June 1942 were in the battle of the Coral Sea, which took carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku out of the later battle of Midway. But all the other carriers, subs, and other surface vessels should be at full strength, no?

[Hubert Cater]

Hi Robby1,

The USSR/China DoW issue is fixed for the first patch and for the US naval units in Japanese ports this is the correct behaviour as Japan is not set as a cooperative ally so the US units do not receive any supply there and as a result their readiness will not go up.

For Japan at Midway I believe this was by design as their main strike force is at optimal strength while their supporting units may not necessarily be the same. This is a bit of a balance reflecting priority on the main battle group and a balance for the campaign as a whole sort of thing.