lettowvorbeck Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi Bill, I wanted to revisit this issue now that I've had a chance to play the game and see other AARs. I seem to recall that the reason more fortresses do not appear on the French-German border was because you thought it was difficult enough without them for the German player to advance. Now that it seems one of the common strategies is to grind forward on the French right, this doesn't seem to be the case (IMO anyway). The border region is something of a weakness instead of a strength, with a big yawning gap between Verdun and Belfort. Making Toul, Epinal, --or whatever combination of French tiles-- fortresses like that Russian one above Warsaw would make the border region seem more like the fortified frontier it should be instead of a rather vulnerable speed bump, esp. before the French can get their entrenchment levels maxed. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hi Drew Is it the case that the French are leaving the area unguarded? Only it seems that the obvious German strategy is always to go for the poorly guarded north of France. Perhaps launching a diversion in the south to help, but launching an all out offensive in this area early in the war probably won't work without considerable reinforcements, and/or a weakened French right. Later on in the war the Germans could launch an offensive here, but by that time the French should have had time to improve their defences. If you were referring to my AAR with Dan as one example, his French unit that I destroyed in the area was actually on German soil at the time as he'd left his defensive positions. It was just an opportunistic attack on my part that had no chance of being followed up. I'm not yet convinced of a need for any change in this area, but I am open to persuasion if there is a consensus on this subject! But what I wouldn't want to do is to close this area entirely to possible German offensives during the war, as the terrain already favours the defence, and if the French feel too secure in this area then it will have a negative impact on German chances elsewhere too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettowvorbeck Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hey Bill, I think we just have a philosophical difference about this aspect. I feel the French should feel very secure in this region for the early war period. I don't believe that add'l fortresses would close the area off to CP offensives, it would just require the Germans to wait for multiple HA units to appear. In regard to a results oriented design decision of leaving out historical fortresses, I am not convinced yet that the natural terrain there really compensates for it or the HA advantage the Germans begin the game with. They have a Level 1 HA unit on the board right at the beginning, while the Brits and French have no HA units and must spend months and maybe even years (see my post about it being 1917 before the UK gets Level 1 artillery even after heavy R&D spending!) just to equal it. Like you, I would be interested in reading other player opinions. Thanks for your consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonRocko Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 I have only played the AI so all I can say is the allied AI could sure use the fortresses, but a German AI will not be able to face them. Now I would assume a human can make much better use of the existing terrain. Too bad we can't have the forts in for a computer controlled France, and out for a computer controlled Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I was looking into this and in August 1914 Rupprecht thought that he could break this line after having defeated the French thrust into Alsace-Lorraine. Now, he could of course have been over optimistic, and it is also true that the thrust he proposed was between two fortresses, but I thought I'd post this anyway to provide a little food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 vonRocko: Too bad we can't have the forts in for a computer controlled France, and out for a computer controlled Germany.You can, if you make a copy of the original campaign and amend it to add a Fortress. To do this, open up the editor, open up the relevant campaign, choose File and Save As. Give the campaign a new name. It will then take a few minutes to make a copy, and now you can add a Fortress. When you hit Save the editor will ask you to update the scripts. This is essential for the campaign to run properly. Once done, close the editor and you can now play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonRocko Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 You can, if you make a copy of the original campaign and amend it to add a Fortress. To do this, open up the editor, open up the relevant campaign, choose File and Save As. Give the campaign a new name. It will then take a few minutes to make a copy, and now you can add a Fortress. When you hit Save the editor will ask you to update the scripts. This is essential for the campaign to run properly. Once done, close the editor and you can now play! Wow, man,I just play them, I don't know what makes them run! Someday, when I feel adventerous, I'll have to try this. Thanks Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts