Jan III Sobieski scenario

[McMonkey]

Nice units! Things have been a bit quiet lately but I have noticed that the level of activity seems to ebb and flow at Apolyton. Hopefully some of the long awaited scenarios will be completed this year and that will give the place a new buzz. I would love to see Techumseh's German Unification scenario, EZ Rhino's Sea Kings and your Jan Sobieski scenario come out at some point this year. I also need to find time to read Lord of the Rings so that I can really get into Catfish's epic!

[curtsibling]

Polish people in answer to Ghost's request!
Turkish cities are being worked on right now!

[curtsibling]

@Ghost:

Just a quick question - What civ-colour are the Russians in this civ?

[GhostOfDisco]

@Ghost:

Just a quick question - What civ-colour are the Russians in this civ?

Do you mean "what color is their civ" or "what position" are they in.
Their color is sort of an "imperial" green" to distinguish themselves from the bright-green Turks (though I changed their cities' color to gold because the population box was obscuring the dome, and I like those shiny gold domes ), and their civ is "located" first after the barbarians.

Why do you ask?

[Heresson]

polish people look nice, but I'd like to point out that the most popular haircut in Poland was shaving the hair... Sometimes only a bit, like in this case

http://www.m-model.pl/17wiek/32074.jpg

or in the case of king Jan III Sobieski,

but sometimes only a tiny bit of hair was left on the very top of the head.

here is a medium example

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Stanis%C5%82aw_Koniecpolski.PNG

[curtsibling]

Do you mean "what color is their civ" or "what position" are they in.
Their color is sort of an "imperial" green" to distinguish themselves from the bright-green Turks (though I changed their cities' color to gold because the population box was obscuring the dome, and I like those shiny gold domes ), and their civ is "located" first after the barbarians.

Why do you ask?

Just wondering! As I am making the Turk cities (which should be ready today)
a green colour - Did not know if that colour would clash with existing cities...

[curtsibling]

Finally got those Turkish cities done! (This should be made a national holiday!)

[curtsibling]

And here's the usable BMP!

PS
My humble apologies for the million year delay, Ghost!

[GhostOfDisco]

Yep, I'm back and still (sorta) working on the game!

One thing I've been wondering about is what I'm going to do with the final unit slot (the engineer slot).

One idea I've had is for a heavier "siege" artillery. I thought of this idea when I did a bit of playtesting some time ago, and noticed my veteran Cannons were unable to defeat the garrison defending the Brandenberg city of Marienwerder (in East Prussia). I wondered if this was because the city was on a hill, which gives the defender a 100% defense bonus. Doing some (inaccurate) calculations (I thought the defense bonuses (for veterancy, fortified, terrain etc., were cumulative) I concluded that I need a strong attack unit to defeat such an enemy - one with an attack value greater than my biggest attackers (Sobieski, the Hetmans and the hussars). Doing some calculations, it appears my previous thoughts may not have been accurate, but I dunno.

(It should be noted here that the Polish always had high-quality artillery (at least in crews) if not enough pieces.)

Another idea is for the inclusion of horse artillery. Some people maintain that the Poles operated their guns much like the horse artillery of later centuries, but I've already got powerful horse units (hussars anyone), so...

Anyway, here's some of the units that will have to compete for said slot...

[Elensar]

Since the main difference between "horse" artillery and regular field artillery is mobility - possibly lighter guns with the former, I would go for siege artillery.

As for the defense bonuses: Out of curiosity, how does it work?

[McMonkey]

Glad to see you are still plugging away at this GoD. It is one of the scenario projects that I am most eagerly anticipating! I know how hard it can be to maintain momentum when problems crop up and real life demands slow you down. I am trying to motivate myself to complete my Soaring Spirit project but I am finding it difficult to get going again. Sometimes it is good to have a little break and come back to it fresh. I am always pleasantly surprised with what I have achieved when I come back to a project, something that it is easy to lose sight of when you are doing all the fiddly boring jobs that are required!

Keep it up mate

[GhostOfDisco]

Been doing some playtesting of the Vienna events, and I've had some thoughts...

For one, the AI seems to like to attack with Janissaries first, which, given the fact that Vienna has Fortifications (City Walls), seems to be a waste of said soldiers. However, it does mean the Sappers (which can ignore city walls) are delayed from attacking until the next turn, which means that the player gets an extra turn to relieve the city. So maybe it's not that bad.

My plan was for the Turks to advance toward Vienna, then go on the defensive once the Turkish Camp unit was gone (as happened historically). To do this, my events give the Ottomans a MOVEUNIT command to the Hapsburg capital every turn if a flag is activated, then deactivate said flag once the camp is destroyed. From my playtesting, it seems to be working well, but I'll have to do more playtesting to see for sure.

I've also go some thoughts on Hungary, but for right now here's an update on the Hungarian hussars (I'll need the Imperial variants work them into the Hapsburg Create Army event somehow). Not sure which set I'll ultimately pick (the ones with leopard stuff across their shoulders, on not), so I'd like your advice on that.

[GhostOfDisco]

Ah, what I was thinking about Hungary...

From my research, there seem to be differing accounts (at least from the second-hand sources) of what Sobieski planned for Hungary. One encyclopedia entry I read online stated that he schemed the separate Hungary from the Austrian realm, the Wikipedia entry for Imre Thököly claims he tried to approach Sobieski to help negotiate a peace for Hungary, and Michael Davies' excellent book "God's Playground" says that the Polish king tried to reach an understanding with the Hungarians, but was thwarted by the Lithuanian hetman's decision to let his troops loot and pillage Slovakia. So I'm wondering about the possibility of Sobieski trying to get Hungary for himself (or one of his sons.) As I think I mentioned before, Sobieski did try to establish a dynasty for his family - that was one of the reasons he schemed to take Ducal Prussia - and a Sobieski as King of Hungary would suit that goal just fine. Plus, while Sobieski was a devout Catholic, he came from a country with a history of religious toleration and representative government (at least for the nobility), Hungarians might be more amenable to the prospect of him (or his son) on the Hungarians throne as opposed to the religiously intolerant and politically absolutist Hapsburgs. (I know that several Hungarian parliaments opposed Thököly because they thought he was a sell-out to the Turks.) Of course, the Holy Roman Emperor also claimed to be King of Hungary, so such a plan would not go so well for Vienna (though, with a bit of force, maybe Sobieski could convince the Austrians to go along... )

Speaking of Austria, here's some new unit graphics. Wondering if my Imperial Cuirassier unit needed to be revised, I found this site and modified my pic accordingly. I also saw that my Austian dragoon might need to be modifed as well, and might change my Imperial hussar later on, as I found a pic of such a unit from sometime in the 1680s. (I think I might modify the annual "mobilize army" events to give the Austrians a hussar or two...)

[GhostOfDisco]

Another thing I've been wondering about is movement rates. Currently I'm basing said rates on the movement of their equivalent units in tecumseh's Frederick the Great scenario, as the maps of that scenario and this one seem to be roughly equal in distance per square (though not in size, obviously), so infantry have a base movement rate of 3 and cavalry of 6-7 or so (give or take for the cavalry). However, in doing calculations marching units from Cracow to the outskirts of Vienna takes up most of the cavalry's movement points, leaving them with little movement points with which to fight (1 or 1/2 movement points, usually). Foot units can't arrive on the scene until the next turn, but in real life Sobieski was able to move an army of infantry, cavalry and artillery from Krakow to the Danube in 16 days! Maybe this is one of those "gameplay over realism" things, but still...

Also, some new gfx: Looking at the plates I mentioned in the above post, I noticed what part of Austrian uniforms they made "yellow" and decided to revise my dragoon guy. Also below is a revised Imperial hussar, whose uniform dates from the 1680s:

[McMonkey]

I would say that gameplay has to come before realism. If the scenario is fun then people may well be inspired to read up on the events in more detail. I would suggest that your goal should be to give an impression of the historical situation, not an exact replication.

By the way, all the unit mods you are making are top quality. As I said before, this will be one of the most lavish graphic spectacles of a scenario ever produced