ZWK, a kinky scenario.

[kobayashi]

Originally posted by techumseh
This is a design problem I'm trying to tackle right now as well. If the player controlled Germans are attempting to invade an AI-controlled Britian in 1940, how can the Royal Navy stop them?

Historically, the German problem was to eliminate the RN's ability to intervene in an invasion using airpower - leading directly to the Battle of Britain.

If ships move quickly, the Germans simply land on the south coast of England, drop off the troops, and move safely back into port. British ships arrive, the next turn the German transports sail around them, drop off more troops, and sail back into safe harbors.

Blanket the entire British isles with zero-move fighters (aircover units - maybe a fighter and radar station symbol?). So neither german bombers nor ground units can occupy space until the aircover unit is killed. Maybe you can home the aircover units in such away that capturing a british city will make a section of the air cover collapse. You might even want to extend the blanket to the coastal ocean tiles.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I saw the word "kinky" and decided to click on the link.

...

I feel shortchanged.

[AGRICOLA]

After nearly 10 turns of playing ZWK, I would call it quirky rather than kinky.

I believe that tech was basing his opinion on one sentence, admittedly a very kinky one, while I am having to deal with the numerous quirky ideas of a far-out designer.

[kobayashi]

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
After nearly 10 turns of playing ZWK, I would call it quirky rather than kinky.

Don't expect it to be much of a challenge, the AI plays on an equal footing with the human and you know how that always turns out with an aggressive player like yourself. But then I suspect you already know that and you're just sitting back and enjoying the quirks.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
I saw the word "kinky" and decided to click on the link.

...

I feel shortchanged.

Sorry, Allie. I talk a good line.

[AGRICOLA]

Re: Playing the kinky ZWK

@Kobi

1. I like the scen, it is fun to play and I'm having a ball.

2. It is obviously one of your early scens, perhaps even the first one. The complexity of events and attention to detail are not at the impeccable level of your recent scens. Also, all text could do with a pass through a spell checker and some of the city names are incorrect.

3. It is quirky in that there are some unusual rules and units. Figuring out how to best handle them adds to the interest.

4. Unexpectedly, two very lowly and inexpensive units play very important roles.

The little Pz II, with its 2 MG's that couldn't penetrate a WW I tank, is a key player in the German Blitzkrieg. It may not be able to shoot worth a darn but it can move like a scared bunny. By comparison, the rest of the German ground units move like plowhorses.

An absolute steal at 10 shields, the Torpedo [Mv=1, destroyed after attacking] is versatile far beyond its cost. In its primary role, 1-5 of them can sink any enemy BB [120 shields]. That is what I call a good exchange of units. It's secondary role is to function as a mine field that delays enemy ships and then sinks them. The screenshot shows 2 torpedo screens blocking the Channel in late September 1940 at the end of the turn when German forces successfully invaded England. Please pardon the ugly,white but highly visible highways.

The Volk are well aware of the great contribution of Torpedos to the war effort and are delighted when a Torp goes on display in the central square; occasionally they even declare a holiday when 3 of them are put on display simultaneously.

5. What is possible in the scen is amazingly close to what actually happened. In May 1940, after OKW had decided that the Allies pose the greatest threat to the Reich, 2/3 of the available German forces headed into France and the Benelux countries. The other 1/3 moved into Poland, the Baltics, and the Balkans.

By the end of September, France had been conquered; the RAF fighter strength had been eliminated by its futile attacks on German BB's off Dover; and U-boat torpedoes had just sunk 6 Allied BB's in the Channel. SEELOWE took place on schedule and, by the end of 1940, England was conquered. Similarly, the Wehrmacht had reached the Soviet frontier in the Baltics and in Poland as well as captured Greece and the rest of the Balkans.

For a number of reasons, Denmark, Norway and Ireland were not attacked.

6. OKW plans are to discontinue all offensive operations during the first half of 1941. The time will be spent on completely re-equipping the Luftwaffe with the FW190 and the He-277 aircraft. All the Me-109's, Me-110's and He-111's that have been badly worn down during 8 months of constant fighting will be scrapped and replaced with the more modern types. Research, which has been running at 3-4 turns per tech, should provide the necessary technology by May 1941.

The new squadrons will gain battle experience in Denmark, Norway, Ireland etc. before being assigned to the eastern front, the Afrika Korps, or the American operation.

7. I like the higher movement rates for ships [Naval units Mv=18, Subs Mv=12 and Freighters Mv=9, where the Atlantic is ~36 squares wide]. This has completely changed the nature of naval combat. A few German units stationed in Kiel at the start of hostilities found out the hard way that garrisoning port cities is not a healthy assignment when Allied BB's are at sea. The ability of BB's to attack aircraft is also a welcome change because it eliminates the the invulnerability of naval stacks to all but fighter attacks and makes the operation of fighter traps much more dicey.



Good scen.

[kobayashi]

2. It does seem rather dated now doesn’t it. Amazing how the Civ2 community has continued to push the boundaries of the Civ2 engine over the years. Actually ZWK was my third. The first two were Star Trek scenarios so you could say it was my first on terra firma. As I recall I made it in record time on a whim, four weeks – cause some people were implying I was no good for anything but space stuff – and I made almost all the units myself from scratch in that time too.

3. I never played WWII scenarios to any great extent before I made it so ZWK was entirely based on my conceptions of how WWII could be done on Civ2. Hence the quirks.

4. Pz II were armed with 20mm cannons which I daresay could penetrate WW I tanks easily, but you’re right in that they couldn’t even dent the French medium tanks of the day. And by the way, they (Germans) were using (and eating) horses.

Love the way you’ve deployed torpedoes as (magnetic?) mines. Keep in mind though, they might be cheap, but they still require support - for the ones you build. And I never thought about it until now but they’re the most economic way to impose martial control – I think that’s what your torpedo holiday remark was about?

Did you know they can also modified later to act as V2 Launchers?

5. ‘What is possible in the scen is amazingly close to what actually happened’ – that was my intention but you’re the only one to oblige me so far over the years.

6. …and then off you go on your tangent. - scratch comment 5

[AGRICOLA]

Originally posted by kobayashi
And I never thought about it until now but they’re the most economic way to impose martial control – I think that’s what your torpedo holiday remark was about?

Yep.

Originally posted by kobayashi
Did you know they can also modified later to act as V2 Launchers?

Nope.

Originally posted by kobayashi
5. ‘What is possible in the scen is amazingly close to what actually happened’ – that was my intention but you’re the only one to oblige me so far over the years.

6. …and then off you go on your tangent. - scratch comment 5

The scen giveth and the scen taketh away. I just go with the flow.

The pre-war Luftwaffe aircraft that ran roughshod over most of continental Europe got such a rough reception from AA in England and Greece that it was clear that their status had changed from unholy terrors to cannon fodder. A complete equipment update was the only way to bring the Luftwaffe back into play. There is little that can withstand an attack by a He-277 or an equivalent Allied unit.