The Distant Rumblings of War!

[curtsibling]

*It's been a busy war for the Axis, and the power of the Finnish/German Alliance has proven true!

*In June 1942, as the Germans pounded Leningrad from the West, the Finns poured in from Viipuri...

*A stunning victory, that even Hitler was bemused at - All of Finland salutes Marshal Mannerheim!

*Titanic battles followed that seen the liberation of the entire Finnish homelands from the Soviet hordes.

*As bitter battles with Anglo-American forces raged elsewhere, the Germans took Moscow in July 1943!

The Bolshevists are chased from Moscow at last!


*With the help of Finnish armoured formations, the Reich troops besieged and pummeled the city.

*Now a serious concentration of military might is moving Eastwards, buoyed by the recent triumph.

*Allied might is pounding against Italy and Western France...Soon a mass attack must arrive!

The axis will be ready - And waiting!

[curtsibling]

===========
= NEW PATCH! =
===========

Fixes events in the late game, makes the Meteor jet match up to the correct tech, and changes two of the wonders!

"Battlefield Medicine" is now "Codebreaking" - Available when you research the 'Cryptography' tech.
"Battle of the Atlantic" is now "Super Submarine" - Available when you research the 'Anti-Sub Warfare' tech.

'Future Tech' is now 'Military Research'.

Unzip/Overwrite all files to the appropriate places!

[PietH]

How is het winter one month shorter if it's nov - april when it was dec - may?

Now playing a quick game as the french again, to see how the war evolves without my interference. Seems the germans are advancing more in russia. Summer 43 and the Germans still seem to have the upper hand.

Btw, could it be your summer messages (june 1943) are running out of sync, now summer is one month earlier?

[curtsibling]

Heh!

I actually meant Dec-Apr...
I was tired!

Good point about the events messages, I will look into it.

[PietH]

Ehm, winter does begin in november?

[curtsibling]

OK! Now you are confusing me!

I meant that the winter settings now last one month less than the previous versions.

I'll update the events to reflect this.

[curtsibling]

Updated patch with events to cover the winter changes.

[Jerec]

Gave the Soviet Union a quick look-see, went through a few turns.

Over the first two or three turns I raked up $5000 in selling unneeded improvements. -

• The Kremlin wonder is the Great Wall, giving all my cities walls. So why does every Russian city have walls anyway? I sold them all for $1800!
  
  
• When one looks at the description of Sewer Systems, it says "NOT USED." So I sold all Sewer Systems for $1200.
  
  
• Practically all cities had Propaganda. I sold that improvement in all cities size 4 or less.
  
  
• I abandoned all cities in front of a Leningrad-Smolensk-Orel-Kharkov-Sevastopol line. All cities in front of the line got their improvements sold and all garrisons scrambled for the defense line, leaving a 1-2 unit skeleton garrison in the larger cities like Kiev. Steelworks and Airbases got sold first.
  

On a side note, I've found Sturmoviks and IL-4s useless except for picking off lone Field Artillery. You might want to give them more HP.

[AGRICOLA]

Germany / Deity

Preliminary Analysis

The Germans have the following problems.

- The German economy is too weak to sustain a war. Improving it is the first priority. Banks and Stock Exchanges are needed. Unneeded city improvements will be sold off as soon as practicable.

- The only ground attack unit that is any good is the StuG III. These will be built with all possible haste. The useless Field Arty will be disbanded ASAP.

- In general, A/C and ships are very expensive and will be built only when absolutely necessary.

- In the air, this will be a defensive war, using on AA and Flak Defenses to kill enemy attackers. The only a/c worth anything is the Stuka.

- The convoy threat will be met close to the British Isles, using carrier-based attack planes, bomber types to protect the carriers, and submarines to sink enemy ships.

- The anticipated sequence of offensives is
--- to attempt to reach the Leningrad - Moscow - Rostov line in 1941 before the onset of winter
--- the winter will be spent with units buttoned up in Soviet cities

--- in the west, 1941 will be spent on the defensive while forces are built up to invade Britain in the spring of 1942

--- in Africa, 1941 will also be spent on the defensive as forces are built up for the conquest of Egypt in the spring of 1942


- Science will be given a low priority because almost none of the more advanced ground or air units offer a sufficient improvement to warrant rushing research.


The following tactics will be used

- Freighters will be chained

- Fighter traps will be established as soon as possible

- Non-vet units which stand little or no chance against the enemy will be disbanded to IRB vet units which can win battles.


Here's the situation at the end of the first turn:

TURN 001 1941 JUN

All Sewer Systems were sold off for 2,160 gold to an international consortium planning to irrigate the southern Sahara desert

8 Soviet and 2 British cities were captured. 8,138 gold was looted [ unfortunate first turn money bug! ].

A Fighter trap was set up off Kent.

All possible units were rehomed to maximize shield production in major cities.


53 StuG III units are being trained. 7 will be joining the Operation Barbarossa in July.
4 Transports, 4 Axis Tps & 2 AA are also in training.
1 Airfield and 1 Defences are u/c.

Taxes/Research/Luxuries set at 40/60/0
Treasury = 11,945 gold
Net cash flow = - 338 gold
Researching Banking
Tech / 2 Turns


@Ciaran

Nice balance between movement rates and map scale. Excellent naval movement ranges. Ground unit movement is accurate for WW II. The Soviet Union is bloody BIG!!

Some problem with ferrying fighters and Stukas.

Rules files should be identified by the year/season.

Chernigov and not Chernigev.

It would be very helpful and useful to see casualties for all countries, not just Germany's allies.

Want the first turn money bug fixed??

[PietH]

Originally posted by curtsibling
OK! Now you are confusing me!

I meant that the winter settings now last one month less than the previous versions.

I'll update the events to reflect this.

I know that's the goal. But now winter begins a month earlier, and ends a month earlier. so it's still 6 months...

Check it, the change to winter message now comes at the end of october.

Nice to see players like Agricola en Jerec analysing a game like that. I haven't played this new version of the game yet, but I agree on Jerec's defensive line. I do leave some units behind in the abandoned cities, just to stall the advance long enough to rush research AA and get plenty of units fortified.

As for the Germans, the StugIII is indeed the only offensive weapon you need to build (and AA defensively), as long as you take really good care of your starting set of Stukas.

Oh, and great tips on the selling of the unneeded improvements.

And I totally agree on the casualty list for all countries. Not sure why it's useful, but it's nice to see how many enemy units I have killed off.

[curtsibling]

Cheers for the feedback, Jerec!

Originally posted by Jerec
Over the first two or three turns I raked up $5000 in selling unneeded improvements. -

Your glorious appeal to the Russian people to sell goods for the war effort paid off handsomely!

Originally posted by Jerec The Kremlin wonder is the Great Wall, giving all my cities walls. So why does every Russian city have walls anyway? I sold them all for $1800!

There is a 50% chance that the walls will be still standing when the AI takes a city...
I kept the Soviet city walls so there was less city razing when certain cities (*cough* Minsk!) get captured and recaptured!

Originally posted by Jerec When one looks at the description of Sewer Systems, it says "NOT USED." So I sold all Sewer Systems for $1200.

I'll take a look into that! Cheers!

Originally posted by Jerec Practically all cities had Propaganda. I sold that improvement in all cities size 4 or less.

I might increase the unrest ratio for the scenario, as this will increase challenge and make happiness improvements more useful!

Originally posted by Jerec I abandoned all cities in front of a Leningrad-Smolensk-Orel-Kharkov-Sevastopol line. All cities in front of the line got their improvements sold and all garrisons scrambled for the defense line, leaving a 1-2 unit skeleton garrison in the larger cities like Kiev. Steelworks and Airbases got sold first.

Your ruthless effort brings glory to the Rodina - And saves money for essential Vodka rations!

Originally posted by Jerec On a side note, I've found Sturmoviks and IL-4s useless except for picking off lone Field Artillery. You might want to give them more HP.

Sturmoviks become seriously powerful as time passes...Check them out around 1943 - They are a flying nightmare!
This is so the German AI can actually present a viable threat - Being able to destroy the Barbarossa attack with
IL-2s in August 1941 would ruin all the fun for the Soviet player!

[curtsibling]

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
The German economy is too weak to sustain a war. Improving it is the first priority. Banks and Stock Exchanges are needed. Unneeded city improvements will be sold off as soon as practicable.

This is sort of on purpose - The nazis are not sensible economists, despite having some major industrialists (Krupps and the like) on the team.
I will make the Stock Exchange available to them in the next update, in order to help make some war-chest cash.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- The only ground attack unit that is any good is the StuG III. These will be built with all possible haste. The useless Field Arty will be disbanded ASAP.

I reckon the Artillery is OK when up against tanks, I did not want to make it too over-powered...Any suggestions to make it more useful?

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- In general, A/C and ships are very expensive and will be built only when absolutely necessary.

Agreed - The bombers/ships are intended to be a major blow when lost, encouraging the player to retain them.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- In the air, this will be a defensive war, using on AA and Flak Defenses to kill enemy attackers. The only a/c worth anything is the Stuka.

Sage choices!

I tend to keep some Fw-190s around, because they are my favourite aircraft...

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- The convoy threat will be met close to the British Isles, using carrier-based attack planes, bomber types to protect the carriers, and submarines to sink enemy ships.

Watch out for Allied landings, as these seem to happen a lot with the current version at high play levels.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- The anticipated sequence of offensives is
--- to attempt to reach the Leningrad - Moscow - Rostov line in 1941 before the onset of winter
--- the winter will be spent with units buttoned up in Soviet cities

--- in the west, 1941 will be spent on the defensive while forces are built up to invade Britain in the spring of 1942

--- in Africa, 1941 will also be spent on the defensive as forces are built up for the conquest of Egypt in the spring of 1942

I have a feeling that 1942 will be a bad year for the Allies!

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
- Science will be given a low priority because almost none of the more advanced ground or air units offer a sufficient improvement to warrant rushing research.

Radical tactic!

Any suggestions to rectify this?
Should late war planes and tanks be tougher?

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
The following tactics will be used

- Freighters will be chained

- Fighter traps will be established as soon as possible

- Non-vet units which stand little or no chance against the enemy will be disbanded to IRB vet units which can win battles.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Here's the situation at the end of the first turn:

TURN 001 1941 JUN

All Sewer Systems were sold off for 2,160 gold to an international consortium planning to irrigate the southern Sahara desert

8 Soviet and 2 British cities were captured. 8,138 gold was looted [ unfortunate first turn money bug! ].

A Fighter trap was set up off Kent.

All possible units were rehomed to maximize shield production in major cities.


53 StuG III units are being trained. 7 will be joining the Operation Barbarossa in July.
4 Transports, 4 Axis Tps & 2 AA are also in training.
1 Airfield and 1 Defences are u/c.

Taxes/Research/Luxuries set at 40/60/0
Treasury = 11,945 gold
Net cash flow = - 338 gold
Researching Banking
Tech / 2 Turns

Excellent work, John!
You have the ruthlessly efficient organisational skills that make even the Germans
look sloppy - Based on your advice here, I will institute a few vital changes.

BTW is the fighter trap(tm) using the CTRL-N fuction at the end of a turn?

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Nice balance between movement rates and map scale. Excellent naval movement ranges. Ground unit movement is accurate for WW II. The Soviet Union is bloody BIG!!

Cheers - I think bigger maps are good fun for conquests.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Some problem with ferrying fighters and Stukas.

Are more airfields required?

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Rules files should be identified by the year/season.

Working on that just now - Good suggestion!

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Chernigov and not Chernigev.

Fixed!

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
It would be very helpful and useful to see casualties for all countries, not just Germany's allies.

Not sure how to show this - Is it tied to any of the Labels/Pedia/Describe files?

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
Want the first turn money bug fixed??

Yes please! If you grab the zip attached, it has the latest Save and SCN files.

Cheers!
And many thanks for you invaluable advice, let me know how 1942 progresses!

[curtsibling]

Originally posted by PietH
I know that's the goal. But now winter begins a month earlier, and ends a month earlier. so it's still 6 months...

Originally posted by PietH
Check it, the change to winter message now comes at the end of october.

Turn-based events always show up during the play-sequence before they take effect.

For instance, I have the winter 'change files' message for
Events1 set to appear at turn 7, which is December 1941.

As far as I experienced, the event tends to appear as
the November AI game turn is running. Much of this also
depends on the faction choice and the phantom turn.

[PietH]

I get this...

[curtsibling]

Interesting...!

What turn number does it indicate on the very last event in your events10?