💥 1941 Global Command Decision - Official Thread

[TheDog]

Re: Oil-Field
Oil-Field does in effect add PU to a TT. As they are units 1x Oil-Field add 1pu per turn.

Rather than add the Oil-Field PU directly to TT PU, it deliberately means the TT will not support an Industry, on the negative side the AI does not see this additional PU.

As these TT were the WW2 objectives of the Axis, how should we represent Oil-Fields?

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Re: Lend-Lease-Depot
I now realise all of them are not working as intended.

• Archangelsk, the TT has to be over run to stop the PU bonus (Oops missing conditional xml code for Britain to give 4pu/turn, where did it go )
• Persian Corridor through Iran(Fars, Lorestan, Tehran, Gilan) to Baku. Britain gives 9pu as long as 4x Iranian TT are owed (Only partially works, if one of the 4 is missing Britain does not get -9pu deducted, but USSR still gets 9pu)
• Vladivostok, USA gives 8pu to the USSR per turn, whilst the Non-Aggression Pact holds. (Only partially works, after the NAP is over, USSR still gets PU and USA does not get deducted)
• Burma Road from N.Burma to Yunnan. USA gives 20pu to China per turn, whilst it exists. (Only partially works as if N.Burma is occupied China still gets 20pu, but USA is not deducted)

So how best to have Lend-Lease-Depot, if at all ?

[TheDog]

Latest version 95 ready for download from 1st page 1st post

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Germany can now move subs after random placement (turns 2+) they can now move & attack.

If using Faster 2.6 Remember to move the error box bottom right, to stop it it reappearing (this is only a warning error please ignore it)

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Major Changes

• Inf-Elite get Flak 1 in 12, stop lone Fighters from blocking occupation of a TT, mainly in the East (thanks Black Elk)
• Fixed Artillery using AA re target Base-Camp & Bunker (did not make it crash) now using it for AA like other units
• Artillery looses its support defence bonus and drops to 6pu, was 7
• Reduced the number of Notification for USA alliances with Brazil, Mexico etc
• HQs support fixed, now are NOT self supporting, self-supporting was a bit weird (thanks WC Sumpton)
• Bombers can now be hit by targeted Flak from ground and sea surface units (thanks WC Sumpton)
• Fixed Industry SBR AA (thanks WC Sumpton)
• 100ish 0pu TT changed to 1pu, was 0
• Updated place.txt, pu_place.txt, reliefTiles (thanks Black Elk)
• Updated Pacific-Allies HQ-Air & HQ-Fleet icons (thanks Black Elk)

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WEST

• Germany can now move subs after random placement (turns 2+) they can now move & attack.
• USA fixed Tech advances as they were not working (thanks WC Sumpton)

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EAST

• China swapped Hong Kong VC for Chunking (Harder for Japan to get/hold Chunking)

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TODO

• Conscripts only when occupied, code like Kamikaze
• supportAttachment and territoryEffect supports
• Balance

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Link to 1st post that has the download link
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3326/1941-global-command-decision-official-thread

[Black_Elk]

Looking good!

Here's a pu_place for the neutrals and the spots that were zero before but now have a the 1up pu. Just tried to get the numbers out where they'd be more visible on the opening turn. I think I got em all. Figure we can fiddle with it once the starting units are set and that place is all handled, but least for G1 should be able to see em at a glance not clipped by the terrains or bunkers hopefully. If I gave it a pass I tried to pull the pu for the islands just outside which I think is sometimes easier to see. We can make it more consistent down the road, but this should service.

pu_place.txt

Nice work!

[TheDog]

Labels
Bomber-Lgt is a Tactical 1-2 engined, Dive/Torpedo Bomber

We should rename it?
Bomber-Tactical (long-ish but much better than Bomber-Lgt)
Bomber-Tac
Bomber-Tcl
or ...

Fighter-Early are Early war fighters, Im happy with this label, but ... ?

Any other label suggestions?

[Black_Elk]

I like something that indicates the shorter range, like Fighter-Patrol. Then maybe the m4 is called Fighter-Escort? Fighter-Early seems fine, though for Pacific-Allies this is their only fighter type for most of the game so I guess they're stuck in the past hehe. I buy them with Pacific-Allies cause it's the only choice on offer, but the range is pretty limiting. Fighter-Early seems like a decent buy for USSR though. For China they seem to work fine, though I'd probably buy a couple more to spend a remainder every now and again if they were a purchase option. I like tactical bomber or bomber-tactical, whatever works. Shorthand is Tac B for me. Strategic bombers I shorthand Strat B hehe. Or you could just call it bomber for everyone, and have the other one be Bomber-Heavy or Bomber-Long Range, since it's sort of a hybrid of those at M8 here. In my last game the German flak was pretty brutal, I think I'll try massing a larger air armada next time, so I don't get my wings clipped as hard.

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog

Like what you did to the Artillery, remove "Precision" and given "Flak". Maybe "Flak" could be given to Anti-Tank, besides Inf-Conscript this is the only other without "Flak".

Bomber-Tac seems more descriptive for the roll this units plays.

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk

Lol, yea Bomber were added to the "Flak", they are not quite the "Super-Weapon" they were before! :face_with_tears_of_joy:

@TheDog
"Long-Lance" (+1 attack) is given to Japan Destroyer and Cruiser but not their HQ-Fleet which operates like a Cruiser. This advantage could also be given with a "Tech Advance". With a message give to all players about this advantage, and a mark, the gold "Diamond", used to distinguish these units.

As a thought I would give the Cruiser (also HQ-Fleet) the better "Flak" capabilities, not the Battleship, it has the "Radar" symbol. Then use this unit to buff another unit's "Flak". This could also be deter one pesky Bomber-Tac.

This same "Flak" buff could also be given by Anti-Air, if the unit were to be reinstated.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

For sure! I definitely prefer it this way even if bombing runs are nail biters now hehe. I think the attrition rate may be a bit high, but the ability to kill a factory outright is so potent I think its probably still worth the investment. Although the chance of getting cut to shreds with flak means the m8 bomber is best used 'strategically' like when its mission critical to shut down an opponent's rail link. Using them piecemeal seems ill advised, since the cost in TUV lost to flak is likely much higher than the damage you'll inflict. Probably best to save them for when it really matters hehe.

Few more thoughts on Aircraft... Currently you have m3, m4 and m8 air types. In A&A the standard is m4 for fighters and tac Bs, and m6 for strat Bs. That range can be enhanced with a tech advance or an air base in A&A, but those are the norm for the reg distances. I think m8 makes sense here for the big bombers, since there are so many more tiles on this map, and their use is somewhat limited to sbr, but we are missing an m6 type currently, which might make sense for the tactical bomber, since it can be quite tough to bomb effectively at m4. You have to be sort of right on top of the target at m4, with many spots out of range at that distance.

I bag on the m3 fighter a fair bit, although I'm pretty sure I invented it lol. Or at least first to stick em in a tripleA game, so I can be sorta overly harsh on em probably on account of that haha. At the time I wanted something that would reflect WW1 fighters, so figured reducing the range by 1 movement would distinguish them from their WW2 counterparts. For the bi-planes or a late game red Red Baron tri-plane, m3 seemed cool to me, but m3 and m5 (like G40 with the +1 from the AB) can be kinda wonky. It does create some interest for the attacker at the shorter distance, like trying to get the most coverage possible, and makes a few of the m3 transits more significant, although when I was setting the map divisions I figured m4 would be the standard, so there are fewer of those. Crossing the Atlantic with early fighters at m3 sans carriers can be a challenge. Right now for example USA needs their carriers to make use of their starting early fighters. I think a common exploit would be for Pacific-Allies to land their early fighters on USA carriers, or USA early fighters to land on British carriers at the receiving end. Not sure if that's desirable, as it's kinda gamey. I'm sorta used to zombies rules now, which restricts landing on friendly carriers, though for the m3 fighter that'd be pretty limiting here. Last game I bought a bunch with Russia just to see how they'd measure up, and they were pretty solid. M3 fighters still have their uses, esp for defensive scrambling. Even a fighter at m2 would be useful on attack though, since they can attack into a tile without having to occupy it in the aftermath. Fighters at any movement (2 and up), would still be handy for trading TTs and creating deadzones in that way, which is the primary use for fighters in A&A after defense, but m3 is definitely more awkward than m4. Any odd numbered movement would be awkward for aircraft, since it requires a different landing spot than the takeoff to achieve the max reach.

Anyhow, I think they're fine and make sense for some nations like China or USSR, though they wouldnt be my go to in the purchase roster for most. China currently can't buy any replacements if they lose their starting fighters to flak (pretty likely.) Same deal for Pacific-Allies and their pair of tactical bombers which can't be replaced. If the attrition rate is high with no way to replace, aafire can be pretty rough for the little guys.

I think the production restrictions are the most impactful though. Esp for Pacific-Allies, which have only have one coastal factory capable of producing aircraft/ships. Makes it pretty easy to throttle Australia with Japan, since if that lone factory/sz is shut down the Pacific Allies are kinda screwed on offense. I think it's that more than the m3 distance that makes it challenging for them to get in on the action, and pretty straightforward for Japan to contain.

A tactical bomber at m6 could be interesting, though that would likely recommend a price increase. If doing that I'd maybe keep the Fighter at m4, which would mean a little asymmetry between the reach of bombers vs their fighter escorts. The tactical-bomber could achieve further reach for SBR, but without fighter cover for the last mile if they're trying to push it. Having a little play there in the distance between m4 and m6 might open things up for some interesting counter-play between the Attack and Defender. Like how they transit those aircraft from the production centers to get them in position, or which aircraft they put on deck vs islands or coastal tiles. Since the tactical bomber is somewhat easier to differentiate, it makes sense to me, it's somewhat simpler to tell apart the m6 tac B from the m4 fighter from the unit graphics for most nations. Like a quick way to parse the range from the visual. Or could do an m6 strat bomber, like a lighter version of the current m8. Prob with m6 for fighter types is then you end up with pretty deep transits. Like the USA eastern seaboard to Britain in 1 move. That seems fine for strategic bombers that don't do much in combat, but for tactical types might be overkill. Not sure honestly, just seems like m6 3 out 3 back might be nice for a bomber type since that's pretty familiar.

Oh and one last thing, I'm still seeing some weirdness with defending USA Fighters in Philippines. Probably it's AI Japan not bringing air support into the attack, but the Japanese attacker still gets stuck not being able to hit the defending USA fighter, with the result that the TT remains contested. This allows USA to build at the factory in Manila or place bunkers into a contested TT on their first turn, even if Japan is parked there with a large force. I think if Fighters/Bunkers couldn't hold a TT by themselves the way regular ground units can, this would solve some of the current issues with stalemates. Or I guess we could raise the battle rounds beyond the cap, but I mean if you wanted to keep the battle rounds at 5, that might be a way to shore it up so aircraft and damaged bunkers couldn't be used to stall via stalemate that way. Currently it can be tricky to tell who actually controls a contested TT. Lone bunkers attacking can also be strange. The warning message says they will die automatically. Like when the stalemate carries over into that player's turn, since bunkers don't have an "attack" but it's still possible for everyone to dud, and then the TT remains contested, potentially into the next round. Although the stalemate has some charm, I think confusion about who controls the TT currently is a downside. Least if we could get the bunkers and defending aircraft by themselves out of the mix it would be more straightforward. Maybe the defending air could retreat to an adjacent tile or be auto-killed or something, but allowing it to remain and contest the TT seems a bit much hehe.

Anyhow, just some thoughts to kick around. Bout to fire up a rematch and try my hand at Allies again haha

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk

This was the desired effect, I think, although Industry do defend against SBR at 2/6 (Like "Radar" tech is added). Maybe a reduction to 1/6. Still Industries could give "Flak Assist" to defending units, though "supportAttachment" cannot be used to assist SBR defense.

Movement wise, I think aircraft are OK (with the exception of P51 Mustang's movement of 8). Maybe give some air units the bonus movement for Industries (Railroad/?Airfield?).

Alot of units have "-1" Amphibious Assault capabilities, plus attacking into a forested area brings even more problems. It's not so much they can't hit a target, as they cannot attack, attack value reduced to 0. Still, very few units do not have AA capabilities (Inf-Conscript, Anti-Tank and Bunkers), so, an Amphibious Assault into a forested island should have no effect trying to hit defending air units. Would need to see the unit breakdown to understand this problem more.

@TheDog

I think @Black_Elk had a very good idea regarding Lend-Lease-Depot. If the unit is connected to a chain of territories, then each territory should have that unit. The notes could be used to describe each Lend-Lease-Depot chain effect. And a popup message when a chain is broken. Doing it this way would require all PUs transactions be handled through triggers. Lend-Lease-Depot are destroyed when captured, so once a chain is broken, it cannot be restored. The question is should they be destroyed? If so, could they be replaced? If so, then by whom, the player that receives the bonus or the player that pays?

@Black_Elk (again)

On turn 11 the Pacific-Allies gain the ability to produce Fighters. It may be a long wait with what they begin with. Maybe the USA player could purchase some fighters for China (Flying Tigers/Black Sheep), and placed in specific territories, to be later controlled by China. Besides that, from what I understand, the Chinese Airforce was very small, with outdated aircraft. If they were to be allowed to purchase air units, it should be very restricted.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

@wc_sumpton

Yeah it's definitely an improvement. After my first game I figured to mass the bombers into double digits before attempting SBR. Brits have 10 starting bombers, 6 of which are at the ready, though it seemed better to me to wait until the 4 arrived from Canada and whatever was built on the first turn. USA and UK have enough money to buy bombers at 13 PU, and currently I think it's worth the high cost in attrition to bomb, especially the Industry-Lgts which are easier to kill, like in north Africa, but that's only because the AI won't replace their lost factories.

12 Bombers at 13 PUs a pop = 156 TUV. Say things go rather poorly for the attacker and factory flak drops half of those to aa fire. The attacker loses 78 PU invested in units instantly and still might not kill the factory with the 6 bombers that remain. Sure not exactly the most likely outcome, but it would happen often enough that it might give the players pause. If you do kill the factory though, esp in a critical round, where it prevents the opponent from moving a large number of hitpoints, that might be a very good use of that 78 PUs. Really though only when you can do that sort of stuff at scale does it start to pay off. Bombing with just a couple bombers would be kinda pointless. To press the advantage you'd need a bunch, with Britain and USA working in concert, to make sure you actually get the kill on the target. The player has the initiative in purchasing though, so could be that it's better to just buy combat units and try to take the factory rather than destroy it, which is generally better anyway. Using the opponent's production against them without needing to rebuild the unit. 1/6 might be easier to stomach, though I kind of enjoyed the heart attack inducing 2/6 which has a fair bit of swing

For conscription, I like that there is a consequence for invading the various homelands. Currently for example if you attempt a Sea Lion invasion then the Brits get access to conscripts. Same deal for Japan or Germany, though by the time that happens it's probably too late to make a difference. It does create a nice endgame stall, but only if the AI has enough income to spam the conscripts once they're unlocked. Instead what I think is more likely to happen is that the AI will be so far in the red on maintenance that they won't be able to purchase anything at all really, even with the cheapo conscripts. I think some form of maintenance reduction is needed for this map to work properly in later rounds. I mean like some way for the player to invest/purchase more capacity, something that will make their maintenance more efficient. Perhaps factories and bases should reduce the overall maintenance cost rather than adding to it? Or maybe when the conscription thing happens, infantry cease to have a maintenance cost altogether. Something like that, which would allow the underdog to mount a comeback without being hamstrung by the maintenance drain. Otherwise I think what will happen is the AI will just stack hitpoints to the ceiling, until they reach that tipping point, and then blast so far into the red that they can't collect enough income to place units once they're on their heels. Especially since blockades and SBR are likely stripping them of ready cash at the same time.

Another thought on the "homeland invaded" conscript unlock. Since this is basically a malus to the aggressor faction (gives the opponent cheaper units) there's a pretty strong incentive to try and work around that, by scaling the invasion. Like trying to take over multiple spots at a go, or bomb several factories to the dirt at once, so they don't have a place to spawn the cheapos. Taking over UK can be fun, but then Brits get those conscripts for everywhere, so sort of a double edged sword. I like that hehe.

For Japan I think Okinawa and Iwo should both be worth like 5, and considered part of the Japanese homeland. That way USA would probably want to snap them up for the production, vs coastal China or Indo-China or just gunning strait at the main Japanese islands, since it would be a shorter path and along the natural stepping stones, but when they do that would trigger the Japanese conscript thing, so sort of a trade-off choice to make there. Truk, Rabaul, Guadalcanal etc I think could be draws at 5 as well, to pull Japan a few different directions and develop more of push/pull going on in the central pacific for Allies. Any starting spot for Japan is going to be a bit more interesting at higher values, since it could conceivably go to one of 3 Allies, Brits, USA, Pacific-Allies. They make for fun targets that way, as opposed to liberating the Allied factories. I think currently it's a bit too easy for Pacific-Allies to stall Japan from Sumatra and the Dutch spots with destroyer blocks and bunker spams. I don't mind that Pacific Allies and China are smaller factions with more limited rosters, but I think China needs some flying tiger support. I'd do it from the bonus like every couple rounds they get 1. For Pacific-Allies, if Japan could mount a proper invasion of the Borneo and Malaya and such on J1 I think that would help. Currently the Brits and Pacific-Allies can throw down a DD picket. If you pulled those DDs back then Japan would probably get on Sumatra and such a bit faster, and I think Pacific Allies it would make sense to have more in backfield like Solomon islands or whatever, or just trying to defend new guinea and Australia itself. That's more like starting unit location/map production spread thoughts though. To have some of those contested 5 spots be more in the central Pac and Japan a bit easier to get on the oil and rubber spots early. I could see New Zealand as the fall back for Pacific-Allies, perhaps at 7 with a Industry-Med. Basically to give Japan something to gun for that direction, but also a way for Pacific Allies to split their home defense. Not sure but I think more juice that way would be cool, and Japan having a clear lane through the South China Sea on J1, that way they can flatten the Dutch stuff, but Pacific Allies would still have a similar income coming in from the backfield TTs. The allied Destroyer block stalls the IJN pretty hard. In the current Allies have 2 chances to disrupt the Japanese transports along the Borneo/Malaya route with Pacific-Allies DD or Britain's DD both in range.

I can think of a few different ways to infuse cash towards the endgame. The simplest I think would be to award a cash bonus for controlling a certain number of VCs, or a bonus when the player's team falls below a certain VC threshold. Depending on whether you want the game to resolve or continue. I think in PvP the former is desirable, in Solo play I think the latter would be more fun. Either way, I think an income/maintenance adjustment would make sense when you move into 1944-5 territory, to rescale for the number of units likely in play at that point compared to the start. Right now I think the VC win comes a bit early and the tech unlock stuff a bit late, but I've also been playing it a lot hehe.

Yeah perhaps the Mustangs at m6 would be cool? M8 is pretty intense for fighter aircraft hehe.

I'm enjoying the latest tweaks a lot. I got my ass handed to me in a few games. Got a best 2 out of 3 going at the moment as Allies.

2023-6-2-1941-Global-Command-Decisionv95 Elkvs AI Axis best out of 3 round 7 USSR.tsvg

[TheDog]

Mustang is now m6 for 9pu

Lend-Lease-Depot
Are you familiar with my The Shogun map, it has Mon/Flag unit ownership flag always flying from a reliefTile flag pole.

This works because the Mon/Flag has

<option name="isAA" value="true"/> <!-- is always 1st unit slot in place.txt -->

In Lend-Lease-Depot terms we (thats you Black Elk ) can put a road or rail graphic on the reliefTiles and place/end it so that it butts up to an icon of the Lend-Lease-Depot .

eg. the Persian Corridor rail/road would start at the coast travel through 4 TTs and end in Baku. (One long snake like graphic on the reliefTiles).
Then by careful positioning of the 1st slot coordinates in the 5 TT and shuffling the rest of the TTs coordinates, a Lend-Lease-Depot icon can appear on the rail line and not be randomly placed.

The only downside is that when the Lend-Lease-Depot is destroyed the 1st slot over the rail/road would be occupied by a random unit.

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Industry and Industry TTs
So Im happy with the restrictions of the 4 Factories production capabilities, so are you both?
Armor-xxx matches the Industry that produces it, currently by design. One reason that I wanted to change Bomber-Lgt.
Industry-Med came from looking at what Wales, South Africa and Australia could produce in the war. The British were mean to India (Industry-Lgt) and did not invest heavily in Industry, but invested in South Africa (Industry-Med)

As an aside Im thinking of removing Medan W.Sumatra Industry-Lgt, the AI spams Armor-Lgt, as not very historic. A player/AI can build a Industry-Lgt later, the TT Pu stays the same. To compensate put a Base-Camp in Palembang from the start.

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Themed Reinforcements
If your are reasonable happy with the balance of the game we can add in 'themed' reinforcements;

• China Fighters
• Pacific-Allies have their Industry-Hvy earlier to simulate Lend-Lease from the US.
• ...

ps. Could add pu to a nation thats homeland has been invaded to simulate scrapping the barrel for equipment or gifting armor-lgt Fighter-Early etc?

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog

Re: Long-Lance, Japan's Destroyers and Cruisers. Adding "tech" and "tech_activation":

<delegate name="tech" 				javaClass="games.strategy.triplea.delegate.TechnologyDelegate" display="Research Technology"/>
<delegate name="tech_activation" 	javaClass="games.strategy.triplea.delegate.TechActivationDelegate" display="Technical advancements"/>

Then adding:

<step name="gameInitDelegate" delegate="initDelegate" maxRunCount="1"/>

<!-- Only needs to happen once at the beginning -->
<step name="JapanTech" delegate="tech" player="Japan" maxRunCount="1"/>
<step name="JapanTechActivation" delegate="tech_activation" player="Japan" maxRunCount="1"/>

Now the techs:

<technologies>
         <techname name="Land-Transport" tech="mechanizedInfantry"/> <!-- Note the name change for display -->
          <techname name="Air-Transport" tech="paratroopers"/> <!-- Note the name change for display -->
         <techname name="Long-Lance"/>
</technologies>
<playerTech player="Britain">
	<category name="Technology Advances">
		<tech name="Land-Transport"/> <!-- Name change is only used here for each player  -->
		<tech name="Air-Transport"/> <!-- Name change is only used here for each player! -->
	</category>
</playerTech>
...
...
...
<playerTech player="Japan">
	<category name="Technology Advances">
		<tech name="Land-Transport"/>
		<tech name="Air-Transport"/>
		<tech name="Long-Lance"/> <!-- New tech added here -->
	</category>
</playerTech>

Trigger add to Japan's Tech:

<!-- ======================================= Tech Japan Kamikaze Plane $KamikazeSZ$ $All-Surface$ 11 for 1 ======================================= -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Long-Lance" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="games.strategy.triplea.attachments.TriggerAttachment" type="player">
  <option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Always_True"/>
  <option name="tech" value="Long-Lance"/>
  <option name="uses" value="1"/>
</attachment>

Then the Technical Addvancement add at the bottom:

<attachment name="techAbilityAttachment" attachTo="Long-Lance" javaClass="games.strategy.triplea.attachments.TechAbilityAttachment" type="technology">
  <option name="attackBonus" value="1:Destroyer"/>
  <option name="attackBonus" value="1:Cruiser"/>
</attachment>

Note this does not change!

<attachment foreach="$All-Players$" name="techAttachment" attachTo="@All-Players@" javaClass="TechAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="mechanizedInfantry" value="true"/>
	<option name="paratroopers" value="true"/>
</attachment>

Now when one mouses over Japan's Destroyers and Cruisers the tool tip displays "2/1/3" and "3/2/3" respectively. I still think some sort of display, like on the Armor-Hvy, should be used.

Now on the "Players" tab under "Technologies" there are "Land-Transport", "Air-Transport" and "Long-Lance". I think it reads better than "mechanizedInfantry" and "paratroopers".

Cheers...

[TheDog]

@wc_sumpton

Now on the "Players" tab under "Technologies" there are "Land-Transport", "Air-Transport" and "Long-Lance". I think it reads better than "mechanizedInfantry" and "paratroopers".

It certainly does.

Worked first time.

Thank you for another Master Class

[Black_Elk]

All sounds good to me!

Oh I like that idea for the graphic keying off the first place. Seems like an interesting challenge. Lend-Lease is replaced by the bunker if destroyed I think, then infantry in the place order right? In general it doesn't matter if it's the infantry hopping around, cause they look pretty good wherever they land. Even if he was on a railroad track, probably would still look alright hehe, but factory and base units are a bit beefier and might look wonk if they jump position. Like when all the infrastructure is destroyed. HQ and Bomber units can also clip in a bit cause they're pretty large, fighters less so but they're still fairly wide.

To indicate a kind of objective (associated TTs on the map visually) probably something pretty subdued like a simple dotted line would look ok. Probably wouldn't want it too large/busy or might become visually distracting. I can tool around see what we come up with. Current relief doesn't have the dotted blue lines for the canals. I could add them back in, but was thinking it might make sense to go for 1 TT canal control. Basically so that Egypt alone controls Suez, Istanbul alone controls the Turkish straits. That way all the straits and canals are handled in the same way. Removing Sinai, Smyrna and Ankara from the requirements to pass through those waterways, pretty much all like Panama. I think that'd be more straightforward. For Suez in particular the counterplay around Sinai (like TransJordan in A&A) can be a bit gamey. Anyhow just a thought, could use a similar dotted line motif for the aid corridors instead. Though I'd have to tinker with it see if it looks cool.

For the production spread, I think the 5 PU value is the real entry level here, like for the spots that are going to be the most hotly contested by both sides. I think 5 PUs (Industry-lgt capable) would be analogous to a territory worth 2-3 PUs in A&A or the v3/5 games etc. Basically a spot that could support a factory hub. In v5 you can place them anywhere with value of 1 or more, but to get a decent return you basically need 2 PUs in production to make it a worthwhile investment. Often in the pacific the only spots that made sense are the East Indies, Philippines or Coastal China, which has the effect of putting the big magnet on that part of the map in A&A. Like that's where Allies want to get to shorten their lines, or where Japan wants to camp to secure theirs, which means the islands in the central Pacific sorta playing second fiddle to what's going on with India or East Africa or the Middle East vis a vis Japan. My thought in A&A was always to just raise the value of all the islands in the Pacific like Iwo and such to 2 PUs so they could function like that, to counterbalance the strong pull of the Axis center crush. This artificially inflates the value of those peripheral TTs, but I think mechanically it would work better, since you sorta need a production bait like that to persuade the player that getting drawn into the Pacific backfield isn't just a doomed play. Otherwise I think the default is to sort bypass everything and only gun for the spots that are a real production focus. Since Industry-Med is currently the entry level ship/air building factory, I think it might make sense to have a few more of these scattered around the map. I think N. Chosen might make sense for a Japanese Industry-lgt hub on the mainland, since the IJN can shuck there from home waters. Probably a bit easier to defend if sz 19A is being contested. I think having Iwo and Okinawa at higher values would be more about giving the USA a softer underbelly type target, as opposed to just dropping into Mainland China to try and take Mukden or Shanghai for USA production, while also giving Japan a reason to be on guard. Right now AI Japan seems to struggle a bit defending the home waters, why I was thinking maybe Iwo and Oki being higher might give em a more of a reason to hold position in those zones. I think a lot of spots could just be worth 5-7 and I'd be fine with seeing the players choose whether to build up in those spots or trade em for income, while the AI just gets a few freebies. With the new flak adjustments it's harder to just wipe factories off the map, so the AI does a bit better now, though it'd still be cool if they could bonus in the factories, since that would probably change the playpattern a bit and needing fewer production spots from the getgo. The Industry generating 3 or 5 bucks a pop is a nice way to boost income, so perhaps fewer on the board at the outset, but also few more spots available for the mid/endgame scale up would iron out the kinks, but not sure how to make that happen. If the HardAI would purchase factory replacements the way they drop bases we'd probably be pretty set haha. Speaking of which, I noticed the AI will leave bases undefended for enemy walk ins. Perhaps they should get a hitpoint so they can block?

I think this map is about as good as I've seen for a production spread. Like the elements are pretty much all in place. I dig it

Played a couple games as Axis to get back in the groove. Fun stuff! Nice work!

Anyhow, let me know what needs doing, like for added chevrons or tech stuff. I can make a list of stuff to try and tackle graphics-wise hehe

Catch ya in a few!

ps. one more thought on Factories... So comparing Industry-Hvy to Industry-Med, the availability of units in the national purchase rosters means that it is more advantageous to take some spots with certain nations as opposed to others. For example it's often better for Britain to take over Industry-Hvys from German/Italian TTs, because they can produce Armor-Hvy at those locations, while USA would be stuck spawning Armor-Medium. Pacific-Allies are stuck at Industry-Medium till later rounds, so if there's a risk of the factory being destroyed in the attack they wouldn't want to go after an Industry-Hvy. Similarly Germany can make better use of Russian Industry-Hvy TTs than Italy, since they can spawn Armor-Hvy. Stuff like that. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just something to note. I think typically any of the nations can make use of an Industry-Hvy capable spot, even if they can't build at the max level from there, but could shape the playpattern a fair bit when deciding who to lead with, or where to gun.
I think if most of the tech type unlocks were advance a round or 2, by the time you hit the endgame those sorts of issues would be less pronounced. I think the NAP between USSR and Japan might break a bit sooner as well, especially since AI USSR stacks a lot of units in the Far East and sorta holds them there. If they unleashed a bit sooner, could make things interesting on the Pacific side of the board. I think by like round 8 or 9 most of the tech type stuff should be in play, since that's when the big moves are happening. Rounds 5-7 feel 1943-44 ish to me just based on where USA can be at that point in the game, so I feel like the meat and potatoes is sorta right there and I kinda imagine the later rounds as just an expansion of the closing years of the war. Like the longer the game goes where 1945 just sorta stretches out indefinitely at that point heheh

[TheDog]

@Black_Elk

Lend-Lease is replaced by the bunker if destroyed I think, then infantry in the place order right?

I think its a first in first out, but it it still random depending on the order of the initial xml units being placed and player movement.

.
@All
Currently the timeline is 4-ish turns per year, Tech is linked to that, also if following historic ww2 the game should end Turn 16-ish.

In my games, I only play one nation at a time, tend to be 16-ish turns.
Black Elk your Axis or Allies 21vp games tend to be 8-12 turns ?

We could compress the timeline, meaning;

• Tech release is shorter
• Combat should increase to 7,9 or infinite rounds.

.
We could leave the timeline as is, but increase the combat rounds ?

Thoughts ?

[Black_Elk]

Sounds good to me

Yeah I think to 21 VCs usually before round 10 for me. Here's an example of the Allied position from my last game at the close of the 9th round. I was playing to 25 VCs which is a bit longer.

2023-6-5-1941-Global-Command-Decision v95 Elk vs HardAI Axis round 9 USA.tsvg

Increasing the combat rounds would likely prevent some of the stalemate weirdness. You can see from the save above, how the Brits were able to hold out in Formosa for a few turns, then build bunkers and a dude from the base camp to cling to life hehe. Did the same thing in the last round at Hamburg. I see stuff like that on occasion where the combat is prolonged a fair bit cause the TTs remains contested when the round limit is hit.

I'd imagine in a game where most players are controlled by the AI that the VC win would take a few rounds longer and provide a different sort of challenge, but I like controlling the entire team just cause it makes the game round feel a bit more engaging to me with less downtime between turns.

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk

When trying to attack a territory with multiple bunkers, bring in artillery and bombers-tac, their support stacks, nullifying bunker defenses.

I added "transportCapacity" 2 and "isCombatTransport" to capital ship and subs. Also added "isAirTransportable" to all land units, plus "canInvadeOnlyFrom". For conscripts, trained and towed I made transport and all move 2 land units. For all armor and halftracks left at transport only. Elite is still all.

Just some different dynamics.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

Sounds good to me! I'll definitely try that on the next out for sure!

Oh also, I just noticed that Vyborg was missing a terrain icon. Should be Forest.
Okinawa as well.

Here is a relief with those graphics added...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qaizzsaaiykebui/1941_relief_vyborg_okinawa_fix.png?dl=0

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk, @TheDog

More Information on 2.5 Air Battle error/warning message. It seems that Hard AI is not selecting defensive units to participate. This is OK, the air battle will not happen, and all units will join in on the regular battle. In 2.6 there seems to be an error in the engine which does not allow defensive units to be selected for an air battle, thus all units participate in the regular battle.

Will keep all informed.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

Right on. I was curious about that because on occasion I did see a dogfight/intercept option but not consistently. It happened to me once in a naval battle as well and kinda threw me for a loop. It'd be hard for me to say when maxing into an air battles as the defender would be advantageous without having a greater number of fighters, since the potential instant loss of the TUV can be kinda steep. Also there's that sort of psych effect of risking your air up front, vs foot dragging it into reg combat. Attrition for aircraft feels pretty high, though the cheaper cost and somewhat weaker ability of fighters compared to A&A or relative to other units in the roster mitigates that a bit. Aircraft in v95 are still pretty powerful especially for fleet screening.

I've seen the AI airblitz on land as well or during amphibious, but the casualty selection/targeting means you can't airblitz in quite the same way as you might in A&A. For example, you can't choose to hold a tank as the last casualty, cause the hits are assigned by type. Same deal on the water, like you couldn't take the hit on a fighter before a destroyer to clear a zone or ensure a block or whatever. On the whole I like this, because the vanilla A&A airblitz is pretty OP and there's no capital capture dynamic here that would make a proper airblitz more essential. Still gunning with all air attacks can be pretty effective, since the units are harder to eliminate via flak than they would be in reg A&A style combat. What I see the computer do often is mount an invasion or amphib assault, then continue to press the fight after the ground units are killed rather than immediately withdrawing, often wiping the remaining defender units with their aircraft, but failing to take the TT. As the player you can do this pretty effectively. I think an overall unit cap may help, like the 100 per tile idea.

A number that's sufficiently large for the scale, but still a ceiling at the very high end. For aircraft an overall cap might also work, though I'd highball it, cause the earlier cap was frustrating. I think it was 20 initially right? To me that was way too low for the number of starting aircraft in play, like I'd do at least 30 or 40 there if trying it again. Also because air caps create logistics and phase separation issues (between com and non com), since the cap presents a hard restriction against entering a tile during movement once that cap is reached. This means that the order of movement becomes significant, e.g. which units moved first during combat movement is actually consequential and may determine which aircraft can still move afterwards on Non Com, which can be a real headache if the cap is too small and units are being trapped by caps. I think the cap should be treated as just that, like an ultimate limit for the totals per tile, but have that number be pretty high. Basically so it's not a constant impediment to the flow, but a feature that only comes into play for the Godzilla game towards the end. Once a stack hits 100 hp, that is sufficient room I think for the player to still manage their mixed forces and not be edging it constantly or all stuck trying avoid hitting the invisible cap/wall during their movement phases. I might do the same for sea zone tiles. Or perhaps capping the total for air or naval units at 50 per tiles or something like that. Though the AI don't seem to have much problem spreading with their fleets, it's more the air/ground that the AI likes to consolidate.

My main concern with an overall cap on units per tile, is that this will make it hard for the defender once the cap is reached. For example, how to defend Moscow when both teams are fielding forces at the cap. Usually the attacker has the initiative to bring greater numbers, to overcome the defenders advantage in power, but a ceiling could complicate that. Just imagining 2 or 3 stacks at 100 HP dancing around each other at the center, cause nobody can press a numbers advantage to come out ahead on the attack or the counter-attack. This would be hard to see in advance, but I can imagine it being an issue towards the endgame. Managing a cap is going to be tedium at any scale once it's reached, cause then the player has to try to cycle hitpoints around to try and max their power/reach at whatever limit. Anyhow, just something to keep an eye on if going that route. I'd definitely start on the high end if capping.

Last pair of Solos I managed 21 VCs inside of 12 rounds, but that was playing as Germany and then USSR. I think for the big 6 it'd probably be between 12-16 rounds as you said. Just sorta depends how many VCs the faction can target. USSR and Japan are a bit restricted since they can't go after each other till later rounds on account of the NAP, which puts a lot of the focus on the map and faction starting location. Japan has many more targets and directions they can press, since they have like a dozen VCs in their neighborhood that they can contest, from SF to Cairo. USSR is sort of more 1 dimensional. The movement restriction on team Allies regarding USSR means that USA and Britain can't really support any of the Soviet VCs if they're being contested. This is a big change from A&A, where pretty much the entire game revolves around pushing hitpoints to support Russia directly. I think this feels better honestly, though there are some kinks, particularly in the middle east were convergence is more likely. I've accidentally trapped a large British/USA army in Finland or in the Caucasus with no way to move the units out after the TT was liberated for the USSR. Basically if you advance more than 1 tile into original owner Soviet territory you can be easily cut off, since you'd need Axis to come right up to your border to escape a prohibited interior TT. I think this would mostly come into play with Britain and USSR, since they're operating in closer proximity initially.

For the small fries, China and Pacific-Allies, I couldn't really see playing them as an independent faction in a Solo, cause there's not enough action there really to hold my interest, but for the big 6 I think it works fine. Italy seems like it could be pretty fun as well in a solo. After playing the first round which takes a while, things moved at a steadier clip, so I had fun!

Looking forward to the next out