I dig it!
Main question for the moment would be the naval movement M2 vs M3 dilemma for ships.
The main pro for M2 would be simplicity and ease of use for the AI. The main con is that the G40 SZ map assumes M3 naval bases, so nerfing all ships down to M2 but using that G40 SZ map seems somewhat problematic.
A possible solution might be to only have a few naval units at M3, like say the transport. Since the transport unit is defenseless in the v3/G40 ruleset, this might tamp down on the time it take for the AI to calculate stuff. Although the transport doesn't have a hitpoint, it still has TUV value, so you'd think the machine would still target them and try to defend them, but I'm not sure what kind of playpattern behavior it will create. The AI may just throw them forward and then let them die undefended constantly, to advance their ground units. Not an unsound strategy even in PvP play, but perhaps not really what we want.
I think there's also a pretty good chance that Naval Bases in OOB G40 in tripleA may confuse the HardAI. Because the machine is probably calculating based on current position and M2, unless there is an NB involved, in which case they may just goof their positioning all the time. Just seems like one of those areas where the OOB rules probably screw the capability of the HardAI to play well or at least marginally better hehe. I'd think it would be simpler to have all the movement rate attached to the naval units directly, and constant, rather than being changed/boosted by an adjacent naval base unit. I'd be curious to see what actually slows the AI down though, whether it's M3 ships per se, or just the fact that there is that variability entering into because of the Naval Bases?
I mean you'd think the machine would be able to handle M3 fairly easily, because Fighters are already M4 and involved in basically every naval exchange during normal play. I guess there are many more ships on the board typically than aircraft though. But then if M3 wasn't for every ship, but just some ship types, perhaps that wouldn't be as pronounced? I believe we tried Cruisers and Transports at M3 in one of the Global HRs, and something like that might work. The cruiser then becoming the speedy unit, and a more attractive purchase (since in OOB nobody ever buys them lol.) But yeah, that's one to ponder for sure! I don't quite know what would be best.
If the transport unit is M3, and the Cruiser unit is M3, then by default the Cruiser becomes the main escort unit. Meaning the player will usually try to keep a cruiser paired with a transport for defense. Or alternatively maybe the Carrier is the M3 surface unit? This would probably be more thematic, but the carrier is already the best buy and doesn't exactly need much help being an attractive purchase in the standard roster.
Frostion's method was to basically make the Cruiser a relatively cheaper naval unit, but to give it an Anti-Air shot similar to a built in AAgun, which makes them worth buying. Perhaps one doesn't really need a surface ship to move M3?
M3 could perhaps just be for Transports and Submarines, to make the latter more effective on the prowl? This would create a situation where the player is operating from an M2 framework for naval defense and moving the surface fleets most of the time, but with more reach at M3 for the two "weirder" naval units, which are Subs/Transports. I mean they're already weird OOB lol, since they don't create a hostile sea zone by themselves, so maybe that could be part of the rationale there?
Naval movement is probably the most abstract of all the abstractions going on in A&A. I'm not sure that the fastest units in reality necessarily need to be the units that can move the farthest in gameplay. If anything reality would seem to recommend the reverse, like transports at M1 with slow ass escort carriers or whatever defending them. But that's just not the situation in A&A lol. For my part I think Cruisers, Transports, Subs at M3, everything else at M2 could work. M1 is an option for a fodder unit, like Frostion's PT boat, but it has to be pretty cheap I'd think and OOB the cheapest hitpoint on the water is 6 PUs, 8 PUs if you want that hitpoint defend vs aircraft. I'd think the lowest entry point for a fodder ship at M1 would probably be something like 4-5 PUs given the normal pricing of the OOB roster, just so it's at least slightly more expensive than an Inf unit right?
Another option that might be cool is to have the expensive Battleships and Cruisers at M3 along with the M3 transports and subs. This would encourage the sort of big ticket buys that you usually don't see OOB. Battleships and Cruisers at their OOB cost would become worthwhile because M3 is so potent. Carriers, Destroyers would retain value for defense, even at M2 because defending aircraft are so potent, and the DD is needed for ASW. That might get a balance that allows for basically M3 strategic movement, while not going too overboard, and still allowing a somewhat OOB dynamic that fits the map, but just one where the Battleships and Cruisers have that more forward role, and the Carriers and DDs are more like the 'hang back shore up the lines' type units. The gameplay effect would be sort of 'different ships for different roles', but not so far off OOB that's it's like hard to figure out what's going on. Might be a cool way to swing it hehe
ps. So I found an icon I kinda liked for SUB HQ, basically just a dude from a postage stamp lol. Or maybe a periscope view? But it didn't quite read at 54px. Kinda hard to make out at smaller than 100px. You think the HQs could be larger like that? Like if I make them at 100px, we could downsize to 80px of 66px or something and still have it look pretty decent I'd think.
Much smaller than 66 and I start finding the images hard to make out, but otherwise you can cram a fair bit of detail into a 66 pixel circle. Like if one wanted Rommel vs Monty, Patton or Zhukov, or Yamamoto or MacArthur or whoever, we could just make images for that with national themes hehe. Basically just do all the dudes named as "Generals" in the old Iron Blitz A&A cd maybe?
I guess the thought was more generic, but might be cool to have something like that, just to keep in the back pocket.
as in eastern Europe there is lots of unit overflows.
Note this version requires a minimum of TripleA 2.7.14848+ as it makes use of a new feature called "isAI" here; 
