WW2-Global

[Bob1475]

Rocoteh -

Thinking about it the elimination of South America might be the best. They really were not involved and they are too much a temptation for a human player. We could institute house rules but I have seen the AI take over Mexico and more (actually they like Chile). This is a separate problem in that it is a diversion from the primary war aims of the U.S. I acknowledge the map will look strange but this is supposed to be WW2 Global and South America was really not in WW2.

 

[clearbeard]

UK Emperor 1.5, 1940 end of year report

The European front has been active this year, as the wings of the new Lancaster bombers roll off the assembly line and into the skies over the Axis powers. Mussolini has been eliminated as an active player in the war, though Il Duce himself remains at large, possibly holed up with the Fuhrer somewhere in German occupied Russia.

Berlin has fallen just in time for the Christmas holiday, and the final weeks of 1940 have seen our artillery and mobile infantry, covered by waves of Lancasters and Spitfires roll up the German defensive line. Vienna remains the strongest remaing holdout, as our troops have been instructed to take the city intact if possible, limiting the effectiveness of the RAF, but the seige is expected to be over within the first few weeks of the new year. We expect to meet our sometime allies from Soviet Russia outside of beseiged Moscow for vodka and crumpets by the time the spring thaw fully sets in.

The liberated Poles in Warsaw cheered as the newly posted garrison arrived to maintain order while the civilian authority can be located and re-established. In nearby news, our scientists have translated the plans for type 9 U-boats found in the captured submarine yards at Stettin, and production on the prototype is underway.

Continental Asia has been a static front for most of the year, with the occasional forays against our fortifications by Japanese and some German troops attempting a flanking maneuver soundly repulsed with minimal Allied casualties. Meanwhile, the Pacific fleet, aided in some places by the Americans, has taken all of the Japanese bases south and east of Formosa and Okinawa. The fleet is currently under weigh sailing for Okinawa itself, with Formosa not far behind and an invasion of Japan itself in the planning stages. As our research machine continues to make new breakthroughs every 6 weeks, we expect a significant technological advantage to have accrued by the time the invasion force is ready to land. It seems likely that the war, with all the Axis powers vanquished, may very well be over by the end of 1941.

Our erstwhile Soviet allies have begun grumbling again, and diplomats fear relations may crumble and hostilities re-open, shattering the peace which has lasted most of this year as our mutual enemy pressed to the gates of Moscow herself. With the German offensive crushed and their cities falling like dominoes, Premier Stalin seems to erroneously think that we would be unwilling to continue where the Germans left off, and insults our ambassador at every opportunity. Developments will be watched carefully on the Eve of Victory.

 

[clearbeard]

@Rocoteh

Should the UK be able to build P-32 Lightnings? I'm not a big historian, but wasn't that just a US plane? UK has the Firefly just a little bit later that fits the same role with almost the same stats (a few less bombard actually, and more expensive; another case of a later unit being worse than an earlier one if the P-32 stays).

 

[allin1joe]

Rocoteh -

Thinking about it the elimination of South America might be the best. They really were not involved and they are too much a temptation for a human player. We could institute house rules but I have seen the AI take over Mexico and more (actually they like Chile). This is a separate problem in that it is a diversion from the primary war aims of the U.S. I acknowledge the map will look strange but this is supposed to be WW2 Global and South America was really not in WW2.

Interesting thought on South America. Can you lock them into an alliance with everyone? I am not sure if you can have an alliance with 2 civs at war with each other, but I figured it's worth a shot. I don't want to see South America removed. Maybe an Ok compromise would be for South America to be in a locked alliance with the Allies?

Now, keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who's first move with the US has always been to invade Mexico. It just makes sense. It expands production, connects the mainland with Panama, and it gives me something to do while I am building for my large scale invasion. Yes, I could have fun with the Japanese navy, but that's beside the point I wouldn't cry if this ability was removed though. Heck, when I first got the game, I figured my first move would be to invade Canada

 

[warmwaffles]

Hey Roco when I looked into the Civilopedia there was no info on most of the units there.............why?

Cuz if you need someone to input text I will be more than happy too cuz I have a whole crap load of unit info all in one big text

 

[Chazbagel]

Brazil was in WW2, as was Mexico... Both allies

Argentina supplied troops to allies, and allowed both Axis, and Allied ships to refuel in their docks (Or maybe it was another country )

 

[clearbeard]

Hey Roco when I looked into the Civilopedia there was no info on most of the units there.............why?

Cuz if you need someone to input text I will be more than happy too cuz I have a whole crap load of unit info all in one big text

Roco didn't take the time to edit the 'pedia. In post 1930 in this thread I uploaded a version I wrote that at least has the "unlisted" stats like HP bonuses for all the units. I think Roco is planning on including it in 1.6, but it's certainly usable now if you want to dl it. It's purely statistics, no background or suggestions on use or anything, but I've found it useful.

 

[skanar]

I have a quick general reference question: What are we supposed to be able to airlift?

Historically, almost nothing was airlifted, and the game generally follows this. Flak, however, can be airlifted in the game. (It is possible that other units can be airlifted as well; I haven't made tests. The only one I've noticed so far is...Flak).

A bug, perhaps? Or did Rocoteh intend to make some units airlift-able? Flak seems like a poor choice in that case, since those AA guns were usually BIG.

 

[William Mitchel]

Second report on Brit ver. 1.5, from (i believe) turns 36 thru 65.

The defensive strategy I outlined earlier (bomb roads in my own territory, set up fortresses in swamps and mountains that can not be attacked by armor, and build like hell) has worked very well.

I focused production on the Matilda II to create a defensive line, then built Spitfires until I could achieve air superiority, and then built Skua bombers (which seem to be very nasty). Land near cities was fully developed (except for railroads) and production was dwarfing the axis. Canada alone produced 2-3 aircraft per turn, which could fly to europe in 1-2 turns. (a Skua can deploy from newfoundland to Rhur in one jump.) India (second palace was in mandalay), South Africa, Ethiopia also became big producers. Brits have about 120 tanks, 40 spitfires, 30 skua, plus many militia, etc. Building at least 4 matilda's per turn world-wide, sometimes 6 or 7.

I decided to limit my aggression to just the axis. Once the line stabilized in burma (it was never really threatened), i landed tanks in france and built a fortress the next turn. repeated the process until i had a force to help shield the french. My strategy was to fight, or be attacked, only where i could win. gradually build up more units than them. French rebuilt, and actually took Paris (one turn) and Milan (held it).

Got into Paris. brought in more air. discovered that you can blow away axis air by bombing an area with many spitfires. the defense comes up until it is completely eliminated. spitfires win 3 out of 4 this way, and are back at full strength after 2 turns. takes axis longer to rebuild from scratch. once the air was eliminated, i could bomb a city and then attack with 2-3 dozen tanks. eventually the defenders are eliminated. was able to take paris, brussels, rurh and berlin within a span of 12 turns this way. The SAM battery is god-like, so i switched bombing to units outside of cities and improvements, within a few turns was able to destroy every improvement in northern germany. they were unable to move and produce - counter-attacks stopped. I stopped at this point - the writing was on the wall.

Conclusion: brits can definitely survive, and may be too powerful. i can see all three axis capital taken by around turn 100 (taking all cities would be longer, but forgone conclusion). problem before was that axis could get into india / africa too easily, and italian marines from ethiopia became troublesome very early. hate to say it but pendulum may have swung too far. milita was a good idea. they need it early on. matilda too - it provided a unit that could win on defense. but frankly, once developed. i had so many cities that i may have equaled all axis production. probably need to take some of those new cities back.

have you considered a version which starts in summer 1941 and has the russians locked in with the allies? brits could be given historical possessions.

i took a ton of notes. ask if you have questions.

 

[Grizx]

Rocoteh,

Hope your recovery is going well.

On South America – I feel very strongly that you should keep it in the game.

It would not hurt to make it more difficult to invade by putting in more garrison troops. This would delay US expansion. But I actually think the US needs at least Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia to win.

Might reduce some of the resources in South America to make it a less valuable target, but then I would add some resources like cattle and wheat in the US mid-west and a gold or two in the Rockies to compensate.

Might make South American countries unable to produce any additional troops other than the garrison troops they start with. That way any declaration of war would be sort of pro-forma on their part, with nothing but trade consequences. I agree it is unrealistic to have Argentinian troops arrive to attack the Panama Canal.

Might make the jungles North and South of the Panama Canal impassable (landmark) which would force the US to invade South America by sea if it really wanted to. This is also pretty realistic since back then those jungles were still pretty impassable.

Human players can always adjust their own game by limiting the extent to which they invade South America.or not using mobilization.​

On US infantry and tanks. I have read the recent comments, but I think Version 1.5 has the US infantry and tanks about right.

I agree that the old US Marines were too powerful and new split into 1939 and 1942 Marines is good. But the US did have inferior armor, and to change that just to get the AI to build some is not, in my opinion, the way to go. Heck, when I play the US I don’t waste time on building early US armor. I wait for the Sherman. And that is basically what the US did in the actual war. (50,000 Shermans, 6000 M3 Grants and Lees, and an insignificant number of M2’s)

I think the US infantry needs to be good - and it was good both in the Pacific and in Europe. At least don’t take away both the blitz and the 2 moves. Early US armor was actually mostly incorporated with US infantry units and therefore the blitz and extra move actually fit in well. It was not until after the fall of Poland that the US even really started looking seriously at independent armored formations. Plus given that both the AI and human players don’t build early US armor, it works out accurately and well overall anyway.

A possibility would be to do as you did with the US Marines: make 1939 and 1942 verions of US infantry with the 1942 version having the blitz and extra move and the 1939 version having only the extra move (the US still had a relatively large number of vehicles compared to others).

The US should be a very powerful player. If you take away South America and the US infantry after already taking away the Marinesand possibly the Iowa blitz as some want, you could end up really nerfing the US and hurting the scenario.​

Grizx

 

[Grizx]

I am now playing a US SID game. Last turn I finished building the Intel Agency. This turn I had some extra cash and decided to plant spies. Was able to plant a spy in USSR and Japan, but my spy kept getting caught in Britain. I had the gold, so I kept trying. After about 8 or nine US attempts to plant a spy, Mr. Churchill must have gotten really annoyed becasue Britain declared war on the US in spite of the locked alliance.

Go figure.

Grizx

 

[clearbeard]

I have a quick general reference question: What are we supposed to be able to airlift?

Historically, almost nothing was airlifted, and the game generally follows this. Flak, however, can be airlifted in the game. (It is possible that other units can be airlifted as well; I haven't made tests. The only one I've noticed so far is...Flak).

A bug, perhaps? Or did Rocoteh intend to make some units airlift-able? Flak seems like a poor choice in that case, since those AA guns were usually BIG.

Paratroopers can be airlifted as well as airdropped, but that one makes at least some sense. Don't know any others.

 

[clearbeard]

I am now playing a US SID game. Last turn I finished building the Intel Agency. This turn I had some extra cash and decided to plant spies. Was able to plant a spy in USSR and Japan, but my spy kept getting caught in Britain. I had the gold, so I kept trying. After about 8 or nine US attempts to plant a spy, Mr. Churchill must have gotten really annoyed becasue Britain declared war on the US in spite of the locked alliance.

Go figure.

Grizx

That's what you get for spying on your allies! Now attack Canada (UK), and see ALL your allies declare war on you!!! Talk about a World War!

Have you ever seen a spy placement succeed on a given turn where it failed the first try? I tried that back in the day and convinced myself that once they catch you once, you have to wait until at least the next turn (and the probability goes up the more turns you wait). Have you found differently?

On Britain:
In my Emperor level Brit game, turn 100 seems about right for total conquest of every Axis city, not just the capitols (I'm a very thorough player ). I don't know that it's a matter of too much power, as it was touch and go at the beginning in Asia. The single biggest key to the easy victory was the Trans-Asiatic Railway built by the 200+ workers on that continent, so that troops could serve both the Japanese and Italian fronts simultaneously. Don't really know how to fix this, as I'm confident I could do much the same thing playing as the Soviets, and they have even better units, on land anyway. The biggest problem IMO, and one that really can't be fixed in Civ3, is that the AI doesn't know how to handle artillery or CAP bombing runs. Maybe the Spitfire is too powerful? It is the single most potent fighter in the entire scenario, as I recall (though the Typhoon, also a Brit unit, is actually a little better at the CAP bombing, just not as good an interceptor).

 

[Grizx]

Well, everyone declared war me. The British navy moved to attack me but could not. A couple of my DD's are surrounded by a bazillion Brit subs and DD's, but no combat.

Clearbeard, yes I have found that you usually have to wait till the next turn if you fail, but I have been able at least once on subsequent tries if first getting spies planted elsewhere.

Grizx

 

[Rocoteh]

Setting cost to 0 solves it.

vlad1917_a,

Yes, that was I meant.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Rocoteh -

Thinking about it the elimination of South America might be the best. They really were not involved and they are too much a temptation for a human player. We could institute house rules but I have seen the AI take over Mexico and more (actually they like Chile). This is a separate problem in that it is a diversion from the primary war aims of the U.S. I acknowledge the map will look strange but this is supposed to be WW2 Global and South America was really not in WW2.

Bob1475,

OK, I am prepared to implement that. However I want as much
feedback as possible before I go ahead with this change.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Week 3:
I sank 3 ships with my Luftwaffe and also bombed Plymouth, Algiers and Rabat. Man, if I have finished my Africa campaign I will use my forces there to take Britain and perhaps also Sweden. Then: Barbarossa!
Bangkok is mine, as well as Urumtchi and Khotan. In Africa Marrakesh is mine.

PC: A Greek DD is sunk by attacking one of my Uboats.

Adler

Adler,

A rapid campaign!
I am really looking forward to see how Barbarossa evolves.

Thank you and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Hey Roco when I looked into the Civilopedia there was no info on most of the units there.............why?

Cuz if you need someone to input text I will be more than happy too cuz I have a whole crap load of unit info all in one big text

Drivebymaster,

The reason is: Limited time.

I also support TGW, Barbarossa and a joint project with project El Justo.
There will soon be more info on that project BTW.

I appreciate help with the Civilopedia.
Note that clearbeard have done a very good work with a special
Civilopedia version.

Rocoteh

 

[clearbeard]

Here is an expanded Civilopedia.txt that includes all of my prior changes on units as well as accurate descriptions of all the city improvements and wonders. Again, because of the structure of the scenario, some of the entries are a bit screwey, but hopefully it will be helpful nonetheless. Now when you capture a city and see "Woo Hoo! I got the Calcutta Wonder!" you'll actually be able to tell in-game that it doesn't do a darn thing!

 

[Adler17]

Rocoteh I don´t think it is a wise decision to delete the South American states. Some of them were neutral, some of them sided the allies very soon (Brazil) while others tended to become German allies (Argentina). So I do not think they should be deleted. It is just fine so. And in no way ahistorical.

Adler