Fall Weiss II

[crispy131313]

Thanks had no idea it was full, fixed

[John B.]

No problem. Message sent.

[Elessar2]

Just a thought about Global...

I noticed that the Essexes were the last units that the US AI built: they only started coming online in late '44/'45. Checked the relevant scripts, and most notably fleet CVs were all at the same level as all other ships (10's). But I also noticed this line:

#SKIP_FUNDS_CHECK= Should we skip the applicable funds check? (values range [0, 1]; True= 1; False= 0)

If the AI "rolls the dice" during its build phase, once the available MPPs drop below the cost of a carrier, the AI won't be able to buy any more. I'm not sure if flipping the above lines to 1's will thus allow them to purchase any even if the MPP level is below the purchase price. In any event fleet CV's likely need to be changed to c. 30's or so.

[Elessar2]

Annnd back to Europe...

Just documented all freebie AI units, thru the end of 1942.

They were staggering.

Now, 2 caveats. I am fully aware that quite a few depend on Axis units being near the city in question to be triggered. And that some scripts may be redundant. And that quite a few were simply carryovers from Hubert's core scenario. And I didn't include the ones which said "Currently Off"...

Just for difficulty levels 0-2:

7 HQ's
3 Garrisons
27 Inf. Corps
24 Inf. Armies
2 Shock Armies
1 Field Arty
4 Tank Corps
1 Tank Army
5 Fighters
4 Tactical Bombers

Add in levels 3-4:

3 HQ's
8 Inf. Corps
7 Inf. Armies
2 Special Forces
1 Engineer
2 Shock Armies
2 Rocket Arty
3 Tank Corps
3 Fighters
3 Tactical Bombers


That explains what I was seeing. I had done everything optimally: bought out all of my tanks, all of my mechanized units, all of my air force, got a huge pocket of Russians during '41 (so they couldn't be bought back cheap), teched up as high as Lady Luck would allow, Rommel now has nothing between him and the Middle East (there he has killed several HQs and most of the Allied air force, which the AI just let sit there, vs. being operated back to England)...

And now I am reeling on all fronts, which are typically 2-3 deep in Russians, preventing me from forming any more pockets (tho in June I managed to trap another dozen of his units, incl. 2 shocks an HQ a tank & and a tac). Once my tanks blow their wad they can't progress any further in the face of the Zerg Rush they are facing. The US is about to launch Torch, and the Regia Marina isn't going to be quite strong enough to stop them (I've already said my piece on that of course).

I know the AI is dumb (see how the Western Allies just let all of their planes get killed). At some point tho human ingenuity simply cannot compete with being drowned in a sea of enemy units. [c.f. your current AAR]

Luftwaffe is in ruins, I must spend all MPPs repairing my tanks and whatever infantry I can. I've killed over 20 of his tanks by August '42, to no avail. Fine, you say that it's been beaten at those levels twice now; note I've defeated the Allies a couple of times at max difficulty years ago in earlier editions of the game series. If so, my hat's off to you.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Just a thought about Global...

I noticed that the Essexes were the last units that the US AI built: they only started coming online in late '44/'45. Checked the relevant scripts, and most notably fleet CVs were all at the same level as all other ships (10's). But I also noticed this line:

#SKIP_FUNDS_CHECK= Should we skip the applicable funds check? (values range [0, 1]; True= 1; False= 0)

If the AI "rolls the dice" during its build phase, once the available MPPs drop below the cost of a carrier, the AI won't be able to buy any more. I'm not sure if flipping the above lines to 1's will thus allow them to purchase any even if the MPP level is below the purchase price. In any event fleet CV's likely need to be changed to c. 30's or so.

I've copied over the same build scripts as the base game's most recent. They could be updated from what you are seeing, the global mod that I've posted is very very outdated. I'm actually playing testing my next version right now. WHat is c. 30's?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Annnd back to Europe...

Just documented all freebie AI units, thru the end of 1942.

They were staggering.

Now, 2 caveats. I am fully aware that quite a few depend on Axis units being near the city in question to be triggered. And that some scripts may be redundant. And that quite a few were simply carryovers from Hubert's core scenario. And I didn't include the ones which said "Currently Off"...

Just for difficulty levels 0-2:

7 HQ's
3 Garrisons
27 Inf. Corps
24 Inf. Armies
2 Shock Armies
1 Field Arty
4 Tank Corps
1 Tank Army
5 Fighters
4 Tactical Bombers

Add in levels 3-4:

3 HQ's
8 Inf. Corps
7 Inf. Armies
2 Special Forces
1 Engineer
2 Shock Armies
2 Rocket Arty
3 Tank Corps
3 Fighters
3 Tactical Bombers


That explains what I was seeing. I had done everything optimally: bought out all of my tanks, all of my mechanized units, all of my air force, got a huge pocket of Russians during '41 (so they couldn't be bought back cheap), teched up as high as Lady Luck would allow, Rommel now has nothing between him and the Middle East (there he has killed several HQs and most of the Allied air force, which the AI just let sit there, vs. being operated back to England)...

And now I am reeling on all fronts, which are typically 2-3 deep in Russians, preventing me from forming any more pockets (tho in June I managed to trap another dozen of his units, incl. 2 shocks an HQ a tank & and a tac). Once my tanks blow their wad they can't progress any further in the face of the Zerg Rush they are facing. The US is about to launch Torch, and the Regia Marina isn't going to be quite strong enough to stop them (I've already said my piece on that of course).

I know the AI is dumb (see how the Western Allies just let all of their planes get killed). At some point tho human ingenuity simply cannot compete with being drowned in a sea of enemy units. [c.f. your current AAR]

Luftwaffe is in ruins, I must spend all MPPs repairing my tanks and whatever infantry I can. I've killed over 20 of his tanks by August '42, to no avail. Fine, you say that it's been beaten at those levels twice now; note I've defeated the Allies a couple of times at max difficulty years ago in earlier editions of the game series. If so, my hat's off to you.

I will be reducing the number of AI bonus units. I have already reduced the build limits that will also reduce the "over limit" issue the Soviet AI is benefiting from somewhat. I intend to still baby the AI a little with having access to quick units on the Eastern Front but it will trigger via decision instead of only a unit script and I can deduct the much of the cost of these units from the MPP pool so as to avoid double dipping.

Italy's inability to defeat not only the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean but also the US Atlantic Fleet doesn't really surprise me and is mostly intended. My experience is 50/50 if I can stop Torch.

As for the Middle East not much I can do about the AI not playing optimally, I noticed this too.

[Elessar2]

30 was just a recommended CV build chance in the relevant scripts (they're all 10's right now). 40 or even 50 likely may be more optimal.

Good to hear on the other front. The thing I noticed is that most of those L3/L4 bonus scripts were set to fire by July '42. Historically most should probably fire starting in the fall of '42 and on thru the end of '43.

Note: would be happy to playtest vs. you, if you like. [8D]

[Elessar2]

Still would prefer the Yamatos/Montanas/German H's using the Dreadnought slot.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

30 was just a recommended CV build chance in the relevant scripts (they're all 10's right now). 40 or even 50 likely may be more optimal.

Good to hear on the other front. The thing I noticed is that most of those L3/L4 bonus scripts were set to fire by July '42. Historically most should probably fire starting in the fall of '42 and on thru the end of '43.

Note: would be happy to playtest vs. you, if you like. [8D]

I'm currently doing a test run on the World Map. It's actually my first real play through, I just hot seated my way through the game (without really playing) previously to test different decisions were working. That was months ago, and I just decided to do a major update lately.

I decided to play the Allies to see how the game would go if we really went off script and i'm having a blast now in June 42'. I evoked the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance to begin the game, which is really rolling the dice with Spain but managed to keep them out of the war, but the Axis went heavy on Greece instead so it was a trade-off that the Axis ended up winning anyways. After the fall of Paris, Vichy France immediately joined the Axis, which is one of those low probability AI events.

With the Soviets I was ultra aggressive, invading Poland, Finland and the Turkish Straits, and did not sign the non-aggression pact with Japan, so when Germany invaded the Soviets, Japan and USSR were bound to war. The Soviets were suddenly fighting on all fronts with Germany, the Balkan nations, Finland, Turkey and Japan. All this aggression kept the Soviet mobilization higher so we were better prepared to fight, though Germany still made historical gains during Barbarossa. With Turkey, Greece and Vichy France having joined the Axis, the AI has quite a bit of MPP to play with at least in the Western Theater. The Soviets are currently defending front line (or nearly) cities of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad as well as Baku (from the Turkish front).

North Africa and the Middle East has been a heck of a fight, we had pushed the Italians back far enough to capture El Aghelia but the DAK smashed our front and would end up re-capturing Tobruk, but the British would eventually prevail and defeat the Axis by May 42'. This has been a bright spot. In the Middle East it's an all out fight right now, some light infantry that Turkey allowed Germany to transit to Iraq while still neutral delayed our invasion of Baghdad, we eventually squashed the garrisons but Germany sent an invasion force from Turkey and would eventually liberate Tehran (Persia) and bring Syria into the Axis camp, so significant forces from South Africa and India are tied up fighting all across the Middle East. This has significantly weakened our positions in Burma, more on that to follow.

In the Pacific, the Western Allies were also ultra aggressive. The British at one point decided to bring the entirety of their Empire into the war with Germany, this caused significant rebellion in Burma that eventually led the country to form an Alliance with Japan (but not go to war with Britain). That would come later when instead of the US imposing an embargo on Japan, they declared war! The Pacific Fleet was spared from ambush at Pearl Harbor but the USA economy is not behind the war now, so our MPP is significantly less. We were still unprepared to stop the Japanese from invading most of the Pacific but the Americans did arrive in time to save the DEI from their downfall.

I had some worries about how the Japanese AI would fare with all of the early fireworks with USSR, UK, and USA but I am very relieved to see that they are putting up a strong fight on all fronts. It's a dog fight in Manchuria, Burma, China and DEI, and they still managed to capture the Philippines and a number of other Pacific Capitals. No where in the Pacific am I firmly in control, and in the West other than North Africa (which is Allied from Casablanca to Baghdad) the path to Victory is full of Axis nemesis. Very good game, one of the most hectic I've played and it's a solo!

[erikbengtsson]

Great to hear. Looking forward to an updated version!

[crispy131313]

Well here you go an updated version! No fireworks just a link!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2w3hbqhrh3jtz ... 1.zip?dl=0

[Elessar2]

Quick heads-up: you have the Aquila as a conversion of the battleship Roma.

Except that there was an ocean liner which shared the same name as the BB which was the ship got converted. Note both the actual Roma & Aquila were extant by the end of the war, but the latter didn't have a chance to become fully comissioned.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Quick heads-up: you have the Aquila as a conversion of the battleship Roma.

Except that there was an ocean liner which shared the same name as the BB which was the ship got converted. Note both the actual Roma & Aquila were extant by the end of the war, but the latter didn't have a chance to become fully comissioned.

I've never really looked into it, that's a decision from the stock campaign. If it's incorrect maybe it should be brought upin the main forum.

On another note if that's the most glaring error so far that's good news!

[crispy131313]

Has anyone tried this?

[Elessar2]

Oh, yeah.

I tried fixing the US build priorities in the scripts, specifically carriers, changed all of the 10's to 40's or 50's...

Just checked my saves (by loading as Allies). Most ships apparently come in via scripts, because as of Jan '43 there's exactly 2 ships in the US queue, a carrier (which iirc is one I put in there) and a light cruiser. But a good chunk of the ones which are built keep showing up in the Atlantic, and the AI apparently never uses the Panama Canal...

1943 probably set a record for the most warships built by a single country in a single year in the history of naval warfare, note.

Anyway, The Battle of the Coral Sea (early '43) was a total disaster for the USN: 3 CV's (for some reason Hornet didn't join the armada, stayed in LA the entire time), 3 BB's, 5 cruisers, 2 DD's, all toast within 2 turns [I had 6 CV's of my own, destined to have 12 by the end of '44, which is probably too many given that I am starting to run out of escorts]. I lost one CA, tho had to LOL at the lone 3 point tank which used all of the distractions to go amphibious in his port with my ships all around, couldn't spare a single strike on him, he took one of my bases the next turn...


Checked in spring '44, and only then were the Essexes in the queue-to come (as in my last run-through) from mid-44 thru the end of 45 (tho my slightly failing eyes undoubtedly deceived me when I saw 2 due in 1948!). By that time their Pacific fleet had 2 CV's, 2 CVL's, 2 BB's, 2 cruisers, and one sub (worthless because the AI doesn't invest in sub tech, at all, have sunk 4 total, incl. British). Again my guess is that it can't buy an expensive carrier (or battleship, nope no Iowas on the way either) if it has already spent too much MPP's that turn (tho as said in my previous post upthread there is apparently a toggle for the AI to ignore that, if I am inferring the script correctly). A year later another US fleet joins them (same area), scratch 2 more flattops...

As I suspected, the AI only builds them after it has built everything else, by which time the Pacific is a Japanese lake. You'll simply have to script all of those CV's it would appear, requiring a counterbalancing by eliminating most other AI ship freebies.

Meanhoo the European theatre was more balanced, endless Western Allied landings, which my tanks keep killing, but that of course sucks all of the momentum from the Russian front, tho the Caucasus, Stalingrad, and Moscow are all mine now. My sub fleet is nonexistent, and only now do I plan to marshal all of my fighters to regain air superiority over France. Had a bit of fun letting the Italians rampage thru central Africa. [China is now a rump state note, tho I am only now knocking on the doors of India]

[Tulius Hostilius]

ORIGINAL: crispy131313

Well here you go an updated version! No fireworks just a link!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2w3hbqhrh3jtz ... 1.zip?dl=0

Hi crispy131313,

This is the latest version?

[Elessar2]

Just wanted to add: you may want to also craft a Dec '41 scenario, so as to make testing the Pacific stuff easier.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Tulius Hostilius

ORIGINAL: crispy131313

Well here you go an updated version! No fireworks just a link!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2w3hbqhrh3jtz ... 1.zip?dl=0

Hi crispy131313,

This is the latest version?

Yes that is correct.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Just wanted to add: you may want to also craft a Dec '41 scenario, so as to make testing the Pacific stuff easier.

In all honesty the campaign is possibly too long for me to ever be able to successfully amend the AI, I had only changed the bare minimum to make sure that the AI responds correctly to the changes I made, (examples would be IJN not attacking Pearl Harbour if the USA already joined the war, countries like Greece or Burma not abandoning garrisons if they have joined the Axis rather than Allies, the AI responding to diplomacy better, etc.)

This campaign was developed more for PBEM in mind. Even the WiE version was made more for PBEM originally but I really like the campaign for solo play as well which is why I put so much effort into making it a challenge.

I actually hope to start some PBEM games again, it's been a very long time since I've played a PBEM match, getting the itch.

[Elessar2]

Fair enough.