Empire V3.0g and Age of steel V1.0b Masters edition - update 30/4/25

[Cavalry Corp]

All feedback welcome - suggest one week to see what if any issues come up.... before anyone dives in...

Thank you for all the work you put into this! I am wondering how many Japan players are up to playing with no R&D, seems these days it is a race as to who deploys the Sam & Frank the fastest, or taking over the map by June '42 .
Q: Will having 500 engines in the pool still provide an R&D bonus or does that require an assigned R&D factory? I would think the latter.

I am looking at having a go, cot a couple of questions about the (CV) or (CVL) plane designations.

The IJN B-line has:
The Kate (without designation) - can go on any carrier
The B6 Jill - all variants carry the CVL designation - does that mean they cannot be stationed on a CV or CVE?
The B7 Grace - carry the (CV) designation - so they can only go on fleet CV's?
Is the expectation that Kido fleet carriers will run with B5N2 Kate until B7A1 Grace shows up in 4/44?

Similar for DB's:
The D3 Val has no CV designation, so I presume it is OK to use anywhere.
The D4 line are all (CVL)
D5Y2 Myojo is 'free' again in 12/44

It would make sense if the (CVL) designation were to denote the smallest ship class that can carry this plane, but that is not how I read the PDF instructions:
"Some Aircraft are clearly designated as the end of their name say, (CV). These aircraft may only be stationed on CVL, CV, and CVB as defined."

Is the Manchukuo garrison smaller than 'usual' and what happened to the extra AV? I did see that SNLF has 5 full brigades, not sure if this is where they come from (IJA would have a fit IRL!).

Jan,
OK, replies in caps to make it easier to read. Firstly thanks for the interest its really appreciated. I added into the body of your text my explanations and clarifications-


The IJN B-line has:
The Kate (without designation) - can go on any carrier YES = CVE,CVL,CV,CVB
The B6 Jill - all variants carry the CVL designation - does that mean they cannot be stationed on a CV or CVE? NO IT MEANS THEY ARE CVL + , SO CVL, CV AND CVB
The B7 Grace - carry the (CV) designation - so they can only go on fleet CV's? CV AND CVB YES
Is the expectation that Kido fleet carriers will run with B5N2 Kate until B7A1 Grace shows up in 4/44? NO YOU GET THE JILL IF YIOU RUSH THE ENGINES IN R+D.

Similar for DB's:
The D3 Val has no CV designation, so I presume it is OK to use anywhere. YES ANY PLANE WIYTHOUT DESIGNATION IS FREE FOR ANYTHING
The D4 line are all (CVL) YES SO ITS CVL,CV AND CVB
D5Y2 Myojo is 'free' again in 12/44 YES BUT THERE ARE PROBABLY BETTER PLANES BUT THIS PLANE CAN GO ON ALL SHIPS

It would make sense if the (CVL) designation were to denote the smallest ship class that can carry this plane, but that is not how I read the PDF instructions:
"Some Aircraft are clearly designated as the end of their name say, (CV). These aircraft may only be stationed on CVL, CV, and CVB as defined." IF DESIGNATED CV THAT IS THE SMALLEST SO THEY WOULD BE CV, CVB.

Is the Manchukuo garrison smaller than 'usual' and what happened to the extra AV? I did see that SNLF has 5 full brigades, not sure if this is where they come from (IJA would have a fit IRL!). YES, THE LAND IS A BIT CHANGED, BUT ITS BROADLY BASED ON THE RA MOD. THE ALLIES GET MORE STUFF AS WELL, BUT YES J HAS BETTER AMPHIB CAPACITY AND LESS IN CHINA
[/quote]

Now let me explain on the planes. If you play allow the J player to R+D all the planes, it may destroy the mod as J will advance so much stuff way too quickly. The idea of this mod is a very slow start. Think about Dec 40, followed by rapid advancement. As J, if you want to get even more rapid advancement in planes and you can a bit you need to R+D the engines ( which is already in place at the start and allowed and encouraged). Doing this, you can gain some advantage on planes by late 42 and some extent in 44. But alas some of the planes that can give advantage will require the availability of CV - so do not lose them.

There are also a lot more variants of planes to build, some with bigger cannons, some with better MGs.The lines of planes have been designed to make the steady use planes ( tried and tested airframes) easy and the new lines much harder to bring in.

The skill in this mod is playing with real-life problems esp. very tight tech availability; you need to find uses for old planes and, indeed, old ships for most of 41-42. It applies to both sides when the new stuff arrives early 43+. It changes things pretty fast.

I think when you look around every corner of this mod, you will find the thought on tactics will change and change and change...

Sorry for any typos.... ask me something else:)

Cav

[Cavalry Corp]

Great job Cav!
I think it's amazing that we have a fresh & engaging scenario for both sides with lots of fun.
This is the game of my life, best spent bucks of my life, with thousands hours spent on it.

that's real kind and thanks - we all want this game to survive

[btd64]

Dear All,

Sorry, I have been working in Indonesia and just got back - I will deliver a reply on this soon.

Cav.

Welcome back....GP

[JanSako]

@Cav - thanks for the writeup!
Understood about the R&D, and coming from Bottlenecks I am intimately familiar with using old equipment as long as it still flies!

The bottom line about the planes is that the CV or CVL designation DOES mean the smallest ship class they can get on. Makes sense.

Detail: I think the FW200 has a bit too high durability... those things were decidedly not very strong structurally, I think the first models liked to break up on startup; unsure if all or only the airframes originally build as civilian airliners.

I have to say I am intrigued about the Japanese potential (did not say it would be easy) to delete, well anything, with massed 4E bombers that are close to as hard to shoot down as the Allied ones. And the latest Allied 4E having quite an insane range, I think it was 50+ hexes.

[Cavalry Corp]

thanks for the comments

FW200 is 0/48—rest assured, it will die, and we took into account its lack of structural strength, etc. It's the worst 4E plane in the game. I think flying it at long range will lead to a lot of OP losses. Remember, there are only a few. The other one is the J variant. They can build from 5/42; it is also very long-range but also 0/48. J wanted this plane IRL... they have it here. If you play with it and find it's too tough, I am happy to review but I think it's about right now...You have observed they look good on paper, but the practical use is poor, see how it goes. many planes durability were increased BTW esp many allied 2e bombers

You will find it very hard to get the good J 4 E in play before pretty late Aug 44 . The allied fighters will be able to cope by that time. in my current PBEM they are just about to be used in sept 44 - we will see what happens.

The first Allied 4E bomber (1930s Douglas XB 19 1/58), which is in the game in small numbers, did have an insane range, but it was so slow. It needs a huge airfield to be of any value, and the Allies will soon see they die, mainly of flak and opp losses. most 4E bomber stats were revised slightly from Wiki and also MTRIX WITW stats. The guns are slightly worse, but the ranges and bomb loads are a bit better. In general, they shoot down less but can do more damage.

BTW I found a very small J SS upgrade glitch just in scn 42 - if you were thinking of starting that one I will put a patch up but I think upgrade paths can be changed as the game goes with patches, it a 1943 arrival durability tweak.

Cav

[JanSako]

Don't have an opponent yet. To be honest I was waiting for either the official patch or RA 9.0 (each for different reasons), but neither is available & now that I looked at your work more, liking it a lot.
Take your time, need to really digest what you did here & find the right person. I feel like many games fizzle out fast because people do not understand what they are getting into. Mod games more than stock.

[Cavalry Corp]

Jan,

Yes I agree with you - provided modders improve and evolve the scn its ok but when you make changes without extensive play testing the imbalances can be bad at times. This mod had its foundations in RA 8 (4 years ago), but I got so hooked I could not stop. the secret to me is like writing a book. It has to feel realistic even if it's fiction.

If an official patch comes up, I will do a revision taking that update into account.

I will start a new game with Dean, no doubt, but we are still in Aug 44 and building up to the final battles, and then I hope we will start this one. I should be selling my co soon and then I should have time for two big games. I have been asked to start two games of this so far which is pleasing but do not have the time just now - but I am doing about 1 turn ( 2 days ) per day with Dean.
Cav

[JanSako]

Time to move on? Congrats, I hope you will find a good new home for your people!
The founder/CEO of my company retired a few months ago too, selling to the right new owner to keep the vision going. Made a lot of difference for the rest of us!

[Cavalry Corp]

Yes, we are only quite small ( mainly internet-based sales) - everyone will be well looked after some are consultants who have plenty of work anyway... It's my wife I will be retiring with, and we will lose our jobs !!

Gingerdragon.com

Cav

[Cavalry Corp]

Note small patch coming soon V 3.0a.

Mainly late war tweaks and a couple of small fixes - please await upload soon.

Cav

[chen.ro@hotmail.com]

well nice mod.

it is a must to install Ver 1127b?

the map seems got some with Ver 1126b..

[chen.ro@hotmail.com]

my map is still old map. but I have downloaded all files required. btw, we are playing scen 43.

[Cavalry Corp]

Dear Chen,

Before you start, suggest adding the new patch V3.0a, which will be uploaded by tomorrow. It's not critical, but it's better to have it in case any of the changes will not take effect with games started, but I think all of them will work even if you started, and they are all minor anyway.

Scn 43 should be fine with the standard extended map. You can use the latest patch or the earlier one. 44+45 are only for the super extended map.

Any comment please let me know.

Cav

[Cavalry Corp]

OK, as I have had a few wanting to start, I have put the patch up to download...

Cav

[chen.ro@hotmail.com]

I have started the game already. if just minor changes, I guess it would be no issue.

I have download the scen 43 and standard map, but it is still old map. what should I do in order to get new map?

[Cavalry Corp]

Chen, the maps I use are on the download page. You just need a standard extended map.

From what I see and have now retested, the Grace (mid-1944) may have had a strange loadout for a naval attack with a TT and a bomb. That is about it. The other issues seem to be okay.

let me know how you get on, and maybe send me some turns to look at. If there are any issues, please report them to me. Many things can be fixed for games in progress a few cannot.

What side are you playing?

Make sure you and your opponent have a short look around, as the set-up is quite different from stock. I hope you get the setting right and no R+D of planes

Cav

[Cavalry Corp]

files from the download page

mapScreenshot 2024-07-02 100338.jpg (87.69 KiB) Viewed 368 times

[Lifer]

I installed the correct files and have some issues. There are five bases off-map near the US that I can't click on. Also the bases, Aden, the Suez ports and Gibraltar can't be opened. The u-boat base at 5,79 has fuel listed at 0/3. Three seems like you would never have enough to refuel the u-boats. I might have missed something in the install but I've deleted and installed twice with the same result.

Also, my map looks like the stock map and not the map you have for the screenshots on page 1.

[JanSako]

+1 on the post above. Using the 'stock' PWXXX files from 27b allows selecting all bases apart of the 5 off-map ones so we just need to correct set of map files.

Also, there are some 'funny' names
Like 'Fairy Seafox' - pretty sure it was spelled 'Fairey' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Aviation_Company)
Also, we have Yokahama:

2024-07-06_12-48-02.png (205.5 KiB) Viewed 325 times

[Cavalry Corp]

Guys, the super extended map is in my download folder for scn 44 and 45 only. The PW hex files I am using are ok and are in the downloads folder. i will open them all again to check.

U boat base (Milkcow simulation) is working ok - has a daily supply of fuel (3) - it builds up very slowly, that is per day (any more and it's too much as play testing found). You do not need it much anyway as you have the GM HQ /base force as broadly historical Feb and July 42 in my mod. German units may also station anywhere from 1/1/44 in the optional rules if you use that.

Spelling mistakes- corrected for a patch, thanks for the note.

I will check the scn loading again , I am sure its ok. I am away until the end of the week now.


Cav