Just a little thank you

[JudgeDredd]

I thought I should publicly thank Michele Zarri.

I created a 3 day scenario based on the southern part of the island of Cyprus and he has tenaciously been playing it and reporting any issues and outcomes to me.

I am still trying to balance it (proving very difficult) but hope to have it completed soon (now that the Panther Prowlers are looking at it too, right Dave? [;)])

Michele, I thank you.

[Arjuna]

Well I have asked them very nicely. [:)]

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
Well I have asked them very nicely. [:)]

... I'm not going to duplicate His (note the capital 'H') post here but let it suffice to say it contained the following words : "scenario", "test", "NOW", "whip" and "no food until" [;)]

Seriously : I've downloaded it and will take it for a spin this weekend - will report back in here

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[JudgeDredd]

Thanks Eddy...much appreciated

[Arjuna]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
... I'm not going to duplicate His (note the capital 'H') post here but let it suffice to say it contained the following words : "scenario", "test", "NOW", "whip" and "no food until" [;)]

Seriously : I've downloaded it and will take it for a spin this weekend - will report back in here

It's all lies...well almost...and the bit about the whip was associated with the bit about the stelettoes IIRC. [;)]

[JudgeDredd]

Ok...STOP! Don't need to know anymore!

[RedDevil]

Hello Billy,

I am chuffed but there is really no need to thank me, actually quite the contrary since I am having a lot of fun testing this scenario (my fave duration and force size).

Now... I just noticed today that the Allies objectives are of the "Defend" type meaning that as long as you have a unit in there you keep scoring points.
It is already rather challenging (understatement) to get a reasonable result as the Axis and this is certainly not helping besides, the SM guide recommends to use the defend objectives only for AI tasking purposes (page 55 or there about).

Could you be so kind to change them to "secure" in the next version so I can finally achieve a decisive victory as Axis? I also think this change will make things much more interesting for the Allied player... maybe your quest for play balance has come to an end [;)]

Cheers,

RedDevil

[Arjuna]

Way to go![:)]

[JudgeDredd]

Ok Grumpy!
 
Excellent.
 
The reason I chose to defend was simply because that's what I wanted them to do....but if Secure helps the Axis a bit, then I'll look at it tonight.
 
It 's very tough as the Axis. I haven't, as yet, got anything other than a draw and, tbh, I doubt even Markshot could get anything other than a draw as Axis.
 
Whilst I don't want the Axis to be able to get a victory every time, I want it to be achievable. Same goes for Allies....
 
I'll look at it tonight and change some things around.

[MarkShot]

Did someone just throw down a glove or something?

Well, I am sorry, but I have been very busy as of late. I haven't even been involved with testing Patch #2. Fortunately, Dave is too busy tweaking to court martial me at the moment.

[sterckxe]

Hi,

Reporting back. Took it for a spin - playing as the Germans, realistic orders delay, no advantages for either side.

Took Akritiri but only scored a Marginal Victory which is a Good Thing (tm) as it triggers the "play again until Decisive Victory" need [;)] -

Map : there's more to it than meets the eye at first glance. While playing it the first time I already made plans for alternate approaches for the second time. This enhances replayability a lot - kudos.

Minor issue : spelling mistakes in the AAR texts, and briefings.

Tomorrow : first getting that Decisive Victory then try it from the Allied side

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[RedDevil]

Hello,

I "cheated" and changed the "defend" type objectives for the allies to "secure" type, but it was well worth it, now I can get on with this boring thing called work [:)]

Actually it is now even too easy for the axis player: Billy you should take away the arty you added and probably also give some of these nice Matildas back to the Allied player.

Unfortunately I have to report a CTD and as you can see some garbled up text... maybe the scenario cannot cope with a decisive Axis victory [:D]

Now the issue is: can this victory be obtained with the "defend" type objectives?

Cheers,

Michele

[JudgeDredd]

That's excellent news - thank you very much.

I'm currently playing as Germans and hold Akritiri very early...the allies are busy trying to stem the flow...however, I expect they will pile down on top of my FJ battalion very soon.

Managed to grab some point (only 6 from a possible 15) from Para Chorios and I'm going to get maybe 10 or more from Moniatis (out of a possible 20).

The FJ battalion which took Para Chorios is now heading south to try and grab the 10pts which are Kofinou...but they have some opposition to get through.

If all goes to plan (I'm abandoning Episkopi...I have no spare troops as yet to assign), I could come away with 40 for Akritiri, 6 for Para Chorios, 7 for Kofinou and 10 for Moniatis giving me 63....is this going to be my first Marginal Victory!!

[JudgeDredd]

RedDevil

Also, don't forget, to aid in the victory balancing, there are Favour Allies and Favour Axis reinforcement schedules (although I'm not sure the allies need a helping hand).

I may well get a marginal victory with normal supply/reinforcements etc, so with Favour Axis reinforcements may get that elusve decisive victory.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: RedDevil
.... as you can see some garbled up text...

Had the same garbled AAR - reported it back at beta bug HQ - thought it was a version thing (scenario made with release version, me testing with latest beta) but I'm a little concerned now that that will not be the cause. Ok, looks like a nice one for Arjuna to figure out once he gets up.

Some people start the day with coffee and buns, Arjuna with coffee++ and bugs [;)]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Arjuna]

I'd say that the garbled text message is due to the fact that the text is too long to fit on the screen. I've got it slated down to look at today. But Billy you can easily test this yourself by reducing the message to a few lines and see what happens.

[JudgeDredd]

Dave

As stated in an earlier by me (you must be tired) I realise the garbled text is that I wrote AARs that are too long. I need to revisit and trim them[;)]

[JudgeDredd]

Ok...finished as Axis and got a draw [:(]

So I defo think a little bit of balancing is needed.

I like the idea of keeping the Defend tasks for the allies...I think it makes sense.

So what else to do...? There are several things that I can look at to try and balance this
1. Extending the scenario duration to space out the objectives
But I like the scenario length...and I like the urgency the Axis have to adopt to get to Kofinou...and the fact that they have very little time to get from Kofinou to Akritiri...which really, effectively, rules them out of helping out in Akritiri...unless they abandon Kofinou.

2. Adding some Axis units
This is a possibility...an attacking force will normally look to have a minimum of 2:1 and, ideally, 3:1 advantage before attacking...again, I like the idea of limited resources for the Axis to grab their objectives...kind of gives the right feel to the scenario...rushed, important, risky...

3. Giving Axis Air power and more arty?
Don't really want to do this

4. Jiggle the objective points
Make less points available for occupation and more available for completion. This may be a good option, allowing the scenario to move towards easier for Axis and harder for Allies, which is exactly what could be needed.

But what option to choose? Are there any others?

[JudgeDredd]

One thing I forgot to mention...balance of power.

The Axis
Anti-Personel   -   576
Anti-Armour     -   303
Bombardment   -   168

The Allies
Anti-Personel   -   364
Anti-Armour     -   189
Bombardment   -   56

[Arjuna]

Billy,
 
I would councel against having each side with same objective location but one with Secure and the other with Defend. What this will mean that the game will be severely biased in favour of the side with the Defend objective, as all they have to do is maintain a unit within the perimeter, while the other side must ensure thay have at least a ten to one majority within the perimeter.