Russian R&D

[ILCK]

Just playing a game and watching the Russian artillery kill inflict 10 points of damage to my unfortified German units and I started wondering how the heck the notoriously bad Russian artillery was doing so much damage to me. Then I noticed the level 3 trenches I was seeing and it suddenly hit me that Russia was more technologically advanced than Germany. I've known this but this most recent game is the longest the war has dragged on for me and so this is becoming more of an issue. Russia suffered all war long from poor artillery and bad efforts at field fortification and obviously never revolutionized assault tactics.

It would make the game play more accurately, and make things better for the human v. human CP player, if Russia did not get to sponge off the massive R&D points that Britain and France can generate for the TE. Basically the TE is always, in any game I've seen last long enough for it to matter, able to pour tons of points into R&D and the edge that gives the Russians is huge.

[boogada]

Actually Brusilow was the guy who invented quite a bunch of what later became common assault tactics. 

[lordhoff]

Totally agreed; Russia should have separate diplomacy and R/D expenditures and results. Even France and Great Britain did not freely exchange technology gains. They had to keep in mind post war conditions and the possibility of friends becoming foes.

[Naskra]

I also agree about Russian artillery, for what that's worth.  As for trench research, I believe improvements should come over time, without R&D expenditure.    Overall, the tech improvements are overpriced, an unjustifialble hardship on the CP.  How does a corps of draftees equate to someone saying "let there be convoys"?   Yet I can't really suggest an easily codeable better way.  

[SMK-at-work]

The allies shared a lot of technology with russia - aircraft, tactics, etc.

Russia "knew" pretty much what the Brits and French did....they jsut couldn't afford most of it.

In the game they lag behind the wallies in artillery, but if Russia builds a decent economy (ie the CP doesn't hammer them hard enough!) then the CP should expect a world of pain.

[hjaco]

ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work

The allies shared a lot of technology with russia - aircraft, tactics, etc.

Russia "knew" pretty much what the Brits and French did....they jsut couldn't afford most of it.

In the game they lag behind the wallies in artillery, but if Russia builds a decent economy (ie the CP doesn't hammer them hard enough!) then the CP should expect a world of pain.

Oh my god.

It's still alive [:D]

[ILCK]

ORIGINAL: Naskra

I also agree about Russian artillery, for what that's worth.  As for trench research, I believe improvements should come over time, without R&D expenditure.    Overall, the tech improvements are overpriced, an unjustifialble hardship on the CP.  How does a corps of draftees equate to someone saying "let there be convoys"?   Yet I can't really suggest an easily codeable better way.  

This is an even more extreme view since, in reality, the allies "tech" edge was not notable. Allied research in tanks was ahead of the Germans but the Germans lead the way in assault tactics, planes, artillery, and gas but in the game the TE will easily outstrip the CP in all forms of R&D.

[SMK-at-work]

Um...assault tactics - invented by a Frenchman! Aircraft - pretty much equal at the end of the war, but the allies had bigger engines and certainly better bombers.  The Germans were not "ahead" in gas - the allies launched more gas attacks in 1917 and 1918.  Germany had developed mustard gas a year before the British did - but the allies caught up and happily used it against hte Turks and the Hindenburg line in 1918.

[ILCK]

In terms of large scale implementation the Germans were first with assault troops and the other powers quickly followed suit . German airpower was technically the equal of TE airpower but the weight of TE airpower showed. The TE produced 125,000 planes (about 95% Anglo-French) to the Germans 50,000. Yet the Allies suffered losses from all sources of 85,000 and the Germans 27,000. Rather in sheer numbers or as a percentage of production the Germans managed to fare better so horsepower or not in game terms German airpower was better than TE. Trenches were a mutual learning curve for the powers. The Germans pioneered gas but, again, the allies caught up. No one really gained a marked tech edge in WWI, at least not a decisive one.

The real bottom line is that the TE's massive edge in the weight of numbers (which was real) is supplemented by a technological edge that wasn't real and whatever real edge the western allies had it certainly never carried over to the eastern front.