BabesLite

[Symon]

BabesLite is going to gain some weight and get a major facelift; more like Kathy Lee’s than Joan Rivers. And the surgeon is thinking in terms of a robust C-cup, or a nice perky D-cup.

Been looking at redoing the AI for BigBabes, but Mike, Matt and Jeremy all think it’s way easier to tweak the TO&Es for BL, than try to play Andy for DBB. I surely agree. So we’ll yank and crank on the TO&Es for BL and push them downwards.

We know exactly what we have to do to make the resultant scenario playable against the AI. I hope the result will be as much fun for the players as it will be for us. Ciao. J

[Rexor]

Magnificent.

[&o]

[chemkid]

.

[spence]

I thought I posted this before but maybe not. In a Babes Lite game against the AI and now in a Big Babes game against the AI (as Allied) I have had several units which were ordered to move from Manila to Clark Field and/or Bataan take the scenic route via Lamon Bay (hex East of Manila). In the Big Babes game the units were definitely ordered to move from Manila to Clark Field so why they didn't just follow the road/railroad for that one hex totally eludes me.

In general I enjoy DBB/BL though. Just wasn't sure where to put mention of this.

[Symon]

Hi Spence.

Scenario data doesn’t have anything to do with that. That’s either code, over which we have no control, or map hex data. I checked the map data and the border between the hexes are both land edges (green) and they are connected by a major road and a minor RR that indeed connect through the hex sides. Don’t know what’s causing the problem, but it’s neither the scenario nor the map data. Perhaps you should run this past Michael.

[Symon]

Okay. Here’s the deal with the new BabesLite. All Babes (BabesLite, BigBabes, IronBabes) will have the same base file data (devices, planes, etc..). All Ship Classes will be the same except for C versions (and yes, we are adding a BabesLite-C) which have the reduced cargo capacities. All Ship files will be the same except for IronBabes which has AndyMac’s Hakku Ichiu additions. What’s different is the Locations file.

The TO&Es will be redone so everybody has the same TO&E section. However, the OOBs will be very different. BabesLite will not have the OOB additions and modifications of BigBabes. This is so BabesLite can be played using ANY stock GC AI file.

Think this should work out nicely. BabesLite will become 90+% of BigBabes and be AI compatible. Players can work themselves up against the AI before they tackle a PBEM opponent using DBB without worrying too much about getting blind-sided by lots of new stuff.

It also lets us update things between and among the scenarios more efficiently.

[oldman45]

Thanks John, looking forward to Iron Babes updates.

[catwhoorg]

Whats the timeframe for this ?

As I expect to finish my current AI game somepoint early next year, it would be interesting to see the how the Babeslite plays versus the AI.

[Symon]

Ok. Japan, US are finished. Working on the Dutch. Found the first big speed bump. There's only 6 AI scripts for the Dutch. They have base forces and a couple infantry units counter-attacking the Japanese. Think there's not much of an AI for the DEI, so will rape and replace the stock Dutch OOB with the Babes Dutch OOB. Should play out better for an Allied player (playing against a J AI) and won't barf much against a Japanese player (playing against a A AI). Small stuff, early war, oh well.

Gonna do the Dutch in accord with BigBabes TOEs and OOBs. Doubt most people would even notice, but some might.

[ed] The new, new TOEs and OOBs from the BigBabes DEI scenario. Harald Velemans and Jo van der Pluym gave so much good input I can do no less than include it. Shouldn't hurt the AI and would sure make Harald and Jo feel better.

[ed-ed] I'll port these into DBB A, B and C too. They are too cool not to have them.

Ciao. J

[Nami Koshino]

Sounds fantastic! Very much looking forward to it. [:)]

[Symon]

ORIGINAL: Nami Koshino
Sounds fantastic! Very much looking forward to it. [:)]

Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Cumin, Cardomom, Cloves, Oyster Sauce, Mirin, Sake; rub in the dry, cover with the wet, bake slowly till the skin is crispy. Tasty stuff ! Oh yeah, good things ! Ciao, J

[Symon]

Australians mostly done now. Once again, everything is in its proper place for the AI … butt … got rid of the divisions, and kept it a brigade level OOB. This seems to work out better, what with all the brigades swapping back-and-forth, willy-nilly. Besides, brigades are better for playing in New Guinea and the DEI and the game starts out with them being split out anyway. It allows those certain brigades that did to go to a ‘tropical’ configuration (and be deployable) and the others to go to the ‘standard’ configuration (and stay home).

Also have some data tweaks to HQ and unit restrictions so that the units that are deployable can be bought out while those who stayed home will have to do so yet again. There’s a slightly different twist on the HQ command ladders that make this all happen. Think ya’ll might like it.

Obviously, the AI on the harder settings can ignore this, but that’s ok. It would do so in any case. This is more for giving flavor to the Allied player without skewing any AI playability. The early particularities of the CMF and AIF and their eventual coalescence into a relatively standardized AMF, but with the actual, political unit inherencies, are fairly well represented, IMHO.[8D]

[ed] BabesLite seems to be gaining some upper body musculature. Woof !!

[oldman45]

There is either a dust problem at my desk or I have a tear in my eye.

[Hotschi]

Looking forward to this update - I'd rather use BabesLite instead of the BigBoysBabes [:D] for playing against the AI.

[Symon]

Got some wonderful papers and bodacious charts from the Land Warfare Studies Center, Duntroon (Canberra), including Mechanizing the Australian Army: Mechanization Policy and Conversion of the Light Horse, 1920-1943. Great stuff.

Have pretty much got the evolution and TOEs nailed for a substantial number of LH units. Those which were still LH (Cav) had 3 squadrons of mostly 4 sabre troops, each having 3 saber sections (8 men) and an LMG section (6 men and a Hotchkiss M1909 or a Lewis). The HQ squadron had a MMG troop of 2 sections, each with 2 Hotchkiss M1914 or a Vickers. Hotchkiss was preferred because it weighed less (no water needed) and the poor pack-horse could carry more ammo. It was “mostly” 4 sabre troops because a couple LH Rgts got authorization to convert a sabre troop to a Lt Car troop (with open civilian-type vehicles that we would call a pick-up) for mech/recce.

Around 1939-40, some LH(Cav) were mechanized by converting them to LH(MG). They retained the designation LH, which is the cause of much subsequent confusion as to wtfo. The conversion amounted to telling them “lose the nags, here’s your trucks”. The sabre troop lost the LMG section, but the other 3 sections got machine guns; mostly Lewis LMGs. A couple Rgts kept to the old TOE and had a section of 1x Hotchkiss or Vickers MMGs to the troop.

So a LH(MG) Rgt was NOT an MG Bn in the classical sense. It was more of a unit armed with a more modern sense of automatic weapon support fire. Viz, all the LH and LH(MG) that were converted to Motor units by 3/42 by simple re-designation. Australia didn’t have enough Vickers to equip the AIF, so giving Vickers to the LH(MG) is a non sequitor.

Some LH units were convertor to Motor units, and many followed in Feb-Mar 42. It was a name change. It incorporated the LMG additions to the sabre troops, and officially recognized the distinction between horse and mechanized units and were thus more appropriately named. They had exactly the same internal structure (as a LH(MG) unit, but had a bit more stuff in the HQ squadron.

Light Horse, whether LH, LH(MG), or LH(Mot), was reasonably and determinably, understandable. Small tweaks in the Sqd definitions, and morphology of support.

[Symon]

So war starts with 7 LH Rgts, 7 LH(MG) Rgts, 7 LH(Motor) Rgts, and 3 LH Cav Recce Rgts. But their evolution is not a linear progression.
2 LH and 2 LH(MG) Rgts went to the LH(Motor) designation in 2-3/42 and thence to A/C, Armor, or Cav Recce organizations by 6/42 (10/42 for the 12th A/C). Of the 7 LH(Motor) Rgts extent on 12/41, most remained as such until disbandment, except 20th which became 20th Pioneer Bn.

So, have to have a couple upgrade ladders in the TOEs and have to have units in the OOB “withdraw” at certain times and be replaced with ‘tank” stuff that appears a few days later. Interesting use of the editor functions.

Oh yeah, 25th LHMG Rgt converts to Cav Recce 2/42, and that’s a unique upgrade, so will start it out as a Cav Recce unit assigned to 4th Div. It was one of those units that became AIF so will be deployable.

Special thanks to Melissa Jones for her Master’s thesis for the Australian Defense Force Academy, UNSW, and Adrian Threlfall for his PhD thesis at VU. Their contributions are very gratefully acknowledged.

Ciao J

[Professor Chaos]

Symon, are you planning on using Andy's updated AI files? BabesLite currently comes with 2009-vintage ones.

Regards

[Symon]

ORIGINAL: Professor Chaos
Symon, are you planning on using Andy's updated AI files? BabesLite currently comes with 2009-vintage ones.

Regards

BabesLite works just fine with any of the AI files made for GC games. Just replace the ones you have with Andy's (renumber them to the BabesLite scen number first [8D]) and you are good to go.

Ciao

[Symon]

Some wonderfulness for Oz fans. Whenever I work on Oz, it becomes a challenge and a pleasure. There’s a wealth of new Devices and TOEs that are quite Oz specific. The CMF and the Light Horse have been “re-inculcated”, and surprisingly, it all fits within the AI ‘scripting search’ parameters. HQ restrictions are redone a bit, and unit restrictions are made as they were; AIF can deploy, “some” CMF can deploy if and when PPs are paid, others (that didn’t) can’t: all AI compatible. Woof !!

Added a number of new bases, where units were actually deployed and, hootz gazootz, even got Puckapunyal (Seymour) into the box. I’m very excited and gratified that the stock AI files can work with this stuff righteously.

Much the same as we did for the Dutch in the DEI, but a bit more grainy. Much of the BabesLite enhancements are so cool, they will find their way into DaBigBabes. Ciao. John

[Symon]

Ok. Aus armoured units are gone for opening day; all of them. There was 8 operational Vickers and 10 operational Stuarts at Puckapunyal on 6 Dec, 1941, and because the 1st Armoured Division was an AIF unit, they got whatever there was, so CMF units with fancy names got bupkiss and existed only on paper. The tanks were training vehicles.

The omniscient internet says the constituent units were organized with universal carriers and improvised armoured vehicles, but this is not so, in a general sense. There weren’t enough carriers in Australia at that period in time, to do that, especially since carrier heavy units, such as the AIF DivCav regiments and the CMF A/C units (to say nothing about the nascent conversions of LH Cav to Motor configs with its requirements). 880 authorized and required, and 215 available do not leave much for so-called armoured regiment, whether AIF or CMF.

They got some carriers, to train up on tracked vehicles, and some civilian trucks to do tactical stuff. All this stuff went from Rgt to Rgt to Rgt, with no Rgt “owning” anything. How do we know this? Well the first installments of US M3 Stuarts/Grants didn’t arrive till 4/42 and it took 6 months (till 10-11/42) for the units to fully recruit and train up into a marginally useful formation. This is from the unit histories of every single Armoured Regt, as well as the official history of the RAAC. Badda bing !! Woof !!

Having effective Aus armoured units in the first year of the war is a fever dream. So you don’t get them. They show up at Puckapunyal, in April/May with perhaps 30% of authorized strength and perhaps 10% of experience, although they will be fully prepped for Puckapunyal and can train up (as they did) if one is willing to let them do so.

I’m loving this. Ciao. JWE