I have found that subs are deadly hunting CVs when in port, specially if they start the turn adjacent to the carrier, something like 0-7 losses to the carrier. Sub attacks in ports should no be so deadly at least once the war advances, we could admit this ratio maybe in '39 and '40 at the latest.
Imo this should be tweaked.
Subs are always more deadly when they had prepared an attack ( = they didn't move before they've fired the torpedos).
Ships in port (ALL ships) are easy prey for a submarine. And for all other attacks too (air strikes, artillery of any type).
From my point of view is that what you described just the way it should be.
Why do you think this should be changed later in the war?
"You will be dead, so long as you refuse to die" (George MacDonald)
ORIGINAL: Xwormwood
Subs are always more deadly when they had prepared an attack ( = they didn't move before they've fired the torpedos).
Yes, I think this makes all the difference as the sub would have had to arrive in a previous turn in order to attack the unit in the port at full effect, which leaves it vulnerable to attack in the opponent's turn before it gets a chance to do this.
ORIGINAL: Xwormwood
Subs are always more deadly when they had prepared an attack ( = they didn't move before they've fired the torpedos).
Yes, I think this makes all the difference as the sub would have had to arrive in a previous turn in order to attack the unit in the port at full effect, which leaves it vulnerable to attack in the opponent's turn before it gets a chance to do this.
I do agree that subs are deadly if properly set for an attack and they can wreck havoc inside a port, but the fact is that it would be done once, because measures would be taken to avoid subs sneaking again inside a port, nets, mines, sunk ships..., plus more active monitoring and guarding sentries.
Hence my suggestion to make it harder for subs to attack ships in ports as of 1940 onward.
GG's AWD, GG's WBTS, GG's WitE Beta Tester
Beta Tester: Panzer Corps, Time of Fury, CtGW, DC CB, DC3 Barbarossa, SC WWII WiE, SC WWII WaW, SC WWI
I think this topic falls under balance and difficulty: Both with the original SC and the current beta version I feel that too few points are awarded the Axis for the capture of Suez; and, conversely, that the Allies are not penalized enough for losing it. I think the Axis should receive some kind of "bonus" for its capture, and the Allies should receive some kind of penalty. Certainly in real life the Allies' loss of Suez would have been more than a minor occurrence.
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A long-time SC fan from Cajun Country ... south Louisiana USA!
Don't forget by your adjustments that France & the UK were still democracies, representing the Force of Freedom.
There is a difference if you conquet to annex, or if you march through to fight evil.
I recall that the UK invaded neutral Iceland during WWII, not for the purpose of conquest, but because of strategic reasons. And of course the UK did not keep Iceland after the conflict.
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A long-time SC fan from Cajun Country ... south Louisiana USA!
I just wanted to chime in with some play testing results (Expert Difficulty, +2 Spotting, +1 Experience, +20% MPP settings)
I tried playing very historical to test how close I could get to historical outcomes. I attacked France in early May 1940 (same turn that Norway is attacked) and installed Vichy France in Mid June 1940 which was great to see. I also waited until June 1491 to attack USSR (I normally attack earlier in spring). And I wanted to report just how close it is!
I outlined my position below in the game at the beginning of the turn of December 9, 1941 prior to making any moves. It is very close and I think I may have conquered an equal amount of Sq. Miles as in history, the only difference being perhaps a stronger South Army Group then Central. I would like to see the AI take more defensive river positions West of Stalingrad as I approached which would be my only suggestion at this point. Even if the units are scripted I would be fine with this.
But overall very great balance in the early game in Europe. I still have many issues with North Africa campaign (AI Allied supply problems are very bad) but that is for another day.
So my most recent game on Expert difficulty (I did decrease AI experience bonus to only +1) resulted in Axis Major Victory in Octobet 1942 as the Allies offered surrender with Cairo, Stalingrad, Moscow and Lenigrad in Axis hands and kubyashev being closed on. I think Egypt supply is bad for the AI and USSR needs more troops in southern Russia along the Don River in Fall 1941.
Hi Bill - A note on the southeastern Russian rail lines - If the Axis take Kuybychev and the Russian capital moves to Perm, the southeast area of Russia is cut off from getting new units. This puts Russia at a disadvantage and makes it fairly easy for the Axis to conquer the southeast part of Russia. I think maybe there should be a rail line running from Chelyabinsk south to the rail line at 266,78.
Also, there was a rail running from Guryev on the North Caspian shore to the northeast which joined near that 266,78 location. I think they built this line during the war, but not sure as it seems difficult to find exact rail locations for the USSR. They did build a line that joined Astrakhan to Grozny. I was thinking of adding these three bits of line that will help the USSR defend that area, and wondered if you had any thoughts.
The same can be said of the northeast part of Russia [Murmansk-Arkhangel-Lake Ladoga] once Vologda is captured by the Axis [after Leningrad and Moscow are also captured], but I don't think anything can be done about that as it seems the Perm-Vologda line was the northern most rail in the area. [There was a line running from Sharya-Kotlas to
a place called Vorkuta way up in the northeast, but I can't find anything about Vorkuta connecting to the Urals or east so while it could be added for the games sake, I don't think I would add it myself as it would most likely be unhistorical].
Thanks for your time! By the way, did you make the map ? It must have taken you a year to do it, it is very nice.
Thanks, I'll have a look at this. I agree that it can be really hard to find definitive details of their railways.
I did design the map and you're right about the time it took! Glad you like it. [:)]
The problem of clarifying details like those you've suggested is part of the reason why it takes so long, because there isn't one definitive Atlas or online map that can be used. In fact, Atlases often conflict in what they show, and this can be extremely frustrating. [:@]
Current game [heaps of fun], me Axis against the Allied computer with 653H. As the Axis I did the best I ever have and by the end of 1944 had most of Europe. With the Soviets about to surrender I switched sides to have even more fun trying to recover. Sadly, the USSR was too far gone and the computer Axis finished it off. Now playing with UK and USA only, because of the successful Axis Sealion there is no convoy route from USA to UK. The UK is getting nothing from the USA and it seems like they can't get anything ?
Seems like, with the UK capital in Toronto, the US Lend-Lease should be possible, or am I missing something ?
The convoys go to the UK rather than Canada, so if the British Isles are lost then there is no visible Lend-Lease to the UK, apart from the effect of having Canadian resources rising to full strength after the US enters the war.
However, if the British Isles fall then the US does start sending a convoy direct to the USSR, as the UK will no longer be sending one. The USSR having surrendered in your game would explain why it's no longer visible.
In principle we could have a Canadian Port switch to UK control if both the UK has moved its capital to Canada and the USSR has surrendered, but really the game is effectively over by then so I'm not sure it's really worth adding in.
Well, the game being over is correct, but mostly from the Axis side [although we could try an Axis invasion of N. America at that point]. However, this is the second time I have switched from Axis to Allies after the Axis had done well. The first time it was late in 1946 so nothing much happened. This time, it was the May 1945 turn that I saved so that I could return and play the Allies for two years. Certainly a challenge, not sure if many others would do it but I guess maybe some would. The issue then is that the USA is getting like 800 MPP's/turn while the UK was getting only 80. Ughh !
{Currently, all Canadian ports except Yarmouth on Nova Scotia have switched to the UK, so that part is done !].
I have yet to mess with any convoy scripts, but based on what you said I will look into making one from the USA to a UK port in Canada [under the proper conditions]. If I can get it straight without interfering with anything else, I'll send it to you so you can stick it in there if you want. [This is assuming that your time is better spent on more important things, not the assumption that anybody needs me to do it !].
Is there a reason why - when the UK moves its' capital to Canada that most of Canada is transferred to the UK ? I'm thinking of changing it to transferring Nova Scotia to the UK [with a UK capital on Nova Scotia] and leaving the rest of Canada to Canada. Based on my recent games, it doesn't appear that game play would be affected, and maybe this way the computer will have an easier time with units arriving on Nova Scotia instead of at Toronto. Maybe.
One reason, and it may be the only one, is to give the UK the maximum possible locations to deploy new units.
I would appreciate the script, it would have to tie in with the move to Canada and require a dummy Decision to make it fire (I can knock one up quickly).
The next question is to pick the most appropriate port to receive the convoy. Any thoughts on that based on your own game?
I haven't encountered any issue with that, but I can see where I should add Towns to Yarmouth and Sydney Mines to help in that category.
I have the convoy running from Yarmouth to Norfolk. I have no idea if the locations make any difference at all except for Axis interference, and playing against the computer it seems to focus on the 'mine' areas, and only once Russia is out.
I added Truro to be the new capital of the UK, although I admit it would seem more appropriate for Halifax. No real reason, I just felt like adding Truro.
Here are the scripts I came up with so far. Testing will take some time as I need to run a new game. I don't quite understand how Dummy Events work. How does the game know it is a Dummy, and how does it know to trigger for a human player ?
{
#NAME= DE 370 - USA: Dummy Event to start convoy to UK after successful Sealion (AI - 100% Yes)
#POPUP=
#IMAGE=
#SOUND=
#FLAG= 1
#TYPE= 2
#AI= 0
#LEVEL= 0
; Set global variable condition to always trigger (dummy value)
#GV= 1[1,100]
: UK capital is moved to Canada
#LINK= 105[0]
#COUNTRY_ID= 115
#TRIGGER= 100
#DISPLAY_ORDER= 0
; Set decision value
#DECISION= 370
#MPP_UPDOWN= 0
#MPP_TURNS= 0
#MPP_TEXT=
#NOTES=
#NOTES_POSITION=
; Set AI acceptance % (AI will accept 100% of the time)
#AI_RESPONSE= 100
#AI_RESPONSE_POPUP=
#DATE= 1939/09/01
#TEXT_RGB= 0,0,0
#SHADOW_RGB= 0,0,0
; Washington D.C. is in Allied hands
#ALIGNMENT_POSITION= 4,108 [2]
; Yarmouth is in Allied hands
#ALIGNMENT_POSITION= 25,96 [2]
; Liverpool is in Axis hands
#ALIGNMENT_POSITION= 141,72 [1]
; Glasgow is in Axis hands
#ALIGNMENT_POSITION= 138,65 [1]
;Set National Morale Trigger (dummy value)
#NATIONAL_MORALE_TRIGGER= 0 [0]
; USA politically aligned with Allies but not fully mobilized
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 115 [2] [40] [0]
; UK politically aligned with Allies and fully mobilized
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 112 [2] [100] [0]
;Dummy condition position (always satisfied)
#CONDITION_POSITION= 0,0 [0,0] [0,0] [0] [0]
}
{
#NAME= US Lend Lease To The UK (successful Sealion)
#POPUP= US Begins Lend-Lease Convoys To The UK Via Nova Scotia
#IMAGE=
#SOUND= convoy.ogg
#FLAG= 1
#TYPE= 2
#AI= 0
#LEVEL= 0
; Set global variable condition to always trigger (dummy value)
#GV= 1[1,100]
#LINK= 370[1]
#SENDER_ID= 115
#RECIPIENT_ID= 112
#SENDER_ID_TRIGGER= 25
#RECIPIENT_ID_TRIGGER= 100
#PERCENTAGE= 1
#MAX_PERCENTAGE= 25
#SPRING_REDUCTION= 100
#SUMMER_REDUCTION= 100
#FALL_REDUCTION= 100
#WINTER_REDUCTION= 75
#SOURCE_PORT= 6,112 [Norfolk]
#DESTINATION_PORT= 25,96 [Yarmouth, Nova Scotia]
#WAYPOINT= 20,105
#WAYPOINT= 20,99
}
Edit #2: This convoy worked in my current test, the two scripts above have been updated, although at this point I have lost track of the changes and now am not sure why it did not work up until now. But it works, that is all that matters! The USA mobilization value of 40 in the DE is really too high, so I have lowered it to 25 for the next test, hopefully that shouldn't stop it from working [at least until the USA is over 25%]. Note there is also a Surrender Script and some map changes that go with this, and if anyone is interested I can post a package [either post here or e-mail me].
The game knows it's a dummy if these fields are both empty:
#POPUP=
#IMAGE=
This means that nothing is presented to the player as a choice, meaning that all the various triggers are alone what decide whether or not it happens.
These can be very useful, and there are some chains of dummy Decisions in the game's campaigns that allow for some things to be done that couldn't otherwise be done! [:)]
AHAH ! A secret revealed, lol. Thanks, because I was staring at those dummy's and thinking 'there must be a trigger here somewhere, but I can't figure it out'. So I had to ask !
Revised Nova Scotia to add Yarmouth and Sydney towns. I'm feeling that this gives the UK enough deployment locations if their capital is moved there.
When Sealion happens, and London and Manchester are captured by the Axis, the UK capital moves to Nova Scotia which also becomes the new UK via Territory [working as intended if Canada is chosen over Egypt in DE 105, Yay !].
But this part has me stumped. Two tests, changed some settings/parameters, but with same results. The new USA to UK convoy appears from Norfolk to Yarmouth, but is white and apparently not actually running. Screen shot with a few insets. The new convoy does show up on the Convoy Map, but the convoy info seems to indicate that the USA has to be at 100% mobilization for this to happen ? But I do have the USA set to 0% mobilization in the script [because I think at 0% that it should activate at anything over 0%, right ?].
I've also got a pop-up in the Convoy script - 'US Begins Lend-Lease Convoys To The UK Via Nova Scotia' - but it does not appear, which tells me that the script isn't firing, but how does it show up white if the script doesn't Fire ? And how can I get the convoy to become active ?
