Play testing the newest patch.

[Christolos]

ORIGINAL: sveint

If Russia doesn't pay the sabotage event, the Japanese blockade doesn't seem to work.

Hi sveint,

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Can you kindly explain?

Thanks,

C

[sveint]

Russia says no thanks I won't pay to sabotage => blockade seems to have no effect.

[Xsillione]

If you need three or more ships, than just make a normal convoy route and let them raid it if they want, when US enters the war, they can try to limit the raid if they can.

[Mercutio]

A convoy route would be raided and nothing damaged in return. Hence the current mechanic. I do like the idea that all blockade points must be of a certain size and strength to work through. Say light cruiser or better.

Also the effects of the blockade could scale based on naval attack value?

[Xsillione]

To raid 80 (40) point, you need two-four ships or subs, losing all those units would be quite a cost for the japan navy, and the US would now where are those ships, so easy targets. Only free for the few month before the US enters and the route already open. Currently it needs a single ship at a well defended area, so we need this solution, but still quite cheap for the japan with boats (well, not really, 100 per boat, you need two in rotation, and repair cost of 10-20 per turn) But is it needs two boat or one proper ship, it would be ok at around twice the cost for japan.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: sveint

Russia says no thanks I won't pay to sabotage => blockade seems to have no effect.

I've checked the scripts and there isn't a connection between the USSR's decision and whether or not the Axis can blockade the arrival of US supplies.

So if playing as the Allies and there are Axis ships within 1 hex of Vladivostok, then no supplies will get through regardless of the USSR's decision via DE 407 to send supplies. That decision is merely there to discourage the Axis from blockading the supplies.

[Christolos]

ORIGINAL: sveint

Russia says no thanks I won't pay to sabotage => blockade seems to have no effect.

So this could be a bug...[&:]

Thanks,

C

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: Christolos

Would there be a way to restrict them from blockading instead such that a minimum force of say 3 ships or more of at least cruiser size ships (and maybe also of a minimum strength), so excluding MTBs, would be required?

This way the Japanese would need to invest more and so also risk more...

I can't exclude MTBs specifically from being able to blockade.

The script to send supplies actually relies on the absence of Axis vessels outside the port for the supplies to flow.

Instead making it so that the supplies still flow if there are 1 or 2 ships present but not flowing if 3 are present would turn the scripting method on its head and I don't think it would be possible I'm afraid.

Hence increasing the damage seems the best answer, and when we consider that the US sent ships to Vladivostok throughout the war without the Japanese attacking them, making it more painful should encourage more historical actions by the Japanese.

[Christolos]

Thanks Bill.

But then the question becomes: how much more damage and should it be proportional, to some extent or in some way, to how much the Russians want to invest in it, so as to not shift the balance too much in favour of the Allies...

C

[BillRunacre]

Because the Japanese didn't interdict these supplies in real life, my intention has been to make it unlikely that a player would interdict them themselves.

As this doesn't look like being the case, then I'll have to shift the damage up somewhat. I'm not sure yet in actual figures, but by increasing the potential range of damage then it could mean that some turns the Axis will be lucky, and on others they'll regret having used a naval unit to blockade Vladivostok.

At the moment it doesn't feel that there is enough Axis regret for doing this.

[ThunderLizard11]

ORIGINAL: BillRunacre

Because the Japanese didn't interdict these supplies in real life, my intention has been to make it unlikely that a player would interdict them themselves.

As this doesn't look like being the case, then I'll have to shift the damage up somewhat. I'm not sure yet in actual figures, but by increasing the potential range of damage then it could mean that some turns the Axis will be lucky, and on others they'll regret having used a naval unit to blockade Vladivostok.

At the moment it doesn't feel that there is enough Axis regret for doing this.

I also think it's too easy for Japan to take out Vladivostok and Soviets losing the 75MPP which are badly needed especially early on.

[sveint]

Historically Japan was afraid of a Soviet attack. In the game the Soviets are afraid of a Japanese attack (and can do nothing about it).

Maybe add a couple of free Soviet armies only if Japan attacks the Soviets?

[Xsillione]

Well, the Siberian troops of the SU was quite depleted after Zhukov and his troops went west, to reach the Eastern front. So the Japan fear was mostly imagined when the player usually attacks the SU, and probably an eastern attack would helped Germany a bit, so it is quite realistic, but the japans could not just abandon the Manchuko region, since the Chinese would do some partisan popping up like stuff.

So, a Japan attack on SU should have some morale penalty for Japan for the imagined fear, and the Special Partisan areas should convert into actual partisan areas (or just start as ones, and just be the special case for the SU mobilization)

[otumfuo2]

I think the 1.05 patch is a big improvement. I'm not very experienced; I play SP at the novice level. I think the patch has balanced the game; earlier versions were quite tough to win as the Allies. My first game as the Allies in 1.05 was more balanced and more interesting.

Eliminating the double chitting for infantry and advanced tanks opens things up. When it was possible to double chit infantry weapons, it was the only hope the Russians had; you had to divert all the research into infantry weapons and then build up lots of units. That meant that if you managed to hang on until 43 it took forever to build up enough tech to have an effective counterattack. But now, since you cannot focus singlemindedly on a couple of key techs, I tried different things. For the Russians, a good investment in Industrial Technology meant that by 42 I was getting almost 1000 MPP per turn. That helped a lot. To summarize the game quickly....

1. The whole French fleet and part of the British went to the Med to destroy the Italian fleet (the AI has not figured out to keep it in port until France falls).
2. In addition to the BEF, sent 2 British armies and 1 SF to France, which as a result managed to hang on until January 41.
3. Germany went for Greece and the Balkans and I further delayed Barbarossa by landing a couple of British armies in Bordeaux. Between diverting troops to the Balkans and sending a couple of tank units and an army to retake Bordeaux Germany was not ready to invade Russia in summer 41.
4. Russia declared war on Germany in September 41; the Germans weren't ready, so I was able to save the whole Russian airforce and a good portion of the border units that mobilized. Mud and snow kept the Germans from getting anywhere in 41.
5. Over the winter lots of MPPs enable me to make a fairly good defensive line. The Germans made some progress in summer 42 but stalled on a line from Tallinin to Minsk to Kiev to Sevastopol. They never got even as far as Smolensk or Rostov. Over the winter my line thickened and by summer 43 I was able to start pushing the Germans back.
6. In the Med, the British fleet kept Afrika Corps from arriving in North Africa, so it was easy to clear out Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. By Fall 1943 I had Sicily and Northern Italy retaken with some poorly supplied Germans trapped in between. Also had a big foothold in Southern France. This all helped Russia, of course.
7. By summer of 44 the Russians had freed Warsaw and the Americans had cleared southern France and Paris. The Germans collapsed, with the Russians taking Berlin in late fall and the Germans surrendering in December 44.
8. In the East, the supply changes slowed down Japan a bit in China, but even so, by 1944, the capital had been moved to Urumqi. In the Pacific, the Japanese had reached their historical maximum. I'd built 3 CVs and not lost any, so the US fleet was able to seriously weaken the Japanese fleet by 44. Still, the Japanese were doing pretty well and were threatening India
9. All that changed when Germany surrendered. The Russians went overland by rail and cleared out first Manchuria and then virtually all of China (except Shanghai and a little sliver next to Mongolia). The US went through the Panama canal and took Philippines, Taiwan, and Okinawa before landing at Nagasaki. The British came through the Suez canal and drove the Japanese out of India and Burma. The Russians landed on Hokkaido. Finally the Americans got a foothold adjacent to Tokyo and Japan surrendered, in August 46.

The major changes that made this interesting were the lack of double chitting the core techs, which got me to explore some others, like Industrial and Production, and the supply fixes in China, which kept China from collapsing too early.