Fall Weiss II - WIE 14.0 - (Ready for Download)

[crispy131313]

Your welcome, you will be happy to know then that I’ve slowly been working on another update too, with more decisions and variables to increase replay value. Something to look forward to maybe!

I haven’t found any major errors either, the biggest being a double popup so far.

[Dizzy]

Playing the Axis, I had an end turn report for 'VI Mechanized Corps LOCALISATION ERROR' for the USSR on August 5, 1941. Dunno what that is.

[Dizzy]

Playing as the Axis, are they supposed to lose? I had to run like a screaming girl in NA. It was a total rout. Then my advance into Russia got off to a slower than expected start, ground down after some initially spectacular results, but does the USA always enter the war after December 7th, 1941? Or can I keep their mobilization lower to stave off their declaration of war for a while?

Also noticed the Allies seriously have more MPP than the Axis. I figure that's correct historically and by design, but I wasn't prepared for exactly how much more... I swapped sides and looked at total income collected and the allies in mid 1942 were ahead of the Axis by some 20k MPP's. Is that correct? And Italy had been anemic in MPP's from the start, barely collecting more than 150 a turn. I dont think Im playing Italy right.

Are these right? It seems beyond my skill level to overcome these numbers. I mean, with Russia getting almost 1.5 times as much MPP per turn as Germany in mid 1942, how am I supposed to compete with that?

I think I'm doing it all wrong.

[crispy131313]

The game is certainly more challenging vs AI (at least in my opinion) then the default campaign but that is by design.

With my play throughs as Axis I’ve been able to achieve historical results right through December of 1941 at that point the Eastern Front especially gets hard and I’ve most often managed to achieve decisive victory but even I have been pushed back and fought the defensive battle as Germany begins being squeezed at both ends. In this game Germany can win decisively but if that proves impossible victory can still be achieved by simply surviving until the end of 1945 which is in of itself a challenge if the Soviets turn the tide. Most games are a quit once Germany knows they are losing, Fall Weiss II is meant to be played until the very last turn.

Some notes based on your responses;

Italy should find the North African campaign difficult they fared horribly historically, only when the DAK arrives should you have an opportunity to really take the initiative. I would recommend a limited advance pre DAK arrival to put some space between the British and a possible siege of Tobruk. Note the AI will also reinforce this region perhaps more then historically but that is to combat the Axis tendency to do the same.

USA will generally enter the war after Pearl Harbour, there is not much to do to stop them. Slowing their mobilization to have the less prepared is more effective in PBEM then vs Allied AI.

Don’t delay Barbarossa, one of the key differences between the campaign and the vanilla is the theme that USSR matters. In vanilla game the USSR can be delayed while other softer objectives are achieved but in this game 1941 is your window to gain the MPP necessary to sustain the Axis war engine. Their are also a number of key trade agreements/events that will help you mid game with MPP and I would recommend researching production and industry.

On the second play through consider what when wrong and how could you tackle that. Good luck!

[Dizzy]

Thanks, crispy. Good advice. On my second playthru I'm going to be mindful of force marching my units to get them into position faster. I initiated Barbarossa a month behind schedule and that cost me. I also didn't have enough units in place and my Greece invasion stalled due to underestimating the tenaciousness of the defenders. My NA campaign was a total failure, so I'm going to reinforce that more and not be caught so off guard.

I'm going to try with no AI advantage in MPP, Sight or Exp bonus, as I feel I'm still a newb here and I'll see what works and what doesn't. But it is a fun campaign! Thanks for all these extra events and such!

[David Hansen]

Is v4.0 out and available?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: David Hansen

Is v4.0 out and available?

Hi David, i'm currently playing through a campaign and making some tweaks as I go. There is a large number of changes (new decisions, etc.) so just want to make sure there is no big errors.

[crispy131313]

Here is the upcoming list of changes for version 4.1

A number of these changes were made as I progressed through my recent AAR. If anyone has a bug to report or feedback on their experience please let me know, I've only completed about 90% of these so still some time to tweak the next version.

AI
- The Western Allies will now make several considerations of German gains in Soviet territory when deciding whether to attempt D-Day in 1943 or not
- Amended AI diplomacy
- Amended guard scripts for several major cities
- USA AI will now research Anti-Air
- Increased variability of USA AI amphibious invasions in the Mediterranean and Middle East, especially where the Axis are not adequately defending territory
- Some amendments to AI unit scripts

Decisions
- New German Decision - violation of Swiss Airspace
- New German Decision - assisting the IRA
- New German Decision - Croatian Anti-Partisans
- New German Decision - Military Exports to Sweden
- New UK Decision - Irish Defects
- New UK Decision - occupation of Ireland
- New UK Decision - Invade Axis occupied Egypt from Italian East Africa
This will be a variable decision event (only 2% chance of firing per turn, that is only presented if Italian East Africa is defeated, and Egypt is not well defended)
- Amended German Decision to supply equipment to Romania to now supply a Tank Corps and an Anti-Tank (previously 2 Tank Corps)
- New USSR Decision - Baltic States Gold Reserves
- New USSR Decision - Prioritize Military over Civilians

Research
- Decrease Ballistic Warfare research cost to 50 MPP
- Reduced German Industrial Tech research to 150 MPP
- Reduced Spying & Intelligence to maximum 2 levels

Other Balance changes
- Sweden will reduce Axis leaning mid-war as their military capabilities increase
- German war economy income will intensify if Paris and or Warsaw is in Allied hands later in the war
- Increased German Infantry Division build limit by 6
- Increased German Infantry Corps build limit by 3
- Increased German Mechanized Division build limit by 1
- Added 6 German half strength Infantry Divisions to 1944 Production Que (post historical D-Day)
- Added 3 German half strength Infantry Corps to 1944 Production Que (post historical D-Day)
- German Infantry Armies in Production Que (1941) will arrive at strength 5 (previous 8)
- If the UK loses Malta, Gibraltar, Alexandria or Cairo prior to US war entry then the national morale boost from US war entrance will be higher - Malta/Gibraltar (2.5% boost divided over 5 turns) Alexandria/Cairo (1.25% divided spread over 5 turns) AI will receive double boost.
- Increased plunder from Brussels from 25 MPP to 75 MPP
- Added Germany plunders Netherlands 75 MPP
- The Axis can no longer plunder Stalingrad
- Stalingrad will no longer provide supply to Axis forces if either Saratov or Astrakhan are under Soviet control.
- Increased Soviet Partisan activity in Allied AI and PBEM games

[Elessar2]

I conquered Malaya by taking the capital--resulting in the Indian troops I was fighting to all become trapped within my hexes and at zero supply. This doesn't happen in other instances, such as when I take Iraq as the Axis--British controlled hexes before I take the capital remain British controlled.

when I have more time this week I'm going to elaborate on the following rather radical idea: that there should be a LOT more partisan hexes in...welp pretty much everywhere, but most crucially in Russia & China. I'd also switch off the option for Motorization for all non-armor/mech units, and replace said tech with anti-tank, like it was in earlier versions of the game. High level tanks eat infantry division for lunch as it is now.

And that the tech pace should be MUCH lower.

[checks forum] Why are you still working on the Euro game engine, and not the newer WaW one?

[crispy131313]

The difference between Malaya and Iraq is that Iraq was liberated . When a nation surrenders for the first time then the result is what you see in Malaya.

I appreciate the feedback on the WaW mod, one of the reasons it's been on the back burner is that it's a very long campaign and difficult to play test without feedback/reports of how things are balanced or especially if there are any errors, of which I'm not aware of any myself. There is a lot more content I want to add into that mod, a lot of which I've already laid the groundwork for in the WiE mod.

Another reason I continue to update WiE is that I really enjoy this map, and I've had some very teetering games even against the AI, and have even lost one of the last three I played which was very refreshing.

[crispy131313]

To coincide with the recent developer patch here is the most recent version of Fall Weiss II.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6i3xhhso1f11c ... 0.zip?dl=0

I removed the sub folder which was causing some confusion in the installation process. Now zip file should be simply extracted to campaign folder in C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command WWII - War In Europe\Campaigns

Most of the changes from the patch are incorporated here, and here is a final list of changes from the most recent version:

AI
- The Western Allies will now make several considerations of German gains in Soviet territory when deciding whether to attempt D-Day in 1943 or not
- Amended AI diplomacy
- USA AI will now research Anti-Air
- Some amendments to AI unit scripts
- Some amendments to AI decisions (yes/no)

Decisions
- New German Decision - violation of Swiss Airspace
- New German Decision - assisting the IRA
- New German Decision - Croatian Anti-Partisans
- New German Decision - Military Exports to Sweden
- New UK Decision - Irish Defects
- New UK Decision - occupation of Ireland
- New UK Decision - Invade Axis occupied Egypt from Italian East Africa
This will be a variable decision event (only 2% chance of firing per turn, that is only presented if Italian East Africa is defeated, and Egypt is not well defended)
- Amended German Decision to supply equipment to Romania to now supply a Tank Corps and an Anti-Tank (previously 2 Tank Corps)
- New USSR Decision - Baltic States Gold Reserves
- New USSR Decision - Prioritize Military over Civilians

Research
- Decrease Ballistic Warfare research cost to 50 MPP
- Reduced German Industrial Tech research to 150 MPP
- Reduced Spying & Intelligence to maximum 2 levels

Other Balance changes
- Sweden will reduce Axis leaning mid-war as their military capabilities increase
- German war economy income will intensify if Paris and or Warsaw is in Allied hands later in the war
- Increased German Infantry Division build limit by 6
- Increased German Infantry Corps build limit by 3
- Increased German Mechanized Division build limit by 1
- Added 6 German half strength Infantry Divisions to 1944 Production Que (post historical D-Day)
- Added 3 German half strength Infantry Corps to 1944 Production Que (post historical D-Day)
- German Infantry Armies in Production Que (1941) will arrive at strength 5 (previous 8)
- If the UK loses Malta, Gibraltar, Alexandria or Cairo prior to US war entry then the national morale boost from US war entrance will be higher - Malta/Gibraltar (2.5% boost divided over 5 turns) Alexandria/Cairo (1.25% divided spread over 5 turns) AI will receive double boost.
- Increased plunder from Brussels from 25 MPP to 75 MPP
- Added Germany plunders Netherlands 75 MPP
- The Axis can no longer plunder Stalingrad
- Stalingrad will no longer provide supply to Axis forces if either Saratov or Astrakhan are under Soviet control.
- Malta beings with Anti-Aircraft I
- Increased supply effects of Allied Crete in the regions East of Tobruk slightly
- Norway begins 25% Axis leaning
- Amended Vichy French partisans
- Morale loss of an invasion of Southern Italy requires USA to be at war
- The Axis garrison in Madrid will be forced out of the city if Spain switches sides
- Increased chance of Bulgaria switching sides to 75% and no longer requires the Allied invasion to be Soviet
- Increased chance of Romania switching sides to 75% and no longer requires the Allied invasion to be Soviet
- British government in Exile (Canada) now has convoys route to Yarmouth
- Regular Transport and Surface Vessels can no longer spot on land

A friendly reminder that the game is very PBEM friendly, but if playing the AI it can be difficult which is by design. I mainly play Axis vs Allied AI. if you are playing a mod it's because you are looking for a challenge so hope it's enjoyed!

[guidebookdave]

I am playing through Steam and getting bounced out after Poland surrenders. This happens with 5.0, 2.0 and 3.7.
I get 2.0 through community pack then downloaded 3.7 and now 5.0.
I put the folder in campaigns within community pack.
The scenario is visible in the scenario screen. It plays correctly for about 3 turns with decisions loading, etc. then crashes after the surrender on turn 3 or 4.
The screen gets a white box with an error message then goes to desktop when I click.
Message: FAILED no such file or directory.
What did I do wrong?
I think this may have started when I downloaded 3.7. I seem to remember having a good game of 2.0 when I first bought the game. Love your work BTW.

[crispy131313]

I don’t think is should go in the community pack, try putting the files here C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command WWII - War In Europe\Campaigns. If you can’t find this folder try making a dummy campaign with the editor and search your comp for where it saved.

[guidebookdave]

Thank you
I think the problem must be Steam related.
I will let you know if I solve it.
If you titled all your versions the same, do you think they could be auto updated in the Steam Community Pack?
As it is, only version 20 is in the Community Pack.
I can't tell if the Community Pack gets updates for any of the five scenarios in it.

[crispy131313]

I don't think it is steam related problem to be honest, the community pack is downloaded into the main files of the game, where as user created scenarios are saved in a different area. At least that's how I think it is set up. Again I would suggest opening the editor saving a dummy campaign and just placing my files where that dummy campaign is saved.

[David Hansen]

Crispy-
D/L and installed per the instructions...started a new V5.0 campaign with no problems...thanks!

[guidebookdave]

You are right.
Followed your instructions and it worked.
Thank you for all your hard work.

[Elessar2]

After Crispy's latest AAR, thought I'd chime in after trying a session of it myself.

The movement rates of land units are unchanged from what they are in the Global War scenario [Hubert's too]. OK, we get more turns per year here [~18-19 vs. ~12-13], which helps to compensate for the larger map, but it causes major issues operationally. In both my game as well as Crispy's I noticed that we simply couldn't approach the historical Barbarossa objectives time-wise given any sort of Russian defense, and the reason was that, for me at least, my armor simply was unable to exploit in the way that was necessary (& historical). [I did start on the historical date, vs. late May/early June, mainly because the Afrika Corps payments were preventing me from topping off all of my Eastern Front units-yes I did save up some MPP's beforehand, but even then it was a close-run thing.]

I'd often find my armor unable to move "that one extra space" to reach an attack position. Note that supply issues often meant that they started at -1 movement, so 4 MP's. Add in ZOC's and river crossings, and a lot of times my armor was just crap out of luck, a turn wasted with enemy units just out of reach. This also had consequences trying to form pockets; simply couldn't move far enough to close them.

Euro only map is ~1.8 times bigger than Global, but the turn ratio is about 1.5. I am currently about to launch a test mod of this scenario with all infantry units MP's increased by 1, and armor/motorized increased by 2 [always bugged me that armor's speed advantage over foot infantry was typically only 20%]. Yeah, I could spring for Motorization, but the cost just for the mobile formations was prohibitive, and as said my cash flow at that moment was very meager.

Unit density also seems a bit low on the Eastern Front at least; by late August there were huge empty gaps in the Soviet dispositions, and several of my motorized units were busy snarfing up as many cities as they could get to. See Crispy's screenie above for a similar arrangement, on both sides.

You did adjust aircraft ranges for the bigger map, but not paratroop's range, which remained at 6. Rockets likewise were still at 2 move and 2 range.

I'm also going to try to add anti-tank tech to most infantry, default A-T ratings at zero (thus pretty much demanding A-T investment), eliminating motorization as a tech for everybody, +1 movement to UK/US infantry (which were fully motorized). I'd say that even the default 30% motorization upgrade cost would be very conservative (I'd peg it ~75% or even higher), and nobody is going to spring for that.

[crispy131313]

Hi Elessar2, I appreciate the feedback and will touch on the points you raised in short time but just wanted to point out this post I had made a few months ago in this thread. This is a typical result when I play the ALlied AI (this was from the 2nd last version). What had really thrown me off this new version/game update was that there was a fix in the game that applied AI experience bonus on the defending turn, when that was not the case prior which slowed me slightly in my most recent AAR. I've already made many adjustments for the next release which I think will help.

[crispy131313]

Here are some changes to the upcoming version:

- Some minor fixes (i.e. Decision notes, pop ups)
- Gibraltar fortress to begin with +1 Anti-Air
- Industrial Technology reduced to single chit
- German Industrial Technology reduced to 125 MPP
- Increased German Mines from 20 MPP to 30 MPP
- Amended USSR Garrison scrips for Moscow, Stalingrad, Leningrad
- Smoothed out many national morale scripts over several turns rather than in one large swing
- Reduced cost of German winter warfare preparations
- Reduced cost of German Decision to send modern Tanks to Romania
- Fixed Long-range Transport bug
- German preparations for Fall Blau will also include an Artillery unit in the unit script
- Leningrad can no longer be plundered
- Warsaw plunder increased to 75 MPP
- Max strength of Finland towns reduced to 5
- Finland's base industrial modifier increased from 50% to 55%
- Increased German Industrial modifier from 5% to 10%
- UK Mechanized Divisions built limit reduced from 2 to 1
- UK Infantry Corps built limit reduced from 12 to 11
- UK Tank Division built limit reduced from 4 to 2
- UK Infantry Division built limit reduced from 4 to 3
- USA Tank Division build limit reduced from 5 to 3
- USSR Infantry Division build limit reduced from 12 to 10
- USSR Infantry Corps build limit reduced from 30 to 25
- USSR Infantry Army build limit reduced from 30 to 25
- USSR Tank Division build limit reduced from 10 to 8
- Germany Infantry Division build limit reduced from 10 to 8
- German Mechanized Division build limit reduced fro 4 to 3
- Italian Infantry Division build limit reduced from 4 to 3
- Italian Tank Division build limit reduced from 3 to 2
- Germany will deploy an Infantry Division and Garrison at Berlin when Smolensk in Allied hands (1943-)
- Germany will deploy an Infantry Division and Garrison at Berlin when Paris is in Allied hands (1943-)
- UK & USA (AI) "catch up units" will only trigger if Paris is still in Axis hands at end of 1945
- Removed 1 USA (AI) Strategic Bomber from unit script



Some reasoning with these changes:

A) Some reduction in units to avoid cluttering, particularly in AI games where AI opponent build limits were potentially being exceeded at times unintentionally.

B) Adjustments to Finnish supply as they are particularly over effective when attacking Stalingrad as well holding out against Soviet sieges of towns too long.

C) Industrial technology slowed to 1 chit as it is often maxing out too early ever since the new breakthrough rules

D) Increased German Industrial modifier and value of mines to make these particular good targets of Allied bombers. This will make up for the slower Industrial tech advances which will particularly hurt Germany which begins at 35%. Germany's max industry is still far lower than the Allies (maxing out at 85% vs previous 60%) and will still really heavily on trade, Romanian oil (worth 50 MPP) etc. and OOB built in through unit scripts.


Elessar, to answer your comments briefly I have in most games been able to reach historical outcomes in 1941' on the Eastern Front, though I fell short in the recent AAR I would chalk that up more to variability. There is often the option to operate your HQ via rail to catch up with your Armour, and while paying 60-80 MPP to move only a few extra spaces it does allow the Axis to maximize the window of opportunity to capture as much territory as possible in 1941. Unit density will pick up by end of 41', if not there yet you will see!

As for movement vs. the global game, movement values are based on the original game which preceded World at War. I believe when WaW was released the surprise was rather the additional unit point afforded to WaW units rather than vice versa. When utilizing force march many units can move 10-12 hexes in a single turn which is efficient enough as long as you can keep supply up though operational movement or HQ linking.

I have heard the Anti-Tank suggestion before but it seems an automatic upgrade (will do to every unit on the Eastern Front), whereas motorization is more likely to distinguish units, I know I put a great deal of thought into where these units will be deployed when I prepare my Eastern Army Groups at least.

Final thoughts, yes Aircraft were amended for a few reasons. I've made operating aircraft/airfields very expensive, mainly as this used to be a huge problem in the older versions of SC but not as much now but I have kept it this way as to make it hard to just warp Tactical bombers to obtain every objective. Paratroopers however I left the same as they can be quite gamey, and most of their historical usage can be achieved with the existing range (with exception of Norway which is already scripted).

I'm very happy to know you are very much enjoying the mod as well!