Bits and bobs . . .

[stockwellpete]

Next one - I have just had 4 Russian HQ's turn up outside Batum all next to each other as if in convoy. Not sure why the AI is doing this.

[stockwellpete]

Another one - infantry sank my dreadnought![:-]

I had only just got it as well and I put in the only port space I had left at Trieste and an Italian infantry unit directly south of Udine attacked and destroyed it. It was only at 5 strength as I didn't even have time to reinforce it. Is that meant to happen when they are not actually controlling the enemy port?

[BillRunacre]

If a land unit is adjacent to an enemy port then they can attack it, and ships are vulnerable while in port to attacks like this.

This also effectively discourages/prevents one side from using a ship to hold onto a port when they've lost the adjacent resource.

[stockwellpete]

ORIGINAL: BillRunacre

If a land unit is adjacent to an enemy port then they can attack it, and ships are vulnerable while in port to attacks like this.

This also effectively discourages/prevents one side from using a ship to hold onto a port when they've lost the adjacent resource.

It seems a bit odd to me as the attack was diagonally around the coastline and the Italians had no immediate chance of taking Trieste itself. Presumably the infantry corps are assumed to have small field guns with them, are they? They would need them to damage or even sink (?) a dreadnought. Maybe the other way of handling this situation is if a port is taken with a ship in the harbour then the ship is automatically put out to sea.

[Hubert Cater]

While for aesthetics it often looks better to have a port located somewhere specific within the hex, in game terms, e.g. how the engine handles these situations, for simplicity, it doesn't really matter where the port is precisely, just that it is logically the adjacent hex etc.

We can then imply that either a direct or field gun attack is all that is then needed for a successful strike on the ship in port and so on.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete
Presumably the infantry corps are assumed to have small field guns with them, are they?

Yes, the normal complement of artillery that a Corps would have had during the war, actual Heavy Artillery units represent large concentrations of guns for specific (and strategic) purposes.

[stockwellpete]

OK thanks. I will have to be more careful with my ports in future.

What about these 4 Russian HQ units doing the hokey-cokey outside Batum then?[&:]

[Hubert Cater]

Not sure, sometimes the AI does its best to try and protect them and may decide that they are all better off in one area... it is not perfect at times.

[stockwellpete]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

Not sure, sometimes the AI does its best to try and protect them and may decide that they are all better off in one area... it is not perfect at times.

Yes, understood. But why does it need 4 HQ units on that front? That would suggest 20+ other Russian units in the area. I can understand the Russians needing 2 HQ units initially - and then maybe a third one if they start to break the Ottoman cordon in the Caucasus. But 4 quite early on in the game where that front is quite well balanced still?

[stockwellpete]

I have just discovered the left-click/Shift key facility to swap the positions of 2 units. If I move a single unit one hex then I cannot reinforce or upgrade it. But if I use the left click/Shift mechanism then I seem able to reinforce or upgrade. Is this as intended?

[Hubert Cater]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete
Yes, understood. But why does it need 4 HQ units on that front? That would suggest 20+ other Russian units in the area. I can understand the Russians needing 2 HQ units initially - and then maybe a third one if they start to break the Ottoman cordon in the Caucasus. But 4 quite early on in the game where that front is quite well balanced still?

It probably doesn't need 4 HQs there, as mentioned sometimes it does things not quite intended. I try and fix these but there can be unanticipated circumstances and examples of this every once in a while here and there.

[Hubert Cater]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete

I have just discovered the left-click/Shift key facility to swap the positions of 2 units. If I move a single unit one hex then I cannot reinforce or upgrade it. But if I use the left click/Shift mechanism then I seem able to reinforce or upgrade. Is this as intended?

I believe so as it makes the swap function that much more useful to rotate fresh troops in, e.g. if you couldn't upgrade/reinforce after a swap, then for the WWI game at least it likely would never be used etc., and swapping in fresh units can be critical especially when the lines run 2 to 3 or more units deep.

[Taxman66]

ignore missed including the quote

[Taxman66]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete

I have just discovered the left-click/Shift key facility to swap the positions of 2 units. If I move a single unit one hex then I cannot reinforce or upgrade it. But if I use the left click/Shift mechanism then I seem able to reinforce or upgrade. Is this as intended?

Yes

[stockwellpete]

I am doing quite well in my current game playing as Central Powers at the easiest settings within the Veteran level of difficulty. Hotzendorf has just been sacked as A-H commander despite A-H morale being 117% and the Russian morale being just 15%!! A-H cavalry are galloping off beyond Kiev as I write this. Why has he been sacked? He is having a blinder!
Is there any way of stopping this happening if the A-H do much better than expected?

I guess a lot of people play MP on here, but what level were you playing against the AI before you started playing MP?

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete

I have just discovered the left-click/Shift key facility to swap the positions of 2 units. If I move a single unit one hex then I cannot reinforce or upgrade it. But if I use the left click/Shift mechanism then I seem able to reinforce or upgrade. Is this as intended?

That is correct, but the units will lose some Morale for swapping.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete



I guess a lot of people play MP on here, but what level were you playing against the AI before you started playing MP?

I did a few modified veteran games (0 on spotting) and jumped right in Feb 2020 and never looked back. Seen and done some interesting things that the AI never could do or react well against when playing a PM game.

I highly recommend trying it... mysteries and intrigues await! [:)]

[stockwellpete]

Just continuing my game as Central Powers against AI (Veteran level, easiest setting) into early 1919 with 6 artillery shells maximum and no campaign termination date. Just a few things to observe . . .

1) saw a documentary that mentioned German "stormtroopers" quite a bit. These do not appear to be modelled, although both sides can buy elite reinforcement points. Do these extra points include the stormtroopers and other elite troop types?

2) further to Warsaw always seeming to be defended by a detachment when friendly corps are available, the same thing has happened at Brest-Litovsk and Milan so maybe this is a wider issue than just Warsaw?

3)The Austro-Hungarian morale is going off the scale now. Something like 155% and it was fighting Italian units who were at 6%. A-H also has a kitty of 3,000 MPP's that it cannot spend. I did read somewhere that some players think the national morale should be capped at 100. Maybe that is too strict, but I definitely think there should be some ceilings, maybe differential ones, so that it reflects the historical realities a bit more. Currently Germany is at about 60%, A-H 155%, Turkey 55% and Bulgaria 95% whereas the Entente has UK at about 70%, France 15% and USA 100%. Russia, Italy, Serbia, Greece and Albania have been knocked out; and Romania is now pro-Central Powers after a diplomatic offensive directed at them. All I have to do now is knock-out France in the next few months and that is virtually game over.

4) I attacked Novo-Georgievsk fortress again. It was 6 entrenchment with full strength Corps in it. I had one artillery piece with maximum of 6 shots available. I took all 6 shots, completely de-entrenched the defenders and 4 of the 6 shots reduced the defending unit's strength. The fortress fell on the second "prepared attack". This was with an artillery piece on level 1 research. This seemed far too easy to me. I don't know much about these fortresses, but I did see a programme a while back about what happened to the Liege fortress and apparently the defenders most suffocated due to the dust. So morale and readiness should definitely suffer badly in such a bombardment, but maybe not the strength points forcing the attackers to concentrate more units before launching such an attack?

5) Sorry to mention this again, but one of the messages that flashes up on the screen says, "CP units in the East become infected with Bolshevism." This makes socialism sound like a disease, although I am sure all the generals and heads of state probably did regard socialism in that way! More neutral language might substitute "influenced by" for "infected with".

[BillRunacre]

Thanks for the feedback. [:)]

On your first point, given the scale of the game, stormtroopers aren't represented as a separate unit, they are more of an increase in the attack capabilities of German units, and represented by experience/elite reinforcements, upgraded Infantry Weapons and better morale via Infantry Warfare research.

Regarding Novo-Georgievsk, there is a small chance of a casualty per bombardment, and your results sound like the dice rolled above average. In reality some fortresses fought really well, while others barely feature in the accounts of the campaigns.

On 5), the intention has always been for the game to be seen from the perspective of the commanders of the times. That said, I have made an amendment to the Notes in the Decision that came up recently to clearly delineate between such atmospheric text and what are purely historical observations, as having it clearer where something is "in character" and where it is purely informational is better.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: stockwellpete

Currently Germany is at about 60%, A-H 155%, Turkey 55% and Bulgaria 95% whereas the Entente has UK at about 70%, France 15% and USA 100%. Russia, Italy, Serbia, Greece and Albania have been knocked out; and Romania is now pro-Central Powers after a diplomatic offensive directed at them. All I have to do now is knock-out France in the next few months and that is virtually game over.

Hi, I just noticed that Bulgaria is mentioned there. It doesn't have its own National Morale in the official campaigns as it is a Minor power, so I am a little confused by that?