v1.26.02 Beta Playtesting

[pzgndr]

I've been coding and troubleshooting v1.26.02 for the past couple of weeks. This new version implements AI grand strategy options and the Alternate Dominant Powers optional rule. And a few other things but those are the biggies. There have been lots of fits and starts, as I see issues and have to stop to resolve them. My latest playtest as Austria seems to be going ok and I'll share a short AAR.

So I'm playing 1805 as Austria. France chooses the "Early and Often" strategy. Turkey chooses the "Patient and Quiet" strategy. Prussia chooses the "Grab Minors" strategy. Great Britain chooses the "Mediterranean" strategy. Spain and Russia use a default strategy, and frankly there aren't too many options for either or them until alliances kick in and they go with either a Great Britain/Spain/Russia coalition against France or a France/Spain/Russia coalition against Great Britain. But I digress.

In January, France DOWs Baden, Spain DOWs Portugal, Prussia DOWs Hesse, Russia DOWs Circassia, and Austria DOWs Bavaria.

In February, France DOWs Swabia and Austria DOWs Wurttemberg. I had also DOWd Swabia but recalled it due to France.

In March, France DOWs Berg, Prussia DOWs both Mecklenburg and Nassau, and Turkey DOWs Egypt.

In April, things start getting interesting. France DOWs Prussia early. France also DOWs Wurzburg. Great Britain DOWs Tripolitania and Russia DOWs Sweden.

Screenshot below shows Great Britain invasion of Tripolitania.

GB DOW Tripolitania.jpg (944.17 KiB) Viewed 947 times

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Screenshot below shows France maneuvering towards Prussia, with Napoleon advancing from Italy. Now, normally, AI France is not so aggressive, and they got a pretty good die roll to DOW as early as they did. Could be risky against a determined Prussia/Austria alliance, but it's a grand strategy choice. The bottom line is that I am seeing these grand strategies kick in, which will make for more interesting games.

FR DOW PR.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 945 times

[pzgndr]

There have been several challenges along the way. Great Britain was most challenging because I needed to revise the setups to have an infantry corps and transport fleet in either London for a Scandinavia strategy or in Gibraltar for a Mediterranean strategy, and then I needed to "hold" those transport fleets there and not get used for blockading missions. The intent is to give AI Great Britain an early shot at grabbing a minor for additional manpower.

Along the way, I noticed an AI blockade bug in v1.26.01 that is now fixed. The way the AI looked at amphibious landing for deciding on DOWs and then actually doing the amphibious landing needed improvement, so I did that. Things were too good with Great Britain invading Italy and such that I needed to go back and add lots of exceptions and exclusions for Great Britain and Russia to keep them from making risky mainland invasions until later.

I noticed a combat yesterday with morale all screwed up. The way I had implemented the morale changes for Alternate Dominant Powers was wrong and I had to figure that out and resolve it. And this morning I saw AI Prussia create the Kingdom of Poland because they can but they shouldn't unless they have the grand strategy option to do so, so that's fixed.

So. I had hoped to release v1.26.02 Beta by the end of this week, but some more playtesting is needed. I think the early game is shaping up nicely now, but I still need to playtest the late game and see how that goes. As soon as it's ready, I'll release it.

[pzgndr]

More playtesting results. I have been struggling with AI Great Britain. It has optional setups for a corps and invasion fleet in either London to invade Denmark or Sweden, or in Gibraltar to invade Africa. Keeping that fleet in place until a DOW without running off to a blockade or redeploying took some work. Getting the DOW and invasion worked well enough. But I wanted the invasion fleet to stand by, to move into the minor capital port after unloading the invasion supply depot rather than returning to some other port. Screenshot shows this has worked for Denmark. I also had a snafu with the Danish fleet evacuating and moving into the sea area with the British supply fleet. Seems the code was evacuating Spanish fleets, Spain being the controller for Denmark, and didn't recognize being at war with Great Britain. So that required a fix to look at the actual fleet nationality rather than the controller nationality. So that works now and the Danish fleet scuttled.

FYI, I am very close to seeing the 1805 start work well with the new AI grand strategies and production fixes I've made. I still need to playtest 1813 and the endgame.
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Great Britain Invades Denmark.jpg (239.54 KiB) Viewed 864 times

[pzgndr]

Part II to this AI Great Britain invading Denmark. I had code for the AI to create garrisons and transfer factors from a corps present, but that wasn't working. This morning I redid that function and it is now working as expected. AI Great Britain created a garrison in Copenhagen, with 2 factors because it is an important capital city. AI Spain also created a 2-factor garrison in Lisbon and AI France created a couple of 1-factor garrisons in Bremen and Munster. So this is all working well now. I need to continue this playtest to see how AI Great Britain moves on from Denmark.

FYI. There is AI code for naval supply fleets to relocate if necessary to support an invasion (e.g., Russian corps retreats from Stockholm and is no longer adjacent to supply) and now for the supply fleet to unload the depot and move into the minor capital port, but there are no AAR movement arrows. I looked at maybe adding these but that function is tied to the movement code and what I'm doing with the AI "cheat" here is deleting the unit from the old location and adding it to the new location. I may try looking at this again, but it's not a big deal. Sort of like how fleets relocate after interceptions and battles without AAR movement arrows.
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Great Britain Invades Denmark 2.jpg (183.86 KiB) Viewed 843 times

[pzgndr]

Alright, I just wrapped up a playtest of 1813 and I'll share results. I'm playing Turkey and watching the other AI-controlled MPs.

April 1813 kicks off with Austria DOW on Bavaria. Prussia and Russia retreat to Berlin. France advances.

1 April Germany.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 795 times

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Some jockeying for position in Spain. Wellington advances.

1 April Spain.jpg (949.34 KiB) Viewed 794 times

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May 1813. France makes an initial attack at 82:42 for a win. The siege of Danzig begins.

I note that France has a narrow window for the initial battle in this campaign, advancing on Berlin faster than the Russians can reinforce from the east. Danzig with a garrison of 20 is a thorn in the allies' side.

2 May Germany.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 791 times

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The British and Spanish slowly advance on the French. Not as reckless as some previous versions.

2 May Spain.jpg (948.89 KiB) Viewed 790 times

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June 1813. France breaks away from Berlin to attack Mecklenburg and Lausitz, and unfortunately leaving the cav exposed.

As this is an Economic month, here is a snapshot of the AI builds:
Great Britain: 6I, 3M, 1C, 1T
Spain: 1I, 2M
Prussia: 4I, 8M, 1C
Austria: 1G, 6I, 6M, 1C
Russia: 1G, 4I, 4M
France: 3G, 12I, 12M, 3C, 3A, 1L
Some of these builds may seem low, but understand that the AI is setting aside funds for estimated supply costs; e.g., Prussia $13, Russia $49, and France $61.

3 June Germany.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 788 times

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In Spain, the British begin bypassing Madrid to the north. Again, a slow advance.

3 June Spain.jpg (946.31 KiB) Viewed 787 times

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July 1813. Austria's enforced peace with France ends and it declares war. The Russians attacked the French in Brandenburg at 57:9, but then France attacked Stettin at 51:16 for a win and Berlin at 24:6 for a loss. The Austrians begin advancing on Napoleon's flank.

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In Spain, the British make a run for Barcelona, while the Spanish wait outside Madrid for an opportunity to strike at 1:1 odds or better.

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August 1813. France moves first and attacks Berlin, gets a win and lays siege. But then in a One-Two punch, Russia attacks Berlin at 56:17 for a loss and then Prussia attacks at 29:6 for a win. The garrison at Danzig is down to 3 factors, still pinning down forces.

5 August Germany.jpg (1.14 MiB) Viewed 780 times

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In Spain, the British appear fickle and decide San Sebastian is the better port city to besiege. Whatever. The French have started their withdrawal of Spain, leaving 1 corps in Madrid and redeploying the other 3 corps back towards the fighting in Germany.

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September 1813. Napoleon himself leads another attack on Berlin at 34:26 and scores a victory, besieging the Prussian capital yet again. Notice that Prussia continues to fight and does not surrender; there's too much going on! The Austrians are backing up just a bit, to not over-extend themselves.

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In Spain, the British continue the siege of San Sebastian. Those 3 French corps are moving towards Austria.

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October 1813. Historically, the Battle of Leipzig. Not happening here, the fight is in Berlin. Now, I noticed a glitch with this turn, and I suspect it is due to the massive stack of Prussians and Russians attacking Berlin. There was no combat, and you can see conflicting battles in city and rural. I also observed Wellington showing up in the stack for some odd reason, and then he was gone, both Wellington and British I Corps from Spain. Very odd. I decide to press on and see what happens.

7 October Germany.jpg (1.13 MiB) Viewed 774 times

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In Spain, the French corps retreated from Madrid and the Spanish moved in. The British, less Wellington and I Corps, continue to besiege San Sebastian. The valiant Portuguese have invaded the French homeland, and Jerome does an About Face to bring those 3 French corps back to deal with them.

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[pzgndr]

November 1813. This was amazing. The monster stack of Prussians and Russians attacked Napoleon in Berlin at 119:29, and lost! Nappy still got it. Danzig finally surrendered. The Austrians continue to advance and make some gains, and further south start mopping up and reclaiming their lost territories.

8 November Germany.jpg (1.11 MiB) Viewed 759 times