Empire V3.0g and Age of steel V1.0b Masters edition - update 30/4/25

[Cavalry Corp]

Empire V3.0g and Age of Steel V1.0b 30/4/25

It's a definitive version of Empire (you can still update from the older versions) with a lot more fine-tuning and even tighter play balance(100s of hours of input and online video watching). Some new ships that fit the objective, more interesting upgrade paths for ships and planes and even some new planes to build and manage. lots of revised data and mod works for both the standard extended maps and the super extended map.

• Empire V3.0g + Age of steel V1.0b
• Important error fix for the Rocket assist drive, stopping production of one engine NAK 35. Fixed.
• A few minor device/ship/plane tweaks.
• Amended some higher allied Garrison requirements in mainland Japan to represent the fanatic resistance
movement. Realism.
• A few minor base starting changes, added some daily supply to hexes critical for rice/ food production. Chrome.
• Errors with various Australian Brigades allocated to build up to the wrong Divisions or impossible units – Fixed.
• Increased 1942 Pilot rates for Japan – Up just a touch.
• Tweaked up the Chinese Army strength at the start. Play balance.
• Changed Hiyo and Junyo classes to CV. Re-evaluation.
• Tidy up of late-war British SS data and removal of one equipment duplication.
• Smoothed out and improved Japanese CL conversion choices – chrome.
• Improved Japanese Koi class CLAA to make them more tempting to build late war.
• Amended or corrected some late-war ship and SS upgrades to make them flow more in line with the mod.
• Made the J2M Jack Upgrade path smoother. Realism.
• Improved starting status of most 1945 Training Kamikaze air units – Play balance.
• Added British sub X-1 – A very interesting one off - Could not resist (New art in art expansion zip).
• A few more US LST and one AGC for 1945, option to convert LST to short-range amphibious attack LST in Nov 44.
• Adjustment on aircraft types to some late-war arriving CV air groups for Japan – better date matches.
• Adjusted some ship build and or arrival dates out of 1946 to earlier – Scn has been shortened.
• Changed Goa and East Timor to Portuguese and added a few minor Portuguese units and ships starting and arriving
42 onwards.
• Removed CLs Nigeria and Bermuda from the game and replaced them with four new late-war CLs of the Neptune
class. More in keeping with mod.
• Added late war Japanese SS Torp upgrades to the larger SS – In keeping with mod and Chrome.
• Several British subs arrive with the wrong upgrade date status- Fixed.
• Reduced Resource production in the area of Japan itself and increased it elsewhere. Play balance, too many
resources close to Japan, moved some to more historical locations. New Research.
• Optional - Revised Victory conditions - The fall of Tokyo before 1/11/45 = Allied decisive victory. Three cities from
the options of Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama, Fukuoka and Maesa to land forces before
1/9/45 = Allied Decisive victory. If the game moves past the end of September 1945 with victory points less than
2.5/1 in the Allies' favour, the best Allied result is a draw unless Tokyo is taken. Any victory location that has a
nuclear bomb used on it ceases to become a victory location. If that is Tokyo, it loses its status as an auto victory
location.


• V3.0F
• Two New Scn age of Steel Scn 50+51, 50 for standard map, Scn 51 for super extended map.
• A few land unit symbols were tweaked. Chrome.
• A few tweaks to device data, some TOE data, aircraft and ships, mainly late war.
• A more comprehensive update mine effects and accuracy for both sides.
• Added a slightly better late War J Depth Charge from about 5/44.
• Finally found the error with the Ohka (error in the original game). Fixed.
• Added Fido ASW homing mine and Japanese v late war copy. Chrome.
• Entered end date for J 1943 Inf Squad. Fix.
• Changed CVE Yurei from Hosho to Zuiho class CVL– More in keeping with mod.
• Added new ships for NEW Scns 50+51 “Age of Steel”.
• Updated Art Folder for Age of Steel and a couple of other minor changes = Agincourt added.
• Scn length reduced - Now finishes 26/12/45 = 1580 Turns. But the actual end date is later to allow acceleration of
some ships.
• Increased LI slightly in HI.


• V3.0E
• Removed Duplicate base Truscott in Northern Australia. Legacy from RA
• Corrected the Location of Sydney Island. Legacy from RA.
• Yamato removed one excess radar from the final upgrade on 3/45.
• A few late-war aircraft tweaks and very minor corrections.
• A couple of small J unit TOE issues- Fixed.
• Bearing in mind the extreme 1944 hard coded modifier for allied - Slight tweaks downward to some allied DC.
Tweaked downward J 3 inch ASW mortar and depth of attack of type 95.
• Tweaks to A and J small calibre ship AA guns to bring them back to stock levels from RA levels.
• Aircraft of Kamikaze variant K should only equip Kamikaze units – also tweaks and improvements to K class aircraft.
• Revised Victory conditions - The fall of Tokyo or three cities from the options of Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Hiroshima,
Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama, Fukuoka and Maesa) to land forces before 1st September 1945, triggers an immediate
Allied Decisive victory. If the game moves past the end of October 1945 with victory points less than 2-1 in the ally's
favour, the best-allied result is a draw.



• V3.0D
• Problem detected that will make the game crash in replay. Please rename the FW200c Tropisch in the JapPlanes
folder from Jptop00464 to 0464.
• Delete Jptop00114 Ki-200 Oziroisi should leave you with the correct Jptop0114 Ki-200 Oziroisi.
• Sea Meteor moves to 11/44 from 9/44. Cohesion with mod.
• Some (mid-war+) allied aircraft now have slightly reduced production- Cohesion with mod - Too many.
• Ended A20G production in 4/44. Realism with mod.
• Reviewed and tweaked some mid-war onwards J A/C radars - Cohesion with mod.
• Malayan 1941 squad not upgrading – Fixed.
• Tweaks to FR CA Duquesne armour. Tweaks to Suffren and Algerie classes. New research.
• UK CAs Devonshire and Cumberland now come on as York Class. CL Newcastle II becomes Hawkins class CA. More in
keeping with mod.
• Australian 1sy Army HQ not perm fixed – Changed and fixed.
• LI res In now 16 from 15.
• Allowed NIKI Mk2 George to upgrade to Mk4. Realism.
• Slight improvement to CB Hokkaido class to make it slightly more tempting to build.
• Tweaks to CL Oyodo AA layouts and upgrade times.
• Reduced Ohka range – it seems it uses maximum range all the time, so it is much less accurate. Under review.
• Review of all Plane Guided Missiles to improve effect.
• Tweaked/ improved Oomami and Oomami–Kai class Frigates- Slightly more incentive to build.
• Small ship and AC tweaks- Ongoing research.
• Reduced all J midget subs durability to 3 to reduce the VP for them and encourage more use - It will make no
difference to their survivability.
• Added all known data changes, fixes, and additions from the new patch V.1128 (Nov 24).
• Added back in missing (mainly small) allied transport ships added in RA but into invisible TF. Fix.
• Split TBM-3 Avenger production to better reflect the ASM Bat carrying version as a separate model as it was not
loading out correctly; some others also simplified- Fix.
• Removed French commanders from Vichy subs I 601 and 602. Fix.
• Added USN nationality to late war hypothetical Redwood Class DD (prevents them from coming on) – Fix.
• Added 2 more AC FTY and 2 more Engine FTY for Japan. They have to switch engines over mid-war, and it takes a
bit too long to restart. Play balance.
• Added several more SS and small PF for J to build in lieu of the later arriving allied DE/DD from the patch. Balance.
• Tweaks to CVE Kaiyo, Mitaki, Mayasan, Tamamatsu, Taiyo, Unyo, Shinyo and Chuyo – and revised arrival dates. More
in keeping with mod.
• Reduced Truk starting Port size to 3. Reduced Midway starting AF to 2.Reduced Babeldaob starting to AF2 and Port ,
Rabaul to starting port 1. Slow the initial pace and, in keeping with low tech, start to mod.
• Reduced all Andaman Islands to max AF build level 2.
• Added Engine R+D dates in the description to help decide R+D development where possible, excluding jets (no
space).
• Increased Rocket accuracy again, as the hit rate is still too low.
• Corrected a few more spelling and description mistakes.
• Changed British CVL Unicorn air groups to replenishment groups – Historical use, also made Unicorn and Colossus
class CV as these ships could handle all aircraft, primarily in replenishment capacity.
• Changed some UK CVE late war arriving air groups to better match mod and rationalised UK deck park capacity on
CV 1943+, tweaks to UK CVE ships.
• Corrections back to stock values on some mainly small bombs – Thanks to Jansako for spotting.
• New Guinea Force HQ – Now made Command HQ.
• Tweaked CB Alaska class MVR down – New research.
• Tweaked BC Admiral class to reflect a large engine overhaul in early 42.
• Tweaked UK CL/CA Armour – new research on sub-classes.
• A few aircraft tweaks and corrections.
• Tweaked Yodo and Oyodo class ASM 1945 upgrade.
• Fixes and enhancements to Ki200, FW200 and Liz Loadouts.
• Tweaks downward to some allied Inf replacements late war, removed most end dates.

• V3.0C
• Tried fixing problem with Air group 3614 arriving on turn 6 with B29c
• Slightly reduced the G8 Rita bomb load – new research and realism.
• Added upgrade options for I400 class submarines to convert to SST. Realism and cohesion.
• Tweaked late war J SS build cost to make it slightly more attractive to build – Balance.
• Tweaked downwards D4Y Judy loadout and changed engines for last two models. Realism
• Tweaked CB Alaska class MVR down – New research.
• A few aircraft tweaks and corrections.
• Tweaked Yodo and Oyodo class ASM 1945 upgrade.
• Fixes and enhancements to Ki200, FW200 and Liz Loadouts.

V3.0b
• V3.0b
• Some spelling mistakes were fixed.
• Revised starting position of CL Achillies and Kashiwara Maru.
• Corrected starting position of British 77Th AA Regt – Fix.
• Some aircraft tweaks – New research.
• Corrected some late Japanese CVs to remove CVB George on arrival and replace with A6M7 Zero - Fix.
• Tweaked ASM ranges, Allied down a bit, J up a bit.
• Increased J Type 94 mine starting pool.
• Slightly reduced MVR rating on JI Gun Boat J SS, tweaked dive depth up for Type SXXto, one or two other SS Mvr
adjustments. Cohesion.
• Corrected Weapons on Dutch submarines upgrades - Fix.
• Tweaks to Russian SS and TT – New research.
• Tweaks to various SS.
• A few minor French tweaks and French Buffle A/C = Nationality French, not US. Fixed.
• Tweaks and a fix (Tiger)to late-war British BB.
• Reduced Truk AF to 1 as at 12/41 – Play balance and realism.
• Given KB 3 1st turn move bonus. More options and risks at the start.
• Slightly reduced LA early war AC production. Play balance.
• Admin corrections on a few French ships.
• Added one more J AC FTY to cope more with the late war aircraft diversity.
• Removed the damaged starting HI Factories in Japan.
• Shimakaze – Small AA facing error – Fixed.
• Added 4 more US combat ENG units (late 42-43). Play balance.
• Added version of J Liz and Rita 4E bombers as options for IJA to build. Chrome.
• Correction to CA Maya refit secondary AA/DP guns. Realism.
• Slightly increased LI. Play balance.
• Added a few more late war J Subs to build and reduced build cost. Chrome and cohesion.
• NEW Pwhex file only for scn 44+45 super extended map, adds stacking limits with thanks to Jansako.

V3.0a
• V3.0a
• Correction to some J Submarine upgrade paths – Fix.
• Couple of modest changes to downgrade late war J CV and BB AA – Realism.
• Made NI K4 George CV version (CVB) only- Realism and play balance.
• Corrected Jill and Grace Naval attack loadouts – Fix.
• Two J ship class FP capacity revised/ corrected - Fix


https://gingerdragonltd-my.sharepoint.c ... ElBecC8cZg

Password Empire1941


So before the main announcement and upload...Some Japanese teasers - note very obsolete stuff has been a little modernised we assume before Dec 41. But we still have a big issue to work with quite an out of date force at the start ( on both sides) until late 42 when the tech accelerates.

[Cavalry Corp]

Tosa.jpg (147.05 KiB) Viewed 2272 times

[Cavalry Corp]

j8Screenshot 2024-04-17 220121.jpg (88.13 KiB) Viewed 2269 times

j7Screenshot 2024-04-17 220025.jpg (112.93 KiB) Viewed 2269 times

j6Screenshot 2024-04-17 215914.jpg (79.71 KiB) Viewed 2269 times

j5Screenshot 2024-04-17 215842.jpg (93.22 KiB) Viewed 2269 times

[Cavalry Corp]

TOSHIN.jpg (163.78 KiB) Viewed 2268 times

j12Screenshot 2024-04-17 223418.jpg (86.46 KiB) Viewed 2268 times

j11screenshot 2024-04-17 222711.jpg (86.29 KiB) Viewed 2268 times

j10Screenshot 2024-04-17 222818.jpg (84.51 KiB) Viewed 2268 times

[Cavalry Corp]

Will value those who look everything over and come back with suggestions there are bound to be tweaks to make

Allies next

[Cavalry Corp]

cutcScreenshot 2024-04-01 135444.jpg (109.3 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

CouraScreenshot 2024-04-01 134912.jpg (300.41 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

conScreenshot 2024-04-01 135152.jpg (90.47 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

arkScreenshot 2024-04-01 134949.jpg (141.06 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

[Cavalry Corp]

partsScreenshot 2024-04-01 135850.jpg (110.42 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

odinScreenshot 2024-04-01 135100.jpg (86.52 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

fftScreenshot 2024-04-01 135335.jpg (109.41 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

dutchScreenshot 2024-04-01 135536.jpg (105.79 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

[Cavalry Corp]

tbScreenshot 2024-04-01 135406.jpg (93.5 KiB) Viewed 2263 times

spitScreenshot 2024-04-01 135751.jpg (105.45 KiB) Viewed 2263 times

skuaScreenshot 2024-04-01 135018.jpg (109.35 KiB) Viewed 2263 times

[Cavalry Corp]

I just noticed ....One or two of these ships have been marginally tweaked for late 30s updates since I did these screens.

Cav

[RangerJoe]

That last carrier, the Hiryu-Kai class, doesn't appear to come with torpedo bombers . . .

[Cavalry Corp]

Ranger Thanks
Its just off the screen - note also has corrected class name after lead ship. These screens are touch out of date.
Note all CV planes (J) are now not identified to the ship that was very irritating at times.

Note by mid 44 Japan has upgrades moving to a much better 20mm AA and 40mm AA guns with the 25mm on the phase out. 5 inchers phased out in favour of the 3.9 inch, sooner in the war actually. But maybe it will be too late by then who knows.

cv.jpg (83.47 KiB) Viewed 2249 times

[btd64]

Looking great Michael. How many CV's are there at the beginning of the game for the Japanese? How many for the Allies?....GP

[Cavalry Corp]

J CV Air crew in KB 1+2 ( excluding S+Z) are very good ( and irreplaceable) Allied CV are good in their main CV , weaker in others, allied CV aircraft are older/inferior, I will load it all up later and I would really value input on what you like and don't like or dispute.

cv japan Screenshot 2024-05-28 194830.jpg (37.55 KiB) Viewed 2222 times

allied CV Screenshot 2024-05-28 194944.jpg (45.83 KiB) Viewed 2222 times

[Cavalry Corp]

Allied main CV go to 90 AC in Jan 42 for your info.

SAR Screenshot 2024-05-28 195640.jpg (92.21 KiB) Viewed 2219 times

[btd64]

I noticed that you lowered the CV aircraft capacity. Can you explain. This is done in RHS and personally I don't buy it. ....GP

[Cavalry Corp]

Goes to 90 1/42 - tiny update . they did carry 78 for a short while until they had deck parking and added hanging in hangers I read...BTW I did that myself did not know about in in RHS.

Remember everything is a bit slower at the start in this mod- there a slower things for Japan as well.... like no V2 of the Kate at the start and quite a few older planes too.

90 Screenshot 2024-05-28 200311.jpg (80.44 KiB) Viewed 2213 times

[RangerJoe]

Actually, I think that the increase in capacity reflected the folding wings starting on the F4F-4 and the Avengers. The same for the Japanese with the folding wing tips on the Zeros, it wasn't much for the Zeroes but it was enough. I think that a 0 day refit should take care of it if there is no other changes.

One way to lower the ridiculous cost of the IJ submarines is to lower their durability for the construction and then give them a 0 day refit to increase their durability once the construction is complete. There should be no reason why a submarine should be three times the cost of a destroyer.

[Cavalry Corp]

I did think about doing the guessing when the folding tips etc comes in and available in numbers for the carriers- but modified just a few ships like this. did consider for the KB but it would make the PH attack a bit more muted. we already have a reduced power TT (historical) on that already. so for now I reduced all the spare planes on KB to 0 as it will take some while for J to get going anyway - this mod is quite a lot slower at the very start.

Submarines... interesting concept and agree... let me think about that.

[btd64]

RJ, Makes sence. Thanks Michael....GP

[RangerJoe]

One more option for US submarines would be to have "upgrades" to the torpedoes. Not just the accuracy but also the explosive power as the explosive components in the warheads were changed. I am not sure how to handle the mix of the Mark 14s and the Mark 18 electric torpedoes.

As far as the other American torpedoes are concerned, it was found that the Mark 13 aerial torpedo actually performed better when it was dropped from a higher altitude, about 800 feet, since the torpedo nosed in instead of doing a "belly flop" type of entry which could damage or even destroy the torpedo. Maybe a better accuracy upgrade as well if that can be done to the aircraft.