A Road to War

[ernieschwitz]

A Road to War is the name of the patch for the Global Domination patch made especially for the Phoenix Updates. This will bring it up to patch 109f. The scenario is available here (https://www.vrdesigns.net/scenario.php?nr=280)

SC Road to War.jpg (48.36 KiB) Viewed 1482 times

A list of all changes ever made is in the changelog in the following document (that can be downloaded from my dropbox):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bokpt5y8flvr ... b.pdf?dl=0

It also contains some guides that will help you play the game better, and a description of some of the features that are now available, that previously were not.

This file is in addition to the Manual (made for the first version, so things can have changed):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3eunmcjran5rk ... a.pdf?dl=0

And to the list of equipment and how to get it (made for 1.05, but not much has changed):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fy58ij25vv0yd ... 5.pdf?dl=0

Below I will show with graphics from the Updates & Guides a list of the main differences between the other versions, and bugfixes.

[ernieschwitz]

First some bugfixes:

SC Bugfixes.jpg (139.62 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

The a list of the New Equipment updates and availabilities:

SC New Equip.jpg (123.63 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

A list of some OOB and map changes:

SC MAP OOB.jpg (37.57 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

[ernieschwitz]

(continued)

A (long) list of other changes:

SC Other Changes.jpg (455.15 KiB) Viewed 1484 times

[ernieschwitz]

And lastly a list of the changes to the officer system:

SC Officer Redone.jpg (125.42 KiB) Viewed 1483 times

[lion_of_judah]

Ha, you have been working on something... Awesome!

[ernieschwitz]

A few people requested that each individual formation of the infantry type, had different pictures, for each nation. That is one for German Rifle I, British Rifle I, German Rifle II, etc. This of course had to apply to all major nations (there are 8). That's a load of extra pictures. I decided to grant the wish however, for most kinds of formations. Here are the individual pictures, that I used:

New Pics.jpg (603.23 KiB) Viewed 1431 times

[lion_of_judah]

awesome!

[ernieschwitz]

As mentioned in the above there are some officer changes. I figured that you might want a look at what an officers different elements are:

Bio with descriptions.jpg (79.26 KiB) Viewed 1389 times

This officer description actually contains four elements. The first element, that will be the same no matter what are the simple bio pieces. That is full name and service branch.

The second and third element are the level (which updates when a new level is achieved), and the third element is list of Extra Abilities (if any are present). In this case the officer in question is "Gifted", more on that in a later post.

The fourth element is a bio. It contains a birth date (month and year) and a (mostly) short bio. The bio is on purpose made so it doesn't mention events that happened later than january 1938. That is when the game begins, and it was felt that it would be wrong to have an officer already painted into a box, when so much more could happen to him!

[Khanti]

Brilliant work. And it works actually although need better PC than standard AT
Anyway I want to ask (barbaric) questions:
- what AI can not do in this mod?
- is it possible for AI to use cards (city anexes)
- is it possible for AI to use diplomacy game?
I tried it with AI (a hour waiting for running a turn on my PC) and it looks normal. AI is fighting Japan-China war.

[ernieschwitz]

Hi Khanti,

Thank you very much! and yeah, it does need quite a bit of patience if your PC is not quite modern enough.

As for the questions:

The AI does not understand the concept of Alliances. It simply does not consider hexes owned by an Ally to be under another powers protection. It does not understand that it is not meant to not declare war on those allies. So already there you have a problem.

The AI, like you guessed I assume, does not use cards. If you want it to use cards, you have to program it to do that, and when. The last part is the hardest one to do. This also means it does not understand the system of diplomacy that is used, unfortunately. I have yet to find any way to determine how to make it "think" what to choose, and when. I probably won't either, as the code is already quite expansive. More than 15.000 lines of code for sure...

The AI does not grasp the Strategic Researches either. This means it won't research things like Superior Doctrines, which gives it quite a boost to it's combat skill. It does not increase its economic potential either. This means you can probably dwarf it relatively fast by betting on doing just that.

I am not even sure to what degree it understands the ordinary researches. This is because most of the equipment and vehicles do not upgrade to the "next version". This is because it simply in many cases does not make sense, as the chassis and turrets might be quite a leap forward. Take USSR for instance, the BT-7M would upgrade to the T-34 model 1940.

I guess for a short introduction to the game, the AI will be good to learn how to fight and the early equipment and vehicles.

If you want to try non-AI games, we are some that play gathered on a Slack. You can join if you want. Just PM me, and I'll give you a link to join up

[Khanti]

Ernie: it was peaceful game because I forgot to activate possibility for AI to declare war. I really enjoyed that calm time
Now things get spicy. I did not know that "threating" Czechs can provoke war
Still learning this mod.

So basically if I do not use advantages of "strategy" cards (Superior Doctrines) and do not abuse annexes - this could be even game?

[ernieschwitz]

Not sure. I have very little experience with AIs and this mod, not to say none.

There are quirks that might happen. Like USA declaring war on France, once becoming active, ...

[Khanti]

I'm doing my test road with AI.
Round number 17. 3 April 1939.
Naval AI - still bad. Attacking port with ships - in can, but shore bombardment - it can not. Landing troops are doing invasions into cities (Kiel is main target for Anglo-French).

Manpower. Raport says it is 4 weeks gains. I thought it is 1 week report (every turn). Hmm

Game progress.
Playing as Germany.
Austria, Rumunia, Hungary joined. Czechs are conquered. France/Britain at war with Germany.
They attacked my sub fleet in port and destroyed it. Then they parked near Kiel. I'm building torpedo bombers.
French are attacking around Maginot. I bombard them from artillery and air.
Trying to convice Benelux to join Germany.
Still lobbying USA, but as only one human country - I will not succeed. If there are 3 human Axis vs. 2 Allied - there could be a chance (never had a chance to test it).
I've built many PP and have 2 complexes. With Czech/Romanian centres - Germany have enough fuel for full air war.

[ernieschwitz]

If you notice the dates, they are 4 weeks apart. There are 13 turns before it takes a year to go by. So it is not weekly turns

The AI is just as smart (so not very) with it's naval AI units as in a stock game. Speaking of ships, I don't think the AI understands the concept of Hulls for it's battleships and carriers. It may choose simply not to build them. The AI doesn't lobby. It is a card, remember. They don't play those. I also forgot that the AI does not build complexes or shipyards. That part I have not enabled. It also requires some coding to work.