Strategic Bomber Range

[petedalby]

In my current game, I have Long Range Level 5 but my Strategic Bombers only appear to have a bombing range of 18 hexes rather than 23 as previously. Did I miss a change that reduced their bonus to just 2 hexes per LR level rather than 3?

The Guide still states 3. Challenge ID is 501127 if required.

Thanks.

[BillRunacre]

Yes, this was changed with the release of v1.20.00:

- The Strike Range of Strategic Bombers and the Escort Range of Fighters will now rise by 2 per level of Long Range Aircraft research.

[petedalby]

Great - thanks Bill. Probably a bit more realistic.

[petedalby]

This is the Steam Update page:

Picture 3.png (317.3 KiB) Viewed 149 times

Any idea where I can find a summary for v1.20.00 please?

[LoneRunner]

Hey Pete, I found details of the 1.20.00 update in the WaW Steam discussions dated June 29, 2025 authored by Death. Here they are:

SC WWII: WaW - Update v1.20.00
Hi everyone,

we've just released a new update for the game, with a lot of balancing tweaks and bug fixes, here is the changelog:

GAME ENGINE
Fixed a SURRENDER_2 error that did not properly fire FREE_UNIT events (Lothos).
Fixed a resource strength display error when using the 'Show Upgradeable Units/Resources' option for ports that have the possibility of Naval Construction being applied (Mithrilotter).
Fixed a 'range' determination error for range checks at sea that did not properly take into some rare coastal formations (Bill R.).
Fixed an in game interface crash when navigating from the Production screen to the Purchase screen during a specific mouse click sequence (El Condoro).
Fixed a unit attrition loss error when units have been set to no action points, e.g. no attrition was calculated for these unit types such as pill boxes (gigiduru).
Fixed an issue with the PBEM autosave saving right after your opponents replay, and increased the time slightly between autosaves as well (MJY).
Fixed an issue where an Engineer that was preparing a fortification, that then Operated to protect a capital, did not lose its fortification preparation status (FOARP).
Fixed capital transfer issue (Zuxius).
Fixed a movement path calculation error when mulitple high penalty zones of control are in play (MrOrange).
Fixed a VICTORY screen issue when the message was too long to fit (rhaltigan).
Fixed a max zoom refresh error when switching from scenarios to a main campaign and vice versa (abchambe).
Fixed a SAVE GAME screen issue where selecting the second page of saves would overwrite the the potential save 'file name' with the first selection on the second screen (achambe).
Fixed a Motor Torpedo Boat reinforcement error that allowed it to reinforce > 5 at understrength ports (Tigertony).
Added a SCORECARD which can be accessed using the 'L' key to view the campaign summaries. The scorecard will also appear after the VICTORY screen at the end of a game.
Added ultra widescreen support for 21:9 and 32:9 resolutions such as 3840x1440 and 5120x1440.
Coastal Guns will now exert a zone of control not only on land hexes, but over sea hexes as well (Elessar2).
HQs with the highest rating will try and attach to the most units possible superceding other HQs when in 'Auto' (Mithrilotter).
Subs in Silent mode no longer spot along their movement path, only their from their final moved to position.
Partisans no longer suffer any possible attrition as their minimum supply should always be >= 3 (Mithrilotter).
Turn counter added as a tool tip highlight if you mouse hover over the in game date in the upper right hand corner (Simicro).
Victory scripts connected to dummy Decision events set to Type= 2 should now fire as intended (Mithrilotter).
Paratroops can no longer prepare if they have 0 action points.
Amphibious Transports can no longer unload from a neutral sea coastal hex.
Interceptors that receive attacks from an escort will no longer suffer morale loss from the attacking Escort, e.g. even if Fighters are set to inflict morale losses on defenders (Lothos).
Abandoned port control with an adjacent enemy unit will flip to enemy control at the end of your turn, e.g. previously it would flip end of the follow up enemy turn (Mithrilotter).
Defending Carriers that already start at 0 strength for their aircraft wing will no longer report 'shattered' when attacked, e.g. if they were to take further damage to their aircraft wing (rjh1971).
AI planning and organization optimized/fixed for OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE, TRANSPORT and AMPHIBIOUS TRANSPORT plans.
AI Maritime Bombers now fly recon missions at sea if they do not have a visible target to engage (Mithrilotter).
AI Kamikazes no longer target subs.
AI Kamikazes and Maritime Bombers will now try and stay within 3 hexes of the coastline.
AI Kamikazes and Maritime Bombers will now do a better job of moving towards and focusing on naval targets if applicable.
AI Carriers will no longer prioritize subs in first strike attacks, but may target a sub if it has been already attacked by other units or if it can be potentially destroyed.
AI Subs in Silent mode will no longer be affected by enemy naval unit Zone of Control.
AI naval units that pass through enemy units and take damage will now temporarily reveal itself when taking damage (Mithrilotter).
AI air and naval will no longer attack/prioritize empty enemy resources on the very first turn of the game unless it is a mine or oil resource.
AI air and naval units will be much less likely to attack an enemy resource unless the attacking unit has a resource attack value > 0.
AI Destroyers and Motor Torpedo Boats should no longer attempt to shore bombard land units (Mithrilotter).
Airfields can now be set as an ADVANCED campaign option where air units can only operate to and from AIRFIELD or adjacent to AIRFIELD hexes.
Airfields provide supply to both land and air units.
Air units can operate to airfields even if the 'Airfields' option is not selected.
OFFENSIVE, AMPHIBIOUS and AMPHIBIOUS MINOR events can now all be scripted to target airfields.
UNIT scripts can now be set to deploy units at airfields, e.g. the same as cities, capitals etc.
Production/Deployment Queue now includes 'Airfields' as destinations for air units.

EDITOR
UNIT script #FULL_RESEARCH= 0 or 1 line can now also contain the optional line #FULL_RESEARCH= x.x.x where each 'x' represents the desired research level the unit is to arrive with, e.g. #FULL_RESEARCH= 2.3.4
FLEET, AMPHIBIOUS, AMPHIBIOUS_MINOR, TRANSPORT, TRANSPORT_MINOR plans all now support the use of [<] and <unit_id, unit_id,...> for #ACTIVATION_POSITION. See the header notes for each script type for more information
Fixed a Diplomacy 'Apply Data' error that did not properly set itself to the currently selected country (Lothos).
All AI scripts that have an #ACTIVATE_POSITION field, now make use of [<] as well as <unit_id, ...>. See Templates\AI for more details in the NOTES section of the header of the applicable files.
All AI scripts can now have an optional #ALIGNMENT_POSITION field added. See Templates\Events for more details in the NOTES section of the header of of the applicable files.
Added new functionality for any EVENT script that uses the #CONDITION_POSITION field, e.g. the use of [<] as well as <unit_id, ...>. See Templates\Events for more details in the NOTES section of the header of the applicable files.
MOBILIZATION_1 and MOBILIZATION_4 events have added functionality for the #CONDITION field, see the applicable Templates\Events files for more details in the NOTES section of the header for these files.
Enabled the options to edit the Resource attack/defence research upgrade increments for Fighters (Lothos).

All Campaigns
Fighters Bomber and Strategic Bomber defence upgrades with Advanced Fighters increased from 0.5 to 1 per level.
AA upgrades on AA units now increase their factors by 1 rather than 1.5 per level.
Airships and Maritime Bombers Naval Spotting now only increases by 1 per level of Long Range.
Fighters no longer have land spotting increases with long range air.
The Strike Range of Strategic Bombers and the Escort Range of Fighters will now rise by 2 per level of Long Range Aircraft research.
Increased the effect of Naval Zones of Control and also moved Subs to being a Support Unit so that only 2 Subs together will exert a Zone of Control (redrum68).
Increased all surface vessels retreat range apart from MTBs to 4 hexes, and increased the chance of both types of Carrier retreating to 100%. All types of transport now also have higher retreat chances and distances.
Reduced the cost of Soviet Advanced Fighters research from 175 to 150 MPPs (OldCrowBalthazor).
Heavy Bomber research is now capped at 1 chit.
Strategic Bombers base resource attack values decreased by 1.
There are now 6 convoy scripts leading from the Dutch East Indies to Japan (JJRambo).
Two new Mines added in the Urals, while the US Mines at 17,52 and 20,50 have been removed (MoongazerSlitherineSSL).
Japanese Bomber Supply scripts can now only be triggered by the presence of Medium, Strategic and Maritime Bombers (EQFL_Sapare).
Removed all Allied Variable Conditions from the Volkssturm and Volksgrenadier Decisions 619 and 620 (petedalby; HarrySmith).
Diplomacy to the Dutch East Indies is now restricted to a maximum of 1 chit for Japan. No other Major can invest in the country, nor can any country apart from Japan declare war on it (JJRambo).
Removed Croatia s access to the sea to make things consistent with WWII: War in Europe (Lone_Shadow).
Removed unnecessary Image and Sound entries from the POP UP scripts Info To Japan on how to Impede US Supplies to the USSR via Persia (Map Info).
Added the line #1219= Ritchie to the French, Spanish and German text files (bertram3).

Both 1939 Campaigns
Fixed the ability for Soviet Shock Armies to be able to upgrade with 1 level of mobility.
Panama s Garrison will now only deploy if Axis Amphibious Transports come within landing range (JJRambo).
If a neutral US places units near Vladivostok then this will reduce their pro-Allied Mobilization as they are beyond the Pan American Security Zone (petedalby).
USA s starting MPPs increased from 35 to 50.
Italian mobilisation in response to Allied invasion now also provides them with an AA unit at Naples, while their National Morale boost has been increased from 2,000 to 3,500 points and the earliest the Western Defence Force can deploy in Egypt has been changed from the 1st January 1940 to the 1st May 1940. Finally, Spain s mobilization should the Allies prepare to invade Italy has increased from 5-7% to 10-25%, and the US s from 5-7% to 5-15% (havoc1371).
Japan s Decisions 808 and 809 to occupy Indochina will now fire at the start of the turn (EQFL_Sapare).
The presence of more than 12 Axis units within 6 hexes of Bac u now increases Soviet Mobilization in the same way that having more than 18 units within 10 hexes of Warsaw does (OldCrowBalthazor; papa bear).
Reworked the triggering of the Soviet Winter event hitting Axis forces in the USSR so that its occurring will be less predictable (MoongazerSlitherineSSL; redrum68).

[LoneRunner]

The v1.20 update includes some major changes that I wasn't aware of, for example:

o Subs in silent mode no longer spot along their movement path. Only on their final destination. Ouch, my subs were finding nada except destroyers. Now I know why.
o Partisans no longer suffer attrition. Good, now my Russian partisans can run into the middle of the swamp.
p Upgraded AA units aren't nearly as powerful. Good, bombing Germany was getting pretty difficult.

Some of the updates are unclear. For example:
o "Fighters Bomber and Strategic Bomber defense upgrades with Advanced Fighters increased from 0.5 to 1 per level." Does that mean that both fighters and bombers defense increases 1 per level or just fighters?
o "Fighters no longer have land spotting increases with long range air." Does that mean fighters no longer spot land units?
o Triggering of Soviet Winter event will be less predictable. Does that mean the event could occur in the second year or third year?

[Umeu]

The v1.20 update includes some major changes that I wasn't aware of, for example:

o Subs in silent mode no longer spot along their movement path. Only on their final destination. Ouch, my subs were finding nada except destroyers. Now I know why.

I think that's a buff to subs. You can now go silent mode and dive behind the blockade of non-destroyer ships without getting stopped. It's very useful when finishing off carriers, since other ships will get stopped by the ZoC.

o Triggering of Soviet Winter event will be less predictable. Does that mean the event could occur in the second year or third year?

In my experience it still just mostly triggers in January or February. Usually at the end of the first 1942 Russian turn, but sometimes at the end of first German turn in 1942.

[petedalby]

Hey Pete, I found details of the 1.20.00 update in the WaW Steam discussions dated June 29, 2025 authored by Death. Here they are:

Great work - thanks Bill! Not sure how I missed this.

But does that mean that Maritime Bombers now have a longer range than Strat Bombers? If so, doesn't seem quite right?

[LoneRunner]

o Triggering of Soviet Winter event will be less predictable. Does that mean the event could occur in the second year or third year?

In my experience it still just mostly triggers in January or February. Usually at the end of the first 1942 Russian turn, but sometimes at the end of first German turn in 1942.

Thanks for the explanation Umeu. Yes, making the trigger of the Soviet Winter event unpredictable is a great improvement. Running high value units out of Russia to avoid the event always felt gamey. However, IMO the event must happen the first winter otherwise Russia would be too vulnerable to a quick conquest.

I'd recommend that odds of the event occurring be 50% the first month of winter, 75% the next month, and 100% the third month. That way if the Axis runs units out of Russia, there's a chance that those units are sitting in limbo for the entire winter but the event will definitely take place the first year.

[Umeu]

In my experience it still just mostly triggers in January or February. Usually at the end of the first 1942 Russian turn, but sometimes at the end of first German turn in 1942.

Thanks for the explanation Umeu. Yes, making the trigger of the Soviet Winter event unpredictable is a great improvement. Running high value units out of Russia to avoid the event always felt gamey. However, IMO the event must happen the first winter otherwise Russia would be too vulnerable to a quick conquest.

I'd recommend that odds of the event occurring be 50% the first month of winter, 75% the next month, and 100% the third month. That way if the Axis runs units out of Russia, there's a chance that those units are sitting in limbo for the entire winter but the event will definitely take place the first year.

I meant that it’s not really unpredictable now, and most players retreat their valuable units.

Your solution doesn’t even help that much I think, since I generally don’t move my units back until april or may. Since mud. The problem is that generally, even despite the morale loss, ussr can’t really do a winter offensive

[BillRunacre]

Hey Pete, I found details of the 1.20.00 update in the WaW Steam discussions dated June 29, 2025 authored by Death. Here they are:

Great work - thanks Bill! Not sure how I missed this.

But does that mean that Maritime Bombers now have a longer range than Strat Bombers? If so, doesn't seem quite right?

Maritime Bombers generally did have a longer range, and they lack the devastating punch of Strategic Bombers. The issue was (if I recall correctly) that the potentially extreme long range of SBs made them a bit overpowered.

[BillRunacre]

I meant that it’s not really unpredictable now, and most players retreat their valuable units.

I see no way in which players can now predict this since we changed how it works in v1.20.00, except on the basis of "it hasn't happened yet, so it will likely happen next turn". Unless I am missing something?

[Umeu]

I meant that it’s not really unpredictable now, and most players retreat their valuable units.

I see no way in which players can now predict this since we changed how it works in v1.20.00, except on the basis of "it hasn't happened yet, so it will likely happen next turn". Unless I am missing something?

I’m not sure exactly what you changed. Maybe it’s not working as you intend. But in my experience, 3/4 games it’ll happen in January 1942. Otherwise it’s likely in February. I know it’s possible for it to happen later, but I haven’t seen it. And based on how other people play axis, I’m quite sure their experience is similar as many people successfully retreat key units.

But moreover, I don’t really see it as a very big impediment to Germany anyway, since they make their biggest progress in 42. And I’m usually quite happy if Russia defends forward, as I can do damage while not having to operate out as many units. If they defend further back, not only do I have to operate out more units, but I also can’t inflict damage on Russia to the same degree.

[BillRunacre]

I’m not sure exactly what you changed. Maybe it’s not working as you intend. But in my experience, 3/4 games it’ll happen in January 1942. Otherwise it’s likely in February. I know it’s possible for it to happen later, but I haven’t seen it. And based on how other people play axis, I’m quite sure their experience is similar as many people successfully retreat key units.

If the conditions are met, then the chances of it happening in December, January, or February are the same.

[Umeu]

I’m not sure exactly what you changed. Maybe it’s not working as you intend. But in my experience, 3/4 games it’ll happen in January 1942. Otherwise it’s likely in February. I know it’s possible for it to happen later, but I haven’t seen it. And based on how other people play axis, I’m quite sure their experience is similar as many people successfully retreat key units.

If the conditions are met, then the chances of it happening in December, January, or February are the same.

ok, I guess that tracks then, maybe it's been my luck, but usually I see it happen at the end of the Allied turn in 1941 December, so the Germans see the effects of it in January 1942. But I mean, regardless of there being a window, effectively all you need to know is that you must evacuate all units at the latest by the Axis last December turn, and you can safely send units back after it happens, or if it hasn't happened, you can come back in March. There's no risk for the Axis to withdraw their units. Since, if well managed, the soviet counter attack will not be able to even kill a corps. Good players will disengage from the soviet line and keep cheap units on the front. Even if the soviets attack, then you just rail in your strong units to deal with it. If I'm playing the allies myself, I don't even bother with counter attacking the weakened Germans in winter, it's never worth it. All you do is lose cohesion of your lines and screw yourself over for spring.

I don't think it's that much of a problem though, whatever system you device, I think the MP players will find a way to work around it