Franco's Alliance and Strait Deal V1.4

[Lebatron]

Hi, I have decided to repost this here since most of the talk about Spain is here rather than in 'mods and scenarios' In this way my effort can get some exposure. If you'd like to make a comment on this, please post it on the other thread in 'mods.' Thanks.

Hi guys, Please take a look at my mod and let me know what you think.
Get it here http://www.savefile.com/files/7711804

Here's a copy of the readme.
Franco's alliance and Strait Deal V1.4 up to patch 1.040 compatible.
By Jesse LeBreton "Lebatron"
jesse_lebreton@yahoo.com

New to V1.4
1. Made Afghanistan a 2MP border that connects with Eastern Kazakhstan. Done to address an unfreeze exploit. Thanks to JanSorensen for pointing out the problem and suggesting the 2MP border. I made a new graphic file to support this change. Also modified to include a 2MP border at Western Himalayas and Western Kazakhstan as Joel Billings requested.
2. Caucasus now has a 2MP border facing the Black sea. As Joel Billings requested. The range is now 3 from Romania.
3. Corrected a map error. Movement from sea zone 191 to 353 is 2MP, but map shows it as 1MP. Installing my files will place the correct border there.
4. Removed garrison requirement at East Prussia and increased Western Poland¡¦s by one to balance out. Prevents another unfreeze exploit.
5. Moved 1 infantry from Czechoslovakia to Western Poland to meet the new garrison requirement.
6. Moved a resource in China. The capital now has 2.
7. Added 1 flak and 1 artillery to Bonin Islands.
End of new Changes.


INTRODUCTION:
My mod now contains two campaigns. The original called Strait Deal which beefed up Spain, and now Franco¡¦s alliance, which makes Spain a frozen ally of Germany. I have now combined the two readme files.
Strait Deal: The primary purpose of Strait Deal is to address these issues. The Spanish Gambit being to easy, the Japanese attack on Russia being to optimal, and the auto victory being to low. To achieve that, Spain has been beefed up, China has been made a little richer in resources to tempt the Japs, and the Axis auto victory has been raised to 75. There are secondary issues which I have addressed too. I will cover those below.
Franco¡¦s Alliance: I developed Franco¡¦s Alliance to allow the game to follow a more historic path. In this campaign Spain has been made a frozen ally of Germany. This stops the gamey march through Spain to close off the Med. But in other regards it has the same improvements that been added to Strait Deal.

INSTALLING:
There are 9 files with this mod that need to be placed in the \dat subfolder of WAW. Four of which are specific to each campaign. The scenario.txt file is common to both. In this way, at the startup screen you will see both campaigns listed.
Here are the files:
baseline_fa.txt
frozen_fa.txt
regions_fa.txt
scendat_fa.txt
baseline_sd.txt
frozen_sd.txt
regions_sd.txt
scendat_sd.txt
scenario.txt
Don't worry, they won't overwrite any originals except the scenario.txt one. You may want to make a backup of that one by renaming the original to "original_scenario.txt"

There are now 6 new files for the graphics I have done. I have included the originals too, so don¡¦t worry about overwriting the originals. Take all 12 tga files and place them into your \dat\art\map subfolder of WAW. That¡¦s all there is to it.

WHATS CHANGED:
Here is the list of changes I made to the original game. Some ideas are borrowed from others. So I give credit when it¡¦s due. I have done some consolidating to the readme. Between the two campaigns only the first item is different.

What¡¦s unique to Franco¡¦s Alliance:
1: Spain gains 1 artillery and is now a frozen ally of Germany, much like Finland. She will unfreeze IF Gibraltar, England, or Moscow falls. If the WA¡¦s attack Portugal, or any of Spain¡¦s territories that will make her unfreeze also. Reason: In this campaign, I wanted to give players the option to play a more historical WWII. There is no longer a need to house rule it to protect Gibraltar. Spain will stay neutral until certain conditions are met, and they are hard to meet. Gibraltar will not be given up without a hard fight, since in addition to the normal drawbacks to losing it, the Spanish join the Axis. As far as Moscow goes, now I think the Germans have a little more incentive to push for it rather than looking elsewhere in Russia. I have also made the Canary Islands true neutral just like the Azores, but for different reasons. These Islands were causing an interdiction point when they were made into a German ally. That had to change. But I could do nothing about the few extra interdiction points the WA¡¦s get from Spain when they pass through Gibraltar. To solve this, just duck into the Port of Gibraltar and back out, and you¡¦ll avoid those extra interdiction points.

What¡¦s unique to Strait Deal:
1: Spain gains 3 infantry, 2 artillery, and population increased to 4. Reason: to no longer make it a no-brainer to take Spain. It¡¦s now a harder option to win with. Keep in mind, this mod is not about removing the Spanish Gambit, it¡¦s about finding the right balance. It¡¦s still possible to take in summer 1940(turn 2), but it isn't going to be easy, and sometimes fails. Pretend the mountains and the WA¡¦s are aiding Spain in their defense, then the extra forces are believable. It may seem gamey to some, but it does what is needed to stop the even more gamey summer 1940 invasion of Spain nearly every game. The conquest of Spain, if it¡¦s even attempted at all, will likely be delayed a turn or two.

What¡¦s common to both:
2: Portugal gains 3 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 flak, and population increased to 1. Reason: so the WA's don't get a free pass to the mainland if Gibraltar has fallen. Since Portugal can now defend itself against a small invasion, perhaps the allied player will leave Spain and Portugal alone if Germany has done the same. Now that Portugal has troops, other issues needed to be addressed. The population was increased to 1 because it just makes sense. I also removed the Portuguese nationality from the Azores. They are now true neutral territory. This was done so Germany does not actually gain Portugal itself if the Azores are taken by the WA's. If the allies continue their aggression and decide landing at Portugal is their best move, then they will have to pay 10 supply again. Also those territories in lower Africa stay Portuguese if only the Azores are taken. This is better than everything Portuguese turning German just because the allies borrow the Azores for an air base. Historically the allies got to use them islands when some political pressure or bribery was used. That's the 10 supply you pay to use the Azores. There's no need for Portugal to turn Axis because of that.

3: Gibraltar and Malta no longer have rough terrain, and Gibraltar gains rail. Reason: If Germany goes all out to conquer Gibraltar, then they should be able to strategically redeploy to and from Gibraltar as needed. Since the Spanish Gambit is either harder or not available depending on the campaign played, the sea invasion should be made a little easier. That's why I removed the rough terrain. Same reasoning for Malta. The WA can still hold them if they are determined to. Oleg's idea. Thanks.

4: Norway now has 2 resources. Removed 1 from Sweden. Reason: Done to encourage German invasion of Norway and perhaps deter taking Sweden a little. Sveint's idea. Thanks.

5: Added 1 tactical air in West Germany and removed 1 fighter in Finland. Reason: Germany just needs more Stukas. And Finland just didn't have that much airpower. Trade one for the other. Balance not changed much. Oleg's idea. Thanks.

6: Finland unfreezes when Leningrad OR Kalinin are attacked. Reason: Taking Leningrad was an unreasonable requirement. The Finns now join when the Germans show some muscle up north.

7: Hungary gains a factory, 1 pop, and can now make militia. Reason: Hungary contributed. Germany may need a few extra militia down the road because things are going to be much hotter in the Mediterranean. Also, it¡¦s just kind of neat to see all the flag slots on the production screen filled. Isn't it? Oleg's idea. Thanks.

8: China gains 3 resources. Most regions of China now have 1 resource. The capital now has two to make the victory sweeter. Reason: to find a balance that will make it a split decision for the Japanese, between a China/India campaign, or a Russian one. In this way more options are available to the Japanese Player. I didn¡¦t make this change because I believe Japan shouldn¡¦t attack Russia, because I know it was a historic possibility. What I want to do is make it so that it¡¦s just one way to win, but not THE way to win. Perhaps in real life, attacking Russia would have been their best strategy. But do you want to see the same strategy play out every game because it¡¦s the optimal way to win? No, I don¡¦t think you would. To be fun, WAW needs many different ways to win, even if certain areas need to be made richer. Some realism needs to take a back seat to achieve this. So what I did was give China more resources to encourage Japan to look to China rather than invading Russia. This does not make China any harder to conquer, but will at least make it more worth while for Japan. The new resources also end the silly and gamey Jap avoidance of certain Chinese territories with no value.

9: Fixed a bug. Gulf of Mexico and Greater Antilles now connect.

10: Fixed another bug. I made two new files to show a double border between sea zone 191 and 353.

11: Fixed an exploit that I believe breaks the game IMHO. That being, the WA¡¦s invasion of East Prussia to unfreeze the Soviets early. It¡¦s unrealistic to think that just because the British take the fight a little more east and gain some German soil temporarily, that Stalin would break his pact with Hitler. I think at this early point in the war it would have been more likely to see the Soviets help the Germans. After all, Stalin would not wish to see the British liberate Poland. This attack would have further cemented German-Soviet relations. But in the game this exploit does the opposite. So what I have done is remove the garrison requirement from East Prussia and bumped Poland¡¦s up by one. Also moved and infantry from Czech to Poland to satisfy the requirement. Now the British landing in Prussia will do nothing but get them killed.
The WA's are still free to take out the Denmark garrison, move into the Baltic, fight the German fleet, and land in Prussia. That option is still available, the question is, should it be checkmate? That move shouldn¡¦t be that powerful. It should not be some magic key that unlocks the Soviets.
Once again, let¡¦s revisit this what-if. But let¡¦s call it by a more realistic name. Say ¡§Operation Liberation Poland.¡¨ After all, would that not be the British objective if they established a bridgehead in Prussia? Let¡¦s forget about the illogic of liberating Poland before France for a second. The allied liberation of Poland is underway. Do you think that Stalin would side with the allies and just hand back the half of Poland he just acquired. No way in Hell. At this early stage in the war, Stalin and Hitler were pseudo allies. This allied attempt to liberate Poland would have resulted in a partnership between Germany and Russia to throw out the allies, ending any future hope that the Russians would join the allies, unless Hitler betrayed them down the road.
In summary the destruction of the garrison at Prussia creates an event that is the total opposite of what would have happened and should be corrected.

12: Fixed another exploit that breaks the game IMHO. Once again, the British have found another exploit. Them bastards;) This one unfreezes the US early. The designers have put an impassable wall around the Pacific Rim for a reason. To keep Japan in, and Britain out, until the Japs decide to make war. But the British have a way in! If they capture Afghanistan and place a bomber there, they may have the range to bomb the Japs. For instance, let¡¦s say the Japs just took the Chinese capital. If the British have a bomber in Afghanistan with range 5(not hard to get), they can hit the Japs and instantly unfreeze the US. Then the US can go on a rampage around the Pacific totally hitting the Japs off guard. To have any hope of balance, Japan needs to have the surprise attack. Instead with this exploit, it¡¦s the US who gets it. That¡¦s not coolƒ¼.
So what I did to deter the WA¡¦s player from using this exploit is made the border between Afghanistan and Eastern Kazakhstan 2MP. It reduces the range a British bomber can travel. Thus making it less likely the WA player would even occupy and place a bomber in Afghanistan. To do what I explained above, the British would need to research to range 6. Probably not worth it and by that time it probably won¡¦t matter. I made three files that patch the map to show a 2MP border there. Install using the instructions above.
Thanks to JanSorensen for pointing out the problem and suggesting the 2MP border.

13. Caucasus now has a 2MP border facing the Black Sea. It will now require a range of 3 to reach it from Romania. Reason: to reduce the amount of airpower Germany can bring to bear. Players have demonstrated that it¡¦s possible to capture Caucasus with a Paradrop. This change now makes that much harder. I made a file that places a double border along the Caucasus coast. Joel Billings requested this one. Thanks big guyƒº

14. I added 1 flak and 1 artillery to the Bonin Islands. Reason: since they are on the front line of defense I thought it odd they should not be garrisoned as well as the others. So I gave them the same setup as the other strategically important Islands.

15: Scenario.txt file changed to add both my mods. Plus, removed the tutorials to clean up the start page. I don't really think people who are advanced enough to try a mod really need their tutorials anymore. I also put the code for Raw Deal and the 1939 mod in there so you can use those mods too, if you like. Just remove the "//" in front of the code for those mods if you get them.

EXTRAS:
A: If you'd like to have zoom levels that go out, rather than in, put this code into your art.txt file. Place next to original code that is located 70% down the list. Put // in front of all original code to bleep it out.

// zooms for the game
MAP_ZOOM,4800,3000,2000

// chip scaling by zoom
CHIP_SCALE,3000,1700,1500

// Y ofsets by zoom
ICON_Y_OFFSET,25,25,25

You could also use 4000 in place of 4800. That¡¦s the furthest out you can set it and still have all the onscreen info.
At 4800 the icon offset was originally at 35. But I think 25 works better because it places the ships closer together. Also air sits a little closer to land units. I think you'll like the tighter look better. Try both 25 and 35 to see for yourself.

B: If you are tired of hitting escape 3 times to get to the game, go into the video folder and look for the 3 intro videos. Rename these, and they will no longer harass you. Example: XXX2by3intro.wmv

[Autoset]

Lebatron,
Great effort. I think it is an improvement. I only have a few reservations:

1. Gibralta should have rough terrain!!! OMG! Have you seen pictures of Gibralta? It was a fortress and then some. I'm fine with reducing Malta, but I still prefer the original rules.

2. As far as your change number 6 is concerned, I think GG got the Finn participation correct re: Leningrad. The Finns were fairly static during the war. (Sources confirm Finland's reluctance to pressure the Soviets to any great degree with major offensive operations, especially against Leningrad. See Murray/Millet's "A War to Be Won" for example.) However, if the Germans go beyond Leningrad to Kalinin, I think you have a point.

3. If you give Hungary a factory, please take one away from Romania!!! Strongly disagree with GG that Romania had such a strong industrial capacity. Resources, yes, factories??? No!!!

4. Don't think China needs any resource improvement. Too ahistorical. Also, the only reason (it seems) Japan attacks China, as it stands, is to go for the AV. Now that will be easier.

5. Give Portugal one INF, if you must. That will be closer to historic (they did have an army but it was more like a crappy militia.) I know you want to make it tough for the Allies to invade Europe, but by the time the Allies want to invade, they will have 20+ transports and three to six AC ready to invade. Three INF, an ART and a AA won't do squat. (Besides -- and this is a question -- won't Spain unfreeze if Portugal is attacked?)

Good job.

-Autoset

[Lebatron]

Hi Autoset,
Thanks for the comments. That’s what I want to see, some constructive criticism. I got a favor to ask, could you repost your comments under my thread in the 'mods and scenarios' section. The reason I request that, is so that the comments from everyone stay in one place. I put this mod info under the general category so it gets some exposure. Would you have read it, if it was just in mods and scenarios? Anyway thanks again, I will respond to you concerns over there.

[Lebatron]

Hi Guys,
I have just updated Franco's Alliance to V1.1 It now has map fixes that will be in the next officail patch. But why wait a month[:)]Read whats new in the readme above. Also you can see the map fixes over in the mods section. I have the pics posted there.

[Lebatron]

Hi Guys,
I just made a small update. It’s only 2 changes that really have nothing to do with how the game plays. First, I finished the last of the border work on Afghanistan, and second I combined the two readme files into one. Functionally the borders at Afghan were working properly in V1.3, I just did not have all the cosmetic fixes in that release. The pic below shows the new border I added. Now its complete. In my new readme I decided to drop the separate version numbers for the two mods. When Franco's Alliance was made, I was at V1.2 for Strait Deal, but decided to name Franco V1.0 since that was really its first release. Shortly after, I went to 1.3 and 1.1 respectively. I want to end any possible confusion, so Franco's Alliance and Strait Deal are now the same version number. Installing 1.4 over 1.3 will do nothing to existing games so I would suggest go ahead and get the update.

Now that I have a combined readme it will no longer be necessary to maintain two separate posts for my mods. So I'm going to delete the other thread.

If you'd like to make a comment please respond here: Franco's Alliance and Strait Deal

[BigSnig]

Hi Lebatron,

It's obvious you put a lot of thought into trying to make this a better game and I appreciate your effort.

At this tme (still new to the game) I would be interested in using only those mods that change border movement costs.

Perhaps you could reorganize how you present your mods into several subsets so that players could use some and not others.

This may seem redundant to you sophisticated programmer types, but to us computer illiterates it is intimidating to look at a lot of files and try to figure out which ones we want.

I am thinking that you could provide a heading and a subset of files. Eg,

Border changes
file x
file y
file z
Border change to defeat Bmb Japan trigger
file y
Border change at Black Sea
file z
Defeat Prussia trigger
file m

Thanks again for sharing your work with us.

BigSnig

[Lebatron]

I think I get what your trying to say. But you got to use all the files together. Its a package that will only work when all files are placed into the right directories. If you left one out it would break the function of the others. Since you mentioned border changes I'll use that as an example. For instance that afghan border fix is not just contained in one file. I believe at least 4 separate files had to be modded for that one. And if you wanted that fix your going to get the Caucasus fix with it since they can't be separated. I have two campaigns and my custom files are linked to them in group files. If you wanted just the Afghan border fix and thats all, I would have to make a separate campaign just for that. So to do as you ask, where you can pick just one new feature would require over a dozen separate campaigns. I don't really think that would make sense to promote my mod in that manner. Think of it as a theme. All the parts fit together as I intended.

If you'd like to make a comment please respond here: Franco's Alliance and Strait Deal