Fall Weiss II - WIE 14.0 - (Ready for Download)

[crispy131313]

Version 5.01 has been uploaded

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r127slgt228zl ... 1.zip?dl=0

[crispy131313]

Does anyone have any comments/feedback on the balance, and changes they would like to see? Always open to suggestions.

[Magpius]

Downloading and will try to give some meaningful feedback.
at the very least, my heartfelt thanks for the countless hours and tweaks you have already made.
Modding is often a thankless task.

[monopoly888]

Whenever I try to start your scenario, it gives me an error message'FAILED(select_campaign_dialog: draw_campaign_image_to_buffer): Could not load image file'.
That message disappeared when I have picked out all of png files from _Fall Weiss II - V5.01 folder.
It seems my computer don't recognize png files in Documents/My Games/Strategic Command - War in Europe/Campaigns folder for some reason.
Is this campaign works without png files in interface and bitmaps folder?

[crispy131313]

I have not made any changes to any image file, so the mod should work I think.

What needs to be addressed really is how unfriendly the developers are to playing edited campaigns. SC2 did not require a seperate campaign directory.

[BillRunacre]

Are there images included in the mod?

If there are but they haven't been modded in any way then it should be safe to remove them.

If they are useful then perhaps a trial by removing all/some and then trying to narrow it down to see if there is a particular image?

[crispy131313]

The current version has no changes to any image file, it is the same as the default scenario. In other words all changes were made via SC3 Editor only.

[crispy131313]

The next step for my mod will be change the unit structure. The goal is to create a bit more continuous front lines, especially in USSR which could slow the German advance, which at this time may be too rapid, especially in 1942.

Infantry, Mechanized, and Tank units will be grouped into Division, Corps, and Army sized units (other specialty units - Special Forces, Engineer, Paratrooper, Shock Army etc. remain unchanged). The below unit bitmaps will be cleaned up a little before release but provides a preview of how I expect them to look. I also do not intend to flood the map with units, the game will remain a Corps/Army sized campaign with individual Divisions in supporting roles.

[TheBattlefield]

Very nice, Crispy! [:)]
Have you tried to use the infantry units from the "zoom" sheet for the armored formations? In this way, you can keep your given number of units for the divisions, corps, and armies. The size ratio of tanks/mech to infantry would also be ok and presumably the counter overlaps could also be avoided. Just an idea...

[crispy131313]

Thanks Battlefield. Are you suggesting using smaller Tank/Mechanized Icons?

[TheBattlefield]

No, rather the other way around. The tank/mech image (background) large and the infantry image (foreground) small as a reference to the unit size. For my Mod I had a similar idea. Since I only have two different unit sizes for tank formations (Div/Corps), I have decided for a variant with single and double tank images. [:)]

[lowtech]

Crispy!
Have just downloaded and am giving your mod a try.
Try to do an AAR
Lowtech

[lowtech]

So, events chosen:
German: Yes Molotov, Yes Lithuania/Brest (accepted by AI)
German: Yes aid to Spain
Italy: No aid to Spain
German: No Tirpitz,No Carrier
Italy: No Carrier
Next up invasion of France

[lowtech]

Your notes on the various events are good- actually critical to playing the game, Crispy. Do you have a doc anywhere. I didn't see one here or in the game file. You've done a lot of good work.
I'd note that one can disagree on a particular historical premise but agree that "if" then the execution, in game terms, is well done. Specifically, I disagree with the likelihood of Fascist Spain entering the War but your scripting, especially having Franco demand lots of stuff (Production) up front, is correct. So well done. I do like your "smaller stuff" UBoot versus Tirpitz etc. adds lots of color.
I went the Vichy route this game. It simply takes too long to clear France otherwise and then necessitates Operationally transferring large numbers of Units to the East to be in time for May/June 1941 Barbarossa.

I agree with the critique on the "Turmoil" Mod which I tried out, that more is not better and I believe this game works well with few units and low unit density. I do, however, really like the Turmoil designers modification of the Naval War- Naval War in this and pretty much all games I've ever played is grossly misrepresented. The mechanics of Naval Combat post sail (1880s and onward) are more similar to how designers model Air units than "ground Units". That is that fleets are tied to one home base and "fly" missions returning to (usually) the same base. The more strategic the game scale (time frame) the more similar the function. The Cost in Production Terms for operating fleets is enormous. The Italians had enough oil for 3 sorties for the bulk of their fleet, a sortie being the fleet leaving port to operate for a few day in the Med, for the ENTIRE WAR. The major limiting factor on German Fleet Ops was fuel- they had very little of it. So the Naval War in this game is too deadly and too dynamic; fleets can sail around much too frequently.

Finally, logistics isn't bad in this game but should play more of a role, I do like your distributing the Production sources to more countries and tying it more to politics- so overall an excellent mod.
Thanks for your work here and, with your permission, I'll continue to AAR and post Feedback here.

[crispy131313]

Thanks Lowtech for the feedback! Please feel free to continue posting your results, it will be helpful and interesting to follow your overall success.

I'll also touch on some specific points, the first of which is to answer your question regarding a doc file. There is not one currently, so I do rely on the player to carefully read the notes to the decisions is to anticipate the cause and effect of many decisions, and also to understand the reasoning behind the if/then nature of some of the "what if" events.

Regarding the naval game, the most dramatic change I have made is increasing the cost of operating the surface fleet for some nations i.e. Italy. As the developer has been making changes to the naval game a few times so far, I have opted to see the final product first before diving deeper.

I'm glad you are enjoying the mod and like the changes to production/income/politics of neutral countries. On a final note I agree that the game is best suited with lower unit density, but I will be expanding the overall unit total slightly with aims of improving USSR defense.

One note to keep in mind is that in my next version, USSR will not offer surrender when Stalingrad, Moscow and Leningrad are captured, but rather when all three, plus Grozny are captured. So I would suggest not accepting surrender unless you meet these terms.

[lowtech]

Okay- The British Desert Army is really tough- the AI has moved most of the Brit AF to the Desert (2 Fighter, 2 Tac and 1-2 Strat) and combined with the two level 3 experience Units is a veritable mincing machine; the air alone doing 7-10 hits of ground units and 3-6 hits to the one German DAK fighter unit. Even with the Italian fighters deployed to North Africa, the UK air units alone are doing 100-150 PP of damage to just the German units per turn. This so depleted the German budget, that I'm going to restart the game. I had the Allies at 10% production so I'll default back to no AI advantage. I am a NOOB at this game, to be sure but experienced with similar stuff.

I'd add as a general design thought- at this scale having Anti-aircraft and Anti-Tank units is silly. Any effect is best modeled on the hex AA defense and the unit AA defense- AT should be modeled by giving the Inf an additional AT defense. Artillery as well, these should all be increases to the standard unit strengths capabilities. I understand the design challenge of Modding that stuff away.

The Naval war is far too deadly in this system- so still having to figure out the correct technique in this game on how to use the navy. Right now it's sort of "inch along closer" to the actual target and then "pounce" from a few hexes away. Way too much micro-management.

None of this is a critique of this mod btw, which I only enjoyed.

[lowtech]

Crispy-
Again thanks for your work here- It is a real improvement over the original.

[lowtech]

I completely agree with your version of Soviet surrender. In the context of this kind of game, the Axis should basically have to "advance to the Pacific" to ensure Soviet capitulation.

[crispy131313]

I purposely made North Africa a tough nut to crack, given the tendency for Axis players to just send additional units to overwhelm the historical forces, I felt it necessary. For myself it is justified as an abstraction of just how awful the Italians performed in the initial offensive into Egypt.

[crispy131313]

Also an updated screenshot of German and USSR main ground units for Version 6.0 including:

Garrison, Division, Corps, Army, Mountain Infantry, Calvary Division, Calvary Corps, Mechanized Division, Mechanized Corps, Tank Division, Tank Corps, (Shock Army - USSR), Tank Army

As mentioned earlier I support the Army/Corps strategic level campaign, so divisions will hold a supporting role and will not outnumber Corps or Armies.