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I am shooting for tomorrow - and if lighting strikes I might make today - where as if data entry or test or other eratta bog things down it might take longer: but revised ETA = tomorrow = Saturday (Alaska time - which is 1 hour behind the US West Coast and GMT plus 9 hours).

I am heavily invested in converting Allied aircraft production to on map form - even for off map locations. This also will give the Allied player some control over production - and that control should be exercised at least to the extent of turning repair off at factories for types not yet ready to produce (i.e. they have -rd behind the aircraft name). IF this is done, the aircraft will phase in rather than instantly produce at 100% - in many cases. Related to this, I have somewhat revised the locations representing off map production assets. Of these Salt Lake City is the primary one for the USA. A secondary case is New Orleans in Level 7, South Atlantic Entry in Level 6, and a new location, Billings in Level 5. To these add Regina for Canada and Krasnyarsk for the Soviet Union. Just what to do with the UK is not yet clear?

I added on map Soviet factories at two locations, and I will add some additional Aussie production on the map as well. I have completed revising Japanese destroyer ASW - and taken that review as a chance to revise some AA: early war ships will tend to have virtually no light AAA - but much better than 1 or 2 DC ASW capability which for some reason they got saddled with (which has no relation to anything IRL).

Salt Lake City (United States) should not run into 999999 supply any more - or not for a very long time.

I completely revised guns of almost all types to an integrated set of rules. This gives guns with different functions appropriate ratings in the WITP system - and adds some new DP devices - including Japanese very heavy naval guns - British 8 inch cruiser guns - and certain French and Dutch 6 inch naval guns. Certain guns without AP or SAP ammunition used by ships - mainly Soviet and Japanese but significantly including one US weapon - will now be rated with less anti-armor value - and the effect value assigned for HE or AA fragmentation rounds. Broad categories with defining rules include

SP naval guns (and SP coast defense guns)
SP naval short guns
dual purpose (DP) guns
Very heavy DP guns
Naval AA guns
Naval AA short guns
AA guns
AA rockets
AT guns
land artillery guns
land artillery howitzers
land mortars
land bombardment rockets

Essentially the differences include rules for anti-armor (and armor penetration), effect, and soft effect. No longer are land artillery pieces without AP shot rated equal to naval guns with AP shot for penetration, for example. Mortars continue the trend toward less anti-armor value, but actually better anti-soft value than even land artillery has (caliber for caliber). Bombardment rockets are more or less a wierd form of mortars while AA rockets are a wierd form of AA guns. etc. I also defined some special weapons: the Japanese 30 cm Type 7 short howitzer is defined as a mortar (distinguishing it somewhat from the 30 cm Type 7 long howitzer which is defined as a howitzer); the US 5 inch 25 is classified as a naval AA short gun rather than a regular DP gun, etc.

I found a supply sink loading on ships in a test run. Since it is defined as a static coast defense unit - this has awful implications (we have seen CD units defined as immobile forts wandering around before) and I moved the slot (the usual cause of this phenomena). I have a problem in Level 7 with one location moving to invisible hex 0,0 - after a year or two of play - and I hope to find a workaround for it. [I can fix it in an ongoing game if it really is a big deal - provided the players sent me the file - but I don't want that job - and I would like to identify the bug that moves locations to 0,0 so it can be fixed at code level].

I hope to work in a change for pack divisions. These peculiar units have less firepower (in the form of mountain guns in their artillery regiments) than even draft divisions do, but require significantly more lift. They have a significantly larger number of squads, but no additional combat squads. The idea here is to add labor squads = to the squad count of the support regiments - and then add an equal amount of support so there is zero net change in the amount of combat squads supported. This will require more ships to lift such a division (and show why they were unpopular to move by ship) - more supply to feed all those extra squads - but also give slightly better combat power (because they have thousands of extra men who can to some extent serve as "spare parts" for combat units) - somewhat abstractly modeled by the squad count mechanism in code.

Got those too numerous US units done - and the Soviets. Now for the Aussies and Canadians. I think we will just leave most of the British alone - except to the extent they produce in India, Australia, Canada or the USA.

Found and corrected a small number of aircraft eratta - mainly production numbers - dates - and one oversized Soviet gun turret.

I use Nathan Okun application for naval guns. Note that since the game only asks for 0-range/max muzzle penetration it has bias against heavier projectiles where benefits only show at longest ranges.
 
http://www.navweaps.com/index_nathan/index_nathan.htm
 
If you are interested
 
Face-hardened Armor Penetration Calculation Programs
Version 5.8 (March 2004)
 
you need to put below files below inside a folder
BRUN45.EXE
Facehd58.exe
Fh58main.bas
Fh58sbm1.bas
Fh58sbm2.bas
 
and run BRUN45.exe. Then you will have options for amno type ,cap no cap, target armor type, muzzle, range etc.
 

Do you have an ETA?

I am ready to load this up but need a new version before Michael and I start the campaign....

PLEASE say that it is ready...pretty please...

[&o][&o][&o]

I have nearly finished - but must work for 4 hours - then a few hours data entry - then packaging: ETA 12 hours.
Then I will finish EEO - not going to work for two days - so 48 hours to EEO.

I have decided to do most Commonwealth aircraft on map - this is working well - and where you do them is not important - HI points are abstract and common pooled apparently. I need to test to insure mortars still work - and rework some pack divisions - and finish the Commonwealth aircraft - and review the test of the new values.

Won't be long now?....................

tick tock as the fingers slow beat on the desk. [:D]

Michael and I plan to do an AAR commenting on all the facets of RHS compared to Stock and Big B.  Since I am a veteran Japanese player, he felt that this was a good idea.  I'll focus my AAR on the Japanese economy, units/ships/planes, as well as some strategy.

Should be useful information as well as an advertisment for RHS.

There are way too many Allied planes - and this is working far too well not to complete it fully. There are also tricky effects of what you set upgrades too - and these need checking out. But we will not sleep until this is done (and we don't have to with two days off).

Testing indicated ways to make the Allied economy run somewhat better (I ran a train a day of supplies into Vancouver - and it helps everything in the area).

In order not to false start, I am looking for loose ends. When they are all tied up - I will package and upload - in order - Level 7, Level 6, Level 5 - leaving out only RHSEEO - which is not completed.

Thanks Sid. [&o] 
 
Have a cup of coffee on me. [:D]

We vote for Level SEVEN!  That would be S E V E N....

I'm planning to base the entire Combined Fleet at Madagascar in 1944-45 so Michael won't be able to sink it.  They will fly the French Tricolor which should confuse Allied Intelligence and then when the time is RIGHT....

Sounds like a plan to me---What say you Michael?

If another manufacturing plant were needed in the U.S., Willow Run sounds so "right"...[:D]

Actually - the Willow Run plant is now added - at "Salt Lake City" - which is the primary location of "industry to the East" in RHS. Another such location (in Level 7) is New Orleans (it changes in Levels 5 and 6 to other locations on the map edge). Willow Run is one of the main points where the B-24 is made - actually Ford not only makes planes but kits for two other companies to assemble. There is also B-24 production in California, but more of it is in Michigan, Texas and one other state (Kansas?).

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

We vote for Level SEVEN!  That would be S E V E N....

I'm planning to base the entire Combined Fleet at Madagascar in 1944-45 so Michael won't be able to sink it.  They will fly the French Tricolor which should confuse Allied Intelligence and then when the time is RIGHT....

Sounds like a plan to me---What say you Michael?

This is - I hope - meant in jest. When I added the Madagascar mini map (with Cobra - it was HIS dream to do so) we concocted a rule meant to insure this is a sideshow:

while the ALLIES can sail battleships and carriers onto, through, into, out of, name it this mini-map, the JAPANESE may NOT sail anything "bigger than a CL" - which includes CA, BB, BC, CV and CVL - at a minimum - and may include a CVS - but that is deliberately left undefined. [There is an Allied CVS at Capetown for one thing. While the whole idea of Japanese surface forces in this area seems a poor one to me - IF one is sent - it MIGHT reasonably include a CVS to compensate for the (somewhat dubious) value of HMS (former HMAS) Albatross. Its "air group" is pretty much meaningless IMHO - but neither is the air group of a Japanese CVS particularly powerful.] Since the Allies WERE worried Japan might send powerful air, land and surface forces to base on Madagascar - that is why they invaded the place - we hardly can say they cannot send anything. It is a very difficult problem - for both sides - at least early in the war - and that is why it is there: a distraction likely to require some diversion of assets to address. But distance probably means that the Allies will end up in control of this area - unless they are very poorly managed. That being the case, I don't expect Japan to send a lot of stuff likely to get lost. It really sent submarines - and I bet most players do that too.

There are changes to Allied aircraft.

I had no place to produce the Mossy bomber. Research indicates it never got to the area - nor can I find a plan to send it either. But I found it introduced the later AI radar - so I removed that radar from the Beaufighter - and put in the Mossy Night Fighter. Since it also never made PTO - it arrives in August in strictly historical CVO and BBO families - in June in EOS and in July in EEO. [The war in Europe ends in June in EOS and July in EEO - because less is sent to ETO in them] This gives British night fighter units something to upgrade to that is not quite so awful.

I also removed the AI radar from the Ki-45 night fighter - because - with a single exception - it never carried any. This aircraft is found in CVO and BBO family scenarios.

I did everything except create special pack divisions - which remain indistinguishable from draft in terms of lift or supply requirements (althought they only have mountain artillery).

Is this the correct link to the updated versions??

http://rhs.akdreemer.com/RHS%20Scenarios/

Negative. I do NOT post to the RHS site - and do not even know how! I send scenarios to Cobra who then does two different things:

1) He creates a link and posts it for Sendspace

2) He thinks about if this is the time to update the RHS site - which cannot handle a lot of updates all the time.

Actually - I send scenarios to a primary distribution list: those on the list get the scenarios directly, as soon as they upload - delayed only by the latency of the ISPs involved. If you want to be on that list - send an email to trevethans@aol.com. Also - Mifune, Cobra, WITPQS and sometimes I think AKWarrior send things on request. If nothing else works - I can send you what you need - always. I am on the net around the clock: when I went on vacation Joe quipped that global internet thruput doubled - just because I was not able to be on it all the time! I run a global group on China - I was married there - and in the Clinton era official agencies were more or less forbidden to raise any concerns about the place (to the point that you lost you job if you did) - so my group is a focus point for academics, soldiers, intel types, and authors who have some concerns. Most of the members are ethnic Chinese or married to ethnic Chinese - so we are not actually anti-Chinese either. Anyway - RHS is not all that I do on the net. But I check email and the Forum at least every 6 hours.

Are we posted yet?

I was being FUNNY about my Imperial Fleet comment although perhaps I could send them to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.