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I would like to see one extra zoom level in these games plus some unit details on the counters in the 2 most zoomed in levels.

ORIGINAL: Rhetor

I do sincerely hope that somewhere in the pipeline there are titles simulating the great European conflicts of 1859, 1866, and 1870-71.
I know but a single title that covered this period, which - compared to the scale of the battles and their importance to the history of the continent, - makes this arguably the most neglected period in computer wargaming.

Strelaoz wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 12:52 am

ORIGINAL: Michael T

Thanks Michael, I'm working hard here - south of the border in Sydney]

David, for years I have been advocating the potential of this series. Oh please bring it to the East Front, I long for a serious, playable and fun game on the East. I have badgered Rich for years about this series. It has so much potential. Lord knows we need a sensible game on the East that does not involve counting every chicken coop and rusty jerry can east of Berlin.

Michael,

What can I say?




We have inherited a range of projects that are unfinished, still-born or otherwise. As you can see some substantial work was done in this series using the current scale. You can also see we have a full map of Europe (which looks much better with the recent graphical update).

There is no commitment to pick this up and complete it currently, but a lot of the building blocks are there already. I am with you, I had hardly touched this series previously, but it is a great little game system and much more playable with the lower counter density. We are even discussing doing a higher level series (probably corps level/monthly turns) using the same engine to allow a whole war in the East in an evening game (like AH's Third Reich).

More to come, but take this as we have stuff, just not a plan... yet!

David

altipueri wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 9:59 pm Hey Franciscus - I think I remember your contributions to Ageod and AJE.

Feliz Noel.


Saudades de Rio / Lisbon

EwaldvonKleist wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 11:51 am
Are there news regarding an Eastern Front strategic war campaign?

Strelaoz wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 12:52 am
There is no commitment to pick this up and complete it currently, but a lot of the building blocks are there already. I am with you, I had hardly touched this series previously, but it is a great little game system and much more playable with the lower counter density. We are even discussing doing a higher level series (probably corps level/monthly turns) using the same engine to allow a whole war in the East in an evening game (like AH's Third Reich).

More to come, but take this as we have stuff, just not a plan... yet!

David

Strategic War is a great game engine and one of the few that allows a reasonably large scenario to be played in an evening. The problem has been that it has been more of a ‘battle’ rather than a ‘campaign’ engine and essentially not being very strategic in nature. In line with some work on new titles, we have started implementing a first round of improvements to the game engine. Here are a few examples:

Many of the game’s values were hard-coded. For example, the unit effectiveness recovery rate was fixed in the game exe and this prevented scaling values based upon turn length. This has now been moved into the PDT and is able to be changed based upon the scenario. There are a range of other values that will be ‘unfixed’ and made editable.

Zones of control are now dependent on the number of defend points a unit/hex has. Currently all units exert a zone of control. This allows many small units to block significant movement, or at a minimum require the unit to be attacked, hindering the attacker. There is now a PDT value for ‘No ZOC Threshold’ i.e., the defend value that a ZOC does not exist. Currently, in-game we plan to set this to one, implying that units that are one or zero defend points do not exert a ZOC. In games terms, one defend point equates to a regiment and that gels with a division (three regiments) having a ZOC.

Port suppression now impacts both embarking and disembarking forces. Previously it was only embarking forces.

Replacements. There is a very comprehensive (and fiddly) replacement system currently in Strategic War. It has only been used in one scenario (Norway in the First Blitzkrieg) but allows players to replenish or rebuild units. We have reviewed the current system and added a ‘Simplified Replacement’ system. This allows replacements by country in four major categories: infantry, armor, artillery, and air. Each unit type falls into one of these categories and can accept the applicable replacements.

Headquarters. Currently headquarters are optional in game. Essentially, they determine whether a unit is in command or detached. Detached units have halved movement and attack values as well as half the effectiveness recovery and cannot take replacements. This is a good series of rules, but we have decided to enhance them further. We have created two types of headquarters (normal and mechanized) to reflect the differences between for example, armor and infantry HQs. These can have different movement and command radius.