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C'mon fellas, I've been wargaming for 4 decades and I've been an Army officer so I don't really need any lectures about setting up a game. For this game with no AI we're not just setting up 'our' side but also the 'other' side(s). So bear with me as I humbly suggest that having a setup feature allows players to see different setup options to deal with so we can learn what works well and what doesn't. Yeah, we can just do this ourselves. Maybe Steve can work something in and maybe he can't/won't. We shall wait and see, yes?

Not sure I get the fuss here. Didn't read I all, but try setting up the cardboard gAme!!! And while many units can be auto setup how old you ever control for he draw of different units?

Yeah, setting it up is a pain, especially for just a solitaire game at this point. Nothing much happens on the first few turns except in China, generally, though the Euro-Axis have the option to make things hot immediately. Most of the Major Powers aside from China, Japan, and Germany can just dump units into hexes without spending much time on it and it's not going to change what happens in the summer of 1940. The Royal Navy goes in Portsmouth, 2/3 of the French Army goes on the Belgian/German border and 1/3 on the Italian border; it's time consuming but not all that serious. The scenarios after the war has started are more important.

But traditionally in wargaming, set-ups come from the players, not the game company. When someone came up with a great set-up for an AH Classic, it would be printed in The General and debated and played.

So I think a more realistic route to get a quick set-up would be to simply get one from another player, rather than ask for an additional feature in the software package. Haven't a few been posted already? This would be really easy for everyone. There might need to be a little walk-through on .zip files but it shouldn't be too complicated. ?

And I'm having trouble thinking of an optional rule that would really affect setting up the pieces. There are so many moving parts in World in Flames that one or several optionals don't generally change strategy, just unit tactics. I wouldn't suggest thinking that the optionals impact the game that dramatically. The step-by-step decisions, yes, but not set-ups, so I'm not sure anyone would have setup A) for optional 1 OFF vs setup B) for optional 1 ON, or even the groups of optionals.

Personally I don't have a problem setting up the land/air units but am totally "at sea" trying to figure out where to put the naval units, especially in Asia. Part of the problem is that I don't know what to do with them once I've placed them, either...

For naval units, the important ports are the once which border more sea area's.

If you look at Global War, I would place the at start fleets:

USSR: Leningrad and Sevastopol. Convoy points go into the Kaspian Sea and the TRS and SUB's into the Baltic.

France: depends on the decision what you want to do with the French Fleet. Do you want to save the cruisers if Vichy is declared: put them in Equatorial Africa and sail some to New Caledonia. If you want a suicide mission into the Baltic in the surprise impulse, put a couple of cruisers into Brest. All other ships are best put in the Med.

CW: Portsmouth, Aden, Halifax (Canada), Gibraltar.

USA: Norfolk, Long Beach

Italy: La Spezia

Germany: Stettin (out of range of CW NAV's). If there aren't any air to sea factors capable of getting to Kiel, put the fleet in Kiel instead. Especially the TRS and AMPH should never be in a port if there is any CW air to sea factor capable of reaching it.

Japan: depends on whether or not you want to wage war on the USSR. If not, put the slow battleships and some cruisers in Canton. Submarines I usually put into Truk. All CV's and the fast battleships and cruisers go into Fukuoka or Tokyo. I prefer the first, because it is closer to the USSR (in case the USSR wants to go to war with you). If you want to go to war with the USSR, the whole fleet goes into Fukuoka.

For Japan it isn't unheard of to have the ships sitting in port (apart from the transports and convoys), until war with the Wallies starts). The CW can use the Asian Fleet quite well in the Eastern Med and from Aden that's just a short distance to sail...

Excellent, thanks for the tips.

For Russia the only real choice is the TRS: Leningrad to threaten an invasion of Finland or the Black Sea to threaten an invasion of Bulgaria. I like to put a CP in the North Sea because if a resource is going to Russia it only has to get to Norway early on (and then rail through Finland) and the Axis can't attack it like they could a CW or French CP.

When war is imminent, RTB it to Murmansk or Archangel to help out with the Murmansk run.

Once you get the AIs in the game, then I will buy it

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

Once you get the AIs in the game, then I will buy it

This is understandable, but I have to say that if I waited I would have missed out on MANY wonderful solitaire sessions, trying different tactics, different production strategies, and re-writing WW2 in a way I could only dream of back in the days before home computers.
I remember 20-some years ago having the board game set up in my attic and trying different things and being impressed by the system. Now my hard drive replaces the attic from my first house, plus I get to save as many times as I like and return to key points to re-try things.
While I think it is a perfectly valid decision not to buy, for $99 I have NEVER gotten as much ongoing entertainment/enjoyment out of anything!

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

Once you get the AIs in the game, then I will buy it

Do not blame you RisingSun, I personally do not care if you buy it or not [no monetary value to me] but tom730 could not have said it better in his post.

Bo

Hope I'm alive and still with enough faculties to see the day we have to restrict the AI to make it more human or to correspond to a generals capability.

ORIGINAL: tom730

ORIGINAL: RisingSun

Once you get the AIs in the game, then I will buy it

This is understandable, but I have to say that if I waited I would have missed out on MANY wonderful solitaire sessions, trying different tactics, different production strategies, and re-writing WW2 in a way I could only dream of back in the days before home computers.
I remember 20-some years ago having the board game set up in my attic and trying different things and being impressed by the system. Now my hard drive replaces the attic from my first house, plus I get to save as many times as I like and return to key points to re-try things.
While I think it is a perfectly valid decision not to buy, for $99 I have NEVER gotten as much ongoing entertainment/enjoyment out of anything!

+1 Money well spent for the product as is.

I met a guy who had WiF 4.0 or so, long ago. I played one afternoon and loved the game system once I understood it. Never met the guy again.

I bought the game at a local hobby store for $100, and played Global War against myself before I taught another person how to play. Like 6 solitaire games of global war. This game is quite surprisingly well designed for solo player because the results of your plans almost always are swept aside by the results of the dice, therefore dictating changes in plan frequently on a tactical level. This is particularly apparent in naval combat, and also air combat; where hot dice can still win the day. It's like a craps game rolled into a WWII simulation.

Make me another vote for the great value of this game.

I played the board game for many many years. The computer version is so easy to set up and play. Picking and sorting counters is a thing of the past!

If you have a local friend to play with, the game is perfect. Solitaire play is a lot of fun as well. Every time I find a perfect defense, I seem to find a way to crack it! So much fun!

ORIGINAL: Lord Drakken

Make me another vote for the great value of this game.

I played the board game for many many years. The computer version is so easy to set up and play. Picking and sorting counters is a thing of the past!

If you have a local friend to play with, the game is perfect. Solitaire play is a lot of fun as well. Every time I find a perfect defense, I seem to find a way to crack it! So much fun!

Agreed!
One request I would make regarding AI is that it be possible to turn it off and on during the course of a game. This would improve game play by allowing solo players to fix "mistakes" or bad moves of the AI from getting worse - also it would allow for choice of set-up or production for historical or other reasons.
So PLEASE allow an ongoing "On/Off" switch for the AI, once you begin work on it.

Great thinking Tom739. An on/off toggle would be fantastic!

ORIGINAL: tom730
One request I would make regarding AI is that it be possible to turn it off and on during the course of a game.

If possible, I'd like to see an optional ability to allow the AI to perform or complete specific turn phases. I've already suggested the setup phase, but the other phases are fair game also. For example, Grigsby's WITE allows players to have the AI perform some air operations, etc.; other games do something like this too. The idea is NOT to have the AI play the game for you. But at times it would be nice to have the AI perform some or all actions during a particular phase, either for convenience during tedious periods or just to see what it does, and ideally the player would still have an opportunity to edit the AI's actions and "fix" something before ending the phase.

Something that Steve could seriously consider is implementing this idea in modules so that solitaire players can at least see how the AI performs some actions and offer feedback. Instead of waiting another year or so for a complete global AI to become functional. Just a thought...

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

ORIGINAL: tom730
One request I would make regarding AI is that it be possible to turn it off and on during the course of a game.

If possible, I'd like to see an optional ability to allow the AI to perform or complete specific turn phases. I've already suggested the setup phase, but the other phases are fair game also. For example, Grigsby's WITE allows players to have the AI perform some air operations, etc.; other games do something like this too. The idea is NOT to have the AI play the game for you. But at times it would be nice to have the AI perform some or all actions during a particular phase, either for convenience during tedious periods or just to see what it does, and ideally the player would still have an opportunity to edit the AI's actions and "fix" something before ending the phase.

Something that Steve could seriously consider is implementing this idea in modules so that solitaire players can at least see how the AI performs some actions and offer feedback. Instead of waiting another year or so for a complete global AI to become functional. Just a thought...

This sort of stuff was proposed long ago and as it basically represents "mission creep", I wouldn't hold your breath. Steve isn't keen on adding to the pile of things he has to do now.

Cheers, Neilster

ORIGINAL: Neilster
it basically represents "mission creep"

No, it isn't. Developing and implementing an AI computer opponent is a promised feature of the game as advertised and sold to customers. It's part of Steve's contract, it's part of the mission. We're just haggling about priorities. Clearly the priorities have been on the bug fixes and NetPlay, and then I expect things will shift to implementing the other optional rules and finalizing the other scenarios. A fully functioning global war AI will probably be one of the last things implemented. We all got that, fine.

But. AI is still part of the mission and a lot of customers who have already bought and paid for this game and others who are still waiting for the promised AI to arrive are still watching for developments. Monthly reports repeatedly state "Nothing New." Well, howzabout offering something new, anything? Clearly the AI will have to perform discrete tasks for each phase, so a lot of the AI programming will be in modules to handle nation setups, production convoys, unit scrapping, etc. So why not throw us a bone and provide some of these modules sooner rather than later and let players see something?? Or, just go ahead and poo-poo any modest suggestions about the AI like you guys keep doing. Fine. We'll wait. I can hardly wait to read "Nothing New" again in next week's monthly report for January. Thanks. [:@]

Don't worry. Steve can't wait to start on the AI, because that is the one thing he started this for... However, he is still very busy with the bug fixing and to get Netplay Barbarossa running at the moment. That's progress, but it makes the "nothing new" for the moment a continuing story where the AI is concerned.

And I agree. If you can switch the AI on and off during a solitair/AI game, that would be a good thing. I don't know if it was proposed before, but it looks like a good option to me. I only don't know if it can be easily implemented.