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The changes to Industry research have no effect on the early game but I have noticed that TL can chug along unhindered and becomes quite strong by the middle game. MK likewise and Potentia is an obvious candidate for a nerf. So, taking your comments into account, these are changes I intend to implement:

• Mittelheim: queue a leader, 2 longships, 2 raiders, and 2 infantry for early 2401. These are units that are more suited to defense and specialist roles, rather than offensive roles. At early 2401, it is usually when Angnord is turning its attention to the east after defeating Draca.

• MH: Starts the campaign with a chit in Weapons research.

• TL: 20% Industry research at 150 GP per level.

• MK: 15% Industry research at 100 GP per level.

• Potentia: 10% Industry research at 75 GP per level.

• As mentioned above, MK and Ancients can add a chit to diplomacy with the Potentian colonies. This should slow Potentia's growth but still cost the Allies something to do so. Hopefully, not too much!

• Although it becomes strong in the middle game, Angford struggles when it has to defend against Andania to the west and support Morodon against Guartenheim in the east. Thrangren helps them but I find that they can only field a sizable army at the expense of research. Perhaps that is just me, so I would welcome comments on Angford. I think a unit or two in the Production Queue for them in late 2401 would be useful.

• Similarly, the Ancients get hammered from all directions and would benefit from a couple of infantry units from the Production Queue in mid-2401.

Listed changes looks fair to me

As for Angford and Ancients, I am not sure whether they need help. Would be very hard to say now, with all the proposed changes - when there are too many, no way to judge overall effects. Maybe these could wait for another update after some more plays, dunno. If anything, maybe ships in queue could be useful, as it is hard to spend money on navies with all the other priorities; land routes are usually blocked okay.

Yes, it's time to bite the bullet and release the hounds. I will be interested to see if the changes over-compensate for the issues. The OP has a link to version 0.51 and the changes are below.

• BUILD DELAY CHANGED TO TURNS FROM MONTHS!!
• Increased morale loss to 750 from 500 for Mul'Kan invasion. Edited popup text.
• Reduced Guildford builds to 4 veterans and infantry.
• Increased cost of Heroes to 400 GP except for Mittelheim and Guartenheim (remain 300 GP)
• TL allegiants: 2 Veteran limit; all have the same build limits
• End date: 1/6/2405
• Mul'Kan: message popup re conquest effects modified and new one added when invasion occurs.
• Samarach and Thindol added to diplomacy of Ancients and Tribal League
• Hover text for teleporters added
• Swapped tech description for Ranged Weapons and Invasion
• Removed Draca Giant Wings unit
• Moved Ancients Giant Wings to supplied hex
• Added hover text and symbol for Elven Assassins event
• Gunslingers get +1 range with Volley research
• Mobilization of Chinua and Sarnai corrected; added once-only mobilization 10-15% for Golden Khanate invasion of Ancients
• Teleportation loops usable by either side (Leaders and Heroes)
• Corrected text in recall veterans DE (11-str in MP; 5-str in Adversary AI)
• Amund and Krystalis leaders now 8-str from 5
• Changed Sigridheim unit to Infantry from Veterans
• Beegwulf mobilizes 10-15% if Jummerock surrenders
• Chance of tunnel completion after 8/7/2400 (extra turn) is 50% (from 40%)
• Jummerock units do not surrender
• Guildford units do not surrender
• Beegwulf anti-war faction effect is -20-30% morale (no strength loss); Costs 15 GP per turn (from 25)
• Dwarf Kingdom anti-war faction effect is -20-30% morale (no strength loss); Costs 15 GP per turn (from 25)
• Warspite will only appear in Donsborough if Watersbend is occupied by an Angnord unit (to prevent being sunk immediately by Draca!). Cost is 150 GP (was 200 GP).
• Corrected research for Sky Defense on Sky Watchers and ships
• Industry research: 25% at 200 GP per level, except Tribal League and Andania (20% and 150 GP); Mul’Kan (15% and 100 GP); Potentia (10% and 75 GP)
• Production queues
o Mittelheim: Leader, 2x longships, 2x infantry, 2x raiders on 1/2/2401
o Angford: Cavalry 1/9/2401
o Ancients: 2x infantry 1/6/2401
• Diplomacy: Allies can influence Potentian colonies with diplomacy at 50 GP per chit. Ancients > Nova Spes; Mul'Kan Transaurum Imperium, Insula Metus

Hi, so we played 0.50 with YueJin for almost 3 years now (with tide extremely slowly turning to the Allies now), I guess I could add some general comments. Obviously, 0.51 is different with faster unit building times and less MPPs (10% industry for Potentia is ooof).

-When Mittelheim surrenders, all minors remain in the fight, and generate quite a lot of MPPs... but cannot do any more research. Which makes them half-useless. Not sure if this could be improved. It will be slightly better when Vikings survive a bit longer in 0.51, but only slightly.
-Guartenheim's dragon is very nice Just wanted to state that. Allows them to fight pretty effectively.
-Heroes remain to be pretty oppressive, maybe their strength could be capped at 11 (from veterancy).
-Units will be produced much faster now... but situation with ships will probably remain bad. Maybe these are not steel monsters and could be produced bit faster? Not sure if assembling a couple of warships is so much harder then training 'elites' cavalry, heroes guys etc. It makes sea war pretty static, waiting super long for useful units.
-And, eh, 'LR bombers' are even more oppressive. On this map, with supply towns usually at 5 strength and massive chokepoints on the map, LR bombers can block any advances in many places. Which sucks/ is boring. I do not think this is easy to counter, only with air defence tech maybe, definitely not a priority. Honestly, I would just remove LR bombers :/ Not like we have Ruhr bombing campaign, and blocking advances is frustrating, not interesting play. Maybe replace them by LR aerial scouts, with 2 moves a turn and no effects other than, well, scouting?
-MPP maluses for Adversaries come pretty early. That -150 for Andania and -200 for Potentia... bites a lot. I think could easily come ~6 months later, hm.
-Finally, Andania-Angford front is really just too narrow. Towns distant from each other (so not great supply), these mountains, rivers. I understand there is some fantasy lore or whatever, but armies are pretty much stuck there, given how powerful counter-punches are in the mod. Attacker would need >150% of defenders strength. If there were two roads between countries, and/or more towns/cities, and/or less mountains, or something else making for a wider front, battles could be more interesting, not a sad stalemate.

Hi, and thanks for your comments and suggestions, @Beriand. I have injured my wrist, so my responses here will be brief.

- MH surrender, agree. I am toying with the idea of a 3rd capital that is inaccessible. The victory conditions are not dependent on MH surrendering. It would mean no plunder and checks of other scripts but I think it is worth a go.
- Yes, Iymrith is no Draca but still potent.
- The build times for ship turns is about right. As months it is painful. The build time for the other units is more to recall and reform the unit, rather than train it from scratch, whereas a ship is built from scratch (or timber).
- LR, I like the suggestion and will have a think about this.
- Easy fix and yes.
- The good thing about a fantasy campaign is that historical and geographical accuracy are moot. I have thought the same about that area and redesigned it once and can do so again! Agree. Logically, there really should be more settlements in that region, too, so supply can be better. A wider front would make it more interesting.

I am interested to know if you think the Mermont-Angford front would be more interesting to play with the layout in the link. Basically, extended the front south by 3 hexes, added a minor port and town for Angford, added a village for Mermont for internal supply lines, the river (River Beriand it has been named!) extends south to a marsh.

Mermont-Angford front

Well yes, definitely looks like more place with more supply, should be better area to fight

Version 0.6 of Orb & Crown is available in the link in the OP above.

Happy New Year, everyone!

There have been a lot of changes to Orb & Crown that are listed in the Strategy Guide. The most important ones to be aware of are:

• Mittelheim will not surrender (its 3rd capital is hidden and inaccessible on the map). This means that its production can be used for research for its allegiants. It also means its units will continue to operate until destroyed.

• Guartenheim will not surrender, either. This means its units will continue to fight on until destroyed.

• Guildford and Jummerock units continue in the war once their countries surrender.

• Various unit changes (listed in the Strategy Guide) but especially Heroes and Huge Wings (SBs) have been toned down.

• The AI scripts have been improved for the mid-game, so the AI will put up a better fight. I have been testing on Veteran difficulty level and have found the AI to be challenging.

As always, I hope you enjoy playing Orb & Crown and please let me know of any questions, comments, or errors here. Cheers.

Well then, so I'm looking for someone to play with on 0.6 As any side, could do one or two games (if I were to guess, Adversaries should have advantage in this version). Preferably someone(s) who spend at least couple of hours with the mod (AI, guide, hotseat, PBEM, whatever).

Changes for 0.7

The main addition in this version is the Allied AI.

• Beegwulf assassins: 1-2 damage, 20-30% morale reduction (was 2-4 damage, 10-30% morale reduction)

• Undead warning hexes added around Castile (Beriand)

• Larger resource (cities, large ports, etc.) GP values reduced by 0.25 per point of the resource

• Settlements in Beegwulf and Danevirke reduced from town to village size.

• Removed all large army penalties

• Removed cost to garrison Imhotep and added partisans, instead.

• Effect of spiritual defenders around Huntington reduced to a range of 1 hex (was 2)

• Thrangren joins war 20% after 4/2401 if Guartenheim and Trans Morodonia mobilized. Can still be mobilized by diplomacy.

• Maelstrom storm giants arrive in Donsborough with 5 strength (previously they had 10 str but needed to be transported)

• AI dragons stronger than player dragons. Multi-player games remain the same.

• Golden Khanate, Angford, Angnord, Andania, Potentia: cost of Elites, Cavalry and Veterans increased by 25 GP

• Ancients Veterans +25 GP

• Draca arrives Turn 2. This is because unit.txt scripts trigger at the end of the turn.

• Added militia to Liberslavia deployment at Medaba

Changes for version 0.8

This is a small update to the campaign with its main addition being the Strategy Advisor.

• Strategy Advisor: advice for both sides when playing single-player games

• Unit changes: elites do not gain as much demoralization from research

I have been focused on the single-player (AI) versions of Orb & Crown and have tested both sides. It plays well IMO and gave me a good challenge when playing at Expert level. Veteran is a good mid-range level and the standard level is a good introduction level to the campaign. The next challenge will be to try to balance the multi-player version to the extent that it can be.

Version 0.9 changes include:
- Random 3rd victory condition. (YouTube introduction) This can be used in both SP and MP games but is intended mainly for SP games.
- Majors do not surrender. They move their capital to an inaccessible 'Secret Location' and enter a 'Surrender Condition' that is used by scripts. Their units can continue to fight on, and their research and production continues, too. This means there is no plunder for majors and the occupiers of captured resources gain their benefits, rather than the country that occupies the country's last capital. Minors surrender as normal.
- Transports and Amphibious Transports. The costs of these have been reduced, however...
- Storms cause more damage. The min-max damage to a vessel caught in a storm increased by 1.
- Minor map, script, and unit changes (Infantry defense increased by 1)

I hope this campaign will provide a decent challenge and fun. Leave any comments or suggestions in this thread. Cheers.

0.91 Point release:

• Heroes are very powerful units. These changes do not reduce their potency on the battlefield but do make them more expensive. The changes are:

1. - Andania, Angnord, and Anford receive a 1-strength Heroes unit in early 2401.
2. - There is a 25% chance per turn and a #FAILSAFE_DATE of 2 months to ensure they appear around the time they should.
3. - Heroes have a build limit of 1.
4. - Heroes cost 600 GP (or base 60 GP per strength point. With a range of 2, they can still cause damage but must be protected to avoid an expensive loss. Those countries that receive a 'free' Heroes unit can potentially have 2 on the map but will return to a maximum of 1 should their 'free' unit be eliminated.

• Minor convoy route change to prevent docked ships syphoning Angford's GPs with impunity.

• 'Humanoids' nomenclature changed to 'Creatures' e.g. Large Humanoids are now Large Creatures.

• Elephant unit added to Ancients. Deployment of 5-strength, 1.0 Experience 'Pachyderm Warriors' at start. Build Limit of 1. Slower, hard-hitting Large Creatures unit vulnerable to air attacks.

sorry

but as a luditte I have extracted to mods and campaign and have under mods ticked the orbs listed parts but cannot see the mod when loading a game

I know its user error so hope u can help

Hi.

The bitmaps down should not be in the list you have provided, just 'Orb & Crown'.

It looks like you need to have the Mod in the folder:
\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command ...\Mods\Orb and Crown\
then bitmaps et al go under that.

Then check the mod to use it.

The Adversary AI has been thoroughly overhauled and tested.

There are too many changes to list but the key ones to be aware of are:

• Majors do not fully surrender, so there is no loot from them. Scripts use a 'surrender condition' based on resource objectives and the proximity of enemy units. This means major units can fight on even when the country has been conquered. It also means they can continue to engage in research for their allegiants. Minor countries surrender in the usual way.

• Invasion transports do not have 'full sail' (naval operation) and do not have an attack value. They can still attack to reduce a target's morale but cannot reduce a target's strength.

• The AI will move its armies much more effectively now. Instead of moving the units through scripts, they are 'destroyed' by using the strength script and then 'recreated' at their assault position by using the unit script. Any associated cost is taken from the country involved through a (automatic) decision script.

• There is an option for a player to have static or random victory conditions. In effect, there are 3 objectives per side and random victory conditions will locate the third one in one of three random locations.

• The AI will now mount more effective (and surprising!) amphibious assaults to keep the Allies on their toes.

I play the mod on Veteran difficulty and the AI gives me a good challenge.
If you do download the mod and play it, please comment here. I hope you enjoy it.

Next up, 0.93 will be an overhaul of the Allies AI.

YouTube solo playthrough and tutorial. Will be added to periodically.

The Allies AI has been overhauled and tested in version 0.93.

That is pretty much it for the AI and it plays well (IMO).

Now, it's back to where it all started with the MP version. I will be making a dedicated MP version so that things such as diplomacy can be made more static to aim for fairness and balance. The SP version has as its goal to provide a challenging campaign with many variables and options. The MP version will be aimed at making a campaign that either side can win and with less random outcomes.

I will test it in Hotseat mode a few times and then ask for volunteers to break it.

Huh, I don't remember a thing (except DRAGONS with VIKINGS smashing filthy Englishmen, supported by FRENCH MUSKETEERS AND WIZARDS, while AZTEC SUNSET INVASION attacks into ROMAN LEGIONS), but could try MP version after its release