Ostfront 2

[Captain Cruft]

It should be noted that production of the various items can be altered hugely on a per-turn basis. The lists above are just the current initial default settings.

There will be a constant balancing act between producing Basic items (those beginning with B) which consume few Resources and everything else which is Resource hungry.

I appreciate that many potential players may not relish this part of the game, but to me it's an essential part of the whole thing. If at all possible I will make some Action Cards which help, things like "Prioritize Supply" or "More Trucks" perhaps.

[Captain Cruft]

Here's a glance at the Soviet Production Overview.

[Captain Cruft]

Both sides will be able to make use of these dudes, but they will fight better for the Soviet Union.

[Jeffrey H.]

In the briefing or someplace else do you plan to put some reference table for the unit symbols ?

[Captain Cruft]

Yes of course. There will be a doc with all the important information in it.

[ironduke1955]

Ammo and Artillery, since we have 4 day turns the use of Artillery would be a average effect number. If you have a option for intensive barrage's with higher yields of damage to the target then ammo would be a nice option to use. But artillery was used in different ways the Germans preferred open sight firing a lot more efficient than the Soviet massed barrages that were often targeted at locations that the Germans had just vacated. Unless there are a couple of options for the use of ammo, it is then just a supply issue.

[Jonathan Pollard]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

Both sides will be able to make use of these dudes, but they will fight better for the Soviet Union.

Some people might take issue with your decision to have them fight better for the USSR. While it's true that many of the captured Soviets recruited for the Wehrmacht were considered unreliable, I don't think the same could be said about the Cossacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUAnVnwe ... 1386317905

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmCSShdw8Ic

[Captain Cruft]

I would have to make a separate People and have separate Factories for Cossacks to have a different combat modifier. That is additional complexity on what is already a very complex scenario, and for little gain. All the cavalry SFTypes will have very low combat power, so they should really only be used for recon, exploitation and garrison duty, not actual fighting.

More generally, what I am seeking to do is give historical flavour, not produce something perfectly historical. I don't have the knowledge to do that, and I also dislike the pointless historical arguments that all such attempts seem to attract. Not to mention the unsuitability of the ATG engine for creating such a thing.

[Captain Cruft]

ironduke555,

I have decided not to have Ammo as a separate item. Instead the various arty SFTypes will suffer a range of readiness penalties for moving and firing, and also consume more Supply than in the stock game.

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

I would have to make a separate People and have separate Factories for Cossacks to have a different combat modifier. That is additional complexity on what is already a very complex scenario, and for little gain. All the cavalry SFTypes will have very low combat power, so they should really only be used for recon, exploitation and garrison duty, not actual fighting.

More generally, what I am seeking to do is give historical flavour, not produce something perfectly historical. I don't have the knowledge to do that, and I also dislike the pointless historical arguments that all such attempts seem to attract. Not to mention the unsuitability of the ATG engine for creating such a thing.

I think this is a great way to go about it, stay away from the history book thumping when it detracts from gameplay. It's a game, which is in essence an abstraction for enjoyment. When it comes to historical accuracy vs. gameplay and simplicity, go for the latter. When you can include complexity that enhances the overall gameplay experience, then it should be considered.

Just my opinion. (I can't believe I jusy typed out "gameplay experience").

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

ironduke555,

I have decided not to have Ammo as a separate item. Instead the various arty SFTypes will suffer a range of readiness penalties for moving and firing, and also consume more Supply than in the stock game.

He does bring up a good point about the time span of a turn and the abstraction of artillery barrages within a single game turn.

I've never really sorted these types of problems out in my own head.

Same issues with aircraft and naval usage.

[Captain Cruft]

Thanks for the support on my concept [:)]

Yes the whole time thing is difficult. I think the thing to do is forget about it (apart from land movement) and just try to make it feel right with nothing too over-powered.

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

Thanks for the support on my concept [:)]

Yes the whole time thing is difficult. I think the thing to do is forget about it (apart from land movement) and just try to make it feel right with nothing too over-powered.

Well, along those lines maybe the Russians should have a more powerful barrage capability but a bigger AP hit when moved or strat transferred.

Simple but effective overall ?

[Captain Cruft]

That's pretty much what I was thinking.

[Jeffrey H.]

Now I'm thinking that the notion of 3 supply commodities; "supply", "ammo" and "fuel" does begin to make sense.

[Captain Cruft]

Well it wouldn't be hard to add it in but for "version 1" I won't. Then I can take another look after playing it a bit.

[Captain Cruft]

Update

I am still working on this every day, and remain very motivated. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel now, but it will still be a while before anything is ready to play.

The main thing I have been doing recently is a total revamp of the production system. There would have been far too many factories for players to manage under the original scheme. So I have now automated about 90% of the system and introduced a new Item called Industry which is produced by Cities and consumes Land & Resources. As a result the number of factories has been drastically reduced. These will be all be on map but in special invulnerable hexes.

Most immediately I have been doing the Finnish armaments industry (yes there was one), the output of which you can see in the HQ unit below.

Finnish Trains and Trucks are cool since they use Land to move, i.e. they burn wood.

[Captain Cruft]

Here is most of Finland's industry.

The grey hexes cannot be moved into by any units. Production output can escape though.

The unit with a flag in Tampere is a size 2 Arm. Industry counter. I have expanded on the idea of having counters to represent factories on the map. However only the Soviet ones will be transportable.

[Captain Cruft]

Part of the German heartland. There will be more factories (for tanks and planes) so the number will probably expand by a factor of three, but I think this will be manageable.

In general, players will only need to think about hexes with red labels, which are all near the map edges.

[Captain Cruft]

Leningrad.

Every City on both sides produces Recruits and Wagons automatically. Recruits can be upgraded to full Rifle or Infantry once they have trained up to 40 experience.