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Introducing Gary Grigsby's World at War - Global Glory (GGWAWGG, or "gog").

About Installation

This mod will hopefully be available on the WarGamer site soon (pending approval?!), but I've jumped the gun and posted it here for the weekend. Matrix doesn't allow posting zip files, so I changed the extension to "txt". I'll remove the attachment when WarGamer is up to date.

If you wish to install, download the file, rename the file by removing the ".txt" at the end, and extract it into your AWD directory. Among other things, this will overwrite your "dat\wawgoldscenario.txt" file (which contains the list of scenarios) in order to add GGWAWGG. The rest of the installation is new files (nothing else overwritten). If you wish, you can copy that file to back it up, or even copy the entire AWD directory and install the mod into the new copy.

** edit ** having tried it, it looks as though my file has been renamed from "GGWAWGG_v1.00.zip.txt" to "<a_bunch_of_garbage>.txt". You can still install by changing the extension to ".zip" and following the remaining instructions above.

Summary of the Mod

This is Total War (1939-1946) with an increased emphasis on oil. It is not intended to be extensively different from AWD.

Highlights of the differences from AWD v1.009:

• German non-military resource consumption (NMRC) of 5 while factory multiplier is 2 (generally until war with USSR), which eliminates the large resource surplus Germany has in the early game. The largest effect is after the end of the Russian resource gift (increased to 7) after Fa1941, which will now be a noticeable hindrance. Germany will need to attack Russia or the Middle East to avoid a resource deficit.
• slightly increased resources in the Middle East (Iraq, Persia)
• added factories in zero population regions (which can only produce supplies or research) to represent historical oil refining capabilities: Transjordan, Persia, Borneo, Sumatra.
• slightly rejiggered the Italians in the Med: -1 transport, +2 militia.
• small adjustment to USA War Readiness. FM (factory multiplier)=2 threshold is reduced to 26 so that FM=2 is generally reached in time for a historical Pearl Harbor (if FM is still 1 then no Japanese player should jump, leading to a "required" ahistorical delay).
• Small adjustment to USSR War Readiness. The per turn increment from 1941 onwards is reduced to 1-2 (instead of 1-4), making events/actions (like E Poland moves) more important relative to the randomness, and allowing a slightly delayed DOW (if the EP moves are lacking) in keeping with new German resource disadvantages for stalling.
• Some changes to Russian factories. +1 in Smolensk, -1 in Moscow, but with a factory started in production in Moscow. Looking to see more railing of industry, since Smolensk will not fall in 1st turn Barbarosa, but will be threatened.

There is a detailed description of the mod in the attachment, which includes some discussion of the historical situation with regards to oil that provides the motivation. There are a couple of very very interesting references provided, one of which was apparently written in 1941 before both Barbarosa and Pearl Harbor (and predicts both Japan and Germany going after oil rich regions).

Play

This has not been play tested. I think that the changes are small enough, and adjustments straightforward enough, that balance is not seriously effected. But I cannot be 100% sure.

I'd love to start a game with anyone interested, and it would be helpful if I received reports of any other games that may take place. Send me a PM and we'll set something up!

I hope that others will find this mod fun and interesting.

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead

Highlights of the differences from AWD v1.009:

• German non-military resource consumption (NMRC) of 5 while factory multiplier is 2 (generally until war with USSR), which eliminates the large resource surplus Germany has in the early game. The largest effect is after the end of the Russian resource gift (increased to 7) after Fa1941, which will now be a noticeable hindrance. Germany will need to attack Russia or the Middle East to avoid a resource deficit.

Its great to see this working now. To bad the fact was missed that it was always possible. We could have released the game with this included as standard.

[*] slightly rejiggered the Italians in the Med: -1 transport, +2 militia.

I've been thinking of subtracting 1 transport myself, but can not firmly commit to tell myself it's really better. I have made some slight tweaks to the new scenario Uncommon Valor and been debating whether I should do just what you have done.

[*] small adjustment to USA War Readiness. FM (factory multiplier)=2 threshold is reduced to 26 so that FM=2 is generally reached in time for a historical Pearl Harbor (if FM is still 1 then no Japanese player should jump, leading to a "required" ahistorical delay).

I have just made nearly the same change myself, except I went with 27. A Fall41 or Winter42 Pearl Harbor can both in good argument represent the start of the Pacific war.

[*] Small adjustment to USSR War Readiness. The per turn increment from 1941 onwards is reduced to 1-2 (instead of 1-4), making events/actions (like E Poland moves) more important relative to the randomness, and allowing a slightly delayed DOW (if the EP moves are lacking) in keeping with new German resource disadvantages for stalling.

You know I support this one. I was never a fan of Gary's preferred volitality of the Russian WR and liked the 1d2 we had before.

[*] Some changes to Russian factories. +1 in Smolensk, -1 in Moscow, but with a factory started in production in Moscow. Looking to see more railing of industry, since Smolensk will not fall in 1st turn Barbarosa, but will be threatened.
[/ul]

Again your right up my alley;)


One thing that I expected to see was the German factory cost reduced to 6 since the NMRC is in effect. Will the German player really abuse the delay strat and build factories when he has a resource shortage? Another related point is why have the resource gift stop in Fall41 when there is an NMRC in place? The original setting for this may make the most sense now. The NMRC and resource gift values may need adjusting after such a change, but so what, at least it would make more sense historically. Stalin was not going to stop the resource gift in 41. He was more than happy to appease Hitler as long as possible.

I will have fun playing this. Since your looking for a volunteer I'll help. You should play the Axis so I can see first hand how you intended these changes to effect gameplay. Send me your opening turn whenever your ready.

A few other things I wish to point out. Add the line &nbsp; FACMULT,Germany,3,YEAR,1943&nbsp; back into the factory file. I can't see how it can hurt if the NMRC was adjusted to prevent the delay strat from being so strong. Have Germany's x3 multiple kick in at the same time Russia's gift ends. In other words extend Russia's gift one year to Fall42.

I like to see more of your analysis that made you decide on 5 NMRC and 7 gift. Currently Germany gains +3 from Russia that it does not need. With NMRC turned on it now looks like Germany gains +2 resources that it doesn't need. What about making it 3 and 3? In this way Germany's NMRC is paid for from its gift from Russia and does not gain extra resources to overfill its coffers. In addition Russia does not lose so many resources per turn and can build up a larger reserve before war breaks out.

I just noticed you had on the dev forum already showed some calculations. But at a 7 resource gift thats got to put a good dent in Russia's resource stockpile. Wouldn't it work out just as well with a gift around 3 and adjust the NMRC lower?&nbsp;

One thing I'd like to point out is that the emphasis on oil is sort of my own fixation, but many of the other tweaks are the result of lengthy discussions that took place during development. Hence, many of the ideas are not to my credit but are shared amongst several of the testers.

Not meaning to exclude anyone, but I think that Lebatron, Jan, and Uncle_Joe contributed many excellent suggestions and thoughts, some of which made it into AWD, and some of which percolated into what I have presented here.

ORIGINAL: Lebatron

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead
[*] small adjustment to USA War Readiness. FM (factory multiplier)=2 threshold is reduced to 26 so that FM=2 is generally reached in time for a historical Pearl Harbor (if FM is still 1 then no Japanese player should jump, leading to a "required" ahistorical delay).

I have just made nearly the same change myself, except I went with 27. A Fall41 or Winter42 Pearl Harbor can both in good argument represent the start of the Pacific war.

I'm not 100% sure on this. I definitely think it should be lower than 28 based on direct game experience, but 27 might be OK. My analysis to support setting it at 26 omitted the effect of u-boat transport sinkings, so I think there is a chance 27 is better.

ORIGINAL: Lebatron

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead
[*] Some changes to Russian factories. +1 in Smolensk, -1 in Moscow, but with a factory started in production in Moscow. Looking to see more railing of industry, since Smolensk will not fall in 1st turn Barbarosa, but will be threatened.
[/ul]

Again your right up my alley;)

You know I wanted Smolensk so it could be railed, and in fact I credit the idea to compensate by putting a Moscow factory in production to Franko's.

ORIGINAL: Lebatron
One thing that I expected to see was the German factory cost reduced to 6 since the NMRC is in effect. Will the German player really abuse the delay strat and build factories when he has a resource shortage? Another related point is why have the resource gift stop in Fall41 when there is an NMRC in place?

You are absolutely right, the failure to adjust the factory cost was an oversight. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll correct it before I send a turn.

ORIGINAL: Lebatron
A few other things I wish to point out. Add the line FACMULT,Germany,3,YEAR,1943 back into the factory file. I can't see how it can hurt if the NMRC was adjusted to prevent the delay strat from being so strong. Have Germany's x3 multiple kick in at the same time Russia's gift ends. In other words extend Russia's gift one year to Fall42.

Once FM=3, the NMRC disappears (it is based on factory multiple, no other considerations). Since there is a resource surplus as long as the gift lasts, tieing the two together like that would have no differences from doing the same thing in AWD (adjusting gift expiry and FM=3 date but without the NMRC and gift changes), with the only exception that German factory purchases would not now be a good idea.

I think that having the Russian gift end at Fa41 with the NMRC in place is the main way to ensure that the resource pool peaks in 1941 and declines thereafter __unless__ Germany captures significant resources in the Middle East or Russia. It may be a little forced, but I think it is a great way to encourage a historical schedule. I'd say it is historically sort of justifiable anyway: Stalin said "they will not attack in 1941", but by 1942 they could have decided to start delaying and hedging on shipments.

Given the NMRC and the end of the the gift in Fa41, the FM=3 in 1943 would not be any problem. The resource pool would already be much declined without Mid East control. That's worth thinking about.

As to my analysis, I will send you an Excel spreadsheet. It is of course approximate, but indicative. Summary:

• while FM=2 (NMRC=5) and the gift is active, Germany has a resource surplus of 4/turn, assuming all of its historical conquests (including Greece with its 1 resource and 2 storage capacity) and prompt repair.
• at 4/turn, 2 new German factories could be exploited at FM=2, but would eliminate the accumulation of resource storage.
• by approximately Fa41 (probably a bit earlier) the maximum German resource storage is reached at 40
• after the gift expires in Fa41, there is a -3/turn resource deficit, so the stored pool will be declining unless supplemental resources (eg Mid East) are exploited.
• during the gift, the Russian resource storage is reduced (because the gift is taken after the storage is computed), after the gift the Russians will be able to store 7 more resources to burn once they hit FM=3.

One caveat on the analysis ... it was actually performed for AWD, not GGWAWGG. It doesn't reflect the factory I added to the Low Countries which would allow the Germans to utilize more resources. So in reality I suppose the German surplus is 1 less than analyzed, and the deficit 1 larger.

I'll send you a turn tonight. I will adjust the German factory cost, and maybe the USA WR threshold to 27.

Thanks for your comments.

ORIGINAL: Lebatron
I just noticed you had on the dev forum already showed some calculations. But at a 7 resource gift thats got to put a good dent in Russia's resource stockpile. Wouldn't it work out just as well with a gift around 3 and adjust the NMRC lower? 

I just noticed this post, which must have arrived while I was writing my previous post.

My analysis in selecting these was based on Germany. Effects to Russia were secondary in my thinking.

I wanted a big enough resource deficit after the gift ends that Germany's resource stockpile actually declines. FM=2, NMRC=5 gives the deficit of about 3 resources/turn after the gift ends. That excludes Sardinia and Cairo, and a strong play against Britain should yield access to those resources, leaving a deficit of 1/turn. So it forces real progress somewhere (MidEast, Russia) to avoid a deficit.

Given NMRC=5, it looks to me that the gift needs to be 6 or 7 in order to accumulate fast enough to hit the peak storage by 1941.