Matrix Games Forums

Have been creating a 'Phoney War' Scenario where the Axis recognize that they are not ready to invade Russia at the end of June 1941 but, like France in 1939, Russia and Germany are at War. This is basically because I don't know how to either a) start the scenario in '41 but not have fighting (if you don't attack the Russians on June 22nd, they will attack you) or b) start the '41 scenario in '42 AND do a reasonable job of estimating how strong the sides will be by then - especially the Russians - or what a reasonable reinforcement schedule would be - especially for the Russians. So Phoney War it is. I have three specific problems when I start:

- I just can't get the FBDs to work right. They seem OK on Turn 1 (and work correctly if I attack on Turn 1, as is not supposed to happen by the pretext of this scenario). However, on Turn 2, they are useless (regardless of being used on Turn 1 or not). It appears that all the attached/support units become unready (guessing that is what the (u) at the end of the unit means, given the info provided when clicked open).
- Despite the Germans not attacking on Turn 1 and the Russians essentially heading east for the Dnepr/Dvina line, the Germans take a massive amount of casualties (200-250,000 on various tests, 95+% disabled)
- See above, Russians take almost no casualtues on Turn 1 but their OB drops almost 50%. Drops another 40% or so the following turn, although they at least have taken a few casualties that turn - but about 700,000 less that the OB drops. Despite the fact that the OB says only about 1,000,000 Russians left, there are lots of new divisions appearing and they aren't all shells (have FoW off to help check things).

The rest actually seems to be OK; freezing unfreezing, reinforcement schedules, changes to industry/production; we'll see about the changed TOEs in '42. Game loads and plays OK, except for the three issues above, 1 of which (phantom German casualties) is no big deal as it is a Turn 1 only issue; the others are game breakers. As players of the game know, without FBDs, the 'auto rail line repair system' to, say, the AGC front, would have gone far enough east by 1944 to supply the retreating army fairly nicely. As everyone knows; if the Russians lose 40% per turn, the game will not represent a significant challenge. Incidentally, I have the game on Custom Difficulty (Germans 90-100%, Soviets 110%).

I have changed only Scenario Files, no Generic ones. I do admit that I have no clue what I should be doing with the CSV files, so I have done nothing. Looked at the editor manual going in: "yes there is an editor, it is quite complex, good luck." Plus 6 pages saying why you are not worthy of using it. So not a lot of help there, although they were apparently correct about my worthiness.

So any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not sure I understood all the detail, but will try to answer.

- I just can't get the FBDs to work right. They seem OK on Turn 1 (and work correctly if I attack on Turn 1, as is not supposed to happen by the pretext of this scenario). However, on Turn 2, they are useless (regardless of being used on Turn 1 or not). It appears that all the attached/support units become unready (guessing that is what the (u) at the end of the unit means, given the info provided when clicked open).

This looks quite odd. Units become unready once they loose TOE or morale.

- Despite the Germans not attacking on Turn 1 and the Russians essentially heading east for the Dnepr/Dvina line, the Germans take a massive amount of casualties (200-250,000 on various tests, 95+% disabled)

Attrition casualties happen on the logistic phase, so some German casualties are expected, but 250K looks too much.

- See above, Russians take almost no casualtues on Turn 1 but their OB drops almost 50%. Drops another 40% or so the following turn, although they at least have taken a few casualties that turn - but about 700,000 less that the OB drops. Despite the fact that the OB says only about 1,000,000 Russians left, there are lots of new divisions appearing and they aren't all shells (have FoW off to help check things).

Hmm. Is there any OB switch goes on during these turns? Since Soviet OBs shrinks quite a bit in 1941/42. So if you have much later starting date it could happen.

You may post your scenario here (if limit allows) or in the tech forum, so I could see better.

No OB changes (or TOE changes) until early '42. Start date is unchanged - it is just that the Germans don't attack on the first turn. The strange German disabled losses are first turn only, Russian OB erodes every turn (for at least 5 turns, at least nominally, as there appear to be lots of Russian units about). The FBD issue is that all the support units become unready and when you open them, the Labor Squad readiness is zero, Support is normal. They appear to be absolutely normal in the editor and on Turn 1, the workers just all take off during the first week and don't come back. Tried to post the .scn file here and failed (file type not supported), so I probably need a quick tutorial on this as well. Will try in the tech forum as well.

OK, have got the FBDs to work (I missed one of the buttons on the main page - which I understand only slightly better than the CSV page, which is a complete mystery). Also sorted out the evaporating Soviet Union OB, but don't really know how. Now both the Soviets and Axis took a big first turn disabled hit. I can live with that as it is not unbalancing and they'll all be back in 2 years or so.

Incidentally, 1% return on disabled seems really low. If it was editable and I had any idea where/how, I would certainly bump it up a % or two.

Finally, I think it is probably a great editor. I certainly enjoyed the little bit I was comfotable with. It really, really needs a manual. I understand that resources are needed to fix the manifest weaknesses in the game (I wouldn't have spent this time making a mod if I was thrilled with the vanilla game) - but it would be nice to allow us to apply the fixes we are most interested in. After all, most wargamers are 'what if' guys (and I assume we are mostly (ok, all) guys) and the vanilla game is very clear (I think especially if you play the Axis) that you are stuck with the hand dealt to the Germans historically. If you want 'what if', you have to mod it yourself. Which is fine, I play modded Civ, modded Fallout, heavily, heavily modded Oblivion, etc. An editor is a huge plus and the developers deserve credit for giving it to us.