China Rail Lines

[el cid again]

This is sort of a query. I wonder why the critical rail lines are absent from China?
Is this an attempt to somehow limit a Japanese offensive?

Note that late in the war, Japan was able to link Indochina with Northern China by rail.
You cannot do that in AE - because the line has important gaps in it. When it happened
in fact, Japanese propaganda made much of it - too much - it was too late and too little
to matter. There was not enough happening economically any more to permit such
a connection from having much impact. But what if they didn't wait until 1944?

There are other cases. Some quite curious. At least one, however, is historical.
The rail line from Hanoi North was deliberately ripped up.

In the mechanical WITP the problem of Chinese rail was addressed by having different
sections appear at different dates. Rail construction, and to some degree, destruction,
is ongoing in this theater over time, and our system does not model either. So in general,
we use the rail lines at the start - and that is what we get. But in that case, why don't we
get them?

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

This is sort of a query. I wonder why the critical rail lines are absent from China?
Is this an attempt to somehow limit a Japanese offensive?

Note that late in the war, Japan was able to link Indochina with Northern China by rail.
You cannot do that in AE - because the line has important gaps in it. When it happened
in fact, Japanese propaganda made much of it - too much - it was too late and too little
to matter. There was not enough happening economically any more to permit such
a connection from having much impact. But what if they didn't wait until 1944?

There are other cases. Some quite curious. At least one, however, is historical.
The rail line from Hanoi North was deliberately ripped up.

In the mechanical WITP the problem of Chinese rail was addressed by having different
sections appear at different dates. Rail construction, and to some degree, destruction,
is ongoing in this theater over time, and our system does not model either. So in general,
we use the rail lines at the start - and that is what we get. But in that case, why don't we
get them?

If you were designing an Eastern Front or Afrika Korps game, you would certainly have to do something about changes to the rail/road network, although they should be driven by player actions. In the Pacific, on a one-day time scale, I don't see how you can, especially given the order of magnitude differences in building costs as a function of terrain and type of road/railroad.

[Andrew Brown]

AE does not have a feature that allows for changes to the road/railway networks during the time frame of the game. It would have been nice to have it, but we don't. What is depicted on the map is the state of those networks during what are considered to be the most critical campaigning times in the concerned areas, not necessarily what was there at-start.

It is possible to use modified pwhexe files to represent changes, something that I intend to do myself once I get around to it (for example, adding the Burma railway, ALCAN and Ledo roads, plus a few other things, for a 1944 version of the map).

Andrew

[Don Bowen]

ORIGINAL: Andrew Brown

AE does not have a feature that allows for changes to the road/railway networks during the time frame of the game. It would have been nice to have it, but we don't. What is depicted on the map is the state of those networks during what are considered to be the most critical campaigning times in the concerned areas, not necessarily what was there at-start.

It is possible to use modified pwhexe files to represent changes, something that I intend to do myself once I get around to it (for example, adding the Burma railway, ALCAN and Ledo roads, plus a few other things, for a 1944 version of the map).

Andrew

Which you will share?

[Andrew Brown]

ORIGINAL: Don Bowen

ORIGINAL: Andrew Brown

AE does not have a feature that allows for changes to the road/railway networks during the time frame of the game. It would have been nice to have it, but we don't. What is depicted on the map is the state of those networks during what are considered to be the most critical campaigning times in the concerned areas, not necessarily what was there at-start.

It is possible to use modified pwhexe files to represent changes, something that I intend to do myself once I get around to it (for example, adding the Burma railway, ALCAN and Ledo roads, plus a few other things, for a 1944 version of the map).

Andrew

Which you will share?

Yes I will.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Andrew Brown

ORIGINAL: Don Bowen

ORIGINAL: Andrew Brown

AE does not have a feature that allows for changes to the road/railway networks during the time frame of the game. It would have been nice to have it, but we don't. What is depicted on the map is the state of those networks during what are considered to be the most critical campaigning times in the concerned areas, not necessarily what was there at-start.

It is possible to use modified pwhexe files to represent changes, something that I intend to do myself once I get around to it (for example, adding the Burma railway, ALCAN and Ledo roads, plus a few other things, for a 1944 version of the map).

Andrew

Which you will share?

Yes I will.

Better question...

Will it be simple enough that even I can figure out how to do it? [:D]

[inqistor]

ORIGINAL: Andrew Brown

It is possible to use modified pwhexe files to represent changes, something that I intend to do myself once I get around to it (for example, adding the Burma railway, ALCAN and Ledo roads, plus a few other things, for a 1944 version of the map.

So, is this possible to change map file mid-game? I would guess it can create issues with LCUs currently marching, suddenly having their marching cost modified, because of adding road to their hex.

ORIGINAL: herwin
If you were designing an Eastern Front or Afrika Korps game, you would certainly have to do something about changes to the rail/road network, although they should be driven by player actions. In the Pacific, on a one-day time scale, I don't see how you can, especially given the order of magnitude differences in building costs as a function of terrain and type of road/railroad.

Another problem is building model. If you create it free (that player can construct anywhere he wants), you can soon face whole map covered in railroads. Oh yes, players LOVE to exploit loopholes [:D]