Matrix Games Forums

I am wrapping up an update for my Advanced Third Reich mod which I will post after this brief AAR summary of a pretty good playtest game for Axis AI versus Allied AI at default difficulty. The game ended with an Allied victory in May 1945. There were a few rough spots along the way but both AIs are performing pretty well. Good enough, for now. I will run through the game summaries for each year and post screenshots.

** 1939 **

1939-09-01 (ACTIVITY)
Poland: Germany Declared War On Poland

1939-10-27 (ACTIVITY)
Poland: Poland Surrendered

1939-11-24 (ACTIVITY)
Netherlands: Germany Declared War On Netherlands

1939-12-22 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russia Fights Over The Finnish Border
Netherlands: Netherlands Surrendered

Screenshot shows Germany preparing to mop up in Poland and preparing an early attack in Netherlands.

** 1940 **

1940-01-19 (ACTIVITY)
Denmark: Germany Declared War On Denmark
Denmark: Denmark Surrendered

1940-02-16 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russia Annexes Territory From Finland Following End Of Winter War

1940-03-15 (ACTIVITY)
Norway: Pro-Allied Coup in Norway

1940-04-12 (ACTIVITY)
Belgium: Germany Declared War On Belgium
Luxembourg: Germany Declared War On Luxembourg
Belgium: Belgium Surrendered
Luxembourg: Luxembourg Surrendered

1940-06-07 (ACTIVITY)
Italy: Italy Joins The Axis

1940-08-02 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russia Occupies Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia

1940-08-02 (ACTIVITY)
Germany: Germany Creates Vichy France
France: France Surrendered
Vichy France: Vichy French Government Installed
Algeria: Algerian Government Established (Vichy France Mandate)
Morocco: Moroccan Government Established (Vichy France Mandate)
Syria: Syrian Government Established (Vichy France Mandate)
Tunisia: Tunisian Government Established (Vichy France Mandate)

1940-08-30 (ACTIVITY)
Norway: Norway Surrendered

1940-10-25 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russia Annexes Bessarabia From Romania

1940-11-22 (ACTIVITY)
Romania: Romania Joins The Axis
Hungary: Hungary Joins The Axis
Greece: Italy Declares War On Greece

Screenshot shows Germany preparing to conquer France. The Allied coup in Norway is taking time to suppress.

** 1941 **

1941-02-14 (ACTIVITY)
Greece: Greece Surrendered

1941-03-14 (ACTIVITY)
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Joins The Axis

1941-04-11 (ACTIVITY)
Yugoslavia: Yugoslavia Joins The Axis

1941-06-06 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Germany Declared War On Russia

1941-07-04 (ACTIVITY)
Finland: Finland Joins The Axis

1941-08-29 (ACTIVITY)
Iraq: Britain Declared War On Iraq

1941-10-24 (ACTIVITY)
Syria: Britain Declared War On Syria
Syria: Syria Surrendered

1941-11-21 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russia Rebuilds Damaged Industry In The Urals

1941-11-21 (ACTIVITY)
United States: Pearl Harbour Attacked By Japanese Forces

First screenshot shows Axis advances in Russia for Barbarossa. Germany is securing the Smolensk-Kiev line, prompting Russia to rebuild industry in the East.

Second screenshot for late 1941 showing activity in North Africa. As mentioned, there is some Allied weakness here responding to Syria and Iraq, and also some Axis weakness in not sending German forces to Libya - sometimes they don't.

** 1942 **

1942-01-16 (ACTIVITY)
Russia: Russian Winter Strikes

1942-02-13 (ACTIVITY)
United States: United States Joins The Allies
Ireland: VARIANT - Pro-Allied Coup in Ireland

1942-12-18 (ACTIVITY)
Algeria: United States Declared War On Algeria
Morocco: United States Declared War On Morocco
Algeria: Algeria Surrendered
Tunisia: VARIANT - Tunisia Joins the Axis Alliance

Typical combats during 1942. Screenshot shows Axis gains in Russia. I've observed better gains in some playtest games and even Axis victories capturing Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

** 1943 **

1943-02-12 (ACTIVITY)
Morocco: Morocco Surrendered

1943-05-07 (ACTIVITY)
Tunisia: Tunisia Surrendered

1943-07-02 (ACTIVITY)
Spain: Spain Alarmed by Axis Loss of Africa
Turkey: Turkey Reacts to Allies Control of Tripoli

1943-10-22 (ACTIVITY)
Iraq: Iraq Surrendered

Allies make some gains during 1943. Screenshot shows British finally securing Iraq, and Italians still holding out in Libya.

** 1944 **

1944-03-10 (ACTIVITY)
Turkey: Turkey Reacts to Allies Control of Tobruk

1944-10-20 (ACTIVITY)
Italy: Italy Surrenders Unconditionally To The Allies
Germany: VARIANT - Germany Increases Synthetic Oil Production

1944-12-15 (ACTIVITY)
France: Allies Liberate France
Romania: Romania Surrenders Unconditionally To The Allies
Vichy France: Vichy France Surrenders Unconditionally To The Allies

Perhaps a bit slow, but Allies succeed in making good gains in 1944. Screenshot shows Allies closing in on Paris, Rome, and Warsaw.

** 1945 **

1945-01-12 (ACTIVITY)
Luxembourg: Allies Liberate Luxembourg
Hungary: Hungary Surrenders Unconditionally To The Allies

1945-02-09 (ACTIVITY)
Belgium: Allies Liberate Belgium
Netherlands: Allies Liberate Netherlands
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Surrenders Unconditionally To The Allies

Screenshot shows Allies closing in on Berlin during the final months. Overall pretty good game.

Again, this is just AI-AI at default difficulty. Human players should use the higher Veteran difficulty level for a challenging Axis or Allied computer opponent.

Where would one find instructions regarding how to best utilize this mod? I got it via the Community Pack. I have searched nearly every folder for some kind of text file.

I was playing around with the mod and suddenly the Allies got some kind of Variant to move into Belgium. I remember those variants from the board game, but could find no information on how each side obtains them.

ORIGINAL: westcoast917
I remember those variants from the board game, but could find no information on how each side obtains them.

Yes, in the boardgame players would draw chits and then play them at an appropriate time. What I did was create a number of variable events to recreate the old variants plus several new ones, usually with a single-check 5% chance of occurrence but some with 10% chance. Statistically, both sides should get a couple/few variants apiece each game for variety, but sometimes more and sometimes less. The goal is to enhance replayability by providing a few surprises, without too many surprises.