Advanced Third Reich Mod v1.2

[pzgndr]

Attached is the latest update for my A3R mod, 1939 Campaign Game. From my included Design Notes, here is a summary introduction:

This is an adaptation of Avalon Hill's 1992 board game ADVANCED THIRD REICH (A3R), the sequel to THE RISE AND DECLINE OF THE THIRD REICH originally designed by John Prados in the 1970s. The term "adaptation" is used loosely here because, frankly, while many features are more or less faithful recreations of A3R, there are many other features that are not. This adaptation has roughly the same map scale, the same force pools and scenario orders of battle, and the same relative economic production and unit costs. The scale and scope is essentially the same, so veteran players familiar with A3R should feel right at home – right down to the customized military unit icons. However, many things are different and players may notice elements of the Strategic Command (SC) series, Clash of Steel (COS), A World at War (AWAW), World in Flames (WiF), European Theater of Operations (ETO), Blitzkrieg General (BG) and the more recent John Prados' Third Reich (JP3R). Gameplay itself is fundamentally different because the game mechanics of SC are significantly different than those of the A3R board game. Thus, this adaptation is a melting pot of sorts for the World War Two ETO grand strategy game genre.

Here are the Version Notes:

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Advanced Third Reich for Strategic Command WWII: War In Europe, v1.2
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DATA CHANGES
- reduced Russia initial mobilization from 30% to 25%
- slightly reduced chances by 5-10% for sandstorms in Africa and Middle East, snow in Europe during winter, and significant reductions in frozen weather (to permit more effective combats)
- doubled initial BRPs to help jumpstart spending options
- made significant revisions to economics to get back to boardgame originals:
-- all industrial areas now 20 BRPs and all oil now 30 BRPs
-- Britain (was getting about 80/turn and should have been getting 125/turn)
- Hamilton added as Canadian industrial area
- one Canadian oil for variant and one for total war increase if London occupied by Axis
-- France (was getting about 70/turn and should have been getting 80/turn)
- changed Sedan to major city (this also helps Germany)
-- United States (production should now approach 400 BRPs by 1944)
- changed Syracuse, Rochester, and Pittsburgh to industrial areas
- deleted Charlotte
- total of seven oil; one increase each year 1940-45, plus one increase upon DOW
-- Russia (production should now approach 180 by 1944)
- changed Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kuibyshev to minor cities
- total of three oil; two increases in 1941 at war, one in 1942
- three additional oil; two for increase if Leningrad/Moscow occupied by Axis, one for variant
-- Germany
- Ploesti oil increase in 1943 for total war production
- no change to Leuna oil variant, but value is now greater
-- Italy
- no changes
- deleted Palestine and Trans-Jordan as separate minor countries and made whole area Egypt (now all 15 BRPs subject to convoy losses)
- increased Germany max research of Industrial Technology to 2 chits, to allow it to reach level 5
- added strength 5 fleets to the P/Q: Britain, Jan 1940; Italy, May 1940; Germany, July 1940.
- made adjustments to Strategic Warfare to increase economic losses
-- increased U-Boat raid multiplier from 10 to 15
-- increased Strategic Bomber resource attack from 4 to 5
- fixed CTV data for Vichy France armor
- changed air op restrictions for Spain/Turkey/Yugoslavia to Home/Controlled
- changed CTV data for Partisans to allow only soft defense 1
- restricted United States infantry and armor builds until September 1941
- added jet_interceptor custom sound for anti_air_attack Interceptors
- reduced Rockets attack/defense values except for strategic attack and soft defense

SCRIPT CHANGES
- adjusted OFFENSIVE scripts for Germany attacking Yugoslavia and Russia
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Germany garrison of Poland/Eastern Front and British garrison of Palestine/Trans-Jordan
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Italy garrison to include Naples with Rome/Taranto/Messina as default defense
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Germany garrison of Albania and Greece prior to Italy surrender
- adjusted STRENGTH scripts to slightly reduce effects of supply shortages, generally from 2-4 to 1-3
- fixed STRENGTH scripts for Axis AI games for Allied supply shortages, now requiring United States not yet at war
- added STRENGTH scripts for excessive German units (5+) in the Tobruk-Alexandria corridor
- adjusted RESOURCE scripts for Russian BRPs, loss of Smolensk OR Kiev triggers Urals Industry Transfer, failsafe 1943
- adjusted RESOURCE scripts for economics changes discussed above
- adjusted UNIT scripts to change failsafe date of Russian 3-3 infantry to 1942 and Siberian Transfer to 1947
-- changes require loss of Smolensk OR Kiev to trigger 3-3 infantry
-- changes require United States war entry to trigger Siberian Transfer
- adjusted UNIT scripts for arrival of extra fleets (British AI 1942 to 1941, United States AI 1942)
- adjusted UNIT scripts to reduce additional unit variants from 10% to 5%
- added UNIT script for de Gaulle HQ and Free French unit arrivals upon liberation of France
- fixed unit script error for Free French unit in Syria
- fixed CONVOY scripts bug to reduce Lend Lease and Murmansk convoys based on Russian advances
- adjusted CONVOY scripts to reduce convoy seasonal reductions, except for Murmansk Convoys (U-Boats will have to inflict losses)
- adjusted CONVOY scripts to slightly reduce Lend Lease and Murmansk Convoy percentages
- adjusted SURRENDER_2 scripts for Italy surrender, more consistent with A3R rules
-- surrender requires Axis has no units in North Africa and Sicily
-- surrender requires Allies have a unit (single) on mainland Italy in range of Taranto or Rome
- adjusted AMPHIBIOUS and AMPHIBIOUS_MINOR scripts for improved Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy
- added new FREE_UNIT script for Romanian units transferred to Russian control (75% chance) when Romania surrenders
- adjusted US MOBILIZATION_2 scripts to reduce range from 6 to 5 for Italian fleets approaching Alexandria/Gibraltar
- added SURRENDER_2 scripts for Allied invasion of Vichy Syria and Lebanon around 1941/06/08
- PARTISAN scripts should now work with #ADD_UNIT= 2 force pool limits in v1.15
- revised WAR_ENTRY scripts for Iraq, now variable pro-Axis coup (10%) or pro-Allied coup (40%) o/a 1941/04/01
- changed WAR_ENTRY scripts to MOBILIZATION_3 scripts for pro-Allied events for Axis-aligned minors
-- pro-Allied coups for Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia
-- Free French variant activations for Algeria, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia

[pzgndr]

Attached is the 1941 scenario.

[pzgndr]

Alright, there may be some further adjustments based on any feedback I get, but this is pretty close to final. Some thoughts:

1. I made some relatively significant changes to the game economics to get back to what the original boardgame had. It's still not perfect but it's better.

2. There were a lot of script changes to improve the variable coups and surrenders. I think the way the game handles Norway and Yugoslavia is better now, with more uncertainty for both Axis and Allies. Yugoslavia nagged me, but it's working now and the Axis AI is better prepared to invade or react to an Allied coup. The way the game handles MOBILIZATION_3 scripts causes occasional multiple coups (e.g., Axis, then Allied, etc.) and rather than consider this a "bug" it's actually pretty close to what actually happened in Yugoslavia.

3. There are numerous bug fixes and partisans are now working as intended. All good. I made a lot of other little improvements and AI enhancements, so overall I think it plays very well now.

4. I still recommend playing the AI at the Veteran +1 difficulty level, but I have come around to suggesting the Expert +2 difficulty level for a decent challenge against the computer opponent. At least for me. Your mileage may vary.

So. Overall this is pretty close to what I have been striving to achieve. It's not a exact adaptation of the boardgame, but it's got everything a player needs for replayability: game variants, Norway, Vichy France, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Spain, etc. I've seen a lot of AI-AI playtest games go one way or another, so it's always different.

Enjoy!

[Cataphract88]

Thanks for continuing working on and improving your mod - great work! [:)]

[Batavian]

Thank you Bill. Very nice of you to continue to improve this mod. I've enjoyed playing it. Thank you.

[Kossatx]

@pzgndr: Maybe a silly question, how do you assign Switzerland as neutral and without control of any country?

Edited: Well, I've found the way to do it, simply deleting the land hex.

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Kossatx

@pzgndr: Maybe a silly question, how do you assign Switzerland as neutral and without control of any country?

Edited: Well, I've found the way to do it, simply deleting the land hex.

Actually, it’s just neutral land hexes, no assignment at all so no DOWs/entry possible. I’ve previously used depression tiles, editted one as gray for use as no-entry. Easy enough. Your other questions about setting up resources in such areas is more complicated.

[pzgndr]

Hi all. Please see Strategic Command v1.16 Beta Update Available and information about the community pack update. The update has A3R v1.2, but with minor corrections already made for the v1.16 BETA.

I intend to playtest over the next week to see if the other game changes affect A3R play balance in any way. I may make some minor adjustments. If anyone has ANY comments or feedback based on playing A3R v1.2 over the past couple of months, please let me know by this weekend (Dec 15/16) so I can consider any other minor adjustments/corrections to make before we go final with v1.16 and the community pack update.