Historical Map Mod Upload

[aspqrz02]

This is the work in progress that is the Historical Map Mod that I have been beavering away at ... and the readme file with explanatory notes.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ksc7wt7neukt ... bnvQa?dl=0

I have finished (well, I *think* I have) all of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, but *maybe* not Sweden, *probably* not Finland and the USSR not at all.

This will *not* be of much interest to people who think that 'victory' in a WW2 game means Germany conquering the entire map ... it is for people who, as I do, think 'victory' means lasting beyond 8 MAY 45 ...

Comments, questions and requests are welcomed.

Phil McGregor

[gwgardner]

Thanks for posting it, and all the work. Have you tested with the AI, or think anything in the mod throws the AI a curve?

[PanzerMike]

I have a few suggestions for you for Netherlands/German Nortwest coast area:

hex 153,63 Weser, use river sprite #22 (turn draw river off first or the editor will goof it up)
hex 145,59 tile sprite #1
hex 146,60 tile sprite #1
hex 144,60 Amsterdam tile sprite #77
hex 143,59 tile sprite #56 + river sprite #14
hex 143,58 Rotterdam tile sprite #54
Please change the name Zuider Zee to IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel). The Zuider Zee ceased to exist in the early thirties.

It will then look like this:


All is mostly cosmetic, but still. I do not think anything will be broken by my suggested changes.

Keep up the good work.

[aspqrz02]

ORIGINAL: gwgardner
Thanks for posting it, and all the work. Have you tested with the AI, or think anything in the mod throws the AI a curve?

Ah. Well. First thing is to get the *map* right ...

Second thing is to get the units right - deployed as close to their historical at start positions as possible, as close to their historical strength and composition as possible.

And there are some Campaign, Country and Unit level features that have to be tweaked.

All the latter are being worked on more or less simultaneously. I have corrected TO&E's for all the Western and Central European nations, including the Neutrals and the Baltics, for Iraq, Persia and Turkey, and for Scandinavia.

Haven't done Russia, as yet, as that is a big job.

I have played Poland 39 in Hotseat mode and you can take Poland as Germany in 2, possibly 3, turns ... and Poland cannot hold out.

I haven't tried it with the AI yet, but it should probably work as well as it did before the changes.

I suspect that if the AI picks a branch that goes for Gibraltar it won't be able to cope and will crash and burn ... and Malta will be a like, but possibly not as serious problem.

In North Africa I have removed all the Libyan Ports *except* for Tripoli and Benghazi ... the others, well, they had bugger all in the way of actual capacity and the Italians didn't even have the coastal shipping and lighterage to use what little capacity they did have (sure, the Allies had more, but since there's no way I can see of giving the Ports a capacity only for the Allies, it's a problem).

The AI would have to be smart enough to build Trucks to supply the DAK in the changed, very spotty, supply situation ... making the North Africa campaign the resource sink it was historically and making the logistics so fraught (accurately) that the DAK will simply run out of oomph at the Libyan-Egyptian border, more or less *unless* a *lot* more in the way of Truck units are committed.

The Persian Transport Corridor is a potential issue ... if Alvaro is correct about the AI choosing the shortest convoy/supply route its very existence may stuff supply to Russia up, but the way I have made the changes and its (probable) longer length than the Murmansk Convoy route should prevent that from happening.

If the AI decides to invade Turkey and then Iraq, Syria and Persia, the changes to the Syrian rail situation, to Constantinople and the like will make it hurt there as well ...

So, really, some of the AI branching may have to be fiddled with to either prevent some of the impossible fantasies from being considered in the first place OR by forcing the AI to build the sorts of units that will make those fantasies at least somewhat possible.

Clear as mud I hope?

Phil McGregor

[aspqrz02]

Thanks, I've made the cleanups you suggested and uploaded the modified map file to the DropBox folder.

Phil McGregor

[GibClaret80]

Great work Phil. Looks quality. On that map above i would put Felixstowe instead of Harwich its a much bigger port

[aspqrz02]

ORIGINAL: GibClaret80
Great work Phil. Looks quality. On that map above i would put Felixstowe instead of Harwich its a much bigger port

It's not so much the bigger port, but that Harwich was where an RN Minesweeper Flotilla was based while Felixstowe doesn't seem to have been a naval base, only a ferry port.

Unless you have better information?

Phil McGregor

[GibClaret80]

Hi Phil

Felixstowe played an important role in both world wars—in the first as Royal Naval Air Service and RAF seaplane base, and in the second as the Coastal Forces MTB, MGB and ML base HMS Beehive. It was the first base from which Second World War German E-boats and coastal convoys were systematically attacked—by flotilla led by Lt-Commanders Howes, Dickens, Hichens and Trelawney. Felixstowe was also HQ of the Harwich Harbour coast and anti-aircraft defences, and accommodated the RAF's 26th Marine Craft (Air-Sea Rescue) Unit. In 1944 the piers near the Dock were used to load troops, tanks and vehicles onto the British and American landing craft of "Force L", which reinforced the Normandy Invasion on its first and second days. In 1945 the German naval commanders in Occupied Holland arrived in E-boats at Felixstowe Dock to surrender their boats and charts to the Royal Navy.

Most of the south-western area of Felixstowe Urban District, between the Dock, Landguard Point, and Manor Road, was occupied by the Navy, RAF and Army. with Landguard Fort and several ruined gun emplacements and bunkers a reminder of that era.

Between the wars the seaplane station housed the RAF experimental establishment which tested seaplanes and flying boats. Its sheds and piers were incorporated in the MTB base and later the container port.

[PanzerMike]

Well, as long as we are doing suggestions, here is another one:



I added some map labels to clarify my choices here. They can mostly be deleted. I added Market Garden. It makes sense now IMHO.

Shoot away!

[AlvaroSousa]

Nice work.

[PanzerMike]

You still working on this Phil?

[aspqrz02]

In fits and starts, yes.

As I noted I am committed to writing a fourth book for a Kickstarter that I ran in 2017 (Orbis Mundi 2, a series of Medieval sourcebooks for Role Playing Games ... 1110 pages so far in the three that I have delivered and 86 or so in the fourth, which will likely be 200 pages, at least) and am in the process of doing just that, and it can chew up a big chunk of my time (as you might guess from the page count!) ... so working on the map and the improved ORBAT fits in around it.

I have added the Shetlands and the Channel Islands to the existing map and made some other minor changes since the last update, but I am not quite ready to upload the changed version quite yet.

Phil McGregor

[PanzerMike]

How did you like my Netherlands redesign?

[aspqrz02]

I'm not sure I want to clutter the Map with named hexes that aren't Cities or the like ...

Phil McGregor

[aspqrz02]

Working on a Historical ORBAT mod on the Historical Map at present ... Norwegian and Swedish Armed Forces so far ... this will be slow, as I have that other project which has priority,

Phil McGregor

[PanzerMike]

ORIGINAL: aspqrz02

I'm not sure I want to clutter the Map with named hexes that aren't Cities or the like ...

Phil McGregor

They are not for keeping, just for reference so you can see why it think this is better. That's all.

[teri23pl]

Where install this mod ?

[PanzerMike]

Latest can be found here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... age=1&key=

[teri23pl]

Yeee, i have actual version. I put this mod to the foler in my documents, war plan, campaings and i cant see this campaign or mod.

[aspqrz02]

Setup: The map file is in the ...

C: Users: YourName: Documents: MyGames: WarPlan: Campaigns

... folder of my computer.

The .scn files are just in the folder itself with all the .scn files. There are, however, two sub folders "1939 Map Only Mod" and "1939 ORBAT Mod" both of which are currently empty ... unlike the other sub folders which have a variety of text files for various things ...


Phil McGregor