Feedback after first playthrough
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 6:21 pm
I just thought I'd leave my thoughts on the game and some things I've noticed after reading other comments.
On 1914 Start:
Most countries should have small detachments on their ports or important cities, I think it's a little ridiculous that most ports are actually totally unguarded and completely vulnerable to amphibious attacks. In particular, Russia doesn't even have Brest Litovsk garrisoned and it can be taken without a fight by Germany on turn 1, this leads to Russia being crippled at the beginning of the war. Serbia also is slightly too weak, it cannot retake Belgrade if it falls, and its army is so small it cannot garrison its front line. The Ottomans also could use an extra detachment or army in the caucuses as at the moment its too weak there. Greece also should have some units to prevent the CP from just walking over to Athens.
Additionally, there is a stark lack of artillery units in all of the armies, realistically every country, even Serbia, should have some artillery, and majors should have 3-4 at start. Germany also should start with more airships than it currently does.
Units:
There need to be Minesweepers added to the game and the number of deployable mines should be increased. Additionally, submarines should be able to deploy mines as this was historically a big weapon for the CP. The AI also is a bit too exploitable regarding mines at the moment so Minesweepers are highly needed. Potentially they could also be damaged by land units when removing mines, making mining your coastlines more attractive.
There is also not really much in the way of scouting elements for the naval war. Airships should have longer range to allow for sea scouting, and I'd suggest that destroyers&light cruisers actually have a 2 tile sight range instead of 1. I think it's a bit ridiculous that land units have more sight than sea units and sea battles can basically only happen by accident mostly. Exception being that storms would reduce sight back down to 1 tile.
As others have said, late game artillery is too strong, and morale bonuses between units allows too much military snowballing. Unless a unit morale is rock bottom it should have less problems defending. I also think that airships should have more impact in strategic bombing role and the build limit for Germany and France on bombers should be increased.
Submarines in the early game should have extra attack on battleships. However, anti-sub warfare should negate sub attack even harder than it currently does. So unlike artillery it should be very strong at game start but drop off in power late game.
Diplomacy:
Is there even a point to diplomacy? Even investing all of my chits into diplomacy I was unable to bring any country into the war, countries only moved very marginally over the years. I think chits should have more guaranteed outcomes rather than just a chance at moving nations (IE 2-3% guaranteed per turn, with a chance of extra on top). Historically it actually took a lot of cajoling. Additionally, countries should be conscious of the military situation. This is already modeled somewhat like Bulgaria and Romania getting in if certain points fall, but arguably every destroyed corps of Austria should push Bulgaria back a few & and Romania forward, and vice versa for Serbia/Russia.
Italy should also be a bit more of a wild card, they shouldn't just automatically go to the Entente but near some diplomatic investment (and Russia at least taking some Austrian lands). Romania should likewise lean Entente but if Russia is losing, switch to CP. If CP takes Riga, Minsk, or some of the small towns near Romania, Romania should start leaning CP.
Some nations should be "inclined" to war and easier to move than others. Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Finland (when it appears), and Ottomans should all have double the effect of chit investment compared to other Neutrals.
On national morale:
Nations should not be getting NM from destroying units, it feels way too gamey and leads to situations where the player ca easily keep their NM over 100%. Especially in the naval war because the AI is a bit too stupid with how it uses its units. Frankly speaking it shouldn't even be possible for Germany to have over 100% NM after a year of British blockades (blockades both from Germany and Britain don't harm NM nearly enough imo).
I also think some nations are a bit too resilient about NM. For instance you need to occupy 90% of Italy to get them to surrender. I think if you take Rome they should give in at that point.
The effect on NM for morale should also be reduced a bit I'd say.
AI:
Right now AI is a bit too eager to throw away units. Especially in the naval game where they constantly have small fleets all over the place. Britain doesn't keep its fleet concentrated to counter German trusts into the north sea. It doesn't seem overly concerned about keeping its flanks protected. It allows the player to "snake" units into its own flank to get cut off and doesn't fall back to keep its line intact. Italy throws its navy into the Adriatic and lets itself get chewed up by the Austrians.
In particular there was a spot I notices in the Vosges where I had that hex surrounded on three sides and the AI would put units into that hex, be unable to entrench on that turn, and I would destroy the corps before it could entrench, rinse and repeat.
It's also a bit too uncoordinated with its attacks. It'll spend time destroying a unit but doesn't follow up on its success killing a unit very well. Aside from Russia at Galacia the AI doesn't really seem to be successful with its offensives.
Events:
Retreat of the Serbian army should be modeled in the game, this was a very major point of the war when Serbia was lost due to the Bulgarian invasion. I have noticed Serbia tends to overcommit to the area around Uzice, when it reality Serbia should fall back to Nish to keep its army intact, and after that should fall back to Tirana. There should be an event of them redeploying to Greece as well.
Unrestricted Submarine warfare is currently and on/off initial decision, where Germany I feel should have to option to end it if US is 50%+ toward Entente, and a decision to rescind that later. The Zimmerman telegram should also be a decision for the CP, something that has a chance to increase their % toward Entente but will reduce their MPP if they do go to war.
When DOW by France on Belgium, France should be much quicker about DOW on Netherlands. As is, they typically don't exploit their invasion to the fullest (IE DOW should come 1 turn or maybe 2 after taking Brussles.).
I feel that the "Britain upset by German movement" is a bit ridiculous as well, you can't even move your ships as Germany into Jutland bank without pushing UK towards a DOW.
Also, for the peace of Brest-Litovsk, Germany should receive Minsk and all the russian cities west of Minsk. I also feel like Germany should have to actively station troops in Ukraine and the Baltics (which should spawn some partisans)
Overall those were just my ideas on areas of improvement with the game. I really do like the game and had a blast playing it. It's a great game, although a bit hard to get into.
On 1914 Start:
Most countries should have small detachments on their ports or important cities, I think it's a little ridiculous that most ports are actually totally unguarded and completely vulnerable to amphibious attacks. In particular, Russia doesn't even have Brest Litovsk garrisoned and it can be taken without a fight by Germany on turn 1, this leads to Russia being crippled at the beginning of the war. Serbia also is slightly too weak, it cannot retake Belgrade if it falls, and its army is so small it cannot garrison its front line. The Ottomans also could use an extra detachment or army in the caucuses as at the moment its too weak there. Greece also should have some units to prevent the CP from just walking over to Athens.
Additionally, there is a stark lack of artillery units in all of the armies, realistically every country, even Serbia, should have some artillery, and majors should have 3-4 at start. Germany also should start with more airships than it currently does.
Units:
There need to be Minesweepers added to the game and the number of deployable mines should be increased. Additionally, submarines should be able to deploy mines as this was historically a big weapon for the CP. The AI also is a bit too exploitable regarding mines at the moment so Minesweepers are highly needed. Potentially they could also be damaged by land units when removing mines, making mining your coastlines more attractive.
There is also not really much in the way of scouting elements for the naval war. Airships should have longer range to allow for sea scouting, and I'd suggest that destroyers&light cruisers actually have a 2 tile sight range instead of 1. I think it's a bit ridiculous that land units have more sight than sea units and sea battles can basically only happen by accident mostly. Exception being that storms would reduce sight back down to 1 tile.
As others have said, late game artillery is too strong, and morale bonuses between units allows too much military snowballing. Unless a unit morale is rock bottom it should have less problems defending. I also think that airships should have more impact in strategic bombing role and the build limit for Germany and France on bombers should be increased.
Submarines in the early game should have extra attack on battleships. However, anti-sub warfare should negate sub attack even harder than it currently does. So unlike artillery it should be very strong at game start but drop off in power late game.
Diplomacy:
Is there even a point to diplomacy? Even investing all of my chits into diplomacy I was unable to bring any country into the war, countries only moved very marginally over the years. I think chits should have more guaranteed outcomes rather than just a chance at moving nations (IE 2-3% guaranteed per turn, with a chance of extra on top). Historically it actually took a lot of cajoling. Additionally, countries should be conscious of the military situation. This is already modeled somewhat like Bulgaria and Romania getting in if certain points fall, but arguably every destroyed corps of Austria should push Bulgaria back a few & and Romania forward, and vice versa for Serbia/Russia.
Italy should also be a bit more of a wild card, they shouldn't just automatically go to the Entente but near some diplomatic investment (and Russia at least taking some Austrian lands). Romania should likewise lean Entente but if Russia is losing, switch to CP. If CP takes Riga, Minsk, or some of the small towns near Romania, Romania should start leaning CP.
Some nations should be "inclined" to war and easier to move than others. Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Finland (when it appears), and Ottomans should all have double the effect of chit investment compared to other Neutrals.
On national morale:
Nations should not be getting NM from destroying units, it feels way too gamey and leads to situations where the player ca easily keep their NM over 100%. Especially in the naval war because the AI is a bit too stupid with how it uses its units. Frankly speaking it shouldn't even be possible for Germany to have over 100% NM after a year of British blockades (blockades both from Germany and Britain don't harm NM nearly enough imo).
I also think some nations are a bit too resilient about NM. For instance you need to occupy 90% of Italy to get them to surrender. I think if you take Rome they should give in at that point.
The effect on NM for morale should also be reduced a bit I'd say.
AI:
Right now AI is a bit too eager to throw away units. Especially in the naval game where they constantly have small fleets all over the place. Britain doesn't keep its fleet concentrated to counter German trusts into the north sea. It doesn't seem overly concerned about keeping its flanks protected. It allows the player to "snake" units into its own flank to get cut off and doesn't fall back to keep its line intact. Italy throws its navy into the Adriatic and lets itself get chewed up by the Austrians.
In particular there was a spot I notices in the Vosges where I had that hex surrounded on three sides and the AI would put units into that hex, be unable to entrench on that turn, and I would destroy the corps before it could entrench, rinse and repeat.
It's also a bit too uncoordinated with its attacks. It'll spend time destroying a unit but doesn't follow up on its success killing a unit very well. Aside from Russia at Galacia the AI doesn't really seem to be successful with its offensives.
Events:
Retreat of the Serbian army should be modeled in the game, this was a very major point of the war when Serbia was lost due to the Bulgarian invasion. I have noticed Serbia tends to overcommit to the area around Uzice, when it reality Serbia should fall back to Nish to keep its army intact, and after that should fall back to Tirana. There should be an event of them redeploying to Greece as well.
Unrestricted Submarine warfare is currently and on/off initial decision, where Germany I feel should have to option to end it if US is 50%+ toward Entente, and a decision to rescind that later. The Zimmerman telegram should also be a decision for the CP, something that has a chance to increase their % toward Entente but will reduce their MPP if they do go to war.
When DOW by France on Belgium, France should be much quicker about DOW on Netherlands. As is, they typically don't exploit their invasion to the fullest (IE DOW should come 1 turn or maybe 2 after taking Brussles.).
I feel that the "Britain upset by German movement" is a bit ridiculous as well, you can't even move your ships as Germany into Jutland bank without pushing UK towards a DOW.
Also, for the peace of Brest-Litovsk, Germany should receive Minsk and all the russian cities west of Minsk. I also feel like Germany should have to actively station troops in Ukraine and the Baltics (which should spawn some partisans)
Overall those were just my ideas on areas of improvement with the game. I really do like the game and had a blast playing it. It's a great game, although a bit hard to get into.