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My latest project, Shattered Empires, has reached beta testing phase and I'm looking for some playtesters to engage in a PBEM game. PO is not yet enabled (but will be by the time the scenario is released).

It covers all of WWI with 117 2-week turns on a 10km map including Europe, Caucasus, the Near East, and parts of North Aftrica and the Middle East. Unit size is division. So this is a fairly large scenario with lots of separate theaters of operation.

If interested in helping me playtest this please send an email to curtchambers@zoho.com. Thanks

Curt

Interesting scale combination. Even infantry will have some seriously impressive movement allowances at that scale- the standard TOAW movement rates would put it in excess of 50 MPs. I'm guessing the squashing effects at the extremes mean the actual figures are a good deal lower than that, but we're still talking about units zooming around possibly dozens of hexes per turn. Doesn't that make the Eastern Front hyper fluid? I appreciate you're trying to avoid a scenario with many hundreds of turns here but I see challenges with this approach.

Anyway to answer your question, I would but I have twins incoming in about six weeks. I'll get back to you in a year or so.

golden delicious wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:43 pm Anyway to answer your question, I would but I have twins incoming in about six weeks. I'll get back to you in a year or so.

!!

golden delicious wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:43 pm Anyway to answer your question, I would but I have twins incoming in about six weeks. I'll get back to you in a year or so.

Congrats in advance. But I fear, with twins, it may be a bit longer than a year before you are getting back to me

As for the scale, the movement bias setting allows movement rates to be scaled up or down as needed. I've also modified the conversion cost for enemy hexes and supply/readiness loss due to movement. So you can make the forced march if you really need to get there fast, but you'll be exhausted upon arrival and in no condition for combat. The resulting movement capabilities seem appropriate for the period. But playtesting will help tweak it.

Raindem wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:04 am Congrats in advance. But I fear, with twins, it may be a bit longer than a year before you are getting back to me

As for the scale, the movement bias setting allows movement rates to be scaled up or down as needed. I've also modified the conversion cost for enemy hexes and supply/readiness loss due to movement. So you can make the forced march if you really need to get there fast, but you'll be exhausted upon arrival and in no condition for combat. The resulting movement capabilities seem appropriate for the period. But playtesting will help tweak it.

Well here's the difficulty. Infantry could and did advance at speed in historical periods, and the fact that the enemy was there a week ago shouldn't slow them down. The issue isn't units moving at a given speed, it's them moving at that speed for a prolonged period while the other guy sits there unable to respond. 1st Army struggles up late to Mons too exhausted to fight, but fortunately the Entente is Force 2 and the BEF won't arrive until that player's turn.

Anyway, as you note, this will all shake out in playtesting.

Did you ever get some playtesters? I'm interested for sure.

In your scenario are the Central Powers locked into attacking France before Russia? This has always been a source of frustration for me as the whole course of the war hinges on who the Central Powers attack first.

Simon Edmonds wrote: Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:53 am In your scenario are the Central Powers locked into attacking France before Russia? This has always been a source of frustration for me as the whole course of the war hinges on who the Central Powers attack first.

No, they are free to attack who they want. But the scenario follows a historical deployment so they would have to re-route a few trains to reinforce 8th Army.

Ok then. I would be happy to be a play tester for the scenario.

If you're still looking for players...

Thanks for the playtest offers but the scenario is completed. You'll find it in the Scenarios forum. "Shattered Empires"