Nginear wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 8:55 pm
Looking for some ideas. I have not liked how Atomic bombs are handled in any of the SC series (abstract and boring), but the mod engine has limitations on how to deal with this issue. This is my design so far:
I am leaning towards using the Kamikaze slot as kamikazes for Japan (obviously!) but using it as an atomic bomb for USA. The disposable "bomb" would work like this:
-500mpp to build, 9 month build time. Available starting in 1944 and max of 3 at a time.
-The bomb would have no natural stats of its own - no attack or AP points.
-Upgrades are Heavy Aircraft and ground attack weapons. Each level of Heavy Aircraft (heavy air is tied to upgrading strategic bombers) would add 4AP to the strike range. Each level of ground attack weapons would add 5 across-the-board attack value, and 50% evasion (so lvl 2 maxes it at 10 attack and 100% evasion).
Thus, a fully equipped bomb that is capable of being fired from Iwo Jima would need: lvl 5 heavy aircraft (not easy to obtain) and lvl 2 ground attack weapons. You could use less stats for a less effective bomb, or shorter range bomb. But a fully equipped bomb should destroy everything that it fires at, and could reach about half of Japan from Iwo Jima. Total cost of research and upgrades would be ~1000mpp, plus the cost of each bomb, plus the cost of operating it. It won't be deducted in small turns, but by 1944 the USA should be winning enough they can divert funds for this over a few turns.
This is all pretty close to the scripts so far, but doesn't include any national morale hits. Unfortunately, the editor won't allow me to have a NM hit tied to this unit. So....my idea is to write a script that fires once: "If bombs are on both Iwo Jima AND Okinawa, then Japan will suffer a one time NM hit." Presumably, the allied player will then launch the bombs....and the soldiers can then invade through uncontested radioactive beaches
Why have both locations? Because Japan needed both bombs to take the threat seriously; plus it keeps the Allied player from using the same bomb at both locations.
That's what I got. I don't l-i-k-e my idea to activate the NM by script, but that's the best I can come up with given the editor limitations.
What do ya'll think? Any other ideas for bombs?
I am new to playing War in the Pacific, but I have had a lot of experience designing a mod using the SC system (see my Icarus mod for SC WW1), so I am happy to offer my two cents on this very interesting question.
I would start with first principles. Atomic weapons are the ultimate strategic technology, so what exactly are the strategic trade-offs you wish to pose for the Allies if they choose to invest in this capability? There are different costs which you can oblige the USA to pay if the Allies go this route, in terms of:
- MPPs
- Time
- Tech limits
- National Morale (for either side)
- Victory conditions
Given the complexity of this weapon and its importance to the outcome of the actual war, I would design a revised approach to atomic weapons which entails all of these factors.
I like your idea of requiring the Allies to buy and build one or more actual bombs and repurposing one equipment slot for those purposes (kamikazes would work well). I would add to that by re-purposing one tech investment slot too for atomic weapons, available to the USA only. Anti-tank tech could work (since it seems largely irrelevant to this campaign) but you might chose a different one. I would make this a pure atomic tech which has to be achieved before atomic weapons can be built. To keep this clean, I would not add secondary effects of this tech on the range or combat evasion capacity of heavy bombers (but see below).
For historic realism and to make it a true strategic choice, I would oblige the Allies to decide early in the war – certainly in 1942 – whether or not to go the atomic route. 1944 seems too late to me. That decision should then shape their subsequent decisions about how they want to go about defeating Japan.
To make it a true strategic choice, I recommend making it equally attractive for the Allies to forego investing in atomic weapons. In the vanilla game, the decision is purely a matter of opportunity cost (MPPs spent on the bomb DE are not available for other purposes). But if you design a different set of victory conditions for the Allies contingent on whether they decide to build the bomb, then this choice will truly shape their grand strategy. Here is one way you might achieve the above.
Start by writing a DE for the Allies on whether or not to launch the Manhattan Project. This would fire in the first turn or two of the campaign. It need not have any MPP costs attached to it; but YES/NO to this decision would determine the ultimate victory conditions for the Allies in the game. Thus, if the Allies decide to invest in building a bomb, in order to achieve a Minor Victory Japanese NM would have to fall below, say, 15% (as in the existing game). But if the Allies decide not to build them bomb, then the Japanese NM threshold for a Minor Victory could be higher, say 25% by end of 1945. Or you could attach different minimum territorial objectives which the Allies have to achieve, depending on whether they decide to invest in the bomb. I would make this DE fire very early in the campaign, and write it with no other conditions, so it is a pure strategic choice. If they say YES, then they still have to go about building the bomb and delivering it to have the desired results. But they would be bound from the start o the victory that flow from this initial decision.
Make “Atomic Weapons” a tech which only the USA can buy. I would suggest that only one chit can be invested in atomic tech and make it cost a bomb (literally) – say 750 MPPs. One reason for the very high cost is that it will reduce the USA’s tech limit capacity for investing in other conventional weapons (and thus creates an incentive not to go this route). The USA could invest in this tech at any time and would probably have to save up for a few turns before buying a chit. If only one chit can be invested in it, they will have a strong motivation to invest in it early in the game. One chit will take about 20 turns to reach level 1, if no breakthroughs occur. For simplicity, I would give atomic weapons only one level, which once reached allows 2 bombs to be built. But you could play around with these tech parameters if you wished.
Once the USA has the capacity to build atomic weapons – probably sometime in 1943 – they then have to buy them. I would make them expensive, something like 500 MPPs each as you suggest, but with an even longer build time to ensure they are not available before 1945. They could take say 24 months to build. As weapons, I would give them an appropriate range, so the Allies have to capture one or more launch spots close to Japan. You could increase the range contingent on investment in Heavy Bomber tech, so the two go together.
Then I would write a DE around the decision to launch the bombs. These DEs would fire once at least one bomb unit was deployed by the U.S. within a specific range of certain target hexes in Japan. You can write a variable condition script which only fires if a certain unit type is within a certain range of a given hex. The point of using a DE is – as you say – that will trigger the national morale impact on Japan which would be the main point of dropping the weapons. If you wanted to give the USA a reason to build more than one bomb, then you could have the DE fire every turn in which there is a bomb within range. Saying YES to the decision to launch the bomb could then be linked to unit script which would destroy the bomb unit after the USA decided to fire it. This would take some play-testing to make sure all the scripts work, but I believe this would be doable with the existing game engine.
Taken together, this set of decision events, tech investments, equipment purchases, and requirements to conquer a suitable launch position would more closely resemble what actually happened. It would also require forward planning by the Allies throughout the game. And it could set up a different decision-tree of choices if the Allies decided to forego building the bomb.
Thanks for posing this great modding challenge. Good luck!
Michael
