Design questions

[Largus_Means]

Now don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited about this game. And no matter what the end result is, I will unquestionably buy it. But......

Im very curious why Italy was clumped in with the Germans as one side. The fact that they both now have the same techs seems to be a strange thing to me. Doesn't this tend to give the Axis a much stronger force in the Med. then what they really had, by giving the Italians Armor and Air at par with the Germans.

Same question goes for putting the US and UK together as one. Wouldn't it be better served to have them as seperate players? Allowing the UK to focus more on activating their Dominions to give them the strength needed to fight the war.

Will the game be mod-able so that someone could change this down the road?

Could someone post a screenshot of the starting forces for each country and the tech levels that they are given?

Has the thought of Variants been considered by the designers or is this just plain not going to happen?

Thanks for any answers or thoughts

[Hanal]

Even though Italy is grouped with Germany, rest assured that does not mean they are too strong....the North and South Italy production centers can only produce Militia units, not Infantry, Armor, or Artillery, so there will not be a mad rush of Italian Armor running amok in North Africa...as one who has been playtesting the North African Campaign quite a bit, I know that one needs to divert German units to Africa to launch an offensive...the Italian Production will center on Milita, Naval Units and Supply...as far as the at start forces in North Africa, it consists mainly of Militia but the WA will send some Infantry units to Cairo, and the Geman player will contribute to the Axis cause with an Afrika Korp type unit mix...hope this helps

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: Largus_Means

Now don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited about this game. And no matter what the end result is, I will unquestionably buy it. But......

Im very curious why Italy was clumped in with the Germans as one side. The fact that they both now have the same techs seems to be a strange thing to me. Doesn't this tend to give the Axis a much stronger force in the Med. then what they really had, by giving the Italians Armor and Air at par with the Germans.

Same question goes for putting the US and UK together as one. Wouldn't it be better served to have them as seperate players? Allowing the UK to focus more on activating their Dominions to give them the strength needed to fight the war.

That's a design decision only Joel (or GG [:D]) can explain.

But, based on my own experience I can say I was sceptic at first (kinda like yourself), but after trying the game myself, and after some discussions we had with Joel on beta board (and on the public boards as well) all my fears and doubts are gone (as regards the UK/US and Italy/Germany "grouping").

As for Italians making panzers - it won't happen as JP already explained. I am currently campaigning on the beta board that Italians be given the ability to produce Paras as historically they did have fine Para component. Yes I am campaigning for them to be given the ability to build CVs as well [:D] But it's mostly militia, supply, transport fleets and subs for them in my games. Since Germans must produce "war winning" stuff, and you're always short of supplies and militia - that's where Italians jump in.

Even if they would be given capability of producing Paras and CVs, reat assured they won't be able to turn into CV or Para "factory" as:

- Producing these units is very COSTLY (takes time and resources)
- Axis needs supply and militia more than they need Aquila or Graf Zeppelin [:D] (both were scrapped before being commisioned historically anyway)

Will the game be mod-able so that someone could change this down the road?

Game is VERY moddable but you won't be able to change the 5 playable sides, so no playable Italy or UK is possible.

Could someone post a screenshot of the starting forces for each country and the tech levels that they are given?

That's no less than 15-20 screenshots so I'll pass [:D][:D]

O.

[Becket]

Also, remember that while the initial period of the war in the Med saw the bulk of Axis armor comprised of the awful Italian tin cans, the later period saw heavy use of the best in the German arsenal, including the PIVF2 and the Tiger.

[SeaMonkey]

I'm not so sure that the Italians should be devoid of motorized/mechanized forces. The XX (armored) Corps gave a good accounting of themselves at times in the Desert. Made up of the Ariete, Trieste, and Trento divisions there is an historical case for at least one Italian armored formation.

[Hanal]

ORIGINAL: SeaMonkey

I'm not so sure that the Italians should be devoid of motorized/mechanized forces. The XX (armored) Corps gave a good accounting of themselves at times in the Desert. Made up of the Ariete, Trieste, and Trento divisions there is an historical case for at least one Italian armored formation.

If there were build limit restrictions then perhaps you could allow the Italian Factories to churn out 1 or 2 armor units, but at this point they are not part of the game, and I do not know if it has been considered....... but then again, since the units are homogenious between the German and Italian forces, sending 1 armor unit from Western Germany to North Africa would have the same effect as if it was produced in Italy...

[SeaMonkey]

Fair enough JP. Does the game have the ability for the owning player to rename his units?

[MButtazoni]

ORIGINAL: SeaMonkey

Fair enough JP. Does the game have the ability for the owning player to rename his units?

no

[IDrinkBeer]

ORIGINAL: SeaMonkey

Fair enough JP. Does the game have the ability for the owning player to rename his units?

No.

I believe the units are assigned a number. It helps when looking at a battle report which shows each individual attack.

[SeaMonkey]

No renaming.....unfortunate. Then I guess we are dealing with a bunch of generic units which won't display any unique abilities or qualities(other than the inherently designed purpose)? IIRC it was posted there is no gain in experience for units that complete successful battle engagements?

[paullus99]

There is not - but at the scale we are dealing with, technology advances have a much greater effect than local gains in experience. Remember, you are dealing with either Corps or Armies. I think once you get into the game, you will not be disappointed.