Matrix Games Forums

This is one of the quirks of the game that drives me nuts. When you repair and upgrade units at the end of a long campaign battle, you are still in the same timeframe as the battle you just ended. So, if you play a battle in say, December 1943, the upgrade menu locks you into this month, so upgrades for January 1944 won't be available until the END of the NEXT battle, which could be in Jan 1944 or even later.

However, in the next battle set up, the new units ARE available in the support purchases menu, as the time frame has advanced.

For guys who play ONLY against the AI, there is a workaround. Using the OOB editor, advance the availablity dates for the UNITS by one month. Leave the FORMATIONS as is. In this way, you force the appearance of the upgradeable units for January 1944, as you have changed their availability to December 1943 in the units menu. As an example, I can upgrade the 12-man E series USMC rifle squads to the 13-man F series BEFORE my first 1944 battle.

It is a clumsy workaround, yes, but it should work. A word of warning--BEFORE doing any OOB editing, COPY the entire OOB set and place these in a separate folder. In this way, if you wish to play a PBEM or H2H battle, you won't get any compatibility errors, as you can manually switch the original OOBs back where they were.

Gunny i have sat and complained to myself about this for years. Like right now after i finish the battle of the 15 panzer at Jaraslaw. It is 10/13/39 the next battle i believe is 5/40. Although there is several upgrades that come out in early 1940 i wont get them till the next battle after 5/40. I think the next one after that is somewhere around 6 or 7/40. Although i will be able to purchase them for support for the battle in 5/40. One that comes to mind is the sig 150 for the Germans.

As i am an AI player this changing of the OOB wouldnt bother me at all. The only problem i would have is i am a blithering idiot when it comes to doing anything but turning this thing on. Also will there be any adverse effect when the new patch comes out.

Once you start advancing dates do you need to do them for every one in that countrys oob. Like you my long campaign has already started for some of the powers. I have started Germany and Japan. Have not made up any cores for the remaining countrys. But America does not start any of there battles till late 42 and early 43. How will changing the dates on the ones i have already in my core effect my saved games. I guess i could change all the dates on any thing that does not show up until after !/40. But isnt there and awful lot of units to change in one countrys oobs.

Yeah it's a pain in the butt ; I just went through it on the long long road campaign;
I finished up in Sicily primed to get 3 inch Shermans for the Utah beach portion and it
got me. You know what though I took it that my units didn't rate them yet and I played it with the old 75mm ones and still got a decisive. I'm upgrading now



Crawf [;)]

Robot, I already have the 8.3 version, and these manual availability date changes do require a lot of work. You may want to carefully consider whether or not it's worth it, since you're playing multiple campaigns. After 8.3 is released, you'd have to do it all over again. [X(]

Thanx Gunny ill do as you suggest. Ill wait for the patch.

That´s a very important thing to consider, so campaign designers listen up! [X(] If there are any greater time steps in your campaign progression, then just before the leap add a "blank" scenario in the campaign that enables the player to upgrade to current standards. IE the last scenario played was maybe sicily in 1943 and the next battle is normandy 1944, then just add the blank scenario before the normandy one, but set at the same date (6/44).

The blank scenario can be something like the first one in MCSE, where this was used to select a particular branch in the campaign. Make it one turn long and set it up in a way, that the player player proceeds with a certain battle result like either "draw", "marginal victory" ect. IE in the "long road.." campaign I would assume the US has high morale and motivation prior to the landings (in normandy). This can be achieved by setting the automatic outcome of the blank scenario to be a "marginal" or "decisive" victory.

There´s yet another solution for the upgrade problem when playing generated campaigns. In the "game score" screen, save your game and open it in Freds WaW Game Editor (the one with the blue shortcut icon). There´s a game data screen that enables you to set the current date of your scenario just played. Set the date to the one desired, save the "save game" file again and reload it in SPWAW, then procede to the upgrade screen. You should now be able to upgrade units at the same date as would be the next scenario to follow. Also take further reference here:

fb.asp?m=703454

As RockingHarry suggests, I added a blank scenario to the the Bryan Melvin & Brent Richards Stalingrad campaign, although for a different reason. Since the campaign provides more than enough replacement points to rebuild the starting force twice over, I wanted to design my German core to allow for substantial upgrades. For example, by the end of the campaign I wanted a full company of Panzer IVf2(s) (21 tanks), but at the beginning I could only afford about half that number. I first tried reassignment and repeated buying/selling of partial formations, and found I could get a company half tanks and half Kuebels. Unfortunately this seemed to confuse Campaign Watcher [:(], so I looked for an alternate solution.

I finally took the campaign's existing "blank" scenario (used to continue inside or outside the Stalingrad pocket) and put a copy at the beginning of the campaign. I allotted unlimited points for my initial build and bought my complete "final" force, then used the opening "blank" scenario to substitute Kuebels for tanks until I was back down to the original point limit. Voila! Campaign Watcher was happy and I had a core all set for upgrades. [:D]

Now I'd like to do something similar in the long German campaign. The Third Reich tended to up-size elite units (e.g. "Grossdeutschland" from regiment to division), and I'd like to emulate that. For example, my core might start with a reinforced infantry company and expand by the end of the game into a battalion-sized force or greater. I can buy placeholder formations at the beginning and reshuffle my core as I upgrade, but I'd prefer to start with the "final" command structure already in place. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to add the required "blank" scenario to the long campaign. Does anyone know how I can insert a "blank" scenario at the start of the long campaign? [&:]

Hey gunny just got a mass internet kick from forums 12:30 saskatoon time wonder what causes that massive traffic in band I suppose,anyway I think this time delay between development and issue to the field is a price too trivial to bitch at, and kinda sounds like cheating.[:D] It's not as if we can't beat the crap out of the AI,anyway?
I don't play with the understanding that as soon as a unit clears the factory, that it should be available to me at the front in #'s that could facilitate me being able to upgrade any but a couple of the highest experienced and best battle proven units,maybe 2. Its unfair to desolve the logistic time it would take to transport these new units to the fronts.I think the availability times are just the case,In the real military we where always behind a couple o months behind ourselves the finished product always has to travel?? RT

Riun, the issue of how "availability", in SPWaW terms, is actually defined is one of the items under discussion for the SPWaW Depot OOB Project. Some think it should be when units "in the field" actually receive new equipment. Others believe it should be when the new weapons/vehicles arrive "in theater", or when they "could" have been available.

The argument isn't purely academic. I've brought up the "bazooka" issue before, as it relates to a specific battle in which it could've been very useful, and perhaps saved many lives. The battle in question was Tarawa. The 2nd Marine Division had its supply of bazookas "in the pipeline", but they weren't delivered in time for the invasion.