v1.087 Beta Update Now Available!

[Erik Rutins]

Hello Everyone,

We're pleased to announce that the beta v1.087 Update, including Online Play via TCP/IP and compatible with both US and International releases, is now online. You can download it through our Members' Club (click the MEMBERS link in the top nav bar to log in or sign up).

This should be installed on top of GGWaW v1.040. If you have any problems, we recommend doing a clean reinstall to eliminate any possible issues.

As this is a limited public beta, you will only be able to download it through our Members' Club. You will need to be registered there with your GGWaW serial number in order to access the Private or Registered Downloads, which include the beta patch. This will only be available for registered legal owners of GGWaW. Click on the "MEMBERS" link in our top navigation bar to register if you haven't done so already.

Please post comments, problem reports, in this sub-forum and not in the other parts of the forum. We want to make sure we know that a problem is with the v1.087 Beta and not with the previously released beta or official updates, so we need to keep the feedback separate.

We are very interested in hearing your results in TCP/IP play. We expect that, as this is a beta, there will be some issues and we are hoping that the feedback from your games will help us fix any glitches and move swiftly to an official update release.

Thanks for your time and enjoy.


Here is the list of changes.

PLEASE NOTE: For International users, this update will work but your region names and the new online play-related text will appear in English. This is not a cause for concern. The official update will have fully localized region and online play text.

Change History:
v1.087 Beta – January 19, 2005
(Fourth Update for US Version, First Update for International Version, Changes and Additions, First with
Online Play)

Please Note: Old save files (v1.005, v1.016, v1.033 and v1.040) should be able to be loaded with the
updated version. However, if playing PBEM, once one player has loaded the game using the patch, all the
next players to follow must also play the game using the patch. Not all fixes will work in games that
continue from old saves.

Change to Main Menu - The Main Menu has been altered slightly. There are now two check boxes next to
the Start Scenario button. The one on the left should be checked if the player wishes to initiate or join into
an online game via the Internet or a LAN. The one on the right should be checked if the player wishes to
play a game via email (this has replaced the old PBEM check box).

To host an online game, the hosting player should first select the desired Game Options. Once these are
selected, the player should check the online play box, select the scenario they wish to play, and then click
on the Start Scenario button. The player will then be taken to the Online Game Options screen. On the left
of this screen you will see places to enter your Port number (default if nothing is entered will be 2501),
your Game Name (default if nothing is entered will be WW2 Host), your Password (default if nothing is
entered is no password, if you enter a password, then the other players must enter this password to enter the
game), your Player Name (default if nothing is entered is Host Player). Just click on any of these items to
enter a value. Once you are ready, click on Host a Game.

This will take you to the Online Game/Chat Window. On this screen, you will see a list of the 5 World
Powers and which player is currently assigned to play each, the timer value for each of the World Powers,
and the list of players that have joined the current game. To change which player is playing a World Power,
first click on the player’s name and then click on the World Power. To change a timer value (time allowed
per game turn), click on the timer value on the screen. Once all settings are complete, the host can begin the
game by clicking on Start Game.

The Online Game/Chat Window - Players may conduct chat by either pressing Enter or clicking on the
last line of the Online Game/Chat Window. This will activate the bottom line for entry of a chat message.
When done typing, press enter to send the chat message. If players click away from the message line while
it is active, the line will lose focus. Click again on the line to regain chat focus. Player’s may initiate chat
that is limited to just those players part of their alliance. This is done by typing “/team” at the start of the
chat message. To revert to all player chat, type “/all”.

At the top right of the screen, there are two buttons. The left-most button allows the host player to place a
hold on the current game. This happens automatically when a player drops out of the game. A player that
has dropped may rejoin the game. Players may be reassigned to different World Powers whenever the game
is on hold. The right-most button allows the player to minimize this window. The maximize button will
appear on the screen near the timer. The Window may be resized and may be dragged on the screen using
the left-click, hold and drag method of moving the window.

New Preference Item – There is a new preference item that allows you to change the amount of
transparency of the Online Game/Chat Window background. This preference is called Chat Box Opacity.
Enter a number between 0-100 to adjust the amount of transparency.

To join an online game, the player should check the online play box and then click on the Start Scenario
button. The player will be taken to the Online Game Options Screen. On the right side of this screen, you
will see places to enter the Host Address (this is not needed if joining a game on a LAN), the Port number
(like with hosting this will default to 2501 if nothing is entered), the Password (this must match the
password the host used when he initiated the game, no password is the default). Just click on any of these to
change the existing value. Be sure to enter a player name on the left of the screen (if none is entered, it will
default to WW2 Player). When you are ready, click on Look for a game. You will see a list of games that
are available at the selected IP address and/or on your LAN. Click on the game you wish to join. This will
take you to the Online Game/Chat Window. See the information above concerning this Window. Each
computer involved in the online game must be using a different World at War registration number.
During an online game, the replay current turn function is not available.

To save a game, the host player may save the game during his game turn. The host may also save the game
during another player’s turn if he first places the game on hold. To restart a saved online game, the host
player should click on the online check box and then click on the Load Game button. This will allow you to
load in your saved game. At this point, other players can join this game just as they would any new online
game. It is not possible to switch between PBEM and online play mode using a saved game, as PBEM
saves are different from online game saves.

In order to reconnect to an online game, the player that dropped must go to the main menu and then
follow the normal steps for joining an online game. The game will be on hold at this point. The host must
reassign the player to a World Power following the normal method of assigning players, and then must
right click on the World Power’s name in the Online Game/Chat Window that this player has been
assigned to. This action will resend all relevant game data to the previously dropped player, and will then
automatically restart the game at the point it was at when it went on hold. If several players drop
simultaneously, it is recommended that the host save the game and then exit the online game. The save can
then be used to restart the game normally.

The following game changes were made:

1. Bug Fix – Save games are now compatible between international and US versions. This allows
PBEM games to be played between players using either version. However, the version number
should be the same for all players. If you are uncertain of your version number, you can always
check the properties of the waw.exe file in the main game directory.
2. Bug Fix – A change has been made to make save game files upwardly compatible with all new
versions of the game. That way you should be able to load into this version a save from an earlier
version. However, you may lose the ability to run the replay when first loading the save. Replays
of future moves will function normally. If playing PBEM, once one player has played using a
newer version, future player in the game sequence will need to upgrade to the same version
number.
3. Bug Fix – There was a bug that caused some of the “pointer” lines used during the tutorial to
disappear (especially on systems with ATI cards). A fix has been made that should ensure that
pointer lines are shown during the tutorial to help users better understand what is being described
on screen by the tutorial text. A few other changes have been made to make it less likely for the
player to get off track while running the tutorials.
4. Bug Fix - It is no longer possible to expend accumulated research points during the movement
phase.
5. Bug fix – Rewinding the VCR should no longer cause display issues with the number of units on
the map.
6. Bug fix. - Corrected a bug where the first winter bonus was given to the Russians immediately if
the Germans attacked during a winter turn. It is now given one year later as per the manual.
7. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where the first winter bonus and the normal winter bonus were not
cumulative.
8. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where cargo on a transport was not damaged but rather remained at sea
if the transport was damaged in normal combat.
9. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where the cargo on a heavy air was not damaged if the heavy air was
damaged by op-fire.
10. Bug fix - Corrected a bug with the UI that allowed you to avoid the hit if the aircraft was damaged
by op-fire.
11. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where op-fire by other major powers on the same side was giving very
odd results.
12. Bug fix - Corrected a bug with the optional fuel rule where it was possible to cross a 2 MP land
border with a land unit expending only 1 supply point if no more than the 1 supply point was
available. It will no longer be possible to move the unit in this case thus requiring the expenditure
of 2 supply as intended.
13. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where supply units could change nationality at sea when moved across a
chain of transports.
14. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where supply was not given back when undoing a move if the supply
had come from a sea area. Now supply is returned if there is a transport with free capacity in the
sea area. If no TRS is in the sea-area the supply will not be returned.
15. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where units would sometimes be unable to retreat across a 2 MP land
border.
16. Bug fix - Several cases where units got stuck in an area with enemy units yet were unable to attack
have been corrected by allowing attacks in these cases even though the attacker cannot expect to
inflict any damage. Note that units that have no chance of scoring a hit may only initiate an attack
when in an area requiring mandatory combat (see rule 8.4).
17. Bug fix - It is now possible to attack enemy aircraft that were left on CAP duty in one of your land
areas. Before this could lead to a deadlock as it was not possible to attack. Now air units may
attack even if they have no chance to hit the enemy CAP.
18. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where it was possible to attack and take land areas from other major
powers on your own side if the area had neither units present nor infrastructure.
19. Bug fix - The pop-up window asking for confirmation when attacking a minor had accidentally
been removed from game. Its back now.
20. Bug fix - In PBEM games the WA player will no longer continue to the Japanese phase if
Germany has been conquered.
21. Bug fix - Corrected a bug with the combat report window in the case that a CV aircraft is first
damaged in air-to-air and then have its CV destroyed. The report will no longer incorrectly show
the aircraft as both damaged and destroyed but only as destroyed.
22. Bug fix - When bombing infrastructure the battle report will now only show damage done in the
current attack rather than show the total level of damage the infrastructure has taken.
23. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where the battle report was skipping the original combat if a counter
strike occurred.
24. Bug fix - Aircraft on CAP will no longer return to base to a neutral/enemy land area or sea area if
their base was captured during the turn. Air units that lose their home base and have no friendly
land area to return to will be destroyed.
25. Bug fix - Corrected a bug with the storing of unused population from turn to turn. In some cases
too much population was being stored.
26. Bug fix - Corrected a bug where the free Militia Russia receives when attacked by Germany was
interfering with the building of normal units due to a population problem. This was fixed by
removing the population requirement from the free Militia.
27. Bug fix - In some cases it was not possible to manually supply a unit from an adjacent sea-area
even if supply were present. This is now fixed.
28. Bug fix. - The combat analyser was giving incorrect results. It should now give much more
reliable results in particular concerning the chance to take the area. This may have an effect on
how the AI plays as the AI is using the combat analyser to make decisions about attacks.
29. Bug fix - It is now possible to access the production in an area even if all the factories in that area
are damaged to level 2. This allows scuttling and putting on hold of units and thus solves a bug
where units in such areas would otherwise be preventing the production in other areas.
30. Bug fix – It is now possible to use the repair screen during the production phase. It has always
been possible to repair during the production phase using the map method of repair, and now the
repair screen is functional as well.
31. UI change - If you try to exit from game to the main menu when playing a PBEM game you will
now see a reminder that PBEM games are to be saved to avoid the reload (cheat) counter from
incrementing.
32. UI change - On the post-production pop-up window tech advances will now be shown before the
units that finished production.
33. UI change - Changed the order of appearance so resources are shown ahead of rail on the map.
34. UI change – You will now find resource, production, and population totals displayed on the
Production Screen during the Movement Phase.
35. UI change – More complete information regarding the modifiers that have been applied to each
combat can now be found in the pop-up windows that appear when the mouse hovers over a
combat line on the Detailed Combat Report Screen.
36. Rule Change – Section 12.4 (Axis Automatic Victory) is changed to read: If at the end of the
Western Allied player turn, Axis production is ever equal to or greater than 70, and one of the
following 3 conditions exist, 1) Axis control Moscow 2) Axis control England 3) Axis control
both Leningrad and Stalingrad, then the game ends immediately and the Axis win a Decisive
Victory.
37. Rule Change – Section 12.5 (Allied Automatic Victory) Allied Automatic Victory is now only
checked at the end of each Western Allied player turn.
38. Rule Change – (Section 3.2.6) There is no longer a requirement to garrison East Prussia to avoid
unfreezing Soviet Frozen zones.
39. Rule Change – (Section 3.2.6) If Southern Persia is attacked by the Axis, the Western and Central
Russian zones that are politically frozen will be unfrozen.
40. Rule Change – (Sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2) Changed it so that if Tibet is attacked by the Allies, it
will convert to German control (used to be Japanese).
41. Rule Change – Section 9.8 (Special Militia Mobilization) Japanese militia are now generated in
the amount of 3 times the Population Level of the area instead of one times the PL.
42. Rule Change – Section 12.8 (Scenario Time Limit Victory Conditions) – The Allied production
ratios required for the different victory levels have been changed. The new values are 50 times
(5000%) for a draw, between 10.01 and 49.99 times (1001% and 4901%) for an Axis Marginal
Victory, and 10 times (1000%) for a Decisive Axis Victory.
43. Rule Change – Section 9.1.1 (Factory Points Multiplier) Changed the multiplier x3 US (when at
war before Winter 1943) to x2.
44. Rule Change – The US no longer enters the war if Japan is attacked by forces of the
UK/Commonwealth/Canada. Neither does the WA politically frozen areas unfreeze. However, if
Japan attacks any WA unit or area, the US will declare war and the areas will unfreeze.
45. Rule Change - If Germany controls Eastern Canada then the US will declare war on Germany at
the start of the WA turn and this will unfreeze all WA territories.
46. Rules change - Partisans will now be able to damage rail to level 2 rather than just level 1.
Partisans will now also be able to damage resources to level 1. This is in addition to being able to
damage resources in the pool.
47. Rules change - Transport can now initiate combat. This was done to avoid a deadlock. In that case
there is no normal combat – instead the transports and their cargo is simply destroyed to resolve
the deadlock.
48. Rules change - Changed the maximum you can spend on any particular tech when already at
World Standard +2 or higher. Before the maximum was 3 times how much you were researching
towards being above the WS – now that is changed to 1 times. E.g., when research from +2 to +3
compared to WS you can now spent no more than 3 points where you could spend a maximum of
9 prior to this change. When the item being researched is currently at WS or below, maximum
research per turn is 3, when at WS+1 maximum is 6, when at WS+2 maximum is 3, when at
WS+3 maximum is 4, etc. Land attack and Evasion for Heavy Air units are excluded from this
change. Research maximums remains unchanged for those two items.
49. Rules change - Units will no longer retreat to a frozen area if any non-frozen area can be reached.
50. Data Correction – The Gulf of Mexico is now correctly considered adjacent to Greater Antilles.
51. Data Correction – Corrected 2 typos in the Japanese AI production data file that could have caused
mistaken production priorities.
52. Data Changes - Changed Spanish army from 5 Inf/1 Art to 4 Inf/2 Art/3 Mil.
53. Data Change - Added 1 Militia to Swedish army.
54. Data Change - Added 2MP borders to several borders around Afghanistan, Caucasus, Eastern
Bearing Sea, Eastern Gulf of Alaska, and South China Seas.
55. Data Change - Changed Turkey to 2 infantry and 2 militia. Changed Istanbul to 3 infantry and 1
militia.
56. Data Change – In the 1940 and 1941 scenarios, moved 3 WA transports from the South Atlantic
South American coast to the Pacific along the coast of Mexico/Central America.
57. Data Change - Lowered WA transport amphib capacity by 1 in all scenarios. Increased amount
spent on researching WA transport amphib capacity at start of all scenarios by 6.
58. Data Change – The World Standard for Fighter Land Attack has been reduced to 1 and the World
Standard of Fighter Evasion has been increased to 7.
59. Data Change – All Fighter Land Attack values have been reduced to 2 in all scenarios.
60. Data Change – Bulgaria population reduced to 0 in all scenarios.
61. Data Change – Scotland is now rough in all scenarios.
62. Rules Correction – Occasionally heavy fleets will attack light fleets 1 on 1 even when there are
heavy fleets on the light fleet side available to fight (i.e. fleets don’t always match up against like
fleets).
63. Rules Correction – In most cases, attacking land units that are damaged or destroyed in the air
phase or at range 2 land combat are not allowed to fire in later rounds of combat. They may be
fired upon if only damaged, but they will not return fire.
64. Rules Correction (Section 8.5.3) - Op-fire by aircraft and artillery is triggered whenever aircraft
attempts to pass a narrows. The rules were incorrect in stating that only naval units moving
through narrows would receive Op-fire.
65. Rules Clarification (Section 8.5.3) - Op-fire by aircraft in a friendly land region or on a Carrier
Fleet is triggered when any non-submarine unit (any air, land or naval unit except for submarines)
attempts to move from one adjacent sea area to another adjacent sea-area.
66. Bug fix – When on the save game screen during PBEM play, pressing the map button will no
longer exit the game.
67. Bug fix – Carrier Fleets may no longer undo their prior moves made if a Carrier Air unit moves
away from the Carrier Fleet and unattaches itself from the fleet.
68. Bug fix – There used to be a chance that a declaration of war would cost more supplies than
specified in the rules. This will no longer happen.
69. Bug fix – You may now use the “supply unit” button on the move mode toolbar to dictate use of
supplies in a unit’s region to supply the unit.
70. Bug fix – In some rare cases, units that had Op-fired during a previous player’s turn could be
improperly marked as having fired during their own turn even if they hadn’t fired. This has been
fixed.
71. Bug fix – Possible inaccuracies with the combat modifier for units that have amphibiously invaded
by moving through many areas has been fixed.
72. UI change – The repair screen will no longer scroll back to the top whenever a repair is made.
73. UI change – When the close window button is pressed during play, the player will be asked if they
wish to exit the game.
74. Rules Change – Damage Naval units will now tend to be placed on factories that are closer to
where they were damaged as long as the region has available production space (i.e. it doesn’t
already contain units in production that equal or exceed the factory production points in the
region). They will always first attempt to go to a region with the same nationality as the unit if
possible, and will still move to frozen zones only as a last resort.
75. Data Change – Increased the starting research levels of the German and WA AA units’ air attack
values by 2 in all scenarios.
76. Rules Clarification – There are rare cases where due to units being destroyed in previous combat
phases, some units may end up being targeted by two units even though there are other units that
have not been fired upon. This is due to a preference for units to return fire at units that have fired
upon them if they do not have a like type unit to target.
77. Warning – The PBEM security system that tracks the load count may not function properly during
games where players upgrade their version number mid-game.
Special thanks to Leonardo Rogic (Apollo 11) and Jesse LeBreton (Lebatron) for their assistance in
modifying the map art. Special thanks to Jan Sorensen (JanSorensen) for taking over test management,
providing some of the program bug fixes and rule changes, and for many helpful suggestions made during
development of the online version. Special thanks to Maurice Buttazoni (Mbuttazoni) for developing the
initial design document for the online version.

[JanSorensen]

We believe we fixed all vital bugs with this patch but if you find a bug then please either post about it or mail me (janbs@stofanet.dk).

We are aware of a few remaining visual bugs. I may have forgotten some but as I recall they are:

• Undoing moves. Sometimes the green arrow back is crossed out indicating that an Undo is not possible. However, the red back arrow still correctly allows the move to be undone. Just use the red arrow to undo the move when this happens.
• Moving unit from frozen area. If you try to move a unit from one frozen area to another area under your control a very number will show on the screen. Just ignore that number - pretend it means you cannot move the unit because its frozen.
• Sometimes the buttons on the replay display are missing. Restarting WaW fixes the problem.
• TCP play. The resource/population pool numbers show incorrectly for the non-phasing player(s).
• TCP play. Op-fire combat does not show up for non-phasing clients (only applies when more than 2 people play TCP).

Enjoy playing.

[Joel Billings]

For those going to the members area to download the patch, be sure to register your World at War in the members area using the Register Your Game option and then use the Registered Downloads option to download the file.

[WanderingHead]

Awesome.

Thanks Matrix, 2by3 and Jan.

Sounds like it should work fine with my 1.071 game in progress, right?

BTW - the PDF readme says it is for 1.20 beta, while the download file says 1.087 beta. So there is a slight mismatch which may invite confusion. I haven't installed it yet to see what the screen says ...

[Joel Billings]

I let Erik know about the readme confusion a few hours ago. The readme that comes with the patch says 1.087. 1.20 is likely what it will be called when it goes "official". As for going from 1.071, I don't know exactly what will happen. It will probably be ok, but I can't guarantee it. Let us know.

[JanSorensen]

I believe it should be fine going from 1.07x to 1.087 with two notes.

The replay will show nothing on the first turn you get that was saved using the older version but loaded with the new. Open it with the old version first to see the replay and then open it with the new version to play your turn. After that transition the replay should work on future turns.

The pbem anti-cheat feature may not work for the game that was started with an earlier version.

[steevodeevo]

just say if its stated elsewhere please - but what are the key differences (gameplay wise) from 1.07

[JanSorensen]

I believe the following items are the ones that affect gameplay the most - not that any major changes have been made:
6, 7, 17, 18 25, 44, 45, 46, 48, 61, 68, 74 and 75.

But dont skip reading the entire list - I probably missed something.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings
For those going to the members area to download the patch, be sure to register your World at War in the members area using the Register Your Game option and then use the Registered Downloads option to download the file.

I just edited the top post to include more instructions on this. I had posted instructions in the pinned v1.071 FAQ, but forgot to copy them over to this one.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: WanderingHead
BTW - the PDF readme says it is for 1.20 beta, while the download file says 1.087 beta. So there is a slight mismatch which may invite confusion. I haven't installed it yet to see what the screen says ...

Removing the readme for now, I will get a v1.087 version posted tomorrow as soon as I can get back to the office. The update itself does contain the v1.087 stamped readme. Please note the only difference was the version number, the rest of the readme was the same.

Regards,

- Erik

[Lebatron]

I can't get TCP/IP play to function at all. My friend and I have both tried to host and neither of us could join the others game. 1.071 worked for us. The only thing different this time is that we both just downloaded Skype today with the intention to use while playing WAW. I tried changing the default port from 2501 to 2500 just in case Skype was using 2501. I don't even know if Skype uses a port but I tried it just the same. Nothing worked. What could be causing this?

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Lebatron

I can't get TCP/IP play to function at all. My friend and I have both tried to host and neither of us could join the others game. 1.071 worked for us. The only thing different this time is that we both just downloaded Skype today with the intention to use while playing WAW. I tried changing the default port from 2501 to 2500 just in case Skype was using 2501. I don't even know if Skype uses a port but I tried it just the same. Nothing worked. What could be causing this?

We're looking into this. Looks like there is a problem with TCP/IP, though we don't believe it is due to Skype (we've never had a problem with Skype). LAN play appears unaffected. We'll let you know if we need more info from you or if we figure out what is going wrong.

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Lebatron

I can't get TCP/IP play to function at all. My friend and I have both tried to host and neither of us could join the others game. 1.071 worked for us. The only thing different this time is that we both just downloaded Skype today with the intention to use while playing WAW. I tried changing the default port from 2501 to 2500 just in case Skype was using 2501. I don't even know if Skype uses a port but I tried it just the same. Nothing worked. What could be causing this?

See my post in the thread regarding firewall problems with 1.087. Please let us know if this explains your problem.

[steevodeevo]

well so far so good but not played PBEM or TCIP yet - so i'm not really a very useful comentator on this specific patch!

One problem that was here in 1.1, 1.071 and is still here now and bugs the bejesus out of me is the increment buttons in the research screen. When I click to add research points to a particular area of research the buttons are (and always have been for me) laggy, unresponsive and the hotspots/zones seem off centre. I would have to demonstrate to show you what a pain it is but I get cramp after an hour or so of play cos of these buttons not responding, awaiting them to come back into allowing clicks again and often if i wait a few secs I can squeeze an extra point in - this is maddening as when i get no additional points going in, and i have points to spare I am never sure if I have maxed out research on this area this turn or if the button has just gone dead..

[boka98]

I have experienced the same lag problems at the allocation of research points as steevodeevo explains. Furthermore allocation of production points also has a tendency to become laggy in the later parts of the game - especially when you have a large production.

[Joel Billings]

I've had the same problem with the research buttons, although I don't think quite as bad as you. I reported this many times to Keith (the programmer) during development and he was never able to duplicate the problem or correct for it. I'm doubtful he'll be able to do anything about it, but I'll mention it again. Tests against the AI are very useful too as we need to make sure we didn't break anything new with the patch (and many fixes are important to test in all aspects of play). Thanks for reporting your experience with 1.087.

[JanSorensen]

I dont recall ever having that problem with the research buttons - strange.

[boka98]

I have had the problem since the 1.0 version. In the beginning it was as bad as steevodeevo explains but one of the patches improved the delay - but not satisfactory.
As far as I recall there was a specific patch that adressed the problem.

My graphics card is an ATI radeon 9600 XT.

[JanSorensen]

Would making the '+' and '-' keys increase/decrease the amount spent be a suitable solution to alleviate the problem if the mouse problem refuses to be figured out?

[steevodeevo]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

I've had the same problem with the research buttons, although I don't think quite as bad as you. I reported this many times to Keith (the programmer) during development and he was never able to duplicate the problem or correct for it. I'm doubtful he'll be able to do anything about it, but I'll mention it again. Tests against the AI are very useful too as we need to make sure we didn't break anything new with the patch (and many fixes are important to test in all aspects of play). Thanks for reporting your experience with 1.087.

Joel, I have just for the first time conquored Russia playing as the germans solo (i.e. rest of Axis on AI) - so big uf for me all please! [;)][;)]

Anyway, my point in ref to AI is whilst I don't have much experience of playing against the Russians, and generally I think your AI is amazing 9some of the best in any game I have seen), the Russians did hand it to me towards the end.

Once I encircled Moscow, where they dug in, they outnumbered me 3 or 4 to 1 at one point and didn't try a break out. Whilst it may have been down to supply (probably - they were totally surrounded), they had nothing to lose and should maybe have tried to bust through, which I believe they were strong enough to do at one point.

For example, before I ground them down with bombers, the had around 60 units in Moscow and I had each sector around them with no more than a dozen, less in some others. I accept that with no/little fel and suplies they may have not een able to do anthing, but if they had enought resources to try a break, I think a human would have tried a last desparate bid to open up a front, spread my offensive out and grab some rear area resource pools.