AK Multiplayer First Wave

[Kerensky]

Greetings BETA testers!

As you may have already noticed, multiplayer is now available for play in the Afrika Korps BETA! This is especially exciting because we have some never before seen designs that we think you'll really enjoy. I've issued several map challenges for anyone interested in taking them up, and if you wish to arrange a game I would gladly test out any of the new MP maps with you.

As you may or may not know, Afrika Korps came with a slew of editor improvements, and these new maps really push them to their limit. Beyond the normal play balance concerns (prestige, composition of forces, and so on) we also have to make sure all of the new triggers and special events work properly. If you find any problems, be sure to report them immediately. Without further ado, a few words on each of the maps.

Ambush at Sirte:
Objective: Germans move convoy from west to east, British attempt to stop them.
What's special: German player decides where he wants his convoy to enter the map (desert road or coastal road) and the British player decides where he wants to set up his random minefields (desert road or coastal road).

Cairo:
Objective: Destroy enemy super heavy artillery in an urban battle for Cairo.
What's special: German railroad guns and British forts, the objectives of the scenario, have 20 attack range, which means they can pretty much target any unit in the city. This makes standard artillery units very vulnerable and places a premium on self propelled and high defense artillery pieces.

Hylan Oasis:
Objective: Your more standard victory Hex grab, true to the style of Hylan Valley.
What's special: Nothing too much, this map mostly needs to be play tested for balance of the two sides not for any special triggers and events.

Spoils of War:
Objective: Your more standard victory Hex grab, true to the style of those from the Vanilla game.
What's special: Nothing too much, this map mostly needs to be play tested for balance of the two sides not for any special triggers and events.

Squad Arena:
Objective: Purchase squads to counter enemy squads and capture Victory Hexes to win.
What's special: This is the flagship map, there are all kinds of things we need you to look out for.

1. If you open the map in the editor, it will look VERY STRANGE. Don't worry, this is all by design.
2. You have unlimited prestige, but you have no core slots to purchase new units. This means you should be using elite reinforcements and overstrength as much as you possibly want to. No, you won't be able to upgrade any of your equipment though. Well you can, but there's no point because it is all worse than your starting units.
3. Infantry are basic infantry. I am strongly in favor of upgrading all infantry to their 1943 variants. Looking for feedback on this.
4. The only way to get new units is to buy them in a package deal (squad). The idea is you have to buy the right squad to counter your enemy's squad choice. In theory, if you pick anti-tank and he picks tanks, you should have an advantage. I tested squad creation and it looks like it works properly, but if you notice anything odd (getting fighters when you buy a tank squad for example) let us know.
5. The units that make up the pre-constructed squads were chosen very carefully, and in some cases have heroes added on to modify their stats to make them as similar as possible to their counterparts on the opposite team. If there are suggestions for more balanced squad set ups, we'd like some input here too.

This map also comes with special "How to play" rules:
For the Axis Player:
<p> How to play: </p>
<p>1. Purchasing and deploying a Slovakian unit on the 6 'Purchase Squad' cities on the left will generate a squad at the beginning of even number turns (2, 4, 6, 8... all the way to turn 20).</p>
<p>2. Prestige is meant to be unlimited, so only use the Elite Reinforcement button. </p>
<p>3. Capture all Victory Hexes for instant victory, or the player with the most Victory Hexes at the end of turn 30 wins. </p>
<p> How NOT to play: Purchasing a unit and placing it anywhere except the 6 'Purchase Squad' cities will break the triggers and you will no longer create squads!!!</p>
<p> Notes: If you do nothing, you will always create tank squads because that is the default position of the Slovakian Squad Selection Unit. If you wish to change the squad you will purchase, simply disband the Slovakian unit and buy a new one at a different squad select location (one of the 6 cities on the far left edge of the map). For example if you perform this disband and rebuy action during turn 3, on the start of turn 4 you will receive your new squad. From top to bottom, the 6 cities will provide: Infantry, Recon, Tanks, Anti-tank, Fighter, and Bomber squads.</p>

For the Allied player:
<p> How to play: </p>
<p>1. Purchasing and deploying a British Indian unit on the 6 'Purchase Squad' cities on the right will generate a squad at the beginning of even number turns (2, 4, 6, 8... all the way to turn 20).</p>
<p>2. Prestige is meant to be unlimited, so only use the Elite Reinforcement button. </p>
<p>3. Capture all Victory Hexes for instant victory, or the player with the most Victory Hexes at the end of turn 30 wins. </p>
<p> How NOT to play: Purchasing a unit and placing it anywhere except the 6 'Purchase Squad' cities will break the triggers and you will no longer create squads!!!</p>
<p> Notes: If you do nothing, you will always create tank squads because that is the default position of the British Indian Selection Unit. If you wish to change the squad you will purchase, simply disband the British Indian unit and buy a new one at a different squad select location (one of the 6 cities on the far right edge of the map). For example if you perform this disband and rebuy action during turn 3, on the start of turn 4 you will receive your new squad. From top to bottom, the 6 cities will provide: Infantry, Recon, Tanks, Anti-tank, Fighter, and Bomber squads.</p>

[Kerensky]

Known issues:

Looks like there are some invisible units showing up in Sirte...
It appears that when multiple units are randomly placed in a zone, they can be placed on top of each other.
British infantry are all basic infantry in arena map...
British Indian flag not displaying in purchase menu for Squad Area (To be renamed Desert Squadrons)
British arty missing transport in Cairo

[Balois]

The instructions that tell the British player to place an ambush did not show up until after I had ended my first turn, so I did not place them. The wording says to place your "ambush selection units". I had no idea what that meant until after I read the description shown above which indicates the British are suppose to place their minefields eihter in the nortern or southern exit points. I found several trucks with the title ambush selector but it is unclear how they are used?

[Kerensky]

We got some good input on how to improve these maps, thanks testers!
If you have any more comments or suggestions, we'd really like to hear them too.

[deducter]

Are there plans for a "second wave" of mp testing? I have some more time now to play, but I was wondering whether I should play the current maps or wait for a new build.

[Kerensky]

At this point, we collected quite a bit of good data from the first run of tests. More forum posts might have been nice, but we got a lot of excellent feedback from talking to players through the in game chat interface, not to mention from actually playing the maps themselves. Every map got at least a few minor improvements, and a few got some pretty big overhauls, especially Desert Squadrons(formerly known as Squad Arena). If anyone is interested in tested these maps in their updated state, or the new Blood and Sand scenario, feel free to play them out or accept a few of the challenges I posted!

[grabbysnatch]

Hi I have been playing this scenario for a few turns now, but I am unable to change the units that turn up. I cannot plave indian units on other city hexes and there are no core slots. It states in the instructions if you wish to change the replicating units disband the Indian unit and replace it with a different unit. Perhaps I am missing someting but there is no disband button.

This battle appears to be just a battle of attrition, but if you cant change the units then no strategy can come into the game.

Thanks

[Kerensky]

Hi I have been playing this scenario for a few turns now, but I am unable to change the units that turn up. I cannot plave indian units on other city hexes and there are no core slots. It states in the instructions if you wish to change the replicating units disband the Indian unit and replace it with a different unit. Perhaps I am missing someting but there is no disband button.

This battle appears to be just a battle of attrition, but if you cant change the units then no strategy can come into the game.

Thanks

Desert Squadrons actually got changed a bit, there is no disband mechanic in the latest version. So no worries about that.