Scenario Playtesting - A&A 1939

[DerLeiter]

Thanks Skyfox122 for taking the time to actually try all these out, finding myself lacking the time lately.

Made a few changes that should make things go a bit smoother in France & the Low Countries.

[skyfox122]

Thanks Skyfox122 for taking the time to actually try all these out, finding myself lacking the time lately.

Made a few changes that should make things go a bit smoother in France & the Low Countries.

It is I who want to thank you - without your dedication and willingness to try new things - this scenario would be just a dead piece of good work left like a baby on a door step (I am referring to the 1941 scenario - still a baby not allowed to mature into a great scenario).

I must admit - I have been putting in a ton of hours with this scenario. I do want to also thank the great partners in crime - play testing this scenario with me - especially dorky8 who has rolled turns with me - starting from early morning to late evenings!!

[DerLeiter]

Single Player Campaign -- RAF was copied from the Swordfish so looks like a large number of aircraft got cut 'n paste with the same 'hero' modifier. I was planning to do an update based on the U4 version anyways, this just gives me a reason to do it sooner.

Just started my own Multiplayer U4 game as the Allies so we'll see how that goes.

[DerLeiter]

Ausf U5

• FNS Lorraine now has the correct (Vichy) flag.
• Moved a primary objective from Dakar to Brazzaville
• Fixed an issue with some D.A.K. not properly appearing.
• Victory Conditions for primary objectives occurs later in the game; too often it ended before the D-Day forces even got to land and make things interesting.
• Initial Russian vehicles have been placed with a large radius deployment, instead of being completely random -- too often random T-26s or BTs would suddenly pop up behind the Axis lines.
• Minor change to the prestige per turn on both sides from 43 onwards.

[DerLeiter]

Ausf U5b

• The 1939 American tourist in Africa has been removed

[Pitemag]

I have put up a game password:1939

[DerLeiter]

<b>Ausf U6 Update</b>
The Allied prestige per turn in the early game was far too high; both sides now start with less initially, and the Allies gain less per turn.

[goose_2]

Thanks for putting in the work on this massive scenario mod

It is very fun and I just beat Skyfox as the Allies after about 3 months of play
I nuked Berlin, which was scary to see and imagine that actually happening in the real war.
Seeing the aftermath left me stunned.

I am looking forward to Pitemag playing his rounds in our game.

This is fun if not very time consuming challenging scenario
Thanks again for creating it.

[skyfox122]

Ok - just had a massive Polish spawn of 12 units (this seems a bit excessive - the size of a large minor army(s) when you consider Hungary, Spain etc ..) which I could see - not sure if more in hidden area. I would like to see the size reduced! 12 units brought down to six. This uprising with the recent change in airfields - wiped out two aircraft - do to the loss of Polish airbase - no other bases available (Sweden & Norway & Leningrad - Allied).
This uprising was put down by the Germans rapidly in the real war - due mainly to the fact the Russian Army stopped and conducted R&R just outside of the city until the Germans had wiped them out.

Food for thought!

[DerLeiter]

The Warsaw Uprising? It's 9 units, each with a 75% chance of deploying once the Uprising is triggered. They also all only have a maximum strength of 1. So admittedly it can be nasty if you tend to not leave garrisons around but I've found it can usually be dealt with within a few turns. Still you're right in that the size of the uprising is a little ridiculous, and I'll take out the Free Polish Paras (leaving 6 Infantry and a T-70). I would've liked to have been able to have the uprising occur if the Russians were in proximity to it, but a lack of zones means I had to alter a few things like that. The basic idea was that the Axis would be able to put it down fairly quickly if things were going well for them, but if they weren't then it would just help speed up the collapse of Europe.

On a side note, my poor friend was playing the Axis and had D-Day, the Polish Uprising, a minor power switch sides just as he was about to take Moscow (and about half of the units there were that power), then commandos raiding Italy all on the same turn in our latest game.

In regards to a comment from Graue about the Hamilar/Me 323: as far as I can tell you either have them available for the entire scenario or not at all, you can't add them in over time except as a one use transport (ie starting in it, but as soon as you unload it's gone). If there's a way to change this I'd love to know, but as it's mean for small scenarios and not world spanning ones I don't think there's a way to add in transports over time or have localized weather.

[DerLeiter]

U6a is up with the Polish Uprising change and a few spelling mistakes fixed.

[skyfox122]

[quote="DerLeiter"]The Warsaw Uprising? It's 9 units, each with a 75% chance of deploying once the Uprising is triggered. They also all only have a maximum strength of 1. So admittedly it can be nasty if you tend to not leave garrisons around but I've found it can usually be dealt with within a few turns. Still you're right in that the size of the uprising is a little ridiculous, and I'll take out the Free Polish Paras (leaving 6 Infantry and a T-70). I would've liked to have been able to have the uprising occur if the Russians were in proximity to it, but a lack of zones means I had to alter a few things like that. The basic idea was that the Axis would be able to put it down fairly quickly if things were going well for them, but if they weren't then it would just help speed up the collapse of Europe.

On a side note, my poor friend was playing the Axis and had D-Day, the Polish Uprising, a minor power switch sides just as he was about to take Moscow (and about half of the units there were that power), then commandos raiding Italy all on the same turn in our latest game.

I feel his pain also - had the Polish uprising, D-Day, and Commandos also - but just thought the Uprising was just too big for a minor power! D-Day and Commandos I expect - but a full blown size of a Major power troops springing up at my rear door was a bit much.

Thanks for the toning down - 6\7 units - ok. Besides - I like Polish sausage - fresh off the end of my gun barrel!!

[skyfox122]

Version U4 - Indian units - unable to purchase trucks for Arty. & AA units?? Makes Arty. & AA useless!!
Dropped an email to you several days a go no response - even resent it? Just encase it was missed - I wanted to check again to see if resolved in U6a?

[DerLeiter]

Version U4 - Indian units - unable to purchase trucks for Arty. & AA units?? Makes Arty. & AA useless!!
Dropped an email to you several days a go no response - even resent it? Just encase it was missed - I wanted to check again to see if resolved in U6a?

Just saw the email, first one must not have gone through.

Unfortunately it's just the way the game is, minor allied powers usually only have a few infantry and trucks in their equipment list. All I've done is give ownership of it to another nation, and since they don't have any of their own units of that type they can't upgrade them. It's the same as I explained with the minor axis powers; they will get better units over time but they're just otherwise stuck with what they get. I usually tried to make them mobile, though in the case of the British Indian stuff I do believe those weren't given much mobility because they were supposed to be for defence only.

I have actually begun to work on a modded version, but it will take some time.

[skyfox122]

Version U4 - Indian units - unable to purchase trucks for Arty. & AA units?? Makes Arty. & AA useless!!
Dropped an email to you several days a go no response - even resent it? Just encase it was missed - I wanted to check again to see if resolved in U6a?

Just saw the email, first one must not have gone through.

Unfortunately it's just the way the game is, minor allied powers usually only have a few infantry and trucks in their equipment list. All I've done is give ownership of it to another nation, and since they don't have any of their own units of that type they can't upgrade them. It's the same as I explained with the minor axis powers; they will get better units over time but they're just otherwise stuck with what they get. I usually tried to make them mobile, though in the case of the British Indian stuff I do believe those weren't given much mobility because they were supposed to be for defence only.

I have actually begun to work on a modded version, but it will take some time.

Ok - but I have been able to add trucks with no problem before - will just assume it is a quirk with this one game. Tks

[Cataphract88]

Will there be any more updates, or is this the finished product?

[DerLeiter]

Will there be any more updates, or is this the finished product?

I was working on a modded version and a single player version, which were then interrupted by SC beta, then release (then XCOM 2). So things have changed a fair bit; I'm intending to make the following changes to AA1939 -- and doing minor updates for it after that -- but otherwise I'll be starting something new from scratch a AA1939 v2. There's just so many zones and parameters that it's just easier to wipe it clean. Though I don't believe Japan really has the units right now to be a real power without modding or a Pacific Corps release.

• Add in Finland as another minor axis power.
• Keeping the border between Finland/Russia and Norway/Sweden until the war with Russia is triggered.
• Most likely moving the Free French back to Casablanca; it was more balanced and interesting that way.
• Going to have to do a fairly big overhaul of Russia's forces.
• Still too many Axis ships in one area; while the Allied navy outnumbers them they're scattered across the world vs the Axis who are concentrated in two spots.

[Cataphract88]

Sounds promising - good luck with the project!

[DerLeiter]

Mostly right now it's working on a few technical issues having to do with moving the Free/Vichy french yet again, and adding Finland in. Once that's done, and I've done a few test runs to see if the balance seems reasonable I'll post the latest version. So far here's an update on what I'm working on so far:

RUSSIA

• Completely redone all of the Russian reinforcements, not just to include the Soviet Corps units, but how and when they deploy.
• There should be a greater number of Soviet forces in late '43 to early '44, though it's still somewhat random.
• Now that we have SE Russians, I've replaced the old modified 'elite' guards with them; also any special leaders use the SE vehicles/infantry.
• Added more defence around Leningrad, especially to the north (see Winter War)
• A few more Garrison were added, and some moved.
• Instead of having a limited window of availability, Lend-Lease vehicles of a certain type are simply available on the appropriate type, but have a much lower percent change of being deployed.
• Leningrad has been a hex south to make a bit more room for the Winter War, mostly so that if the Finns were to get a decisive victory they wouldn't be able to take Leningrad right away.
• Still to do: Instead of deploying anywhere within Russia, which often includes the occasional unit popping up behind Axis lines, I'm going to give them a specific radius to spawn in. This will take some time to set up though.

AFRICA

• Moved the Free French back to Casablanca, where while not historically accurate it was more balanced and fun gameplay.
• Algiers and Brazzaville keep their primary objective hex though
• Brazzaville retains a small force to guard it, but Free French units otherwise spawn back at Casablanca.
• Dakar remains a Vichy port; a few Vichy units deploy there.
• A few more Italian units restored to North Africa to help balance out the change in the Free French.

WINTER WAR

• It's been a bit difficult to fit the Finns in properly, so I've tried to keep it fairly minimal to not throw the rest of the game off. At this point it pretty much gives a side battle over the control of Helsinki; I think at this point it's more important for the Russians to hold it then the Finns, but the Axis can use that to bleed prestige out from the Allies.
• Like the other minor powers, Finland will provide units over time though on an even smaller scale.
• Soviet forces deploy somewhat randomly in multiple waves over turns 4-10; it's mostly infantry, with some tanks and air support.
• The battle is sealed off from the rest of the world while it takes place; neither side can get outside reinforcements.
• Each side has one airfield, the Finns also have the Mannerheim Line defending them with strongpoints and minefields along it.

OTHER

• The deployment chance of all Axis Light Cruisers has been greatly reduced. So far this seems to offset how concentrated their fleets are compared to the Axis ones.
• Added in some of the German equipment captured by the US.
• Very small chance of a random Japanese appearance.
• Considering removing the ability to build units for a few of the nations; for the Axis you would only be able to build German & Italian units. For the Allies it would be British, Russian, American, and French units. To offset this the other nations would get a few more auxiliary units either at deployment (eg Poland, Greece), or over time (Bulgaria, New Zealand). It's a small change but might have some pretty drastic effects so I'm not sure on this one. It would make it much easier to go through all the units you can build though.

[DerLeiter]

AUSF V1 has been uploaded. Removing some of the nations just didn't work out well, so everything is kept as is.

• Eastern Poland just starts out as Russian territory now.
• Defences around Gibraltar reduced.
• Fixed an issue with German-controlled Britain not triggering properly.
• Winter War seems fairly balanced; need other people to test it though.
• Deployment of Axis cruisers and PT boats reduced.
• Some terrain changes in North Africa to open it up a bit more in parts.
• División Española now arrives on train coming into France from Spain.