Minor Powers Artillery overhaul + small tech adjustment + new Generals expansion
New Generals expansion
I'd like to make generals a bit more polarized, so that they're used either for very specific unit types or roles (offensive/defensively). Of course, historical performance will play a role in their stats, but in general, new commanders for major powers will be 1 or 0 range, but have high stats in 1 attribute or group of attributes geared towards their role (defensive/offensive). The bigger range commanders will be a bit more allrounded, though still have their own distinct flavor and use. It's nice to have most of your troops commanded by Haig or Joffre and all, but when the going gets tough, you send in Currie or Mangin to break down the enemy lines. Or you'll use Borojovic to hold the key part of the Isonzo, while you send Hotzendorf on an all-inclusive cruise tour, preferably to Mars.
Also, to make generals more distinct, I've added new commander types. Currently I've added Artillery commanders, Tank commanders, submarine commanders and 1 type of commander that affects both infantry and artillery (but not other kinds of ground troops). I think that should cover all kinds required, but I might make a cavalry only commander
x Von Arnauld restricted to submarines
x added Forstmann and Valentiner as captains restricted to submarines for Germany and Austria respectively (unlock with GotStrafeEngland and GermanSubsToAdriatic respectively)
x Bruchmuller added as an one range German commander restricted to artillery (unlocks with Bruchmuller event)
x Nivelle changed to affect artillery as well
x Walz added as a 1 range Turkish flying ace (unlocks with Bavarian Squadron 304 event)
x Patton added as a 0 range American commander restricted to tanks (Unlocks with Building the Army: Tank Corps event)
x Luke Jr. added as a 0 range American flying ace (Unlocks with Building the Army: Air Service event)
> Monash added as a 0 range British commander restricted to tanks to illustrate his combined arms proficiency > still need to write event to unlock
> Locker-Lampson added as a 2 range British commander restricted to Armored Cars (unlocks with an event sending Belgian and British armored cars to Russia)
> Byng added as a 1 range army British commander > still need to write event to unlock
Adjust tech research times:
x Submachine gun research time tripled.
x anti tank techs after 1st lvl increased research time 2x (I might revert this).
x Anti-Aircraft tech upgrades extended to Home Guard units.
x Railroad gun research time increased
x Germany gets tech boost on railroad gun at start of game > other nations that can produce it, get 3 random 1D6 rolls).
x France's Railroad gun tech readjusted to match the above.
x France's chlorine gas tech bonus at start of game adjusted to be equal to Germany's
x changed around anti-sub attack tech values so subs don't become obsolete too quickly. 10-5-10 rather than 10-10-5 (might revert this)
x added Renault event for the French to jump ahead in the tank war, similar to the Fokker event for airplanes.
Artillery Overhaul:
Artillery is king. But only a few major powers had the capacity to field, maintain and supply massive amounts of heavy artillery. To more accurately reflect this in the game, I've added the following restrictions to:
Minor Powers:
x max 1 battery
x max 5 ammo
x Minor powers Chlorine gas upgrade delayed by a about a year (12 turns)
x All techs past specialized shells are vastly delayed to the point of not unlocking during the game, with the exception of Portugal.
x Portugal gets an artillery lab at start of the game, so their artillery is up to date whenever they join the war.
Ottomans:
In some ways, the Ottoman Empire was a major power, but in other ways, they were even worse off than some minor powers. The Ottomans were unable to produce modern artillery, nor could they logistically support large amounts of modern artillery. They relied heavily on Germany and Austria to supply them with ammo. To reflect this, the Ottomans have no way to research any of the artillery techs by themselves. Instead, their tech updates are tied to events related to the Turco-German alliance.
x max 1 battery
x max 5 ammo
x no artillery research. Can't build artillery labs.
Events that unlock techs for Turkey:
x German military mission to Turkey also unlocks pneumatic howitzer tech
x Constantinople express also unlocks specialized shells tech (as well as pneumatic howitzer if not unlocked earlier), and the ammo trickle it gives is more generous to compensate for the limit on building ammo factories. (might need some tweaking to find the right value)
x Bavarian Squadron 304 event sends a German fighter + bomber squadron to Turkey and also unlocks Aerial Artillery Coordination tech.
x New event about a Turkish elite unit (XV corps) sent to Austria to fight the Russians. The event will represent them returning home, and will unlock the next counterbattery tech + spawn 1 artillery unit + 1 infantry unit, with lvl 3 experience (though a single repair will knock them down to lvl 2)
x Yildirim army group event will also unlock the next counterbattery tech.
x Kaiser's visit to Istanbul will unlock the gas tech equivalent to Germany's. It's the only way for Turkey to get gas upgrades. So you have to choose, have the Kaiser visit early and be stuck on lower gas tech for the rest of the game, but be able to use it for longer. Or have the Kaiser visit late, and risk that the tech no longer matters.
x Ottomans are not able to unlock creeping barrage.
Misc
x counter battery techs value increased by 1.
x USA get's artillery research (? > might change it to having option to research but no labs.)
x Georg Bruchmuller event now unlocks the man, the myth himself as an 1 range artillery battery commander.
USA
>>> USA can build unlimited ammo factories and can produce unlimited artillery like any major power, but doesn't have an artillery research lab, or any research lab, available from the start of the game. This means that whenever the US joins the war, their army and equipment are outdated. Catching up will require a lot of investment into labs, or instead they can:
x Build the Army through events, 1 for each type/branch of army.
x Each event unlocks the corresponding techs to match the british/french army, depending on who has the tech unlocked already. If none of the Entente Westfront major powers has the tech, USA won't get it either (usually not relevant, but can be relevant when playing Lamps out or USA join early option).
x To reflect that experience can't be bought, Creeping Barrage nor Infiltration tactics will unlock regardless of whether France or Britain have unlocked those techs already. Units also still have to be upgraded, to reflect the time, cost and difficulty of rapidly modernizing and expanding an army while also shipping it across an ocean.
x The events will cost the USA manpower, in exchange for units, technology and sometimes commanders.
Still planned:
> Front restrictions for Entente generals (Joffre, Foch etc & French, Haig etc to West Front, Townshend to Mesopotamian front, Allenby to Egypt, Hamilton to Turkey, and should get dismissed if Gallipoli fails
Joffre-Nivelle-Petain command change + new Nivelle offensive event based on Somme event (I know something like it already exists, but Joffre doesn't get dismissed all that often, and I've never seen Petain unlock with siege of Verdun because Nivelle needs to come before him (imo it should be other way around)
> event involving Monash to unlock him (possibly based on Passchendaele 1917, or Battle of Amiens 1918. Any preferences?)
> event involving Byng to unlock him (probably basend on battle of Cambrais 1917)
Things I couldn't figure out:
> constantinople express should also increase the max limit of artillery batteries to 2 (to represent German artillery shipments as well as ammo shipments)
> renault light tank event should also increase tank limit for France by 1, so they can have 1 more tank than other nations to show they had the biggest and most advanced tank corps by the end of the war.
> What to do in game.morale.lua
Considerations:
> Slight delay to infiltration tactics, since tech leaps by other events mean that it often unlocks in 1916 already. But it might be fine as is.
> Slight delay to Industrial Warfare for Austria Hungary (starting bonus of 10 instead of 25, resulting in Industrial warfare unlocking after Russia gets it instead of before)
