Advanced Third Reich Mod v1.1

[pzgndr]

I am wrapping up an update to my Advanced Third Reich mod. Below are the version notes for v1.1:

=================================================================
Advanced Third Reich for Strategic Command WWII: War In Europe, v1.1
=================================================================

DATA CHANGES
- added Greek air fleet to 1941 scenario setup
- fixed duplicate Spanish 1st air fleet
- blocked Russian diplomacy to Algeria
- minor map adjustment for Leningrad port to prevent land attack from Finland
- adjusted Combat Data to improve gameplay
-- restored default values for experience point allotment, retreat %, and retreat range
-- increased prepared attack readiness bonus from 25% to 35% for ground combat units
- increased Germany research for Ground Attack Weapons to level 1 and upgraded Tactical Bombers in both 1939 campaign and 1941 scenario
- revised some weather zone data for Western/Central/Eastern Europe for Fall/Early Fall, to slightly decrease frozen/snow conditions and increase clear conditions
- changed Greek infantry 2-3 to 1-3 due to mountains defense bonus
- reduced max strength of Iraqi infantry to 5
- increased De-Entrenchment value for Tactical Bombers to 1
- set Minimum Production Date for Italian Fighters and Tactical Bombers to January 1941
- increased retreat chances for naval units
- changed research percentages for United States and Germany to 5-4-4-3-3 to improve chances to reach Level 5 IT/PT
- deleted French Maginot Line fortresses left in 1941 scenario by mistake
- revised Resource Data to reduce value of minor capitals (2 should have been 1, so minors are generally 10 BRPs)
- made significant economic adjustments to improve balance:
*General*
-- changed oil from 3 to 2
*Britain*
-- changed Coventry and St. John's from major city to minor city
-- changed Toronto from IC to major city
-- fixed Famagusta from major city to minor city
-- deleted Mosul oil and changed Mosul from minor city to major city
*France*
-- fixed Beirut from major city to minor city
*Russia*
-- changed Vologda, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, and Grozny from major cities to minor cities
-- deleted extra oil at 191,39
*United States*
-- added two ICs at Baltimore and Charlotte, and one major city/port at Portland
-- deleted Ahvaz oil in Persia
*Germany*
-- changed Kolberg from major city to minor city
-- fixed Bergen from minor city to major city
*Italy*
-- changed Naples and Taranto from minor cities to major cities
-- changed Turin and Syracuse from major cities to minor cities

SCRIPT CHANGES
- fixed SURRENDER #2 script error for Italy surrender for Allied units in range of Taranto, previous condition for Rome/Naples/Taranto incorrectly assumed OR logic instead of AND logic; now essentially if Allies have 3 units landed within 3 hexes of Taranto then Italy has 75% chance of surrender in 1943, 100% chance in 1944
- revised SURRENDER_2 scripts to fix Russia country ID (4 should have been 116)
- deleted NATIONAL_MORALE scripts for France surrender/liberation
- made significant economic adjustments to be more faithful to original boardgame:
*Russia*
-- deleted RESOURCE event for 1941 Economic Increase upon DOW
-- changed RESOURCE event to make Baku oil (173,39) the variant Successful Soviet Five Year Plan
*Germany*
-- deleted CONVOY event for Swedish Iron Ore Shipments
- changed PURCHASES scripts for Greek infantry builds, added 1944+ builds for Britain and Russia, and revised Germany builds for Fuhrer Bunker
- revised WAR_ENTRY scripts to slightly reduce chances of Pro-Axis Yugoslavia coup
- revised AMPHIBIOUS and AMPHIBIOUS_MINOR scripts for invasions of Sicily and Italy to improve launching invasions
- revised TRANSPORT_MINOR scripts to improve Allied reinforcements of North Africa and Middle East
- added GUARD scripts for staging strongest units for Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy
- added Allied AI STRENGTH scripts for Axis supply shortages during initial invasions of Italy and France and Axis AI STRENGTH scripts for Allied supply shortages during invasions of Poland, France, Yugoslavia and Greece
- revised FLEET scripts to improve Axis patrols of North Sea and Mediterranean Sea
- revised UNIT scripts for arrival of British Australian/South African/Indian reinforcements to Egypt, and for Russian variant for New Tanks
- many more minor script adjustments and corrections to improve computer opponent performance

I just posted an AAR for a successful AI-AI playtest game for v1.1 HERE. Attached is the zipped 1939 Campaign. Install into your C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command WWII - War In Europe\Campaigns folder. Enjoy!

Important Note: This update is compatible with the latest game update v1.11, which changes convoy loops. A3R v1.1 is not compatible with the previous game version(s).

UPDATE 4/20/2018: Attached 1939 campaign files updated with corrections to research sharing, British ASW unit events, and reformatted Design Notes as discussed below. Please re-install. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[pzgndr]

And here attached is the 1941 Scenario. Enjoy!

UPDATE 4/20/2018: Attached 1941 scenario files updated with corrections to research sharing, British ASW unit events, and reformatted Design Notes as discussed below. Please re-install. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[pzgndr]

I want to share an excerpt that I added to the Design Notes pdf, regarding game economics:

Note: Adapting the A3R boardgame economics to the SC computer game was not directly
possible. While production values and unit costs are generally comparable, many other SC
features are not at all comparable. For example, SC provides plunder upon country
conquest in addition to production values, players are not charged BRPs for declarations of
war or front offensives, and players do not lose annual BRPs upon loss of controlled
countries. So, using A3R production values and unit costs as a starting point, the historical
Axis gains during the early war were used to baseline Allied economic growth, Lend Lease,
and Murmansk Convoys to best recreate the Allied gains during the late war. While not
perfect, playtesting of Axis AI versus Allied AI at default difficulty level indicates that play
balance is generally comparable to the historical results. AI difficulty level, game variants,
strategic options selected, and battle results during a solitaire game will provide different
results, for better or for worse, but the baseline economics appear adequate for play
balance and replayability.

Veteran players of the boardgame will understand the significance of this. Bottom line is that it's been a challenge to get the optimal play balance, and no guarantees that it's perfect. Hopefully good enough for head-to-head, and players can always adjust difficulty level for the AI to find their personal challenge.

Speaking of the pdf Design Notes, I noticed a few minor formatting glitches and fixed those. Attached is a clean version, and available to anyone who may be interested in this mod but hasn't checked it out yet. Again, please enjoy!

[Cataphract88]

Thanks very much for for the updates and design notes. [:)]

[Batavian]

Very nice. Thank you for all the hard work.

[pzgndr]

I responded to a PM asking about the unit counters. In the Design Notes I comment about the "customized military unit icons" but don't say anything more about them. These are 2-D only so simply uncheck the 3-D Units option. I pretty much made the decision to not mess with the 3-D image files and try to edit all those .png graphics. If anyone really wants 3-D and is willing to mod those files, please go ahead. Feel free to post them here if you do; thanks in advance.

If anyone has any other questions, please ask.

At this point, I'm pretty much done with this mod except perhaps another update sometime in the future to fix/improve things. I have untested scripting for Allied invasions of Britain in the event of a successful Sealion invasion and relocation of the British government to Canada. If anyone gets there and sees AI weaknesses then let me know. I had also intended to work on the 1942 and 1944 scenarios but frankly I'm putting those on hold indefinitely so I can work more on the Empires in Arms code development. So much to do, so little time...

[TangSooDo]

Here's something that may need a fix -- once Britain acquires anti-submarine warfare level 1 the British ASW unit can upgrade, but the Canadian ASW unit cannot. Seeing as there is no way to spend research uniquely on Canadian forces, I would think the British research levels would apply. What say, Bill?

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: TangSooDo
Here's something that may need a fix -- once Britain acquires anti-submarine warfare level 1 the British ASW unit can upgrade, but the Canadian ASW unit cannot. Seeing as there is no way to spend research uniquely on Canadian forces, I would think the British research levels would apply. What say, Bill?

It should? I verified that Canada is checked "Upgradeable?" so it should be able to upgrade. I'll look into it further.

One thing folks could do to edit research in the editor is the following:
Go to Campaign -> Edit Country Data -> Edit Research -> Advanced. Check off "Check Research Sharing" for both Britain-US combos and Germany-Italy combos. I forgot to do Germany & Italy. But the normal Axis and Allied minors (Canada, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland) are all checked "Upgradeable?". Should be working.

[pzgndr]

I've been playing my v1.1 mod as Allies and noticed a problem with British ASW units not arriving. I used the wrong country code, 1 instead of 112, for Britain. Sorry.

In the unit event scripts for 1939 and 1941, find and replace:

; 1st Line - Britain politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 1 [2] [100] [0]

with

; 1st Line - Britain politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 112 [2] [100] [0]

Then save the scripts, update them in the editor, and resave the campaigns. Easy fix. Not worth pushing out another update. As always, if anyone has any comments or suggestions based on playing this A3R mod then please let me know.

[Cataphract88]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

I've been playing my v1.1 mod as Allies and noticed a problem with British ASW units not arriving. I used the wrong country code, 1 instead of 112, for Britain. Sorry.

In the unit event scripts for 1939 and 1941, find and replace:

; 1st Line - Britain politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 1 [2] [100] [0]

with

; 1st Line - Britain politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 112 [2] [100] [0]

Then save the scripts, update them in the editor, and resave the campaigns. Easy fix. Not worth pushing out another update. As always, if anyone has any comments or suggestions based on playing this A3R mod then please let me know.

This fix is not as easy as I'd like. [&:] What do you mean by 'update them in the editor'?

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Cataphract88
This fix is not as easy as I'd like. [&:] What do you mean by 'update them in the editor'?

Alright. I will try to post updated attachments above this weekend for v1.1, with the upgradeable Canadian ASW and British ASW unit event fixes. Probably best for everyone still interested in playing A3R.

[Cataphract88]

Best idea all round, Pzgndr, thanks a lot!

[pzgndr]

OK. UPDATE 4/20/2018: Attached campaign files above updated with corrections to research sharing, British ASW unit events, and reformatted Design Notes as discussed. Please re-install. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy!

[Cataphract88]

Thanks a lot for doing this. [:)]

[frismax]

Hi,
Just started to look into the various mods for SC2. I saw you are using different counters that I used to see in board games, showing type of unit on the top, and then 2 numbers in the middle separated by a dash. can you remind me what they are?
I assume the last number at the bottom shows the strength? thx

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: frismax
Just started to look into the various mods for SC2. I saw you are using different counters that I used to see in board games, showing type of unit on the top, and then 2 numbers in the middle separated by a dash. can you remind me what they are?
I assume the last number at the bottom shows the strength? thx

Like the boardgame units, it's just combat factor and movement factor. I basically doubled the map scale but turns are monthly and not quarterly. So land units are essentially the same; German 4-6 armor is 4-6 armor. It may seem that units can move triple in a seasonal quarter, and that's true, but with no moves for reinforcement or upgrade it averages out OK. Air units have doubled range, but slightly reduced combat factor to allow more air units in play. So instead of 5-4 air fleets there are 3-8 air fleets, split into fighters and tactical bombers. It works out OK. Ideally I'd love to have the exact same OOB as the boardgame but it just doesn't work in the Strategic Command system. So "close enough" will have to do!

[pzgndr]

On another note, based on the v1.1 update I made and my recent game playing as Allies, I've noticed several minor issues that I'd like to work on. So, I've got a v1.2 started. If anyone has any comments based on playing v1.1, please speak up and provide some feedback and any suggestions for improvements.

So what am I looking at? Here's what I'm starting with, subject to change:

=================================================================
Advanced Third Reich for Strategic Command WWII: War In Europe, v1.2
=================================================================

DATA CHANGES
- reduced Russia initial mobilization from 30% to 25% (1939) and from 70% to 65% (1941)
- slightly reduced chances by 5-10% for sandstorms in Africa and Middle East
- doubled initial BRPs to help jumpstart spending options

SCRIPT CHANGES
- adjusted OFFENSIVE scripts for Germany attacking Yugoslavia
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Germany garrison of Poland and Eastern Front
- adjusted STRENGTH scripts to slightly reduce effects of supply shortages, generally from 2-4 to 1-3
- adjusted RESOURCE scripts to change failsafe date of Urals Industry Transfer to 1943
- adjusted UNIT scripts to change failsafe date of Russian 3-3 infantry to 1942 and Siberian Transfer to 1947
- adjusted UNIT scripts for arrival of extra fleets (German Z Plan variant 10% to 20%, British AI 1942 to 1941, United States AI 1942)

Like I said, minor issues. Play balance issues versus the AI at Veteran (+50%) difficulty level (+1 Spotting, +1 Experience, +10% MPP) are also important. The computer opponent ain't perfect, but I strive to make it challenging at the veteran level for both sides. If you have played at this level and consider the AI is too challenging or not challenging enough, let me know what strengths/weaknesses you see and I can make adjustments. But I need to know over the next few months! I'll try to wrap up v1.2 sometime this summer.

[frismax]

thx pzgndr!

[pzgndr]

FWIW, I continue to work on improvements for v1.2, aiming for release this summer. Some updates go beyond minor issues now. Here's my latest change list:

=================================================================
Advanced Third Reich for Strategic Command WWII: War In Europe, v1.2
=================================================================

DATA CHANGES
- reduced Russia initial mobilization from 30% to 25%
- slightly reduced chances by 5-10% for sandstorms in Africa and Middle East, and frozen/snow in Europe during winter
- doubled initial BRPs to help jumpstart spending options
- made adjustments for British BRPs (was getting about 80/turn and should have been getting 125/turn)
-- changed Glasgow to a major city
-- added Hamilton as a major Canadian city
-- added two Canadian oil resource, one for regular Canadian production and one for Increased Commitments From the Dominions variant
- made adjustments for French BRPs (was getting about 70/turn and should have been getting 80/turn)
-- changed Sedan to a major city (this also helps Germany)
- changed Industrial Centers to Major Cities (same value, improved appearance)
- deleted Palestine and Trans-Jordan as separate minor countries and made whole area Egypt (now all BRPs subject to convoy losses)
- increased Germany max research of Industrial Technology to 2 chits, to allow it to reach level 5

SCRIPT CHANGES
- adjusted OFFENSIVE scripts for Germany attacking Yugoslavia and Russia
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Germany garrison of Poland/Eastern Front and British garrison of Palestine/Trans-Jordan
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Italy garrison to include Naples with Rome/Taranto/Messina as default defense
- adjusted GUARD scripts for Germany garrison of Albania and Greece prior to Italy surrender
- adjusted STRENGTH scripts to slightly reduce effects of supply shortages, generally from 2-4 to 1-3
- fixed STRENGTH scripts for Axis AI games for Allied supply shortages, now requiring United States not yet at war
- adjusted RESOURCE scripts for Russian BRPs, to slightly delay production increases unless triggered
-- loss of Smolensk OR Kiev triggers Urals Industry Transfer for Kuibyshev and Sverdlovsk, failsafe 1942
-- loss of Moscow OR Stalingrad triggers Total War mobilization for Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, failsafe 1943
- adjusted UNIT scripts to change failsafe date of Russian 3-3 infantry to 1942 and Siberian Transfer to 1947
-- changes require German DOW and advance past Smolensk to trigger extra units
- adjusted UNIT scripts for arrival of extra fleets (German Z Plan variant 10% to 20%, British AI 1942 to 1941, United States AI 1942)
- added UNIT script for de Gaulle HQ and Free French unit arrivals upon liberation of France
- fixed unit script error for Free French unit in Syria
- adjusted CONVOY scripts to reduce convoy seasonal reductions, except for Murmansk Convoys (U-Boats will have to inflict losses)
- adjusted CONVOY scripts to slightly reduce Lend Lease and Murmansk Convoy percentages
- adjusted SURRENDER_2 scripts for Italy surrender to include loss of Tripoli as a condition
-- surrender requires Axis has no units in Tripoli and Sicily AND Allies have units on mainland Italy in range of Taranto
- adjusted AMPHIBIOUS and AMPHIBIOUS_MINOR scripts for improved Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy

I recently played a challenging campaign game as Allies at Expert difficulty. Axis launched a Sealion invasion of Britain that had me scrambling; almost lost London but managed to hold it. Sealion mobilized Russia and United States for early entries in 1941. Besides Sealion, the second surprise was Axis attacking Turkey as well as Russia. Despite losing Leningrad and Maikop oil, I managed to hold Moscow (barely), Stalingrad, and Ankara. Allies took Sicily in 1943 but failed to advance into Italy. The big break came in 1944 with D-Day invasion of France and Allied invasion of northern Italy. Once Italy surrendered and Rome fell, the Axis started collapsing pretty quick on all fronts. I will say there were quite a few brutal air and naval engagements throughout the game. All good.

I continue to be most concerned about the economics in the game. I really miss the boardgame simplicity and its overall balance; it's very difficult to recreate that. I think this mod does a pretty good job of ramping up Allied production in the later half of the game, but the middle game is fragile. If Axis gains too much and Allies lose too much, then it's a very tough fight for the Allies. I thought it was tough enough despite Germany distracting itself with Sealion and Turkey; no telling how bad it might have been if Axis fought a more historical game. But this was on the most challenging Expert level, which is indeed challenging even for me.

[Batavian]

Looking forward to it. Thank you very much.