MP Campaign? HELP!!!

SPWaW is a tactical squad-level World War II game on single platoon or up to an entire battalion through Europe and the Pacific (1939 to 1945).

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challenge
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MP Campaign? HELP!!!

Post by challenge »

Okay, you can flame me for not researching this more, but I keep running into blind alleys on this one.

A friend and I (both relatively new at SPWaW) want to fight a Stallingrad Campaign, each bringing a core force to start with. It appears the game will not allow two-player unit buys for campaigns -- or even multiplayer campaigns since selecting that makes the campaign button unusable. Is there a way to do this so we don't have to buy new core units everytime we run a new senario? Basically, we want to fight our way through the battle building up experience and improving leaders thus making attrition and survival of units important later in the game. How you do this?

I thought about stringing together a series of scenarios, but haven't figured out how to keep the core or allow two players to do so in a campaign. Now that I hit the top of an arc in the learning curve on play mechanics, we want to move to the next step -- at least for us that means kicking each other up and down the Steppes.

I would appreciate any assistance in this matter... Oh, and before you say download the scenario designer's handbook -- I have and am reading it. Good stuff so far.
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Alexandra
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Post by Alexandra »

I believe that Version 7.0, when released, will allow this. You may also want to search for older threads on this same topic.

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Post by challenge »

The problem is that I run a search and than have to re-run it after I read one topic thread -- it seems I can't get back to the search results page once I leave it. I really don't have the time to run 16 searches for the same results. Okay, gripe about the search engine is over...

If v7 has the capability then I will rejoice; I have learned not to count on a feature until the software is released, however.
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Post by Warhorse »

Well, version 7 allows a human player to play AS the AI player, in a campaign, but no, unable to have core force on each side, sorry <img src="frown.gif" border="0">
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Post by Paul Vebber »

You will have to wait for COmbat Leader for "multi-sided core forces" that can travel from battle to battle.
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Post by Raindem »

Something you and your friend could do in the meantime, is to play a series of generated battles, purchasing the same core force each time. You'll have to sit down and lay it out, how many battles and how many support points each time. Then make up some kind of storyboard, like for the regular user-defined campaigns, to determine the parameters of the next battle.
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Post by challenge »

That is what I started looking at for a possible solution, Raindem. I doesn't allow for the experience gained by individual units vs green replacement units, however, so the effect of keeping units alive is of little importance. The idea was making it important for units to survie and not just charge into the frey and not care how much the objective cost you. When a surviving experienced unit is no more important than a newly purchased unit attrition isn't an issue.

By the way, I went to NMSU; how's Las Cruces these days?

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: Challenge ]</p>
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Post by Scorpion_sk »

Well, version 7 allows a human player to play AS the AI player, in a campaign, but no, unable to have core force on each side, sorry


Awesome! This is what I´ve been longing for in SPWAW for a long time. We´ve run into dead ends on this issue with my opponent, since we would both like to play something deeper than just simple single scenarios with no bearing whatsoever on each other.
I don´t care about not being able to purchase forces for the "AI" at all as long as the campaign is dynamic (meaning it is NOT required for the "human" side to win each battle to progress to the next, while an "AI" win ends the campaign (those are pathetic)

Now, is it possible to play Mega Campaigns like this.....???
If yes, then we have the ultimate multiplayer wargame so far in our hands.....
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Post by john g »

Originally posted by Scorpion_sk:


Now, is it possible to play Mega Campaigns like this.....???
If yes, then we have the ultimate multiplayer wargame so far in our hands.....

With the beta version of v7 that I have, you certainly can play the mc 2 player. Though the battles would tend to be unbalanced against the active campaigner if a human played the ai side aggressively. What you might try is adjusting the ai side prefs downward to make up for them no longer being under computer control.
thanks, John.
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Post by Raindem »

Originally posted by Challenge:
That is what I started looking at for a possible solution, Raindem. I doesn't allow for the experience gained by individual units vs green replacement units, however, so the effect of keeping units alive is of little importance. The idea was making it important for units to survie and not just charge into the frey and not care how much the objective cost you. When a surviving experienced unit is no more important than a newly purchased unit attrition isn't an issue.

By the way, I went to NMSU; how's Las Cruces these days?

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: Challenge ]

Experience, like most other things, would have to be calculated. Make a rule, for example, that for each battle a force's experience goes up by 10, and then reduce it for so many casualties. Force morale would go up and down accordingly as per victory achieved in the last battle, or overall record, or both. All these items are then factored in the starting parameters for the next battle.

In short, you keep a paper description of your force, update it after each battle, and then make your purchases accordingly. It's a hassle with a lot of bookeeping, but it is possible to have a fairly accurate campaign this way.

When were you at NMSU? Las Cruces is still the same. Green or Red?
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Post by challenge »

The paper/pencil thing may work. I used to do something similar with ASL (when I could find opponants that didn't mind all the dice rolling). et up could get lengthy since you have to go through and fix each unit, I guess, but that may be a way to achieve the goal...

NMSU late 70s (dating myself here), prefer red will do green. I was once a card-carrying member of the International Connoisseurs of Red and Green Chili, based at the school. That was back when the big Pecan trees still lined University.
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Post by Charles2222 »

Challenge: Here's an idea anyway.

1. Start yourself in a campaign picking your core.

2. If I understand V.7 correctly, your opponent will be able to pick the enemy placement and force. If you both are campaigning against each other, and you wnat the point totals to be the same, then naturally you'll have to play the first battle as a meeting engagement.

3. Once the battle is done, your enemy will have to pick a totally new 'core' so to speak, but if he writes down what he picked he can of course have the same force, albeit without the benefit of more experience. Having not used V.7 I can guess in places here, but since campaigning has changed VERY little if any, then the next suggestion should be doable.

4. When the screen prompts you after deployment of 'your' core, then boost or lower enemy experience accordingly. This is only vague of course, but I bet you can work something to your satisfaction. Since you are the campaigner, there's a system already set up for you, but not so your opponent. TO semi-address this problem, a little known experience adjustor is given you between battles. The way this could work for you opponent, is you could grant him experience boosts for each battle, based accumulatively on the results of the prior battle. Example:

Decisive Defeat: -7%
Marginal Defeat: -4%
Draw losing by 2000pts or more: -2%
Draws with relatively even points: 0%
Draws winning by 2000pts or more: +2%
Marginal Victory: +4%
Decisive Victory: +7%

So, on the 5th battle, should you have lost decisively the prior 4 times, you would give him an experience boost of 28% (because his force will always be a new one, though he can pick the same units). One thing kind of nifty about this, he can change his core from battle to battle if he wants without constraint.

I don't know if the real campaigner 'ever' loses experience (except for upgrades) but the morale does suffer from defeats.

Anyway, that gives you an idea, while y'all could hash out just what would constitute good percentages.

Another idea somewhat along the dual-campaigners line. Let's say the both of you campaign Barbarossa. You run separate cores playing the opposite sides, while you also choose each other's opponent units and placements (I can't recall if the enemy AI can actually be played head-to-head by a human or not). After you've both played the 6/41 battle, you note the scores and therefore over a period of time a winner can be declared. For example: 6/41 you win by a margin of 4000pts, while in his campaign he won by a margin of 2000pts, which would mean you're in the lead. In 7/41 you upgrade, he picks your enemy units and placement, and you do the same for him, and then compare scores once more, and keep doing that. Both people have intact cores which work, and there is a competition as well.
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