AI (general): location v. destruction of enemy

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: ullern

ORIGINAL: Incy

You might want to consider using overlapping TA/AO/Regions. Not just a single hexrow or two, but let the areas stretch out to hexes that naturally affects them tactically (i.e 1 or possibly 2 landmoves into neighbouring area). Possibly with 'soft' limits, i.e. some hexes are not fully/100% considered part of areas, but are given a lesser weight. 

This means units could be part of calculations for several areas. Let any applicable calculations be done, and then priority (i.e. which commander decides) can be selected according to a combination of strategic and tactical needs (i.e. you can consider induvidual score within each TA/AO/Region, but you'll also consider which TA/AO/Region is currently the most important strategically, and let that TA/AO/Regions control the forces to a larger extent.

This can also be a good way of arranging cooperations between commands. If helping the neighbouring command is a priority, just
a) move forces into the shared zone and voila command gets switched automagically
b) strategically move inte neighbouring command

btw, aircraft, particularily those with long range, will have to receive special attention as they will project their effect across regions (and can more easily be moved between regions)

I don't see what you get for allowing overlapping regions.

Say there is a single stacked French corps defending Nice. When the German Field Marshall of the Med considers attacking into France he has to consider upsides like: What if taking Nice would make German units get through the French lines and force France to divert forces from the north? But to answer this question the Field Marshal needs to understand how all of France is defended. For example: Is there a strategic reserve in Lyon that isn't in the front lines anyway and could plug the hole? (I had that in our current game.) Or have the French player commited corps to defend the southern France from invasion? Such questions needs to be answered, and only when you have the answer can the Field Marshal evaluate what he would achieve with a successful attack.

What the example illustrates I believe to be the most important problem with coordination: How much you will gain by moving and/or attacking cross TO/AO/region. And as the example illustrate you will likely need a grasp of not just the single region next to you, but likely the whole AO next to you to get the gain properly evaluated. And so I think that to allow an overlap numbered in hexes between AO/regions could open up for simplified short cut evaluations that wouldn't be good enough at all.

The problem with mutually exclusive regions was brought to light with Balbao in Spain. It is crucial for the defense from an invasion from France and also from an invasion from the Bay of Biscay. The way the overlap evaluation works is: (1) the coastal region is evaluated, (2) the border region is evaluated), the strength of the defense versus the threat of attack is evaluated for both regions. If there is an imbalance between the regions, then a unit is moved from the strong to the weak region and both reevaluated.

[Ullern]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I. Where: Geographical Breakdown of the World Map

Here is what I propose for the geographical breakdown of the World Map, which consists of 70,200 hexes, 83 sea areas, 252 countries, and ~5100 coastal hexes.

Theaters of Operations (TO)
• Asia: Urals to Pacific Ocean, Mongolia, China.
• Europe: Northern Europe to the Urals, North Atlantic, eastern North America.
• Mediterranean: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, all countries that border same (except the USSR).
• South Atlantic: South Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, all countries that border same (e.g., western Africa, and eastern South and Central America).
• Indian: Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Southern Ocean, all countries that border same (e.g., eastern Africa, western Australia).
• Northeast Pacific: Hawaii to Alaska and the North American west coast.
• South Pacific: eastern Australia to western South America.
• Western Pacific: Kamchatka to Singapore to the Marshals.

Areas of Operations (AO)
Within each TO are Areas of Operations (AO), which come in 3 types:
1. All sea (wet)
2. All land (dry)
3. Coastal hexes (damp)

Here is my first pass on AOs for each TO.
• Asia: central USSR, Siberia/Mongolia, China inland, USSR Pacific coast.
• Europe: eastern North America (inland and coast), North Atlantic Ocean, Murmansk pipeline, European invasions (Bay of Biscay, North Sea, Baltic Sea, and coastal hexes for same), western Europe, Scandinavia, eastern Europe (up to the Urals).
• Mediterranean: Western Med, Italian Coast, Eastern Med, Black Sea, coastal hexes for each of those 4 sea areas.
• South Atlantic: eastern Central/South America, South Atlantic, western Africa.
• Indian: Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, eastern Africa, Middle East (excluding countries with a Mediterranean coastline), India, western side of Southeast Asia, western side of Australia.
• Northeast Pacific: north eastern Pacific Ocean, western North America, Alaska, Hawaii,
• South Pacific: southern Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, New Zealand, islands in the South Pacific, western Central and South America.
• Western Pacific: Western Pacific (including various seas from Singapore to Rabaul), Chinese coast, eastern side of Southeast Asia, French Indochina, Japan, Borneo, New Guinea, Marshals, and other island groups in that area of the Pacific Ocean.

Sea Area Groups and Land Regions
AOs are broken down farther, with Wet AOs composed of Sea Area Groups (SAG), Damp AOs composed of coastal hexes (Regions), and Dry AOs composed of all land hexes (Regions). A dry AO is defined by one or more countries, or regions within a country. A damp AO is defined by the sea area it abuts and the country owning the coastal hexes.

For example, the West Med AO consists of these Regions:
• Western Med,
• Spanish-West Med coastline,
• Gibraltar,
• Algeria-West Med coastline,
• Libya-West Med coastline,
• Tunisia-West Med coastline,
• Malta,
• Sardinia/Corsica-West Med coastline,
• French-West Med coastline,
• Italy-West Med coastline.

The intent here is to have an exhaustive and mutually exclusive definition of TOs, AOs, SAGs and Regions. These will encompass all 70,200 hexes without any overlap.

I see you have selected the Oceans/Large Sea Areas for TOs, and I think that makes sense.
But I am somewhat confused, and I believe the Western Med AO example to be the reason. First you say that an AO will be of type wet (and have SAGs), type damp (and have coastal regions) or type dry (and have inland regions). But in the example you included the Western Med Sea area and coast lines in the same AO. Please clarify.



Did you intend Spain (dry part) to be part of the western Europe AO in Europe/Western Europe TO or some AO in the Med TO?

And more importantly can you clarify the status of France?

Patrice already commented on Cape St.Vincent, and you said it was not in the Med TO. But where is it then?
And I don't see any reference to invasions from Cape St. Vincent. Those are that frequent that I think a seperate Cape.St.Vincent invasions damp AO may be relevant. I say this since you didn't mention Cape.St.Vincent in the European invasions AO, but to include it there is a good alternative.

My thought for a separate Cape St.Vincent invasions AO is that invasions from Cape St.Vincent may be performed by both sides for a multitude of reasons, but all reasons are very different from what is the case further north. And because of that what means you are willing to give that commander to accomplish that invasion may be very different from what you give a commander further north. Example: A CW strategic commander want to keep an invasion threat in the north while at the same time to allow a invasion of Morocco to take place. Because of that you may want to split the available invasions fleets between two Admirals.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: ullern

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I. Where: Geographical Breakdown of the World Map

Here is what I propose for the geographical breakdown of the World Map, which consists of 70,200 hexes, 83 sea areas, 252 countries, and ~5100 coastal hexes.

Theaters of Operations (TO)
• Asia: Urals to Pacific Ocean, Mongolia, China.
• Europe: Northern Europe to the Urals, North Atlantic, eastern North America.
• Mediterranean: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, all countries that border same (except the USSR).
• South Atlantic: South Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, all countries that border same (e.g., western Africa, and eastern South and Central America).
• Indian: Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Southern Ocean, all countries that border same (e.g., eastern Africa, western Australia).
• Northeast Pacific: Hawaii to Alaska and the North American west coast.
• South Pacific: eastern Australia to western South America.
• Western Pacific: Kamchatka to Singapore to the Marshals.

Areas of Operations (AO)
Within each TO are Areas of Operations (AO), which come in 3 types:
1. All sea (wet)
2. All land (dry)
3. Coastal hexes (damp)

Here is my first pass on AOs for each TO.
• Asia: central USSR, Siberia/Mongolia, China inland, USSR Pacific coast.
• Europe: eastern North America (inland and coast), North Atlantic Ocean, Murmansk pipeline, European invasions (Bay of Biscay, North Sea, Baltic Sea, and coastal hexes for same), western Europe, Scandinavia, eastern Europe (up to the Urals).
• Mediterranean: Western Med, Italian Coast, Eastern Med, Black Sea, coastal hexes for each of those 4 sea areas.
• South Atlantic: eastern Central/South America, South Atlantic, western Africa.
• Indian: Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, eastern Africa, Middle East (excluding countries with a Mediterranean coastline), India, western side of Southeast Asia, western side of Australia.
• Northeast Pacific: north eastern Pacific Ocean, western North America, Alaska, Hawaii,
• South Pacific: southern Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, New Zealand, islands in the South Pacific, western Central and South America.
• Western Pacific: Western Pacific (including various seas from Singapore to Rabaul), Chinese coast, eastern side of Southeast Asia, French Indochina, Japan, Borneo, New Guinea, Marshals, and other island groups in that area of the Pacific Ocean.

Sea Area Groups and Land Regions
AOs are broken down farther, with Wet AOs composed of Sea Area Groups (SAG), Damp AOs composed of coastal hexes (Regions), and Dry AOs composed of all land hexes (Regions). A dry AO is defined by one or more countries, or regions within a country. A damp AO is defined by the sea area it abuts and the country owning the coastal hexes.

For example, the West Med AO consists of these Regions:
• Western Med,
• Spanish-West Med coastline,
• Gibraltar,
• Algeria-West Med coastline,
• Libya-West Med coastline,
• Tunisia-West Med coastline,
• Malta,
• Sardinia/Corsica-West Med coastline,
• French-West Med coastline,
• Italy-West Med coastline.

The intent here is to have an exhaustive and mutually exclusive definition of TOs, AOs, SAGs and Regions. These will encompass all 70,200 hexes without any overlap.

I see you have selected the Oceans/Large Sea Areas for TOs, and I think that makes sense.
But I am somewhat confused, and I believe the Western Med AO example to be the reason. First you say that an AO will be of type wet (and have SAGs), type damp (and have coastal regions) or type dry (and have inland regions). But in the example you included the Western Med Sea area and coast lines in the same AO. Please clarify.



Did you intend Spain (dry part) to be part of the western Europe AO in Europe/Western Europe TO or some AO in the Med TO?

And more importantly can you clarify the status of France?

Patrice already commented on Cape St.Vincent, and you said it was not in the Med TO. But where is it then?
And I don't see any reference to invasions from Cape St. Vincent. Those are that frequent that I think a seperate Cape.St.Vincent invasions damp AO may be relevant. I say this since you didn't mention Cape.St.Vincent in the European invasions AO, but to include it there is a good alternative.

My thought for a separate Cape St.Vincent invasions AO is that invasions from Cape St.Vincent may be performed by both sides for a multitude of reasons, but all reasons are very different from what is the case further north. And because of that what means you are willing to give that commander to accomplish that invasion may be very different from what you give a commander further north. Example: A CW strategic commander want to keep an invasion threat in the north while at the same time to allow a invasion of Morocco to take place. Because of that you may want to split the available invasions fleets between two Admirals.

Perfection remains an elusive goal.

Yeah, the Wet, Damp, Dry breakdown doesn't apply to AOs. It does for SAGs (nothing but sea areas) and Land Regions: either Damp/coastal, or Dry/inland.

I've decided to put Cape St. Vincent in the European Invasion AO.

This is all still evolving - nothing is definite yet.

For France, Peter and I did quite a bit of work already when deciding how to set up the French units. There are 3 coastal Regions (one for each adjacent sea area), 5 border regions (one for each neighboring country), and one interior region (what remains unassigned). The coastal and border regions each share a single hex with an adjoining region on the perimeter of the country. The southern coastl region and two sothern border regions are in the Med TO, all the others are in the European TO.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Bump.