Basic questions about the research tab

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Basic questions about the research tab - 4/28/2020 3:45:07 PM

mdsmall

Posts: 349
Joined: 4/28/2020
From: Vancouver, BC
Status: offline

Hi - I am complete newcomer to Strategic Command and am in the midst of learning the same by playing against the AI as the Central Powers (it is August 1917). Despite reading the manual through several times, and having spent dozens of very enjoyable hours playing my first game, I still have some basic questions about game mechanics which I hope you can answer.

Artillery and Research: I can't figure out why my AH artillery is so ineffective at disentrenching the enemy, compared to my German artillery. I have fired 10 shells at entrenched Russian units and made no impact on their entrenchment level at all, even though I have used my Recon Bomber to spot the target. I think I have invested the maximum in Artillery Weapons research - on the Research tab, the Artillery Weapons bar is filled in pale green it shows 2/2 in red, and does not give me the option to invest further. Meanwhile, my German artillery weapons tab shows a 1/2 in white, beside 125 X 3. I infer that I have reached Artillery Weapons Level 2 for Germany and have room to invest further to reach Level 3.

Is it possible that at Artillery Level 2 for AH has a lesser impact than Level 2 for Germany? Supply and morale do not seem to be negative factors for my AH artillery, so I can't figure out another explanation for this discrepancy.

Understanding the Research tab:

More generally, how does the column on the left for each technology (giving the MPP costs X by 1 through 5) relate to the column on the right giving two numbers, the second one in brackets? What does it mean if the right hand column is in red versus white? What does it mean if the bar is in pale green, versus blank, versus bright green?

Or, to put it more simply, how can I easily see what technology level I have reached for each Great Power on my side and how much more could I spend to reach their maximum potential?

And finally, is there any way to see a summary of the technology levels achieved by the enemy, beyond trying to remember the updates as they flash by at the end of a turn?

I look forward to your explanations. More questions to follow in subsequent posts.

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RE: Basic questions about the research tab - 4/29/2020 6:27:57 PM

BillRunacre

Posts: 4301
Joined: 7/22/2013
Status: offline

Hi

With the Artillery, have you upgraded the AH artillery units with Artillery Weapons? Simply researching it isn't enough.

There are two categories of research, Manual and Automatic, and the Automatic ones don't require units to be upgraded for them to benefit from them, whereas Manual ones do.

In terms of the benefits, they are equal. Other factors can come into play though, especially the difference in quality between German and AH HQs.

Some enemy technology levels can be determined by noticing what upgrades their units have, though if you're playing against the AI you can turn off Fog of War and then go into Research and look in the Table to see what level everyone has achieved.

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Post #: 2

RE: Basic questions about the research tab - 4/29/2020 6:38:18 PM

BillRunacre

Posts: 4301
Joined: 7/22/2013
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quote:

ORIGINAL: mdsmall

More generally, how does the column on the left for each technology (giving the MPP costs X by 1 through 5) relate to the column on the right giving two numbers, the second one in brackets? What does it mean if the right hand column is in red versus white? What does it mean if the bar is in pale green, versus blank, versus bright green?

Or, to put it more simply, how can I easily see what technology level I have reached for each Great Power on my side and how much more could I spend to reach their maximum potential?

Against each category you'll see first its cost in MPPs per chit to research, then how many chits are invested, e.g. 200 x 1 means there is 1 chit invested for a cost of 200 MPPs.

If the right hand column is in red then the maximum research level for that category has been reached.

The different shades of green show the progress made in researching that category.

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RE: Basic questions about the research tab - 5/2/2020 9:28:18 PM

mdsmall

Posts: 349
Joined: 4/28/2020
From: Vancouver, BC
Status: offline

Hi - both of these answers were very helpful. I have a further question about artillery. I have now played my first game through. In 1918 on the Western Front both Germany and France had reached Artillery Level 2 research and had upgraded their weapons to that level. When I played the Germans, my artillery were 100% reliable in de-entrenching enemy corps for each shell fired, but they did not inflict any direct loss in strength. Once the enemy entrenchment strength reached zero, further shells reduced enemy corps morale only. However, when the AI fired back at me using their artillery against my corps in entrenched positions, frequently they were able to inflict heavy losses in strength points as well, using only artillery (i.e. before attacking with corps and tanks). I can't figure out what the difference in capability might be - supply and HQ values seem to be equivalent. This happened quite regularly when the AI played the Entente side, with both French and British artillery. Yet when I flipped over the settings and experimented with playing the Entente, I could not replicate this result, even with spotting by Recon Bombers or Airships. Any suggestions what the reasons for this difference in impact might be?

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RE: Basic questions about the research tab - 5/4/2020 7:12:23 PM

BillRunacre

Posts: 4301
Joined: 7/22/2013
Status: offline

Hi mdsmall

Could it be that the AI controlled units are being given experience bonuses as a result of the difficulty setting you're playing on?

This can be checked, and amended if necessary, via the Options screen.

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RE: Basic questions about the research tab - 5/4/2020 7:22:42 PM

FOARP

Posts: 535
Joined: 12/24/2012
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Late game artillery is, generally speaking, OP. Inflicting losses should always be a secondary effect next to deentrenchment and morale/org losses, but in the late game artillery becomes the primary way of destroying units entirely rather than (as was historical) softening them up for assault.

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Post #: 6

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