Working on expanding the GS map

[Peter Stauffenberg]

We're looking into expanding the GS map. We want to do this to get some experience before we look into a possible Pacific version. Later we will try to see if we can make a Marine unit (that can invade occupied hexes) and hulls for surface ships so they must be built in 2 cycles. Both of these changes would be important for a possible Pacific version.

Right now we've made the following expansion:
2 hexes to the west (allows for a bit more room in USA)

4 hexes to the south (allows for more room in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Maybe with the addition of an Persian (Bushire) and British port (Kuwait?) in the Persian Gulf.

12 hexes to the north to have northern Scandinavia and the Kola peninsula on the map. Iceland and Greenland will be moved northwards. Now the Murmansk convoy will sail all the way to Murmansk and the Russians will get Archangel as a port city as well. There will be lots of swamp and similar bad terrain in the north so movement is difficult. We can add ports like Narvik, Tromso, Kirkenes as well to allow the Germans to send troops to the north via sea.

2 hexes to the east to get more room in the Persian Guld and east of the Urals.

Do you have any suggestions to which cities, ports, airfields, fortresses etc. we could place in the new areas that will be on the map?

[thommo]

about pacific verison do u mean a world wide map or only the pacific? playing both germany and japan at once seems lot more fun.

[bizmark]

I always thought Quebec City (Say around hex 0,23) with a port (hex 1, 23) would help the British player, especially if a successful sealion had been implemented. That could be added now without making new hexes on the Western side. You could then add Montreal if you wish Southwest of Quebec City. Technically then Ottawa would be a little Southwest of Montreal, but adding only two hexes to the West wont allow for that. As it is Ottawa is definitely not in the right place.

Further South you could definitely add Norfolk, and maybe Savannah and Jacksonville but it wouldn't really work unless you showed at least Lake Erie in the North. You could also add some of the Caribbean Isles with major cities as minors. Not really anything historical but would add realism and always the possibility for an invasion. As far as the "GAME" goes I think the more possibilities given to the player the more interesting things that COULD HAVE happened historically come to the surface.

I'm thinking about some more in other places.

[bizmark]

Right, I see you already have Norfolk in GS. Sorry, I'm playing vanilla on the Mac. I hope to be playing GS soon.

[trulster]

Sounds like good additions! Since you add two more hexes in the east, it would be interesting to have a Russian city (Ashkabad?) close to the Persian border and two row of hexes on the east coast of the Caspian for another approach to/from Persia to Russia.

Also, with four more southern hexes a good opportunity to move Dakar and the Free French further south, Africa is huuuge.

I like the adding of hexes in Scandinavia.... but, will Germany ever put something up there? Looks like a costly and time-consuming operation with no rail able to be used. So maybe most games will see the Russians sending one corps rampaging down the empty Norwegian coastline? Maybe add a garrison/infantry to simulate Scandinavian SS volunteers if Oslo is Axis controlled or something.

In fact, the whole concept of supply level 3=no rail is a bit too simplistic. No reason why Finns or German corps in Norway could not use the rail network. But again, maybe difficult to program.

[rkr1958]

So maybe most games will see the Russians sending one corps rampaging down the empty Norwegian coastline?

Wouldn't Finland have something to say about that?

By the way, Chamberlain had planned on invading Norway and then sending troops to Finland to fight against Russia. But, Germany beat him to draw first and saved UK the label of invader in Norway. Also, can you image if Britain had gone to war with both Germany and Russia in early 1940.

[supermax]

Here is my own 2 cents:

First of all, i am incredibly happy with the works you guys are doing. I encourage you to keep up the goodwork and want to congratulate you on a job well done. I think you are making the right move by adding hexes to the USA.

1- I think that Montreal should be added. It is a very important city in Canada and right on the Saint-Lawrence. It is the hub of eastern canada's financial port activities in the forties.

2- I think that rail capability in Turkey should be given to the Axis player on the event that it controls it. As a matter of fact, Turkey has a simple but effective rail network if i recall. Maybee this could be done by being able to rail back only if the unit starts the turn in a city, like in World in Flames for example. This would render the eastern turkish cities very strategic.

3- I also think that limited rail capability should be given to Axis in the URals and Caucasus. Its almost stupid to have no possibility of re-sending troops back if you can bring them in. So are they only 1 way ticket and the trains never get back? . Again, maybee this could be done by being able to rail back only if the unit starts the turn in a city, like in World in Flames for example

4- I think that NEwfoundland should not be offmap anymore

5- I also think that the Saudi-Arabian desert should also be enabled in certain areas, like down the coast. The corridor is too narrow for effective warfare and too easy to defend

6- FINALLY, here is the most important thing: It is too easy for the Russians to send troops to the Middle East. Its now almost impossible for the Axis to grab the oilfields, given the limited supply rule and the strenght of the britishs forces there. I think that Russia should have no rail point so railling troops there should cost them pp like there was 0, so say 15pp per tanks and so on... Or maybee a limited supply rule like the germans have for Middle East/North Africa?

Thanks for considering my suggestions

[trulster]

So maybe most games will see the Russians sending one corps rampaging down the empty Norwegian coastline?

Wouldn't Finland have something to say about that?

By the way, Chamberlain had planned on invading Norway and then sending troops to Finland to fight against Russia. But, Germany beat him to draw first and saved UK the label of invader in Norway. Also, can you image if Britain had gone to war with both Germany and Russia in early 1940.

I don't think Finland are in the position to say anything about that. They are quite brittle in this game, and with the longer front (from more hexes in this map expansion) they can ill afford to walk their precious few units up around the Barents Sea. Especially since they cannot be railed back when needed.

[metolius]

There was a lot of fighting in Northern Norway and in the Arctic Ocean in that area. The Germans and Finns pushed close to Murmansk, and the Russians drove the retreating Germans back across Finmark (in northern Norway) at the end of the war, with the Germans burning everything behind them.

Therefore, I think it would certainly add a historical element to the game to incorporate the northern Norwegian coastline and the White Sea, plus Murmansk. The Russian convoy could actually go all the way to Russia! Might need to add an extra Russian or UK DD to help offset the extra distance, or just add to the average PP value. Also, Bear Island, between Spitzbergen and Nordcap, was never a major airbase, but could be used as such for the game, if that would help balance the convoys.

Would be fun!

[esde56]

The possible map enlargement is quite an exciting one, particularly northwards.



Stephen