Flexible set up?

[avoran]

I've just started playing the 1940 scenario (as Allies) for the first time and am very unimpressed with the disposition of units made by my predecessors in France's GHQ

What do people think about a possible new feature that would allow players to decide where to put their units at the start of a scenario? It would only apply to active powers and there could be some restrictions (e.g. on colonial units) but it would allow for some interesting new moves. For example, the Germans could be ready for Weserubung on turn 1. And the British could be equally ready to respond

[welk]

You may do that sort of things with the MH-CEAW editor : it works fine with the scenario files (not with map file), and modification in french (or other) oob placement takes 5 mn of time. You must load the ww2 map file, then the concerned scenario file (1939, 1940, etc). Take care to be in "unit mod" in the editor, and to select the correct country and correct unit type. To erase a unit, just right clik on, and to place a unit, use left click. No possibility to move units in edtor : you must erase first unit, and then place the same unit in other hex

At the end : do not save the ww2 map file (very important point), just click on (save scenario) : your new scenario with new oob placement is ready. I use each day the MH-CEAW editor to modify scenarios, and it's finaly a pretty good and fast-easy tool.

[avoran]

Thanks for the pointer.
I was really thinking, though, it would be nice to do this IN GAME. Then both players could do it, and the other wouldn't know what they'd done.

[welk]

You have a way to do approx. that : Open the unit txt file under a excel page and set the ground spotting and sea spotting at 1 for all units : you will have a absolute fog of war (only ennemy units in contact are" visible" : you don't know anything about the ennemy disposition oob : not so realistic but very funny (and dangerous )

[avoran]

That sounds wild.
But that's not what I meant. I meant that the players wouldn't know the starting position of the opponents' units UNLESS they were in normal spotting range

[welk]

Other tip could be that :

1-You find somebody (here named named "third") who is familiar with the CEAW editor use
2-Each player (you and your opponent) send it exactly what he wants as placement (using screen in bmp or PNG or JPG format)
3- "Third" realizes the 2 placements oob in the editor, and then he send the scenario to the both for playing.


Other tip to realize what you want : In the unit txt file, set the move capacity of ground units very high : then, at the fisrt turn, each player will be able to change easy the placement.
After saved the first turn, you restablish the original unit file contents : each player will receive a special "alert" concerning the change in txt units files, and have just to accept the new settings (=modification to restaure old settings of the game during the play). I tried that sort of things (To modify the txt files during a human/human game, for modding the game and test my mod parameters creations) and it works, you receive only the message to avoid fraud in game : but in this case, player know that is not fraud of opponent, just a gentlemn agreement to allow modification of initial placement..