Potzblitz V26.01 OCT 26th 2025

[Robotron]

New PBEM bug, UK convoy is stuck one turn from England for 2-3 turns, does not move. Could have to do with French surrender?

Probably a French convoy without any destination left which should have been deleted upon French surrender but for some strange reason wasn't. I'll add another check for that.

Also, new convoys do not seem to spawn.

Both Entente convoys from Canada to Britain only appear in intervals of 8 to 12 months. Your match is at game turn #19, so the second wave of convoys will probably spawn soon.
If the "Vera Cruz" event that unlocks the US-convoy was played while Britain was still neutral then it was assigned to France and is now disabled.
If the Suez is blocked or Britain is neutral then the Red Sea convoy won't appear.

I have rediscovered the story of the Chinese Labours Corps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Labour_Corps), I don't know if you knew there story ?
Maybe we could create a new event for France and England that makes China entering into the war in 1917 and then both countries have their manpower growing up from 10 points ? What do you think about it ?

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see what I can make of it.

[trulster]

Thanks, this was a UK convoy though so strange it would just get stuck. As for the Vera Cruz possibility, that should be programmed to be rerouted (or if easier, current one disappears and future ones are for UK), does not make sense US would stop supporting the UK in that situation (also, US entry in the war goes up a lot with French surrender).

[trulster]

Strange, next turn other convoys spawn and move normally, but the one that was stuck moved exactly one hex towards port (which was occupied, could that be the reason?)

[Robotron]

Make sure to keep port hexes free to allow any convoys in range to enter. Occupied port hexes may lead to erratic behavior due to AI pathfinding abilities being limited.
Convoys that fail to enter blocked port hexes for two consecutive turns will be deleted.

As for the Vera Cruz possibility, that should be programmed to be rerouted

Good point. Will add this.

[trulster]

Make sure to keep port hexes free to allow any convoys in range to enter. Occupied port hexes may lead to erratic behavior due to AI pathfinding abilities being limited.
Convoys that fail to enter blocked port hexes for two consecutive turns will be deleted.

As for the Vera Cruz possibility, that should be programmed to be rerouted

Good point. Will add this.

Thanks, did not know this. Probably has cost me quite some PPs, argh!

[trulster]

New bug, when clicking on US research options, crash to desktop. Prob related to US just finishing all research.

[03:11:29][836476]ui/research_panel.lua:659(method UpdateTechStats) ui/research_panel.lua:659: attempt to concatenate field 'selectedTech' (a nil value)

[Robotron]

Damn, I thought I fixed the "all stuff researched" problem before.

This is PBEM again, right?

What turn is it in your match?

Are there other nations dangerously close to having researched everything within the maximum number of game turns left (max. turns = 64)?

Do you remember if you played the "Research Funding" event?

[trulster]

PBEM, turn 56 I think. No other nation close to having researched everything. Research funding was played way earlier in the game by Russia (who surrendered as per the other post)

[Robotron]

I found a workaround, it's not exactly elegant but it will do. See attachment.

Is this bug from the "special scenario" match (all nations enter war in 1914) you are playing against user "unwichtig"?

If so then it's no wonder that US has researched all technologies at this stage because they start with a lot of stuff already researched to compensate the normal join date of about early 1917.

[trulster]

Thanks for fix.

Nope, "normal" Potzblitz (I think Unwichtig gave up on the all-out war one, or at least no moves in some weeks), US are already very high teched when they enter in 1917, though for some reason no artillery tech?

BTW why do France and UK start with a sub but are unable to build more, even if the starting one is lost?

[Robotron]

US don't have artillery techs because they can't build artillery. However I forgot why I removed their ability to build arty in the first place.
I guess I'll undo that decision until I can remember the reason again.

France and Britain can't build more subs because Entente players would inevitably use those to swarm the Baltic and permanently deny Germany the one unblockadable convoy from Sweden which is vital for the German war effort and Germany can't afford to build a fleet of subhunting Light Cruisers to counter this.

While historically there was some British submarine activity in the Baltic it never came even near to totally cut off war supplies from Sweden.
In the end it's a decision in favor of game balance over historical accuracy.

[Unwichtig]

Good afternoon everyone,

I am SORRY that I suddenly disappeared and did not yet continue our all out war scenario.

I am NOT gone and I WILL return.
Last few weeks have been very difficult and challenging due to covid related issues so I had zero time for internet and games.
I still love the game but family comes first.

I hope you all had a good start into 2021 and I am looking forward seeing you all again online soon.

Still can't wait to trial the new mod add on with the Russian revolution.

Kind regards
Unwichtig

[Unwichtig]

Good afternoon all,

It has been pretty silent here what's going on?
All quiet on the western front?
Any updates on the Russian Civil War scenario?

Hope you are all okay.
See you soon online for more MP challenges.
I ll be back soon.

[Robotron]

I'm still working on this, happily ignoring any deadlines I set myself in the past. My main problem at the moment is Bolsheviks and Whites under AI control sometimes joining the struggle between CP and Entente on the still active fronts outside of Russia instead of fighting each other but I think I'll get that fixed soon. I've also renewed my efforts to get the whole Russian Civil War done as a separate scenario instead as just only an extension to the main game.

I'm also actively following the discussion forum about "that other" WW1 game over at Matrix forums, integrating any new applicable user ideas that come up there into Potzblitz.
For example changing Trento into fortress instead of a city to represent the mountainous terrain or making some mountain hexes impassable in winter.

Most of the time is consumed by playtesting and fixing minor issues, so not much new stuff to report since November

- to make "Rupprecht" plan more viable, France will now lose morale for every German unit on French hexes
- new method to trigger Gallipoli event in singleplayer Entente or PBEM: player must gather as many ships as possible near Anzak Beach
- Austria won't suffer a collapse point and morale loss but also no bonus PP anymore for choosing "Request German help for Austria", instead all units in Galicia will be frozen until Russia attacks. Event renamed to "Austrian Defense Planning".
- added Stanislav: new AH city west of Czernowitz
- moved Lemberg 1 hex NE closer to the border
- removed Leeds, added Sheffield and Manchester instead
- Battle of the Yser event
- lowered US starting tech level
- Reserve Corps can't use Assault Tactics and Submachine Guns
- 20+ new leader pics
- some new sound effects
- unsure whether France and Britain should be able to build zeppelins at all

Unfortunately apart from requests for bugfixes the feedback is minimal but the mod is still getting improved upon (almost) by the day and will be released when it's finished which will take even more time, maybe at the risk of players losing even more interest but I can't change that.

[Unwichtig]

Good afternoon,

Thanks for the update on the new mod.
I will have some feedback for sure once I testplay it. For now, I can add the following:

1. Zeppelins: Yes, they are very powerfull in terms of getting an overview of the frontline. I always have one Zeppelin per frontline deployed to do some scouting. The situational awareness is crucial to make decent decisions and its definitely worth investing in one Zeppelin per frontline. I normally build...

2 with Germany (France/Northsea and Russia)
2 with UK (rotating on a North South / East West Great Britain axis I.e. Scarpa Flow / Landsend and next turn Ireland / East of London)
1 with Russia rotating (ivo Bresk Litovsk / Riga & Baltic Sea)
1 with Austria (initially Serbia and the Mediterranean, later for Ottoman: Caucasus Awareness or Suez)
0-1 with France (ivo Verdun if PP allows, if not take a UK Zeppelin instead)
1 with Italy (rotating Trieste - Sicily)

The German ones are even more important if the "Gott Strafe England" event is played to bomb London which is pretty powerfull. I like the event its great as its the only real air related CP event.

The 2nd UK Zeppelin is often for free if the Royal Flying corps is played. This is also great as its the only Entente air related event. Please keep this as it is its good.

Other than that i find Zeppelin useless for normal stretegic bombardments. I don't think they are powerfull. I actually don't mind playing against them if my opponent plays Entente.
It makes the game interesting as I like to hunt them down with fighters. Equally, they need to be protected with some fighters which binds some capacity.

Alltogether... Entente without Zeppelin sounds a little bit unfair to me. That's a significant disadvantage due to many reasons:
1. Smaller defence against mines in the channel and the northsea for royal Navy.
2. Reduced chance to intercept german convoys ivo Great Britain. This has already been reduced as entente can't build submarines anymore. If Zeppelin are also taken away I think large areas at sea will remain covered in the 'fog of war'
3. Huge disadvantage on the land, especially for Russia as they would have to deploy units into the blind whilst Germany knows where Russian units are positioned.

I recommend:
Zeppelin should stay in the game but I have an idea to integrate them more realistically.
The whole idea is comparable with the Cavalry / horse massacre event. Initially Cavalry is strong and fast and good for a rapid offinsive to outflank enemies. Once the horse massacre happens, they get a significant penalty for the rest fo the game (you know better than I do it's your mod). I like that. its realistic. The same should be done for Zeppelins.

Few months ago I recommended the 'Shooting of the Lz37' event and a few other Zeppelin ideas (that must have been in July). I put them all in a nutshell and combine them to the following:

Zeppelin should be available as usual. No changes required at all, I think it's okay.
BUT the very first time when ANY Zeppelin of any side is shot down/destroyed, the 'Overestimated Zeppelin Technology" event could be triggered.
This event must only happens once and the advantage is in play for the fraction that achieves it (=destroys an enemy Zeppelin) until the rest of the game. The other side has to deal with the disadvantage.
(event could be shown with a picture of the famous German LZ37 on fire?)

This event makes all Zeppelins less effective and from then on it triggers penalties when using them for the side that suffered the loss.
This would also be realistic - Both sides found out very quickly that the big, small Zeppelins were not really good for industrial warfare and not an appropriate attack asset which made the Zeppelin disappear from all armies at the end of the war).

Penalty after event (suggest) :
- every future Zeppelin loss: morale minus 5
- strategic bombardment even less effective
- Building Zeppelin cost twice as much PP and Manpower (!?) as it would be much more difficult to find volunteers for that service and needs more PP to compensate the loss (?!)

The good thing:
Both sides will try to destroy an opponent Zeppelin as soon as possible to trigger the event. This could lead to a race who destroys one first, so both sides will have to protect them and deploy them far away from frontline which will limit their effectivness.

[Robotron]

Okay, so Entente Zeppelins stay in. However the point about "can't spot CP convoys" is pretty weak since Britain still has Light Cruisers which also have a LOS of 3, same with Battlecruisers.

I've no problem with adding a "LZ goes down in flames" event but why the proposal to make Zeppelins less effective? They already are - and rightfully so - lousy at bombing cities. I don't see a justification to weaken them even more.

[Unwichtig]

Good morning.

Okay I agree, the point with reduced chance to intercept german convoys is weak due to the light cruisers. And UK has a lot of them.

Still I think it's okay for Entente to keep Zepps.
If you still feel uncomfortable with them, I would not mind reducing the number of Zeppelins per country to 1. Only Germany really needs 2 actually. (I think).

Also agree on the bombing aspect. I did not think about this you are right zepps are poor at bombing anyway. This can stay as it is.

I ll think about other zepp options if I have a good idea I ll share it.

It would be nice to get some more feed back from more players to have a broader opinion and a better solution. For now, I guess you have to deal with my feed back only. Sadly, It's pretty quiet here. I ll try to advertise some more on steam once I am back in the UK. At the moment I have little time as I am in Germany for family reasons.

[trulster]

"new method to trigger Gallipoli event "

Not sure Entente needs the two (three?) dreadnoughts that spawn with this event. Seems a bit overkill. One at most? Should be required to plan a bit ahead and have other ships around to support the Gallipoli invasion.

[Unwichtig]

@trulster:
I think that's incorrect, it's not 3 dreadnoughts that entente get after Gallipoli event is triggered.
It's a maximum of 3 armoured cruisers with a strength of 7 each only. Armiured cruisers are pretty weak at 1916 when the event is about to happen. And they are not at full strength and need to be repaired. They are easy to sink if CP has send the Goeben Battlecruiser to Ottoman and the Austrian Dreadnought is still in play. In addition, Austria should build one Submarine and park it next to Gallipoli which easily blocks access to do naval gunfire support. The classic Submarine trap works really good in the Adriatic sea as its very narrow. Entente often moves a ship on a CP sub.

[Robotron]

Up to now Entente would get 1 british pre-dreadnought, 1 french pre-dreadnought and 1 british armoured cruiser each with a unit strength of 7.

This will be removed and instead the event will be unlocked by assembling a large Entente fleet within 3 hexes of Anzak Koyu. The larger the fleet the sooner the landing takes place.