Duplex's Scenarios and Campaigns

[ColonelY]

[...] I'll also add a spawnable airstrip at some point. [...]

Only one? Well, at least they would be able to go more westwards... => I'll suggest, when this new airstrip is spawned (or perhaps just the very next turn), that you add triggers to change the AI setup of Japanese planes... using the "set base" option, you can certainly order them to use this new airstrip! (To try making sure they'll do what is expected from them.)

Victory at end of turn 8/start of turn 9 (out of 24)! Too early... My planes did just show up, boom, victory! I would have liked to put them at use...

Few comments:

- Obviously too easy right now, but you did a great job with Japanese units ready to counter any outsupplying maneuvre along the road and you've put several supply output there...

- Lack of Chinese AA capability... perhaps adding one depleted auxiliary AA unit in the S near the town/village to have some air defense and perhaps another one close to where the core artillery unit may be spawned (depending on the campaign variable)... otherwise it's rather frustrating once an enemy bomber starts targetting our only core artillery unit - we can't do anything to help, except moving slowly away (more losses taken is switching to horse transport) or staying there hoping to gain some entrenchement despite the blows... now not any AA (even depleted) nor fighter up there (they come later and it may be too far away without places for them to refuel anyway - but this would be fine if at least we have some AA capability - even if more symbolic than anything more, it would feel better!)...

- About "Arty Event" even: there, take into account the campaign variable!
-> In the actual trigger, add a check campaign variable to check that the preservation of support weapons was a failure in one of the two previous scenarios... (so, if no core unit deployed, keep this event poping-up as it is now, several turns after the start of the scenario)
-> Where you check this campaign variable to spawn a core Krupp unit, then you should put the very same event (targetting the hex where our core unit has spawned) and adaptating slightly the text to mention this new core unit that we managed to save thanks to our previous efforts! (Alternatively, you could then disable the actual "Arty Event" trigger as it won't be used anyway - avoid having two times almost the same info/event - if you haven't added the check campaign variable to verify the failure about support weapons... and even if you have, but then it would be more "cosmetics" than much more. )

- Our planes showing up... no custom (nice and immersive) name for them?

- When the 2nd Japanese division shows up in the NE, have you already added an airstrip for them? Just in case the one in the NW has been destroyed when the town has been taken back... Our planes do need to have some targets left flying in these skies, don't they?

- Event about the spoils of war... target some hex near where they do spawn... depending on the fightings, we may have the cam focusing elsewhere at turn start... so to avoid having to search for them...

- Adding at least one secondary objective would allow for a real Major Victory... -> we've planes (or we will have): dealing enough damages with them? By the way, don't we have a little too much exit hexes in the SW?

- Bridges: a double one S of Taodun, another discontinuous even southern from there, a double bridge at Xiaoliangli...
- Connect the road from Ganlugou...
- No road at all in the northern part? Looking at the template, we have two with few villages or, perhaps, houses as decoration along them...

- For the completion of the very first pri obj (hold at least one location), I would delay it's completion to about turn 20 or something (using some check turn condition)... so still allowing for an early victory, but making the fightings last longer... because...

- Now, it seems that once enough enemy units have been destroyed, almost all enemy land units will start withdrawing (according to actual AI setups)... so, first let us see this move (so several extra turns required anyway). Besides, why should this apply to the second division that has just shown up? They could, on the opposite, want to rush to avenge their comrads... besides, our own units may be relatively depleted at that time, so... There, I suggest that you give other AI setup teams for this division, so that it doesn't directly retreat after having heard of losses taken by the other division (they could still save some of their friends, who knows?)... this new division shouldn't retreat at all. The time it cleans the eastern villages, moves South, starts to encounter our own troops... yeah, this needs some time!
So, give them other orders, don't make them withdraw/try to escape (they aren't beaten at all yet), plan to spawn the remaining part of this division few turns later (these units are much less than all the units deployed along the road, so if we're each time talking about one division... ) to strenghten their push... and to make them perhaps able to threaten our southern village...

And, well, I think it's more or less all for now. Thanks!


- Oh, and perhaps a general comment: do you really wish to keep the version of the campaign within the name of each and every scenario? It may become rather annoying for you to change all of these for each campaign update...

[ColonelY]

Oh, another element (3rd scen): A stronger Japanese garrison in the NW town... at least one or two infantry units + one artillery unit... when I played, many Japanese planes have been destroyed once landed at their airstrip there, which has thus to be better defended!

And (all scens) even if the Japanese don't really need it now (although), they don't have AT or AA units with them yet? Some Jap models are cool as they allow to switch between AT and AA depending on needs...

[Duplex]

[...] I'll also add a spawnable airstrip at some point. [...]

Only one? Well, at least they would be able to go more westwards... => I'll suggest, when this new airstrip is spawned (or perhaps just the very next turn), that you add triggers to change the AI setup of Japanese planes... using the "set base" option, you can certainly order them to use this new airstrip! (To try making sure they'll do what is expected from them.)

Victory at end of turn 8/start of turn 9 (out of 24)! Too early... My planes did just show up, boom, victory! I would have liked to put them at use...

Few comments:

- Obviously too easy right now, but you did a great job with Japanese units ready to counter any outsupplying maneuvre along the road and you've put several supply output there...

[...]

The Taierzhuang scenario is definitely too easy, I will be making more changes to that. An AA unit seems acceptable, I'll put a light one in the town.

I'll also tie the Arty Event to having the core arty spawn. If it spawns, you'll get the event, if you doesn't, you won't.

I'll add names for the planes too.

I'll change the spoils of war focus camera too.

On the secondary objective, I've actually already created one, so that'll be there in v1.0.2.

No road in the northern part, that template is from google maps just for me to get a general lay of the land, but I actually referenced 3 different maps to make this map, as the area was very different more than 80 years ago.

First pri obj completes when the second primary obj does, so making the scenario harder should make the scenario last longer.

And I keep all the versions of the scenarios because it helps me keep track of which scenarios have undergone changes and which haven't.

[ColonelY]

[...] An AA unit seems acceptable, I'll put a light one in the town.

[...]

Nice! Then, it implies that you won't grant us a core one during the two previous scenarios, right? If we had a core one, it should easily be deployed near the town to defend...

One of the pictures of the Taierzhuang scen shows Japanese Motorcycle... I really like all the pictures you've selected so far, by the way!
What about having some Japs riding motos, I mean using the German "Zündapp Motorcycle" model?

[Duplex]

v1.0.2 for The War of Resistance Campaign is here!

Notable changes:
Shanghai
- Hangzhou bay made easier to defend against on Shanghai, while Jap garrison in city is reinforced
- more units added to Central Army
- Shanghai RP adjusted, more for player
- bug fixes and terrain tweaks

Nanjing
- more units moved to Central Army in Nanjing scenario
- added ways for Jap to move up their air units
- bug fixes and terrain tweaks

Taierzhuang
- balancing changed substantially, less units for player, more for AI, both in 10th div and 5th div
- Primary objective adjusted to be harder
- secondary obj added to protect I-15s
- bug fixes and terrain tweaks

Many other minor changes are there that I can't be bothered to list. Enjoy!

[GabeKnight]

Sorry, I'm a bit late with answering.

I see you've already addressed some of my suggestions and with the Colonel's feedback also other weak points in the campaign with the update. Nice, thanks!

Doing something about the defence of the south in the first scen was good. Usually I don't like to use tactics that exploit the "gamey" sides of the scens. Like having only one huge - and undefended - supply hub that can be reached or cut with my troops early on. But it seemed like my only rescue then. So yeah, it was harsh. On the other hand, those were comments from my first playthough - mind that, too, please. I would do many things differently when replaying the scen.

There were indeed some bridges that looked strange (following rivers instead crossing them), but worked in their function, so I did not mention them.

And keep in mind that you get 50% of RPs back that you've spent on aux. unit repair. This may not matter with single scens, but it's hugely advantageous when playing a campaign. It'll sum up real fast later on (see Bruce's Free France campaign for example)

Good feedback by the Colonel, BTW. Perhaps a bit overzealous sometimes ( ). But aside from providing suggestion with the historical "stuff", that I have absolutely no idea about and I won't comment (as usual) at all, his gameplay advice is usually very solid and similar to my experience.

scn01
- between coring the Breda AA or the Vickers tank, which one do you think would be preferable? And maybe a Pak gun could be cored as well.

Personally I'd choose a low-strength arty unit. Whatever one's fine with me; even one of those short range mountain guns. I'm sure I would care for it and invest every spare RP to build up its health and experience...

But given your choice: I think I would take the AA unit - in any case an indirect-fire unit. The tank would be more useful, but it's just too expensive to repair. Wouldn't be able to do that in the first scens. I'm sure that shooting down some of the harassing planes would also feel gratifying...
... and any AT-units are completly useless until scen03 anyway IMO.

scn02
- no road or rail bridge to Pukou is intentional. The Yangtze river at that point was still too wide for a bridge to be built across, but making it a river at that point is meant to demonstrate the ferry system that allowed things to cross. Do you think that would be nice to clarify somewhere?

It definitely looked strange. And please also let me tell you this:
If the player (intentionally or not) places one of his units onto the river "traverse" hex, you can deny passage for the whole bulk of exiting warlord units. Create a nice "buffer zone" for when the Japs arrive... again a kind of "gamey" exploit, if you will.

scn02
- the planes thing is interesting, I'll have to think about how to do that

I think the solution you thought up with the Colonel's help should work. I would've also suggested to spawn them an airstrip (although airfield would be better) somewhere in the middle. And yeah, you may have to need to rebase them, although I'm not sure if that's working alright with the triggers. I recall some problems being reported some time ago.

An airstrip only holds three planes and can only launch one per turn. You may want to spawn two airstrips, I think.

scn02
- on the boring/tedious part, I'll have to agree, I was afraid such would be the case during this scenario, as it's mostly just a withdrawal without much input from the player, but I still wanted to feature this iconic battle, and I don't regret it. I wonder how I should rectify the tedious part though. I made an attempt to include extra events just to break up the monotony, but obviously that isn't a substitute for good gameplay. I'll swap some of the warlord units to player controlled, which should help, but I feel that a scenario like this may might just be inherently on the more boring side.

Many things (gameplay-wise) would've been much easier to "fix" with a much smaller map, in my opinion. Maybe even half? The enemy would reach my units much sooner and I could've even used some of the Nanjing defenders to leave the vicinity of the city a little and fight more. But it's too late for that, I guess.

Another big problem with large maps and many units is the increased duration of AI thinking.

I'm not sure I can give you any meaningful suggestions with the current map/scen, though.
You know, you can give me control over more units, that may help indeed. But in the end, you did everything right to make it work as designed, I guess: With scens like this, orchestrated for the player to lose in a drastic manner, you have to use overstrength units against weak ones.

My problem with the scen might also have been that there was no real fighting. Just a massacre. But then again, it played as intended....


About scen03:
I haven't played the new version yet, but please don't make it too hard. Some players might have less RPs saved up or end up doing some costly mistake(s). And such players should still be able to win without endless reloading of turns to get it "right". Some leeway in gameplay is okay IMO.

Thanks for the campaign and keep up the great work!

[Duplex]

I see you've already addressed some of my suggestions and with the Colonel's feedback also other weak points in the campaign with the update. Nice, thanks!

[...]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

On the Southern defence thing, for scn 01, it should be easier to hold them off now, and I also placed a static enemy unit on the Southern Jap supply to make it just a tad harder to cut them all off.

On the 50% RP thing, I actually remembered it while working on the campaign but didn't give it too much thought. I guess it just means RP income for later scenarios shouldn't be as high right? Given that half the RP spent in the previous scenario comes back? I think the balance so far for these first three scenarios works... I'll see for myself when I do a playthrough.

But given your choice: I think I would take the AA unit - in any case an indirect-fire unit. The tank would be more useful, but it's just too expensive to repair. Wouldn't be able to do that in the first scens. I'm sure that shooting down some of the harassing planes would also feel gratifying...
... and any AT-units are completly useless until scen03 anyway IMO.

Breda will be cored then, it seems.

It definitely looked strange. And please also let me tell you this:
If the player (intentionally or not) places one of his units onto the river "traverse" hex, you can deny passage for the whole bulk of exiting warlord units. Create a nice "buffer zone" for when the Japs arrive... again a kind of "gamey" exploit, if you will.

Now this...is interesting... . I hadn't actually thought of this sort of exploit. Gonna need some time to think of how to adjust this then.... .

Scn02 I believe should stay the way it is in v1.0.2. As long as it plays as intended, I myself am happy with it.

About scen03:
I haven't played the new version yet, but please don't make it too hard. Some players might have less RPs saved up or end up doing some costly mistake(s). And such players should still be able to win without endless reloading of turns to get it "right". Some leeway in gameplay is okay IMO.

Taierzhuang has been changed in a way that should make it last longer while not making it a huge challenge. Key word is should . I'll have a personal look at the balancing when I get to it, and see if it needs to be adjusted further. It was definitely too easy in v1.0.1, but v1.0.2 may be too difficult...

Thanks for playing Gabeknight! Your feedback is always great!

[GabeKnight]

On the 50% RP thing, I actually remembered it while working on the campaign but didn't give it too much thought. I guess it just means RP income for later scenarios shouldn't be as high right? Given that half the RP spent in the previous scenario comes back? I think the balance so far for these first three scenarios works... I'll see for myself when I do a playthrough.

Yes, in essence.

It won't matter much with two or three scens and 2RP/turn income, I guess.
But anyway, I had at least a few RPs at the start of each new scen, which WAS helpful during the critical first turns. The "a few RP at start" part may change drastically though if the campaign spans 10 scens as you've planned it to be.

You know, it's the kind of exponential growth like with money and interests:
On the first scen, I spend all my RP on repairs.
On the second scen, I spend all the refunded RPs from the first scen on repairs, plus use the RPs from the current scen on repairs.
At the third scen I'll get refunded half of what I've spent on initial repairs on the second scen plus half of what I spent during the seconds scen, plus half whatever I'll be getting during the third scen.
You get my point...

[Duplex]

Just thought I'd give a little update to y'all.

Unfortunately, real life has been quite busy , so there isn't much time for OOB. Thus, I will need to postpone any new scenarios arriving for the War of Resistance campaign. A more realistic timetable would be everything that was listed but pushed back 3-4 months. I'm sure I'll make the scenarios someday, , but there's just things more important than that for the time being.

Good news is, two reference books that I will be using in making the campaign have arrived. One is in English, and the other is a 1200 page Chinese language operational history that I bought from the mainland. I'll be spending a little time reading those as well to help with later campaign scenarios.

[Horst]

Unfinished or not, these scenarios and the campaign in progress shouldn't be forgotten!

I hope Duplex will have some time one day or year again to continue.
The Chinese faction is still a little niche in the already grown amount of custom content for this game.
After playing through the exciting defense-campaign Allied Defiant, and afterwards tiresome sloggy Allied Resurgent, I gladly take a break from official content and check out the new/updated custom content again from the last two years.

[Horst]

Played through the three scenarios of War of Resistance campaign.

1 Shanghai 1937
15th Army Gp/16th Artillery Reg (75mm M1908, top map)
This arty is unfortunately not under player control, thus doesn't bother much retreating and gets easily destroyed, failing the secondary object.
Either put it under player control or change the trigger target definition to only player-nation.

2 Nanjing 1937 / 3 Taierzhuang 1938
There is a problem here with the support secondary objective campaign variable: you don't reset it to 1 after the first scenario. As I had failed it in the first scenario, the variable 0 has been taken over to the third scenario although I had achieved all objectives in Nanjing. Maybe safer to use different campaign variable names for each scenario objective if the result is used in the follow-up one.

Minor things to improve maybe
Some custom unit names are somewhat too long to properly read.

I've noticed that the allied AI sometimes repairs refugee horse-units what is very unfortunate with the generally meager RP income per turn. Blame it to the game that doesn't have added the NoRepair trait to land-transport units.
Can't remember well where it could be critical to save or kill transports, but I'm going to change this myself in my personal mod in classes.txt where it is quick and easy to remove again even during running scenarios. At least the unarmed transports should behave like the cargo_truck units, but I remember one of the Allied campaigns where at least one AI half-track raced around without attached unit. You never know what is intended or accident.
The cargo_truck units were specifically added to the game that can't be repaired and can't capture. These would be better for such evacuation units, but not suitable for this time and still unmotorized country. Too bad!

The maps are nice where you have to learn how to cut supply lines in the right moment.
I'd still add swamps to all river hexes except where bridges are to make crossing cost efficiency. Rivers look nicer this way too. Even modern tanks aren't waterproof. Roads/Tracks on swamps aren't great either to use.

During the playthrough, I've noticed that the Jap planes got too busy dealing with MG Nests for a long while. At least fighter planes should only deal with squishy targets of opportunity and ignore tough units like structures and armored vehicles. Can be defined in the AI settings.

By the way: if you tell something about history - what is always nice - better use Event Popup type Historical Event instead of Special Event.

I failed the third scenario with my weaker mod-units as only the '39er got the mortar option which totally lacked in scen03. The missing arty reward from the previous scenario would have been a help in the North. Without arty support, it was simply too difficult. Could maybe do it better next time knowing how the Japanese will advance cutting their supply lines more in time.
The only thing that is maybe bothersome is the time waste watching the Warlord units retreat, while player turns took only a fraction of it. Nevertheless, these three scenarios already look fine with their well-done history lesson popups.

Going to check out the single scenarios next time.