Potzblitz V25.0 OCT 18th 2024

[Umeu]

I know NV is not guaranteed (but you must be quite unlucky not to get it), but if you do, then it's just way superior over Schlieffen.

It's situational: if Netherlands is pro-CP, then going "Violations of Neutrality" is a given, else you might risk an early Dutch DOW.
Going Schlieffen does not give you that diplo hit on Netherlands and also does not decrease Dutch Food Reserves to help out in case of CP Hunger events.

Those are good points, but I have never seen this to be relevant. Taking Paris and crippling France by taking Lille, Amiens, Calais and Rheims is way more important. And damaging or even taking Paris will be the deathblow.

Taking out the army corps in brussels is basically a given without albert, especially if you also get an attack boost. And going through belgium quickly is required to take paris. So it's strange to me that the Paris or Bust scenario, also described as a challenge for entente, it is actually way harder for cp to take paris than if you go moltke +NV.

The late unlocking of Albert also means that ypres will probably fall 1 or 2 turns earlier (since a smart player will just ignore namur then, and take ypres first or namur and ypres in the same turn) With albert, sometimes you can even hold the ypres sailliant, if the bef comes fast enough and germany didnt advance optimally

I'm just not entirely sure why this change was needed, maybe I'll understand if you'd explain why you want albert to unlock later in moltke. Felt to me that entente were already struggling, and needed buffs, not nerfs in this scenario to hold back the german advance.

Another way could be to leave moltke as is, but give schlieffen a little extra. Maybe they can start with the 1st part of Neutrality violated as a given, aka, moltkes army corps starts in luxembourg by default (as planned by schlieffen), and they get that +1 bonus point per turn. This will help a bit with their advance through belgium, as the ardennes/argonne forests slow them down a lot. An attack bonus as well or instread might be ok too

[Robotron]

Okay then, Albert is back in town in V20.1a, be it Brussels, Antwerp or Ypres. (all links updated)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DzKBV3 ... EOkly/view

[Umeu]

for anyone that wants to play, will host new games with PW = potzblitz

[Wolf001]

It may just be Lamps Go Out In Europe but AI seems to be playing at the least the British better. Its actually deploying army corps to the Suez which I don't think I've seen before. In general I think the AI is playing better I'm not having an easy time as with the previous update.

[Umeu]

playing Lamps out vs Wolf in MP. Sent Army of Africa on t2, but it arrived in Algiers, not near Marseilles as it did in the previous version. Might be because it's lamps out, or because MP, or because new version idk. But I've seen it work properly before.

[Robotron]

That's because of the mandatory 1 turn delay for unit spawning via events in multiplayer mode (else the game crashes). If you play the event on turn 2 the unit will spawn on turn 3 which currently is considered to be "too late" for an early arrival at Marseille. Will change "late arrival" to turn 4 and later, so that Entente players can play the event on either turn 1 or 2 and have the Army Corps at Marseille by turn 3.

[Umeu]

That's because of the mandatory 1 turn delay for unit spawning via events in multiplayer mode (else the game crashes). If you play the event on turn 2 the unit will spawn on turn 3 which currently is considered to be "too late" for an early arrival at Marseille. Will change "late arrival" to turn 4 and later, so that Entente players can play the event on either turn 1 or 2 and have the Army Corps at Marseille by turn 3.

ok yeah that explains it. Thanks.

PS: can we potentially move the Algiers port 1 hex to the right?

[Robotron]

Care to explain why moving the port would be desirable? o_O

[Umeu]

Care to explain why moving the port would be desirable? o_O

it's my habit, and I think of most other players too, to ship units from land into the harbor. But from where Algiers port is now, you can't actually reach Marseilles in 1 turn. You have to go 1 hex to the right. And even though I know this, I often "forget" because muscle memory dictates > port = ship units.

[Robotron]

Djinni says "consider it done in the next update".

[Umeu]

playing Lamps out now, and Turkey joins the war so quickly after the British do, I don't actually have time to train and deploy my units before Suez is under attack. So I'm going to lose Port Said no matter what I do. Maybe Britain always starts with Arab Garrison in Lamps out?

[Robotron]

Are you only losing Port Said or the whole Suez Channel with Egypt already in danger of getting overrun?

[Umeu]

Are you only losing Port Said or the whole Suez Channel with Egypt already in danger of getting overrun?

well, currently Port Said didn't fall, but that's only because the artillery was inexplicably not brought forward. And wolf may have had some bad rolls. I'm certain though, if the artillery is brough forward, Port Said will fall 100% and the hex below the fort will fall too. Britain joined the war, and 2 turns later, Ottomans joined on the CP turn. So I can't play the units on the hexes that matter, because the enemy is too close

Also, since you have removed the armored train from Austria at the start, the Austrians seem to struggle with keeping the Serbians at bay. I've observed this playing as both alliances. As Serbia I can often break the Austrian defense, and as Austria, I've often found myself struggling hard to defend. Before, they just couldn't really invade Serbia, but now, they can't even seem to properly defend Austria. I kinda like the armored train being contingent on AH defense plans, but they might need a cavalry corps or a reserve corps to make up for losing that train in the opening phase of the game.

Alternatively, maybe remove the artillery corps from Serbia? (or cap the ammo production of smaller nations at 5 for the game, I do like Serbia being able to have 1 artillery coprs, but with the buffs to Serbia shall not Bow + Russian Aid, it's quite easy to use artillery every turn, rather than every other turn before, when you could often only get artillery production up to 5.

Or, If somehow Serbia and Ottoman Empire could get a penalty when attacking outside of their hometurf, I think that would solve a lot of balance issues.

[Wolf001]

Serbia needs adjustments for MP. I can not invade let alone attack Serbia. The Serbs combined with the event “Will not bow and Russian Aid” make it almost impossible to hold out against the Serbs and also defend against the Russians.

It would be drastic but maybe have the Bulgarians mobilize in MP once Serbian units cross into Austrian hexes be added? Right now there is no incentive for the Entente player not to advance into Austrian territory that I know of in MP.?

I gave up on my game against Umeu due to being unable to hold the Serbs and because he ignored attacking East Prussia and focused on the Austrians. I wasn’t even going to be able to get Tannenberg either. I couldn’t defend both fronts and would have had to left one front exposed.

[Umeu]

Not sure if it's right to ignore east prussia or not. Invading does cause Germany a bit of a morale loss and also gives Entente more diplo points + Russia gets more supplies for the supply crisis. However, Tannenberg is pretty brutal, and also Russian invasion repelled = losing rennenkampf + samsonov which is honestly pretty big. They're keeping those Russian infantry units alive. Zhilinsky is fine but if you get him, it means you already took some losses. And the Russian line is weakened.

Serbia has been buffed too much + nerfing the Austrain armored train means that they're now too powerful. I think their artillery plays a big role in this, but it's not the only thing. I like how they're good at defending, feels like that's balanced. But they're too strong on the attack. Especially if RNG gives you lvl 2 veterancy on your army corps at start of the game.

However, I think Bulgarian mobilization is too much. Maybe if Serbia manages to take Austrian cities, then I can see it. There is a reason for Serbia not to invade, invading drains them of manpower, and also attacking usually means they sustain more losses than if they defend. They can run out of manpower pretty quickly. However, in the meantime, they are such a pain in the ass of Austria, that I think that's worth it. Still, it feels a bit too much in the last few games I have played. An attack penalty would be an option, but there might be better options as well. Maybe just giving Austria 1 more cavalry corps near the Serbian front would help. On the side of the artillery unit.

[Robotron]

"Serbia shall not bow" gave 3D6 PP, ammo and morale in earlier versions of the mod, I raised that to straight 15 for each because I thought the event would not be worth playing otherwise.
Would you agree to revert to 3D6?

Serbian starting experience per unit is between 145 and 225. Veteran rank starts at 200 experience. How high should Serbian starting experience be for multiplayer then?

Also in multiplayer we could not have Bojovic be present from the start but only unlock after Serbia has taking at least 20 casualties (2 units), that would also reduce the attacking strength of the Army Corps.

Invading Austria could also automatically unlock Hötzendorf, his superior stats compared to Potiorek should make a difference.

I also think the 3 bonus diplomatic points Entente gains from invading Austria are not helping either as it gives them a further incentive to invade and maybe draw "Russian Aid to Serbia" if not already done so.

[Umeu]

"Serbia shall not bow" gave 3D6 PP, ammo and morale in earlier versions of the mod, I raised that to straight 15 for each because I thought the event would not be worth playing otherwise.
Would you agree to revert to 3D6?

Serbian starting experience per unit is between 145 and 225. Veteran rank starts at 200 experience. How high should Serbian starting experience be for multiplayer then?

the fixed version is probably fine, though maybe give only 5 ammo? Serbia just shouldn't be able to use artillery every turn.
Experience I think is fine too. They need it to defend. The problem is really just that they can go on the offensive too easily. And part of this is because Austria lost 1 unit.

Imo, not that much change is needed.

Either Serbia's offensive capacity needs to be nerfed, which can be done by limiting ammo + taking 1 or 2 attack away from Bojovic (and maybe Putnik as well), or by giving Serbia an attack penalty on Austrian hexes.

But I think the better option is to give Austria a bit better defense. Which can be done by
-Entrenching the reserve units on the flank near the artillery.
-Giving Austria 1 more unit on the artillery flank, preferably cavalry (but not with lvl 3 veterancy), but a reserve might do the trick as well.

I also think the 3 bonus diplomatic points Entente gains from invading Austria are not helping either as it gives them a further incentive to invade and maybe draw "Russian Aid to Serbia" if not already done so.

What must be considered is the reason for Serbia to invade.

1. You get 3 diplo points + you take away 3 diplo points + you gain at least 1 more diplo point, which combined with Serbia shall not Bow = 1 more event in turn 1+2.
2. It gives you a positional advantage. It secures Belgrade's left flank and leaving it with only 2 adjacent hexes. With Bojovic in Belgrade, you might actually be able to invade and secure the right flank as well, meaning Belgrade can only be attacked from 1 hex. This means Serbia doesn't lose PP production, leaving them stronger in the long run.

For me, the 2nd reason is the main reaosn, and I would do it even if I got only 2 diplo points, probably even if I got 0. The Austrians simply can't kill the Serbian army corps early on, as long as Bojovic is commanding. I do like the diplo point gain, but maybe it's a bit too much that it also causes Austria to lose 2-3 diplo points, considering they can't actually stop a Serbian player from invading. I would prefer to take the CP diplo point penalty from the Serbia Invades event, over taking away the Entente bonus.

But, to make these moves, Serbia doesn't actually need to be able to attack offensively. Just hold the hexes defensively. So considering that, maybe a penalty for Serbian attacking while on Austrian hexes is best.

EDIT:

Invading Austria could also automatically unlock Hötzendorf, his superior stats compared to Potiorek should make a difference.

ooh, hadn't considered this. I kinda like it. Might be a good thing to try. This + a reserve corps, and I think it's sorted.

[Robotron]

I've decided to change the following for multiplayer:

- lowered chance for Serbian units to start the game with veteran rank by about 20%

- "Serbia shall not bow" resource bonus reduced to 3D6, +2 diplo on turn 2 remain

- Austrian units around Temeschburg get maximum entrenchment (which is 3 for the Steppe and 4 for the Grassland terrain hexes)

- removed Bojovic from the starting Serbian setup, he now unlocks after Serbia has suffered 20 casualties (= the equivalent of 2 units)

- invading Austria does not change any diplomatic points values for either side

- invading Austria unlocks Hötzendorf

[Umeu]

I've decided to change the following for multiplayer:

:O but why. 1 or 2 of these changes are more then enough. All of them is way too much.

- lowered chance for Serbian units to start the game with veteran rank by about 20%

It's an ok change, but on top of all the others, it's too much.

- "Serbia shall not bow" resource bonus reduced to 3D6, +2 diplo on turn 2 remain

It's an ok change, but on top of all the others, it's too much. If you reduce the resource bonus, then veteran rank should revert, and vice versa.

- Austrian units around Temeschburg get maximum entrenchment (which is 3 for the Steppe and 4 for the Grassland terrain hexes)

This change is good. Would start with just this change + the Hotzendorf change. Then see again if it's still unbalanced.

- removed Bojovic from the starting Serbian setup, he now unlocks after Serbia has suffered 20 casualties (= the equivalent of 2 units)

Bojovic is necessary to defend as well. Without him, Serbia collapses quite quickly. This definitely needs to be reverted.

- invading Austria does not change any diplomatic points values for either side

I don't really like it, but sure. It's a pretty huge nerf that will hurt Entente as a whole though, not just Serbia. Which is the main reason I don't like it.

- invading Austria unlocks Hötzendorf

This is the best change imo, and should be starting point to see if it's balanced after this.

[Robotron]

Okay then, let's keep the experience untouched and Bojovic in from the start.

Diplo point modifier was removed, because it will potentially ruin CP diplo for turn 2 which is critically important (Goeben, Violation of Neutrality, Redeploy) and CP has no measure to prevent this from happening.

So we have:

- "Serbia shall not bow" resource bonus reduced to 3D6, +2 diplo on turn 2 remain

- Austrian units around Temeschburg get maximum entrenchment (which is 3 for the Steppe and 4 for the Grassland terrain hexes)

- invading Austria does not change any diplomatic points values for either side

- invading Austria unlocks Hötzendorf