Slitherine

BiteNibbleChomp wrote:would be possible, in the Strategic Map view, to make the unmoved unit markers blink in some way? These old eyes of mine are having problems seeing unmoved markers, especially in the winter months,

The game uses png images for those markers and as far as I know those are only still images and thus could not be made blinking. It might be possible, though, to use colour changing gif images instead, but I am not sure if these could be used by the game. Unfortunately it is beyond my abilities to implement it at the moment. So for now I can only play with the tone of the unmoved unit markers. I do agree that it is hard to see them during the winter, but they are very easy to see during the summer (green tiles) turns. So thought I should add a small black cross and thus make their overall tone a bit darker. In this way they are still visible during the summer, but much more visible during the white winter times.

Another option would be to change their colour altogether, but I would like to keep the black & white markers for the Axis units as I think it is closest to the German symbolism of the era. Some purple/blue markers for the Axis would look quite weird, I guess.

A third option would be to increase their size, but then adjacent unit markers on the large map would overlap each other and then it would create a messy effect.

steelwarrior wrote:Hey, very cool mod also - just wish for one ongoing campaign from 1939 - to the end - on one map

Thanks, but I do not think it would be possible to do it right. Just think of the so-called "phony war" months when nothing really happened, save for the Soviet-Finnish winter war. What would prevent the player to invade the USSR as early as in 1939? Or to capture the lighly defended Middle East in 1940? Or to intervene in the winter war, on the Finnish side? That would be quite unhistorical, as at that time Germany and the Soviet Union were in somewhat friendly terms. And, more importantly, there is just not enough AI zones in the game to script the whole war from 1939-45 with the same detail. The 1941-45 scenario already uses all the available AI zones (and still lacking quite a few, to be honest), and the extension of the war would require several more AI zones to depict those other events as well.

hugh2711 wrote:approximately when might 1.5 appear? or is 1.4 the last. thanks

I would say in a couple of days. I am nearly ending the historical test play. Now I have just a few turns left and it seems that I am about to lose... But, it is all right, as if I play historically, the result should be historical as well. However, I am pleased with the results so far. Especially with the rebalanced air war over Germany. Just as intended, in 1941-42 air superiority over Germany can be maintained with the historical force (JG 1, JG 2, JG 27 and 1-2 bomber destroyer/night fighter units). In 1943 the British attack with more bombers, but the player also gets some free night fighters, which excel at destroying unescorted heavy bombers and thus the balance can be maintained. However, in 1944 the full might of the American 8th Air Force is unleashed, supported by effective fighters which can escort the bombers further and further into Germany. The result: just as historically, in the first years the Allied bombing campaign is more of an annoyance than a real issue, with just occasional prestige penalties and heavy losses to the enemy. But from late 1943 the real business starts and Allied planes swarming the sky make the life of the Axis commander very, very hard making some painful prestige loss. To even the odds, in v1.5 the Axis will be able strike back with the V1/V2 rockets, which will generate some prestige if they reach an objective city in England. But, as they have reduced range, they have to be transported to France from where they can reach an enemy held objective (most likely London). Enabling the Allies to hunt them down while being transported by train and to ultimately end the V-weapon threat by the swift capture of France. Just as historically.

v1.5 is ready to download.

Changes in v1.5

- Air War over Germany is rebalanced (harder and hopefully more accurate historically), first introduced in scenario 3
- Allies will attempt to recapture most major victory objectives taken by the Axis
- the territory of Vichy French Free Zone/Zone Libre and Vichy North Africa will be neutral (unaccessible) until November 1942 - no more unhistorical turtling in Tunisia before the Allied invasion
- Axis OOBs revised, several units changed, Italy gets less units early on
- Italy would defect after the loss of Sicily, as a result most Italian units disappear from the map, but then a few will re-appear to simulate the formation of the pro-German RSI forces
- Maximum prestige awarded for Axis naval units in the North Atlantic convoy routes is capped at 200 instead of 250
- Torpedo boats (German Schnellboote, Italian MAS) are changed: they cannot attack submarines, but more effective against surface ships with recon move added. Historically these were equipped with only 2-4 torpedoes and 1-2 machine guns therefore they were not very useful against submarines. However, these fast motor boats are now good for hit-and-run attacks thanks to their recon move, but can also be used to scout enemy naval minefileds and coastal defenses.
- Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS added: this elite naval unit mainly operated with frogmen and manned torpedoes, achieving some great successes in the Mediterranean. The frogmen were usually carried to their area of operations by convetional submarines, so this is a multi-multipurpose unit which can be switched back to its carrier for more speed.
- the 'Second Blitz' is implemented: V1/V2 rockets are only given if there are no Axis held victory objective cities in England. Also they are less effective against ground targets and have reduced range, but can generate 100 prestige points if they can reach a victory objective city in England (most likely London).
- several more cities in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands are added
- ocean/sea tiles are changed
- Minor Axis awards added
- all Axis units are named
- several issues reported by players are fixed

Due to the many new features it is highly recommended to start a new campaign to get all the changes.


Get it from here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6347v ... rope15.zip

Thanks, McGuba, for continuing to maintain your very impressive mod.

Thanks for the great work.

When you suggest to start a new campaign to get all feature do you from 1939 or from the start of Barbarossa?

This is amazing! Good job and thanks!

One question, will SS units spawn during the campaign or did you skip them because of the unit sizes?

Good job with that new version.

Many Thanks!.
mmmmmmm i have been looking forward to this.

Delta66 wrote:
Thanks for the great work.

When you suggest to start a new campaign to get all feature do you from 1939 or from the start of Barbarossa?

Now the two are more similar as the player starts Barbarossa with more prestige than in the previous versions so he cannot accumulate a lot more is he starts earlier. But those few (9) core units that would be otherwise taken over will have less experience and less random heroes. So that is the main difference. Other than that you get all the same new features regardless where you start the campaign. I made some changes in the previous scenarios though, for example the British air offensive is introduced in scenario 3 and I think that scenario is more interesting like that. So it might be interesting to play it again.

Ason wrote:This is amazing! Good job and thanks!

One question, will SS units spawn during the campaign or did you skip them because of the unit sizes?

There are no specific units as SS in this mod for certain controversities. In some countries the usage of the SS term is banned just like the swastika. That's why there are no SS units in the original game either, they were renamed to "SE". And I decided to follow this approach. However, some "gift" units can be regarded as SS units, even though not specifically named like that.

Hey great job man

Aaagghhh. In blocking north africa you have extend it as far as the mareth line.
In previous versions I have gained alot of prestige by initially retreating to the mareth line and forcing alot of surrenders of all the chasing allied forces there with virtually no casualties. (I get the middle eastern oilfields easily by going via the black sea). I then go back and get tobruk when they are all destroyed.

The Mareth Line was a fortification line built by the French to defend Tunisia against a possible Italian invasion. As such it was on the (Vichy French) Tunisian side of the border. As Vichy France was practically neutral it would be unhistorical to allow either side to enter its territory within the scope of the mod before Nov 1942. Also, I think it is more interesting to simulate the race for Tunisia after the Allied landings in North Africa. It makes the mod and the defense of North Africa harder, but more accurate historically.

While fighting the Allies in North France after D-day I (again) realized that the American Sherman tanks are completely messed up in PzC with the short 75 mm gun versions using the same icon as the long 76 mm gun equipped versions and the M4A3 having an oversized icon compared to other similar tank types. However, I think it is very important to tell apart the later more effective 76 mm gun equipped tanks from the older ones as they were used simultaneously from July 1944 and it was not until the Ardennes offensive that Eisenhower demanded that no more short 75 mm Shermans should be shipped to Europe. So I decided to sort it out for v1.5:

Planning to implement some of the big UI pics from here in my UK mod again, like I did in Inferno. Of course it will be credited as usual.

Just one minor thing - there seem to be a small no. of mistakes? No biggie, just noticed that some pics may be wrong. I did a couple of corrections for myself, if you like I can post them for you. Unless it's intentional (in case you use some pics for other units than the name indicates).

No complaint of course, just an offer

Yeah, sure, no problem, as usual.

Yes, I am aware that some of the pics do not match the exact unit or subtype, but the thing is that I also took about half of the bigunits from a previous author (unfortunately someone I cannot name as I do not remember ). Basically all the bigunit icon image files which having a last modified date of 2011 were made by this other author. I did fix some of the obvious errors and changed them with better pics, but I just did not check all. Also some of the bigunit icons are not used in my mods so I did not even care about those. Anyway, any help or correction is very welcome, so yes, please upload your corrected files and I will change them.

And no offense at all, as usual.

I added/corrected a lot of BW pictures too. Take a look on the all-collection and feel free to use, what you need. Download URL in the first post.
http://slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=147&t=52607

Sounds cool, but using Open Office, I'm unable to open the doc file (is supposed to work with .doc normally, but OO says this one has errors)

McGuba, I'll post those I have in mind on the weekend.

You have to rename it to ZIP and unzip it! I can upload it just with such extension on Wordpress.

bebro wrote:Sounds cool, but using Open Office, I'm unable to open the doc file (is supposed to work with .doc normally, but OO says this one has errors)

McGuba, I'll post those I have in mind on the weekend.

Oh, I see, thx for the hint

You are welcome!

bebro wrote:Oh, I see, thx for the hint

It seems that it is my destiny to play this genious mod over and over - always with a bit little harder settings. On the other hand, with the new Bombing war and other small corrections, the gameplay will be anyway a little harder - unless you conquer England early (highly recommended, if you do not target to play from historical point from late 1942).
I want to give it a try: Rommel, historical play untli late 1942. And now with the core force setup by McGuba, what means minus 2x 150mm arty, minus 2x Fighter...
The only thing, what I modified from the starting situation, that I sold 2xPanzers, 1x Inf, than bought 2xPz IVD (in thay way, I had the extra prestige for the sold vehicles, which I wouldhave lost with the upgrade). Before Barbarossa, I bought a 3rd Inf again to be true for the settings by McGuba.

I just finished the first three scenarios and I must say, these were already harder - especially the Mediterrean map, which I had to play 3 times, to reach a DV (time was sort)! Now, this time I plan to conquer Enland first! This would eliminate the Bombing war, when it would get most worse.

That means: after starting to have a free hand from late Nov 1942, I have to:
- defend the lines in the East and destroy the attacking Soviet forces in the winter of 1942/43
- question is, if I will have the power to conquer after that Moscow, because of the missing force redirected to conquer England
- balance between earning some prestige on the convoy routes, while preserving my naval force for the support of the upcoming landing
- in the meantime I still have to defend Tunis and quickly eliminate both attacking forces (US, UK) to get ground and race to the Middle East - for the oil and for the complete defeat of Britain
- I think, I had to make the landings in England in the winter of 1943. Later will be too late.
- question is, how I will/can counter with my much weaker fighter force the Red Air in the East...

Feedback about v1.5:
- the new sea tiles are for me too disctracting, I changed it back to vanilla
- Italian 47/32 and 97/38 AT guns are not in the same family. That would make the upgrade absolute senseless, because you cannot upgrade it anyway further to Pak 40. In the time of the appearance of the Italian 97/38, the gun was not a rarity, so I would suggest to make it in one family with the 47/32.
- I don't support the idea of the artifical restricton of buying, upgrading Bersaglieri, Alpini: it is fair, that they are not in the same family, so the player has to play the price for that. But preventing it, because historically there were elite and therefore rare units is illogical - with that thinking all possible should be stopped - Romanian for Mnt troops, Hungarian for Mnt, Motorised troops, Finns for Jäger troops... I think the price handles this situation enough, no need for artifical restrictions.
- I experienced, that I could'nt transport a 20mm AA gun from southwest France with rail. I don't know, if it is an issue, or just my over-modified version of your mod is the sinner.
- everything else looks fine!

One question: is the feauture implemented in v1.5, that the player gets only penalties, if the partisans stay on the rails in the END of the Axis turn? That would make a huge difference, because hunting partisans in the open (and not in the marshes) makes much fewer casualties.