Game Mechanics

[Horst]

Can you elaborate a bit the game mechanics according to the current UI, please?
See my guesses how intuitive your UI is at moment.

1: attack value vs. high-flying planes, like strategic bombers and possibly recon planes?
2: attack value vs. low-flying planes, like ground attack planes and possibly fighter planes?
Can aircrafts change their altitude or are these altitudes permanently set for each aircraft class?

3: attack vs. capital ships?
4: attack vs. small ships, like destroyers and landing ships?

5: attack vs. hard targets/vehicles?
6: attack vs. soft targets/infantry?

7 & 20: target type?
Will this additional affect hit probability or damage next to the comparison of attack vs. defense values?

8: ?
9: ?

10: movement range/points?
Will terrain affect movement range, and does the game have a similar point system like in Panzer Corps?
11: weapon range?

12: ammunition supply?
13: current entrenchment level?

14: defense vs. aircraft guns?
15: defense vs. aircraft bombs?

16: defense vs. surface ships?
17: defense vs. submerged ships?

18: defense vs. hard attack/vehicles?
19: defense vs. soft attack/infantry?

[adherbal]

Very close

1: attack value vs. high-flying planes, like strategic bombers and possibly recon planes?
2: attack value vs. low-flying planes, like ground attack planes and possibly fighter planes?

More or less correct: "Large" and "Small" aircraft (high altitute strat bombers & lower level fighters/tac bombers). I recon the "large" icon would be better to display a bomber.

7 & 20: target type?
Will this additional affect hit probability or damage next to the comparison of attack vs. defense values?

Offensive combat type & defensive combat type of the currently selected unit. The first determines what defensive stat the enemy unit uses ("infantry" combat type will be faced against "infantry defense" stat of the opponent). The latter determines what attack stat the enemy will use against this unit (the reserve of the former). Some units have the same offensive and defensive combat types, but for example towed AT guns have "Mechanised" offensive type and "Infantry" defensive type. Units will use their "anti-mech/tank defense" stats against AT guns, while using their "anti infantry attack" stats to determine how much damage they do to the gun.

Note that the exact names of these types may change.

Will terrain affect movement range, and does the game have a similar point system like in Panzer Corps?

I can't remember the exact movement cost rules from PzC, but various terrain types have various movement costs in this game. The cost is related to the "chassis type". For example wheeled vehicles may have a harder time moving through difficult terrain compared to tracked vehicles, while being faster on open ground. Pretty standard stuff I guess.

12: ammunition supply?

Efficiency (battery icon): represents morale, fatigue, cohesion and is affected by movement (mostly through difficult terrain), combat and supply state.


The rest is pretty much what you said. I'll give you an A minus

[adherbal]

8: ?
9: ?

Oh, forgot these.

8: Shock (direct damage against enemy efficiency, used mostly by artillery and a few specialised "shock" units such as 105mm Sherman).
9: Assault: negates enemy entrenchment bonus (for Engineers and other assault oriented unit types)

So that makes it a B minus I would say

[Horst]

Thanks for the clear-up!
I thought about high/low altitude because of the needed difference between light and heavy AA guns. In Panzer General games, there was only the single AA value that couldn’t really distinguish well between the low-altitude fast firing light AA guns and the slow-firing heavy AA guns which were rather only useful against high-flying targets. I think these bomber & fighter AA values will work much better than in PG, similar like the capital & small ship attack values. Very good!

About movement types, yes, it will be basically the same like in Panzer Corps then. I was only unsure because the units, like the rather fast Stuart tank, on the screenshots so far show only few movement points, what could make it difficult to make much difference between terrain types. Different icon could help to quickly distinguish the movement type, like it is done in Panzer Corps. No idea if you also distinguish between two-wheel and all-wheel drive.

Shock: interesting. So this is the ability to help overcoming the normal defense by heavy caliber. Even the most experienced unit would hardly be able to evade and survive an atomic bomb dropped directly onto it. Similar like heavy bombs that flipped over Tiger tanks by near-hits.
Is this also related to suppression what artillery could cause? Is there a difference between long-term suppression and kills what helps to avoid counter-fire?

Sounds all great! If you need a Beta tester, I’m yours!

[adherbal]

I thought about high/low altitude because of the needed difference between light and heavy AA guns.

That and it allows difference between lightly armed, low altitude "dogfighters" and high-altitude "heavy fighters" designed to take out bombers allowing a wider range of aircraft to be useful for specific tasks. The japs especially had a lot of twin engines fighters that didn't perform well against US fighters but carried heavy cannons to damage bombers. One even carried a 75mm gun

Is this also related to suppression what artillery could cause? Is there a difference between long-term suppression and kills what helps to avoid counter-fire?

Suppression is part of the efficiency value in this game. It only recovers when a unit is out of combat, so frontline units that are continuously pounded by artillery and ground attacks will get weaker and weaker through efficiency loss even if they take minimal casualties. This means even the strongest units will wear out if they don't get time to recover every now and then.

[Horst]

Excellent, you are on right track with your attack values vs. large and small targets!

Will fighter/small planes get a defense penalty when doing ground attacks, so they are only then easy to get killed by light AA guns but not when flying high above travelling or dogfighting with other aircrafts?

[adherbal]

Will fighter/small planes get a defense penalty when doing ground attacks, so they are only then easy to get killed by light AA guns but not when flying high above travelling or dogfighting with other aircrafts?

We were thinking of giving light AA guns only defensive fire (support fire when friendly units are attacked by aircraft) but that would make it too easy for small aircraft to fly around with a certain impunity if there are no enemy fighters around.

[danijocker90]

Lol, there are a lot of references to Commander Great War eh?

Well, im a bit sick they didnt released the game with all the expected features (like the hotseat) from previous games but the CEAW style is always welcome.

About this game, looks awesome and starting with such a different scenario of the war its a hard bid, so good luck guys.

The only point i'm still having problems to understand is the attack/defense system, maybe need more examples

[adherbal]

Example below:
M3 Stuart tank has 9 "Attack against [Land] Infantry". This means this stat is used against Land (as opposed to Air or Naval) targets with Defense Type "Infantry".
The Stuart's Defense Type is "Mechanical" (the green text at the bottom right), meaning the opposing infantry unit would use its "[Land] Mechanical" attack stat against the tank.

stats.jpg (49.32 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

When attacked by a Stuart a unit will use its "[Land] Mechanical" defense stat because the Stuart is also "Mechanical" Attack Type (the red text).

Most units have the same Attack and Defense Types, but there are some expections. For example a towed AT Gun has:
Attack Type: Mechanical
Defense Type: Infantry

This means if the Stuart faces an AT gun it will use its anti-Infantry attack stat (facing the AT's "Infantry" defense type) but it's anti-mechanical defense stat (facing the AT's "Mechanical" attack type).

[danijocker90]

Ah, i see hehehe. Thank you very much

It's the same system like in Panzer Corps etc. but sometimes i forget

[bobk]

I like how you are rolling in a lot of different stats to the combat equation, but still keeping things simple to play.
Use the right troops for the job (based on their off/def ratings). Rest/rotate your troops when they get battle fatigued. Keep your supply lines open, or eventually pay the price when the bullets run out.
Besides looking forward to this game, I'm excited to see where the series is going in the future.
I like the fact that you started in the Pacific, which is usually someone's future expansion pack for a European WW2 offering.

[Myrddraal]

Losing supply in the game can be deadly. If you can't reconnect your supply lines within a turn, you run a serious risk of taking disproportionate damage. It also cripples your movement speed, so unless you have supporting units nearby, it can be a catch 22, where the very fact of being in out of supply prevents you from rejoining friendly controlled territory.

The Japanese have a specialisation, which can be obtained through the campaign, called 'Bushido code', which gives cut-off Japanese infantry and marines defensive bonuses when cut-off, which go some way towards compensating for lack of supply, but it's still a perilous situation to be in.

The lesson is - don't get cut-off in the first place!