Slitherine

By invitation from Erik.

In this context, "CSI" stands for "Campaign and Scenario Investigation" wherein the object is to find and eliminate bugs, some of which may lurk below the surface, as bugs do, and thus go undetected while still negatively affecting play. "CSI" is not "CSD" with the "D" referring to "Design."

That said, I sometimes offer design suggestions if the impulse is too strong to resist! They are just suggestions, however, and I don't look for acceptance and implementation. Design is the prerogative of the creator (small "c").

This campaign has a significant branch at the very start. If one chooses Gin Drinker (or, is unaware of the choice altogether), he will play that scenario and Hong Kong, bypassing Task Force Z. If one chooses Task Force Z, there is no Gin Drinker or Hong Kong to play:


My point is that it is very easy (especially for a newcomer) to overlook the choice. He must notice this second ring and click on it:


My suggestion is to include a second event (there is no room in the first event's description) that highlights the choice:


It works, as you see here:


Again, just a suggestion for any time there is a campaign branch like this.

Now, here there really is no choice. If the player wins big in Moulmein, he goes directly to Rangoon and bypasses Bilin-Sittang. If he draws or earns only a minor victory, then he sees Bilin-Sittang. Since it's not voluntary - there is no choice to make - the need for an event message is not very great. More on the side of advisable / nice to have but not necessary.


By the way, that date of 1-1-1942 seems to go backwards in time: Of the two preceding scenarios, Muar River is dated 10-1-1942 and Singapore is dated 8-2-1942.

EDIT: It would seem that the date should be 11-1-1942, still out of chronological order but it would match the scenario - see the post on Moulmein below.

Gin Drinkers Line v. 1.0

When you provide one side with "Off-map Air Supply Source," do you not also need to provide that alliance with an air Exit Hex / Allow Redeploy? I ran a quick test, removing all Japanese units except for a single plane, and ran the scenario in test mode. The plane did its duty but crashed halfway through the scenario, presumably out of fuel:


You know, of course, that without any objectives for the AI to win, defeat for the human player is not possible. The worst outcome will be Draw:


If you do create AI objectives, each primary objective trigger would need a provision for the AI to achieve or fail its own objectives.

Gin Drinkers Line v. 1.0 (continued)

This may appear to be nitpicking at first, but I anticipate those people who complain (well, maybe not in this case because it favors them) about the turn number not coinciding with the objective. Take, for example, the "Hold Kai Tak airfield for 10 turns" objective:


Since you don't indicate which alliance's turn, I believe this trigger fires at the beginning of turn 10, before the Japanese have moved. This means they don't have the opportunity to take Kai Tak during their turn 10 and the British needed to hold it only for 9 turns. Therefore, it might be better if you advanced every one of these "Hold" triggers one turn each; that is, for example, this one would be Turn >10 (and the Japanese trigger would be Turn <11).

I recommend that you mention the requirement of the 3 core units being evacuated to satisfy this objective; else you will get complaints that players evacuated three units, aux and/or core, and did not achieve the objective:


There are multiple problems with this trigger:

First, you are requiring NO land units to be in Hong Kong for this to fire. Once the Evacuation objective is activated, it will swiftly be achieved because the Scenario Valuable will increment for every event during which there are no British land units in Hong Kong. Second, you are not requiring the land unit to be core.

Third, this is going to be a problem, I believe:


The reason is, with this trigger you are counting only regular Great Britain units. There's one of those in the scenario but these two are technically British Indians which will not qualify. Plus, there are units of the alternate Great Britain factor. Best to key this to Alliance rather than Nation.

One last thing: This Remove Unit should NOT be set to core. You want to clear out Hong Kong so that the three core units can land there, so you don't want an aux unit parked there and clogging things up.

[EDIT - Also see next post and fourth post down about this "Variable check" trigger.]

I think you meant AI Team 12 Bombers here:

Gin Drinkers Line v. 1.0 (continued)

Actually, on second thought, I erred on that "Variable check" trigger. What I pointed out and recommended about core units will still have the trigger working at cross-purposes. It should "Set Scenario Variable" for Core units as part of the Condition but it should "Remove Unit" on the basis of all units, Aux and Core, for the reason that I stated.

Obviously, the trigger cannot do both with the one Condition. Therefore, I now recommend splitting this trigger into two: One trigger to "Check Unit(s) near Hex" (Hong Kong, Amount = 1) with Core units as part of the Condition for "Set Scenario Variable" and the other trigger to "Check Unit(s) near Hex" (Hong Kong, Amount = 1) with Core units as NOT part of the Condition for "Remove Unit."

If you agree, make sure the "Set Scenario Variable" trigger precedes the "Remove Unit" trigger; you don't want a Core unit removed before it has incremented the Scenario Variable.

I also subsequently realized that the likelihood of the Japanese taking Kai Tak AF early enough to resolve their air supply problems might obviate the need for the air Exit Hex / Allow Redeploy that I mentioned but to the extent that it would be likely that the Japanese would be under such pressure at this stage of the war - surely there were airfields set up behind their lines - and that the human player might actually be able to hold onto Kai Tak for 15 turns or more by concentrating his forces there; well, it seems like an unrealistic restraint upon Japanese air power. Your call, of course.

Hong Kong v. 1.0

Heh, another joyous discovery concerning OOB. I have never heard this sound before: a loop of liquid gushing and gurgling followed by an elongated beep. Over and over. "What is that sound?!? And in the editor?" I had to find out, so I began eliminating units until I found the culprit: Pumping Station!

The remarkable thing is, in the editor, the sound is pervasive no matter where you go on the map. During gameplay, however, although you can hear it faintly in the background, the sound is not really perceptible until the pumping station is in view whereupon it's quite clear.

Yeah, I know. "Get a life, Bruce." Well, right now OOB is my life! Until some other endeavor draws my interest away again.

Anyway, let's go to Hong Kong.

No AI objectives (I'll just mention this as I go along rather that repeating what I said for Gin Drinkers about Draw being the worst outcome in this case).

No outcome descriptions (I believe the next several scenarios are like this). You usually are quite loquacious with these, Herr Generalfeldmarschall! :


Here again, I believe you want to increase the number of turns in all of these triggers by +1. For example, even though in this scenario you have the human player going first, he only has to hold onto the Naval Dockyards for 19 turns because at the beginning of his Turn 20, this trigger will activate and award the objective. He ought to be made to hold out through his and the Japanese Turn 20 before achieving this objective:


You may want to throw in an image here to avoid the black box that will result without it. I'm sure you have something appropriate handy that you can recycle:

Hong Kong v. 1.0 (continued)

So when the Japanese take Aberdeen Harbor, which crushes British supply I might add, it activates the two Secondary Objectives: "Evacuate both British core units" and "Evacuate all three Indian core units." This brings a question to mind.

In Gin Drinkers Line, there were three core units: 1 British Infantry and 2 Colonial Infantry. To achieve a Primary Objective in that scenario, all three units must survive and be evacuated. In Hong Kong, you provide a core British Heavy Infantry unit and a core Colonial Howitzer. So the math is right, assuming that the three Gin core units were rolled forward into Hong.

But let's say one of those core units did not make it out alive from Gin Drinkers Line. That would mean the result would have been a Draw (as mentioned earlier, without AI objectives, Minor and Major Defeat are not possible). According to the campaign tree, the player still advances to Hong Kong but, without that core unit, he will not be able to achieve one of the Secondary Objectives in Hong, maybe both if he lost more than one core unit in Gin:


Which is fine, if that's your intention. I would just insert something that checks at Scenario Start to see how many core units are in place and perhaps shuts off the appropriate Secondary Objective(s) as necessary.

One other thing about this situation: Let's say the Japanese fail to take Aberdeen Harbor in 30 turns. That means these Secondary Objectives are never activated. That, in turn, means no Major Victory is possible (which may not be important, but there it is).

By the way, is this the intended Exit Hex? If so, you may want to inform the player as to where it is in the popup message; i.e., a seaborne evacuation to the south, in addition to pointing to it with the Secondary Objectives as you are doing. Of course, say nothing about the Japanese fleet down there, waiting to pounce upon the stragglers, you nasty man!

Gin Drinkers Line v. 1.0 (revisited)

A thought occurred as I was typing the above and, low and behold, in Gin Drinkers Line you apparently made Hong Kong an Exit Hex! That's what I was thinking. Hence, why even have that cumbersome "Variable check" apparatus in that scenario? Just count the exited core units like you do in Hong Kong.

There's no real action taking place on the island of Hong Kong in Gin Drinkers Line anyway; the only purpose of Hong Kong in that scenario is to evacuate troops, I believe. Hence, the placement of the Exit Hex there as the destination, and counting core units as they exit rather than removing them manually, will work.

One consideration, though: I would remove the Deployment Hexes in and around that Exit Hex. For one thing, any units placed here do nothing toward the objectives of Gin Drinkers Line and therefore are wasted. For another thing, any unit deployed on the Exit Hex, and any wandering into that hex, will disappear:


Hmmm. That could be a useful cheat! Just deploy your core units there and bide your time. Of course, you'll probably lose your other objectives without those units in action on the mainland.

Hong Kong v. 1.0 (revisited)

I don't know how important this trigger is - it takes the Air Seek & Destroy target emphasis off enemy aircraft and generalizes it - but this Target Hex appears to be just off the edge of the map. Clicking on it does pull the map focus up north but only a stub of the position indicator shows up. There is an airfield to the northwest, but going by where Kai Tak AF was located in Gin Drinkers Line, that's not it. Besides, if you wait a bit and look closely (it's right on the edge of the map), you can just see the bottom of a British flag!


Now, you have a British hangar labeled "Kai Tak" somewhere - whether it's occupied or not I can't tell - but I'll be darned if I can find it anywhere on the map:


So my theory is, you had something going on further north on a bigger map but you cropped it. If so, then this trigger and hangar are just remnants. As to the trigger, though, if you want Japanese fighters to focus more on land units at some point, you'll have to revise it.

The same comments apply to the Bombers version of this trigger but in that case, the trigger doesn't do anything. That is, it does not alter the Seek & Destroy mission that this AI team begins with.

Here's more evidence of my map cropping theory. The first 8 "Check Hex Owner" Target Hexes for 1/230.Reg are pointing out to sea with remnant position marker stubs:


I'd say this particular regiment is not going anywhere if these are its initial Target Hexes for ownership. Better double-check all Target Hexes for triggers in your Jap Land folder.

Next problem: None of the triggers in the 2/229.Reg and 3/229.Reg folders have Target Hexes for their Set Up AI Team effects, as evidenced by the lack of a Remove Hex button, so these regiments are not going anywhere, either:


The triggers in the Jap Siege Art folder have a variety of issues:

• The Siege Art west trigger points to an off-map location (remnant stub to the north again). Moreover, if that's British land up there around the airfield, I don't see how this trigger gets activated anyway.

• The Siege Art central trigger also points off-map and it generates . . . three Sherman tanks?

• The Siege Art east trigger does point to Japanese territory - already held at scenario start - and it generates three MORE guns on hexes that already contain such guns.

Your treatment of the Japanese navy is puzzling. The AI team starts out with Seek & Destroy, Distance 999 and Aggression 99 which means they are going to move around on their own. Yet, you try to direct them up and around the island by a series of "Check Hex Owner" triggers but the sequence begins with owning a particular hex to which they are not directed in the beginning. Then, the sequence of where you send the Japanese navy seems haphazard - at one point, you have them landing on an island - so I don't know what you are trying to accomplish here.

In short, there seem to be a number of triggers in here that were meant for a different version of this scenario with a larger map, perhaps. Probably deleting some of them is the simplest answer but one important consideration is whether you do want the Japanese navy to cruise up and around the island of Hong Kong. If so, that module would have to be re-written.

Task Force Z v. 1.0

Interesting thing that I found. There is no land supply up here which is bad for the two AA guns:


However, it turns out that, at least at the beginning, this destroyer is providing just enough supply to cover them:


But that destroyer is part of a task force that will be moving away immediately. I replicated that by moving the ship offshore a bit and running off some turns. You can see that not only the AA guns but all hangars are suffering:


Here's the interesting part. I placed land supply of exactly 4 here:


Not only the AA guns but also the hangars are healthy again. Apparently the hangars need just a connection to supply but don't count toward the total supply needed:


Long story made short, you will want to give the AA guns some land-based supply up here.

Task Force Z v. 1.0 (continued)

You give both sides "Off-map Air Supply Source" without the required air Exit Hex /Allow Reploy hexes. However, both sides have multiple airfields in hand.

Where is Singora? The "Prevent transports from reaching Singora" objective does not point to it. (Yeah, yeah, "Hang a left at Patani.")

No outcome descriptions:


This message indicates a problem with AI Team 2. It turns out that there is a carrier-based plane on the team which, given its orders, does not seem correct:


I was glad to see that you used merchant ships for the "Sink all 8 transports" mission rather than land units at sea . . .

You have a Japanese AI objective which is the obverse of the British "Sink all 8 transports" objective which is good but there is no provision for the human to lose his objective or for the AI to win its objective. Also, in order to allow for the true possibility of AI victory (and human defeat), you ought to have a corresponding AI objective to match the human "Do not lose more than one capital British ship" objective. That is, if the human fails this objective, the AI should achieve its matching objective.

To be on the safe side, I would make the British versions of the "Prevent transports from reaching Kota Bharu/Singora/Patani" objectives all Trigger Event - Turn Start since they include the condition Check Turn - Scenario Turn Limit. Any Event may work but we know Turn Start does:

Task Force Z v. 1.0 (continued)

Let's talk a bit about those merchant ships. That is, let me talk a bit and you listen (read).

First, I needed a spreadsheet to get them sorted in my head!


This may shade over into "CSD" again, but was there a reason (perhaps historical?) for concentrating 5 of the ships (which represent invasion forces) on Singora? I would expect a more even distribution, say 3-3-2 with the 2 being the northernmost point, Singora, well-removed from the bulk of British defenses. As it is, the Kota Bharu objective (one ship) is disproportionately easy for the human player while Singora (five ships) is correspondingly harder for no apparent reason.

Back to "CSI." There is a logistical reason for questioning this as well. AI Team 2 has one merchant ship and three destroyers in it. The destroyers sail faster than the merchant ship so they are going to forge ahead. One of the destroyers is going to reach the port of Kota Bharu and perch on that hex, preventing the merchant ship from reaching it. For the Japanese to defeat these "Prevent transports from reaching Kota Bharu/Singora/Patani" objectives, they have to possess the port hex and a certain Scenario Variable has to be greater than one:


The potential problem is, you are requiring a merchant ship to also be on that exact spot in order to earn the Scenario Variable:


In order to "allow for some leeway," I would add the condition of port hex ownership to each of these Scenario Variable triggers, which requires that the port hex be taken, but also make the Distance = 1 to allow for the merchant ship being blocked from the port hex by a destroyer.

By the way, on this particular Kota Bharu trigger, the Target Hex is way off:


All five of the Singora triggers are pointing to a hex just a bit north of Kota Bharu:


And the two Patani ships have Target Hexes in the South Seas:


Three sea commanders and this air commander are missing unit assignments:

Kota Bharu v. 1.0

Just a suggestion: "Hold [at least] 3 primary airfields for duration of scenario" to avoid confusion; there are four on the map.

No outcome descriptions:


Judgment call: By making this Japanese objective also Scenario Turn Limit, you are allowing the human player to lose 2 or more airfields during the scenario with the hope of taking them back before the end of the scenario. Whereas, without this Scenario Turn Limit condition, if at any time the Japanese conquered a second airfield, the scenario would end immediately:


I guess it depends on what you had in mind when you said "Hold 3 primary airfields for duration of scenario." If you meant continuously, then you may want to remove the Scenario Turn Limit condition on the Japanese objective trigger.

For reasons stated before, this should say Turn = 21 (or Turn >20) because as it is, it will fire at the beginning of Turn 20 which meant the requirement was to defend Jitra for only 19 turns:


By the way, the Australians are awarded an extra Specialisation Point in that trigger.

Similar to above, this should be Turn <21 in order to allow the Japanese their 20 hacks at it:


There seems to be superfluity (is that a word?) in this trigger:


The first condition asks, "Were there any Malay units killed by Japanese?" which is technically incorrect in that the killers could also be Thai. The second condition correctly asks, "Have any Malay units been destroyed?" which is more to the point. I would delete the first condition. The second condition does not stipulate Unit Type but that's not necessary; there are only three Malay infantry units in the scenario.

[By the way, somebody should be waving these scenarios under the nose of the cavalier person who decided to suppress certain alternative factions (U.S. Red and Blue, alternate Great Britain, alternate Japan). Mr. Cavalier thought they were superfluous (I know that's a word!) so "Poof" and they were gone from the editor. Except if one knows how to restore them, that is, and thankfully they still work. Your scenarios are fresh examples of how useful, even necessary, these additional factions can be. But that's water way, way under the bridge at this point.]

Kota Bharu v. 1.0 (continued)

I tremble when I notice how many images I have uploaded to a single post, for fear of losing the entire post when they get garbled, and I don't go back to edit a post for its images for the same reason. So therefore, let's continue here with that last "Malayan unit destroyed" trigger. I noticed that although this trigger provides for failing that objective, it neglects how to achieve it. The easiest way, of course, is to set it as achieved from the beginning, only to be failed if a Malay unit is destroyed:


The same goes with the "BB lost" and "CV lost" triggers; failure is possible but no provision for achievement. Here again, I think this will work - the objective is not activated but it can be set as achieved from the start:


The "Check Hex Owner" Target Hex for this one seems strangely placed:


Including image files here will avoid the Black Box message effect (I'm sure that with a few mouse clicks and 10-15 seconds, you will come up with a couple of highly appropriate ones ):

Slim River v. 1.0

"Reports of Japanese transports on both the east and west coasts of Malaya are threatening to outflank the Allied defenders. The Allied High Command has ordered the establishment of a new defense line along the Slim River.
It will be a different Christmas this year."

"The Japanese have surprised the Allies with their rapid offensive down the Malayan coasts.
Our troops have created a new defense line further south.
Beware of seaborne transports trying to outflank our defenses on either coast.
The greatest pressure is expected on the western flank."

No outcome descriptions.

Below is an oversight, I believe. The mission is to "Hold at least 3 objectives at scenario end" and the scenario contains 40 turns. You probably want "Scenario Turn Limit" here:


Same thing here, but recall what I said earlier; if your intention is for the human player to fail if he ever loses 2 or more VPs, then you don't want a "Scenario Turn Limit" for this one; if you want to give the human player a chance to win back VPs and have 3 or more at the end, then you do:


Oh, I just saw this - wrong alliance:


For all of these Secondary Objective triggers, I would advance the Turn numbers +1 for reasons stated before. Here, for example, this fires at the beginning of Turn 5 which means Taiping airfield only needed to be held for 4 turns:

Muar River v. 1.0

"The Japanese have transferred more reinforcements to Malaya.
Their favourite tactic of outflanking the Allies through the jungle or by small seaborne invasions has pushed the Allies further south. The Japanese use of bicycles to keep the momentum has given the campaign the nickname 'The Bicycle Blitzkrieg'." ("has" refers to "tactic" which is a singular noun)

"The Allied troops have retreated to a new defense line.
This is the last chance to make a stand on the Malay mainland.
You have been reinforced by Australian troops to bolster the defence. Also, British units have recently arrived in Singapore and are moving north." ('have" refers to "troops" which is a plural noun)

No outcome descriptions.

I believe these two air squadrons are orphans (no AI team assigned):


This, below, doesn't look right. First, the scenario contains 40 turns. As this stands now, if the Japanese take two Primary VP's but before Turn 31, they don't win. If they do so after Turn 30, they win instantly. Did you mean "Scenario Turn Limit" and, if so, is that what you intend? That is, can the British take back VP's before the end of the scenario? It depends on what you intended, whether you include "Scenario Turn Limit" or not for this trigger:


The "BB lost" and "CV lost" triggers only fail those objectives. There is no provision for winning them. Marking the objectives thusly may be the solution:


Also, the AI should have matching Primary Objectives to win/fail when the human player fails/wins his. In this case for the Japanese it could be, at "Scenario Turn Limit," check the British battleship and carrier objectives. If still achieved, fail the corresponding Japanese objectives. On the other hand, add an effect to each of the "BB lost" and "CV lost" triggers to achieve the corresponding Japanese objectives if the British objectives are failed.

EDIT: I don't want to blow up this post by trying to add another image but I subsequently found that, on your "CV lost" trigger, the Unit Definition is Destroyer, not Carrier.

Muar River v. 1.0 (continued)

For reasons stated previously, this should read Turn = 6 (or Turn > 5). All of the Secondary Objective triggers should be advanced Turn +1:


Wrong team here, I think:


There is no such image file in the folder:

Singapore v. 1.0

No outcome descriptions.

See previous posts for the discussion of setting Battleship and Carrier objectives as achieved from the start and having matching Japanese Primary Objectives for "Do not lose any battleships" and "Do not lose any carriers." [Something is puzzling me about these objectives. You have them in several scenarios so far but, unless one chose to play Task Force Z wherein he acquires core battleships and carriers, how does one have them in these scenarios? Choosing Gin Players Line bypasses Task Force Z . . . Oh, wait a minute. You don't have those objectives turned on until the Japanese spot a battleship or a carrier . . . That works. ]

See previous posts as to why it would be a good idea, for all Secondary Objective triggers, to advance the Turn numbers +1 for reasons stated before.

Up until now, you used "Check Unit Count, Unit Status = Destroyed, Amount >0" for these triggers. The mission is still "Do not lose any battleships/carriers." Any reason why you are now requiring none to be alive? I'm asking because it's possible that more than one of each could be in the scenario depending on what happened in Task Force Z and subsequently:


The Seletar triggers are looking at Sembawang instead:


Incorrect Setup AI Team task:


No Target Hex assigned (Remove Hex missing):


This one appears to have been rendered null and void:

Moulmein v. 1.0

Ah, the "gurgle, beep" of an oil pump! This time I am not befuddled by it; I found the source immediately.

Recall in the second post of this thread that I mentioned the date of Moulmein in the Campaign Editor being out of chronological order. It also does not match the date of the scenario itself:


"On the next day, small units of Japanese troops infiltrated into Burmese borders and engaged in skirmishes against British and Burmese troops." [Although, I do like "Brumese" - they sound like my kind of people, you know? ]

This scenario needs work. There is only one Primary Objective, "Hold Moulmein plus airfield for 20 turns." This actually sounds like you intended it to be a Secondary Objective because there is a reward, "Deploy 3 air units," which is superfluous after this objective is won or lost. Moreover, the scenario contains 30 turns. There is no corresponding AI objective which means Defeat is not possible for the human player.

Headquarters is exceedingly mute, having nothing to say about this mission whatsoever. "Blimey! I'll be gobsmacked if we can reach HQ on the bloody wireless. We're on our own and Bob's your uncle!" If and when you correct this, by the way, watch the outcome numbers which are in the default 0,1,2,3,4 sequence. Your scenarios are usually 0,0,1,1,1:


Adding to the unfinished feel of this scenario are these two triggers. The first will end the scenario in Turn 20 out of 30 (which again, if you mean for the British to hold Moulmein for 20 turns, should be Turn >20 or Turn = 21). The second will merely reopen the objective? These need to be revised:


As mentioned before, all Secondary Objectives should be advanced Turn +1 so as to conform to the stated objectives:


Also, all of the Japanese triggers merely reopen the Secondary Objective instead of failing it:


None of the "Setup AI Team - Move to Hex" orders on any of the triggers for 112.Reg, 55.Cav, or 143.Reg, have a Target Hex assigned, as evidenced by the missing "Remove Hex" button:


I'm sorry, but for the apparent lack of preparation for this scenario, you have received a grade of "F" (But cheer up. Based on your multitude of previous successes, your Grade Point Average remains very high. )

Bilin-Sittang v. 1.0

This is the scenario that, in order for it to be accessed, one must achieve a Draw or Minor Victory at Moulmein (not a Major Victory, which skips to Rangoon).

A couple of AA gun orphans here (the hangar is empty, I believe, so no problem there):


A bit short on the land supply and, considering the situation at this stage of the war, not intentional, I think:


No corresponding AI objectives (human Defeat not possible) and no outcome descriptions.

The "Hold Kuzeik for 10 turns" objective points to Kuzeik and a bridge to the northwest. Intentional?:


The Billin Primary Objective triggers, and all Secondary Objective triggers, need to be advanced Turn +1 so as to conform to the stated objectives; for example, you want the British to hold Billin for 15 full turns and not be excused at the beginning of Turn 15 as shown here: