Risk BetAAR II, what the ...

[Kanitatlan]

Since I am on Yukala's beta tester list it is now time for a quick Grand Battle Mod AAR. This AAR is not going to be nearly as detailed as my recent style has been (thank god for that) but will be somewhat analytical. It is being played on the Grand Battle Mod (heretofor know as the Risk Mod) Beta 2. I have raised a couple of concerns with Yukala, specifically

1. The reinforcement costs in Beta 2 are outrageously high and my response would be to never (ever) reinforce any units. I have decided to change the settings for my AAR to demonstarte how things turn out with different settings rather than illustrate the effects of me never reinforcing (whilst everyone else does). This AAR is played with...

Trickle-back 0
Reinforce manpower 1
Reinforce cost 0.3
Reinforce time 3

The overall effect is that reinforcement costs the same manpower as a new build and 90% of the IC of a new build. Allowing for gearing new builds are cheaper but not enormously so.

2. My other comment was on the very high penalty an enemy receives for being attacked from multiple directions. I believe this can be exploited by a player but multi-direction attacks are a good idea anyway so the issue is more subtle. I have left this setting as is and will be looking to exploit it to see whether the existing setting really is a problem.

Start

I have selected Federal Germany as my country. I chose this because of its central location and hence the 'exposure' to other countries. Having started I find it is also one of the more powerful in terms of starting IC and resources. Since the game is about exploring the mod rather than being difficult I will continue with this powerful country.

Game settings are normal/normal since I have only played one pilot game (as Russia) and even that only for 2 years. I don't really know what I'm getting into but I guess we are all going to find out.



This is the starting position (political display) with a wide collection of medium to large powers. As you can see the situation is a little different to HOI with a completely different set of countries, and they all hate me (except Italy it seems which merely dislikes me intensely, -100 relations instead of -200). The only saving grace is they all hate each other as well.

The internal state of my country is interesting. Everyone has a fixed set of ministers that cannot be changed making each country subtley different. Also, each country has a set of research teams that gives it a distinctive style. My "personailty" is fairly defined by an "armoured spearheads" and "manoeuvre" ministers with tech teams tuned to spearhead land doctrine.

Air bias is to Air Superiority (fighter bonuses) and Naval to indirect approach (SS and BC bonuses). I am intend to play along with these biases.

About Germany



Zooming in on the diplomatic map shows a bit about my situation and targets. I have a variety of claims on other countries. These are especially significant as they turn into national provinces once acquired so are more useful than they would from their normal face value. Metz (France) is the really good one as it has 23 IC all on its own. My army consists of

20 garrison (14 of which are permanenly fixed in place around the borders)
24 Infantry
4 armour
4 cavalry
6 marines
2 mountain

Everything is model I units. These are not the same as standard HOI so at least Inf I isn't too bad but the cavalry is particularly weak and the armour is quite poor. Further details will appear in the narrative as we progress.

The air forces is 5 CAS, 3 TAC, 5 NAV, 5 Strat, 7 Int II, 5 Esc I

All model I except for the interceptors.

Navy is 3 BB, 3 BC, 3 CA, 15 DD, 3 SS, 6 Trans

All nations seem to get the same starting forces (I think)



Initial resources and industry is pretty good but it is income that matters.



This is my set of ministers - not very informative I know but this display is for slider positions. I have made my first slider move which is 1 more hawk. Notice the full interventionism which allows everyone to DOW and also no benefit from guaranteeing other countries.

[DirtyCommiePuke]

Looks interesting, will be following.

[Tribolute]

What's with that non-core german province between munich and Usti, i think it's Regensburg?

[Kanitatlan]

Proceeding immediately into the game I have set up my initial builds a run through one day and submitted loads of trades.



Builds are 16 Inf I plus what you can see plus a surprise (you'll find out when they are deployed)

Gearing is extremely important in this Mod as illustrated by the following

1st Inf : 45 days
2nd Inf: 75 days = +30
3rd Inf: 104 days = +29
4th Inf: 134 days = +30

As you can see I have immediate gearing down to 65% of normal cost after the first unit. This makes draft army slider moves actually quite valuable in this Mod as the average cost of units is far more affected than in normal HOI. In fact if I had used my slider for that I would have had immediate gearing down to 60% or a 7.5% reduction in cost for all geared units. As it is I have gone for an additional 4.5% cost and 4.5% time from the Hawk slider.

The resource surpluses are now visible and are being massively expended in trade. Dozens of trades have been set up almost all 14 energy for 1 money. I start of with low money and an impending deficit simply from researching. I need money for diplomacy as well as to balance the books and even better if my getting it deprives the opposition.

With the current slider settings a DOW costs 6.7% dissent and everyone will be generating loads of cash once the DOWs start flying about (and they will big time).

Once my initial trades have stabilised I will add additional trades for supplies using up the remainder of by energy and metal surpluses. I ought to use up the rares surplus too but for some reason that seems quite unnatural. Oil is now a premium resource in that there is a shortage. Units use up a great deal of oil so it is best not to trade it away (I think).



Early research is based on trying to get somewhere. The research into industrial items is an investment. The research into Infantry II is a key item. Inf II is my chosen infantry unit and my build of 4 rounds of Inf I is calculated to fill the waiting time. I will then build my 'main' army out of Inf II. The doctrine reasearch is extremely important. Getting started on land doctrines will give massive org and morale increases and is absolutely essential. There are a number of key air doctrines that give +50% of various missions and I want to develop these as they will make my air force twice as effective.

[Kanitatlan]

What's with that non-core german province between munich and Usti, i think it's Regensburg?

The ones either side are claims on Austro-Hungary. I have no idea why Regensberg isn't a core but it isn't.

[Kanitatlan]

I forget to mention, the game starts of March 10th 1930. The research dates in the technology tree have not been changed but the advanced research penalty has been dramatically reduced (3.6% ?? per year). This means there is little restriction of what I research so I can rush ahead in certain areas but the benefit of this is somewhat questionable.

It is now May 11th and I have kept my head down and done nothing but trade and watch. I already have the world's largets army (78 to 69 with most countries in the 65-68 range). If you look closely at the following image you can see my entire army looking over the fence at my most annoying neighbourinos. Frankly we just can't diddly doodly take the language.



All hell has let loose, in the Grand battle Mod there is nothing but war and lots of it. The red lines all represent states of war existing between the two countries. I'm not even going to try and cover the rest of the world, there is enough chaos in my corner of it already. The only country in Europe (apart from me that is) which is at peace is Scotland and I bet its just a matter of time before they join in.

It is actually easier to list which neighbours are not at war than it is to list the wars.

The current big question is do I

a) Try and stay out and build up some more to take advantage of the destruction they inflict on each other.

OR

b) Do I grab that nice house next door whilst everyone is busy brawling.

[DirtyCommiePuke]

Invade Flanders, and grab some of France without actually being at war with them.

[Kanitatlan]

And here is one days fighting just to show how busy everyone is

1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Yugoslavia won a battle against Greece in Sarajevo
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Scandinavia won a battle against Finland in Gällivare
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : American West won a battle against Mexico in Las Vegas
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : New Zealand won a battle against Australia in Noumea
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Confederate States won a battle against Republic of America in Buffalo
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Empire of Siam won a battle against India in Bassein
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Romania won a battle against Ukraine in Iasi
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Republic of America won a battle against Confederate States in Pittsburgh
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : France won a battle against Flanders in Vichy
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : France won a battle against Flanders in Paris
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Greece won a battle against Ottoman Empire in Kavala
1930-04-10 : 1:00 May 11, 1930 : Greece won a battle against Ottoman Empire in Crete
1930-04-10 : 3:00 May 11, 1930 : Finland won a battle against Russia in Kingisepp
1930-04-10 : 4:00 May 11, 1930 : Austria-Hungary won a battle against Romania in Sibiu
1930-04-10 : 8:00 May 11, 1930 : Japan won a battle against Philippines in Taipei
1930-04-10 : 13:00 May 11, 1930 : France won a battle against Iberia in Saint-Etienne
1930-04-10 : 15:00 May 11, 1930 : Yugoslavia won a battle against Greece in Novi Pazar
1930-04-10 : 20:00 May 11, 1930 : Philippines won a battle against Japan in South Ryukyu
1930-04-10 : 22:00 May 11, 1930 : Ottoman Empire won a battle against Greece in North Aegean Sea

That is a typical day. If you watch the log there is just a continuous stream of battle reports. It feels slightly odd that it never mentions anyone losing a battle but they're just trying to be upbeat.

[rich-love]

You know, I had a feeling you'd be doing a Risk AAR once I saw you posting in therev's AAR. Good luck - this looks like a fun mod.

[Spacehusky]

How does partisanship and IC and manpower from non-national provinces work in RISK mod?

[Tribolute]

Hmm, neither way seems to look good for expansion.
Flanders looks ripe, but yeah, it looks like they've got a military and kick-arse other things.
Scandanavia must be weak from losing all that baltic and north sweden stuff.
Austria-Hungary seems to be the most dangerous to you atm, they've got a lot of border which you aren't defending. Poland might be a hussle too :<.

So yeah, do alliances exist at all? If so...

Is scotland at war?

[charlieart66]

is this mod available for anyone?

[GeneralHannibal]

is this mod available for anyone?

It is in Beta version, so no, not yet, but you can PM Yukala and ask to be a Beta-Tester and then he might make it available. You should attack Flanders since they're dealing with France and probably won't have many troops to defend with. Also, you get Metz .

[Kanitatlan]

DirtyCommiePuke Well that is the agressive option.

rich-love If you watched the Grand battle sub-forum there is a list of Beta testers.

Spacehusky There are very low partisan levels on occupied provinces with a moderate IC rate (can't remeber off the top of my head). When you annex the IC rate is increased dramatically but so are partisan levels. Typically this results in about the same IC as occupied territory until partisan levels go down. By my calculations it takes 7 years to get partisans down to the minimum of 2%. The partisan and occupied province TC scores also balance so that TC is heavily hit unless you annex and suppress the partisans (full suppression takes outrageous sized forces).

Tribolute Scotland and Germany are the only countries not at war. If I DOW Ned I'm expecting they will join in. I don't know if there is an AI mechanism for ganging up on victims or if just happens naturally but Scotland is quite limited for neighbours and if I was them I would want Flanders out.

charlieart66 Currently this mod is in Beta test and only available to Beta testers. If you are really interested then you should go the Gran battle Mod sub-forum, read up on what is happening and PM Yukala if you want to join the Beta test team.

[Stroph1]

This mod is really dog-eat-dog. sort of like that one EU2 version where every provence is a nation. I may have to give this one a whirl some day!

[charlieart66]

how come noone DOW you?

[Kanitatlan]

Stroph1 More like dog eat dog, cat, gopher, pet hamster and everything else. I'm only surprised countries have the sense to not attack themsleves.

charlieart66 That is a very good question. I can't be certain but I jump straight in trading with everyone nearby (improves relations) and once the money had rolled in (from the trading) improved relations with everyone nearby. Also my quick infantry builds mean I have a slightly larger army than all the rest. All in all its simply down to someone else looking more edible. Can't tell what really matters in this.

[charlieart66]

Stroph1 More like dog eat dog, cat, gopher, pet hamster and everything else. I'm only surprised countries have the sense to not attack themsleves.
.

they probably are in china

[Kanitatlan]

By May 26th Scotland has DOWed Scandinavia and Scotland and since I know you all want a fight - I DOW Flanders. This gives me 6.7% dissent so I immediately look to adjust the economy. I leave 100% resourcing of builds and devote everything else to dissent reduction and this will apply for the full period until it is gone with plenty of daily adjustment as my IC varies.



This is the initial plan, not exactly complicated but there are no substantial enemy forces on the border. Everything is a simple direct attack except for an amphibious landing in Amsterdam. I did look to land further west but the Flanders fleet was hanging about and would have intervened. I'm not that keen on a fair fight with them so I ducked out to operate further east with proper air cover.

All air units are directed to ground attack to mop up the detritus left in the wake of my army.



Its worth a look at a few battles to see what modifiers apply. First thing to notice is the complete lack of amphibious landing modifier and relatively small amphibious stacking penalty. This Mod is an amphibious landing paradise, don't expect to be able to secure your coasts without a very heavy commitment in forces. You can now land with pretty much as big a stack as you want.

Next, look at my amour attack, +65% combined arms bonus - - in this campaign my armour is attached to the infantry and its task is to give that +65% to as many units as possible. It is armour I so this is not great sacrifica as its speed is barely faster than the infantry (6 instead of 5).

Finally, I am dealing with the local Flanders fleet hiding in harbour with a few waves of port bombing.

All battles are over very quickly and then things are quiet for a bit while I advance.

[Kanitatlan]

The next issue is a minor disaster. The Ned's troops are attacking Strasbourg and there really is nothing I can do about it. All I can do is be ready for when they get there. The garrison unit is defeated and destroyed and the Flanders troops advance. I would never choose to leave a single garrison defending the border like that as it is an ineffective defence and hence simply a way of losing troops. Unfortunately all the border garrisons are locked in place and the only choice I have is to leave them of disband them (which is very tempting).