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.
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.
