Secret weapons

[Driggsd]

An Idea

Why not instead of focusing on the actual platform (IE Maus, or A-Bomb) Why not have secret Tech reserch as a modifier. Such as you can research Tank/Mechanical (decreasing the fuel requirement of your basic tech tanks) or Tank/Production (obvious), Tank/Art(better main gun), Tank/Electronics or Tank/Comm (better orginazation reflecting beter comms) And so on and so on and so on. Cas/Comms or Int/Comms. INF/Weapons INF/AT INF/AA.

These Secret techs could either be researched in seires with "normal" research or in parralel. With the bonuses reflecting a National focus on some aspect of that reaserch catagory. Such as how German Subvocalazation microphones in tanks lending themselves to the tankers being able to quickly pass orders without having to yell and repeat themselves. This would be TANK/Comms. (meaning slightly better ORG values.) There was no reason other nations could not have used simmilar tech at the same time and in game terms you could change a nations focus on the basic platform by reaserch some "secret tech".

Just an Idea.

 

[Lazy_Boy]

It would be nice to have all those crazy German experiments take a more prominent role. Same with allied radar and computers. I mean looking at the massive lead they had in jet engines and aircraft design it's not hard to imagine an alternate history scenario with jet fighters in '42 gaining complete air superiority over the allies. Hell that would even make their crazy super tanks more practical without threats from the air.

Yes on a scale of HOI stuff like that made little difference. But still I think it undervalues the advantage new technology gave and its potential for changing the tide. The real war was certainly won by the allies massively outproducing the axis, but HOI needs to better represent the importance of how key battles and technology could have made all the difference. Earlier German jets could've been HUGE and completely changed the dynamics of the war. While in HOI2 researching the next fighter class early wouldn't do a damned thing. Nukes are about the only special item that gives a realistic devastating advantage.

Also I'm hoping the game has been geared for much longer conflict. If history had been slightly different the conflict could've gone on much longer at many points. HOI2 you've either won or lost by '42. That's going to be determined by balancing and the AI though.

 

[out]

Why not instead of focusing on the actual platform (IE Maus, or A-Bomb) Why not have secret Tech reserch as a modifier.

I think with the new HoI3 "model-less" model, that will have to be the only way. The problem is how to keep these SW units at low number. You can't very well have 20 divisions of Maus/Ratte/asorted rodents running around. So perhaps some sort of model still need to be modeled.

Also I'm hoping the game has been geared for much longer conflict.

I agree. Honestly DD and Arma did a very poor job IMO in extending the timeline as they were supposed to. By '50 most of the interesting conflict would have been long over, and you might as well fast forward to '63 if you want to finish the whole span.

 

[Battlecry]

I agree. Honestly DD and Arma did a very poor job IMO in extending the timeline as they were supposed to. By '50 most of the interesting conflict would have been long over, and you might as well fast forward to '63 if you want to finish the whole span.

I don't think (or at least have seen no evidence that) the expansions for HOI2 were really balanced to provide for warfare over that longer timescale. They simply added time and some new units (along with features) to the original game. Hopefully, if/when we see an expansion for HOI3 it'll include some balancing changes to account for the increased scale.

 

[Ithron]

This probably has been mentioned already here, that allies also had very creative mind on crazy ideas, many of which were regarded as valuable, had funds and resources poured into them. Yes, we can pretend being 'smarter' and assume that it's irrelevant. But atomic bomb too was very much one of the wacky ideas for a long time of its research, until it became reality.
Some of the other crazy, but generaly working ideas
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001580.html
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000964.html
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001450.html
and many many other..

 

[unmerged(37697)]

Customised secret weapons would be cool, like we can apparently do with tanks and (hopefully) battleships.

The NaziDoomDeathCannon, anyone?

 

[Amob_m_s]

For the jet argument, please remember that both 1st-gen (ME 262, Gloster Meteor, P-80 Shooting Star) jets, and 2nd-gen advances (Gotha and other german "super weapons," American Sabres, British Vampires, etc., have been in HoI since the series's conception. These inventions take us all the way up to early Korean War tech, so I think secret planes have already been modelled pretty well. You CAN get Me-262s in the air by 1943 or Sabres over Berlin by 1946ish if you really focus on it. And, provided we see some more improvements on air power this time around, you can use them to turn the tide.

Historically, the success of the Ardennes Offensive was due to the cloud cover that kept the USAAF and RAF from exercising their total dominance in the skies. Once the "Bulge" was contained and the clouds departed, air power tore the Germans to shreds. Hypothetically, had the Germans had large quantities of jet aircraft in the Luftwaffe, they might have been able to actually hold on to their gains, and (if they had air superiority over Allied positions as well) maybe even force the intended breakthrough to the coast. Now, you can get the tech to do this even in HoI1. It is the airpower system that holds you back, not the technology tree.

As for other techs: I can see where you want Maus and Ratte, etc. I can even see validity in the argument, and perhaps some more advanced techs should be included. But, I have just realized, it really is of little difference: the king of secret techs is (and should be) the nuclear bomb. There's a reason there has been no direct conflict between two world powers since WW2: all sides realize that military dominance is of little use when the enemy can wipe out millions, soldier or civilian, in one quick strike. Once the bomb and the long-range missile were developed, a tank, no matter how large, seemed a useless research path. Notice that the American army still uses 70s and 80s-era weaponry for most of its action (M-16s, F15s, and the like.) Indeed, if any progress in traditional areas has been made, it is in making LESS powerful weapons that do the same amount of work- one 250 lb. smart bomb from a small F-117 flying in formations of three now does work that in WW2 would have meant dozens of enormous bombers dropping tons of bombs each. One cruise missile, launched from a carrier in the Indian Ocean, can take the place of an entire company of infantry and light armor in wiping out a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan. Why spend billions on a tank the size of a house when yoou can spend thousands on a small rocket that can do the exact same job with less disruption to innocent lives?