A Time for Glory Planning Thread

[Retech]

Oh, does anyone know if Trol meant 12 PM Eastern or 12 PM GMT?

[The_Mather1]

I think he meant GMT -8 since Grim, living in California is at the latest time here.

[archimage_a]

Germany.

Background Information:

December 20th, 1918, Kaiser Wilhem II, while inspecting a trench on the western front, is mysteriously shot in the head. The aftermath is downplayed by Admiral Tirpitz, General Hinderburg and General Lundendorf, who quickly write the whole incident off as a tragic accident.

 

[metagame]

A secret investigation indicates that Kaiser Wilhem II was growing unease with the war and wanted to bring about peace, hinting of a possible conspirary from the Chiefs of the army and navy to kill the Kaiser and replace him with a more diehard leader.

Enter Kaiser Archi Von Archarnis, the first.

[/metagame]

 

The new Kaiser immediately set about destroying the peace convention:

First by giving France six months to surrender Verdun or Germany would take it from them.

Second by declaring Britain must reduce its Dreadnought Fleet to parity with Germany, or face war.

Third by demanding Switzerland surrender unconditionally(only if Nex is playing Switzerland).

Then launched in to a Filibuster, reading from the French and British Census, prefacing each line with the words 'Germany will dance on the graves of...'

Refusing to stop until France had outlawed Garlic, Trade Unions and Ballet and Britain confirmed rumours that the late Queen Victoria was, in fact, a man.

 

With the talks successfully sabortaged Kaiser Archarnis pubic decreeded that war was coming, and Germany, Austria-Hungry, Italy and Scandinavia would inhert Lebensraum, Living Space, from the Cowardly French and Arrogant English, though their fight is not with Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

 

The Kiel Canal is closed to British and French shipping, and the Dreadnought Fleet begins battle training immediately, flexing their naval prowess. (I would like to know how large my and Britian's navies are...)

[Grim_]

Yeah, I think we all would like to know the strength of our starting armies.

[Nexaduro]

No such luck, Archi. I'm New Iberia.

 

And jeez, really bringing on the wrath of the Axis aren't you?

[Retech]

I think a simple thing would be that Trol would give us the costs for troops and an extra hit of our starting budget to purchase troops and stuff.

[Nexaduro]

Well, the game sorta isn't started yet. :P

[Retech]

Well it kinda starts at midnight, so we should know what we can do before we do it. :)

[Icuownage]

A bit of RP seems fun.

 

America:

Background Information:

After the great war, America was confirmed as a world power, due to a recently war torn Europe, and Britain being left in a debt to America from the weapon deals that they had going on, but thankfully they have been paid off. America looks towards a bright future, with a recent presidential election, electing in a new president, President Terry Maple.

 

Leader's Background:

Terry grew up in Washington, and has a politician for a father, while his Mother lived up to societies views. He graduated from Harvard University, with a degree in Politicts. Throughout his enrollment in the university, Terry had a nack for chess, and other stratgetic games. While running for president, Terry promised his people a bright future in the ever changing world of the industrial revolution. Diplomatically, he finds the European scene not to be a problem for America and will not waste precious resources that could be used to adapt America to the changing world.

 

America warns the southern states that their actions are not tolerated and military action will be used if they do not stand down.

[Nexaduro]

So, when does this start again?

[jasignhagj]

12pm GMT-6, My timezone (WPG FTW)

 

Anyways, All your data will be ready then. I kinda spent the last 4 hours playing Nazi Zombies.

[Nexaduro]

Blech. 1:00 here.

 

See y'all tomorrow I guess.

[jasignhagj]

The info will probably done about an hour or two before then, so check back before you go to bed.

[Nexaduro]

Can't, going now. XD

 

What were you playing Nazi Zombies on?

[jasignhagj]

Black ops for 360. We were playing Kino Der Totten. I'm pretty awful, but my two friends managed to drag us to level 18. My record is 23 with me and 3 others.

[Retech]

Going to sleep now.

 

 

Please don't attack me in the few hours between when the game starts and I wake up. :P

[jasignhagj]

There will be a three month PT (No attacking tomorrow). Christmas will also be a day off, and count as part of the first turn.

 

Anyone still on please check the troop costs/values on the real thread and see if they are too cheap/expensive.

[archimage_a]

Kinda hard to guess when only one country...and by WW1 standards, a fairly rubbish country, has got its budget.

 

 

But ultimately:

48,660,000 could recruit an army of 4,866,000 soliders in year one and 4,379,400 in year two...(Or 1,850 Divisions)

[Icuownage]

I'm sure there is upkeep.

 

Can we post in the other thread now?

[archimage_a]

More depends how much the relative units are worth...Somehow I doubt 2 tanks would stand much of a chance against 5,000 soliders.

 

 

Lack of machine guns and trenches, problematic...And the expensiveness of artillary.

Relatively low price of shipping also an issue...

I think shipping should have shipyards instead...The ships have reasonable upkeep, while the ship yards have massive upkeep...so if you want to build 20 Dreadnoughts one year, you can't, unless you have 5 shipyards(or something).

 

 

Also, I think upkeep should be constant...When the inital war dies down we are gonna be left with massive armies which we will pull out of our hat everytime anyone does anything.

 

Annexation of occupied land seems weak...Ideally you would get some payment depending on how many enemy territories border that one...If it has +2 then it generates no income, 2 generates 25%, 1 generates 50% and fully enclosed is 100%(or 75%).

[jasignhagj]

Sounds reasonable. It appears we are going to need a third map for Fortifications.

[Icuownage]

Upkeep!

 

Plus I'll never buy irregulars.

 

Well I'll wait until other people attack, and irregulars are more cost effective, I probably will.

 

You don't even know your budget yet, it could be larger than mine.

[Icuownage]

This may get complicated, but how about incremental upkeep?

 

If your army is, lets say a reasonable number

 

>100,000 then Upkeep is 100%

100,000 - 199,999 then Upkeep is 125%

200,000 - 299,999 then Upkeep is 150%

300,000 - 499,999 then Upkeep is 175%

500,000 - 1,000,000 Upkeep is 200%

1,000,000+ Upkeep is 250%

[jasignhagj]

ICU has one of the largest budgets, I believe. Im going to have to say no to incremental upkeep, as Im keeping this all in an Excel sheet and I don't want to complicate things. If a nation gets too many troops, they will get negative industry penalties.

[archimage_a]

Also the research system...Par excellance.

Though a third 'Other' catagory would be good...would cover things like aircraft, mathamatics, propaganda, cryptography...

 

 

On the subject of fortifications...I think provinces with fortified lines should have 5 times the defensive strength(not including tanks), but have 0 monetry output.

 

 

 

Also, on combat mechanics, this might be a rather good way:

[hide]

http://www.wargamedevelopments.org/Wargame%20Developments%20Handbook.pdf

Matrix Game

A game in which only the very basic framework of a conflict is outlined, and is resolved by a structured sequence of

logical arguments. Each argument has an Action, a Result, and three Reasons Why (e.g. In a Peninsular War campaign,

Wellington might argue, "I shall fortify the town (Action), with the Result that its defences improve (+1 to combat rules

when defending). I am able to do this because: (1) I have a ready source of trained manpower, (2) I have an experienced

Engineer in command, and (3) the British Government has recently sent me the money with which to pay for the work".

These arguments are weighted by an Umpire based on historical precedence, personal experience, and his own

judgement (or sometimes the other player's judgement), and a probability of success arrived at (a dice then being then

thrown to see if the Result was achieved). There are very few rules, arguments being allowed about anything at all, and

what rules there are can be modified as the result of a successful argument.

 

The Matrix itself consists of a set of verbal "cues" of concepts and ideas such as:

Ambush, Anger, Battle Cry, Fatigue, Fear, Force March, Halt, Large Formation, Love, Morale

Increases/Decreases, Motivation, Normal March, Open Battle, Rally, Recruit/Desert, Rest/Prepare, Retreat, Rout,

Shame, Skirmish, Small Formation, Success/Failure, Supply Lines, Tactical Advantage, Terrain Effect,

Victory/Defeat, Weather Effect.

 

The Argument

Taking the cues from the Matrix, and any other source of inspiration, each player in turn constructs an "Argument" so that

it contains an ACTION, a RESULT, and up to three REASONS WHY. For example:

Action: I will FORCE MARCH my troops to Madrid.

Result: They SUCCEED in arriving, because:

Reason 1: The WEATHER is fair and in my favour.

Reason 2: The troops have RESTED/PREPARED prior to moving.

Reason 3: I know the route well (TERRAIN EFFECT or PERSONAL ABILITY).

 

Resolving the Argument

The argument is then assessed; usually by an Umpire, but sometimes by the other players, and a probability of success

arrived at - then a Dice is thrown to see if the Result takes place. In our example, if the action took place in February

after a hard fought battle at least two of the Reasons given by the player would be very weak, and the resulting chance of

success correspondingly low.

When an Argument succeeds it remains in effect until another Argument stops it. If two Arguments are in direct

opposition, they must both succeed first as Arguments, then the two sides must roll-off to see who wins between them;

furthermore if two Arguments are made with the same Result, there is no rolling of dice as it is granted an automatic

success (unless vetoed as being really silly!).

The important thing to remember in a Matrix Game is that Arguments can be made about anything that is relevant to the

conduct of the campaign. You can argue about your own troops or about the enemy, the political leadership back home,

the weather, plague, disease, public opinion, and you can even argue for changes in whatever rules you are using to

resolve the actual combat. With a bit of imagination, common sense and rational thinking, it is possible to present

persuasive arguments as to what should happen in any military campaign.

[/hide]

 

Get rid of the massively long debates if you are limited to 3 arguments why it works, which the mod then looks at and goes yes or no.

 

 

 

 

Resolving upkeep could be done quite simply....Reverse the numbers.

It is cheap to buy up irregular militas, but they have a high upkeep, and you can only get elites by keeping an army active for 5 years(for instance).

 

The 'I recruit 50 million soliders' ploy could then be defeated by the above three point system. EG:

 

Mod Informs Attackers of Defenders:

Attacker, your 20,000 Elite Troops arrive at the battlefield, arrayed against you is 5 million Irregular Troops.

 

Elite Attackers:

Action: I will FORCE the ENEMY to FLEE

Result: They will DESERT, because:

Reason 1: They are POORLY TRAINED/DISCIPLINED.

Reason 2: Their LOGISTICS will be a mess, so they will be UNDERFED/ARMED.

Reason 3: They have FEW ABLE COMMANDERS.

 

Mod Informers Defender of Attackers:

Defender, your 5 million Irregular troops arrive at the battle field, arrayed against you is 20,000 Elite Troops.

 

Defenders:

Action: My forces will RAMPAGE

Result: They will DESTROY the ENEMY, because:

Reason 1: I TELL them to.

Reason 2: They are DEFENDING their HOMES.

Reason 3: They OUTNUMBER the ENEMY.

 

 

Spork would think look at those two responces and decide an outcome:

Attackers have 2 great reasons(1 and 2), and 1 good reason(3).

Defenders have 2 good reasons(2 and 3), and 1 terrible reason(1).

Therefore:

The Attackers would succeed in forcing large parts of the Defenders to flee the battle.

The remaining defenders would then rampage.

 

If the Attackers and Defenders still survived at the end of it then Spork could inform them of the new situation and they could replan accordingly.