F10 Combat Power - for the record

[Sir Garnet]

Some questions for the record and the manual.


Does the Combat Power calculation just add current in-the-field land and naval strength? Garrison and fortress troops (other than auto-garrisons)? Any factoring in of reserves that could be mobilized?


Why do the Combat Power numbers that appear when I boot up a save change dramatically (indicating my country has more power) if I save it and reopen it later? What is updated in the calculation?


What determines the countries that appear on the list?

My Draft Take on This: These are the Great Powers plus countries with which you are at war (though China may pop up as well if it exceeds a Great Power. It seems like some priority is on proximity and lower relations.


Some have commented that the nation comparison omits countries and they would like a scrollable list of every significant country and its stats. For the 19th C, however, that may be too much information - military intelligence was spotty and often rudimentary. So the current list works for its purpose.

[loki100]

don't forget that if you have relations -25 or worse then the country will not pop up either, regardless (I think) of its status. So in our respective AARs, Powloon has improved his relations with Austria to get them to appear, I'm taking the view I'll be nice to Austria after all my northern provinces are mine ...

[Kensai]

loki100, however, if you are at war with a nation (probably at -100) that nation will appear by force in red in the F10 screen.

[loki100]

well in my recent war with the Ottomans it was strange. For about 2 years of that war they appeared (& it was useful to gain a feeling for how much I'd worn them down, as well as to track their NM), the last 6 months they were not visible despite the war - I'm not sure if that was also connected with the last small patch

[powloon1]

Excellent question(s) Sir Garnet I to would be very interested in the answers.

From what I have observered as Loki has mentioned previously you do not appear to be able view countries with whom you have a hostile relationship (over -25). In my game Austria comes and goes on the list as our current relations go over and under this threshold.

I was also interested what the red and green font colour on the military power column is supposed to indicate? I originally thought if it was red that this indicated that their power was greater than yours but on my latest turn Russia and Prussia have scores of 98 and 91 respectively so in theory at least they are weaker than me.

I think the reason the numbers change when you load the game might have something to do with when in the turn cycle the F10 screen calculates the power. I think that the numbers are calculated before new units are deployed on the map. I say that because when I have built a new corps the number does not change as much as I would expect until the turn after the unit appeared. I also noticed this when I colonised Abyssinia and gained control of their army (roughly 1500 pwr) again the F10 screen did not update to reflect this until the turn after it happened.

I think the list of countries that do appear is based on prestige order and whether they have good or neutral relations with your nation (possibly as mentioned being at war causes them to appear to but I have not yet got that far)

Personally I would advocate having all the countries on the list but I do take your point about it being the 19th Century. Perhaps some kind of fog of war factor could be applied to the list to provide an uncertainty factor possibly with the severity of the fog of war decreasing as certain technologies fire (guess this would take too much development to implement any time soon though)

[Spurius]

Hello, I'm new to PoN and enjoying it greatly. I've started a GC to learn the ropes, playing as Prussia. I have been assigned a goal to have the largest military. In F10, I can see the combat power for various other nations - but where do I find my own combat power listed? ( and would comparing my combat power rating to other nations be the way of knowing if my force is the largest ? ) Forgive me if it's obvious, perhaps I'm blind. I've tried to find it in the manual to no avail. Thanks!

[loki100]

the other combat powers are in a ratio to you ... so if you like you = 100, and if France =105 then they have 5% more than you.

Its an opaque calculation as it seems to be both strength and how modern a given army is.

The 'missions' at the start are sort of indicative. Odds on you won't manage them, but clearly with Prussia getting your army as large as possible is a good strategy in any case.

It is indeed a hugely addictive game, good luck

[Spurius]

Thanks so much loki, that makes perfect sense.

It certainly is addictive, even just managing the economy and production is enjoyable - I haven't touched colonies or diplomacy yet. Thanks for your prompt help

[Kensai]

Just remember that the power number is an aggregate and myriad other factors play their role to win the day. In the end, a player that is well-prepared in defense and entrenched can stop a much superior force or at least give them atrocious casualties.