ROP Gold multiplayer

[Bertram]

Hello,

We (I'll let the other players introduce themselves, don't know their forum names) just started a ROP Gold multiplayer campaign. I am playing the Russian side.

During gameplay undoubtly issues and questions will come up - I already have some after the first turn (and the russians don't have to do a lot during that turn ) . I will try to collect those here.....

Ok, on to the questions:
- It was a pleasant surprise that, as Russian, I can control the Swedish too. Makes me able to move some units after the first turn.... As Swedish I get the option to send in a large reinforcement, for a mere 25 engagement points. In a 2 player game this is doable, as you have the engagement pool of the France, Austrian and Russian side to draw upon. In a 4 player variant, as Russian you start with 5 engagement points, and you collect 1 each turn. As the Russians are inactive for the first few months, this will not change in short order. So it wil be a year before you can send in the Swedish reinforcements - if you buy absolute nothing else. Is this as designed?
- Having not much to do, I read the ledger. Under "Score and Objectives" it tells me that there are 24 strategic towns, of which I control 4. The list gives 19 though, of which I control 2 (Sankt Petersburg and Stockholm).
- More a general question I think, but where do I find the English addition to the manual for the Gold version? It is not in the "doc" folder of the game directory.
- And in relation to this: I ran a test game to refresh my memory of the game mechanics. In it I tried out the new Recon option. I send the Swedish cavalry units (as a combined unit - 2 units of heavy cav, 4 elements, one unit of light cavalry, also 4 elements)) out into Anklam (Forest and lakes, civilized, cleared, 100% Prussian loyality and Military control). After one turn sitting there, there was no change in military control or loyality (the last was to be expected). So I used the new "recon" option. It failed. I then used the new recon option both in the region the unit occupied, and in the adjacent region. Both failed. And the militairy control still was 100% Prussian. My questions: do (cavalry) troops still change military control, and by how much? Or do they now only change militairy control when using the "recon" option? And if this last is the case, what are the chances of the event succeeding, and what influences it?

[JacquesDeLalaing]

Concerning your last point, my impression is:

Cavalry units still generate military control like any other unit. You can gain military control faster by having good police-values, more elements, and by staying longer (MC is calculated on a daily basis). Remember that units in passive stance do not generate military control.
I'm just looking into the reconaissance-party-regional-decision for my mod. If I remember correctly, the base chance for success in vanilla ROP was only 50% or so (I don't know if any modifications apply). Also I noted that it seemed as if it gives you less MC than stated in the tooltip. This might be related to some change of MC (eg. because of loyalty?) during the turn, if we assume that the effects of reconaissance-parties kick in at the start of the turn. Just as a sidenote: You don't need to keep your light troops stationary. You can order them to reckon in region A and move them away to region B in the very same turn. The reconaissance-decision will not be cancelled if you move on.

Oh and I have an english manual-addition in my Docs-folder. It's called -GBR at the end, not -ENG though.

[Ebbingford]

Cavalry will change MC, quicker if in offensive posture. However I don't think they will in Polish controlled regions, here you need to use the Recon RGD.

[Bertram]

I bought the ROP gold edition, not the upgrade (could not find my original ROP file). It does *not* have a gold additinal manual in the docs folder - just the 3 old manuals (German, French and Eglish version, all from 15-02-2010).

I'll retry the cavalry MC change, and see if I can get my Swedish cavalrists to change the MC in anklam (that is in north Prussia, not in Poland, so theoretically they should be able to).

[Bertram]

Re-did the first few turns, and this time my Swedish toroops managed to change the MC in Anklam. No idea why it did not work the first time...

I also tried out the "Recon" option. It now also worked (3 out of 6 tries, so 50% probability might be a good guess). It changed 20% of the MC to my side - that is, it went from 100% Prussian MC to 80% on the first try, and then from 80% to 64% on the second try. There is some diminishing return here.

I also tried out the "circumvallum" option. Though it was described elsewhere as an option for troops besieging a city, it also works for troops outside a friendly city. It does not add much though: it gives an entrenchement level in 2 turns - but you get an entrenchement level in 31 days anyway. And it does not raise the maximum entrenchement level above the regular 2.... So it is not usefull to add to troops around a friendly city (which is as it should be - though I wonder if the AI knows this).

More multiplayer related: The Swedish are neutral to the Holy Roman Empire (played by the Austrians), and thus to the regions around Rostock to the west of them. This means they can not enter these regions. This has the effect that they can not reach Wismar (the other Swedish town on the main land), and that the only thing they actually can do is go south, to the Greifswald, direction Stettin. The Prusians are not so limited: they are at war with the Austrians, so their troops can march through Rostock. This makes it rather difficult for the Swedish troops to do anything (quite apart from the fact that they are rather bad troops, and it is difficult to do anything with them anyways): they can only move south, while the Prussians can flank them through terrain that is forbidden to the Swedish. Is this "as intended"?

[Bertram]

I did another few turns in my test game. Things I noticed:

Brown arrived at Koeningsberg with the 3th (Russian) corps. I put 2 siege commanders with him, as well as the siege artillery. The first turn (in which I forgot to play the "traitor" option, or the mines), I got the message that I "made a breach in Koeningsberg, for a total of 21(!!!) breaches". True enough, I got the dark red (3) for the siege, and could assault next turn (that turn I got another breach, for a total of 22 breaches - now it just added one....). I wonder if this is working as intended...

After taking Koeningsberg Brown wanted to move on. Unfortunatly the Polish regions are neutral to the Russians, and they are not allowed to enter them...... It will be quite difficult to wage war upon Prussia in this way... I did try to get Danzig (Gdansk) on the Russian side, but got no message about the outcome.

Finally the AI send the Prussian troops in East Prussia to Memel. They stay there. It seems they get supply by sea - which is a bit odd, as the big bad Russian fleet is all over the Baltic.But they are locked in place, and can not block Memel, and the Prussian (tiny) fleets are not locked, and free to come and go... (this will probably not be a problem against a human - I suspect no one will send their troops to Memel, to be blocked there).

[Ebbingford]

After taking Koeningsberg Brown wanted to move on. Unfortunatly the Polish regions are neutral to the Russians, and they are not allowed to enter them......

You can use the "Recon" RGD to change the MC of Polish regions, once over 50% you can enter them.

[Bertram]

You can use the "Recon" RGD to change the MC of Polish regions, once over 50% you can enter them.

I suspected something like that, but gave up after running 10 turns. I now kept at it, and it does work....somewhat. I have got two questions:

- It is correct that you can enter Polish (or other neutral) territory, after gettng more than 50% of military control through Recon. In my experience this takes about 9 turns average (it goes from 100% => 80% => 64% => 51% => 41% enemy control, for each succesfull Recon. This means you need 4 succesful Recon attempts, at about 50% chance. And then you need a turn to move your troops in). The shortest route from East Prussia to Prussia proper is 5 regions. This means it will take the Russians about 45 turns to navigate Polish terrain (or about 22 months, almost 2 years). That is quite long....
- Even if you have MC of above 50%, you still cant enter regions with a Polish town. Relevant for Danzig and Elding(?). Not a real problem, you can work around it, though it adds one or two regions to the route (that is, another 4 to 8th months of travel time).

Is this time as intended? Might be realistic and historical, but makes for a bit dull game for the Russian.....

[Ebbingford]

I think the designers need to answer that.

I think it takes too long to get through Polish territory as well but don't know if it is WAD or not.....

PhilThib?

[PhilThib]

This might be the consequence of latest changes that were made in AJE with the levels of relationships. I'll need to investigate a bit more...

[Baris]

Is it similar with Halle that recon option needs to be used in 1744 scenario. Region can not be entered despite objective for Prussian.

[Ebbingford]

No, you have to wait for Saxony to enter the war.

[Bertram]

Fighting, as Russian, the Prussians in the multiplayer game, I did not repeat the 22 breaches in Koeningsberg. The garrison did surrender after just two turns - but that could be just luck.

It seems the Military Control (MC) works different then I thought. You dont need more then 50% MC, you need to have the most MC. That is different when both Poland, Russia and Prussia try for control.... We had a region where Polish control was down to 40%, and both Russian and Prussian control was 30%. As a result neither Russian nor Prussian troops could enter. If one of them would have had 60%, and the other 0%, both could have entered.....

This also makes it pretty dangerous to enter Polish regions in which you have just more then 50% control; if the enemy moves a cavalry troop through, you could end up with less MC then the Polish, and be stuck.

[Bertram]

I thought it was about time to update you all on the news from the Russian front. Well, mostly there isn't.

When the Russinas arrived at their border depot, they marched on Koeningsberg. The Prussian army was located one region south of Koeningsberg, and did not move (locked there?). There were a few inconclusive skirmishes, which costed each of us about thousand man, total. The Prussian army retreated to the inland, into the forests - the Russians are just to strong for them, and they are not allowed to enter Poland. I chased them a bit, but as it turned winter by then, and the Russian general Browne had collected enough experience to be promoted, I decided to let the winter finish the Prussian off. It did, in spring there was just one stack of about 5 leaders left, still trapped against the Polish border.

Meanwhile I build depots, and used all my Recon options each turn. It is now april, and there is one Polish region left between me and the Prussian lands. Unfortunatly it is under 100% Polish MC (2 recon attempts failed), so it will be another 2-4 months before my army can enter it. Rumors have it that Frederic is making haste to neutralize the Austrians. We will see if I arrive in time to add something....

Meanwhile the Swedish did do exactly nothing. I now have massed 23 EP, so I can almost by the reinforcement option. I still think the Russinas get to few of those points - I now have 3 pages of options, and still have to use one... I can use 2 10 point options each year, and get about 10 of them. I am in favour of having to make choices, but with so few points, there is no much point to presenting most options.

Gamewise I still have trouble with the neutral regions and the implementation of the recon option. It is a nice device to slow down the Russians, and make the timing of their arrival uncertain. It forces the Austrians to hang in there, and the Prussians to make haste. As such it works. But it is a bit strange to find the Prussian army trapped against the Polish border, and doomed to starve. And I can't find a good way to explain why a powerful army (the Russians) would be able to march into enmy territory unhindered, but would have to wait several months for cavalry to recon a region if it is Neutral or Allied, before they can move there.

It is even worse for Allied troops - if the Prussians attack the Imperial troops, I can not help them, as long as there is an Allied region between me and the battle. And once I can enter that region, my allies can not, so by moving to help them, I might doom them by cutting of their retreat and supply.

[Bertram]

Late July. My Russians just got MC over the last Polish region standing between them and the Prussian territory. The remaining 5 Prussian leaders (still camped somewhere in the woods), will be glad that they will be able to go home - even if a swarm of screaming Kossacks is right behind them. Next turns the Russian army will burst forth from Poland Alien style.

Supply is going to be though - I hope that taking Kolberg will enable me to get supply by sea. I have a chain of depots from Koeningsberg to the Prussian border, but my army draws the supplies quicker than the depots can deliver. Right now I am also havng supply wagons coming from Koeningsberg (where supply is stacked sky high) to the west. All my money is spend buying supply units - not a problem, as I have to pages of replacements waiting to be used.

Meanwhile I have amassed enough EP to buy my first option: major Swedish reinforcements. Alas, last 3 turns I tried to get them, but nothing happend. Is there a hidden prerequisite that I dont fullfil? There is no error message, points are just not substracted, men dont arrive.