Fatal Years 1.01

[Athens]

Some screen from the 1920 save:

Anarchists in Ukraine (Black flag) are surviving...BTW, Green insurrections aren't to be negliged in FY...




Siberian White AI holds firmly Volga banks



Northern Whites AI advances

[Athens]

Okey Dokey, here you are! Actually, I just found an ANA group in Kharkov when I went to retake it from Ukrainians...they must have got there before me!

Thanks, I've fixed a bug explaining the lack of Balt and Freikorps units. Wondering why Tikhvin is under Polish control

[Kev_uk]

Is the bug fixed with latest download? Is it worth restarting (yet) another GC?

Thanks.

[Athens]

Is the bug fixed with latest download? Is it worth restarting (yet) another GC?

Thanks.

Yes but I fear only for a new GC. Sorry for the betatesting, but such savegames for 1920 are invaluable for me, as I have very few time to playtest myself. By looking to the save and logs, I spot glitches and bugs quicker. Thanks anyway

[ERISS]

! Actually, I just found an ANA group in Kharkov when I went to retake it from Ukrainians...they must have got there before me!

Karkov was one of ukrainian towns where were many anarchist clubs. IIRC, some makhnovist congress had been invited but bolsheviks succeded in forbiding it.
Despite, in the game, they could have been more offensive and, instead of waiting to rally makhnovists, they could have removed the bolsheviks from town if not strong, and ally makhnovists from some afar.

[Kev_uk]

Athens,

Are the Reds supposed to be at war with Germany? Using latest download and it states I am at war with Germany - is this right?

[Athens]

Athens,

Are the Reds supposed to be at war with Germany? Using latest download and it states I am at war with Germany - is this right?

Yes. Until 1919, German faction is passive so there will be no battles and German territry can't be entered. I've not found a command for declaring war .But there's no real effect of this state of belligerency

[Kev_uk]

Good Siberian White AI - They just caught and surrounded Trotsky with some very elite troops!!!

Arghh... (see attached file)

[Athens]

Good Siberian White AI - They just caught and surrounded Trotsky with some very elite troops!!!

Arghh... (see attached file)

And in the next version, I've implemented some changes to the Area_Theaters ( which are the way AI "reads" the map) with good results for Red AI . I LOVE AI tweaking.

[Kev_uk]

And in the next version, I've implemented some changes to the Area_Theaters ( which are the way AI "reads" the map) with good results for Red AI . I LOVE AI tweaking.

FWIW, Trotsky escaped, but with a decimated force from about 20k+ troops to 5k. He escaped back to Moscow and has had to force requisitions on the Russian population to get money and conscripts! How unexpected that was - thought I was winning!

White AI appears better this time around. Certainly much more challenging to play than ever I have played a Grand Campaign with RUS.

Kudos Clovis.

[Athens]

That's what i want: a challenging AI. I can't build a first class AI, but I'm pretty confident FY AI forces a player to play at his best and not simply push stacks here and there .

And the better the AI, the more PBEM games are played. Only AI shows potential of a game. IMHO, the Russian Civil War is one of the 5 best interesting wars.

[Nikel]

IMHO, the Russian Civil War is one of the 5 best interesting wars.

And which are the other 4?

[Athens]

And which are the other 4?

Very subjective

1) WW2
2) ACW
3) RCW
4) Peloponesian war
5) Thirty Years War

[Kev_uk]

I think, Clovis, your White AI is absolutely deadly. Now this has become a HARD game for me. I suffer with the fortunes of the Bolsheviks with this game...trying to hold on. I hope there is reprieve later one.

[Athens]

When playing Reds, build units. Build a lot. I've estimated the Red need to 3 infantry Divisions, or equivalent, by turn. Concentrate agaisnt one opponent and delay others.

To build, use conscriptions and requisitions a lot. Use Tcheka to slower the loyalty losses, but be prepared to face some Green insurrrections you will smash with your large numbers.

Of course, using conscription a lot will cost you NM. SO you're forced to get as much as possible NM by large victories. So fight first the weaker of your opponents. The strongest you will face them with more battle-hardened divsions later.
Ukraine in 1919 is a good first choice: weak faction, big strategic objectives.

Use propaganda options to get back some NM too. It helps.

One of the crucial strategical choice is to declare war on Balts or not. Remaining in peace costs NM, but declaring war raises and accelerate Polish involvement.

The 3 main factions are built to play against time, by the constant erosion of NM, erosion of the Allied involvement factor, rise of Green insurrection chances, etc. RCW was a war in a hurry for all.

[Kev_uk]

Cool, thanks. May need to start another GC from this - I have a massive Tambov Green Revolt, lost some very important strategic locations which I took early on, and that Whites are stacked in over 30k troops in some areas. They aint forgiving.

Currently requisitioning like mad, building up stacks, garrisons all over the place...the situation is now dire.

I notice all this bad happened from mid 1919 onwards. Like the Whites had been massing behind the scenes for this long.

Also Allied involvement never reaches below 8 with this mod.

[Nikel]

4) Peloponesian war

If instead (or besides ) modding you could create a game...

But now that you talk about it, I will bump a thread

[Athens]

Also Allied involvement never reaches below 8 with this mod.

Curious. Normally it should be lowering and I've seen regularly AIL below 8 after some months in the GC. Bad luck maybe? Or a bug to check

For info, the AIL doesn't exist in the official version

[Kev_uk]

Curious. Normally it should be lowering and I've seen regularly AIL below 8 after some months in the GC. Bad luck maybe? Or a bug to check

For info, the AIL doesn't exist in the official version

No, there is no way I think I can win this - the Whites are way overpowered I think - although it has taught me some good strategy - and I have learnt a lot about a challenged Red player so this is good. Currently up to 11 on the AI score and its late summer 1920. Greens are hard to suppress, Siberian Whites give me headache. Its much better, but now too hard!

Maybe thats good. Perhaps that how it was for the Civil War...

[Athens]

If instead (or besides ) modding you could create a game...

But now that you talk about it, I will bump a thread

There are 2 ways to build a scenario. The wrong believes a lot of details result in a rich sum. But details aren't in themselves bricks, but more stones of different sizes, weight and forms. The second begins to identify the 4 or 5 fundemental points of the design and then, but only then, fuel these ideas with details which may be consumed by the engine.

For RUS, the basic keys are:

- mulitfactional conflict
- hostile population to about any faction
- breakdown of eceonomy, forcing all factions to rely on a pillage system
- necessity to win regularly to keep the NM afloat
- multiple options to give both flavours and possible unhistorical startegies( independence of minorities, land reforms or NEP).

FY is built on.

[Athens]

No, there is no way I think I can win this - the Whites are way overpowered I think - although it has taught me some good strategy - and I have learnt a lot about a challenged Red player so this is good. Currently up to 11 on the AI score and its late summer 1920. Greens are hard to suppress, Siberian Whites give me headache. Its much better, but now too hard!

Maybe thats good. Perhaps that how it was for the Civil War...

Thanks. I will take a look.

Sib. Whites have been reworked for the next version. But Against RED AI, Sib AI is yet holding Ekaerinburg, Perm sometimes, Ufa, etc. Howewer, It seems to have lost of its stamina and doesn't expand as quickly.

For the rest, If I've created White AIs able to win in a first GC game of a player.....I'm just happy The AI doesn't cheat, except here and there it gets units 10% cheaper and needs slighty less EPs for some options. But the reduced cost is compensing the propension of the stock AI to build units in cities about to fall in enemy hands; for the EPs, I've not a command giving me the possibility to force AI to keep a reserve of EPs for big options, so I'm somehow devised an event system for replacing this lack and this sytelm forces me to average EPs needed between several options...

[Kev_uk]

The thing about the whole game, not just your mod, is that you really need to rethink strategy, or at least what you are used to. Its a big map, confusing, not exactly a static front line - it ebbs and flows like the weather and I think when I first played RUS that threw me. However, the first iteration of the game was not that hard to play really. Units sat in cities and you just needed an bigger force to take those cities. AI quite unreactive.

Your mod has made me think strategically, like actually understanding how requisitions work, conscription, when to fall back, using leaders creatively and so on. Its made it HARD! So this I think is good if you can actually try and balance the mod as well - did my mass requisitioning around Moscow cause the Green revolts? More explanation - I dont know.

Its a fine work Clovis. Kept me hooked all weekend and today. It was fun!

[Athens]

The thing about the whole game, not just your mod, is that you really need to rethink strategy, or at least what you are used to. Its a big map, confusing, not exactly a static front line - it ebbs and flows like the weather and I think when I first played RUS that threw me. However, the first iteration of the game was not that hard to play really. Units sat in cities and you just needed an bigger force to take those cities. AI quite unreactive.

Your mod has made me think strategically, like actually understanding how requisitions work, conscription, when to fall back, using leaders creatively and so on. Its made it HARD! So this I think is good if you can actually try and balance the mod as well - did my mass requisitioning around Moscow cause the Green revolts? More explanation - I dont know.

Its a fine work Clovis. Kept me hooked all weekend and today. It was fun!

I've adapted the green revolt system by changing preplanned revolts like Tambov into random events in time and regions.

So Regional decisions will lower loyalties in areas. If green loyalty climbs above 50, a chance of revolt occurs, like in the official game.

Now, reworked events of FY have revolts starting randomly in regions whose green loyalty is 40 or more. Probability is higher in 1920 than 1918.

The question remains under close scrutiny for now.

There are maybe too much green revolts, but I prefer to wait some more inputs before changing the values

[NY Rangers]

I guess this wasn't intentional:

[NY Rangers]

This next screenshot is from the same turn, which shows a big ass green revolt at Donbass. You can also see how Makhno left a depot insufficiently garrisoned and so I captured it (on the bottom left corner):

[NY Rangers]

FYI, those are from restarted GC, with the latest version, playing SW.

[Athens]

I guess this wasn't intentional:

Yes. I believe I've fixed this in the last version. Going to recheck though

[Athens]

This next screenshot is from the same turn, which shows a big ass green revolt at Donbass. You can also see how Makhno left a depot insufficiently garrisoned and so I captured it (on the bottom left corner):

Makhno AI is very difficult to program . For long, it has been static. Now, when he moves, it get back all defaults of the stock AI which doesn't care that much about supply lines and garrisoning supply depots. Frotunatly for the generic AI, factions have generally several depots and there are some garrisoning units (the fficial version like mine using some helpers for the AI to keep garrison, don't search away why in PON autogarrsioning rule has been reinforced with garrison materializing under enemy attack...). I've done with events the more it could be done to cure this blindness, but the results is far from being perfect.

But Makhno has only one depot. Creating a large static garrison wouldn't feel right, as Huliaipole was sevral times occupied by enemy forces. So i've created a "special" supply unit for Makhno, containing much higher supply ressources. Makhno's forces should remain supplied for long and could fight back to retake the region. I should add an event recreating depots for ANA faction then.

The special supply unit will figure the high capacity of Makhovists to live from local ressources and captured arms.

[Athens]

Yes. I believe I've fixed this in the last version. Going to recheck though

I was wrong. I hadn't done the change. Fixed.

[Athens]

My own blunder:

Playing Southern Whites, I don't expected a so large Red concentration at Ekaterinodar...-1NM