New WWI IH

[Csargo]

What's up with the dots on the map? I'll send my orders in tomorrow or Sunday.

[Sarathos]

I would like to take Bulgeria, lucky last.

[Ferret]

I know the map is a little off, but it is close enough for me

The black circles are Military bases, they have their own section in the rules.

Sarathos has been added.

And just to make clear, initial deployment is just deployment, you can't build trenches yet. And leaders can go anywhere in your lands (so far everyone has put them as a garison).

[Caius]

Ill take Spain if anyone hasnt taken it yet.

I've taken it.

[Ferret]

also just to clear up (didn't mention it in the rules) soldeirs can only deploy with a leader or in a military base/capital. They cannot move around alone, they must be led.

[Sarmatian]

Your map seems to be a little off. Finland was part of Russia at the time, unless the Russians would like to cede that territory to the League ?

Hmm... Let me think about it... NO!

Ok, guys just a couple of suggestions:

Right now, income is 1/2 of the population. Good idea, simple to calculate. But this also means that Russia is going to have income more than two times bigger that the second placed. Russia in the WW1 wasn't really the richest state, and having greater income than Germany and UK put together is bit "unbalancing". So maybe we can make specific rule, like in the case of Russia, income is 1/3 of the population, not 1/2?

Second, Serbia needs to be "buffed up". This was the golden age of the Serbian military. Serbia stopped three AH offensives (which were supported by Germans) and even counterattacked and regained control of almost entire country. Only in 1915, when there was terrible typhos epidemics in which 70,000 soldiers died and when Bulgaria entered the war and opened a third front, did Serbian army started to withdraw. Even with typhos, lack of food and several time bigger opposing armies, Serbian Army managed to withdraw in good order to Corfu. When they reached Corfu, average soldier looked like he just got out of Auschwitz, only skin and bones. But nevertheless, they recovered, and some time later, together with French armies they managed to win several stunning victories, breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front among them. Althought they lacked supplies, they were highly motivated and drilled, most of them being veterans of the two Balkan wars, and under excellent commanders.

So, just a few touch ups to steer the IH in the right direction. If we see AH gobbling up entire Serbia in the first attack, and then Russia winning everything because of its huge income (right now Russia has an income of 80 millions, while Central Powers together have an income of 70 millions), it's a bit of a "turn off", at least for me. Not that I would mind having the highest income, as I'm leading Russia, but I would rather have a bit of realism...

[Sarathos]

Some very good points, I say we make it everyone verus Russia.

[Ferret]

well seeing as you are Russia then I doubt there will be any opposition to this new rule. I have been looking at the old threads and thinking about what to do with Russia. If everyone agrees it is low enough I will lower it to 1/3 of their population.

About Serbia: I have also been thinking about making some countries have less troops but far more powerful ones and suchlike. How about a rule that states that all Swiss forces start off as specialist and 400,000 Serbians are specialists. Would this be to everyone's satisfaction or should the Serbians be made more powerful?

I'm glad to see the rules are finally being questioned, I wrote these all in one go and have not tested them at all so all suggestions are welcome.

edit:I was also thinking of nerfing Iberia slightly (sorry Caius) because at the moment if the joined the Central Powers France will be annihilated, especially if Italy also joins them. Though I suppose this opens up more chances for diplomacy, Caius could demand tribute every turn for peace or something, anyone think that Iberia is too powerful?

[PrinceofTroy]

Should we send you the initial deployment now? And can we start diplomacy yet, like making alliances and stuff?

[Ferret]

yes and yes.

[PrinceofTroy]

OK, I'll Probably get mine into you today then.

[shlin28]

well seeing as you are Russia then I doubt there will be any opposition to this new rule. I have been looking at the old threads and thinking about what to do with Russia. If everyone agrees it is low enough I will lower it to 1/3 of their population.

About Serbia: I have also been thinking about making some countries have less troops but far more powerful ones and suchlike. How about a rule that states that all Swiss forces start off as specialist and 400,000 Serbians are specialists. Would this be to everyone's satisfaction or should the Serbians be made more powerful?

I'm glad to see the rules are finally being questioned, I wrote these all in one go and have not tested them at all so all suggestions are welcome.

edit:I was also thinking of nerfing Iberia slightly (sorry Caius) because at the moment if the joined the Central Powers France will be annihilated, especially if Italy also joins them. Though I suppose this opens up more chances for diplomacy, Caius could demand tribute every turn for peace or something, anyone think that Iberia is too powerful?

I DEMAND A STRONGER SERBIA!!!

[Caius]

I will second the petition of a Weaker Serbia.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

I get my orders n Today, Do not worry!

[Sarmatian]

well seeing as you are Russia then I doubt there will be any opposition to this new rule. I have been looking at the old threads and thinking about what to do with Russia. If everyone agrees it is low enough I will lower it to 1/3 of their population.

About Serbia: I have also been thinking about making some countries have less troops but far more powerful ones and suchlike. How about a rule that states that all Swiss forces start off as specialist and 400,000 Serbians are specialists. Would this be to everyone's satisfaction or should the Serbians be made more powerful?

I'm glad to see the rules are finally being questioned, I wrote these all in one go and have not tested them at all so all suggestions are welcome.

edit:I was also thinking of nerfing Iberia slightly (sorry Caius) because at the moment if the joined the Central Powers France will be annihilated, especially if Italy also joins them. Though I suppose this opens up more chances for diplomacy, Caius could demand tribute every turn for peace or something, anyone think that Iberia is too powerful?

I agree, I don't believe we need to buff up Serbia anymore with better troops, since it would be even worse to see Serbs taking Vienna. Strengthening Serbia's defensive position makes more sense, like placing trenches (1st level) on it's border with Austria. It would also make sense since terrain on Austro-Serbian border was very difficult (river crossing and big mountains).

Also, you said were not gonna have navies, but I guess it would be possible to transport troops by sea, no? To keep it under control I suggest that each country can only transport 500.000 soldiers each turn and that they reach their destination in two turns (if there is a friendly port of course) in case of the Entente and three turns in case of Central Powers. Why longer in the case of Central Powers? Well to give at least some benefit to Britain and France since they wont be able to use in any other way their powerful navies...

When transporting anything other than soldiers (like machine guns and tanks later) it could go something like this:
1 machine gun = 100 soldiers
1 artillery piece = 200 soldiers
1 light tank = 500 soldiers
1 heavy tank = 1000 soldiers
To limit the possibility of delivering huge amounts of soldiers and equipment in just a few turns

Also, when recruiting new armies, those troops should be taken out of the population of the country (thus hurting income) so that we don't see armies 50,000,000 strong later in the IH. I don't know if you already had this planned, I assume you did, but just checking.

One more thing, Elite Ferret, you said geography and terrain won't have any effect, I guess for fear of over complicating the game. I think we can implement at least something and still keep it simple, namely, mountains and rivers. But, not to over complicate it we could only use really big and important mountains and rivers lake Alps, Balkan mountains, Pyrenees and Danube, Volga etc... to give some bonuses to the defenders. Just a suggestion. Also maybe some bonuses for the defenders if the opponent attacks by water.

Now something not IH related, for everyone who is WW1 geek like I am . Great risk-style strategy game about WW1. Simple yet highly addictive, with great AI, and possibility of playing with 5 other human players (3 in the Entente and 3 Central Powers). It's abandonware now, so for all those who like WW1 and don't have it yet, I present you Fields of Battle

[scottishranger]

My orders will be in by Tuesday at the latest.

[Lt. Pinard]

Sry I haven't got my orders in yet I was out doing field training with my army unit. And I dont know if I'll get to them today, cause I'm exhausted (3 hours of sleep all weekend.)

[Sarathos]

With the orders, do you state where we will deploy our military in directions (move northeast) or do we actually name towns/cities etc.?

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Greece rules!

[Ferret]

@Sarmatian:there is already rules for transport via sea, read the first post.

@scottishranger+Pinard:there is no rush, the deadline is the end of June...

@Sarathos:just state where the leaders will be in a general area and say how many troops will be with that leader and how many in each military base/capital.

[Sarmatian]

@Sarmatian:there is already rules for transport via sea, read the first post.

Must have missed it. Sorry, my bad.

[Ferret]

no worries, and also recruiting will come out of popultaion levels. I also put a max amount of recruitment per turn to represent the amount of able bodied men at that time.

[Caius]

Why we have to wait a lot of time?

[Csargo]

I'll have my placements in later today. Been busy.

[Ferret]

@Caius:we have to wait a lot of time because I have exams whoch I need to concentrate on but I wanted to start as soon as I could and so set it up now.

@Ichigo:no rush mate :)

[Caius]

@Caius:we have to wait a lot of time because I have exams whoch I need to concentrate on but I wanted to start as soon as I could and so set it up now.

Don't worry, just forgive the exams. You won't have to study.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

I, Constantine I, King of the Hellenes (Κωνσταντίνος A', Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων) was born on 2 August 1868 and have ruled Greece since 1913. The organization of the 1896 Summer Olympics has been one of my most proud accomplishments; I appointed a committee to prepare Athens for the Games and kept a close watch to ensure that their tasks were completed.

Greece, under my leadership, will continue to persevere in this conflict.

[Ferret]

Still awaiting initial deployment from:

Great Britain - Julian the apostate
Austria-Hungary - PrinceofTroy
Ottoman Empire - makaikhaan
Scandinavian League - SwedishFish
Italy - Lt. Pinard
Bulgaria - Sarathos
Switzerland - Baby Boomer

If things go well I will move the start date to next week so we can get this rlling earlier. I've played a quick test game with a simpler version of the rules and haven't found any glaring flaws, though you guys will find some I'm sure

It is not a bad thing if you miss initial deployment as I can do that for you unbiasedly but from now on if two deadlines on the trot are missed I will look for a replacement, unless I am notified that a certain deadline cannot be met. Thanks guys.

[shlin28]

YAY! ITS BACK!

FEAR TEH UBER MIGHT OF SERBIA!!!

[Ferret]

it was never gone lol, it did say in the first post that it wasn't starting 'till Summer but I may be able to do so earlier now so I wanted to make sure everyone deployed the way they wanted rather than have me do it