Duel Mode

[RobertBr]

I agree with MarkDey, Operation Sealion is a historical hypothetical, it feels very odd to reward it. The problem with month is I'm not sure it really reflects on the players. I just played a duel game where I held until the last turn but my opponent did not, it didn't feel that reflected on better play on my part. Obviously you always get this if there is just a point in it on national will it will owe more to luck than judgement, but the month France falls feels like it both lacks granularity and owes more to the dice than the players.

A thought on France 44. Return the French and Germans their national will counters. I think occupied countries are supposed to get their national will counters back when liberated. This tracks French cities liberated, but does not reward gamey attempts to cut off the whole peninsula and penalises a German player who squanders their units as was done at Falaise.

[MarkDey]

I think occupied countries are supposed to get their national will counters back when liberated.

Just a quick note - this is not correct. Once a country is conquered, it remains inactive for the rest of the game. The only exceptions are the UK and USSR - they can be collapsed, but never completely removed from the game.

[RobertBr]

Thank you I had obviously got that mixed up with the USSR/UK rules.

One thing that is bothering me in USSR 41 is that the use of total national will creates a few odd incentives - activating Finland (which in the main game I always consider more liability than asset) is strongly encouraged (for the +4 national will) and the Soviets are actively encouraged to focus attacks on minor powers (who have national will)... I think this scenario would be best scored solely on the Soviet national will, or possible on Soviet + German national will.

[RobertBr]

A question for Lunalol which I don't know the answer to - what happens if a player concedes in a Duel game?

[Lunalol]

A question for Lunalol which I don't know the answer to - what happens if a player concedes in a Duel game?

I don't know!
Like other game, I think that other player is declared winner.

[RobertBr]

Okay, so brainstorming because I have no sense of what is possible...

In the Med 40 to 42 scenario let us imagine this victory point scheme:

Italians: Each turn, 1 VP for each city held and for each enemy city over which a ZOC is exerted.
British: Each turn, 1 VP for each production point left at the end of the turn (representing avoiding a drain on the war effort elsewhere)

In the event of two Italian wins the players Italin VPs are compared to determine the winner. In the event of two British wins the players British VPs are used as a tie break. In the event of two draws the combine totals for both players are used as a tie break.

This is deliberately over complex because I want to get a sense of what is and is not possible as a VP scheme in development terms (and I think the Med scenario poses serious problems).

[RobertBr]

Inviting others thoughts. I feel confident that the Duel mode could be extended to Main Event 44-45 and Main Event 43-45 with the national will operating as the tie breaker. In the event of a German win the national will of the German player is clearly an accurate representation of how well the player did in staving off eventual collapse. And my current thinking is that a German victory should be more likely.
In the event of an Allied victory national will is not a terrible tie breaker. It would reflect any losses the German player was able to inflict before their final demise, creating some incentive for the historical counter-attacks that marked the actual fighting. It would certainly be better than the speed of the Allied victory, since the game is arranged to ensure that pretty much always happens in summer 45.

The only alternative tie breaker I can think of the allies would be a VP scored based on time and cities... so the final Allied score would be no. of cities under allied control at the end of the game plus 6 for every outstanding month before the end of the game (because in an overwhelming Allied victory they capture on average 6 cities a month from summer 43 onwards and you don't want to penalise an Allied player for winning early). This would I think provide better refinement (distinguishing Allied wins clearly and penalizing an Allied player who only just defeats Germany and has no spare resources for liberation).

[Lunalol]

I feel confident that the Duel mode could be extended to Main Event 44-45 and Main Event 43-45 with the national will operating as the tie breaker.

Let's not beat around the bush, the best is to test, duel mode is open for all scenarios (except Main Event 1939-194?)