The World At War: European Conflagration

[Col. Tartleton]

12 Start Dates: Spans 100 Years. 24 Turns per year. Or if that's unworkable 12 Turns per year seems better.
EARLY: World War 1
1894:
1904:
1914:
1924:
HIGH: World War 2
1934:
1939:
1944:
1949:
LATE: Cold War
1954:
1964:
1974:
1984:

Concept to be fleshed out more when I have time.

- Early Version would be designed as a Grand Strategy Game without Tactical Battles.
- More Advanced Version would aim for incorporating Tactical Battles.

Objectives are Historical Accuracy, Challenging Game Play, and Total Immersion.

One Idea is to have a "What Happened This Turn (Month?) In History" Notification on campaign turns with some interesting information about developments in the real world as it happens.

Historical Personages with appropriate Traits. Chivalry vs Dread becomes Fame vs Infamy. Etc.

Religions become Political Doctrines. Communism has the Catholic System. Comintern is the Papal Faction and will usually be centered in Moscow due to Soviet federalism and the Warsaw Pact. "Great Patriotic War" is a Crusade that basically demands all Communist Factions attack a target non communist faction. Commissars will be represented with Inquisitors. etc. The fact the Comintern will span the entire game makes it more logical to make the Soviet system Catholic rather than Fascism.

Fascism is Islam and will be able to issue Jihads aka "War of Annihilation".

[Basileos Predator]

How far are you with the work on this?

[Col. Tartleton]

How far are you with the work on this?

Historical Research and Figuring out what is feasible.

[UchihaMadara21]

Incredible proposal, it will be really revolutionary to see something like that here.



BTW, i have some suggestions:

Since the mod is intended to be historically accurate, and that ur still in the research process, you need to work impartially, and not make a "Good Guys vs Bad Guys" story. Each side should have it's point of view, which should be considered right for them, and actually make sense (yes, even the 3rd Reich aka Nazis)...so, that american thing about the "Cold-Hearted Evil Soviets" shouldn't be really present in the mod. A good choice would be talking to people from different countries, and with different political/religious views, or maybe recruit them for your team (since there's a lot of groups here).

Also, this system of "Crusades" and Political Doctrines that you proposed should be revised at some points, since it didn't really worked that way.

About Islam, i think it's wrong to make this Religion as "Fascism" (too much westernized and stereotyped), and comparing the Jihad as a "War of Annihilation" is also incorrect. After all, this is not the true meaning of it; maybe talking with Muslims from the forums before building a Islamic system would be a better choice.





Sorry if it looks like i'm criticizing you. What i'm trying to do is to make this ambitious project look good for all sides, and not just for the "Good Guys of America".

Cause you know, modern history is a very complex and sensible subject, since the remanescents of this history are still here, and this could be easily turned into a political and religious war instead of a fun game.

[Razor]

Incredible proposal, it will be really revolutionary to see something like that here.



BTW, i have some suggestions:

Since the mod is intended to be historically accurate, and that ur still in the research process, you need to work impartially, and not make a "Good Guys vs Bad Guys" story. Each side should have it's point of view, which should be considered right for them, and actually make sense (yes, even the 3rd Reich aka Nazis)...so, that american thing about the "Cold-Hearted Evil Soviets" shouldn't be really present in the mod. A good choice would be talking to people from different countries, and with different political/religious views, or maybe recruit them for your team (since there's a lot of groups here).

Also, this system of "Crusades" and Political Doctrines that you proposed should be revised at some points, since it didn't really worked that way.

About Islam, i think it's wrong to make this Religion as "Fascism" (too much westernized and stereotyped), and comparing the Jihad as a "War of Annihilation" is also incorrect. After all, this is not the true meaning of it; maybe talking with Muslims from the forums before building a Islamic system would be a better choice.





Sorry if it looks like i'm criticizing you. What i'm trying to do is to make this ambitious project look good for all sides, and not just for the "Good Guys of America".

Cause you know, modern history is a very complex and sensible subject, since the remanescents of this history are still here, and this could be easily turned into a political and religious war instead of a fun game.

He's not comparing islam and jihad with fascism and the war of annihilation in any way. He's merely using the religion mechanics behind islam (with its coordinated jihads) to represent the cooperation between fascist factions. And it's indeed a very sensible choice to do so. I would have done the very same.

It's very complex to even make this work sensibly on the M2TW engine. To what will you rename siege equipment, like ladders, rams and siege towers? Something along the lines of infiltrating, shelling and air strikes?

[UchihaMadara21]

He's not comparing islam and jihad with fascism and the war of annihilation in any way. He's merely using the religion mechanics behind islam (with its coordinated jihads) to represent the cooperation between fascist factions. And it's indeed a very sensible choice to do so. I would have done the very same.

It's very complex to even make this work sensibly on the M2TW engine. To what will you rename siege equipment, like ladders, rams and siege towers? Something along the lines of infiltrating, shelling and air strikes?

Oh....it's clear now.

[Col. Tartleton]

Incredible proposal, it will be really revolutionary to see something like that here.

It has all the ingredients to be a big hit I think. Possibilities are fairly limitless. At worst it just needs to deviate from history a little to accommodate mechanics. I know sea battles are impossible but it should be able to run a stripped down bastardized version of aerial warfare. Even if it's just attack aircraft, I think a unit like a four plane flight of Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Pursuit aircraft are totally plausible.

BTW, i have some suggestions:

Since the mod is intended to be historically accurate, and that ur still in the research process, you need to work impartially, and not make a "Good Guys vs Bad Guys" story. Each side should have it's point of view, which should be considered right for them, and actually make sense (yes, even the 3rd Reich aka Nazis)...so, that american thing about the "Cold-Hearted Evil Soviets" shouldn't be really present in the mod. A good choice would be talking to people from different countries, and with different political/religious views, or maybe recruit them for your team (since there's a lot of groups here).

Oh of course. I'm not even going to label the politics in detail. I want it to be open to the player to make the important choices. You can execute the population of cities just like Medieval, and your infamy will go up. Anyone is free to commit war crimes. The western allies firebombed civilian cities, the axis gassed civilians, the communists probably killed as many of their own people as the enemy. That's how history, played out, it's up to the player to make those decisions. Politics will mostly just effect which building trees you can use. Obviously if you have a liberal government you have to rely on more corporations (guilds) whereas a communist will be able to build entirely state industries and have maximum access to welfare improvements (if they can afford it.)

Also, this system of "Crusades" and Political Doctrines that you proposed should be revised at some points, since it didn't really worked that way.

About Islam, i think it's wrong to make this Religion as "Fascism" (too much westernized and stereotyped), and comparing the Jihad as a "War of Annihilation" is also incorrect. After all, this is not the true meaning of it; maybe talking with Muslims from the forums before building a Islamic system would be a better choice.

Yeah, not what I meant. I mean that the Catholic System will be used to simulate the Comintern as a number of countries who will be forced to work together by the Papal System. The International is a multinational organization dedicated to taking over the world, just like the Vatican.

Sorry if it looks like i'm criticizing you. What i'm trying to do is to make this ambitious project look good for all sides, and not just for the "Good Guys of America".

Cause you know, modern history is a very complex and sensible subject, since the remanescents of this history are still here, and this could be easily turned into a political and religious war instead of a fun game.

To the best of ability the game should play out the way history would have, given the player's decisions. Although some unhistorical but interesting things are bound to happen. You shouldn't feel like you're the villain because you're playing Germany. You can make Hitler a hero if you want, or kill him off Valkyrie style, there should be role playing elements. He should be represented with traits that flesh him out realistically, but you have some leeway. It'll be nearly impossible to assassinate him though. He was to my understanding extremely brave concerning his security but also erratic, despite his public displays of fatalism he avoided or survived dozens of assassinations. He had a fairly amusing quote about his assessment that a committed suicidal bomber or gunman would be capable of killing him regardless of his attempts to prevent it. The fact that the assassins weren't willing to die is usually what saved him. In the Valkyrie story he only survived because the bomber placed the bomb in a suitcase under the table and then left the building. Had he been willing to die in the attack he would have been successful. However not only did the attempt fail, but he got captured, tortured, and executed, so it wasn't worth it at all.

Besides, this isn't just WW2 even if the focus is, the game should cover the 20th century as a whole. The climax of the story is of course the largest war in human history, but logically that's only going to play out historically if you begin the game in 1934, 1939, or 1944.

He's not comparing islam and jihad with fascism and the war of annihilation in any way. He's merely using the religion mechanics behind islam (with its coordinated jihads) to represent the cooperation between fascist factions. And it's indeed a very sensible choice to do so. I would have done the very same.

Correct. Axis states coordinated to a point, but it was not to the extent of the Communists. There wasn't a vast fascist conspiracy, it was country to country. Mussolini didn't like Hitler or Germany and tried to join the allies at every opportunity in return for concessions. England told him to piss off so Italy fought beside Germany. Likewise Finland wasn't fascist or in the axis, but they were tried and trusted co-belligerents. Spain was fascist and they coordinated in the Spanish civil war but didn't join in WW2. Portugal was Fascist too. Vichy France served to the best of their ability.

The reason they get a Jihad system at all is because of the general "Anti Communist" Doctrine that marks Fascism out. Germany was able to raise SS Legions from across the continent to join in the War of Annihilation with the Communists. Hitler was able to count on the loyal service of anti-communists from around the world. There's a classic scene in Band of Brothers where the Americans take a German soldier prisoner and it turns out he's American fighting for his fatherland. Some guy executes him summarily as a traitor. Obviously that scenario happened because I've read about a number of examples of German Americans fighting in the Wehrmacht especially the Heer and Luftwaffe.

The names of the 10 political religions are going to be more generic because the the variation in different countries. Fringe Right (Absolute Monarchists), Fringe Center (Fascists), and Fringe Left (Communist). Then you have Far Right, Extreme Center, and Far Left which would be more moderate forms. Then you have Center Right, Center, and Center Left. Finally the "heretic" religion is Anarchy (like everything else because of the mechanics, not because there's something wrong with Anarchy). Fringe groups are prone reactionary or radical violence. Whereas Far or Extreme Groups are just uncompromising political partisans. Center types are more moderate of course.

It's very complex to even make this work sensibly on the M2TW engine. To what will you rename siege equipment, like ladders, rams and siege towers? Something along the lines of infiltrating, shelling and air strikes?

I know for a fact people still used scaling ladders to attack steep slopes during the 20th century. I guarantee they had to use ladders to attack parts of the Atlantic Wall. I think Castles would be remodeled eventually to better resemble modern fortifications like flak towers and the like. It's not going to be 100% accurate to have G.I.'s besieging castles, but it's cool and it fits the game mechanics. Obviously there's going to be a touch of fantasy to the game play (It just needs to fit the aesthetics and be immersive). But it's not as though modern armies didn't take shelter in outdated defensive positions. I know the Russians defended some Peter the Great era Star Forts against the invading Germans, which is extremely cool. They made a heroic showing and held out far longer than expected.

I know it's an earlier example in a different place, but in 55 Days at Peking (classic Boxer Rebellion film with Charleston Heston) the Chinese Imperial Guard are besieging a medieval Chinese fortress held by the Coalition forces and they deploy a siege tower. I imagine something in the landship family with steel armor and continuous tracks suitably Diesel Punk will suffice for game play reasons. I don't want a "Weird War" game, but there are some things that the AI will want even if the players don't want them.

I'm sure a similar idea would work for the ram. I mean there were some pretty ridiculous ideas being tossed around in the R&D offices in the real world.

I think shelling will be done with field guns and armor (elephant cannon.) I'd like aircraft to play a part, even if a small one.

Basic unit I think should be the platoon. A company or two and support or a lean battalion would be a stack. Soviet units are a tier up due to their smaller units and larger forces. The basic Soviet unit is the Rota (Company) and a stack is probably a few Batalons or even a Polk (Regiment). So in terms of scale given the battle map I think Flames of War is a good approximation. I think a Battalion had about a Kilometer of Frontage give or take but don't hold me to it.

Great idea. I have modded MTW 2 for myself by changing the religions into political ideologies and writing a script that forces a "religion"-change if certain criteria are met.

That could be beneficial.

Oh....it's clear now.

Good to know.

[UchihaMadara21]

It has all the ingredients to be a big hit I think. Possibilities are fairly limitless. At worst it just needs to deviate from history a little to accommodate mechanics. I know sea battles are impossible but it should be able to run a stripped down bastardized version of aerial warfare. Even if it's just attack aircraft, I think a unit like a four plane flight of Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Pursuit aircraft are totally plausible.

Yeah, but just the idea is already something truly amazing. There is a very skilled guy here, called kirush2 that managed to create something really close to actual sea battles in Rome: Total War:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I doubt that it would be possible in Medieval II though, and he's currently busy working on his Conquest of Asia mod (another great project). It seems that you got talent too, so i think that even with the engine's limitations, you could do a amazing work.

Oh of course. I'm not even going to label the politics in detail. I want it to be open to the player to make the important choices. You can execute the population of cities just like Medieval, and your infamy will go up. Anyone is free to commit war crimes. The western allies firebombed civilian cities, the axis gassed civilians, the communists probably killed as many of their own people as the enemy. That's how history, played out, it's up to the player to make those decisions. Politics will mostly just effect which building trees you can use. Obviously if you have a liberal government you have to rely on more corporations (guilds) whereas a communist will be able to build entirely state industries and have maximum access to welfare improvements (if they can afford it.)

Yeah, not what I meant. I mean that the Catholic System will be used to simulate the Comintern as a number of countries who will be forced to work together by the Papal System. The International is a multinational organization dedicated to taking over the world, just like the Vatican.

It's all explained now, and looks very interesting and actually accurate.

To the best of ability the game should play out the way history would have, given the player's decisions. Although some unhistorical but interesting things are bound to happen. You shouldn't feel like you're the villain because you're playing Germany. You can make Hitler a hero if you want, or kill him off Valkyrie style, there should be role playing elements. He should be represented with traits that flesh him out realistically, but you have some leeway. It'll be nearly impossible to assassinate him though. He was to my understanding extremely brave concerning his security but also erratic, despite his public displays of fatalism he avoided or survived dozens of assassinations. He had a fairly amusing quote about his assessment that a committed suicidal bomber or gunman would be capable of killing him regardless of his attempts to prevent it. The fact that the assassins weren't willing to die is usually what saved him. In the Valkyrie story he only survived because the bomber placed the bomb in a suitcase under the table and then left the building. Had he been willing to die in the attack he would have been successful. However not only did the attempt fail, but he got captured, tortured, and executed, so it wasn't worth it at all.






Besides, this isn't just WW2 even if the focus is, the game should cover the 20th century as a whole. The climax of the story is of course the largest war in human history, but logically that's only going to play out historically if you begin the game in 1934, 1939, or 1944.

Oh, the controversial Operation Valkyrie, it will still be a subject of many discussion for decades, and a reason for many violent flamewars in Youtube.

And yeah, it shouldn't be that easy for the player to assassinate Hitler.

BTW, when i thougt about a possible "successful assassination" of Adolph Hitler in the game, for no reason at all, i immediately saw this in my head:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDv-n_aMVd8

LOL ....maybe it's too violent and innacurate for a successful assassination mission video.

And i really like the fact that the mod would give a chance for the player to "change history". I imagine some Communist guys making their dream of defeating Capitalism come true in the game and posting the entire AAR in the forums, or maybe in some other place; cause you know, there's always someone who could take this mod as a political evidence, XD

The names of the 10 political religions are going to be more generic because the the variation in different countries. Fringe Right (Absolute Monarchists), Fringe Center (Fascists), and Fringe Left (Communist). Then you have Far Right, Extreme Center, and Far Left which would be more moderate forms. Then you have Center Right, Center, and Center Left. Finally the "heretic" religion is Anarchy (like everything else because of the mechanics, not because there's something wrong with Anarchy). Fringe groups are prone reactionary or radical violence. Whereas Far or Extreme Groups are just uncompromising political partisans. Center types are more moderate of course.



I know for a fact people still used scaling ladders to attack steep slopes during the 20th century. I guarantee they had to use ladders to attack parts of the Atlantic Wall. I think Castles would be remodeled eventually to better resemble modern fortifications like flak towers and the like. It's not going to be 100% accurate to have G.I.'s besieging castles, but it's cool and it fits the game mechanics. Obviously there's going to be a touch of fantasy to the game play (It just needs to fit the aesthetics and be immersive). But it's not as though modern armies didn't take shelter in outdated defensive positions. I know the Russians defended some Peter the Great era Star Forts against the invading Germans, which is extremely cool. They made a heroic showing and held out far longer than expected.

I know it's an earlier example in a different place, but in 55 Days at Peking (classic Boxer Rebellion film with Charleston Heston) the Chinese Imperial Guard are besieging a medieval Chinese fortress held by the Coalition forces and they deploy a siege tower. I imagine something in the landship family with steel armor and continuous tracks suitably Diesel Punk will suffice for game play reasons. I don't want a "Weird War" game, but there are some things that the AI will want even if the players don't want them.

I'm sure a similar idea would work for the ram. I mean there were some pretty ridiculous ideas being tossed around in the R&D offices in the real world.

I think shelling will be done with field guns and armor (elephant cannon.) I'd like aircraft to play a part, even if a small one.

Basic unit I think should be the platoon. A company or two and support or a lean battalion would be a stack. Soviet units are a tier up due to their smaller units and larger forces. The basic Soviet unit is the Rota (Company) and a stack is probably a few Batalons or even a Polk (Regiment). So in terms of scale given the battle map I think Flames of War is a good approximation. I think a Battalion had about a Kilometer of Frontage give or take but don't hold me to it.

This looks very suitable and possible in Med II's engine.

For me, the typical "Modern Warfare can't be implemented in Total War" is a very antiquated and too conservative position. I truly support this idea, since i'm also working on a project that will bring some innovative things to the community, and always tend to be a person with unusual opinions, haha.

[Sogdog]

Great idea. I have modded MTW 2 for myself by changing the religions into political ideologies and writing a script that forces a "religion"-change if certain criteria are met.

[Menelik_I]

Interesting idea Col, I can help with basic map mapping as I am working on a mod of mine, but I suck at factions.

Great idea. I have modded MTW 2 for myself by changing the religions into political ideologies and writing a script that forces a "religion"-change if certain criteria are met.

Interesting script, I also have a mod I am working on I will try to contact you.

[Finlander]

Are you going to merge this mod with your other proposal if progress is being made? You have several other projects going at the same time with very similar set so I am curious, such as this, this, this, this and this?

[Col. Tartleton]

Are you going to merge this mod with your other proposal if progress is being made? You have several other projects going at the same time with very similar set so I am curious, such as this, this, this, this and this?

It would certainly overlap to some extent with some of my other ideas. They're only proposals for the sort of games I'd like to see.

So far all I've done on this potential mod is historical research, general brainstorming, and I'm working on some character portraits.

My current conundrum is whether its' better to do them as black and white or to recolor them. Black and white is easier and might fit the aesthetics better.

Fortunately I can get actual photos for everyone important. For example I can easily find a good picture of Young Eisenhower at West Point and a picture of Old Eisenhower during WW2.

EDIT:

Okay, So currently I'm working on updating the cursors to something more appropriate for the period in question. So for example the thrown icon is now a German Stick Grenade instead of a javelin and the Fire icon is now a Crosshair rather than a bow and arrow. The difference will be that they're normally in color/black. However when they're on a valid target they'll turn red. This is the opposite of how it is now, but it has a first person shooter quality to it.

[KopEndHarry]

This sounds like an amazing idea, hope you go through with it. now im not a huge modder myself but would it not be easier to do this mod on napoleon or empire, forgive me if im wrong

[Col. Tartleton]

While doing research for rosters I've concluded that units should be Companies/Troops/Batteries, not Platoons. It's seemingly a minor difference, but it means that a full stack should be on the order of an entire regiment or brigade. So for example, an entire Cavalry Division for the sake of simplicity is 70 units. Namely 4 Regiments of Cavalry historically organized as two brigades fits cleanly as 2 stacks. Then there's an Artillery Brigade and Anti Tank Troop which again makes a clean 20 unit stack. Then finally you get your recon section and combat engineers and together that's only 8 units.

In short this should allow the player to represent roughly 1:1 scale DIVISION on DIVISION Combat in game on the largest setting.

As America if you had a Cavalry Division you'd get 36 Tanks: 18 Light and 18 Medium; 540 Grenade armed Engineers; 240 2 man motorcyclists; 90 Armored Cars; 24 75mm Howitzers with 840 Gunners; 12 105mm Howitzers with 360 Gunners; 12 37mm AT Guns with 150 Gunners; 980 Riflemen attached to the Artillery; 240 Infantry Machine gunners; and 4200 Cavalry, Mounted or Dismounted. Plus 10 more units, maybe an entire wing of aircraft...

So that's something like 5,960 Infantry/Cavalry + 48 Artillery Pieces and 1350 Gunners + 240 Motorcycyles + 90 Armored Cars + 36 Tanks on a side. And mind you, the Cavalry Division is intentionally light on everything. And 30-60 Aircraft. On each side... So its probably safe to imagine everyone dying almost immediately in a huge pitched battle.

[romano britones]

Great idea!!!
But how will the bomber and fighter jets be shown as a unit?

[Col. Tartleton]

Great idea!!!
But how will the bomber and fighter jets be shown as a unit?

I think small units of very fast large flying "chariots" would work. Massive in the case of heavy bombers. A B-52 is 185 feet long and 159 feet wide.

Most aircraft if included would ideally be placed so high that they're just below or above the most zoomed out camera level looking down. Obviously not as high or fast as realism would warrant. Choppers would be lower and more vulnerable to small arms.

However from a distance looking up from the ground you'd be able to see them cruising around killing their dudes. However most units would realistically not be able to elevate their weapons high enough to shoot at them. Specific AA units would be able to elevate their weapons to vertical. Plus you'd use your interceptors to kill their bombers. If you don't have AA units and they have bombers you basically have to wait until they run out of ammo and the clock runs down. Most vehicles would have an AA mount MG though, so you'd probably need to spam infantry to run into that problem. Aircraft should be expensive though. They're basically a guaranteed win if the enemy can't kill them.

I'm pretty sure that the unit pathing works so flying units can pass over buildings if they don't collide with them physically, so you should be able to bomb cities to rubble. But castles would be redone as massive reinforced concrete bastions that fill the sky with enough flak you can walk on it (hurr hurr /quote every ww2 movie ever.) WW2 era Flak Towers are basically 20th century castles. Historically only the Germans used them, but they're so medieval its ridiculous. Combine that with Atlantic Wall, Maginot, and Sudeten inspired defenses and you can imagine some pretty epic 3 dimensional sieges. Which of course is what tactical atomics are for... Late Game could turn into Starship Troopers pretty damn fast if they were included. Historically the Flak Towers made proper bombing configurations impossible in the areas where they were built. Berlin still got bombed to hell with conventional weapons, but they couldn't fire bomb it. Apparently incendiary bombing is a special maneuver and it's pretty much impossible when the Germans are dumping 8,000 shells per minute at you... Attacking cities is one of those situations where I'm not sure if the bombers or the bombed are really getting the worst of it.

The "Keep" towers were massive, 30,000 people could take shelter in them... They were immune to anything short of the heaviest bombs, and they could tilt their AA guns down and shred attackers with 20mm shells. They were the last parts of the city to fall to the Russians. And best of all, they're still there. They can't be demolished. They're like 12 feet thick slabs of reinforced concrete. So my understanding is the Germans have tried various ways to beautify them with limited success. The British built similar structures (the Principality of Sealand for example) but they were built in the ocean... However land based ones for them and other factions would be very plausible.

Oh and Naval Aircraft and other similar things would be Admiral Ancillaries. Scouts improve line of sight. Fighters improve defense. Torpedoes and Bombers improve offense. Etc. Squadron level.

[romano britones]

Sounds like a great idea. I am looking forward to this mod.

[Col. Tartleton]

Starting to draft the campaign map.

West - Atlantic coast of County Kerry to the East - Shore of the Garabogazköl Aylagy by North - Barents Sea coast of Finnmark to South - Jeddah on the Red Sea.

It's a huge map. Tracing the outline of a Paradox style map it's exactly the 1021x1021 maximum and includes everything necessary to represent the history in question.


However, I'm considering the possibility that going West - Atlantic coast of El Hierro to East - Shore of Lake Balkhash by North - Barents Sea coast of Finnmark to South - Luanda on the Atlantic.

This map is of course reduced in depth by about 1/3, but allows a better representation of imperial power. The sheer massiveness of Russian Empire/USSR really translates at this scale (on the more focused map Russian territory is probably as large as the rest of Europe combined, on this its probably close twice the size of Europe. It also allows Britain to be more than a corner of the map and actually look like a great power (Well, I guess they historically have some of the Near East so either way.) This map is still more detailed than the vanilla map. However it ceases to be a game about Europe when your center point is Southern Anatolia rather than Eastern Poland (or Western Poland depending if you're in German Poland or Russian Poland.)

Ultimately I have to figure out provinces and settlement spacing to figure it out in detail, but I'm looking at overall concept right now. I did call this European Conflagration. Hmmm.

The first choice is my preference I think.

[bk2-modder]

Will there be tanks in this mod? If so, how will they work?

[Col. Tartleton]

Will there be tanks in this mod? If so, how will they work?

There are tanks in other mods. They used Elephants. I might use chariots. Tank melee looks a bit strange in Call of Warhammer. Well, it looks cool, but not very realistic.

---

Among my myriad self declared Creative Director paths I'm now going to knock out a few of the memo. Basically every turn there should be a News Notification filling people in on historical happenings. Naturally some of them will influence the game and others will have no relevance and simply provide educational context.

So for example the first turn will be January 1894 because this is IMO the beginning of the "First World War" period. The First Sino-Japanese War also breaks out in that year and that's really be beginning of Japan's rise and fall. However the main reason is that on January 4th Russia and France signed their historic Franco-Russian Entente which is what ultimately would doom Europe to the Great War. This is of course top secret, however these will be written as intelligence reports, not newspapers like in Victoria 2. When history matches up with events in game your intelligence community got it right. When they diverge your intelligence community will be wrong. But realistically the purpose is entirely educational. So much happened from 1894 to 1994 it'd be nice for the game to be informative. I mean this isn't set in the dark ages, this is the age of telecommunications. Everything is pretty well documented. The player may as well have the option to immerse themselves in the setting because it is the real world.

Here's an example for the first report:

The Director of Central Intelligence
January 31, 1894
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Head of State
FROM: The Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: Monthly Report
On January 4^th the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire concluded secret negotiations. The two great powers appear to be seeking increased cooperation militarily and economically to counter their mutual geopolitical foes in Central Europe. Namely they seek to counter the so called “Triple Alliance” of the German Empire, the Empire and Kingdom of Austria and Hungary, and the Kingdom of Italy. It is estimated that the two states can mobilize two million men if a war were to break out on the European continent. However Tsar Alexander’s forces are at this point in time quite inferior technologically and it is questionable if they will be able to mobilize in conjunction with French forces should a crisis arise. The Germans may be able to take advantage of such a delay in said circumstances. However one can only imagine the ruinous financial and human costs which surely make such a war unthinkable despite the difficult diplomatic situation on the continent.
On a lighter note on January 7^th, a Scottish inventor, one William Kennedy Dickson, working under the auspices of the famed Thomas Edison in Menlo Park, New Jersey, seems to have developed a way to rapidly take photographs and display them in succession to reproduce the illusion of motion. It is a neat trick today from the resident wizard’s lair, but perhaps a useful way to propagate information to the masses tomorrow. Also on January 9^th, in Lexington, Massachusetts New England Telegraph and Telephone have installed a battery operated telephone switchboard which should vastly improve communications. The Americans seem to be steaming ahead with these electrical devices.