quote:

ORIGINAL: OldCrowBalthazor

This is a copy of the notes I received from the mod creator mdsmall for Balkan Variations, rebuilt on ver 1.05.00.
Him and I just started a new campaign using this mod. I'm am recording my p.o.v. (Entente) for my YT channel, and hope to have the first turn go up sometime in June. With that, I thought a cover for his cool mod was needed, as would a thumbnail for a pbem series..so I made one. :) This has been a very rewarding experience working with Mike on this project.

Here are his most recent notes:


Strategic Command, World War One

Balkan Variations Mod, Version 5

In designing this mod, I had two overall aims. The first was to give the Entente the option of intervening in Greece to support Serbia much earlier than the decision which fires on August 1, 1915 in the standard game. The second was to redraw the map around the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey to make it possible to fight a battle that is closer to what actually happened in the Gallipoli campaign. Several tweaks were added because I thought it would help the game. The following is a list of all of the modifications in this mod. I used the 1.05 version of the standard game as the baseline. Anything that is not mentioned below is therefore identical to the settings for the 1914 Call to Arms campaign in that version of the game.

Entente Support for Serbia

A new Decision Event has been written (DE260) for France asking if France wishes to intervene in Greece to open up new convoy route to Serbia through Salonika. (Version 1.05 has added this alternate convoy route from France but it requires Greece to have joined the Entente in order to become operational). DE 260 is triggered if the Central Powers have disrupted the flow of supplies from France through Montenegro to Serbia if any one of the following conditions are met:

- The CP have captured Cetinje
- The CP have captured Pec
- The CP have captured Pristina
- The CP have one unit within one hex of Nish

Accepting this DE will cost France 100 MPPs in one turn. It also triggers a dummy DE for the UK, so the UK will also contribute 100 MPPs towards this venture. (Note that this DE will not fire if the UK is not yet at war with the Central Powers).

If the Entente say YES, Greek Prime Minister Venizelos will attempt a coup in Athens to oust the pro-German faction around the King. If Venizelos succeeds, Greece will immediately mobilize to 100% and will join the Entente. The port of Salonika will transfer to Serbia and the new convoy route will open up from France to Serbia through Salonika. In addition, a 10 strength Greek corps of National Defence will mobilize in Salonika.

If Venizelos's coup fails, Greece will immediately mobilize to 100% and will join the Central Powers. Venizelos will organize a breakaway Free State of Salonika in northern Greece which will secede from Greece and will mobilize 100% and join the Entente. The new convoy route from France will still open up through Salonika; and an independent 10 strength corps of National Defence will mobilize in Salonika. (The mod uses the country ID and flag of the Free State of Danzig for the Free State of Salonika, thus official notifications from the game engine refer to Danzig rather than Salonika).

Whether the coup succeeds or fails, if the Entente stage this intervention both Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire will swing 5 - 10% towards the Central Powers. Serbia will also gain 1000 NM morale points by having access to the new convoy route from France.

If the Entente say NO to this DE, Venizelos will not attempt a coup at this time. However, the Entente may have a chance to support another coup attempt by him on August 1, 1915 (as per DE 121 in the standard campaign).

Changes to the Gallipoli Theater

The map has been redrawn to more accurately show the topography of the Gallipoli Peninsula (within the limits of what can be done with the existing terrain sprites). The peninsula is narrower and now has only one land hex, at 198, 105. The town and port (which did not exist historically) at Sedd El Bahr at the tip of the peninsula have been removed. Hills have been added to the terrain in both the entrance and the exit hexes for the Dardanelles (198, 106 and 199, 104) and in the land hex between them on the peninsula (198,105). The town of Gallipoli has been moved east by one hex from 198,104 to 199,103 so that it now has a coastline on the Sea of Marmara rather than the Aegean and the town has been given a port facing the Sea of Marmara. The 8 strength Ottoman corps that starts the standard game on Sedd El Bahr now starts on Gallipoli. In addition, the Ottomans now have a 5-strength coastal gun that deploys on the first turn on one of the hexes around Chanak (reflecting the coastal guns that the Ottomans had deployed at Sedd El Bahr).

For the Ottomans, these changes make the Gallipoli Peninsula harder to supply (by removing and shifting the towns) but easier to defend (by adding the hills and the coastal gun). For the Entente, it makes Gallipoli a more attractive target by giving it a port on the Sea of Marmara, so that it can be entry point for landing Entente units to attack Constantinople. However, to do so, the Entente has to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula - which is why that barren terrain became the focal point of the original campaign.

The Liberation of Serbia and Montenegro

A new script has been included so that if Serbia surrenders but then is subsequently liberated (by the Entente capturing one of its capitals), all the NM gains for Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the NM losses for Russia and France due to Serbia's surrender are reversed. Similarly, a new script has been added so that if Montenegro surrenders but is then subsequently liberated, Serbia gains back the 2000 NM it lost when Centinje and Pec fell to the Central Powers.


New Partisan Locations

Both Montenegro and Albania can now generate partisans after surrender. This seemed a logical addition to the Serbian partisans in the standard game.

Unit Morale Shifts when Countries Surrender

I have reduced to zero the morale swings at the unit level for either side when both minor and major countries surrender. This disadvantages the Central Powers somewhat more than the Entente, since most of the minors that surrender in the first year of the war belong to the Entente. However, I felt that the existing settings have too widespread a morale effect on every units belonging to every power on both sides. Since the game engine does not allow this effect to be restricted to just the major power that controls the minor which surrendered, or the victorious major that forced the surrender, it was better just to reduce the effect to zero.

Terrain Changes

I have made Mount Ararat in Turkey (233, 106) and Mount Elbrus (230, 98 and 231, 98) in the Caucasus high mountain hexes. This was done largely for cosmetic reasons and because they are actually high mountains.











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ORIGINAL: Raptor341

Any mod that adds more historical flavour and realism is great in my books - may use this for my next PBEM game!

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ORIGINAL: shri

can we have an AAR or summary of the game so far?

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ORIGINAL: Tanaka

quote:

ORIGINAL: shri

can we have an AAR or summary of the game so far?

Check out his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwnsBUHYdk7tcejmU5k9cOw

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ORIGINAL: BillRunacre

In the official campaigns (and therefore presumably here too) the chance for the Serbian units to fight on from exile after Serbia surrenders is 100%, but two things may prevent this: 1) the units have to be outside Serbia when it surrenders and 2) if they are stuck somewhere in very low supply then attrition losses might get them.

But otherwise, there is no reason why they shouldn't be fighting on unless or until the CP destroy them.

quote:


For the Ottomans, these changes make the Gallipoli Peninsula harder to supply (by removing and shifting the towns) but easier to defend (by adding the hills and the coastal gun). For the Entente, it makes Gallipoli a more attractive target by giving it a port on the Sea of Marmara, so that it can be entry point for landing Entente units to attack Constantinople. However, to do so, the Entente has to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula - which is why that barren terrain became the focal point of the original campaign.

quote:


For the Ottomans, these changes make the Gallipoli Peninsula harder to supply (by removing and shifting the towns) but easier to defend (by adding the hills and the coastal gun). For the Entente, it makes Gallipoli a more attractive target by giving it a port on the Sea of Marmara, so that it can be entry point for landing Entente units to attack Constantinople. However, to do so, the Entente has to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula - which is why that barren terrain became the focal point of the original campaign.

quote:

ORIGINAL: eightroomofelixir

quote:


For the Ottomans, these changes make the Gallipoli Peninsula harder to supply (by removing and shifting the towns) but easier to defend (by adding the hills and the coastal gun). For the Entente, it makes Gallipoli a more attractive target by giving it a port on the Sea of Marmara, so that it can be entry point for landing Entente units to attack Constantinople. However, to do so, the Entente has to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula - which is why that barren terrain became the focal point of the original campaign.

These map changes sounds interesting - do you have a screenshot of the modified peninsula for show case?