RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not

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RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not - 6/7/2012 4:41:19 PM

Cerion

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Tarhunnas

However, I do agree with those that think random weather can be a bit too random. I would like to see some kind of light mud or similar during the summer months.

quote:

ORIGINAL: jaw

This is one area where I disagree with just about everyone else on the development team: at a scale of one week turns and 10 mile hexes random weather is neither historicaliy nor meteorologically accurate. The amount of rain you need to produce mud conditions over hundreds of square miles of terrain cannot be produced by any fast moving summer shower. It requires sustained rain, day in and day out for days on end. At minimum, the probability of mud between July and September should be ZERO at this scale. Once the weather does deteriorate it should be very difficult, if not impossible, for it to improve before the season changes. So in the Fall, Clear can turn to Mud but Mud can't turn back to Clear, Mud can turn to Snow and Snow to Mud (if still in the Fall) but Blizzard can only be more Blizzard or Snow.

If the Random weather table had this structured variability I'd be all for it; as currently designed I'll stick with non-random weather.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 76mm

In theory I would like to play with random weather, but currently it is just too random. If they can't introduce something between clear and mud, I would like for them to introduce a "random-lite" option in which mud/blizzard can vary by +/- two or three turns, just to keep things interesting...

+1 all three. In theory, I like Random weather but ........... best implemented.

(in reply to danlongman)

Post #: 31

RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not - 6/7/2012 6:17:33 PM

Schmart

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Joined: 9/13/2010
From: Canada
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TOAW had the ability to apply weather for individual hexes. You could have (for instance) mud every few hexes (or blotches of it here and there), but it wouldn't be until major seasonal weather changes came that you could get mud across the board. Fog/clouds could also limit air support in individual hexes. I wouldn't say that the TOAW weather mechanism always worked the way it was supposed to, but a different way of doing things.

Maybe a WitE option might be to create more weather zones, or at least breakup the existing zones into numerous sub-zones that can randomly and independently change within the larger zone.

(in reply to Cerion)

Post #: 32

RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not - 6/9/2012 3:34:40 PM

Redmarkus5

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I often feel that the German's 'surprise' when the mud or winter weather arrived is over-stated. Surely the point is not simply about the ability to forecast the timing of the major seasonal changes, but also the effect of those changes on operations?

The German Army fought in Russia during the First World War and many of the officers who served under Hitler had experienced Russia before. Secondly, it's not as though Russia is on the far side of the moon. Even the Nazis had been trading extensively with Stalin over several years, many military exchanges had taken place and the Germans had also closely studied the performance of the Soviet troops in winter in Finland. They were fully aware of the effects of the Russian weather but they didn't anticipate the Red Army's ability to adapt to it.

The real surprise the Germans suffered was that the Red Army was still fighting when the weather changed. The Germans fully expected the weather to change but also assumed that they would be in winter quarters by the time that happened and that major combat operations would be over.

Therefore, non-random weather makes sense in the game. One thing that doesn't make sense is the ability of an Axis player to pull his whole army back to avoid the winter - what a nonsense. Another is the way that random weather affects the entire front all at one go instead of being regionalized. It is these regional random events that Danlongman is really referring to, I think, not the major seasonal variations - wet in the autumn and spring and bloody cold in winter. As Schmart points out below, TOAW had this solved ten years ago, if not longer.

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WitE2 tester, WitW, WitP, CMMO, CM2, GTOS, GTMF, WP & WPP, TOAW4, BA2

(in reply to danlongman)

Post #: 33

RE: Informal Poll: Random Weather or Not - 6/11/2012 5:49:56 PM

Schmart

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Joined: 9/13/2010
From: Canada
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quote:

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4

I often feel that the German's 'surprise' when the mud or winter weather arrived is over-stated. Surely the point is not simply about the ability to forecast the timing of the major seasonal changes, but also the effect of those changes on operations?

Yet the Germans were completely unprepared for the first winter. Partially that was because they didn't/couldn't supply enough winter gear in the fall, and partially no one could've predicted the severity of the winter of 41-42 (which was unusually cold). But as players, we all know well in advance the effects that the first winter will have on both sides. It just feels a little odd. I've always thought that it would be interesting to make each winter random: You will always get at least one severe winter in each game, but you never know when it'll happen. It could happen historically, it could happen at Stalingrad, it could happen at the gates of Berlin (and to the Russian's detriment)...

(in reply to Redmarkus5)

Post #: 34