guess youre an absurdist...
I'd love to say +1 to a WWI MA but HOW? there is no way to capture bases, no way to attack bases... the frontlines moved too slow to be of any use. planes only carried POS mini bomb bugs, no troop delivery system... HiTech would have to add in a whole newly designed WWI including MANY WWI planes, infantry mode which turns it into a ground force sim instead of a flight sim... aka big fat BUST
Well, since you asked....
there are a billion possible designs, and billion different variations on each, but since you asked I’ll try and rattle off some ideas I could imagine in the arena I’d like to see. These are just my opinions and not thoroughly analyzed. They are fresh off the top of my brain and still steaming. I’m sure they are full of holes but I think you’ll get the gist.
I. Based on the arena dynamics I’ve seen in the WWII MA over the years, I am assuming the best configuration is going to be a non-historical 3 country setup. I know I’m going to catch hell from the purists. I am not saying that AVA type arenas and historic scenarios aren’t going to be a heck of a lot of fun (I will LOVE having some scenarios), but for a day to day internet multiplayer competitive arena, the 3 country configuration paradoxically and unintuitive has far more advantages than the alternatives. And I am a player who originally hated that some 11 years ago when I first started playing AH. The many complex reasons this works best have been gone over ad naseum and are beyond the scope of this discussion.
II. I do not think the WWI MA should attempt to simulate WWI. I think the WWI MA should provide a strat enabled multiplayer environment consistent with the WWI technology and aircraft (with some concessions made for game-play).
III. I think all WWI aircraft in the planeset should be available to all countries.
IV. Given the historical context, I don’t believe fields should be “captured”.
V. Like a scenario, the winning of the war is accomplished by the completion of certain mission and the accumulation of points.
VI. Since fields are not captured, the arena can be laid out differently than in required in the WWII MA. A simple 3-way arrangement would be sufficient. As long as each side had a sufficient front against each other team. A 3-way trench system would define the fronts. Something similar to (fig. A):
VII. Airfields are not indestructible. They can be attacked and damaged from fighters and bombers and artillery. They will have manable and auto-ack. The hangars can be destroyed, but won’t stay completely down for long. Depending on resupply, planes can soon spawn from damaged airfields but until the field is fully repaired, spawned AC may start out with random levels of damage at takeoff. Airfields are resupplied by trains and truck supply columns.
VIII. Truck supply columns and trains resupply fields and strategic targets. Destroying these will delay the rebuild time of damaged assets.
IX. Stategic Assets like bridges, command centers, rail yards, truck, supply and ammo depots can be damaged either by direct attack with bomber formations (e.g. Gotha, Handley-Page 3 plane drone wingmen like WWII)
or by observation plane recon. An observation plane overflys a target a trigger is set. If the observation plane lands back at a friendly base, the trigger fires an artillery barrage at the overflown target. It takes longer, and if the observation plane doesn’t make it back there is no barrage, but if successful, the artillery delivers a more damaging blowing than the ordinance that can be carried by the bombers. Bombers and observation planes , due to their special role, are identified on DAR and brighter colored dots than the other enemy contact.
X. A system of tethered observation ballons spans the fronts.
These represent the spotting and early warning systems (i.e. local DAR). These are destroyable and will leave gaps in coverage. Resupply time rebuilds them back to full status eventually. (see rings in VI. Fig A.)
XI. The war is not won by field capture. Like a scenario, the war is won by a sufficiently large accumulated advantage of “Strategic Balance Points”. SBP are accumulated through the damage/destruction of enemy aircraft, airfields, and strategic assets. SBP are lost when your planes, airfields, strategic assets are damaged and destroyed. You not only have to score against the enemy, but prevent them from scoring against you. At any point, the current strategic balance can be visualized by a “War Status” tab on the Clipboard. In addition to the normal information there is a Strategic Balance Graph similar to:
The length of each teams vector is representative of its relative accumulated SBP total. If at any time the balance point is pushed out to or beyond the outer red ring, the war is over. The team with the longest vector is the winner. If two teams have exactly the same points when the balance point breaches the red ring, then the war continues until one of the other team scores another point. If before that happens, the balance point is pushed back inside the red ring, the war continues.
XII. Perk points earned in the arena can be used to purchase special ac and ground vehicles.
a. 3 Tanks groups (primary and 2 drones like the bombers) can be purchased which punch a hole in the front and penetrate to enemy frontline airfields for a raid. These can attack and damage the airfields (but not capture). They can be bombed or countered with perk-purchased tanks from the other side.
b. Zepplins can be purchased. Due to the distances they traveled, they can air spawn. They are like a cross between an observation plane and a bomber. They carry an impressive bomb load, but also are big enough to carry powerful radios that can call in real-time artillery strikes if they loiter within a certain radius of a strategic asset. But they are very slow and very vulnerable to attack.
Uhhh that’s all I can think of for now. I’m outa beer.
Regards,
Wab
