EP '14 mechanics/balance

[ComradeP]

Now that the game with jonnymacbrown is several days into the Clash of Empires campaign scenario and after reading the manual more thoroughly than before, I have some observations about the balance in EP '14.

The overall balance in terms of units and unit quality feels right, the only exception being Russian E quality reserve MG and gun formations as that feels like too much of a penalty. Making them D quality would make them significantly more useful, but not overpowered.

The reasons for why the MG and gun units are one quality level lower than the infantry units as explained in the manual make sense, but making all of them D quality seems like enough of a penalty on their performance.

The area where the balance is threatened is in how the specific penalties imposed on the Russians by design and the values associated with them in the Clash of Empires campaign combine into very serious penalties that in turn give the Germans a significant advantage.

The primary cause of the problem is supply, or rather: the lack thereof, and how it has an effect on unit effectiveness through units becoming low ammo and through the replacement rate.

To start with replacements: for over half the campaign, the Russians get either no or a handful of replacements. Initially, I thought there was at most one drop in supply, but there are three. That means frontline supply is 20-25 in optimistic cases starting September 1st, and replacements dry up completely or go down to 4 or so men at most.

This is then combined with units also being likely to have a Low Ammo status. Here, the command radius of 1 of Russian brigade HQ's combines with the low local supply levels to rapidly reduce Russian battalion effectiveness even excluding actual losses.

Comparing that to the German side: the Germans nearly always get ~30 replacements on average and as their HQ's cover 7 hexes in a circle centered on the HQ instead of 3 like the Russian HQ's, they can replace losses (and regain fatigue) whilst advancing or defending. The Russians can't move a unit back multiple hexes whilst the rest of the regiment/brigade is at the frontline with all units being in range of the brigade HQ whilst the Germans can do so. This is a crucial advantage.

Over time, it means you can't inflict meaningful losses on the Germans in a way that the Germans can't replace, without suffering disproportionality yourself as the Russians. If you inflict 300 losses and suffer, say, 150 (which is very optimistic), the Germans can replace those losses in 10 turns whilst your men might never come back. Over a period of several days, it's clear which way the wind will blow.

Any kind of combat operations lowering Russian strength in a way that can't be replaced is something that can over a period of days cripple entire divisions. Even a frontal attack without artillery support by the Germans can achieve this.

As an example of how the Russian MG and gun assets can quickly lose effectiveness: MG's and guns are likely to become Low Ammo, which makes them E morale. That in turn makes them likely to disrupt, which means placing them directly at the frontline is risky. The German MG and gun units are unlikely to be Low Ammo and if they disrupt they're still D morale. The Russians are F morale when disrupted and low ammo and unlikely to recover.

The Russian army might indeed have been rotten to the core in a number of ways, but this is also the army that could with some slight variations in events have prevented Tannenberg or turned it into a German defeat, the army that nearly inflicted a serious defeat on the Germans at Lodz, that took Lemberg and managed to stay in the war for several years regardless of those inefficiencies. An army having unique characteristics that require a certain play style is fun, but there's a certain point where penalties feel like they're too severe or artificial/arbitrary.

A few examples of the latter category:

-You need to plan the return of Samsanov's HQ several days in advance and never get both the Guards and the 1st Rifle Brigade and Samsanov. In the Tannenberg scenario, all three are present. That by itself is fine, but having to decide where Samsonov goes days in advance feels too gimmicky.

-Supply in Russian forts isn't artificially increased to counter the supply variations, which mean none of them will have any supply left by September 1st.

-"Extra" 10th Army units arrive piecemeal and the Daily arrival chance means they might very well arrive without their HQ. If they're not supposed to be there, OK, but if they should have a chance to arrive, make them arrive per formation if you give them a Daily chance.

Fatigue recovery is the same for both sides, but it's more difficult for the Russians to keep their battalions in range of their HQ and the Germans attack first on each day, so a huddle of battalions can be vulnerable.

Historically, the Russians could be tough defenders. Examples include the southern attack at Gumbinnen, the failure of which routed the Germans off the field, and the frontal attack against 1st Army during 1st Masurian Lakes which got nowhere. In the famous battles of the early stages of the war on the Eastern Front in World War I, the Russians were defeated through being outflanked, out-generalled and/or caught out of position. With the limited quantities of artillery available at the time, frontal attacks were costly for both sides.

My current impression is that the balancing has gone too far to favour the Germans, as even normal, not very costly, combat operations can quickly remove the fighting effectiveness of Russian formations in a way that they can only recover from with great difficulty.

One of the main differences in balance between campaigns and scenarios is the turn number, which means a side that enjoys a small effective advantage or no effective advantage in a scenario can enjoy a much greater advantage over time in the campaign.

The Russians can currently attack in an efficient manner, but they have no means to sustain that attack. Their numerical superiority exists mostly on paper (it's about 1.5:1 after the German reinforcements arrive) and as disrupted units have full movement points, destroying units is difficult for both sides, but the Germans can destroy Russian units through the Fragile nation mechanic.

Something like making Russian brigade HQ's range 2 in a situation where German brigade HQ's are range 3, and not reducing Russian supply so it's 50 or so at the border and about 2/3 of the German level would give the Russians more of a fighting chance. Replacements would still be lower but the higher replacement rate (4% compared to 3%) could compensate for that.

I like the feel of the game and the specific WWI charm, but giving the Russians a break so they can launch an attack which isn't destructive on the long term would in my opinion improve balance.