Assault mod

[Xerxes77]

IMPORTANT: This mod is a work in progress. While it successfully addresses the issues with infantry, the procedure outlined below will make soft vehicles more vulnerable during combined arms assaults, so with the help of LostLT it's currently being reworked to remove this limitation. This post will be updated with the final version of the mod once it's finalized.

*************** Original post follows ********************************

I've been getting a number of requests from folks interested in testing the fixes to the assault system I've described in a few threads on the SB subforum, so I decided to include the procedure I used below in case anyone else wants to replicate them and implement them in their own games.

THE SITUATION (A RECAP)
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After witnessing a particularly nasty outcome of an assault on a Demoralized unit during a game of Spanish Civil War, I decided to check the numbers on the manual and was surprised to find that said outcome was simply not possible as per the stated rules.

This led me to do some digging, which resulted in the discovery that the penalties applied to Disrupted, Pinned and Demoralized units during an assault seemed to be considerably less than advertised.

After running a series of tests with different unit conditions, I noticed that the numbers I was getting did not correspond to a proportional variation (i.e., it was not just that the numbers on the manual were simply wrong) but instead they seemed to follow a variable pattern depending on the weapons equipped. Eventually it dawned on me that the assault penalties were being applied ONLY TO A SQUAD'S WEAPONS, not to the actual squad (which always uses the unmodified Infantry Assault Value in the Parameter Data). In practice, this means that a disrupted, pinned or demoralized defending squad retains much, and often most, of its fighting capabilities.

(Example: a typical rifle in SCW has an assault value of 6. This means a healthy 10-strong infantry unit (assault value=20) armed with 10 rifles has a final assault value of 260 (10 times 20 + 10 times 6). If this unit becomes Demoralized, according to the manual it should defend at 1/8 of the nominal value, which gives an assault value of 33. Instead, the 1/8 penalty applies only to the 60 points contributed by the weapons, so the unit effectively defends with an assault value of 208.)

For the attacker, the difference can be quite dramatic. So I ended up devising this mod which I've been using since then and that provides, in my humble opinion, a more rewarding experience, especially considering the heavy attritional nature of the battles in SCW and the importance of following the classic disrupt-pin/demoralize-assault approach effectively.

RATIONALE
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The game penalizes weapon assault values, not infantry assault values. The problem with this is that the Infantry Assault Value usually makes up the largest proportion of the overall assault value for a unit. This means that the penalty on the unit as a whole gets "diluted" and the overall effect is much lower than expected. Therefore, I began looking for a way to increase the preponderance of the weapons' Assault Value in the overall assault figure (which was to remain unchanged), so that the reduction applied would affect the entire final value as -presumably- intended.

With that purpose in mind, I reduced the Infantry Assault Value in the Parameter Data to 1, ensuring it had a minimal impact on the final Assault Value, and simultaneously increased the Assault Value of all infantry weapons by the same amount (e.g., if an Infantry Assault Value goes from 20 to 1, all weapon assault values go up by 19). For any given unit, this ensures the final assault value remains unchanged, only this time it's the weapons that make up most of it, and hence it can be penalized uniformly.

Vehicles are not affected by morale penalties, so initially I thought there'd be no need to change their values. However, it turns out their assault calculation uses the Infantry Assault Value as a multiplier. In order to compensate for the points subtracted from the latter, I had to increase another factor in the calculation to ensure the final assault value remained the same. The obvious candidate was the Vehicle Infantry Value. I multiplied this by the original Infantry Assault Value to get the right result.

Finally, all vehicle-mounted weapons retain their original assault value with no modification; like the vehicles, they don't get penalized for morale.

IMPLEMENTING THE FIX
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This mod changes two files: the main parameter data (usually Main.dat) and the Weapons.dat file. Make sure to make backup copies or keep separate versions of these files in case you want to revert back.

Keep in mind these instructions look more complicated than they actually are!! Changing the parameters is trivial, and changing the weapon values can be a bit tedious but it's a one-time job.

Note that all changes should be implemented in both files for the mod to work.

CHANGES TO THE MAIN PARAMETER DATA (.PDT) FILE (via sqparam.exe)

Step 1. Take note of the stock/original Infantry Assault Value (typically 20, except for Grenada and possibly others where it's 10). We'll refer to this original value as oIAV for the rest of this instruction.
Step 2. Change the Vehicle Infantry Value parameter as per the following formula:
new Vehicle Infantry Value = current Vehicle Infantry Value x oIAV
    (Example: if the Vehicle Infantry Value is 10, and the oIAV is 20, the new Infantry Vehicle Value will be 20 x 10 = 200)
Step 3. Set the Infantry Assault Value to 1.

CHANGES TO THE WEAPONS.DAT FILE (via the "Weapon" tab in sqdata.exe)

Step 1. Select a non-vehicular weapon (i.e., a weapon for which the "Flags" field does not contain a "V"); no change is needed for vehicle-mounted weapons.
Step 2. Change the Assault Value for the weapon as per the following formula:
new Assault Value = current Assault Value + oIAV − 1.
    (Example: for an AK-47 with an Assault Value of 18 and an oIAV of 20, the new Assault Value will be 18 + 20 − 1 = 37).
Step 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 until all non-vehicular weapons have been set to their new Assault Value.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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This mod has been tested with Spanish Civil War and Grenada. In my opinion, it enhances the game's experience by making assaults fairer for the attacker. It clearly helps their odds against weakened human- or AI-controlled defenders, but does not remove the danger and uncertainty inherent to assaulting a position. Negative, and even awful results are still possible, and crucially the probability that a defending unit will retreat is not affected, only the amount of casualties they can inflict.

I'm not sure just how many games in the series are affected by this "bug"? I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were. I believe the issue may have gone largely unnoticed (except for the occasional attribution to an unusually bad roll) due to the predominance of weapons with higher relative assault values in other titles compared to SCW. A weapon with an assault value that's close to the Infantry Assault Value (e.g., 18) makes for a larger proportion of the final assault figure than a weapon with an assault value of 6. Those cases where the weapons assault values exceed the Infantry Assault Value will still benefit from the mod, but the effect will be less noticeable.

I've been made aware that other games in the series (Dien Bien Phu) include scenarios with unarmed units. These guys only use the Infantry Assault Value. Since this mod reduces this value to 1, these unarmed units are rendered basically useless during an assault. My suggestion would be arming them with at least a small weapon, like a knife or a pistol. The assault value of a small firearm is around 6; with my mod it would be increased to 25, more than enough for a decent fight. 

Finally, all this should not be read as an indictment or prescription on how the game should be played. It just works for me. There's clearly lots of room for improvement with this game, but it remains eminently playable with or without the mod. I just encountered this disagreement with the manual and went about thinking of ways to fix it, with no other intention than having fun and, maybe, helping to make an already great product even better. 

As always, looking forward to input, comments, info, etc.