EF Forgotten Battles Mod vs the imminent MCS 1.05/2.0

[Crossroads]

Forgotten Battles Mod vis-a-vis JTCS 1.05/2.0

Everyone, just a little heads up with what's happening with Mike's and mine little EF add-on...

It was our intention to include all the countries to new EF roster, but we did not quite have the time for it. The upgraded Poles and Bulgarians made it, while two new Allied countries were included in the form of Finland and Germany. The latter two will be totally independent new country allocations, and with that their country code will change.

What we ran out of time to migrate were the French, UK and US OoBs for what-ifs and hypothetical scenarios.

Once the new version is out, I will prepare a new version of the Mod, now containing these three countries. I will expect to have the new Mod version out in two to four weeks time as when the 1.05/2.0 will be available. Meanwhile, I have removed the download link for the current Mod version, as it makes no sense to install it at this stage.

I am also taking most if not all of the scenarios I've developed out from the Scenario DB. The placeholders will remain there, while the download itself will be removed. Some of them require a thorough change with new units, where the country code changed. Others are using new 1.05/2.0 features such as dynamic day/night so will be added when those changes are completed.

Thank you for your patience.

Regarding the future of the Forgotten Battles Mod, there might be new content coming out in the spirit of the title. Polish units for Warsaw Uprising for an example, while pre-WW II border skirmishes between the various nations would be an interesting addition as well.

Introducing new nations, new units, new capabilities via a Mod seems to be a good way to ensure the new additions are well tested by the time they make the official patch, so I am open to having similar Mods hosted for other engines (WF, RS) as well, if there are interested parties to drive those forward.

Anyways, 2014 is looking to be a great year for us Grognards. Can't wait!

---

Forgotten Battles EF Tournament

To celebrate the EF Forgotten Battles milestone where a lot of its content make the official version, I am also considering hosting a Forgotten Battles Tournament.

Tournament will cover all scenarios available initially under the mod, but now (or: soon!) playable under the official install. I am thinking to run it in a similar manner as the World In Flames Tournament is being run:

- Two teams, of Axis and Allied
- Division to these teams by the respective ELO of the players joining in. Top Gun goes to Allied, Second to Axis, third to Allied, and so forth
- Single battles (ie. not a mirrored games tournament), Optional rules per scenario descriptions.
- Medal to all participants who played at least five scenarios under the tournament. How about giving an extra polish to the winning side's medal?

As the Forgotten Battles has the same countries both on Axis and Allied roles, depending when the battle was set, I think there might be a nice diversity to games.

So, from the Soviet-Polish War of 1920s to Soviet invasion to Poland and Finland in 1939, to Great Patriotic War, to Balkans, should be fun!

If interested do join in by posting in this thread!

I expect the tournament to kick in as of March.

Some of the scenarios are listed HERE. More scenarios in the making though!

[Ashcloud]

Forgotten Battles Mod vis-a-vis JTCS 1.05/2.0

Everyone, just a little heads up with what's happening with Mike's and mine little EF add-on...

It was our intention to include all the countries to new EF roster, but we did not quite have the time for it. The upgraded Poles and Bulgarians made it, while two new Allied countries were included in the form of Finland and Germany. The latter two will be totally independent new country allocations, and with that their country code will change.

What we ran out of time to migrate were the French, UK and US OoBs for what-ifs and hypothetical scenarios.

Once the new version is out, I will prepare a new version of the Mod, now containing these three countries. I will expect to have the new Mod version out in two to four weeks time as when the 1.05/2.0 will be available. Meanwhile, I have removed the download link for the current Mod version, as it makes no sense to install it at this stage.

I am also taking most if not all of the scenarios I've developed out from the Scenario DB. The placeholders will remain there, while the download itself will be removed. Some of them require a thorough change with new units, where the country code changed. Others are using new 1.05/2.0 features such as dynamic day/night so will be added when those changes are completed.

Thank you for your patience.

Regarding the future of the Forgotten Battles Mod, there might be new content coming out in the spirit of the title. Polish units for Warsaw Uprising for an example, while pre-WW II border skirmishes between the various nations would be an interesting addition as well.

Introducing new nations, new units, new capabilities via a Mod seems to be a good way to ensure the new additions are well tested by the time they make the official patch, so I am open to having similar Mods hosted for other engines (WF, RS) as well, if there are interested parties to drive those forward.

Anyways, 2014 is looking to be a great year for us Grognards. Can't wait!

---

Forgotten Battles EF Tournament

To celebrate the EF Forgotten Battles milestone where a lot of its content make the official version, I am also considering hosting a Forgotten Battles Tournament.

Tournament will cover all scenarios available initially under the mod, but now (or: soon!) playable under the official install. I am thinking to run it in a similar manner as the World In Flames Tournament is being run:

- Two teams, of Axis and Allied
- Division to these teams by the respective ELO of the players joining in. Top Gun goes to Allied, Second to Axis, third to Allied, and so forth
- Single battles (ie. not a mirrored games tournament), Optional rules per scenario descriptions.
- Medal to all participants who played at least five scenarios under the tournament. How about giving an extra polish to the winning side's medal?

As the Forgotten Battles has the same countries both on Axis and Allied roles, depending when the battle was set, I think there might be a nice diversity to games.

So, from the Soviet-Polish War of 1920s to Soviet invasion to Poland and Finland in 1939, to Great Patriotic War, to Balkans, should be fun!

If interested do join in by posting in this thread!

I expect the tournament to kick in as of March.

Some of the scenarios are listed HERE. More scenarios in the making though!

I am in.

[Big Ivan]

Count me in on the tournament.
Thanks
Ivan the Big

[Crossroads]

Count me in on the tournament.
Thanks
Ivan the Big

Great! I definitively want to include your Regrets - None! in the tour. It needs to have it Allied Germans to be changed to country code 40 though. Do you want me to have a go if I can edit the scenario file directly to do that? It would be a big task to rebuild OOB and SCN with editors...

[Big Ivan]

Battle Kat,

By all means go for it.

However I want to eventually put out a second version to it. Mike Amos commented that the scenario should have a few T34/76 43's swapped for T-34/85's in the second version. He said you can do it by notepad but I'm not really sure how nor have I gotten around to it.

But as a first generation scenario its not bad and I am pleased that you would consider it for inclusion in the tournament.
Cheers!
John

[Crossroads]

Great, I'll have a go at it once the new patch is out.

The scenario seemed evenly balanced, so while you might consider adding T-34/85s you would then need to have the Allied armor out sooner as well I think. T-34s have such an excellent movement capability so even with a shorter range it was very difficult to repel them.

But yes, what better chance to test out the new version than this tournament. It will still require the Mod in place for the Western Allied to be included in the EF, but I hope that is not an issue. It is such an easy addition to get in and out from the EF install with JSGME!

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

When are these going to be available and where will they go? Everything under the overall Campaign Series folder?

Definitely interested in tourney if things working properly.

[Crossroads]

When are these going to be available and where will they go? Everything under the overall Campaign Series folder?

If you are asking about the new EF Forgotten Battles Mod version, it will be out 2 to 4 weeks after the next Campaign Series patch is out.

It will be just that, a new version of the mod. Installation will be as easy as it was, with JSGME. So, really easy, and fool-proof. Really.

As for the Forgotten Battles Tournament, most scenarios will be playable with the next Campaign Series as-is. No mods required.

Then, those willing to install the next version of the mod, let us call it tentatively EF Forgotten Battles 2.0, can play the remaining scenarios.

Out of the list of scenarios I linked to, only Enforcing the Line, Regrets - None, and Raging Bear will require the mod, as they contain Western Allied countries within EF.

Is this what you asked?

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

Yup,thanks!