Arsenal of Democracy

[Kaije]

About a week ago I fired up HoI2 to get back into my Italy game... Unfortunately, the few minor flaws that the game has quickly killed the mood. So next I looked into Iron Cross just to see what all it offered, changed, etc., but it appears to have been released a bit buggy and poorly translated...

 

And that's when I decided to give AoD a look. It doesn't add much in terms of content, so basically it's just appears to be HoI2 with tweaked or enhanced game mechanics and AI. I don't like the idea of spending another $20 for a game that I more or less already own, but what the hell, maybe it'll fix some of the flaws that've nagged at me. I haven't had much time to play around with this yet, so let's hope it was a worthy investment...

 

The new content of AoD is in the form of over a dozen new technologies (most are in the industrial tree), new tech teams galore, and some new brigades and attachments (naval units get much needed love here).

 

 

Republican Spain, 1936. Normal AI Difficulty and Aggression.

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR001.png

 

First thing I notice is that my starting IC is a little different than it was in HoI2, the same applies for most of the other nations. This is due to a game mechanic change, base IC and resource production are now modified by partisan activity, infrastructure, and terrain. Less than spectacular infrastructure combined with 30% dissent makes for an inefficient Spain. Swell. Oh well, at least I'm not playing as Nat. China because they're screwed.

 

 

Diplomacy Tab

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR002.png

 

Time to sort out my ministers and political sliders. Oh, and to check out my National Identity, Social Policy, and Culture. These provide various bonuses and penalities similar to ministers, can be changed, but I have very limited options to choose from - based on my political ideology. Here I switched my culture from Conformist to Individual Enterprise which gives small bonuses to Industrial Research and IC, but requires an extra 10% belligerence for me to DoW. And of course changing this gave me an additional 6% dissent, while the new bonuses don't go into effect for 120 days (May 1). Pfft, what's another 6% though!

 

 

Production Tab

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR003.png

 

Lots of new things here. A new IC slider under 'Upgrades' called 'Repair Provinces', which is for rebuilding a province after it gets blown to bits. Super. So now after I conquer a territory, I have to invest IC to get it back up and running... The Spanish Civil War is going to suck bad.

 

Conversions slider box allows you to control how much of a resource is to be converted (energy-to-oil or oil-to-rares). Not only do I have to research the required tech, but I now have to build the necessary plant in a province to begin converting. The amount of resources that can be produced is dependent on how many plants are built.

 

Expenses slider box is basically a break down of what makes up my 'Consumer Goods' need. Allocating IC above my needs just generates cash now, daily dissent change per day is now controlled with the 'Civil Expenses' slider.

 

The way that production runs are done now has changed quite a bit too, more than I want to detail here because I'm not adding anything new at this time.

 

 

Intelligence Tab

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR004.png

 

I don't know much about AoD intelligence, will play around with it later. As Spain I have much higher priorities to deal with

 

 

Trades Tab

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR005.png

 

A simple and more convient way to initiate trades. Something worth noting here though is that now sea trade utilises convoys and escorts which will make convoy raiding far more worthwhile. Island nations beware!

 

 

More to come...

 

This isn't meant to be a serious AAR, I'm just going to touch on some of the subtle differences between AoD and standard HoI2 for anyone that may be interested.

[FullAuto]

There's actually some nice added detail there, nice one Kaije.

[Kaije]

Thanks, FA!

 

But maybe they should've called this Attrition of Democracy... Unless my units are just sitting and spinning on their bums, they'll suffer a small amount of attrition. Well that's not accurate, even if they're sitting in poor weather they'll suffer from attrition. And, like jungles, being in desert terrain now causes constant attrition too! All of which makes sense, it's just going to take some time to get used to after all the hours I put into standard HoI2.

 

 

Election Times

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR006.png

 

Actually I went with National Front here since it did pretty much the same thing without changing all of my ministers. This screeny also shows the unit panel, all units now carry their own stockpile of supplies and fuel (if needed). So now units can still remain in supply for a short while when/if they get encircled or isolated.

 

Also note the two new buttons at the bottom of the panel. The first is a scorched earth order used to destroy a provinces infrastucture, IC, etc if defeated and forced to retreat. The second button is an order to stand their ground and fight to the death, but using this option increases national dissent.

 

 

A Glance at New Production

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR007.png

 

Note the 'retooling' time in the tooltip, all new production has a certain amount of setup time before actual production can begin. Combining this with a more meaningful gearing bonus now gives a little more depth when planning production. After 'retooling' I also have the option to double or triple the amount IC dedicated to the run to reduce production time, but it doesn't appear to be very IC efficient for the time reduction it provides. Just a simple overview of some of the changes, production is still more complex than this...

 

 

Civil War!

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR008.png

 

Now I finally get to check out how much combat has changed!

 

 

Madrid Falls without a Fight

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR009.png

 

Damn. My best units went to the Nationals and my defensive preparations for this are now splintered with infighting... This is my first time doing the Spanish Civil War, so I didn't know exactly how the game would handle the initial event.

 

 

Soviet Intervention

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR010.png

 

Armor will help, the rest not so much. Beggars can't be choosers though!

 

 

Huelva Lost

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR011.png

 

Wow, combat lasts much longer now. Much. I was outnumbered 2-to-1 by superior divisions in Huelva... This fight would've taken maybe eight hours tops in HoI2, but here it drug out for 95 hours! And now a spiffy casualty break down comes in the info box.

 

 

New Statistics Pages

https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/Kaije3/AoD/SPR012.png

 

Ooh... Ahh... To compliment the casualty reports, the game also tracks national casualties inflicted or incurred through combat. Me thinks it's time to start a serious campaign to populate these new pages

[FullAuto]

SCW seems like a nice intensive way to get familiar with the new systems. It's never an easy win, in my experience. Even when the battles go well, you turn away only to find provinces swapping sides, which is worse than enemies taking them away.

 

The new attrition seems fair enough, but bloody Hell. Nasty.

 

This screeny also shows the unit panel, all units now carry their own stockpile of supplies and fuel (if needed). So now units can still remain in supply for a short while when/if they get encircled or isolated.

 

Nice!

 

The first is a scorched earth order used to destroy a provinces infrastucture, IC, etc if defeated and forced to retreat. The second button is an order to stand their ground and fight to the death, but using this option increases national dissent.

 

Nicer!

 

New casualty reports and lists are also handy. I always licked checking my 'score' of ships in HOI2.