Russian Civil War.

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way2co0l
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Russian Civil War.

Post by way2co0l »

This is something that has been brought up a few times and I think it bares discussion on how it could be implemented in a realistic way within the existing game engine. I think it's also worth considering how it could be implemented in a way that allows the feature to function beyond this limited scope as well and allow for some interesting gameplay additions with civil wars in Africa and the mideast. Even China's previous civil war during/following WW2. Heck, who knows, even a potential civil war in America with how polarized everything has become in this country. I don't think it's entirely outside of the realm of imagining. Basically what I'm saying is that I think this specific feature is an important consideration for the timeline, but one that I believe can potentially add a lot to the entire game series as a whole so I'd definitely like to open this up to discussion.

For my part, I think the simplest gameplay mechanics you can go from are the obvious DAR/MAR ratings. I think they should both have an effect that contributes to the scenario in different ways, obviously reflecting the stance that portion of your country you'll need to worry about.

I feel DAR is the most straightforward aspect. When it begins to fall too low, for whatever reason, you'll start having to deal with partisan units which fundamentally can represent civil unrest in the form of protests in the most basic sense, escalating to riots and revolution at the most extreme. These units won't be very strong on their own, but if you have enough of them they should have a very realistic chance at being able to defeat military units. I feel like their chances within the timeframe this game takes place in make them more of a threat than they would be in more modern scenarios. Someone like Russia with their backwards economy, high poverty, dated military equipment, ect would be at great risk to these partisan units because it should be difficult for them to keep DAR high enough to avoid them, while also having few high quality military units to fight them with, and most of those would be tied up in the war effort. If Russia isn't careful, they might find themselves struggling both in the war and at home. Due to the size of the Russian motherland and poor infrastructure, it would also be difficult to suppress these partisans as efficiently as a smaller more centralized country like France or Germany would be able to, if they fell under the same conditions.

Partisans should spawn primarily in higher population hexes, perhaps never spawning in a hex with less than a thousand population. They should not suffer the same supply issues as other military units, living off the land instead, and thus allowing them to be spread out without an actual infrastructure network and still be effective. Their AI logic should be focused on trying to come together within a regional sense and when strong enough to move against population centers and military facilities, but to avoid combat or even detection until then. Russia with it's large area may find itself facing multiple little bubbles, spread out and condensing when they come closer together to form a more cohesive whole, and would require a very significant military effort to hunt them down and eliminate them. Since they would be attempting to avoid combat until they've formed a proper battlegroup, it would make it even more difficult for the Russians because there's so much land they'd have to walk through and so little infrastructure available to help them. That means that even if only a few partisans are spawning ever few weeks, few of them can be caught and destroyed and eventually they'll form groups large enough to withstand the forces you send to hunt them. They would still move slowly, and it would take a considerable amount of time for them to actually take over the country, but if you don't respond to the conditions that cause them to spawn in the first place, it's almost an a simple matter of when considering the huge distraction the war will prove to be.

When it comes to the MAR side of things. Obviously if you keep it high, it will help you with your authoritarian state, securing power against the partisans that try to rise up against you. But again, in the case of Russia where you are simultaneously struggling in your massive war, your economy is suffering, and you are probably struggling to keep military spending to keep up with your budget expectations (in line with my suggestions from the other thread), then your MAR will continually begin to suffer. There's already a mechanic which causes your troops to defect to your enemy when your MAR drops low enough, but I'd encourage you to add a mechanic where they will defect even sooner to your partisan forces if they already currently exist. This makes the entire thing a much bigger risk. As you're pulling troops from the front lines to try to quell your nation's unrest, you'll likely suffer more losses in the process. And if your MAR drops low enough, the troops you send to quell the unrest might just join up with them instead, adding significant military firepower to their revolutionary movement.

While we're on the topic though, I think it's worth considering a military coup as a possibility. In the event that your DAR is fine and not to the point where revolutionaries are going to spawn, but your MAR is too low for whatever reason. Perhaps you've recently implemented cuts to your military spending that makes them unhappy, and falls below their expected levels (based on my other thread) then they might attempt to seize power. This could be further enhanced if another country is funding your opposition or otherwise destabilizing your country. There could be a periodic ticker every month that you remain under a specific threshold (and not currently involved in an active war) where a percentage of your armed forces equal to your current MAR rating turn against you, immediately seizing the territory they currently hold and begin the process of trying to take over the country. The units that defect should be random to enhance unpredictability, so you never know which side has the actual advantage outside of what the actual percentage of defecting troops would be.

Anyway, those are just my initial thoughts, but I'd love to hear what anyone else might have to contribute. Obviously battlegoat is keeping features close to the chest, so I'm not sure what they have planned for this aspect of the game, but I personally believe it's a very important part that they should try to find a way to implement. My suggestion poses some challenges, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. So throw in some thoughts and see if we can get it in. :)
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Balthagor
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Re: Russian Civil War.

Post by Balthagor »

I have given it a read and made some notes for myself. Thanks for sharing.
Chris Latour
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way2co0l
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Posts: 687
Joined: Nov 29 2010
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Re: Russian Civil War.

Post by way2co0l »

Just hopeful it helps. I've been sharing a lot of stuff, and I genuinely believe these suggestions would help the game, but I fully realize that expecting all of it to make it into the game with the development resources available is unrealistic. But how are you guys to know what your players actually want if we don't throw out our thoughts? So hopefully it'll help you guys make the decisions that you do. I know you can't actually go revealing much to avoid people getting their hopes up over certain features, but I'm all for weighing in on any feedback you'd personally like to hear or even expanding on some of the feedback I've already provided if it'd help. Either way, looking forward to it. :)
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