So, going by this somewhat impromptu post earlier:
...I was just curious what sort of interest there would actually be for such a mod.
I am acutely aware that the majority of the mods proposed in this sub-forum probably won't see the light of day for various reasons. However, I think that this is an interesting and somewhat unique premise, combining as it does both European and Pacific theatre armies and equipment fighting over a selection of maps as varied as Idaho farmland, New Mexico desert and the Bayou.
Clearly it's far easier to think all of this up than it is to bring it to fruition, but given a few years of hard work and talented people coming together in a community spirit I think it could work.
In an ideal scenario we could borrow skins and models from other mods (such as Rising Storm for the the basis of our American and Japanese factions) but whether this would in fact be a possibility I do not know. Nonetheless, I think a reasonable initial goal would be a playable map and a basic set of weapons and skins for one of our new factions; an initial advantage of using a pre-existing faction (Germany) is that we can use TWI's default stuff as place-holders. Obviously there would have been differences in uniform, equipment and weaponry between the troops fighting on the Eastern Front in 1942 and those involved in a possible invasion of North America four years later.
So, for an initial goal - something fairly realistic and 'do-able' we can aim for whilst everyone gets used to the SDK and our possible scope - I think a small map representing a German landing on Newfoundland would be interesting.
I envisage something along the lines of German infantry and support troops being unloaded from a couple of troop ships onto the coast near a small fishing village - the focus of the map, and the Axis objective. The Allies would be the local British defence volunteers; essentially a small platoon of 'Tommies' armed with Lee Enfields and Stens, with maybe a couple of PIATs and Lewis guns in a small makeshift armoury by the harbour.
So what you have here is the Axis (virtually unchanged from RO2 at this stage) fighting the Allies over a relatively small area. The Allies must use teamwork and their knowledge of the terrain to defeat the larger Axis force. The only vehicles would be a couple of Panzer IIIs (remember the main invasion is taking place in Chesapeake Bay against the Americans, so the forces attacking Newfoundland have been given whatever equipment was left) which again we can 'use straight out of the box.'
Perhaps the Allies could have some Bren Carriers? If I recall, these are included in RO2 for the Russians, so we need only re-skin them...
Anyway, that is my initial vision for this mod. It would be lovely to think that a few years down the line we have a selection of maps covering both coasts and all four factions, but in the mean time I think a small map and a handful of Commonwealth weapons and skins is plenty to be getting on with.
So, do any of you feel that you share my vision of a RO2 mod? If so, is this about it? Would you be able to contribute something, no matter how small?
I won't leave you with a cheesy tagline - we can think up one of those later.
Please e-mail stephen.of.blois [at] gmail [dot] com if you're interested.
Homefront '46 - the Axis powers have pushed the Allies back to their home shores and are invading the continental United States on both coasts; the Japanese from the Pacific Northwest and the Germans from Chesapeake Bay.
The four playable factions would be Germany, Japan, the United States and the Commonwealth (specifically British and Canadian units depending on the map/theatre).
Obviously the title refers to the recent (and from what I've read, quite poor) game Homefront, but this would be genuinely amazing D) and you'd have swarms of Axis troops supported by a relatively meagre number of heavy units such as tanks and aircraft (represented by air strikes).
The Allies would have the advantage in terms of equipment due to the Axis powers' relatively precarious supply lines to and from the Japanese Empire (Japan, Manchuria, Philippines, Dutch East Indies) and Fortress Europe.
This mod would assume that there is still a large-scale naval war ongoing, but obviously the mod itself will only take place in the United States.
So, balance would not be hugely altered from standard WW2 mods such as Darkest Hour, in which you have a larger number of weaker Allied vehicles combating a smaller number of more powerful Axis ones. This balance would remain as a result of the difficulty the Axis powers have in moving their equipment overseas (as mentioned above) whereas the Americans and Canadians/British do not have this problem.
Setting such a mod through the course of a single year - 1946 - means that things can be relatively concise, particularly weaponry and technology.
Well that's it for now, I need to think about this and do lots of research.
Oh, and I need a mod team. :IS2:
...I was just curious what sort of interest there would actually be for such a mod.
I am acutely aware that the majority of the mods proposed in this sub-forum probably won't see the light of day for various reasons. However, I think that this is an interesting and somewhat unique premise, combining as it does both European and Pacific theatre armies and equipment fighting over a selection of maps as varied as Idaho farmland, New Mexico desert and the Bayou.
Clearly it's far easier to think all of this up than it is to bring it to fruition, but given a few years of hard work and talented people coming together in a community spirit I think it could work.
In an ideal scenario we could borrow skins and models from other mods (such as Rising Storm for the the basis of our American and Japanese factions) but whether this would in fact be a possibility I do not know. Nonetheless, I think a reasonable initial goal would be a playable map and a basic set of weapons and skins for one of our new factions; an initial advantage of using a pre-existing faction (Germany) is that we can use TWI's default stuff as place-holders. Obviously there would have been differences in uniform, equipment and weaponry between the troops fighting on the Eastern Front in 1942 and those involved in a possible invasion of North America four years later.
So, for an initial goal - something fairly realistic and 'do-able' we can aim for whilst everyone gets used to the SDK and our possible scope - I think a small map representing a German landing on Newfoundland would be interesting.
I envisage something along the lines of German infantry and support troops being unloaded from a couple of troop ships onto the coast near a small fishing village - the focus of the map, and the Axis objective. The Allies would be the local British defence volunteers; essentially a small platoon of 'Tommies' armed with Lee Enfields and Stens, with maybe a couple of PIATs and Lewis guns in a small makeshift armoury by the harbour.
So what you have here is the Axis (virtually unchanged from RO2 at this stage) fighting the Allies over a relatively small area. The Allies must use teamwork and their knowledge of the terrain to defeat the larger Axis force. The only vehicles would be a couple of Panzer IIIs (remember the main invasion is taking place in Chesapeake Bay against the Americans, so the forces attacking Newfoundland have been given whatever equipment was left) which again we can 'use straight out of the box.'
Perhaps the Allies could have some Bren Carriers? If I recall, these are included in RO2 for the Russians, so we need only re-skin them...
Anyway, that is my initial vision for this mod. It would be lovely to think that a few years down the line we have a selection of maps covering both coasts and all four factions, but in the mean time I think a small map and a handful of Commonwealth weapons and skins is plenty to be getting on with.
So, do any of you feel that you share my vision of a RO2 mod? If so, is this about it? Would you be able to contribute something, no matter how small?
I won't leave you with a cheesy tagline - we can think up one of those later.
Please e-mail stephen.of.blois [at] gmail [dot] com if you're interested.