The Ground War: How the Game Works
Revised March 20, 2003 (v1.81)
Introduction - Learning the War
Players achieve victories and suffer defeats as
individuals and groups based on their fighting skills. However
the success or failure of a player's country or side will be based on the
strategic impact of those actions. In military terms, the strategic layer
(cities, resources, supplies, etc.) is directly influenced by the tactical
(individual soldiers and vehicles) role that players participate in on a
general basis.
Essentially World
War II Online’s current theater map is split into a web of Choke Points (CPs)
layered over a geographic backdrop of northwestern
A web of supply links all of the CPs
together in one form or another. The supply system gives the player the ability
to use the local resources for the war effort – spawning troops, vehicles,
aircraft, etc. Once supply is disrupted by attempts to
capture the CP or is cut off from nearby supply sources, then what is currently
available becomes reduced until nothing is available altogether.
Between CPs that are not relatively close together are Fire Bases (FBs), military revetments
that provide for more timely chances for combat between two opposing CPs. Only one FB may exist between two CPs,
and frequently they belong to those who are on the offensive – if an FB is destroyed then an FB will soon appear for the side that
destroyed it.
The ability of players to directly
influence the general chaos of the war effort is reflected in World War II Online’s mission and
ranking system. All players have a specific rank for each nation’s branch of
service, which is typically at the lowest level (the Private). As the player
progresses in rank, the player can begin posting missions that take on
increasingly greater importance. Players can accept missions (whether created by players or generated by the game itself) and,
once completed, gain promotion points towards their next rank. The missions themselves feature offensive
(attack) or defensive missions, and will offer players of all ranks the ability
to utilize vehicles and aircraft that may not be commonly available.
Choke
Points (CPs)
The fundamental unit of the strategic system is the Choke
Point (CP). A choke point is a group
of civilian and military facilities.
These vary greatly in the number and arrangement of facilities. Some CPs may have
the minimum of one army base and one depot.
Others are much more complex with multiple army bases, an air field, factories, several depots, and a city, itself
made of multiple civilian buildings.
Most choke points are centers of production, such as
cities, towns and villages. Others are
vital areas that are necessary for a country's resource network to function,
such as bridges and ports.
Facilities are usually groups of buildings, though some
are single buildings. The buildings that
make up a facility often vary in appearance and in number. For example, an Army Base is usually made of
three buildings: a barracks, a garage and an office, but it can also have supply
crates or civilian buildings.
Every facility type has a different function within the
strategic system:
·
Staging Points (also known as spawn
facilities) allow players to enter the game world. The type of vehicles that a
player may use is determined by the type of staging facility they enter. There are four basic staging point
facilities: Army Bases, Air Fields, Navy Bases and Fire Bases.
·
Cities
generate resource points for the side that owns them. Destroying the buildings of a city decreases
the amount of resources that city can generate.
Cities are usually several different buildings of almost any type, like
long apartment buildings, churches, houses, etc.
·
Factories
intensify the production of cities by multiplying the amount of resources that
a city generates. Factories also use
multiple building types.
·
Depots
are warehouses for resources and serve as the home for the supply link to an
adjoining CP. While a depot can be physically destroyed in the game, this does not
represent the elimination of the supply link, only the resources that are
stored there. There are three main types of depots: road, rail and sea. Depots usually have a slant-roofed green garage
building.
·
Every
Facility has a
Resource
Points
The World War II
Online strategic system uses Resource Points (RPs)
to represent all the different types of resources and materials that real
militaries would use in fighting a war.
Primarily, resource points are used to repair
damaged buildings and structures, such as bridges, ports, factories, and army
bases. Through an interconnected network
of supply links, these resource points are shared so
that they go where needed.
Resource points are initially generated within cities (basically Choke Points).
The amount of RPs that each city creates is
different and is based upon the size of the city.
Once generated, resource points may be
consumed by facilities that need them, or they may be processed through
a Factory. A Factory multiplies the RPs sent into it, which makes more RPs
available for the country that controls the factory and the city.
What
is Supply?
Every CP
has city and depot facilities in it. The city facilities create resource points which can either be stored or shipped. Resource
points can repair damaged facilities. When any facility within a CP is damaged, resource points are sent to the damaged
facilities and repairs take place. If no resource points are left, a request is sent for resource points to the next CP using a supply
link. The state of supply also determines what may be spawned
at that particular CP.
All CPs are connected by a network of
supply links that run from the depot of one CP to the depot of the CP that is
down the road, rail, or river from it. If there is no road, rail, or river
connecting two CPs you can assume they
are not linked. However, because
there is a road, rail, or river connecting the two CPs
it does not necessarily mean that there a supply link.
Damaging any
facility in a CP will put the supply system in motion, and requests will go
down the links from damaged CPs to their neighboring CPs. These requests are either filled (if
the CP requested from has enough resource points to send) or denied (if the
requested CP is trying to repair its own facilities).
A CP
remains in supply if it retains at least one supply link – that is, one link to
another friendly CP. If the CP loses its last supply link, the CP will then out
of supply. What this means for the player is explained below in the Spawn Limits section.
Breaking
Supply Links (Capturing CPs)
When an attacker captures a single facility within a CP,
it stops that CP's ability to send or receive
resources from any link. The attacker has broken that CP's
link to the defender's resources network. The choke point is now Contested.
A facility can be Captured by entering a flag building that sports the flag of
the country that currently owns it. If the facility can be
captured, the building will contain a table with a radio sitting on it.
Running into the table will activate a capture timer – a timer bar will appear
and will decrease with time. The player must stay at the radio table to
complete capture. When the timer runs out the radio table will disappear, signifying
that the building has been successfully captured.
If there is only a table and no radio then the facility cannot be currently captured. If there is no table or radio
then the facility has just recently been captured, or
is not available for capture yet.
Friendly forces will receive automatic warnings via the HQ
(and the map) when enemy units near a CP.
Army bases by default do not have radios, only tables.
Radios will appear ten minutes (the Military
Facility Capture Time) after the first facility is
captured in the CP (in other words, ten minutes after the CP goes into
Contention). If the CP becomes uncontested before this time expires, then the
timer is immediately reset. If the CP is cut off and
out of supply then all of the radio tables will immediately
appear.
In addition to losing its supply links, when a choke point
becomes contested all facilities close, except for army bases. This means that even Air Fields and
Contested CPs also suffer in
that players can only spawn using the General
Spawn Limit and spawn limitations (see the section on spawn limits below),
penalizing the defenders for losing facilities within a CP they own. Hold all the facilities at your CP, and you
will be able to spawn a full compliment of ground units there.
A CP’s facilities may only be captured when at least one link is connected to
an enemy CP or it is in contention. However, no radio tables will appear until
ten minutes after the first nearby link is established
as being owned by an enemy. This is known as the Supply Link Capture Time. So, for instance, if Givet was
French (with all of its surrounding links identified as friendly) and a linked
CP was captured by the Germans, then it would be ten minutes before a facility
could be captured in Givet.
When an attacker captures all of the Army Bases within a
CP, it has gained Control of that CP.
This means that players on the capturing side may now use the army bases
of that choke point. However, until all
of the other facilities are captured, the new
controllers will only be able to spawn Garrison
units (see Spawn Limits below). To have access to any army vehicles at an army
base, the CP must be controlled and owned.
When each and every facility in a
CP is captured (all flags are friendly), the attacker Owns it and adds
the CP to that side's resource network.
A CP with no links is restricted to limited spawning rules, and will not
be able to send or receive resource points until a link is established. Note that the term "ownership" can be used in relation to individual facilities or entire CPs. When you
capture a facility, you do own it, but, until the CP is fully
owned, it is contested and its depots will not send or receive resource
points.
Example:
Suppose the Axis continue the attack and capture the
Army Base (ten minutes after the first facility in Givet
was captured), gaining Control because Givet has only one army base. Axis infantry units can now enter the game
world through Givet Army Base, even though the Allies
still own Givet.
And again, the controlling army is under
contested spawning limits.
If the Axis finally achieves ownership of Givet by capturing the remaining depot, the city and the
closed air field in the CP, then Givet
becomes part of the Axis resource network.
This allows the Axis tanks and planes to enter the game at Givet.
Spawn Limits and Attrition
Each
Base that can spawn vehicles has two pools of vehicles or infantry types to
draw from: the general pool, and the mission pool.
The
general pool is available to any player, but vehicles or infantry types in it
are restricted according to two forms of spawn limits, General and Full.
The General Limit is a standard set of vehicles
that a player can spawn from practically any spawn point, including all
infantry types, light anti-tank weapons, and some transport vehicles.
The Full Spawn
Limit is the entire set of vehicles and infantry types, which includes
heavy tanks, aircraft, heavy anti-tank weapons, and so forth. This set is specifically determined by a player’s rank, vehicle
availability, and mission pool definitions as well as the General Spawn Limit
at that particular spawn point.
A third
pool, the Garrison, is available for
a country that Controls a CP but doesn’t Own it. The
Garrison features a number of infantry types, as well as light AT guns and a
single plane type.
In basic terms a player can spawn whatever the Full Spawn Limit is for
that location – some vehicles may be available while others are not. A specific
list is provided, including exactly how many are
available at each facility.
In the
mission pool what a player can spawn is limited by
rank. There are three rank limits,
set at the Private, Corporal, and Lieutenant levels.
Each type
of pool, general and mission, has a set number of each
vehicle or infantry type which can be operating from it at the same time. This
number ranges from none of a particular type of vehicle (you wouldn’t
see any tanks at an airbase, for instance) to a large amount of other types
(like basic infantry types). There are also a few CP-dependent spawn items,
which cannot be spawned anywhere else currently (Spitfires can only be spawned from
Anything spawnable is also subject to supply limitations. When that vehicle, airplane,
or infantryman is taken into battle by a player, it is removed from the
pool it was created from (general or mission). A one-hour timer starts, the Resupply Time, at the end of which the vehicle
is now back available from the pool it was spawned
from. This is called a Reinforcement. If the player in the vehicle should
return to base (the result indicates an RTB or Return To
Base), the Reinforcement will occur if the vehicle is in returnable condition
(the vehicle is effectively its own Reinforcement).
Any other
mission result (Killed in Action, Missing in Action, or rescued) indicates that
the vehicle has been lost. If the CP is out of supply (either through being Contested or having no supply links) then Reinforcements are
no longer possible. This means that any vehicle spawned out of the CP and does
not end in a RTB result will no longer appear at that CP until such a time that
Reinforcements will be available again (when it is again back in supply or
Ownership is returned). This use and replenishment (or lack thereof, indicating
excessive losses) is called attrition.
A player
that gets an RTB result has this vehicle
reserved at that local friendly facility, even if it is a
different facility than the one the player originally spawned from. This
vehicle is reserved for six minutes
for the player, or until the player visits another
facility or selects another vehicle. The vehicle is automatically reserved, meaning all the player has to do is spawn
again with it – no selection of the vehicle is required.
It is
important to note that this does not refer to the type of vehicle, only that specific vehicle. If a CP has four
Panzer II’s available from the general pool, and a
player spawned with one, three would be left while the
reinforcement for the fourth Panzer II would appear in thirty minutes time. If
that player in the fourth vehicle returned to base (RTB), then that fourth
Panzer II would immediately be entered back into the
pool.
If the CP
is not in supply or is contested then only the General
Limit applies. If the CP is cut off from supply, it
can sustain Full Spawn Limits
for an additional of thirty minutes. If
supply is not restored after those thirty minutes then
the CP will only support General Spawn Limits.
Fire Bases
The terrain in World
War II Online is very large. Even
scaled down, the travel times between choke points can be significant. Where this is the case, a system of fire bases is used to decrease the time it takes for a
player to reach the front.
A fire base contains two
revetments, one for vehicles and one for infantry.
Fire Bases are linked in pairs
between choke points that are too far apart for timely combat; otherwise,
players might spend an hour getting to a battle that lasts thirty seconds. For each pair, only one fire
base is open at a time. When one
end of a fire base pair is destroyed by enemy force,
the other base opens.
When a pair of fire bases is
active, one of the bases is open and one is closed. When a pair of bases is Inactive, neither fire base is open.
Some CPs are close
enough that no pair of fire bases is required between them, such as Anhee and Dinant. They are separated
by only about four kilometers, which is nearly within the range of some
weapons.
Each fire base is associated with
a 'parent' choke point. This CP's army base determines what units are available at the fire base, including any and all spawn limits the parent CP
may be under. The fire
bases are located relatively close to the hostile CP. For example, between Spontin
and Dinant, the fire base
associated with Spontin is actually closer to Dinant. Likewise,
the fire base associated with Dinant
is closer to Spontin.
Fire base pairs can be activated or
deactivated by changes in the control of the choke points they are associated
with. For example, if the Allies
gain control of Spontin, the fire base pair between Spontin and Dinant will
deactivate while the pair between Anhee and Spontin would activate.
The Anhee-to-Dinant fire
base will open for the Axis.
Individual fire bases can be
closed only with direct military force by destroying the vehicle and infantry
revetments. Destroying the fire base of the enemy side opens the friendly base of that
pair. This process allows a side to gain
ground while keeping the time to battle for players relatively short.
Fire bases can only be destroyed by infantry
sappers (engineers) only.
Using the example above, Dinant
and Spontin are controlled
by different sides so the fire base pair between them is active. Because it is active, one of the bases is
open and the other is closed. For this
illustration, assume the Spontin-to-Dinant fire base is open.
This fire base is associated with the
Axis-controlled Spontin. If the Allies at Dinant
attack and destroy that fire base, the Dinant-to-Spontin fire base will then open for the
Allies. Because it is closer to Spontin than to Dinant, it gives
the Allies the opportunity to continue their advance and attack Spontin directly.
Missions and Ranks
Players
have the opportunity to take part in missions that are
created by other players or automatically generated by the strategic system. Players of Sergeant rank
or above can create both offensive and defensive missions from any valid base
(army missions from army bases, air force missions from air fields, etc.). Missions encompass a
variety of activities and will vary widely in their targets, their methods and
their values. Successfully
completing missions is the only way to advance in rank, by accumulating
promotion points.
There are several mission types available for players in World War II Online. Briefly summarized, the possible basic
mission types are:
·
Point Attack: The objective is to damage
or destroy a specific enemy facility target. The facility may be an enemy
army base, a factory, a bridge or a wide variety of things. The mission
is a success when the specified target is damaged, the
player destroys enemy defenders, and exits the mission at least 10 minutes
after starting.
·
Area Attack: The
goal of the player accepting this mission is to damage or destroy any enemy
strategic facilities within a targeted area. The mission is a success
when enemy buildings are damaged in the target area,
the player destroys enemy defenders, and exits the mission at least 10 minutes
after starting.
·
Point Defense:
The player's objective is to damage and destroy incoming enemy attackers near a
targeted facility. The mission is a success when the defended target is undamaged, the player destroys enemy defenders, and exits
the mission at least 10 minutes after starting.
·
Area Defense:
This mission is similar to the Point Defense mission but it encompasses a
larger area. The player's objective is to damage and destroy incoming enemy
attackers within the targeted area. Enemy facilities can be “Area
Defense” targeted to keep enemy units away from a particular place. For
example, an Area Defense mission for Spitfires might be
posted to keep enemy air units away while other missions to capture the
facility are planned simultaneously. The mission is a success when buildings
within the defended target area are undamaged, the
player destroys enemy defenders and exits the mission at least 10 minutes after
starting.
Each officer capable of creating missions has a number of
points that he spends to create missions and assign them priority levels. The
highest priority that an officer can give to a mission is
limited by his rank and the mission creation points he has available to
spend. Thus, a low-ranking officer may
not be able to create medium or high priority missions. That doesn't mean
that the missions themselves are less important to the overall strategy. It may be that no high-ranking officers are
online at the time. Priority can run from low (a priority of 3) to high (a
priority of 1).
Example:
Missions that are posted expire over time if they are not accepted by players so they aren't always
available. There are additional
restrictions on the priorities that may be given to
missions. Mission Priority impacts the Promotion Points that a player can receive for
successful completion of a mission. The
greatest reward will come from high priority missions against high value
targets, which will often have the greatest risk.
World War II Online allows squadron commanders (who have high enough
rank) to post special “squadron’s eyes only” missions. These will be visible to
your squad mates only, and not be available for public completion. However,
squadron missions do not pay rank points, so while they are good for getting
your squad together, they may not be used as a way of
padding your squadrons rank levels.
Taking a
To take a mission you can select the Missions
button at the Theater screen. This will give you the entire list of missions
that are available for your side of the conflict, identified by target CP,
origin, who posted the mission, country of the mission, priority, and class.
Choose the mission you want and you will be brought to
the mission briefing room where you can pick your infantry type or vehicle to
spawn with. After this selection is made you can then
spawn via the Launch button if the Launch Timer has reached 0.
You may also select a mission by visiting a spawnable facility at a CP. You will then see a list of the
missions available at that facility. Select the mission and you will go to the
mission briefing room to select your infantry type or vehicle. Click Launch
to spawn if the Launch Timer has reached 0.
Once you spawn you can use the
in-game map (M) to determine where
you need to go if you forget – arrows on the map will show you the direction.
The blue arrow indicates the direction of your target, while the red arrow
indicates the direction of origin.
Creating a
Select the facility you would like the mission to sortie
out from once you’ve gotten to the City Map. When at
the facility screen you will see Create
Mission button sandwiched between the general interface buttons on the left
and the mission list on the right. Click on the green button to create a
mission.
At the Map screen select a target
for the mission. Clicking on the CP’s icon will
generate an area attack/defense mission, while clicking on a specific facility
will create a point attack/defense mission. Next, click on the Mission Folder button to set the
specifics for the mission. The mission folder shows your current mission points
and target/origin CPs. The player can set the time to
launch (0 to 30 minutes), as well as the priority (as allowed by rank), and
what kind of recommended vehicle for the mission (click on the triangle to
choose).
By setting the time to launch, the player can gather other
players tied to a specific mission, and allow them to launch together,
generating more organization and cooperation simply through the virtue of being
together. Missions created generally stay on the list for about 30 minutes.
The player can also change the target for the mission by
clicking on the Tactical Map button,
and all of the mission parameters can be reset by
clicking on the Reset Mission button.
Finally you can edit the mission notes to
fit your needs.
Once all the above have been completed click the big Post Mission button to post
the mission. You will be advised of the cost in mission points and after confirmation, the mission will be then be available for
users to choose.
Careers
Players can participate in every branch of every military
in the game. A player’s persona or
identity will always be the same, but he has a different career in each of
these military branches. These careers are treated separately for the purposes of missions and
rank. Thus, a player can simultaneously
be a Private in the French Army and a Captain in the Luftwaffe (German Air
Force); these are separate careers.
Players
are awarded Promotion
Points upon successful completion of a mission. Promotion Points are awarded for completing missions, and are applied to the
country, and branch of service that the mission was taken in. For example, if
you want to gain rank in the British RAF, you must complete missions in British
aircraft to gain Promotion Points that will apply to the RAF. Completing
missions for any other service in any other country will only award Promotion
Points in those services, and not apply to the RAF. These ranks points can be spent on higher levels of rank within the country and
service they were accumulated in. Once you gain a rank in a service for a
country, you can never lose it. You can never lose Promotion Points either.
Every player account has a character in each branch of service for each
country. With the initial country and branch set it
means that each player has 9 separate career paths to choose from. These career
paths do not overlap and rank gained in one does not carry over to another.
Gaining rank requires Promotion Points. These Promotion Points are earned by taking missions and successfully completing
them (mentioned above). Each rank requires a certain number of Promotion Points
to gain a promotion to the next rank. When a player has accumulated enough
Promotion Points he is automatically moved up in rank
and his Promotion Point pool is cleared.
Each rank is a marker in the player’s career indicating they are gaining
more abilities to influence the outcome of battles. Certain ranks are
milestones and generally have privileges associated with them such as new
vehicles and mission posting permissions. After the rank of Lieutenant
mission-posting points are increased with each successive rank. Below is a
table of ranks and the milestone privileges associated with them:
·
Private: This
is what you start out as.
·
Private, First Class: Can spawn most vehicles without a
mission.
·
Corporal
·
Sergeant: Can post missions of Low Priority.
·
Lieutenant
·
Captain
·
Major: Can post missions of Medium Priority.
·
Lt.
Colonel: Can post only missions of
Medium Priority
·
Colonel: Can post High Priority missions.
·
Brigadier General: Can post only missions of High Priority.
·
Major
General
·
Lieutenant
General
·
General
Player Services
At any
point in time a player can check up on his statistics
and pathway to promotion by visiting the Player
Services page (http://services.wwiionline.org).
To login, simply use your Playnet
login name and password.
On the
left are several statistics accumulated throughout your career so far:
·
·
Missions Succeeded: The number of missions
successfully completed.
·
·
Morale: The ratio of return-to-base (RTB)
and Rescued results to killed in action (KIA) or
missing in action (MIA) sortie results for all careers within the last few
days.
·
Combat Rating: The average rating of all careers
in all units.
·
Total Kills: The number of kills achieved in
all personas.
Viewing
your statistics for each branch of the service is easy; simply choose which
country you want to look at on the pull-down menu (under Select a Career), choose the branch of service (Army, Navy, Air
Force), and then click on Get Career.
Your current rank for that branch of service as well as promotion progress bar is displayed along with the kill/death stats for that
persona.
Victory Conditions
The overall conditions that
determine whether or not the war is won or lost are
dependent on three arbitrary factors, which are based on the capture and
control of CPs and their facilities. These factors – strategic, tactical, and logistic
values – are used to determine who won and who lost.
As one side gains control of CPs that are of
importance to one part of the war effort, the slider shifts in that side’s
favor (towards the opposing side). A fourth rating,
called users, mainly shows the ratio
of Allied to Axis forces.
A green
bar means a certain amount of normalcy, while yellow represents a high level of
concern that the war effort isn’t going well. A red bar basically means that
side is in serious trouble. Once all three bars reach the red, the war is won
for the opposing side.
You can
find the victory conditions box from the Allied or Axis start pages on the World War II Online web
site.
·
·
·
·
·
·