Ash & Shadows is an insane, ridiculous mod that's a lot of fun to play. It makes no pretentions towards being balanced when it is anything but (looking at you, Uralgraznomod!) Putting together an enemy deck without looking too hard at what you're facing can yield some surprises. The Iskander (an HE ATACMS style unit) was particularly unpleasant. Players group for the Wargame Mod 'Ash & Shadows' No information given. POPULAR DISCUSSIONS view all 88 Comments Chaos Sep 16, 2020 @ 4:19am Lovely mod.
This thread is for discussions on balance changes for the A&S mod.Balance change arguments can be made from;
Armory/hidden file mechanic theory and number presentations
or
Performance analysis from replays
Both have their strengths and weaknesses. The Weakness of #2 is that results are dependent on player skill levels and tactics or in the case of single unit matchups, it represents of individual units in a vacuum and does not account for higher levels effects that may occur on a complex field. The weakness of #1 is unit statistics alone to not give a perfect account of the capabilities of a unit under all conditions.
For example: The low autonomy of the Japanese heavy tanks. A problem for mobility on large maps, much less so for games on small maps.
So understand that 'balance' is an imperfect thing that varies with map size, available terrain, coalition composition and so on.
Generally, my preferred approach to issues of balance, ranked sequentially in preferred mechanism of change is;
1) Change cost
2) Change vet levels3) Change availability
4) Change individual stats
Kenji Furuya
5) Change weapon loadouts
And finally, some things are deliberately 'imbalanced'. Example: Poland and Czechoslovakia have, as a general rule, a rather inferior air-force. To balance this, polish and Czech planes tend to get both a cost and an availability/veteran buff to boost their competitiveness.