Interview España 36

Atlantis · le 27 septembre 2013

On October 1^st Ageod will release a new grand strategy games, España 36 which will be focused on an historical event rarely covered by the video games : the Spanish Civil War.

This conflict, pre-cursor of WWII, is simulated with the famous AGE engine, already used for other Ageod games like Alea Jacta Est, Civil War II and Pride of Nations.

Today we want to share with you an exclusive interview of the lead designer of the game who has answered our questions about España 36 and the challenges of the Republicans and Nationalists!

Image IPB

1. First of all, could you please quickly introduce yourself (previous projects, favorite games, etc)?

[*]Well, I’m just one more fan of strategic games. I’ve been playing this kind of games since I was 16^th. First with board games and with the pass of the years with computer games, but always focused on wargames. In the last years I knew AGEOD games (BoA, ACW, etc...) and I had the hope of someday seeing someone developing a game about the Spanish Civil War but this never happened. So the last year I tried to do it myself and here I am.

2. Concerning España 1936, why have you chosen to focus on this conflict? Are you particularly a specialist of the Spanish Civil War?

[*]I’ve been always interested in this conflict; I suppose being Spanish makes this interest stronger. As you can imagine i have read many books about this war. I also have found lot of information across the web and I think I knew enough details about the war in order to be prepared to make real this project. But I’m sure, out there are people that we could call specialist, not me. Maybe specialist in AGE engine.

3. What characteristics of the Interwar have you introduced in the game? Was it easy to simulate with the AGE engine?

[*]In España:1936 we have some features that appears in previous AGEOD games like AJE ‘s regional decisions, this is a kind of cards that you can play in the game directly on the map. With this I’ve been able to represent things like the bombardments and the air defense. And i think it is easy to play for players and easy to understand to new players that are not familiarized with AGEOD games.

4. Will you integrate some foreign supports and forces (Italian Fascists, Soviet advisors, International Brigades and so on)? If yes how will they influence the conflict?

[*]In the game we can see of course this type of things, the Italian volunteers, viriatos(portuguese), soviet tanks and the International Brigades with their historic battalions and leaders. I’ve tried to represent their historic role in the game.

5. Will you integrate some historical events and how will they get triggered?

[*]As in other AGEOD games in España:1936 you can find many historical events that are fired around their historic date but there are other that appear as options that the player can buy when he makes that decision if he wants or his resources allow to do it.

6. What about diplomacy and political relationships? Will you have to deal with political movements like Falange, Trotskyists… Will these guys have an influence on the partisans?

[*]Not exactly, there are events related to them of course. Falange has his own units but they are integrated in the Nationalist army. The Anarchists are represented by a different subfaction, this mean they fight in the Republican side but have some differences with them. Partisans are represented with decisions, not combat units.

7. Will the player be free to not follow the history? I mean can we imagine a peace result between Republicans and the Nationalists for instance? What are the victory conditions?

[*]The way of ending the game is by taking control of all your objectives in the map or by dropping enemy National Moral to a determined level. So there is nothing like a peace agreement. But you can do things like not buying Soviet aid or not creating the Popular Army, not getting all the Africa Army units to the Peninsula. This makes harder to win but the player selects his strategy on his own.

8. Can you detail a little bit the solo mode. What campaigns and scenarios will be available?

[*]Its like any other AGEOD game running with the AGE engine, the player selects wich side he wants to play and the AI takes control of the other. You can select in the game options different types of agressivity , that makes AI takes more risks in her moves.

[*]In España:1936 we have the three tutorials and two scenarios, one is Fall of the North that covers the 1937 Nationalist invasion of the Republican North, this is a short scenario with 26 turns. The main campaing starts in 18^th July 1936 and goes until August 1939 but can finish ealier of course. España:1936 uses one week turns.

9. Concerning the multiplayer, what technology will be used? Will PBEM be supported?

[*]The usual pbem system of AGEOD games. One player hosts the game an receive the other player orders, the execute the turn and send his opponent the result. The non-host player can reproduce the turn with a replay feature.

10. May you please give us more details about the units in the game? What will be the strengths and weaknesses of both sides? Will technologies and types of units be different between Republicans and Nationalists?

[*]In the game there are several types of combat elements, units are formed by elements.

35]There are regular infantry, armoured cars, tanks, artillery, cavalry, militia, naval infantry etc… The Republican weakness is their initial lack of regular army units and Leaders. In the Nationalist side is the opposite, they have crack units and lots of leaders from the start. Leaders are really important in the game because they improve units performance in several ways. Regarding the units in the Nationalist side we can see the Condor Legion units (PzI tanks), the CTV italian volunteers with lot of artillery, La Legion (veteran elite units), etc… meanwhile in the Republican Army there are not elite units but they have interesting units with the International Brigades, the Mixed Brigades or the Basque Nationalist units.

11. Are there any naval units in España 1936? If yes what will be their role?

[*]Yes, the historic destroyers, cruisers and battleships and a few transports. Naval warfare wasn’t very important in the conflict but this can change if players make a good use of the naval units. There is a decision that can be played in a determined region of the map that only works with a cruiser unit on it and allows the Republican player to get some replacements. This gives some incentive to the player to use their naval units.

[*]Player can attempt small disembarks and also submarines are represented with another decision.

12. How will be simulated the chain of command and the supply for a unit?

[*]There are three types of leaders, three stars, that can command an Army (Corps and Divisions), two stars leaders, that can command Corps(and Divisions) and one star leaders, that can command Divisions. So the structure is Army-Corps-Divisions, in the same way as in AGEOD Revolution Under Siege. Unis has a small supply capacity but needs to be into a supply chain to receive supplies each turn. This is represented with cities, depots and supply units. Non supplied units receive losses and could even disappear from game if they no receive supplies in several turns.

13. Will it be possible to hire and dismiss leaders with special skills (politicians and officers)? Will the commanders have a strong influence on the organization and the morale of the troops?

[*]You can buy options to receive more leaders starting 1937. And some leaders has special capabilities that gives things like bonuses in combat to some type of units. This capabilities makes your units fight better, increase their morale, move faster or make your army retreat easily if the battle seem to be a possible defeat, etc…

14. Will the game be mod-friendly?

[*]Absolutely, like most of AGEOD games. España:1936 begun as a MOD of AGEOD Revolution Under Siege (RUS)!

15. Thanks for your time and you answers. Would you have a last word for your fans?

[*]Well, this is my first experience as designer, I have work giving the best to this project and I just hope they enjoy the game.

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