Create a Campaign - Select the Theatre

One of the most important choices to make when creating a campaign is the selection of the theatre.

SAS WW2 is a theatre-level game: you get to play in a chosen theatre. There are three theatres to choose: the Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic (including both North and South Atlantic).

Default theatres

A default theatre will already have been chosen by the computer, based on your selection of countries:

• If either country is France, the default theatre is the Mediterranean (using the 'Mediterranean2' map).
• Else if either country is Italy, the default theatre is the Mediterranean (using the 'Mediterranean' map).
• Else, if either country is Japan, the default theatre is the Pacific.
• Else the default theatre is the Atlantic.

Your selection

You can override the default selection if you want to and choose another theatre. To do this, simply choose it in the drop down list:

In this way, you can start to create non-historically-based campaigns (if you want to).

New Mediterranean map

Note that starting with version 1.1 of SAS, there are two Mediterranean maps to choose from. The new 'Mediterranean2' map is the same as the other one except for the addition of four ports: Toulon, Marseilles, Sete and Ajaccio. Players wanting to create a campaign featuring French naval power will want to choose the 'Mediterranean2' map. See available maps for more information about this and the other maps.

Effect on game odds

Note that as you select a different theatre, the calculation of the odds may change. This is for two reasons:

• The ships of some countries (like the United States) were designed for long range cruising in the Pacific whereas some others (eg Italian ships) were designed only for short ranges in the Mediterranean. Although you can design your own ships in SAS WW2, the 'out-of-the-box' ships that are selected for a country are historical designs. Consequently, as an example, the Italian player is faced with a disadvantage in theatres larger than the Mediterranean. Although the Italian player can overcome this disadvantage through designing his own ships, it takes additional experience with SAS WW2 game functions, more thought and more time to do this.
• The arrangement of ports is different between different theatre maps. The computer calculates a country's economic strength based on factors that include the value of the convoys that can be run between ports. Convoy values reflect the value of available raw materials and industry as well as the length of the convoy routes. (All else being equal, a route is more valuable if the end points are closer).

Next steps

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