Bill101

Hi A couple of thoughts spring to mind: If the Allies send a lot of forces to Algeria to prevent a total conquest of all of French territory, then the simple Axis counter could be simply to form Vichy France after taking Paris and France surrenders, as this will render the build up of forces in Algeria irrelevant. While another alternative could be to launch a SeaLion while the Allies are focused on Algeria. I've noted your comment about Italy's mobilization and will add that to my list. Bill

Thanks, I've added your points to my list of things to think about.

Hi Furchtlosundtrew, that's fine, thanks for this as it does help me with what I'm considering, and the dates you've given make sense.

Thanks Amadeus, this is great, and well done!

I'm thinking on this, and to help me it would be good to know roughly at what date in your campaign Algeria was invaded. At that time, how close to taking Paris were the Germans? It might be hard to find a perfect solution, but an improvement may be possible. Thanks Bill

Thanks for this, I'll have a think about this and see if we can make things better here, and more consistent with the aircraft deliveries too.

Hi We did introduce some new supply rules a couple of years back, which are included in our more recent releases, full details of which can be found in the Expansion Notes within the Manuals folder of applicable games. One part of it I've pasted below, and I post it because this is a good way to reduce the supply of the cut off enemy troops below whatever level they are currently at, and doing so will also reduce the supply effectiveness of the HQ. Damaging the HQ will also reduce the HQ's supply giving ability, leading to a starving enemy and an easier victory! 1) Any resource that has 4 or more adjacent enemy units will have their resource strength reduced by 1 point per turn until it reaches 0. The absence of enemy units will see the resource regain strength by 1 point per friendly turn, i.e. deterioration happens in both friendly and enemy turns, but regaining strength only occurs in friendly turns. The exceptions to this resource strength degradation rule would be any capital or fortress resource. 2) Any port that has an enemy naval unit adjacent to it will no longer provide supply to friendly land units within supply range of this port. Port strength itself will be unaffected, and the only effect of the presence of the enemy naval unit will be to impede supply to land units.

Hi Infrastructure is of some use as it reduces the cost of sending units via Transports, Amphibious Transports, or Operating (both air and land units). So the main benefit will come not so much in China, but when you want to start launching invasions of the islands and places like Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. The tech you've invested certainly isn't wasted, and fortunately you will benefit from it for the rest of the war every time you ship or operate units, but it's certainly hard to be sure how much investment in it is best. That said, it is one of the techs that it is probably best to either invest in early in the war (to gain the maximum benefit out of it) or not at all. Bill

Hi It might be better in the WWI game to invest in those whose movement to or from one side will affect who they supply MPPs to, or how this affects National Morale. Using diplomacy to bring a country that historically was neutral is a much harder option, though not impossible (I have brought the Swiss into the war before, and that was of some use). As the CP player, unless your enemy embarks on a diplomacy campaign against Holland, Norway and Sweden, then diplomacy isn't overly useful. But if you are Entente then to not invest in diplomacy against at least Holland would be a big mistake. Invest a lot in it, all at once, and the Central Powers have to either counter or lose their imports from Holland, and in the long run this is very bad for them. Starving civilians in Germany will lower their National Morale, which is all good for winning the war against the Kaiser. Bill

Hi France will surrender when you have taken Paris and either her National Morale has fallen to zero, or when you have gone on to take Bordeaux. Providing you say yes to forming Vichy of course. As to Vichy North Africa, there is no Decision for it to surrender to the Allies. They will have to invade it directly. Malta can be done, but it takes a big investment in air power by the Axis, effectively preventing them from doing that and doing lots of nasty stuff elsewhere at the same time. In terms of the number of units, having too many slows the game down so we tried with both campaigns to get a nice balance between playability and having enough. Stick some upgraded guns behind the front line in WWI and research heavily in Trench Warfare and Gas/Shell Production, and the enemy will struggle to achieve large scale breakthroughs. But the intention in WWI was never to have a fully static front line, as I felt that some movement forwards or backwards, i.e. the ability to have some offensive successes once trench warfare has begun, even if only small in scale, would be more fun than having the front lines quite as static as they were in the west at this scale for most of the war. WWI should be fun to play and there's no reason why it can't be, but to achieve that it does require a little flexibility, and I hope we've achieved that here. Bill

Hi The French colonies were attacked by the Japanese early in the war with some reaction from the USA. This is represented in the game by having the USA swing 10-15% towards the Allies if French Indochina is attacked. Other, smaller countries will react too. Any attack on the Dutch East Indies by Japan will bring them a lot of new enemies, so it's not a move the Japanese should make unless they are prepared for full scale war with most of the countries in the region. The USA will also mobilize significantly for war in such an eventuality. In response to a previous comment you made, any Axis attack on Vichy France will swing the USA between 8-15% towards the Allies. Greece doesn't trigger the same response, but I am not aware of much reaction in the USA specifically to the Italian invasion of Greece, apart from seeing Europe's tearing itself apart proceeding apace and people growing more worried at the situation. Bill

Hi drcorday I'm not sure what's inspired your question, but wonder if using the N hotkey to cycle through units that still have Action Points remaining might be the feature you're looking for? Bill

Overall there isn't a great difference between waiting, though Greece will be more encouraged by the coup to swing towards the Allies, than affected by your declaration of war against Yugoslavia if you don't wait for the coup. But the coup isn't inevitable either, so you could wait in vain for Yugoslavia to join. Question is, could you throw everything at Barbarossa and leave just a small screening force facing Yugoslavia, so that you can deal with her at a later date? I'm not saying that's best, but it could be an option. In terms of when to invade the USSR, it's best to do it before they reach 90% mobilization and not in autumn or winter. So really the historical date is probably about right, slightly earlier if you can. Bill

Capturing Algiers first won't matter, but the Franco decision does require turning down the option to form Vichy France. I am hopeful that once you get a German air or land unit into Algiers then you'll get the Decision. Distance from the Soviet border doesn't matter as what the engine is looking for is whether or not the Axis units are within certain distances of locations within Axis territory. The distances for each location are as follows: Tilsit - be within 3 tiles Siedlice - be within 2 tiles Wilno - be within 5 tiles Siauliai - be within 4 tiles If the engine is checking for too many Axis units being present, then the following situations will trigger it: 8-10 Axis units being within 3 tiles of Tilsit 10-12 Axis units being within 4 tiles of Siedlice 10-12 Axis units being within 5 tiles of Wilno Ideally I'd like to simplify this in the future. Bill

Hi Can you operate a German air unit there? I think the reasoning behind the decision requiring a German unit in Algiers being present once France has fallen was probably based on the assumption that Paris would be taken and Algeria only in a follow up campaign. For this, German forces would have to be used, firstly to overcome French resistance in Algeria but secondly to ensure that France surrenders to Germany rather than to Italy. With hindsight, the stipulation for a German unit in Algiers isn't perhaps necessary and simply having France surrendered and Algeria in Axis hands should suffice. In terms of the tanks, the number of strikes will not change as the game progresses, so the Italian tanks will retain a lower attack capability than those with two strikes. I've just checked in the editor and the following countries' tanks have two strikes, everyone else's just having one: UK USA USSR Germany Canada Sweden Bill

No, I don't think so, but I've just rechecked the script and I've just realized that I forgot to mention the other day that the Axis unit present has to be German. I hope that might be the reason it hasn't fired? Bill

Hi No, it's not a bug, as countries like France, Italy and a few minors only get 1 strike to represent their poorer use of armour. Bill

Yes, as the pro-Allied coup will move them from 125-130% towards the Allies, but they must have had a sufficiently strong pro-Axis alignment before the coup to prevent them reaching the 90s, as if they had gone that high they would have then continued mobilizing for war. So invasion it is, and hopefully you'll get your Spaniards too in a turn or too, and just a normal Transport taking a unit to Algiers, or alternatively operating an air unit in should do the trick there.

Hi steelwarrior77 With the Spanish Decision, it should fire right from the start of the campaign providing the conditions are met. The only one I can think of that you haven't mentioned is that 1 Axis unit must be in Algeria and within 8 tiles of Algiers, at the same time that Spain is leaning at least 30% towards the Axis and Algiers is in Axis hands. With Yugoslavia, please can you tell me what % leaning towards the Allies they are at? Thanks Bill

Good spot Andreas, thanks. Bill

Hi GhostRider3/3, yes you can. The editor allows you to change many of the game's features.

Here are the Decision details: DE 603 - Germany: Give Military Concessions To Spain? - Event fires: If Germany didn’t form Vichy France, Italy has joined the Axis, Spain is neutral but with at least a 30% leaning towards the Axis, and Algiers is in Axis hands. - Cost of accepting: 800 MPPs at 200 MPPs a turn for 4 turns. - Yes: Franco will join the Axis, annex Morocco, and crush any internal opposition. The Spanish army will receive a strength 10 Tank Group in Madrid, and an Army in Barcelona. - No: Nothing.

Hi Here are the details (these and more can be found in the 1939 Storm Over Europe Breakthrough Player's Guide which is in the game's Manuals folder): Axis units required on the Soviet Frontier After conquering Poland, the Axis will need to maintain garrisons in both Konigsberg and Warsaw to discourage Stalin from strengthening his relations with the Allies. In addition to their units in Warsaw and Konigsberg, from January 1941 the Axis will need to deploy two more units in the east. - If Germany honored the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, then these will need to be stationed in the vicinity of Tilsit and Siedlice. - If Germany didn’t honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then these will need to be stationed in the vicinity of Tilsit and Wilno. In addition to the above, if Germany annexes Lithuania then another unit will have to be stationed at Siauliai. Failure to do so will lead to the USSR increasing its leaning towards the Allies. Having too many units in the east will also lead to increased Soviet mobilization. - If Germany honored the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then having six or more units near Tilsit or eight or more near Siedlice will cause the USSR to swing towards the Allies. - If Germany didn’t honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact then having six or more units near Tilsit or eight or more near Wilno will cause the USSR to swing towards the Allies. - If Germany annexes Lithuania then having six or more near Siauliai would also trigger USSR mobilization.

The AI might be spotting them with aircraft or carriers, so it's best to send your naval units out en masse so they can beat off any enemy interference. If you aren't already doing so, I would also recommend moving your subs in Silent Mode as they leave Germany and head out for the Atlantic, as this will greatly reduce the chance of the enemy spotting them. Plus it could lead to very painful losses to any Allied naval units that might bump into them without expecting to!

Hi I'd tend to go for a quick surrender of Poland (which is sped up by destroying Polish units, so it's a bit of both really) and to wait for the Denmark event, as the latter works out better in the long run and it's unlikely that you'll be able to launch an invasion of Norway prior to it happening. Bill