Scook

Dateline: China Aggressive action south and west of Changsha results in the death of Chang Kai-Shek's 5th Army. Marines and army units supported by carrier based bombers shatter the line and threaten roads leading in and out of the city. Only patrols advance, leading us to believe this might be a bigger military action. Changsha is also assaulted from the north, leading to moderate casualties for both sides (3 damage each side). Foochow has discovered the IJN fleet in detail. every battleship opened up on the town, causing moderate structural damage (4mpp loss), but soldiers of the 2nd corps are holding up (no damage). Achtung! Blitzkrieg: Churchill had every right to be wary of German troop movements. Yesterday Poland, today Benelux. 3rd and 4th Armies, along with Panzer Group Hoepner, move in and conquer Brussels. More reinforcements are railed to the front to fill in the lines. Frogs and wolves are now staring at each other in the mud.

October 1, 1939 10th Army triumphantly marches into Warsaw. Hitler is very pleased and rewards his generals; Rundstedt is made a Field Marshall, Guderian and Hoepner both have their panzer units renamed after them. Fighter recon in France strafes some infantry in the open, only to discover French fighters have ventured to the shores and are relegated to coastal watchers. Hitler congratulates himself for putting the people to work building the Autobahn. Units quickly scurry westward to the French border. A storm is brewing. {radio messages from China} Some pinging in the south, Foochow feels the war has somehow bypassed them. All quiet in the rain.

September 1, 1939: German forces cross the border into Poland. An army from Prussia swings south cutting off retreat across the Vistula river, and smashes the Polish Air Force on the ground. Poor General Rydz-Smigly learns the hard way his road of retreat to Warsaw is also the path of advancement for all German armor. Warsaw is ensieged and looks to fall before the month is out. Out in the Atlantic, Graf-Spee sinks many merchant ships trying to leave port out of Trinidad. There is a rather large oil slick in the Caribbean. China: IJA Expedition Army thinks of trying to attack across a river, but instead kisses their sisters instead (no losses on either side). Besides that, it just looks like the Japanese are reshuffling their units.

The Wolf? That's all you have to say, problem solved!

Looking forward to it also. We can start the thread soon as Legend notices he can decide our fate ala No Country for Old Men style. Just call it, heads or tails.

Thanks JJR. Since you are the Godfather, you pick who plays which side. As far as rules go, nothing gamey, like letting partisans repeatedly pop up to get experience for units, neutrals ships sitting to block. Diplomacy, I am game for anything goes, or no touching major powers (USA & USSR), or even no diplo at all. My email is scook_99@msn.com Lets get it on!

I should have time for a match, looking for an opponent. Enough theorizing on the best way to smash China, or invade Europe. Haven't played a human since SC2 (the original). However, I am as much of a grognard as any one else on this forum, and am willing to throw down in the cage in public. Willing to play either side, I care not.

I think from coding it might be really tough to make the unit not flash, but how about marking the unit with an "S" on it? At least you get a visual of who is marked.

Heh, what John said ^^. Just going to post the same thing. I will also add, experience is a huge factor. Absolutly green units have about a 50/50 shot of taking a hit, whereas a 3 star or better unit hasn't taken damage from this, at least for me.

Well, I will JJR a hand at trying to be not fomulaic in his approach in both games. I also think he is trying things from past SC games that would lead to victory, which sadly, really don't seem to matter much any more. Really depends on which Legend is playing right now, if he is focused, it can be a close thing. If he has lost focus, enough psychological bombardment will push him to surrender.

I have to say, I prefer it. Even though I am on the short end of the stick, there should always be a chance at some minimal casualties. It also doesn't feel so "gamey" attacking an HQ knowing you won't take losses and build up experience.

Yes! And in my opinion, they seem to take less damage when you can get them to a 14 or 15.

One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for for months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night...

I haven't played any alternate scenarios in SCGC, but usually Poland falls by turn 2. Practice until you can be in Warsaw by the 2nd turn. Multi player, mmmmm, gaming goodness. My schedule has precluded me from playing against others for a couple years, but the SC series shines when playing other humans. If you are having some difficulties with learning the game, sometimes you can get one of the kind souls here to play you and "show you the ropes", so to speak. If you can get a network game going, someone can explain what and why they do things while you take a spanking. Good luck and have fun!

I *think* there are two causes, one straightforward, one esoteric. #1, Russia and China just aren't big enough, and/or the territory isn't bad enough. Both the Germans and Japanese have too good of supply when moving into the hinterlands. #2 The early game is played so much more than late game. We don't see how early ramifications can come to fruition later, because we get to a certain point, and you know Axis win (at least in our minds). I think I have a Russian strategy that will work in most situations, however, it requires China to stay alive and keep the Japanese tied up, and therein lies the problem. Both Russian and China should have to fight tooth and nail to tie down massive Axis forces, but there should come a time in 1943 (or late '42 with luck) where Allied pressure stretches the Axis like taffy. I think I would like to play more before having massive changes applied.

I thought I should post some observations here, as this is the relevant thread, and Hubert might make changes based from here, and not the newer convoy thread just started. 1) I have had issues with "surprise contact" occurring from the Allied side of having level 3 anti-sub destroyers contacting level 0 subs and taking huge losses. Next time I get a situation like that, I will save it and send it to you, Hubert. And of course, the opposite does not hold true: computer controlled contact takes very few losses. 2) Now, the tricky part, that I cannot get to repeat from one saved turn played more than once: Not all contacts are surprise contacts. In fact, I played 2 games as Axis I thought the Allied navies were not playing with Fog of War Rules, as destroyers would contact subs and blow them out of the water. I had to use F4 to see if there was something I was missing, and no, destroyers were at least 5 tiles away so they didn't have the AI spotting advantage range. Once I can get a repeatable turn, I will send that off too. 3) In relation to what I have read in this thread, if you make DDs not surprised ever with contact with subs, it is a very lopsided, and will also produce very ahistorical results. Generally, the seas are swept clean of subs by early 1942; ships take a little longer. 4) Sorry, just running with my thoughts, this relates to #2. Relating to what I thought was a "Fog of Woe" issue, I then have had some surface contact initiated by me that should have been surprise contact, but wasn't. I thought I was seeing things, but I had it happen 3 or 4 times for me in a game. I don't ever remember seeing this in any other SC game. The above has not been consistent from game to game. I can throw my 2 cents in, and ask that you make contact a 50/50 shot, either a "surprise contact", or the naval unit stops moving, and the person is given the option to attack. Modify it by 5% for every level difference in Naval Combat, or Sub level vs. Anti sub level. That would make a maximum advantage of 65% for superior tech.

Foochow: I find upgrading as many of my surface ships turn 1 with naval combat 1 makes the job much easier. I do not bombard with my precious IJN Air Force until I have the city at supply 4 or lower. By the time I free up someone from the Army to head to Foochow, I have the city vacant. Oh, and try not to add replacements to the naval forces until you are done with Foochow. I find the slightest bit of combat experience makes a huge difference in bombarding the city.

Note that Industrial Tech afffects only home country factories, not territories. So, for example, Germany, once she annexes Poland, will gain 11MPP for each tech level. Don't quote me, but I do believe Britain picks up 3MPP for each tech level. This is why it's a great tech for USSR and USA, and not so hot for every one else. Will have to see if it has changed at all in the new game.

So far, in my playtesting, yes, Axis early on France seems to be the standard. IMO, dump every British troop into France at that point in time. You should outnumber the Germans, and slow down the Axis until bad things happen. As much as I like pumping up the destroyers asap, I find a few British corps early is very helpful. Hope that helps some.

Vs. humans, if I think the invasion of Britain is coming, I do several things from the beginning: 1) Drop one point into infantry weapons and pray. 2) Build some corps. 3) Be willing to keep my whole navy next to the island, and be prepared to sacrifice it to prevent an invasion. Yes, this means I would let the subs run wild and keep the destroyers on picket duty. Some things I like to do early, no matter what the game: 1) Drop 2 diplo points into Spain to slow or prevent that nation from joining the Axis. If Germnay declares war on Spain, I can live with that. 2) Move the STR to Africa and bomb the Italian all live long day, again to slow the move to Alexadria down. 3) Put at least two points into anti-sub warfare. Yes, you won't have the money to do it all, so you have to be cagey and "outguess" your opponent. Your whole goal for invasion is to make it to Summer of 1941, and then the moment has passed. Oh, bonus points if you can get an HQ on the island will all the above done

I have been thinking about WiF, quite a bit. I met Harry Rowland, and got to playtest V 1.0, and 3.0. I will say, the most fun I had was with the very first, original V1.0. The game had balance, and no one had extra units just to throw around. I have a feeling if they try to include XXXX of Flames, it will be a fiasco, even for pvp, as one impulse of a turn could take an hour, and really be unplayable. Kneejerk reactions to other games can hurt what is something really good, and can also make it into something it is not. SC2 is not WiF, nor CEAW, but it is SC2. Expand and grow on that concept. Make a new game instead of turning SC2 into something it is not.

Yep, they are kinda gamey, but I feel its for a play balance situation. 1) Siberian troops in August. If the German is steamrolling, essentially this is the last wall. The longer I play WaW, the more I want to see the Siberians early so I can get a crack at them before winter. 2) Capital to Alexdria vs Canada. It's an MPP thing. Once US enters the war, Canada is connected to a major power so the production is increased. Try s script change and move the capital to Canada and play around with the MPPs to see if it can work and not unbalance the game. 3) US naval assests. the carrier in question transferred is a light carrier, and would conceiably occur late 1940 or early 1941, not the turn after Spain is in the war. The effects on the Pacific theatre would be slight, as US production became very overwhleming. As far as Sealion goes, I have been reading lots of obscura, and I think this the most glaring part to WaW. Will post more later when I get more research done.

Here is a build strategy to try vs the computer.You will want: -2HQ -2 Tanks -1 Tac -1 or 2 anti-tank -As many corps as you can buy The idea is to have 3 HQ, 4 tanks, 1 AT, and whatever else you can to plug the gaps. 1 HQ goes to Africa, but you can forgo that to try and conquer Russia. Your objectives are to cut of Leningrad, get to Moscow, and get to and take Karkov. Bonus points if you take Leningrad and Moscow before winter. Hunker down and live out the winter. Only if you can have a bunch of units attack one Soviet unit attack in Winter. Otherwise, save your Strength for the following spring. Your AT is cheap and should lead an attack on an enemy tank followed by some infantry attack (and TAC/STR/Fighter of course) to get rid of his pesky offensive units. Keep your tanks attacking anything beside tanks and AT guns. You are really setting yourself up for 1942. Build as your technology dictates, and if you keep your strength up through the winter, you can go gangbusters again soon as the skies clear. There are umpteen billion ways to go, but give this one a go. This works well vs the computer, and really not so well vs a human. Good luck.

Oooooooo, I may just have to let that happen to see their invasion. I need to read my scripts a bit closer.

I have not seen it in, a bunch of games.