Zapp Cookie Cutter (ZCC)

[zappsweden]

The whole new way of playing SC. Zapp Cookie Cutter or Zapp Crazy Conquest will only work for the expert player, newbies will be stopped in France. You have been warned.

Some information about the strategy:

1) ZCC is clear, it includes taking Hungary and Romania and invade Scandinavia to drive Italy into the war as quick as possible.

2) The best way to play ZCC seems to be using HDO and after Warsaw is conquered keeping pressure up in the west while attacking the other neutrals.

3) If Allies respond by neglecting Ireland and going super aggro, Axis can convert to Regular play. The decision is after Warsaw, either Axis go for ZCC and attack the extra neutrals, or they go back to normal strategies

4) If Allies have alot of air and carriers in the west, it is recommended to invade Sweden before Norway. Norway require air support which can enable Allies to rule the skies for crucial turns in the West.

5) Try to have as few air as possible (3 air is enough to stall Allies in the west) until you get a large surplus of MPP (plunders) because you must be able to afford reinforcing those air and buying some armies for Sweden invasion. Delays in conquering neutrals can be lethal.

6) Since Axis get alot of MPP (330+) and plunder after taking all the neutrals, u can afford air support for ground attacks, battle RAF and kill off UK ships with luftwaffe simultaneously.

In fact, DO engage RAF as often as possible! UK will be bled dry and then they have to back off. German MPP base is much bigger than UK in this strategy.

Also, if RAF is constantly pounded, less risk that they can try participate in counters aimed at killing axis ground units.

It also makes sense to trade damage at equal odds in case Allies get Jet Tech later on.

7)

Normally Axis does not DOW anything after Paris. Instead they invade all the remaining neutrals after Barbarossa begin

(Vichy France, Spain+Portugal+Iraq+Bulgaria+Greece)

[ August 31, 2005, 08:26 AM: Message edited by: zappsweden ]

[hellraiser]

the only flaw is Romania readiness gamble

[Comrade Trapp]

Very risky, but its nice to see a completely new type of strategy put into play.

This should make for a very interesting AAR.

[DennisBoz]

Is there a place where all the events that affect the US/USSR war% are located? Particularly the minor country DOWs?

[guinty1]

i just tried it in a hotseat game with a m8,its very hectic trying to get over france as he nearly had the whole of eastern and northern france full of corps + uk air ,axis is bled dry too much before ussr i reckon...... (didnt finish game due to france losses)

[zappsweden]

Guinty1. As with any other strategy, small variations in the moves can make alot of difference. Every now and then, I find small tweaks myself (since this strategy is still so new) and time will tell whether an optimised strategy will survive the fierce competition of today.

[zappsweden]

I have played a few games with ZCC now. I can not concklude whether it is better or worse than other strategies. It is alot trickier than most though.

To me it seems that.

ZCC is a techy strategy with lots of options for early research.

I do not know why, but USA seem to join later than usual with ZCC, enabling Axis to stal the west completely.

Since Axis is so focused on getting Vihchy+Spain+Portugal+Bulgaria+Yugoslavia+Greece+Iraq the first Barbarossa turns, Axis will be very slow in the east.

With some IT and conquering all the minors plus stalling Allies in the west, Axis will have MPP advantage. That means you could just focus on defending against Russia to win the game.

[ July 09, 2005, 07:38 AM: Message edited by: zappsweden ]

[zappsweden]

Updated conclusions after using this strategy against Terif:

ZCC works very well with a stall strategy. When barbarossa kick off, be sure u have AT and Jets to fend of enemies while u start conquering all the neutrals.

Be aware that russia can try to bull rush Axis in Turkey or Iraq early on and know its counters.

(for Iraq: an HQ in Iraq

for Turkey: some luftwaffe with long range reaching the Turkey coast for sinking transports near Istanbul is nice)

The first 6-8 turns of Barbarossa will tell the tale. If Axis can stall the enemy and get the neutrals they are in good position.

[Korut Zelva]

You should add a warning label like "don't use if you intend to win"

[zappsweden]

I am cracking Condor with it. However, who normally wins against Terif (using any strategy)???

[zappsweden]

Originally posted by Korut Zelva:

You should add a warning label like "don't use if you intend to win"

Bring it on! :cool:

[Kuniworth]

Originally posted by zappsweden:

I am cracking Condor with it. However, who normally wins against Terif (using any strategy)???

Lucky beaver got 2 straight wins using the BACCO(Beaver axis carrier cookie opening). At least thats what Ive heard.

[hellraiser]

'be sure u have AT and Jets ' - that means i will never use zcc since i developed a habit lately: my jets 2 come as a 1943 christmas present, even with 5 chits ...

My conclusion after testing some games vs Zapp where he used zcc:

ZCC is a strategy aimed at killing UK. Not more, not less.

Strong points:

- early large MPP basket, not attainable by standard TCC;

- early massive tech investment - goals: good jets and high LR (IT would be by far more important but since I do not consider ZCC a long term strategy, IT is not worth researching)

Weak points:

- tech dependable;

- Romanian gamble (readiness between 8-20+);

- cannot sustain axis' operations in an attrition war.

So, I simply see this as a good mean to knock out UK if axis achieve good techs and if UK lost a lot of mpps during the battle of France.

Axis have enough mpps to build a contiguous defence line in the east but its offensive operations will be severely limited by its few numbers (ofc, axis can go for an early IT investment but UK won't be killed too soon).

Axis will not react accordingly to threats on other remote parts of the map - Turkey, Iraq, maybe Skando thus Russia will develop a formidable war machine.

But if axis manage to kill UK post Barbarossa they can win the game - there are too few situations when Russia alone can win the war.

[zappsweden]

A good summary Hellraiser. UK is more suitable to kill but it can be done several ways.

You can either

1) try to prioritice sea-lion before taking the neutrals or

2) the other way around.

1) means to exploits the fact that Russia start with poor tech and need time to grow stronger (tech and taking some territories).

2) means to sea-lion is the Stall+Stall strategy where Axis aims to get get an equal MPP situation before slowly mauling down the inferior USA+UK Production.

[zappsweden]

.

[ July 15, 2005, 07:42 PM: Message edited by: zappsweden ]

[komninosm]

If you get Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece isn't that enough to bring the Italians in without attacking your minors and keeping their amries and level 10 resources? Whether Allies take LC or not doesn't matter cause Italy readiness goes up regardless, +5% if you get it, around +7% if they do, right?

[zappsweden]

Cannot take greece without landings. UK will just land with 1-2 corps there and stall the invasion for 5 turns.

Problem is, Minors do not join until Paris has fallen and that means they will fall VERY late. Therefore it is better to grab them at once, and get a lrage sum of MPP for having them all those turns.

[ July 13, 2005, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: zappsweden ]

[komninosm]

Which corps will UK land there?

If they move the Med corps then Italy joins so to hell with Greece anyway. Any other corps takes away from the defense of France or even the defense of Brittain. Besides the Allies have to guess you are going for Greece many turns in advance to be ready with any sort of counter.

PS: My question was if the above countries are enough to bring the Italians in. So are they? Does each conquered coutnry count for +5% no variation?

[zappsweden]

Y, they are enough. In ZCC there is no pressure in the west, ao Allies can easily afford reinforcements to Greece.

The day u invade Yugo, Allied corps will be in Marseilles ready to be shipped.

[komninosm]

Well do you really need Greece anyway? Though you may support your attack with an Air Fleet from Yugoslavia and sink transports or even hit the port or whatever they will merely delay you anyways. You can even get lucky and get a 10% increase from the LC gambit and you won't need Greece at all. Italy starts at 65%, +5% for each conquered country, 70% after Poland, 75% after Norway, 80% after Sweden, 85% after Denmark, 90% after Yugoslavia, 97%-100% after LC gambit. Perhaps you could even attack Switzerland.

Or better yet attack Bulgaria since Romania and Hungary will still join you if you do that.

Anyway I think perhaps the better way of getting Italy in the war soon is baiting the allied player into attacking the LC and then be ready to counter with units from beyond his sight (so as to assume you're not ready) and get 1 hex near Brussels (and 1 near maginot, easy) and Italy will join soon with no need for dangerous moves.

PS: I just had a weird idea. What happens if Allies declare war on Baltic countries? Does Russian readiness increase when Axis have Baltic troops? How many troops do they need along the border to not trigger the too few/many units thing?

[Avatar]

Think Zapp has changed his mind :DD

ZCC is too weak early. Just walk over the rhine, punch holes, take munich, and get your corps/armies into positions where Axis have to guard every city.

[ July 15, 2005, 07:59 PM: Message edited by: Avatar ]

[zappsweden]

Avatar uses a "cross the rhine" strategy with Allies that is VERY hard to stop. Axis do not want to buy too many corps, but with think lines in the first turns, they can be forced into passive play.

[Avatar]

Zapp loses a 3rd game to me. He used 5 corps to guard the Rhine completely, as opposed to the other 2 games where only 3 corps where there, and I could gain a foothold across the river. In those 2 first games, I brought AF's to bear quite quickly, and managed to destroy corps occasionally. In the last game, I waited til turn 4 to attack LC, captured it, and forced zapp to guard every inch of the western front, or face breakthrough. Eventually, that happened, and 4 corps were lost in the last 2 turns around Munich. I actually had 2 attacks, one in the north, and one in the south. Eventually I put all weight on the south, destroyed 2 corps, and surrounded 2 others. Since Zapp had only 3 afs, my carriers got free target practice, and my af's were sometimes not intercepted. Axis needs 3 turns to take Rumania, and attacking whilst Axis is busy in the east will force him to buy units to form contiguous line in the west. really, its just a matter of math. still quite challenging though, i only read about it, haven't played against it til now.

[komninosm]

What about my Bulgaria (or Switzerland, though less so) suggestions? Would they work or do they suck?

[zappsweden]

I have updated the ZCC recipe in the initial post.