Help for new player as Allies in no bid game against veteran

[MichaelOrsus]

I am playing the 1939 Fall Weiss campaign PBEM game as Allies with a friend who says he has played hundreds of games against the computer but never against a human opponent. It is Dec 41, he just attacked USSR after they prepared for war. He has 12 strength infantry, 11 strength planes, 11 strength ships, rocket units, but the tanks look like they are still 10s. Half the UK navy is gone, I am about to lose Egypt, France fell in a few turns (what can I say, I am still learning the rules), the UK has been lucky in research and I can make level 5 jets but I never have enough MPPs to make new units. Looking at the USSR, I don't see how it is possible to hold on, much less turn the tide with the Axis out producing me by a big margin and most of my units getting slaughtered before they could even move. I came to these message boards to see if there was some optimal strategy for the Allies, but it seems as if the consensus is that against a veteran Axis player you need a bid for an even game. Even if the US entered now (I think they are at 70% or something) I don't see how anything can happen other than a resounding defeat for the allies. So I am thinking of chucking it in, and asking for a new game with a bid. If I play Allies again, what would be a fair bid for a veteran Axis player to give me to make an even game? Also, are there any mods I should make in terms of other things like neutrality status or entry levels besides just changing initial MPPs?

Thanks much for any replies!

[ May 19, 2007, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: MichaelOrsus ]

[Bill101]

You could invade Ireland early on in the war, landing a corps there after your airforce, battleships and carriers have beaten up the defenders of Dublin.

Don't invest so much in jets unless you've got a massive income. It sounds as though more troops in the Middle East would have been a good move, backed up with some cheaper planes!

Trade space for time in the USSR. Don't try to reinforce the front line units, pull them back instead. Invest in anti-tank, jets and anti-aircraft (well, that's my recommendation, others would try different things).

Entrenchment is very useful to defenders in this game, so put your Soviet troops in place at least several turns before the Germans are going to reach them. Pull back before you get surrounded too!

Don't be always attacking. It's better to build up a line of corps to slow down the Germans than to throw in a few Armoured Groups that might take out a German unit but die themselves in your opponent's following turn.

I was never that keen on bidding but giving the UK IT level 1 at the start of the game, an extra 250MPPs to the USA and 500 to the USSR will probably help balance it out a bit.

These are just my thoughts and others might disagree, but as most of us have moved on to SC2 you might be lucky to get any more responses. Good luck!

[Mr.Dozer]

bidding is a tricky thing, i find with to much bid its stupid with lines and lines of corps. I have a scenario that puts the russians at 70% readyness with some extra cash and the axis a battleship. I find this scenario even enough or pro allied. The axis cant take over all of europe then start a war with russia. It ussually lets axis take one non historic conquest before axis wait for entry.

My email is guesswhotwice@hotmail.com and could send it to you. Also if you want you could play as axis and i will be allied so that way thegame maybe will be even and can teach you some tips for allies. Im not a great player but i can hold my own sometimes lol

Also a human compared to AI is totlly different, i find the ai to weak so dont take his play against the AI as anything.

[MichaelOrsus]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I talked to the guy I'm playing and he says he thinks he was giving me the best side since he plays Allies against the Axis at max handicap and wins by '44. Sounds to me like that's because he's playing the AI, but I guess the only way to convince him would be if he were to play someone here and see whether it's true or not. Sounds like that won't be too easy since everyone is playing SC2 now, and he is a die-hard SC1 fan. Ah well!

Thanks again for the replies, I really appreciate the help!

[martin1]

I am still playing SC1, and would be happy to play either side with you

[Blashy]

Oof, this is going way back but I had found a solution to eliminate bidding.

Put Russia and USA at 70% readiness.

This made Germany have to not invade more than 2-3 countries or risk triggering Russia/USA joining early.

[hellraiser]

'against a veteran Axis player you need a bid for an even game.'

This is true - we used to play with bids up to 250 or 300 mpps in a 1:5:30 system -> i.e. UK receives 1 x bid, USA 5 x bid, USSR 30 x bid.

If you opponent is not a H2H veteran but only used to play the AI, perhaps you should try bidding in 50-100 range using 1:5:30.

[Mr.Dozer]

im playing sc1 all the time. I prefer it kinda over sc2

[Alexanderthe_OK]

Hey Bill - Nice to see you still look at this forum but your comment "most of us have moved to SC2" doesnt sound right to me. I think most of us moved to SC2 and came back to the better game here at SC1 and it is time you came back as well. Of course we can always hope for a SC3 game that will have hexes and I will meet you there.

[Moonslayer]

play both... even better