vonManstein39

SuperTed, The links in the headings don't seem to work for me - I just get Page Not Found errors.

I don't understand why there are US hexes on the map. Surely even a Germany victorious in Europe wouldn't be able to ship an invasion force all the way across the Atlantic and hope to succeed! Wouldn't the extra hexes would have been better used in North Africa?

SuperTed: Super description of the Polish campaign! One suggestion - take a screenshot of the map at the crucial moment each time you post and link to it from the text. We'd really appreciate being able to see what's going on!

1946 is a good year to end the war. Historically, by mid-1945 Britain was bankrupt and the Soviet Union was exhausted, even though they were on the winning side! Also the US atom bomb project was bound to succeed by the end of 1946, even if they had started later or put less resources into it. One bomb on Berlin would have killed Hitler and the Germans would have capitulated immediately.

Like the strategic map - FAR better than the equivalent 'Country' map in COS! Noticed how the Germans start out with bugger all on the Western Front - the German player is going to have to know what he's doing right from the start! Is there something in the game setup that makes it hard for the French army to storm into Germany while the Germans are busy in Poland? Hope so. In COS it was supply that was the stumbling block for the French - with no French army groups available at the start. Is it the same in SC?

Hmm...if Germany attacked Denmark/Norway in 1939, would Poland have declared war on Germany? Probably not. From Hubert's comments in another thread, I don't believe you can start the game with Poland neutral.

No assault or stacking sounds like a serious drawback to me. What about heavily fortified cities like Leningrad and Gibraltar when they have strong units defending them? Without some kind of combined attack, taking these places is going to be damn near impossible. It's not historically accurate either as combined assaults were a vital part of WWII combat tactics. Without this feature, the defender can bring their full combat strength to bear against each attacking unit in turn, instead of having to defend against all possible attack directions simultaneously.

Moscow was the center of the Russian rail network, so losing it would have been a severe blow to them, but not enough to make them surrender. Plus everyone on both sides at the time was remembering Napoleon and how he took Moscow and lost the 1812 campaign anyway. If Britain had been invaded in 1940, she would not have given up if London had fallen. Losing Bristol and Liverpool, the main supply ports for the Atlantic convoys, would have been far more serious. But for Germany and France, losing Berlin and Paris virtually shattered the morale of their armies and they lasted only a week or two longer before disintegrating.

SS-Obergruppenfuhrer: Historically, Hungary and Rumania joined the Axis in November 1940, and Yugoslavia joined in late March 1941. However, none of these nations ever declared war on Britain, although Britain severed diplomatic relations with them. After the Yugoslav pro-Allied coup, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria declared war on her. Later, Bulgaria occupied Greek Thrace, but without declaring war on Greece, and after the Greek surrender to Germany and Italy. In June 1941 Hungary and Rumania declared war on the USSR, but still did not declare war on Britain. Britain did not declare war on Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria (and Finland) until December 1941.

Thanks for reply - I think it would be very interesting, Germany vs. Russia in May 1940. Compared to the historical invasion in June 1941, Germany would have been stronger in the air (no Battle of Britain) but weaker on the ground. Russia would have been only slightly weaker numerically but would have had very few modern planes or tanks. If Germany was losing badly against Russia, France might have attacked her in the west, but Britain would probably have stayed neutral. Chamberlain and Churchill were both very anti-Communist as well as anti-Nazi. In the Winter War between Finland and Russia, Finland lost 25,000 troops while Russia lost 250,000 - ten times as many! This taught Stalin a severe lesson and he respected the Finns ever after - that's why he was relatively lenient with them after they came over to his side in late 1944, and didn't occupy their country and impose a Communist government on them like he did with the other Axis minor allies. Plus, after the Finns sued for peace at the end of the Winter War, Stalin wasn't expecting any further trouble from them and saw no need to conquer them completely.

This is a big plus as far as I'm concerned. Question is, can I create a new neutral country? I'd really like to create a scenario starting in March 1939 with the Germans invading Czechoslovakia.

Hearts of Iron sounds good, but I'm not too sure about the game time - 1 min real time = 1 hour game time. If you play for two hours a day, a ten-year war will take you two years real-time to complete!

So I guess that the effect of the U-boat campaign on British production is fixed according to historical results? If so, I think it's a shame that the Battle of the Atlantic is not more clearly represented. After the cancellation of the German invasion of England, it was the only way (short of an atom bomb) that Germany had left to force Britain to the peace table, and was a really major part of the war. If Germany had concentrated on advanced U-boat technology and production earlier, at the expense of other weapons, Allied merchant losses might have been many times worse than they were historically, and this would have seriously affected British arms production.

First of all, let me say that I'm looking forward to this game with great anticipation - I'm a Clash of Steel fanatic, and I've wanted an update to that old game for years. Some ideas for more gameplay variations: 1) Start the game with no-one at war. Let Germany declare war on any nation. 2) Allow for a 'VERY' small chance that Britain and France will not declare war when Germany attacks Poland - so we can see what would have happened if the Allies had not stood by Poland. In this instance, Britain and France will certainly enter the war if Germany attacks any other neutral country EXCEPT the USSR, which they didn't care about. So we can also see what would have happened if Germany and Russia had fought it out between themselves with the West staying neutral. 3) Give the Allies a very small chance of persuading Italy to stay neutral or even join the Allies, perhaps through bribing Mussolini with several African territories? (reducing Allied production)? Maybe with a delay built in because Italy wasn't ready for war in 1939. Il Duce wasn't especially pro-German, he would have backed the West if they had paid him in advance. 4) Allow the USSR, under AI or player control, to attack the Baltic States or Finland in 1939/40. 5) Allow the Allied player the option, (or provide the AI with a 'VERY' small chance) to declare war on Russia(!) (The British did seriously consider this option historically when Finland was attacked and the USSR appeared to be an Axis ally. If Finland had held out longer and Norway had not been invaded, an Allied force would have fought in Finland against the Soviets.) An Axis Russia could possibly invade the Baltics, any adjacent pro-Allied Balkan country, Turkey, or the Middle East. Also an Axis Russia could have a small chance to treacherously change sides and stab Germany in the back, this chance slowly increasing year by year. 6) Variable US entry date into the war, dependent on political events as in COS. The Axis could have a very small chance of severely delaying the US entry. 7) Finland should be a normal neutral country, able to join either side. Should be very hard for Russia to defeat early on. Finland could have a change to change sides if her ally (Germany or Russia) is close to defeat. 8) Italy should have a chance to surrender or change sides if she is losing much territory on the Italian mainland, joining whichever enemy side (Axis, Allied, Soviet) has the most forces in mainland Italy. 9) Same as above for the Axis Balkan states, possibly joining the Russians if they are losing badly in their own country.