Desert Dave

I agree. Bill was being Bill, which means analyzing everything to the Nth degree.

WOW! Tremendous fixes on everything, Hubert! This will be a fabulous game. ... sorry about the other, hang in there... Best Wishes

Where's that duty-roster?... ah, here it is... what the... ??? I'm on KP again? What in blue blazes did I do this time? .... Bucket, Bucket, hmmmm, yer not even on the roster... Wait a minute! at the very bottom -- Private Bucket, a week of guard duty... in Roswell, NM? Geez, no wonder you keep hearing strange explosions... is something breaking the sound barrier out there?... are the concussions... getting any closer... :eek: Private Bucket? Come in! Private Buc...

That's the way I've been playing it as well. And I was also taking disproportionate losses trying to defend northern France with an Air-Fleet or two. It seemed as though my fighter losses were always greater than the Brits, since I would often take hits when he would not, but this may be due to a biased viewpoint. And don't forget that you can also research Anti-Aircraft Radar, which will, according to the SC Play Guide: "Improves the air defence values for all Strategic Resources." I usually pretend I am playing a full-game (so as not to get into lazy habits) and buy one of this tech early -- figuring that later I will be too hard pressed to want to bother with it. Thus far, I have never gotten Anti-Air Radar, no matter when I buy it (though, I always seem to eventually get the Anti-Tank advance... I wonder if some techs are programmed to arrive earlier than others?) There may be some minor adjustment to strat bombing in the upcoming Final-SC. If the cost was a little less for the bombers, say around 425-450 MPP (of course, this could be solved with Heavy Bombers research, which the Allies are more likely to buy than the Axis), it might prompt me to buy one or two -- perhaps more so for the Italians than for the Germans, who really need attack forces concentrated on the Eastern Front.

Keep a strenuous! eye out, Private Bucket! The population hasn't been this peckish since Ford Motor Car Company rolled out their new Edsel. :eek:

Ah, sounds like... my old friend, The Lizard King . :cool: ... all dressed in black, the white lamb he is holding, she is pale & droll, but delighted. The stage is set, the door... it is... slowly creaking... open. :eek:

Gird yourself everybody, shield the women and kids, the paint-ball war is about to begin!

Thank the lucky stars! For awhile there I thought we might be dealing with Loki -- just like Prometheus, unchained from the rock -- thence the Twilight of the Gods ! :eek:

Well, Bill, thanks... I think? As George Gobel used to say -- do you ever get the feeling that the World is an expensive blue suit, and you are a pair of old brown shoes?

That has been my experience as well. Maybe Lars just has a knack for taking Sweden? Like some people can build birdhouses, and others can whistle Beethoven's 9th while eating crackers. I have the feeling you could put a corps on every other hex in Sweden, and he would STILL be able to take it in one turn. :confused: Well, it costs about 80 MPPs to transport the HQ over and back. I wonder though -- if you try to do it without the HQ, don't the units suffer MORE casualties when their readiness level is low? Could be it amounts to an equal trade-off, due to higher casualties? Plus, your HQ doesn't accrue that extra experience. And another thing (... I haven't noticed), does a HQs influence extend across water hexes? You could station a HQ in Riga and still effect those units south of Stockholm?

Private Bucket? I could have sworn I saw you in the PX buying Brasso and there was TWO Chevrons on your sleeves... Hmmmm, I wonder what... :confused:

And the ME-109s just sit there, in the setting sun, row after row after row... Is it a full moon?

Sounds like you may be ready to ratchet up that difficulty level a notch or two? But, you may be vulnerable to a determined Russian counter-attack if supply lines are too thin. :eek: Taking the mines quickly is a good idea. Are you able to take Sweden with only 1 Tank, 1 Army and 1 Corps -- without a HQ? I always get bogged down if no HQ is nearby, though I suppose massive Air Fleet support could substitute. And, I usually take Greece early so the Italians can parry the expected Allied Coup in Yugo, or, bolster Libya -- to be in a position to take Egypt and possibly Iraq. :cool:

It would be helpful if you would indicate who or what you are referring to, so another person might decide if they want to respond.

SC's combat formulations are much better, and the naval (... and Air-combat) game less abstract. Strategic warfare was improved in A3R, but still, not as good as this (... remember, we do not know how the strat-bombing will play out -- the one year demo does not provide a true reflection). Just as 3R evolved into A3R, I suspect that SC will eventually include many of the more hstorical details, variants, diplomacy, and a larger map size. At least Hubert's comments thus far would suggest this, and I am hopeful. A computer game cannot be compared to a board game. Their is a tactile, dice-rolling feel that is missing. OTOH, who wants to constantly be checking supply lines or toting up economic points? And the editor provides opportunity to set up many what-if scenarios. All in all, I think SC is an advancement over any of the games mentioned thus far. That doesn't mean I am fully satisfied -- I have always asked for a better Afrikan campaign. But, we are about to get a game that is good now, and likely, will only get better.

The church-bells are ringing. The birds are singing. And the cats -- not yet secretly searching the trees. Depending on your tradition, today is the first day of the new week, or, tomorrow is. Either way, according to The Moon: "there will be news this week." :cool: The sun shines bright. The church-bells are ringing. The SC-cats are... motionless, all alive to Life, full alert.

Or, our Major or Minor real-life partners... Typical moment in-the-life: THIS? is what you've been doing all this time? And what is that little thing that looks like a bug on wheels? (... long pause, eyes like quartz, fists on hips) You know what? It's about time we re-painted the kitchen. (And so -- true, my kitchen is now sky blue... )

Sure! I like it. You could have a separate entry on the main screen, say -- Minor Country Purchases . And those that have aligned with you would be active, and the others grayed-out. A percentage -- 20-30% sounds about right, of their MPPs would be automatically assigned to this pool. I agree with those who want the minor units to remain viable throughout the game. So, let's do it! :cool:

If we all will just keep plugging away, we can finally convince them that they should set retail at a much higher cost? What's that old expression about not looking a gift-horse in the mouth? Seriously, this is a very fair price, but there are other considerations -- such as, extensive word-of-mouth which will improve sales in the long run, not only for this game but future editions. Better to have the reputation as a Quality Provider than... just another Enron :eek:

Lightning strikes. Rogue Virus. Inattention when upgrading. Your cat walking across the keyboard. I would rather be able to re-load when necessary.

Unecessary clutter, at least in the initial version of SC. Since any Minor can -- theoretically, be aligned on either the Axis or Allies side, you would have to have all those flags on each Major Power's Purchase Screen. Do you want to provide a separate Purchase Screen for every Minor? And once a minor's units are eliminated, why would you replace them? For the same cost, you could purchase the equivalent Major Power's unit, which would be more effective due to better HQs (... kind of a Catch 22... maybe Yossarian can chime in here)

In every game I've played, there is always an Allied Coup! soon after Greece is conquered. It is better if it is one or two turns later, which allows you to get the bulk of the Italian force in position to take Yugo. But, the thing is -- if you have Italy fighting in Russian, it would cost enormous MPPs to operate them back to defend Italy or Libya. And those Yugo partisans (... Russian too) do seem awful active. I wonder if -- historically, they actually had that much opportunity or power? I have had games where the Yugos seemed to be everywhere at once, and on every turn! :eek:

Italy can be a major player, and by securing the MPPs for conquering Yugo & Greece, they can build up quite a formidable force. IMO, Italy is potentially a winning strategy for the Axis. I enjoy this strategy as well (except I do not take Switzerland, preferring to leave it as a mountainous barrier for the Allies, post D-Day) and -- with a little more time, anticipate taking Egypt and possibly even those inviting oil-wells of Iraq. :cool: I don't usually dispatch them all the way to Russia, since the Brits may well decide to invade Libya, or even an early landing on Sicily/Italian mainland. Sometimes it is too easy in the one-year Demo to forget that another player might very well foil your best laid plans. Keeping them handy to Italy seems less risky, especially for late '41 or '42.

You and I -- far apart as we are, just had a similar thought, posted in separate threads, at the same time (mine was in Strategy & Tactics). Could it be that Hubert actually managed to program that Ghost in the Machine after all? Can he do this? :eek: And it (... MUST be inanimate, right.... right?) is able to read our minds as we play the Russian Campaign? And it controls our synapse-firing and influences everything we do and controls.... ! :eek: Nah... probably not.

I have noticed that the Russian AI buys mostly corps. This seems to occur when the initial German invasion has rapidly reached the major cities, but are a bit thin and depleted. Generally, this could be due to the vast tundra that needs to be defended. In particular, the Russian AI tends to surround a threatened city with a whole passel of corps, which can be quite annoying to an exhausted, over-extended, and lowly supplied Wehrmacht. One can't help but get exasperated (... as the hackles start to rise on the neck), and imagine this huge shadowy bulk :eek: of a Russian commander, who is hunched over in a hooded parka, And all you can see is a frost-cracked face, and a drooping mustache and two off-kilter eyes like cigarette holes burned in an old army-mule's saddle blanket and... let me outta here! :eek: