Archibald
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Posts posted by Archibald
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July '40 - Another French corps is run over by the German juggernaut. I push another two hexes into France. The army shielding my surviving panzergrupe looks a bit exposed, but he's got bags of experience and is under the command of a very experienced leader. More importantly, they're out of range of those bloody carriers. Fingers crossed.
Despite losing an army, the Italians are running wild in the French rear and are on the Atlantic coast.
He pulls off another cheeky move. The French corps in Marseilles embarks at Toulon. The British corps in Milan operates back into Marseilles. The French corps in Toulon then lands in Italy and re-garrisons Milan. He must be thinking of getting that British unit out when France goes belly up.
In the Maginot line I pound at the damaged Canadian corps, but they obstinately remain at one - damn their black hearts.
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I knew that carrier in the Channel was bad news. It turned out he had two, and with their aid it was just possible for him to take out my leading panzergruppe. Teufel! In the north I kill another French corps and move into the hex. I resist the urge to go mad mental again.
The Italians keep moving into France and meet no resistance. Their ZOC briefly meets that of the German drive in the north and cuts off three French armies and a corps on the German border.
Further south they drive towards the Spanish border and cut Marseilles off from Paris. The British are left to rot in Milan, while a corps just to their north keeps the supply route open for the all conquering Italian Army.
in the Med the Italians land in Algeria and move adjacent to Algiers - my turn to play the invasion game. Unfortunately it's just economic warfare, as I'll lose it when France goes Vichy, but it'll knock his income down by 10 MMP.
[ January 14, 2003, 02:27 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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What's the date? - June something 1940 I think...
He certainly uses those French fleets to best advantage. They're strung out along the Flemish coast sniping at any of my guys who enter a coastal hex. I'm disinclined to waste my valuable energies on fleets which the British will sink for me once the French have surrendered.
On the Belgian border I kill the Canadian Army and start exploiting the hole in his left flank. He has a corps two hexes north of Paris, which I knock down to five. However I also see that he's got a carrier in the Channel - drat.
His units in the Ardennes are starting to look isolated. I wonder if he'll choose this turn to withdraw into the interior of france.
In Italy he pulls a move I didn't even think was possible. A British corps embarks that turn from Marseilles into Toulon. Without moving he immediately unloads in Italy, moves a hex and takes Milan! Thanks for the education.
I think I'm supposed to be rattled by this, but carry on pushing the Italians into France. His line in the south is very sparse now. I'm not too worried about the corps in Milan. He can't leave the city without me retaking it, so I'll leave him for dessert.in the Atlantic my U-boats take a break from sinking merchant shipping.
In the Med things go surprisingly well. The Brits knock a few points off my ships but sink nothing. The remainder pull away and I take the opportunity to sink a cruiser - that evens the score for killing my Baltic Fleet now.
[ January 13, 2003, 05:12 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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May 26 1940 - I destroy the French corps to the south west of Brussels. I'm now where I should have been six months ago. Always always always take the Low Countries in one turn. His left flank is now in the air. The two French hexes at the furthest west extent of the Belgian border are undefended. I resist the temptation to go pure mad mental and instead push forward a hex and knock the Canadian army down to six. He's got a French HQ there somewhere and is still a threat in the counterattack.
In the Alps the Italians exploit a gap in the French line and push along the Swiss border. They now have three corps and an army facing the French.
Havoc in the Med. The cruiser Fiume was scouting Algiers when Force H from Gibraltar hit her. Fiume was quickly overwhelmed by three battleships, but the rest of the Italian navy were close by and took the opportunity for revenge. To my alarm I ran into a further aircraft carrier and another battleship. :eek: Warspite has been sunk, but I fear the Regia Marina is about to get the most profound kicking.
In the Atlantic my surviving sub inflicts another 11 MMPs on the British convoys. Somehow they still have torpedoes after all this time.
[ January 14, 2003, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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April/May 1940 - Subs in the Atlantic and the Med knock 16 MMPs off Britain.
We're into a slogging match in Flanders. I destroy the French army south of Brussels, but move nothing into the gap. It would be surrounded by three armies and a corps and pulverised. Let him send another unit in - I can win a battle of attrition (for the time being).
Italian activity on the French border is stepping up. He now has three corps down there guarding it.
The good news for the Italians is that all the French fleets are out of the Med - time to go hunting...
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Late March - He's got a seaborne parking lot off the Belgian/Dutch coast - two British and two French fleets. I concentrate the Luftwaffe on HMS Valiant and send her to the bottom. British battleships are all but irreplaceable - he won't have liked that.
I reinforce Brussels with an army and knock the French fleet in Antwerp down to five - he won't stay there.
A limited attack in Flanders knocks a French army down to six - otherwise it's a turn for retrenchment.
The Italians come in and find... nothing... Oh well. They limber up a bit with an attack on a French corps in the Alps and start disrupting Mediterranean convoys.
[ January 14, 2003, 02:22 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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March 3 1940 - that last post must have been December or January. Oops!
Italy now at 99% - it must look like some kind of allied naval regatta off the Italian coast.
In the Baltic his fleet hits mine in Konigsberg. He destroys Scharnhorst and my other U-Boat. Gneisenau breaks out a huge war ensign and knocks HMS Resolution down to three.
In the Low Countries he's pestering me with the French fleet. I ignore them and take Brussels - just... For his impudence the corps which takes Brussels attacks the French fleet in Antwerp, but only does a point of damage.
He's had to divert units down to seal my breach of the Maginot. as a result, my taking of Brussels has left two hexes undefended on the Allied left flank. Things are looking up...
[ January 14, 2003, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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Late November - One of my subs in the Atlantic is gone.
In the Baltic he's got two British and one French battleships bombarding Copenhagen to no effect. My sub made a clean break from them.
Italy now at 96% - I predict hordes of transports on the Italian coast next turn.
In the Low Countries I abandon the hex south of Belgium and send my panzers down the east bank of the Rhine. He's left the southern Maginot unguarded! Result! I send a corps in to take it.
I've left Brussels alone for now - it just turns into a constricted slogging match which the Allies love. Instead I send all four air fleets (I built another) at the French HQ which is just in range. I don't kill it, but every attack caused him damage. He must have come very close.
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November - Italian readiness up to 89%. It looks like he's up to something devious in the Med.
He makes a probe into the Baltic with an Anglo-French fleet. His French battleship takes five hits when it runs into my submarine screen. The latter barely survives.
I declare war on the Low Countries and it all goes horribly wrong. I send a corps in to soften up Brussels for air - they inflict one stinking hit. Three air fleets hit Brussels and have to fight it out twice with the RAF - Brussels is knocked down to four.
I agonise about sending in armour to hit him from the south, cross my fingers and try it. He survives with one point! Sod it! What the hell, I send my remaining armour to hit him from the river hex to the north east - the pride of the German Army inflicts no dmage at all.
I am now bricking it. I operate everything in from Poland, but I'll be surprised if my armour survives this turn.
Meanwhile in the Atlantic, the U boat I had skulking on the Irish coast is spotted. He makes a run for it - straight into a French fleet.
It's carpet chewing time at my end...
[ January 14, 2003, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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The British corps diverted me from Denmark for a turn, but I took Denmark this turn.
In Poland he sent his remaining army and his air :eek: towards Berlin! Gutsy move - I think it was meant to distract me from taking Warsaw. I focussed on the aim, took Warsaw, and Poland fell - end of threat to Berlin.
Lesson learnt though - expect the unexpected.
[ January 14, 2003, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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October 15 - I'd sent the air to the Dutch border to forestall the Dutch Gambit when a British transport hove into view. I did the only decent thing and sank it. Is he trying to divert me or what? Why did he do that?
In Poland I take out another two corps, knock his air down to three and bounce off his remaining Army.
[ January 14, 2003, 05:56 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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I'm playing the Axis. No surprise on Sep 01 '39 - I take out the army to the west of Warsaw, encircle and beat down the adjacent corps and batter at the Poles' two northern units. I'm holding my air back for greater things.
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Pah! We had them in service since 1941! Apologies for the bandwidth abuse, but this must be one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made:Originally posted by Genghis:Germany was building planes made out of wood in 1945!!!
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The voices in my head told me to try the demo. Thanks guys! :eek:
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The Allied player in the early to mid game should always remember the importance of garrisons in his key territories. If your opponent's paying attention and the only two Canadian units on the map turn up in Europe then it's a fair bet that Canada's lying empty.
In the last game I played as the Axis (I've no idea who against.
) I also used the tactic of invading an empty Canada and launching Italian raids into the US to distract them. Taking Canada just as you launch Sea Lion has a profound effect on the Brits, as their income drops by 30 MMP, and they find a long term defence of the UK difficult to sustain.As the British, accept the fact that you're going to lose London eventually. The key to holding the UK is having an army in Manchester and another Army fully entrenched in the Pennines mountain hex just to the south of Manchester. Your HQ should be well back and just able to supply these two.
Timing how long you maintain the defence of London is crucial. As long as you can keep another unit adjacent to it, London will not be fully surrounded and will be able to reinforce to ten every turn. This will probably mean the Germans being dependent on their HQs alone for supply with a consequent drop in readiness.
The downside of holding London too long is that if it's surrounded, all the other resources in Great Britain will drop from 10 MMP to 5 MMP. Great Britain alone with London surrounded and Chatham undamaged, produces 55 MMP per turn. With London and Chatham gone, and Manchester the capital, Great Britain alone produces 60 MMP. Remember also, that if the rest of Great Britain's cut off from the capital, then you won't be able to place new units outside of the London kessel.
With London gone, Axis attention will turn to your strongpoint in Lancashire. Hopefully, there will be a turn's hiatus while Luftwaffe units redeploy into the UK. It may even be worth bombing Chatham to drop it below five and impede the Axis ability to bring reinforcements in. It'll take the Axis a wee while to knock an army under command and fully entrenched in a mountain hex down. This should give the army in Manchester time to go from level four entrenchment to level six as Manchester becomes the capital.
By this stage, American readiness will be going through the roof and they'll soon declare war. It'll take three turns to get any American armies landed in Liverpool, during which the UK and US are probably at their most vulnerable ever. Resist the temptation to send the US fleets screaming towards the British Isles. Keep them together with some of your badly battered British fleets in a screen around the US to forestall any Axis spoiling raids into the US. A cruiser knocked down to strength two might be useless for defending Great Britain, but it's very effective at spotting and hurting pesky axis transports bent on raising the swastika over Galveston.
Don't think that landing American armies through Liverpool will automatically save the UK, as the Axis by this time will be pounding them with the Luftwaffe almost as they hit the quayside. Your saving grace is that the Soviets and the Yugoslavs soon join in.
If the Axis have attempted Sea Lion, then Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria will have stayed neutral. This has the effect of greatly shortening the German defence line in the east, but also making Yugoslavia a difficult prospect when the coup takes place.
When the Soviet Union comes in, don't charge like a bull at Warsaw, as the line of Axis corps will probably hold long enough for the UK to be taken. Load all the troops available onto transports in the Baltic and send them towards the North Sea. Even if germany's got any Kriegsmarine left, you'll get a few units through to land around Edinburgh (with snow on their boots
) and bolster the defence of Great Britain. Your Main Effort should be directed against Rumania. Don't declare war immediately. Build Zhukov near Odessa and get units onto transports around Sevastapol and Rostov and into position on the Rumanian coast. After a few turns you'll be able to declare war on Rumania, smash through the Carpathians, land on the Black Sea coast, take all those lovely oilfields and relieve the Yugoslavs. Achieve this and the Germans will be in a world of pain.
If they're still slugging towards Manchester they'll be in a quandary of whether to allocate the Luftwaffe to finishing off the UK or of defending the soon to be violated Hungarian neutrality. Before you know it, you've gained the initiative. -
I'd happily give you a game Les, as I'm another old 3R diehard who's experienced the horror of rolling two sixes in a row in a 2-1 on Gib.Originally posted by Les the Sarge 9-1b:If anyone ever wants to play me they can.
I likely suck, and I don't spend much time on moves, because I learn more in 10 frantic games then I do in one dragged out thoughtful one.
I play based on feelings, and I rarely bother to get into technical games.
No one is going to learn any "Gambit" games off of me, but they will have to accept I sometimes get lucky.
The only time I read a manual, is when all my cool moves seem to suck hehe.
I learn from my mistakes, and I prefer to make as many as fast as possible.
Why wait till SC2 comes out to play the game a dozen times eh.
TCP/IP, Standard '39 scenario, your choice of sides. Let me help convince you of SC's merit!
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You do wonder... I've just read an AAR which is almost a mirror of the game I played as the Axis. They open my mail when I'm not looking you know.Originally posted by kenfedoroff:Archibald
Most likely a spy checking out your game before the big tournament.
Sincerely,
"Paranoid in Plymouth"
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A word of advice to anyone hosting TCP/IP. Before you begin play, chat with your opponent so you know who you've beaten before he bails out in a sulk because he's losing.
I've just spent four and a half hours playing an obviously very experienced player with an aggressive and dramatic style of play. He tried and failed with the Italian Gambit and gave me a hell of a time in France, but in the process over committed the British so much that I was able to launch Sea Lion before I'd even finished taking France. Once I took the UK in June 1941 I asked for a break via the chat function and was studiously ignored while he plotted a daring combined Russian-Yugoslav assault on the previously neutral Rumanians. I tried again when it was my turn and was again ignored. I even resorted to repeatedly typing "hello!" in different chat windows to fill his screen with text and gain his attention in case he had the sound turned down. Once again I got no reply. Just as I was finishing off my turn, which had seen me temporarily open a corridor to a beleagured Rumania and operate in enough reinforcements to hold out until the Luftwaffe arrived from the conquered UK in overwhelming strength, the connection was broken.
I may be paranoid, but when someone I'm on the verge of beating refuses to reply to me and we lose the connection immediately I forestall his last chance of forcing a stalemate I tend to fear the worst. I know I shouldn't be peeved, as I'd effectively won the game. I'mjust annoyed at the bad manners of a bad loser.
I have a shrewd idea who I was playing, but I won't name names without definite proof. I'm also not inviting speculation from others either privately or on the forum as to whom it might have been. All I would say is at least find out who you're playing, so that you're not left with the sour taste I was.
That's my rant over. I feel much better now. Thank you for listening and we return you to the normal forum.
[ January 14, 2003, 05:29 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]
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So many planes... So so many...
I've just conceded an Axis victory to Irish Guards in October 1942. He's irretrievably split the Soviet Union in two and the end is now certain.A tough game. I even had a two deep line running Moscow-Voronezh-Rostov, but ten Axis air corps soon went through it, even with the whole of the RAF, USAAF and the VVS trying to stop them.
Good luck to whoever meets him in the final. You'll need it.
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He showed.Originally posted by Carl Von Mannerheim:Hmmm,I volunteer to take Irish Guards's spot if he doesnt show,
I conceded to him anyway.
CvM
I see what you meant about the Luftwaffe in Russia.
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Good to see you back guys. Who's the girl with you?
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He was in my local pub last night with Jim Boggs and JerseyJohn, eating dry roasted peanuts like there was no tomorrow.
I even took a picture to prove it. That's Hubert on the right.
I thought Hubert very friendly until I casually suggested including SS mechanised airborne units into the game, at which point things turned ugly.
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Irish Guards, tell me when you want to play and I'll adjust my day to fit it in.
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Is that one of the square ones in the middle?Originally posted by jon_j_rambo:
Legend's location. Boise, clear.
I think I'm supposed to be rattled by this, but carry on pushing the Italians into France. His line in the south is very sparse now. I'm not too worried about the corps in Milan. He can't leave the city without me retaking it, so I'll leave him for dessert.
Archibald vs Rambo - AAR
in Strategic Command 1
Posted
The French army in the Ardennes is destroyed and the French resources hex is taken. A catastrophe in the air however. A spoiling attack by a strength five air fleet is met by the RAF who tear chunks off it. The remainder are shot out of the sky by French ground fire.
The south of the Maginot Line is flanked by a German corps, which together with the rampaging Italians has now isolated Paris from the rest of France.
In the south the French pull out of Milan. The Med's quiet as both sides lick their wounds.
[ January 13, 2003, 05:15 AM: Message edited by: Archibald ]