Jollyguy

Okay, this game ended in an Allied victory. Timskorn's bad luck in Poland proved insurmountable, as it raised Russian readiness. And as Terif pointed out, higher readiness means more mpps for all subsequent turns. Timskorn took Egypt and I believe did the Syria/Iraq attack, and had a good early Barbarossa and methodically moved forward. I fell back to Moscow and Stalingrad and the rivers, not defending up front, letting my entrenched corps in the forward cities take the casualties and buy time. I also abandoned the mines when I saw he had motorization II, as I didn't want my corps to get surrounded and put in 0 supply, meaning they're gone forever and cannot be repurchased cheap. I think Leningrad held on. But's that as far as he got. The Siberians transferred, and joined a massive force I had been building up. I had the max in tanks, an extra plane, all my corps, extra armies, three extra HQ's, and even a paratroop to take Iran. The Russians counterattacked, while at the same time the corp garrisoning Brest was destroyed. We called the game, as it was clear the Russians were just going to steamroll west. The lessons IMO are 1) Have the Germans walk west, which allows them more mpps to research and/or do diplomacy and/or upgrade units 2) If possible, keep Russian readiness low 3) And like Terif has said many times, sometimes its best not to give up too early. When Spain spiked to 81% on the second turn I thought, geez, now what? What I did was cash in my British research chits and buy diplomacy chits and abandon the Med and garrison for a potential Sea Lion. Then I got lucky with Russian readiness, which ended up being the game breaker. Spain never entered, and when Russia joined I had them buy 5 chits ASAP to foreclose the possibility of Franco getting more interested. I also kept my American fleet away from Spain, as I've made that mistake a couple times now and had Spain's readiness spike. Bob

An update on this game. Once Spain joined the Axis took Portugal, Gibralter, and hit Syria triggering Iraqi entry on Axis side, and it took me awhile to secure all the other Vichy cites, but the Med is now an Axis lake. I noticed after securing the other two Vichy Africa cities that my resources didn’t go up like they did in SC 1, and Blashy said you need to secure a landbridge through Turkey for that. Our house rule is no Southern Turkey invasion, so the Axis high command is weighing whether hitting Turkey from Europe proper would be worth the commitment of forces, and if so, when. Greece is still neutral as I just couldn’t spare the troops, as is Switzerland and Turkey and Iran. Blashy triggered Yugoslavia pre-Barbarossa which tied down some troops, but after it surrendered he told me where to place my three unit garrison, so no partisans have appeared there (need zones of control on all mountain hexes, plus Belgrade). I took Norway and Sweden earlier, and then Leningrad in 1941, which connected Scandanavia, upping all their resources. My bomber helped reduce the entrenchment on Leningrad, and btw other cities, and as Axis I always build one now for the Russian campaign. The Koninsberg port and ore convoys were only down for about a year, as when winter hit he couldn’t hit it with his bomber, and I planted a battleship there so he couldn’t’ hit it with his navy. Once the port got back up to 5 it was upgraded to AA level 2, and I moved in the Spanish fighter. When the weather cleared he tried hitting it again, but I suspect took heavy damage, and he hasn’t hit it since. The most interesting part of the game was in Russia, it was an absolute knockdown, drag out, toe-to-toe bloodletting. I secured the forward center cities and Leningrad in 1941, but that was all I was able to do before winter hit. So he was able to build-up, and then the Siberians transferred. My bomber could see extensive fortifications running five hexes south of Moscow, almost connecting to the city above the mines, but the Wehrmacht had little interest in disturbing Stalin at his Moscow dacha. When the weather cleared I turned southeast, hitting the mines with my level three tanks and level two IW and AT infantry, backed up by five Luftwaffe airfleets and the bomber and the Rumanian airfleet. Blashy left Sevastapol empty, and I pondered whether this was a trap, but landed my paratroops anyway, and it ended up not being a trap. He committed the bulk of his forces and tanks to meet me around the mines, and for the next several turns it was a slugfest as we traded units back-and-forth by the dozen. When the smoke cleared I believe I lost over a dozen corps, probably half a dozen armies, and several tanks. His losses were at least equal. But after clearing the battlefield of the dead and bulldozing the wreckage aside, I continued forward. I took that city above the mine, then finally sank his Black Sea navy which had been harrying me the entire time, and took that next city southeast and pushed into the Caucusses, taking the northern oil field but the Caucusses is not cut off yet, which is where things stand as the fall of 1942 approaches. Looking back, I think the difference in the Russian battle is that I hit first. Like the airfleet exchanges that used to occur in SC 1, I was able to exact first blood and take out and damage the first set of units, leaving him that much less to hit back with. I also screened my tanks and armies when possible with corps, leaving me with more high value (tank) units standing. Out west my trusty minors have been assigned primary first wave defense duty, and are dug-in, while my AA level two has exacted damage each time his bombers have hit Brest and Paris. He took Brest in the summer of 1942 but didn’t move for probably half a dozen turns, and has just now moved to take that second French coastal city, using his Americans. That will likely fall next turn, and maybe Paris too, but that will probably be about where things end until the spring of 1943. One interesting thing out west is the transfer of the US Pacific fleet tips naval dominance to the Allies. I lost one Italian capital ship awhile ago when I had thoughts of trying to interdict the movement of US transports, but after it was swarmed by the RN and USN, well, my admirals refuse to venture into the Atlantic anymore, which is an Allied lake. So my navy, still a viable force, remain bottled up in the Med and the Baltic. I debated suicide runs, but decided to hold them in reserve for possible use later, depending on how the rest of the war goes. Bob

I agree, Spain is not the end all. Most times as Axis I don't bother, as Allies I wait for the first bump in Spanish readiness. I've also noticed many other Axis don't bother. I think as Allies a couple chits in Sweden is good, maybe also Russia. If you can bump Russian readiness they're mpp base is elevated until they enter the war, that's a lot of extra mpps, and vice versa. Same for US.

Well, I like the variability of diplomacy, and I like dueling diplomacy, i.e., in my game w/Blashy where he went after Sweden and I went for Spain. Most of the scripts are fine, and the players can transparently see the consequence of a certain action, which is good. IMO this discussion and much more like it are aimed at future patches. I'm sure Hubert will read and put on his thinking cap. Still loving SC 2, and probably, no, I do...have too many games going already and need to pare the number down. Wouldn't be doing that unless I was still enjoying myself, which I am. And I like discovering the Denmark tactic and things like it, as to me it's like a puzzle, a puzzle that I solve at a very small fraction of the time it takes Terif, but I still enjoy learning about the game mechanics regardless, and consequently how to improve my own play. Bob

I was thinking the exact same thing, that now we have a reverse cookie cutter. In SC 1 it was attack everyone, in SC 2 it is attack only who you absolutely have to. I wonder if we should also have random events occur beyond the control of the players. The problem with scripted actions is once you figure them out, you figure out how to utilize them or not to your advantage. I'm a CPA, so in my field we called them "loopholes." Bob

Oh, okay, that could have been it. I've been letting that airfleet intercept to drain of my opponents mpps, and delay him from moving east for Barbarossa. That could have been it, thanks. Bob

I agree that with this out there many Axis players won't bother with Denmark now. In one game I had an amphib transport loaded and ready to hit Denmark, but when I read Terif's AAR I didn't DOW and landed the corp back on friendly territory. Glad I did. I gave up on Norway recently, as it's not worth the bump in readiness and the cost/benefit analysis doesn't work because of the vulnerability of the northern port. IMO the Axis should have an option to redirect the Scandanvian convoy to another route, or pay to upgrade another more eastern, Baltic port to receive the ore shipments. In an indirect way it's gamey for the Axis not to hit Denmark & Norway, but you can't blame them as there is every reason not to do it, and no benefit to doing so.

In your AAR of game w/Diced Tomato you mentioned that you didn't attack Denmark, and reading between the lines you seemed to infer that by leaving Denmark neutral that the Allies couldn't effect the Norway/Swedish convoys. Is that correct? I mean the Northern German port is still there and can be reached by the British bomber, but does it not assume any importance with a neutral Denmark? Bob

I've seen discussion of units not showing an attribute when in fact it's there, so sorry if already covered. But I've had an English airfleet in London for quite sometime and just noticed that it shows as 0 entrenched? Is this something I missed, maybe airfleets can't entrench, or is the plane indeed entrenched and its just not showing? Bob

I think limiting to 1 un-entrenchment per turn is too little, 1 per air attack maybe too much. Perhaps air should have less of a chance to unentrench, but ground units should have more. If the attacker is committing ground units and takin sometimes substantial casualties, then it would seem balanced to have entrenchement reduced accordingly, one per ground attack. Otherwise Moscow would take forever to takeout. And doesn't entrenchment recover at one per turn? If so, it would be quite hard to take a six entrenchment city. And perhaps the un-entrenching could occur in reverse order. If ground sent in first, they take out one per attack, then if air sent in to mop-up, they're chance of reducing entrenchment goes up, rather than vice versa. Bob

After reading Terif’s AAR with Diced Tomato thought I would offer this one, as our game dovetails into two items mentioned by Terif. The first couple turns Axis Timskorn obviously bought a Spanish chit(s), as I started my second turn to be greeted by Spanish readiness at 81%! So, in my game with Blashy I was the lucky recipient of a big Spanish readiness boost, but the SC 2 Gods must have wanted to even things out, as now I’m on the receiving end of it. The second interesting aspect of the game highlights the risk of operating West for early Benelux and French DOW’s, which Timskorn did. On turn one he operated a substantial strike force west and took Benulux turn two, which allowed most Polish units to retreat around Warsaw. Needless to say, the French never got to buy Iraqi chits, and had to immediately go into defensive mode. But then the next turn the weather favored the Allies, and mud hit, followed by mud and snow again. I think only one of the following turns was clear. The Poles hung on, and the French, although under continued attack, got dirty in the mud and skied in the snow. Then more snow, and Timskorn made a mistake. He operated his tank from the Polish front to France early in his turn, then subsequently destroyed the Polish corp in Warsaw, but because of the mud couldn’t capture Warsaw with less mobile units. So, the last remaining Polish corp took up positions in Warsaw, when Timskorn made another mistake, he operated his second HQ west. So I ended by March 1940 turn, and the Poles still hang on, with Russian Readiness steadily moving up, 44% during my last turn, not to mention that the French, although getting battered, are still in the game. Timskorn just sent me another turn which I’ll get to tonight when I get home, but he said the Poles still hold Warsaw, which means Russian readiness is at least in the 50s (meanwhile, Franco is still at 81%). So, with Russian readiness up they will be collecting more mpps until Barbarossa, which Timskrorn might have to launch early. As we all read in Terif’s AAR, he prefers his troops to walk west, which allows him mpps to perform diplomacy and research and upgrade/buy units. IMO this might be the best option. Operating west is a good blitzkrieg tactic, but with mpps at a premium in this game, and tech so important, and diplomacy a factor, I’m beginning to think that walking west is best. Bob

Terif; Thanks for the great AAR, which illustrate many options for both sides. I'm sure everyone enjoys the nuggets of info you weave in, as it points out strategy and tactics to the rest of us novices. Bob

I had too many units on the Russian border and readiness spiked, even though Berlin telegrammed Stalin that the "settlers" were only there for summer recreation, and to stake out town sites in the new Polish real estate seized 1 ½ years earlier. Stalin visits the frontier and doesn’t buy it, especially when he sees the settlers driving tanks instead of tractors, and hoisting small arms rather than shovels and spades. He declares war. Germany rightfully sees this as an unprovoked act, just like when the Poles attacked defenseless German troops in September, 1939, and sends their soldiers, er, settlers pouring across the border during August, 1941. Truth be told, Adolf is pissed, because he was planning to announce his DOW in a big speech at the Olympic Stadium, and you know how good an orator AW is, so he feels Stalin upstaged him. In the first tactical mistake that might have consequences, the Russian central command leaves an HQ too close to the front, several hexes south of Leningrad, and a motorized Wehrmacht corp and army combine to take it out. Blashy had an entrenched Russian corp hit one of my corps and inflict damage as it moved to envelope a city, so the HQ was supporting his units, but the HQ obviously got one hex too close to the front. Meanwhile Yugoslavia was subdued a couple turns ago, meaning 3 minor corps are on garrison duty. Blashy told me all the mountain hexes need zones-of-control by two units, then Belgrade needs to be garrisoned, in order to prevent partisans. Out west I finally take Brest back, which was garrisoned by a British army. I hit the port one turn with a bomber and airfleet fresh from subduing Malta, to trap the unit, and then moved up land units, which the RN and RAF hit and inflicted moderate to heavy damage, while the two and three bar Luftwaffe fighters take minor damage. I destroy the BEF army and take the city back the next turn, and rush a Spanish cruiser into the port. Meanwhile, my northern port is still reduced, and the cowardly Swedes and Norwegians refuse to put their ships out to sea, so the Germans don't receive the tribute they so rightly deserve. US readiness is in the mid 70%’s, but a US Carrier from the Pacific fleet takes a look see around Brest. With Franco already in they can do this without worrying about a readiness increase. Bob

Well, it concerns me when Blashy says he’s “trying something different.” Last time he said that he conjured up that chitless Iraq activation by invading Syria, followed by the southern invasion of Turkey. Sombra is correct, max out your US convoys and England can get up to 90 or 100 mpps per turn I believe. In four or five turns you have enough for a fighter. Blashy could also be upgrading his carriers, as after two turns of air attacks by Goring’s boys I just killed the Malta corp, and will take the island next turn. So, he will have the entire Italian navy to contend with, plus the two Spanish cruisers, plus the entire German navy, most of it experienced from hitting Malta for close to ten turns. BTW, carriers are quite effective anti-ship weapons since the patch. I’ve used them very effectively in several of my other ladder games. What I do is not upgrade them unless it looks like I’ll need them because it is costly to do so, but if needed they can come in handy. As to the game, it’s July, 1942, and the German High Command is nervously watching Russian readiness climb, as it stands around 60% now. And Sombra’s also correct on having the French buy the Iraq chits. In my games I usually have the French buy three chits ASAP, and I’d say better than 2/3rds of the time, maybe even 3/4s of the time, I get the Iraq convoys started. That extra 30 mpps per turn makes a huge difference to England. Bob

I agree with Sombra on the Russians (trying) to buy units, and his IT/PT and intelligence. IMO, intelligence does the least for the Germans initially and especially with the new caps, but is worthwhile for the Russians and US, to piggyback on what the Germans are doing. I think in my next Allied game I will have the Russians buy one intelligence chit first: then an IT chit; then a PT chit: then get up to three infantry and tank chits; then start buying units. I think I’ll also sell the rocket chit ASAP, the first turn. I have yet to get in a game where rockets had a decisive effect. Then mix in two tanks with cheap corps. Yes, it’s always tough in early Barbarossa, but it is for the Germans, too. Like Sombra said, although from the Allied side you think they’re an unstoppable force, the Axis is stretched too. And yes, the Russians will take losses by counterattacking, but so will the Germans. It’s a slugfest game now. The alternative to not wanting to exchange blows is to slowly but surely get grind down by the Germans. And out west the Allies need to make as much trouble as possible without getting reckless. Hit that port, and hit the German and French mines. We all knew it, but long range air is important for the Allies, and to chase off an Axis HQ that might be lingering near Bordeux to help out the Brest corp. Without HQ support Brest takes more damage sooner. If I’d seen that HQ of Sombra’s near Bordeux sooner I wouldn’t have taken as many ship hits as I did. The Brit also need to get the RAF up to four fighters. And they’re carriers, although much less valuable than in SC 1, are good anti-ship units, and also okay against land units in the open, not in cities. In general I would say Brit carriers are low in the list of upgrade priorities, but depending on how the game developed, could be useful, i.e., if the Italian navy made a dash for France. In that case maybe it would be worthwhile to upgrade the carriers. Remember, ship defense was lowered against carriers in the patches. And in Barbarossa Sombra did keep his offensive force compact. He never even went for the two upper cities of mine, he headed right for Stalingrad. And although I couldn’t fully see what he had, I imagine it was like a scrum in rugby, basically a wedge formation…which I understand is so effective it’s banned in rugby. But I was taking losses in Russia just trying to defend, so why not take losses on the attack instead, when you can take some of the enemy down with you? I have a feeling that if I’d taken out just a handful of corps/armies/and a tank or two, that his momentum might have stalled. And then when I landed in Brussels Sombra opped over two level 4 tanks that I could see. I could have evacuated my Brits, but in the meantime, and assuming I had chipped away at some of Sombra’s units, the Russians would have gotten some breathing room. Then the second phase of the war would have started and maybe the Russians have a chance. Sitting there they have no chance against a good Axis opponent.

Oh wait, I just noticed I posted for Sombra's and my AAR here, I'll move it. First, I want to thank Blashy for his advice, which he gives freely and even without asking. He told me in an earlier Allied game that I needed to make more trouble out west, and needed to hit that port, which I didn’t realize the significance of. And yes, his attack on Syria was a great trick to get the Iraqis in. Sombra promptly incorporated it into his Axis repertoire against me. As to the game. It’s early 1941, and I’ve taken Gibralter, Norway & Sweden, and Egypt. He totally evacuated the Med, which I think you have to do in situations like this, because Sea Lion is a possibility and would of course knock the Brits out entirely. Blashy still holds Malta, where my two Spanish cruisers and one German cruiser and the entire Italian surface navy are accumulating experience taking target practice. He also retook Brest, which I held originally but didn’t garrison, as I didn’t want to let him accumulate any more experience than possible. The French partisans knocked it down regularly, then he’d hit it a bit, and finally just moved in. He also used chits to induce Tito, they just joined at the end of my last turn. I’m sure he wants me to tie down units there, which it will do I’m sure. I wonder if that would have been better done later, when I didn’t have units in the vicinity gearing up for Barbarossa?

I agree with Sombra on the Russians (trying) to buy units, and his IT/PT and intelligence. IMO, intelligence does the least for the Germans initially and especially with the new caps, but is worthwhile for the Russians and US, to piggyback on what the Germans are doing. I think in my next Allied game I will have the Russians buy one intelligence chit first: then an IT chit; then a PT chit: then get up to three infantry and tank chits; then start buying units. I think I’ll also sell the rocket chit ASAP, the first turn. I have yet to get in a game where rockets had a decisive effect. Then mix in two tanks with cheap corps. Yes, it’s always tough in early Barbarossa, but it is for the Germans, too. Like Sombra said, although from the Allied side you think they’re an unstoppable force, the Axis is stretched too. And yes, the Russians will take losses by counterattacking, but so will the Germans. It’s a slugfest game now. The alternative to not wanting to exchange blows is to slowly but surely get grind down by the Germans. And out west the Allies need to make as much trouble as possible without getting reckless. Hit that port, and hit the German and French mines. We all knew it, but long range air is important for the Allies, and to chase off an Axis HQ that might be lingering near Bordeux to help out the Brest corp. Without HQ support Brest takes more damage sooner. If I’d seen that HQ of Sombra’s near Bordeux sooner I wouldn’t have taken as many ship hits as I did. The Brit also need to get the RAF up to four fighters. And they’re carriers, although much less valuable than in SC 1, are good anti-ship units, and also okay against land units in the open, not in cities. In general I would say Brit carriers are low in the list of upgrade priorities, but depending on how the game developed, could be useful, i.e., if the Italian navy made a dash for France. In that case maybe it would be worthwhile to upgrade the carriers. Remember, ship defense was lowered against carriers in the patches. And in Barbarossa Sombra did keep his offensive force compact. He never even went for the two upper cities of mine, he headed right for Stalingrad. And although I couldn’t fully see what he had, I imagine it was like a scrum in rugby, basically a wedge formation…which I understand is so effective it’s banned in rugby. But I was taking losses in Russia just trying to defend, so why not take losses on the attack instead, when you can take some of the enemy down with you? I have a feeling that if I’d taken out just a handful of corps/armies/and a tank or two, that his momentum might have stalled. And then when I landed in Brussels Sombra opped over two level 4 tanks that I could see. I could have evacuated my Brits, but in the meantime, and assuming I had chipped away at some of Sombra’s units, the Russians would have gotten some breathing room. Then the second phase of the war would have started and maybe the Russians have a chance. Sitting there they have no chance against a good Axis opponent.

Okay, I'm going to call this one, Sombra wins, Axis victory in late 1942. But I think this was probably the game I learned the most from, and one where I believe I learned much better how to play the Russians...and how not to play them. It was Sombra's methodical play in Russia that took me awhile to figure out, but once I did I could see how he was playing to the new strengths in SC 2, which is biased toward offensive action. And not one to hoard my observations, I like sharing them to foster discussion. I think my play out west was good. I got up to long range air two or three for the Brits, and hit that German port constantly, the one near the Danish Peninsula, to cutoff the Norwegian/Swedish convoys. Blashy told me that is a critical port, and it is. I think I had those convoys turned off for 1 1/2 years. I also sank most of the Kreigsmarine. Sombra never brought the Italians into play, never attacked Gibralter, but did take Malta. The Americans I had mainly research and buy air, and I'm thinking there's probably a better mix there. I was too much industrial and production tech and air, not enough tanks and infantry techs. But the interesting part of the game was in Russia, watching Sombra steadily move forward, even against my infantry weapons 2 and anti-tank 3. There was one key in my opinion. This is what he would do. 1) Move forward and envelope a city with an entrenched unit, hit it or not depending. This cuts it to 5 supply. Next turn hit with four air, usually German first in case I had intercepts on, and join in with the Rumanian and Italian unit. This is to reduce the entrenchment. Then hit it with ground units. Like the directions on a shampoo bottle...lather, rinse, repeat, he did this time after time during his early Barbarossa. 2) Here's the key. Once he got deeper into Russia, and especially after the Siberians arrived, he would never, ever put units right up against the next target city. Never. He would always set-up at least one hex away. Then he would hit the city with his four or more air combination, then attack with ground units. The reason Sombra did this is simple...since the game is biased toward offense he didn't want to give me first crack at hitting his ground units first. Since figuring this out there are other games where my Axis opponents are placing units against my (Siberian) Russians, and I'm delivering punishing attacks before he can kickoff his attack. Placing units against similarly tech'ed units is an old habit from SC 1, and Sombra has already figured out not to do this. This IMO was the key to his Russian campaign. So, by methodically following this pattern, and knowing I was hesitant to break my entrenchments, he slowly ground down me like hamburger. Now, I welcome discussion, but here's what I think the Russians need to do: 1) Research infantry weapons and anti-tank, of course. 2) Research some production tech, as your going to have a lot of units to replace. 3) Switch from research to buying units in late 1940 or so. 4) Defend early Barbarossa with entrenched corps, and if you run out of them, armies. They're cheaper. 5) Keep falling back, generally toward the environs of Volga, where the Siberians will arrive. If its a normal Barbarossa, DO NOT attack before the Siberians arrive. 6) Save your tanks. I was entrenching my middle and rear cities like Moscow with entrenched tanks, but I would save them now. 7) Once the Siberians arrive, set up a mobile reserve. In general, elite reinforce them. 8) Maintain a defensive posture, and use that mobile reserve to hit when you think in your favor. If the Russians just sit there they will be ground down. IMO what they need to do is hit back when possible when it is hoped the mpp exchange favors them. The game is a lot of attack/counter attack now, but that's okay, you just need to realize attacking inflicts more damage on average than defending. IMO, SC 2 is like chess now, with your cheap corps the pawns, and your tanks the rooks and queens, with other units your bishops and knights. So, lead with the corps and be willing to loose them to gain position, then follow-up with other units. In the long run it should be a war of attrition, with game balance tilting to one side or another. But if you just sit there defensively, you will lose. Bob

Interesting diplomatic action lately. I’ve been buying a Spanish chit every other turn or so, with absolutely no intention of buying 5 for Germany and 5 for Italy. What I wanted to do was get a hit, to make Blashy rush to fund his max of 5 chits at 75 mpps each. The ideal would have been a hit from my first chit, 50 mpp cost to me, and have him expend 375 for 5 chits. That’s a pretty good cost/benefit ratio. (remember, I’m an accountant.) So, I was up to 3 chits and got a hit, Spain bumped to 51. That left me with two chits, and I’m thinking, okay, mission accomplished, 150 to 375 ratio still isn’t bad. Then I noticed Sweden fell to 9%, so my convoys turned off, so he got a hit there. Then, the next turn, with only two chits working, I got a 32% bump in Spanish readiness, to 83%! Now, Blashy has said there is an X% chance of a getting a “bonus” bump after the first successful hit, which is exactly what happened here. Perhaps he can expound on that a little. So, the next turn I switch gears and have Germany buy three more chits as that’s all I could afford, and Italy 5, as I had been saving my Italian mpps for an HQ and they were flush with cash. At the same time I notice Sweden at 1%, or something like that, so Blashy got another hit there. The next turn, boom, I get an 11% bump from my Italian chits, which puts Franco at 94%. I believe that’s enough to push Spain into mobilizing for war, then joining, and there’s nothing Blashy can do about it, especially when I’ve got 8 chits working. And all this happened even before France fell, which will happen next turn. It’s April, 1940. So, needless to say, interesting diplomatic action. I’m going to have to read the scripts now to make sure I’m not missing anything, but needless to say, this totally reshuffles Axis possibilities. It goes without saying that I’ll hit Gibralter, and we’ll see where it goes from there. Bob

RN decides to expand its bombardment to southern France and dispatches a fully supplied cruiser to Bordeux, where it bumps into a German cruiser in port. We suffer one hit in the surprise naval engagment, but inflict two hits, probably because my cruiser has been gaining experience against Brest. Also discover an Italian corp garrisoning the city, and the reason the Brest corp has been so stubborn...a German HQ is in the vicinity. Sombra and I are knocking off two, sometimes even three or four turns a day, so Barbarossa should be kicking off by this weekend. Bob

Bump.

Well, not between London and Manchester, between London and Manchester...and Brest. Those French beaches look inviting. More of the same as 1941 approaches. RN and RAF gaining steady experience. American Lend Lease began several turns ago and is appreciated by the Brits.

Yes, the brave Malta corp was killed. Malta kept imploring London to send reinforcements, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. First it was knocked down to 7, then 5, then 2, then gone, never once having seen a replacement. After all, Operation Tea & Crumpet requires a lot of tea and crumpets for all those other corps crowding the Home Islands. The Home Islands are so full with corps and armies and that African tank and air units, that its earning its name, "The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier." At the same time Malta was getting plastered relentlessly by Goring's flyboys, Brest was getting visited by the RN and RAF in non-stop fashion. Brest has been reduced to 0 for at least two turns. The RN only allows 7 or higher supplied ships to take target practice, eight and nine or ten of course being better, as the Admirality finally noticed good supply results in a much lesser chance of taking damage. The same for weather damage, so the RN is making a better effort at keeping its ships adequetly supplied. Stalin's scientists keep tinkering and soldiers digging. Stalins flyboys noticed a HQ and tank near their borders, furthering emboldening their Englsh Allies, who have carefully counted how many hexes it is between Manchester and London.

I think most serious head-to-head players opt for as few restrictions as possible with only absolutely necessary house rules. But I think railheads would be an option to consider, and I would not be averse to it as long as the players switched sides or did mirror games.

Yes, the Tea & Crumpets strategy is fully implemented. All English soldiers except those hapless Malta and Gibralter contingents are comfortably quartered in the Home Islands. No Luftwaffe over London, but plenty over Malta, which means my two armies and tank and all those corps that have been busily entrenching the past several turns can rest easy now, as the threat of Sombra’s Operation Earl Gray has likely passed. Meanwhile Stalin is keeping his scientists busy by offering them extra microscopes and bunson burners and test tubes for every advance made, which to white coated scientists are attractive inducements indeed to discover things faster. Scientists love those type of toys! Meanwhile, Stalin’s recruiters are busy scouring the countryside enlisting troops to come to the aid of the Fatherland. Once formed, each unit is strongly advised to dig deep and learn how to handle those new infantry weapons and anti-tank guns, especially in those frontline cities. Being inattentive of course runs the risk of a one way visit to the skiing paradise known as Siberia. Bob