Sol Invictus

I don't think you can get England to surrender without an invasion and conquest of the mother country but I'm not completely sure. The economic strangulation strategy you speak of was what I was going to try first as the Axis but I'm not sure if it will work in this game. After the fall of France I was going to go full bore in the Med and capture Malta and then Suez. In 3R this would have really hurt England but it doesnt seem like it will be quite that bad in SC. It also seems that Malta has been beefed up and is harder to take then it was in earlier versions of the demo. In 3R there was a very compelling reason to want to capture Malta if the Axis wanted to pursue a major N. Africa campaign; namely; the limit on German forces that could be sent there until Malta was taken. I think it would be a good addition for a patch to SC if some sort of force constaint were imposed on the Germans in N. Africa until they capture Malta. I really want a compelling reason to go after that small piece of realestate. As it is now, it is still nice to get but the price is prohibitive. The thin front along the entire Med coast in N. Africa also make the N. African gambit a difficult prospect. Sure cant wait to try it in a few days though.

I would think we will have to DL them because the master cds were being produced before the fixes came out.

At ease Sarge!

I assume you are referring to me Titan, if so I would be happy to cross swords with you. I was going to wait till the game was playable TCP/IP but I may be convinced to do a PBEM. I have never done that but would give it a shot I think. I will have ample time to play so I plan on playing many games with just about anyone on these boards who so wishes. I should never run out of victims.

Damn you Aloid, I almost had a seizure. Well, any day now.

I think I have played the demo more than the last 3 full games I have bought. Excellent work! Thank you!

There is a Diety, this is fantastic news. Congratulations Hubert on the what is sure to be the begginning of a very successful line of wargames.

I realize using the word gamey when refering to a game is sorta strange but what I mean is that I try not to accomplish objectives that I know had no historical plausability. I realize that the fun of games like this is to try different strategies than the ones that were actually attempted, but for me at least, it is not fun to attempt to use strategies that had no historical chance of being attempted. I think we all can agree that there is no way Italy would have attacked Turkey to get at Russia. It just would never have happened. Germany attacking Sweden, Italy attacking Malta, Germany and Italy going all out for Suez, Germany invading Spain, these were all possible. The other major gamey strategy I have heard mentioned is Germany grabbing the Baltic States; wouldnt have happened, or at least if it had then the Russians would have reacted to it in a way that the game can't, at least I think. Sure you can do these things in the game and they can be very effective strategies, but I feel that they are taking advantage of the limitations of the game. Now against a human opponent, the sky is the limit because they would be free to counter these very ahistorical strategies and would certainly do so. This is just for me against the AI. It's just more fun for me to play with some restraint on what I attempt. I am impressed with some of the clever strategies people come up with but if I cant reconcile them with what I feel had even a remote historical chance of occuring, then I wouldnt use them. But thats just the way I am.

Well this sounds good.

Yes, let's not tempt fate with only a week to go.

I hope that in the full game that these types of gamey strategies have some unpleasant diplomatic effects. Of course they probably wont work against another human.

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 10 years ago and am unable to work. I take up my days with reading and gaming. Life could be much worse.

Did someone say beer? Add some naval forces for Greece and Romania while your at it.

I'm hoping that I can delay Barbarossa until summer '42 and use the time after the fall of France to run rampant in the Med. One way or the other, war with Russia is coming; it's just a question of how long it is prudent to delay it and whether the prizes gained are worth the delay. I guess I'll find out in a week.

Damn Will, your old. But certainly wise.

I agree, getting a general feeling for the effects of an overly aggressive Germany is a very important factor that needs to be arrived at. As you say, Germany has a great many options that she can choose from in the first few years. Some options will be better than others. It seems that there will be a fine line that Germany must follow.

Does anyone know the approximate conditions for getting Turkey to join the Axis? With Spain it seems that if youve kicked Britain really badly then they will come in, I have not seen any mention about Turkey.

Is the problem only with people who updated the Gold Demo or does doing a completely new install of the new demo cause problems as well?

Well if Husky is correct and Germany must at least start an invasion of England to have a chance of Spain joining the cause, then I might just go after Russia as early as possible because I really dont want to invade England.

Husky, have you ever seen Spain join the Axis without a German invasion of England? If that isnt a possibility, then I might have to reevaluate my strategy. Getting Spain to join the Axis without an ivasion of England is my goal.

Sweet!

Sweet!

Oh how I pine for a good game of 'Russian Campaign. That was a classic. I almost forgot about 'France '40'. My very first boardgame was 'Caesar Alesia' quickly followed by 'Third Reich'. Then there was 'Fortress Europa' and 'War and Peace', those were the days.

That is sorta what I will try in my first game. I wont attack Russia until '42 and use the intervening 2 years, after the fall of France, to emasculate the British in the Med. The only worries I have are whether I can get the Spanish to join the Axis and will Russia cooperate with my schedule. It all really depends on how hard it will be to get the Spanish on board. If that happens then England is in a world of hurt. Even if Spain never joins the Axis, the British will have lost Malta and Suez; Yugoslavia and Greece will be taken and with a little luck Turkey might join the Axis. This would certainly put me in a very good postion vis-a-vis the British and Americans and allow me a couple of years to conquer Russia before I have to worry about the West. Lots to think about.

Ahh, capturing Gibraltar and getting the Italian navy into the Atlantic; it is a dream I have.