Lou Wigman

We have played about 12 games head to head, mostly 1.05 but the last one 1.06. My level of frustration has reached boiling point and I have to stop playing this game before I damage my computer. For some reason research in TCP/IP is much slower than in single player. Indeed as the Axis player I can go an entire game and get only 1 or 2 advances. The Allies are usually not much better off. Our 1.06 game was the straw that broke the camels back. As the Axis player by mid 1942 I had gained just 1 advance. Nothing unusual here since that seems to be the lot of the Axis in TCP/IP. What really got up my craw was that the Allies had 8 advances in the same time. So tell me. If there is a 5% chance of getting a an advance and you have 5 level 1 research chits then simple mathematics says that you can expect an advance every 4 turns or so. Clearly this is not the case. I am fuming, thats how frustrated I feel. Research is just simply broken and destroys any game balance that might exist. I would suggest that the longer an item is researched, the greater should be the chance of getting it. So if after, say, 5 turns, no advance has been gained then the probability should rise from 5% to 10% (or whatever) so that EVENTUALLY you will actually get an advance. Something which I seem destined never to achieve. Until something is done about this I cannot see me playing this game any more.

I can usually defend France well and it rarely falls too far short of Christmas 1940. Often later. There is however a serious downside to fighting too hard for France. The German units receive a HEAP of experience. The longer the Germans fight in France the more medals they get! A prolonged fight in France makes the German army and especially the airfoce unstoppable in Russia.

SC is supposed to be a WWII strategy game. As such it must work if all the players choose to do the 'historical' thing. There have been plenty of posts which atest to the fact that this is in fact not the case. Leaving aside the numerous 'gamey' strategies that are being bandied about, the Germans will grind down the Russians and lead to an almost inevitable Axis victory. There have been many posts with suggestions as to how this might be redressed. I would like to offer a different one. At present there is absolutely no pressure on the Germans in the early part of the game. They can take their time knocking out France and proceed at a leisurely pace to invade Britain. Why? THERE IS NO DANGER OF THE RUSSIANS JOINING THE ALLIES. I therefore propose that two alterations be made to the game. Firstly, include a 'Historical' option for Russian entry into the war. Secondly, greatly speed up Russian war preparation on the 'Random' setting. This now really puts the acid on the Germans. They must take France very quickly indeed if they are to have any hope of invading Britain. Furthermore this also gives the British player a huge incentive to defend France. Hopefully this will lead to an earlier and less well prepared German attack on Russia. Comments?

SC is supposed to be about WWII. What you are proposing is pure fantasy land and bears no relation to what actually did or could have happened. I prefer a game which explores some plausible what-ifs. To each his own I guess. As for casting aspersions on me - well have it your way. Shooting the messenger is always the easiest option.

Hmmm, I can just imagine French reaction when asked to disband their navy and move their entire army to Britain leaving Hitler to walk in the front door. Yep, sure makes a lot of sense.

When Hitler invaded Poland there were just 5 Dads army divisions facing 100 Britsh and French ones. These could have invaded Germany and brought the war to an end right there and then. They either couldn't or wouldn't. To have the Fench launch a blizkrieg on Italy is utterly absurd. This is not even remotely a historical option. Its pure fantasia. Might as well go and play 'Risk'. Bah.

I don't agree which much of what EB says but he is right to the extent that the role of the USSR is hugely understated in SC. Most of the fighting and most of the dying (by both sides) occurred on the Eastern front. Yet in its current form the Germans have a very easy time indeed in Russia suffering very few casualties. It is Russia that needs to be beefed up. There seems to be no easy way to do this however. At present the Eastern front is already just a battle of attrition. What is really needed here is a weak Soviet player at the start to allow the Germans to gain some territory but which becomes increasingly strong as the game progresses. Since the MMPS allotted can't be changed during the game this represents an almost insurmountable problem. The Siberian reinforcements are a partial solution but not really a satisfactory one. My apologies for a somewhat negative post.

Norse You didn't read my post properly. It is not the USSR that is fighting a WWI style game, it is the GERMANS. Each turn they concentrate their airforce against a limited number of corps and do more damage than can ever be replaced by the Russian player. As for not building 25 airfleets why wouldn't you if the game allows. This shows up flaws in the game that should be addressed. I guess you can have a gentleman's agreement not do certain things (such as the Axis invading Britain which will always be successful). But where do you draw the line? Do you prohibit anything which didn't actually happen? Sorry, but the game needs some serious attention to prevent absurd strategies from being employed. In the case of massive Axis airpower I offer two distinct suggestion * Introduce an 'oil' resource and make each side pay maintenance for their units. * Make each side pay maintenance for units based on the available MMPS. An air unit would be made expensive to maintain. The first option is the better.

I'm talking human v human here. Against the AI I play expert +1. I have little difficulty winning as either the Axis or the Allies.

The Germans don't start out with 25 air fleets. However with max industrial research and 400+ MMPs per turn they are able to replace all their losses AND put on a new airfleet EVERY turn. The Allies can't scratch them and its all down hill. AS the USSSR I NEVER attack the Axis. However after reinforcing the frontline there are generally only enough MMPs for about 4 new corps. With its massive airfleets the Axis generally destroys a minimum of 5 as well as damaging many more. Its simple arithmetic. The USSR gets ground to a pulp. Their only hope is an invasion of France. But by keeping a large airforce in France and lining the coast with corps that avenue is stopped dead in its tracks. Perhaps my friends and I are in a rut, but this Axis strategy seems unstoppable. Furthermore there is nothing as soul destroying as losing more troops each turn than can be replaced and knowing that there is no conceivable circumstance that will turn this around. It destroys the game.

Sorry - double post [ October 21, 2002, 09:18 PM: Message edited by: Lou Wigman ]

This strategy won't work. The human v human side of the game is seriously broken. In every game so far the Axis has about 25 airfleets by late 1942. Most of these are bedecked with medals. The ground units too are complete veterans. The entire French coastline is lined with corps backed up by 10 airfleets. The rest is grinding the USSR into pulp in a WWI style battle of attrition. The USSR will lose more corps than it is able to replace and gradually becomes weaker. The Western Allies are utterly powerless to do anything about it. I have just about thrown in the towel with SC. Some serious adjustments need to be made to play balance.

I think the idea of reducing the range of airfleets is an excellent one. At present I have airfleet 'armies' - An HQ completely surrounded by airfleets. These are absolutely devastating. Unfortunately this still doesn't solve the 'interception' problem.

Of late I have been playing the Allies at Expert+1. A number of issues have become apparent. Air Interception This basically does not work. As the interceptor I typically lose 3 times as many aircraft as the AI. This means that my airforce is useless in a defensive role. The fact that I might have a large numerical superiority counts for nought. After France falls I have to put my airforce in Scotland to prevent it being demolished. The AI simply keeps attacking London. The Brits are effectively -10 MMPs for the whole game. This just isn't right! Relative Allied Strength I can nearly always stop the Axis near the Russian border. I sometimes lose Riga or Odessa, ocassionally both, but that is about it. The Brits, as I have already explained are effectively 10 MMPs down for the whole game. The Yanks get 180MMPs. This combined strength makes an effective D-Day landing just about impossible to sustain. If the Axis AI concentrates on Jet Fighter Research, the Western Allies are pushing runny poo uphill. It can't be made to work. This is of course tied to point I made above. Effective air defense is just not possible. Dare I suggest that the Soviet Union receive fewer MMPs and the Western Allies more?

I play at expert +1 (version 1.03) and have never had any troubke stopping the Axis. Retreat back to the line Riga-Minsk-Odessa and build a solid front with corps units. Be careful not allow the Axis a 3-way hit on any of your units. Use river/swamp to max advantage. The bad guys will batter your line furiously but inevitably lose more than you. Concentrate your airforce against the Finns and use your fleet to knock them out quickly. Your research should be on Industry to be able to replace the cannon fodder. Pull your armour units out of the line and into reserve as soon as possible. You can't afford to lose these. Your air force is also too costly to replace. Use it sparingly and only when it really counts. Use your infantry armies as 'anchors' for the weaker corps units. After the Germans have knocked themselves senseless build a few infantry and tank armies and start picking off exposed German units. In none of the games I have played to date have the Axis captured a single Russian city or resource. War is all over by end 1943. What you do in France is also critical. It is absolutely essential that France be held for as long as possible. Typically I can hang on there until Nov/Dec 1940. This doesn't give the Axis any breathing space to build up a really powerful offensive. [ August 31, 2002, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: Lou Wigman ]