Terif

Blashy, you could perhaps the Suez canal itself block in reality, but not the Red Sea south of it - it is an ocean with many, many miles of water, even if it looks pretty small in SC2 . SC2 at all is no historical simulation and when Allies invade somewhere with 28 vessels (and with such a force they can take any landing site of their choosing in SC2) , then for WW2 standards this would be unhistoric everywhere, not only at Suez. BTW: To change it so Axis could block Suez only with exactly 3 vessels +1 AF, would need a major change in the script system first as far as I can see (if Alexandria would be removed as second landing site, then 1-2 units would be more than enough to block Allies). And before Hubert should do that, I would prefer if simply the map would be extended some hexes to the south so Allies have some space to place their units . But as long as the map stays the same, to place the units near Alexandria as a second location is the best abstraction to simulate the possibility of an allied attack to liberate Egypt from the south. In short: As it is, it is IMHO both more realistic as well as much better for gameplay. Only if the map gets expanded I would change it . Edit: And as Hellraiser said: If you close the entrance via Suez, then Axis have no open flank there and are secure. Takes away a very interesting option which is totally unnecessary since it doesn´t improve historical accurracy...in contrary . [ October 27, 2006, 05:42 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Warnings - yep, but this is the same as with any other invasion since the system got changed so amphibs can move and land immeditately. You nowhere have a forwarning despite in reality those invasions would have most probably also been spotted. In this aspect the SC1 system was certainly the better one where transports had to wait one turn with invasion at the coast . However - if you get no warning anywhere else, why should you for all things get it at Suez ? At the entrance that already can be defended the most easily so if you know it in advance, Allies would only go this way if they had already won the game since otherwise they couldnt risk their forces there - don´t forget: This is a way without return since if invasion fails, every unit is stuck and lost there, so Axis have a huge incentive to move enough forces there to block and kill any invasion, which if they would get a message about incoming invasion would be more than possible. Anywhere else you can cancel invasion if you see the enemy is too strong. Not possible at Suez with only 2 return arrows that here can in deed be turned into a death trap. So theoretically/more historic may be a forwarning, but for gameplay it would again be very bad and render the Suez option useless for Allies

...before the Suez loop gets short sighted changed and crippled : If the map would be larger and extended to the south, I would agree that units should only appear south of Suez, then they could build up there and like normal and in history possible open the second front from there. But as long as this is not the case, it is both much better for gameplay as well as more realistic that Allies can enter the med via Suez. If it is changed and 2-4 units can block the entrance, THEN I would call it unrealistic (and gamey ). This would only lead to Axis simply putting always those few units there and invasion is impossible. In reality Allies would have marched via land from southern Egypt supported by their fleet from the red sea. And nobody can tell me that like in the game - that here obviously is the trigger for this discussion - a superior force of 10 battleships/cruiser groups and 4 carrier groups could not immeditately free the way and sink only 2-4 enemy combat ship groups without problems. At Suez it may take some weeks to clear the canal from wracks/mines etc. but game turns in SC2 are weeks/months. For SC2 the second destination point at Alexandria is simply necessary and within the current system also more realistic than reducing it to Cairo - otherwise Middle east is no option any more for Allies and a very interesting option would be taken away. P.S.: with only a handful units Allies can´t invade even if Suez is only defended by 2 land units (Capital entrenchment 6), they need already a pretty strong task force unless Axis didn´t leave it empty.

I can only agree with Hellraisers last comment: Mpps are not important for Axis in SC2, they only need enough to keep their troops in fighting shape. The important thing is concentration of firepower and keeping the initiative, i.e. acting instead of reacting . Like in SC1, Axis will never be able to hold everything and when they try, they will fail and loose the war - this is even more true in SC2 where Allies will always outproduce the Axis throughout the war, so it is deadly to only try keeping what they conquered. Axis have to be willing to sacrifice some of their land if they want to be victorious in the important battles and finally win the war. @Jollyguy: Allies have in SC2 many different possibilities to launch an invasion, Egypt is only one of them. This is neither unbalancing nor something special - so far SC2 is balanced in V1.04. It is only one of many possible strategies with advantages and disadvantages . ATM I already know and tried 4 main strategies for Russia and 8 for Western Allies - they additionally have countless sub-strategies and possibilities for combinations . The art of war is to choose the right one for each situation and opponent and to change them each game so the enemy can not prepare since to every strategy there exists a counter. Like e.g. with the russian invasion in Iraq+Iran: the first time Hellraiser got surprised and easily overrun. Now the second time he held the countries without too much problems. But since Allies changed their tactic with western Allies and invaded now in Egypt instead of in France, this new strategic combination resulted again in success - with the same strategy as the game before, Allies would have been in trouble this time .

In reality the world doesn´t end a few hexes south of Cairo and if necessary Allies simply would have marched via land from southern Egypt to liberate the country and not used much amphibs at all in enemy territory there . In SC2 this is no option and you have to use amphibs instead (take it as an abstract representation) - so that they can´t be blocked is only realistic. The other way around would be cheesey .

Hmm, I guess you picked the wrong thread . Using the loop to open another front in the med is not the subject here. The problem is that with the bug that the game doesn´t count units in the loop for the unit limit. I.e. USA is e.g. not limited to 6 armies any more, but can buy unlimited numbers by just sending its units via the loop (at least nearly ..30+).

For clarification : The naval loop can´t be blocked - if the hexes around Cairo are occupied by enemy transports/ships or too many allied units arrive at once, then they will get redirected directly into the med to Alexandria. This way the Suez route is always open and it is a possible strategy for Allies to enter the Med via Egypt again .

Hopefully still in time for 1.05 if not fixed already... : When playing with hard unit limits, units that will be sent via the Suez loop to Egypt or vice versa, are treated as if they would not exist while beeing in the loop. I.e. USA (or UK) can exceed the build limit by replacing them. So when they appear this means they have the additional units - works similar as e.g. the siberian unit script, then the units overbuilt will be shown by a minus sign. For the scripts this is ok since it is not clear if and when they are activated - but for Suez loop this better should be changed so they are still acounted for. [ October 24, 2006, 02:22 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

AAR Hellraiser (Axis) vs Terif (Allies): In deed this was an epic and one of the most interesting games so far with lots of action all around the map and bloody battles devastating whole swathes of land . Poland and the western campaign was standard with France surrendering in May 1940. One french cruiser pledged its loyalty to the british prime minister and continued the fight out of 7 candidates, the other 6 units refused to join the cause and got into isolation till the end of war. Norway sent a letter with the petition for help against the evil axis empire that just tormented the helpless people of their neighbour Denmark – so UK immediately sent a protection force in November 1939. Sweden was still delivering their ore to Germany, but in July 1940 they got betrayed and their capital burned down. UK forces evacuated as many norwegians into safety before they were forced to leave the country to its fate. Spain was at first not impressed by axis promises, so Axis demonstrated its power by conquering their neighbours Vichy Algeria and Tunisia with italian troops - just before UK forces would have arrived to secure the countries - and they took a record diplo hit of 40% from 40 to 80% readiness. In the next August turn the Axis threats succeeded in the second diplo hit and Spain forced to join unwillingly at September 1940 the Axis cause. After the experiences with the Axis empire in the past, Allies abandoned Egypt which got occupied by Axis in November 1940. But not without swearing them to one day come back and free the people of Egypt from their oppressors. Gibraltar remained an oasis of freedom for nearly a year after Spain joined the wrong side...in June 1941 the peace got suddenly disrupted by german dive bombers descending on the fortress. Within a month it got bombed into ruins and conquered. Royal Navy ships assisted the defenders in their efforts but couldnt prevent the fall. Allied high command knew (from a medium that had contact to previous lives where Axis and Allies battled against each other ) that when Gibraltar falls, the axis fleet would be waiting to break free from the Med to jump at any english ship in range as soon as the entrance belongs to Axis. So they prepared a little trap and left several battleships near Gibraltar bombarding the former besiegers as a bait while removing the blocking cruiser from the entrance. Outside the spotting range - including the baits - a total of 15 combat ships and carriers – the entire british fleet except for one guard ship in England - were waiting for their prey. With them a complete invasion task force consisting of amphibs and transports with HQ, tank, army and corps units to take Cassablanca simultaneously if possible. The battle started in August 1941 when 8 Axis ships, including the reinforced german Tirpitz battleship crossed the rock and with the help of 4 Axis airfleets sunk 3 UK battleships. Since in Africa italian fighters had their home base and Cassablanca was heavily guarded, invasion got cancelled – but the remaining 12 ships of the Royal Navy surrounded the enemy fleet and took revenge for their dead comrades: sinking Tirpitz and an italian cruiser in the first large battles of this war while the rest of the combined axis fleet got heavily damaged...causing an immediate retreat into the Med after 3 of the blocking UK ships got sunk to free the way back. USA joined in July 1941, so there were 4 more ships on the way to the battlefield...only 1 turn away. Axis may have sunk more ships than Allies (6 vs 2), but since Axis repaired their ships before and after the battle (something Allies didn´t need to with their naval superiority after the Pacific fleet arrival) - not to mention all the lost strength points for the airfleets – this battle meant a huge mpp drain for Axis, severely reducing their capability to wage the land war just starting against Russia...additionally to most of their air beeing busy in Spain bombing ships instead of supporting the offensive against Russia . Barbarossa started August 31, 1941 at the last possibility as Russia was already preparing for war. Allies preemptively DoWed Portugal as well as Iraq and Iran when Syria got conquered two turns before Barbarossa by Axis. Since a lot of Axis forces were still in Spain and Morocco, they had to postpone minor grabbing and first to reinforce and operate them to the battlefields. So Switzerland got assaulted and conquered not until some turns after Barbarossa started and preparations for Vichy France needed even till May 1942 since the units used to take Switzerland were urgently needed elsewhere (=Iraq ). Ireland got a preemptive DoW by Axis. In a three-way war conference in Iceland - USA, England and Russia coordinated their strategy to end the war and free all nations from Axis oppression. Russia got the task to bind as many Axis forces as possible in Iraq while Western Allies would prepare the deadly blow. With this mission, Russia was only able to put up a light defence of its strategical position at Leningrad and the ressources near Kharkov, but prepared fortifications in key positions to delay the unevitable fall as long as possible. The Iraq mission was a full success – nevertheless a pretty bloody one for Russia...but they were used to massive losses, so nobody cared too much (especially not Western Allies ) when army after army and corps after corps got eliminated by axis airstrikes of the 3 german and 1 italian airfleet around Baghdad together with usually one unit of zealots that were sent into the turnly kamikaze mission to finish a damaged russian unit off – before they were finally killed themselves in response. With the majority of the Axis core units in Iraq, central Russia was the first 10 months after Barbarossa pretty quiet and unthreatened despite the only light defence walls in north and south, just the 4 border cities got taken over by Axis. Western Allied air units were kept busy by bombarding Axis resources while transports and the fleet were looking for empty cities from the polar circle in the north of Norway till Cassablanca in the dessert of Africa... In June 1942 the kind of trench warfare ended abruptly when 7 german tanks surprisingly overrun in the break of dawn out of nowhere the trenches at Kharkov while the defenders where still sleeping in their beds....several corps and an army died when the fortifications got destroyed in heavy combat, but not without taking some attackers with them....as retaliation Russia destroyed an italian army in Teheran and forced Iran to surrender. Western Allies now finally had finished their preparations to fullfill their part of the defence pact with Russia and so the largest fleet in the history of mankind set sail around the Cape of Good Hope to hold their promise to the people of Egypt.... But in the first week of August, axis spys in Cape Town South Africa must have spotted the incoming armada and have warned axis command....exactly the turn before the fleet arrived in the mid east, Axis operated all forces away from Iraq that it defended the last 12 months – leaving it to Russia - and prepared a defence of Egypt with 2 HQs, several armies, lots of corps and their airfleets. Fortunately Allies didn´t leave something to chance and didn´t do things by halves....therefore not the usual invasion force in a size Axis could have handled entered the area, but the whole might of the combined US and UK nations arrived in full force.... A few hours before the fleet arrived, US special forces of the 101st Airborne sneaked into Alexandria where an italian air squadrian was based at, killed all the pilots in their beds and opened the city gates to await together with the citizens the arrival of the allied armada in port....an amazed whispering went through the crowd when tens of thousands of ship masts appeared in the morning of August 16, 1942 on the horizon...during the following 4 turns a total of 28 allied battleship and cruiser task forces, carrier groups, amphibs and transports with millions of US and UK soldiers arrived in Egypt. Axis forces got horrified when they realized the whole scale of the allied invasion...as they awakened from their paralysation, half a dozen army and corps groups already had surrendered to the overwhelming allied forces. When Cairo got surrounded with the italian and german commanding officers in it – Manstein and his italian collegue saw no other choice than to mask themselves with woman clothes and to sneak past the allied guards during night time to reach a plane hidden in the desert ready to fly them out home...so the 2 axis HQs escaped as nearly the only units of the once proud Africa Corps. In the following months Allies freed in quick order the whole eastern Mediterranean, marching westward day and night without a break. Rommel and his desert rats of the german Africa Corps were hiding in Tunisia and the march through the desert was a long one, so Allies prepared around New York a second amphib invasion force consisting of half a dozen combat units and HQ Clark that planed landings in Vichy Algeria to attack the Africa Corps from two sides so the remnants of it would finally surrender in Tunis... . While the Clark task force was on its way accross the Atlantic, Allies followed the invitation of the Greek government to open the first front in Europe via their territory. So HQ Patton with several US and UK armies got dispatched to bring the war to the homes of the enemy minor nations in the balkan. Albania welcomed the allied liberators when the british expecitionary forces entered their capital. As a response Axis occupied Yugoslavia to use its mountains as a protection zone and to reconquer Albania. In Taranto port the italian sub fleet gets trapped by cruisers and finally sunk by the 4 allied carriers...half a dozen battleships meanwhile bombard 2 axis airfleets based near Rome until they move away in safety. A first landing by UK forces in Sicily cut the isle of from mainland Italy. The first part of Operation Husky got started... On Corsica a minor axis airfleet gets spotted by US bombers together with an italian battleship in port. This opportunity can not be let go, and so Operation Husky gets postponed for a while: 2 armies and a corps land on Corsica instead, destroying the surprised airfleet and battleship group there. Another cruiser spotted north of the isle gets sunk by US battleships. This is the opening of the last and largest naval battle of World War II, taking place in spring/summer 1943: Axis secretly sneaked its entire baltic fleet into the med except for Bismark and united italian, german and spanish fleet around Gibraltar and Marseilles. But the hunt for Bismark gets opened simultaneously as 4 cruisers from the convoying ships for the Clark invasion force bump into it and its accompanying portugese corps transport. English home fleet immediately dispatches Hood together with other battleships to assist in the hunt: Bismark will never reach the Med !...and it gets finally sunk before the coast of Portugal. In the med the battle starts around Corsica between all 9 left axis ships supported by 4 airfleets from northern Italy and Vichy against 8 allied battleships and cruisers supported by 4 carriers, a bomber and 4 airfleets from Tunisia and Algier that got conquered in the meantime by task force Eisenhower and O´Connor. After a heavy air and naval battle the result is: all 9 Axis ships at the bottom of the Med – the allied fleet heavily damaged, but only 2 allied ships and a carrier sunk. Meanwhile in the east...: After conquering Iraq and liberating Syria, Russia operated its task force back to central Russia to fight the axis invaders. In front of Moskov the first decissive battle started. Axis built up an impressive straight row of 7 level 3 tanks (Russia lv2) south of it before it started its direct assault against fortress Moskov....behind the city in the forest, several russian armies and tanks were already awaiting the enemy....Moskov fully entrenched, now all sides at IW3 and AT3 (Italy also IW3, Motor 1)...corps entrenched in the mountains SW of the city. The first blood spilled is the german one as they find them a hard nut to crack during the first attack...in the counterstrike and the following open field battle south of Moskov, most of the german tanks and lots of armies and corps find their graves in the russian steppe despite germany supporting them with their high experienced air. After this major defeat, Axis is forced to retreat behind the river and also to give up Kharkov and both mines it conquered. Here it rebuilds as well as Russia that is also pretty blood dry and similarly entrenches behind the river on the opposite site near Kharkov. In spring 1943 Russia finally has rebuilt all lost corps and armies and also all 6 tanks are in the production queue or already finished...so russian forces leave their entrenchments and move towards the river at Pripjet swamps...and here begins the last tank battle of Kiev: Germany also rebuilt already all its tanks and many other units and as it gets clear weather, this is the signal for the final battle....Axis forces cross the river at Kiev, meeting the approaching russians on the open battlefield...in the bloodiest battle so far, both sides loose nearly their entire combat units....in the end a message received from the enemy commander before surrender spoke about Axis having left more HQs than units to support – on the russian side it looked quite similar . Only difference was that western Allies were still at full strength and further gearing up while Russia and Axis were lying on the ground...Cassablanca was still heavily guarded by a german HQ with several armies and corps, so the invasion in Vichy Algeria got cancelled and Clark landed with his men in Portugal, destroying the defender, forcing surrender and additionally occupying the empty Gibraltar. Simultaneously UK landed with Montgomery in Denmark and northern Germany, occupying Kiel, Hamburg and surrounding. At the end also Operation Husky got reactivated again and Bradley HQ landed with a strong invasion force in Sicily to approach Rome from the south. Axis surrendered unconditionally with Allies approaching Berlin and Rome in July 1943. A very good game and a hard and bloody fight ! Total war losses: Land units: UK 19 USA 0 Russia 47 Germany 44 Italy 8 Air units: Allies 0 Axis 2 Ships: USA + UK 10 Axis 16 [ October 24, 2006, 09:34 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Points 1-5: This depends on your personal preferences and how you see what is historical or not - when looking at the forum, there seem to be many different opinions if a certain action is now historical accurate / possible or not . SC2 is a game and here you have not endless, but lots of different possibilities to wage the war - and that´s what makes the fun in playing it. Depending on your opponent and the current situation you can choose between many different options . Point 6: Tanks with high Heavy Tank levels are in deed monsters - here a limit like at IW and AT could be useful as long as the system stays this way (my original proposal concerning tech to Hubert was to halve the tech effect, i.e. each level increases combat values only by 0.5 points instead of 1.0 and then remove the tech cap - would reduce the offensive bias in SC2 and not everyone would have maxed land techs more sooner than later). Nevertheless 10 to nothing can only happen if the enemy (=usually Russia) didn´t research Anti-Tank - but in every normal game all sides get till around 1942 AT level 2-3 and then the tank also looses 3-4 strengh points with each attack. Since a high level tank is worth 2-3 times the mpps of a corps, the tank is not really in the advantage then . Point 7: No, there is no problem so far. Even when airfleets have full experience, ground units are still more cost effective in an open battle. Airfleets are most useful for special operations where certain key spots need to be conquered (like Leningrad). Experience at all is no problem. For ground units it makes no real difference anyway with the high combat values. For air units experience is more important as long as they are on anti-ground missions. But when the enemy sends own airfleets for cover, they will loose their experience just like the ground units, especially since in any longer war both sides will research jets. So it is up to each player if he covers his ground units by own air - or if not, then he only has to use the right terrain so the enemy air gets no free shots at them .

Can´t comment on solo-play since I didn´t play the AI - not a single game so far . SC2 is still offensively oriented with the high attack values - that is also why mpps don´t matter that much here in contrary to SC1. It is very unlikely you get into a trench or attrition warfare, so the mpps of the opponent don´t determine the outcome of the game. The only important thing is that your side has enough mpps to keep their war machine going - especially true for Axis . Allies are usually far outproducing Axis throughout the game, but as long as Axis have intact combat forces and enough mpps to replace their losses, they are able to kill much more enemy units/mpps than they loose since they are the offensive power and can choose where and when to strike and with the advantage of the inner line can concentrate their forces whereever needed. As Allies on the other side it is important to choose the right defensive positions so they don´t loose too much more than Axis and can build up for a counterstrike. In the right terrain and with some fortifications to cover the weak spots, it is possible to establish strongholds where the enemy can´t attack directly and only with overwhelming forces if he doesn´t want to risk loosing his units to a counterattack. And that´s the art of SC2 war: to know where and when to defend and also to be willing to give up certain (undefendable) areas in order to free units for the fronts where an advance is planed. Allies have the numbers, but Axis the inner line - so both sides have to be played completely differently . In Africa both sides have the choice if they want to fight for it and they both can conquer it. Here it is quite balanced and it depends on the abilities of both sides who will finally get Africa . Allies have a good entry point in Cassablanca for Western Allies and Middle East for Russia while Axis can reinfoce its troops from Italy and Spain. Interesting battles for Africa happen more and more as players now slowly recognice that it is possible and worth to fight for Africa - only a few minutes ago a game ended where my Allies were in the process of conquering Africa via Cassablanca and Iraq . [ October 21, 2006, 09:24 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Changes for V1.05: Since according to the various announcements it already includes all important things mentioned in the tech forum (like morale boosts, liberating countries with other nations than the parent etc), I have no open wishes at the moment - in V1.04 it is balanced and both sides have many opportunities and possiblities for different strategies . The only small thing I have not found covered so far that comes in my mind is a comfort thing for TCP play: That enemy units don´t disappear immediatly during the same turn under the FoW when the unit that can spot them gets killed, as well as the air units that were just in action. They only appear for a split second and then are again under the FoW so ATM this forces the player a bit to stare at the monitor not to miss something - would be better if already spotted units would stay visible till the end of the turn and then when the turn ends disappear under the FoW and not before.

@Kuniworth: Just read the other AAR here - both sides are balance in V1.04. Axis have no initial advantage. It depends on the actions of both players which side will win . Slip ups or bad luck can be compensated by both sides if they take the right consequences and change their plans accordingly - only if someone surrenders too early he has lost, in the course of the following years there is always the chance to change the tide of the war again if you are willing to fight for it. There are many luck components in SC2, but as my last 100 games show (no loss ), the players decisions are much more important and can compensate any bad luck - SC2 is pretty robust as far as I can tell and strategy matters much more than any random influences . [ October 21, 2006, 02:49 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Airfleets only have a spotting range of 4 - so no way he could have spotted the troops there without kamikazing the AF by moving it too close to them - both AFs were placed in the Odessa area, nevertheless he only saw a small part of the gathered Axis forces. And the most important one: Russia had 4 tanks, 10 armies and a dozen corps there all with IW3, AT3, HT2, Motor 2. A dozen Axis units was still fighting in Africa and Spain, so Russia thought it could handle whatever would be standing at Kiev .

Finished today just another game with Hellraiser where I played Axis. This is a good example how Axis can win even when diplo, weather and tech is heavily in favour of Allies this time and gives them now a perfect head start. Even more meaningful concerning game balance since they were commanded by an experienced veteran player with some nasty surprises for Axis by him like during the french campaign . AAR is here

As a contrast to the game vs Liam as Allies, here now an opposite game as Axis against Hellraiser on the same day : As used to with my luck, everything here went perfect for Hellraisers Allies : - Warsaw got conquered in turn 3, but Poland refused several turns to surrender and continued to fight even with only 3 units left till December 1939. - In the west the french campaign started with the standard LC and Denmark turn 2. But when Allies got clear weather 2 turns later they employed a new aggressive approach and landed with a UK amphib in Brussel (delaying the Norway invasion for this till April 1940) that was empty due to the polish refusal to surrender. Together with a french army they managed to kill one of the german airfleets standing next to it. Germanys counterstrike got hindered by mud and later winter weather so they came through with it nearly untouched and UK was able to evacuate its forces in LC by using fisherboats via Dunkirk while the german tanks had to halt only a few miles away due to the bad weather. France nevertheless fell with the first clear turn at May 5, 1940 the destroyed airfleet already rebuilt. Research and diplo at full capacity – diplo in Spain with 5 chits since turn 3. - But Axis diplomats were obviously bribed by allied agents...the first diplo hit in Spain (8 Axis chits, no counter diplo by Allies) came in December 1940 after 18 turns diploing the country...Spain never joined Axis (happened only 3 times so far during the last around 100 games)....while Allies got one hit after the other in Iraq and USA...USA already joined in February 1941. - Research went also perfect for Russia with IW 3, AT 3, HT 2 (Germany HT 0, later HT 1) and Motor 1 at Barbarossa, Siberians already were equiped with Motor 2. Western Allies not so successful at first, but till the real battle in Spain started USA also got IW 3. Like used from Hellraiser he executed a very aggressive approach as Allies. Took Brussel in September 1940 for some turns till Allies got finally kicked out by several german armies and tanks, defending Norway when Axis entered Skandinavia via Sweden and later started an extensive Med campaign. Barbarossa started August 31, 1941 by occupying the usual border cities in the north and approaching Leningrad with heavy airsupport, Odessa and Kiev got conquered turn 2. Since Spain was still neutral, Axis decided to be more defensive in Russia and collect first some more minors than usual to leverage their economy. So Yugoslavia and Greece got conquered additionally to the usual minor feast (Vichy, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia). Allies dowed Iraq, Iran and Vichy Algeria. In Africa an allied task force landed and forced Vichy Algeria to surrender and later did the same with Ireland. So in the end Axis had only a slight morale boost and in its own turn got not above 150% morale and 120% readiness – even this effect was soon over. But since in Russia no battles took place, this didn´t matter anyway. Russia invaded Finland with 2 tanks and several armies, but retreated without a shot after german elite forces arrived while airstikes nearly killed one of the red armies. Axis approached fast Leningrad, cutting it off in October 1941 and conquered it before summer 1942. Siberians arrived in March 1942, but in the south it was trench warfare – or something similar...later more . In the meantime Axis conquered all minors, accompanied by heavy fights in Africa. Allies lost several corps at Algier before it got finally liberated by a strong german task force. The push towards Cassablanca however got stopped by several allied bombers and airfleets (Long Range 2) combined with US armies and UK corps. So the german survivors retreated to Algier and entrenched deep into the mountains while countless enemy bombs let the earth above them tremble each turn...The italian fleet moved into battle when the weather cleared up with a hit and run tactic: so they lost only one cruiser while the enemy fleet had to mourn about 5 sunk ships in these battles . Allies bombarded the whole coast till Tunisia the turns before, but after these losses they didn´t dare any more to move with their ships past Algier. In Spring 1942 Germany finally invaded Spain with 2 HQs and a dozen combat units. Allies landed reinforcements in northern Spain and conquered Portugal, establishing a US outpost with several armies + HQ during this campaign. But after a last heroic battle around Madrid, Spain nevertheless surrendered to Germany. Portugal got liberated a few turns later despite heavy bomb showers by 5 allied bombers/AFs and 4 carriers – the axis troops had to achieve their goals without any air support since all Axis air was needed in Russia. In the east Axis was not as strong as usually when Spain regularly joins Axis via Diplo, so Axis didn´t expose their units to a possible counterattack in the south but instead prepared a little trap : Since no real battle took place in Russia during the first year after Barbarossa and with excellent tech for the russian ground forces, a mighty army including Siberians gathered around Kharkov and the mines. To give them the first strike would have been deadly, so Axis removed all guard units except a romanian army in Odessa from this area and sent them to hide in the swamps around Kiev to wait for their opportunity. And they didn´t have to wait too long: In June 1942 Russia started its summer offensive with everything they got via Odessa towards Romania. Russia knew some Axis forces were waiting at Kiev for them, but as revealed after the war, expected them to be not too strong and only be a minor threat with Axis just busy in Spain and Africa. So the russian forces avoided the north and moved directly towards the romanian oil. The romanian army got a medal postum for their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the greater goal and the axis units stayed quiet and hidden...preparing the deadly blow... while their comrades got slaughtered and slaphappy russian units moved by some hexes south on their way into the romanian death trap... In Romania an amhip transport additionally unloaded at the coast, hoping for an empty capitol – but there it found only a fully entrenched army waiting for such an expedition . So when the oilfield was under attack from 4 sides by russian units, it was the right time and Germany now unleashed its deadly counterstrike starting from Kiev and the swamps around it - supported by 6 elite axis airfleets. The spearhead with several high experienced armies and tanks aimed to cut the invasion force off from supply and their possibility to retreat by taking back Odessa. In the first 2 turns of the strike Russia lost all its 4 tanks and several corps + armies. A russian airfleet standing in Romania got slaughtered by german soldiers on the ground. Heavy losses for Germany too since Russia now threw everything into battle....Germany had to rebuild a dozen units...but at the end of the day, Russia had lost all its previous power and had nothing left than a few battered armies and corps. Some units got stranded in Romania when Odessa fell to Axis and hunted down later. So Russia had no other choice than to operate what was left far back to Rostov and Stalingrad. Kharkov and the mines now fell without a fight to Axis. Since Russia had nothing left, the north was also more or less undefended, so Moskov, Voronezh, Vologda and Gorky fell in quick order. When Axis finally conquered Rostov in October 1942, with their whole army approaching Stalingrad and in the west just Portugal and Spain had been fallen too, Allies surrendered unconditionally. At that point Germany had built all available corps, armies and tanks as well as several units from the minor nations to protect their coastal cities. Russia blooded dry on the other side and also quite some losses for Western Allies in the battle for Iberia and Africa. France was never threatened – the first time Axis built extensive fortifications through whole France from Bordeaux till the german border...but they never saw any action or even enemy units nearby . [ October 20, 2006, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Check the readiness of combat units attached / detached. HQ support increases readiness, not morale. Attachment doesn´t change if your HQs are set to "auto-assist" or "manual". But what can happen is that if you have 2 or more HQs in range and one of them is still set to automatic will steal the unit from your other HQ . HQs on automatic catch the nearest units at the beginning of the turn - so it is important that you set ALL HQs to manual-assist or manual if you don´t want to change the supporting HQ.

Yep, I come from the game balance viewpoint in multiplayer . And Fall Weiss is at the moment balanced in V1.04. In my games I usually change sides each game against the same player and so far I can tell that both sides have no problem to win if played right. V1.04: 74 games played in this version and no game lost so far - played equally Axis and Allies . But it is a bit like in SC1 - an axis player that doesn´t know the standard strategies and basics has no chance against most allied players even without bid. In SC2 it is similar - if 2 unexperienced players play, Allies will most likely win because Axis needs to know how and when to conquer things while Allies can just sit back at first and see what Axis is doing (wrong). But between 2 experienced players that know what they are doing, both have the same chance to win since then all the rooky mistakes that can cost you the game drop out - and the Axis side has much more opportunities for such mistakes . [ October 20, 2006, 08:33 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

@Iron Ranger: In version 1.04 both sides are now quite balanced and Axis have the same chances to win as Allies. Nevertheless for unexperienced players Axis is the more difficult one to play and both sides have to be played differently. Allies should always have the economical advantage, but Axis can concentrate its forces and have the advantage in combat which evens out the superior mpps of Allies. In the end it only depends on how you play your side, Allies have no advantage against Axis at the moment. If you don´t believe it, let´s just play a game with me as Axis - I don´t care which side to play since both have the same chances to win .

This was in deed the perfect game for Liams Axis concerning weather, diplo and tech – but in the end he was too aggressive : - Game started with 4 clear turns, so the french were barely able to hold their capitol through the winter but still managed to keep it till April 40 – 6 candidates for free french but none of them decided to continue the fight. - Germany got its first diplo hit in Spain already in November 39 with +33%, Spain joined after only 3 hits in April 1940. Allies on the other side got a nice 9% hit in Irak so the convoy didn´t start till the second hit in April 40. First hit in USA was in June 40, then September 40 and the third and last one in June 41 where it finally started joining following that. - In tech Germany was ahead the whole game with its IW3 / AT 3 until the last turns when Sealion started. Russia only managed to research Infantry Weapons 2 and later AT1, not even Heavy Tank research kicked in so they were stuck there at Lv 1 too. USA also only got IW 2 and AT1. Exception was England that managed to catch up to IW3 in mid 1942 when Sealion started. Unfortunately allied scientists not only refused to research combat techs, but also economic techs...so both Russia and USA went with only Industry Tech 1 into Barbarossa despite Allies researching with a total of 3000 mpps. Technically inferior and without IT also economically not far ahead (start of Barbarossa less than 500 mpps/turn, nearly the same as Axis that got around 450...), Allies had to be cautious with the targets they choose when Barbarossa got launched a bit early by Axis already in July 1941 (Russia only at 53%). So they only started commando raids like in West-Afrika where US forces took Cassablanca or at Brussel by cutting off the axis supply line to Spain and western France with a bit larger expedition force that had to be evacuated when too many Axis armies operated in the vicinity. Vichy France and Switzerland remained neutral till the end of game since the Axis troops were busy with allied special forces . Additionally Allies liberated Denmark and both empty norwegian coastal cities – enabling to send the heroic Royal Navy into the Baltic where despite axis support by land based airfleets and several ship repairs they sunk in an extensive battle every single german vessel. 3 of them lastly got hunted down at the northern swedish port where they tried to hide. Meanwhile Axis moved forward very aggressively in northern and southern Russia – even taking Leningrad, Smolensk, Kharkov and one of the mines after a few turns. But with their aggressive approach they triggered Siberians already in Summer 41. A russian HQ then didn´t believe the Axis commander would send its units so recklessly forward and therefore got killed by several kamikaze units near Sevastopol. In return Russia executed half a dozen german armies and corps, liberating Kharkov and the mine in the process. Finland got conquered despite Leningrad in enemy hands, thanks to the Royal Navy that was protecting and bombarding the coast there at that time. Western Allies were just preparing the real D-day and a Skandinavian expedition when they got news from their spotters along the british coast about a large gathering of Axis vessels around Brest and Brüssel, pretending they would have seen also lots of fisherboats and other landing crafts amongs them. Allied command didn´t believe it at first, but to be on the safe side the victorious US and Royal Navy got called home from the Baltic, and allied invasion forces in their transports got redirected towards Scotland. Allied high command still couldn´t believe Axis would be so suicidal to really start a Sealion when Allies had been preparing a D-day for 2 years now and took no real losses so far and therefore even didn´t remove their air from the coast and bombarded some amphibs instead. So one of the airfleets got heavily damaged by the landing axis units when the first wave of Axis amphibs landed in southern England – manoeuvering through the allied fleet that was just sinking the italian navy...while allied bombers and airfleets were fighting it out with the 6 axis airfleets above their heads...at the end of the day all 3 italian battleships and both cruisers were at the bottom of the sea. Since Allies didn´t believe into a serious Sealion they only placed 2 corps in London and the port, so London fell during the first wave. It got immediately liberated again but with the following amphib waves Axis finally were able to hold it after some turns. Nevertheless Axis took horrendous losses – in one turn they lost 3 of their IW3, AT3 armies and a HQ...and only the HQ was special...each turn several Axis units had to bite the dust...in August 1942 when the end came, Allies had more armies in England left than Axis possessed in total . The turn before the last axis survivors would have been killed in England and London finally liberated, Axis unconditionally surrendered. Meanwhile Russia liberated most of its lost territories and already entered Romania, so the Axis cause was in deed more than lost after this ill advised adventure to the british isles .

@Agamemnon: Sorry, wrong - attaching a unit to a HQ means immediate effect and when it changes turn, units are only reatached if you have set your HQs to automatic or they are now out of range because of moving them or the HQ. To have a HQ or not is quite decissive in battles .

Concerning 1: Airstrike range depends on the weather: Airfleets/bombers: - halved in mud and winter weather Carrier attacks: It all depends on from which tile the carrier launches its attack: - from a clear sea hex it has full range - from stormy tiles it can not attack - from a snow or mud tile its range is halved (this happens only if it attacks while standing on a hex near the coast - here the weather from the land nearby applies for the carrier) Concerning 2: First you need to right click on your HQ and set the mode "auto-assist" or "manual". Then when your HQ is selected you can choose the units you want to be (not) supported by right-clicking on them and select "detach" / "attach".

If you want higher morale, you need to reinforce your units. A str 4 unit will even with highest supply end up at lowest morale of 9% (with v1.04 it starts each turn at 10%, but falls back due to low strength). Strength and supply are linked by multiplication in the formula - so if either of them is too low, morale will drop until the minimum of 9%.

Iran should be DoWed by Russia to avoid the moral boost for Axis - to conquer it is in deed only possible if Axis have only light forces there, or later when Siberians arrived and killed the invaders at Caucasus so the way is free. A different possibility would be a paratrooper (if Russia could afford it...) - but for what purpose ? You can force Iran´s surrender as Russia, but this costs you 300 mpps for the para since it will never come back alive from behind the enemy lines .

Yes, Allies only need to DoW Portugal and Tunisia themselves + Iran when Iraq is under attack or joined - then nothing bad can happen . Or if you forgot to DoW them, in previous battles they didn´t get Dowed (often several countries don´t remain neutral during the mid game... ) and Axis is really prepared to take them all, then you need to deny yourself any counterattacks during the turns till morale gets back to normal. Russia then needs to give up some land, but it has more than enough of it - on the bright side Siberians and Ural industry will be triggered earlier, so no real disadvantage for Allies. Usually Barbarossa starts before winter, so morale has enough time to go back before the real battles start anyway . Therefore the only thing Allies really should not do in this case, is defending near the border or start counterattacks, then Allies are in deed dead against the morale bonus by surrendered countries .