Terif

War photographies: Allied defences in Norway: Sweden crowded by axis air...but no ground units to mount a serious offensive...so UK forces in Norway stay safe: Last scenes from the large naval battle east of St Johns where the axis Mediterranean fleet got sunk: German relief forces secure Finland against the first russian offensive: But 9 month later they come back with reinforcements: Destroying finally merciless all axis defenders despite massive german airsupport:

2nd (Mirror) game – Liam (Axis) vs Terif (Allies): Pretty similar start like in the mirror game – France falls in April 1940, Spain + Westafrica conquered by Germany. Only difference early on (except for Romania joining in July 1940): UK didn´t defend Egypt and sent its forces instead to Scandinavia...which should prove valuable in 1941. While axis forces were still busy in Spain and Africa, the german commander got greedy...giving orders to also conquer Sweden and Scandinavia...but Axis can´t conquer everything when Allies put up resistance and for declaring war to all those minors, Axis have to pay a heavy diplomatic price...which provides Allies with lots of additional mpps and units...giving them the opportunity to fight already with heavy forces very early . And so UK decided to stay in Norway to fight it out...all those refugees from conquered minors and volunteers from nations all over the world were ready to put the fear of death into all axis soldiers in Scandinavia...and this they did with bravura... After early heavy losses, Axis finally decide to abandon all other fronts and send every airplane they have against the allied mountain fortresses in Norway...but even with 6 airfleets and a bomber at that time they can´t kill a single allied unit...too deep entrenched in the mountains the defenders are...ground units defending in the right terrain don´t have to fear airstrikes alone...only if the air is used to support own ground units, an offensive can be successful...but after loosing another army in front of the mountains, german ground forces were too frightened and too few in numbers to pose any serious threat...Airmarshall Goering promised the german leader his bombers and fighters could defeat the allied forces on their own...so only a few and unsufficient ground forces got sent...a misguided predication...initializing the downfall of the axis empire... When Russia joins the war in August 1941 and the Axis forces in Scandinavia suddenly have to face a two front war, they finally are forced to evacuate Sweden – sending everything they have to protect Finland instead...succeeding with this task for the time beeing during 1941...some defenders that missed the last trains are taken prisoners by russian forces liberating Stockholm. Naval battle: Meanwhile the axis Mediteranean fleet left ports...lulled into a false sense of security with most of the UK fleet reported supporting the battle of Scandinvia and protecting transports shipping reinforcements and supply into the hot combat zone... ...unfortunately for the mighty axis fleet, an italian admiral was not well trained in nautical charts and having a bottle of wine too much, read the compass upside down ...so he ended up in spotting range of St Johns (Canada)...alarming the US fleet which was just getting ready for war after USA joined in August 1941...promptly requesting the british fleet for assistance... ...and so the demise of the combined axis fleet had been set in motion...in Winter 1941 the entire Axis Mediterranean fleet got eventually trapped and encircled east of Canada with the US fleet coming from the west and Royal Navy from the east...within a few hours the spook was over...only Graf Spee was able to escape the slaughter heavily damaged...every single other axis ship got sunk or captured. In the meantime the land war in Russia was nearly non-existant...paralyzed less by winter weather, but more by every potentially offensive axis unit beeing sent to Finland/Leningrad to defend against the invading Russians...allowing Russia to have the initiative and dictating its plans onto the enemy. In June 1942 Finland fell nevertheless...costing Germany an entire task force with HQ, tanks and too many of their armies and corps...the last 5 units eradicated in one turn before russian forces celebrated victory in Helsinki over their finish enemy. During the rest of 1942, Axis remained in shock over all those millions of soldiers sacrificed to the lost cause of defending Finland...slowly rebuilding their forces...while Russia did the same on the other side of the trench going from Leningrad till Odessa. Only airbattles beeing fought over the heads of the soldiers of both sides...2 russian airfleets lost during these battles...Axis engineers now busy building fortifications in Russia after having completed the Atlantic Wall with a 2 tile deep fortification line from Bordeaux till Paris. Only UK launching several small scale attacks against fortress Europe: - Brest liberated, forcing Axis to man the Atlantic Wall with the new built units - Spain invaded...Bilbao conquered, UK task force cutting of Spain for nearly half a year until a german task force and italian bombers drive them away. Clash of the titans: Finally in 1943 both sides had built out their forces to maximum...and Allies were ready to unleash the storm.... ...secretly preparing the largest amphibious operation the world has ever seen...millions after millions of US, UK and russian soldiers boarding ships...not knowing their destinations...not allowing any spys to leak it to Axis...UK building large amount of decoys around Brest and Scandinavia to mislead axis reconnaissance... and so in July 1943 the massive invasions all over Europe begin...simultaneously Allies go on the offensive in 5 different regions: - Russia declares war to Turkey...multiple amphibious landings around Istanbul and the Capital which gets conquered in the second turn...offensive against Romania - Caucasus task force with 2 HQs launches its offensive, Iraq oilfields conquered...german defenders out of supply after Baghdad gets bombed to ruins by russian bombers - 2 task forces amphibiously land around Suez and all over Egypt...Egypt liberated...Tobruk conquered...amphibs and battleships swarming the Mediterranean...US and UK HQs coordinating the attack - UK and US HQ with their forces land in Cassablanca....marching towards Algier and ready to invade Spain from the south - and finally the dagger thrust into the heart of Germany...with extensive airsupport from Sweden and England...amphibious landing via Denmark August 1943: The world is celebrating...Axis surrender with all forces still intact...pretty much every available land and air unit built...sitting in their trenches in France and Russia now...most of them never saw the horror the battlefields can be...unbloody victory for the allied forces...in the end a strategic victory with all valuable ressources either snatched away from Axis or bombed to hell by the 8 allied bombers....Axis with still plenty of units, but not enough intact ressources left to maintain them Total land losses during the war: - Allies: 14 russian units, 3 UK, otherwise only minor and french units. No US units lost. - Axis: 29 units Total naval losses: - Allies: 1 french cruiser, 2 russian cruiser...no losses for UK or USA - Axis: 5 battleships, 4 cruiser, 4 subs (= all ships except Graf Spee)

Just ended another Mirror game – 1st game Liam (Allies) vs Terif (Axis) in Strategic Command 2 (not WaW) : German Wehrmacht proudly announces complete and utter victory in the second half of 1942 over the barbaric russian empire without having to bemoan a single loss against them – Rockets, the newly developed Wonder Weapons made this perfect land victory possible . Only Western Allies were able to kill one german corps when their D-day forces got thrown back into the water after they landed in France...all UK and US soldiers on the continent killed or taken prisoner.... Land losses in total when the war ended: 1 german + 1 norwegian corps (when UK invaded the country in 1939) vs 56 destroyed allied units. But the german leaders of the surface and sub fleets achieved an even more admirable performance in the naval battles – Admirals Raeder and Doenitz receive the highest war decorations for their excellent leadership of the combined Axis fleets: fighting against overwhelming enemy numbers they achieved total naval victory by only loosing an old italian cruiser...sinking in return nearly the entire allied navy... Total naval losses at the end of the war: Axis: 1 italian cruiser Allies: 1 carrier, 4 Battleships, 9 Cruiser Short retrospective view: Early war was normal with France falling in April 1940 like usual, UK conquering Norway and Axis going for Spain and Westafrica. England decided to defend Egypt, sending bombers from Alexandria against Tobruk to disrupt supply...the german response was swift by sending Rommel and his desert foxes...within a few weeks Egypt was conquered. At this opportunity with UK forces busy down there, german forces also liberated Norway directly under the protection of Admiral Raeders battlefleet. Hungary joined early, but Romania got obviously blocked by UK diplomats...so it remained neutral until it joined with the german war declaration against Russia in August 1941. Russia decided to concentrate all forces to defend Kharkov, fortifying the region heavily....but Germany was not in a hurry... main prioritiy: saving axis lives and not spilling unnecessary blood...conquering only the lightly defended cities in northern Russia including Moskov with conventional forces...Wonder Weapons were sent to deal with the russian bear entrenched around Kharkov... War photographies: Northatlantic fleet preparing for battle around Norway... ....while at the same time the italian fleet under leadership of Graf Spee is already engaged with US navy ships Russian defence line around Kharkov already breaking up...several russian units on the run while others still wait for orders of their panicing leaders and some just resignate in view of the contradictory commands comming from russian headquarters...in the end everything is too late and german forces cut loose...taking prisoner who couldn´t run fast enough...pushing forward towards Stalingrad:

To take Alexandria you only have to conquer first 2 tiles around it, then you can use up to 4 ground units to attack it + your air. Usually half of those forces should already be enough to score the kill . In any case: first destroy the defending forces south + southwest of Alexandria before attacking the city directly - then nothing can really harm you any more or prevent the city from falling into your hands .

If he already took Alexandria and UK surrendered, then the Commonwealth forces won´t come any more: they can only appear as long as UK has not surrendered. With UK still in the game, Commonwealth forces are triggered 100% when axis units come within 3 tiles of Alexandria or Cairo - so if your opponent didn´t take Alexandria in one turn and had units within 3 tiles range of Alexandria for at least 1 turn before conquering it, then I would check the advanced options menu if the Commonwealth events may be deactivated (when starting a game the players can activate/deactivate events via the options menu). But from your description I guess it is the first possibility and you didn´t defend Alexandria so he was able to take it too fast and UK surrendered before the Commonwealt troops had a chance to appear.

I guess you are speaking of SC2 and not WaW (cause Axis getting Egypt if they want it is only true in SC2 ). Your main mistake seems to be you attack ships with airfleets - this is seldomly a good idea . Airfleets are there to support ground offensives. Key for a successful ground offensive is always to send in your air first to soften up the defender and demoralize him. Then the ground troops can be sent in to finish him off. And never try to kill enemy ships with your airfleets while you are needing them to fight against enemy ground forces ! This way your low supply doesn´t matter - the combat strength comes mainly from the HQ support anyway. Together with the 25% readiness bonus from attacking before moving you always have 75% or more readiness for your units even with zero supply, which is more than enough to wipe out any defender. But if you keep your HQ in Tobruk itself it provides supply 8, so your units even in front of Alexandria will not be without supply anyway. Just make sure to send enough forces if UK is defending Egypt. Normally HQ + 2 armies + 2 corps + some air is enough against the original UK forces there. If UK abandons England and sends everything down to Egypt, then Axis also have to increase their forces appropriately - usually another 3-4 armies/tanks/corps + all available air should be enough to conquer it if you don´t make the mistake to attack enemy ships with your air or to position your ground forces at the coast where the enenemy fleet can bombard them. In this case you can also ensure your victory by Sealioning England when you get in range of Alexandria so UK has to pay with its surrender for risiking everything by putting it on one card... .

Artillery starts with attack/defence values of 0 (also see manual) so it is how it should be = no bug . Without tech, the main purpose of artillery is de-entrenchment and de-moralization. If it also is intended to do real damage it first needs research and tech upgrades.

Yep - for more than 5 years now starting with SC1 - the Strategic Command series is indeed an excellent series and provides fun for a very long time :cool:

Everyone has his personal preferences and individual playing style – so it is good that SC2 and WaW coexist, so you can choose the one you like at the moment the best – both have their strength and weaknesses . I probably have played WaW already much more often than any other player (just like SC2 ) – at the beginning it is a lot of fun to try all the new things and the first few dozen games WaW indeed appears to have a lot more options than SC2 . In the operational area that is without a doubt the case (where to place artillery, anti-air, anti-tank etc. so they can provide cover for each other...in which tile to advance...etc). But strategically Fall Weiss extremely narrows down when you get more experience as there is now longterm an optimal path which you have to choose if you want to have a chance of winning against another veteran player – and this is something I personally don´t like: In the end WaW plays on the operational level - here it is important to place your new units at the right tiles to maximize their effect, strategically you don´t have much choice. But my preference is to have a broad variety of strategical options I can choose from and having to decide which is the right theatre to send my units to – in general: the broader picture . @Minty: In SC2 there are no real exploits any more after 8 patches, but in WaW there are a lot of things players can and will do that you would consider exploits and are/will be very annoying when you encounter them...just read some of the already existing AARs from more experienced players like Sombra to get a brief glimpse... . @Colin I: Yes, there are a lot more units now in WaW – but that is not necessarily a good thing. For not so experienced players it certainly makes things easier and Barbarossa may play better (just like the AI needs extra corps via script for garrison duty to free enough for offensives..), but with some experience it turns just the other way around and in the end SC2 is much more historical and fluid. All those additional units in WaW lead unfortunately sooner or later to continuous frontlines with a WWI type trench warfare where you have to use your artillery and bombers to slowly fight your way mile after mile forward...nothing with Blitzkrieg any more. Especially since WaW knows no real side theatres which could absorb units... everything will be concentrated in Russia. This effect is even more increased by the railway system: as you noticed it is very easy to cut the enemy off if he tries to defend in pockets, so an experienced player won´t do that and only go into battle when he can establish a continous frontline and is sure he doesn´t loose the battle – cause loosing a battle would mean all units employed will be lost since they can´t operate away. In SC2 you can fight until you see the tide is turning and then retreat your troops when necessary – doesn´t work in WaW any more. And among veteran players this leads to simply building up troops until there are enough forces to build a continous frontline and face the enemy – resulting in trench warfare where the game revolve around the right tactical decissions for artillery/bomber support etc. and not around strategy. In the end the deciding thing is often which side has the clear weather on its side to bring the super-bombers into battle...which is another weakness of WaW: there are several units now which can be built up to super units that can´t be really countered any more (which is a strength of SC2: here all units are perfectly balanced) – and here tech luck plays a large role if/which units reach the superunit-status and tech advances have a much higher impact. Something that doesn´t happen in SC2. P.S.: all those double strike units and small units with de-entrenchment capability have also the consequence that fortifications (even if you can build them with the much increased build times...) and entrenchment in general is pretty much worthless in WaW now – also not a good development for Multiplayer games. @SeaMonkey: WaW implements a lot of forum wishes to make it more historical/realistic – in fact it seems to be pretty much a conglomerate of those forum suggestions. This makes it certainly the game to choose for the more historical oriented players or the ones that prefer more of a simulation and also for casual/new players it provides a very good playing experience . I personally don´t want to always follow the strategical historical path or simulate the desert sand storms correctly....after a while this is not that interesting any more and the replayability suffers. It is fine if you play against the AI or don´t play that much games. But my preference is to have a balanced Multiplayer battle with an experienced opponent who knows what he is doing and where the player choosing the right strategies for the situation will win. Concerning this, SC2 is pretty much a classic for me (similar to Starcraft (which I also played btw ) - only turn based): So for competitive Multiplayer with unlimited replayability, SC2 is for me still the unchallenged standard .

Yep, the long games are usually the best ones and how you play and which strategy you use is what makes the fun – and here for me SC2 offers the most with a wide variety of strategical possibilities you can choose from, no micromanagement and an easy and fast game flow . For n0kn0k here a photo series of the Stalingrad battle where the russian superior numbers melted away just like the winter snow :

@SeaMonkey: Well, IMO SC2 and WaW have different areas where they are strong: The strength of SC2 is Multiplayer on the strategic Fall Weiss map – extremely balanced with endless strategical possibilities. WaW is better in the smaller operational scenarios where railroads, artillery, anti-tank, etc have their place and the right of existence. It is also better suited for singleplayer games with its improved AI. Fall Weiss in WaW unfortunately very soon strategically comes to a dead end if you play it often enough as I already have done. Surely, between not so experienced players or when playing against a new player still everything is possible cause the enemy won´t punish you for your (wrong) choices. But between experienced players (and for sure if you would play against me... ) that try to win the war, every deviation before 1942 from the historical/optimal path will be heavily punished. Also too many areas are now dead for combat with (among other things) the railway system in place, as for one of the two sides it is in each case just not reasonable to go there. So when the enemy knows what he does or has made the mistake to deviate already often enough, pretty much every game sooner or later follows the same pattern – between 2 equal opponents lastly decided by luck with weather, diving and research – which plays a much too large role for my taste in WaW compared to SC2 anyway. The war between 2 veteran players also usually resulting in a World War I type of trench warfare. Which is the main reason I migrated from WaW back to SC2 if I want to play multiplayer. Also for multiplayer I prefer a game to end within a reasonable real-time frame...and WaW simply needs 2-3 times more time than SC2 if you play it right – and time is even more a problem in the larger scenarios (at least in TCP they are more or less impossible to play..). In the end IMO all the fancy new units resulting from splitting up the original SC2 units into smaller pieces may be useful in the operational scenarios and there increase playability and fun, but in the strategical Fall Weiss scenario they are simply in the wrong place and mainly cause a lot of micromanagement (which is real-time consuming) and possible exploits. Fall Weiss in SC2 in contrary, offers pretty much unlimited possible strategies and is extremely balanced where luck plays no role. Only the players actions decide who will win the war . Every strategy has its advantages and disadvantages, but the effects cancel each other out and are well balanced, so which one you choose and if you have now an advantage or disadvantage from the chosen ones in the end, only depends on the situation and what your opponent expects you to do...so never meet the enemies expectations and always surprise him with something new... . Luck plays no role as every event where luck is involved has much smaller consequences than in WaW and unlike WaW, in SC2 you always can (and should) adapt to the changed situations from random effects. So if you change your strategy/build program accordingly they will never be a real disadvantage for you. Lastly it is up to the players which way they prefer to go and which strategies they choose – concerning the goal to win the war they are all equal for itself. Only in context of time or situation and experiences from previous wars with the respective enemy leader it is decided which ones become preferable. Even after hundreds of games which I have played, every game still unfolds differently... in order to win the war it is necessary to change strategy every game or the enemy will sooner or later adapt . In other words: In Multiplayer so far Fall Weiss in SC2 makes the most fun for me: easy and fast to play, endless possible strategies and only your own actions in context with the enemies actions decide the war – key word: perfect balance . The expansion WaW I use to play the new/smaller scenarios and against the AI – this is the playing field of the expansion and where it perfectly complements the main program SC2 . [ December 27, 2007, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

The war is over now in September 1942 – celebrations all over the world after Brazil joined Axis, releasing the fleet anchoring there back into duty while italian sailors on their tropical islands join into the festivities a bit delayed after sleeping off their daily hangover... Total land losses: Axis: 10 german units + 8 minor ones, no italian losses Allies: 42 russian, 7 US, 10 UK + 23 minor ones Loss ratio of major combat units (France not counting): 10 german vs 59 allied High allied blood toll – for every killed axis unit, nearly 6 allied ones had to give their lives – Germany is proud of its soldiers for such an achievement, woman and children are happy not having to mourn about too many lost men .

A german army in the middle between Bordeaux and Paris just enjoys the delicious turkey meal when it gets abruptly interrupted by a collapsing bunker ceiling and crushed to death...during the last clear summer turn in September of 1942, USA and UK send their entire forces on an all out offensive...in a last flimsy hope... As soon as von Bock and Kleist receive the news, they can already smell the near victory and prepare the most likely last huge battle of this war....adjutants start rushing busily through the command bunkers, distributing orders to all units.... ...during the last weeks, thousands of tanks had been secretely hidden in the forests near Bordeaux and Paris...waiting for the right time to lead the counterattack for the destruction of the enemy....and finally the day has come: On September 20, 1942, tank division after tank division moves to the front....followed by over a dozen army and corps units...crushing every enemy standing in their way....at the end of the day 3 allied armies and 3 corps are destroyed....the UK and US forces on the continent crippled and nearly eradicated.... [ December 26, 2007, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

September 6, 1942: German soldiers catch a large pile of stuffed turkeys from the next US camp outside Bordeaux...a never ending supply of fresh meat appears every turn along the Bordeaux-Paris defence system...resulting in reduced own rations delivered to the bunkers from behind: Axis forces get more and more experienced in hunting their food outside the walls and are now able to sustain self-sufficient by confiscating US and UK goods – another 2 allied armies and a corps eliminated without own losses. In Russia Stalin gets desperate...heavily swearing and scourging his own men, he orders another all out attack....to take out one german paratrooper, Russia sacrifices 2 armies, a corps and its last engineer unit...another 2 russian cities conquered, the gates to Urals are open with no men standing in between any more... Around Bermuda the crews of the italian fleets Roma and Pola have to abandon ships after half a dozen enemy fleets take them under fire...rescued by german and italian submarines....transporting them to the lonely tropical paradise they have earned themselves for their brave actions... :cool: Meanwhile near Africa: A trade caravan on its way towards Ivory Coast - exhausted from its journey - takes a rest not far from the ocean....suddenly they hear a loud shout from a little boy just marveling the large sea he never had seen before... ...on the water, out of the dazzling sun, strange silhouettes had appeared...when coming closer shaping into hundreds of shining metallic objects...the leader of the caravan soon recognizes what they are and starts to sing and dance around in exultation.... ...not much later the news reaches the city of Cassablanca...port and docks get hastily prepared for the big day...with all man and woman contributing to the great purpose... ...every citizen from the youngest one till the old city fathers is standing at the pier....finally after all those waiting....the pride of the german navy appears on the horizon: Bismark and Tirpitz both arrive back from their long and dangerous journey...and not only they return victoriously...the majority of the combined Axis fleet successfully evaded capture by the numerically far superior allied fleet...and so cruiser after cruiser and battleship after battleship receive a more and more pleasantly surprised welcome when they enter port, until Andrea Doria completes the nearly endless festive procession...Cassablanca never before had seen such a formidable fleet and large number of ships in its port...and is now proud to be the first city to harbor the heroes of the New York battle .

German generals and admirals are highly trained and combat hardened now...this turn again no losses for Axis - neither on sea nor land – while the green british and russian recruits, trembling in their too wide uniforms go down like flies...frightened by the skeletons of their fallen comrades wherever they go... Several more russian cities have fallen...Zhukov and his HQ staff get executed in front of the Ural mountains east of Kazan...several russian armies and corps destroyed in their trenches and fortifications...which are only death traps for these poor and tortured souls... In the west no different picture: german soldiers taking pot shots on british forces camping and drinking tea in front of the axis fortification line...2 UK armies cease to exist after their commanding officers got shot by snipers when they took the morning salutes and their panicing men surrendered in face of german tank cannons appearing out of nowhere... In the Bermuda triangle the last canadian cruiser fleet vanishes...allied sailors rumor about seamonsters and ghost ships snatching souls in those cursed waters...only italian submariners really know the truth about what happened there ...

Short transport distances for US body bags become more and more necessary ...US Battleshipgroup New York follows the city it had been named after and goes down in flames...same as Royal Oak. Except for Vittorio Veneto some time earlier, no total naval losses for the axis North American task force so far . The entire US/UK navy now seems to be between USA and Spain...all 4 carriers that were previously bombarding axis positions in France are unaccounted for as well, moving south to block the way to axis ports in Spain and Portugal....Unable to return home, the axis task fleet commander finally give orders to scatter and seek sanctuary in the carribean and Brazil where most of the ships will be detained till the end of the war...Graf Spee moves full speed towards the South Atlantic in order to sink merchant ships near Argentina... In Russia allied losses had been extreme and loss ratio is nearly 5:1 in favour of Axis : Land losses so far: Germany: 8 units (7 of them in Russia) + 8 minor units when Norway, Sweden and Finland got conquered Italy: none Russia: 34 units USA: Eisenhower HQ UK: 5 combat units and 23 minor ones = Total losses of major nation combat units (without France): 8 german units vs 40 allied ones

Strategic Command 2 game - not WaW @Rambo: Yep, that was the purpose of this raid: all US forces are now concentrating on defending their own country and finding the axis fleet that brought such devastation and which is now hiding in the Atlantic...instead of supporting the war in Europe

August 1942: The waters around USA get more dangerous...Vittorio Venetto battleshipgroup lost in combat...time to set sail home...destroying the 2 US cruiser groups Tuscaloosa + Brooklyn during retreat. Before the last axis forces leave America, New York gets burned down to the ground as a monument never to interfere into inner-european affairs...before the axis fleet and special forces leave US coastal waters, subs mine all ports... Strategic victory can be reported back home: Main task fullfilled - US forces busy defending their home country and UK in Europe has to fight alone so far. First UK corps MIA near Paris . In Russia the last 4 cut off corps at Rostov and Caucasus get destroyed, all 3 cities in Caucasus conquered – the region firmly in Axis hands. Russia seems to run low on willing soldiers...2 rockets defend the frontline...one destroyed, the other in Gorky under heavy fire...German forces preparing assault against Urals...

Strategic Command 2 War Breaking News...July 1942: - german civil cruise ships attacked by american war criminals... - in response germany declares unlimited naval warfare and dispatches a large naval task force against the US - as first stage US war criminals in their so called battleships get sunk south of Halifax... - second stage: italian and german warships blockade all US coastal cities and scout for possible landing spots... - heavy fightings around New York after the naval bombardment begins...the city is burning and landing forces prepare to disembark...Eisenhower HQ and his staff destroyed...US population in shock...having to recognize they are not save behind the ocean, hiding now in their cellars with axis shells exploding around them ...german marines ready to soon accept the american capitulation in front of the White House Meanwhile on the continent... The unprovoked ambush by UK forces against Scandinavia in 1940, followed by russian aggression against Finland 1941 involving 4 russian tanks, 5 armies and all russian airplanes could not pass by unpunished: In reaction to this massive allied force concentration in the northern region, Axis chose to ignore the upper part of Russia including Moskow....threwing everything at Barbarossa start immediately against the soft underbelly of Russia: in the largest airdrop operation of the war german paratroopers occupied during the first Barbarossa turn the russian fortress Sevastopol, destroy an engineer unit preparing fortifications around the mines and cut off all russian forces in the Odessa region...soon to be taken prisoner by the rapidly advancing axis troops. Within a matter of weeks Kharkov with its fortifications and Rostov had fallen, Stalingrad under siege already in October 1941. Simultaneously german forces entered Caucasus via Iran, destroying both oilfields near Baku while paratroopers from Rostov conquered the oilfields of Maikop, this way eliminating the last russian oilsupply. With bad weather setting in, russian winter effect hitting and every russian soldier and tank operating to Stalingrad and Caucasus, Axis forces now finally had to consolidate their gains, resupply and retreat back into winter positions behind river Don...around the 3 russian oilfields a partisan war started with all oilfields switching ownership several times during winter 41/42... Freezing winter weather in December 1941 brought with it an awesome russian force consisting of all 6 tanks and dozens of armies and corps....approaching the riverline...flooding against the german defence systems... ...and more fast than slowly, dying man after man...tank after tank getting destructed...until eventually only a last russian tank was left of the once proud russian forces... ...and so now in July 1942 the german Summer offensive begins: Stalingrad and Moskow conquered, the remaining russian forces near Rostov cut off, Valutin HQ next to Grozny shot down to strenght 1 with german corps and tanks in the outskirts of the city... ...on the other side of the world D-day has just begun with UK forces landing in Brest – german defenders man the fortification systems from Bordeaux till Paris....but the main battle in the west has just begun: the Battle for USA and control of the Atlantic with the entire Axis fleet outside New York – so far only US battleships at the bottom of the sea, no total losses for Axis ...we will see how long it stays that way...

Partisans - in SC2 they are: - Leningrad: 102,9 + 104,9 - Pripjet: several possibilities, e.g.: 100,15 + 102,15 + 105,15 (Kiev) Partisan spots in Pripjet build pretty much a 4x4 tile quadrate (except for the clear tiles in it where no partisans can appear) with Kiev and Minsk in the north/eastern edges plus additionally the swamp outside the quadrate, west of Minsk (99,14). So you only need to take care every possible spot is guarded, you can cover it with 3 units - or 2 units if you declare the southwestern part an autonomous russian region and leave it to them for self government .

You always have to liberate the last active capital - so in your example if you liberate Alexandria, then UK and its mpps is back in the game . @Karhu: Only if Axis took Alexandria before UK had the time to transfer its capital there you can reactivate UK by liberating Manchester/London. Otherwise you need to go for Egypt in order to do so - this is the same in both SC2 and WaW .

If you both have the same language version and you didn´t delete your original campaign on your computer, then yes - your opponent is using an altered scenario.

This message means: - either your opponent loaded a changed scenario that you don´t have on your computer - or you play against someone with a different language version (like german - vice versa your opponent gets the same message) E.g. Fall Weiss is named in german Fall Weiß - therefore it doesn´t find that campaign and gives you this message. Solution to avoid this message between different language versions is for your opponent to rename his "Fall Weiß" campaign into "Fall Weiss" (best to just copy it and rename the copy..) or probably better: you can do the same vice versa (= copy your "Fall Weiss" campaign and name the copy "Fall Weiß")

Yep, in the mirror match Germany put all its hope on bombers and air with extreme long range level 4 and for this purpose closed all scientists in to fortress Europe – no one allowed to move out of the continent, even the italian garrisons from Africa got called back. Manchester port got flattened for some time, but then RAF fighters got the upperhand in the Battle of Britain, repulsing the enemy bombing raids which were finally called off after obviously too heavy losses for the german Luftwaffe . While Royal Navy was busy sinking the entire italian navy in the Med - which were springing like lemmings at them until they were gone – german commando units liberated Oslo and later conquered Scandinavia altogether, bringing USA into the war in July 1942. Meanwhile UK forces landed in Sicily to take off some pressure from USSR. So with its forces frittered around the globe, Axis were never able to punch a hole into the russian defence lines and only could conquer the front cities before they were forced into a WW1 trench warfare and ultimately thrown back to their country by allied forces attacking at 3 main fronts (France, Italy, Russia) as well as liberating Sweden and Denmark in the turn of the Axis surrender. War in the final year was extremely bloody...during the last turn of the war alone Germany lost 2 tanks, 5 armies and 5 corps...forcing finally the Axis surrender . Here some war pictures: Heavy fightings around Rome at the beginning of 1943 – half a dozen axis units killed on the way from Sicily to Rome...nevertheless the italian capital held with massive german support till the end of the war: Russian defence line around Moskow stands strong... The end of the war is near – last Axis counterattack in France: Russians prepared for battle, approaching the last enemy defence line: [ November 06, 2007, 02:43 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Italy doesn´t start with tanks, HQ etc. but has the mpps to build them during 1940. Same as UK. If and where the mpps get invested is up to the player and he can choose if he wants to build the historical forces or prefer different alternatives Sealion in SC2 is very good balanced and if the allied player is too aggressive he will pay with his UK surrendering to Axis. Sealion is only then seldomly a good idea when playing against an experienced player who knows this and protects England against Sealion . In SC2 it is no problem to conquer Egypt if necessary and if Axis is willing to spend the necessary mpps. In WaW this changed - which has its pros and cons and the future will show which way players prefer it @Minty: Anti-Air research if applied to cities/ressources only is useful against (strategic-) bombers. Not against all other air (including tactical bombers). But Anti-Air is now more valuable cause applied to anti-air units it increases their attack and defence values against all air unit types. [ November 02, 2007, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]