Terif

AAR Dicedtomato (Allies) vs Terif (Axis): Early game: All german forces concentrate on Poland, so it surrenders in turn 2 (Plunder 155). German Command prefers not to gamble on the weather and to save its mpps to buy some presents to make people happy - so the combat units have to use their feets to get into the west and are not allowed to use the expensive trains . During winter time, german air trains at Maginot, together with the early arrivers from Poland. No birthday presents for Britain, so Denmark stays neutral for the next years. Germany is also not in a hurry to raise US readiness by conquering LC and Paris and prefers to invest into diplomacy and research instead (see below). In April snow melts away and german forces pour into LC and France – they make short process of any resistance. Maginot defenders operate to Paris but can´t prevent its fall very long: June 30, 1940 Paris is german. In the meantime in the Med: Italy sent several corps to Africa to strengthen the defences. The whole Royal Navy seems to have a meeting at Malta, together with the french fleet - so Italy prepares a welcome party . In the turn Paris falls, the italian Navy engages the enemy. UK carrier sunk, several ships damaged. German air operates to Sicily. Unfortunately the last 4 french ground units refuse to surrender their country (chance is 12%...), so the french fleet is another turn alive and able to sink an italian cruiser and battleship in return. Italian fleet has to retreat into port for larger repairs... Finally France surrenders July 14, 1940 (Plunder 538). Germany already has 750 mpps in research at this point and uses the plunder to buy some units . Royal Navy retreats from Malta after some airfleets show them how unhealthy a longer staying would be and Germany can send HQ, air and several ground troops to help the italians in Africa and to relief Iraq that is under british attack since April 1940. Diplomacy: Germany already bought in the first turn 2 chits for Spain, and increased diplo to 5 chits during the next 2 turns. Spain was pretty unimpressed and only increased readiness by 8% in Spring 1940, but in Iraq the german diplomats got a lucky hit with +37% already in November 1939. Russian cruisers seem to have not heard of diplomatic consequences and do some sight seeing in the baltic. First they upset Finland with maneouvers at Königsberg and then also Sweden when russian tourists polluted the environment by throwing away their wodka bottles at Kopenhagen and Helsinki (readiness raised to 74%). So Axis splitted its 10 chits between Spain and Sweden, but Spain raised till June 1942 only to 60% and Sweden stands still at 85%. Hungary joined a bit late in April 1941. Only unusual diplomacy event till now: UK/France invested chits into Russia and even got 2 early hits before Italy also invested into Russia to cancel them out: +10% in April 1940 and +14% in June 1940 ! So Russia was already in Mid 1940 at 47%, more than doubling its normal income during this time. Mid Game: British forces in Iraq had not much success with their attack on Baghdad. O´Connor HQ provided some supply, but obviously not enough to support a real offensive. So a HQ supported airfleet, 2 british armies, tank and corps were not able to conquer the capital for nearly a year, till german forces arrived in Spring 1941 and finally took all remaining british units there as prisoners. Due to the successful allied diplomacy, Barbarossa already had to start August 17, 1941: Nevertheless german forces at full strength, even 2 additional airfleets built . Combat research at IW 3, AT 2, HT 1 (but Russia ahead in research with IW 3, AT 3, HT 3). Three german strike forces enter Russia: The first strike is launched against Leningrad and Moskov by Task Force North while Task Force South conquers the defended cities in the south (Odessa, Kiev). Task Force Caucasus threatens the russian production centers in the east. Nearly simultaneously with Iran, the last 2 countries in Africa surrender to Axis: Tunisia and Vichy Algeria. Russian forces are all at full tech and entrenched in their defence positions, every city except Riga and Minsk occupied. But in SC 2 with its high attack values and too many possible attack spots, defence is not possible – so already in November 1941 in the west Kharkov with its 2 mines and Smolensk are conquered and Baku with its oil in the east. Leningrad under siege from all sides. 3 axis airfleets make short process after german battleships reduced supply for the defender (i.e. also no reduced buying back) and Leningrad falls not much later. Siberian reinforcements arrive and in spring 1941 the first heavy battles take place: Strong russian forces gather at Moskov to attack the only german tank of Task Force North positioned in the mountains near the russian capital. German tank lost, but a dozen german support units (armies/corps) take revenge by killing several russian armies and 1st guard tank. As a result of this misguided battle, Russia also looses its capital. Simultaneously Task Force South with another dozen strong units - including several tanks, the core of the german tank forces (now catched up to HT 3) - advances towards Rostov in direction of the caucasian front. At the same time the last real battle in Caucasus takes place: german corps lost, but Russia looses its defending units one after one until Tblisi and Grozny are in german hands and the last defenders cut off without supply in the mountains. So in April 1942 both german task forces unite south of Fortress Stalingrad – russian engineers built 3 fortifications around the city, strong forces protect it supported by 2 russian HQs and both airfleets. So german forces were cautious, waited for their comrades to regroup and 4 german airfleets as support, among them 3 elite fighters with 3-4 bars of experience before starting the final attack on Fortress Stalingrad. Now we are end of May 1942 (USA prepares for war): After some small battles Russia retreats its units to the north around Kuybyshev where they built another stronghold with several fortifications and Stalingrad gets conquered by Germany. Russian forces still intact, some armies damaged, one lost and a HQ shot down to str 1 at Stalingrad, but at least 2 fresh tanks are waiting at Kuybyshev now together with the russian main forces. Summary so far: Allies were not unlucky during the early game, especially with the french delayed surrender that nearly costed the italian navy and the 2 early lucky diplomacy hits on Russia with +24% readiness while Axis diplomacy got no real successes till now. But despite Allies having these advantages compared to the average game and excellent russian tech, Axis still was clearly in the advantage at the start of Barbarossa. Allies made some faults like attacking Iraq, the battle of Moskov and mistakes in the Caucasus defence, but as long as the SC 2 combat system so heavily favours the attacker, Axis have no problem to simply march through any defender, no matter how fortified a position is. And so a game will be more or less over before USA with its ressources can make a difference. This game will most likely see some last interesting and bloody battles, but as long as Allies have nothing unexpected in reserve, it should not take very long . [ June 22, 2006, 08:34 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Sealion is only a mistake if Axis don´t conquer Egypt also - cause then it really only brings in USA nearly immediately (+5-15% each turn) and Russia a bit earlier (single event +30-35%). But as long as Axis go for Egypt (and if they want it, they will get it... ), an early Sealion in version 1.02 is deadly for Allies and usually means Axis victory - not much Allies can do against it against an experienced opponent with the current amphibious landing system and that´s why I can only recommend to use a house rule against early sealions (i.e. before Russia is in the war) . P.S.: AAR for the game with DT will follow soon .

Can only second dicedtomato : Axis have a lot of opportunities to make mistakes that will cost them the war and a bad axis player can loose the war very fast. But if he has some experience and avoids these mistakes, then Axis is in the advantage and will most likely win the war. This is similar to SC 1, where new players can play without a bid and even Allies are in the advantage, while with some experience - especially of the axis player - Allies need bonus mpps of up to above 10.000 mpps in SC 1 .

If you have a german HQ in Africa, it doesn´t matter . For Africa you certainly don´t need Malta .

Use battleships/cruiser for the fortress and airfleets for the port to bomb them to zero. After this you can easily take the Malta garrison out, no matter what unit type. Only 2-3 german AFs + HQ and a bit patience necessary . Question remains if it is worth all the mpps you have to spend for taking this little island... .

At the moment french units are pretty much useless without tech and HQs when France (+LC) is liberated. So if they even get Vichy, then it would be perhaps a good idea if they inherit the tech levels from UK or USA when France gets liberated. Otherwise there is a high incentive not to liberate it and to avoid taking Paris so the mpps don´t go to France .

@Jollyguy: To take Turkey is still no problem for Axis - here nothing changed to V1.0. Only the US readiness increase is the deterrent and as soon as USA is in the war, Axis can easily take Turkey without Russia beeing able to do something against it. With some luck and airsupport it will fall within 2 turns, usually it falls after 3-4 turns and then Axis gets a huge economical boost and can also catch Caucasus with the broad front and good supply. This is because Axis can cut Turkey off from Russia by taking the eastern city so no russian reinforcements can be operated into Turkey for defence. So to improve it I would propose to at least put an additional corps into the middle turkish city (usually be taken by paratroopers) and to place 3 of the turkish corps (2 from the border, one near the capital) south of the eastern turkish city, so Axis can´t take it so easily in the first turn of DoW.

Your welcome

Probably you need a script so your AI occupies Warsaw and Königsberg - since if one of these cities is empty, then russian readiness will increase. End of 1940 there needs to be at least a third unit (east of Warsaw).

@TaoJah: - Tech and also intel are compared on a per country bases, i.e. if there is a tech difference between USA and Germany in IW, then it will be looked if there is an intel difference between those two countries (and not UK, Russia or any other country) - only if an enemy country has a tech advantage in the specific area you are researching, then you will get 1% additional chance per chit for each intel level you are in the advantage against this enemy country. - since you can max have an intel difference of 5 and also max 5 chits in a tech area, your max increase by intel is 25% (your 3rd example) But lastly this is more or less an academical question as Hellraiser already pointed out : Intel only increases your chances marginal except in the higher level regions (lv 4-5) and you simply don´t need it - especially not with the mpp cap for research in version 1.02 .

1 - Terrain bonus and fortification bonus does NOT add up. I.e. no matter where you build a fortification, a unit in it will always get the same defence bonus. It has even a disadvantage if you build it e.g. in forests or mountains, since this will eliminate their terrain defence bonuses if the fortification is attacked from the rear. And this leads to question 2 : 2 - only for attacks across the wall the defender gets the defence bonus from a fortification. Against attacks from other sides it uses only the entrenchment to reduce damage for the defender and no additional terrain/fortification bonuses. 3 - No, attack strength is not halved against a fortification. Only attacks accross a river and from marshes half the attack values (and are multiplied i.e. if you attack from a marsh accross a river (e.g. at Leningrad), then your attack value is only 1/4). 4 - A long line means it will affect three hexes: both corners and the hex in front of the line. E.g. if you build a line to the southwest, then the fortification will provide defence against attacks from south, southwest and west. P.S. After completion you can see against which sides a fortification is directed by right click on it and select properties. [ June 11, 2006, 02:21 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

@Kuniworth: Just send me the scenario via E-mail @Sombra: Thanks Since SC 2 is pretty new, there are still a lot of different strategies possible, not only on the battlefield but also in the tech department and diplomacy. I would say at the moment it is the fun to disvover which strategies will work and which ones don´t. Especially since this is highly dependable on the opponent. Perhaps a strategy guide will follow somewhere in the future when the veterans have narrowed it down to certain standard strategies, so newer players will have a chance to catch up and learn them more easily. But not todays - just enjoy the fun to try things out and develope new approaches .

At Panzerliga you can register for the SC2 League. A short introduction into PL and how to find opponents is here At Panzerliga there is also a multiplayer guide for Strategic Command 2 online with basic things you should know in multiplayer games . It is written for version 1.08 (and also still valid for 1.06 + 1.07) and will be updated with each new version. July 01, 2007: The first season 2007 just ended and there were 50 active SC2 players with reported games during the last 6 months. SC1 is also still played and has these days another 39 active players. In the examination league where everyone starts when he registers are more than 100 new players, ready for a game . Some tips how to find opponents: - post an opponent search or look if someone is searching via PL Homepage ( here ) or better via PL Forum ( here ). - take a look into the single league (SC2: here ) who was active in the last time (+speaks english) and ask them for a game via e-mail or ICQ messages - and you can take a look into the examination league where you can find a lot of also new players and ask them directly via E-mail/ICQ too. P.S.: Be aware that since a SC2 game needs a lot of time you will often not find opponents immediately for a TCP/IP session if you just want to play spontaneously (except perhaps if you have a large ICQ list of players you can ask). Usually you will need to plan ahead and make appointments some days in advance. So make sure you post your opponent search long enough ahead before the time you want to play - then you will usually have no problems to find an opponent . [ November 03, 2007, 08:29 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Yep, in V1.01 Axis is still in the advantage, but not so much any more as in V1.0 . So no easy walk over like before and Axis can´t expect any more to win already in 1941/42. With equally matched players it will usually go at least till 43, more likely 44-46. Nevertheless, Axis has much more opportunities to do something wrong than Allies. Especially with taking minors and border garrison for Russia. So for new players it certainly seems like Axis has no chance. And if you just start playing without much reading the rules/manual, then Axis has in deed not much chances - but they only need to learn first the basics, then it is nearly balanced. Perhaps the beginners guide will help that will be online this weekend at Panzerliga . Luck is a bit of an issue in SC 2, especially with tech since tech is a bit too powerful for my taste at the moment. But since even with not so good luck usually both sides get near max levels in combat techs shortly after Barbarossa if they start researching early enough, so luck is usually no game breaker except for the extreme cases of course. Weather is not that much of an issue IMO , you only have to adopt to the weather situation (e.g. reinforce/reorganize during bad weather instead of going into the offensive). Variability is a good thing, but it should be achieved by beeing able to choose between different strategies/approaches and not by having good or bad luck - hopefully the next patches will bring the game more in this direction .

Investing as Axis in Spain is not a sure thing to get it . Only if Allies don´t invest into diplo, then it will join nearly for sure (25-40% chance each turn for a hit, 15 turns/year...). So lastly the goal is to force the allied player to invest there also to prevent Spain from joining. And every chit costs Allies 75 mpps, Axis only 50 - while Axis has far more resources than England (especially at the beginning) . In consequence neutralising England for the first part of the game - 375 is a lot of mpps for the british treasury .

Hey Sombra, don´t worry, just play some games and you will notice that Axis in V1.01 has still a slight advantage between 2 experienced players - but no sure victory any more. Only Sealion needs in deed still some adjustments .

After some test games: Game is now a bit back into balance. No walkthrough any more for Axis and with some mistakes they will now loose. Nevertheless, as long as Axis don´t do crazy stuff, they are still - slightly - in the advantage (standard game, no sealion) . Since UK now gets minor units without tech in Egypt, they are even a bit weaker than before (the 2nd HQ doesn´t support british units) and german amphib range is still too large as long as there are no other factors to make Sealion more difficult. They can still prepare outside of enemy sighing range and Royal Navy can´t patrol in front of the enemy ports without beeing blown to pieces . So Sealion is still a problem, but perhaps the next patch... .

Yep, good work - now most of the house rules can be abandoned . Only USA are still able to use their transports to spot the german subs (they only need to avoid Spain and Iceland). But since the axis navy is still pretty strong, this is perhaps not so bad . @Fartknock3r: You can continue your old game if you make a second installation (different folder) and only update one of them. So you still have a 1.0 version and can finish your ongoing games.

Sorry TaoJah, you missed the most important part : the normal research chance can only be increased if a level of difference exists So in your example 1+2, intel makes no difference at all since there is no tech difference and research chance is only 25% (1) and 5% (2). Even your 5 intel levels difference give you only 0% additionally. In example 3 you have without intel a chance of 50% (not 25), intel only increases it by 25% - but this example is pretty unrealistic anyway, 5 tech levels difference in both areas...never going to happen . Besides, you first have to research intel before you can have any advantage AND the enemy has to be more lucky than you so he is ahead in tech .

@Lars/Blashy: Sorry, but FOW off is no real option in multiplayer and takes away the fun, but I am sure you are aware of this . Hiding all informations is perhaps good for a small scale game, but not for a strategy game IMO. Already now it has not much to do any more with a strategy game without the possibility to defend on the one side and no information about how strong the enemy is so you can plan offensives/strategies on the other side. Sorry, but not seeing enemy strength or where an attack came from is no great feature for me - I want to play a strategy game where you can think and make decisions, not just to move forward and hope you are lucky, how it is played at the moment...

@Hellraiser: Agreed @Edwin: This is how it works at the moment - except without the info from last turn @Timskorn: If you take SC 2 as a tactical wargame, yep no more info necessary - but it is (or should be) a strategy game, so it is better to have some grand scale info about enemy troops .

If it is historical accurate or not to know about the amount of enemy land, air and sea units - don´t know. Perhaps not for the eastern part ("Ural"). In the west it looks probably different since there were enough ways/informants to get information about enemy forces, especially naval forces. However, my point of view is gameplay and to have a better strategy game, not so much historical accuracy . BTW: to know nothing like it is in version 1.0 is certainly also not historical accurate.. . For the game it would IMHO be much better to have it like in SC 1, where you see how many units the enemy has, so you can plan a strategy accordingly and it would make the game much more interesting if you have a clue how the situation is instead of acting blindly and to trust in luck. Last but not least, SC 2 should be a strategy game, not roulette .

Unfortunately in version 1.0 reports are pretty much useless with FoW and you don´t need to have a look at it: In the report only the units appear you can actually see on the map during this turn, i.e. that are in your sighting range. So you have no additional informations to what you can already see yourself on the map. Hopefully this will change with a patch in the future since for gameplay and strategic planing this would be a huge step forward - or better: back to the roots - as it was in SC 1 .

Seems even beta testers can get confused by research and intel . According to the manual (and I assume here the manual is right ) it is: - normal research chance = % chance per turn = (5% -> 4% -> 3% -> 2% -> 1%) * applicable points in category - bonus chance = (% + highest enemy level - current level +/- intelligence modifiers) * applicable points in category The normal research chance can only be increased if a level of difference exists; it can never be reduced. i.e. Intelligence can never block enemy research, it can only eliminate additional bonuses via tech differences and you will still have the normal research chance for each chit invested . So Intelligence is pretty unimportant as my games so far confirm - doesn´t matter much if you have intel 0 or 5...makes perhaps a difference for getting level 4/5 in a tech since there you have only a normal research chance of 2/1% per chit which can eventually be boosted by intel considerably - if the enemy got lucky before you and is ahead in this tech area... But in combat techs it usually only affects tank tech anyway since the others are capped or usually not researched. But if you have there level 3 or 5 makes not much difference - an enemy unit is dead with 1-2 shots in any case . [ June 01, 2006, 03:38 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]