Terif

Which units are supported (same distance) depends on the geographical position. So for a certain hex and position in the rings around the HQ you could define in which order it supports the units - but in real combat it is not practical to try to calculate which unit is supported and which one not since it would need simply too much time. And it is not necessary anyway since there is a much simpler solution - that doesn´t take hours : If more than five units are at the same distance: Then simply move the surplus units one hex further away or position your HQ so the 5 units you want to support are the closest ones - or alternatively use an aditional HQ . How units are assigned to (several) HQs: - if you have several HQs, then they support their units in a certain sequence: The order in that HQs support are from west to east and when more than one HQ are on the same longitude, it is from north to south (second criteria). - HQs support the closest units first and go in circles outwards. I.e. first it searches for units in one hex distance, when there are less than 5 units, then it supports units in 2 hex distance and so on. In this aspect terrain doesnt matter, so it is not action points, but really only hexes (nevertheless, the range of a HQ is still 5 action points, so if a unit is more than 5 APs away, it cant be supported...here terrain matters). - within the circles around the HQ, there is no simple rule in which they support the units. The order depends on the distance and the geographical position (to be precise: the longitude). Unit type, supply, readiness...etc. doesnt matter, only the longitude and in which circle the combat unit is. The order repeats every 2 degrees, but since you have 5 circles, there are still hundreds of posibilities. Simply too much to take into consideration during a real battle. In the end: It is pretty simple when you have several HQs (better than with only one HQ). Then - with some experience - you can easily calculate if your units will have HQ support or not and you can effectively position your HQs . You know in which order your HQs support and that they support in circles, so only if you have more units than your HQs can support, some units on the periphery will not have HQ support. But since you know which HQ will be the last one for support, you only need to move the surplus combat units out of range - so in the end only the units that you really want to be supported, will be actually supported .

Battle analysis: Hellraiser played a very good game, attacking at the right spots, defending when required and also had the necessary luck . The game started with bad results in Poland that delayed the conquering of Warsaw by one turn and then they even continued fighting till the last man - resulted in a russian readiness increase to 51%. In France it continued this way at the beginning with the survival of 2 key units at str 1 - but after this it evened out and France fell in the normal time frame (June 30, 1940) with only light losses for both sides. At Algier allied forces went surprisingly into the offensive - a good strategic decission: They hadn´t lost ships in the sub hunt or in France - so they had some surplus ships to sacrifice them there. This forced Germany to operate 4 AFs to Sicily, some italian transports were lost and it additionally delayed Vichy enough so allied forces were able to march into position to occupy Beirut (before that they were not in range while an italian transport was waiting outside the city), so an air campaign was necessary to conquer Egypt – costing again a lot of mpps for operating. Because of the allied corps defence UK had enough ressources to invest into research and so it was not extraordinary they got early advances - nevertheless it gave them some advantage to have Jets 2 + LR 1 early in the game against the no tech german forces - cause of the low losses in France, Germany invested early in tech too (3-5 chits in 1940), but in contrary to UK without success. Not deciding in Egypt, but gave them the opportunity to kill a cruiser and AF in the battle of Norway. Due to the polish disaster, Barbarossa had to start 3 turns earlier than normal – that´s why there were not much corps in the west . Since Germany didn´t get a single tech until this point, while UK already had Jets 2 and LR 2, it was impossible to defend the west with air at this time. Against Russia a no tech Germany is usually no problem since it is so superior in numbers - a corps defence will delay Allies enough to beat the russian counterattacks back and kill their main forces. But Russias 6 tech advances alone in the first 5 turns combined with the historic battle at Minsk where the russian tank survived 9 consecutive hits, stopped Germany in front of the main defence line. After Minsk they needed several turns to reinforce their battered air – interupted by russian airstrikes (cruiser+ tank killed) before they were ready to start the offensive at Riga and cross the river. Fortunately Allies made faults in France, had not bought enough ground units and also lost some of them, so the Axis corps were able to hold them off a long time near Brest. Many axis players make the mistake to operate their air west after Allies have landed in France, but this will usually only lead to a quick Axis defeat – it gives western Allies the opportunity to kill the german air in the west and Russia will steamroll Axis from the east. Here it was no option for Germany anyway: On one side UK was still too much ahead in tech (Jets 2, LR 2 vs Germany only Jets 1) and more important, Russia was much too strong at this point. If Germany had operated West, then Russia would have killed the german defenders in the east easily with its 6 AFs and powerful ground pieces. Within only a few turns it would have reached the polish border and Axis would have been doomed. Axis needs to concentrate its forces and kill one of the Allies while it defends the other side with cheap units – otherwise it will be attritioned and annihilated between them. With all air and strong pieces in Russia it was despite the huge tech gap possible to launch a powerful offensive after Riga was conquered and to throw the russian forces back. The target was to reach a good defence position and weakening Russia enough so it would need some turns to recover before shifting forces west – and Axis needed also to catch-up a bit in tech first before they could compete against western Allies. Beeing throughout the war 1-2 jet levels behind Russia, every airbattle was extremely expensive even if Germany won the airbattles and killing the str 12 russian ground units needed several airstrikes and airbattles, not to mention the numerous counterattacks that killed many german tanks and corps – this caused a serious mpp drain. Nevertheless, when reaching the Leningrad-Smolensk-Kharkov-Sevastopol line the russian forces were beaten and scattered - time to face western Allies. Still not equal in tech, both inferior in Jets and LR, but there was no time for waiting any more. So Axis fortified the defence line in Russia with 8 armies, 3 HQs and a dozen italian/minor troops to fill the gaps and moved all air, 6 armies + 4 HQs west towards the final battle. At this point Axis was still inferior in tech, but only 1 jet level difference doesn´t hurt too much – especially since Axis was still 4:3 superior in numbers, so it had enough ground forces at the moment and would have been able to concentrate on reinforcing the air. So after 4-5 turns of airbattles the western Allied mpp stock would have been depleted. And here Hellraiser did a very good job by hiding his LR 3 and simultaneously positioning 3 of his AFs secretly into striking range. So he was able to destroy 3 german air in the first strike and 2 in the second. Germany also lost most of its armies at Hamburg during this time and there was no chance to rebuild the german air any more before Allies would have reached Berlin. All in all a very well played game by Hellraiser with aggressive actions at the right time and a good defence all over the board (France: corps defence; Russia: corps mixed with counterattacks and airsupport). This was my 10th defeat in total, i.e. the loss percentage of my games is around 1-2 %. Hellraiser really earned his victory with an excellent campaign and solid gameplay. He took his chances and used the right opportunities . Congratulations and thanks for a very good, interesting and exciting game

May 30, 1943: The end of the war: Germany surrenders after it lost nearly all AFs in the last battle. Hellraiser did a good job hiding his LR 3 and placing his AFs out of sighing range, so german air was in range and got killed within 2 turns . Without LR 3 Allies would have been in trouble since Axis was still superior in numbers - so they would have been able to bleed western Allies dry before Russia could have attacked. And in Russia Axis had a solid defence line containing 8 german armies and lots of corps going from Finland via Smolensk and Kharkov down to the mines at Sevastopol. Final techs and airpower: Germany: 3 AFs, Jets 3, LR 2, AT 1, IT 0 Russia: 3 AFs, Jets 4, LR 1, AT 2 UK: 5 AFs + 3 carriers, Jets 4, LR 3 USA: 3 AFs, Jets 4, LR 1 A very good and interesting game, congratulations to Hellraiser for his first victory against me .

May 2, 1943: UK demonstrates the superior allied tech and with its LR 3 kills 3 german AFs. German command gives its scientists a last chance to catch up. Another french corps bites the dust near Kiel, but german losses are high...

April 4, 1943: Axis forces prepare defences in Russia. The french troops near Kiel are no more - removed by some german armies. Reinforcements on the way to Sweden. Now the decisive battle has started...

March 17, 1943: Airbattle begins in the west, strong german forces start the counteroffensive - 3 german armies kill the UK corps in Hamburg and liberate the city. At the end of the turn Germany developes AT 1.

January 10, 1943: Everything quiet in Russia except the usual battles at Sevastopol. First action of german AFs in the West: Warspite battleship sunk near Sweden. The decisive airbattle comes closer - unfortunately Allies still ahead in Jet tech.

November 29, 1942: Leningrad occupied, supply lines to Finland established. Some battles are raging near Smolensk but without air support no breakthroughs. German air did its duty in northern Russia and deploys to new battlefields...

November 1, 1942: Surprise: German special forces sneak behind the enemy lines and liberate Finland . Meantime Russia looses another 2 corps at Leningrad. In the south both russian mines occupied, battles approaching Sevastopol - Russia disbanded its last cruiser in the Black Sea. Corps battles in the West, no ressources lost this turn, 2 german HQs take command of the forces.

October 4, 1942: Heavy battles in Russia - 3 russian corps, army and airfleet destroyed, german AF lost too in the airbattle. Kharkov conquered.

September 6, 1942: Finally german scientists get a little clue from the enemy jets falling from the sky and develope Jets 3 at the end of the turn. Kharkov survives at str 1, but 3 russian corps killed this turn - dozens of axis corps defending in the west. [ July 30, 2005, 03:17 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Cutting of Brussel - Yes, from supply. So it went down from 9 to 5 . Russia: German forces advancing, killing some corps in the process - Kharkov can now be attacked from 3 sides and should fall next turn. Timoshenko near Leningrad survives luckily 6 airstrikes - guess he will retreat now so Germany can conquer Leningrad and liberate Finland . West: Defence line formed in eastern France and western German, Allies build a defence line from Bordeaux to Paris.

August 9, 1942: Smolensk conquered, german forces approaching Leningrad and Kharkov. In the west german forces start a limited offensive near Paris - cutting off Brussel from supply and attacking a US AF, shoot down to str 3. Axis forces still superior in numbers - mpps should be pretty even now. Russia at AT 2, Germany 0. Airpower: Germany: 8 AFs (Jets 2, LR 2) Russia: 3 AFs (Jets 4, LR 1) UK: 4 AFs + 3 carrier (Jets 2, LR 2) USA: 2 AFs (Jets 3, LR 1) [ July 30, 2005, 04:54 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

July 26, 1942: Germany is not getting Jets, but has the better combat tactics : another 2 russian AFs killed in the german counterstrike - Russia down to 3 AFs. Nevertheless it is expensive for Germany to wage war against the already Jets 4 russian air - with its outdated lv 2 airplanes...

July 12, 1942: Breakthrough near Minsk - german corps and tanks move towards Smolensk through the gap, new AF put into service. In the west axis forces retreat into the french and spanish mountains - Bordeaux abandoned.

June 28, 1942: All AFs reinforced and ready for battle...German offensive in Russia starts . Russian tank in Riga destroyed, city conquered - only 1 russian AF from Leningrad intercepting, seems russian air is somewhere else... Nothing new in the West...Allies still 2 hexes away from Bordeaux killing 2 corps each turn.

June 14, 1942 Yep, trench warfare during the last 3 turns and building up - no side is advancing - Germany waiting for better tech.

@Zapp: Only thing to say here: Stop your made up stories and piss off little stalker - it´s really getting annoying with you ! @Hellraiser: Yep, the game is more or less balanced at this stage with Axis superior in numbers and Allies superior in tech - can go either way A very close and good game so far

March 22, 1942: Heavy airbattles around Riga - 2 russian corps killed. Since Germany also got no LR, only 2 AFs were able to intercept during the russian counterstrike at an tank in the first row . In the west Allies loose an UK corps. Only 3 US armies + 2 corps in France as ground troops. Russia developed AT 2 in turn 5 Barbarossa. Germany developed 2 techs throughout the war, Russia during 5 turns already 6 techs - seems the SC gods are with Stalin . Tech levels: Germany: Jets 2, no other tech Russia: Jets 3, LR 1, AT 2 UK: Jets 2, LR 2 USA: Jets 1, LR 1 But war is far from over since Axis gets a lot more mpps/turn than Allies and is also 3:2 superior in numbers. A very interesting game with several large battles where both sides now have similar chances to win . [ July 23, 2005, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

February 8, 1942: Yep in deed, this game is really a straw that breaks the camel's back . 4th turn Barbarossa - Russia developes Jets 3...and in combat: german str 7 AF gets killed by an intercepting russian AF - russian units seem to know only max damages .

December 14, 1942: And USSR gets LR 1 in its 3rd turn...fortunately Germany catches up to Jets 2 at the end of the turn. Minsk this time conquered with 7 AFs in range. Near Bordeaux US army destroyed - Allies again 2 hexes away from both french cities. Small naval battle at Gibraltar - no diving for the sub, so it gets destroyed, US battleship heavily dambaged by the italian fleet in return.

November 16, 1941: Yep - incredible tech and combat results for Russia. 2nd turn Russia developes Jets 2. Russian tank in Minsk without entrenchment survives 3 tank battles (1 of them kamikaze), 2 attacking corps and 4 airstrikes - all 9 attacks minimum damage in a row... Italian fleet retreats towards Gibraltar. Iraq surrenders. New german AF built. [ July 23, 2005, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

October 19, 1941: - Odessa and Kiev conquered, approaching Riga+Minsk. - Portugal surrenders, Baghdad defender killed - Corps building program started in western Europe - Russia developes Jets 1 and Anti-tank 1 in the first turn, now all allied nations ahead in tech. Airstrengths: Germany: 7 AFs (Jets 1, LR 0) UK: 2 AFs + 3 carriers (Jets 2, LR 2) USA: 1 AF (Jets 1, LR 1) Russia: 5 AFs (Jets 1, LR 0)

September 21, 1941: Barbarossa begins - all border armies cut off or destroyed. Both tanks, AF and a russian cruiser destroyed. Greece surrenders, Portugal and Iraq should follow next turn. UK demonstrated LR 2 when taking Brest. Germany no tech until Barbarossa - but at the end of the turn it researches Jets 1.

August 3, 1941: Tangier cleared from defenders - no allied units left on the continent. 3 allied corps died in Spain, 1 at Algier, 1 Bergen and 5 in Egypt. USA prepares for war.