Terif

It works also with 1.06

Yep - remembering more the exceptional games (selective memory) and not the probably >95% of the games that go normal is certainly one of the main factors . In principle you get a certain number of tech advances till Barbarossa - you can influence in which area most likely, by distributing your chits accordingly. In extreme just only invest into IW+AT first and move on to the next areas when you have maxed them out - then nothing can happen and luck is eliminated. Randomness plays a role, but only a small one and mostly at the higher tech levels 4 and 5. If you really want to have a certain tech, just put 5 chits into it and you will nearly with certainty get till level 3 until Barb, only level 5 and to some extend level 4 are more determined by randomness and luck. But the important techs are caped at level 3 anyway and getting 4+5 makes not that much of a difference in the other techs usually - nice to have but not crucial for the outcome of the war .

The good thing in SC2 is there is no killer tech any more like in SC1 (in SC1 it was in deed possible to win just by tech luck when you got e.g. high jet levels and the other side not). In SC2 not getting a certain tech is no game breaker. One or two tech levels difference are no real problem, the base combat values are high enough and more important any attack/defence values are multiplied with readiness which can be reduced by airstrikes or cutting of enemy units, so it makes not that much of a difference. Not having tech also has its advantages cause then you save the mpps to buy new chits and your units are cheaper if they are not upgraded which compensates a large part of any tech advantage the enemy may have. So e.g. if Russia gets no Infantry Weapons or Anti-Tank, their units are very cheap – they may not be able to launch counteroffensives, but in the early stage of Barb this is not the best idea anyway - with non-expensive units they can just put a lot of cheap cannon fodder in the Axis way to delay them until Russia has researched the necessary techs and build up its forces to enable counterattacks. Anyway, if Russia invests first into combat techs, it will always get some of them till 1941 and even with very bad luck then still has enough territories available to trade for time if necessary, so they can max IW/AT out till 42/43. However, often the so called „bad luck“ in tech is nothing more than the wrong investment strategy. E.g. investing into economy techs first as Germany/Russia when they need combat techs first and then wondering/complaining not to have combat techs when Barbarossa starts. If you invest into economy instead of combat techs, then you will have to expect that and deal with it ! Also I already met several players that just don´t spend the necessary mpps for research (and diplo) and then complain about not getting techs – which is no wonder when they don´t hire scientists . Instead they build units in 39/40 and even after the fall of France sometimes don´t max research out and prefer to buy units (e.g. bombers, subs, engineers, rockets etc. appear on the battlefield in early 1940...) instead of tech (or diplo) chits. Getting less techs then is not bad luck but simply logical and the consequence of the own choice. It doesn´t need to be a bad choice as having these units instead also has advantages, but then it just has to be expected to have less techs. If Germany invests as soon as possible into tech (+Diplo) and also in the essential techs first, then it will nearly always get them till Barbarossa – there is simply no real luck involved, it´s just statistical certainty. Luck/random events simply even out during the course of a game - there are so many random events (not only tech and diplo, but also combat) and each only within a relatively low span. Combat only differs by max +-1 points and since you have thousands of (combat) events during a game it just evens out. In tech it is comparable – you have around 8 chits with each 4-6% chance over 20-30 turns till Barb...there is just no way you don´t get several tech hits till then. You only have to make sure you invest in the ones you absolutely want first and you will get them. In the early game it is not important if or when you get tech as there are seldomly battles where tech plays a role while conquering minors/building up for the war against Russia. You only need it at the time when Barbarossa starts as then the real battles begin – you have 1.5 - 2 years for research. For Germany this means you get pretty much every game a certain number of tech advances till then – in which area you get them you can determine by the order in which you invest into tech areas. Invest only in techs you really want, then you can´t get other (unwanted) techs. At least the first techs you should choose the ones you really need (IW+AT) and then you can spread your research and see what else you get. Depending on that you then can choose your strategy (e.g. if you get high tech subs, go for subs. If you get rockets, go for rockets etc. But don´t go for rockets when you have sub tech and no rocket tech... ). Even if you don´t get IW or AT – as long as you adjust your tactics to this you don´t have a problem – this only means you better don´t send your ground units too agressively forward if the enemy has better tech on the ground, but instead reduce his readiness first via airstrikes and encircling him before going into real combat – then ground techs don´t matter much. In the end the important thing is to adjust your strategy always to the situation – both on the battlefield and to the techs you actually have. As long as you do that, which or if you have techs doesn´t really matter – any case has its advantages and disadvantages, you only have to recognize how to make the best of your situation and give the right orders to your troops . P.S.: Having said that – a non random tech system as option wouldn´t hurt .

Naval units (with the exception of aircraft carriers) can not strike accross coastal tiles that have no logical (=waterway) connection. So to get into the Baltic and shoot at the Kriegsmarine, you first have to either land allied units to controll the entry (which if you DoW Denmark you should do in any case in order to conquer the country) or to reduce Kopenhagen port to zero so your ships can move through (the last one usually only works with bombers in range, e.g. from Norway and only if Germany doesn´t place a unit into the port).

In movement there is no randomness involved - weather influences the action points (AP) of a unit (mud= halve the APs, rounded up), but does not increase the action points you need to enter a certain tile (so in Iron Rangers example you need 2+1=3 AP to enter the mountain, only that in mud the APs of the unit have been reduced and you see in your screen how many APs it has): - mountains, swamps and combined land/sea tiles cost 2 APs to enter, everything else is 1 AP. - to cross a river that is in enemy hands (= enemy colour) you need 1 extra AP (to be exact: to enter an enemy tile with a river where the river is between the tile you want to enter and the tile from which you are coming from - you see it when you right click on the river and have a look at the river properties on which side the river is if you are not sure from the graphics). Exception: when the river is frozen (winter), then there is no penalty and you only need 1 AP instead of 2. - when 2 or more enemy units are standing next to a tile, then you need 1 extra AP to enter it (ZOC penalty). - last but not least: if you can´t see an enemy unit and you will run into a surprise contact when you enter a tile, then there will be no ZOC penalty no matter how many enemy units are standing around it. [ August 05, 2007, 01:35 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Supply is very easy - in general you only need to be able to count till 4 to determine if you are in supply or not : - You get your supply from cities or ports in the amount of their strength number, each action point your unit is away reduces supply by 1. You can and should use HQs to extend the supply chain. - HQs provide more supply as long as they are supplied by one of the cities/ports with at least supply 1, so they should stay in range. - As Axis in Europe with its full supply you don´t need to care much about supply as you will always be supplied by one of the many cities. - When you conquer Africa, cities/ports are max str 5, so you only need to count till max 4 since you can place your HQs max 4 tiles away from them to be in supply - same for Russia when you exceed the 9 tiles you can be away from the german and romanian cities. Russian cities also provide max 5 supply. - and for any amphibious invasion somewhere (axis or allied) you first need to conquer a city that is then also max str 5 and you again just have to count till 4 . - pretty much the same for your combat units and their distance to the next HQ that provides them with supply: in the full supply areas where HQs provide 10 supply and you want to be able to reinforce your units to full strength, they also should stay within 4 tiles of the next HQ. In the low supply areas (Africa, Russia, amphibious invasions) 2 tiles. P.S.: mountains and swamps need 2 action points to enter, so they simply count double.

That doesn´t work - in a surprise contact the former defender that surprises the moving unit attacks only if it will have the advantage and has the better expected losses. So if you send a tank against a corps without AT in Moskov to force a surprise contact, then the corps will not attack the tank since it has to expect to suffer more damage than the tank.

Surprise contact changes the roles of attacker and defender - so if a corps rans into one of your entrenched armies, then your army attacks the corps (and gets an additional readiness bonus since it surprises the corps). This means entrenchment or terrain of the army doesn´t matter as it is now the attacker.

Yes, bombers can be important - under the right circumstances and in the later game . Early in the game there are more important things to finance and first both sides need the basic stuff. A mistake many players do is buying the toys first (like bombers, rockets, subs...) and then having no mpps left to build the basics they need to survive the early years and then get simply overrun - often cause they go for the fast win or loss and don´t plan for a long game (kind of the problem why bombers had been underrated sometimes in the forum - in short games they in deed create a bad return on investment... ). First priority need to have the things necessary for immediate survival and for Axis to enable their initial offensives - when this is ensured and spare mpps are available, the more expensive things with long term effects can be built like bombers . In the later game when enough land units are already built and when supporting the right ground missions, bombers are very powerful weapons .

Just the normal turn income - in fact it is crucial to avoid unnecessary operating if possible as it drains your ressources too much. Most of the units for my last offensive came out of the production queue (rebuilt units from the previous battles...) - since in winter turns represent a larger time frame than in summer, everything you built in summer will then appear within only a few turns when the turns get longer and so in spring there are enough new units for new offensives .

Yep, SC2 V1.06 is very good balanced and there are many opportunities to turn around a war that already seems lost...or won – and advantage will shift several times during a long game . Here Allies had the upper hand for a short time in fall 1942 after the complete annihilation of the german Caucasus forces and with western Allies landing in France including cutting of Spain without Axis beeing able to operate reinforcements in. Russia was safe behind its fortification line behind Don against attacks from the east, and had secured its western flank with a well fortified defence line from Sevastopol till Kharkov. But the russian soldiers were drunken from victory, just like the german ones in Caucasus a few months before...and so they left their secure homes, proudly waving flags and singing war songs when marching west towards Romania to collect the victory they believed would fall into their hands now... ...but with the first enemy wave approaching Odessa, german veterans from the siege of Leningrad and the battle of Moskov had been ordered on a forced march south, and so despite the destroyed infrastructure around Kiev which prevented operating, an entire german tank army with support troops was standing ready at Kiev - well hidden in the swamps – to bring devastation to the russian troops, moving by uncautiously, still their war chants on the lips...giving away their positions from miles away... ...and as the future would show, one single battle decided the fate of the once proud Russia...not so much because there were so many units destroyed, but the strategical impact beeing the crucial factor - Russia only lost half a dozen units when german tanks surprisingly attacked from the unprotected northern flank of the russian approach and rolled up their marching columns from the side. German elite paratroopers closed the bag by jumping deep behind the enemy lines to the mines of Kharkov where only a russian HQ had been left behind to defend the mighty fortification line behind the river. The paratroopers cut all the units around Odessa off from supply and HQ command and place explosive charges at the enemy fortifications to clear the path for Axis main forces later. As consequence of the ill-advised russian offensive towards Romania, the entire fortification line of Sevastopol-Kharkov fell without a shoot fired when german commando units took them in a cloak-and-dagger operation, including fortress Sevastopol itself...even more important: With german forces now approaching from Kharkov, Russia also got forced to abandon its fortification line against the east at river Don, before it would have faced encirclement and destruction from behind. And so step by step also Rostov, Stalingrad and Voronezh fell into Axis hands without a shot fired. When german soldiers take a look on the technical marvel of the russian fortifications they occupied without a fight, they get frightened by the idea they would have had to attack those monsterous defence systems and take them by force....countless fortifications from Kharkov-Sevastopol till Rostov-Stalingrad get blown up by german engineers as a precaution in case the russians would return some day to reoccupy their mighty structures... During the 6 months after the battle of Odessa, Russia was in full retreat – finally with the back to the wall making a stand in the last two cities before the Ural mountains where russian engineers had been busy building new fortifications. Meanwhile Western Allies were causing trouble in France, conquering both Brest and Bordeaux, destroying the fortification line there which was running from the western french coast till Germany and also bombing all major cities and infrastructure points to oblivion. US corps moved south, cutting of Spain from the rest of the Axis empire before 2 of them could be destroyed so Allies retreated back to Bordeaux when mud set in and their air in England and around Brest was grounded. This was the time when Axis forces had secured their position in Russia. Stalingrad, Voronezh and Gorky now the bulwarks of freedom against the russian hordes standing east of river Volga. December 1942....whole Europe covered in snow...finally all enemy air and reconnaissance grounded...and so secretly the german Armed Forces High Command orders the relocation of their main forces from Russia to France...in the dead of night, 6 german Lv 2 tank groups get deployed to Spain and northern Italy from where they move into prepared caverns, dug deep and hidden carefully in the mountain valleys around Marseilles where the enemy couldn´t spot them...3 german elite airfleets sent with them securing a 20 mile radius around the camps, preventing any enemy spy from discovering them. April 1943: The largest offensive in history begins....involved in this final battle of France on german side: 6 tank groups, 10 armies, 12 corps, 3 airfleets and 3 bombers. The battle starts with 3 axis bomber squadrons launched from Spain, surprising the enemy lying in their beds at Brest...a few fighter pilots can launch their planes despite rain over the area, but when they arrive in the air the first stage is already over and thousands of bombs destroyed the infrastructure of both Brest city and port, so allied transport capabilities in the area are not existent any more. In the following confusion, O´Connor and Bradley give contradictionary orders, causing chaos amongst the allied troops...their air support gets orders to protect Brest at all cost and neglect like hoped the recconnaissance of axis troop movements in southern and eastern France. And so unhindered from enemy air which is still grounded by mud and rain, the german main assault forces moving out of their hiding positions at Marseilles - consisting only of tanks and fast motorized corps units - can smash their way through the allied defences around Bordeaux before the enemy can recognize what´s happening to them. City and port get conquered...half a million allied soldiers go into PoW camps, including several high ranked officers from Bradleys staff.... ...when the dust settles and the air gets clear, allied reconnaissance planes now discover the whole extend of the german offensive...when they spot the additional 10 german armies approaching via Paris, with their continental forces beeing cutt off from any retreat possibilities, their spirit is broken and immediately they surrender unconditionally to the might of the german Wehrmacht . All this had been initialized by the battle of Odessa – if Russia had not started the offensive, it would still sit more or less safely in its fortification lines behind Dnjeper and Don, keeping Axis main forces busy in Russia. But now it was possible to keep the russian hordes at bay in their self-choosen prison in Ural with only 4 german units ! Russia launched a probe against Gorky, but when spotting 2 german units there, retreated back. Voronezh and Stalingrad were the other 2 pillars of the russian imprisonment. All in all a very good game and open till shortly before the end – and also shows that even loosing an entire task force with several thousand mpps doesn´t mean the end of the war as long as you continue to fight and do it better in the next battle(s) of the war .

At the start of the turn all ressources recover one point. So even if the enemy (in this case Axis) bombs a city to zero, then it will be at str 1 in your own (here: allied) turn. So you only have to place a HQ in the city and you will get supply 8 from it - even without a city, HQs provide 5 supply. Same applies to Africa - so you will never be completely out of supply as long as you send a HQ with your forces...which is necessary anyway if any invasion/offensive wants to have success.

They still get supply from Brest city. Maximum supply for ressources not connected to a friendly capital is still 5, i.e. HQs in range will get supply 8 - more than enough to support an offensive .

Yep, the swedish bikini models were geoglyphs that can only be recognized as coherent figures from the air...drawn into the sand of sweden to lure enemy adventurers on the road of perdition... . German paratrooper elite forces were standing ready to close the trap when the unsuspecting allied prey approached...devastation came from the sky and beaches when german reinforcements including HQ landed and paratroopers under aircover jumped behind enemy lines to decimate allied fighters on the ground. UK army + 2 corps destroyed immediately...soon followed by a US army and an airfleet reduced to strength 2 before it can operate away. A few survivors panic and drive the wrong way north...away from the beaches, away from rescue...and so army and tank get hunted down and killed without supply near the arctic circle...a dispersed russian corps, waving from the other side of the Baltic moves towards a meeting with the british forces – and suffers the same fate. At Leningrad Russia first operates several units to the city after russian tanks break the siege and even damage Kesselring HQ to strength 6. But german reinforcements from Kiev save the day and throw the attackers back, destroying several of them and closing the ring around Leningrad again. Russia operates away and Axis keep up the momentum...bypassing Leningrad, rocket in Moskov shot down to str 1 and occupied in July 1942...soon after the other 2 russian cities north of Moskov fall to Axis, Archangelsk under siege. But Russia also was not idle: German forces in Caucasus, still drunken from their victory in the previous mountain battles follow the retreating russians north, crossing river Don to destroy some damaged russian units and raze a russian fortification. In a bold venture, Russia operates its main forces including the Leningrad task force in the area and in July/August 1942 starts a large scale pincer movement from Rostov and Stalingrad towards Caucasus. The entire german ground forces from army group Caucasus get cut off and eventually destroyed at river Don, including both veteran german tanks from 1939. Following this disaster, Germany orders a retreat of the 3 surviving HQs and 5 airfleets back to Turkey for regrouping and reorganization –and so Grozny and Maikop oilfield fall to the enemy. When Axis operates substantial reinforcements into Caucaus, Russia decides to abandon the offensive there, retreats in the fortification line behind river Don and starts a new offensive this time in the western part of Russia against Odessa. Kiev changed hands back and forth some weeks before – now several russian armies and paratroopers assault the defending romanian armies at Odessa while german main forces are in northwest Russia between Moskov and Archangelsk. We are now in September 1942 and the battle of Odessa has just begun...a new german tank group sees its first action in the war....

The war continues... ...and gets hot in Scandinavia in December 1941 with the Declaration of War by Russia against Finland... russian amphibious forces land around Helsinki to assassinate Mannerheim in his HQ. Russian ground troops enter the country from the border in the northeast. Germany decides without hesitation to send forces for relief. Since the finish port is cut off by Royal Navy ships, the swedish expedition forces get their marching orders and operate in to save their ally. As replacement 4 corps from Königsberg transport to Sweden. To gather the necessary troops for the finish expedition, Russia obviously used the defenders of the russian mines and Odessa, so this area is now more or less undefended – which is immediately used by light axis forces to conquer Odessa and Kiev before they spot several russian armies behind Dnjeper and go into defensive mode. In the caucasian winter war russian forces take heavy casualties against the combined arms assault of Axis...with the start of the finish war russian forces abandon Tblisi and operate away to make it seem as if they would be sent to Finland...only to prepare an ambush in the next city Grozny. But this time the russians stay too long and so in April 1942 Voroshilov HQ north of Grozny and an airfleet north of Maikop oilfield that already had been conquered 2 months ago get overrun by german armies and tanks...russian general staff and lots of russian aircrafts captured . The survivors flee in panic, stampeding down a german army and corps south of Stalingrad from behind, so they get killed by accident...german forces take revenge, destroying all 3 russian oilfields, 2 cities and several corps before they can run further away. Meanwhile in Sweden US land forces have landed...the 2 british HQs there finally take courage and give the order to attack fortress Stockholm...after several bomber raids and Royal Navy decimating port and city...so the 4 heroic corps defenders now have to fight not only without HQ support, but also without supply against the overwhelmingly superior enemy forces....even the airsupport from Denmark is redirected to sink an uncautious british carrier while the airfleets at Riga and Helsinki help destroying the russian invaders of Finland...german relief forces were also on the march via Smolensk and south of Leningrad, cutting of the city which is defended by a russian army and paratrooper...but have to retreat back into defence positions after a scouting corps encounters strong motorized siberian forces west of Moskov. We are now in May 1942 – Axis forces victorious in Caucasus, but under hard pressure in Scandinavia where now the US and russian main forces launch their assault...after loosing already half of their vessels, the last survivors of the locked in Royal Navy limp north towards the swedish port into hiding from the axis bombers...all at zero supply and heavily damaged they pose no threat any more...the seaways are open again in Baltic and Tirpitz battleshipgroup is sent into battle, starting to hunt them down in the icy waters of the north, one by one .

Yep, some time ago you were able to wipe him off by simply overrunning him - but Jollyguy has learned a lot in the meantime and so in future games it will certainly look different and suspense-packed .

Forward defence is only something for the right circumstances : - here I had bad luck in research at the beginning, therefore plenty of mpps to spend for units in 1940, when the units were bought (and I bought tanks instead of the usual corps) Russia heavily invested into Infantry Weapons, no economic techs. - russian readiness went pretty high very early due to the axis strategy. You can only buy so much stuff if Axis gives you the necessary mpps with its actions against other countries - and most important: Axis forces (especially all air) were busy in other theatres and sieging England, so the axis forces in Russia had no airsupport - this gave Russia the possibility to destroy the weak intruders in one deadly blow when they entered the country and were in the open without any protection .

Usually a forward defence is in deed a bad idea since at the beginning of Barbarossa the german forces are far superior to the russian ones and they also have full supply and high morale at this stage of the war. But at some occasions it can also be useful to lay a trap near the border...it all depends on the situation and what your enemy did and is up to . In SC2 it is key to adapt your strategy and also always to change it from time to time or the enemy will know after a few wars which way you go and use it against you . Here some screenshots from one of my games this weekend where I used a forward defence in Russia after Germany went for bombers (disabling Manchester port, stopping convois to the British Isle) and sieged England with its entire air - but neglected research in land combat techs due to his heavy investments elsewhere and sent ground forces into Russia without airsupport as ressistance probably wasn´t expected that soon : Resulting in a bloodbath on the german side as Axis went into the prepared trap, followed by a fast russian assault towards Romania and Berlin:

So far tech is even : UK and Germany in Scandinavia were both fighting with Infantry Weapons level 2 against each other. In Russia both sides have IW 3 now that Germany catched up, Russia also Motorization 1. Only in Anti-Tank Russia is a bit behind, but since Germany has built no tanks and has also no tank tech this doesn´t really matter . In the air all sides (USA unknown) have shown equal tech so far also: UK, Russia and Germany at Jet 1, UK + Germany LR 1.

Yep, this was and will be a very interesting game like all the last games vs Jollyguy . At the moment I would say he should be able to beat any other player regularly – even Rambo and Liam that I also play very often would probably have no chance against him – at least if he can adapt to their naval superiority strategies they usually follow. Against me he uses his fleet very aggressively without caring much about losses since he knows I seldomly go for naval dominance with my Axis...a strategy Allies can´t afford against a player like e.g. Rambo... . Key to victory in SC2 is to adapt to the enemy strategy which Jollyguy has learned to do and also how to use combined arms – coordinating the air and naval arm to support the ground forces and so enabling them to be victorious even against numerically superior enemies. Here in this game Jollyguy fought for every inch of the map. He especially likes to defend Africa heavily and so he did here – landing HQ, tank, army, corps and airfleets at Cassablanca... which forced Germany already in June 1940 to send 2 HQs with their task forces to clear the desert while a third task force conquered Spain. German diplomats got bribed by the Allies and so successes in Romania and Hungary came late, they didn´t join before September 1940 while Sweden already stopped its convois August 1940. Due to this affront, Germany decided to take the ore from Sweden that is rightfully his by force – sending with Barbarossa a task force to secure the area. Meanwhile Rommels Afrika Korps had been forced by the persistent allied resistance to be blown out of proportions and now half of the german Wehrmacht was positioned in the desert after the successful african campaign. Therefore Rommel decided not to transport back to mainland Europe, but to march directly into the industrial heart of Russia in Caucasus by declaring war to Turkey. And so with Barbarossa (August 17th, 1941) came the double strike in Scandinavia and Middle East . We are now in November 1941 and the allied focal point is clearly Scandinavia....when german forces approached Oslo, the largest battle of the war began in front of the city: On the allied side 3 airfleets, 3 bombers, 3 carriers, tank, 2 armies, 6 corps...and the entire Royal Navy broke into the Baltic with exactly 10 battleship and cruiser fleets, bombarding and laying curtain fire along the whole scandinavian and german coast. Germany only with HQ, 1 airfleet, 2 armies and 2 corps in Sweden...Allies far superior in material, but the german forces battle hardened, experienced and highly motivated, using the terrain to their advantage ...so UK and USA lost more than 4 times the mpps than Germany in this first battle....and now german reinforcements from Turkey arrived at Denmark and around the northern german coast. In Russia there were only light skirmishes so far – with one russian corps that was scouting south of Leningrad destroyed. Riga and Minsk conquered. No activities in southwest Russia since Axis forces are busy elsewhere – so the russian defenders of Kharkov and the mines have to shorten the time with pillaging and torturing the poor souls of the civilians they ought to protect... But the battle of Caucasus has just begun, with german battleships opening fire against the russian defenders standing next to the Black Sea. The german forces in Scandinavia retreated back towards Oslo for repairs and upgrading...they were still fighing the battle of Oslo with obsolete weapons (IW 2, AT 1)...the modernest weapons when they started their trip accross the sea to Sweden, but meanwhile belonging into museums...especially since Russia was already fighting from the beginning of Barbarossa with the most modern Infantry Weapons. In the Baltic Royal Navy eventually has been trapped there with the closing of the entrance via Kopenhagen port...now defended by a german cruiser fleet...while axis bombers and battleships decimate the 10 entrapped allied fleets that are now cut off from supply and repair possibilities...going down ship by ship, beeing helpless against the axis coastal batteries, bombers and battleships pounding them from every side... [ July 23, 2007, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Yes, mines do not shoot back at planes - and since there is no real fight they only get half the experience. But to train at mines there is in deed usually no time as AFs have better things to do - in any case: If the enemy doesn´t like these bombardments he can just place a unit on top of the mine and then it is safe from airstrikes. AF range and damage As Bromley said: rockets are the only unit where damage decreases with strike range, for AF´s it doesn´t matter how far away they fight.

mines = ressources = half the experience gained

Airfleets will get their experience automatically during the course of the war since they are in action most of the time. To extra train them is unnecessary and simply too costly. Remember: even if expected losses are 0, they will take a hit every third turn in average. So make every attack count and only attack if you have a target worth attacking or you will sacrifice too many mpps unnecessarily which will result in units missing you could have bought with these ressources. Collecting experience is not the issue and doesn´t matter for the decission if you attack something or not. P.S: when attacking ressources your unit get only halve the experience than if they attack another combat unit - so attacking ports makes no sense at all as there you loose most of the experience you get when reinforcing the lost strength points of your AF from the attacks anyway, it only costs you mpps...and you don´t even hurt the enemy this way as ports generate no income .

In HvH games it´s best to just ask your opponent how he prefers it since it differs from player to player . You can clarify it before the game or can give him the choice when you see the war is over. Both fighting till the end and giving up when the war is virtually over has it´s pluses. At least your first games you better fight till the end. First since often you still can win when you already think it is over and even more cause you also need to learn how to defend in SC2. And fighting against far superior enemy forces is the best way to do that . If you manage to put up a good defence when the enemy is attacking you with overwhelming numbers, then you have much much better chances to win the next war - only with attacking you can´t win a war (at least not against an able opponent), you also need to know when, where and how to defend...best opportunity to learn it is in an already hopeless situation as there you have no choice but to manage the ressources and forces you have left efficiently to inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy. Furthermore in SC2 there are lots of possibilities and opportunities to turn around a game already believed lost. Usually you can still win till nearly to the end if you adapt to the enemy and now use the proper strategy - only if you have no task force able to fight left or your capitals are gone, you can be sure to have lost. In all other cases there is still hope - but you will never know if you give up too soon . P.S.: At the end of the game you can have either a draw or one side has won the war. Minor as well as of course major victory at the end date is a victory i.e. you have won the game. So even if your empire may be crumbling, you can still achieve a victory if you have left over enough of your land when the final accounting is done - another reason not to give up too soon . [ July 09, 2007, 05:53 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]