Terif

I dont know if US, UK, FF etc. units count too. According to Huberts remarks only russian units count. It simply happens too seldom that siberians are not triggered to be able to test it . Usually if Russia is too strong for the transfer, Axis never comes deep enough into Russia to be able to trigger siberians. Perhaps in ~2 out of >500 games this happened - so its not really relevant . And when it happened, Russia had always much more than 50 combat units. When it fell below ~50 units siberians arrived. Here one of Huberts comments concerning siberians:

First there is a geographical trigger for the siberian army: if enough axis units approach Moskov (within 4 hexes) or one of the cities east of Moskov (Rostov, Stalingrad, Voronezh...etc), siberians can arrive. The closer the axis units are to the cities, the less units are necessary to trigger the siberians - and units near Moskov count more than near other cities. But after the geographical precondition is fullfilled, there is a check for the relative strength of both the axis and allied forces in Russia. If Allies are strong compared to Axis (and have a minimum number), then siberians dont arrive, even if Axis units are attacking/taking Moskov...Usually Allies have to be really strong, something around 50+ units. Probably Tanks count more than corps, since the relative strength is relevant if siberians transfer or not. So it is possible to loose Moskov (Leningrad doesnt influence siberians anyway) and still not to receive siberians if Russia is too strong.

The Rome Gambit is forbidden in all competition games. You can say it is worldwide banned . Therefore you will not find an explaination about how to do it - and I hope no one will ever describe it. It can only be misused against uninformed new players that dont know it is banned... BTW: in the PBEM League there are no official rules, but it is recomanded to forbid the Rome gambit in your games individually to be sure that no one exploits this loophole.

Most probably you didnt place your 3 units at the right spots. They have to be placed very exactly. Then russian readiness increased 10% per turn starting in January 1941. Axis needs the 3 units when the minors join, or in case they dont join (e.g. Spain not neutral or France not conquered) they need them in December 1940/January 1941. How long you need for France doesnt matter and has no influence on readiness. Here the description from my help thread: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=18;t=002198 For Axis: ( also contains tips for Allies what not to do ) - Poland has to surrender within 4 turns or russian readiness increases. Fifth turn 2 % every following ~10%. How to keep russian war readiness down: - After Poland surrendered place one unit in one of the two german border cities. - in October 1940: Place 3 units DIRECTLY at the german-russian border at certain places. The nationality doesnt matter, you can also use italians or minor units. 1. one unit has to be in the city of Konigsberg 2. another unit at one of the hexes either southeast or northeast of Warsaw 3. the 3rd unit can be placed anywhere on the 9 border hexes - directly at the border, no hex distance between unit and border You need the 3 units when the minors join, but since you dont know when they do, the 3 units should be placed in October 1940 (Minors start joining November 1940). Only units in Germany count for russian readiness. Units in Romania are irrelevant. If you have not enough units (or too much, but that normally only happens short before Barbarossa)russian readiness increases by 10 % per turn. In case your minors didnt/couldnt join (e.g. because Spain became Axis or France is not conquered) then you need the 3 units at least in December 1940/January 1941. Otherwise russian readiness increases from February 2, 1941. - US readiness increasing starts at February 2, 1941: 4 %/turn. Russian readiness increasing starts at June 22, 1941: 2-6 %/turn randomly [ March 29, 2004, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Heres an explaination about how bidding works: I also updated my help thread with some basic knowledge/things you should know when playing HvsH(first post): http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=18&t=002198#000000 Bidding: In Human vs Human games it is common practice to use bonus mpps for Allies("bid") to decide who plays which side in the Fall Weiss campaign. The one with the highest bid plays Axis. With some experience Axis has a huge advantage, therefore Allies need extra mpps to even out this advantage. The first system was a 1:1:1 system (=mpps x bid for UK,USA,Russia), i.e. if someone bids e.g. 150, then UK gets 150mpp, USA 150mpp and Russia 150mpp. This is an old (obsolete)system, but can still be used by new players. In the meantime the most common systems are 1:8 (1xUK, 8xRussia), 1:10 (1xUK, 10xRussia) and the newest system: 1:5:20 (1xUK, 5x USA, 20x Russia). E.g. a bid of 200 means in the 1:5:20 system: 200 mpp for UK, 1000 USA, 4000 Russia (in 1:10=200UK, 2000Russia). The host adds the bonus mpp in the scenario editor to the fall weiss scenario, saves it under a new name and then can load it for the game. The size of the bid highly depends on the experience of both players since axis only has an advantage when the axis player knows how to play his side and the advantage increases with the experience. Here some average values (March 2004): -new vs new: no bid necessary (Allies even can be in the advantage here) -intermediate vs intermediate: bid 200 system 1:8 or 1:10 (or ~100 in 1:5:20) -veteran vs veteran: bid 200 system 1:5:20

Turkey: If you have enough units and time, you can attack Turkey as Axis - but not before you are already at war with Russia. Be sure you can protect Iraq/Egypt before you decide to attack, otherwise it will be a boomerang . But usually it is more likely that Russia - and not Axis - attacks Turkey to liberate the middle east. To afford a 3 front war Axis need a lot of ressources which they normally dont have. Siberian reinforcements: 1. Geographical trigger: If enough Axis units approach Moskov (within 4 hexes) or one of the cities east of Moskov (e.g. Rostov, Stalingrad etc.) it is possible to trigger siberians. They all count together, units near Moskov count more than near other cities, the closer the more they count. 2. If the geographical trigger is active, then SC checks how strong russian forces are compared to axis forces. As long as Russia is too strong siberians will not be triggered. When to attack Russia: You should keep russian readiness low and attack it as late as possible. Each turn without Russia in the war, Axis can collect mpps and prepare for the battle. Usually they reach 600+ mpp/turn before Barbarossa, UK+USA only around 330 mpp. Each turn you can delay the start of Barbarossa Axis grow stronger. If you have enough time, it is preferable to conquer Vichy+Spain before Barbarossa to connect Africa to your capitals. [ March 15, 2004, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

As Axis you should move a task force to the LC border in your first turn. Then the allied LC gambit can only be a disadvantage for them. Axis units simultaneously close to Maginot and Brussel during a gambit cause Italy to join nearly immediately. So if you have some units in the west, you can attack Brussel, Italy joins and Axis can choose which way to go to Paris (north or south). Allies have only lost a lot of US+russian readiness and given Axis Italy by the gambit. LC gambit turn 1 is very risky and a big gamble. Success rate around 30-40%. If it fails, game over for Allies...If it works a huge disadvantage if Axis have some units ready. Without Axis units, allies can fortify their position in turn 2 and Germany has a problem when it cant attack Brussel any more. Consequence: always have some units ready for a counterattack as Germany ! LC gambit turn 2: will work, but can only be an advantage if Germany has no units ready for a counterattack (see turn 1 gambit). If Axis reaches Paris despite the gambit (before 1941), it is only a huge disadvantage for Allies. In consequence the gambit can only be useful against unexperienced players - that dont know how to prepare/react - to crush them early. Experienced players should have no real problem to conquer France and then they have a much better situation than without a gambit. Personally I didnt use the gambit since a long time. Against new players it is simply not fair and causes a short game - and I like long games with a lot of battles . Veterans never leave LC alone in turn 2. Germany has enough units to fight both in LC and in Poland. Its better to take LC as soon as possible, independent from a possible gambit. So if the gambit happens to you: Dont go in the defensive, you have to attack in the west to bring Italy in the war. If you even can break through and take Brussel... good, go the normal way LC -> Paris. But If LC/northern France is heavily defended you now can also attack from Italy in the south - often the better choice. Take defensive positions in northern Germany and move most air, some armies/tanks + HQs to Italy. There Allies have no UK air cover, no carriers, no ships for shore bombardment. It needs perhaps some turns more to reach Paris cause of the mountains and the longer way, but Axis will have not much losses and Allies loose several thousand mpps in readiness cause of the gambit, so a few turns more or less doesnt matter.

An air strategy is a strategy that some players love, but its not a cost effective one. If you dont like it, then make a house rule against it. Sure, a player can win against a weaker one with a pure air strategy - or with other ineffective strategies. But if an equally skilled opponent chooses a more balanced approach he has much better chances to win - and most likely will. Air is expensive to buy and reinforce - even high experienced AFs with expected losses of 0 loose 1 point every 3 attacks in average (and 1 AF point is much more expensive than 1 Corps point..). Each jet level increases these costs by 10% making them even more inefficient in anti-ground warfare. One simple strategy is: if you cant compete in the air - at one front - then go for the ground, put a lot of corps in place and let them kill by the air if he wants to. This often costs the enemy air more mpps than you by loosing the corps... Yes, if one side has air superiority and enough ground units at all fronts, he will win. But thats the point in SC: you cant afford everything at the same time as long as the game is not already won, you have to decide which way to go and where to spend your mpps. If someone buys only air, then you can crush him on the ground and its simply not possible to achieve air superiority both in the west and the east - at least not permanent - without neglecting your ground forces and even then... Naturally when both players follow an air only strategy the one with the most/better air will win - if both players choose the same strategy, then Liams description is correct . BTW: after loosing some AFs you have only lost the war if you surrender. Better is to retreat, reorganize and rebuilt your forces and let the enemy bleed in the next battle .

Hi Cheesehead, you are right with the AFs. The most effecive is a balanced mix of AFs, armies, tanks, corps..etc. You need a certain amount of AFs to support your ground forces to achieve breakthroughs and for other tasks. AFs are multirole units, too much AFs are pretty ineffective (and expensive both to buy and reinforce). For the same mpps you could buy much more effective specialised units. E.g. an army is more than 3 times as good as an airfleet in anti ground combat (mpp compared). If someone produces too one sided (e.g. a lot of AFs), he will most likely loose the war against an equal opponent. Some of the reasons why a few players use house rules with limits on AFs (and ground units): to create a more historical game (or what they think it would/should be) + they dont like air to dominate their games and prefer a ground warfare. Thats what house rules are for: to change the gameplay according to your own needs and wishes. And if both players want it this way, why not. [ March 11, 2004, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: Terif ]

If you compress a file with "Winrar" you get a .rar file. The advantage is you have a higher compression rate than with Winzip. But since Winzip is more common - and nearly everyone has it - it is preferable to use Winzip to reduce your file size. But you can download Winrar e.g. at: http://www.winrar-rog.com/eindex.html

Its really amazing how hard Zapp tries to throw dirt after me and damage my reputation - by all means. A lot of half-truthes, slanderings and stories taken out of context mixed with some simple lies...obviously he thinks: throw enough dirt and something will get stuck... To clear one thing: Zapp has the honour to be the only one at my ignore/invisible list at ICQ. And he is the only one at the moment I have an argument with - not with Rambo and not with Kuniworth. Kuniworth never was on my invisible list at ICQ. Rambo only some time during an argument where Zapp infected him. When he realized that he was wrong, he apologized and I removed him. BTW, after more than 40 games both Rambo and I needed a break - it makes not much fun to play a game when you know the other one surrenders or retires within 1-3 hours, like in the last dozen games. This is a waste of time - and its my spare time. I dont play only to win, but to have fun. I really have enough victories - alone 49 vs Zapp...over 500 in total. Anyway I dont think I will play any other player so often any more as I played Zapp in the past. This seems not to be healthy - at least if someone cant bear to loose . I will not comment Zapps other slanderings - that would be senseless. We already have dozens of threads with lots of them, he obviously never stops his smear campaign. Therefore I usually ignore him and only step in seldomly...probably my last comment to his current campaign. [ March 03, 2004, 08:27 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

You only prove my own words and show everyone why I dont play you any more - no more comment needed...

Yep, I am playing everyone except one person. Like most people I dont react very positively to poor sportsmanship, blackmailing, insults and consistent slanderings... The start of this thread just confirmed again that it is better not to waste much time with such a person. It is not very difficult to beat him anyway - like a look at the records shows. Better to train some new warriors how to do it when they are ready to fight against the dark side... .

Entrenchment and terrain bonus are independent. Each level of entrenchment improves the defences against everything by 1 point. The terrain bonus additionally improves the defence: e.g. fortress: vs soft attackers 2 bonus points vs tanks 4 points!! vs air also 4 points ... Therefore it is usually not useful to attack a fortress with tanks or airfleets... e.g. forest: one point bonus against everything All values for each terrain/unit are described in the tablets at the end of the manual. So if you move away, you only loose your entrenchment bonus when you come back and not the terrain bonus.

If you reinforce Ireland it gives experience to the allied units. But you have to reinforce it if you want to conquer France... . As Axis you should reinforce Ireland until you are sure you will be able to conquer France (Paris in spotting range...). If you let it die too early, then Allies can use all units in France and get a mpp boost (250-350 mpp plunder + 16 mpp/turn). This can be enough to stop Germany in France if Allies want to. Therefore it is better to give Allies some experience - and reinforce Ireland - than to risk loosing the war .

The bid level depends on the experience level of both players. Axis gameplay in the original 1939 Fall Weiss has improved a lot compared to ancient times. Experienced players use the 1:20 (UK:Russia) or 1:5:20 (UK:USA:Russia) system in the meantime with a fair bid of ~ 200. UK should never get more than 400 mpp starting Bonus (better <300), otherwise they can and most probably will defeat Germany in France. Intermediate players still use the 1:8 or 1:10 system with also an average bid of around 200. New players still can and do use the original Fall Weiss without any bonus mpp. Of course if a more experienced one plays against a newer player, he should give the other one the appropriate bonus if he is fair and wants a good game - not only a slaughter . Especially in the Panzerliga this is not so much a problem, since a game is played in mirror modus and most players are newer players, i.e. same experience level. One complete PL game consists of 2 single games, one as Axis, the other one as Allies. Standard is to play it with the same bid level and therefore both sides agree to an appropiate one for both games. In veteran vs new player games bid level is asynchronous (higher bonus for the new player). But another good possibility is to play a more balanced Szenario than the original Fall Weiss. In my opinion the best balanced Szenario - for intermediate to expert players - at the moment is Amonas 1939 Fall Weiss Mod2 (can be downloaded at the PL homepage: http://www.panzerliga.de/dt/docs/szenarien/szenarien_sc_1.php Only required houserule: no allied declaration of war on Italy allowed (allies are very strong in the Med, so an invasion in Italy would be unfair). Axis will have a good start, but Allies can grow very powerful in the long run. There will be heavy fightings in the Med and around Spain that both sides can win. 1942/43 Allies usually have the chance to turn the tide with a strong Russia and USA (including higher research levels + IT Lv5). [ February 18, 2004, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

It is no problem to attack Turkey if you want to and have the necessary ressources and forces. As Axis you need a task force - with HQ - from Syria or Iraq: they move north and cut of the turkish capital from russian reinforcements. Then they turn west and capture the capital, eventually your forces from the west can join after capturing Istanbul - if they are fast enough . Attacks only from Istanbul without a task force from Syria is not a good idea: here russians can entrench in the Mountains around the capital and Axis will have a hard time - or most probably fail - to conquer Turkey. As Allies: Land with russian transports east of Istanbul to cut off the turkish capital from Europe - or capture Istanbul if possible, but thats not necessary. Russian land forces enter from the Caucasus, move west and can conquer Turkey - and later Iraq/Syria if axis occupied - within a few turns. But the turkish way needs a lot of forces that are missing at other fronts, so you can only do it if you can spare enough mpps for this operation. And as Axis never attack Turkey before Barbarossa. If you attack Turkey, Russia will join immediately.

Yes, the base city supply value of a city for HQ supply purposes is not affected by damages. Damages reduce only the range of the city. Especially in Russia this is important. If you e.g. capture a russian city with a german HQ, then it has full (8) supply next turn. The city will be burned down to 0 in the turn when it gets captured, but increases to 1 at the start of the next turn, so the HQ is in supply. Each turn the range of the city increases by 1 until the maximum of 4 hexes (=5-1) when it reaches maximum supply of 5. With Brest its the same, even if it is bombed to zero by Allies, an allied HQ in the city will still have maximum supply (here 8) next turn. For Axis its irrelevant, since they should never place a HQ near Brest if Allies have air superiority - it wouldnt survive very long . But as Allies you usually dont destroy the city before you capture it - its better to get it undamaged... . [ February 14, 2004, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

In a surprise contact attacker and defender change roles. I.e. if a sub moves and has a surprise contact, then it is the defender and not the attacker any more. Since a sub has a defence value of 0 vs all attackers, this is very bad for the sub . If it encounters another sub, then the other sub will be the attacker and attacks the sub with its naval attack value. In a surprise contact anyone can attack and its not possible to dive for a surprised sub - I guess in this case they count as normal naval units and not as subs. I am not perfectly sure since it happens too seldom, but from experience I think the unit that surprises the moving unit receives a bonus on its attack factor (I guess it is attack factor +1 or +2). Therefore also usually helpless HQs and transports can attack a surprised unit with an attack value of 1 or 2. From some combat results I think most probably it is random how much bonus they receive - or it depends on the kind of surprised unit...if the surprised unit is a transports, losses are usually extremly high (Bonus has to be 2 or even 3).

Pzgndr is right, only 2 additions: 1. HQs within supply range of a city will be boosted to full supply. Supply range means the result of the following must be 1 or more: (current supply level of the city) minus (distance of the HQ from the city (clear Hexes count 1, Swamp/Mountains 2)). The supply Lv of the HQ depends only on the potential supply level of the city from where the supply is traced. Damaged cities (e.g. at Lv 1-4) also delivers full supply (8/10) for the HQ if it is in range. Only the supply range is reduced for a damaged city (e.g. a lv 4 city has a range of 3 clear hexes, lv 2 city = 1 hex...etc). 2. Sea supply: Ships are able to store supply and they are supplied from ports instead of cities. Each turn supply of a ship will be decreased by 1 - and not recalculated like with ground/air units. At the start of each turn it is checked which is the closest port and supply will be traced from this one. If the supply delivered from port is higher than the current supply stored in the fleet, then supply increases to the higher level. Otherwise it stays at the stored value minus one (=supply consumpion). E.g. a fleet starting from a lv 10 port starts also with supply of 10. If it moves away, after 3 turns supply level will be 10-3 = 7 (after 6 turns: 10-6 = 4). If the fleet moves again into range of a lv 10 port, supply will go up again. If it moves within 2 hexes range supply will be 8. 1 Hex distance = 9. In port again =10...

First there is a geographical trigger for the siberian army: if enough axis units approach Moskov (within 4 hexes) or one of the cities east of Moskov (Rostov, Stalingrad, Voronezh...etc), siberians can arrive. The closer the axis units are to the cities, the less units are necessary to trigger the siberians - and units near Moskov count more than near other cities. But after the geographical precondition is fullfilled, there is a check for the relative strength of both the axis and allied forces in Russia. If Allies are strong compared to Axis (and have a minimum number), then siberians dont arrive, even if Axis units are attacking Moskov...But Allies have to be really strong, something around 50+ units. It happens very seldom that Allies are too strong to receive siberians, because in this case Axis usually cant move far enough to the east .

When you play SC online (=TCP/IP) vs human opponents you will see your opponents actions in realtime. When he moves a unit that is in your spotting range, you will see it live at the moment he moves it - there is no replay. The active player can save (and resume it later) at every moment of the game - the other one can only sit and watch...and make plans how to kill the most enemies in his next turn . Just give it a try .

Hi Friendly Fire, Seems you had trouble with your E-mail provider...But one of your mails ("anyone home") just arrived. In case my last turns ("10t") didnt arrive, I resent it to you. If it doesnt arrive too, plz post here.

Like Pzgndr said: it depends on the overall situation, the time when Sealion takes place and the mpp income of both sides. A Sealion is not an automatic win for Axis, in contrary: often it leads to their defeat even if they conquer England. From experience: I lost England in several games and still won the game - often because of the invasion . But with England out of the war it will be a quite interesting game with a completly different war independent of the outcome . If Axis invades England early before it conquered the usual neutrals: Axis has good chances to get it - usually its not possible for England to stop an invasion if they lost a lot in France - but Russia and USA join very early too. Germany only gets 234 mpp with France and another 40 mpp from England (eventually +120 mpp from minors). Perhaps Axis has more units, but Russia and USA gets a lot more mpp/turn and they have an excellent strategical position to grab some minors themselves (Finland, Turkey, Iraq, Sweden, Romania...)or invade Poland while Axis units are still busy in the west. An Axis invasion after they conquered the neutrals and with their minors joined should be very difficult. England also should be grown strong during this time and a successful Sealion can only be possible if Axis throws everything to England and is therefore very weak in the east. Where Russia can advance. Its always a balance of power. Axis can decide which side they can defeat: either they go to Russia, then they can conquer it. Or they go to England and take this country. But in the meantime the other allied side always has the possibility to grow strong and finally can/should be able to win the war on its own. First measure for Allies when England is near to surrender: - Canadian and/or US/russian units take and secure english colonies: Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Canada and other from England conquered cities. This way Allies still get the mpp after England surrendered, have a foothold in the Med and they can invade and take Iraq + Finland immediately. Together with these ressources Russia and USA can easily reach around 800 mpp/turn - more than Axis...a good starting situation for the revenge [ February 08, 2004, 05:50 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

Canuck: From your description it seems you go first to Norway/Sweden and then towards France. Against a player with some experience this is a killer and Allies will defeat Germany in France. Germany starts with more/better units, but Allies have the edge in mpps/turn. If Germany waits too long to invade France, Allies can dig in and grow too strong for Germany to defeat them. The usual approach is: Poland, LowCountries, France. Allies have several options to invade some neutrals - including Iraq. But if they do so, the units they use are missing in France. Therefore if your opponent invades Iraq, its much easier to take France. You cant prevent Allies from taking Iraq, but if they do so, just throw them out of the middle east after France has fallen and you will get the mpps instead of the Allies . Allies have no chance to hold Egypt and Iraq if you move a german Hq and some airfleets to North Africa. Only if the french campaign took too much time, there is a small chance for Allies to hold it. In case you dont have enough time left to conquer it before Russia joins, it is better to prepare a strong Barbarossa. With Russia in the war, it is no longer possible to go successfully in the middle east if Iraq and Beirut are still allied.