Oak

Paris puts up a valiant fight, holding out at strength 1 against repeated attacks. But, it can only be reinforced to 4 and will fall next turn. Ireland finally falls. Italian cruiser attacks Gibralter. Other Italian ships unaccounted for.

And, what is the "RACK strategy"?? Can you enlighten us?

The Germans chop away at the French defense, with the French holding up well. Only 3 corps left next to Paris, and the army in Paris is reinforced to 10. 2 French corp attack some neighboring German corps and score some hits. German corp next to Paris killed by UK Eagle carrier and battleship. Allies are pleased that France has held out until June 1940, although the fall of France seems imminent. Continued attacks by Allied fleet and air on Dublin, with the usual poor showing. Italian cruiser approaches Gibralter; UK battleship backs off to the west.

German air attacks UK air near London, with air in London intercepting. A (surprisingly) very lopsided attack with light damage to UK air and heavy damage (from 8 to 3) to one German air. While the results make it tempting to stay and fight, Germany moves up 2 additional German air making it 4 against 2. So, Allied air retreats north. Allied offensive activity continues to be pitiful. 2 attempts by French corps to attack neighboring Axis units only results in loses to the French. UK navy continues to perform poorly against the Irish, but some positive results from an attack by English cruiser and carrier on German corp heading towards Brest. France reinforces corp in Cologne, which was almost destroyed. No attacks by Axis on Paris itself, so the army there further entrenches. However, Paris will fall within 1-2 more turns. Italian transport spotted near vacant Algiers.

In the south ... Italian cruiser bombards the French corp in Malta. In the west ... the Allies are proving to be pretty pathetic when attacking the Axis. French corp near the coast moves inland to attack a Germany air fleet, but no effect. The French corp in Cologne attacks a nearby German army and is badly mauled (strength down to 4). No effect on the German army. Performance by the UK navy against Dublin continues to be dismal, with little or no impact. France reinforces Paris (which sustained air strikes) and builds another corp next to Paris. The attack on France consists of 2 air, 5 corps, 1 tank and 2 armies. Another army and corp are next to Cologne. What are the rest of the German forces up to? Report indicates that Germany is not transporting troops.

This should be an interesting game! Indications are that Archibald and Jollyguy are among the best in the PBEM List (a.k.a. PBEM League). Hopefully, there will be some good and interesting moves coming out of this game.

In the east ... Warsaw taken and Poland surrenders. USSR readiness at 49%, so the investment in Polish reinforcements was worth it. In the west ... UK air and French corps attack Rundstedt HQ near Brussels. French corps does nothing but UK air knocks HQ down to 9. Unsure of impact to intercepting German air. Germany kills a French corp and gets a corps & tank next to Paris. Army in Paris still entrenched at level 5. Evacuation begins. Cologne tried to attack neighboring German corps and knocks itself down to 8. UK navy continues to perform miserably against Dublin. Axis revenge for Poland?? Italy enters the war.

Some comment about how the house rules are effecting my strategy: Poland would probably would have fallen relatively quickly if I were not reinforcing the units there. Usually, my focus as the Allies is to build a UK HQ and a 3rd air fleet as quickly as possible. But, the limits on air imposed by the house rules means that the UK can't build any more air fleets. So, my thinking has been to use the funds that would have gone into building another air fleet into reinforcing Poland. The Axis focused its forces and efforts on taking Denmark and LC, leaving fewer troops to deal with Poland. I saw the opportunity to delay Poland's fall and increase USSR readiness early in the game. I've never seen Poland attacked so weakly in the first and second turns, and I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to reinforce Polish troops and keep Poland in the game as long as possible.

Problems mount for the Axis. In the east ... Germany tries but fails to take Warsaw. Corps there knocked down to 2 and then reinforced to 8. Corps north of Warsaw is also attacked and then reinforced. Army near Berlin is finally killed. USSR readiness up to 42. In the west ... attacks on corps in Cologne have no effect. Attacks on the French line yield minimal damage. Germany is staying away from the coast, so France sends a corps of commandos along the north coast towards Brussels. Attacks on Dublin continue. UK carriers and battleship are having a bad day and do no damage at all. Allies attack; Axis reinforces. Note: French air was disbanded to buy French corps. France now has 7 corp in or around France.

In the east ... Germany kills one of the Polish armies, but unable to kill the one near Berlin (strength 1). Corps in Warsaw knocked down to 6 but reinforced to 8. Corps to the north and south of Warsaw still defending (one at full strength and one knocked down to 4 then reinforced). UK spending a lot on Polish reinforcements. Hopefully, that investment will yield an increase in USSR readiness. In the west ... Germany kills a French army and another one moves off the Maginot line to replace it. Paris defended by an entrenched army surrounded by corps. Allies continue to attack Dublin, which has been reinforced. Dublin corps knocked from 8 to 4. USSR annexes Baltin states.

Two other differences: - in Cricket, it is the person with the bat that wears all the protective gear, rather than the person catching the ball. - in Cricket, the 'pitchers' can't throw straight (maybe it is because they are running when they do so) and always throw the ball into the dirt.

I believe that England also has a habit of getting clobbered by the Aussies. Actually, who have they beaten lately?

In the east ... only 1 Polish corp has been lost so far. Both Polish armies still alive, with one 2 hexes from Berlin. UK again spends MPP to reinforce Polish units. In the west ... a French corp leaves the northern most part of the Maginot line to move into unoccupied Cologne. It found a German air fleet at strength 2 next to it. France abandons most of the Maginot to defend Paris. Allied navy rushing back from sub hunting to assist in the defense of France. Germany is at its limit of 4 air fleets. Looks like 2 of those will need reinforcing.

I'm an American with a working knowledge of cricket ... but then I've spent most of my life living in former British colonies (Hong Kong and Singapore). I agree that you'd be hard pressed to find someone in the USA who had the faintest idea what cricket is. They would assume a one-day test is a very extensive exam of some sort. I find it interesting that baseball culminates each year in the "World Series" ... which features only teams from North America. An interesting view of the 'world'. I can criticize the myopic view of Americans because I is one.

German subs try to sneak by Ireland in the north. 1 sub suprised. Despite some diving, both subs are destroyed with carriers forced to break off attack on Dublin to finish them off. Only damage done by 2 subs was that the cruiser Hood was knocked from 10 to 7. After 2 turns, not a single Polish corp or army has been killed (although an army and a corp are at 1 and an army at 2). UK invests in reinforcing Polish forces, as well as Copenhagen corp. Polish air attacks Bock, taking him down to 7 (and itself down to 4). Intercepting German air also takes a hit (probably only down 1). German invades and takes LC, with English and French air intercepting. French armies attack German tank on the LC border. Both armies at 8; German tank at 7.

Limits on air fleets and land forces. France, UK, USA & Italy are limited to 2 air fleets. Russia can have 3 and Germany can have 4. As for land forces (corps, armies & tanks), the limit is: Italy: 8 UK: 11 France: 14 USA: 16 Germany: 35 USSR: 41 No limits on HQs, rockets or bombers. It has not been stated, but I assume that there are also no limits on ships, subs or carriers. My contention is that these house rules put the Axis at a severe disadvantage. So, I took the Allies.

Axis start off with a rather unusual opening. They DOW on Denmark, move some units west, attack Copenhagen with air and move a corp transport next to Copenhagen. No Polish units kills, although the 2 armies are down to 1 and 5. Allies respond with: - DOW on Ireland. Dublin at 8 after attacks by carriers, battleship and bomber. - Polish air attacks Bock, knocking him down to 9. Army at only 1 also attacks Bock, but no effect. - Copenhagen reinforced. - One French army on Maginot line replaced by corp.

Shaka, I think the limits you propose on air need to be revised. Limit should be by side rather than by country. Each side can have 6 air. Having each country build a couple of air and invest in tech makes no sense. We haven't had a chance to play yet, but when we do I will insist on this amendment to your house rules. Oak

If you want to play by email (PBEM) then join the PBEM List. You can do that by sending an email to me: reid@pacific.net.sg There is no bidding with these games. Sides are assigned (by me). If you want to play by TCP/IP, then join the Z-ladder. That is more competitive. Bidding is used to decide who gets to play Axis (the preferred side). The bid determines how much extra MPP the Allies will get at the start. A bid of 100, for example, means that the UK, USA and USSR will each get an extra 100 MPP when they first enter the game. There are some new bidding ideas being used that gives nothing to the USA but more to the USSR. For example, a 1:4 bid arrangement with 100 as the bid would give the UK 100 at the start of the game, nothing to the USA when it enters and 400 to the USSR when it enters.

Playing against the AI, the Allies have a realistic chance of taking Norway and then Sweden ... then using that as a base to attack Denmark, Finland and northern Germany. BUT, against human opponents I've never seen that as a feasible strategy. The best thing is for the Allies to ensure that the Atlantic and North Sea is their domain and controlled by them, while letting the Axis have the Baltic (and sometimes the Med).

I don't see much benefit to the Allies in such a move. Germany can quickly and easily move its air into position to wipe out (or at least severly damage) the British fleet in the Baltic. Also, the Axis will be able to operate troops into any cities you might threaten before you can land any troops. Even if you could land a corp or army in a German city, it would mean only 5 additional MPP for you. That is simply not worth the cost. So, trying to take out the German fleet or land troops in eastern Germany would almost certainly be a suicide mission that yields little benefit to the Allies. You are better off using those troops and ships to delay the fall of France or to harass the Axis in western Europe after the fall of France.

The main challenge to your Norway and Konigsberg ideas is Germany's control of the Baltic. Unless the Axis player is extremely lax, the Allies would only be able to attack Norway by landing in western Norway and moving over land to attack Oslo. Without HQ support, it will be extremely difficult for the Allies to take Norway. The main impact to the Axis would come from losing Norwegian plunder and being forced to deal with the Allied forces in Norway ... which it can afford to postpone if necessary. In order to land a corps in or near Konigsberg, an Allied transport would have to avoid running into or being seen by the German navy. Very risky and highly unlikely.

Hubert, In real life, as well as in Forums, I am terrible with names. Again, my apologies for getting it wrong so many times. And, thanks for answering my question. Oak

My apologies, Hurbert, for misspelling your name. But, seriously, do you play the game much?

I'm kinda new to SC and this Forum, so pardon me if this is a stupid question or if it has been discussed and/or answered before, but ... does Herbert ever play SC? If so, how good is he? If not, why not?