Colin I

Game 1 - Colin Axis Indeed, quiet in the West. In the East Japan continues, mopping up in China, advancing in New Guinea and towards India. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Well, Russians cannot do much except wait and I knew Barbarossa would be late and hard. The classic move would have been Finland as you did, or Middle East, but wanted to experiment. I'm not 100% sure it has no utility for reasons I'll explain later (if my idea works) but agree penalty to US makes it not worth it normally.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germany deploys TAC against Allied navy and decides to invest in air launched torpedo systems. Japanese keep on in China, take Malaysia and Dutch East Indies. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Russian armour keeps coming in Manchuria. This was an experiment - did not know how big a hit this would make. Sometimes I think Hubert has balanced the diplomacy penalties assuming a certain strategy. But its not so easy to stop and Japan is the weak sister in this partnership.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Japan runs riot on the land at least - in part from being able to ship troops into a friendly Thailand to advance on Malaysia and Burma. Burma falls. Dutch East Indies will next round. Chinese crumbling very fast indeed. US Cruiser sunk plus some DE Indies vessels taken out (or almost in one case). Germany is quiet but British hit Crete. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Barbarossa initiated but not much will happen this year. Iraq falls to Axis. Japan still quiet except in China. Russians decide to test their shiny new tanks in Manchuria if the Germans are so late to the fight.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Japan goes large as Germany slows in Russia (bad weather in the autumn). China loses its capital and an HQ unit. Meanwhile Japan takes Hong Kong, Solomons, Philippines, Brunei and various islands including Christmas Island and threatens Malaysia, Burma and Dutch East Indies. No Pearl Harbour though. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Gosh its quiet. Allies brace, brace, brace.....!

Agree with Hellraiser but question is what if Student got his way and massive resources. Perhaps paratroopers is a technology track which might make them more specialist. The action of hitting Crete with paratroopers and (assuming a low strength corps defending) taking 40% casualties is not completely outside the SC scale and has enough strategic significance to be desirable. But I do agree they are massively overused in situations they would not be. I really hate their use in the face of enemy air superiority or just because a paradrop s cheaper than transporting from a friendly Norway to a friendly Denmark or whatever. Make people pay MPP for drops.....!

Largely agree with Hellraiser. IMHO Allies need strategic options/flexibility rather than a slight increase in strength for a fun game. I'm still experimenting with the Allies - not yet decided on balance though realize a strong Axis player is a scary thing. But.........German aggressiveness can be FUN. Market Garden and Crete were perhaps justifiable actions with a strategic aspect/consequence. I would reduce German paratroops to 1, lose the Italian one, and similarly cut the Allies. Also, paratroops should be subject to air intercept. But question largely is, how large a paradrop is possible if Allies or Axis gave it more resources - this is a game of what is possible not reproduction of WWII as it was, though clearly a historical outcome should be feasible. Sealion: Agree, penalty for UK needs to larger. I believe UK does rightly lose stuff from production queue which is quite a nasty penalty but not enough. If we reduce paratroopers SeaLion becomes much harder and we should make incentive huge.

Its oh so quiet now in both games, so time for a summary: Colin Axis Decent Barbarossa and good progress with Japanese in China but weak North Africa and naval disaster. Hellraiser forgot to move Chinese last turn and it made NO difference - Chinese strategy is really an oxymoron. Hell Axis Big build up and excellent expansion into Africa by Axis. China starting to crumble. Axis tsunami expected soon.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germans in Moscow. Belgium retaken but Norway will fall to Allies. Japanese keep finishing Chinese troops though he has counterplay. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Kind of quiet except his African adventure and China. Hmm, Barbarossa certainly not early.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germans take Kursk and are close to Moscow. Chinese lose an engineer and have their capital bombed into the stone age. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Fairly quiet, except Japanese are doing better in China. __________________

Game 1 - Colin Axis Barbarossa is launched, German tanks take Smolensk by July 1941 and take Portugal as a bonus. Hungary and Finland join the Axis. Japan continues to take central China. British keep going in North Africa. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Japanese are gaining momentum but China still doing OK. Rest is fairly quiet, Germany is indeed a monster. Allies get a few technology hits that raises morale a bit.

The Axis naval defeat was a nasty combination of intelligence, ASW, carriers and bad weather :-( China is my one comfort in both games :-)

Back Game 1 - Colin Axis Japanese keep moving forwards destroying two entrenched corps. Axis navy hit hard and poor weather this turn stops retaliation. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis US continues to listen to UK cries for help. China solid but Axis very dangerous in Europe.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germans fairly quiet except TAC bombing of UK in Middle East. Japanese rolling well, Sian falls and Chinese looking fragile. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Germans very active/strong in West, but Chinese wall of Armies is holding good. No more turns for a week or so.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Chinese continue to get hit, with regular and TAC bombers joining in. his forces are mostly trapped in central China thanks to the Northern flanking attack. British are active in North Africa. @Hellraiser - Axis diplomacy with US was necessary given early Axis aggression. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Despite his IW2 am holding Japan in China but suspect that means his resources have gone elsewhere. Middle East and East Africa are Axis. Both games fairly quiet before an eventful 1941 gets going.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Japanese attack Chinese leaders. Not much action in Europe except UK attack and take Tobruk. Sub raids convoy from Far East. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Italians head towards Iraq. China holding but he has L2 Infantry (I have L1). Malta getting pounded.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Gibraltar falls, hopefully that does his North African adventure no good at all. Right wing sympathizers influence US and increase isolationism in a population otherwise getting concerned about Hitler's success. U-boat raiding but UK gets lend lease destroyers. Saigon taken and Lanchow too, splitting China in two. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Its really calm but Malta is under extreme threat. __________________

Game 1 - Colin Axis Quite some shipping loss in the Med, culminating in the fall of Greece and the sinking of the UK carrier in harbour at Crete (took a L3 Italian sub with experience plus remaining Italian navy and airforce). Its been very bloody - both sides have lost shipping. Gibraltar hanging by a thread, with major German assault from Spain. China bloody for both sides. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Germans stomping Egypt and Malta. China holding but Northern flank under threat. Not much else.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germans take Spain and speed towards Gibraltar. Still marching towards Athens. US gets nervous but then calms down a bit. Japanese carriers kill the Flying Tigers. Japanese reinforce Thai allies. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis RN takes the offered cruiser in the North Sea and otherwise retreats. Final score: North Sea was 2 U boats and 3 Axis cruisers vs 1 RN battleship and cruiser. Med was loss of RN carrier and battleship plus various damage vs 1 Italian battleship. I'd call it about even. North Africa is bad, though. Syria jumps in but USSR and US get worried.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Germans go into a killing Frenzy and attack Greece and Spain. Norwegian destroyer forgets to leave Narvik and is boarded. Japan continues to make progress in the North. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis Its good news and bad news for the RN. In the Med they sink an Italian battleship then flee. Getting pounded both at sea and land there. North sea is a LOT better, RN comes out on top against U-boats supported by German cruisers. Chinese keep a solid front.

Game 1 - Colin Axis Japanese continue to erode the Chinese defenses from the North, goes better than the South. Germans attack Brest and take Norway with paratroops. Game 2 - Hellraiser Axis British battleship bombards Axis troops off North Africa. Off Norway British carrier hits a German cruiser in port. China holding OK but pressure in the South. Awful Operation Sabine tips Iraq to Axis.

Game 1 Colin Axis Yugoslavia gives in. Allied Corps in Bordeaux destroyed. Japan keeps slogging away. Italians in East Africa under pressure. Game 2 Hellraiser Axis Indeed - he is hitting China hard in the South and German troops are sent to North Africa. British put a bomber in Malta to show their displeasure.

Game 1. Colin Axis Germans are attacking Yugoslavia and KO Vichy in a rather blatant show of aggression. Not a very diplomatic approach..... Japanese continue to work the Northern flank in China. British hit Mogadishu with navy and land. RN active off France. Game 2. Hellraiser Axis Germany KO France with a paradrop on Paris. Hellraiser is a bit behind on France but has taken Norway which I've not managed in Game 1. British refuse to recognize Vichy France and gain some minor French colonies as a result.

Game 1. Colin Axis Germans get kind of playful in the snow, panzers behaving like cats, darting in and raking the poor French with their claws, but not quite going in for the coup de grace. Paradrop on Denmark takes it. Japanese try swinging round the Northern flank of the Chinese. Sometimes this goes well, sometimes not....... Game 2. Hellraiser Axis Not much that I want to talk about but Benelux goes down fast (Denmark already part of Germany).

Colin Axis Despite the snow Germans continue to grind down French armies. Japanese still slogging in China. Hellraiser Axis Its pretty quiet near France but French Navy and British Bombers sap MPP by raiding. Chinese counterattack does some damage. He has raiders working my convoys.

Great that Hellraiser started this..... I do not think one shot kill of Poland is very risky. I reckon you get into Warsaw 60% of the time with the right sequence. You can line up quite some air and ground on Warsaw. So, even factoring in the possibility that the Poles fight on, you should get a surrender at least half the time.If it doesn't happen you might get some irritation from the Poles hitting an HQ or air unit for a few points. If you want to make this more certain, upgrade an HQ to Von Manstein - you need him sooner of later and might as well build his experience early. Will add to AAR soon.