abukede

It was a busy turn for me. The Soviet Army has exploded in size. Al wanted Finland in the war so I kinda helped him out a bit and invaded Launching Operation Sideshow. Truth is that defending against a Finnish attack has tied up a lot of units and I decided to take advantage of Al’s fixation in the south and the poor weather. The Russians fight much better in poor weather. Also… Finish readiness has ticked up a bit… and I did not want to defend Leningrad from two sides. This was my disposition prior to the attack. As you can see I am using only a fraction of my punching power to take Finland. I wonder where the rest is? This is how the invasion progressed. Snow hampered my advance a bit. I also attempted to bombard the capital port and put the Soviet navy to good use… but alas the sailrrs were rusty and a bit hung over from spending so long tied up in port and did no damage... In the Med I decided to play with Al’s Italian navy and air force again with mixed results. In Spain… not much happening. Supply, winter and the mountains are a real issue. Russia did indeed take a huge MMP hit due to strategic warfare and Al cutting the rail lines. However the Russian army has exploded in size, and to top it off the Siberian forces arrived this turn… along with the Russian winter. I would say that Al and I probably have parity in force equivalents at the moment on the East front… Armor… probably not. The Soviets probably have around 3 more armor thanks to the Siberians and they come experienced!!! Either way… I think the game will be a close match. At this point it can go either way. I think it will depend upon who comes out of winter stronger on the East Front and who makes the first real critical mistake. And how quickly the US can arrive in Spain. Also... Don’t listen to Al complain. He is a hardcore SC vet who has beat me and fought me to a draw on numerous occasions. The simple truth is this is one ugly fight... and both Al and I can't stop from thinking about the game constantly, even while I am sure he was on holiday. We both love the SC series and at times with such a titanic struggle it drives you a bit nuts. Heck it's even messed with my time a bit as I prepare my next show of my podcast on the Second World War.

It did occur.

Not much going on. Preparing to assault Madrid. I have something in the works and it will either work spectacularly of fail. Oh and Patton deployed this turn.

Very very soon would be my guess.

Queit turn. Snow has come to the East Front. Russia's army is growing. Deployed a lot of units this turn. The UK has arrived on the outskirts of Madrid. Al sent in reinforcements to Spain. So far I see 2 German Corps. Not much else to report. I bet he is still wondering where that Africa force went to.

No graphics this turn. I was hampered by mud on the East Front a bit... We're into Oct. Mud, ice and snow are coming shortly. The Russian army at this moment is very strong and should Al lunge forward I think I could really hammer him hard especially with the loss of supply and the coming winter . The army is smaller than normal but hitting power is very strong. Russian reinforcements have been deploying steadily the last couple turns. It may surprise everyone but I think I have another 20 units that will deploy before the end of October and November. Long term builds here not to mention the Siberian Reinforcements due to arrive soon. So if Al starts another offensive drive I may throw everything in knowing I have a completely new army arriving around the time the Russian winter hammers him. Funny thing is... I've not even deployed the entire Soviet army yet... like Al all of my coprs are deployed but I think I still have 15 armies to deploy and 4 or 5 Guards. (special forces)... not to mention a large amount of arty, anti-tank, air, etc. On a side note most of my lost armor has been replaced. Al's army is huge and I am pretty sure his offensive of spring 42 will decide the game. Then again knowing Al... he may attack in winter. Elsewhere... the advance continues slowly in Spain. Getting through the mountains has been a pain and supply was an issue. That's been fixed now. My african army has been very quiet... I wonder where it could be? Strategic bombing of resouces continued in France with no air defense. USA is still gearing up. It's been a fantastic game so far. Oh and I got a stunning tech advance this turn.

No much happening this turn that I care to report on. I have a lot in play at the moment. The invasion of Spain continues. Supply is an issue at the moment as the Germans employed scorched earth. But it's now been 3 turns and I have a good number of units ashore. In Russia... not much going on other than building up for my winter offensive and trading space for time. I initially had some difficulty in deciding where to strike but I finally settled on an area of focus. It is the end of September 41. I intend to complicate Al's Spring 42 offensive with a number of headaches. The US economy is just getting rolling.

Not much to report this turn. I strategic bombarded Tours and La Rochelle again this turn... surprise surprise... Al redeployed a Fighter unit to keep that from happening. I still got through. I coastal bombarded Bayonee and San Sabastion, landed more troops. Advanced a bit, and took a mine as well as another town. The USA is gearing up. The US got a huge navy deployed... well in comparison to what they had on the map. In the East it was a quiet turn. I am working to receive Al's next push. It was a rough summer of fighting for the both of us and the strategic pause I predicted happened the last two turns. I doubt it will continue a third turn... but you never know. It is now the middle of September. Winter is just around the corner.

Okay… it’s game back on baby! Its been killing me to see what Al did in Russia and it was as I suspected he stopped trying to pincer around the sides of my dug in line and slugged it out pushing heavily forward and crushing that defensive line with ease. His supply line has been catching up slowly and I fell back to my next defensive position. Good thing Russia is huge. I could have attacked again but I felt I had done what I needed to do. The Russian army fought against heavily stacked odds and needs a brief breather. He got hammered hard by Russian partisans last turn as well. It is now the end of August. Elsewhere… British forces captured Tobruk. Africa is mine. Also… as a tiny side note the UK launched Operation Thunder and invaded Spain this turn. I captured the port town of La Corona and Allied troops are now pouring in. I landed West of Gijon as well and bombarded the town heavily. In order to hedge my bets on the invasion… I’ve been a little busy the last few turns repeatedly strategic bombing Tours and La Rochelle. Those are two key cities in the rail link to Spain. It may have clued in Al that I was about to invade... I apologize for the next screen shot as I forgot to save it and just went in and took a picture of a neutral Spanish coast… I coastal bombarded Bayone… I think down to 1 or 2… but can’t remember. I also nailed Gijon. My focus has been to destroy his rail heads, which means he will not be able to operate units to Spain. They will have to operate to middle France and then walk in. The longer I can keep German reinforcements out of Spain… the better off I am and the more time I have to pour in troops. There has been no strategic warfare against the UK and the British have one hell of an army which has been growing steadily. Also… the USA prepared for War. Winter is coming shortly in the East. It’s the end of August. Africa just fell. Al has to now worry about a UK invasion of Italy and strong UK forces are now ashore in Spain with more on the way and shortly the US will join them. The strategic and tactical situation for the Axis just became very complicated and it’s only the end of the summer in 1941. I simply love this game.

I believe Al returns tommorow... so somtime this weekend our contest for world domination will resume. To be honest its been driving me nuts to see his next move. Anyone else feel the same way? Oh and I am saving discussing Russia as I do not want to give him any ideas...

That's a possibility but by the time the time the invasion of Spain may happen as we saw in this actual game... and remember the Italians were not part of that or contesting Africa, the British had also been building up naval units via the red sea and prior to Gibralter falling the UK struck at the Italian fleet bottling them up. So even with Spain falling... at the moment the Med is a UK lake. That does not mean that will not change. We will have to see. I've not tried the strategy mentioned above but it seems as if Al's game did not involve or tie in Italy early. Or simply perhaps he had a different plan in mind and I messed with the timetable. As it is now... in the game we are playing I have about 1/3 of the Royal navy in the med with 4 carriers supporting. I think if you are going to try that strategy... then you must go strong Italian Navy so that you can secure the Med and force the UK out and make sure you have German units in Africa to roll across as quickly as possible... but due to the size of the map and supply considerations it will take time to advance. What you proposed above given determination, committment and the right strategy is I think very doable.

I thought I would now show you Italy. I get a little excited about Italy when playing the Axis because if you play your chips right Italy can easily dominate the Med with German support. You have a number of strategic options with Italy and it can easily drive you crazy deciding which to do. As you can see Italy starts with a huge “Navy.” Her navy outnumbers the combined UK and French Navy in the Med at the onset of the war. 4 BB (with more building), 3 CA, 1 DD and a Sub. The Italian army is also large. 4 Armies, 1 Armor, 3 corps, 1 Arty and an HQ. You also start with a fighter and bomber. Later in the war Italy also mobilizes an Eastern Front force, I believe in August 1940, that comes in very handy. You have a choice as Italy. You can go strong Navy... focus on strengthening, upgrading and building more naval units like subs, and a couple carriers. Or you can focus on Ground going for additional ground units, upgrades, anther HQ. You really can not do both at the same time without significant German support by the time Italy enters the war in the summer of 40. There are just not enough resources and when I try this it usually ends in failure. Significant German support means the Germans become weakened elsewhere… likely on the East Front. Heavy Navy: If you go heavy navy… as the Axis you have the tools early to start... I shift ground units to Africa and make sure I bring a lot of Germans. While advancing on Egypt the Italian navy keeps the British Navy busy. (and it gets ugly) I usually time my advance for the Summer of 41 and Winter of 42 and until that point I just fight a holding operation. My first objective “always” and I can not stress this enough is the capture of Malta. I bring in the entire German air force and airborne units to take the island. Once you take Malta Axis supply for the med is secure. Why do I advance in summer of 41 and winter of 42? The reason for this is I will build 2 carriers and they tend to deliver around that time. Plus as I advance I usually support my navy with ground based air, both Italian and German. What you have to watch out for is British carrier Air. The British have 4 Carriers early in the game and they are very dangerous. In a game with another beta tester I destroyed the flower of entire Italian navy (5 BBs) in 2 turns with carrier based air. In the next game we played he stayed well back and advanced only with Ground supported by air. The minute the Italian navy is neutralized the Med is lost and the war for the Axis is in serious trouble no matter how well you are doing on the East Front. The Italian Navy can be used to great effect especially if you can get Naval Warfare 2. Under cover of Ground based air with 2 Carriers and 5 BB the British will have a seriously difficult time against you. A couple of good battles that go your way can easily swing the war in the med to your favor allowing you to capture Egypt, Syria and Iraq and then turn around and fight the USA. Also… dominating the med early allows the Axis player to amphibious forces into and undefended Syria. (difficult but not impossible) Heavy Army: This is an interesting opportunity for the Axis player. You have the building blocks to build up a very large and powerful army but it takes time. You can send them to North Africa or Russia. If you send your army south you will need limited German support in the form of an army, 2 corps and air. I usually build a second Italian HQ, a tactical unit and invest in infantry tech. You can give the UK a very hard time in North Africa. I hide the Italian Navy till Italy is threatened… otherwise you are just asking to lose it early if you are not successful in taking Egypt. If you lose in North Africa usually around 1943… the Italian navy acts as a deterrent to a quick landing… meaning the Allied player must work to destroy the Italian navy first buying you time to build up a defense in Italy. If Italy is successful in taking Egypt, Syria and Iraq the Italians really get powerful and you have more options. Another use for Italy’s army is to send the bulk of it to the east front… focus on upgrades, build more units and use it against the Russians. Around 41… you get a Russian contingent meaning the Italians can really field a large army. If you go this route you must plan early for a defense of Italy building garrisons, an engineering unit and sending a limited force to delay the UK advance. Just a handful of units can delay the UK a year in taking Libya, which gives the Axis player time to decisively set the tone for the war in the East. An extra 10 to 15 units on the East front though of lesser quality than the Russians can make a real difference. With either option… once the ground fighting begins you will end up spending all of your cash on replacements and will have nothing more available to invest and build new units until the fighting ends or pauses. Italy does not make a lot of cash so you have to plan well in advance. A good plan for Italy can decide the game. There are other options for Italy including using them as defense force in France… but I do not like doing this. You have the potential for making Italy into a real power and asset for the Axis… seriously complicating the Allies job. Also… defending Italy is very difficult. If you look at the map you will note that Italy is huge. There are a lot of places to defend where the allies could land. Having strategic bombers with long legs helps you to see where the landing will come from… but usually by this point if you are defending against a landing… Allied air will dominate the Mediterranean Theater. It is very important to keep the initiative in the med. Once the Axis loses the initiative in the med… Italy is in trouble and that means Germany has to begin redeploying important and key assets to defend her. Northern Italy Southern Italy Africa West Africa East

Here is the West Front at the beginning of the War. As you can see the German player is weak and has holes on the West Front that need to be immediately filled. France is also very weak... and in a transitional phase. Money is always a problem for France. You can see what I had to work with when I was under attack on turn 5 or 6 in the West. Britain starts with 1 army and 2 corps in the pool for delivery on turn 2 (BEF) which you have to transport to France. One option I did consider was throw all my French cash into 4 armies to bring them up to strength. Essentially pull 2 from the line and replace them with corps and then invade Belgium with the BEF, but I decided to play it a bit more conservative because I was not sure what Al was going to do. He can be very unpredictable. As it was I made the right decision. Had I invaded on turn 3 I would have taken casualties and then found myself under immediate attack by Germany. Instead Belgium became a brief speedbump which helped to save me. Notice the French industry at 0. It takes a while for it to mobilize.

It's very valuable. Germany with 2 points in mobility and 2 in long range is very dangerous to Russia in 41...

They hurt and appear to be upgraded. I felt them more in the West than I have in the East so far. I think in this game you can build 4 or 5... can't remember but I think I've only seen 2 so far. I expect they will dig into me more when Al makes his next turn but one of the reasons I think I have not seen much of their punch is the distance on the East Front. His supply lines are catching up along with the bulk of his firepower. Which means I will end up getting hurt till I fall back. You want to buy Long Range Tech as the Germans... a level 2 upgrade makes a huge difference... meaning instead of spending a turn moving... you can support your advance units from long range without having to lose a turn to catch up. Make sense?

lhughes41, The difference between the fight in the East with Al and other games I've played is that Al only crossed the border south of the swamps and then 4 turns later pushed north with a limited offensive. So far he's only managed to capture Riga in the North and it's late August. All of his power is in the south. This allowed me the freedom to concentrate a lot of firepower south to prepare a defense in depth at the edge of his supply line and when he crossed it, I exclusively hammered his offensive units hard... i.e. armor and SS. There is no doubt he will continue to advance as he has a lot of power down there but it's been very costly and will continue to be so... for both of us. In other games... when players do not rush the fight in the West... they hit the USSR with a sledge hammer of force from North to South and it is much more difficult to defend until they get deep into Russia. Then the tables turn and the German player discovers there is a lot of territory to hold and the Russian player has some freedom in where to strike. I would say that so far my game with Al is kind of unique and it's too early to tell who will win. He went for a non-traditional strategy. It's too early to tell if it will help or hurt him. On a side note... when I attack and have sufficient air... which Russia does not at this time, I usually work very hard to make sure it supports my armor and or offensive thrust. The best I could do in this game so far was make sure I had 2 fighter units provide a CAP to hinder German air support, which they were able to only do in a limited fashion. They have now been rendered a inneffective and I've withdrawn them to rebuild their strength, morale and readiness.

Originally posted this in the wrong thread... While we are waiting for Al to return from "holiday"... I thought I would post some images of the key areas, troop disposition and discuss strategy. Please note: prior to release some of the troop dispositions will be changed as we work on balancing. Below is how the Campaign starts with Germany poised to invade Poland. This is on the pullback function because the map is so huge. Notice how very few of the powerful Polish units are on rail heads/cities or towns. The problem with this is you cannot operate units back to Warsaw to help with defense. Many Axis players make the mistake of battered everything in front of them. The Axis should drive right for Warsaw... bypassing units that can be mopped up later or just left because they become irrelevant. As the Axis you want to cut the rail links first. Use your armor. Then move on Warsaw. You will notice that Warsaw is undefended at the start of the game and the Poles only start with 1 HQ and some air . I expect Warsaw to be a bit better defended prior to release. A corps may be moved and positioned in Warsaw to give the Polish more of a fighting chance. We will have to see… the campaign is nearly complete and mostly what’s left is correcting the occasional bug and balancing. Against a good Axis player Poland should fall in 2 turns possibly 3 depending upon how well the German player does. The key is of course Warsaw... everything else matters little. Occasionally you will take Warsaw and the Poles will fight on for a turn. As the Axis player that is downright frustrating as you need to begin moving everything West and this takes time. Notice the powerful German air units, 2 Tactical units to start. When playing this game (very different from other SC releases) you want to concentrate all available firepower at key points. The map is sooo huge that early on it is very hard to advance on a front... you want to punch holes through the enemy lines, get in behind them and screw up supply so that slower units can mop up demoralized and poorly supplied units with little risk. Driving deep into enemy territory is the armor's job... combined with airpower. If you mesh the two well... you can work wonders. Some players will make the mistake of not using airpower with the armor. They will strike targets looking to blow their way through the lines instead of seeking targets deeper in. Another use for Poland… is to eliminate every unit to gain experience for your army. This is good and bad. Good because you gain experience… bad because it usually takes 4 turns and complicates your timetable. With a 2 turn victory over Poland you can easily walk all the way back to the West for a Spring offensive and not have to operate. You will have time to rebuild strength, readiness and morale prior to attacking. There is now a forced march feature which allows you to make a non-combat move across the map… sacrificing readiness and only through friendly territory. Saves cash. I think it is a very cool feature. To give you a comparison: Regular March Forced March All around you can see the early power of Germany. If you take Poland, walk back west and focus on builds alone you can essentially double the size of your army by May/June and be ready to just hammer your way into France. If you elect the option of going for experience you can essentially do the same thing but you will take more casualties doing it and your army will be a bit smaller. Just some food for thought. I hope everyone found it helpful.

AZGungHo... yes Garrisons help a great deal. You build as many as you can. They are an integral part of the game.

I wish I was going on holiday. So if you have questions or thoughts please feel free to ask.

Heavy fighting this turn on the Eastern Front. I elected to go for another limited offensive and strike only those units that were low on supply 3 or less. This is chewing up my offensive units in detail but I feel it is costing me less in the long run and hurting him much more in that he is losing the creme of the German army. If I threw in all of my reserves including some more armor I feel confident I would have destroyed another 2 armies possible 3 and a corp. Though I also feel confident due to his air superiortity he would cause me more casualties in the short run than I am willing to accept. Still it was a pretty big offensive in it's own right and could not be said to be a spoiling attack like the last. If he again tries to penetrate my lines in the position he is in currently without destroying the blocking units first he will lose even more crucial units. The charts you see with the massive German army is mostly composed of Garrison and Corps guarding the empire. His real offensive power is down in Southern Russia. He has 1 armor up north with an airborne unit. This was the situation as my offensive went into gear. 2 German Armor Korps had just been destroyed and an SS unit about to be. This was the situation after the offensive and I stabilized my lines. I cropped the image a bit as I do not want to show additional reserve units. Sorry. Please note the supply bases Al bypassed in an attempt to strike around my lines. Lack of supply is literally killing him and it's only mid august. Wait till winter sets in. This turn I expect him to finally go for those supply bases this turn and next. He should have no problem securing them... though losses will be high. He had been attempting to get around my lines in an effort to surround me but without long-range aircraft to look deep into my lines he had no idea I had an extremely powerful resever waiting. This is kinda like a Kursk battle in that he tried to perform a pincer movement (not as strong as it could hve been )with his armor and infantry. I was waiting and ready with fortifications to channel his advance around the sides. This details German losses the last 2 turns. Soviet losses will be high as well but mine are more easily replaced. This turn cost him 2 additional German armor korps an SS unit and heavily damaged army. He still has a lot of power there and should use it to bluntly push me back, secure supply sources and then cross the river in force. I estimate he probably only has 2 armored korps left and 2 or 3 SS units. Lost Russian armor and units have been rebought and are in que. The war has gone his way till this point and Russia is huge. I think he will give his next turn a lot of thought. I also expect a strategic pause coming in the next few turns as we are both exhausting our armies. There will come a point when both of us resupply and reequip. And for those who think the game is over... it is a very long way from done. Germany is extremely powerful. He can easily recover from these losses rebuild over the winter and win the war in Spring. It really depends on how far he gets and where he throws his focus next. He will continue to advance until the weather dictates otherwise. Russian partisans attacked numerous German supply bases. Strategic warefare continued in the West. Tripoli held out against a mass assault. Though... he may not be on speaking turns with me for a while... this is the most enjoyable and challenging game I've played in a long time.

Okay it was time to release the Russian armor. I decided to go with a limited attack rather than an major offensive. I could have sent in a much more powerful force and not only eliminated 2 Panzer korps but an army, corp and an SS unit. The problem with that approach is that Al has too much power behind the frontline units... including strong air support. As it is I expect to lose 2 armor and a smattering of other units. I was not willing to lose a much larger force. Still I think the trade off was worth it. This is a picture of the situation pre-offensive: My objective was his most powerful and experienced units... the 2 Panzers which were "very" experienced. Notice the disparity between tech. Looks good right? Wrong. His unit experience would have made a direct attack on these units at 80-90% readiness and morale very risky. I waited till he reached the end of his supply line and were weakened. The Panzers were at 1 (one accorss the river) and 0 supply (on my side of the river). This is mid attack: I destroyed both armor korps, the 2nd Panzer Group and 5th Panzer Group. And expect to lose the two armor I sent in as a result. A fair trade to destroy such experienced units. Remember when I said that Russia would have the largest amored force in the game on the turn he invaded? I was not kidding. Gee... I wonder where the rest of my armor is? I bet Al's wondering too. Is it up north or facing his advance? The size of the front is literally amazing. Since he chose to attack in the south those units could be anywhere. A problem he now faces is this: The quicker he advances combined with the further he advances translates into units weakened by supply. Ripe for a spoiling attack. Al probably has 4 or 5 armored korps left... but I am betting 4 with another in build. I've only seen 3 more that I can identify by name. There is also Italian armor but they are useless at these levels. Now I fully expect him to crawl all over my defensive line this turn. He has no choice. They are dug in... and it will be expensive. He needs to advance and take as much ground before winter as possible. I expect to suffer heavily but it's all about wearing him down and causing him to take as much damage as possible prior to when I really hit him probably around winter. He has to suspect a powerful Russian winter offensive will be in the making. It is when he will be his weakest. Another problem he will face shortly is getting new units up to the front. Those 2 armored korps take 6 months to build. Expect another 3 turns to get them to the front with sufficient morale and readiness to survive and I probably will not see them back at the front in action for 7 months. Fresh armies... expect 6 months. Russia is huge... there is a lot of territory to trade for time. It's now August 1st. His headaches and mine are only beginning. I love a defensive fight and my units are a lot less expensive than his. In the West I bombed Paris heavily. I also began the attack on Tripoli which will most probably will fall next turn. The USA is close to 90% readiness. All in all... I am pleased with my position in the East but that could change any time. This should be an epic fight. Feel free to ask questions. Thoughts? Anyone like or dislike what they see?

Falling back. Buying time. Some strategic warefare. Still closing the ring around Tripoli.

It's now July 4th and the German assault though powerful seems confined to the south only!!! I've redeployed part of the soviet army to help defend. To kind of give you an idea of how underwhelming the assualt was: To date I have lost 4 garrison units, 3 corps, 2 armor and 1 fighter. The 2 armro and 1 fighter were part of a locked unit. In a normal game I would have lost triple that on turn 1 and 2. I have traded space for time. Though Al is correct. Shortly I will need to fight for territory. Oh and in Al's picture you can see the little fortification I've built for him. It seems like he has funneled the entire German army south. This is absolutely no fighting in the North of than a sub and DD action. I expect as he advances closer the fighting to get more intense and the shere weight behind his advance will grind me back. The question is... will I be able to slow him before the weather turns. If not, I am in trouble. The next 3 turns will be critical. As a side note... advance continues. Almost to Tripoli which is defended by an Italian army. I bombarded the port to prevent him from fleeing. The Italian navy is still bottled up. USA readiness is now high. I strategic bombed ports and rail heads in France. Oh and don't let Al fool you he is a hardcore SC vet and as you can see so far plays a cut-throat game. It is far from over. He's kicked my ass too much for me to say otherwise. Cool Decision event. This is one you always say Yes to... though it's nice to have the option.

Yes... they were locked but most escaped. Only 1 block of 4 units was completely destroyed. (I believe a 1 fighter, 2 armor and a garrison) Nothing too catastrophic.

Good news for the Soviets... I expected a more powerful drive that would hammer everything across the entire front north to sounth on the opening turn and would strike deeper into my lines. This did not happen and seems to be more of a limited offensive. Curious. Armor and air units locked by Stalin to the north escaped the brunt of the offensive. Nothing much to report on my turn. Repositioned parts of the Russian army. The UK sighed. Churchill slept well. Strategic bombing resumed. My offensive drive across North Africa continued unimpeded which I think will turn out to be a mistake for Al. He could have very easily delayed me a year with a handful of units. Instead within 2 months he will have to worry about invasion from the South. The USA is now at 69% and making good cash finally. Got some great tech advances for the Russians. I am confident Al will not like them.