Bylandt

Yes and no. It's important, but not all important. E.g. the Russians can hold the front without much airpower. And playing as Axis, I've gotten in trouble against the Russians because the lines of my land units got too streched to effectively protect my advancing air units. And when the new two-strike tank gets next to an air-unit it's not just a crippling hit, it's a kill. And when a land unit gets amongst your air park when bad weather sets in... To say nothing of the immense frustration of having your beautiful plains grounded for several months in a row.

I do think that there are some aspects that will change grand strategy. But you discover them only while playing. 1. Rail! - No more operating if you're not on rail and connected by rail. Changes things in N-Africa and the Middle East, but also in other places. - Cities, even connected by land cannot go above value 5 unless also connected by rail. Moreover, all connecting cities must be at a value higher than 5. I laughed at the "stupid AI" when he sent his allied bombers to strat bomb Paris. Untill I noticed two western French cities and the whole of the Iberian Peninsula at level 5 (I didn't have the railconnection via Vichy France.) 2. Subhunting is now an altogether different proposition. And so is the Battle of the Atlantic. 3. Taking Malta is very feasable. With the tac bombers. So is Gibraltar, from Africa. Changes the situation in the Med. 4. To say nothing of the new units or the newly conceived units (strat bombers and tanks) and the possibilities they create. When first playing WaW I felt like playing the same game as SC2. But you gradually get to undergo, than appreciate and, finally, use the differences.

I don't think they are too strong. 1. In Waw tanks heavily dominate the battlefield. They need some kind of countermeasure. AT units can do something, but not enough. 2. Without LR tech they only have a range of four. Thus, you need to get them dangerously close to the battle lines for them to be effective. 3. You need to control the air to use them. With every tac bomber you buy, you better buy a fighter. Makes relying on them expensive. 4. Finally a way to take Gibraltar (without Spain) and Malta. Helps a lot at Leningrad too. 5. Any weakening of their strike power would make them useless as units, as compared to fighters and the new two-strike strat bombers.

Thanks, Hubert. Excellent support, as always.

Thanks, Hubert!

In my current game against Waltero, we've been plagued by "retrieval error" and "I/O error", whatever these may be. This caused a lot of loading and reloading (when I chose the wrong save to load). Just these two questions: 1. Is it possible to reload a game without disconnecting? 2. When does autosave take place? In games against the AI, the autosave happens at the start of the player turn. In network games there seem te be more autosaves. Anyone knows what triggers it?

Possibly. With a rail line from Leningrad the value of the Scandinavian cities and mines does eventually go up to 8, at least for supply purposes. But I'm still unclear about the MPP situation after conquest. Do the axis not get the MPP's of the cities and mines of Scandinavia, or do they no longer get the convoys? Or do they get both in WaW?

I read somewhere that, since a certain patch, the Axis no longer get MPP's from Scandinavia (when they conquer it). In Vanilla SC2 at least. Is this still the case in WaW? [ November 11, 2007, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: Bylandt ]

WaW is already out. Its' a game expansion to SC2. You can buy it here: http://www.battlefront.com/index.htm

I see. Good thing too. Naval bombers fall in the category of tactical bombers, not strategic. I like the double-strike strat bombers, nevertheless. In vanilla SC2 I always put strat bombers on the western front, as AWAC for impending D-DAY, and maybe to catch a careless ship. But in WaW they are in active service on the Russian front. Very useful.

Naval Warfare tech can increase the anti-ship abilities for Tactical Bombers, so these units can be customized as naval bombers. </font>

The more I play WaW, the more I like it. In fact, I'm finding it hard to go back to vanilla SC2, even to play the new Global campaign. I particularly like: - Tanks are now really weapons of Blitzkrieg, instead of auxiliaries to all-powerful infantry armies. That doesn't mean they are unbeatable. AT-units and particularly tactical bombers are a real threat to unsupported tanks. - The new units are very useful. In an earlier post I was a bit dismissive of the AT, AA and artillery units. I'm starting to appreciate the value the AT and ART units, though mainly on the defensive. AA is still a bit disappointing, and only really useful for the Germans and on the western front. IMO they should be able to fire more than once each defensive turn. - Strategic bombers have much improved. They have lost some of their anti-ship abilities (rightly so) but are now very useful in support of ground offensives and, finally, strategic bombing campaigns to destroy ennemy MPP production is now a real possibility - An approximative position of raiding subs is useful and, of course, realistic. - Ability to upgrade minor's units - Trying to conquer Egypt is now a real strategic choice. The Axis player can go for it, but he knows it will mean diverting important forces, that will propably arrive too late for Barbarossa. - Players who now neglect research into AA (axis), AT (all), heavy taks (all), ASW (allies), do so at their own peril! All in all, I'm really happy with the expansion. And then there's that great Spanish Civil War campaign ...

Turn FOW off, just for a glance at the unit.

Artillery shooting at you? They have alonger range in scenario's.

So, who do I play next?

1. I agree. What about making them visible to aircraft? Just an idea. 2. Difficult question. Giving the UK extra ships doesn't mean the player will use them for the defence of the homeland. They may be "diverted" to Egypt or used for subhunting. Which creates new balancing problems. The problem is that the UK doesn't have enough incentive to defend the home country at all cost, as Egypt, Middle East and North Africa with 10 MPP cities is a viable option. I think what the patch needs to do is: - to uncheck the box with the "move of the UK-capital to Alexandria" as a standard setting (it's completely unrealistic to have a new army built and equipped from African resources anyway) - create a new option "Home Guard units" (or "National Emergency Mobilisation") that automatically raises a few units (with HQ) for placement as soon as a single German is in an amphibious transport within two hexes of the UK. 3. I agree. If Germany wants to spend its MPP's on HQ's, it should be able to do so. 4. Agree. Very good suggestions. But perhaps having some Italian ships start at half strength as compensation. This would have the added benefit that the British might be encouraged to move a ship from the Med to add to the defence of England.

Waltero won fair and square. If some moves and tactics are disallowed, they should be agreed upon beforehand. Frankly, the originality of the whole thing should be applauded. And he did take Manchester on request, while being in no obligation to do so.

I like all the original ideas. That's what makes this game great. There's always a new strategy to surprise the opponent. And then there's always someone who comes up with a feasable counterstrategy. However, as the Cannuck says, there should propably be a house rule against not taking London (and then Manchester) when able to do so. (Or even better, the option to move the UK capital to Alexandria should be disabled. The idea of a fully functional weapons industry in Egypt is ridiculous). I'm sorry I won't be playing against you, Waltero. I'm in the newbie league.

Funny! If no house rules have been agreed upon beforehand, anything goes. Waltero, I didn't understand this: "I waited for Russia to declare war on the Axis before entering Warsaw and its surrender". What's the advantage of this?

Lothaire (AXIS) vs Bylandt (ALLIES) : Allies win. Axis take Poland in turn 2. Denmark in turn 3. German sub soon found and destroyed. Italy joins even before Belgium is attacked (is this the rule rather than the exception in WaW?) France surrenders in july 1940. The tank in the capital is a pain to eliminate. Germans continue with conquest of Vichy (perhaps the crucial event of the game, because Spain was rapidly slipping into the axis sphere of influence). Spain reacts with outrage. To be fair, Lothaire didn't know that would happen. Is this new in Waw? Axis go on to conquer Norway en Sweden. They wisely choose not to attack Egypt. The entrenched and bracing British in Egypt feel very silly after a few months. When finally one of them cautiously pokes his nose outside to find nobody there, the Desert Rats advance into North Africa. They take the Italian possessions, and Tripoli and Vichy Africa in 1941. They start embarking for Albania, where Serb Partisans have seized the capital. Russia declares war in the summer of 1941. The Germans advance to the gates of Moscou, when winter sets in. This gives the Russians enough time to reinforce and entrench. The 1942 spring offensive of the Germans takes Voronzeh after brutal and bloody fighting. Both sides loose several units each turn. Russian counterattacks from Moscou and Stalingrad break the back of the German forces, though with heavy Russian casualties. A British paratrooper unit takes Paris in july 1942. Two earlier surprise landings had failed. But now the American are ready to debark en force. The Axis decide that the war can no longer be won. [ November 05, 2007, 07:18 AM: Message edited by: Bylandt ]

I have now. I haven't used it yet. But I suppose it's not that difficult. Bylandt11@hotmail.com

Did you get my mail, Lothaire?

Will do. Looking forward to my first game against a human opponent!

Seeing I have only played against the AI, I think "new player" would be best.

How do I join?