Strategiclayabout

- Thanks for the screens Catacol Highlander . Sure seems a nightmare to move so many units... But I still like the idea behind soft build: being able to build more units at higher cost if you need it badly. So maybe higher costs to keep the unit popping in line ? - If you take the 6 Panzer Army formed for the Ardennes offensive in late 1944, it was built at great cost by cannibalizing more or less all modern/elite reinforcements available while Guderian was pleading for refitting units on the more vulnerable eastern front.

Same as crispy131313, playing PBEM games to improve so a bit short on time but I'll be ready for next time ! Good luck to everyone as well .

Hello Yolo911, - I'm not very experienced but I can try to answer some questions you have: (no absolute certitudes, only how I understand it) - Destroyers: * each time you raid a convoy, your opponent knows where on its turn so if you don't move your subs and enemy send ships to catch them, you'll be found. * subs in silent mode have better chance to be undetected * even in silent mode, if you are near an enemy unit, port, city, or ressource you'll be "seen" (naval spotting range) * destroyers have better chances than other ships to detect subs in silent mode * if your sub tech are lower than your enemy antisub tech, you'll get found more often (better upgrade your units) (if AI has antisub 3 destroyers and you subs at level 1, it'll be ugly quickly) * aerial recon from planes can spot subs location - Diplomacy could be better but it's a wargame so it's not a priority. You also have to consider several major points: * Diplo costs are higher for Japan * Diplo costs are higher when trying to influence a major country * Diplo is better used during early game (more options) * if you want quick results, invest heavily = all chits on one country (but you can also spread your efforts on several targets and see which one gives better/more promising results) * you can "cross-invest" MPPs to get better results (Japan and Italy adding their chits to german ones in Turkey) - That said, you can build various strategies around diplo: * influence majors to reduce effects of war declarations on minor countries (decreasing mobilization % = reducing MPP output and delaying war entry) * bring minors on your side earlier (like Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria for axis) * gain territory without declaring war (Thailand for axis) * create a diversion for your opponent (Mexico or Iraq for axis) * counter enemy diplo efforts * gain a strategic advantage (Spain or Turkey for axis) * gain economic advantage (trade with Turkey for axis) * use a minor major as a diplomatic chits bag, neglecting everything else (France or Italy, hardly China, but it's a dangerous gamble) - Research, as for diplo, depends of your grand strategy but you have to note several things: * it depends on the campaign you play (if you begin in 1942, it's harder to focus on research, obviously) * depending on the country, you can/have to ignore some areas (Italy/China/France are very limited, USSR needs no naval techs, UK do...) * you can get quicker results with multiple chits put on 1 field (3 max per field, but if you do that, you'll have to neglect other areas) * you can have breaktroughs once you reach 40% (so if you're lucky and invest heavily, you can gain clear advantages) * each country has a max research capacity (USA 1400, Germany/USSR 750, Japan/England 650, others 400 or below) * the cost of each field is 100 or 125 but not the same for each country (better to plan a combination of 100 and 125 cheat to reduce waste) * some fields have more levels than others (1 to 5) (if you delay too much the research in one area, you'll never catch up) * some countries have specific fields with valuable units/bonuses (rockets for germans, soviet artillery... better take a look) There are three major fields you need to consider first: (take a look at the manual for all bonuses): * Intelligence: better research, spots enemy units, behind the scene bonus ? (not an absolute priority but neglecting it can cost you dearly later) * Production: not a first priority but much needed for big armies (discounts on buying and reinforcing units saves a lot of MPPs in the end) (as weapon techs increase all unit costs, your army will cost more and more) * Industry: the MMPs increase speaks for itself, 25% per level is HUGE (especially for Japan given its high MPP input at the beginning) (but every country should at least consider it, except France) (even Italy can become a pain for the ally with level 4 and nearly x2 MPPs) Others: * Infrastructure: not a priority unless/until you have to move units a lot (shifting troops between fronts like germans did can kill your economy) * Amphibious: not a priority but very usefull for Japan/USA (a big bonus to naval blitz punch can make the difference) * Antiaircraft: to protect ressource tiles/counter enemy air superiority (you can upgrade ports, cities, ressources and units) * Antisub: mostly for UK and Japan against german and US subs (usually a must go for UK, especially against agressive naval german players) * Motorization: not a priority but gives a mobility advantage (only one level, some countries already have it, best for offensive) Conclusion: it depends which country you play and how you play it .

Thanks for the stats screens and comments Catacol Highlander . Allied air power: 14 units + 3 carriers... eek !

@ zirkel1961 mail sent .

*Sun dance to make the snow go away* bouncing and yelling around a fire

Hello ^^ , I saw Poland, Finland and Baltic States events for USSR but nothing for Romania so here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_occupation_of_Bessarabia_and_Northern_Bukovina DE: Annex Bessarabia to protect Odessa and slavic minorities (28 june 1940) "With regard to Southeastern Europe attention is called by the Soviet side to its interest in Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete political disinterestedness in these areas." Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Article III, Secret Additional Protocol Yes: (historical) increased Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria axis leaning, higher USSR war preparedness, annex three romanian squares west of Odessa (93,18 / 94,19 / 95,19) see screen below. No: lower Romania axis leaning, lower USSR war preparedness Hope it'll be good .

Hello Peterk ^^ , So, as I said I played a little more with carriers and it seems to me that when a surface ship attacks a carrier at close range: - the first casulaties are taken by the aircraft aboard - the surface ship suffers casualties Then it seems that as long as you have aircraft strength on your carrier the ship itself will be protected somehow (unless you run straight into a sub or BB) . Have you seen it ?

That's very good news, thanks for your work Hubert .

- I think Bill means setting a trap by putting an tempting target (like a transport) where it has good chances to be spotted by enemy aerial recon. Then, you can move powerfull units nearby for a counter (subs or carriers). - More elaborated and more random: you can put a unit with low tech levels to be spotted and make your enemy think your troops are underequiped or understrengh while you have elite units with modern equipment waiting to strike. - You can also do the opposite if you're weak: try to delay an enemy offensive by making your opponent think you have units and techs that are not actually there. Send a carrier near Australia or Dutch Harbor (Alaska) as the japanese to lure US Navy away from Midway and strike it with your mighty combined fleet . - I think Catacol Highlander did something like that with the Russians in the official AAR (he used the russian word "maskirovka" = masquerade / bluffing / deception if I'm right).

Yes, makes sense, thanks for the input Bill . I'll go back to 1939 campaign and work on those merchant tiles again, I'll see if there is any difference between tiles adjacent to ports and farther tiles (like the Quebec ones). A shame I can't use my current axis PBEM game since UFC Addict made a quick work of my surface raiders (Gneisnau sunk, Scharnorst sunk, Graf von Spee fleeing like crazy) .

Thanks for the answer Winti ^^ , I looked for a bug/error thread but I missed it it seems ' . Is it the "new features" one ?

@ abukede: you have all my respect for protecting this AAR by a masterfull fighting retreat against two love heavy powered little girls attacking all day ^^ .

Hello , - On turn 6 (can't attach .sav sorry, .zip too big) of my PBEM game with UFC Addict (I play axis) I had an error during replay (SCGCgold, 1939 campaign, see screen below): FAILED(animate_replay_list): Segmentation violation errorlog (I tried to launch the replay two times so there are 2 lines): [02/25/2012 2:40:29; 5.1.2600; 1024x768x32(0); v1.00] FAILED(animate_replay_list): Segmentation violation [02/25/2012 2:50:46; 5.1.2600; 1024x768x32(0); v1.00] FAILED(animate_replay_list): Segmentation violation - From what I see it has something to do with the USSR-Finland event (?). My axis turn launches well if I skip the replay so it's not a big problem and we're at turn 9 now .

Hello again , - I've a little more experience with research and intelligence is still a worthy investment. You don't have to invest right away in it, Germany or Japan can divert their research chits towards other fields at the beginning and rip benefits quite quickly (doubling or tripling chits in some areas) but it'll have a cost later. - So I find it balanced, player actually has some strategic choices to do: buffing his troops for/against blitzkrieg right away or turtling a little and trying to hinder/delay enemy efforts behind the scenes/on the long term. Getting quickly to level 2 or 3 while enemies are still at 0 can yield interesting returns. You also have the unit reporting messages: spotting unexpected troops can give you the edge here and there). - However I speak for "major" majors, France, Italy or China have enough on their plates already and spending 100 MPPs for intelligence is a waste in my opinion. On the other hand, Japan has the ability to invest 3 chits quite early in intelligence, an interesting gamble. Hope I was of help .

Hello lhugues41 ^^ , I havn't used recon much but oceans are big so I don't find it that powerfull. Still, it's nice to be able to recon key positions without risking units nearby. I'll have to play with that more .

@ DeNatt: mail sent ^^ .

Mmmh... So we have: AXIS - ALLIES Strategiclayabout (me) - UFC Addict UFC Addict - Peterk Peterk - Catacol Highlander DeNatt - Peterk Catacol Higlander: 1 game (at least) + official AAR game Peterk: 4 games (good luck ^^ !) UFC Addict: 2 games (one with me) DeNatt: 1 game (ally) (me): 1 game (axis) So I'll play ally against DeNatt if he wants .

That's more or less what happened at Leyte (1944) so it's not fully ahistorical, I think. Decoys and maneuvers have a role to play but maybe it's overdone ? Just give him a hard time and post some screens if you can . Hi aesopo ^^ , Shouldn't it be in "mix mode": 1 group to recon and 1 group ready to strike ? Would be good against lone ships/units but you'll still need escort against an organized BB fleet, no ?

Some more testing about merchant tiles and this time I got two hits in the Thames Estuary with surface raiders... that wern't in raider mode :confused: . See below, campaign Fascist Alliance 1940:

Hello Peterk ^^ , - Not much experience here either but I had some Midway action on the 1942 Campaign and I think the game is more or less "on the spot". I sunk three US CVs but it was costly and I was a bit lucky. - I found CVs were quite strong against airstrikes but once they lose most aircrafts they're just giant targets. Very vulnerable to sub or big guns. - Also think that many CVs were lightly armored (converted cruisers or merchantships, reduced number of aircrafts) with only few escort ships. - I see a CV unit as "HQs of the sea" providing support for other units (recon, air power...). So it's more a capital ship with logistic escort (tankers, transport with replacement aircrafts, ammo, parts, light repairing ability). - As for WWII, there were not that much naval battles between CVs, Coral Sea (and it was a mess), Midway... I can point you to the battle of Leyte in 1944 where it was very close to be an US CVE shooting fair by the japanese BBs (all japanese CVs were used as a decoy). Think about mistakes, night, storms, mist... -Only my opinion but with the long range tech you have aerial CV = 8+4 range against 10 for CAs (without supply penalty) so they still have the edge. Plus if a carrier run away, good luck to find it in the Pacific (think about how RN "lost" the Bismarck in the Atlantic) ! That's also why island control is important: you can perform a lot of recon if you have fighters/bombers around, the other side can't. Oh and good luck in your game against Catacol Highlander, seems it'll be quite a challenge .

Hello again, I actually had a success raiding merchant tiles with surface raiders ! However it was on the 1942 campaign with a japanese cruiser near Melbourne: (I also think I had a hit on Nauru tiles but I missed the screen) I'll try the other campaigns to see what happens .

Thanks for your time and efforts Catacol Highlander . Your planning analysis would be much appreciated !

@ abukede: don't worry, german secret weapons are on the way to save the day .

Hi mcaryf1 ^^, - I'm not sure it'd be easy to simulate tech sharing like that, there were many political issues about it. And if I understand well, when France collapses, it produces North Africa Vichy minors so if they swing back to ally you can still produce up to date units for free french. De Gaulle had to pull srings everywhere to keep a share of the cake for France.Free french forces were usually pushed aside and diverted towards "secondary" fronts (where they made a point to wreak havoc of course ). - I remember reading somewhere that for a matter of "national pride" the Duce absolutely refused to let italian factories produce german tanks or use german blueprints to make similar models though many people (from army and industry) wanted to have something like panzer Mk IV to keep allies at bay on the southern front. Seems the M13/40 and other italian tanks were more iron graves than steel weapons . - Also, germans diverted some of their production to equip minor allies but it was never the most up to date equipment and only in small numbers. Also, unlike Italy, Finland was asking for anything germans could spare, especially panzerfaust and panzerjaeger when they saw how efficient they were :eek: . - All in all, maybe an event like: would you like to refit french forces at the cost of xx MPPs Y/N. Good side: they come in quicker, bad side: they are owned by France .