America Declared war on me in March 41

[handeman]

I was playing an agressive strategy with the Germans. I took out the low countries and France by the end of June 40 and then tried a sorry attempt at an invasion of England which was humiliated in short order. I then invaded Russia at the end feb 41 and in the next month America declared war on me. Man are the Americans touchy....

[pzgndr]

Well you did say aggressive! I suspect we're all pushing the demo to its limits doing things we probably would not do in a campaign game. It is interesting to see the diplomacy model working fairly well.

I'll take the playtesters word that the campaign game plays out well. With a game like this, there's an optimal strategy out there balancing force pool development, use of HQ units, research, and aggressive play for long-term success. It's just going to take many many games to find that correct balance.

[rleete]

I have to question the strategy of attempting Sealion. It brings both the US and USSR into the game much sooner, and is a very risky proposition. In my two attempts at it, one failed miserably, the other was moderately sucessful, but brought the USSR crashing in. I wouldn't have held out for long. The US also declared war, and was probably transporting units to reinforce.

After the fall of France, I try to keep a reserve of at least 500 MPPs, to cover any instances of invasion, especially by the USSR. Usually more, around 750. Building/moving lots of units on the eastern border seems to trigger an invasion, so I just keep the points in reserve, to be able to reinforce and create a counterstrike force. In the meantime, I go for Sweden, Greece and Africa.

This assumes I've already conquered Yugoslavia, and Vichy, and am building up for Spain and Gilbraltar. Bringing in the economic might of the US seems to almost insure defeat, as the Soviets are sure to invade. Opening up another front to defend seems foolish. I have yet to see the British invade in any kind of force, so defense against them only involves a few corps, and maybe an air fleet or two.

Is the potential payoff in MPPs or lack of a staging area for US invasion worth the cost and risk? I do know that it brings Spain in as a minor on your side, but isn't it better to invade Spain, and get the eventual pillaging bonus? Anyone have any comments?

[SuperTed]

RL,

I have London in the bag and Manchester United has been routed. Anyway, the USSR still sits at 41% for joining the war, but the US is up to around 85%.

Taking Britain should not affect the USSR (much). However, taking Spain (remember all the Soviet soldiers that died in the civil war?), Sweden (too close for comfort), Yugoslavia (an ally), Greece (still a bit close), and Northeast Africa (far too close, via the Caucasus Mountains) will get their attention.

[arax3]

I invaded Vichy, Yugo, and then Spain. In the last two turns of the Demo, the USSR declared war on the Axis powers! I would stay away from giving them a reson to invade until you are ready. L3

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by arax3:

I invaded Vichy, Yugo, and then Spain. In the last two turns of the Demo, the USSR declared war on the Axis powers! I would stay away from giving them a reson to invade until you are ready. L3

L3,

Yup, it's never good to poke a sleeping bear. :eek:

[rleete]

Okay, I didn't know about Spain. I guess I have to pay attention to the percentages better.

Note to Hubert: please put those numbers on the main screen!

But does the increase in Soviet war readiness jump by a specific amount? Is it fixed or random? If it's fixed, I can see a "gamey" cry arrising from using a set order of conquests to keep the Red Bear and the US at bay as long as possible.

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by R_Leete:

Okay, I didn't know about Spain. I guess I have to pay attention to the percentages better.

Note to Hubert: please put those numbers on the main screen!

But does the increase in Soviet war readiness jump by a specific amount? Is it fixed or random? If it's fixed, I can see a "gamey" cry arrising from using a set order of conquests to keep the Red Bear and the US at bay as long as possible.

RL,

The increase falls within a range of values. For example, after dclaring war on Denmark, I have seen the Soviets jump by as little as 5% and as much as 16%. So, there's a pretty wide range.