Do these games ever go all the way?

[BK6583]

Some of the current (excellent I might point out) AARs notwithstanding, I can't help but notice that a great number of these AARs never seem to make it out of 1940 or at the latest, 1941. Seems that either the Germans are way ahead of history and have such enormous strength that the Allies give up then and there. Or - the Allies bullox up the German time table to the point where Adolph calls it a day. I haven't gone through every AAR, but are there any where the Allies and Axis actually went into 1945 and played down to the wire (granted, if I've read the manual correctly, given the all or nothing victory conditions, I guess there's not much incentive to play all the way through to '45, is there?).

[Wachtmeister]

In the early days of the old SC ladder, Kenfederoff (Axis), and I (Allies) played out to a last turn stalemate victory conditions draw. Axis had taken Leningrad, offset by the Allied liberation of France. Aside from a post or two in the ladder thread, we did not do an AAR.

I think there could have been a few more of these "bitter end" games, but many players are don't care to invest an extra 6 or 8 hours, on the off chance of a stalemate victory. Also, unless players are of equal skill, play equally sharp,and have equal luck with the combat die rolls, and tech advances, one side or the other usually has upper hand by 1943.

Having said all this I suspect some surrenders have been a bit premature, some of mine included.

[Terif]

Hi BK6583,

You are right, there are not many games any more played longer than 1941/42. Often players surrender some turns after Barbarossa: either Axis are strong and break russian defence lines, or the lines hold and Axis surrender.

Thats a pity, cause I find the second part of the game also very interesting and sometimes much more exciting than the first one. Especially as Axis when their offensive has been stopped and they have to switch to a defensive strategy. And often situation can change again and even in a bad situation it is possible to win . But if you dont try it you never know and many players dont have the patience to fight and try it.

I can give you one example of an AAR where both sides played longer. It was my first loss, we played until May 1947 until stalemate victory for Axis and the result was open until mid 1946 :

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=18;t=002557#000000

But there are many other older AARs with a long fight. At the start most players play some games until the end...

[ August 27, 2003, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

[Oak]

Check out the game "AAR 'Limit' Game: Shaka (Axis) vs Oak (Allies)". The game is going into 1945.

[Desert Dave]

Well, has anyone tried the Barbarossa 1941 scenario?

Germany merely has Yugo & Greece & Norway, with a little over 300 MPPs to start with.

Only 3 HQs and 3 AFs on Eastern Front. 7 Armies (3 with 0 Exp, 3 with 1 Exp, 1 with 2 Exp) and 4 Tank groups (3 with 1 Exp, 1 with 0 Exp).

Germany only has L1 Heavy Tanks and Jets, with NO chits to invest.

Rommel HQ and 1 Tank are already unpacking the killer 88s down in Libya. 1 AF is chasing Quisling up in Norway.

Scharnhorst & Gneisenau are in/around Brest. Tirpitz and one sub in the Baltic.

Now.

Seems like this one would go much, much, much longer than 1942, yes?

I wonder how many head-to-head players have even tried this one?

Added bonus: no likelihood of any disconcerting "gambits." And Germany will be hard pressed, given the opening set-up, of going too far afield.

So. I'd like to know... any reports on how this scenario plays out, head to head?