Multiplayer observations

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

With the addition of the TCP/IP patch brings a whole new demension to the arguments in theis forum. I am half way through my first maultiplayer game. Here are my observations as the axis player, in the Fall Weiss campaign.

PART 1: THE BALTIC

- If the Royal navy assaults, fall back into the danish straights, use the suprise contact to your advantage.

- if your fleet is destroyed do not invade Norway. Instead, wait until france in secure and invade Sweden from the far side. This way, the allied player will not see you.

- Use air power to defend it. Without a navy, airpower is your best hope. 3 or 4 level 2 0r 3 jets can do better than any navy.

more to come.

CvM

[ October 27, 2002, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: Carl Von Mannerheim ]

[sogard]

I think it is going to be very interesting to read after action reports by a number of posters who had a certain view of how the game systems worked in conjunction with each other after experiencing play against a human and not the AI. Yes, I know that pbem play was happening; but, the much more intense and rapid experience found with tcp/ip (as with hotseat) is going to be rather eye opening to some especially if they find an opponant that they do not know and has some experience with the game.

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

I have made a new observation.

If Russia declares war on Germany, it is impossiblw for Germany to make any serious advances against a fairly smart allied player

(not a crack at you Error,). The Axis player must declare war on Russia, or else.

[I/O Error]

Oh, no question at all. I was able to retreat all of my units and form an excellent defensive line, so it's no shock whatsoever that you are having problems. I started up a quick 5 minute game against the AI last night to retest, and as expected I have ten times as many problems when they declare war on me first. Being able to hold onto those starting armies and air fleets is a real winner. I would have been one unhappy little commie had you been able to declare war first, no question.

[ October 28, 2002, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: I/O Error ]

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

If you hadnt have made me botch sweden, i wouldve declared war on you!

[I/O Error]

The Swedish people will NEVER SURRENDER!

I'm still somewhat proud of that little mini-campaign, despite my losses.

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

Actually, i think i came out ahead on the MPP battle there. Your losses of carriers and BB's were a real blow. But i have one more trick..............

[arby]

Originally posted by Carl Von Mannerheim:

PART 1: THE BALTIC

- If the Royal navy assaults, fall back into the danish straights, use the suprise contact to your advantage.

- if your fleet is destroyed do not invade Norway. Instead, wait until france in secure and invade Sweden from the far side. This way, the allied player will not see you.

- Use air power to defend it. Without a navy, airpower is your best hope. 3 or 4 level 2 0r 3 jets can do better than any navy.

CvM

Couple suggestions. You're right about retreating into the Baltic. In fact, at that point your goal is now to use your air to inflict as much damage as possible on his ships. You can replace your losses; he can't. You may have to put off France and the low countries for a turn or two, but it'll be worth it, because if you make a serious dent in his fleet he's opened himself up for a Sea Lion.

Second, don't make a move on Norway until after you've conquered France. Then move about 4 air fleets to Northern Denmark. Park two transports with armies just below Oslo, and one with a corps within range. Unless he guesses the precise turn you're going to invade, he can't do anything about it; if he's foolishly parked his ships between Oslo and the continent, you're going to blow them up. DOW Norway, use the planes to attack and the armies to finish off the garrison. Once the garrison is gone, you can move the corps into the port and unload it, then opping it to Bergen the next turn.

It's a lot easier to conquer Sweden if you take Norway first. You can use your planes from Norway and amphibious assaults to take Stockholm on the first turn and mop up on the second.

[ October 29, 2002, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: arby ]

[arby]

Originally posted by Carl Von Mannerheim:

I have made a new observation.

If Russia declares war on Germany, it is impossiblw for Germany to make any serious advances against a fairly smart allied player

(not a crack at you Error,). The Axis player must declare war on Russia, or else.

Depends. If you're going for Sea Lion, a line of corps will adequately defend the Eastern Front: it's narrow, straight (which doesn't allow the Russian to concentrate more than two units on any one defender), and the Russians simply don't have the strength to push through. Once you do conquer Britain, the US is effectively out of the war, and you've got all of Europe to play with. Take Vichy, Spain and Portugal if you haven't already, Greece, Turkey, and Iraq. You're going to have twice as many MPP's per turn as the Russian player gets and, in this game, you use up far more MPP's on defense than you do on offense. It's not going to be a cakewalk but you'll get there.

[ October 29, 2002, 06:42 AM: Message edited by: arby ]