AAR, Timskorn Axis vs Jollyguy Allies

[Jollyguy]

After reading Terif’s AAR with Diced Tomato thought I would offer this one, as our game dovetails into two items mentioned by Terif.

The first couple turns Axis Timskorn obviously bought a Spanish chit(s), as I started my second turn to be greeted by Spanish readiness at 81%! So, in my game with Blashy I was the lucky recipient of a big Spanish readiness boost, but the SC 2 Gods must have wanted to even things out, as now I’m on the receiving end of it.

The second interesting aspect of the game highlights the risk of operating West for early Benelux and French DOW’s, which Timskorn did. On turn one he operated a substantial strike force west and took Benulux turn two, which allowed most Polish units to retreat around Warsaw. Needless to say, the French never got to buy Iraqi chits, and had to immediately go into defensive mode.

But then the next turn the weather favored the Allies, and mud hit, followed by mud and snow again. I think only one of the following turns was clear. The Poles hung on, and the French, although under continued attack, got dirty in the mud and skied in the snow. Then more snow, and Timskorn made a mistake. He operated his tank from the Polish front to France early in his turn, then subsequently destroyed the Polish corp in Warsaw, but because of the mud couldn’t capture Warsaw with less mobile units. So, the last remaining Polish corp took up positions in Warsaw, when Timskorn made another mistake, he operated his second HQ west. So I ended by March 1940 turn, and the Poles still hang on, with Russian Readiness steadily moving up, 44% during my last turn, not to mention that the French, although getting battered, are still in the game.

Timskorn just sent me another turn which I’ll get to tonight when I get home, but he said the Poles still hold Warsaw, which means Russian readiness is at least in the 50s (meanwhile, Franco is still at 81%). So, with Russian readiness up they will be collecting more mpps until Barbarossa, which Timskrorn might have to launch early.

As we all read in Terif’s AAR, he prefers his troops to walk west, which allows him mpps to perform diplomacy and research and upgrade/buy units. IMO this might be the best option. Operating west is a good blitzkrieg tactic, but with mpps at a premium in this game, and tech so important, and diplomacy a factor, I’m beginning to think that walking west is best.

Bob

[Timskorn]

Yep, definitely going to be interesting to see how this turns out. My troops are grinding down the French every turn, even in the mud and snow. Paris should fall soon. The biggest mistake of the game was op-moving the tank out, which could have easily captured Warsaw by now. Russian readiness is in the 50's already and it's early 1940. I sent an HQ back and hopefully with some decent weather I can finish this fiasco.

The Spain diplo was a very lucky hit. It only hit once, but it was for 41%. Hopefully they'll be joining soon and possibly offset a little bit the consequences from the terrible attack in Poland. I blame Adolf for op-moving the panzer, or maybe the 4 cups of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

Suffice to say I need to make some very good decisions after Poland and France fall, and have little room for error. I could try and placate the Russians with a little diplo, but that would likely result in little more than an expensive air fare for the diplomat. In order to have any chance in Russia I'll probably have to do some focus research and unit production, and hope for a little bit of luck.

Looking back I'll probably try the same early moves again, except make damn well sure I take Poland early. Walking troops saves a lot of MPP's though, and in the end you'll likely take Paris around the same time or a bit later than if you do a turn 2 strike at Benelux. But as Jollyguy said, he didn't have time do send chits to Iraq, which could have netted the UK hundreds of MPP's over the long run.

[Jollyguy]

Okay, this game ended in an Allied victory. Timskorn's bad luck in Poland proved insurmountable, as it raised Russian readiness. And as Terif pointed out, higher readiness means more mpps for all subsequent turns.

Timskorn took Egypt and I believe did the Syria/Iraq attack, and had a good early Barbarossa and methodically moved forward. I fell back to Moscow and Stalingrad and the rivers, not defending up front, letting my entrenched corps in the forward cities take the casualties and buy time. I also abandoned the mines when I saw he had motorization II, as I didn't want my corps to get surrounded and put in 0 supply, meaning they're gone forever and cannot be repurchased cheap. I think Leningrad held on.

But's that as far as he got. The Siberians transferred, and joined a massive force I had been building up. I had the max in tanks, an extra plane, all my corps, extra armies, three extra HQ's, and even a paratroop to take Iran. The Russians counterattacked, while at the same time the corp garrisoning Brest was destroyed.

We called the game, as it was clear the Russians were just going to steamroll west.

The lessons IMO are 1) Have the Germans walk west, which allows them more mpps to research and/or do diplomacy and/or upgrade units 2) If possible, keep Russian readiness low 3) And like Terif has said many times, sometimes its best not to give up too early. When Spain spiked to 81% on the second turn I thought, geez, now what? What I did was cash in my British research chits and buy diplomacy chits and abandon the Med and garrison for a potential Sea Lion. Then I got lucky with Russian readiness, which ended up being the game breaker. Spain never entered, and when Russia joined I had them buy 5 chits ASAP to foreclose the possibility of Franco getting more interested. I also kept my American fleet away from Spain, as I've made that mistake a couple times now and had Spain's readiness spike.

Bob

[Timskorn]

Yep, the whole game fell apart from the Poland fiasco! It was the first time I tried doing the quick Poland/France attack, and I made a terrible mistake early on of op-moving the only unit I had that could take Warsaw. So the next turn Warsaw was reinforced and I was back at the grind again, not to mention my HQ's had already been sent west as well. By the time Poland and France fell, Russia was up to 60% readiness in mid-1940.

And as Jollyguy notes above, the rest is history. I learned a lot of lessons that game though, so it wasn't a total wash.