Blashy (Allies) vs Jollyguy (Axis) AAR

[Jollyguy]

Blashy (Allied) and I (Axis) started a new game. Only house rule is no Axis DOW of Turkey.

I decided to utilize the same strategy that Sombra used on me, hitting the Poles turn one with about 5 units and an HQ and approaching the gates of Warsaw with armor, while operating an HQ and numerous units west, to hit Benelux turn two, which I did as the weather was good, bringing the Be’s and Ne’s and Lux’es under heel. At the end of Turn two I moved a cruiser back to Konigsberg and amphibed the corp there, which I’m not sure is necessary, to have a ship there to toss the amphib unit out another hex, but with only a six hex range I wanted to make sure it could reach Copenhagen. I also hit the French mine with two airfleets to gain experience, and the French airfleet did not intercept.

Turn three the weather cooperated again, and Denmark was brought under heel and Warsaw captured. I probably could have hit Denmark turn two, but wanted to be safe as this is the first time I’ve used this strategy. Blashy dispersed his Poles so I hit as many as possible, and Poland surrendered turn 3. Blashy retreated from the Maginot Line and I advanced in that vicinity, inflicting what damage I could. He covered the mine with his airfleet, which I reduced to 1.

That’s where we sit. IMO this strategy is weather dependent, as if the French get lucky and mud arrives early, then the Axis probably should not DOW Benelux, which means they’ve incurred all those operating costs with little to show for it. Plus, with lucky weather the Poles have a chance to defend Warsaw into 1940 and see Russian readiness bump. But if successful these opening moves result in more mpps sooner for Axis, probably more than offsetting the operating costs, and throw the Allies on their heels, which means the Frenchies probably can’t buy chits for Iraq, plus the Brits may feel compelled to abandon the Med and start buying corps and not be able to buy Spanish chits as fast, as Sea Lion would be a possibility.

Bob

[Rolend]

See I use the railheads option which means a unit has to be next to a city to Operate and this delays this kind of strategy by 2 turns running you into bad weather. I hate Operate as it stands now, way to EASY to use in the game, it just feels so darn gamey to me. Anyway try a game with railheads on and see what happnes to this type of strategy

[Blashy]

Railheads brings a more strategical planning to your deployments and progress.

[Jollyguy]

I think most serious head-to-head players opt for as few restrictions as possible with only absolutely necessary house rules.

But I think railheads would be an option to consider, and I would not be averse to it as long as the players switched sides or did mirror games.

[Jollyguy]

Interesting diplomatic action lately. I’ve been buying a Spanish chit every other turn or so, with absolutely no intention of buying 5 for Germany and 5 for Italy. What I wanted to do was get a hit, to make Blashy rush to fund his max of 5 chits at 75 mpps each. The ideal would have been a hit from my first chit, 50 mpp cost to me, and have him expend 375 for 5 chits. That’s a pretty good cost/benefit ratio. (remember, I’m an accountant.)

So, I was up to 3 chits and got a hit, Spain bumped to 51. That left me with two chits, and I’m thinking, okay, mission accomplished, 150 to 375 ratio still isn’t bad. Then I noticed Sweden fell to 9%, so my convoys turned off, so he got a hit there. Then, the next turn, with only two chits working, I got a 32% bump in Spanish readiness, to 83%! Now, Blashy has said there is an X% chance of a getting a “bonus” bump after the first successful hit, which is exactly what happened here. Perhaps he can expound on that a little.

So, the next turn I switch gears and have Germany buy three more chits as that’s all I could afford, and Italy 5, as I had been saving my Italian mpps for an HQ and they were flush with cash. At the same time I notice Sweden at 1%, or something like that, so Blashy got another hit there.

The next turn, boom, I get an 11% bump from my Italian chits, which puts Franco at 94%. I believe that’s enough to push Spain into mobilizing for war, then joining, and there’s nothing Blashy can do about it, especially when I’ve got 8 chits working. And all this happened even before France fell, which will happen next turn. It’s April, 1940.

So, needless to say, interesting diplomatic action. I’m going to have to read the scripts now to make sure I’m not missing anything, but needless to say, this totally reshuffles Axis possibilities. It goes without saying that I’ll hit Gibralter, and we’ll see where it goes from there.

Bob

[Blashy]

If you get a hit, there is another check, a 5% chance to ADD another 20-30 points to your original roll.

So in effect for any country the maximum a player could get if he gets the bonus check is +45% in one turn, the most I've ever received is +43%.

90+% means a country mobilizes.

And I've done no counter diplomacy.

I just cut off your MPP supply from Sweden that is all .

[Lars]

Interesting. Especially as to who got the better deal.

Sweden, you're losing what? About 300+ mmp a year on the convoys?

On the other hand, ya got Spain. 300 mmp a year plus the unit goodies, plus a doomed Gibralter.

Could be very interesting if Sweden keeps going Allies.

[Rolend]

Yea but having Spain this early will make N Africa a snap once Gibralter falls, Spain affects an entire region and even keeps the US from the Med once it enters the war. I think Spain is HUGE for the Axies and even more so when brought in early.

Plus Sweden can be invaded if need be where as at this point in the game the Allies have no counter to Spain. Well done Jolly.

[jon_j_rambo]

The 90% thing is dumb too. 90% means 90%, not 100%.

[Blashy]

That was a choice by myself to let him have Spain.

The allies are FAR from being kept doing any actions in the med because Gibraltar is gone, the only thing keeping the Allies from doing some MED actions has to do with something else entirely that is a factor in EVERY game.

US Pacific Fleet, woot!

[Lars]

Originally posted by Rolend:

Yea but having Spain this early will make N Africa a snap once Gibralter falls, Spain affects an entire region and even keeps the US from the Med once it enters the war. I think Spain is HUGE for the Axies and even more so when brought in early.

Plus Sweden can be invaded if need be where as at this point in the game the Allies have no counter to Spain. Well done Jolly.

I would submit forcing the Axis to invade Sweden is a counter.

That Russian clock is ticking…

[Rolend]

Point taken Lars but the Axies can take Sweden back, the Allies will be hard pressed to do anything about the effects Spain will have long term. Sure Sweden is a pain but can be dealt with, and needs to be very quickly as you have stated the Russians are coming the Russians are coming This is a very differant start to most AAR's posted here I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[ June 16, 2006, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: Rolend ]

[TaoJah]

I am glad to see that my favorite "operate half your units out of Poland and attack the Benelux fast" is used

And yes, you can take Denmark in one amfibious landing. You don't even have to wait until turn two to do it, once you moved the army SW of Koningsberg, there is path of German hexes to the rest of Germany and you can operate a corp into Kongisberg.

But my question is this : why does Blashy leaves the Maginot line ???

I usually defend France with two UK units on the western border with France and the rest French units, including the Maginot line. Why does he leave it ???

[jon_j_rambo]

JarJar (T-Blashy) empties M-Line early on?

[Sombra]

Originally posted by TaoJah:

I am glad to see that my favorite "operate half your units out of Poland and attack the Benelux fast" is used

And yes, you can take Denmark in one amfibious landing. You don't even have to wait until turn two to do it, once you moved the army SW of Koningsberg, there is path of German hexes to the rest of Germany and you can operate a corp into Kongisberg.

But my question is this : why does Blashy leaves the Maginot line ???

I usually defend France with two UK units on the western border with France and the rest French units, including the Maginot line. Why does he leave it ???

TaoJah, France is doomed if the Allied player does not pull back its troops from the Maginot line they will be cut off and die without doing anything in the french campaign. Sending British troops to France you can do against the AI. If I see a human player doing it I think "another army of the walking dead from England". You cant win in France, at this point or doing any good there.

In ´SC1 you had to sent reinforces to delay France. In SC2 never ever do it only if you want to lose the few MPS England has and open yourself WIDE for sealion.

[Sombra]

It would be nice to see more of this AAr. I learned from Bashy and Jollyguy already the importance of Kiel and the "Blashy Syrian attack" => activating 50% of Iraq.

[Jollyguy]

I agree with Sombra on the Russians (trying) to buy units, and his IT/PT and intelligence. IMO, intelligence does the least for the Germans initially and especially with the new caps, but is worthwhile for the Russians and US, to piggyback on what the Germans are doing.

I think in my next Allied game I will have the Russians buy one intelligence chit first: then an IT chit; then a PT chit: then get up to three infantry and tank chits; then start buying units. I think I’ll also sell the rocket chit ASAP, the first turn. I have yet to get in a game where rockets had a decisive effect. Then mix in two tanks with cheap corps.

Yes, it’s always tough in early Barbarossa, but it is for the Germans, too. Like Sombra said, although from the Allied side you think they’re an unstoppable force, the Axis is stretched too. And yes, the Russians will take losses by counterattacking, but so will the Germans. It’s a slugfest game now. The alternative to not wanting to exchange blows is to slowly but surely get grind down by the Germans.

And out west the Allies need to make as much trouble as possible without getting reckless. Hit that port, and hit the German and French mines. We all knew it, but long range air is important for the Allies, and to chase off an Axis HQ that might be lingering near Bordeux to help out the Brest corp. Without HQ support Brest takes more damage sooner. If I’d seen that HQ of Sombra’s near Bordeux sooner I wouldn’t have taken as many ship hits as I did.

The Brit also need to get the RAF up to four fighters. And they’re carriers, although much less valuable than in SC 1, are good anti-ship units, and also okay against land units in the open, not in cities. In general I would say Brit carriers are low in the list of upgrade priorities, but depending on how the game developed, could be useful, i.e., if the Italian navy made a dash for France. In that case maybe it would be worthwhile to upgrade the carriers. Remember, ship defense was lowered against carriers in the patches.

And in Barbarossa Sombra did keep his offensive force compact. He never even went for the two upper cities of mine, he headed right for Stalingrad. And although I couldn’t fully see what he had, I imagine it was like a scrum in rugby, basically a wedge formation…which I understand is so effective it’s banned in rugby.

But I was taking losses in Russia just trying to defend, so why not take losses on the attack instead, when you can take some of the enemy down with you? I have a feeling that if I’d taken out just a handful of corps/armies/and a tank or two, that his momentum might have stalled. And then when I landed in Brussels Sombra opped over two level 4 tanks that I could see. I could have evacuated my Brits, but in the meantime, and assuming I had chipped away at some of Sombra’s units, the Russians would have gotten some breathing room. Then the second phase of the war would have started and maybe the Russians have a chance. Sitting there they have no chance against a good Axis opponent.

[Jollyguy]

Oh wait, I just noticed I posted for Sombra's and my AAR here, I'll move it.

First, I want to thank Blashy for his advice, which he gives freely and even without asking. He told me in an earlier Allied game that I needed to make more trouble out west, and needed to hit that port, which I didn’t realize the significance of. And yes, his attack on Syria was a great trick to get the Iraqis in. Sombra promptly incorporated it into his Axis repertoire against me.

As to the game. It’s early 1941, and I’ve taken Gibralter, Norway & Sweden, and Egypt. He totally evacuated the Med, which I think you have to do in situations like this, because Sea Lion is a possibility and would of course knock the Brits out entirely. Blashy still holds Malta, where my two Spanish cruisers and one German cruiser and the entire Italian surface navy are accumulating experience taking target practice. He also retook Brest, which I held originally but didn’t garrison, as I didn’t want to let him accumulate any more experience than possible. The French partisans knocked it down regularly, then he’d hit it a bit, and finally just moved in.

He also used chits to induce Tito, they just joined at the end of my last turn. I’m sure he wants me to tie down units there, which it will do I’m sure. I wonder if that would have been better done later, when I didn’t have units in the vicinity gearing up for Barbarossa?

[dicedtomato]

Are we playing the same game, or do you have the special Lord of the Rings version?

Gandalf must be magically producing fighters, because I can't figure out how the British can produce four aircraft (1,500 MPP) when they're down to 60 MPP a turn after the Axis take the Middle East, and the U.S. doesn't Lend-Lease until mid-1941.

Diced Tomato

[Timskorn]

Well, you can get 2 air units if you move the one from Egypt to the UK. Not entirely sure how you'd get even one additional fighter without sacrificing research and reinforcing damaged units.

[Agamemnon]

Well, you can get 2 air units if you move the one from Egypt to the UK. Not entirely sure how you'd get even one additional fighter without sacrificing research and reinforcing damaged units.

I agree, I don't see how England does it all, with their 60 MMP.

[Lars]

Think he counted the Carriers.

[Blashy]

LR Carriers are the doom weapon of the Axis at sea, you spot subs easily and you spot the surface fleet.

You avoid surprise attacks and you can create surprise encounters.

[Blashy]

In this game I'm trying something quite different, long term will see how it goes but it is obvious whatever I'm doing is not something that is visible to Jollyguy.

Although I am keeping Scandinavian supply down of course .

[Sombra]

Originally posted by Agamemnon:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Well, you can get 2 air units if you move the one from Egypt to the UK. Not entirely sure how you'd get even one additional fighter without sacrificing research and reinforcing damaged units.

I agree, I don't see how England does it all, with their 60 MMP. </font>