AAR, Terif (Axis) vs. Jollyguy (Allies)

[hellraiser]

Unlikely

As I understand from the AAR, Axis was able to apply the Yoda's overwhelming force tactic in Russia while keeping the Wallies busy with a side show.

Because what the Wallies are fighting is: 1 - a naval and air war around the british isle and 2 - a side action in Africa.

They do not threaten directly Axis' european vital spots - Berlin, Munich, Paris, Rome, Warsaw - it is clear the intention of Axis to harass the Wallies until Russia is down.

As enjoying as it may seem - from a tactical perspective (very interesting tactical decisions by both of them) - my opinion is that Axis has a huge strategic edge in this game.

@Jolly - Urals are an extraordinary spot to lanuch a counter provided the Axis was forced to operate a lot of ground troops to west

Against full axis power concentrated in east, there ain't no such place

[Konigs]

Pure reading pleasure, thanks guys....

[Terif]

September 1944:

The largest bloodbath in history took place in Ural the last few turns...half the russian population was fighting and dying there against the axis main forces...The battle took a horrendous toll on both sides...in total 23 russian units got destroyed since the last counting...HQ, AF, tanks, armies, corps right up to the last rockets...everything was thrown into the death zone and eventually destroyed...finally Russia had to accept its defeat and surrendered at August 20th, 1944 when its last capital Sverdlovsk got conquered. Axis engineers immediately start disassembling russian factories and sending raw materials back to Germany - plunder: 1512 mpps.

Following the russian surrender and their forces in Iran/Iraq, Axis immediately started the final offensive against Middle East and Egypt...Allies fleeing in panic from El-Agheila and Tobruk, followed by axis forces...german armies from Greece landing along the coast to cut them off. Now it should be only a matter of a few turns till the last clean-up operations are over...peace is already returning to mainland Europe when the victorious soldiers return home to celebrate with their families the great victory .

[Jollyguy]

Most interesting game I've played so far. I lost track of how many Axis ground units goot destroyed at 50+ many turns ago, so it was the most bloody game I've ever had. At the end I took back Brest, and the next turn Terif used an Italian corps to spot with and revealed level 4 subs. When The Master resorts to corps as spotters, even Italian ones, you know he's flush with mpps. And his level 4 subs were 11 and 12 elite reinforced. FDR and Churchill sent feelers and the Axis was receptive to ending the war, and then they turned over Stalin, who got caught after he smuggled himself from Siberia to the West Coast, hoping to find asylum in that left leaning colony called Hollywood.

Hellraiser was right, Africa was an Axis stragegic sideshow. But Liam is also right in the gains the Allies made, as reading an AAR does not convey the value that down in the trenches experience does. It was interesting to see just how many mpps the the Western Allies can accumulater later in the game, and how if I had a navy I could have picked any number of landing zones.

In hindsight losing my navy was a strategic blunder. It meant for probably a year that I wasn't able to grapple with Terif out West, as I had to hole up on the English Isles while the Kreigsmarine and Italian Navy effectively blockaded me. It is very important for the Western Allies to harass the Axis continually with effective sideshows, draining as many mpps for as long as possible and keeping them off balance, until they can spot a strategic chink in the armor and try to pry it open.

Emboldened by this game, I've decided to start another one. We'll see if it becomes AAR worthy, but I do feel I know a bit better the mechanics of the game. Another observation: I think a mistake many Allied players make is to attack out of impatience. In reality, delaying the Axis can also yield dividends, as it increases the chance that Allies can apply their economic advantage, and apply it effectively and in their favor, rather than battles in which the enemy comes out ahead. So patience, and a lot of it, combined with discretion, and a lot of that too, is needed to have a chance to tip the strategic initiative in your favor.

Bob

[Terif]

After a last rebellion, where the allied fleet is thrown into a final heroic battle – in which they loose nearly all their last surface ships (cruiser, 2 battleships and a carrier) the british empire decides to follow the russian example and surrenders unconditionally. USA also only lands its tanks and HQ in Brest to destroy the italian bomber as last action in the war before it signs the peace treaty which will ensure a united and prospering Europe under german leadership .

War photographies:

Axis naval blockade of England before Barbarossa starts:

First huge naval battle when Allies break the blockade:

Allied counterattack in Iraq with overwhelming force:

Axis assault against Stalingrad:

Fortress Tobruk comes into beeing...

[Terif]

Sub blockade of England...

...preparing for a strike against the allied fleet...compulsory postponed due to bad weather...so the british fleet was able to escape...

The once proud Fortress Tobruk during its last days...

Fortress Ural before the storm...

Loss summary after the Axis victory in this bloody war:

[Iron Ranger]

Nice AAR. I have noticed in all SS (other AARs as well) an overwelling axis presence in russia. Note the two (almost always) Itlian and One (str 10+) Romanina air plus most if not all the German air fleets are relitively low tech. I bet if we could check those german air fleets are 3+ exp as well. Through these AARs and my own games I have noted that its rarely domination through tech that the air war is decited but more the ability of MASSED air on the primary front with its effect on moral and readness that produce's winning battles.

What contries were still neutral at the end? Irland and Turkey only?

[Liam]

I doubt that it was the air #s alone that dominated the skies, it seems to me there were no threats to Terif's air domination Iron Ranger and LR2 is all he needed to do what you've mentioned. Lower Morale and kill land units...

If the West and East had gone extensive in the air and The East held forward positions where Fortifications and air interdiction roles mattered, perhaps investments there would pay off. Though here, as you can see Naval Domination in the West and Numerical superiority in the East was a focus.

That was some nice screenies. I'm playing Terif right now, He's a tough adversary and knows how to use each unit well.

Originally posted by Iron Ranger:

Nice AAR. I have noticed in all SS (other AARs as well) an overwelling axis presence in russia. Note the two (almost always) Itlian and One (str 10+) Romanina air plus most if not all the German air fleets are relitively low tech. I bet if we could check those german air fleets are 3+ exp as well. Through these AARs and my own games I have noted that its rarely domination through tech that the air war is decited but more the ability of MASSED air on the primary front with its effect on moral and readness that produce's winning battles.

What contries were still neutral at the end? Irland and Turkey only?

[hellraiser]

Ref. spotter transports:

An aspect I don't particularly like in SC2 although I use it from time to time usually to be on par with my opponent in this respect

Using 40k troops in fragile transport ships to spot/block enemy naval activity is ga(y)mey as hell

[Terif]

@Hellraiser:

In version 1.06 it is usually not a good idea any more to use transports as spotters/blockers. Damage has been doubled and weather also doesn´t protect them any more.

Therefore if you use a transport as spotter, you will most likely loose it if it finds something... .

Like you experienced in our last game where you used transports as spotters. Result: army + 2 corps transports sunk without much effort, the survivors fled in panic back to the coast ...

So don´t worry, transports as spotters is no real issue any more - any player who makes a cost-benefit calculation doesn´t do it while the game is still open...sacrificing 110 mpps minimum to find an enemy ship...only if you have too much ressources ....here my Axis only used corps as spotters since the game was already over and they had plenty of surplus units they couldn´t use anyway after the surrender of Russia .

[ May 29, 2007, 04:57 AM: Message edited by: Terif ]

[Terif]

@Iron Ranger + Liam:

Yes, airfleets don´t need tech - except for some LR. Airfights nearly never kill enemy airfleets any more like it was in SC1. Base combat value of air vs air is only 1 - before they do real damage you need Jets 2 at least or better Jets 3...which also makes the AFs more costly...

Therefore as Axis you don´t need Jets except if you intend to attack western Allies in the air - which usually is a bad idea in itself. Russia has other problems than building air that doesn´t really help them - like building ground units and researching appropriate techs for them .

The power of airfleets is in deed the offensive - reducing enemy morale and readiness before groung troops attack. Therefore airfleets are not needed in defence as there they have no real use. Air has to be commandeered to the offensive parts of your forces - there they can show their real value .

[hellraiser]

apparently in our game you did not have such problems - you used transports to spot/block big time ...

it all boils down to how well can you use them, right?

because as the game is now, it is worth losing a transport instead of a ship - you just buy the corps back at full price.

it would be interesting that transports lost at sea should lower your hard cap - this indeed would make this tactic not so useful

[Liam]

of course a spotter would be quite nice in some situations, it saves a lot of cash. Though it's often rare, best fix is to limit it as HR says, no nation but the Soviet Union would risk 10s of thousands of men in such a mission

Originally posted by hellraiser:

apparently in our game you did not have such problems - you used transports to spot/block big time ...

it all boils down to how well can you use them, right?

because as the game is now, it is worth losing a transport instead of a ship - you just buy the corps back at full price.

it would be interesting that transports lost at sea should lower your hard cap - this indeed would make this tactic not so useful