AAR's

[Brian the Dane]

Hey Folks,

I just want to say thanks for the AAR's. They are great, and very great, and I learn alot from them, plus I get to enjoy the game vicariously.

Soon, I'm going to want to challenge, but I'm no where near good enough. At this point, I'm still playing Allies, with the Axis getting only a plus one experience bonus.

Anyways, if I could ask, I'd like to hear a bit more about how some of the decision points impact you and the game. Like not accepting Vichy surrender seems so far a bad mistake, so I don't know why one wouldn't do it always. Same with Dividing Poland. Are you having India declare war on the Axis right away? And if so, why? What about the free French. It seems expensive to me, but I do it anyways.

Anyways, great reading. Thanks Rambo, for getting it somewhat organized so we can track them better.

[crispy131313]

In my most recent game with Rambo I actually should have not accepted Vichy. It was a mistake on my part, I wanted Spain to join the Axis at a cost (plus get the extra units.) I did not realize the event would not fire after I took Algeria if I accepted Vichy. I am very very dissapointed that I made tha mistake. It will hang over my head the entire game.

[Gronq]

I tend not to divide Poland then I take the Baltic states before that dastardly Stalin gets his hands on them. You need to be ready for him though when he declares...

[Scook]

In the game with Crispy, one reason I went into Britain is you get good Diplo hits with both Spain and Turkey. Counting on diplo hits is a big mistake and I forgot about that. Spent a year with Spain not shifting at all. Also threw a couple chits into Russia, to hold them back a bit. Money well wasted. I eventually got Spain, but it was well after the point it would help me at all.

I also thought I could push the Chinese around a bit more than I did. All I did was help build experienced Chinese units. Taking myself back to the drawing board here and revamping what I do early with Japan.

One thing Terif (aka: Yoda) always said is watch your transporting/operate costs, they will kill you. Now that you have to build in your home country only, and the distance you have to cover, I think infrastructure is a very worthwhile tech. I wouldn't go crazy to max it out, but tech 2 or 3 really makes a difference in doing what you have to do.

[Brian the Dane]

I'm curious. How much readiness does Stalin get if Hitler doesn't agree to divide Poland. In my games as allies (always allies), I've never seen the computer not divide Poland (in Patton Drives East, it sometimes happens).

There are so many permutations of what can happen in this game, that even though there is less tactical than the others (or so it seems to me), there's alot going on. Against the computer, as allies again of course, Japan took that Portugese island without permission, and suddenly Portugal became an ally. Not a useful one, but a fun one.

Anyways, this doesn't have anything to do with the AAR's, which I'm totally enjoying reading, and one day will get to start and make once I'm good enough not to get stomped on right away (I play so linear).

[Scook]

Ignoring the Pact with Stalin will cost 7-10% in Soviet mobilization. The Baltic States is huge, if you do that, roughly 25%, if I recall. You will probably win more games if you play linear, just tactically address problems, and keep things up-tempo so the Allies have to constantly react. What you see in a lot of the AAR's will result in a lot of Ally wins, but you will keep seeing them because it's a) fun, and more interesting reading than if you do the same thing every time.