TGC (Allies) vs. VictoryFirst (Axis) Anniversary '41 - OoB, no bid

[The_Good_Captain]

@VictoryFirst edit was changing a non-com AA placement. final answer is the second posting

[VictoryFirst]

TripleA Turn Summary: Japanese round 3

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II v3 1941, version: 1.7.0

Game History

Round: 3

    Purchase Units - Japanese
        Japanese repair damage of 6x factory; Remaining resources: 30 PUs; 0 techTokens; 
        Japanese buy 5 armour; Remaining resources: 5 PUs; 0 techTokens; 

    Combat Move - Japanese
        2 fighters moved from 35 Sea Zone to India
        3 fighters moved from Yunnan to India
        1 armour and 2 infantry moved from Stanovoj Chrebet to Yakut S.S.R.
              Japanese take Yakut S.S.R. from Russians
        2 infantry moved from Buryatia S.S.R. to Soviet Far East
        1 infantry moved from Ningxia to Suiyuan
              Japanese take Suiyuan from Chinese
        1 infantry moved from Sikang to Ningxia
        1 infantry moved from Yunnan to Sikang
        2 armour moved from French Indo-China Thailand to India
        1 infantry moved from Borneo to 49 Sea Zone
        1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 49 Sea Zone to 35 Sea Zone
        1 infantry moved from 35 Sea Zone to India
        1 transport moved from 50 Sea Zone to 60 Sea Zone
        1 infantry moved from Okinawa to 60 Sea Zone
        1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 60 Sea Zone to 50 Sea Zone
        1 infantry moved from 50 Sea Zone to Philippine Islands
              Japanese take Philippine Islands from Americans
        1 cruiser moved from 49 Sea Zone to 35 Sea Zone
        1 transport moved from 36 Sea Zone to 37 Sea Zone
        1 battleship moved from 50 Sea Zone to 37 Sea Zone
        1 transport moved from 35 Sea Zone to 37 Sea Zone

    Combat - Japanese
        Battle in India
            Japanese attack with 2 armour, 5 fighters and 1 infantry
            British defend with 1 aaGun, 1 artillery and 3 infantry
                British roll AA dice in India : 2/5 hits, 0,83 expected hits
                2 fighters owned by the Japanese lost in India
                Japanese roll dice for 1 cruiser in India, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0,50 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 2 armour, 3 fighters and 1 infantry in India, round 2 : 2/6 hits, 2,67 expected hits
                British roll dice for 1 artillery and 3 infantry in India, round 2 : 0/4 hits, 1,33 expected hits
                3 infantry owned by the British lost in India
                Japanese roll dice for 2 armour, 3 fighters and 1 infantry in India, round 3 : 2/6 hits, 2,67 expected hits
                British roll dice for 1 artillery in India, round 3 : 1/1 hits, 0,33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 artillery owned by the British lost in India
            Japanese win, taking India from British with 2 armour and 3 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is -10
            Casualties for Japanese: 2 fighters and 1 infantry
            Casualties for British: 1 artillery and 3 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Japanese
        2 fighters moved from India to 35 Sea Zone
        1 fighter moved from India to Burma

    Place Units - Japanese
        3 armour placed in Manchuria
        2 armour placed in French Indo-China Thailand

    Turn Complete - Japanese
        Japanese collect 39 PUs; end with 44 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Japanese regular : -0,83
British AA : 1,17
British regular : -0,67

Savegame

[The_Good_Captain]

TripleA Turn Summary: British round 3

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II v3 1941, version: 1.7.0

Game History

Round: 3

    Purchase Units - British
        British buy 1 armour, 1 bomber, 1 fighter and 3 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 0 techTokens; 

    Combat Move - British
        1 bomber moved from Chinghai to Baltic States
        2 fighters moved from 5 Sea Zone to Baltic States
        1 armour moved from Norway to 5 Sea Zone
        1 artillery moved from Finland to 5 Sea Zone
        1 armour, 1 artillery and 3 transports moved from 5 Sea Zone to 6 Sea Zone
        1 armour moved from United Kingdom to 6 Sea Zone
        3 infantry moved from United Kingdom to 6 Sea Zone
        2 armour, 1 artillery, 3 infantry and 3 transports moved from 6 Sea Zone to 5 Sea Zone
        2 armour, 1 artillery and 3 infantry moved from 5 Sea Zone to Baltic States

    Combat - British
        Battle in Baltic States
            British attack with 2 armour, 1 artillery, 1 bomber, 2 fighters and 3 infantry
            Germans defend with 9 armour
                British roll dice for 1 battleship and 1 cruiser in Baltic States, round 2 : 1/2 hits, 1.17 expected hits
                British roll dice for 2 armour, 1 artillery, 1 bomber, 2 fighters and 3 infantry in Baltic States, round 2 : 4/9 hits, 3.67 expected hits
                Germans roll dice for 9 armour in Baltic States, round 2 : 4/9 hits, 4.50 expected hits
                5 armour owned by the Germans, 1 artillery owned by the British and 3 infantry owned by the British lost in Baltic States
                British roll dice for 2 armour, 1 bomber and 2 fighters in Baltic States, round 3 : 4/5 hits, 2.67 expected hits
                Germans roll dice for 4 armour in Baltic States, round 3 : 3/4 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                4 armour owned by the Germans, 1 fighter owned by the British and 2 armour owned by the British lost in Baltic States
            British win with 1 bomber and 1 fighter remaining. Battle score for attacker is 12
            Casualties for British: 2 armour, 1 artillery, 1 fighter and 3 infantry
            Casualties for Germans: 9 armour

    Non Combat Move - British
        1 infantry moved from Finland to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 infantry moved from Norway to Finland
        1 transport moved from 2 Sea Zone to 1 Sea Zone
        1 armour and 1 infantry moved from Eastern Canada to 1 Sea Zone
        1 armour, 1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 1 Sea Zone to 2 Sea Zone
        1 armour and 1 infantry moved from 2 Sea Zone to United Kingdom
        1 destroyer moved from 2 Sea Zone to 12 Sea Zone
        1 fighter moved from Baltic States to 5 Sea Zone
        1 bomber moved from Baltic States to Russia
        1 fighter moved from Chinghai to Caucasus
        1 aaGun, 1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 24 Sea Zone to 28 Sea Zone
        1 aaGun and 1 infantry moved from 28 Sea Zone to Union of South Africa
        1 destroyer moved from 27 Sea Zone to 23 Sea Zone
        1 destroyer moved from 24 Sea Zone to 23 Sea Zone
        1 transport moved from 27 Sea Zone to 23 Sea Zone

    Place Units - British
        1 bomber placed in United Kingdom
        1 armour and 1 fighter placed in Union of South Africa
        3 infantry placed in United Kingdom
        Turning on Edit Mode
        EDIT: Removing units owned by British from 12 Sea Zone: 1 destroyer
        EDIT: Adding units owned by British to 7 Sea Zone: 1 destroyer
        EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode

    Turn Complete - British
        British collect 28 PUs; end with 28 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Germans regular : 0.50
British regular : 1.50

Savegame

[VictoryFirst]

I have to bring up my white flag again…
This opening went even worse than the other. The Germans have no way of beating anyone and are forced to give the Russians a huge economy. I’ve now come up with the decision that the tanks strategy doesn’t work for Germany. The tank strategy only works for nations that have a large economy and not a lot of enemies. With these rules, Germany is weaker than OOB, so the infantry purchase is better for them. Their infantry can get destroyed pretty quickly and with the UK attacking German reinforcement in Poland and Baltic states every time (that is an excellent strategy by the way) the tanks are just too exposed. In this game, the Germans are not an attacking nation but rather one that tries to attack but can’t go all out (unlike Japan which can go all out.) I suggest that I am going to run a couple of local games, trying to figure out a good Axis strategy, and getting used to the game (this is actually just my third Anniversary game with these rules, I’ve only played OOB games with NO’s without tech). After that, I will challenge you with another game, and hoping I won’t get blown up again! Unless you think this position isn’t lost as the Axis, you have more experience so you can decide these things better than me!

[The_Good_Captain]

@victoryfirst

What rules do you feel are not out-of-box rules?

The only advice I feel may (or may not) help is to withhold serious attacks by Germany into the USSR after G1. Maybe if your preserve your strength until game turn 5ish - and coordinate these tank assaults with the Japanese that should be coming up at that time, it will be enough to overwhelm them.

When I’m playing as the allies, I feel like I’m defeating the German attacks, then turning to face the Japanese. If they kicked off at the same time, I don’t feel sure what would happen.

[VictoryFirst]

@the_good_captain Hmm, that might be a good idea. That’s true, I have the feeling everytime that I messed up Germany a bit, but that Japan will hopefully come to the rescue.

What I said didn’t really make sense as the rules we play with are OOB of course, but with OOB I meant the standard ‘axis favoured’ rules (with no’s without tech, without dardanelles closed without fighter interception). I think I’ll need a one day break to practice with a coordinated German-Japanese assault strategy.

I also wanted to say is that I really like the games with you, and I appreciate your time and effort. I almost never play with someone, most games are solo. I’ve played like a 100 games of G40 solo, and just until round 3 against an opponent :) Playing against someone is the best learning tool for any game. Thinking your own strategies are unbeatable can quickly change if you play against pro!

[The_Good_Captain]

@victoryfirst its hard to find players/opponents, even on this website. I am happy to play as many games as you like whenever you like even if there is a long hiatus. When I was putting “Classic” through its paces, I had a novel strategy - took it online here - got beat up a bunch and essentially told “you can’t play it that way” by folks who ‘knew better’. I went back to the drawing board, made some tweaks to my initial strategy and now its a (my) signature move. I was glad to play those fellows but was appalled at their reaction to someone presenting a different approach. I swore if/when the time came and the roles were reversed, I would not be critical of something new/unseen/unusual or otherwise “out of the box”.

All this to say, if you stay on this strategy and make a tweak here or there - you may indeed have something that is quite competitive. And as you allude to, if it is competitive with the optional rules calibrated as we have them, I feel you’ll only have a much easier time if they are )calibrated differently in some other game you might play. =)

[VictoryFirst]

I am now playing a solo game, with a ten infantry build, and the Spread-out opening. I did the counter-attack strategy as the Russians. This looks awful for Germany, or is it a common position to be in?

[The_Good_Captain]

@victoryfirst I would call this “common” or “fairly common”, ya (although I can’t see the history to analyze how the attack went).

Either way, if this happened to me:

1. Italy/Germany needs to consolidate in East Poland immediately. That Italian tank is already in the wrong spot. We will be stronger than Russia in a few turns but until then, we need to preserve our strength and not lose core units. To that end, “Taking a knee” for a couple turns is totally okay. Send the Italian armor to East Poland. The Italian fighters is also available but is not necessary. I would have placed him in France but not a big deal for this example.

2. On Germany’s turn we put every non-air piece we have into East Poland. The land defense now is 7 tanks (1 Italian), 4 infantry, 2 artillery, and we should throw in one German fighter to seal the deal. To add more fighters is overkill, so I wouldn’t.

3. You’re flanks might look empty but USSR tanks are out of position to blitz Ukraine so he will have to send in an infantry to secure it - which is good for Germany. And in this case, since the transport is still alive, I might sealift a single german infantry into Baltic states to disallow the blitz - or ignore it as its only 1 IPC and we can possibly blitz it back later. I might sea lift a single infantry in Karelia.

Lot’s of possibilities here as Germany - looks exciting imo. I would happily pick it up here as the Axis or we could switch sides in our next game. Anyway, thanks for posting this. This was really fun to pick-a-part.

[VictoryFirst]

@the_good_captain @the_good_captain said in TGC (Allies) vs. VictoryFirst (Axis) Anniversary '41 - OoB, no bid:

Lot’s of possibilities here as Germany - looks exciting imo. I would happily pick it up here as the Axis or we could switch sides in our next game. Anyway, thanks for posting this. This was really fun to pick-a-part.

Do you mean by this you wanted to play out from this position? It would be nice if I was a native English speaker (which I am not :) but this I don’t understand :) What does ‘to pick-a-part’ mean? Never heard of that!

Anyway, I continued the game and it is now round five. I just saw your post now but I found it funny I naturally did the moves you mentioned. I thought the only way of surviving is to stack up Eastern Poland, and it worked! (As the Allies, I tried to play like you as best as I can, and it was pretty effective as well. I used to land in France every time as the Western Allies, but landing on the Baltic coast is way more effective!

Oh it says this error when I try to load the picture: Something went wrong while parsing server response

[VictoryFirst]

[VictoryFirst]

Here is the save file if you want to take a look at it!
2021-12-24-World-War-II-v3-1941.tsvg

[The_Good_Captain]

@victoryfirst ah, my bad - to “pick apart” means to “analyze in detail” in this context. I downloaded the save file and looked at it. Yep, I think Germany/Italy are in a much stronger position and waiting to coordinate with the Japanese.

[VictoryFirst]

@the_good_captain Ok, I think I’ve practised enough. I am ready to take up the fight with you again! I would like to play the Axis one more time, and then I think it’s best to switch sides (four times in a row Axis gets monotonous!)