Alpha 3 Intelligence Report - Straight from the front lines!

same

@Cmdr:

Spend 6 IPC to take out the Russian NO, Wrath.  A submarine in SZ 125 takes away the objective as well as a destroyer does.  It also requires the allies to send a destroyer to go kill it, instead of using only planes.

A submarine isnt a war ship according to our definition of the rules but I wont argue about that. The price of 8 ipc is still worth it.

Russia was buffed in Alpha 2 because many Axis players blew their strength on England, dedicating all of their power to taking it out and thus, not having enough to hit Russia with.  Now that England is no longer a prized posession, but more of a “well, I need one more VC to win, and it is underdefended” move, Russia is getting really easy to take out.

Dont care if russia is buffed, Germany is so much more buffed with their extra planes and units, thats why I find that theather a bit balanced.

Looking ONLY at the game board for the first 3 rounds (bringing you to Germany Round 4, Purchase New Units) one can see that the Axis are more than double Russia’s strength with more than double their income.  That means England and India need to be focused on sending reinforcements to Russia to prevent them from falling (and thus, negating the need to block SZ 125).  With the NonAggression arrangement being virtually nullified, there is no reason not to invade early and heavy with Japan and more reason TOO do it, to remove even more IPC from the Russians. 
So yes, Wrath, I agree, Barbarossa is probably the better avenue and makes Victory more assured, not assured, but more than attempting Sea Lion.    I don’t see Russia ever getting their Objectives (any of them).

If you go after russia on round 4 as germany you are to late imho, you are better off attacking round 2 (with a fake attack on yugoslavia) or on r3.

It does appear more and more now that the British curiser in sz91 will survive to UK1, so the question becomes, if it is going to be there on UK1 how do you use it? Or more specifically how does it help the British naval position in the eastern Med?

@urmomsmom7:

I think they are trying to say that since England doesn’t get an NO for no German subs on the board it doesn’t give Germany the need to build subs and in general building units towards England

That makes partial sense.  I still think you need submarines for Germany, but a lot less.  Before you needed 4 in SZ 109, 2 in SZ 106, 2 in SZ 82.  Now you need 2 in SZ 109, 1 in SZ 106 and 1 in SZ 82 to get almost the same results as before.

What the change does, however, is weaken England to the tune of 5 IPC a round.  There’s not a bat’s chance in hades that England and America are putting units in Paris until the game is already over (but the axis won’t concede).  Essentially, what Larry did, was to remove 10 IPC a round from the Allies give the Axis a significant boost in buying power in relation to the what the Allies used to get.

It also means that the Allies dont ahve to go beserk trying to kill every submarine on the board too.

@special:

@JimmyHat:

So then perhaps a better poll would be what round do you switch to European front as the US?  It will be important to add that yes we all know all games are different, this is asking for an average.  For my latest game US turned to the Atlantic on turn 7.  After chasing off the Japanese fleet, then capturing and building an IC in Korea.

And what was the situation in Europe after that?

Still to be decided, this game is not over yet.  Germany has reached the German Soviet border and made sure to take and hold all german territories this past turn.(7)  Italy has been bringing 3 turns of 4 trn loads to Syria, a large Italian army is present in Iraq/Persia/Npersia and Most of Germany’s navy is in the Caribbean protecting panama and putting a threat out on the US coast.

wumeng874 thanks for the effort. I didn’t have to much trouble reading your post. Your points for each power were spot on. Its really cool to communicate with people around the world that have the same interest.

Germany:
I would sea lion only if UK left London weak, and I as Germany could take it with only 4-5 transports, with out risking my entire air force. Help set up Italy, then pound Russia is a must. Try to get to the oil in the Middle east if you can. I agree that the German air force is the key, I like to have at least 15+ aircraft. As far as navy, after the first couple of rounds I tend to go to sub warfare.

Russia:
I haven’t played Russia much, but what I’ve seen is normally a defensive retreat. Make sure that you don’t get caught out of position defending your minor complexes. You need at least 35-40 infantry for Moscow at the end for a meat shield. Buy some planes.

Japan:
Tough to play, have to be decisive, but flexible (if that makes sense). Have to defeat China, take the Dutch East Indies, and keep the US in check. Building many transports is the key. Keep a steady flow of ground units pumping into Asia, and use your over powering air force as a tool on the land. Don’t let land battles go more then a round or two.

US:
As the leader of the allies (money talks :-D), TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW TURN ORDER (especially in Europe). I think the US is the hardest to play, what you do will win or loose the war. As a team you must decide on a coarse of action, everyone is crying for help, and you can’t be everywhere. A weak US in to many places can be disastrous. I think your more effective when you can over power the opposition. You have to protect your ground troops, because it takes to long for them to get to the action. If you take a beach head, make sure that your allies can swoop in to defend your units. This is much easier now in Europe because of turn order (US leading the way). You should be able to get one of the French industrial complexes, or build your own in Norway to keep troop levels up.

China:
Your home nation. I’m glad to see them have a bigger role in Global 40. There is just something special about them being able to buy artillery. We don’t see it to often, but an early Japan attack on the Western Powers, or a crafty UK can make China more then just a speed bump.

UK:
As you said, must be an experienced player. Sacrifices will be made. Your normally all alone in the beginning, so be ready for a but kicking. We have come to believe that getting the Med fleet to safety, or joining it with the Indian fleet can be helpful in the long run (gives you options). Loosing the British fleets in attacks on the Italian navy just hasn’t worked out to well in our group. Defend London, and Egypt until the US arrives. Start rebuilding your fleet in Canada if you can.

Anzac:
You didn’t mention them, but they can be very helpful. They can be a distraction for Japan if they can threaten the Dutch East Indies, or can also reinforce US positions. Getting their income up really helps.

Italy:
Really depends on what you have when your turn rolls around. Can be dominate in the Med in the right circumstances for a few turns. You can earn a lot of income through NO’s depending on how things go with the UK. Gaining control of both sea entrances to the Med, and holding them is nearly impossible for long periods of time.  Trying to crack Egypt, control North Africa, and delay the US at Gibraltar is an unrelenting task. Oh yea, add the Mid East oil to to the mix, good luck.

France:
Make the most of any opportunity you get. Even if its just taking out a blocker ship for your allies, or helping defend somewhere in Africa. Hope they can liberate Paris, I like to see the “Smurfs” (blue cartoon characters) get to buy something.

Good gaming from across the globe :-)

Yes, of course. Feel free to load them up FieldMarshal and if there are any improvements or corrections, let me know and I’ll fix em up quick. Glad you guys like em.  :-D

In the game I played my opponent pulled off a successful sea lion but it he lost his air force in the assault as well as about 15 german ground units in the assault.  I attacked him with USSR turn 4 and was able to take Norway and then landed about 12 american ground forces there after liberating UK.  He was later able to retake it using his transports.  US was able to take Pearl Harbor so I built a huge navy in the pacific to try and take it back but my opponent kept matching points with me so our fleets got huge.

Germany was able to recover in the fight against Russia and it was an arms race where both sides built art and inf.  Italy meanwhile became a 40 point country because Africa was over run due to the fact that I had to spend all my points as UK on defending my capital and then on top of that UK was knocked out of the game for awhile.  By the time UK got back in it Italy had won the fight for Africa and could now focus on attacking Russia with Germany.

I could not stop Italy from attacking Russia with USA because I had to spend all my points on navy every turn because my opponent was spending at least 60+ points to beef up his navy each turn.  Eventually I was at an economical disadvantage and had to make a move.  I decided to attack his navy in the pacific with my navy but I lost the fight because I rolled horrible.  So I conceded at that point.

It will take more play testing  Okay edits to come I have to move to a different computer brb.