Fantastic responses! It’s a pleasure playing against the two of you (and the onetime opponent, Pomme).
I want to go back through and answer what each of you said line by line, but I only have a few minutes before my wife gets home and we go to pick up my daughter, so…
Axisplaya - re: Kiangsu - I see what you mean, and you make a good counterargument. When I play Japan and build an IC in Kiangsu, I tend to let the first several builds ‘pool’ if the territory is threatened in any way, and I park a few aircraft there as well, to protect it. Then, I start allowing infantry or mechanized units to leave only as long as it remains untakeable. Therefore, when we saw it was killable, we assumed it to be a mistake, rather than an acceptable loss.
Infrastructure and I are big believers in momentum and initiative, above and beyond math and game mechanics, as vital tools. Speaking for myself, the raid into Kiangsu was more about the former than the latter… more about forcing Japan to react to us rather than have to react to Japan. I find reactive gameplay to be effective only when comfortable in control of a game and just waiting for the end.
I had forgotten about the Aleutians… :-D I had that one stricken from all official records of the war.
An emphatic yes! that this game was won on skill rather than lucky bounces. Not even a question.
For my comprehending of the game, BECAUSE JAPAN WAS NOT DEAD, that game was won when Moscou fell. The rest was an impressive display of fighting spirit and resilience, but it was over. Thus, i find it very interesting that you kept playing, because that gave the Axis some chances to make some serious mistakes, which hopefully we didn’t do. Following your exemple, i might keep playing some games now when i’m Allies after the fall of Moscou.
Infrastructure and I learned from playing against each other that victory can occasionally be found in later rounds (even with LL variants) based on strong logistical/positional play. We learned the same way… games where each of us could have given up later turned into unexpected wins. Usually they don’t… :wink:
Agreed on the Allied Atlantic fleet debacle. You’re right that it just can’t happen. If you need to fall back and regroup, it’s better than being wiped out - usually.
Septimus! Don’t try the ‘aw shucks’ approach with me! :-) You played an excellent Germany. I understand your aggression had to be tempered by Axisplaya’s experience, but that means the two of you struck just the right balance.
Re: the Red Army’s survival - yes, I agree… trying to find a way to encircle Moscow is ideal, and not let the bear slip out of the trap. Then, you can settle into an attrition war that you can win almost at your leisure, if you have the Atlantic/Middle East/Mediterranean at a stalemate at worst. If any of these flanks get ripped open, you have to either move the Russian forces off Moscow or destroy the Red Army completely. Allowing Russian forces to head south en masse, to be joined with steadily increasing forces from the UK etc in the Caucasus region has led directly to my losing several winnable games as the Axis, and winning several games as the Allies. Caucasus, I believe, is the single most important territory in the center of the board. As Germany, I’ve started seriously contemplating getting there and rooting myself in before the Allies can put up a wall…
As to German Armor vs. filling factories - both are effective! It all depends on your goals. One of my favorites is to get a big enough mass of Axis troops on the border of Moscow, and then set my armor loose behind the lines… they can do tremendous economic damage to the soviet eastern holdings and China, while the German infantry/artillery/aircraft slowly grind down the Reds in a series of small battles.
Again - your carrier purchase with Germany was perfectly timed, and brillaint. I agree also that your ultimate response to the neutral crush was completely effective. Our aim was to make Team Imhotep have to react for awhile… because if we hadn’t the game was certainly over…
Ok, my wife came home, and she just told me I had to get groceries out of the car. I guess my writing has to come to an end.
Regardless - Infrastructure is away until next Wednesday, so that’s when he and I will start a new game with you. I think we make great opponents, and speaking for myself, I’d like to keep a game of 2 on 2 going for as long as we can - it’s great fun. Infrastructure and I have been beating up on each other in A&A for a loooong time, so it’s nice for he and I to finally team up after all these years. And I have to say - we’ve learned a LOT from playing against you guys.
Be well!
