G1

pps. Here are some odds on the sz 110, and sz 111 battles, with various unit combinations. Under UK scramble, and no UK scramble conditions. The odds and units remaining are for Germany. In case anyone is interested…

SZ 111 with 2 subs, 2 Fighters, and 2 TacBs (no Strategic Bombers, the highest risk!):
Scramble 80% with ~2.5 units remaining on average.
no scramble 97% with ~3.5 units remaining on average.

Sz 111 with 1 sub, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs,  1 StratB:
Scramble 85% with ~2.5 units remaining.
No Scramble 99% with ~4 units remaining.

Sz 111: with 2 subs, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs and 1 StratB:
Scramble 97% with an average of ~3 units remaining.
No scramble is 100% with ~5 units remaining.

Sz 111 with 1 sub, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, 2 StratBs:
Scramble 99% with ~4 units remaining.
No Scramble 100% with ~5 units remaining.

Sz 111 with 2 subs, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, 2 StratBs:
Scramble 100% with ~5 units remaining.
No scramble 100% with ~6 units remaining.

SZ 110 with 1 sub, 1 battleship, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, and 1 Strat B:
scramble 70% with ~3 units remaining
no scramble 100% with ~6 units remaining

SZ 110 with 2 subs, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, and 2 StratBs (No Bismark!):
Scramble 74% with ~3 units remaining
No Scramble 100% with ~6 units remaining

SZ 110 with 2 subs, 1 Battleship, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, and 1 StratB:
scramble  86% with ~4 units remaining
no scramble  100% with ~7 units remaining

SZ 110 with 1 sub, 1 battleship, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, and 2 StratBs:
Scramble 92% with ~4 units remaining
No scramble 100% with ~7 units remaining

SZ 110 with 2 subs, 1 battleship, 2 fighters, 2 TacBs, and 2 StratBs:
Scramble 97% with ~5 units remaining
No Scramble 100 with ~8 units remaining

All this just to show how much scrambling can play into the equation. :)
Question: Does anyone ever hold back the Bismark? Seems like in G40 its Germany that decides whether or not to “Sink the Bismark”  :-D

your enthusiasm is awesome Black Elk      Maybe you can have a cameo in the vid

:) P

Hey all, hey YG.

Just wanna drop in a few words.
I think YG, if you are making a YT video, just show a standard G1 move.
Explain the most options you have as an axis player and the joy and the fun of that game.
Be fundamental and don’t let perfect be in the way of better.
There is no 100 procent garant opener but the most individual starting option by trying to either take out the most of the RN or destroy all landing and reenforce options by the UK trannys.
Good luck with your video.
I’ll watch it!

Iwas thinking soetimes to do a similar one for the German Community. ☺

@variance:

@barney:

so we have operation “All in on Russia ,Allied landings be damned”       and operation"overkill is good", which could be the same thing.

They both sound cool :)

Elk, I like to hit z91 too.  Anything to deter Taranto.

Does anyone have a really good “Operation save Itay’s bacon” opener to share?  One that doesn’t involve spending every last cent on carriers etc?  One that reliably gets Cairo secure without tying up the luftwaffe too long when they will be needed on the Eastern front?

The one game I’ve played where germany took out my 91cruiser, I just sent the gib fighter alone to 96 along with Taranto and destroyed Italy’s navy anyway :-D

If your going to do a J1 anyways why not DOW on US and take a shot at their CA + TT,  that’s 19 for 6.

@cyanight:

If your going to do a J1 anyways why not DOW on US and take a shot at their CA + TT,  that’s 19 for 6.

then Russia stack Amur

Yeah one of things that really distinguishes Low Luck play from Dice is the ability to plan out the perfect strafe, whether on the Naval battles or Yugoslavia. It can also make the results of the battle in France a lot more predictable (also Normandy or S. France,  since you can count your pips with a lot more reliability). Never underestimate the power of artillery in LL. The inf + artillery + fighter or tank combo can be extremely potent.

If you do play LL then I would take all this dice advice with a grain of salt. LL Sea Lion is an entirely different beast, not least because of the way Anti Air hits work.

As to the other stuff, I agree sz 91 can be hit or miss, and UK does have options with the Gibralter fighter, but again the lone fighter vs lone destroyer terror is something we should all be wary of by now ;)

German DoW vs USA is interesting for the gambling man, if it’s 1v1 I’d say cool, but if teams I’d definitely consult with the Japanese player to make sure you’re not screwing them off a late DoW plan. Or at least to confirm that they know how to play the J1 DoW

@variance:

@cyanight:

If your going to do a J1 anyways why not DOW on US and take a shot at their CA + TT,  that’s 19 for 6.

then Russia stack Amur

That’s interesting… Lately I have been having players stack Amur even when Germany does not DOW on USA round 1. They must be following my game history for J1 DOW, hehe.  I’m going to have to mix it up I guess, :)

More on the choice between sz 106 and sz 109…

There is a uboat in sz 117 that could hit either. In sz 106 you have a decent shot destroying 15 TUV. In sz 109 you have basically no chance of winning but are very likely to draw a scramble out of England or Scotland. In either case, you are likely leaving 1 transport and Destroyer alive that can reach Gibraltar on UK1.

sz 106 seems like the obvious choice, but when you consider how potent a scramble can be in sz 110 or sz 111, it might well be worth the cost of the 6 ipcs in TUV to draw a potential scramble into sz 109 rather than those other two. Basically trading the cost of the units in TUV for a better chance to control how UK can respond.

If you send the Holland fighter as well its a total cost of 16 ipcs risked, to virtually guarantee a scramble here, or no scramble with a very good chance of sinking that destroyer and transport (which means among other things that you don’t have to defend Norway, Denmark, West Germany etc.) Though this puts less heat on the 110 battle, so probably very risky.

If you just attack sz 106 you don’t force the defender to make a decision, and they may still smoke you on defense. In 109 on the other hand, you will almost certainly get smoked, but just launching the attack gives UK a very strong reason to scramble into 109 rather than into the Channel or the North Sea with at least 1 fighter.

How would you respond as UK? Scramble 1 fighter out of Scotland or 1 fighter out of UK? No scramble at all, and wait to see your counter attack potential? Given the possible wild swings in 110 and 111, I think its hard not to consider the full scramble, especially since Allies don’t have a lot of opportunities to destroy German TUV at the outset beyond this opening engagement. On the other hand, scrambling can doom the Royal airforce. How much scrambling do you do these days? haha ;)

Curious if other people regularly try the 109 gambit to draw the scramble, since it seems like it could dramatically reduce the risk in the other naval battles if you can push the UK player to scramble here and play it safe, rather than putting everything into the first round defense of the English Channel and North Sea. Any thoughts?

I’ve noticed a change in how we play UK lately. We usually will draw countries at random so nobody is stuck always playing Russia or Italy, although we do have one player who actually prefers to play UK/ANZAC more often than not.
Anyway, in past games UK used to scramble almost every time on G1. Usually this results in the death of the RAF while taking a good chunk of the Luftwaffe with them. Lately however, UK tends to not scramble preferring to keep all the RAF for use in hopefully more profitable ventures. Not sure if this really works, but it is very handy to have those planes around, especially when working with destroyers to keep German subs from convoying them. Also, a good stack of 5-7 fighters sitting on London by round 3 often dissuades a Sealion attempt.