Posts made by Ó Ruanaidh

I played a game last night on the '41 Scenario and some very interesting things happened. First off, the player who was Germany turned out to be a particularly bold player and on G1 launched a seaborne invasion of Karelia, aided by the units from Finland, and some planes, and at the same time attacked Eastern Poland and Ukraine with everything he could gather up. Needless to say, all these battles worked wonderfully, though the Russians did score some hits. So at a stroke, before the game even really began, Russia was in a perilous position. At the same time, he bombed me (U.K.) to score a 5 on my factory right away, and then sank my ships in the Canadian waters. After shipping the 2 infantry from France to Africa, and replacing them with 2 infantry from Germany, their turn was over. Then came some serious nail-biting for the Russian player, on R1 things looked like they were going up for them, as their counterattack from Archangel and Belorussia managed to retake Karelia without much loss, then the Russian player reinforced the Far East, and shifted troops from Eastern Ukraine to Belorussia, and then from Caucasus to Eastern Ukraine, and placed most of their forces in the Caucasus, while unfortunately leaving the Baltic States wide open, as they used the infantry there for the attack on Karelia. On Italy’s turn the Italian player, decided to leave Africa for the time being (which allowed me to gather troops from Trans-Jordan and South Africa, which by my third turn had successfully drove the Axis out of Africa) and land one infantry and one artillery in Ukraine. Then on G2, the German player moved units up and garrisoned the Baltic States strongly. Then on R2, the Russian player decided to launch a grand offensive across the whole front, to retake their lands. It turned out to be way to pre-mature, and the Russian player lost around ten units, to the German players loss of two. It was all over after that, by G4 Moscow was in German hands, and despite the fact that I took advantage of the Axis Pre-occupation in Russia, to drive them from Africa, scour the seas of German ships and sink most of Italy’s fleet, and the fact that the U.S. and Japanese players had a naval showdown (at where else but the water around Midway), which the Americans decisively won, most players wished to end the game right there, as Russia was down for the count, and Germany was now virtually unstoppable on land, so we (the Allies) reluctantly threw in the towel. So I say that a German strategy of attacking boldly and swiftly on turn one, and consolidating their gains on turn two works quite well, though perhaps just because the Russian player bungled everything to quickly, or was just unlucky.

AAHH, Japan. Japan is one of the most deadly players in the game, mainly because every ally has Industrial Complexes far from the Pacific, that means Japan can strike faster and harder in the early game. It takes alot out of the U.S. with some badly needed assistance from England to restrain Japan. A very good Japanese player can quickly make life a nightmare for the Allies. But there is always the temptation to go Navy and take the rich and (usually) badly defended prizes of the U.S. mainland. Sometimes it works wonderfully and Japan is the richest and most powerful player in the game, and sometimes it goes horribly and the U.S. and U.K. players get it in gear and sink those costly ships and then Japan is rendered helpless. I think that as Japan (never played them before in a game versus humans) I would strike at the mainland of Asia to get money, and see where to go from there, if the U.S. is going KGF, I would go all out on them, or if Russia is successfully resisting German attacks, then I’d unleash my forces against them. I found the best players have no set strategy but roll with the punches and adapt their strategy to fit the situation. No matter what you do however, Japan is a very dangerous opponent and I would never casually say they never do anything. You must have had a terrible person playing them indeed, as even the worst of the people I play with can make Japan something to think about, and if underestimated and ignored, something to seriously worry about.

I’m not so sure about a KGF, though that would naturally follow a KIF strategy, I mean, once Italy is out, the Allies have a secure footing in Europe so why not destroy the Reich to as long as you’re there? Obviously it will all hinge on how fast Japan can give assistance two it’s beleagured allies in the west. Since Germany and Italy can’t stand to long against the full might of Britain, America and Russia Japan will have to do something to soften the blow. If they get lucky, Germany will knock Russia out, and then the axis can face the allies at sea and in Africa until they land on British shores, or maybe American shores.

Seconded! Take them Italians out quick and get at “the soft underbelly of Europe,” as Winston Churchill so grandeliquently put it. Soon as Italy goes down Germany will have to worry about both the full production of the Soviet Union and the U.K., and seeing as how the U.K. will be practically invunerable by then, Germany will fold sooner or later. Then it’s all against Japan, who even if they are tweaked to be to powerful and have to much money, still cannot hope to fight a three on one against the rest of the World.

Having a high number of casualties does not necessarily indicate that they were fighting effectively. In fact it would rather point to the opposite, the Chinese dided in droves against Japan, and if they would make the game your way, then China would be a black hole that sapped Japan of it’s money and men. While this would be historically correct, the Japanese would have no hope of destroying China for good, much less Russia, and then there would be complaints that Japan had no hope for winning because China and Russia are to big and have to many soldiers.

Like I said, knocking China out is very different from knocking Russia or the U.S. out. Seeing as how in previous versions the U.S. owned China and usually lost it right away, I can’t complain that they have a slim chance of holding it in AA50, besides, India cannot fall immediately after China as Neutral nations block the passage from India to China, and because China is absorbing a good part of Japan’s blow the Brits have a slight window in which to gear themselves to fight Japan. You must keep in mind that the U.S. and U.K. are very rich, and Japan is very poor, and losing China changes that only slightly for Japan, and not at all for the other two, so let Japan destroy China, who cares? Because the U.S. will be readying itself to counterattack Japan,who will not be able to resist unless they move far and fast.

Ah, I didn’t think about that. Yes the prospects of gain are to much for me to pass up. I would leave Russia to fend for themselves until I could land in France, or move into France from Italy.

That might work actually, and I was indeed contemplating a seizure of Norway and Finland by the U.K., especially since Germany will be hard put to take it back by sea. Simply send in planes to attack and fly back to Finland and you get the best of both worlds, you get to help the Russians and they still get their extra 5 IPC’s.

But as long as China gets the worst of Japan’s attacks on J1 then it doesn’t matter. The allies are each given one turn to prepare, since China is virtually of no use to them anyway, they lose nothing if they lost China, but Japan loses precious time it doesn’t have, and they also would gain another border with the Russkies, who are not to nice on land, especially with two IC’s nearby. Simply by absorbing Japan’s blow it serves it’s purpose. Not well represented enough? China was a weak struggling nation with no industries, no coastline pratically, and on top of that they were not in anyway unified against Japan, they only reason Japan did not destroy them was because of China’s size and the fact that Japan had to worry about other fronts.

Agreed, as for the IC in India I believe that far to risky. I would perhaps decide to build one in South Africa, as anything built there can be sent either to Egypt or the far east at a short notice. Obviously the downside is that you may only place two units per turn there, but then again, isn’t it more fun with a challenge? As for China they are really just a distraction and nothing more, if they can take out of few Japanese before they go down then I’ll be satisfied, as the defeat of Japan is and always will be the main objective of the United States player. If China goes down then the game is nowhere near lost, but if things go bad for the U.S., even if things are going good in China, then it’s lights out in the Pacific for the Allies. Russia and England are simply to busy elsewhere, though I think it immensely helpful if these two could every now and again send some units to help stall Japan. I believe that England should concentrate on clearing the Mediterrenean of Italy and Germany and once this is achieved it will no longer need an IC in India as it can move units freely from the U.K. itself.

Well put. Germany definitely has little room for error, and one unlucky toss of the dice in the East and the game’s decided (in some games I’ve seen this, at least). The British however can be reduced to pretty much nothing if they don’t act quickly and rightly, as they can lose all of Africa and the eastern possesions in a few turns and be essentially relegated to a minor nuisance off the coast of Europe, irritating Germany more than actually threatening it.

Ah, I see. You just threw me off with your German Officer uniform and your plans for a Fuhrerbunker. Anyway, I think the British are more challenging than Germany, though I agree that the Allies are easier overall than the Axis, as the the Axis must do or die from the beginning while time is obviously on the side of the allies.

So I take it that the Great Imperious Leader is a German player?

I am rather skeptical about this avoid China strategy. I believe that Japan will need a firm base on the mainland of Asia to extend it’s control over the continent and that base is ideally Manchuria or Kiangsu. If you simply forfeit these territories to the Chinese then what other options have you? India? Perhaps but the U.K. and U.S. will do everything they can to wrench you out of it, and will most likely receive Russian aid and in the end Russia will be able to throw more units in India than Japan in my opinion. What about Russia’s territory? Again maybe, but they aren’t worth very much and it’s a long way to rich lands from Soviet Far East, not to mention you’ll be vunerable to attacks from the Russians and Americans, who are sitting in Alaska. So, I believe that Manchuria is the ideal spot to build an IC and get your firm footing on the mainland, and that is threatened by China. I believe as China has no hitting power, since they can only get infantry, that you could defend against them fairly easily and cheaply, also using infantry, so they wouldn’t dare attack Japan if the Japs had enough Infantry in Manchuria, or else they would hit back and steam roll all of China, especially since you can’t hastily rebuild China’s forces. I believe it will be far more likely to have a stalemate for the first 3-5 turns then see Japan attempt to defeat China and thus gain quick and easy access into the Russian heartland from the back door.

Agreed, I’ve seen far to many games where people just used mass Russian infantry and British supporting planes, this way it makes the game more historical by encouraging Russia to stand on it’s own, as it essentially did in history.

I think that buying a IC for France is a great idea, it can be fairly easily defended due to proximity to Germany and Italy, and it has numerous advantages. One, you can buy planes to bomb Britain, buy subs or destroyers to prevent a the British from sailing about whereever they feel like and instead concentrate on home waters and finally they can build ships in the Mediterranean, which besides being a safe place to build a fleet, especially if Italy does the same, but you can also swiftly ship new units from Europe to Africa. I have been toying with the idea of perhaps standing on the defensive against Russia by building a bunch of infantry and having the artillery and armour in the rear, so when the Russians bleed themslves against the infantry I can counterattack with the heavy hitting units and break their armies. I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t say if it will work. The allied strategy I believe, seems to be the same as in history, clear the Axis of Africa, attempt to distract Germany from exerting all it’s formidable power against Russia, and struggle to restrain the Japanese from running wild in the east. But there are probably many strategies that work. KGF is incredibly boring and it won’t work against experienced German players, Italy and Germany can prevent landings indefinitely with some destroyers and subs, supported by land based planes, while they go after Russia’s throat. Once Russia is down then the Germans can start building bigger fleets than the British, and with the U.S. distrated by Japan, them to. So I believe a KGF is courting disaster if you are facing a decent German player.

@Atlantikwall:

Taking into account that bonuses cares a lot in that game I would say that entering the Mediterrannean with the Royal Navy is most necessary as it already prevents an intalian bonus.

Next, invading France will force the Italians to retake it to prevent a US bonus. Additionally, France is the key to the other italian bonus as Gibraltar is out of reach if UK-navy is in WMD (assuming that axis could take both EGY & TRJ) and important part a german bonus. So in no way the axis could afford to loose France!

What does all that have to do with the IC in India?

Well, I think that UK forces are much more needed at another battleground, namely the Med, West Europe and North Africa. Next, the IC in India would be a real target for the Japs. If they concentrate on that, they imho get it very quick. I don`t think you can hold India longer without soviet support.

Actually I assume the game will be split in three conflicts:

1. GER vs. Russia
2. UK vs. Italy
3. USA vs. Japan (not sure yet, if US may be able to ignore Japan and go for North Africa - on a 15 VC game they propably can)

And certainly “game” no. 2 (UK vs. Italy) is the one that could be decided first in one way, i.e the fall of Italy.

Precisely my belief, there will be essentially three different wars going on at once, Italy and the Brits for control of the Middle East and Mediterranean, Germany to try and knock out Russia, and Russia of course trying to survive, and the U.S. fighting Japan to prevent them from taking advantage of the U.K.'s and Russia’s distractions and gobbling up all kinds of territory. However, I doubt that the U.S. could ignore Japan for long, as the Japanese have a vastly superior fleet and if ignored then they could well make landings in the U.S. itself. I would leave the Brits to slug it out in Africa, and hope the Russians survived while I dealt with Japan.

No doubt that is a rather unusual request. It is quite ironic that one of the “objectives” of the Soviet Union in A&A AE is to have no allied soldiers on your territory, in which case you are rewarded an extra 5 IPCs. So I can hardly believe they would even consider doing such things, the Russians were far to proud for that.