Posts made by Arthur Bomber Harris

Amanntai,

Please try out a game playing the Allies against a good German Dark Skies player.  If you don’t build up a huge navy, he will destroy your invasion fleet with minimal bomber losses.  If you do build up a huge navy, he will ignore it and wait till your troops are ashore.  Germany has the choice of when and where to attack.  The massive flexibility of the bombers allows it many more options than you normally have in a game.  That makes up for the lack of damage/PU compared to other units.  I truly wish that I had other valid options besides spending heavily on a massive Atlantic fleet since that is severely delaying my ability to assist Russia.

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Combat Move - French
            3 infantry moved from Algeria to Tunisia
            1 infantry moved from French Central Africa to French Equatorial Africa
            1 infantry moved from Trans-Jordan to Egypt
            1 destroyer moved from 81 Sea Zone to 71 Sea Zone

Combat - French
            Battle in Tunisia
                French attack with 3 infantry
                Italians defend with 1 artillery
                French win, taking Tunisia from Italians with 3 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 4
                Casualties for Italians: 1 artillery

Non Combat Move - French

Turn Complete - French

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Purchase Units - ANZAC
            ANZAC buy 1 carrier and 1 infantry; Remaining resources: 1 PUs;

Combat Move - ANZAC
            1 fighter moved from Queensland to 26 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Queensland to 26 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from New South Wales to Queensland
            1 destroyer moved from 62 Sea Zone to 54 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from Shan State to Burma

Non Combat Move - ANZAC

Place Units - ANZAC
            1 carrier placed in 62 Sea Zone
            1 infantry placed in New South Wales

Turn Complete - ANZAC
            ANZAC collect 10 PUs; end with 11 PUs total
            Trigger ANZAC 1 Control Original And Malaya: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 16 PUs
            Objective ANZAC 2 Control Strategic Islands: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 21 PUs

Amanntai, I am currently playing the Allies against a Dark Skies German.  His bombers are severely hindering my American build in the Atlantic.  On G3, he will have 11 bombers.  I will need at least 3 loaded aircraft carriers to escort transports to Africa or Western Europe.  By the time I get those carriers, he will have even more bombers.  I probably will need 6 carriers in the Atlantic before I start ferrying troops over.  That is 216 PUs or three full turns of production.  Just having the threat of the bombers is delaying an Allied invasion by a couple of turns.  I decided to play KJF strategy so I won’t be able to start building in the Atlantic until tun 3 or 4.  That means an expected landing on turn ~7.  It is quite frustrating as the Allied player.

When I do bring my fleet across the pond, I fully expect that he will ignore my carriers and simply plan to counterattack the troops that I drop on his shores.  He will not be trading bombers for carriers.  I don’t think that he will be very concerned about amphibious landings until turn 9 or so.  That is quite late compared to other German strats where the Allies have a good invasion force on turn 6-7.

The huge bonus for him is the potential threat of many bombers forcing me to spend heavily on defense instead of transports + troops.  Every round of the building fleets in the Atlantic is another round  where he is beating up Russia, sending his troops to the oil fields, and further expansion of his bomber fleet.

1)  Buying AAAs and fighters as Russia prevents them from being aggressive.  If you want to be aggressive, you need artillery so your attack is better than their defense.

2)  The German bombers can take out one threat on one turn, and respond to the second threat the next turn.  With say 6 infantry and 18 bombers, they can kill 15 infantry losing just their own sacrificial German soldiers.  Hence it is easy to respond to the second threat by just building a small stack of sacrificial troops.

3)  That is a massive cost for the allies compared to the cost for the Germans to respond.

4)  All subs can raid Normandy and Norway for 5 PUs a round… not a bad contribution but not devastating.  If you send a bunch of subs into the med to convoy raid Italy, they will build a destroyer their turn and the Germans can bomb the subs to bits on their turn.

5. Allied bombers cannot reach the main factory in Germany, making the bomb runs of minimal utility.

I would love to see a posted game where a strategy works.  I think that the Allies have a chance if they can prevent the Germans from reaching the oil fields.

@Faramir:

My 2 cents:

Buy a few AAAs and Fighters as Russia. Be sort of aggressive.

Threaten Germany in 2 separate locations on the same turn. The bombers can only take out 1 threat effectively.

Suicide transports to make landings in Europe.

Neuter Italy and blockade Germany with all subs.

Build bombers to bomb German factories and kill the bombers if Germany leaves them exposed.

You probably won’t be able to do all of these in 1 game but you can do a few of them.

The Pacific fleet is near full strength.  I will have to decide if I need another round of spending there before switching over to the Atlantic.  You will start having some tough decisions as Germany next round.  It will be quite important to get your air force into the desired positions for G4 actions.

Well stated, axis dominion!  I won my first test game of Dark Skies when the US spent too much money in the Atlantic, Germany didn’t take the bait of attacking a powerful navy off of Gibraltar, and Japan painted Asia yellow.

In my second test game, I’m playing the Allies.  My game plan is building a strong Russian artillery force so that I can block Germany’s advance to the Middle East.  I will have to see if it gets shoved back as his ground forces advance.

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Purchase Units - British
            British buy 1 armour, 1 carrier and 2 mech_infantrys; Remaining resources: 4 PUs;

Purchase Units - UK_Pacific
            UK_Pacific buy 4 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - British
            1 submarine moved from 106 Sea Zone to 109 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from United Kingdom to 109 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from United Kingdom to 109 Sea Zone
            1 bomber moved from Malta to Kenya
            1 artillery moved from Ethiopia to Kenya
            1 infantry moved from Shan State to Siam
                  UK_Pacific take Siam from Japanese
            1 fighter moved from Burma to 41 Sea Zone
            1 armour moved from Tobruk to Egypt
            1 fighter moved from Malta to Egypt

Combat - British
            Battle in Kenya
                British attack with 1 artillery and 1 bomber
                Italians defend with 1 infantry
                British win, taking Kenya from Italians with 1 artillery and 1 bomber remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
                Casualties for Italians: 1 infantry
            Battle in 109 Sea Zone
                British attack with 2 fighters and 1 submarine
                Germans defend with 1 cruiser
                British win with 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 6
                Casualties for Germans: 1 cruiser
                Casualties for British: 1 submarine
            Battle in 41 Sea Zone
                British attack with 1 fighter
                Japanese defend with 1 transport
                British win with 1 fighter remaining. Battle score for attacker is 7
                Casualties for Japanese: 1 transport

Non Combat Move - British
            1 fighter moved from 41 Sea Zone to India
            1 fighter moved from Burma to India
            1 tactical_bomber moved from Burma to India
            1 infantry moved from Eastern Persia to Persia
                  British take Persia from Neutral_Allies
            1 bomber moved from Kenya to Belgian Congo
            1 cruiser, 1 destroyer and 1 transport moved from 76 Sea Zone to 71 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from 109 Sea Zone to United Kingdom
            1 fighter moved from 109 Sea Zone to United Kingdom
            1 fighter moved from New Brunswick Nova Scotia to Iceland
            1 destroyer moved from 106 Sea Zone to 109 Sea Zone
            1 destroyer moved from 81 Sea Zone to 71 Sea Zone
            1 artillery moved from French Indo China to Shan State
            1 infantry moved from India to Burma
            1 infantry moved from India to Burma
            1 infantry moved from India to Burma
            1 mech_infantry moved from India to Burma
            1 mech_infantry moved from India to Burma
            1 fighter moved from India to Burma

Place Units - British
            1 armour and 2 mech_infantrys placed in Union of South Africa
            1 carrier placed in 106 Sea Zone

Turn Complete - British
            British collect 31 PUs; end with 35 PUs total

Place Units - UK_Pacific
            4 infantry placed in India

Turn Complete - UK_Pacific
            UK_Pacific collect 13 PUs; end with 13 PUs total
            Some Units in India change ownership: 4 infantry

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Purchase Units - Chinese
            Trigger Chinese Artillery Supplies: Chinese has their production frontier changed to: productionChinese_Burma_Road_Open
            Chinese buy 4 artilleries; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - Chinese
            1 infantry moved from Shensi to Suiyuyan
            1 infantry moved from Shensi to Suiyuyan
            1 infantry moved from Shensi to Suiyuyan
            1 fighter moved from Shensi to Suiyuyan

Combat - Chinese
            Battle in Suiyuyan
                Chinese attack with 1 fighter and 3 infantry
                Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                Chinese win, taking Suiyuyan from Japanese with 1 fighter and 3 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
                Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry

Non Combat Move - Chinese
            1 fighter moved from Suiyuyan to Kansu

Place Units - Chinese
            4 artilleries placed in Suiyuyan

Turn Complete - Chinese
            Chinese collect 7 PUs; end with 7 PUs total
            Objective Chinese 1 Burma Road: Chinese met a national objective for an additional 6 PUs; end with 13 PUs

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Purchase Units - Americans
            Americans buy 2 carriers, 2 fighters, 1 submarine and 2 transports; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - Americans
            1 submarine moved from 26 Sea Zone to 16 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Midway to 16 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from 26 Sea Zone to 16 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from Brazil to 86 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from Brazil to 86 Sea Zone
            2 infantry and 1 transport moved from 86 Sea Zone to 66 Sea Zone
            1 bomber moved from United Kingdom to Western United States

Combat - Americans
            Battle in 16 Sea Zone
                Americans attack with 2 fighters and 1 submarine
                Japanese defend with 1 destroyer
                Americans win with 2 fighters and 1 submarine remaining. Battle score for attacker is 8
                Casualties for Japanese: 1 destroyer

Non Combat Move - Americans
            1 fighter moved from 16 Sea Zone to Midway
            1 fighter moved from 16 Sea Zone to Midway
            1 cruiser moved from 11 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
            1 battleship moved from 10 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
            1 carrier moved from 10 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
            1 carrier moved from 10 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
            1 tactical_bomber moved from Hawaiian Islands to 26 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Hawaiian Islands to 26 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Hawaiian Islands to 26 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from Central United States to Western United States
            1 armour moved from Central United States to Western United States
            1 artillery moved from Eastern United States to Central United States

Place Units - Americans
            2 carriers, 1 submarine and 2 transports placed in 10 Sea Zone
            2 fighters placed in 10 Sea Zone

Turn Complete - Americans
            Americans collect 52 PUs; end with 52 PUs total
            Objective Americans 2 Outer Territories: Americans met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 57 PUs
            Objective Americans 3 Defense Obligations: Americans met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 62 PUs
            Objective Americans 1 Homeland: Americans met a national objective for an additional 10 PUs; end with 72 PUs

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 2

Purchase Units - Russians
            Russians buy 4 artilleries and 7 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - Russians

Non Combat Move - Russians
            2 aaGuns and 17 infantry moved from Buryatia to Amur
            3 artilleries moved from Ukraine to Western Ukraine
            1 aaGun moved from Bryansk to Western Ukraine
            1 aaGun moved from Bryansk to Western Ukraine
            1 infantry moved from Bryansk to Western Ukraine
            1 infantry moved from Bryansk to Western Ukraine
            1 artillery moved from Bryansk to Western Ukraine
            2 aaGuns, 1 artillery and 10 infantry moved from Belarus to Bryansk
            1 artillery moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 artillery moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 artillery moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
            1 artillery and 3 infantry moved from Russia to Bryansk

Place Units - Russians
            3 artilleries placed in Ukraine
            1 artillery and 7 infantry placed in Russia

Turn Complete - Russians
            Russians collect 37 PUs; end with 37 PUs total

No scramble.

Forgot to move my Anzac guy to Shan State on their turn…

It’s time for the German air force to destroy some more ships.

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 1

Combat Move - French
            Turning on Edit Mode
            EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode
            EDIT: 1 infantry moved from Malaya to Shan State
            1 destroyer moved from 93 Sea Zone to 92 Sea Zone
            1 destroyer moved from 72 Sea Zone to 81 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from French West Africa to French Central Africa
            1 infantry moved from Tunisia to Algeria
            1 infantry moved from Morocco to Algeria
            1 cruiser moved from 93 Sea Zone to 94 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from Syria to Trans-Jordan

Combat - French
            Battle in 92 Sea Zone
                French attack with 1 destroyer
                Italians defend with 1 transport
                French win with 1 destroyer remaining. Battle score for attacker is 7
                Casualties for Italians: 1 transport

Non Combat Move - French

Turn Complete - French

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 1

Purchase Units - ANZAC
            ANZAC buy 1 fighter; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - ANZAC
            1 infantry moved from New South Wales to 62 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from New South Wales to 62 Sea Zone
            2 infantry and 1 transport moved from 62 Sea Zone to 45 Sea Zone

Non Combat Move - ANZAC
            1 infantry moved from 45 Sea Zone to Dutch New Guinea
                  ANZAC take Dutch New Guinea from Dutch
            1 infantry moved from 45 Sea Zone to Dutch New Guinea
            1 aaGun moved from New South Wales to Queensland
            1 aaGun moved from New South Wales to Queensland
            1 cruiser moved from 63 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from New Zealand to Queensland
            1 fighter moved from New Zealand to Queensland
            1 infantry moved from Queensland to South Australia

Place Units - ANZAC
            1 fighter placed in New South Wales

Turn Complete - ANZAC
            ANZAC collect 10 PUs; end with 10 PUs total
            Trigger ANZAC 1 Control Original And Malaya: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 15 PUs
            Objective ANZAC 2 Control Strategic Islands: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 20 PUs

No problem, I will use that save when I do my french turn.

I did have an overwhelming British attack against Italy in Africa that resulted in complete disaster due to poor dice rolling.  It took a long time to recover.  Still, I am willing to take risks as the Allies since their economic advantage allows them to overcome occasional bad dice rolls.

No problem on Gibraltar.  I figured that you were going to do it, with subsequent reinforcement from German planes.

I love how aggressive the UK can be in Africa if they have the extra money from the bid.  It prevents Italy from doing much for the first three rounds.  In the Pacific, I needed to capture FIC to prevent you from using those troops for additional destruction and to prevent Japan from building a dreaded airbase/factory combination on J2.

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 1

Purchase Units - British
            British buy 1 destroyer and 2 fighters; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Purchase Units - UK_Pacific
            UK_Pacific buy 3 infantry and 2 mech_infantrys; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - British
            1 armour, 2 artilleries and 2 infantry moved from Alexandria to Tobruk
            1 mech_infantry moved from Egypt to Tobruk
            1 infantry moved from Anglo Egyptian Sudan to Ethiopia
            1 infantry moved from Egypt to 98 Sea Zone
            1 artillery moved from Egypt to 98 Sea Zone
            1 artillery, 1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 98 Sea Zone to 76 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from 76 Sea Zone to Ethiopia
            1 artillery moved from 76 Sea Zone to Ethiopia
            1 cruiser moved from 39 Sea Zone to 76 Sea Zone
            1 destroyer moved from 39 Sea Zone to 76 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from India to 39 Sea Zone
            1 artillery moved from India to 39 Sea Zone
            1 artillery, 1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 39 Sea Zone to 36 Sea Zone
            1 infantry moved from 36 Sea Zone to French Indo China
            1 artillery moved from 36 Sea Zone to French Indo China
            1 tactical_bomber moved from India to French Indo China
            1 fighter moved from Burma to French Indo China
            1 fighter moved from India to French Indo China
            1 tactical_bomber moved from 98 Sea Zone to Tobruk
            1 cruiser moved from 91 Sea Zone to 96 Sea Zone
            1 submarine moved from 91 Sea Zone to 106 Sea Zone
            1 destroyer moved from 109 Sea Zone to 106 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Scotland to 106 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from United Kingdom to 97 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from United Kingdom to 97 Sea Zone
            1 bomber moved from United Kingdom to 97 Sea Zone
            1 carrier, 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer and 1 submarine moved from 98 Sea Zone to 97 Sea Zone
            1 fighter moved from Malta to Tobruk
            1 fighter moved from Gibraltar to 96 Sea Zone

Combat - British
            Battle in 96 Sea Zone
                British attack with 1 cruiser and 1 fighter
                Italians defend with 1 destroyer and 1 transport
                British win with 1 cruiser and 1 fighter remaining. Battle score for attacker is 15
                Casualties for Italians: 1 destroyer and 1 transport
            Battle in 97 Sea Zone
                British attack with 1 bomber, 1 carrier, 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer, 2 fighters and 1 submarine
                Italians defend with 1 battleship, 1 cruiser and 1 transport
                Units damaged: 1 battleship owned by the Italians
                British win, taking 97 Sea Zone from Neutral with 1 bomber, 1 carrier, 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer and 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 33
                Casualties for British: 1 submarine
                Casualties for Italians: 1 battleship, 1 cruiser and 1 transport
            Battle in Ethiopia
                British attack with 1 artillery and 2 infantry
                Italians defend with 1 artillery and 2 infantry
                British win, taking Ethiopia from Italians with 1 artillery remaining. Battle score for attacker is 4
                Casualties for British: 2 infantry
                Casualties for Italians: 1 artillery and 2 infantry
            Battle in French Indo China
                British attack with 1 artillery, 2 fighters, 1 infantry and 1 tactical_bomber
                Japanese defend with 2 infantry
                British win, taking French Indo China from Japanese with 1 artillery, 2 fighters and 1 tactical_bomber remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
                Casualties for Japanese: 2 infantry
                Casualties for British: 1 infantry
            Battle in Tobruk
                British attack with 1 armour, 2 artilleries, 1 fighter, 2 infantry, 1 mech_infantry and 1 tactical_bomber
                Italians defend with 1 armour, 1 artillery, 3 infantry and 1 mech_infantry
                British win, taking Tobruk from Italians with 1 armour, 1 fighter and 1 tactical_bomber remaining. Battle score for attacker is 5
                Casualties for British: 2 artilleries, 2 infantry and 1 mech_infantry
                Casualties for Italians: 1 armour, 1 artillery, 3 infantry and 1 mech_infantry
            Battle in 106 Sea Zone
                British attack with 1 destroyer, 1 fighter and 1 submarine
                Germans defend with 1 submarine
                British win, taking 106 Sea Zone from Germans with 1 destroyer, 1 fighter and 1 submarine remaining. Battle score for attacker is 6
                Casualties for Germans: 1 submarine

Non Combat Move - British
            1 fighter moved from 106 Sea Zone to New Brunswick Nova Scotia
            1 transport moved from 109 Sea Zone to 106 Sea Zone
            1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Ontario to Quebec
            1 fighter moved from 96 Sea Zone to Malta
            1 bomber moved from 97 Sea Zone to Malta
            1 fighter moved from Tobruk to Egypt
            1 tactical_bomber moved from Tobruk to Egypt
            1 destroyer moved from 71 Sea Zone to 81 Sea Zone
            2 fighters and 1 tactical_bomber moved from French Indo China to Burma
            3 aaGuns and 5 infantry moved from India to Burma
            3 infantry moved from Malaya to Shan State
            2 infantry moved from Scotland to United Kingdom
            1 infantry moved from West India to Eastern Persia
                  British take Eastern Persia from Neutral_Allies
            1 aaGun moved from Scotland to United Kingdom

Place Units - British
            1 destroyer placed in 106 Sea Zone
            2 fighters placed in United Kingdom
            British undo move 1.
            1 destroyer placed in 109 Sea Zone

Turn Complete - British
            British collect 29 PUs; end with 29 PUs total
            Objective British 1 Original: British met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 34 PUs

Place Units - UK_Pacific
            3 infantry and 2 mech_infantrys placed in India

Turn Complete - UK_Pacific
            UK_Pacific collect 12 PUs; end with 12 PUs total
            Some Units in India change ownership: 3 infantry and 2 mech_infantrys

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 3.9

Game History

Round: 1

Purchase Units - Chinese
            Trigger Chinese Loses Burma Road: Chinese has their production frontier changed to: productionChinese_Burma_Road_Closed
            Chinese buy 4 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - Chinese
            1 fighter moved from Szechwan to Yunnan
            1 infantry moved from Szechwan to Yunnan
            1 infantry moved from Szechwan to Yunnan
            1 infantry moved from Szechwan to Yunnan
            1 infantry moved from Szechwan to Yunnan
            2 infantry moved from Kweichow to Yunnan
            2 infantry moved from Szechwan to Yunnan

Combat - Chinese
            Battle in Yunnan
                Chinese attack with 1 fighter and 8 infantry
                Japanese defend with 1 artillery and 1 infantry
                Chinese win, taking Yunnan from Japanese with 1 fighter and 7 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 4
                Casualties for Japanese: 1 artillery and 1 infantry
                Casualties for Chinese: 1 infantry

Non Combat Move - Chinese
            2 infantry moved from Suiyuyan to Shensi
            1 fighter moved from Yunnan to Shensi

Place Units - Chinese
            4 infantry placed in Yunnan

Turn Complete - Chinese
            Chinese collect 10 PUs; end with 10 PUs total
            Objective Chinese 1 Burma Road: Chinese met a national objective for an additional 6 PUs; end with 16 PUs