Posts made by wardog42

The PG series is awesome - especially PGII. The most difficult campaign of PGII is when you start as Germany in '42 or '43 and you are getting pushed back by the Russians. The Germans have a lot of half-strength units whereas the Russians units are almost all at full strengh. That first battle alone is nearly impossible, with the Russians having all of their tanks lined up just across from yours with all kinds of artillery support for them. Even if you win this one, you get swarmed by Russian tanks and artillery on every mission. If you can win this campaign, you can win any campaign in the game. PGIII is cool but the irritating thing is that you need a commander for every unit you want to buy. In the US campaign you always get a ton of tank commanders and not much else.

I’ve played the demo over 20 times. This game is awesome! The demo takes place in St. Mere Eglise, France the night before the D-Day Invasion. You are part of the 101st airborne and are tasked to take out 3 different anti-aircraft guns to clear the way for the invasion. The guns, squad tactics and enemy AI are great. If you don’t hit a German soldier in the head, it takes 2 or 3 shots to kill him. And the Germans don’t usually stay in one place. They take cover, they move around and when you throw a grenade they will run. When you sneak up on them you can hear them speaking German to eachother and they will yell “Granate” when you throw a grenade their way. You can use the German guns and grenades as well. The coolest gun on the demo is the FG42 (Fallschimjager 42, the German paratrooper rifle). It can be used semi-auto or fully auto and is the only sniper rifle on the demo. You can take it off of a dead German near the 2nd anti-aircraft gun. From what I understand, you will play missions as a Russian and British soldier as well. Check out www.callofduty.com. They just updated their site with a lot of cool video clips. It is supposed to come out November 5th.

My mistake - I’ve been playing a lot more A&AE lately where you can’t build new ICs. At $15 for an IC, buy 1 IC and 1 transport in the first round. It’s still worth it because you can get units to the Asian mainland faster.

With your $32 in IPCs, purchase 4 infantry and 4 tanks per round. This gives you a great mix of cheap defense/cannon fodder and offense. Anything above and beyond the $32 gained in later rounds should just go to additional infantry or tanks. What you do on your first turn really depends on what Russia does. If they take Ukraine SSR, take it back or attack Karelia depending on where he has the majority of his units. As someone else mentioned, you want to make sure that you want to have a decent-size force to take on Karelia to defend it. Your 1st objective is to take Karelia. Once you can do that and begin building there, you’re in great shape. As far as the Allies navy, use all of your available airforce and navy to wipe it out! North Africa is key to this game in getting you extra IPCs. Amphibiously assault Anglo-Egypt Sudan with with either 2 infantry or 1 tank from Southern Europe on the transport along with your Battleship & bomber and use your 1 infantry & 1 tank from Libya as well. You have to be very aggressive with Germany in the 1st round to weaken the Allies all around & gain the extra IPCs.

In a game last night I saw Japan attack Pearl with a fighter, 2 BB’s, and a sub (I think). They took heavy casualties, and ended up having to retreat their two BB’s! Has anyone ever seen this happen before? Thanks again for all of the help.

I am not surprised that they got knocked around in that battle with only taking those few units in. See Mista Biggs e-mail from 8/29 - you have to bring in an overkill force to take them out here just in case you roll really badly. As far as the first turn, I always purchase 1 transport, 1 tank & 1 Industrial complex in Manchuria. Someone mentioned that you can’t build at this IC until the 3rd round, which is not true. I would suggest building 3 tanks in the 2nd round to give you some punch in knocking the Allies out of Asia. If the UK builds an IC in India, you should be able to take it in a round or two. If they don’t, that just makes it easier. If Germany is in trouble against Russia, you can always build another IC in India and enable Japan to build 6 tanks/round in Asia. I wouldn’t build a mass amount of transports until after Russia is eliminated and you want to take down the US. Besides, an IC is only $12 and you can build 3 units/round of any type if you place it in Manchuria. Transports are $8 each and can only transport either 2 infantry or 1 tank at a time and these units will arrive on the Asian mainland 1 round later than units built in an IC in Asia. I’ve never seen the Japanese do well at all without at lease 1 IC in Asia.

Many people on this forum have suggested to use Germany’s Mediterranean navy to harass the allies in the Atlantic as opposed to eliminating UK’s Mediterranean navy and taking over Africa and the oil fields. I’ve never used that strategy before but I’d like to try it out. I have some questions on this strategy though:

1. Do you move all of Germany’s forces to Algeria to consolidate forces and to goad the UK into chasing? This would also move the 1 infantry from Morocco and put it with a larger defensive force as opposed to getting taken down by the US in the first round.

2. Do you just leave the UK destroyer and transport in tact? On their first turn, UK could amphibiously assault Greece, Yugoslavia, Northern Italy or Southern Italy with 1 infantry & 1 artillery along with the offshore from the destroyer and they could use the fighter from Malta if they attack Southern Italy. Obviously you can leave infantry behind to defend, but that is 4 different areas that you must defend instead of pushing them forward to the Russian front.

I do see the benefit of taking that UK destroyer out in the Strait of Gibraltar with the German battleship and destroyer with the possibility of using the transport as cannon fodder. These ships would also be invaluable in supporting the u-boats. Please give me your suggestions on the 2 questions above as well as anything else you can add.

I agree that the US should automatically go to war with Germany as soon as round 2 or 3 comes around. Germany declared war with the US just after Peal Harbor so that would make sense. If they didn’t automatically go to war and had to wait for Germany to attack, then the same could be done with Russia. At the begining of the game, the Germans still have the non-aggression pact with Russia. If the rules went that Russia could not attack Germany until Germany attacked them, no one would ever attack Russia. Germany would have a much easier time pounding UK to submission without having to worry about the eastern front. At far as producing the planes go, I think that’s a good idea. You could also have the US transport tanks and possibly artillery to the UK.

The rulebook I have I download from Avalon Hill’s website. On page 17 at the upper left under “Placement of control markers”, begining at the 2nd sentence states: “If Germany takes control of a Convoy center, it places a control marker there. The former owner of the Convoy center loses the indicated income and the National Production Chart is adjusted accordingly. (Germany, however, does not receive that income because the convoy is now considered sunk and unusable.)” I made the same mistake the first time I played A&AE. If they let Germany have the convoy IPCs, they could add 30 IPCs to their total in the first round (if they took all of the convoy centers), paying them 70 IPCs at the end of the first round. Given the unit superiority that Germany already enjoys, this would give them a huge advantage that the Allies would have an extremely difficult time overcoming.

What we are getting at Guerilla Guy is that the US should not be able to attack and should not be at a war-production level when it comes to IPCs in the first round or 2. If the Germans leave the US navy alone, the US can perform an amphibious assault on Morocco or attack German subs on their first turn, which is ridiculous unless Avalon Hill considers Germany, Russia & UK going first in round 1 as a 6 month time period. If a rule was made that the US could not attack until round 3 and that for their first 2 rounds they can only use 1/2 their IPCs for their own production and the other 1/2 for UK that would be more historically accurate.

Definitely sink the British & US fleets. Germany does not get the IPCs from the convoys if you take one over, you’re just taking those IPCs from the Allies. And if they get the convoy back before the end of their turn, they get the IPCs back. If you don’t take out the fleets, your subs won’t last long and Britain & US will be amphibiously assaulting German in no time.

In the first round take 1 artillery + 1 infantry on the transport and amphibious assault libya and move your battleship and destroyer in for offshore support while attacking from Tunisia as well (all ships should be in the Central Mediterranean sea zone). If Britain attacks your battleship, destroyer & transport on their turn with their fighter, destroyer and transport, you have the edge in defense numbers (4, 3, 1 vs. 3, 3 & NA) + the fact that it takes 2 shots to take down a battleship, so in essence its 4 vs. 2 and you should win this battle almost every time. On the 2nd turn, if Britain does not attack, pick up an artillery or infantry from Greece as well as the infantry from Crete for an amphibious assault on Egypt. You will have to use your battleship and destroyer to take out the British destroyer and transport, but again you have the attack numbers advantage (4, 3 vs. 3, 1) as well as the 2-shot battleship, so it is 3 vs. 2. Bring all of your forces from Libya to bear on Egypt along with the aforementioned amphibious assault. In subsequent rounds use your remaining forces to push through the middle east to Russia. This middle-east strategy does not seem very popular on the forum, but moving the German battleship, destroyer and transport to the Atlantic and leaving the British with all of their naval and ground units in tact will allow them to take Germany out of Africa rather quickly and force Germany to leave defensive forces in Greece and Southern Italy that could be used on the Russian front. You can move the German naval units to the Atlantic once the British navy is gone or continue to use them in supporting amphibious attacks on Palestine and Syria (if the British have not already vacated these areas). Taking Britain out of Africa has 3 benefits: it allows Germany to leave places like Greece and Southern Italy completely undefended and to shift those units to bear on Russia, it takes money directly out of the allies pockets and lasts longer than attacking the convoys and it will eventually expose the Russian southern flank and force Russia to shift valuable units to Caucasus for defense. I will admit, it does take time to get through the Middle-East to Russia, but I’ve used this many times and I’ve always gotten to Caucasus without fail.

I really like the idea, but building 1 battleship, 1 aircraft carrier and 1 transport may work a little better. Combining these with the exisiting transport, you are at a disadvantage on the attack roll (4, 3, 1, 1, vs. 4, 3, 3), but with the 2-shot battleship it’s basically 5 vs. 3 and most people would not take those odds. On your next turn you could use it all on an amphibious invasion with the Battleship providing offshore. This will also force Britain with 25 IPCs to build expensive units to take you out. However, you have to have destroyed all of Britain’s navy around mainland Britain with your subs and airforce for this strategy to be effective.

• I agree with Inkdux on Germany needing to wipe out most of the Allied navy. This forces Britain, with national production of 25, to focus on building expensive navy units. This also will put the US in a position where they must also beef up their navy to clear out what remains of the German navy. This takes the focus of the western allies off of amphibious assaults and more on building destroyers ($12 each) to destroy the German subs and to defend transports. This allows Germany to weaken its forces in France and put them against Russia on the other front. Germany will eventually have to contend with an amphibious assault on France but will have ample time to shift units into place for defense. Leaving the Allied navy alone and only going after convoys is a doomed strategy. Britain and the US will be able to knock your subs out of most of these convoys before they receive their money at the end of their respective rounds, which means the affect on their IPCs is minimal to nothing and you just got most if not all of your subs sunk. Once this is done, expect amphibious landings from the US and Britain to follow immediately, which takes Germany from being on offense to being on defense and is normally the beginning of the end.

• As far as the eastern front is concerned, purchase a transport and put it in the Danish Sea and artillery to be placed either in Germany or Poland with the $12 you start with. Attack Leningrad with 2 infantry + 2 artillery transported over from Germany + 1 fighter. Attack Baltic States (only 3 russian infantry), East Poland (only 4 russian infantry) & Bessarabia (only 1 infantry + 1 armor defending) as well. Reinforce Rumania on your non-combat phase to prevent units from Ukraine from taking it in a counter-attack. If Leningrad is stacked with infantry, send the 2 infantry + 2 artillery with the transports to attack Baltic States. The extra transport gives you more flexibility in attacking on the opening round and can also help you beyond the 1st round as long as they stay alive. Britain has to choose on its turn whether to use its 2 fighters and bomber to attack your 2 transports or assist its remaining destroyers in Davis Strait and/or Strait of Gibraltar in attacking your subs (this is assuming you have concentrated all of your sub efforts in the first round to destroying the British fleet in the North Sea, English Channel & Celtic Sea). More often than not, they will choose to go after your subs to stop you from attacking their convoys as well as future naval units that they purchase. Your 1st objective should remain taking out Leningrad. If you don’t, this will allow the Russians to continually stack infantry there for use as cannonfodder in counterattacks or just to reinforce other provinces in the area, which will slow down your offensive tremendously. Even if you take Leningrad and they take it back in the next round, they still can’t build units there and you will most likely be able to take it back on your next turn. With Leningrad gone, Russia is forced to produce infantry in Moscow or Stalingrad. The combination of the US & UK being delayed due to their navies being destroyed coupled with Germany being able to transfer infantry and artillery to the front very quickly with the transports will put you in an excellent position to take Russia out.

• As for the Middle East, in the first round take 1 artillery + 1 infantry on the transport and amphibious assault libya and move your battleship and destroyer in for offshore support while attacking from Tunisia as well. If Britain attacks your battleship, destroyer & transport on their turn with their fighter, destroyer and transport, you have the edge in defense numbers (4, 3, 1 vs. 3, 3 & NA) + the fact that it takes 2 shots to take down a battleship, so in essence its 4 vs. 2 and you should win this battle almost every time. On the 2nd turn, if Britain does not attack, pick up an artillery or infantry from Greece as well as the infantry from Crete for an amphibious assault on Egypt. You will have to use your battleship and destroyer to take out the British destroyer and transport, but again you have the attack numbers advantage (4, 3 vs. 3, 1) as well as the 2-shot battleship, so it is 3 vs. 2. Bring all of your forces from Libya to bear on Egypt along with the aforementioned amphibious assault. In subsequent rounds use your remaining forces to push through the middle east to Russia. This middle-east strategy does not seem very popular on the forum, but moving the German battleship, destroyer and transport to the Atlantic and leaving the British with all of their naval and ground units in tact will allow them to take Germany out of Africa rather quickly and force Germany to leave defensive forces in Greece and Southern Italy that could be used on the Russian front. Taking Britain out of Africa has 3 benefits: it allows Germany to leave places like Greece and Southern Italy completely undefended and gives them the ability to bring those units to bear on Russia, it takes money directly out of the allies pockets and is much more long term than attacking the convoys and it will eventually expose the Russian southern flank and force Russia to shift valuable units to Caucasus for defense. Using these 3 strategies in combination will put you in the drivers seat and will keep the allies on the defensive for a few rounds.

You are right Inxdux. This is how it reads in the gameplay manual: “It is the spring of 1941 and Germany is about to launch Operation Barbarossa. This was Germany’s surprise attack on the Soviet Union that ended the Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact.” It also goes on to say “The United States is supplying armaments for the Allies, but will not be entering the war for another six months.” I agree that the US being involved from the get go is historically inaccurate and ridiculous. The US did not get involved in the European Theater until the spring of 1942 when they invaded North Africa. I like your idea of not allowing the US to get involved until Round 3. However, I would suggest that perhaps the US only gets to use 10 or 20 IPCs for their own production during these first 2 rounds and use the remaining IPCs to build units for UK. However, the UK units that the US builds would have to start in the US and ground units would have to be brought to the UK by transport. During this time period the US had a huge problem transporting anything to the UK across the Atlantic due to the German subs and these rules would really bring this into play. I’ve never played this way, but it may balance the game out and be more historically accurate.

Germany: Purchase a transport and place it in the Danish Sea and purchase artillery and place it on Germany (You could also put the artillery in Finland or Poland, but I prefer to put it here because your opponent may think you are preparing an invasion of UK and that may get them to spend that $12 purchasing Navy or Infantry for UK, which I’ve seen happen). Then you can use the 2 transports you have in the Danish Sea to pick up 2 infantry and 2 artillery to Leningrad, where Russia only starts with 2 infantry. You can use the fighter from Poland or the bomber from Germany for extra firepower, although there is a possibility of them getting shot down by the AA gun. If the Russians stack up infantry on Leningrad with their $12, you can use this same force to attack Baltic States along with forces from Poland. This allows you to shift some of your forces in Poland to attack East Poland and gives you more strength at the front. These transports will also be invaluable in the next round and beyond because you will be able to move infantry and artillery to the front much more quickly than their normal movement would allow. This is key in taking down Russia.

Allies: Give the $12 to Russia and purchase 3 artillery and place them in Belorussia. Germany will most likely attack Baltic States or East Poland and this will allow you to have a decent force to counterattack either of these areas. However, if the Germans put a transport in the Danish Sea with their $12, put the 3 artillery in Leningrad. The reason to use artillery here is that if they decide not to attack Leningrad and attack Baltic States, you have some offense to counterattack with while only having 1 less unit with a defense of 2 to defend with if they do attack. The key for the Russians is to have enough offense in their counterattacks to take out German armor. If Germany puts 3 artillery in Finland, purchase 4 infantry with Russia and put them in Karelia. This will force Germany to bring in the fighter from Norway or Poland or the bomber from Germany to put the odds in their favor. The Russians also have 3 infantry and 1 armor in Archangel, 4 infantry and 1 artillery in Russia & 1 armor, 1 fighter and 1 bomber in Moscow all in position to immediately counterattack if the Germans manage to take Karelia.

The most important battles, especially in the first few rounds of the game, take place between Germany & Russia. So no matter which side you are on you should use your $12 at this front.