Posts made by ZimZaxZeo

Well, you as GER start with a minimal force in the Med theater, and must counter the Brits on the scene. The oil really is the whipped cream. Paramount is to keep hold of your own southern front. If the UK plunks down 6ICs on Malta in Turn Zero, in the form of 2inf, then it will be nearly impossible to dislodge them on Turn One.

Still, you have more forces available to slam the UK deployment. Depending on how aggressive Montgomery is coming out of Egypt, you will eventually get your chance for an amphib assault or two, and then it’s a cake walk into the oil fields. I recommend sinking the EMed task force early on. You could also use BB & DD to dispatch the DD in the Straits of G on Turn One while your transport ferries an extra unit or two to Tunisia.

The real math concerns whether you decide to buy an extra TP to ace the invasion of Malta. Fine and dandy, but that’s 8PCs that won’t be going into ground action on the Eastern Front.

One thing’s for sure: you don’t want that Ftr buzzing around, or let it escape back to the UK or into Russia, if you can help it!

Interesting that the Germans invaded much less rugged topography – Poland, the Low Countries, northern France, Russia. In other words, some swampy conditions, forested hills, etc. but mainly FLATLANDS. The Italians had the job of conquering Greece. Pretty tough stuff, and against fanatical, organized partisans.

Anyway, I didn’t realize that the Germans had much sayso in supplying the Italians. I do know a good joke or two about the mighty Italian armed forces (among my ancestors, by the way):
Q: Why did they build the new Italian Navy with glass-bottomed boats?
A: So they could see the old Italian Navy!

Well thanks TG.

I just may bid on a couple of games on Ebay – pick up an A&A and A&AP for the holidays. I’ll let you know…

Hi I’m new around here, and would be glad to take that kind of “punishment.” I’ve only played A&AE a few times. But I would like to get going, after Thanksgiving, with some PBEM games of A&AE. Who would like to destroy the new kid?

By the way, I presume that some of the non-posters are simply trolling their way through the rich treasury of facts & commentary that you folks have engendered here over the past couple of years. It seems to me that plenty of the discussion threads are good enough to satisfy different types of readers.

Besides, have you noticed how many people in society refrain from participating in open talk? Human nature, I guess. Out of nearly 600 people who’ve registered, about 25% are keeping quiet. ((Hmm: What nefarious deeds could they be plotting!?))

…regarding historical accuracy of A&AE, it seems like a great balance, considering the simplicity of the game (dozens of unit markers, not thousands; no seasonal or terrain effects, etc.).

At the start on the Eastern Front, Hitler & Stalin had rough numerical equivalence in air forces and amour. Yet the Germans lambasted the Soviet steel in the early going, gaining near total command of the air, for instance. The game reflects this by designating a very small effective size for the Soviet airforce.

On the ground, the T-34s were largely tied to Infantry movement, while the Panzers had the sweeping luxury of operating as armored divisions. Again, the Game reflects this by starting the Germans with twice as much armour as the Soviets.

In terms of masterful deployment of manpower and materiel, the German war machine in 1941 was tuned up, oiled up and of superior experience. Still, the sheer mass, resistance and yes, initiative of Russian footsoldiers, wedded to the vast scale of the land was enough to counterbalance the assault each summer: 41, 42, 43.

And that’s the way this game plays out. The Germans attempt to chew up Soviet armies, because the land itself is too hard to fill up with decisively massed forces. and to hold. The Soviets absorb shocks, counterpunch and stall. The game can go either way, depending on skill, experience and luck of the players, and the coordination of the Allies.

The balance is there. Historically accurate on the micro scale? Not. But on a reasonable scale for ease of use and plenty of variations: Sure seems so.

And as for those Italians, well, they had done that Empire thing already. Mussolini made em nostalgic for Roman glory and got em fired up – for a spell. Then they remembered there were more interesting things to do back home (wine, women, song, sports, art, motorcycles, etc.) than in Abyssinia or Greece, where it was too hot and dusty and the locals were less than accommodating. Besides, they got tired of being associated with that bigmouthed Austrian complainer who forgot to show them respect and was a lousy painter.

Dear Mr. Super Mega Addict,

I am new to this online gaming gig (well, I did play some interstellar wargames via GEnie network back in the mid-80s, but that’s another tale).

Would you kindly direct me as to how to equip so as to play the CD way vs. the hivemind – and where to find the “improved A&A AI version” you mention. Now here’s the kicker: I operate on an iMac, operating system 9.04 … realizing that many of youse vets is Windows and/or Linux oriented, I just hope there is hope for the likes of me…

(Thanks in advance)

Are there CD versions of the game that will work on MAC?? (OS 9.04)

I am usually using daggone AOL…

Perhaps I should attempt to stick on an avatar via Explorer?

(While we’re at it, how do I select an “Emoticon” and insert it in this text box? They seem impervious to my exertions, although I have been able to download them as gifs.)

Thanks for asking, GeZe

Speaking of penguins, I cannot get an avatar to stick. Each time I submit a canned avatar from your gallery, I get the message “Cannot update usertable at this time.” Is it my ibook? Any suggestions?

This thread has developed into a metaforum… it transcends categorization because it started as an outside-the-forums admonition to stay within the correct forum… It should have been a dead-end forum-of-one-note, but it has coiled into an 11th-dimension bubbleverse powered by superstrings of counterclockwise dark quark matter. Capiche?

What would Julius Caesar do if he strode across this forum?

Here are some stats to ponder.

Where you find extra digits they refer to footnotes (e.g., 3,250,0004 the final “4” is a footnote number).

These are military figures only. For instance, Soviets lost more than 20million including civilians, while this chart shows 6mm dead for USSR. “Men in War” means over course of war (so your figures of 16mm US, etc. roughly match these – although it is interesting that NO figure is given for Soviets – certainly the Nazis underestimated the resources at Stalin’s disposal, and certainly the USSR kept records out of sight for decades after, but some guesses could be made based on total population. US total pop in 1940 was 130mm, and Soviet was somewhere north of 200mm. Germany was 70mm or 80mm – interesting, as 80mm is the total pop of unified Germany today).

This table can be found at:::: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004619.html

Casualties in World War II

Country Men in war Battle deaths Wounded
Australia 1,000,000 26,976 180,864
Austria 800,000 280,000 350,117
Belgium 625,000 8,460 55,5131
Brazil2 40,334 943 4,222
Bulgaria 339,760 6,671 21,878
Canada 1,086,3437 42,0427 53,145
China3 17,250,521 1,324,516 1,762,006
Czechoslovakia — 6,6834 8,017
Denmark — 4,339 —
Finland 500,000 79,047 50,000
France — 201,568 400,000
Germany 20,000,000 3,250,0004 7,250,000
Greece — 17,024 47,290
Hungary — 147,435 89,313
India 2,393,891 32,121 64,354
Italy 3,100,000 149,4964 66,716
Japan 9,700,000 1,270,000 140,000
Netherlands 280,000 6,500 2,860
New Zealand 194,000 11,6254 17,000
Norway 75,000 2,000 —
Poland — 664,000 530,000
Romania 650,0005 350,0006 —
South Africa 410,056 2,473 —
U.S.S.R. — 6,115,0004 14,012,000
United Kingdom 5,896,000 357,1164 369,267
United States 16,112,566 291,557 670,846
Yugoslavia 3,741,000 305,000 425,000

1. Civilians only.2. Army and navy figures.3. Figures cover period July 7, 1937–Sept. 2, 1945, and concern only Chinese regular troops. They do not include casualties suffered by guerrillas and local military corps.4. Deaths from all causes.5. Against Soviet Russia; 385,847 against Nazi Germany.6. Against Soviet Russia; 169,822 against Nazi Germany.7. National Defense Ctr., Canadian Forces Hq., Director of History.NOTE: The figures in this table are unofficial estimates obtained from various sources.

""If you bomb Russia every turn, with 4 bombers, you can effectively completely shut down all Russian production. To keep the bombers from being shot down, always send a fighter escort (to take AA gun hits, can be sent even if no Allied fighters present in zone). “”

Are you speaking of SBR or just plain annihilating forces in the field?

In general, it might help to think of fighters and bombers as seatanks. Much as they are airtanks over land…but tanks that are forced to withdraw at the end of the combat.

So long as you can reach owned-since-start-of-turn territory (owned by you or your allies) on your Non-Combat Move, your air force can range all over the sea. You fight along with your navy, etc., firing upon and taking hits from enemy vessels. Only trick is you cannot attack enemy subs unless you have a destroyer alive and well in the sea territory you are attacking. If your last destroyer goes down, then you can no longer fire upon the subs. The other ships can’t help your air units fight subs. Meanwhile, whether you have destroyers or other ships around, the enemy subs can never fire upon your air units. Only surface ships can.

Battle at sea tends to be more expensive than battle on land. The lowest-priced units you can lose (or kill) cost 8 IPCs each. Over land, you can protect aircraft by soaking off inf at a cost of 3 IPCs each. Not so at sea, but the prizes are high-priced, too.

And one more advantage to the attacker: enemy does not have aircraft stationed at sea, so no massed 4-or-less fighters to contend with (just 4-or-less battlewagons).

If you are Germany, and intend to have a naval force operating in the WMed or SAtlantic, then you can forestall Allied use of fighters against this fleet by stationing inf in Gibraltar.

Perhaps also by taking Gibraltar early on, you give Allies the impression you will be striking out into S Atlantic. Thus they may devote some energy & material in that direction; could be a reasonably good low-price diversion.

Of course, after 99 years you will have a messy political referendum on your hand as Spain presses for “reunification” of its former possession. Ach du lieber!

For the Allies to win, the Soviet counterattacks must be focused – and lucky! Build/borrow as many fighters as you can. Also I advise NOT strategic bombing. I cannot see how the high risk of aircraft loss is worth the gain of turning six German IPCs into ash. Gimme a break. Take out a couple of Wehrmacht infantry, and strafe & bomb Panzer divisions from the safety of a combined air-ground attack, and you can wipe out dozens of IPC value, with zero threat to your expensive air wings. Much better deal every time.

Meanwhile, the order of the day for the Yanks and Brits is to correctly manage the balance of transports, destroyers & troops they’ll need for D-Day. Simplify: Tan boats will haul tan troops, green will haul green. See if you can steal a forward fighter base, maybe best in Norway.

Avanti!

Well, what happened in the game, guys?

When I played as UK and Germany more or less ignored Africa, my little force was able to attack on even terms – we got lucky and chased em out of Libya!

When I played as Germany, I took Malta and whupped Monty thoroughly, sank the E Med Brit ships, and then rolled armour into Caucasus. Soviets had nothing at that point to stall with. The IPC drain really rankled the Allies, and the shock value of the southern salient into Stalingrad outweighed what I might otherwise have done in the Atlantic with the task force.

Avanti!

I agree with Thamor; as Germany I launched a three-prong Russian assault. The thrust from Finland pulls Soviet defenders away from the main battle, and if you get lucky, you take Archangel, permanently nullifying the convoy.
After holding off the Soviet counterattacks, you really start to eat into his IPCs, adding $$$ to Germany. This offsets the drain on resources in the West. I shift every possible unit to the East. A skeleton force across France, N-B and EFrance is fine for the first three or four turns. Buying fighters and tanks is my preference, salted with just enough infantry to soak off, until the fourth turn when tons of infantry are planted in Germany, ready to shift out to the beaches and hold the Brits/Yanks off from securing a forward fighter base.

Meanwhile, I think taking the Middle East is a gas. Start by amphib taking of Malta on turn one, then send the task force in to eliminate the Brit flotilla in the E Med. Before you know it, the Allies are forking over hard-earned IPCs to you, and your tank is rolling into the Caucasus to support the thrust on Stalingrad and Moscow. You do have to be prepared to live with keeping your battlewagon and destroyer out of the Atlantic for most or all of the game, but if the dice hold up, you take Moscow by turn six, just as the Western Front is under D-Day assault conditions. They miss by a turn or two, depending on how robust and flexible your defense is (and how clunky the Allies are in forming up for the attacks).