basic game results

[m7574]

Done that.   But with the Russians completely lacking firepower they cannot take much advantage of that.  You wind up wasting your time as well as theirs. 

With the airbase rules the allies must be very careful as well.  Their aircraft take two turns or more to deploy around the world.  If you attempt the Dieppe Raid manuever you need to have the aircraft available to get back to the British Isles should the Luftwaffe completely redeploy to the Atlantic coast.   The Euro Axis have a huge advantage here as they can deploy their aircraft anywhere they need in a single turn with 100pct strength.  Allied aircraft are restricted to their airbase values. 

The biggest issue I have with the game so far is that the Axis do not seem to neeed to take any risks to win the game.  Brute force and overwhelming strength through 1943 push the allies to the brink and often over it.  The Russians cannot afford to even TRY to contest the German army.  I have successfully slowed them down for a couple seasons by careful positioning, but still find myself behind the Volga.

[Yoper]

I should fly in my Soviet player.  Dan is a great Uncle Joe- just ask Mark! 

[John D.]

Usually there is a counter strategy for a single approach - hard to determine without seeing everything. Can the Axis player counter his own strategy...?

[m7574]

Obviously he knows what would bother his tactics more than anyone else.  And as good as I think I am at these games i am not so arrogant as to think that nobody can do it better.   But as of now the "Russia Crush" sure seems hard to beat.  Time will tell. 

This time i am trying to hold Leningrad and the forest territorry next to it.  I am fairly certain he will bypass it, take moscow in the spring of '42, then have an attack on the Urals in the autumn.  Most of the south has been given up but I'll try to hold Baku and Tblisi.  I should be able to have 30inf in the Urals by the time his army is ready to attack so at least I can make it painful for him.  The problem will be Russia having very little income by then.  We'll see how it goes though.  Hold the Forest and Mountain territories! 

[John D.]

Got any pics - maybe we could help - !

[m7574]

That wouldn't be very gamesman like.   I'll figure it out.   

I am just a little suprised you guys hadn't tried out the full onslaught of Russia. 

I think I am having a little more success this time around.  I think I'll be able to hold the northern forests.  Boy is it dicey though at first.

[Yoper]

I happen to be a bit too tentative in my German attacks, especially against the really good players that I game with.  Thought the last time we played I did hit Dan with a few different wrinkles that put him back on his heels and allowed me to get out to near the Urals.

It always seems that the Germans are just a little too weak to cover all the bases.  That with good play, the Allies can find an opening that forces a shift of valuable resources to help shore up the cracks.  And in doing so, the full force of the Wehrmacht isn't being exerted upon the Soviets.  Usually it is the Luftwaffe that has to come back and cover the Italians in the Med and the Atlantic French coast.

What Dan (or any good Soviet player) does is to give himself enough of a mobile counter force that he can strike into any openings that the Germans leave on the Eastern Front.  There is enough maneuver room on the front that he can strike out from the flanks after the Germans have blown by.  The forest in the north and the mountains of Sevastopol are key spots for counter forces to hide.

Have you placed enough in Sevastopol to retain it?  If not, then it is an easy path for the Germans to the Caucasus and your doom.  It is what usually gets me beat as the USSR.  And usually what hurts me as the Germans because I don't take it.

Bypassing Leningrad is one thing, especially if you can eventually put it OOS, but the thrust to Stalingrad is precarious if Sevastopol still stands.

[John D.]

Understood - your post sounded like a cry for help - which is perfectly normal for a Russian player!

[m7574]

The Russians can't get odds on the defense ANYWHERE.  That was my biggest concern.   finally gave up trying to hold Moscow, even for a little while.  Can't be done.  What I have decided to do was stand my ground in places where the German player has to spend his mechanized units, even if its a losing battle for me.  If you can take out 15-20 mech units, its worth losing 20-25 Russians, I think. 

No, I did not have the forces to hold Sevastopol and the forests necessary to keep Leningrad in supply.  Stalingrad is up for grabs.  My southern army will be stationed close to the turkish border.  The one thing Russia has going for them is that most of my armies will be in forests or mountains so that if the germans want to attack and capture any of the strongholds I choose to hold, they will need to bring most of their army.  Which means the other strongholds should be able to attack out of their prepared positions. 

On a side note, the most devastating piece the Germans have is paratroopers.  As if the mech component wasn't enough.....

[John D.]

Well - looking forward to see how things work out!

[Yoper]

On a side note, the most devastating piece the Germans have is paratroopers.  As if the mech component wasn't enough.....

The Germans must produce a second paratrooper (if not a third) to help them, not only to drop in the right place to control Soviet retreats, but to also force the USSR to use up units in an attempt to garrison in depth.

[m7574]

We both almost always max-produce the para units.   Its only 1 extra PP to build.  Why wouldn't you build them?  Most dangerous piece in the game.  How do you defend the rear positions when there are 6-8 of them that can hit you anywhere at a given time. 

[Yoper]

We both almost always max-produce the para units.   Its only 1 extra PP to build.  Why wouldn't you build them?  Most dangerous piece in the game.  How do you defend the rear positions when there are 6-8 of them that can hit you anywhere at a given time.

I don't see how you can realistically get that many into play without hurting yourself somewhere else in the unit count.  Also, you would need that many bombers too.

I have seen a high bomber count once or twice before, but we are usually trying to get as many other units on the ground as possible.  That kind of long term building plan gets trumped by boots on the ground now.

[m7574]

one extra PP for a para unit is a worthwhile investment considering its special abilities.  It is still a boot an the ground.  Having 6 German/Italian bombers is not out of the ordinary for Scott.  Remember, Russia is pushed back to the Volga in 1942 and Germany is collecting over 100PP a turn. 

[m7574]

The last game went to the Axis again.  :/    I split the Russian defense into 3 armies and tried to hold the Urals, the territorry on the Turkish border and Lenningrad.  Germany took heavy casualties taking Lenningrad and in assaults behind the Urals.  But ultimately Russia was taken out of the game.  They were left collecting 15-18 PP per turn and germany was able to turn the Leftwaffe back to the west since the russian factories were either taken or left out of supply.

Allies landed in France in early 1943.  They had a foothold and would eventually take Paris and Rome, but an axis victory was certain as the allies could not retake objectives in eastern europe.  At least we were able to drag it out into late 1944.