Slitherine

Max,
Regarding Plaids low casualties - I disagree with your assessment. If the Germans advance enough and keep their casualties down, it is one way to a CEAW victory (not a breath-taking one I'd agree).

Currently I think Plaid has made good ground but might be close to making a significant mistake in trying to engage you south east of Rostov. You have set a good trap and the operational area favours you......

schwerpunkt wrote:Max,
Regarding Plaids low casualties - I disagree with your assessment. If the Germans advance enough and keep their casualties down, it is one way to a CEAW victory (not a breath-taking one I'd agree).

Currently I think Plaid has made good ground but might be close to making a significant mistake in trying to engage you south east of Rostov. You have set a good trap and the operational area favours you......

Yes i hope to make him pay in blood in the theater. We'll see what he decides to do, that is go forward still against the odds ive massed against him. I could also have retreated and let him enter the Caucasus, but i dont want to give operational and tactical "space" to his panzer forces.

On the note of offensive vS losses, i would tend to agree with you in normal circomtances, but i believe that my style of play negates that in a way. I will take care of making him loose stuff, but he should have taken advantage of his opportunities to hurt me in 41 and 42, because after that it will be too late.

If you don't know that a sub is based in an enemy port, then what is the point of bombing it? I've never been able to accomplish anything by bombing ports.

Actually you can bomb ports with two units.
This is a good way for FTR's to gain experience. When the FTR's gain higher ASW values they will start to do damage on subs.
If a unit is there they attack it and will expose a hidden sub. If no unit is there it will do a strategic bombing which has no
effect in the game, but gain experience. Once TAC's are on the scene they will do more damage if the ASW value is good.

I didn´t think it would come to this, but the russians are in trouble. I have a few questions for you Max....

What´s your PP income for the russians?
Your fighters are on what lvl? Even would be nice to see your science chart....
If he cuts off Caucasus from Moscow can you still rail troops within Caucasus?

South isn´t going to be any problems now, like you say, you would benefit from a sluggfest. The way i see it, you need to hold on to Moscow as long as possible, think that will be hard. The most important would be to stop his Luftwaffe.....

How long before you can open upp a third front in Europe?

This will be a tough nut to crack....

Crazygunner1 wrote:I didn´t think it would come to this, but the russians are in trouble. I have a few questions for you Max....

What´s your PP income for the russians?
Your fighters are on what lvl? Even would be nice to see your science chart....
If he cuts off Caucasus from Moscow can you still rail troops within Caucasus?

South isn´t going to be any problems now, like you say, you would benefit from a sluggfest. The way i see it, you need to hold on to Moscow as long as possible, think that will be hard. The most important would be to stop his Luftwaffe.....

How long before you can open upp a third front in Europe?

This will be a tough nut to crack....

Well Craz, i would tend to disagree with you in the sense that the Russians are not in trouble, they are just not able to attack in 1943. This is mainly because of Plaid dominance of the skies, i still havent developpped better that dog fight LVL2!!! Despire having 4 research into it... So all things considered, Plaid now has 2 choices. Attack Russia still and try to get an ultimate victory, or transition to the defensive and try to win it in the long run...

From experience, if he tries the offensive, he will get smacked big time... Its not like i am going to make this easy for him, and his oil gage will, at one point, be too low for him to use the deadly tank/planes combo that gave him so much sucess in the beginning of the game. The western allies will also make it so that he will have to send at least 3 - 4 FTR to northern germany/France, and at least 2-3 in Greece. This will all cost oil, and you will see that my strategy of "playing around the map" will pay in the long run. After his potential 1943 offensive, Plaid will be probably deep in Russia, but he will be unable to bring is overpowering forces to bear again because of lack of oil. Ive seen this many times against other players , they had something like 10 subs, 10-12 FTR, but in 1944 they were grounded for lack of oil.

Income with Russian: 123 per turn

Rail from Caucasus: Not possible if he ccuts me off. But, if he launch an offensive there this will mean that Moscow will be saved.

As to holding to moscow, well, i am not sure about the defend to the end idea. At least the troops are in a forest which should help against the planes.

Second front: Well, i have been busy securing the convoys and building an air umbrella, i now have 6-8 TAC + some more in production. I produced HQs this turn as well and i am ready for a return bout in Greece, just in time for the start of Plaid offensive in Russia (if he ever does one). I think he will be surprised with what i have massed there just for him. As for a second front in fRance, i think that realistically i will nag him big time in 1943 and try some poking around, but the real attack will come in 1944, unless he shows me a weak spot.

All in all the allies and in a good position, the germans seem strong at this pint, but they have a lot of front to cover and if i calculated right, Plaid is going to stay on the offensive, which is a death spell in this expansion...

I am not so sure about Random research - having played a few games now, dealing with Axis air supremacy is a priority for the Allies and 'bad' research roll's can really swing the game.

Maybe I need to be more flexible in my strategies, but its hard to make forward progress when you are blown out of the skies.

Thanks for your runthrough on the russians, very exciting to see what´s gonna happen.

The oil guestion is probably gonna be a tough one for Axis as you said. If Plaid captures moscow and i think he will, cause you can´t really do anything to stop it, then it might be hard for you to turn this around and go on the offense to capture Berlin. You are far from Germany and got a long way to go back. 1943 will be tough for the russains, so hang on. The reason to why plaid has been very good avoiding casualties, is probably because your bad fighter lvl results. To plan any operations without aircover is costly and ineffective....you have my sympathy.....

Considering all this, do you think you will be able to pull of an Allied win?

Crazyg

Max,

I'm not sure how stressed Plaid's rail capacity is but for secondary bombing targets have you thought about going after cities with rail capacity?

To me, there's nothing more frustrating than not having the rail points to move units that you need to to plug holes in defensive lines or continue an offensive.

I doesn't have to be the Russian's who take Berlin

The Axis can get caught up in Russia and get sucker punched by the western allies, I think attacking his oil and rail will be beneficial if he continues into Russia.

I am just getting a handle on this game, but I think Plaid would be foolish to attack further into Russia without a good strategic reason

Crazygunner1 wrote:Thanks for your runthrough on the russians, very exciting to see what´s gonna happen.

The oil guestion is probably gonna be a tough one for Axis as you said. If Plaid captures moscow and i think he will, cause you can´t really do anything to stop it, then it might be hard for you to turn this around and go on the offense to capture Berlin. You are far from Germany and got a long way to go back. 1943 will be tough for the russains, so hang on. The reason to why plaid has been very good avoiding casualties, is probably because your bad fighter lvl results. To plan any operations without aircover is costly and ineffective....you have my sympathy.....

Considering all this, do you think you will be able to pull of an Allied win?

Crazyg

Win?

Yes, no questions. I have been in worst spot than this before. I think the western allies will play a bigger role than you think. In fact, i do not see Plaid being too offensive in 1943 against the Russian, he will have to reinforce other areas on the map, and by others i mean at least 2 major attacks that will need fighters, and tanks, and OIL.

rkr1958 wrote:Max,

I'm not sure how stressed Plaid's rail capacity is but for secondary bombing targets have you thought about going after cities with rail capacity?

To me, there's nothing more frustrating than not having the rail points to move units that you need to to plug holes in defensive lines or continue an offensive.

I have loked into it. I have ovr 10 STRAT to muster to bomb Germany, once a city goes to 0, it easy to keep it there. So yes, i will bomb hamburg and other cities into submission.

richardsd wrote:I doesn't have to be the Russian's who take Berlin

The Axis can get caught up in Russia and get sucker punched by the western allies, I think attacking his oil and rail will be beneficial if he continues into Russia.

I am just getting a handle on this game, but I think Plaid would be foolish to attack further into Russia without a good strategic reason

That is exactly my thinking and i do hope he keep the offensive on...

My planning is simple. Let Plaid run into a sense of quietness about the western allies. The turn he starts his eastern offensive, i will make my moves on the map. I think i can muster enough forces for a decent France landing and for those who tought i was done with Greece, ask Joerock what he thinks about this... I am resilient about this spot i find it most strategic for the allies and most important for the germans as they have to protect the hungarian oilfields and Ploesti.

Also, Italy is a consideration. My planes now have enough move to move from one place to the other in 1 turn. I will also have a try at Italy in the summer of 1943.

richardsd wrote:I am not so sure about Random research - having played a few games now, dealing with Axis air supremacy is a priority for the Allies and 'bad' research roll's can really swing the game.

Maybe I need to be more flexible in my strategies, but its hard to make forward progress when you are blown out of the skies.

I know tell me about it... Being LVL 2 at this stage of the game is almost criminal... I invested the tank think at the same time and where i have my focus i am LVL 5.

As to another bad luck is the 3 clear turns Plaid got in November and december. That was EPIC! This never happened before in any of my games...