An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

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Banjo
Posts: 686
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2001 10:00 am
Location: Southwest Missouri

An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Howdy all,

First off, I need to thank everyone who has posted and commented on the AARs posted since this game has come out, it has helped me alot in learning this game so far.

I'm not sure when I first heard of WIF, but was not overly impressed at first glance. However, reading some of the posts several years before it was released, I slowly began to think that there was a lot more to it than I gave it credit for, and it has far exceeded my expectations since I bought it.

My first real exposure to wargames was in the late 70's with AH Alesia, follwed by Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Squad leader, and Gettysburg. At some point I bought Third Reich. At some point I found TSR's European and Pacific Theaters of Operations. Now here I am with this AAR.

This is about my 5th or 6th Start of the Global War using all of the options turned on. I had decided from my first attempt to use all of the options turned on to force me to learn the game in full from the start, and it has been paying off I believe. I have yet to get more than one or two turns past the fall of France, due to lessons learned from the mistakes I made learning the game. In my current game, I made it past the fall of France and am pushing in spite of things I should have done better not fully understanding some things, but I am happy with it so far, and hope at least to make beyound the U.S. entry. In this AAR, and new game, I hope to take it even further.[:D]

Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Ok, all options are on and the U.S. entry rolls have been made. Two rolls for Germany and one for Japan.


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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Next, there are some units to get scrapped. I scrapped all of the air that I could, and the real slow sub. Come the scrap phase at the beginning of 1940, I may scrap more of the older subs, will wait and decide then. The air units scrapped are just too bad to think about using.

Regarding the weaker infantry units, some of them may be good for posting on the perimeter as speed bumps for the japanese, or at least to divide up for divisions as cannon fodder/ destroyed results. As my other in progress game progresses, I will learn more regarding scrapping older units.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

One thing I have learned so far is that we can make custom map views. Here is a view I made for the Caribbean, since there will be convoys here for the oil.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Set up for the U.S. is pretty standard. Fleets in Frisco and Norfolk. Engineers, AA, and fighters positioned to go to Pearl.
Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

The USSR had their fighters scrapped. Before I set up the land units, I need to read up about placing units for making claims for Bessarabia and Finland, so for now its time to hit the books.
Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

The bulk of the land and air forces are set up to threaten Rumania at the start. I am not looking to shift the forces north to try for Finland by winter, so they will shift to guard against the Germans invasion when it comes. The rest are in the east. The transport js in the Black Sea. Subs are in Leninigrad and Vladivostok. Eastern forces swapped for Siberians.
Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

I have not shown the initial set ups so far. When the opposing sides need to set up on their respective fronts with regards to what they are facing, I will show them then. Italy has been set up.
Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

The Chinese Nationals have been interesting since my days of playing PTO. In that game I played with the 1936 or 1937 start, I forget which date it was.

I like to place the warlords in their respective cities at the start of set up. After I place the rest of the forces, I will move them into areas shown as to help "fill in the gaps" so to speak. The open ground north of Changsa for me is a death zone for the Chinese. HGowever, I will place the Cav. units in the mountains on the western edge to give the Japanese something to worry about.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Here is the Nationals set up.

The Main defenses are in the Mountains east of Changsa. I was a bit unlucky in my force draw as I recieved an AT unit instead of AA as I have in my last two games. The Mountains east of Chunking are lighly defended. The Japanese will have to commit an HQ to support an attack through here, and it will be a few impulses before Yamamoto can get on the scene with forces from Japan to contain the Changsa area forces. I tried to spread out the 3 movement point units to readjust the lines when the Japanese do finally show their intentions. The warlords are placed just far enough into the mountains where they can either pull back to clear terrain for movement or to push forward to block the Japanese advance.

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AxelNL
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by AxelNL »

I'll be following your AAR - thanks for sharing this.
Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Thank You AxeINL. I'm learning just by doing this.

Bedore I went to bed last night, I realized that there were still a few units that needed placing. fighter went to Changsa, oil to Chengto, and 3-1 gar to Nanning to beef up the south line.

Here is a closeup of Changsa with avenues os retreat in blue, threat to Japanese in red, and hidden unit values in yellow. Courtesy of my high tech graphics department.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

After placing the Chicoms, I am not liking this set up overall. I think that while looking at the two sides individually it looks fine, but in the big picture, the north is vulnerable. That being said, it is due to having to set up the two sides seperatly. This screenshot will be of use to evaluate future set ups when things are said and done.

This is roughly how I set up my last two games. The Japanese in both games were to take the factory in Changsa, then redeploy for Sian, or clear the rout to Hanoi, depending on how much time was left before declaring war on the CW and US. In the last game which I am still playing, it worked fairly well for the Chinese so far. Changsa held out for quite a while. As of Sept 40 turn, Kweilin and Chihkiang are under threat, but the Japanese have to start redeploying for action in 41. Mao is holding steady with growing numbers in the north, and Stilwell has added more flexability in the south. This game may prove to be different, as my initial thought for Japan before starting this game was to Hit the Chicoms and take Sian first.



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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

All of the 1 class carrier air has been scrapped. There will be enough available when the classes change at the end of the year. I hope. Only the 2 air/sea strength Vildebeast was scrapped in Nav Air section. The Vildebeast range is not that great, but their air/sea strength is not that bad. If the are drawn in builds, they can always get moved into the Med or Pacific when better units are available to protect Britain.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

First thing I like to do in setting up the CW, is to get the convoys out of the way. It can be a bit of a pain, but it is not impossible. Hopefully as time goes on, the process will be made a bit easier by the developers. I have full confidence that it will improve over time.

What works for me is to see how many of my factories are idle at start. Here it is 15, and all are in the UK. Since the Bay of Biscay is the main junction of the routes, I will place 15 CP units there.

The new Khaki colors for the units are fantastic. Kudos for the guys who made it possible!!!

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

To begin connecting the resources, I start with the western hemisphere first, farthest away, which is South Africa abd Rhodesia. Oil, will be connected last. There are three resources from Africa, so three CPs from the Gulf of Guinea to Cape st Vincent.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

In all it took nine CPs to make the connection.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Houston, we have a problem. To connect the Eastern resources, I placed two Cps from Australia, 4 to from the connection from Malaya and Australia, add the two from India, that makes six going into the Med. One more for Cyprus, making it seven in the W. Med. and Cape st Vincent. Hiting the recompute button shows that I now have all of my convoys place accounted for, but...

Oil was convoyed out of Palambang instead of the resources from Australia. This is not good as the oil will need to be saved there. So I need to go into the production page and correct the problem. Its a minor pain, but it is something to be aware of when dealing with the convoys. Every unit of oil that can be saved per turn must be. If you want your units to be able to remain active.

In my current game, the Italians were able to cut the supply lines in the Med, and it plays havoc with getting the resources and oil where you want them. Since naval operations are still a bit sketchy for me, I am sure that I overlooked some things before the end of the turn and was not getting all of the resources routed. THis is one of the reasons that I began playing with oil and all of the options from the start, as I believe it forces one to learn these lessons early. I think that if one waits to use oil, one would get too used to that style of play and not fully adapting to the challenges that using oil presents. Then again thats why we have apples and oranges.

Here is my production showing the unintended oil connection.


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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

Now that the resources have been squared away, I have nine idle oil and seven Cps in my tray. Now its a matter of saving the oil in safe places, and set up the forces. I liken this to getting infrastructure in place before you pave the road. Having to dig up the road to place the infrastructure leads to potholes and a bumpy ride.

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Banjo
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RE: An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

Post by Banjo »

All of the convoys are placed, all factories are supplied. Only four oil are idle. They will supply reorganization factors until more CP is available.

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