warspite1 (Allies) vs AllenK (Axis) Full Campaign

[warspite1]

15 June 1945

The breakthrough in Korea is made and China has just one Japanese unit left.

[warspite1]

15 June 1945

A breakthrough at last... of sorts [;)]

[OldCrowBalthazor]

I'm mightly impressed with this AAR! Nice work.[:)]

[warspite1]

Thank-you! [:)]

[warspite1]

13 July 1945

Resistance in China ends and Pyongyang falls. I destroy two more carriers in port using my CV's. However that is as far as I will get. My land forces are too spread out in various islands to be able to make a concerted attack on Japan.

In Europe the whole Western Front collapsed but then I was just trying desperate landings here there and everywhere to try and get some traction - and that is never a good idea.

The Soviets have come to a halt - indeed are being destroyed on most parts of the front.

[warspite1]

August 1945

Okay so I've brought this to a close. I assumed the game ended in August 1945 but it doesn't show any signs of ending.

Thinking I was working to that deadline I've been just throwing away units in Spain and France and Italy and.... just to see if I could make something happen. Seems I may have had more time?

However even if that is the case, I was not going to win this game and so well played to AllenK who had everything (expect perhaps the invasion of Japan as most of the islands were occupied and my fleet was still largely untouched) totally and completely under control. Great defence in the USSR after the tide turned too.


There is still quite a bit I don't get about the game but am largely enjoying the game nonetheless.

However one thing I dislike is zone of control and how some hexes are totally impassable - for no apparent reason - and that can completely ruin an axis of attack.

[Elessar2]

It's likely a combination of ZoC, supply, weather, and terrain; get too many penalties there and your unit won't be advancing anywhere.

I've argued 'til I'm blue in the face tho that mechanized/armor units get too few movement points...

[AllenK]

Thanks to Warspite1 for playing on as long as he did to enable us both to get a look at the later period of the game. Well played in China and a better naval game than mine [&o].

Also, a clever move was taking his forces in the Caucasus's down into Iraq, where I didn't pick them up. Not sure whether my strategy of prioritising this sector over the drives on Moscow and Leningrad was the right one to take. It was more based on games like WiF and WarPlan where oil is included but I thought it should damage the USSR economy in any case. Anyway, I lost an HQ and decent Rumanian units in consequence and it put an end to the German advance. The forces I had been building up to continue the attack had to be reassigned to defensive duties. I knew I'd reached my 'high water' mark and therefore hunkered down determined to defend as best as possible with a controlled retreat to successive defendable positions.

Hungary surrendering early was embarrassing. I think I inadvertently moved a unit out of the capital and then couldn't undo it. SNAFU's happen in wartime!

I had similar movement issues to Warspite1 in China, with units not being able to enter hexes and concluded it must be a combination of terrain and weather. The protracted campaign for Nanning was one example. I couldn't get enough units in place to overwhelm the defence. Witness several almost but not quite attacks. Similar issues on the approaches to Chungking. ZoC being another limiting factor also makes sense.

Interesting to see the different take on this the SC series has. In most games, unless the hex is declared impassable, all units can move one hex. I've noticed the thread which gives the trick of flying in air units and then swapping it with a ground unit. That seems a bit unrealistic. If infantry can't access the hex because of the terrain, where would the planes land? I think it would be better to allow the one hex movement but the unit uses all it's action points up and wouldn't be able to attack that turn. It is what it is and there is the option of the Mobility upgrade.

There's another thread which debates the pro's and cons of the Mobility enhancement. It's expensive to apply but would appear essential to have a proportion of units with it in mountainous terrain. You can think of it as equipping them as 'Alpine' units as there isn't this type in the game. Both of us also experienced emptying a key hex but then unable to move anything in to take it. Maybe a unit with the extra mobility would have made the difference there.

Had the game played on, Spain would have been retaken, along with Gibraltar. Looking at the USSR forces, the Germans might well have been able to start attacking again. Not sure how Japan would have gone. There were a lot of forces back in the homeland but MPP's to replace losses were ever diminishing. It would have taken time but air power to further reduce these through strategic bombing and the medium and tac' air to attrition the land units would have eventually told enough to be able to invade.

Finally, credit to the developers for producing a highly entertaining, reliable and pretty fast-paced game.

[Elessar2]

ORIGINAL: AllenK

There's another thread which debates the pro's and cons of the Mobility enhancement. It's expensive to apply but would appear essential to have a proportion of units with it in mountainous terrain. You can think of it as equipping them as 'Alpine' units as there isn't this type in the game. Both of us also experienced emptying a key hex but then unable to move anything in to take it. Maybe a unit with the extra mobility would have made the difference there.

They can be modded in-Crispy has added Mountain Units to his mod-and mine will have them as well.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: AllenK

Interesting to see the different take on this the SC series has. In most games, unless the hex is declared impassable, all units can move one hex. I've noticed the thread which gives the trick of flying in air units and then swapping it with a ground unit. That seems a bit unrealistic. If infantry can't access the hex because of the terrain, where would the planes land?

warspite1

If I ever saw that by an opponent in a game I'm playing I'd resign there and then. That has nothing to do with a war game that pretends to be serious - and presumably just an exploit that needs to be coded out.

[AllenK]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: AllenK

Interesting to see the different take on this the SC series has. In most games, unless the hex is declared impassable, all units can move one hex. I've noticed the thread which gives the trick of flying in air units and then swapping it with a ground unit. That seems a bit unrealistic. If infantry can't access the hex because of the terrain, where would the planes land?

warspite1

If I ever saw that by an opponent in a game I'm playing I'd resign there and then. That has nothing to do with a war game that pretends to be serious - and presumably just an exploit that needs to be coded out.

I agree.

[Elessar2]

ORIGINAL: AllenK

I think it would be better to allow the one hex movement but the unit uses all it's action points up and wouldn't be able to attack that turn. It is what it is and there is the option of the Mobility upgrade.

Quoting & bumping so that the devs will take notice of this idea. [&o]

[John B.]

Just finished reading this excellent AAR. I do have a few questions. 1. Was there a large quality difference between German and Russian units? I find that if that happens it can be very hard to do any damage to units. 2. It seemed as if the Hanoi-Kunming railroad stayed open throughout the game. If that's the case (a) why was the option to shut it down never exercised and (b) it seems odd that it was not cut by Japanese military action. Those extra 60 points per turn are invaluable to the Chinese. If it was cut for awhile then never mind. 3. I've read a couple of AARs now where no one has strat bombed Europe. I've always found that, even though there tend to be higher allied losses at least in drains some MMPs is strat hits and German fighter losses to help out the Russians. 4. Also, I've notice that there does not seem to be much interference with Japanese convoy routes. Are US/British subs better directed towards fleet actions then cutting off convoy routes?

Thanks again for all the time and effort that went into this!

[Hubert Cater]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

ORIGINAL: AllenK

I think it would be better to allow the one hex movement but the unit uses all it's action points up and wouldn't be able to attack that turn. It is what it is and there is the option of the Mobility upgrade.

Quoting & bumping so that the devs will take notice of this idea. [&o]

Thanks for this and we have made a note.

While the argument for this is definitely sound, it will have a game play impact for sure, naturally, and it is something we'd like to take some time to test to make sure that in game play terms it would be a good change.

For example, in tighter spaces like China, with the numerous terrain obstacles, it might make it much more of a slog by generally narrowing the fronts considerably if you cannot easily swap units into position.

Again, this could be really good and more realistic, but it could also in the end play out in a very undesirable way that we don't quite see until we experiment a bit.

[AllenK]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

ORIGINAL: AllenK

I think it would be better to allow the one hex movement but the unit uses all it's action points up and wouldn't be able to attack that turn. It is what it is and there is the option of the Mobility upgrade.

Quoting & bumping so that the devs will take notice of this idea. [&o]

Thanks for this and we have made a note.

While the argument for this is definitely sound, it will have a game play impact for sure, naturally, and it is something we'd like to take some time to test to make sure that in game play terms it would be a good change.

For example, in tighter spaces like China, with the numerous terrain obstacles, it might make it much more of a slog by generally narrowing the fronts considerably if you cannot easily swap units into position.

Again, this could be really good and more realistic, but it could also in the end play out in a very undesirable way that we don't quite see until we experiment a bit.

Thanks Hubert.

I think the general concept of swapping units is sound but it just seems to be stretching things to be able to fly an air unit into terrain a ground unit can't access. However, if you prevent the use of air units like this, there needs to be an alternative, hence the suggestion.

Some additional refinements would be to perhaps limit the 'can always move one hex' rule to infantry and cavalry units only and, if exercised, they also suffer morale and readiness penalties (similar to those incurred by the swap command). The mobility enhancement, if it hadn't quite allowed the unit to move into the hex anyway, could negate the penalties, reflecting the better training and equipment for the conditions.

As you say, needs some experimentation but I think it would be more beneficial than adverse. Happy to help out in that regard.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Just finished reading this excellent AAR. I do have a few questions. 1. Was there a large quality difference between German and Russian units? I find that if that happens it can be very hard to do any damage to units. 2. It seemed as if the Hanoi-Kunming railroad stayed open throughout the game. If that's the case (a) why was the option to shut it down never exercised and (b) it seems odd that it was not cut by Japanese military action. Those extra 60 points per turn are invaluable to the Chinese. If it was cut for awhile then never mind. 3. I've read a couple of AARs now where no one has strat bombed Europe. I've always found that, even though there tend to be higher allied losses at least in drains some MMPs is strat hits and German fighter losses to help out the Russians. 4. Also, I've notice that there does not seem to be much interference with Japanese convoy routes. Are US/British subs better directed towards fleet actions then cutting off convoy routes?

Thanks again for all the time and effort that went into this!

warspite1

Hi JB, I'm afraid I'm not really best placed to answer those questions - not least because, as my performance showed, I didn't really have a clue what was going on [X(].

I've started two more AAR and am more than happy to look at any questions you have.