Axis versus AI Tutorial AAR (War is Over, Grade Me)

[massina_nz]

Turn 1. 9/1/1939 Axis.

<snip>

The very first thing I did was to build an air lab (see p2). Once I reach level 1 in “Strategic Operations” I will switch from balance to focus on “Dog Fight”.

<snip>

I followed this tactic in a game against Neil. I was able to get a Strat Ops upgrade early in the France campaign. It was a real bonus as I didn't have to rebase my air units into the low countries so they could reach Paris, instead they were able to stay in Germany. I still lost a turn of use, but I didn't have to worry about the Allied FTRs directly attacking my air units if they were in the low countries. I now employ this tactic in every game as the Axis, hoping to get that elusive Start Ops upgrade early.

I also build an industry lab first before the other labs, and don't change the focus of general tech until industry reaches level 4. I then switch the focus to organsisation because the level 5 industry benefits are only minimal.

Good AAR, I'm still learning heaps.

[Plaid]

Strategic operations sound interesting, I will try it somewhen.
I often go for Dog Fight since very first turn and until it hits level 6.
In early game it helps to strike british fighters above England, when you done with France and start to bomb Britain strategically, and it helps to destroy Malta fighter, when it spawns, aswell.
I often have rank 2 of Dog Fight (6 air attack) at february/march'41 meaning, that its before Barbarossa/Balkans campaign.

[rkr1958]

Makes sense, thanks. You don't have to think about such things against the AI!

This is the first time that I've publicly revealed my counter tactic of not moving my u-boats the maximum range to avoid a potential allied interdiction of my breakout. But now that I have the cat is out of the bag.

However; this now becomes a cat and mouse game and forces the allied player to guess how many hexes you did move.

Though I'd have to say that there have been less than a handful of games that I've played where the allied player did try to contest this breakout. But it never hurts to play it safe if there especially when there really isn't any downside to playing that way.

[massina_nz]

In all my games I've never had an allied player contest the u-boat break-out. Although in some games I've sent the u-boats out via the English channel with very mixed results. I wouldn't recommend that route.

[patton]

The AI never contests the English Channel route for subs.

[rkr1958]

The AI never contests the English Channel route for subs.

The AI, in my opinion, handles naval warfare very poorly. This is one of many things that, again in my opinion, it does poorly.

I not only learned how to play against the AI but developed my initial strategies and tactics. It's been two years now that Borger and Jim invited me to play against them and join their mod team, which became our mod team and the BJR-Mod. I learned very quickly that I needed to unlearn the strategy and tactics that I developed against the AI. They got me killed. Both Borger and Jim took pity on me in these early games and showed me what I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to play better. While I think Jim and I have reached parity in our GS skill level, Borger is still a level above me. I've never come close to beating him.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. 12/30/1939 Axis.

The Germans had enough PP's (C30) to buy a third tactical bomber (C31) and bring one of the mechanized corps up to full strength. Also, the Italians had enough to buy their first lab, which was an air lab (C32).

Finally there was movement at Halifax (C33) and the northern convoy was spotted and sunk (C34). I suspect that the UK DD moved to protect the northern convoy. I decide to move UF-1 off station near Halifax and have it link up with UF-2 and UF-3 to go convoy hunting. I will probably move them more to the center southeast of Ireland and play centerfield and try to pick up both the northern and central convoys. This puts them more at risk but after France falls I want to move them in position to support my planned invasion of Norway. I know that the AI won't react but I will go through the motions as if I was playing a human player who might try to intervene.

The transition of troops from the east to the west in preparation for Case Yellow (i.e., invasion of Belgium and France) is complete. All that remains is a few repairs and some repositioning of one or two units.

My spend priorities are to repair all units to full strength and build a second lab in each area except naval.


C30. Turn 7 (12/30/39) Start


C31. German Tactical Bomber Build


C32. Italian Air Lab


C33. Halifax


C34. Northern Convoy Sunk


C35. The Phony War (or Preparation for Case Yellow)

[massina_nz]

I normally buy a couple of extra MECH units for case yellow and delay investing in more labs for a turn or two in 1940. I find this useful if the Allied player doesn't defend the forest hexes in France strongly. The MECHs work well in non-clear terrain, and I will normally use them after France for either Yugoslavia and/or Greece as well. I also follow JJ's advice and place two INF units in the two southern-most West-Wall hexes, so they can easily advance into France if the Maginot GARs decide to retreat.

I too go for 3 FTRs and 3 TACs. And I place them in the Front line for the land units to leap-frog when Case Yellow starts. They way they have greater range into France.

I also only place leaders on GAR units, unless they have a defensive or offensive bonus.

[rkr1958]

Turn 8. 1/19/1940 Axis.

More happened this turn than I would have liked. The UK DD that moved from Halifax found UF-1 and knocked 3-steps off the sub while losing 2-steps (C36). Also, the RAF strategic bomber went in without fighter escort and in bad weather.

Germany built its second air lab (C37) and brought both tactical bombers up to full strength (C38). While it was tempting to go after the depleted DD I decide to move the u-boats in position to hunt for convoys (which they're not there yet). The damaged suffered to kill the DD isn't worth the time loss in convoy hunting.

I wanted the two tactical bombers ready in case I get fair weather next turn (25% chance). There's a 44% chance that Case Yellow will go in February (C39). See: viewtopic.php?p=129669#129669 (Case Yellow discussion thread).


C36. German U-boats


C37. Germany's 2nd Air Lab


C38. Phony War


C39. Case Yellow Sietzkrieg Proabilities

[rkr1958]

I normally buy a couple of extra MECH units for case yellow and delay investing in more labs for a turn or two in 1940. I find this useful if the Allied player doesn't defend the forest hexes in France strongly. The MECHs work well in non-clear terrain, and I will normally use them after France for either Yugoslavia and/or Greece as well. I also follow JJ's advice and place two INF units in the two southern-most West-Wall hexes, so they can easily advance into France if the Maginot GARs decide to retreat.

I too go for 3 FTRs and 3 TACs. And I place them in the Front line for the land units to leap-frog when Case Yellow starts. They way they have greater range into France.

I also only place leaders on GAR units, unless they have a defensive or offensive bonus.

Interesting. I'll include this, as I'm including all other such observations and comments in the Axis vs AI AAR tutorial. I think it helps to have a wide range of opinion and discussion.

[Plaid]

I also only place leaders on GAR units, unless they have a defensive or offensive bonus.

Well, its reasonable, but in some operations, when speed is important, garrison can't follow advancing forces with its speed of 2 on clear terrain.
Of course you can rail, but sometimes you need all your rail points for other things, and sometimes there is simple no city around. So I think infantry corps HQ is acceptable aswell.
And even if you place commander into armour unit, you don't want to expose valueable armour units, no matter, with commander or no.
P.S. Sometimes in very late game literally everything is exposed and nothing helps to save your commanders, aswell as units and positions.

[patton]

The AI also allows itself to be encircled with surprising ease.

[rkr1958]

Turn 9. 2/8/40 Axis.

The weather in Central Europe turned fair this turn (25% chance) (C40), which meant the launch of Case Yellow. By attacking Belgium in fair weather all allied units France also suffer a morale effectiveness drop of 20 points. But before the invasion I took care of other business. I built a second armor lab for the Germans (C41) and move the u-boats to their new convoy hunting grounds in the Central Atlantic (C42). The AI last turn continued its strategic bombing campaign so I know where the RAF bomber is and the bomber really paid the price (again) for attacking without fighter escort.

I deployed the 3rd German fighter this turn. I know the Canadian fighter is probably still in Canada and I know for certain it isn't in England or France. So starting with two fighters is sufficient. Even if the Canadian fighter was in the UK, I could still make due with two fighters for this initial turn. My attack sequence was:

Air Attacks (Opening phase): The two tactical bombers attacked the infantry corps in Brussels. The RAF fighter sortied against the first attack and was counter-intercepted by a German fighter. The French fighter sortied against the second and was in turn counter-intercepted by the second German fighter. The German strategic bomber attack the Belgium garrison northeast of Brussels. This was the only attack against a Belgium unit it make could because the other three ground units are in cities and the bomber would attack the city instead of the unit. Also, even if the Canadian fighter was present in the UK I would have still attacked this ground unit unescorted.

Because I didn't have a 3rd fighter and a 3rd tactical bomber I chose to bypass Antwerp. In my attacks I made sure the Brussels feel so Belgium would surrender. After the focus was on the destruction of the garrison in the open and the one defending Liege. The one in the open was easy to finish off; however, the one in Liege had 2-steps left with an infantry corps attacking across the river with an expected damage of 2-steps. I've learned such odds are iffy at best. However; this time the garrison was destroyed, which open the way for me to push forward as shown in C43. My push left two units moderately exposed, which are the 9-step armor corps next to Lille and the infantry corps next to Lorraine. Both these units are subject to counterattack from three hexes; however, two are from across the river and the allied units in France just suffered a 20 effectiveness morale loss. I didn't, and wouldn't against a human player, give a second thought to exposing the infantry corps. However; the armor corps gave me pause. But in the end I decided the risk was worth the gain of pushing ahead this far this soon. By the way, I would have made the same decision against a human opponent; especially if their defense appeared as weak as the AI defense is.


C40. 2/8/40 Start (Fair Weather in Central Europe!)


C41. 2nd German Armor Lab


C42. Wolfpack Hunting Grounds


C43. Case Yellow is Launched

[massina_nz]

<snip>
My push left two units moderately exposed, which are the 9-step armor corps next to Lille and the infantry corps next to Lorraine. Both these units are subject to counterattack from three hexes; however, two are from across the river and the allied units in France just suffered a 20 effectiveness morale loss. I didn't, and wouldn't against a human player, give a second thought to exposing the infantry corps. However; the armor corps gave me pause. But in the end I decided the risk was worth the gain of pushing ahead this far this soon. By the way, I would have made the same decision against a human opponent; especially if their defense appeared as weak as the AI defense is.
<snip>

Yes I've seen good Allied players take advantage of German dispositions like these, attacking with a UK MECH unit after air bombardment and destroying panzer corps, but that's normally latter in the game like March or April. The panzer in the forest hex is also vulnerable as it receives an defensive penalty for being in the forest. I tend to keep the panzers behind an INF screening force, waiting for the Allies to counter-attack, if they do.

[rkr1958]

<snip>
My push left two units moderately exposed, which are the 9-step armor corps next to Lille and the infantry corps next to Lorraine. Both these units are subject to counterattack from three hexes; however, two are from across the river and the allied units in France just suffered a 20 effectiveness morale loss. I didn't, and wouldn't against a human player, give a second thought to exposing the infantry corps. However; the armor corps gave me pause. But in the end I decided the risk was worth the gain of pushing ahead this far this soon. By the way, I would have made the same decision against a human opponent; especially if their defense appeared as weak as the AI defense is.
<snip>

Yes I've seen good Allied players take advantage of German dispositions like these, attacking with a UK MECH unit after air bombardment and destroying panzer corps, but that's normally latter in the game like March or April. The panzer in the forest hex is also vulnerable as it receives an defensive penalty for being in the forest. I tend to keep the panzers behind an INF screening force, waiting for the Allies to counter-attack, if they do.

I agree; but with a weak defensive deployment I couldn't resist.

[patton]

Question: once Brussels has fallen, why go ahead and attack other Belgian units? They will just disappear at the end of the turn. Aren't you unecessarily risking casulaties (i.e., step losses) and incuring uneeded repair costs?

[rkr1958]

Question: once Brussels has fallen, why go ahead and attack other Belgian units? They will just disappear at the end of the turn. Aren't you unecessarily risking casulaties (i.e., step losses) and incuring uneeded repair costs?

To gain ground and push forward to keep the French/UK out of Belgium. Otherwise you might have to fight to gain the ground that I easily took last turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 10. February 28, 1940 Axis.

Again, the weather was fair in Central Europe (C44). The chance of having two fair weather turns in February prior to the first turn was 6.3%. The chance of having a second fair weather turn after the first one was fair was 25%. However; it's sliced sometimes the weather gods are on your side and sometimes they aren't. In this case they were; but it was in a game against the AI! Personally, I'd prefer saving this good fortunate for a game against a tough opponent and not one against the AI.

The Germans started the turn with 85 PPs and had spend objectives of a 2nd Infantry Lab (71 PPs), repair fighter 5-steps (30 PPs), repair fighter 3-steps (18 PPs) and repair mechanized 2-steps (6 PPs). Unfortunately the spend objectives (125 PPs total) exceed the available PPs (85 PPs) by quite a bit. While you cannot overspend to purchase a lab or build a new unit you can overspend to repair a unit provided you have positive PPs before the repair. So I purchased a 2nd infantry lab (C45), repaired mechanized 2-steps (which still left me with positive PPs) and repaired fighter 5-steps. This put the German's PP total in the red at -21 PPs (C46).

The primary objectives for this turn were the capture of Lorraine and Lillie. A secondary objective was the capture of Reims; but only if no high value units (i.e., armor or mechanized) were left exposed. The available air assets were two tactical bombers, one strategic bomber and two fighters, which were opposed by one RAF fighter and one French fighter. Again, there's no sign of the Canadian fighter. German intelligence, with high confidence, still places it in Canada. One of the two available fighters was at 7-steps so I decided to ground. This left only one fighter. The first air attack was by that fighter against Lorraine. The French fighter intercepted. This attack was followed by a tactical bomber attack. This left one tactical bomber, the strategic bomber, and the ground 7-step fighter. Unfortunately Lille was in range of the RAF fighter; however I didn't want to risk serious loss to already depleted 7-step fighter. So I kept it ground and attacked London with the strategic bomber to draw out and use up the RAF fighter. It did it's job and the second tactical bomber went in against Lille unmolested by allied fighters. The situation at the end of these air attacks is shown in C47.

The ground attacks on Lorraine and Lille went well but after one infantry attack against Reims it became apparent that I couldn't take that city without significantly exposing my armor units to unnecessary risk. Even though I know the AI doesn't really take advantage of this I played my turn as I would play an experience opponent. The results of this turn attacks and moves are shown in C48. Note that the 3rd tactical bomber was deployed this turn.

The French placements in C48 show that the AI isn't a very good defensive player. It doesn't even have a single line defense, much less a double line defense.


C44. Turn 10 Start


C45. 2nd German Infantry Lab


C46. Post Repairs


C47. Post Air Strikes and Turn Objectives


C48. Turn 10 End

[massina_nz]

One thing I think you haven't mentioned is that you've (mostly) kept German units away from the coastline to stop the Allied player from shore bombarding with the French and Royal navy and possible air attacks from the UK-based CV (if it hasn't already gone to the Med). Especially kept the MECH & ARM units away from the coast, allowing them to be attritioned by naval units is a real PP drain.

[richardsd]

how do you get the shading to show your visibility range?