Losing England AAR: the (failed) Comeback (game over)

[gchristie]

While I'm impressed by how well Crazygunner is doing (I only wish I could do as well playing as the Axis), my money is on Joe all the way.

[supermax]

Hey Joe

This game looks a lot like our game we had last year. I dont know if Crazyg is doing better, but it certainly looks like the same kind of defenses i had in England.

As for Russia, you are in a better position in this game than you were in our old game

So i think that you have some chance to prevail, but lets just say that Crazyg is a very ressourceful player and a sound strategist. His forces looks impressive in the south as well.

I think that if you defend moscow, let him spend himself in the Caucasus you might have something going. And you know that at one point, if he launche a big offensive in Russia that is is bound to have something cracking in England , either be not enough PP to do everything or oil.

I do not understand how you can come up with 750-1000 oil with the Axis at this point in the game. That seems like a lot, ive never had that much in 1942 as Axis... Please explain.

[joerock22]

While I'm impressed by how well Crazygunner is doing (I only wish I could do as well playing as the Axis), my money is on Joe all the way.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Just don't bet your life savings on it.

Hey Joe

This game looks a lot like our game we had last year. I dont know if Crazyg is doing better, but it certainly looks like the same kind of defenses i had in England.

As for Russia, you are in a better position in this game than you were in our old game

So i think that you have some chance to prevail, but lets just say that Crazyg is a very ressourceful player and a sound strategist. His forces looks impressive in the south as well.

I think that if you defend moscow, let him spend himself in the Caucasus you might have something going. And you know that at one point, if he launche a big offensive in Russia that is is bound to have something cracking in England , either be not enough PP to do everything or oil.

I do not understand how you can come up with 750-1000 oil with the Axis at this point in the game. That seems like a lot, ive never had that much in 1942 as Axis... Please explain.

Hey Max,

I have been observing the similarities for awhile now, and I’m following the same strategy. I can tell he is a good player, so I know it will be tough.

I came up with the oil estimate based on personal experience; I usually have that much if there’s been no winter fighting after Barbarossa. Probably closer to 700 than 1000. Crazyg spent some oil on England, but his subs have been very quiet lately so I think that helps make up for it. Ultimately, I doubt I’m going to win this game because Crazyg runs low on oil. I’ve never won a game for that reason, and this won’t be the first.

[ferokapo]

(...)

I do not understand how you can come up with 750-1000 oil with the Axis at this point in the game. That seems like a lot, ive never had that much in 1942 as Axis... Please explain.

Hey Max, I think you mean the other AAR with zechi as Axis. I was about to ask him that question, too. Will do now.

[Plaid]

Zechi's AAR is 2.0 version where its really hard for axis oil to decrease.

[joerock22]

June 17, 1942

I continue to wait for my fighters to perform better in the USSR. I believe total results were 5:12. That’s awful! The only one of my fighters in range of one of his got 2:2 odds this turn. So I don’t know why it’s going so bad. Is it unreasonable of me to expect something like 2:3 on average or is it bad luck?

Anyway, with the Germans pushing deeper into the Soviet line, the entire Red Air Force rebases further to the rear. All fighters are put on sentry. Maybe this is a good thing since once they repair their effectiveness will be in the 60s and 70s. Ground forces scramble to reestablish the double line, and I deploy/rail a couple mechs up there too. I am certainly willing to counterattack if Crazyg continues to go for a narrow penetration. I will not sit back and let him take Moscow, even if I have to bring in tanks. I can’t let him capture the city with only infantry and air support; that’s much too easy for the Germans.



Meanwhile in the south, the Germans surge into the Caucuses and only advance to the river in front of Stalingrad. I kind of expected this, but his push in the center was strong enough to force me to react. Kudos to Crazyg on that one. But I probably would have retreated in the Caucuses anyway, and set up a defense in the rough terrain further south. That is what I will do now.

His push west of Stalingrad is curious; there are Axis minors lining the river, almost as if he intends to set up a defensive position there. But there are plenty of mechs and tanks there, so I choose not to remain. Stalingrad will fall, but I will only lose 1 corps in the process. As supermax suggested, I will let the Axis spend themselves in the south while I focus my efforts in the north. If I can keep Moscow and start pushing through the forests in 1943, then most of the Axis forces in the south will have to withdraw to avoid being cut off.

Soviet forces close in on the Axis penetration in the center. Crazyg will have to retreat or reposition forces from other sectors, either of which is good for me. If he doesn’t react accordingly, perhaps I can try to roll up the flank of the German army assaulting Moscow.



In the West, we push to the outskirts of Belfast and land in northern Scotland. We also land fighters, which are immediately put on sentry. Crazyg will be able to attack them with favorable odds because of low effectiveness, but he will not be able to destroy any of them outright. I don’t need the air support right now, so the fighters can simply try to survive and maybe slowly wear the Luftwaffe down. I don’t know why Crazyg didn’t try to destroy my CVs last turn; I would have forced them to intercept and then hit them again.

The rest of my forces move to threaten landings in England itself. These are a diversion (including a garrison and Strat – numbered in secret, of course), which will hopefully draw any Axis air power away from my main objective, the American transport holding Bradley’s mech, which will land south of Dublin next turn as part of a lightning invasion of the country. I want the extra supply desperately without having to wait for Belfast to fall. Plus more room for my bombers and fighters to get away from the Luftwaffe until their effectiveness rises.

[joerock22]

July 7, 1942

The Axis withdrew as expected in the center and brought up reinforcements from the Stalingrad area. My forces once again go into delaying mode, withdrawing to the northeast. Meanwhile, I use 2 Tacs, a mech, and a corps to attack and destroy the German corps northwest of Moscow. I must keep control of this hex after each of my turns or Moscow could fall.



I was right to worry about those corps in the south. I should have withdrawn them toward the Caucuses instead. Konev is put on R&R even though his unit only lost 4 steps. I’m glad GS 2.0 fixed that feature; commanders will only be wounded if their unit is destroyed. At least it’s only for 5 turns.



Crazyg sniffed out my English ruse and bombed Bradley’s transport, but Dublin was still knocked down to 2 steps. It should fall next turn. Allied fighters came under Luftwaffe attack but held their own; the Germans suffered substantial damage as well. They repair and try to survive until Ireland is conquered. The two in Scapa Flow rebase to Ireland to get the leaders’ influence.


My troops in Scotland were not as resilient as I would have liked. If the Germans are going to get results like that every turn, it’s not worth trying to keep troops there.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think you will bind so many German units in Britain that Germany can't succeed as they hope in Russia. Your Allied invasion force can even jump to other targets once Ireland is secured. Crazyg's major problem is that he can't respond to every attempt you make. Your navy is too strong for his subs to stop your transports.

It's only 1942 and that means the Germans will get into problems in 1943. Failing to kill enough Russian units in 1942 means they will be on the defense in 1943 there.

Still, it takes awhile to get ashore in France and racing towards Berlin. So Crazyg can at least manage a decent result, maybe losing as late as in 1945. I think that since Joe can define the agenda already in 1942 it means the Germans will be in trouble soon. E. g. Crazyg should have realized he's making a mistake rushing deep into southern Russian with no chance getting all the way to Baku before winter. The units he sends down there will not be able to be railed back home. If you want to move into the Caucasus at least you need to cut off the Russian rail supply to Caucasus by getting to the Caspian Sea.

This game is interesting to watch because it shows that even great players can struggle for awhile with the Allies before they finally get the upper hand. So I'm sure both Joe and Crazyg have a lot of fun playing this game. It's not the typical "dull" game following the historical line. Both players have to venture into uncharted territory and the eventual winner will be the one best dealing with the challenges there.

[joerock22]

I think you will bind so many German units in Britain that Germany can't succeed as they hope in Russia. Your Allied invasion force can even jump to other targets once Ireland is secured. Crazyg's major problem is that he can't respond to every attempt you make. Your navy is too strong for his subs to stop your transports.

It's only 1942 and that means the Germans will get into problems in 1943. Failing to kill enough Russian units in 1942 means they will be on the defense in 1943 there.

Still, it takes awhile to get ashore in France and racing towards Berlin. So Crazyg can at least manage a decent result, maybe losing as late as in 1945. I think that since Joe can define the agenda already in 1942 it means the Germans will be in trouble soon. E. g. Crazyg should have realized he's making a mistake rushing deep into southern Russian with no chance getting all the way to Baku before winter. The units he sends down there will not be able to be railed back home. If you want to move into the Caucasus at least you need to cut off the Russian rail supply to Caucasus by getting to the Caspian Sea.

This game is interesting to watch because it shows that even great players can struggle for awhile with the Allies before they finally get the upper hand. So I'm sure both Joe and Crazyg have a lot of fun playing this game. It's not the typical "dull" game following the historical line. Both players have to venture into uncharted territory and the eventual winner will be the one best dealing with the challenges there.

Yes, this has indeed been the most interesting game I’ve had in awhile. It’s amazing the effect one or two early combat results can have! The western Allies are pretty much done for 1942; I want to save my resources for building up for 1943. I have to retake England next year to stay on schedule. Then I can at least force Crazyg to defend against D-Day in 1944 while the Russians are on the move.

I don’t think going into the Caucuses was a mistake for him because of how weak I am down there; I literally have every Russian unit except 1 corps concentrated in the north. My priority is saving Moscow so I can get the resources all winter. I need them to match German production. If I can build my ground army so he doesn’t get much further in summer 1943, then I’ll feel pretty confident about a winter 1943-44 offensive and then pushing on to the end of the game.

[joerock22]

July 27, 1942

Little action in the east; my counterattack seems to have deprived the Germans of some of their nerve. Soviet forces reoccupy two hexes the Germans abandoned, reestablishing a double line. Most importantly, there is no possibility of retreat back toward the Germans and the hex northwest of Moscow is again covered on its flank. We may yet save Moscow! If all I lose this year is Stalingrad and the oil fields, I will consider 1942 a major success. I do notice that Crazyg railed 2 tanks up to Petrozavodsk. I believe he intends to strike my flank north of Kalinin. That’s fine; I can pull my front line corps back of need be. If he tries to push toward Yaroslav in my rear, I have tanks able to counter.



Crazyg cut the Caucuses off from the rest of Russia, so the rail link is cut. I can still place new units down there, and I will if it looks like he’s making a serious push further south. But my instincts (and one of his emails) tell me he’s just going to stop where he is instead of pushing on to Baku. If I’m wrong, I will react accordingly.

In the west, the Allies conquer Ireland and abandon northern Scotland. I was tempted to go after his naval forces, but they are probably protected by subs and aren’t much of a menace right now. I’d rather let them live than walk into a trap.

[joerock22]

August 16, 1942

Not good news in the USSR; German attacks destroyed 4 Soviet corps around Moscow and Kalinin. At least my fighters are performing well; they are still losing, but not nearly as badly as before. That is what I expected the whole time. Also, my scientists developed Artillery Lv. 3, which gives my corps a nice ground and air attack boost. Unfortunately I couldn’t upgrade any units due to enemy ZoC and the cost of repairing all my fighters. Probably 3 more fair weather turns to deal with. I think I can hold Moscow, but we’ll see.



In the west, Allied forces finally begin the ground assault on Belfast, achieving good results and knocking the defender down to 1 step. Royal Navy battleships did a good job softening up the defenders beforehand. I had my Strat check to see if there were any German fighters in the Cardiff-Plymouth area. Seeing none, I moved all my fighters to the western side of Ireland where they can safely raise effectiveness and upgrade. Bombers begin to fly in from Greenland. I also landed the rest of my transports to free up my fleet. Convoys need to be escorted, perhaps the KM dealt with, and reinforcements ferried across the Atlantic and perhaps from Egypt. I haven’t decided about that one yet. But I’m already putting all my eggs in one basket, so I might as well.



So we have a strong base of operations in Ireland now. I will spend the winter building up Allied air and ground forces for a very strong invasion of England in 1943. I will also upgrade my naval forces, some of which need it badly.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I still wonder why so few Axis players get an extra strategic bomber and use them to bombard Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad (if not captured). By doing that you can deny the Russians up to 15 PP's per turn and that's a LOT in 1941 / 1942. It costs 95 PP's to get an extra strategic bomber, but with 2 bombers you can get Moscow down to 0 production after 2-3 turns and then concentrate on Stalingrad / Leningrad if you have fighter cover over the area. With up to 15 PP's per turn lost it means that your bombers deny the Russians about 5-7 new corps units per year. That's quite a bit.

[Plaid]

I still wonder why so few Axis players get an extra strategic bomber and use them to bombard Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad (if not captured). By doing that you can deny the Russians up to 15 PP's per turn and that's a LOT in 1941 / 1942. It costs 95 PP's to get an extra strategic bomber, but with 2 bombers you can get Moscow down to 0 production after 2-3 turns and then concentrate on Stalingrad / Leningrad if you have fighter cover over the area. With up to 15 PP's per turn lost it means that your bombers deny the Russians about 5-7 new corps units per year. That's quite a bit.

Strategic bomber consumes 5 oil per attack, thats the problem I guess. Also they suffer constant damage from city flak and I don't think that net delta is good for germans (if we keep in mind oil>pp).

[trulster]

Yep must be better to use that oil (10/turn for two bombers) and PP to try to capture these cities instead. If for some reason the Middle East is captured and oil is flush though, then strat bombers look a lot more tempting.

[joerock22]

September 5, 1942

Three more corps go down in the USSR, and one reduced to 1 step. Losses are heavy, but we continue to repair and dig in. The Luftwaffe is really beat up; Crazyg will have to take a break soon (I hope). Notice I put a garrison in the hex southwest of Kalinin. I was unwilling to give up that hex for free, but I also didn’t want to leave a free hex for my units to retreat into. Bad weather cannot get here fast enough.



Quiet in Ireland, where the Allies capture Belfast and make repairs. The fleet evacuates the area, some ships escorting the damaged carriers back to North American for repair, and the rest moving northwest to escort the Soviet convoy. Those American DDs in port will upgrade (from 7 anti-sub to 10). British subs attack the Graf Spee, achieving 4:3 results. I told you that BB was tough! I didn’t attack with the American sub because I didn’t have enough movement to get to that last hex not adjacent to the German DD.



My upgraded American Strat gets 7:0 odds against an non-upgraded u-boat off the U.S. east coast, and gets those results. Maybe Crazyg will think twice about starting unrestricted submarine warfare again.

[joerock22]

NOOOOOO! Say it isn't so! First Crazyg's computer dies, and now mine!

This game will have to be put on hold while I try to get it fixed or replace it.

[rkr1958]

NOOOOOO! Say it isn't so! First Crazyg's computer dies, and now mine!

This game will have to be put on hold while I try to get it fixed or replace it.

Maybe you two need to title your AAR, "Losing My Computer: The Comeback."

[joerock22]

Maybe you two need to title your AAR, "Losing My Computer: The Comeback."

[gchristie]

If it comes to it, I highly recommend newegg.com for new hardware.

Best of luck. My computer recently got hit with a virus so bad I had to reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS and everything else.

[joerock22]

One of my colleagues suggested an external hard drive, one of the ones that automatically backs up your files when you plug it into your computer. I think I'm going to try that. I just found a 1-Terabyte one for under $100 on amazon.