Slitherine

I think it will be very hard for the Axis to win this with oil just above 100. The Luftwaffe and armor units are needed to break through the Russian lines, but the oil reserves can't sustain an offensive all the way to Perm.

It's even worse for Joe because the Allies can now land in France and Joe will need to use air and armor units to contain to crush the invaders. Failing to do so means that it will be very hard to contain the Allied units at the beachhead.

I think the only chance for Joe is to send all units he has in the east towards Perm hoping to catch cities en-route so infantry units can be railed there and screen the spearhead. Joe must take Panzergeneral by surprise and blitz to Perm before Panzergeneral can form a good defensive line there. If Panzergeneral can rail units to Perm then the chance is almost nonexistent. So it's very important for Joe to engage all Russian units he can see so they can't rail.

Doest matter...

The Perm attack will take place too late in the season for it to make a diffference. It will take some time for Joe to get even halfway, not mentionning the oil he will have to burn... Usually, it takes me almost the better of june/july/august to get to perm in 1942 when i take Moscow in 1941, and that with a depleted and weak russian force. The Allied player in this game has planes, tanks, troops... All of which can considerably slow down the ennemy.

That Russian player should keep attacking and force Joe to spend more and more oil. Once it burns out, its a Russian free game.

I think that Joe as 0 chance of taking Perm, so better keep the little oil he has left to resist as long as he can. The war was lost on a Strategic level when the axis oil capability when down to 0.

That is true, but Joe is a fighter and won't give up until there is no hope. It's still possible a miracle happens like Panzergeneral losing his nerve and becomes paralyzed. The German units can move really quickly from the current position towards Perm if they break through the weak Russian line.

Joe would never win this game against a player like you and me, but if he acts like his German forces are invincible then some people might believe it and panic. E. g. Panzergeneral can't see the German oil level and if he doesn't land in France now then Joe can just focus on the east and burn oil there. Joe has one chance and that's to march towards Perm now. I think he has the forces to break through the Russian lines and if winter arrives late then his infantry can try to keep the momentum all the way to Perm. It's a long shot, but as long as there is hope.

I agree with you, this could all look like Joe's forces are invincible, and make several player loose their nerve and agressiveness. From my experience, i learned that it always pays to be agressive, just to make sure you keep the initiative. When you have the initiative, either youd be the allied or germans, you usually win, because the other side reacts to what you do.

I agree with you Staufenberg that it is Joe's best chance, but it is a VERY slim chance at best. The western allies cannot stay iddle, they have troops ready to land.

So, when do we play a game together now? Id love to put this one up on the AAR forum as well!

Well, I'm not playing the vanilla game anymore. You will know why after trying out Grand Strategy.

I am not playing the Vanilla game anymore. There are no secrets left in this version of the game for me.

I am actually tackling Joe in 2 games with the BJR Mod. The first game, as Axis, ive taken England and i am just about to launch myself into Russia...

In the second game Joe is doing a regular Axis game, with France-Yougo-Greece and is getting ready to attack Russia.

When can i try you with your Grand Strategy mod? Joe has told me you are quite a good player, looking forward to tackle you. I am 4-0 agaisnt Joe so far (2 Axis, 2 Allies) in the vanilla game and its looking good in the BJR mod again for at least a victory as Axis, we'll see with the Allies but i am confident as well.

First we need to get GS released and hopefully this be happen within a week or so.I'm a bit rusty because I haven't played much for several months. I've been very busy getting GS ready before the end of November. Many games were started just to play a few turns to check the game balance. I look forward to start relaxing and just play. Betatesting and developing is not the same.

I think you've played a lot more than I have so I have no illusions of winning, but at least I should be able to make you work hard to win. I'm too conservate to beat opponents who have played so much so they have figured out tactics that can surprise even the best player. I simply haven't tried enough games to try unusual attacks. E. g. I'm not familiar with how Sealion works in GS. Some playtesters have reported they captured London and I can't figure out how they did it with so few Axis invasion points in the Summer of 1940.

But this is one of the good things about GS. Nobody has enough experience at the moment to claim they know THE winning strategy for either side. We have to try out the hard way and share our experiences.

I will be able to have 3-4 games going at the same time and will start a game against Ronnie and Jim now. Then I have others like Joe, Ray, Neil etc. who want a game against me. But one day I know I will get a chance to play against you.

Interesting discussion, you guys. Sadly, that 4-0 record supermax spoke about is true. You guys should definitely play each other eventually.

July 16, 1944

Two more Russian tanks go down, and a couple corps. I'm going to lose this game, and the reason will be lack of oil. I grounded all planes, only moving 5 tanks, and stores still fell to 81. I'm pushing in Russia, but once those tanks can't move anymore I'm done. My infantry can't sustain an offensive without them, and my bombers just aren't that effective, especially with Allied fighter cover. I railed my fighters out to save every last drop of oil. But I'll keep trying; I won't give up until I'm sure the game is lost.

supermax wrote:I agree with you Staufenberg ...
So, when do we play a game together now? Id love to put this one up on the AAR forum as well!

For those of use who are old enough to remember (and are still young enough to remember) this would be like the first Ali-Frazier fight in 1971! I can't wait!

What a great way to introduced CEaW-GS v1.00 to the larger community.

Where do I buy tickets?

August 5, 1944

The Western Allies have landed in Belgium, which is what I hoped for. It will take them several turns to capture a supply source and I think I can delay them with only minimal forces.

I destroyed or damaged 2 tanks and several corps on the Eastern front. Oil reserves are down to 23, so I continue to bring infantry in. The Luftwaffe has been totally shipped out after PanzerGeneral downed a bomber last turn (and made me waste all that oil defending it!) I don't think I'll get anywhere near Perm though. Once PanzerGeneral stops my advance I'll probably surrender.

Sorry, forgot to take screenshots.

Germany and Italy have officially surrendered to the Allies. With no oil, and therefore no tanks and planes to support the infantry, my offensive in Russia is doomed. It is only a matter of time before the Allies overwhelm the German infantry and enter Berlin. With no hope of victory, I chose to surrender now so I can focus on new GS games.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably let PanzerGeneral have his way in the Balkans, just trying to defend and saving every drop of oil for a push to Perm. I also would not retreat from Perm at the start of the game; I'd make him take the time to encircle and defeat those troops, and maybe keep some of the cities close to Siberia to rail too. Ah, well, hindsight is 20:20. It was a good game and I gave it a good attempt, so I'm happy.

You would still have run out of oil... So This game was a looser from the start ...

But when you took the helm because you decided to do the exact opposite of what the other player has planned and (produced) for a go at England. This created a strategic void sicne the whole gameplan of that player was to land in England, not go for Perm. And quite honestly it was entirely possible to achieve, and it would have effectively knocked the western allies out of the war for a long time.

ALso, you should have pushed your Balkan offensive farther and stronger and put all fighters available after England in these part to get some oil produciton back.

But even then, you would have lost eventually, but not without winning a moral victory to keep the game going in 1946!

That is my own 2 cents anyway!

Joe's AAR has been a very interesting read.

It seems that Ike99 had planned a very late Sealion (1944) with the construction of a new Kriegsmarine. The defense of England was to put it mildly poor. There were only garrisons in England at this point beside a small air force. Me initial reaction if I had seen Joe set sail for England would be to wet my pants! I think he would have captured England with help of the new Kriegsmarine and the mighty Luftwaffe in the West. He would have bombed my navy to the bottom of channel, if it had tried to intervene. At this stage in the war I think I would have sacrificed my navy in order make him burn oil and having some expensive repairs of his Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.

The Balkans defensive campaign was brilliant (from the axis point of view). With loads of axis infantry and Luftwaffe. Joe crippled my army and left it stranded on the Bulgarian/Romanian border, without being able to manovre very much and with no imminent reinforcements. Sailing reinforcements to this theatre is a loooong way from either Britain or USA. At this stage I wanted to build an invasion force in England for Overlord, so there were no more units headed this way.

The Russian campaign was getting very interesting. Joe's panzer and Luftwaffe attacks stopped my offensive south of Moscow very quickly. This cost him a lot of oil, but it was very effective.

As I mentioned in my AAR, I was surprised that the axis ran out of oil so quickly. I always assumed they had made a large stockpile from the oil fields near Perm and the Caucasus. Well lucky me!

A big thanks to Joe for helping me conclude this game

--
Alexander