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Strategic Command: World War II: War in Europe Released late last year this is the third game in the Strategic Command series. The games are designed to be accessible and are only semi-grognardy. This game covers only the European theater. I enjoy the game though I believe the naval game could use some work. Using hex-based ship combat imo never really works that well in a World War II game but I will talk about that later. I have played the game a few times. I am not an expert but I think I am at least competent. I plan to run updates on a monthly basis (month in game, not post once a month). So, shall we set Europe aflame?  First decision is what side we will pick. I am going to go with three options so pick your favorite: Axis Play as Germany and Italy. I would toy with setting Italy to AI to represent Mussolini's incompetence but the two nations coordinate too much for this to work well in my opinion. Pros: Involved everywhere, get the burden of setting the tempo and choosing early strategic plans Con: You play as the bad guys Soviet Union Play as the Soviets and opt to control France and Poland too. Both will be lost early but it will give me something to do in the early stages when playing Russia can be dull. Pros: Gets to build a big army out of a small one, has the highest unit cap on just about every unit, COMMUNISM, biggest ground campaign. Cons: Little naval action, not much to do between fall of France and start of Barbarossa, weak diplomacy Western Powers I will play as the British and the USA and also control France and Poland. Pros: Is heavily involved from the beginning, lots of diplomatic options, strategic bombing, U-boat hunting and grand amphibious invasions Cons: Not involved in war in the east unless we control a minor over there. I prefer not to play as the entire Allies as I can coordinate too well on diplomatic initiatives and control too many decision trees that the Allies need to agree on. So pick your favorite. I will count votes tomorrow afternoon after I get off of work. Welcome aboard.
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Aug 18, 2017 05:12
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| # ? May 28, 2024 06:28 |
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Honestly Axis. I think that gives you the biggest challenge as well as the most options in general when it coes to things and how to play.
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Aug 18, 2017 05:23
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Communism now! There is something about crushing fascism using marxism.
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Aug 18, 2017 09:06
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 forward ComradesThanks for doing the LP, the game looks interesting
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Aug 18, 2017 15:03
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Ghost of Mussolini posted:
Strange username/post combo. 
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Aug 18, 2017 15:08
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Due to incompetence I get to work late so will either do the first update when I get home late or tomorrow. I am getting tired of this whole having to work for a living thing.
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Aug 18, 2017 22:35
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 Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves. Let's get to Berlin using our hordes of Yanks before the Commies can cast a red blanket over Europe!
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Aug 18, 2017 22:37
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Western Powers
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Aug 19, 2017 00:58
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 Full Communism Now!
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Aug 19, 2017 02:39
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I haven't played this version of the game, but if as you say the naval aspect isn't that great, it's likely to still be better as the Soviet side than anyone else. Though the early-war France & Poland option would really good to see.
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Aug 19, 2017 02:49
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Kangra posted:I haven't played this version of the game, but if as you say the naval aspect isn't that great, it's likely to still be better as the Soviet side than anyone else. Though the early-war France & Poland option would really good to see. It is not that the naval side is bad. It is just not ideal in my ever so humble opinion. In any case, Soviets it is. Going to start the game shortly.
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Aug 19, 2017 03:22
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Initial Setup First I chose the 1939 scenario and then set everything to default difficulty.  I set the British and the US to AI. The way the game works is that you can still take control of US and British units on your turn and do whatever you like but once you click to end your turn the AI will control everything you left alone. I will not abuse this if at all possible. I do not usually play with them but I will try the graphical counter styles to make things prettier. Most options are activated.  I left off soft build limits. In the base game each nation has a fixed number of each unit type they can have on the board. Some limits slowly go up over time. The soft limit removes the limit and lets you pay slightly more each time for each new unit after you hit the cap. It is near unanimous that this breaks the game. I played against the AI once and the AI seemed to take it as an invite to build the weirdest army combinations. It can also glut the board with cheap unit types.  False reports of Polish troops attacking a German radio station provide the pretext and the Wehrmacht marches into action. In the North a cavalry group and an army are overrun and the Danzig corridor falls. An attack in the Southwest overwhelms the defenses and the Germans take Lodz on their path to Warsaw.  At the top of the screen you can see all seven major nations in the game with a bar. That is the morale bar. For France, Poland, and Italy that bar falling to 0% can result in surrender. This is theoretically possible with the other nations but difficult as their morale is more robust. It also influences how well the nation's units to fight so as it drops off the nation's units get less effective. With the units the number underneath represents the unit's current strength. For most non-garrison units the strength goes from 1 to 10 (garrisons cap at 5). Some of the German units also have numbers to the left of their strength representing upgrades. For corps and armies, the only units you can see right now with upgrades, the numbers go: Infantry Weapons, Antiair, and Mobility. The first two help you fight ground units and air units attacking you and the third gives the unit more movement points. Germany starts with a level in Infantry Weapons and Mobility and a bunch of other stuff. Research Poland starts with:  I did not know they started with Aerial Warfare. This gives a modest bump to air unit morale and lets fighters act twice on intercept and gives strategic bombers an extra attack. This will not end up helping much. We are not going to invest in Polish tech. It will never get finished. Okay, on to Mother Russia:  We start with no technology but we have some prebuilt chits. The first number number in the column shows the cost in MPP (the game's currency) of a chit. The number behind the multiplier shows how many chits you have. Some tech can only have one chit invested at a time and no tech can have more then two chits. More chits means it goes faster and every time you finish a tech you lose one chit. Simple enough. The next column shows the nation's current tech level and the number in the parentheses is the maximum for that tech. At the bottom right it shows your maximum research. You can have no more then that total value invested in research. In the top right it shows the current research funding as 925 MPP out of the total of 2000 MPP. The values vary by nation. US: 2,750 Germany, UK, Soviets: 2,000 Italy: 1,200 (iirc) France: 1,100 Poland: 1,000 The Soviets are researching better fighters, better tanks, and are working on Production Technology and Industrial Technology. Production Technology lowers the cost to buy units. Industrial technology gives you more MPPs every turn. The US can advance the fastest but Germany starts with a solid lead. The Soviets have one handicap. Their infantry units start out one tier below everyone else's. While other nations can get up to two tiers of Infantry Weapon Tech the Soviets have three and the first one just makes them equal to unupgraded enemy units. So the Germans start with two tiers of advantage in that area. For the last nation I am controlling France has one tech in Advanced Tanks and one in Advanced Aircraft and no research ongoing. Usually not worth it to do much research with France. They usually finish tech a few turns before France falls. You can sell research chits for half price but I almost never do this. Diplomacy  Active nations can put chits into diplomacy. USA, Britain, and the Germans can have up to five diplomacy chits at a time active. Soviets, France, Italy, and Poland can have up to three. It costs 50 MPP to buy a chit in a minor nation and 150 to buy into an inactive major (USA, Soviets, Italy). Each chit gives a 5% chance of moving a nation towards your alliance each turn except for US chits which are worth 7%. Each time you influence a nation one chit is lost but can be rebought. Once a nation reaches 90% they advance to war for that side on their own. Events can also shift nations around. Some nations that were historically hard to influence (Spain and Switzerland are the two I can think of off the top of my head can have maximums on how many chits you can use at a time to influence them). For inactive majors (USA, Italy, Soviets) their percentage influences how much of their income they get. Right now the Soviets get 25% of their normal income. This will be very little. The USA also does not start lend-lease until it reaches a certain level. Events like Pearl Harbor and Barbarossa push the USA and Soviets to war no matter where they are. September 8, 1939  The Blitzkreig is hurting Polish morale. They are already down to 72%. Surprisingly the Germans have fallen to 99% (battlefield losses?) but it will probably shoot up again soon.  Four Polish units lost.  The British and French declare war and the British start gearing up. Basically some British MPP starts out at very low values when they enter the war and works its way up. Same thing happens with the Soviets and the USA. Basically their income shoots up over time right after they declare war. France has a similar effect but it does not kick in until later. The 25% and 22% the Soviets and USA are currently earning respectively is a percentage of the much smaller amount.  Sometimes stuff like this comes up. Basically if the British and French do not guard their assets in the Med it speeds up Italy's entrance into the war. This limits how much I can evacuate from Africa to bolster France.  And first decision tree. I decide I want eastern Poland. This will hurt Polish morale but will give the Soviets eastern Poland if the Germans allow it (and they may not, I have seen the AI flip off the Soviets in that way). France I order the French Mediterranean fleet to assemble near Malta to deal with any Italian aggression.  The Provence battleship, some heavy and light cruisers, and our sub fleet led by the Surcouf assemble.  In the Atlantic I send our Terrible destroyers to watch some of the British convoy lines and keep our battleships and Heavy Cruisers on the coast. I order the Algiers corps, the only French unit in Africa whose leaving would make Mussolini lick his lips, to board transports to be shipped to France. There is a cost to move ground units by sea. The cheapest way is by transport which is fast but can only unload at a friendly port. You can load an amphibious unit which costs more but is slow but can land in enemy territory. Finally you can load a long range amphibious unit which costs the most but moves as fast as a transport and can land in enemy territory. Each nation can only have a certain number of units in each configuration based on their amphibious tech. Right now France can move a few by transport, one by amphibious, and cannot use long range amphibious. This tech is vital for Britain and the US and the Germans if they try for Sealion. Because it is so close I land the unit in Marseilles this turn.  In France I start marching my corps units to the Maginot Line. I am going to use them to replace the army formations there. (corps have three men on the tile while armies have four). The Maginot Line can hold just fine with Corps and I need the armies free just on the off chance that Germany may decide to try to bypass the line. I also move an army back to hold Paris and move the reserve corp there to the front line. I toyed with bombing the Germans but the Tactical Bombers have pretty bad readiness and morale and are expensive to replace so I will hold off for now. The Gamelin HQ just south of Amiens will support the defense in the North. Hopefully the BEF will arrive soon to bolster the line. Russia I order some of the corps deep in the country to begin moving to the west. Near Leningrad we are considering moving into Finland soon to acquire territory that is rightfully ours:  I have a corps coming down from Archangelsk and a garrison up at Murmansk which I will leave there. That port is crucial to getting aid from the British. The bulk of the ready Soviet army is here with Timoshenko's HQ:  And in the South:  I have units marching west from Stalingrad. You can also see some mines and cities that show red 0s. These are sites that do not produce income until the Soviets go to war. It is the same thing with the oilfields near Baku. Same situation with a bunch of mines on the eastern edge of the map representing income from the rest of the Soviet Union. The Black Sea fleet consists of three groups of light cruisers. There is a Baltic fleet but it does not appear until the Soviets are at war. My guess is they left it off to prevent you from doing gamey things with the neutral Soviet fleet to mess with the Germans. When Barbarossa hits the Soviets also get a bunch of land units as well to represent mobilization. Poland  Okay, things look bleak. I am going to have the army SW of Warsaw take over defending the capitol and put the garrison in front of it. Bombers will hit the German tanks advancing in hopes of hurting them. Most of the rest of the army will fall back to hold Warsaw as long as possible. The units in the West will attack as they will probably be cut off shortly and need to do what damage they can.  The army at Poznan did minor damage and the cavalry almost annihilated itself. Warsaw and Modlin are now garrisoned by armies. This cost the entrenchment the garrisons had but I think having the strongest units there will help more. They will start digging in immediately. The cavalry in the south found itself unable to withdraw quickly and tried for an attack with bad results. The mechanized infantry at Krakow fall back to Radom. The bombers were ineffective but the air battle resulted in equal fighter losses so perhaps a minor win. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ War Plans Greetings Comrades! Preparation for the defense of Mother Russia begins. Soviet plans are limited by production. First thing that needs doing is buying improved Infantry Weapon tech and Mobility tech. Right now Soviets have 150 MPP and cannot afford either. It will take a while to get the economic strength needed. I would vote on the Finland war but it is a no-brainer to do. Without the winter experience it gives the Soviets have trouble operating in the winter. I am hoping the British and French do not try to intervene and help the Finns. While this gives them Special Forces units and the option to deploy them to Norway to have fun it will alienate the Soviets from the Allied cause and cost us production. The French do have some options French Diplomatic Plan Should France invest in diplomacy to try to swing an ally closer to help them survive? USA Beg the USA for help. Enough US increase could put them over the threshold for lend-lease and bolster the British. If the British do the same it might even get the USA into the war as early as late 1940 with a lot of luck. More realistically maybe mid-1941. Soviets Try to mitigate the harsh feelings with Stalin in hopes of him opening another front. This will hopefully give the Soviets a little more production to play with. Neither France needs to spend all of its production building up its army for the coming onslaught. French Naval Plan What should the French do with their navy? Standard Operations Use our destroyer unit to hunt U-boats and move the rest of the fleet to guard against German and Italian naval depredations. Glorious Death Mass the entire French fleet near Malta. If the Italians decide to take advantage of our weakness we will make them pay by charging into the Adriatic and exacting a price in blood and steel for their impertinence. This will destroy the French fleet and cost them a lot of National Morale and give the Italians a boost but Italy will have a hard time paying for repairs and rebuilding of the Italian fleet which will help British operations in the Med. Note while this is a fun option many consider it gamey (because it is) and it generally does come out in favor of the Allies. Hence I will leave it to the board to decide which way to go. Not much else to decide at the moment.
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Aug 19, 2017 05:16
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Beg the USA for help. One helping become a nation is worth two savings when you're already one. Time to get flush across the sea. Standard operations for the navy. I am trying to break my impulsive suicidal charge habit in strategy games, and it starts here!
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Aug 19, 2017 05:48
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Voting for Neither Diplomatically. If we fight an aggressive defense against hte Germans we acn possibly hold out longer, and the chances of getting the Soviets or the Americans to help seems decidedly slim without a major investment which would cripple our ability to reinforce our defenses Voting for standard deployment of the fleet. All we get if we sacrifice itis giving the Italians free reign in the Mediterranean if they build up again. Do we want to risk being exterminated by the /Italians/?
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Aug 19, 2017 08:59
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September-October 1939 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Okay, going to hold off on diplomacy and not suicide the French fleet for now unless there is an overwhelming consensus to do either later. September 8 Run the turn from last time.  The British move a few naval units around, the home fleet seems to be heading to Scapa. The Polish destroyers show up in Britain. The US uses its resources to build up a few of its units (dumb, they should be working on research). Canada declares war. This happens I assume randomly in the first couple of turns. A lot of their industry also has to build up. All they have at start is a single destroyer but Canada produces free units as time goes on.  Economies are weak all around. Britain will be building up soon and the Canada convoy line will turn on next turn. I am heartened to see that Britain funded the BEF. They should be arriving soon.  German air starts pounding on the Modlin fortress.  We start to occupy eastern Poland under the terms of the pact. In the game this is automatic and does not require (or allow) you to actually move in.  Three cavalry units and a garrison lost in Poland.  Polish morale is now at 35%. Will not last long now. _____________________________________________________________________________________ September 22 Russia Armies continue to march closer to the Polish border to dig in. 4 MPP short of being able to start on Infantry Weapon research. Next turn. France Germany strengthened their defenses and brought in a few more units. France spent MPP building up a few units and working on getting their HQ up to strength.  In the south Italian tanks have arrived. Moving a corps to dig in to defend Monaco on the border. Also have a garrison at Marseille. All I can really spare in this theater.  Poland  Krakow and the entire South has fallen. Going to use what MPP I have to build up the Warsaw and Modlin defenses. The Poznan army will attack.  Charged the Poznan army forward to the border. and found an HQ. If it does not run I can hit it. This unit is going to be weak though. Its supply status is really bad already with just Poznan at low 3 supply. Built up the main defenses and used the tiny amount of MPP left to reinforce a garrison. I had the bombers hit a German army that the odds calculator said I could hurt. No luck. I had the bombers fall back. I do not want to lose any units I do not have to that will further erode morale. Ending Turn.  Two corps, an HQ, and an army land in France. The BEF is here.  British economy is finally cranking up. Wish the French was as well.  Stuka attacks wiped out a Polish corp and repeated attacks wipe out a garrison and the mechanized unit on the southern flank.  A good advisory. If the BEF leaves French morale falls.  The French ban the Communist party. Capitalist dogs. French morale shoots up to 104%. Soviet readiness falls to 20%.  We plan a winter invasion of Finland to take back our territory. It looks like British subs might start raiding the Norway to Germany convoy line. This might offend Norway but Germany is probably going to invade it soon anyways. _____________________________________________________________________________________ October 14 Russia Russia gets a unit of engineers. I send them to Moscow. If things get dicey I want them to start building fortifications. Other then that units continue to march to the front.  200 MPP go to start getting our infantry equal to everyone else's. It will be a while before that finishes. Next purchase will be Mobility tech. France  Finish building the HQ to full strength and continue building up troops on Belgian border. I also move the French Atlantic fleet through the channel. If we are going to raid Norway's convoy route to Germany I want in. Poland  Turns out a Polish army unit with morale at 9% is no match for an HQ unit. With morale down I have the garrison unit and fighter unit fall back. My worry now is premature surrender so I want garbage units out of the way to prevent further morale losses. Ending Turn. The British moves subs and ships onto the Norway convoy line and start raiding. They also occupy the ports at Cork and Waterford. This gives the British two ports in Ireland but I do not think they are worth it. Not as high level as the ports in Britain and taking them ticks off the Irish and, more importantly, the USA who have fallen to 16% readiness. The Soviets have fallen to 17%. Both our economies are falling. On the bright side claiming the ports does push up British morale.  In France the BEF moves up to backstop the French forces around Calais.   In Poland German forces went behind the lines to knock out the fleeing garrison. Morale has fallen to 6% but repeated attacks on Modlin did no damage beyond lowering entrenchment and morale. The Polish are forcing the Germans to pay heavily for their aggression. The Poznan army was wiped out and the west has fallen.  In the South the Germans have taken Przemysl and Lwow. _____________________________________________________________________________________ That is it for now. The Game is on to November 5 and Poland is still holding on. They may last into December. Probably going to stick to two months of turns for updates. Turn length varies based on season. The winter turns have longer gaps to represent lower mobility in the winter. The summer months are the closest together.
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Aug 19, 2017 22:47
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November-December 1939 _____________________________________________________________________________________ November 4 Russia Starting to snow. Units continue to move into position. France Continue to build up units on the Belgian border.  Poland Max out the only corps supporting the Modlin and Warsaw defenses. The air force continues to withdraw.  Ending Turn The British move their naval units around. The battleships at Gibraltar are now at Malta. Rain hit over Poland and the German air force was grounded. This hurt the push. A big push on Warsaw pushed the defending army from strength 10 to 8. The Modlin garrison is now so well experienced it could theoretically get elite reinforcements and go to strength 11 but you can only do that while not adjacent to the enemy so not going to happen. Still no sign of the German navy.  I authorize the release of interned Spanish Republicans to try to build fortifications in France.  Nice try I guess.  British economy slowly increasing.  Rare to get tech this early but sometimes you get a breakthrough and get a tech much faster then the normal process. Logistics lets you build more HQs and makes strat movement and naval transport cheaper and lets you move more units by sea at a time. _____________________________________________________________________________________ November 27 Russia Continue to move units around. Up to 101 MPP. Need 175 to start on Mobility research. France Build up more units. The engineer unit on its way ate up some of the production so a little low. I also sent the French in to do a little raiding near Norway.  Poland  I have never seen Poland hold this well. The RNG is being cruel to the Germans. I built back up the Warsaw unit but all the units are suffering in readiness and morale due to the near constant attacks. I had spare MPP so I even built up the bomber unit by a point. Morale is down to 4%. Even if they do not take Warsaw if we keep losing cities I expect Poland will surrender soon anyways. End Turn The British move most of the Mediterranean fleet to Egypt. Canadian destroyers prowl west of Britain and a carrier is out on the sealanes while British subs and surface ships raid around Norway. Heavy attacks by the Germans push the Modlin army down to 30% effectiveness. The Deutschland Heavy Cruisers sortie out and attack British destroyers harrying the Norwegian convoy routes.  The war with Finland begins.  Another drop in Soviet readiness.  Still not much in the way of income. France should start mobilizing its industry soon.  No....stop....don't.....please.....don't kick us out of your toothless organization......  Good news about German raiders out in the Atlantic.  Frankly my dear.......  We probably got almost all if not all of the shipments from Norway. _____________________________________________________________________________________ December 19 Russia The war with Finland is automatically fought by events so nothing here. Up to 130 MPP of the 175 I need for Mobility. France Continue to reinforce units on the front line. Meanwhile in the North Sea:  I order my heavy cruiser and battleship formation to go take care of the Germans harassing that poor destroyer group.  The Paris battleship attacks and damages it to 3 strength and then the predicted odds show the destruction when my cruisers hit. It does but the cruisers take more damage then anticipated. We do get a National Morale bonus for winning the battle.  I did have to take them out of raider mode for the turn so no raiding the convoy line but definitely worth it. Poland Fortress Poland....wow.  I only have enough MPP to push the Modlin army up to strength 5. Polish morale is at 1%. I am guessing they will be out by next turn. Still, this is record for survival for me at least. End Turn British withdraw the damaged destroyer. Looks like it is going home for repairs. The carrier Courageous is now prowling near the Azores. The Germans hammer Modlin and the corps above it. With the weather finally clear air attacks soften them up. Both are destroyed and Modlin falls. The army at Warsaw was reduced to 30% effectiveness. The Polish government gives up though and surrenders. Germany agrees to honor the pact and the Soviets get eastern Poland. Lithuania gets a chunk of it but your days are numbered Lithuania. Germany also gets 322 MPP from Poland surrendering. When you force a surrender you get an MPP bonus when it falls. France starts mobilization and so do the Soviets. The French Spanish Republican Engineers arrive. German paratroops deploy at Hamburg. There is a decision where you can get them at half-strength early or wait. They waited. I do not see much point in grabbing them right off the bat. They are not much use in Poland. British subs continue to raid.  Ireland is busy being Ireland.  First raiding of British convoy lines.  I get a report on what will appear when the Soviets go active.  Thought this was a British decision. Turns out no, I get to make the call. My inital impulse was to say no but readiness with Soviets has been rising though. Maybe if Poland lasts longer Soviets increase? I think it is worth it to try to trade some influence with the Soviets for some with the Finns. Might be able to keep the Finns from joining the Axis. _____________________________________________________________________________________ And that is it for this update. Next update (January-February) will probably be slow. I expect the battle for France will come in March or April. Then again, the Germans were shot up more then usual. Maybe there will be more of a delay.
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Aug 20, 2017 05:45
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That's some good holding out as the Polish.
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Aug 20, 2017 06:29
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What are the little [1 1]s and such next to some of the German units' strength?
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Aug 20, 2017 17:13
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Flavius Belisarius posted:What are the little [1 1]s and such next to some of the German units' strength? Upgrades. The first 1 means they have level 1 in Infantry Weapons. The one missing in the middle means they have no AA upgrade. The last 1 means they have the mobility upgrade.
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Aug 20, 2017 20:27
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is the German AI attacking the Warsaw hold-outs every turn? They're holding out splendidly. Great update rate. How much time is each turn? (in-game and roughly, to play)
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Aug 20, 2017 21:40
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Ghost of Mussolini posted:is the German AI attacking the Warsaw hold-outs every turn? They're holding out splendidly. They were mostly focusing on Modlin but there were some attacks on Warsaw. I would guess six to seven attacks on Modlin and two or three on Warsaw until the end. I can do these turns in less then 10 minutes. Takes about 20-25 when I am documenting. It will start to take longer as the number of units increases. Late game allied turns can take 15 to 25 minutes in my experience if I am playing all the Allies (organize diplomacy, select tech for all the powers, fight anti-sub war in Atlantic, organize US troops for transport overseas with escorts, fight in Middle East and North Africa and Italy, fight the Eastern Front, and then do production).
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Aug 20, 2017 23:20
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January-February 1940 Winter continues. _____________________________________________________________________________________ January 20 First units I have to place:  Most of the time when you build units you can place them anywhere close to a city (or port) in the home country. A couple of preset units you get automatically or based on decisions have specific locations like these. Russia Started work on Mobility tech. Units are marching forward into Eastern Poland. Also got two free elite garrison units that are starting to dig in.  France Sent French destroyer group towards Canada, marauding subs over there. Set warships back to raiding the Norwegian convoy routes.  Almost every unit not on the Maginot Line is now at full strength. End Turn The British commissioned some new destroyers. They are taking the whole anti-sub thing seriously at least. They also pulled in their damaged destroyers, probably for repairs. Saw virtually nothing from the Germans. A Slovakian corp was spotted across the border but pulled back.  French Morale falls to 94%.  German Morale goes up to 101%.  The Polish send their manpower to Britain. While I would love them in France Britain needs units more badly.  Finnish Expedition is expensive. Canada convoys still being raided.  The British caught the tanker supporting the Graf Spree along with a portion of its crew. Norway again protests about its neutrality.  Raiding is fun!  Soviets agree to modify the pact. The overall economic gain favors the Soviets while at peace and the ceded territory has almost no military value. _____________________________________________________________________________________ And that is the end of the January-February turn. Forgot how fast winter moves in this game. Next turn is March 2. Image of new Soviet-German border:  We gave up the territory just east of Warsaw over and in exchange we can occupy Lithuania once that option hits in a few months.
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Aug 20, 2017 23:47
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March-April 1940 _____________________________________________________________________________________ March 2 The Polish corps has arrived in Britain. Russia Nothing interesting. Saving to get more tech. France Destroyers continue to rush into the Atlantic to try to find subs. One is nearly to Canada. The new battleship is added to the Norway raiding force.  You can see the Polish corp up in Britain by the RAF. The last of the non-Maginot line ground units are fully built out. I also upgraded the French fighter force, one of the two techs France has. This should mean the French fighters can compete equally with the Germans....though of course they are also hideously outnumbered. Going forward can begin to upgrade the Maginot Line. End Turn The British send the Courageous to join the Ark Royal in the Med.  Well......drat.....I was hoping they would fail. That's bad.  That's good.  That's bad.  That's good.  That's bad.  That's good.  More good.  Okay, to sum up the intervention of the French and British pushed the Finns to Allied leaning but also means we did not get the disputed border territories. This means that unless the Axis push Finland diplomatically that the Finland will not join in when the Axis get close to Leningrad. The worst news is that I did not realize how badly this would cool Allied-Soviet relations. Went from around 26% to 13% and you can see the fall in Soviet income and it may end up down there for a long time. The tech gains give a discount on buying new units and better tanks. I wish I could capitalize on that by buying more tank tech but probably need to invest more in industrial production to get more income next....if I ever get enough MPP at this rate.  Norway is not happy with us and actually leans Axis now. Hopefully the Germans are going to invade or this may have been a mistake. The Germans moved some units including a tank (?) onto the Maginot Line. It makes no sense to put their armor down there. _____________________________________________________________________________________ April 3 Russia  The odious stink of failure. Nothing here. France A new HQ arrives. I decide to fill out the plane units and part of the Maginot Line. One more turn and I should have the whole army up to strength. I am guessing the Germans will hit next turn if the weather clears.  My destroyer finds the sub raiding near Canada.  It dives and escapes combat. End Turn  Allies have been really lucky with naval breakthroughs. This puts American ships on the same level as German and British ships once they are upgraded. The British have been doing a lot of upgrades on their navy.  Economy continues to roll in but the Soviet MPPs make me sad. Germans launch an air attack on the Maginot Line. No damage to the ground unit but I think the French interceptors gave better then they got. That tank vanished into the hinterland.  The King of Denmark orders his army not to resist as the Germans occupy the country. Baltic is now an Axis lake.  The obnoxious raids by the Allies are put into perspective as the Germans land and take Norway.  USA readiness creeps up a little to 20%.  The British are welcomed into the Faroes Islands as defenders as their mother country Denmark cannot protect them.  Strength 8 Special Forces units from both Britain and France return from Finland and arrive in Scotland.  Units are in place to defend the Norwegian coast.  I believe this effects supply.  Iceland is not happy about Denmark falling.  This does put damage on the corps created in Oslo.  Ah, and a new prime minister for Norway. I am sure this man's name will not become synonomous with anything vile or treacherous in the future.  My raids on German shipping continue now that the one reason to stop is no longer in play.  Charge into danger in Norway on a dangerous mission. WWND (What Would Napoleon Do?) Yeah, GO!!!!  Off they go. I do not see the British making a similar decision to send their SF to Narvik. Is perfidious Albion not going to support us? Bastards!!!! _____________________________________________________________________________________ April 25 The invasion still has not come. Germany is behind. Russia I looked into what tech I can buy and can only get aerial warfare, naval warfare, and logistics. Not impressed. Will keep saving. France I send the original raiding battleship and cruiser home to resupply. In the Atlantic no sign of any more Axis raiders. That sub unit was probably running low on supplies when I found it. Fixed damage to my fighters and finished beefing up the Maginot Line. Used the residue to begin reinforcing the corps on the Italian front.  You can see the British have been busy little bees building a few more corps and an anti-air unit. Do they send any to help their beloved ally France? Of course not! I really expect the Germans to move after this turn. They are behind schedule. I must have wounded them even worse then I thought in Poland. I also noticed the Italians are moving towards the Axis. They were at 69% and just reached 77%. End Turn The British turn out two more corps.  Yuck, it has to be done but with such a low income this is going to hurt.  Good to get a head start on that tech for Torch, Italy, and D-Day.  Soviet planes have caught up with the rest of the world.  Ouch. And raiders are hitting the Canadian convoys again.  Winnie!  This means the British cannot raid this line all along the coast. If you want to hit them you now have to do it pretty close to the Kiel Canal.  Iceland becomes British territory. German planes pound the French army SW or Luxembourg in three attacks. Our one fighter unit can only respond once but no damage to strength of the army. Its morale and readiness are still strong. Again, no move on the Low Countries.  France gets a heavy tank unit. Okay, I have played this game several times and I have never seen this tank appear with any of the Low Countries still free. I have no idea what is holding the Germans up.  I think if the British sent more support France might be able to hold. Weird game. _____________________________________________________________________________________  Voting France has a reprieve and has maxed out most of their units. What should they focus on now? 1) Start Infantry Research A gamble. If the Germans hit soon it may not matter. If not it could be a big boon. 2) Get more boots on the ground France starts near its unit maximums but I can build another army and another corps and hope they arrive in time. 3) Build Tanks Will take even longer but if they delay might be worth it. There is not enough MPP to do these right now but I can start saving. I will not take the results as hard requirements. If the Germans do invade I will redirect MPP to rebuilding the units that are already there and fulfill the instructions as I can.
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Aug 22, 2017 00:26
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I think we should start infantry research. One more infantry army or one more armored corps wouldn't do as much, but if we can hold them off somehow, upgrading our infantry would be a really big deal.
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Aug 22, 2017 00:43
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I think we should go for the safer bet and also try to account for as many Germans as possible and therefore build more infantry.
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Aug 22, 2017 00:56
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Going with start infantry research, though more infantry units isn't a bad idea either. Regarding weather, is this game like the Pacific Strategic Command where large chunks of the map have the same weather?
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Aug 22, 2017 01:08
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Infantry Research, the Germans are super quiet, let's take advantage of that
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Aug 22, 2017 01:17
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I am getting flashbacks to Hearts of Iron when the scripting would go off the rails on a <2% chance that the war would not start. Thanks for getting ready to fight but WWII in cancelled. Anyway I doubt this is the same case and I would beef up France now while you got a little breathing room So Infantry Research
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Aug 22, 2017 03:19
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Infantry Research. While that goes keep up wtih fortifying the lines and reinforcing units to full strength.
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Aug 22, 2017 04:56
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Build Tanks Prepare for a armored invasion of Germany.
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Aug 22, 2017 19:03
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May - June 1940 Part 1 Okay, going to start researching infantry weapons once France has the MPP. _____________________________________________________________________________________ May 17 Russia Waiting for something to happen. France Sent the raiders back on the Norway convoy route. German subs are attacking near Newfoundland. Destroyers are on the way.  Rebuilt France's fighters and set the Spanish engineers NW of Paris building a fort along the river to prevent flanking. In Norway Special Forces hit the Narvik garrison but without perfidious Albion's support we have little chance of forcing a retreat quickly so I order the unit to capture a tow next turn. As it stands the unit will be out of supply next turn. End Turn The British move some ships around and have built some new fighters.  The British Royal Marines take Iceland.  Nice. That was fast. The British infantry can now upgrade to match the Germans.  I do not see the British building Artillery units any time soon but every little bit helps I guess.  France's production inches upwards and something has got to be done about the Canada route.  Looks like I am going to have to cancel that research and focus on the line. Here they come. Germany also declared war on Luxembourg and the Netherlands.  French morale suffers. The Netherlands and Luxembourg surrender and Germany plunders both. Paratroops have landed in Belgium.  Belgians lost all but the army in Brussels and one garrison. Netherlands lost a lot including a light cruiser that was sunk when the port was taken.  I missed the screenshots but the British formed the Home Guard, the Soviets decided to definitely annex the Baltic States, and to go ahead and bully Romania into handing over Bessarabia. ....And I am going to have to stop there. LPix is crapping out and this update is taking forever. Presumably someone is uploading 300 screenshots of a tentacle hentai game or something at the moment. Xenocides fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Aug 23, 2017 00:40
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Xenocides posted:....And I am going to have to stop there. LPix is crapping out and this update is taking forever. Presumably someone is uploading 300 screenshots of a tentacle hentai game or something at the moment. Eichenwald 
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Aug 23, 2017 01:17
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so the brits are just being right useless, aren't they
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Aug 23, 2017 01:30
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V. Illych L. posted:so the brits are just being right useless, aren't they A light cruiser did show up to help hunt the sub off of Canada and the BEF is still there but they have quite a few troops. I think they could spare some more.
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Aug 23, 2017 02:36
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May - June 1940 Part 2 June 8 Russia Nothing, just waiting for the Baltic States and Bessarabia to come onboard. France Destroyers tried to sweep the area the sub is in off of Canada but no contact. In France the Belgian army defending Brussels was in terrible shape so the French took over. I flanked one German paratrooper against the coast and beefed up the line in front of Nancy as that army has taken a few hits. I tried to bomb the cut off paratrooper to no effect. I did this partially because the closest fighter escort was across the Channel and I wanted those useless layabouts to participate. I also reinforced my new HQ, my tanks, and the corps down by Italy along with repairing a few units along the front. French Morale has fallen to 63% already. Not good.  In the Med I sent the French submarines into the Adriatic to monitor Italian ship movements. The Italians are at 84% readiness. 90% and it starts shooting up even faster. They should join soon. End Turn First thing the thrice be-damned crumpet crumb-spewing traitors across the Channel do:  They loaded both their corps in France into transports and sent them south. I am guessing they are shipping them to Egypt. TRAITORS! You have not even engaged the enemy yet. Some British light cruisers blundered into a sub west of Britain and took a lot of damage. They also launched a Strategic bombing raid on Dusseldorf to little effect. They did send a fighter group to the Continent.  The glorious revolution is brought to the Baltic States.  The US can start to ship MPP to Britain. Not much but it is a start.  What do they need the Home Guard for when their entire collective military is wetting itself and running for home?  Oh good, that will make their evacuation of the continent a little cheaper.  The US is set to provide 10% of their MPP to Britain. I believe the maximum right now is 15%. Eventually it can go as high as 30%. Nothing much now but once the US economy gets cranking it adds up quickly.  The German sub fleet just sank a British light cruiser group. British and Canadian destroyers harried one of the sub fleets and the Polish destroyers to the east are on their way. The Germans launch a concentrated series of air raids on Brussels. British and French fighter intercepted and did some damage but not enough. German armor breaks the defenses.  Then the Germans push through to the encircled German paratrooper unit. With the surrender of Belgium the last Belgian army vanishes.  The pasta-slurpers have decided to enter the fray. Fortunately it was at the end of the Axis turn so they did nothing yet.  More territory and a little more economy.  Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.  Lost an army and two corps and the best river line.  Note how the French are the only ones still raiding Germany's Norwegian ore convoys. The beans on toast savages seem to have bored with the whole thing.  You get the option to either take low strength unupgraded Aussie and Kiwi units now or fully upgraded full-strength units in late 1941. I tend to wait.   June 30 The lone Special Forces unit in Norway continues its unsupplied retreat. Russia  The Baltic States annexed.  Bessarabia annexed. Starting to move units to defend key cities at the front. With Finland leaning towards the Allies I go ahead and move troops from Leningrad to the South. France What I have to work with:  Not very pretty. I am guessing the British are only still here because those two units could not evacuate last turn. They and the fighters will probably leave now. I consider falling back but most of my units are pretty well entrenched. If there is another breakthrough I will start abandoning the Maginot Line to make a stand at Paris. I move my tanks up to Lille to support. In Africa and the Middle East I prep to evacuate the area and send troops to France. With Mussolini in the war they are not holding back Italian readiness anyways. I will regret this if the Germans do not accept Vichy and I need to defend North Africa.  And the Italian Front:  I am hoping they just attack along the coast. If they head for Lyon I will need to rail a unit down. Right after this image I moved the corp NW and tried to hurt their bomber squadron to no effect. This is not inspiring confidence in the capabilities of the French army. They can also take Monaco now. In the Atlantic my destroyers head further east to where the subs seem to be hunting now. End Turn The rest of the British army has fled and also appears to be on its way to Egypt. All they have left us is a badly damaged fighter group. The Royal Navy has better luck and knocks a German sub down to 1 strength. The sub tried to run but is still detected. It is almost certainly going to die.   Well, maybe if you helped at all you wouldn't all be so depressed.  The British get a little less from some of their convoy routes but they are more compact and (more importantly) none of them go through the Med anymore.  Soviet income increases due to newly annexed territory. The British commit resources to East Africa. No idea what happens if you do not do this....Italians flank Egypt maybe? In France the Germans break the line and are nearly to the gates of Paris.   This hits the main morale which is now at 60% and also tears down the morale of the units on the map.  Three armies lost in their breakthrough.   Time to start pulling units back.  And the Italians are advancing. I should be able to hold out until August....maybe September.
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Aug 24, 2017 00:14
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July-August 1940 _____________________________________________________________________________________ July 14 Russia  Bought another research chit to speed up Industrial Tech. I need more MPP. France Weakened a corps near Lille and had the tanks fall back. French troops are falling back from the Maginot Line to try to buy time for Paris.  French destroyers head towards Britain. End Turn The British try to take out the German damaged sub but it dives and escapes. The British launch carrier raids in North Africa to hit the Italians. Looks like they might push for Tobruk.  The British invested some diplomacy in Sweden and it appears to have paid off. Sweden is down to 9% Axis. One more shift like that and the ore convoys could cease.  Tech they are unlikely to use for a while.  Again, no tanks but nice.  Help with strat bombing and with their carriers.  And help with the Battle of the Atlantic.  Christmas came early. Their cost to build units falls.  Looks good to me. The German drive towards Paris continues. They wipe out a corps and surround an army and pound on the French tanks. A German sub pops up to hit French heavy cruisers raiding the Norway line but losses are roughly equal.   Their near-dead sub also managed to blunder into some British destroyers and is now entirely dead.  French morale is hurting. Now down to 41%. _____________________________________________________________________________________ July 28 Russia Units now hold positions in the Baltic States. France No German raiding activity at the moment so destroyers will just park on likely attack routes.  French units fall back to Paris. One army is still trapped and surrounded.  On the Italian front the Tunisian corps arrives to relieve the battered Marseille garrison. Troops are on their way from Syria as well. I also loaded the Special Forces group in Norway up and am sending them home as well. End Turn British do more bombing near Tobruk and the British Med fleet moves to screen the Adriatic. Strategic bombing continues.  This happens sometimes as long as the Allies hold Malta. It lowers the supply levels of ports for the Axis in North Africa which in turn lowers the supply value of the units there.  Spying lets you get a bonus if your enemy has better tech then you. It also sometimes reveals the locations of hidden enemy units. This is particularly valuable in sub hunting if it works.  Lots of German raiders out there on the convoy lines. The Germans push towards Paris and eliminate four units. Not going to last until winter. The Italians wipe out the Tunisian corps and the supporting garrison and take Marseille.   Another morale hit for losing Marseille. Really should have set up a better defense in the south. _____________________________________________________________________________________ August 11 Russia Just moving units around. France Morale is at 20%  In the Med the French fleet swarms the Italian destroyers.  They are down to strength 2 after all the attacks. Hopefully the British will swing by and finish them off. I had planned to land the Syrian corps in southern France but the Italian advance has taken all the ports so heading through Gibraltar to find a spot to land (maybe should have loaded as amphibious unit). French destroyers in the Atlantic hunt for subs but have no success.  Used most of the French income to rebuild the tanks for use next turn.  Mussolini's wet dream. End Turn The British have begun a ground offensive supported by their carriers towards Tobruk with a single army. They are hurting the Italians. The RAF is aggressively bombing the Germans in France. British light cruisers arrived to finish off the damaged Italian destroyer.  Good, now can you cross the ocean and come save us?  Money! Money! Money!  USSR income goes up. The loss of territory in France is squeezing them.  Who needs him? How bad can Stalin be? The Germans attack in France and acquire a few hexes and wipe out a few units. The Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser group sorties out and sinks a French battleship group.  Italy also continues to advance and drives back the only French corps in the area.  This causes British income to fall very slightly but they start getting destroyer groups as time goes on. They are unupgraded and usually not at full strength but are probably worth it.  At least someone is happy. _____________________________________________________________________________________ August 25 French morale is now at 10%. Even if the Axis do not take Paris the French will surrender soon. Russia I go ahead and buy back that Industrial Production chit to speed up the next level. I was tempted to invest in tank tech instead but I think this will pay off more quickly. France The Dunkerque hits the German cruisers and comes out even in the exchange and then retreats. I cannot afford the morale loss of losing the unit if it is swarmed by German subs. The French Atlantic fleet is basically ineffective at this point and there is no production to rebuild it with.  Various units in France including the tanks hit the Germans to try to slow their attack. The lone French army in the east will try to retake Verdun.  On the Italian front the reinforcements from Syria garrison Bordeaux.   The lone British army pushing forward. It could use HQ support but it looks like the HQ is hanging back to give the supply needed to upgrade the units from the Pacific and the traitors who fled France early. You can also see British engineers building fortifications getting ready for Rommel. France might fall this turn. Paris is vulnerable though the army there has had time to maximize entrenchment. I give France two more turns if I am lucky. End Turn The British attack again in North Africa. The RAF rebuilds in Britain.  USA planes now meet the current international standard.  Cheaper units for the USA.  British just spent money on sending their tanks to Egypt.  Upset about the whole Bessarabia thing Romania joins the Axis. Other then income this is pretty meaningless. Until Hungary joins there is no land route to Germany.  I was clearly too optimistic. The Germans sent every plane they had at Paris and ripped the defenders up. Tanks rolled up and finished the army and German infantry took the city. To ensure surrender the Germans attacked all along the line and the French gave pretty well. At least they went down forcing the Germans to have to rebuild a lot of their ground units. The Italians even attacked Bordeaux with their tanks.  The loss is pretty minor.  This loss is not so minor.  Germany is not going for full conquest.  This gives the Germans the ability at a minor cost to use the French port of St. Nazaire at full supply and puts the port as national territory so Germany can put newly placed units there (most likely subs).  Two hexes of little importance shift allegiance.  The Vichy government is established and Algeria, Tunisia, and Syria all declare for Vichy. Oddly when the French corps left Damascus the British sent the New Zealand corps to replace it and it surrendered. I have no idea if it comes back or if it is gone and needs to be rebuilt.  Spain is now at 36% Axis support. They will probably open a few bases to German subs soon.  WE WILL RETURN!!!!  Jerks.  Germany gets a small (10 MPP?) bonus as long as they have a land route to Spain and Spain stays Axis leaning.  The butcher's bill.    This costs the British a small amount of MPP but opens a lot of decisions later.  It also gives a morale boost.  Downside is it pushes Vichy towards the Axis. Occasionally Vichy gets annoyed enough to join the Axis, especially if you do Operation Torch.  Forming Free France has already paid off. Free French units operate as British units for all purposes going forward. New French units can only reappear if France is liberated. And one small point of British incompetence.  They did not evacuate one of their fighters they sent over earlier. Hopefully they will op move it out (air units can always op move) before it gets destroyed. The game will be a little dull from my standpoint for a while as the only nation I control that is still alive is not at war. Get to see now whether the Germans go for Sealion. I wouldn't. The British have built a lot of units at home and never sent any support to their supposed ally. They look ready.
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Aug 25, 2017 04:56
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Well, your line at Belgium looked pretty ready too. Why knows what they'll do with all their stuff.
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Aug 25, 2017 21:51
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Nuramor posted:Well, your line at Belgium looked pretty ready too. Why knows what they'll do with all their stuff. They are behind but might still go with standard Yugoslavia and Greece or Sealion or blitz in Africa or try to rush Barbarossa.
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Aug 25, 2017 23:33
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I'm going to enjoy following this LP as someone who's still trying to get a handle on all the game's mechanics. One thing I didn't notice in the OP or in the manual--sometimes when units get killed the word "SHATTERED" briefly appears over the unit, sometimes it doesn't--what does it mean?
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Aug 26, 2017 15:25
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Sheen Sheen posted:I'm going to enjoy following this LP as someone who's still trying to get a handle on all the game's mechanics. Not sure, usually when it happens to me it is when a unit is wiped out by bombing. Might mean you can buy it back a little cheaper? Just a guess.
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Aug 27, 2017 02:00
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