L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies)

[Stucifer]

British fleet has no chill, those bombard dice!! 😲

[nikola1975]

TripleA Turn Summary: Italians round 8

TripleA Turn Summary for game: WW2 Path to Victory

Game History

Round: 8

    Combat Move - Italians
        1 infantry moved from Northern Italy to Yugoslavia

    Combat - Italians

    Non Combat Move - Italians

    Turn Complete - Italians
        Total Cost from Convoy Blockades: 1
            Rolling for Convoy Blockade Damage in 99 Sea Zone. Rolls: 6,1,5,4,6,6
        Italians collect 8 PUs (1 lost to blockades); end with 8 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame

[Stucifer]

Game History

Round: 8

    Purchase Units - ANZAC
        ANZAC buy 1 destroyer and 1 transport; Remaining resources: 2 PUs; 

    Combat Move - ANZAC
        1 destroyer moved from 64 Sea Zone to 58 Sea Zone
        2 fighters moved from 42 Sea Zone to 58 Sea Zone

    Combat - ANZAC
        Battle in 58 Sea Zone
            ANZAC attack with 1 destroyer and 2 fighters
            Japanese defend with 1 submarine
                ANZAC roll dice for 1 destroyer and 2 fighters in 58 Sea Zone, round 2 : 1/3 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 submarine in 58 Sea Zone, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.17 expected hits
                1 submarine owned by the Japanese lost in 58 Sea Zone
            ANZAC win with 1 destroyer and 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 6
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 submarine

    Non Combat Move - ANZAC
        2 fighters moved from 58 Sea Zone to 42 Sea Zone
        1 fighter moved from Queensland to Wake Island
        1 destroyer moved from 55 Sea Zone to 42 Sea Zone
        1 submarine moved from 64 Sea Zone to 45 Sea Zone
        1 infantry moved from 99 Sea Zone to Greece
        1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Queensland to New South Wales

    Place Units - ANZAC
        1 destroyer and 1 transport placed in 64 Sea Zone

    Turn Complete - ANZAC
        ANZAC collect 11 PUs; end with 13 PUs
        Trigger ANZAC 1 Control Original And Malaya: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 3 PUs; end with 16 PUs
        Objective ANZAC 3 Pacific Supply Lines: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 3 PUs; end with 19 PUs
        Objective ANZAC 2 Control Strategic Islands: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 3 PUs; end with 22 PUs

    Combat Move - French

    Non Combat Move - French
        1 infantry moved from Scotland to United Kingdom
        1 infantry moved from Algeria to Morocco
        1 destroyer moved from 101 Sea Zone to 99 Sea Zone

    Turn Complete - French

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Japanese regular : -0.17
ANZAC regular : -0.33

triplea_41079_8fre.tsvg

[nikola1975]

@Stucifer Bah. This is not fun anymore - the income difference is too big for few rounds now and I can’t see how to overturn it. You are defending all key points very well, and threatening to take some additional income in new round.

I will surrender. Very well played. It might have been too easy for you, this one?

Looking back what I did wrong:

1. The Iceland adventure to chase that battleship was probably the first big mistake in Europe - the fleet went too far away, it was basically shut off from the game for some time, allowing Allies to kill the Italian.

2. Not enough focus in Barbarossa.

3. Taking Guinea island seemed like like a good idea, but again, I was too far, and it was too easy for Americans to disrupt that income, while Pacific UK managed to build defense. Japan seemed ok for some time, but lost too much time there, while not really threatening Australia.

• Few wrong “small” decisions on battles, which just made the situation worse.

What do you think?

[Stucifer]

@nikola1975 I agree with all of those points.

1. Iceland the battle went well for you but gave me breathing room as the UK to put more money into Egypt without worrying about a Sealion. I almost didn’t scramble the fighters because losing those ships doesn’t put me any further behind than I usually am as the UK in the Atlantic with a German naval build on round 1.

2. Definitely put Italy to the screws and kept my income as UK to the point I was barely putting resources into the Med as the US. I think if you don’t do Sealion you are probably best off with Germany focusing on either supporting Italy getting its NOs in the Med or with Italy focusing on getting some income in Russia that can’t be convoyed and supporting Germany with a strong mechanized can-opener force, going for the Southern Caucasus hard.
   I also prefer to push hard to Leningrad early and often build a 2nd transport in the Baltic to shuck 4 infantry in each round. This has the added benefit of making Norway a less tantalizing target to the Allies. It also lets me exert pressure on Moscow early while pivoting mechanized to Stalingrad, ideally forcing the USSR to retreat and only trade it by round 5 or 6. Italy if supporting can rush through to capture Southern Caucasus and at that point I should be around 80+ with Germany.

3. Guinea/Solomons is a good NO to suffocate the ANZAC but you have to have really good fleet positioning to keep the flies away. Priority is always the money islands for me, but denying ANZAC or UK is pretty high too. I really like the Wake Island hold as the US if I can get away with it.
   The Phillipines/SZ36 seems underrated in a lot of games I see as the primary staging area for your main fleet.
   I like SZ37 and use it a lot but it, doesn’t have the reach to SZ55. From 36, you are forcing the Allies to use either 2 blockers or not hold 55. 36 also supports amphib attacks on Wake, Marshall, Gilbert, all of Indonesia, Queensland, and Malaya, while being able to retreat to SZ 6/7 to defend the Home Islands if necessary.

Generally I think attacking the USSR as Japan isn’t worth it, I almost always empty out Manchuria Korea and push south. If the soviets attack me, they don’t get the infantry, and I can use a couple subs between 5 & 6 to stifle any extra income they’d be getting. Eventually my economy is going from the big money in Indonesia that I can shuck some forces into Manchuria & Korea to retake that income and eventually chase them off the coast just by having a large air force and a bunch of transports for my Phillipines/FIC shuck in SZ 7.

[nikola1975]

@Stucifer Great points. Makes me want play a rematch 😀

[Stucifer]

@nikola1975 said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):

It might have been too easy for you, this one?

I was worried about that armour stack coming through Ukraine for a while, but the lack of power up north let me shift everything down to Stalingrad. I think that is one of the clearest strategic errors in hindsight. 2nd was not taking Crete both to give Germans the NO and also to force a reaction from UK. For your bid as Italy if you are going to go Med I think a destroyer in 99 and an infantry in Tobruk is a better spend. Or a mech + armor between Albania and Northern Italy for a hard Barbarossa.

Although I would really stress bidding more units to Germany or Japan is more effective use of your money. If UK decides to roll the dice on the Toranto attack, even with the 3 plane scramble you are hard pressed to not lose those units as Italy, and if you do any naval buildup will be very slow and tedious. I like to try and feel the UK strategy out, let them risk the attack in 99 and take advantage of the board position that opens up elsewhere.

[Stucifer]

Crete is a 6-IPC swing, -3 UK +3 GER. and usually you can grab Cyprus too which cuts another 3 from UK.

[nikola1975]

@Stucifer said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):

1. Iceland the battle went well for you but gave me breathing room as the UK to put more money into Egypt without worrying about a Sealion. I almost didn’t scramble the fighters because losing those ships doesn’t put me any further behind than I usually am as the UK in the Atlantic with a German naval build on round 1.

The idea of just putting fighters there and not scrambling them is great. I tried this maneuver once in a live game, but scrambled the planes and it went disastrously for UK - but only putting them there, not scrambling and therefore getting German fleet to the North is excellent. You either keep the Battleship, or give some room for Gibraltar move.

This makes German strafe on the battleship questionable move. Maybe it is better to go until the end, risking that German BS if needed?

2. Definitely put Italy to the screws and kept my income as UK to the point I was barely putting resources into the Med as the US. I think if you don’t do Sealion you are probably best off with Germany focusing on either supporting Italy getting its NOs in the Med or with Italy focusing on getting some income in Russia that can’t be convoyed and supporting Germany with a strong mechanized can-opener force, going for the Southern Caucasus hard.
   I also prefer to push hard to Leningrad early and often build a 2nd transport in the Baltic to shuck 4 infantry in each round. This has the added benefit of making Norway a less tantalizing target to the Allies. It also lets me exert pressure on Moscow early while pivoting mechanized to Stalingrad, ideally forcing the USSR to retreat and only trade it by round 5 or 6. Italy if supporting can rush through to capture Southern Caucasus and at that point I should be around 80+ with Germany.

This is a good plan of course, but I never manage to get to the Caucasus or Stalingrad if I focus north. Italy could be the difference there, you are right, I rarely support that attack with more than one Italian tank - I usually invest into the Meds with them heavily. Which did not work at all in this game.

3. Guinea/Solomons is a good NO to suffocate the ANZAC but you have to have really good fleet positioning to keep the flies away. Priority is always the money islands for me, but denying ANZAC or UK is pretty high too. I really like the Wake Island hold as the US if I can get away with it.
   The Phillipines/SZ36 seems underrated in a lot of games I see as the primary staging area for your main fleet.
   I like SZ37 and use it a lot but it, doesn’t have the reach to SZ55. From 36, you are forcing the Allies to use either 2 blockers or not hold 55. 36 also supports amphib attacks on Wake, Marshall, Gilbert, all of Indonesia, Queensland, and Malaya, while being able to retreat to SZ 6/7 to defend the Home Islands if necessary.

Wake Island harbour was very successful for you, it made life very hard for Japan. Again, this sounds good when you tell it like this, but realising it is probably not easy.

[nikola1975]

@Stucifer said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):

@nikola1975 said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):
I was worried about that armour stack coming through Ukraine for a while, but the lack of power up north let me shift everything down to Stalingrad. I think that is one of the clearest strategic errors in hindsight. 2nd was not taking Crete both to give Germans the NO and also to force a reaction from UK. For your bid as Italy if you are going to go Med I think a destroyer in 99 and an infantry in Tobruk is a better spend. Or a mech + armor between

I will probably try a sub for Italy and infantry for the Germans in Holland in our next game. Mediterranean is hard, good Allied player like you can make a strong position in Egypt and the Middle East, basically stopping Italy very early.

Like you said, Crete and Malta/Cyprus are important, but I usually tend to wait taking them until I build the carrier or German comes down to help. Which did not happen in this game.