We currently have 10 attendees with another one hopeful, which probably means three games and space for more to join us.
In which case, it is likely we will have a game of each of Anniversary, 1942.2 and 1914 on the go, allowing players to pick whichever they prefer.
The event is held in Derbyshire, which is about as central to England as you can get.
Just reply to this thread or PM Private Panic if you are interested.
(PS - The Summer date has been set as 16 June)
Hey! I’m interested in joining if possible. Where in Derby is the event?
@jon1988 Hi Jon. Good to hear from you. The event is held in a village a few miles to the west of Derby. I will PM you the address and also asking for your contact details.
Cheers
PP
@Private-Panic Hey Mate, what rule set will be used for 1914? Thanks
@Slip-Capone Hi Slip! Last time we played 1914 we added 2 house rules to the standard ones - maximum build in India of its income and ground units could move two spaces so long as they were all friendly ones.
On Sunday those playing 1914 may or may not do the same thing.
24th March 2019 Battle Report
We had a record attendance with 10 players, three of whom were new to the event and very welcome. I must say they fitted right in and we all had a great time. My thanks to everyone for braving traffic and road works in order to join us, and to Dave, who very kindly allows us to use his house.
Below is a picture of nine of our 10 players. We took pity on our fellow forum members and asked the least good looking of us to take the picture!
I wrote the two battle reports below, although one is entirely based on notes provided by Leo. Another battle report will be added by Mike, hopefully in the not too distant future. Everyone else is invited to add their own comments and corrections! :relaxed:
We decided to play three games, as follows:
Anniversary
Played 1942 set up with no bid.
Axis – Andrew / h0lym0nk
Allies – Mark / Credulous (UK & Russia) and Leo / wittmann (US & China)
Thanks to Leo for letting me have some notes on which to base this report.
Throughout the game, dice was the decider. Andrew admitted the Allies had had terrible luck and he only good luck.
Japan attacked Pearl and won convincingly, moving towards India with the other half of its fleet. Built 2 TTs to augment its starting one. The US could only counter by moving to Hawaii. It would build a CV and Fts every turn, going all Pacific. The Solomons were taken on US2, for a US NO. Nevertheless, Japan was ahead in income, capturing India J2, after it was abandoned by the UK. Japan soon making 60 income, even after the loss of the DEI, only losing a NO on turn 6. The Japanese assault on the ME and threat to East Africa kept the UK player on his toes. The SA factory was built on turn 3 and helped keep Cairo switching hands until turn 5.
At one point J left one of its fleets dangling and the US pounced on it with very good odds. In round 1, Japan got 7/9 hits, and the US won with 4 only units spare. Those darn dice again!
The war was won in Europe though. Russia held Germany at bay, until a disastrous R6 saw Russia lose three battles, with heavy losses. Moscow fell on I6, after Germany had weakened it. Japan was in the Caucasus by then.
The UK took France and 11 income 3 times , but Italy always retook it before the US could get the NO. (Remember there were no US European purchases.) The UK did lose 9 units to a German air attack on G3, but rebuilt.
Italy’s fleet lasted until the US attacked on turn 4, hoping to weaken it, so the UK could follow up. All 6 units were eliminated in 2 rounds. Until then the Italians had stayed safely in the Eastern Med, continuously harassing Cairo and Trans Jordan. However, Gib was held by the Allies for the whole game. The funniest moment was a German Sub attack on a US Gib landed TT and DD. Both players rolled 14 times, before the Sub sank the 2 US ships!
Only 2 SBRs were attempted, both on Berlin by the US and causing 7 damage.
A last ditch 9 vs 10 units on Berlin was attempted by the UK. It failed as AA took out one of the 3 Air needed to have any chance of success, Mark got one hit from his remaining 8 units and Andrew killed 5 in return.
Well played Andrew.
1942.2
Played with no bid. Intercepts included.
Axis – Mike / Aftertaste (Germany) and Dale (Japan)
Allies – Jon (Russia & US) and Colin (UK)
Mike has kindly offered to add his battle report to this thread.
1914
No Russian Revolution. Two house rules – maximum build of 4 units in India and ground units able to move 2 spaces if both were friendly.
Central Powers – Adam / Private Panic
Entente – Steve (Russia, Italy & US) & Dave (UK & France)
I enjoyed this game tremendously, which I hope shines through as I write about it.
The Entente started the game poorly and never managed to recover the initiative. Germany was very lucky in its attack on the UK fleet, losing just 2 subs. Later in the game Italy attacked the Austrian fleet, losing all its warships while inflicting no losses. Similarly, the Russian Black Sea fleet took on Turkey’s equally strong fleet there, losing both cruisers while failing to sink any Turkish ones. So far, so lucky for the CP’s, but the war is not won at sea!
Austria and Germany sent sufficient forces west to hold off the Entente, while committing everything that it could to taking Russia out of the war. Forward offense by R allowed G and A to eliminate a significant part of the R military machine whilst advancing on Moscow, which fell on A5.
In the meantime, A had struggled in Serbia, needing Turkish support for it to be finally captured in T4. But A did take Venice in A1, and unexpectedly found itself able to advance on Rome, which it captured on A5.
Meanwhile T had inflicted a heavy defeat on the UK in Syria, allowing it to capture Egypt and achieve an income on a par with the UK. G had also eliminated UK forces in Africa, contributing to the UK’s loss of income.
Despite losing 2 capitals in turn 5, the Entente struggled on.
Combined F, UK and US forces did begin to make headway against G’s western front, but without inflicting any defeats on G, which always retreated when it needed to. Despite gaining the Ruhr in F7, CP income far surpassed Entente income.
In the meantime, A consolidated a considerable force in Piedmont ready to pounce on southern France, with no Entente forces between it and Paris. Turkey had attacked India, with the UK’s remaining 3 units greatly outnumbered there. It had also begun to build navy, threatening the Entente’s dominance of the Med, aided by the CP’s having gained control of the Rome minefield. G’s retreats on to its reinforcements grew the forces it could bring to bear, while allied advances meant that they outstripped their reinforcements.
The game was declared a CP victory. Steve and Dave were a joy to play against, accepting every bad dice roll with good humour and grace.
@Private-Panic Whicj capitals fell? Rome amd Russia’s ? Wow!
@Private-Panic nice report mate. What turn did the game get called in 1914? Was there a bid?
@Private-Panic
So awesome to see an event like this in the UK and I’m really looking forward to attending (hopefully next time). Apologies to everyone that I couldn’t make it.
Sounds like you all had a great time though. Well played and good game(s)!
@Slip-Capone No bid Slip. My guess is that the Entente surrendered in turn 7, but they had been playing on until the other games ended for a couple of turns.
1942.2
The game began with a limited Russian counterattack that easily eliminated forward German elements, and a slow transfer of units away from the Japanese frontier, purchases for Russia were typical - but strategically sound - throughout the game.
Germany managed to lose his only bomber in a glorious and honourable strategic bombing raid turn one, and then shocked the Allies by moving almost every offensive unit on the board in the direction of Moscow, immediately tipping the Allies off to the Axis intentions. However, no serious offensive action was taken until midway through the game.
The Kriegsmarine made some initial headway against the UK navy but was ultimately eliminated, as was the small fleet in the Med. Lip service was given to the Afrika Korps, and the Allies never really had any threat in Africa or the Middle East.
In the Pacific, Japan constructed a battle ship and tried to keep the Allied navies at arms length, but won a surprising victory against the whole US Pacific fleet early on. A half hearted ‘Man in the High Castle’ invasion was attempted, but driven off, and from that point, the Pacific was very quiet.
China was a steady slog for the Japanese, who, having agreed to take Moscow with Germany, grimly marched across the Chinese and skirmished with the British around Burma. By the wars conclusion, British units were liberating left, right, and Chelsea, but a Japanese factory in Manchuria gave the impression of either a long winded draw, or a very long winded Japanese victory, as they had free reign of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The US took off with gusto and focused on the Atlantic, as Germany practically gifted France to them. France, Italy, Denmark and the Low Countries exchanged hands several times as the Germans had to divert more and more away from the Russian front.
Combined UK and US operations, coupled with the total abandonment of the Pacific by the US, meant that the Western front was lost to the Germans from the outset of Allied offensive operations. A factory in France was testament to the efforts of the Allies determination to press their only real advantage in the war.
The game was - unfortunately - called due to time constraints, but not before honour could be satisfied. Germany can opened Moscow for Japan, having only taken small bites out of the main Soviet forces up to this point, and received some extremely fortunate dice rolls that made Japans follow up victory a possibility. It was decided that the turn sequence would be forgone and the Allies would launch an all out attack with everything they had to try to take Berlin.
Before the final battle, it was agreed by the participants that an Allied victory would result in a draw, and a successful Axis defence would be an Axis victory. The battle was the last action of the day and there was a great deal of cheering and not a little swearing by the perfidious Germans, but five fighters and just enough boys and old men eliminated the Allied invasion. (One successful AA defence roll being a significant contribution).
The game was called as an Axis victory, but it was conceded that there was a good chance that it would have been an eventual Allied victory, if the game had continued for a few more turns.
This was an unconventional game that ebbed and flowed with no clear outcome even to the last, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved and all who watched the conclusion. Jon and Colin (who were both new to the Battle of Britain, but definitely not to A&A) fought valiantly, and were formidable and flexible from the word go. Dale’s willingness to stick to his panicky ally and his shaky battle plan was commendable, and certainly his commitment was a major contributor to the final victory.
@aftertaste Thanks Mike. An exciting game! Hopefully you have recovered from the PTSD?
@aftertaste . Good to read how it started and continued. I only got to see the end, of course. Thank you.
@aftertaste Thanks for the game, and the write up. Looking forward to the next one. We’ll have to play faster next time!
@GuiltyCol Have you just joined the forum? Hope to see you here more.
Leo.
Welcome to the forum Colin!
P.S. Do tell us what it is that you have to feel guilty about? :zipper_mouth_face:
