Tutor game: AndrewAAGamer (X) vs trulpen [and everyone else] (A+50) OOB

@trulpen Well i was in bryansk by g5, nearly every penny had been spent on fast movers to get as much up as possible, I had all the starting luftwaffe plus an extra bomber and it still wasnt enough to win in moscow. By r5 you had 3 axis territories worth 3ipcs, plus the 9ipc for the NOs. You could easily buy 10 units a turn in moscow whilst germany had to wait for units to move up.

Seems pretty powerful to me!

I always like to get some art on R1. It forces the Axis to stack Bryansk with planes to prevent counterattack on G5, allowing the Allies to land in Normandy. It also force Germany to be more cautious on G4. You can compensate for the one or two missing infantry by landing one additional Allied fighter.

Apologies for the length.

Observation 1:
Germany is set up for a strong G2 DOW move into E. Poland, especially with leaving the possibility of a turn 2 Yugoslavia strafe of the France mechanized units.
I don’t think it’s worth trying to hard counter this. Sure, it can be dissuaded with a 6 tank purchase, but the reaction will be to stall until G3 and get a more lucrative fight later when Moscow has 6 less infantry than it otherwise would.
In the event of the G2, the Karelia/Vyborg infantry will not be with the main group and be in danger of taking an unfavourable trade.

Observation 2:
Germany going for Moscow on turn 5 is a consideration, but his most lucrative timing window starts at turn 6 with units in Germany, Bulgaria, and potentially the Finland infantry.

Priorities:

1. For the love of Pete, don’t lose Moscow on turn 5.
2. Try to get value out of the Karelia/Vyborg group in the event of the G2.
3. If possible, be able to stand up at Bryansk on G4 to retake the Ukraine factory on R5. This will depend significantly on how many planes Germany makes available, but that will at least pull them away from other purposes.
4. Tilt the TUV swing/winning odds for a G6/7+ as much as possible. Obviously Andrew is playing as the better player, meaning risk aversion… Anything below 80%, maybe even 90-95% he will likely balk at.

My proposed changes:

1. Forget about spreading communism and save communism first. Caucasus infantry should move north and keep the mechs/tanks home. You won’t gain enough money to offset the TUV you will lose in Moscow with a weak defense.
2. Mech/tank from Moscow should go to Belarus to help dissuade the Finnish infantry from moving forward on turn 2. This would put them on a G7 Moscow timing rather than G6.
3. The sub should go to 125, also to make the G2 more costly.
4. The best defense at Bryansk may be to attack, meaning I favour Farmboy’s buy of at least 3 artillery.
5. I would also consider 1 Mech purchase for Novgorod. (but wouldn’t build other units there) This will give the opportunity to counterattack the Finnish infantry if they move forward and leave the possibility of some mechanized units remaining to run to Norway… a reasonable headache for Germany.
6. Forget about the AA gun in Novgorod, it doesn’t look necessary. Pull it to Belarus. If necessary it can join the Karelia/Vyborg infantry in Archangel next turn, if not it will be with the main group.
7. Cruiser in 114, and Sub in 115 would be standard I think.

I don’t think i can improve on that. Good job @Tizkit

Tizkit’s comments

1. agreed
2. agreed
3. agreed, he can start convoy raiding right away
4. definitely agree
5. not really necessary since he can’t step forward with 7 inf, but I would prefer a tank over a mech. Essentially same defense and much greater attack. You are always short on attack as Russia
   6)agreed
6. The cruiser ship block in 114 is very essential.

Additional: you can leave the planes in Moscow and still reach everywhere on the Western front. It allows you to land in Yunnan if there is some miracle and you can support Yunnan on turn 2. Sometimes I rush a mech and tank to Sikang on R1 and then return them back to Moscow if the dice are not looking good for China.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris said in Tutor game: AndrewAAGamer (X) vs trulpen [and everyone else] (A+50) OOB:

Additional: you can leave the planes in Moscow and still reach everywhere on the Western front. It allows you to land in Yunnan if there is some miracle and you can support Yunnan on turn 2. Sometimes I rush a mech and tank to Sikang on R1 and then return them back to Moscow if the dice are not looking good for China.

I would tend to agree if the G2 possibility was weaker. The downside of keeping the planes at Moscow is that it wrecks the efficiency of the possible Karelia/Vyborg retaliation. Sure, you can still do it, but your planes must land in Novgorod. This means they will require babysitting by ground units which may subsequently be poorly traded. It could possibly be pulled off with mechanized units, but the planes at Novgorod seems more reliable to me.

@Tizkit I have always been a big fan of the northern route around the Marshes. With the G1 buy of slow moving ground units, there will be a limited number of units that can reach Belarus on G3. The Germany guys won’t make it. The Bulgaria units won’t make it. The Finland units won’t make it. Only fast movers built on G2 can reach, plus some planes. The Italians can only get 2 tanks there.

I feel that a significant R1 artillery build will be in position to fend off a G3 advancement to Belarus as they will be sitting in Bryansk. There is no way to prevent a G4 advancement to Belarus, but at least that is another turn of income. At that point, Russia will be forced to retreat to Moscow unless something else bizarre happens.

Ouch, that G1. :)

Before evaluating the Soviet buy, it would pay to try to establish what UK/US will do assuming a J1. Sorry in advance for the long ramble.

We seem to have opportunity to put immediate pressure on Germany in 110 / on continent.

UK buy carrier and 1 fighter, save 2

Ignore 106
Send 91 cruiser + Sub + Malta fighter against 96. The Malta Fighter will land into Morocco for flexible repatriation to London (and help retake Gibraltar if Italians go there).
Send 98 fleet + Gibraltar fighter against + UK bomber + 1 UK fighter against 97 (assume no scramble / lose a sub). (land tac + bomber in Cyprus which are safe unless if Italy takes greece) Resulting fleet will be wiped out in one strike if all German air goes to nuke it out., but then 110 is safe and sea lion fully off the table. If Germany spreads to take on the 96 cruiser as well, its’s 3.5 planes lost on average.
Attack 110 with 111 fleet, 109 fleet and 3 fighters.
Land an infantry in Holland Belgium, to prevent Italian and German planes from landing there. France can retake it if Italy tries to reclaim. Get 3 IPC. Gives extra incentive for Germany to hit 110 and lose its air force, Note, Germany can build a carrier and land its South Italy planes on it to deploy all its air. With all the planes , it’s a 95% battle for Germany with 80 IPC loss for Germany/120 IPC for UK. Without the two South Italy planes, it’s a 60% battle with 92 IPC loss for Germany and 110 for UK, which is really not a risk that should be taken. A serious treat to the UK involves building a carrier and invites Sea Lion. There’s 50 IPC left for Germany (makes 8 loaded transports) + say 6 planes left. UK will have 2 IPC + 28 + 5 (originals) + 3 (Belgium) + 2 (Persia) +2 Greece - 2/3 (convoy)= 39 IPC of purchases (9 infantry + 1 fighter or better). A sea lion attempt in these conditions is possible only if US can’t bring bombers to bear which would require a J3DOW. It’s unlikely that this would be pulled off and Germany wouldn’t have much to cover its transport fleet in 110 anyways against a US bomber / carrier planes on US 3. This is very important, others should check this math.

NCM: Land Malta infantry + AA gun in Greece, deploy transport in 99 to draw fire from Italian/German plane or Italian sub (weakens counter on 96/93). Greece most likely to hold one turn unless if Germany air / infantry is committed.

NCM: Take Erie with mech.
NCM: Move Canadian sub to 91
NCM: Stack Alexandria with all group troops available (only remote chance involves all Italian air and is very dicy for Italian naval plans. No Landing possible if 97/96 occupied. This prevent walk in into Alexandria reinforced by German air and will force German air to protect Tobruk instead.

So based on all this and stepping back,

Assuming no JDOW, US should buy a destroyer, a carrier, and 2 bombers, save 4. Place all Atlantic side. Assuming JDOW, Sea lion is off the table because of the US fighter that can be sent to Morocco and reach London on US 2. In that case, can replace one of the bombers with a carrier for the Pacific and adding a transport for the Atlantic.

If G2 attack on 110 is skipped (too risky, not worth buying a German carrier and not worth not hitting 97, then situation is following):

Italy income crippled for I2 purchases (very good), only 1 transport left and potentially dying immediately,

Strong allied surface fleet in 110 (sub can be put as picket in 125 on UK 2), 2 British submarines in the med / all surface units destroyed on Germany 2. Strong air force left in the med (1 bomber, 1 tac, 1 UK fighter). for repeat UK landing in Holland/Normandy supported by air force and bombardment. Possibility to park some surface fleet in 92 to deny Italian NO.

Axis air force still strong but dented ~9-10 planes including some helping the Italians in Africa. Greece is a spiky thorn in the side but will be dealt with one way or another.

The key becomes whether we can cheaply bring US units to bear with cheap protection of 91. It will be tempting for Italians to seize Gibraltar to prevent construction of air base if the US is not in a position to retake it. This airbase on UK 2 is a great force multiplier for 91/92 protection, ferrying of planes to reinforce Soviets, and could be paired up with some ground troops and minor complex in Persia on UK 2.

Based on this and the pressure on Western Europe, I believe we can make a stand in Bryansk on G5 provided that we have enough Infantry. As a result, the main German army will move into Ukraine (we stay in Bryansk and hold. On G6 German goes into Rostov in which case we will want enough fodder to fend an Italian can opener and move to Tambov (then the German stack needs to chose between Bryansk without being able to hold Volgorad). We can add offensive power later after we see things play out / are suffering bombardments.

By G7 the UK should be very well established in the Middle East for as long as Japan doesn’t overwhelm everything!

So I agree with 12 save 1 or 11 infantry / 1 artillery.

So is the World ready to finish R1?

I’m not sure yet on the US/UK turns but I suspect I would aim for more conservative allied play, building the airbase at Gib and cleaning the German subs. I’m not keen on Taranto since it means trading British for Italian units and you will hopefully have better odds on that fleet later. I want to hold on to UK navy to safely threaten landings in the Med and West Europe against the Germans. And the airbase at Gib allows for the movement of air to the mid east which can then support Moscow. I’d also grab Persia right away to build the factory the following turn as well.

Maybe with the bid placement, you have enough room to safely play more aggressively with the UK. I haven’t been calculating. If I’m fairly certain I can conserve sufficient British naval and air units, I would consider Taranto or Tobruk (especially the latter I’m thinking at the moment)

This would all depend on the Japan’s turn, but either way, I would still use R1 to add 4 art (or the mech in Leningrad as suggested by Tizkit) and focus Soviet units in Europe rather than to capture Axis territories in the Mid East and N Africa. Maybe you can send the mech down hoping for an opportunistic capture of axis friendly territory, but I wouldn’t do more than that. If the air moves to Leningrad, there is also no need yet to move the cruiser out. He can’t successfully attack Leningrad with just inf and bombers and because of the scramble, he would have to commit more air if he wanted to hit the cruiser in 115 (I’m sure he won’t at this point since the air is out of position then.)

@trulpen

“Pretty immediate” ;) let’s invade Holland and Greece and force the Luftwaffe to bleed. A good exchange of land units can start right away with 4 IPC troops killed in Holland and Normandy (no air support if go all out on 97). With UK support we can certainly grab Iraqi NO with a reasonable force. The preparedness to do this might delay Germany entry by a turn/let Italy step in first.

TripleA Turn Summary: Russians round 1

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition, version: 4.0

Game History

Round: 1

    Purchase Units - Russians
        Russians buy 12 infantry; Remaining resources: 1 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Russians

    Non Combat Move - Russians
        2 infantry moved from Bessarabia to Western Ukraine
        3 infantry moved from Ukraine to Western Ukraine
        2 infantry moved from Eastern Poland to Western Ukraine
        3 infantry moved from Baltic States to Belarus
        1 armour and 1 mech_infantry moved from Russia to Bryansk
        2 infantry moved from Karelia to Novgorod
        3 infantry moved from Vyborg to Novgorod
        1 fighter and 1 tactical_bomber moved from Russia to Novgorod
        1 infantry moved from Archangel to Belarus
        2 aaGuns, 1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Russia to Bryansk
        6 infantry moved from Buryatia to Yakut S.S.R.
        2 aaGuns and 6 infantry moved from Sakha to Buryatia
        6 infantry moved from Amur to Buryatia
        1 aaGun, 1 artillery and 6 infantry moved from Novgorod to Belarus
        1 submarine moved from 127 Sea Zone to 125 Sea Zone
        1 aaGun moved from Novgorod to Belarus
        1 armour and 1 mech_infantry moved from Bryansk to Belarus
        1 armour and 1 mech_infantry moved from Volgograd to Bryansk

    Place Units - Russians
        3 infantry placed in Ukraine
        3 infantry placed in Novgorod
        6 infantry placed in Russia

    Turn Complete - Russians
        Russians collect 37 PUs; end with 38 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame

Ok, the German build up is ambiguous, but I would expect that he is heading south. Because
a) more money
b) he will need to go to Persia even if doesn’t sack Moscow. Going to ME early can be devastating to Brits. Then come back and clean up.
c) He says he’s looking for the long game win or takedown of Russia. ME + turtle in Russia means Moscow should be defensible till G8-9. He knows that and if he just waits, grabbing some territory all the while, the Allies will be a force on the West coast. Solution for the Axis: step back from Moscow, allow troops to filter in, but use mobility to takedown ME then once that supply of fighters dries up. Moscow goes down.

Counter plan: Largely ignore the North. Use the few mobile units to move towards Leningrad to slow the German advance, but yield ground. The real fight will be around Rostov/Volgograd later. Where we force him to protect his gains in the south with German mobile units so they aren’t free to roam to the Middle East.
Ideally, set up for counter strike when Ukraine falls, and take from Germans. I’m fine with Italians owning Ukraine, just not the Germans. Keep the German logistic lines as long as possible.