Viewing Platform

[joegrundman]

This thread is for comments by observers who do not wish to intrude on any of the active game threads.

Feel free to ask questions, offer advice, and if you wish to, advertise your interest in being a replacement or joining the game

[Oberon]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmLgS...eature=related

*Fuhrer Oberon bows to the crowd and takes his place in the Viewing Platform*


Well played folks. Sorry for the delays at the beginning of the game, life threw some curve balls and I was having trouble getting my head around the logistics of the game, but Joe, you were great at explaining things and being patient at my delays.
In a way, my timing was off during the Spanish campaign because my next target was Portugal, sadly the Allies got there before me and from there it was all downhill.
In the East I was bricking it from the start, if it wasn't for the way the game is angled, I'd have left the Soviets alone and focused on conquering Britain and the rest of Europe. However, they had to be dealt with, and by going a year early it was hopeful that I could smash them while they were still weak. Raptor, gotta admit you threw up one helluva defence when you took over from CCIP, made my work a lot harder and I knew that Stalingrad was out of the question, although my aim was to try and exploit the Turkish situation to bust up from the south but didn't have to units to commit, particularly with the Allies pushing up through Spain.
However, I think the biggest surprise of them all was the performance of the Italian navy if it wasn't for them I doubt I'd have gotten a foot hold in Africa, let alone conquer it and most of the Mediterrainean and Middle East!!
It was kinda flattering for the Allies to focus everything on me. I think that if the forces had been split a bit more so that the Pacific theatre had more forces then I would have been able to hold on a bit longer. Perhaps even conquer the Soviets
Research was always to be geared towards getting the Vengence rockets, Advanced Subs and Jets as well as heavy tanks. Good to see that Donitz's doctrine would have worked well, and loved the 'The Atlantic is pwned by the Uboats' comments
So...what did the Allies and ebil Communists make of Fuhrer Oberon?

And once again, thank you Joe for all your help, and good luck Lobsterboy, will be watching the Pacific with interest.

[Raptor1]

Well, I think this all would've ended a lot sooner if we had managed to keep you out of the Middle East and consistently bombed the oil plants, didn't realize how important oil is until a few turns ago

I could've started a counterattack earlier in the game, but lack of understanding of the game mechanics (I was sure that movement points expended in the movement phase also counted for the exploitation phase...) kept me from counterattacking until I was sure I could make a breakthrough and keep it

Your defense around central Poland was impressive, but that came at a point where the Soviet war machine was fully mobilized and relatively unstoppable

Anyway, well played

Now LobsterBoy must get it...

[TarJak]

I agree. My biggest strategic blunder was not ensuring air cover for the RN in the Med and relying on their big guns to take out the Italian navy. I also screwed up big time when I left that beach in Gaza undefended and allowed the back-door invasion of Egypt. Had we maintained control in the Med I think we may have gotten into Italy far earlier and the game in Europe would probably have followed more historical lines.

I think you probably over-stretched by bringing Spain into the war. It allowed us to jump into Portugal and once that happened the weight of US materiel was simply going to be too great.

Nice work on the initial offensives, we probably made it easier than it should have been by keeping British troops out of France and Belgium, but we didn't want to waste the limited forces we had in that excersise at the risk of an invasion of GB itself.

It was a tough and engaging tussle and you played it very well. Love the price deecreases of the papers too!

[LobsterBoy]

....sitting quietly in the corner...looks up and sees everyone staring.....


Why is everybody looking at me???


Anyway, I wish I could have helped out Oberon more than I did, but this game isn't set up like Axis & Allies. I had hoped that a conquest of India would have pushed the UK into a surrender scenario, but it took too long. I don't think I could have done it any sooner, but the pressure of the U-boats was starting to wane by then. Once the US was involved taking Australia was no longer possible. Now I must choose my battles carefully, a mixture of calculated defense and spoiling attack.

Or you guys could just surrender now

[TarJak]

With US and UK scientists studying some of the super weapons of Germany rumours of a super weapons programme for use against Japan are growing in currency.

Surrender? Hah! not likely matey!

[JALU3]

Next game, can someone see how long Bataan could hold up if the used the original defensive plan, including the logistical stockpiling.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by JALU3

Next game, can someone see how long Bataan could hold up if the used the original defensive plan, including the logistical stockpiling.

Well, considering that Bataan is on the same hex as Manila, and that you can only dig in 2 Infantry factors there...

Probably not longer than the 1st or 2nd turn after the Japanese attack (If you get very, very lucky)

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by TarJak

With US and UK scientists studying some of the super weapons of Germany rumours of a super weapons programme for use against Japan are growing in currency.

Surrender? Hah! not likely matey!

Nooo!!

[joegrundman]

The War in Europe was nail-biting! It was the best kind of game, because although the allies won, let's face it, you weren't sure that you would!

for me the decisive events (in no particular order) were:

1) the late start to the allied ASW campaign.

Eventually the ASW resources put out by the allies were tremendous in scale, but nonetheless that late start gave the U-boats an advantage that took a long time to claw back.

In addition, Germany was so hot with his torpedo research rolls! He got an advance pretty much every year, until 1943 i think. He did invest a lot of RPs in the u-boats, but not the max actually - he could also have invested in air range. But it didn't matter -- the clean sweep of the atlantic inflicted crushing brp losses on Britain, and meant that there was a shortage of transports until 1944, so brps couldn't be sent to russia in her darkest hour and britain couldn't reinforce india or the med adequately.

Britain's war economy was halved from the starting point as a result of the devastating U-boat war.

2) the second battle of Malta

it took a long time for the allies to learn the importance of never fighting a naval battle under enemy air superiority, and there were many engagements in which the axis fleets outperformed the allies.

But this battle was the final straw that gave the axis undisputed command of the med, which they capitalised on lethally.

it's true that if gaza had been defended it would have been harder for the axis to conquer egypt, but not much - italy had the fleet support to overcome a small garrison, and there were few bigger units available.

so it would have bought the allies another turn or two maybe, but i think the outcome was settled with the naval battle.

Once Iraq was conquered in an entertaining sideshow of the war, Germany's oil problems were solved until the destruction of the italian fleet in spring 1945.

3.The battle of Gibraltar Strait.

the real winner of this battle was Japan. Given the terrible mauling the RN and USN received in this battle, then after Pearl Harbor the US fleet was incapable of opposing the Japanese fleet until mid 1943, and even then only on equal terms.

in europe, although a marvellous engagement it meant the end of the KM and axis aspirations to take Gibraltar.

4. The attack on Russia in Fall 1940

Historians are generally in agreement that this was Germany's biggest mistake. If Germany had spent summer and fall and winter instead on bombing Britain, Britain likely wouldl have surrendered. As it was she was hanging on by a thread in those turns.

The attack on russia was devastating, but by starting in fall, there was no follow up before winter came in and russia was able to rebuild the army and retake moscow.

the 1941 renewed attack against a more mobilsied russia was much weaker

Had Germany attacked in summer 1941 with similar results, the second attack in fall 1941 would have been much harder for russia to recover from, with most of the army gone.

as it was, russia was never really very close to surrender.

Still, i'm glad it happened this way since it made a much better game from a spectacle viewpoint than *bang*britain surrenders *bang*russia surrenders - end of game winter 1941, just as Japan starts.

5.The invasion of Portugal.

Historians still debate this one. Some say that Germany's failure to conquer portugal left an opportunity that could never be won back, or perhaps if he'd called off the 1943 russian offensive to deal with the invasion he could have pushed it back into the sea.

Others point out that it took over a year for the allies to get through spain defended only by the spanish and a handful of german units, and that the allied invasion only led to a serious weakening of the russian front in 1944 once the allies reached France.

These historians think possibly the allies could have better waited until Spring 1944 building up in Britain and invading across the channel and starting the land campaign much closer to Paris and the German border, possibly getting the German surrender earlier.

Nonetheless the morale effect of the invasion shouldn't be undervalued for the allies who at that point were desperate for some good news anywhere.

6. The Summer 1943 Russian Offensive.
The single most important event in the war was the brilliantly planned offensive that utterly reversed the course of the Russian campaign in one fell swoop. Up to that point germany could still have won, as it happened just as the Russian defenses were beginning to falter in the oil producing regions.

But with most of the wehrmacht suddenly outflanked and the danger present of a clear road all the way to Berlin, Germany ordered a full-speed retreat that saw Germany pretty much out of Russia as fast as he'd got in.

In the end much of the fighting between Russia and germany was in Poland and the Balkans.

It was all down to a tactical decision, and the outcome could have been so different if the russians hadn't seen it.

Raptor1, really has mastered the armoured ground combat aspect of this game and delivered solid defensive and offensive operations time after time.

I suspect the coming Manchurian campaign may be reminiscent of the historical one.

[Oberon]

A good summary Joe, and I agree with all the points raised. In retrospect, I would have tried to knock the UK down before the USSR, but I was absolutely terrified of the USSRs overwhelming power and feared that the UK would not surrender in time for me to turn my attention for a decisive assault on the USSR.
My aim was to get as many nations under my governance or allied to me as soon as possible, even to the point that I debated not setting up Vichy, but when I heard of the consequences of not doing so (no Vichy colonies, more Free French to the Brits) I decided to, and later pushed them to join me. More nations meant more BRPs, however, as Tarjak pointed out, that also meant that I began to eventually overstretch. I hoped that I would be able to trade land for time when the inevitable began. I was expecting an attack to come to Italy or Africa first before Spain, I was very weak down there.
Gibraltar would have been the key to the Med, and I did have eyes to take it, but the battle of Gibraltar put paid to that, and that, I think, was the turning point in the Atlantic. From then on, the Kriegsmarine was downhill, with one brief resurgence with the Type XXIs which as in reality, was too little, too late.
I also expected the Allies to try and flank me from Spain, with a landing at Marseilles or somewhere on west French coast. But you just pushed through the Oberon line and kept going!

And the Russkies totally caught me off guard with the counter-attack, however it was bloody good timing because I was about to begin digging in with the 'Rote Wand' Red Wall, and it was at that moment that I was at my weakest, and that moment Raptor spotted it and struck!
Generally, I think I overstretched in Russia, I was trying desperately not to do it, but in the end it's just a wide front that I don't think that it's possible not to do!

Great game all, and great post-match analysis's.

[Raptor1]

I do believe we planned some kind of outflanking invasion in southern France to close up the Spanish campaign, can't remember why we didn't do it

Anyway, nice summary of the events, very close to what I thought

[TarJak]

The flanking attack was planned to go after Atlantic ports, but the numbers for getting though the Oberon line just worked out so we didn't need to do it. I was in too much of a hurry to use the commandos in taking Rotterdam as well although Oberon retook it fairly readily, it removed a few factors from the German front lines for port defense.which tipped the balance in our favour a bit more.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by TarJak

The flanking attack was planned to go after Atlantic ports, but the numbers for getting though the Oberon line just worked out so we didn't need to do it. I was in too much of a hurry to use the commandos in taking Rotterdam as well although Oberon retook it fairly readily, it removed a few factors from the German front lines for port defense.which tipped the balance in our favour a bit more.

Ah, I remember now

I think what really tipped the balance that turn was the fact that the Germans committed so much air that they could not uninvert all of it, which let us dominate the skies and then break through the line

[JALU3]

OMG WTF, what a blood bath that naval battle was. Nukes, and yet still no capitulation. Looks like Japan is going to be red. Now what about Manila, you got our boys there rotting in POW camps.