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Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

 
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Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 6:22:58 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		15 years or so ago I had a once a month WIF group that never managed to complete a game. That's the extent of my WIF experience prior to buying MWIF.

Hopefully other new players can learn from my mistakes, veteran players can get a chuckle from my more obvious blunders, and the powers that be can get a sense of the frustration that bugs and certain badly implemented features are causing. I'll be uploading save game files to go with the reports so anyone who wants can pick up and play along, or use my mistakes for teachable moments.

Part I - setup

I picked optional rules for this game with a few things in mind. Obviously the point of playing any game is to have fun, so optional rules that add more detail without adding more fun (certainly a subjective call) were left out. Also left out were the oil rules, because the convoy system is messy enough without trying to save and use saved oil. Even if the bugs are all ironed out, the production planning form is so unintuitive, so clunky to use, that I would probably avoid using this rule.

In China I like the nationalist attack weaknesses and the extra Chinese cities, along with the warlord units.
I use the unlimited breakdown rule (in spite of the game crashing bug that comes with it), most of the optional air rules, and the 2d10 combat tables. The 2D10 table make it harder to get overruns and generally make life a little harder on the attacker, so to balance it out I am not using defensive shore bombardment.
I find that choosing the units to return to base and the actual return to base phase at the end of each turn occupies more of my time than I like already, so I opted out of using cruisers in flames. I don't think there's enough added to justify the additional counters. I also left out artillery and ski troops this game - I've always thought that those combat factors were already included in individual unit factors, and were too small of units to properly belong in a corp level grand strategy game.
I prefer to play with partisans, but the most recent patch broke them for me. Every time a die roll creates a partisan, the game crashes and has to be reloaded. Sometimes this repeats itself and I have to reload several times until a partisan free end of turn happens. So no partisans this game.

Here's a screenshot of the optional rules:






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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 8:46:54 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Setup - For those who haven't played yet, or who are starting your first game, here are a few things you need to be aware of. When you set up your units for each side, some of the units you get are randomly chosen from a pool of units in that country's force pool. As a result, you'll start with a slightly different batch of units each time, although always the same number of each type of unit. For example, if the scenario says you start with 7 infantry corps, you'll always get 7 inf corps, but the actual combat values of each unit will vary some from game to game. MWIF does the random draws for you, in the background. The game also has a very thorough autosave function that saves the game in pretty much every possible subphase. However, when it saves the game in the setup subphases for each country, it saves it prior to the random pulls. This is all a very long and drawn out way of saying that if you were to reload a game from one of the setup subphases, you will end up with a different disposition of units.

The first thing you will need to do when starting a global war game is deal with the lend lease pool. This form allows countries to lend certain units from their force pool to other allies. Lent units are removed from the originators force pool and placed in the allies pool of unbuilt units, to be randomly drawn during production. Information on using the lend lease form can be found on pages 52-56 of the players handbook, Vol 2. Also note that once the game has started, you can access the lend lease form during production, so the choices you make during setup are not irrevocable.

Next you'll set up the on board units for each major power, starting with the US. Before drawing units from the force pool, you're given the option to scrap outdated and unbuilt units. Any units you scrap are permanently removed from the game and can never be built. Why would you want to permanently remove units from the game? Because when you set up a unit (or produce a unit later) you choose randomly from all units of that type available, as mentioned above. For some unit types in some countries (ie.. German armor) you may produce every available unit. But for most unit/country combos, you will never produce the full card and scrapping allows you raise your average combat efficiency by eliminating outdate units from the mix. Each country has a default list of scrapped units included in MWIF. This list was created by experienced players, and I highly recommend using it until you get a better feel for the game. To use the default list, click the button that says "restore default list" on the scrap units form. For this particular game, I used the default scrap list for all countries.

After you've scrapped American units, you can start setting them up. The unit setup tray at the bottom of the screen will show a set of units on the right, and a location on the left. All the units currently in the tray must set up in the highlighted city/country/region. For example, the American set up tray defaults to a set of naval units that must be set up on the East Coast. You can pick the units up one at a time and place them in east coast ports, or you can double click one of the units in the tray to select all of the units. If you do that, you can deselect individual units one at a time, or deselect all units by double clicking again. Ships must go into ports, and WiF has two types of ports. Light blue anchors inside white circles represent minor ports and can hold 4 ships each. White anchors in dark blue circles are major ports with unlimited naval stacking capacity. Note that not every port is necessarily a city, and later in the game reinforcements can only arrive in cities. When possible, I suggest basing your naval forces in ports that are also cities, as it will make it easier to merge reinforcing ships or ground units that you want to transport via ship with your fleet.

Looking at the map, you can see that Norfolk is a city (the yellow dot) and a major port (the anchor in a blue circle). Norfolk also has one other advantage - it straddles two sea zones. In WiF, ports that straddle 2 or more sea zones are far more powerful as the allow for great versatility in deploying your navy. In the pacific these hexes all have very familiar names, like Truk, Midway, etc... They also are good places to place naval air or ground based fighters that you intend to use to cover sea lanes. On the east coast of the US, it's a little less important to cover multiple sea zones at the start of the game, but we'll base the east coast fleet in Norfolk just the same. And for similar reasons, I dropped the west coast fleet into San Diego.

In order to satisfy trade agreements with Japan, I put 5 convoy points into the West Coast sea zone, along with Mendocino, the Hawaiian Islands and the Central Atlantic sea zones. In theory, the 5 convoy points in each zone will send 4 resources to Japan, while returning 1 build point. In practice, I've never managed to get the Japanese build point returned to me, nor have the Japanese ever been shorted a build point or given a penalty for failing to send it. The entire convoy system is badly in need of overhaul - this one problem is a swing of roughly 10 BP's, depending on how quickly the US can embargo the Japanese. That's a few CV's.

I decided not to put any of the American planes on the map at this time. Each plane on the map requires a pilot and I would rather wait and assign pilots to planes when the US is closer to war. That will save me a lot of headache in terms of pulling outdated air from the board and replacing it with modern planes fresh off the American production lines. I split the transports up, 2 on each coast, and put the subs on the west coast for now. I added a CP to the gulf of Alaska to get the oil down to Canada, and 3 more in the Caribbean to pick up the Venezuelan oil.

Then we're on to the Russians, who set up the bulk of their European forces in the south, ready to take Bessarabia. The mech is stacked with Timoshenko on the rail line due east of Lvov. If the Germans deny the Russian claim, those two units will follow the rail line into the Carpathian mountains and threaten to invade Romania proper near the Hungarian border. With Russian units inside Rumania, Germany can no longer enforce a peace treaty, and Russia can threaten the resource rich oil fields of Ploesti. Hopefully the Germans will be reasonable and acquiesce to the Russian request for land, but should it come to war, Uncle Joe will push his commander to drive all the way to Bucharest. The 7 strat factor bomber ready to hit Ploesti should also provide some incentive to reach a peaceful resolution of the Rumanian problem.

The Italian Navy sets up in La Spezia, for duo sea zone access. I drop a convoy point in each of the 3 Mediterranean sea zones, plus another in the Red Sea to help the East Africans overthrow their French and British oppressors (because Italian oppressors are much more civilized). The leftover CP's go with the fleet in La Spezia, for deployment on an as needed basis. I set up the bulk of the Italian land units on the French border. My plan this game will be to align Hungary/Bulgaria/Rumania following an ill fated attempt by the communists to annex portions of Rumania, then send a few germans to pacify Greece. This will convince the Yugoslavians to abandon their pretense of neutrality and join the thousand year reich. Meanwhile the Italians will try to punch a hole in the French Alps, claim a few resources and ports and put pressure on Paris from behind. An early Italian entry into the war is useful, because until Italy and Germany are at war with the same major power, Germany can't send resources or build points to Mussolini. Without German largesse, Italy's production is embarrassing, and we'll need those Italian ships and planes later in the war.

The Chinese setup is tricky for me, and however I do it the Japanese usually manage to rout them eventually. I'm focusing my initial defenses on Chang Sha and Hengyang in the south, with stacked defenses in both cities, and units in the mountains leading up to them. In the north I decide to sacrifice Chengchow. It's surrounded by open terrain which means either the Japanese can easily surround and destroy the city garrison, or the Japanese get to kill Chinese units in the open, and then surround and destroy the garrison. The one thing I am sure about as the Chinese, is you never want to let the Japanese fight you in open terrain.

The UK set up is the longest part of the set up process due to the convoy system. If the powers that be get nothing else from this AAR, I hope they get that the current form use for setting up and maintaining convoy systems is bad. Even without the numerous bugs that plague the code, the form itself is not intuitive, not easy to use, and does not synch up with its own documentation. It really needs to be thrown out and rebuilt from scratch with a front end designed by someone who has more experience with user interfaces. I have nothing but respect for Steve and the amazing job he's done bringing this game to life - this is just one area where he could use some relief pitching from a fresh arm. Without going into too much detail, I built my convoy lines to avoid the Med (while still laying down CP's in the east/west med and the red sea for supply purposes) and to limit the number of cp's passing through the Bay of Biscay to the extent possible. This means the North Atlantic will be a plum prize for Axis subs and raiders for a while. I put a couple of cruisers in Scapa to cover Faeroes Gap against early war escapades, and they'll be joined by any Polish and Danish units I may get. I use any saved Dutch ships for west African convoy protection usually, since I'll only be guarding against a single Italian sub there most of the time. Gort, the mech unit and one motorized set up with transports in the UK, while the other Transport sets up ready to bring Wavel to southern France. With both HQ's in France, I'll be able to bring in extra units for the BEF in northern France. The other ground units set up in ports for easy transport later.
A pair of Spitfire's go into Dover where they can provide air cover over the BEF later. I chose the 5 strat factor Whitley over the stronger 3 point tactical bomber. Nothing annoys the Luftwaffe more than having to keep fighters in reserve against late turn British strat bombings. Even if it never flies, it will tie up two or three German fighters just sitting on the runway. I put the two Egyptian terr's in Suez and Cairo. With the exit of Wavel, there won't be a serious North African campaign until later in the game, and I've lost Egypt to Italian territorials hiking up the east coast of Egypt before. No reason to more the Egyptians away from the cities if not ready to put some serious effort into liberating Libya.

The French are very aware of the Italian setup but they are in a bit of a bind. Too many border hexes, not enough units, and the units that they have just aren't very good. Their transport sets up in Syria to rush some troops home. That will help close the alps, but the bulk of the French army, such as it is, will set up in the north. Despite assurances from the Belgian government that the Belgian army stands ready to repulse any German invasion, the French high command is concerned.

The Japanese have an interesting choice. In the north, the communist Chinese are weak and at first glance it would appear that a screening force to hold them off while focusing on central china is the way to go, but a quick glance at the force pools tells us another story. Most of the available reinforcements are communist, and the communist units are much stronger than their nationalist counterparts. Also the Communists don't have the nationalist attack weakness holding them back. Taking out the north, or at least clearing Sian, has to be a high priority for the Japanese. I'll start Umezu there with a crack team, put the rest in central china supported by Terauchi railing out of Manchuria, and Yamamoto will lead an expeditionary force through Canton in the south. So say we all.

As predicted, after putting 5 CP's in the Japanese Coast, Japan is receiving the mandated resources for its trade agreement, but is not holding up its end of the bargain by returning a build point. At the start of the game, the Japanese convoys will pick up the promised resources from NEI automatically. After Germany conquers the Dutch and the NEI becomes the new home country, those resources switch to default idle, and the Japanese player has to manually use the clumsy production planning form to manually assign them to convoy transportation home. Worse yet, the game forgets that in between turn, even though it's set as an override, so you have to repeat the process every single turn until that oil is mercifully embargoed.

Germany sets up with two divisions ready to take Denmark on the first clear weather impulse after the first. (on the first turn, the weather is always good, but Germany is not allowed to declare war on anyone but Poland). Taking Denmark prevents the UK from sending its fleet into the Baltic and threatening ore shipments from Sweden. Denmark sets up with no ground units and a single fast division can conquer the country in a single impulse. The second division just denies the Danish navy a safe harbor by taking the other ports. I'm also set up for an attack on the Dutch, if the weather is good. Although there's a lot of empty space along the French border, the game will start with the French and British upholding their treaty obligations and declaring war on Germany. The border will be guarded by reserves called up when that happens. I set up a minimal force against Poland, one that will get the job done but will require 3 impulses (even rainy impulses will do). As an exercise for new players, I invite you to download the attached save file and play it as a one turn scenario.



Edited to fix some formatting problems and some of the more glaring typos. Too lazy to fix the minor typos.


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< Message edited by Zartacla -- 1/8/2014 11:18:11 AM >

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 2
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 9:43:10 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Sept/Oct 1939, Impulse 1:
The Polish align with the British and put their air in Vilna. On the allied turn, it will fly to Kaunas, be interned, and the British will gain 2 pilots. I double stacked Lodz and Warsaw (Germany must take those two cities to conquer Poland), and screened the north with 3 point infantry. Screening the south or west would be pointless, as the infantry would either be ignored or overrun. Although really, any Polish setup is doomed to fail.

The Italians take a combined. Often on the first impulse I'll sail a transport into the red sea and pick up the Italian infantry that must start the game in East Africa. However, no Eritrea territorial and no Sudanese territorial means this time I want that 4-3 to take Khartoum once Italy and the UK are at war. In this case, Italy's combined action may as well be a pass. Germany sends her Stukas to groundstrike Lodz and Warsaw. In Lodz, two units flip which will give me a +4 on my attack later this turn. Groundstrikes are incredibly important in WiF, much more so than using your air to provide combat support. A flipped unit can't move, can't rail out, can't attack, and provides attacking units with a +2 on the die roll. If a flipped unit is out of supply, its combat factors are reduced to 1 unless it's a white print (elite) unit, in which case they are reduced to 3. The groundstrike on Warsaw fails completely. I'll try again next impulse, but I've lost the advantage of surprise (on the first impulse after a declaration of war, you roll two dice instead of one for each ground strike. A successful roll on either die is sufficient).

The Japanese also took a combined, to bring Yamamoto and his loyal band of miscreants into Canton and Swatow. In the north, Japanese bombes successfully ground strike Tungkwan, and the IJA marches into Chengchow, to the great outrage of the Americans (who draw a 4 chit into their entry pool. Ouch.) Early draws in the European entry pool don't seem to mean much because Early war allied actions (war on Germany, demanding Bessarabia and/or Finnish border hexes, occupying eastern Poland and the Baltic states) all pull chits back out. But early Japanese chits tend to stick around and fester for a bit, until you start pulling chits into the tension pool with US entry actions. Isoroku Yamamoto lands in Canton. Meanwhile, back in Europe...

The Polish fleet, such as it is, is overrun but manages to escape unscathed to Scapa Flow. The Wehrmacht surround the Polish army and the units northwest and southwest of Warsaw are annihilated in ground combat. Lodz is now surrounded and will be dealt with on the second impulse. Von Leeb reorgs the 5 point Stuka, and the turn is over.

The 1st allied impulse sees the UK and France making their mandatory DOW on Germany, and all the countries call out their reserves.

France takes a combined, planning to bring the infantry unit home from Syria. The UK takes a naval action to send out some convoy protection as well as to bring troops into France. The troops won't actually land this impulse - that would either require the transports to sail directly into French ports or for the UK to have land moves available. If the fleets sail into French ports, then they count against the total number of units the UK can put into France (equal to the reorg value of all UK HQ's in country). Since that number is currently 0, the ships will have to sit off the coast with the units loaded, waiting to debark on impulse 2. There is some risk here, mostly for Wavel who is vulnerable to an Italian naval force sinking him on a surprise impulse. The UK will send its Gibraltar fleet to the western med to help protect him. The home fleet will cover the north sea, both to protect Gort and friends, and also to intercept potential German raiders. They won't stop the Kriegsmarine from sending out subs, however. The French infantry in Syria, however, can (and does) sail straight into Nice.

Some players use the surprise impulse to launch a port attack on Kiel. It's true that a good roll here can go a long way to protecting the UK from a Sea Lion later, but if Germany isn't planning on a Sea Lion, the damage is less meaningful. I prefer to use the surprise impulse for strat bombing, because no matter what strategy Germany is planning, loss of build points will hurt. Total damage from the combined UK/French strat bombing, 2 BP's.

The Russians are itching to get into the fight, but they aren't allowed to demand Bessarabia this impulse. They could annex eastern Poland and the Baltic states now, but doing so would prevent the internment of the polish air. And since the brits used their air missions to bomb Germany, the polish air won't move until impulse 2, pushing the annexation of eastern Poland back to impulse 3. So the Russians wait. Meanwhile, a unit rails up to Murmansk where it will break down into divisions to threaten Petsamo should the Germans refuse their request for the Finnish borderlands.

The first impulse ends. Weather report for the next impulse - not good! A 10 on the die roll brings rain to the north temperate. Denmark and the Netherlands are safe for this turn, but not even rain will save Poland.

Save game file for those who want to follow along:

Attachment (1)

(in reply to joshuamnave)
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:15:04 AM   
Majorball68


Posts: 490
Joined: 11/22/2013
Status: offline 		Funny you mention the Japanese BP to the Americans. It helps to have 6 Convoy points off the west coast as the 4 US resources to Japan and 1 resource incoming from the philippines and 1 BP from Japan means 6 convoy points are needed to get everything.

The Alsakan resource only uses 1 CP and comes through Vancouver, Canada.

< Message edited by Majorball68 -- 1/8/2014 11:19:42 AM >

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 4
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:19:24 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		What resource coming from the Philippines? I didn't set my convoys up to get the Philippine resource, nor do I need it for max production.

(in reply to Majorball68)
Post #: 5
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:20:29 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		And I only set up one CP to get the Alaskan resource. Convoying it into Canada, as said above...

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 6
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:20:33 AM   
Majorball68


Posts: 490
Joined: 11/22/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Zartacla

What resource coming from the Philippines? I didn't set my convoys up to get the Philippine resource, nor do I need it for max production.


Ok then I cant explain it. You want me to upload my save for you?

Maybe the Alaskan resource is using 2 CP instead of 1?

< Message edited by Majorball68 -- 1/8/2014 11:21:50 AM >

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 7
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:45:04 AM   
Majorball68


Posts: 490
Joined: 11/22/2013
Status: offline 		Like what your doing, will help a lot of newer guys.

Your setup with the Chinese. With that setup I would have put most of the Japs against the Chicoms. The nationalists are too far away to lend any assistance and the commies wont last long. I like to make the most of the first clear turn in case of bad weather in the 2nd so I will setup in a way that doesnt force me to take a combined. I will take a land option and take out the 4-1 Commie first up.


< Message edited by Majorball68 -- 1/8/2014 11:57:01 AM >

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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 11:30:55 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Faced with bad weather in the north, the German high command elects to limit its ground operations and Erich Raeder is allowed to send his submarines out for the first time (Germany takes a combined action). Italy also takes a combined, and can only take combined actions (or pass) until it goes to war with a major power. Italy is also limited to a single ship per naval move until then. Had the weather been better, this problem would have been removed with a declaration of war, but Italy would rather enjoy the full benefits of a surprise impulse by doing it in clear weather. The Japanese take a land action.

The Italians use their one naval move to send their fastest sub out to Cape Verde Basin. The Germans send their subs to Faeroes Gap. According to rule 11.4.1 (RAC, p 45) I should be able to move all subs that start in one port to any number of different destinations, and have it count as a single naval move. However, I have been unable to make that happen. If someone could explain the procedure for getting the game to allow that, I would be obliged. In the mean time, the two German subs sailed together and end up in the 2 box, even though one sub sailing alone would have been able to reach the 3 box.

The U-Boats are unable to locate the British merchant marine, and the Italians are still at peace, so there is no naval combat.

The Japanese use their 2 rail moves to clear Port Arthur, sending the units toward the red mass converging on Chang Sha. The motorized unit still in Manchuria will start legging it down to the northern group.

Germany shifts a few units around and attacks Lodz. Here we have another interface issue - combat engineers. The process for using the combat engineers to eliminate the river penalty is once again highly unintuitive. When you commit the unit to combat, it says that if you want to use their combat ability, you can do so from the unit popup menu. The only unit popup menu referred to in the rules or players handbook is for naval units. Once you've committed the engineer to combat, you need to right click on that unit. Presumably he's stacked with other units, so to right click on him, you'll have to hover over him in the flyout. To get to the flyouts, just doubleclick on any empty land hex. This will turn the flyouts on. Of course, as soon as you end one phase of the turn, flyouts turn themselves back off, so you'll have to turn them back on again... every phase... of every impulse... of every turn. Which begs the question, why isn't there a button somewhere that simply switches the flyouts to default on? But I digress. Once you find the engineer in the flyout, and right click on it, a popup menu will appear. Choose "Land Combat" and from the new popout menu, pick "Use engineers in combat". Note - you're already using the engineers in combat. What this button should say is "activate engineers special combat ability" or something like that. But wait, we're still not done. A message box will pop up saying "Use the popup Unit Menu to select which attacking units receive the engineer benefits." At least we know where the popup unit menu is now. Engineers confer their benefits on as many additional units as they have combat factors. This engineer is a 1 point engineer, so we need to pick one of the 2 units stacked with it, right click on it, select the "land combat" option, and choose "Use Engineers in combat". At which point the box jumps back up saying "Use the popup Unit Menu to select which attacking units receive the engineer benefits." Which made me think I had done it incorrectly, since it was still telling me to use the popup menu even though I thought I had allocated the engineers benefit already. I finally worked it all out by carefully watching the combat odds change as I did each step. A much easier system would work like this: When engineers are assigned to combat, a popup menu appears "Do you want to use the engineers special ability, yes/no?" If the player chooses yes, another popup appears with a list of eligible units and says "Select a unit or units to receive the engineers benefit". Much easier. Anyway, in the storm, with 2 flipped units in Lodz and the engineer helping us across the river, we get a +10.9 on the roll. Assuming we make the fractional odds roll, that means we need a 9 or better on 2 dice to clear Lodz. In the rain, it would be +12.9, and we could send in air to help, but the 10 on the weather chart means it's Storming. I really should wait one impulse for rain or better, but I'm impatient and press the attack. Fortunately I roll a 15, and Lodz falls with all German forces staying organized.

In the west, Von Bock reorgs the 9 factor infantry. If the weather clears up, I'll use that infantry in the attack on the Netherlands.

The French and British both take land actions, preparing to disembark the BEF and tweak the French lines. Russia decides not to demand Bessarabia this impulse. More on that and the ramifications next impulse. For now suffice it to say that had the Axis set up to attack Yugoslavia, Russia would probably demand Bessarabia now, bad weather and all.

Instead, Russia rails Zhukov to Novgorod. Next impulse, the Russian Cavalry will join him there, and in Nov/Dec, they will move toward the Finnish border north east of Leningrad. Germany has even less incentive to hand over the Finnish border hexes than they do the Rumanian, so setting up to pressure the actual Finnish border in multiple places is valuable if you are going to demand the border hexes.

The ChiComs use two Russian moves to firm up their defense of Tungkwan. Here we see one of the interesting dilemna's faced by the allied player. Communist Chinese units act according to the action chosen by China, but all moves and attacks count against Russian limits. This means if either China or Russia passes, the ChiComs are frozen in place. An easy response to this would be "don't pass" but late in a turn, if all countries on one side pass, there's a +20% chance of the turn ending, and if all but one country passes, there's a +10% chance. Often, early in the war, particularly in long summer turns, the allies are anxious for the turn to end quickly. Sometimes just the UK or just France needs to move, so a 10% bump is still possible. But if the ChiComs need to move, then both Russia and China have to take a non pass action. Russia is also limited to combined actions, with 1 rail move and 5 land moves, until they go to war with a major power. This limits the communist Chinese, particularly on turns where Russia is fighting the Rumanians or the Finns, or later when Russia is scrambling to pull back from the border prior to a German attack.

The Russians sit still, waiting patiently for the UK to collect her free pilots from Poland.

Wavell lands in Marseilles, Gort lands in Boulogne, and the Motorized and Mech corps disembark into Calais. The French and British commanders don't like each other, don't trust each other, and don't communicate with each other. They can't combine forces on attacks, draw supply from each other, but the British can anchor the northern end of the line freeing up French units to hold the center. Also note that British units can only enter France if the foreign troop limit hasn't be exceeded. That limit is equal to the reorg value of British HQ's in country. Once in country, they can stay even if the HQ's leave, but no new units can enter. Note: when counting the number of units, only non HQ units are supposed to count (RAC 18.2, p 141) but in past games where I've had 2 UK HQ's in France, I've been limited to total reorg value minus 1. I think the game may be counting total number of additional units, including other HQ's. I'll try to land a 4th unit in France again this game and see if it was just a quirk the last time it happened. Once the BEF is ensconced in northern France, Wavell and Gort will evacuate.

The second polish plane has been interned, and I tested the Foreign troop commitment question by landing a Spitfire in France (successfully) so it appears that it's now working correctly. Possibly I overlooked something the last time it happened.

The turn ends, and the new weather role is a 9. More storms in the north temperate - bad news for the axis. Without a clear weather impulse in Sep/Oct, the allies are very likely to have access to the Baltic until March. The Germans pray for a 4th impulse, with good weather. Save file for the game below.




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< Message edited by Zartacla -- 1/8/2014 12:34:46 PM >

(in reply to joshuamnave)
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 11:40:01 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Some screen shots of the current position






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(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 10
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 11:43:34 AM   
joshuamnave

 

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Post #: 11
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 12:35:17 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Faced with more crummy weather, the Italians once again hold off. A lot of players would declare war with Italy anyway, reasoning that the additional production provided by allowing Germany to transfer build points to Italy starting in November is worth it. I might agree if there was a 0% chance of another Axis turn, but with even a small chance at a clear weather impulse, I'll roll the dice. I'm probably giving up 2 BP's for a much better chance at cracking the French position in the south.

Germany and Japan take land actions. Italy takes it's combined and sends another sub out. Another down side to not being at war is that those subs must return to base at the end of the turn, so it's likely a fools errand to send them out. However, if Italy does get her clear weather DOW, I'll take a combined and use the naval action to move the fleet into the western med, where it can supply shore bombardment to an attack on Nice. This means I'd rather have the subs out now.

Way back on the first impulse, I reorg'd the Stuka so that I could take another shot at groundstriking Warsaw. Sadly, a month of storms followed, and there are no groundstrikes, or combat support, in storms. The Wehrmacht will simply have to tough it out the hard way. Germany surrounds Warsaw. The Japanese advance on Tungkwan and sends the division into the mountains to seize Yenan. Although there is no strategic value to Yenan (no resources, no rail node) it's advantageous to deny the ChiComs the city for reinforcements. Inclement weather causes the division to flip outside Yenan, as well as Umezu. But this is likely to be the end of the turn anyway, and there are no chicom units on the reinforcement spiral. In the center, Japanese units continue to press in toward Lan Chow, and seize the port of Wenchow. Capturing the minor Chinese ports doesn't have any real benefit other than slight flexibility, but there's also no US entry cost and it makes me feel better to see fewer Chinese flags on the control map. In the south, Japan oozes up closer to the southern tip of the Chinese deployments. The marine unit will likely make a break for the resource near nanning and take the city while they're at it. Yamamoto and friends will screen the Chinese nationals until that's secured and more reinforcements arrive.

The attack on Warsaw shapes up to be a nail biter. Stormy weather, no flipped units, no ground support allowed in storms, the engineer bonus brings us to a +9.5 on the roll. Although it seems like a worse attack than the one on Lodz, the chances of clearing the hex are actually the same. This is because there were three units in Lodz, but only two in Warsaw. Now I really would like to wait another impulse for a better shot at taking the hex, so I have to look at the odds... 10% chance of ending at the end of the Axis impulse. If all allies pass, there's a 50% chance of ending on the allied impulse. Assuming the allies all pass, Germany has only a 45% chance of getting another crack at it. And only 40% of the time will that be a clear weather turn. Doing the math in my head, that means there's an 18% chance of Germany getting a clear weather impulse this turn. Not great. An additional 13.5% chance of a rainy weather impulse, or 41% chance of a non storm impulse. Compare that to a better than 50% chance of clearing the hex if I make the attack right now, and the math clearly weighs against waiting. Bonsai!


The result - I rolled a 3. This is pretty close to a game killer. The allies could not have asked for a better first turn, with back to back stormy weather impulses grounding the Luftwaffe and preventing the Japanese from doing much of anything. Combine that with missing all 4 rolls on my initial groundstrike in Warsaw, and a bad roll here, and it's just one of those things. Rather than continue an AAR from what is pretty close to a hopeless position, I reloaded and rerolled the attack. This time I cleared the hex. Sometime in the future when an improbable sequence of events causes heartache for the allies, I'll return the favor.

On the plus side for the Axis, the bad weather means the stuka never flew again and is free to rebase west. Of course, with a range of 3, even extended rebasing doesn't quite get it to the front lines, but it does save me from having to do a rebase later.

Rundstedt reorganizes the other Stuka. It won't matter unless I get another impulse, but if I do I'd rather have the bomber face up for rebasing than have the HQ face up for rail moves.

The turn does not end, and I quickly discover a flaw in my thinking about Poland and the chance of an additional turn. Russia can't afford to pass this impulse, or it will forever lose the right to claim eastern Poland. The claim on eastern Poland must happen before Poland is conquered, which will occur automatically at the end of this turn now that Lodz and Warsaw have fallen. If Russia does not claim eastern Poland, it also cannot claim the Baltic States. To exercise its claim on EP, Russia must walk one unit in - thus it cannot pass. The chances of the turn ending will therefore max out at 40%, not 50%.

Russia takes a combined, occupies Eastern Poland and the Baltics, and everyone else passes. Why not demand Bessarabia now? There's no rush without a threat on Yugoslavia, and for reasons that I'll explore next turn, Russia is better off demanding it early in the turn than later. Russian units do move west near Lvov, threatening to attack Rumania through the Carpathians later. The US is annoyed by the Russian territorial grabs, and 2 chits are removed from the pool, leaving a solitary "1" chit.

The end of turn roll is a 6, and to Germany's delight the weather roll is a 1. Sunny days are here again. End of impulse save below.





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Post #: 12
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 2:29:42 PM   
Rondo

 

Posts: 24
Joined: 7/10/2009
Status: offline 		This is incredibly helpful. There are a number of explanations in this that clear up questions that have come up in my first couple of efforts at this monster.

Thanks for the very clear description of actions and reasoning. It is really appeciated.

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Post #: 13
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 3:05:57 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Italy celebrates the news by promptly declaring war on France.

Why just France, and not the UK? It's not an obvious decision for me either way. If Italy declares on both of them now, there's only one roll on the US entry. That's a pretty big advantage. But the truth is Italy really isn't ready for war yet. Going to war allows Italy to get BP's and resources from Germany, which will let Italy build the units it needs to be ready to go to war. War with France is low risk. The French will be too busy to much with the Italian convoys much, and if they do sail their fleet out to harass the Italians, it will be unsupported by the far stronger Royal Navy. Italy is poised to threaten southern France, along with north west Africa, both of which requires a DOW on France. It's possible that Italian aggression might cause the Brits to declare war, which is a nice swing in US entry as well. If not, the added penalty in US entry for splitting the DOW's into two turns is probably worth the freedom to move the Italian navy through Gibraltar and Suez, as well as the decreased risk to Italian convoys. For now.

Germany declares on Denmark and Netherlands.

Total US Entry results - 3 chits. A 1, 2 and 4.

The UK takes control of Denmark and the Netherlands. All of the dutch convoys go in the NEI, which means the remaining ships must set up in Netherlands proper. When a minor country sets up its units, if it has overseas territories, at least half the units must set up in the home country. Convoys count as 1 unit per 2 convoys. The ground unit sets up in Amsterdam and the navy in Rotterdam. The axis can only reach Rotterdam in one impulse by invading, and the British fleet in the North Sea makes that a bad idea. So the Dutch fleet is safe for now. A fleet that is overrun on a surprise impulse has a chance of being captured or scuttled, but after that it simply flees to a friendly port. If the turn ends after the axis impulse and the axis start the Nov/Dec turn, then the fleet in Rotterdam will be overrun, but will just flee to England. Note that disorganized naval units in port can also be scuttled or captured when overrun. Also note that any naval units that are forced to rebase must fight through any enemy naval units on the way. But Germany isn't likely to contest British dominance of the north sea.

As far as defense goes, Amsterdam is a fairly nice hex to defend, except for on a surprise impulse. The canal/strait hex side to the North East halves attacking land units normally, but not on a surprise impulse. Germany will be able to attack with two full stacks of units at full value. But first we'll ground strike Amsterdam, and since it's a surprise impulse each plane will roll twice. Meanwhile, the Danes set up 5 CP's in Iceland, out of German reach, and the rest of the fleet in Fredrickshavn where it will absolutely be overrun, but there's no helping that.

Japan and Germany take land actions, Italy takes a combined.

Italy sends her fleet, minus the slow moving San Giorgio, into the Western Med. The plan is to attack Nice, and use the fleet for shore bombardment. The San Giorgio would force the fleet down into the 2 box, instead of the four box, which would decrease the shore bombardment factor of every ship by 1. After all naval moves are complete, each side has the chance to initiate a naval combat search roll in any sea zone in which they have a face up unit. Italy decides to initiate a search in the western med. The British ships there won't participate in any combat, as they are not at war with Italy. The only target for the Italian navy is the French convoy point, but the French rely on that to bring home the resource in Algeria, as well as for supply for their navy stationed in Oran. Before the search roll, each side has the option to fly in naval air. Naval air units that react this way do so at half movement value. Italy would have been better off using a naval air mission to put air in the med, but that would have counted against its total number of air missions (Three on a combined) and Italy wants that mission for ground strikes. Air units that react to naval combat do not count against mission limits. Italy decides not to fly any air. Against just the convoy point, it won't be needed. The search rolls are unsuccessful (get used to it). In Cape St Vincent I discover to my surprise an Italian battleship where I thought I had sent a submarine the previous turn. I'm suddenly glad I didn't declare on the UK or that ship would have to fight its way back to Germany at the end of the turn. As long as the UK is not at war, it can slip back into the med. Either way, in the meantime, it found the lone French convoy and sank it. In Cape Verde the Italian sub also sank the only French convoy point.

Italy orders a ground strike on Nice, and the Germans hit Amsterdam. Both succeed, while the Japanese nav bomber fails to ground strike its target. Get used to that - the Japanese airforce has low tactical numbers in general. It's worth pointing out here that when you return a plane to base at the end of a mission, it's not required to return to the same hex it took off from. Sometimes this can be a more effective way to rebase air units, particularly across large sea zones. Fly a range 3 fighter into a sea zone on a naval air mission, and when it returns to base it can land on a base on the other side of the sea zone.

Germany rails a few units back from Poland, and rails the mountain corps down to the French Alps. Ideally, Italy would have declared war early on in the turn and the mountain unit could have walked, arriving in time to participate in late turn combats. But now it wouldn't arrive by the end of the turn, so it's better to rail it in and let it reorganize itself at the end of the turn.

Japan nearly empties Manchuria, but one unit must remain behind. Normally I would leave more in Manchuria, to prevent partisans, but due to the partisan bug they won't be appearing this game. This helps the Japanese in China a great deal, but the allies also benefit from a lack of partisans (India was almost completely overrun by Partisans in one game I played, after the UK stationed most of the Indian units elsewhere). Germany scuttles 1 cruiser and a CP while taking out Denmark. The remaining cruiser escapes to England where it will be placed on convoy escort duty starting next turn. Germany also advances on Amsterdam and walks most of the units in Poland back toward Germany. They'll arrive in time for any clear weather impulses in March/April, and if we get lucky on weather in N/D, they won't be needed yet. Japan isn't in position for any good attacks. Had they waited an impulse to move, instead of flipping units last impulse, they could make a decent attack in the north. However, things aren't likely to get better in the north for a while, and at +5.8 the attack on Tungkwan is a go. If the fractional odds roll succeeds, we still need a 14 or better to clear the hex, but on an 8 or better we'll kill off one of the ChiCom units, and the chances of losing more than the division are fairly low.

In Europe, before ground support and naval support are factored in, the attack on Amsterdam is at +14.5 (very good odds) and on Nice it's +3.8. The Italian Navy brings that up to +6 and the doubled tactical points of the Italian nav bomber (doubled because it's a surprise impulse) makes it +6.4 Not a great attack, but worth the risk. If we break the French line in the south, the French position will collapse even more rapidly, and rather than a Vichy government we'll have an incomplete conquest, leaving the door open for an attack on Spain.

The Japanese roll an 18! and Tungkwan falls. The US adds a "1" chit to the entry pool. The attack on Nice is a mixed bag. On the one hand, a roll of 8 is just barely good enough to clear the hex. On the other hand, the Italians suffer devastating losses, with 3 units killed. The Italian mech advances into Nice, scuttling the transport there. The door is open to southern france, but to take advantage of it after the loss of so much Italian material, the germans are going to have to rail down some units. Amsterdam predictably falls with no German casualties.

The turn ends on a roll of 6. The allies elect to put their free entry chit into the European pool (and will do so up until the start of 1940). The US entry in Europe is still rather volatile and the US decides not to seize the Bern or occupy Greenland and Iceland just yet. They would like to start building Chinese planes, but with only a "1" and a "4" in the Japanese entry pool, the chance of removing the "4" is too high and so they wait.

During the preliminary production planning phase, I verify that the US has 1 unused convoy in the west coast, Mendocino, Hawaiian islands and central Atlantic sea zones. The Alaskan resource is using one and only once CP to get home (in the Gulf of Alaska) and the Phillipine resource is not being convoyed anywhere. The US is still not receiving the Japanese build point, nor are the Japanese losing it or suffering any other penalty. This is a bug, and it's a bad one with no workaround.

Germany and Italy elect to leave their subs at sea. Italy also leaves its fleet in the med at sea, but brings home the BB that was accidentally deployed out past Gibraltar.

Most of the UK navy comes home as well.

By the way, this is another phase that could use a major UI overhaul. Unlike most phases, the game does not highlight a list of units that can move this phase. Nor does clicking on the next unit button tell you which unit is currently selected. Sometimes I actually have to hunt around for which unit is being sent home. And in any phase in which naval units are returning to port, it's not always obvious which ports are available to it. There are multiple threads started by people who think they've found a bug because they can't advance past a return to base thread when in reality they just can't find the one and only port a fleet can reach, or they don't realize that to cross a contested sea zone they have to control left click through it. Very non intuitive.

The Russians break down their infantry unit in Murmansk. The two division will have no problem putting any finnish unit in Petsamo out of supply, should Germany resist Russia's demands for border hexes.

Production:
Germany - 15 BPs. Pilot, Armor HQ, Mtn (thinking ahead toward Spain), Lnd (2), Sub (finish). German air production in S/O 39 is always a dilemma for me. One of the two cheap land bombers is garbage, the other is good. I happened to draw the crappy one. If I wait until Jan/Feb, I can scrap the bad one. Most of the 3 pointers are all better off scrapped as well, and there are no 2 point fighters to build yet. On the other hand, I do want that good 2 point bomber, and I want to keep my gearing up so that in January, I can build 2-3 air units.
Italy - 3 BPs. Pilot, Sub
Japan - 12 BPs. Pilot, Inf, Nav (2), Nav (2), Mil, CVP (1)
China - 5 BPs. Inf, Inf div
CW - 11 BPs. Pilot, Nav (4), BB King George IV, CVP (1), 1 CP
France - 8 BPs. Another repercussion of the Italian attack - French production is up. Now I have to hit the French hard enough from the south to justify their extra production. Mtn, Pilot, Ftr (2). Building the Mtn unit now means the Axis has until Mar/Apr to take Lyons, or face a very tough stack. That's a pretty tall order in the winter.
US - 10 BPs. CV Langley, Amph, Trns, CV, CVP (1)
CCCP - 8 BPs. Pilot, Lnd (4), garr

Because the turn ended on the surprise impulse, the remainder of the Dutch fleet suffered an overrun and Germany captured 2 cruisers which were added to the Italian pool. Save file below.







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< Message edited by Zartacla -- 1/8/2014 4:09:58 PM >

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Post #: 14
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 3:57:21 PM   
AxelNL


Posts: 2386
Joined: 9/24/2011
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline 		Very impressive AAR. My compliments. Could/should you have prevented having to give up and reroll due to the bad rolls by a stonger attack preparation on Poland?

I will hint "the powers" to have a look at your work.

Cheers,

Lex

Btw: in the current beta release partisans are behaving again, but I have started to dislike them. I feel they cost too much time for what they add.

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Post #: 15
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 4:06:27 PM   
joshuamnave

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: AxelNL

Very impressive AAR. My compliments. Could/should you have prevented having to give up and reroll due to the bad rolls by a stonger attack preparation on Poland?



Probably not, or at least not reasonably so. There were ample units in Poland. That attack setup would typically allow two more ground units to join in the final attack on Warsaw, but bad weather kept me from maneuvering as effectively. I could have sent a double groundstrike on Warsaw on the surprise impulse, but that's usually overkill. Remember that I had to miss 4 times with my Stuka on the surprise impulse, then have two straight turns of stormy weather to keep my Stuka grounded for a second wave attack. If the Axis live by the rule that they only attack when the odds are 100% of success, they won't get very far. Have to work out for yourself what is and isn't an acceptable level of risk, and sometimes you just get unlucky.

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Post #: 16
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 4:10:38 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		I have mixed feelings about partisans, when they're working correctly. On the one hand, I agree with those who say that partisan activity happens at a scale much too small for WiF. The damage caused by partisans and the troops used to contain them should already be abstracted in a game at the corp level. On the other hand, at a game theory level, I'm a big believer in what I term "interesting decisions". Partisans create interesting decisions... do I move more troops to the front line knowing that that will increase the chances of partisans appearing? What's the risk/reward matrix? Those kinds of decisions are what make games like WiF so engaging, so overall I think partisans are worth playing with.

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Post #: 17
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 4:21:02 PM   
Cad908

 

Posts: 1333
Joined: 10/9/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Zartacla

The Germans send their subs to Faeroes Gap. According to rule 11.4.1 (RAC, p 45) I should be able to move all subs that start in one port to any number of different destinations, and have it count as a single naval move. However, I have been unable to make that happen. If someone could explain the procedure for getting the game to allow that, I would be obliged. In the mean time, the two German subs sailed together and end up in the 2 box, even though one sub sailing alone would have been able to reach the 3 box.



Zartacla,

Regarding the German subs. The program allows you to move all the subs in a port at the cost of one naval move.

See screen below.

I loaded your save and moved the first German SUB to the Faeroes Gap. Sorry for the small resolution, but if you look at the Naval Review Details form (or on map) notice the second SUB is available for movement. I can select it and then move it to a sea area within its range (3) so, for example, it could reach the 1 Box in the North Atlantic. Both SUBs are have a movement rating of 4 so the highest Box they can reach in the Faeroes Gap is the 2 Box.

Also, notice the SCS, TRNS and AMPH are not available for movement as the first SUB has used Germany's only naval move. If I undo the first SUB, then all the units would be available.

SUBs are a little differently as you note 11.4.1 governs here. Hope this helps.

-Rob




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Post #: 18
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 4:28:35 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Huh... I thought I had tried that at one point, but I must be mistaken. Perhaps I was using Italian subs while they were still neutral. You're right about the 2 box... I'm just so used to having the 5 speed German sub I didn't even look closely enough to see what I started with this time.

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Post #: 19
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 4:59:52 PM   
Cad908

 

Posts: 1333
Joined: 10/9/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Zartacla

Huh... I thought I had tried that at one point, but I must be mistaken. Perhaps I was using Italian subs while they were still neutral. You're right about the 2 box... I'm just so used to having the 5 speed German sub I didn't even look closely enough to see what I started with this time.

Yeah, know the feeling as there are so many little details in the game.

You can also use CTRL + LEFT-CLICK which opens the Select Units form (pictured below). The top image is filtered to show just SUBs, while the bottom image is after moving the first unit. Its a matter of preference, but I tend to use Naval Review Details for all naval movement. I keep it on my second monitor along with the Global Map, Main Form, Screen Layouts and Map Views. I like a big detailed map on my large main monitor with limited clutter. You can also use Flyouts, but they tend to get cumbersome with a large stack of naval units.

Enjoying your work. If you have any how-to questions, please note them and I or one of the other Beta Testers will try post and answer in the thread. Other than that, will shut-up now and stop hijacking your AAR.

-Rob






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Post #: 20
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 7:01:40 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline 		In MWIF Warlords can set up within 6 hexes of their home city. Typically they are deployed far to the east so they can become part of the frontline as the Japanese advance.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

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Post #: 21
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 8:03:58 PM   
Majorball68


Posts: 490
Joined: 11/22/2013
Status: offline 		With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....

< Message edited by Majorball68 -- 1/8/2014 9:04:25 PM >

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Post #: 22
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 8:33:32 PM   
peskpesk


Posts: 2347
Joined: 7/17/2003
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Zartacla



The Italians use their one naval move to send their fastest sub out to Cape Verde Basin. The Germans send their subs to Faeroes Gap. According to rule 11.4.1 (RAC, p 45) I should be able to move all subs that start in one port to any number of different destinations, and have it count as a single naval move. However, I have been unable to make that happen. If someone could explain the procedure for getting the game to allow that, I would be obliged. In the mean time, the two German subs sailed together and end up in the 2 box, even though one sub sailing alone would have been able to reach the 3 box.

...



At this point is Italy neutral? If so, When a major power is neutral, they may only take combined actions, thus limiting their naval moves and, to add insult to injury, furthermore forcing them to count every individual naval unit moved as a separate move. So only one sub may move.

_____________________________

"'Malta - The Thorn in Rommel's Side"

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Post #: 23
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 9:20:28 PM   
markb50k

 

Posts: 1224
Joined: 7/1/2004
From: Spring, TX
Status: offline 		Italy isn't neutral, they DOW'd France only.

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Post #: 24
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 9:44:46 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline 		Reinforcements! I'll try to remember to include a screenshot of expected reinforcements at the end of the turn this time. I think putting down reinforcements is one of my favorite parts of every turn. It's like Christmas day all over again!

The big news this turn is the 9 range 3 strength Italian bomber, which is quickly assigned a pilot and put on the board. The British have a few spare pilots, but will be moving most of its CV's back home this turn for retrofit and some of the carriers are currently without any air units at all. We'll keep those pilots in reserve until next turn.

Germany currently has 3 idle resources. Rather than letting them go to waste, Germany arranges to transport them, along with a German build point, to Italy. Italy is going to need to spend more on land units than I typically spend as a result of the attack on Nice. I'll probably build out the German nav bombers to help in the Med while Italy recovers.

According to the trade agreements in place, Japan is sending the US a build point, but we know by now that that's a fantasy. The Dutch are also donating 2 oil per turn to the Japanese, but already that has to be done manually each turn, since the conquest of the Netherlands.

The turn begins, as all turns must, with an initiative roll. Both sides roll a 6, but the Axis get a +1 on their roll and retain the initiative. At the start of the game, the Axis have a +2 on initiative rolls, but that is the far end of a dynamic scale. Two things can cause the pendulum to swing: If either side has both the first and last initiative in a turn, the marker moves toward their opponent. That happened in sept/oct, so this turn the Germans only got a +1. The second thing that can cause the marker to move is demanding an initiative reroll. The side with the positive initiative modifier can demand a reroll of the initiative, at the cost of moving the marker toward the other side. If the marker is in the middle, then either side can demand a reroll. In this case, the Axis have the initiative advantage and also won the initiative roll, so no reroll is possible.

When you win the roll, you get to choose whether to go first or not. Most of the time, you're going to want to go first, but sometimes it might be better to let the other side go first to give yourself a better chance at moving the initiative marker. In this case, the Axis definitely want to go first to exploit the breakthrough in Nice before the allies can plug the hole. The large number of unguarded convoys also make for a tempting target, and depending on the weather Germany may take a combined action.

The weather roll is a 7, with snow in the north temperate and rain in the Med. The Japanese southern expeditionary force has fine weather in the north typhoon zone.

Germany elects to take a combined, while Italy takes a land action. This is a bit of roll reversal - more commonly the turns will start with Italy taking a combined or a naval action while Germany takes land actions, but the Italians want to move more than 2 ground units this turn and Germany is more concerned with triggering sub searches than with land moves in the snow. Japan also takes a land action.

Germany has no naval moves to make, but a lucky roll of 1 in the Faeroes Gap finds the British convoys. Germany spends 6 surprise points bumping up its own naval chart, and the British merchant marine loses 2 convoys and aborts 3 more. Reasoning that the Germans can't get that lucky again (after all, the dice have memory!) the CW elects to stay and fight, as do the Germans. Unsurprisingly, the German subs lose contact with the merchant marines and the fight ends.

In China, the Japanese attempt to ground strike the southernmost Chinese unit in the mountains. Nobody is more surprised than Yamamoto when the bombers actually find their target. Later it is determined that the Japanese air commander misunderstood his orders and sent his bombers to attack a bridge 100 KM to the north, but they missed the target. Landing their bombs on the Chinese infantry was just a happy accident.

Meanwhile, Von Leeb rails himself to the hex just east of Nice. By stopping on a non city hex, Von Leeb has in essence created a rail head that other units can rail to later in the turn. He's also not taking up a spot on the front line, since he's going to spend the entire turn disorganized after railing in. The Italians move their reserves up to the border. They would love to move west from Nice and pin the British HQ to the spot, but in the rain and snow none of their units can move fast enough to cover Nice while the mech moves forward. Moving deeper into France under those conditions is just begging to be cut off, disorganized and destroyed. In Africa, Balbo and one infantry start marching up the coast toward Tunis and the Ethiopians take French Somaliland. What's the strategic significance of taking out the allied east African colonies? I don't know. But it's easy enough to do on your way to marching up the coast toward Egypt.

In Japan, the marines seize the Chinese resource in the south and move down the road toward Nanning. Even though it will trigger a roll for a US entry chit, taking nanning this turn is important, so Chinese units don't pop up there next turn. Yamamoto moves west one hex to keep the marines in supply. If the Japanese attack the flipped unit this impulse, it will be at +6, which could be costly. Clearing the Chinese out of the mountains is like getting rid of Republicans in Congress - as difficult as it is essential. After some reflection I undo the marine's move, and instead bring him up to the front line. Adding him to the fight will bring it close to +8. Not attacking this impulse gives the Chinese a chance to move a second unit into the hex, and then the ground strike may end up being wasted, as I won't be able to muster enough units for a decent attack until next turn. If all goes well, the marine can still grab the resource later this turn. In the north, the Japanese march into Yenan and the Americans are unfazed. The Taihoku militia occupies Nanyang, and America still slumbers. The remainder of the northern expeditionary force moves in around the ChiCom infantry in the mountains east of Sian. As long as it is sitting in the mountain, that 7-3 has 14 strength on defense. At some point, I'll have to make a low odds attack against it, but I'll wait until clear weather and a successful ground strike.

The only attack this impulse is the one in south China, which happens at +7.750. A brief word here about fractional odds - I can't imagine ever playing without them. All they do is take away the slide rule aspect of the game. It's ridiculous to think that a 20:10 attack is twice as good as a 19:10 attack, but that's what happens without fractional odds. With fractional odds on, you don't have to wrangle out the exact number of points needed to get to the next odds level. Every unit counts, as does every point of air and naval support. In this case, the .750 means that the computer will roll 3 dice. If the result is lower than 750, the odds level will go up to +8, if not it will stay +7. The actual roll is 254, so the attack goes forward at +8. The Japanese roll a 13 for a modified 21. The Chinese unit dies and half the Japanese are disorganized. This will put an end to the advance in the south this turn, although the marines will stay face up and still make a run for the resource and Nanning next impulse.

The Germans finish moving their bombers west, and rebase the Nav to Cagliari where it straddles two sea zones and can provide ground support in North Africa or the south of France. Yamamoto reorganizes one ground unit and the Nav bomber.

The CW decides not to declare on Italy just yet. Sure, they would have a nice shot at the Italian fleet, but they would also be leaving Wavell very exposed (assuming a naval action for the UK), plus the US entry hit with such an empty US entry pool seems like a very high price to pay. On the other hand, the Russians are willing to risk it in order to take Bessarabia.

So let's talk about the Balkans now. The rules governing the politics of the Balkans are covered by 19.6.2 (RAC pp 147-8). The decisions at this point all revolve around Yugoslavia and what Germany's plans for it are. Earlier I said that a lack of German pressure on Yugoslavia made Russia more comfortable delaying Bessarabia. This is because once Germany declares war on Yugoslavia, Berlin can declare Rumania as an active ally, and Russia can no longer demand Bessarabia. With any kind of threat lined up against Yugoslavia in Sept/Oct, Russia will usually demand Bessarabia ASAP. If Russia decides not to demand Bessarabia, then Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria all remain neutral until Germany goes to war with either Russia or Yugoslavia (Hungary and Rumania) or Greece (Bulgaria). Bulgaria can also align with Germany if Germany controls Belgrade (which would require a war with Yugoslavia, but unlike the other two, just going to war isn't enough). By not demanding Bessarabia, Russia can force Germany to declare war on Yugoslavia, or wait until the start of Barbarossa to align the Balkans. On the other hand, Bessarabia gives Russia 2 cities near the border which make it much easier to set up a screen for the start of Barbarossa. Remember that on a surprise impulse, units attacking across a river are not halved, so by pushing the border one hex away, the Russians can set up a line behind the river that won't be as vulnerable to a surprise impulse.

So the Russian demanded Bessarabia. Germany must either allow or deny the claim. Denying the claim forces Russia to declare war on Rumania, with all the incumbent effects on US entry. That's tempting. To sweeten the deal, if Germany can enforce a peace on Russia, then Germany can align Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria in subsequent impulses. As you'll see soon, this has a huge impact on Yugoslavia. So what does it take to enforce a peace? Ah... here's the tricky part for Germany. To enforce a peace, Russia must control no hex inside Rumania other than the border hexes during a peace step, which happens at the end of the turn. Because Russia demanded Bessarabia at the start of the first allied impulse, Rumania would have to keep Russia out of Rumania proper for an entire turn, and that's a tall order. If Germany can't enforce a peace, Russia can in theory conquer Rumania, seizing the oil fields. At the very least, Russian strat bombers are going to pound Ploesti, denying Germany the oil. If Russia conquers Rumania, to make matters worse, Russia and not Germany can align Bulgaria. Of course, conquering Rumania is a long shot. As soon as Russia and Rumania go to war, Germany can align Hungary and rail a few units into Rumania. They can't fight the Russians, but they can sit in Ploesti and Bucharest and the Russians can't fight them either. So the real danger is non stop bombing of the oil fields until the war begins.

What happens if the Germans allow the Russian claim? First, Bessarabia becomes Russian for all purposes, including reinforcements arriving in Cernauti and Chisinau. Worse yet for the Germans, Russia immediately begins supplying Germany with one fewer resource per turn under to Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The following turn, Bulgaria and Hungary press their own territorial claims against Rumania. If Rumania allows the claims, Germany can align Hungary and Bulgaria in subsequent impulses, but Rumania won't align with Germany until Germany is at war with either Yugoslavia or the USSR. If Rumania refuses the territorial claims, Bulgaria will align with Russia and Hungary stops giving Germany its resource and won't align until Germany declares war on Russia. But Rumania aligns right away.

What does all of this have to do with Yugoslavia? Germany wants control over Yugoslavia and Greece because it makes things much easier for the axis in the Med. Greece can only be conquered, but Yugoslavia can be either conquered or aligned. Obviously, aligning it means expending fewer units on minor military campaigns and the addition of the Yugoslavian units to the force pool. To align Yugoslavia (RAC 19.7) the Axis must control Italy, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania and Greece. If you followed the political ramifications of Bessarabia closely, you realize that the only way to align Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria without going to war with either Yugoslavia or Russia is if Russia demands Bessarabia, Germany says no, and then enforces a peace at the end of the turn.

TL;DR - if Germany wants to align Yugoslavia, it has to decline the Russian demand for Bessarabia and then prevent Russia from advancing into Rumania proper.

It's the start of winter, the weather is bad, the strat bomber is going to be less effective until March, so Germany rolls the dice and says no. Russia declares war on Rumania. To the allies chagrin, the "4" chit was removed from the US entry pool, along with a "1" chit. This was a big hit on US entry, and all but guarantees the UK will not declare war on Italy any time soon (or at all). Stalin vows to make the Rumanians pay for their obstinacy.

Rumania sets up with one goal in mind... to slow down the Russian long enough for the turn to end or Germany to rail in some border guards. The Axis need to keep Russia out of Rumania proper, and their best ally is General Winter.

CW takes a naval action, eager to reset its convoys, put some escorts out to sea, and intent on bringing one more ground unit into northern france. The French take a land action. Somehow they need to contain the Italian breakthrough without compromising their northern line. The French decide to turn over defense of Lille to the British. Meanwhile, a British naval action means that Wavell remains stuck in Marseilles. Rather than try to move him north, the Brits will evacuate him later this turn, once the BEF has safely landed in northern France.

The spare convoy points go into Faeroes Gap. The Germans did not sink enough tonnage to disrupt British production this turn, but Winston writes himself a reminder to increase production of British merchant ships just in case. The home fleet along with one transport sails into the North Atlantic, picking up the big infantry unit from London. Next impulse it will land in France, and the impulse following the CW will pull out the two HQ's. With that in mind, 1 transport at home and 1 in Gibraltar are held in reserve. The remaining transport heads south, intent on bringing volunteers from South Africa closer to the front lines. The CP's in NEI are broken down and used to extend the convoy line down to Australia and up to Hong Kong. The CP's in Iceland will be used in a few turns to shift the convoy line north, sending fewer resources through the north atlantic.

The TB-3 in Kiev strat bombs Ploesti. It's a roll of 9, costing Germany 2 oil resources for the turn. Without the oil rules, this is just a small hit to production. Playing with the oil rules, this would be a much most costly gamble on Germany's part.

The snow makes ground strikes much less effective, but it is a surprise impulse, and Russia sends bombers over all 3 Rumanian units in Bessarabia. Only the Cavalry is flipped.

Wavell creates problems for the allies, as his presence in Marseilles makes it impossible for France to rail units into Toulon. Instead, one HQ rails into the mountain resource, followed by an infantry out of Lille. France shifts border units around and swaps the mountain unit for the unit in Lyons. Having the mountain unit in Lyons makes that hex very difficult for the Axis to take. It's a factory city in the mountains garrisoned by a mountain unit surrounded on 4 of its 5 attackable sides by a river. The German High Command doubles the size of its secretarial pool in preparation for extra condolence letters it expects to have to write. Lille is now an open city, but the British will move in next impulse. Russia moves its mech along with Timoshenko southwest. There's nothing to stop them from walking into Rumania next impulse, unless... Meanwhile, the Russian army also prepares to attack Chisinau. Unfortunately, in the snow, the attack is just not practical. Russia's real strategy here is to ooze around the Rumanians into Rumania proper, making it impossible for Germany to enforce a peace.

The impulse ends. The weather remains bad for the following impulse with a modified 6. Save file for the game below.

incidentally, is there any way to set the forum to word wrap while typing/editing posts. I would rather edit for typos while writing or before posting, but it's almost impossible to do that right now.

Edited to fix an error regarding enforcing a peace between Russia and Rumania



Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Zartacla -- 1/9/2014 1:05:18 AM >

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 25
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 9:48:41 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: markb50k

Italy isn't neutral, they DOW'd France only.



At that point, Italy was still neutral. That's why they only moved one sub. My question about moving multiple subs as a single naval move was in regards to the German subs, and was an interface, not a rules question. Fortunately it has been answered and German U-Boat commanders are rejoicing.

(in reply to markb50k)
Post #: 26
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 9:53:59 PM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....


Yup, that's certainly a danger. Of course, Italy lives under that particular threat until they go to war with the CW even if their keep their fleet at home. A British port attack with CV based air is also a pretty big threat in a surprise impulse. Weighed against the US entry impact of the CW DOW, I deemed it an acceptable risk. Of course, as with any solitaire game, the Italian high command had the advantage of an omnipotent spy in the highest levels of the British Government. We can pretend to play each side without regard to what we're thinking for the other, but in reality we're making the same strategic evaluations for both sides and it's unlikely that I'll evaluate a risk differently when I'm wearing an Italian hat than when I put on my bowler.

(in reply to Majorball68)
Post #: 27
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 10:01:20 PM   
Majorball68


Posts: 490
Joined: 11/22/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Zartacla


quote:

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....


Yup, that's certainly a danger. Of course, Italy lives under that particular threat until they go to war with the CW even if their keep their fleet at home. A British port attack with CV based air is also a pretty big threat in a surprise impulse. Weighed against the US entry impact of the CW DOW, I deemed it an acceptable risk. Of course, as with any solitaire game, the Italian high command had the advantage of an omnipotent spy in the highest levels of the British Government. We can pretend to play each side without regard to what we're thinking for the other, but in reality we're making the same strategic evaluations for both sides and it's unlikely that I'll evaluate a risk differently when I'm wearing an Italian hat than when I put on my bowler.


I like your thinking

(in reply to joshuamnave)
Post #: 28
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/8/2014 11:49:36 PM   
Courtenay


Posts: 4003
Joined: 11/12/2008
Status: offline 		The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.

_____________________________

I thought I knew how to play this game....

(in reply to Majorball68)
Post #: 29
RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR - 1/9/2014 12:01:02 AM   
joshuamnave

 

Posts: 967
Joined: 1/8/2014
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.



There's no convoy line to the Philippines. I'm not playing with saved build points. I read your method in another thread and tried it in my last game, but without using the saved build points optional rule, it didn't work. Even if it did work, it would still qualify as a bad bug - there is no reason the US should have to avoid convoys to Manila to get the BP, nor should they rely on the Japanese player setting aside a build point by hand, nor should they miss out on the first turn BP.

(in reply to Courtenay)
Post #: 30
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