RE: Decisively Beating the AI

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the West >> After Action Reports >> RE: Decisively Beating the AI

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 3:33:10 PM

Harrybanana

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Below is the map after my turn. As you can see it looks like I may finally be facing some serious opposition as enemy armour has been spotted in Avignon.

At the moment I have 5th Army with 9 divisions (0 armour) in NE Italy and 8th BR Army with 15 divisions (including 4 Arm and the NZ Mixed Inf) attacking into Southern France. All other combat units, including 7th Army, have been returned to England.

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< Message edited by Harrybanana -- 6/26/2015 4:34:56 PM >

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Post #: 151

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 6:01:53 PM

rickier65

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Still following this and looking forward to more.

and by the way, the circles and arrows you draw work fine for me.

I'm not sure I totally understood the issue with the Railroad Repair units and why their supply was low, but maybe it will become clearer.

Thanks again!
Rick

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Post #: 152

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 8:11:38 PM

Harrybanana

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rick

Still following this and looking forward to more.

and by the way, the circles and arrows you draw work fine for me.

I'm not sure I totally understood the issue with the Railroad Repair units and why their supply was low, but maybe it will become clearer.

Thanks again!
Rick

I'm not sure as I understand it either. But my understanding is that the problem was caused by my keeping the RR Repair units attached to an HQ that was too far away and/or with too low a supply priority. So now they are attached to 8th Army which has a supply priority of 3.

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Post #: 153

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 8:13:23 PM

Harrybanana

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T42: April 15,1944

The map after my turn. Note that my division in Lyon is out of supply. This happened to me a few turns in a row where I would "convert" hexes to my control on my turn, only to have them revert back to German control, even though there are no German units nearby. I am sure there is some obscure rule that explains why this happens, undoubtedly something to do with supply.

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Post #: 154

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 8:14:39 PM

Harrybanana

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T43: Apr 22, 1944

The Map before my turn is below. The unit in Lyon is again out of supply.

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Post #: 155

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/26/2015 8:17:15 PM

Harrybanana

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The Map after my turn. Marseilles is captured. I couldn't quite close the gap on the units in Avignon. But surely they will see the danger and react appropriately. Oh yeah, you may have noticed that most of my infantry have been "de-motorized." I did this as I was down to about 70 Admin points and I am finally encountering some resistance.

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Post #: 156

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/30/2015 3:25:20 PM

Harrybanana

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T44: Apr 29,1944

But as you can see below in the screenshot from before my turn, the AI did nothing. This allowed me to isolate the units shown in Avignon, plus another Panzer Division that cannot be seen due to FOW. I forgot to take a screenshot after my moves.

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Post #: 157

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/30/2015 3:26:57 PM

Harrybanana

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T45: May 6,1944

The screenshot from before my turn is below. You can see that the German panzers tried to escape isolation, but were just barely unsuccessful. Actually what i don't understand from this screenshot is why the 10th SS panzer did not convert the hexes W, NW and NE of it's position to German control. Anyone? Or is this a bug? In any event, this is as far as I got in my game. From now on I will be playing a turn or two and then posting the results. So if anyone wants to offer suggestions, feel free to do so.

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Post #: 158

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 6/30/2015 3:27:59 PM

Harrybanana

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What I should have mentioned prior to this is what I have been doing to prepare for Overlord. Commencing on T39 (Mar 25, 1944) I have been using BC, 2nd TAC, 8th and 9th Air Forces to bomb ports and railyards in France and the Netherlands. Naturally I have been flying Strategic Recon to confirm the actual damage. The results appear to be impressive. See map below of just part of the area I have been bombing. Of course, this has meant no Strategic bombing of factories, so my Strategic Bombing VPs are down to just 3 per turn. This is even though 15th AF began strategic bombing itself on or about T30 (primarily the Ploetsi oil fields and Vienna).

The other thing I have done over the last few turns is moved the majority of my air groups back to England. TAC only has 916 aircraft in it and Coastal only 316. Meanwhile 2nd RAF has 1790 aircraft, 9th 3101 aircraft, and RAF Coastal 910 aircraft. Of course most of my tactical recon air groups have also been moved back to England.

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< Message edited by Harrybanana -- 6/30/2015 4:42:45 PM >

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Post #: 159

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 12:30:44 AM

Harrybanana

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Here is the view after my turn. No surprises I am sure.

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Post #: 160

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 12:31:21 AM

Harrybanana

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Here is the Invasion Plan showing the Invasion hexes and airborne drop zones. I think dropping the paratroopers as regiments against the AI is smart. Not so sure it is as smart against a human opponent. The reason is human opponents are far more likely to occupy the hexes one hex behind the invasion beaches.

Oh yeah, yet another thing I have done is Patton is now commanding 1st Army and Bradley and Ridgeway are commanding the 2 American invasion corps.

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< Message edited by Harrybanana -- 7/1/2015 1:40:58 AM >

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Post #: 161

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 10:37:57 PM

Harrybanana

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T46: May 13,1944

I was hoping to push the "Invade" button this turn; but light rain in Northern France means that Overlord will be postponed.

Meanwhile in Southern France, Recon indicates that resistance may be growing. So I more or less rest my troops near Lyon while the troops near Avignon march North.

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Post #: 162

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 10:39:58 PM

Harrybanana

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T47: May 20, 1944

The weather cleared and I launched the Invasion of France. Below are my Air Directives for the Northern Air Forces. I set 8th AF to bomb the invasion beaches. I was hoping 90 raids of 100 aircraft each in a limited area would have a dramatic effect. But really it didn't seem to do too much. I assigned BC back to strategic bombing of the Ruhr. RAF Fighter provide Air Superiority. RAF Coastal ran a naval patrol mission as well as recon of the area around the beaches. Meanwhile 2nd TAC and 9th AF interdicted the invasion area.

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Post #: 163

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 10:41:14 PM

Harrybanana

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Below are the Interdiction numbers. I was happy with the ground interdiction, but very surprised by the poor Naval Patrol Interdiction numbers.

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Post #: 164

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 10:42:57 PM

Harrybanana

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I said a few posts ago that I believed breaking the paratroopers down into regiments was the way to go against the AI. Now I'm not so sure. Since my para-drops were within 8 hexes of one or more of my land units they occurred during my movement phase rather than after the enemy logistics phase. Of my 12 regimental size para-drops I think only 4 landed in the correct hex. 2 landed on enemy units and were destroyed in combat. A third was destroyed by a "fatal" drift (or whatever it is called). A few others triggered enemy reaction movements. I made it even worse by making a stupid mistake. Namely I decided that I would not only add my 4 commanding Corps HQs to the followup forces, but also my 2 Army HQs (1st US and 2nd British). This was dumb as it meant I only had enough sea transport left to add 1 infantry division to my followup forces. If I was playing a human opponent these mistakes would have been fatal. But luckily it is only the AI. Below is the screenshot showing my disbursed paratroopers and the invasion and followup forces. You will note that even if all my invasions succeed my southern group of 3 paratroop regiments will still be isolated. All in all not a very auspicious beginning.

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/1/2015 10:45:02 PM

Harrybanana

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Things went better in the South where I isolated a few more enemy regiments.

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 2:14:04 AM

carlkay58

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Welcome to the reason behind "Don't airdrop anything but divisions."

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 5:59:38 AM

loki100

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Harrybanana

Below are the Interdiction numbers. I was happy with the ground interdiction, but very surprised by the poor Naval Patrol Interdiction numbers.

remember that ports contest naval interdiction and you've invaded in a port rich sector .. having said that #4 should be fine, its unlikely at this stage of the game that the Germans can do much to challenge you

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Post #: 168

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 7:57:38 PM

Harrybanana

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T48: May 27, 1944

Below is the map of the invasion area prior to my Air Phase. Perhaps not unexpectedly my assault of Etaples was repulsed. This attack worked in my previous game against the AI, as did my airborne landings. Now I'm not sure if the difference is that I am playing this game on Challenging, or if I just got lucky last game. On the plus side the enemy, for reasons known only to itself, attacked and retreated my isolated British airborne brigades into a single hex, but then did not attack and destroy those units. Looking at this map I saw an opportunity to expand my bridgehead SE and link up with these airborne brigades.

More good news is that, despite a strong showing by the Luftwaffe, maintaining naval control of the sea hexes leading to the beaches was not a problem. I built both of my mulberries, one in the hex SE of Boulogne and the other NW of Abbeville. The reason for the one SE of Boulogne is that I did not want to have to station a TF here to keep a temp port open as it would get battered by the fort in Boulogne.

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< Message edited by Harrybanana -- 7/2/2015 8:57:52 PM >

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Post #: 169

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:00:02 PM

Harrybanana

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This is the situation after my turn. Not nearly as good as I was hoping. Primarily because the enemy stack circled in red beat off 3 separate attacks.

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:00:59 PM

Harrybanana

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Things again went better in the South where I isolated a panzer regiment and set myself up for a larger offensive next turn.

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Post #: 171

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:02:10 PM

Harrybanana

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The Area of my next invasion, for which 7 divisions started prepping this turn.

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:03:20 PM

Harrybanana

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T49: June 3, 1944

The Northern Map after Recon, but before my moves. As you can see the Germans counterattacked and routed a number of my airborne. Again, it appeared to me that the weakest section of the German line was in the SE part of my line. I was hoping to make a partial breakout towards Amiens this turn.

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Post #: 173

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:05:01 PM

Harrybanana

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Unfortunately, several more failed attacks (primarily on the units circled in red) meant I made little headway. At least I captured Etaples.

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Post #: 174

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/2/2015 8:05:59 PM

Harrybanana

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Once again I performed much better in the South; where I successfully isolated another 7 or 8 enemy divisions.

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Post #: 175

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/3/2015 8:18:02 PM

Harrybanana

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T50: June 10, 1944

Light rain puts a bit of a damper on things. Time to rest a good chunk of my Air Force. I was surprised to find that the Germans have pulled back from the Southern Flank of my Beachhead in France, so I steamed South.

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Post #: 176

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/3/2015 8:19:06 PM

Harrybanana

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However, on the Southern Front resistance was increasing. Fine with me, it is closer to Berlin from Pas De Calais than it is from Dijon.

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< Message edited by Harrybanana -- 7/3/2015 9:19:22 PM >

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Post #: 177

RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/3/2015 8:20:03 PM

Harrybanana

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Info on Losses, VPs and production is below. British and Canadian Manpower number are low; so with much regret I disbanded the Canadian Army HQ and a British Corps HQ.

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RE: Decisively Beating the AI - 7/3/2015 8:22:16 PM

Harrybanana

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T51: June 17, 1944

Very much a continuation of last turn. The Germans continue to pull back in the North so I continue to advance against little opposition. The Germans continue to reinforce the South, so I content myself with attacking the isolated units.

The before picture.