RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (Full Version)

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> World in Flames >> After Action Report



Message


Courtenay -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 5:03:40 AM)

Rereading my post, I see I was confused about what turn it is. In most of the post, "this turn" is J/A, that is the upcoming turn, but in the last sentence "this turn" was M/J, and "next turn" was J/A. I should have said "last turn" and "this turn" in that sentence, not "this turn" and "next turn".




composer99 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 12:28:01 PM)

Dunno if Courtenay said anything, but the middle row of tension with the lighter shade of green has no special property. It's just offsetting colours for easier readability.




Centuur -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 1:27:30 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: What the hell is going on phase


As we're in the latter half of 1941, and as this is all pretty much new territory for me I thought I would take a few minutes to try and understand what all this declaring war with/on the US is all about....

Hopefully this will be of interest to anyone still reading this thread - and who is either a total newbie to the game or, is like me and has difficulty remembering anything from one minute to the next. Obviously this post is not written to invite comment that assists me/AllenK, but I do invite anyone to comment on points I make that are total and utter sloblocks.

First things first. I would invite AllenK (and Mayhemizer and Orm if they are reading) to confirm what is considered acceptable behaviour in terms of looking at the various US entry actions/option/pools. I think it is acknowledged that with the best will in the world, the way MWIF PBEM is set up, it is impossible for the Axis player to never see where the US entry is at. For example, there will be actions taken that involves the Axis player moving chits to/from the Entry Pools - that can't be helped. But I assume that there is a gentlemen's agreement that we don't actively seek any information from these pools unless the game demands it?

Secondly, I want to understand where the Allies are in terms of being able to declare war on the Japanese. With the unfriendly act of embargoing oil, I have to assume that the US are close to being able to declare war. So how close?

Firstly I take a look at the 'It's War Chart' and I can't read 'It's War' without bringing this gem to mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3BO6GP9NMY

But back to Matrix World In Flames.....

So this is the chart in question.
[image]local://upfiles/28156/38B4E56FB7A04DD193ED2613711A3DED.jpg[/image]

I will now look at RAC and see what this says.

ATTEMPTING TO DECLARE WAR
Announce your attempt to declare war on a major power. Then, on the “It’s War” table, cross index your entry level against that major power with your tension level against it to find the war number. Now, roll a die: If it is less than or equal to the war number, your declaration has succeeded.


So from looking at this it would appear the US are unable to declare war on Japan at present. I don't know what the tension situation is but assume (from the Oil Embargo) that the US is on the 31-34 column. The modifiers (outlined in green) suggest that I really need to worry when a) AllenK moves the fleet to Pearl and b) the War Appropriations Bill is passed. These two together add 5 to the dice roll, and with the -1 for China, this makes a +4 modifier. So even if a 1 is thrown I am okay. So the moral of this story is to now start paying attention to what AllenK does with entry options!

Two questions that comes to mind from looking at the 'It's War' chart;

1. Why is tension better (for US Entry) the higher up the US Entry track the Allies are, but not so handy lower down?

2. What is the light colour in the Tension Row 24-31 meant to denote?


On 1. This has to do with the fact that the United States is a democratic state. Any democracy will try to avoid war. It can achieve this by putting pressure on the state by diplomatic means, such as the US options in the game.
This however, does not always lead to an increasing chance of going to war. If too much pressure is exacted, the chosen politicians start saying to the public: "see, we don't have to go to war at this stage, because we need time to get the sanctions to do their job for us".
The more pressure is exacted this way, the more difficult it becomes for politicians to start the fighting, except when such a nation is simply continuing it's politics. But that again takes time to be considered, thus delaying the big "War" question to a later date.

This is simulated in the It's War table when the chosen politicians are first not interested, than they are becoming more interested, than they want to do something about it and finally want to delay to do something about it, because so much has been done already and we want peace to prevail...

Now, on your gentlemans agreement. Why not start your next game with one opponent in the netplay version? It's so much more fun to really don't know when the Molotov-Ribbentrop will be broken or when the US will enter the war. Everything is hidden for your opponent...




brian brian -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 2:13:19 PM)

A simple rule of thumb to use for the Axis, whether you technically have ‘access’ to the actual chits in a solitaire game or an electronic game of any sort, is to keep a count of the _quantity_ of chits in each of the four pools. Then, mentally assign a value of “2” to each of them and make plans from there. As the # of chits keeps increasing it is not that difficult to ignore the actual values, except in the Tension pools, where one high value chit can make a big difference. But the current status of option 22 & 34 being played indicates that fairly well anyway.

It is also perfectly fine, and indeed, smart play, to jot down the turn and the values of the chits that have to be displayed to pick an entry option. Lots of “home made” turn record sheets used to keep track of things when playing include space to jot down such numbers. The USA player can of course pick entry options below their entry level, but they generally won’t do this to a radical degree because the options are so useful to the Allied side, and they need to pick them to generate the Tension they need to enter the war - the sooner they enter, the easier it is for the Allies to win.

Also note that after “Move Fleet to Pearl” is picked, the USA needs 4 impulses PLUS an end-of-turn Return-to-Base phase to actually use the better die roll modifier for a DOW attempt against Japan.

Or some combination of < 4 impulses + an e-o-t R-T-B phase + more active impulses including deliberate Return-to-Base naval moves.

Just picking the option is not enough & a fully neutral USA can only move 3 ships per impulse. If the USA is at war with Germany or Italy, it would still need two impulses to complete moving the Fleet to Pearl before they can reduce the Japanese DOW modifier.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 4:13:36 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

Also note that after “Move Fleet to Pearl” is picked, the USA needs 4 impulses PLUS an end-of-turn Return-to-Base phase to actually use the better die roll modifier for a DOW attempt against Japan.

Or some combination of < 4 impulses + an e-o-t R-T-B phase + more active impulses including deliberate Return-to-Base naval moves.

Just picking the option is not enough & a fully neutral USA can only move 3 ships per impulse. If the USA is at war with Germany or Italy, it would still need two impulses to complete moving the Fleet to Pearl before they can reduce the Japanese DOW modifier.
warspite1

Thanks for the comments peeps. I'll go through these when I'm waiting for both games to be in the hands of my opponents. The above is particularly interesting - I'll need to get my head around that.




composer99 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/11/2019 7:23:28 PM)

Probably worth noting that the US can send its CVs and BBs to sea on any given turn before passing Fleet to Pearl if it anticipates getting to pass that option on that turn. Then it can send them to port during the end-of-turn RTB step and have them ready immediately on the following turn to modify tension rolls.




Admiral Delabroglio -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/13/2019 12:45:30 PM)

Hello

I always thought that the lighter line is only meant to make the reading easier, but there may be some rationale behind it

I recall a Fascist Tide (Europe only) game, in which I was playing the USA. First opportunity to declare war on Germany, I had a 1/10 probability.

I did not want to chance it but I rolled a dummy attempt… and lo!, it would have succeeded and doomed the Axis in the summer of 1940, before France even fell if I remember correctly.
In 1941, Germany invaded the USSR and steamrolled the Russians. At that time, the allies needed the USA in the war. I failed three good rolls in a row, such as 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5 probabilities. Then, Russia was on the brink of disaster, the Germans had taken Rostov and were heading unopposed towards the Caucasus oil fields, I missed a fourth roll, and by then, the US tension had become so low that a US entry in the war against the European Axis powers was impossible before 1943.
We (the Allies) conceded the game.

Best regards




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/16/2019 6:46:21 PM)

J/A 41 Allies 1

No DoW or alignments

Land: China, France.
Combined: The rest.

TRANS from Plymouth sails to Biscay 1-box with INF. 2 TRANS and 2 CV sail to North Sea 2-box. They load the INF and MIL and Rouen.

US sends Ranger from San Diego to Norfolk. The Bearne sails from Norfolk to Mexican Coast. CL to East Coast 4-box.

As a parting gift to the French, the RAF send a ground strike over. As well as the German fighters, the two Italian ones could also participate. The Germans also have the 88's in an adjacent hex.

Any takers?

[image]local://upfiles/47730/1613D570D40E4C4FB892804B92BEB509.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/16/2019 6:51:55 PM)

No thank-you I will try and rely on my ack-ack gunners....




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/16/2019 7:00:31 PM)

The AA gunners blast away and prove pretty effective at disrupting the bombing (lowest of 5: 6, 3, 8, 2, 4).

However, some are delivered to good effect.

[image]local://upfiles/47730/4F5E4F168FCD47E29ABC1ADC6588FFBB.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/16/2019 7:19:39 PM)

Gort rails to Bayonne.

The Soviets move a single unit from Minsk to Vilna.

CW moves MIL back to Bardia. An INF moves into Eritrea but becomes disorganised as it was OOS.

The French reorganise the line.

[image]local://upfiles/47730/6F1BBC9F619B4C4388527888CBD9CC70.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/16/2019 7:26:20 PM)

CW disembarks INF from Biscay to Bayonne.

The French rebase a FTR from Vichy to west of Paris.

Alexander reorgs the two RAF aircraft used in the impulse.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 5:44:10 PM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Declarations of War and Alignments: None

Germany: Land
Italy: Land
Japan: Combined

Port Attack: None
Naval Air: None

Naval Movement:
Japan

A TRS sails for Bangkok carrying Yamashita
An AMPH heads for the China Sea carrying an infantry army

Strategic Bombing: None
Ground Strike:
Italy

The Italians send out a bomber east of Paris (3-quality)

Germany

The Germans launch a plethora of Stukas against Paris (as seen), east of Paris (5-quality) and southeast of Paris (5-quality and 3-quality)

No fighters for the Axis. The aircraft that can intercept are as seen only. What do the French want to do?

[image]local://upfiles/28156/2DA4734115C747029BC42B168E905DF9.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 6:17:41 PM)

Just checking, is SE of Paris the hex with the D510?




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 6:18:32 PM)

Yowser




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 6:26:09 PM)

Send the 6 factor D520 to Paris. Send the 5 factor D520 and the D510 to the hex SE of Paris, thanks.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 6:42:08 PM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (Air to Air combat subphase)

Paris - Round 1

Allied - 17 (DXPX) - the German player destroys the front fighter. The pilot is killed
DA - 15 (DA) - the French fighter is aborted.

In the absence of orders to the contrary - and on the basis its behind the river, I return the French fighter from whence it came.

[image]local://upfiles/28156/C4ADBF8F032B4EE5B89EC6F07F00C52D.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 6:50:45 PM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (Air to Air combat subphase)

Southeast of Paris - Round 1

Allied - 17 (DXPX) - the Germans destroy the front fighter. The pilot is killed
Axis - 8 (DA) - the French front fighter is aborted.

I take the same approach with re-basing. The odds remain at +1/-1 in the Axis favour. Do the French stay around?

Southeast of Paris - Round 2

Allied - 12 (AC) - the French decide which bomber to clear through and choose the weaker Stuka
Axis - 16 (DX) - The French fighter is shot down. The pilot is saved.

[image]local://upfiles/28156/4C477629BCD842B99C4BB1134C0EAD6B.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 7:04:20 PM)

Mai Oui, bien sur.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 7:13:10 PM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (Air to Air combat subphase)

Summary of the air battles
[image]local://upfiles/28156/0F0293A7C8CD48AB9DD274E3FA65905F.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 7:16:10 PM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (AA subphase)

What do the French want to do?

[image]local://upfiles/28156/22D02225BE35452FBC022C44DC7009B7.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/18/2019 8:32:37 PM)

I hope this works.

The 75 mm's and 37 mm's both spend 2 shots each to defend the HQ in the hex SE of Paris. For 10 factors, this would give lowest 1 of 4.

The 75 mm's spend their remaining 2 shots against the bomber attacking Paris. At 6 factors, this should be lowest 1 of 6.

The 37 mm's spend their remaining 2 shots on the bombers attacking their hex. At 4 factors, this should be lowest 1 of 6.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 7:37:50 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (AA subphase)

So it looks like 16 dice throws. I will just do all sixteen on the dice roller and then apply in strict order as per the program presentation (looks like they are starting with Paris).

[image]local://upfiles/28156/FF58DC794AD24E74BFFF6EE71BEDDBC9.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 7:42:34 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike (AA subphase)

The throws are:
2
10
1
4
10
3

1
8
10
7
4
4

3
10
9
4

Which gives the following results:

[image]local://upfiles/28156/9CA2D7F40A1B442394625656FB3AE1A5.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 7:56:36 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike:
Germany

I am not sure how the program will present the Italians and in what order. I've also lost track of the numbers of units on the ground. To avoid any issues I will throw on a hex by hex and bomber by bomber basis so any excess throws are NOT carried over to the next bomber.

Paris:

Rolls of 8, 1 and 3
[image]local://upfiles/28156/8AD4047EF0F84964A8CD3B167A477DBE.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 8:14:20 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike:
Italy

East of Paris:

Rolls of 8, 1 and 3 (again)

Germany

East of Paris:

Rolls of 7.6 and 3
[image]local://upfiles/28156/3E75A57C50AE4EBCBACA66AABD7FDEBE.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 8:16:11 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Ground Strike:
Germany

Okay so two German bombers left so I will just roll the 4 dice and take as per the order of the program as always.

Southeast of Paris:

Rolls of 5, 5, 6 and 8
[image]local://upfiles/28156/F32F2ACD425549EC8F2E15223D6CC41C.jpg[/image]




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 8:22:42 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Rail Movement: None
Land Movement:
Japan

Japanese operations continue to stall; the bulk of the Japanese forces flounder in the muddy mountains.

Germany

The forthcoming attack has been made more difficult by the failure of my ground strikes as the French artillery will add a vital 4 to the defence - not to mention the option of HQ support..... Missing out on the first impulse and getting an ARM ground struck also means I have no choice but to use an HQ in the forthcoming attack. I need to keep my equilibrium here but for the first time in the game I am sorely close to failing a morale check.[Note to self: If I can't do a 1942 Barbarossa then the game is over and if I can't get Paris before Nov/Dec 1941 then a 1942 Barbarossa is impossible so STFU and get on with it].

Italy

The Italians continue to be little more than an appendage - and a not hugely useful one at that. They are at least holding the line in the south of France.

Debark:
Japan

An infantry army lands in Tientsin

Land Combat:
Germany

One attack announced - east of Paris. Odds are (50:13) 3:1. I believe its +5 (6 ARM/MECH and two disorganised) but not certain. The Germans bring in no aircraft and no HQ Support. The French have an ART southeast of Paris and the HQ you can see.

What do the French want to do?

[image]local://upfiles/28156/2694F9AB63454A7594BB24A434B894F2.jpg[/image]




AllenK -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 10:09:46 AM)

Fire the guns and the HQ will attempt to add support, thanks.




warspite1 -> RE: Folly a deux: AllenK vs Warspite1 AAR (4/19/2019 10:30:21 AM)

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 2 (Axis)


Land Combat:
Germany

The HQ Support succeeds, taking the odds down to 3:2+5. The Blitzkrieg table is chosen. The fractionals succeed (359) taking the odds back to 2:1. A 3(8) is thrown, disorganising all attackers for the loss of 1 French unit (which I assume will be the MIL).

[image]local://upfiles/28156/69485699708D4CB08D8FF5B0284A8F3F.jpg[/image]




Page: <<   < prev  24 25 [26] 27 28   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI
1.296875