quote:

ORIGINAL: demyansk

I had the same thing happen to me in a recent game. It's definitely not historical and it seems to me a gamey tactic. Maybe, a rule of their destruction could give the Axis enormous production points? Perhaps the map could be off limits to these ships, however part of the game allows weird tactics that might work. Good points on this and I guess it depends on how you look at these battles.

quote:

ORIGINAL: El Condoro

As I am the opponent with the French fleet blockading Norway, I guess I can comment! :)

Nearly every opponent I have played uses the tactic and I agree it is not historical. That said, whenever it is done to me I just wait for the French to be defeated and it soon ends. I expect to lose the 30-40 MPP per turn and factor it into my planning. If it doesn't happen I expect the next thing...

The second non-historical use of the French navy is the suicide attack against the Italian fleet. This is being done to me in another game and although I sent u-boats in anticipation of it, the suicidal French sailors have caused a lot of damage to the Regia Marina. I will be interested to see if I can make him pay for his brazen disregard for French lives!

quote:

ORIGINAL: PvtBenjamin

Sacrificing French Navy certainly is gamey. I don't employ that tactic but don't think its that crazy that the French Navy would block Norwegian.

Scouting with Italian Navy before they enter is also complete BS.


1) Buy a German Maritime bomber early. Germans start with lv 1 Naval weapons so the French go down easily. Blockade Halifax they will either have to send French or waste Brit Navy.. If your opponent wastes to much French Navy go all France and attack Algiers and/or early amphib on GB.

2) I agree Maginot line should be stronger.

3) I don't think bombers can attack in bad weather.

4) Thats the game.

5) hmm could go either way. Take off and land in good weather fly thru bad weather, carrier in bad weather. I agree interceptors should reduce paratroopers more even when escorted. The new supply rules game significantly reduced the gamey aspect of paratroopers.

I tend to agree that sealion is still to easy but improving over time. In the first 2 turns the Brits should invest in AA research. Usually they will have lv 2 AA by sealion (except with new research rules maybe not). Retreat entire BEF & HQ reinforce HQ to 10 upgrade to Monty. Buy 3 AA's early. If Paratroopers dont land in a supply hex they now go own easily.

I agree German Navy controlling channel is silly tho. Its mainly because of the strength of the subs which has been reduced.


Over time many "historic" issues have improved.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BillRunacre

The presence of Allied naval units on the Norwegian convoy line to Germany will swing 1-4% towards the Axis every turn, so if the French are there for some time then Norway will become a much better target for Axis diplomacy rather than invasion.

Maybe we could increase the effect on Norway to discourage the use of the French fleet in this way, but there is probably a limit as to how much is reasonable.

Bear in mind too that a French fleet operating against the Norwegian convoy is not in position to prevent an Italian landing or advance in North Africa, so it may render the complete conquest of France more likely.

quote:

Will certainly bear in mind that North Aftrica is more exposed and a complete conquer of France is a possibility. I haven't thought in those terms as of yet === noobish lack of experience

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

quote:

Will certainly bear in mind that North Aftrica is more exposed and a complete conquer of France is a possibility. I haven't thought in those terms as of yet === noobish lack of experience

Hi Marc,

Sometimes certain game play choices are self balancing as while let's say the French targeting Norwegian convoys is on the one hand ahistorical, so too would be the opportunity for the Italians to then land in North Africa as Bill has suggested.

While we do attempt to address potential game breaking issues in game, at the same time we don't want to entirely limit reasonable game play choices so long as there are pros and cons to each decision with the possibility of each decision being counter acted in some other way to ensure overall balance in the end.

For example, some players had taken issue in the past when an Axis side would nearly bring the entirety of their air power to North Africa to aid in the conquer of Egypt and so on. While we felt that this might be a situation of win one battle but lose the war (as Barbarossa would potentially struggle as a result), we did keep the possibility open but simply made it a bit more costly to do so in the end. This keeps the what if option of such a move open to players, but likely brought the pros vs cons of such a move closer to even that what it initially would have been.

Going back to the other possibility of the French navy being used to attack the Italian navy prior to surrender, and again while unhistorical, we still feel players should have some leeway to explore different strategies and options in game. To partially address this we had recently doubled the National Morale losses and bonuses due to naval combat which can potentially accelerate French surrender from such a move if it does not go well. Now such a move is not without some potential liability either.

Hope this helps,
Hubert

quote:

Hi Hubert,

thanks for taking the time to respond.

I understand that if a game is made to be too historical is ceases to be a game and becomes a simulation of historical record.

The comments I've made here and there are obviously limited in depth and breadth of experiencing and playing the game. I know that more thought and time have gone into the production of it than what may appear to be my meager efforts to understand its workings.

Probably some of my remarks aren't new by any means. I do try to go through the forums before commenting on matters that seem head-scratching. On the other hand, not speaking about them isn't an option as without some kind of understanding as to the rationale about things, I'd move on. Getting some answers from you, some others who care and some PMs from my opponents, I begin to compile a better understanding and hopefully this will mean my remarks become more meaningful and relevant with time.

cheers Marc

quote:

ORIGINAL: demyansk

Thanks for the nm answer, I know you lose nm when those ships are destroyed.