Global Domination 1938 AAR

[Iron Knight]

Honestly, it seems so hard to pull off a good offensive. Japan's getting killed. Italy looks like it would only get hurt if it joined in. Germany looks good to bunker up.

Edit: Also my coups haven't gone well...

[ernieschwitz]

Hey: I agree that attacks are pretty hard.

I used the stock bombur units and entrenchment values offered, and i think they may be a little too high. That being said, i was able to, in test games to attack, if planned very well. I would suggest using bombers and artillery to soften up units, more than you are used to, and to rely less on tanks than used to as well...

I will speak with Bombur about his oppinions on the units and entrenchment values, perhaps even the attack stack values, and see if we can´t come up with a better solution than currently.

Oh and BTW: I want to thank you all for testing the scenario so far.

[ernieschwitz]

ORIGINAL: Iron Knight

[...]
Edit: Also my coups haven't gone well...

I thought honestly i had made all the coups that would have been needed. But i guess if you really wanted to you could use a few more coups in south america.

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: ernieschwitz

ORIGINAL: Iron Knight

[...]
Edit: Also my coups haven't gone well...

I thought honestly i had made all the coups that would have been needed. But i guess if you really wanted to you could use a few more coups in south america.

About the coups, I notice that some are still possible after I've declared war and conquered the regime. I wonder what would happen if I tried to launch a coup on a defeated regime ?

[Bombur]

I think that the trouble with offensives is map scale....to much cities in Europe and too few room to maneuver, it turns to be a WWI bloodbath...the other trouble, maybe, is that infantry in Bombur mod makes two attacks instead of one, this make the infantry more powerful in defense. Air units and artillery are no doubt necessary....I took a bloody nose from the Germans both in the air and in the land, btw

[ernieschwitz]

Re: Jeffrey H:

I believe that you would get to spend the PPs but it would not run the coup code, as i somewhere in there had a line checking if you where at war with them.

I have found no really good way of determining when a regime is actually conquered, that wouldn´t eat up alot of time.

[ernieschwitz]

ORIGINAL: Bombur

I think that the trouble with offensives is map scale....to much cities in Europe and too few room to maneuver, it turns to be a WWI bloodbath...the other trouble, maybe, is that infantry in Bombur mod makes two attacks instead of one, this make the infantry more powerful in defense. Air units and artillery are no doubt necessary....I took a bloody nose from the Germans both in the air and in the land, btw

Not sure the cities and maneuver problems are the cause of the problem, since it seems there are the same troubles in China for Japan...

[Bombur]

Was the Japanese player able to build a large armoured force? Historically both sides fielded infantry based armies...

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: ernieschwitz

Re: Jeffrey H:

I believe that you would get to spend the PPs but it would not run the coup code, as i somewhere in there had a line checking if you where at war with them.

I have found no really good way of determining when a regime is actually conquered, that wouldn´t eat up alot of time.

I see the logic, however the 'what ifs' make for some interesting thought experiments; What if the Germans had obtained Latvia by force and Russia was not at war with Germany, could Russia play the Latvia coup card ?

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: Bombur

I think that the trouble with offensives is map scale....to much cities in Europe and too few room to maneuver, it turns to be a WWI bloodbath...the other trouble, maybe, is that infantry in Bombur mod makes two attacks instead of one, this make the infantry more powerful in defense. Air units and artillery are no doubt necessary....I took a bloody nose from the Germans both in the air and in the land, btw

In order to make offensives work, you'll need to do a lot of air and artillery prep and have a solid numerical advantage, in addition to having a defender willing to sit there and take it.

The map scale itself I think is ok but the unit scale and production rates could possibly use some tweaking. For instance, what does 1 infatry unit in the game represent ? 1000 men or 10,000 ? How long/how many PP's does it take to generate one ? I think that's where the tweaking should be focused.

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: ernieschwitz

Re: Jeffrey H:

I believe that you would get to spend the PPs but it would not run the coup code, as i somewhere in there had a line checking if you where at war with them.

I have found no really good way of determining when a regime is actually conquered, that wouldn´t eat up alot of time.

It might be too simple of a representation but here's a thought; when a player declares war on a regime, an event is triggered that searches the available coup cards in play, of all regimes, and deletes the coup cards for the declared upon regime.

[ernieschwitz]

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.

ORIGINAL: ernieschwitz

Re: Jeffrey H:

I believe that you would get to spend the PPs but it would not run the coup code, as i somewhere in there had a line checking if you where at war with them.

I have found no really good way of determining when a regime is actually conquered, that wouldn´t eat up alot of time.

It might be too simple of a representation but here's a thought; when a player declares war on a regime, an event is triggered that searched the available coup cards in play, of all regimes, and deleted the coup cards for the declared upon regime.

Yes. I might add that. It sounds like a good option anyway. I´ll think it over.

[GrumpyMel]

IMO,

Japan's difficulties stem mostly from the fact that I've been able to drown them with cheap chinese infantry. I don't think it's revealing too much that my strategy all along has been to bog the Japanese down in a war of attrition that they simply don't have the manpower to win.

This strategy has been more effective then I thought, as looking at the opening situation, I was pretty sure China was doomed. This turned out to be very much not the case. I'm not sure if this was due to strategies implimented or simply the game setup.  I did lose some territory early on but was able to stabilize the situation. Now it seems to me that Japan is suffering from manpower shortages on it's front lines.

It was my impression that the Japanese player was playing pretty cautiously at the beginning of the game...making well executed but very limited attacks, and often not pushing agressively to capitalize on his victories. This allowed me time to build up the size of the Chinese infantry forces.

I think the key with Japan, if they intend to win in China rather then just hold and look for opportunities elsewhere is that they have to be very agressive from the start, gain as much territory as possible and especialy knock out Chinese production capacity. If the Chinese are allowed time to build up thier forces and draw the Japanese into a war of attrition,  then things get very ugly for the Japs.

In that way, I think the scenerio is actualy quite effective in modeling the dynamics of that particular conflict.

Note that I am under the impression that my Japanese opponent can still win against me in China....but it definately seems like it's going to be an uphill struggle for him now. He just doesn't seem to have enough men in the front lines anymore to cover all the territory he needs and make a sustained push.

[Iron Knight]

Yeah, I paused a bit to get a grip on the situation when I took over. I shifted everything into china. Tanks have not done well. Artillery seems to be useful but I can't make enough to make my attacks useful. I've run into supply issues too. Still, not quite out yet. [;)]

[Bombur]

In order to make offensives work, you'll need to do a lot of air and artillery prep and have a solid numerical advantage, in addition to having a defender willing to sit there and take it.

The map scale itself I think is ok but the unit scale and production rates could possibly use some tweaking. For instance, what does 1 infatry unit in the game represent ? 1000 men or 10,000 ? How long/how many PP's does it take to generate one ? I think that's where the tweaking should be focused.

In the first GD an unit was=20 squads (200men) vehicles, artillery pieces or planes. A ship was=1 ship. I think the manpower limits make this unrealistic, maybe we should change the scale (but then we have a trouble with carriers) or manpower limits/production rates.

[Bombur]

Update (Western allied view)

-September 1938
-In the West Front, there is a stalemate, with artillery duels, but no major land battles. The Germans have air superiority over their own territory, and attempts to bomb German cities or land troops resulted in massive losses for the allies. On the other hand, the Germans made no attempt to launch air strikes against allied territory. In the Mediterranean, Gibraltar is surrounded by Spanish troops (allied with Italy), but Italy remains neutral (a mistery to me). An offensive in the Balkans, from the allies, made small territorial gains, but resulted in a bridge between Asia and Europe (in Istanbul)being blew, thus limiting supplies to the Turkish/British Forces. The British navy is bombarding the Balkan shores with impunity.

[Bombur]

A french attempt to take Sttutgart with massive artillery support was repulsed with heavy losses. The British air force finally learned how to fight the Luftwaffe and achieved less unfavorable results now. In the Gree Front, there is a stalemate....

[Jeffrey H.]

Stalemate in the East is the order of the day. Doing my best at trying to attrite Germany of manpower but honestly, I think I'm losing that and possibly will take a more defensive stance in the future.

German combat effectiveness is almost impossible to overcome.

[ernieschwitz]

First of all, thanks for still playing the game.

I hope you are still enjoying it, despite some shortcomings of the scenario. Bombur and I are working on a new version, with quite a few changes, based on some of the experiences we´ve gathered.

If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me, and i will see what i can do.

[Bombur]

December 1939:

The Germans upgraded their fighters to level 6 (Fw-190). RAF against took horrendous losses in air attacks (26 aircraft vs. 1). In the Balkans, the stalemate goes on but the RN inflicts heavy losses to German armoured units in the shores of the Black Sea.