Thrice Thwarted - GD 1938

[ernieschwitz]

Ok, before going into any details, I am going to mention the fact that I have been involved in the last few months in two games of GD 1938. I have been playing Germany and Italy in one of them, and anyone following the AAR will know this. However I have also been playing a second game as The Soviet Union.

In each of them I went in with the following goal. Could the easiest victory condition (as I saw it) be achieved, by simply rushing the objectives, and declaring war as fast as possible.

Well: the results are in. I couldn´t.

In the first case, the German one, I came close. And I might still achieve it, but I don´t think so. The situation in the Soviet Union, is a stalemate, despite my best attempts to encircle, and push my way forward. So Thwarted by the soviets.

In the second case, the Italians, have almost achieved a victory too. But two pieces of the puzzle are missing. One is the all important island of Malta, which must be taken in all the victory conditions Italy gets to choose from. The second piece shall remain secret, just in case Malta falls, but this is unlikely, as there are now many spitfires there, and the British fleet has concentrated in the waters around it. I might gamble with a seaborne invasion, as the garrison there is weak, but, it won´t continue to be, i bet. So thwarted by the British.

In the third case, the Soviet one, the objective was simple. Get Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Persia, while keeping the Soviet Union intact. Almost achieved, without firing a shot. There was a short war to begin with where I took half the Rumanian territory, from Germany, and then came to peace with them. Bulgaria and Turkey soon fell to diplomacy, and Persia was on the way to becoming Soviet too. But I had a discussion with the British player, and he flat out refused to let me occupy Persia without declaring war on me. I thought oh well, I will see if I can get the Germans to cede the rest of Rumania for continued peace, and he nearly did... but somewhere along the way, the British discovered what I was up to, and the peace talks I had with them, after taking half of Poland, with Germany, failed completely, and came to all out war. In my haste to get the half of Rumania I needed and to get Persia as well, I had to declare war on Germany (and Italy too). So I found myself in a war against 4 great powers... All wasn´t lost until I discovered that Britain had become a closer friend to Persia than the Soviet Union. Desperately I tried to get control of Persia, but, it soon became apparant that the Persians had other ideas, as they sided with the British. So Thwarted by the British yet again.

I guess this sort of proves you cannot bullrush your way to victory in GD 1938... although I would hardly call 26 turns or more a fast victory.

Both games are still in progress.

[Twotribes]

Are they? Where is the AAR? LOL.

[ernieschwitz]

Well hi there twotribes.

The first game has an AAR, although it is gone a bit stale as of late, but i plan on updating my progress with the next turn. As for the other game, there exists no AAR, but its a fun game nevertheless.

[Twotribes]

You should try ETO. I think the Soviets need help but it is a good game too.

[Josh]

Twotribes is right, they sound like extraordinairy AAR's to me, especially the third one, would have loved to read that one... stab and backstabbing all over the place resulting in an all out war.

[RufusTFirefly]

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

You should try ETO. I think the Soviets need help but it is a good game too.

Think Ernieschwitz had played ETO already, as a real ATG veteran.
I agree, ETO is one of the best scenarios!

However, GD 1938 is a great one too. An as you want an AAR, look here: tm.asp?m=3383672

[ernieschwitz]

Think Ernieschwitz had played ETO already, as a real ATG veteran.

Actually I have only ever played it against myself, but I have followed the developement and games played with it with interest. Last time I checked though there was this "bug" that if Germany was agressive and attacked the Maginot from the start of the game, where warfooting was low, then they could easily breach it.

[Jeffrey H.]

I am playing the Anglo French in the first and second cases of Ernies above mentioned games. I think I have outlined what my own perceptions are, the French have virtually no chance at anything resembling victory because they are forced into war with Germany from the start. The only hope for the French is to avoid war with Germany, otherwise forget it, they get steam rolled.

The English have a much better overall position, unfortunately, for this game I had my VC's decided for me at random since I didn't choose mine on turn 1. As luck would have it, the random choice so far has worked out. I still hold some hope for victory as the British.

[RufusTFirefly]

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.

I think I have outlined what my own perceptions are, the French have virtually no chance at anything resembling victory because they are forced into war with Germany from the start. The only hope for the French is to avoid war with Germany, otherwise forget it, they get steam rolled.

Completely agree with the first part of your statement. Due to war against Germany, that is more powerful than France, it is forced into a defensive position with hardly any chance to gain more than keeping its territory together.

But France will not necessarily be steamrolled. The screenshot shows the situation at end of May 39. Meanwhile we are at late Dec 39. In France nothing has changed. In Portugal the Brits managed to take Porto and Lisbon and control Portugal completely now. Greece has joined France. France had already launched an offensive there.

German and Italy have strong forces at the front, but France too. France controls the skies over its territory. Supply can be send oversea as British navy controls the Atlantic.

[lion_of_judah]

the situation with Germany/Italy ( I've taken over for Ernie) for the time being has stabilized on the eastern front. and Italy has taken the offensive in Spain and closing in on the Spanish capital. things are looking good for the time being on the soviet front so i'm happy about that.