Bob Flemin's MWIF AARse

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 9

Almost the end of the turn and the Kriegsmarine are ordered to sea to see what they can achieve. All units except the two WW1 vintage ships have been ordered to sortie!

The RAF and FAA send out fighters and Swordfish to intercept, but its the Germans that get the surprise. They choose to pick on the CW convoy.

The convoy is destroyed and the fleet returns triumphantly to base.

I suppose Germany had fun but it was a lot of oil spend for a mission with little to gain. A smaller dedicated task force should have been able to get the same result with less oil cost and a lower profile might often be better as well.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: End of Turn

The turn ends and Partisans rear their head - two in the Soviet Union and one in Malaya.

The Soviet Partisans are placed behind the German Army Group South - as if they didn't have enough problems!

Are all hexes in Bessarabia Axis controlled? If so, than it shouldn't be possible for the partisan to be placed in Cernauti, since a partisan can only be placed in his own home country (and Bessarabia is Rumania if all hexes are Axis controlled). It looks like a bug to me...

[Walker84]

So the Japs continue to kick ass in China. Wait a minute, the game is now into Jul/Aul '42.[X(] What has happened to US entry - and what plans are the sons of Nippon hatching to rid the Greater Asian Co-Prosperity sphere of Imperialist lackey forces in the region?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Walker84

So the Japs continue to kick ass in China. Wait a minute, the game is now into Jul/Aul '42.[X(] What has happened to US entry - and what plans are the sons of Nippon hatching to rid the Greater Asian Co-Prosperity sphere of Imperialist lackey forces in the region?

warspite1

I'll summarise on Saturday where I am and what in the name of Bonaparte's balls is going on...

[Mynok]

Bonapartes balls? I thought Wellington had those in a jar somewhere.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Bonapartes balls? I thought Wellington had those in a jar somewhere.

warspite1

Quite....

[warspite1]

So where the hell is this game at and where on earth is it going?

First off a realisation:

Having played 20 years ago under 5th Edition rules I assumed that I could handle a Global War game with all the optionals, without reference to the rule book (I figured I would just pick it up as I went along).

There are three factors that I think come together to ensure that was a mistaken belief and that, as a result, there is a lot to be desired in terms of the quality of the AAR and it being representative of a proper game.

1. Playing solitaire, whilst a fun way of learning the rules, is actually quite difficult because I am missing the competitive edge I would get from playing a human opponent or challenging AI. As a result I have missed countless moves, rebases, attacks and even chosen the wrong action type – whereas in a competitive game I would be scanning every inch of the map every impulse to see what else I could do, where else I could attack or what else needs re-basing etc.

2. The rules have changed much more than I thought and playing with all the optionals makes the learning curve even steeper. US Entry should have been handled better, I still have no real idea how close the US are to being able to declare war on Japan. Entry is high, but last turn I got a message that the US had a 10% chance of successfully declaring war. I have also made a total Horlicks of the supply rules – especially in China, meaning that getting units into position to launch sensible attacks has been er..sub optimal to put it kindly.

3. There are clearly some issues with the production planning/trade agreement/oil rules (in terms of MWIF treatment) that make learning these features even more challenging. Consequently the Italians have been left without oil for many turns as I cannot get oil to the country each turn. When I try a trade agreement from Germany, the German production goes haywire…

Anyway so where does that leave things? Well I am going to carry on but will slow the pace down a tad so that I have time to think more about things. Clearly I need to get the USA into the war. I need to get Germany moving in the USSR, and I need to get Italy shored about against imminent CW invasion (assuming the CW ever get their amphs). For that they need oil!!

I will try and explain what is going on each phase more too with a view to inviting more comment and advice from others hopefully.

Any way here goes….

[Walker84]

Understood, in any case I'm sure you will have gained many valuable insights from this initial tour of duty, even if you might wish that some things had been done differently in hindsight.

Meanwhile, my hardware issues have been fixed and I'm going to start downloading tonight. I have about two weeks leave coming up over the festive season, so no prizes for guessing what the focus will be when I'm not entertaining the inlaws, or peeling Brussel sprouts [:D].

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Walker84

Understood, in any case I'm sure you will have gained many valuable insights from this initial tour of duty, even if you might wish that some things had been done differently in hindsight.

Meanwhile, my hardware issues have been fixed and I'm going to start downloading tonight. I have about two weeks leave coming up over the festive season, so no prizes for guessing what the focus will be when I'm not entertaining the inlaws, or peeling Brussel sprouts [:D].

warspite1

Lucky devil...[:(]

By the way, did you know that you have the second best looking avatar on the forum behind mine, FACT - and I'm not even biased toward our senior service [;)]

[Walker84]

Thanks, much appreciated and reciprocated. It is a most pleasing silhouette to be sure, superimposed on a very regal shade of blue.

And of course, we have centuries of fine naval tradition to uphold. What was that quotation often misattributed to W.S. Churchill?: "Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash."

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

By the way, did you know that you have the second best looking avatar on the forum behind mine, FACT - and I'm not even biased toward our senior service [;)]

If you are not nice then you will not be invited to our weekly 100 miles cross country ski tour in the future. [:D]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Centuur

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: End of Turn

The turn ends and Partisans rear their head - two in the Soviet Union and one in Malaya.

The Soviet Partisans are placed behind the German Army Group South - as if they didn't have enough problems!

Are all hexes in Bessarabia Axis controlled? If so, than it shouldn't be possible for the partisan to be placed in Cernauti, since a partisan can only be placed in his own home country (and Bessarabia is Rumania if all hexes are Axis controlled). It looks like a bug to me...

My bet is that Axis has not yet captured the minor port hex (Cutatea-Alba) in Bessarabia.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

By the way, did you know that you have the second best looking avatar on the forum behind mine, FACT - and I'm not even biased toward our senior service [;)]

If you are not nice then you will not be invited to our weekly 100 miles cross country ski tour in the future. [:D]

warspite1

Yours is definitely the bestest ski division avatar Orm [:)]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 9

Almost the end of the turn and the Kriegsmarine are ordered to sea to see what they can achieve. All units except the two WW1 vintage ships have been ordered to sortie!

The RAF and FAA send out fighters and Swordfish to intercept, but its the Germans that get the surprise. They choose to pick on the CW convoy.

The convoy is destroyed and the fleet returns triumphantly to base.

I suppose Germany had fun but it was a lot of oil spend for a mission with little to gain. A smaller dedicated task force should have been able to get the same result with less oil cost and a lower profile might often be better as well.

warspite1

As I've just found out [:@]. I suspect I will dispense with the oil rule next game - its just detracting from the fun element too much....[:(]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: Centuur

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: End of Turn

The turn ends and Partisans rear their head - two in the Soviet Union and one in Malaya.

The Soviet Partisans are placed behind the German Army Group South - as if they didn't have enough problems!

Are all hexes in Bessarabia Axis controlled? If so, than it shouldn't be possible for the partisan to be placed in Cernauti, since a partisan can only be placed in his own home country (and Bessarabia is Rumania if all hexes are Axis controlled). It looks like a bug to me...

My bet is that Axis has not yet captured the minor port hex (Cutatea-Alba) in Bessarabia.

warspite1

Is the correct answer! I have not yet taken the port with the Germans. Good spot sir.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

By the way, did you know that you have the second best looking avatar on the forum behind mine, FACT - and I'm not even biased toward our senior service [;)]

If you are not nice then you will not be invited to our weekly 100 miles cross country ski tour in the future. [:D]

warspite1

Yours is definitely the bestest ski division avatar Orm [:)]

[brian brian]

ORIGINAL: warspite1


As I've just found out [:@]. I suspect I will dispense with the oil rule next game - its just detracting from the fun element too much....[:(]

oh yes, not needing oil to fight the most mechanized war in history makes for an awesome fantasy role-playing adventure, with dice and colorful chits and everything

[Zorachus99]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn: Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 9

Almost the end of the turn and the Kriegsmarine are ordered to sea to see what they can achieve. All units except the two WW1 vintage ships have been ordered to sortie!

The RAF and FAA send out fighters and Swordfish to intercept, but its the Germans that get the surprise. They choose to pick on the CW convoy.

The convoy is destroyed and the fleet returns triumphantly to base.

I suppose Germany had fun but it was a lot of oil spend for a mission with little to gain. A smaller dedicated task force should have been able to get the same result with less oil cost and a lower profile might often be better as well.

warspite1

As I've just found out [:@]. I suspect I will dispense with the oil rule next game - its just detracting from the fun element too much....[:(]

My theory is that the old lady pretended to not ever need oil. After all isn't 5000 nautical miles forever?

The oil rule, is pretty pro-allied, but relatively realistic on the gameplay effect, particularly in the late war.

I've made moves like this, or worse, failed to find anything and wasted tons of oil. It took time before I would automatically wonder if I sent too much. Nowadays I reference the surface combat and AA table before putting to sea more often than not, just to optimize my ship profile.

A rule of thumb in WIF is that more ships nearly always increases attrition due to how the combat tables work.

Duking it out with your entire navy in one spot can really perilous due to this one fact. Efficient use of units seems to pay off in the long run too. Particularly with Japan.

Love your AAR, looking forward to the US getting busy.

[brian brian]

ahh, missed your state-of-the-game update. if you haven't been able to get saved oil and trading oil working in Europe, there are some upsides.

upside - you thus probably have more units on the board now. downside - more units need more oil to operate

upside - your units didn't attempt as much combat....didn't take as many casualties....now you have even more units

in short, you effectively played conservatively in some areas of the game, and that has it's advantages.


it is also not completely wrong to look at WWII as a long series of blunders on all sides. today we are looking at the war of course with the advantages of hindsight. so diving in to this game and just playing it might actually get you closer to how the historical commanders experienced it.

Did the Royal Navy completely understand the full implications of Japanese naval bombers basing in southern Indo-China, and just how long of a range they had? No.

Did Hitler understand that just because he now had Panthers and Tigers, he could no longer pick the Blitz table at Kursk because the Russians now had more tank formations than he did? No.

Did anyone aside from the Japanese Imperial staffs know how the USA was going to ever enter the war? No.

so there is a good chance your AAR is the most realistic of all.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

ORIGINAL: warspite1


As I've just found out [:@]. I suspect I will dispense with the oil rule next game - its just detracting from the fun element too much....[:(]

oh yes, not needing oil to fight the most mechanized war in history makes for an awesome fantasy role-playing adventure, with dice and colorful chits and everything

warspite1

Seriously?? I played perfectly happily without oil for years - because ADG hadn't thought of it.

As I mentioned previously in this AAR, I do not want to dispense with oil because of the added realism. But, either because of bugs or because I am too stupid to understand what to do exactly (I suspect there is elements of both in play) I am in a situation where Italy - in its first year of war - has no oil such that the RM and RA have been docked/grounded for lack of fuel. That situation (if you look at what happened historically) is as much a fantasy that you refer to, as having unlimited oil.

Edit: Spelling