Europe Aflame 2012 AAR: sealclubber vs Shadow

[sealclubber]

Moroccan Front:

The German 90th Light motorized division is joined by Italiain and Vichy French forces to setup a blocking position near the eastern end of Spanish Morocco:

[sealclubber]

June 2, 1940 to June 23, 1940

Finnish Front: The Red Army appears to be withdrawing from Finland to Leningrad and behind a river line between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. Finnish army units cautiously advance into the void. Murmansk is still garrisoned by a small force as well as the Soviet Arctic Fleet. Finnish troops await reinforcements before attempting to assault the town.

[sealclubber]

The Egyptian Front is quiet with the "Great Wall of Egypt" discouraging any Allied attacks in the theater. Italian East African forces have advanced up the Egypt-Sudan railway and setup a forward lbokcing position.

Morrocan Front:

Commonwealth forces are slow to advance, but Axis troops decide not to advance...

[sealclubber]

This one is still going, but at a slower turn pace and we're in some rather boring turns with very little happening. I'll summarize all of the interim events once we hit another high-intensity campaign that warrants some posts...

[sealclubber]

A slow go on this one... it is presently in the winter of 1940-41. A few general updates since the last post:

Finnish Front

The Red Army has abandoned all of Finland. It also withdrew behind the Lake Ladoga/Lake Onega River line. The front has remained static and without combat since that time.

Eastern Front
Both sides are preparing for an expected invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. OKH is still debating its strategy going into this campaign.

Western Front

The Axis had every intention of invading the UK as the bulk of the Commonwealth troops were in Morocco battling the Italians/Afrika Korps. To this end, the Battle of Britain was launched. Unfortunately, the Axis lose the air battle, scuttling plans to free the citizens of the UK from the tyranny of democracy.

Mediterranean Theater

The Commonwealth forces have made limited progress in Morocco. The opportunity for big Commonwealth gains here evaporated once the Axis repaired the rail line from Tunisia to Morocco. Well supplied, the entrenched Axis forces have been able to hold off the Commonwealth, who have been siphoning units from Egypt and the UK to support their intentions here.

The Axis have drawn down forces in Egypt on a proportionate basis and sent them west to the deserts of Morocco. However, the Great Wall of Egypt is still generally in tact and has thus far deterred any Allied advance.

At this point in time, the Axis forces are suffering winter shock (in the desert). The Commonwealth forces are attempting to outflank Axis defences in Morocco:

[TOAWTeddy]

Good read. Have you found any issues with the version of EA you are using?

[sealclubber]

v3.4 is alright in my opinion. Attacking is definitely different from prior versions... in some ways I kind of like it. I think the fanatical, no-retreat of ignore loss/fortified defenders needs to be toned down a bit, but in a way its preferable to the older versions where you could smash through any defensive line as long as you had sufficient strength.

In 3.4, even if you have a preponderance of strength, poor execution incurs obscene casualties for little gain. I think it requires a little too much attention to detail to successful attack and it starts negatively affecting how much fun people have playing the game. Once that starts happening the only people that will continue playing are OCD freaks like me.

So, I think some tweaking is necessary on the retreat cancellation mechanism. in contrast, I think the assault ratio rule is one of the best things to happen to this franchise... you can no longer make ant attacks with support assets to destroy defenders... you need to attack with a significant force to do significant damage, exactly as it should be. This rewards preparation and planning.