V1.00.008 AAR

[John B.]

Downloaded V.1.00.008 without any problems and the game loaded right up.

I've made it to June 1942 playing as the allies at the beginner level and thus far it has been relatively glitch free. In terms of game progress the Germans invaded the USSR in April 1941 and made it to near Rostov, Voronezh, Moscow and Leningrad without taking any of those cities. I have counterattacked and now we're swirling about near Stalino and Kursk while the Germans push into Leningrad. Tripoli fell in July 1942 after the Africa Korps was destroyed. There have been a number of major sea battles with the allies coming out on top.

Potential bugs:
1. I don't know if this is a bug or not, but I cannot get soviet heavy tank corps to move next to axis (incl. German) units. I get the red shaded area when I try to do that move. And, one time a german unit moved next to the heavy tank corps and I could not attack with it.

2. The turn before the allies took Persia the USSR seemed to get the 80 points for the Valdivostok lead lease twice (in that they got two 80 point donations). This went away the next turn when the Persian route was opened up and now they get the 80 for Vladivostok and the 80 for the Persian route.

AI:

The AI is playing a pretty good game. France fell in July 1940 and Poland in October 1939 (I got a lucky retreat by a polish unit that extended the campaign by another turn).

A couple of problems seem to be that the AI persists in placing valuable units on the coast when the allies have a clear shore bombardment capability. The Axis artillery unit in the Africa Corps was shelled frequently. Even the Russians can get in on the act with their CLs in the Black sea. The AI is also slow to recognize encirclement. this may be a tough one to fix but in Russia it will leave units on the front line as the Russians take one or two turns to close the gap.

I'm also a bit surprised that the Germans seems to keep building naval units. I think that the AI is best served pumping out planes and tanks and not building new CCS or DDs since that plays into an overwhelming allied advantage.

But, the AI is very very good at the tactical level and can lever me out of almost any position. It also seems to (with my quibble about naval units) maintain a good research and build strategy.

Suggestions:

At least once I went to exit the game and forgot to save it. The autosave goes back to the start of the turn so you can lose a lot of work if you're not careful. I wonder if it might be possible to remind you to save a turn when you exit if you have not done so (sort of like Word will do when you leave a document).

I really like the various options that the game gives to you and I think it's an elegant way to handle odd situations like the Afrika Corps and Norway rather than try to develop rules to fit every situation. I'd like to see more of these options and perhaps make some available in some games but not others to keep things fresh. And, it would be fun to see options that did not happen historically.

Overall:

I enjoy this game a great deal! I've played earlier versions that were fun, but the graphics and game choices make for a real time consuming adventure.

More as I get further into the game.

[BillRunacre]

Thanks John, I think we'll have to increase Heavy Tanks to 3 APs.

[John B.]

Bill,

No problem. It's a bit sad to have all these heavy tanks sitting around with nothing to do.

[John B.]

The AAR continues. It's not late summer 1942. I've launched an amphibious assault of Sicily that seemed to go well. There is an Italian corps in Palermo but otherwise the island is in allied hands. So far this does not seem to have led to a transfer of forces from the eastern front where there is a large Italian army. The American tried a strategic bombing raid and ran smack into a fighter unit that shot down half of the heavy bomber unit. In Russia, the Germans took Leningrad with an overwhelming assault. The Soviets have destroyed several German armor units in the center and they have slowly reducing an Italian/Hungarian pocket in the south. The Germans did take Savastopol and Rostov and they moved combat power down there.

Notations:

1. No additional bugs have been found.

2. The German AI still seems to be doing pretty well. As I noted before, they tend to hang on to positions and get cut off but perhaps there is a Hitler "no retreat" factor built in.

3. The amphibious invasion came out of N. Africa and the mechanics seem to work nicely.

4. In a couple of situations the Germans could not advance into hexes (near Sevastopol and Leningrad) that prevented them from getting three attacks on key hexes. And then, all of a sudden, they could. This led directly to the loss of Sevastopol which had been able to rebuild its garrison to a level 10 each turn but suddenly could only rebuild to a 6. The same thing happened with the Finns near Leningrad.

5. Stalin did not invade Finland and yet the Finns entered the war on the historical schedule. Is that automatically set?

[BillRunacre]

Thanks John

4. That might be the weather, as if it is muddy then movement is reduced

5. Yes, Finland starts the game as pro-Axis and will enter the war at some point as long as it has this leaning.

This provides the USSR with an incentive to attack Finland in the Winter War to take territory from it.

Otherwise the USSR would have no real incentive to launch the Winter War, something probably no one would do if Finland wasn't likely to enter the war, especially given how costly that war was to the USSR.

[John B.]

Bill,

THanks for the feedback!

It's now late September 1942. I've tried a couple of bombing raids with american heavy bombers and these were shot up pretty badly so the German AI left at least one fighter unit behind. The Germans continue their offensive east of leningrad and the attrition in front of Moscow continues. South of Moscow near orel Russian tanks are pushing forward and have killed at least two german armored corps. Both a German and an Italian HQ unit were killed down near Rostov.

The British cleared Sicily and now will be thinking about an invasion of mainland Italy

1. Again, no bugs that I noticed.

2. The AI has a tendency to advance a unit deep into my rear to seize a small village. I can understand if the hex it was taking was Moscow or Leningrad but by doing this the AI has had units cut off again and again.

3. I've seen one Italian unit move to mainland Italy to counter my taking Sicily. There may be more.

4. The Germans now seem to build a u-boat, get it killed by my huge fleet sitting off the danish coast and then build another. I have not had a german convoy raid in quite some time. In the meantime, the Russian CL unit is in convoy raider mode and sitting on the Sweedish iron ore convoy route unmolested.

Still a whole lot of fun!

[BillRunacre]

Hi John

If you upgrade your Fighters stationed in the UK with a few levels of Long Range Aircraft then they should be able to escort your heavy bombers and reduce their losses.

Upgrading the bombers will help too, but we have it so that Fighters' escort ranges increase at a greater rate with Long Range Aircraft upgrades than the range of the bombers, so by the time both have level 5 things are much more even.

Of course, upgrade your Fighters with Advanced Aircraft too, otherwise Goering is going to be holding a feast to celebrate Allied air losses over Germany.

[John B.]

Hey Bill,

I had just upgraded the fighters that same turn but, of course, they don't fly escort missions the same turn that they get upgraded.

Oh, one additional action I thought of would be for the soviets. They could spend some money to upgrade/activate their spy network and then gain an advantage to intelligence research die rolls in the future.

[BillRunacre]

They can by researching Spying and Intelligence, as that will boost their spotting of enemy units and also their research success, for catching up with Germany's advantage in research.

[John B.]

It's late December 1942 and there is something going on around Vorenezh that I don't understand. There has been an Italian corps trapped there for at least 8 turns. It is more than three hexes from the Axis supply net. Yet, for some reason, my Soviet armies cannot move next to the Corps. This applies to shock armies and regular armies and armies that have the mobility upgrade. Soviet Corps have no problem moving next to the unit and have done so a number of times, but not armies. The army supply levels are 4 and 5 but so are the corps levels. It does not make sense to me that a unit trapped far behind enemy lines can be saved because larger formations cannot move into contact (hard to think of a historical precedent on this one). Am I missing something?

I'm also curious as to why British troops in Sicily are at supply level 4 or 5. Isn't Palermo a source of Primary supply?

Otherwise, things seem to be going apace except for a previous notation about Soviet Heavy tank units also being unable to move next to Axis units.

I tried to post a picture of the Vorenezh situation but my file was too large.

[BillRunacre]

Hi John

Do you want to send me a saved turn, zipped up, and I'll take a look at the Voronezh situation: bill.runacre@furysoftware.com

In terms of British supply in Sicily, Palermo is only a Primary Supply Source for the Allies once Italy surrenders. In the meantime having one or more HQs in the area is the best thing to do.

Bill

[John B.]

Hi Bill,

Sorry for the delay. I have to confess that I can't figure out how to send you a save turn that is zipped up. I'm pretty basic when it comes to computer skills. Sorry. Any tips?

John

[BillRunacre]

Hi John

If you find the save file in its folder, on my PC it is here (you'll have something different where mine says Bill):

C:\Users\Bill\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command - WWII War In Europe\Save

Right click on the file and you might have an option to Send to -> Compressed (Zipped) Folder

Or similar. Do that, and then email me the file it creates.

I hope that makes sense but if not please let me know.

Thanks

Bill

[John B.]

Bill,

Just sent the save game file to your email account. Sorry for the delay (pesky work gets in the way sometimes Let me know if you need anything else. I'll hang on until I hear from you.

John

[BillRunacre]

Thanks for it John, I've replied and hopefully it all makes sense?

Bill

[John B.]

Now that Bill has set me straight I'm able to resume the game. I've made it to Mid-1943 and the beatdown on Germany is starting. The British are in Southern Italy and they've just taken Taranto. The Allied strategic bomber offensive has started with teh allies seeking out German air units to attack. In Russia, there is a stalemate in front of Moscow and the German advance after taking Leningrad is being swallowed up by a big country and no supply. The Russian logistic problem is getting better and new HQs show up. South of Moscow down the the Black Sea the Germans are starting to be under pressure with not enough units to cover the front. As a consequence, Germany is losing 2-3 units per turn which is the key to whittling them down.

The invasion mechanic seems to work well even though the Brits were a bit embarrassed to storm ashore in southern Italy only to be met by the units that discovered that you can walk across from Sicily. The allied air advantage works well here as Germany can't cover all fronts with her airforce. There is seems to be some sort of hiccup when I do strategic bomber raids. I do the raid, then the pause sign comes on while there is the sound of explosions. Then a pause and then my unit shows it's losses. Nothing that has an effect on game play, but just a hiccup.

[John B.]

Back after pesky work took me out of town.

Made it to mid-August 1943. Allies bombing the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. Russians have broken through in the South with a stalemate near Moscow and the Germans stymied in their post Leningrad offensive. Brits stuck in Southern Italy with no supply.

The only AI comment I would make right now is that the Germans seem to have way too much stuff following the rail line towards Vologda and not nearly enough stuff to counter the soviet break through along the Black Sea coast. The AI is doing a very good job holding me back in Italy.

One Strategic bombing question, it sees (albeit with a very limited experience basis of 1 game) that the allies can keep strat bombing the same hex each turn and taking away production points. Is this correct? It might make sense to have to switch targets each turn to at least give the target city a chance to pick up rubble. Also, strategic bombing helps to locate German fighter units making them suspectable to follow on raids by tactical bombers. A nice air superiority dynamic.

[John B.]

A few more weeks under the belt and no issues.

One game play item is that at the start of the game there seemed to be a never ending stream of options available. Maybe it picks up at the end of the war but for now there are options only now and again like forming a new polish corps. I like the options and the choices that these give so I wonder if there is a way to have more of them in the game.

[John B.]

Continuing the campaign game (in between work trips).

It's now January 1944. Italy surrendered somewhat unexpectedly as I had not taken any new city or territory and the British occupied the entire Italian Penninsual in about 4 turns as there was no Germans to be sent there to occupy the country. The Russians have retaken Denierperpetrovsk (sp?) and continue to fight in front of Moscow. Kudos the the AI because in the air war in the west, it seems to have figured out that I was using strategic bombing to find its fighters and then unleashing the medium bombers to wipe out the fighter units. The AI seems to have moved its fighters out of range of my medium ones.

It's pretty clear now that the Axis will lose as they do not have a solid line in Russia and seem to be holding the front in northern italy with some artillery.

One suggestion. For a player option, when Italian morale falls to a certain level, perhaps the Germans could be given the option to buy the occupation of Italian territory to prevent the entire country from automatically become allied and preventing the Germans from moving in by rail. The Germans did do so historically and I think it would be more realistic.