Players I would like to be beaten by

[Markiss]

So far, the forum regulars I have played , and been beaten by, are Rannug, Taxman, BPIN, and Ktonos.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing each one, and learned something different from each experience.
Reading personalities from the posts I have read, other players I would like to play, but have not had a chance yet, would be:
Mika
PvtBenjamin
Sugar(of course)
Seamonkey(come out of retirement!)

Not necessarily in a tournament game, and not all at once, but eventually.
Has anyone else been intrigued by posts they have seen, but have not had a chance to play that person yet?

This does not include old time players like Terif and John Rambo, but those guys are long gone.
I missed my opportunity, don't miss yours.

[BillRunacre]

I love the name of this thread! [:D]

[Taxman66]

Hurts so Good

[Ktonos]

My most enjoyable defeats were against Rannug and BPNisBACK.

vs Rannug after a very good start for my allies, his axis managed to wrestle back the initiative. In 1943 I lost both Moscow and Lenningrad, plus Africa, and Spain joined the Axis. Next 2 years was marked from desperate, high risk allied ops in an attempt to seize the advantage back. Allies made an enormous effort to invade Spain, but Rannug anticipated it and I had to go through neutral Portugal. Battle for spain lasted a year before the allies were thrown back to the atlantic. Battle for Stalingrad lasted 2 years as most of the US air sneaked in USSR to assist the defense. Eventually though the last major Russian city fell and London was forced in peace/

vs BPN I was Axis. In winter 1942 he made a terrifying Soviet counterattack to retake Kiev - which would isolate half my armies near Moscow. He stopped the counter 1 turn short of retaking Kiev. In Spring/Summer 1943 I captured Leningrad, Moscow and Cairo, Spain and Turkey joined the Axis, while a big allied invasion in France was thrown to the sea. "This is it", I though. "Game is mine he can't do anything now". In 1944 UK invaded Norway and USSR redirected most of its forces in attacking Finland from the north. In 1945 Germans were close to Stalingrad but Norway and Finland surrendered. At the same time Sweden joined the Allies, contesting the Baltic. Month by month BPN was chipping down my advantage, and when Denmark fell, the German house of cards collapsed. I made it to 1946 before losing. It was a bitter defeat considering how close to victory I was, but a very enjoyable match none the less

[LLv34Mika]

Woooohoooooooooo I'm famous!

No... honestly! Thanks for the flowers and I will do my very best to let it happen soon.

At the moment I have two games running and that is my maximum (job... wife... family... you know, all those things that keep you away from gaming). One game vs Fenndon (tourney game) is at turn 90 or something. I'm still holding Moscow and Stalingrad but I lost Leningrad and Cairo. My British are doing well and my Russians seem to be able to hold the position until help from GB/USA arrives. I hope that will happen soon. I think I can win this game but I can never be sure what my opponent is planning. I have a cunning plan...

My other game vs Ktonos is doing much better despite the fact that I "lost" GB. It was early 41 when the USSR mobilization was already pretty high and I transported all I could south to Egypt to help the guys there to hold off the Germans. It is April 42 now and I still hold Cairo, could destroy several German units there but the situation is not safe. The southern front of Ktonos is in some trouble but he will rush in reinforcements pretty soon. Doesn't matter as long he is wasting time. Since he did not capture Leningrad or Stalingrad or Moscow so far (well... still some turns away from being near to those cities) my Russians are above Moreale 100% what really helps. The USA already joined the war and might help to reconquer GB or put some more pressure on the Germans in Egypt or even open up a new front... confidential of course. Ktonos thought it would be a good idea to land in almost empty southern GB. Well... it was really empty but it takes several turns to crawl up the British Island. He wasted so much time there gained almost nothing (since almost nothing was destroyed there). It only speeded up the US to join the war and the Russian mobilization went up like a rocket from 76% to 100%. He was not ready for that so I could save almost every unit that usually gets destroyed in the first turn of Barbarossa.

The only "bad" thing that happened was Sweden joining the Axis but I guess that is not such a big problem. I think he repaired his ships too much (we had some nice naval fights) and I also think that he bought some more submarines. That might help him but now he lacks punch in the East. If you ask me that game is already won. He might be able to push forward in 1942 but next year the Russians will be too strong. I wonder if he already realized that or if he thinks that he is on the winning side so far.

We will see...
if you want I can let you know as soon as one of these games is over.

Cheers
Mika

[Ktonos]

I don't think invading GB was a mistake, only that I didn't DoW USSR that very turn - most of the units were in place. I got shocked to see the USSR jumping from 71-74% to 100, but I should know better.
I don't think that GB is "gaining nothing", yes UK casualties were low, but there were some - 3 corps, 1 army 1 AA & several garrisons I think. Most important is that UK income must have dropped significantly losing its industrial base. On the other hand my air has yet to make a debut in the eastern front.

North Africa is a butcher house. But yes, it seems that the tide will soon turn there, especially with US air helping.

I usually go for the Russian capitals in 42-43. When doing a late Barbarossa its quite rare to see one of them fall before 42, and its merely spring of 1942 now. The bad thing for me isn't that I have yet to capture Leningrad or Moscow, but that, as you said, Soviet army count is quite healthy.

A minor point for me is the dominance in the seas despite losing most of Kriegsmarine. This might change with US entry, but Swedish entry and her fleet might help me keep the balance as is.

All in all this is one of my most interesting games. Both players Mika and I play stubbornly aggressive and at times there are theaters where attacks and counterattacks transform whole areas to a grindhouse. I never thought I won the game, but with UK under German boot and contested seas I thought I had a slight advantage. Seeing your confidence in your post I am reconsidering this thought though.

[LLv34Mika]

Great to read a reply from you here, thank you! That's why I love this game... I'm confident, you are confident, we are both happy. Nice, eh?

Yep, the Luftwaffe will show up on the eastern front, and the USAF will relocate everything they have too.

Sweden was annoying but I hope it's much better for me with the US ships. I'm glad that you lost some (most?) of your German surface ships. That makes life much easier and I don't have to be so afraid when hunting subs. Those poor little destroyers hate battleships

Let's see how that game turns out. It is also extremely interesting for me as well. Especialy my southern front around Odessa might become a real problem for you. I'm sure you can deal with it but I can delay the advance. And hey... just killed a German tank unit and it's only May. That's far better than getting destroyed all the time, only replacing units and retreating.

Great fight so far. Stubbornly aggressive is a pretty good description of what we are doing. Especially at sea.

[Ktonos]

Despite wanting to talk more on this game, it would end up hijacking the thread of Markiss. Anyways, should I lose, which seems more probable by each passing turn, it will probably be amongst the games "I was beaten but loved the match"

[Markiss]

OK, here's an update.
I have finished losing to PvtBenjamin, Mika, and am getting smoked by Seamonkey in WaW.
I am even playing Rambo in WaW. I doubt it is the same guy I was thinking of, but close enough.
You know who that leaves.
I'll visit him soon, if he has the time.
Bucket list nearly complete!!! Time to come up with a new one. Ha!

[PvtBenjamin]

ORIGINAL: Markiss

OK, here's an update.
I have finished losing to PvtBenjamin, Mika, and am getting smoked by Seamonkey in WaW.
I am even playing Rambo in WaW. I doubt it is the same guy I was thinking of, but close enough.
You know who that leaves.
I'll visit him soon, if he has the time.
Bucket list nearly complete!!! Time to come up with a new one. Ha!

You are a skilled and dedicated opponent. A true credit to the game.

Thanks for the game.