Hard Knocks: Chicharito19's trying to learn, a Global Campaign experience

[Chicharito19]

France in Tunisia...

[Chicharito19]

Italy doing their thing, when in Rome.

[Chicharito19]

Italy in the Med

[Chicharito19]

Italy in eastern portions of Africa...

[Chicharito19]

Germany sets up on the French/German border.

[Chicharito19]

Germany ready to invade Poland

[Chicharito19]

Polish forces setup

[Chicharito19]

Oh before I forget there is the "Siberian Question". I decided to swap some USSR troops for Siberian. It seemed the thing to do as I suppose that they are rated higher??? Advantages? Disadvantages?

[Chicharito19]

Also I was given the option to draw 3 chits. I decided to use two of them in the German/Italy Entry Pool and 1 in the Japan Entry Pool.

[Chicharito19]

Ok...back from the digression.

After setting up, the weather seemed fine in all of the weather zones. Of course the game, ahem...sim is scripted for the Axis to gain the initiative and make a Declaration of War against Poland. However, if I recall in real life didn't they just invade Poland without a DOW? Either way it resulted in a US Entry Event roll of 7. If I understand correctly the Die roll has to be 12 or less on this one. So the US did get upset and this results in a chit pull.

[Chicharito19]

Looks like Germany and the USSR have agreed to be nice to each other. ...for now.

[Chicharito19]

That DOW on Poland has forced them to align with the Commonwealth.

Japan decides to align with Siam. This causes a USE roll of 7. No chit pulled in this case. This looks like it allows Japan control of the Cruiser Sri Ayuthia currently stationed in Bangkok. Japan opts for a Combined Action. I know the book states that is not always the best way to go. But I figured look at all the land units there in China while they invade, and so few air units. Maybe Japan can make some headway against the Nationalist Chinese Forces.

Italy opts for Combined because...well, it was either that or Pass.

[Chicharito19]

Germany opts for a Land Action to remove the Polish forces stationed around the border.

Germany starts off its action with a port attack at Danzig.

[Chicharito19]

This results in 6 surprise points. Ge chooses to use all of the surprise points to try and damage or knock out the CA and the CP by increasing the combat column.

[Chicharito19]

Results of German attack on Danzig.

A roll of 3 damages the CA.
A roll of 10 DESTROYS the CA.
Another roll of 10 disorganizes the Convoy.

[Chicharito19]

Next is where I struggle a bit, so I'll end it here for now. The upcoming phase is Naval Air. I understand that this is where you setup your Naval Air search patrols. But playing solitaire its kinda weird in that I know there is nothing out there, yet. So I think that I should take the stance of would they send out patrols at this time. They meaning the Germans. Would they be out there looking for ships such as the Commonwealth ships?(Although I KNOW that there is nothing there right now). The cool thing that DOES help is that there are die rolls that determine detection. So if I do send them out, then they're there and can possibly intercept commonwealth shipping if the need arises...again subject to die rolls, which does make it suspenseful.

[rkr1958]

Chicharito19,

Thanks for doing this and I'm in ... I look forward to your journey of learning. I know I did when I did my first AAR's and still have a lot to learn even after 7-years!

WARNING. This game is addictive and may cause loss of sleep and less interest in other games you own/play. [:D]

Question. Are you wanting feedback, including constructive criticism?

[Chicharito19]

Absolutely I would appreciate any and all feedback.

[Mayhemizer_slith]

I suggest you check few AARs and their set ups. I noticed few things right away.

Poland falls when those 2 cities with factories are taken. Lodz is open now. Also planes are overrun during surprise impulse.
Germany has lots of good units on French border, normally they are placed to Netherlands border and only GAR guards French border.
Chinese losses will be quite high. Notice that guns have combat value 1 when alone.
CW normally needs transporters in Europe at start. The Queens are fast, they can move units between Europe and far east.

You will learn this game fast doing this AAR. Continue playing and learn, then start again [:)]

Good luck and have fun!

[rkr1958]

Thanks. I won't mind then giving you my 2-cents, and that's exactly what it's worth. [:D]

(1) US scrapping 3-mover (i.e., bottom number) transports. I personally find that in 1944 and 1945 the US is looking for all the sea-lift capability they can muster to move units from the US to Europe and also to their westward moving bases in the Pacific. A 3-mover transport can move 3 sea areas (e.g., East Coast, North Atlantic to Bay of Biscay/or Faeores Gap/or Cape St. Vincent). I find these are very useful for getting units from the US to Europe. So, for the US I keep (i.e., don't scrap) 3-mover transports and use them in the Atlantic. Also, I find that they come in handy for naval reorg when not needed for transport. The 2-movers I scrap.

(2) For the CW, I'll at start scrap their 3-movers because, unlike the US, the CW is more constrained build point (BP) wise and I like to get their better (i.e., faster) transports to start off with.

(3) Personally, I feel you were a bit too aggressive in scrapping USSR land units (especially their 3-3 armies, 4-5 mot and 5-6 mech). A mech counts as 2 for Nazi-Soviet pact purposes. 3-3 inf armies will be sorely missed in 1941 and 1942. They make very good speed bumps. Now once you lose them scrapping them (may) make sense and often times I will. But you need every infantry army for the Soviets you can muster in 1941 and 1942.

(4) CW Swordfish NAV2's. I like to place these in Belfast, for example, so they can react to the 0-box in either the Faeores Gap or Bay of Biscay when German, or Italian subs, attack. Having air in the 0-box means that if surprised, the Germans (or Italians) have to spend 4 surprise points to force a sub combat. Also, these units add their air-to-sea to the ASW total (either 3 or 4 additional) which increases the risk to German/Italian subs. Of course, no air can fly or react if the weather is storm or blizzard.

(5) I personally don't scrap German land units at start. Like the Soviets, they are scrambling for all the land units they can muster in 1941 and 1942. The mot can also be broken down into 2 Mot division that can take the loss during Blitz attacks. The mech corps can be broken down into a mech and mot division and can also be use that way. Not to mention helping with getting a Blitz versus Assault land combat often times.

(6) Be wary about setting and moving Chinese units to coastal hexes. The Japanese can start ships at sea and have a significant bombardment potential even at start. Chinese units on the coast are "asking" to get shelled and eliminated. I had to learn this lesson myself the hard way.

The biggest lesson I learned was that to learn I had to just play the game and enjoy it, mistakes and all. Believe me, if you ask, folks around here are not shy about throwing their 2-cents in also. I personally continue to learn by posting and asking for constructive criticism. It's been invaluable to me.

And don't worry about making major mistakes. In the first global war scenario I played, which I posted as an AAR, I didn't even know about railing Soviet factories to the east (e.g., Urals and eastward). The result was that German captured a significant number of Soviet factories, Soviet production was pitiful and the Soviet army never recovered.