CapitaineHaddock wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 9:28 pm
Laurenz wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:01 pm
New ELO game:
1939 World at War scenario.
CapitaineHaddock(Axis) vs Laurenz (Allies).
Standard ELO rules + no softlocking with non-at war majors.
Game ended. CapitaineHaddock (axis) resigns october 1942.
My second ELO game and actually the first one I started. This time, I was also up against a very strong player. Fared somewhat better than against my other opponent DmitryN, but still the outcome was never seriously in doubt. In short, I got delayed in France until late autumn 1940 and did not put what little time I had left to efficient use. Taking Malta was probably not worth it, even more so, since I didn't undertake anything serious in NA, except bloody the Brits a bit. Late and weak Barbarossa only got to grab some land (basically Ukraine, Belarus, Baltics) because of Laurenz leaving everything empty. Unnecessary precaution, IMO USSR would have been even better served by a forward defense. By mid 42 the USSR was a juggernaut and my planes had spent the game everywhere except tank hunting in the SU. I then foolishly attacked Turkey in summer 42. Didn't know they now get a second capital after I took Ankara with para/air action. After failing to take Erzurum on turn 4 of the invasion, I gave up. The USSR would have swarmed me in the summer of 43. I sunk a whole lot of UK ships, including two CVs of Malta and a bunch of BBs off Norway, but wasn't able to exploit it meaningfully. I also defeated an allied landing in France in summer 42 and eliminated a bunch of US tanks and paras, but it didn't take me anywhere either. The Japanese performance was similarly underwhelming. Thank you.
First, thank you for the game CapitaineHaddock!
Was good fun although I agree that it was probably over after the big Axis push in the USSST did not materialize in '41.
Although, I was still worried about the huge Japanese army, which might have been able to accomplish something.
I think the deciding factor was the lack of focus in German strategy, which got the Brits a very bloody nose early on, but did not conquer anything of significance. The Germans where doing everything - conquering Malta, batteling with the buff RAF over France, gobbeling up Europe - but preparing an early and decisive Barbarossa. Japan was doing quite well, but not good enough to materialize a second front agianst the USSR, or deter the US from interveening in Europe.
Also the single biggest issue imho was that the Germans did not really account for soviet mobilization in their decisions in the first years of the war, so the red army was at no point smaler then the Wehrmacht one.
Agian, thanks for the fun game!
