Help me understand this attack report

[vinnland]

Hi all,

So, I had two units. 120 rangers + 3 AT guns verses the AI 50 rangers.

both my units moved before attacking and were at half AP.

All my units retreated because out of AP.

I thought that, because I was at half AP, then my power would be "around half". which is still much more than them.

How did I lose this?

2026-03-14 17_02_12-Window.png (919.69 KiB) Viewed 756 times

[vinnland]

This time, max AP points, more fire power, still lost?

Fight: max ap, more fighters

2026-03-14_21-15.png (637.11 KiB) Viewed 738 times

[vinnland]

I just realized that I am using AT guns vs armored cars instead of bazooka's.

That might be part of it.

[cpdeyoung]

By the time you hand the battle to the troops you must have done your work first.

These look like "hasty", "meeting" engagements. Your troops look pretty good with decent experience, and very good morale. AP tracks Action Points. A turn lasts a certain amount of time, and you had spent half the "day" marching till engagement. Their AP was not enough for sustained battle this turn.

ATG is a nice mix between operational and tactical. Your job as commander would have been to obtain a multi-hex attack. ATG rewards attacking from multiple hexes. ATG also rewards "big battalions" and you are attacking at about 1-1 odds. If you look way back to an Avalon Hill Combat Results Table you will see that good things for the attacker don't start until 3-1. If you could have moved so as to attack from three 150 SP forces in three hexes you could have expect favorable results. Slapping at them at even odds won't do well.

Your job as commander is to obtain local superiority at the point of attack. You should engage from multiple directions. You should not overload hexes, no more than 150 SP per hex is a good guide.

Post again soon and let us see the favorable position you have obtained for your troops, before showing us the butcher's bill.

You are on your way to tactical mastery, which will make your operational task so much more fun.

Let us see how you are doing!

[cpdeyoung]

There has never been an armored car that did not tremble at the sighting of an AT gun.

[vinnland]

There has never been an armored car that did not tremble at the sighting of an AT gun.

HA! got it.

Also, your point about "hasty" is accurate. I really tried to rush in and fight. But I learned a lesson about how rounds work and how when units are out of AP, they retreat.

I also took the time to do tutorial 1 and 2 and boy of boy... I didn't realize how deep this game goes with the strategies you can do.

I feel like you just put me through commander school. Thanks cpde

[cpdeyoung]

Please call me Chuck.

The videos by Tortuga Power are top grade.

Vic wrote a spectacular program, and has gone on to many good things.

I have been playing this game for over a decade. I learn new thing every game.

I play a Mod done by Claus Füssel, a Dane, and Alexandre Fenelon, a Brazilian. It is called "Global Domination 1938: Road to War".

You can download it from Vic's site.

https://www.vrdesigns.net/community.php

Chuck

[vinnland]

Please call me Chuck.

The videos by Tortuga Power are top grade.

Vic wrote a spectacular program, and has gone on to many good things.

I have been playing this game for over a decade. I learn new thing every game.

I play a Mod done by Claus Füssel, a Dane, and Alexandre Fenelon, a Brazilian. It is called "Global Domination 1938: Road to War".

You can download it from Vic's site.

https://www.vrdesigns.net/community.php

Chuck

Wow, that mod is insanely big! I just loaded it up, playing as France. But, how do I fight people? it seems like I cannot attack anyone around me.

[ernieschwitz]

It is meant as a multiplayer (non-AI) game.

There are 8 regimes, but they are divided up into 3 main groups.

There is the Axis (the main villain, they can attack everyone, even small nations): Germany, Italy, Japan

The USSR (also bad guys), they too can attack everyone.

And then there are the rest (Allies), and they are only able to attack majors, and only under special circumstances.

[cpdeyoung]

Good morning, well for me anyway, in South Carolina.

Yes, GD is big. You are looking version 3, the biggest ever. It is big in every sense. It is based on the excellent engine of ATG, with about a decade of development by Claus and Alexandre. It scales across the whole world at a time when war was already being waged in Asia, and Europe lived in fear of it. The game element for maneuver is most commonly the division, and there is ToE support for divisional units. You can develop you own Table of organization and equipment, or get a starter from another player. This gives you access to NATO counters, which I like a lot, but some players just use the defaults.

The game is a Micromanagers feast which by 1943-44 in game time means a very large number of counters to manage. This cannot be disguised: it is work. War games need friction, the play must have investment, effort, and this mod has plenty of it. The ground combat system is strong, ATG heritage showing there. The Air game makes sense only if you remember these are monthly turns. You are not dealing with morning RAF scrambles, but month long campaigns. The naval game can work but it has big problems with the monthly turns, and global scale. You must do things that do not make real sense, like surrounding fleets in these huge hexes. I enjoy my navies but for some players this weakness is a real irritation.

There are tons of AARs in the After Action Reports section. They go back to previous versions sometimes, but still fun reads. If you have Slack we can get you an invite to the GD home forum. For personal use Slack has a free version.

Get ready for diplomacy, roleplaying (Stalin will be Stalin), and action at every level, tactical, operational, and strategic. Your considerable effort will be repaid.

Chuck

[vinnland]

It is meant as a multiplayer (non-AI) game.

There are 8 regimes, but they are divided up into 3 main groups.

There is the Axis (the main villain, they can attack everyone, even small nations): Germany, Italy, Japan

The USSR (also bad guys), they too can attack everyone.

And then there are the rest (Allies), and they are only able to attack majors, and only under special circumstances.

Which basically means playing france or UK, is about waiting to be attacked?

[cpdeyoung]

Good morning,

The early phase for the Allies is about responding to the increasing threat from the Axis. You will relish every turn you get before combat; it is not too much to say the game can be won, or lost, here. Now is the time to make strategic decisions. Let’s turn to Diplomacy first.

Great Britain and France do not want war. This is the time of Chamberlain; twenty years have passed since a horrifying war. It seems rather hard for 2026 Americans to appreciate how devastating the Great War was. The treaties to end the war seem flawed to us now; severe reparations for Germany left their economy in ruins. The communists and the parties on the right found fertile ground for recruiting. One party and leader emerged: Hitler and his Nazis. On every front, his neighbors felt threatened.

As a gamer, you must look to diplomacy first. France and Britain cannot ally initially, but they have treaty obligations on the continent that will allow this. If either is attacked, they can ally. If Poland is attacked, they go to war. This naturally leads one to look east, just beyond Poland, to the Soviet Union. Stalin and his nation are desperate to use the Five-Year Plans to drive their economy forward. The Soviet military has undergone a purge, which set back the officer corps. Claus has structured this game as a 1984-style three-nation conflict, with possible alliance shifts at all times. The USSR has its own victory conditions, and Stalin wants to win. The truth is that the USSR will have its hands full in a Russo-German one-on-one battle. There is a dynamic at play drawing the Soviets and the West together, but not too close. They cannot both win GD. Now is the time to prepare for at least some cooperation.

Now is also the time to face facts and begin rearmament. So many decisions for Britain and France! Should Britain build Hurricanes or wait for Spitfires, Matildas or cruiser tanks? Should France build Char B1-bis or the more nimble Somua S-35? Should foresighted naval officers in the Royal Navy invest in Ark Royal aircraft carriers and "string bag" Swordfish, or build destroyers and escort vessels for the U-boat danger? You get to prepare for a war, and decisions here can really matter.

In the Far East, Britain and France have very important assets and not an abundance of defenders. Should India raise a large army to defend against an aggressive Japan—and possibly a hostile Soviet Union? Or should India provide important economic support and let British troops defend her? France must defend Indochina as best she can, but the Japanese can probably win there. The prize is the DEI (Dutch East Indies) with its wealth of oil, which the Japanese covet so.

These years before war comes to Europe are precious and great fun; every decision makes a difference. Your choices will be tested later in the cauldron of combat.

Send me a private message with your email address through Matrix, and I will send you an invite from Claus to the Slack forum for GD.

You won’t be bored in these early years.

[ernieschwitz]

It is meant as a multiplayer (non-AI) game.

There are 8 regimes, but they are divided up into 3 main groups.

There is the Axis (the main villain, they can attack everyone, even small nations): Germany, Italy, Japan

The USSR (also bad guys), they too can attack everyone.

And then there are the rest (Allies), and they are only able to attack majors, and only under special circumstances.

Which basically means playing france or UK, is about waiting to be attacked?

If you only look at it as a wargame, and not representation of what actually happened, then yes, there is little to do. BUT as Chuck has outlined there is a lot to do. Since you cannot act militarily you need to be able to act in other ways. As Chuck points out, Diplomacy (which you can do with minor countries, influence them) and Research are highlights, but also actually building your economy (which can be increased) and your miliary prowess (which also can be increased), are integral.

If you are looking for a scenario where you can play against the AI, and get a somewhat feel for warring in that era, perhaps European Diplomacy Remastered is more your style. Here it is a free for all. In Global Domination 1938, v3, you however are bound by ways to act. The French really wouldn't be good guys if they unprovoked attacked another nation, no matter its size.