An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

[Banjo]

Impulse 13 and still no end of turn.

Everyone checks production before determining actions.

US takes a combined to place a convoy because of the production check.
USSR combined for one rail movement.
CW and France pass
China land, a unit needs to pull back. Too far forward.

[Banjo]

Nothing really to show from the last impulse of great impotance.

The turn ends.

Germany adds 2 offensive markers and the USSR 1 defensive.

[Banjo]

The US adds a 4 chit to the German pool.

The US chooses to send resources to China, with no chits removed. The pressure on Sian and potential production losses due to bombing influence the decision.

[Banjo]

German pre production.

I chose 1 unit of oil to make up for the build point that I lost.

There was something brought up in an earlier post concerning the ability to use traded oil for reorganization. I don't know or remember if this is allowed or not, but will find out. If it does not work, I will reload and change this.

I had written my comments concerning reloads, but the server timed out and it was lost. I will give my views about reloads soon.

[Banjo]

My uncertainty about the traded oil will not apply here since it is already being used in production.

Regarding reloads and my playstyle. I do not reload a game because I do not like the outcome of the die roll. If I missed something or did something because of not understanding a rule, or procedure because of being new to WIF altogether, then I will reload so that I can learn what it is I am doing wrong with the rules or software. That is as simple as I can make say this. I usually will try to give an explanation of what I learned or observed, and if it warrents it that I did a reload.

[Banjo]

On the right side of the form it shows how much and which sources of oil I can use for reorganization. I need two units of oils to reorg everyhting. Since I want to save at least one unit of oil more than what I started the turn with, I can only use one 1.45 units of oil.

[Banjo]

I will not need these three units in the next turn, so they will remain unorganized until next turn, saving me one unit of oil more than I started with.

[Banjo]

The Japanese confirms the point that Finarfin brought up earlier concerning traded oil and he was right. Thank you again for bringing that up earlier[&o]

It also brings another dilema what to reorg to save the oil that Japan is in dire need of. As of this game I am more comfortable with how strategic bombing works, but there are still some things I need to brush up on concerning the mechanics of it. Since a bombing campaign can keep the Chinede production down it is important. Ground attacks are equally important in order to better the chances in combat. All use oil. I will need the sea lift in order to bring troops in from Japan. Decisions decisions.

[Banjo]

Ok, I chose the Val since it is my best ground attack bomber, and the three sea lift units. I really should not have put my entire fleet in Tokyo. I can still place arriving units there to ship to China, but it would have been nice to get my engineer and art to China this past turn on some SCS units. Live and learn.

[Banjo]

The CW is pretty well off for oil at the start, but this can change. I will use all of the oil in Burma, as I do not want it to build up and possibly be captured by the Japanese.

One more thing to pay attention to. When you select which unit of oil you want to use, and click on a unit to reorg, the selected oil reverts back to the top of the list. If I want to use the oil in Calcutta instead of Burma, I need to pay attention that the unit I want to reorg, and the unit of oil I want to use are the ones I want. It is real easy to use the wrong oil if you are not paying attention.

[Banjo]

Cw scrap phase

I decided to keep two of the stronger inf corp, since there are never enough boots on the ground. This gives more options for breaking down to divisions, so as not having to break down stronger corps.

[Banjo]

German builds.

With the decision to build a synth plant right from the start, half of the budget was used, which made the rest of the build choices difficult. The two bombers are the 5 tac factor Stukas I wished were in my starting force. Sub building will be consistant in the game.

[terje439]

Thanks for a good AAR, will keep reading it.

Just a quick question, on the German T1, why not use your NAV to port strike the Polish ships? SUnk ships will definitively not get to aid the CW, and is there not a chance that damaged ships might be captured (not sure but seem to recall having that happen in my games)?


Terje

[Banjo]

Thank you Terje for you comments, and am gald you are enjoying this.

I seriously pondered sending out the NAV on the first impulse. For the reason you mentioned, and possible intercepts of the BEF going to France. A short answer would be caution, due to my short experience with WIF. A more detailed reason is that with the Kriegsmarine in Kiel with only one fighter and AA gun covering it, there is a vulnerability to port strikes from land and carrier air. The NAV could fly and possibly be lost to the Spitfires in England if they came out to play during an action at sea. I have two other fighters covering the short range CW bomber factory targets. Again it is a bit too cautious perhaps, but when I get more familiar with the game in general I may play it as you said in your post. Another aspect of the reason why they did not fly, is use of oil which is not much, but greater is the potential loss of the NAV for one or two relatively low cost CW units early in the game.

At some point the Germans will have to take these risks, but for now I do not see the need.

Another somewhat risk is in China, with the small number of Japanese holding against the Nationals, and taking away factory garrisons to cover the late turn potential threats. I wanted to keep the main force committed to attacking Sian intact, and not divert them to the south. This is a first time in my half dozen short games that I tried to hit the Chicoms first, and I wanted to do it with the largest force possible, even if it means fewer than optimal coverage in the south. We will see how it turns out. I am rooting for both the Chinese and the Japanese.

[Banjo]

The Italians with only 2 BP due to their decision to save a unit of oil and costing them a BP, repair the 6,6,1,3 BB Andria Doria.

Strengthening their navy is the priority for the next several turns. If all goes well, when war is declared and the Germans can send resources and BP to them, they will build air and ground units. The Italinas main job will be to take on the Royal Navy which is no small task.

[Banjo]

The Japanese build phase is an even tougher decision than the Germans. With only 11 BP, I am spending 8 of them on a synth oil plant. This has to be done sooner than later, as they will have oil problems before anyone else. With three points remaining, I want to bet the Shokoku into its 2nd build stage, but with the bulk of the Army marching on Sian, and a weak force in the south, leaves vital factories unguarded. The shokoku will have to wait until next turn, and a militia is built to help out on the defense. The remaining 1 BP will be saved for next turn.

A very painful decision.

[Banjo]

The Chinese have 3 BP. That is enough for an inf corps of which both available builds are for the Chicoms, only they take two turns to build. There is only one militia available and it is for Sian!!! this leaves 1 point for which cav divisions is my only land choice. There are two 1-5 units available, one for each side. I could save the point for next turn, but will go for it anyway. The Nationals get the cav division.

[Banjo]

For some reason I was thinking about the post about the NAV air not flying decision. Now that the campaign in Poland is over and the units are moving west, there will be air available to ensure coverage of the fleet and to protect the NAV in the North Sea. They will be flying soon.

[Banjo]

Scrapped units for the CW. All weak air, and an older sub. As I mentioned in the destroyed scrap phase, there are never enough boots on the ground available. The low strength units are good for breaking down into divisions. Such is my thinking at this stage of thinking with my limited experience with the game.

[Banjo]

CW builds.

I already have 2 pilots available for this months draw, so I only built one even though I wanted two. It was a tossup between a carrier or A BB for Naval construction. There are never enough convoys. I already have a garrison in Liverpool waiting to go to Malta, but I need one for Gibralter. As for the inf corps, there are never enough.