The World at War ELO Tournament

[firsteds]

ELO match ended:

firsteds (Allies) defeats HARRIS45 (Axis). Axis resigned in early 1942.

A fun and fast game with many turns each day. Axis went for slow and steady play in both France and China. No invasion of Norway and no German units in North Africa. US mobilisation was extremely low. But the game opened up when the British attacked in the Baltic with RN and LRATs. This delayed Barbarossa and a late Barbarossa seems to be fatal in this game. General Winter was ruthless and the Russians knocked out Finland. Japan took Manila and DEI on schedule but missed a few key targets (Guam and Wake). Axis was stalled near Rostov and Chungking. Thanks for the game!

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

[WIN] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs Helmseye (Allies) ---Allies surrender February 1943. Japanese get good credit in this one. Chinese getting mauled. The Rising Sun hasn't even taken Singapore yet, but winning Naval/Air battles there and towards Indian Ocean. Other Islands still protected, Yanks haven't made their move

In Europe, Helmseye doing reasonable good job in Russia. Western Allies panicked in late 1942 and did failed landing in Southern France. Couple HQ's died or captured. Several *key ground units. Allied landing in Normandy also, stalled against Fortress(es), Also, another SF landing (suicide into Germany). These little losses could be made up, but I think my opponent is demoralized. Naval Battles, slight advantage to the Kreigsmarines.

Don't think Allies needed to surrender, but he didn't want he 1943 pounding, I understand that.

[EarlyDoors]

@Early Doors, please add this to the next ELO report, despite it being old.

*** OLD LOSS that was NOT reported, July 2023 ***

[LOSS] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs Taifun (Allies) ---Yes, this was an old game last July, somehow it wasn't reported, either here, or the main tournament thread. We had done an extensive AAR. My main fault as Axis, was failing to decide between Moscow or Stalingrad for the 1942 push and used the Luftwaffe improperly pursuing a UK fleet on the outskirts of Finland. Taifun is one of the Top players in the world, so there's no room for error.

Link to AAR: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=396690

Don't worry it did get added to the last update

[EarlyDoors]

January Rankings http://scwaw-rankings.com/

Overall
======
Total Axis 275
Total Allies 306

Players of the Month
===========================
elvisJJonesRambo 2 wins out of 2
Harris45 2 wins out of 3

Biggest Victory
------------------
ElvisJJonesRambo victory over Thunderlizard11 was worth 26.1 points

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

[LOSS] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs oldAHgamer (Allies) --- gave it a good run. Took Russia down, was expensive. Japs made dumb move in 1943 with Fleet, should have remained defensive & should have just cornered China, not split attack.

That Southern France port will sealed the deal for Allies in June 1945. Allies have 2 years to get Berlin, Allies probably get in 1946. MMPs will be drained after *Key captures in Russia. Allies cut off Finland/Sweden which is huge amount of MMPs. The Air Battles, draining 500+ turn.

I screwed up Japan, with the IJN 1943 attack. China, I should have finished off the capital, instead of splitting for the Western edge.

Russians fell, but they cost me alot of MMPs, with Reds Tank/Armor counters attacks. Stalin always kept your counter-punch power. At least I took them down.

Europe
======
a) avoided North Africa, went all in Russia
b) thought I was squeeze, in 1942, Russia had great defenses.
c) Went all-in, cutting across to East Moscow area, opened on the Front
d) Eventually, Russia either had to fight (die) or back-off
e) 1943 Urals were massive fortress
f) My Opponent plays the Russia Tanks/Armor really well, protects them, and punching power
g) Supplies low in Urals, put HQ too far forward, really, had no choice, lost 3 of them
h) Russia surrenders in 1944, but I lost alot expensive units
i) Germans decided to take Turkey, and invade Sweden, needed to do something for MMPs
j) Americans/British had Massive Air Force and even worse, Long Range
k) Supply was getting picked off in Sweden/Norway/France/Turkey/Denmark
l) Germans were cornered, with Allies having probably double MMPS, and crazy Air Force, my opponent was grinding the air battles, was spending 500+ turn on Air.
m) AA for cities, is worthless, wasted so many MMPs, for nothing. Had cities (probably 20 of them) to strength 4. Never does shit.
o) Germans paid high price for Russia. Looking back, Turkey/Sweden was dumb (well I lose), he picked the supply off too easily.
p) Game was tight, Allies land in June 1945 in France, nothing will stop them with Air, he has 2 years to get Berlin. I'd probably last until 1946.
q) Axis surrender

Italy
====
--Actually lost have of Sicily, but held the Island from 1942 Allied attack
--Italians held on, into 1945

Pacific
=====
1) Smashed up China, BUT split my forces, thinking the Capital was done, never got the capital. Wanted to conquer the whole of China, whereas I should have just cornered it and moved on. Wanted those extra MMPs
2) Japanese did their duty, UNTIL making a fatal mistake. Was winning the war, but decided to get tricky, sent IJN North of Midway, to try a naval. Had no reason too. Cost me at least a Year's worth of defense time. This cost me the game.
3) Japan surrenders early 1945, should have held longer, if I just played the IJN in defense position.

[oldAHgamer]

Great game ElvisJJonesRambo, and a great AAR. I think the only chance the Allies have against a good Axis opponent is to play the long game, investing in airpower and taking out Japan so that they can grind Germany down as I have yet to figure out how to hold out with the Russians against a good Axis player. I did try to knock out Italy, but it turned into a resource suck and repurposed my forces. Nice job defending - the whole Italian Peninsula was covered in Italian and German units and it was impossible to get a toehold.

The new changes with Morale in the Pacific also force the Allies to invest resources there or suffer the drip drip of morale degradation.

Great game - if anyone else wants to play an ELO game, happy to start one up. I am happy to take the Allies.

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

Great game ElvisJJonesRambo, and a great AAR. I think the only chance the Allies have against a good Axis opponent is to play the long game, investing in airpower and taking out Japan so that they can grind Germany down as I have yet to figure out how to hold out with the Russians against a good Axis player. I did try to knock out Italy, but it turned into a resource suck and repurposed my forces. Nice job defending - the whole Italian Peninsula was covered in Italian and German units and it was impossible to get a toehold.

The new changes with Morale in the Pacific also force the Allies to invest resources there or suffer the drip drip of morale degradation.

Great game - if anyone else wants to play an ELO game, happy to start one up. I am happy to take the Allies.

Your grand strategy comments are well taken, considering the overall balance of the game.
It's like a tennis match, where the Axis are serving up the damage with advantage.
Strong Axis players won't make any major mistakes, progress will be made.
The Allied position is mental one, watching battle after battle with little hope.
If Allied player makes a major mistake, like a failed Italian campaign, it can spell disaster.
Many, Allied players panic, and cost them in MedFront.
Long engaged battle toward Rome (call it Anzio), can be very, very expensive.
We've played when you were Axis, you're strength MMP management, you must be an accountant.
American Bomber campaign and choke move on Japan was quite impressive.
I was the one who panicked. You were picking off ships, and getting the critical ports.
Instead of backing off (out of your range), I was foolish, and "just guessed".

I'll need to recharge my batteries, before we battle again.

[ThunderLizard11]

[New ELO]

ThunderLizard11 (axis) vs. Manager (allies)

[Taifun]

ELO game completed:

IIo4Tu (Axis) defeats Taifun (Allies).
February 1945. US forces recaptured the US West Coast, Hawaii, Australia, Batavia, and Manila but Japanese forces still controlled all of India. The Chinese were firmly entrenched in defending their last Capital. Allied forces recaptured Sicily for the second time, but no other Allied forces were present in Europe. Italy fought with 50% morale remaining. Germany controlled Norway, Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, and all of the Middle East including Persia and Iraq. The USSR still controlled all 3 capitals plus Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Baku. After 3 long years, the German forces finally captured Rostov and entered the Caucasus, menacing the Baku oilfields from the north and south (Turkey and Persia).
I think that the game was headed towards an Axis tactical victory and resigned. Very interesting game full of great bloody battles in the USSR. Thanks for the game IIo4Tu!

[petedalby]

Wow! Sounds like a cracking game. Shame you weren't able to do one of your excellent AARs Taifun. I think it would make for a very interesting read.

Congratulations to IIo4Tu for defeating such a top player.

And I'm delighted to see that it debunks the widely held view that the Axis can't win without taking Russia.

[redrum68]

@Taifun - Sounds like a good game. Nice to see a high level game go all the way to 1945. Disappointing though to again see Axis win and even without taking the USSR out. Thoughts on balance and did you make any significant mistakes?

[Taifun]

It is tough to play the Allies against a top Axis player. The US and UK counterattacked in the Med in 1942, recapturing Gibraltar, Tunisia, Malta, Egypt, and Sicily. This forced the Axis to redeploy 3 panzerkorps, 3 Italian tank corps, and most of the Luftwaffe bombers to counter this threat, thus aiding the Soviets, who were hard-pressed in Ukraine. As a result of this strategy, the Japanese were left alone for 2 years and that was catastrophic for the UK and US morale. They captured Australia, San Diego, and Los Angeles. It took 2 years to retake all lost possessions in the Pacific. By the end of 1944 the Japanese were suffering and the US/UK Navies were about to destroy the Japanese Navy. But the Russians were also about to lose the Caucasus and the invasion of the European Continent was still far away...

LOST UNITS.png (1.86 MiB) Viewed 818 times

Note the UK/US morale

Dec 1944

World dec 1944.png (3.04 MiB) Viewed 814 times

[HarrySmith]

Just my thoughts on the last two post by Elvis and the other by Talifun. To me on reading the reports I feel both the games could of gone either way and maybe players in some cases bail out early. I am not sure if this is due to the concept of if you are feel you are losing to quit so opponent can play another game?? My thoughts are both those games could go either way.
I am playing in a very good game in my opinion against petedalby and even though we are Jan/Feb 46 and the odds are in Pete's favour, I feel I can still pull of a win. I think you learn a lot those last few years in a game as it is rare you even get that far. I am sure Pete agrees we are having a great game and both of us are playing in anticipation of what will happen. My second game against Pete and both have been two of my most enjoyable even though I lost the first April 47 and probably will this game too .

[petedalby]

I do agree Harry - ours is a cracking a game and you are still in with a shot. I've had several games which have gone the full distance. Some I've won. Some I've lost. Allied air power gets so much stronger as the game goes on. And the Axis get stretched.

There are 100 turns each. I estimate that by Feb 45 there are still 29 turns left. So nearly 30% of the game.

It's a tough call either way.

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

[WIN] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs Pekkavilamoura (Allies) --- Allies wanted to go the distance, and they nearly did. With 9 turns remaining in the game, the United States surrendered. Russians had been cornered for awhile, being popped with Level #5 Rockets with 2-star experience. Axis made a big run in Afrika, taking Egypt, and ultimately winning major battle victory in Iraq. Afrika Corps were connected after a surprise quick 2-turn victory over Turkey. Supply was just too good. British were in the East, Yanks in Torbruk. Air battles and supply was all Axis.

Japs took out China, which gave the big MMPs for that takeover. India fell next.

Opponent wanted to go the distance, so the super rockets were sent to Urals to pin the Reds, the British surrendered due to morale issue. Churchill did DOW on Saudi Arabia was the final straw.

Germans landed in Caribbean and Newfoundland, Canada.
Japans landed in Seattle, Portland Oregon.
USA drained for some Pacific and India holdings.
Troops cornered San Diego

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

[WIN] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs JackMck (Allies) --- Allies had enough in December 1943. Nazi forces went full throttle towards Russia, Moscow, Stalingrad, and nearly Lennigrad in German hands Christmas 1943. Western Allies got desperate, with an ill-fated invasion of France 1943. Must have been 4+ paratroops, and another 12+ ground forces. Game was on the line. Had to pull alot of strong units to France. Else, I'd lose. Allies were smashed, paratroops died out of supply.

Japanese were left to their own prowess. China got a nice North Airshow and calculated Paratroops at right time to cutoff alot of units. Bye-bye China. With those bonus MMPs, India was next.

[Pekkavilamoura]

ELO game ended
[LOSS] Old_Shane (Axis) vs. Pekkavilamoura (Allies) [WIN]
Axis surrender May '45 with Berlin about to fall and Japanese fronts collapsing.

Intense North Africa battles. 8th Army pushed towards Tunis but Axis kept on pouring in troops and Luftwaffe, eventually taking Gibraltar and starting a counterattack pushing Allies back to Egypt where Rommel could only be halted on the Nile river line.

This campaign obviously cost Axis lots of resources and time so there was a very late Barbarossa, Axis attacking in mud season and being bogged down in Russian winter.

Japan made good advances in China but then made an ill-fated attack on Vladivostok, Stalin could bring reinforcements and swiftly took Manchuria. From there on the Japanese fronts started collapsing.
Fun game, good opponent with quick turn returns.

[firsteds]

New ELO game started:

Firsteds (Allies) v HARRIS45 (Axis).

Standard ELO plus no DEI diplo.

This is a rematch.

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

ELO game ended:

[WIN] ElvisJJonesRambo (Axis) vs Old_Shane (Allies) --- Too much Legend. China (1943)/India (1945) slaughtered & surrendered. But the real win was stopping the Americans, cold, in Spain in (1944). Russians had been smashed (1944), and the Yanks came in against top German units. This sealed the deal. After than fore mentioned in Indian surrender in 1945, the Brits had enough (surrendered 1945). Aussies also joined the 1000 year Reich.

[Ktonos]

ELO game ended
[LOSS] HARRIS45 (Axis) vs. Ktonos (Allies) [WIN]