Korut Zelva vs Taxman66: Battle of the newbie

[Taxman66]

Or maybe I just have a touch of OCD about damaged units. [;)]

[KorutZelva]

Ha! This is something I can respect.

[crispy131313]

Thanks for the AAR KorutZelva and Taxman66.

It was a bit of a slaughtering but Taxman66 was very upfront about being a newbie after all. I am sure he learned much from his slightly more seasoned opponent!

[Vichyssoise]

Interesting AAR. Other AARs are very informative as well, but being a newbie myself I could related to almost everything that was happening I learned a lot from it (the Greenland thing for one is a neat trick!).
Thanks guys! I'm looking forward to the rematch if any.

[Taxman66]

Yeah, I need to improve my Axis play first.
Either Allied AI is better than Axis AI, or my Axis play is bad.


Crispy: Yeah, I tried to make clear what I thought my mistakes were.
Of course the bugs and his Advanced Tank research breakthrough(s) didn't help either.

[jjdenver]

ORIGINAL: Taxman66
I did pick up the Eng unit for 80 (50 + 30 IIRC to operate it). If I get lucky with the 20% chance and keep it,
it will be worth it.

What does this mean? 20% chance to keep it? When France is Vichy'ed aren't all units just gone no matter where on map they are including ships and units in N Africa?

If France Vichy is not chosen by Germany then don't all French units just fight on from wherever they are?

What's the 20% part?

Thanks

[KorutZelva]

if a french unit is in UK territory at surrender time there's a 20% chance it turns 'UK' as a free french unit.

That's 20% assuming Vichy. I think surrender at Algeria has a higher %. (Should be the reverse IMO but hey )

[jjdenver]

Thanks. I also don't quite understand some of what happened in FR N Africa. Did Germany drop a single Para on Tunis to take it? Was Tunis garrisoned or empty? Then how did Germany get Algeria? Just marched west from Tunisia to take it? Was it garrisoned or empty?

Did Taxman mean that if he put the engineer on a ship and sailed it to UK then he'd get the 20% chance? Or is there a way to get the 20% without sailing it out of France?

Also I noticed Taxman mentioned that if the expedition to Finland happened, then the UK basically gets a free SF unit. Is this option normally chosen by allies? It doesn't really seem worth reducing Soviet entry level?

[KorutZelva]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

Thanks. I also don't quite understand some of what happened in FR N Africa. Did Germany drop a single Para on Tunis to take it? Was Tunis garrisoned or empty? Then how did Germany get Algeria? Just marched west from Tunisia to take it? Was it garrisoned or empty?

Did Taxman mean that if he put the engineer on a ship and sailed it to UK then he'd get the 20% chance? Or is there a way to get the 20% without sailing it out of France?

Also I noticed Taxman mentioned that if the expedition to Finland happened, then the UK basically gets a free SF unit. Is this option normally chosen by allies? It doesn't really seem worth reducing Soviet entry level?

Tunisia is just guarded by an understrenght corp so can easily fall to a little bombing and paradrop. After Malta fell I had tons of bomber within range. I had a HQ and a couple of units march west from there to Algeria. You can unload transport from understrenght ports but only one a turn (which I ended up doing to save time).

That's right regarding the engineer. It has to be in UK territory, can't happen from France or its colony.

Taxman didn't send a Finland expedition, I didn't get 'Anglo-French forces arrived late' pop-up. He just considered it I think. I don't think sending a force is done very often for the reason you mention. Even if you did, you have to be commited to follow-up with Diplo chits to finland or Germany can roll it right back.

[Taxman66]

Correct, although you do also get a SF unit for both UK and France on the cheap. Even if you only keep the UK unit it is half purchased with French MPP.

As for the free french, yes you have to transport them to UK territory. Easy enough for the French fighter and tac when they get beat up.

[KorutZelva]

ORIGINAL: Taxman66

Correct, although you do also get a SF unit for both UK and France on the cheap. Even if you only keep the UK unit it is half purchased with French MPP.

As for the free french, yes you have to transport them to UK territory. Easy enough for the French fighter and tac when they get beat up.

If you have garrison in Syria it's also just a short walk south.

Hum... I wonder what happens to troops in a sea loop.

[Taxman66]

You know, I forgot about that guy.
It is actually starts as a full strength Corp (if you don't swap it out with a GAR from France).

Troops in a sea loop would/should be removed. As that is not UK territory.

[KorutZelva]

If troops in loop bypassed the buggy check for american troops being too far from home, I'm thinking it's not impossible they could bypass checks to remove them. [:D]

[jjdenver]

If someone is able to point to a good thread for CW advice I'd appreciate it. SU advice seems fairly straightforward although I'd be happy to read a good thread on that topic as well. But how to defend Egypt as SU, deal with the convoy war, and defend Sealion would be really good reading for my first PBEM game. Also what do I need to know about Irak? I played the game about a year ago when it came out into maybe 42 or 43 as allies and iirc there was a need to attack Irak. Does CW usually pre-position some troops there? How is the navy usually split between Egypt & UK? Is the garrison usually left in Gib or swapped out for a corp or AA unit?

The same for IT advice, that's a bit of a black hole in my thinking, I'm not sure what to do with them, whether their navy is worth repairing, what to research, etc.

[KorutZelva]

Play vs me as Axis and we can document it.

[jjdenver]

ORIGINAL: KorutZelva
Play vs me as Axis and we can document it.

Honestly I don't think you'd enjoy the game. It'd be like pulling wings off flies. No fun unless you're just sadistic.

Also back on the topic of Vichy. Can't the Germans hope that Vichy will join them after Spain joins Axis side? Is this a reason to _not_ take Algeria & Tunisia? How long does it normally take to get Vichy on German side? Or is it rare that it happens?

[KorutZelva]

I still consider myself a small fish in the SC3 sea. To use boxing terminology, I'm a journeyman not a contender. But if I win a few more maybe I can be the SC3 un-official gatekeeper... [8D]

Crispy mod has a decision regarding Vichy joining but there is nothing of the sort in the base game. In the base game, even if the Allies piss the Vichy off, the Axis is about 40%-50% off of them joining. So it would cost significant diplomatic effort to have them join via chit. They don't have much of an army to obtain 2 corps and a ship I believe and their colonies don't follow suit. Easier just to attack them, preferably after the USA joins as they don't like it if you do. Attacking them post Vichy is easier than refusing Vichy and pressing on. As of now, they haven't really sweetened the pot enough to refuse Vichy.

[BillRunacre]

I've seen Vichy join via events, it's actually a reason why I've toned one script down a bit recently.

In a just finished PBEM game I brought them into the Axis camp via Diplomacy and it's definitely been worth it. Invading Vichy can be worth it too of course, but this enabled me to increase my empire without annoying the USA, as I brought them in before the USA entered the war.