Slaying a Monster of My Own Making: paradigmblue(J) vs BillBrown(A)

[Bif1961]

You would be doing what the Fins did to the Russians when they invaded them in winter 1940, they cut their supply lines and then destroyed them piecemeal after they had exhausted themselves. His losses look staggering and yes it bodes well for you especially if he gets fixated with trying to dislodge you above all else.

[1EyedJacks]

Just pointing out that I'm not playing this game - it's Bill... . Bruce - I've been following since this is an upgraded mod, but if you feel this is too close to our game where I'm playing Japan, I'm more than willing to ban myself from this AAR. I've been hoping you'd drop some jewels regarding the difference between this mod and the one we are playing.

And I'm wondering why Bill would be doing a Sir Robin when it seems to me he should be pounding you with those MiGs in Russia.

Is Alexandrovsk different from our game?

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: 1EyedJacks

Just pointing out that I'm not playing this game - it's Bill... . Bruce - I've been following since this is an upgraded mod, but if you feel this is too close to our game where I'm playing Japan, I'm more than willing to ban myself from this AAR. I've been hoping you'd drop some jewels regarding the difference between this mod and the one we are playing.

And I'm wondering why Bill would be doing a Sir Robin when it seems to me he should be pounding you with those MiGs in Russia.

Is Alexandrovsk different from our game?

Whoops, sorry for the mixup!

You're welcome to spectate, I don't mind.

The differences between the versions are pretty small:
Allied aircraft replacement rates on some of the higher-performing early-game planes are a bit smaller - like the MS410, Skyrocket, and Dewoitine 520.
P-50s don't appear in the Philippines, and some mid-42 French squadrons have been cut. One early-game MiG-3 squadron is cut.
The TOE of some Japanese units have more aviation support.
Pilot pools for the Soviet Union are smaller at the beginning. Bill has complained that this has neutered his air force, but it's still 500 pilots, enough to fill out the front-line fighter and bomber groups.

I completely agree that Bill would have been better off playing a more aggressive early game in the air - in fact, Focus Pacific is kind of built for it.

Just last turn he started to sweep with MiG-3s, (to my chagrin), so I'm going to have to step up my fighter game in Manchuria to compensate.

Alexandrovsk should be identical between the two versions.

[paradigmblue]

February 19th, 1942

The war marches on, with most of the action being centered around China and the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union



My plans to divide and conquer the Soviet Army has fallen apart, as Bill has been able to open the hex-sides necessary to move the bulk of his army - what looks to be some 400,000 troops - out of the pocket and back into supply. Up north, my blocking force was pushed off the rail line by a large Soviet tank force, and is now trying to escape further battle.

Bill's decision to push through my forces in the South instead of offering battle, however, has opened up all of the Soviet Union south of Kuibyshevka to my forces. I have some tanks cleaning up the Vladivostok region, while 2,000 AV begins to pincer Khaborovsk from the north and the south. Eventually this operation will culminate with the capture of Komsomolsk, home of a naval repair yard and some of Bill's aircraft production.

On Sakhalin, I've taken Alexandrovsk, home to a huge oil field and a moderate amount of resources. The oil field is heavily damaged after weeks of fighting here, but the undamaged oil is still a significant amount, enough that I don't feel like I need to repair the damaged oil points.

Bill has finally decided to field the Soviet Air-Force, to my chagrin. The high altitude capabilities of the MiG-3 outstrip my Oscars and Zeroes, making sweeps costly at best and disastrous at worst for my fighters. Air units and engineers are moving to the theater, and I eventually hope to overwhelm him here in the air with sheer weight of numbers.

China



The noose tightens on Chunking. With the fall of Sian, Bill's northern bases are now ripe for conquest, and in the south I forced a crossing south of Kweiyang. Bill seems to be moving his troops West e-masse, possibly in the attempt to evacuate them to India. To counter this, my troops in Burma will be railing north to try and fight their way to Paoshan, where they can cut off their escape. I'd rather fight these Chinese Corps now while they're low on supply and at 50% strength rather than after they've had a chance to fill out in India.

Once I have a good airbase set up in Northern China, I'll begin heavily bombing Chengtu airfield in the hopes of destroying Bill's training squadrons.