Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: rkr1958



But the Soviets do need to learn how to roll better ...

Yes. This is a major failing when I play. Unfortunately, I have never figured out how to improve my ability to roll the dice. My games would go so much better if I did... [:)]

P.S. Experimental evidence shows that throwing the dice against the wall does not work.

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

ORIGINAL: rkr1958



But the Soviets do need to learn how to roll better ...

Yes. This is a major failing when I play. Unfortunately, I have never figured out how to improve my ability to roll the dice. My games would go so much better if I did... [:)]

P.S. Experimental evidence shows that throwing the dice against the wall does not work.

I must admit that I did throw some dice when I rolled bad back in my younger days (early 20's), not 1920's but my 20's [:D]

Dice throwing occasions for me included rolling a 5 on a critical 1:1 attack playing Avalon Hill's 3rd Reich, or worse, rolling a 4 on a 2:1 attack followed by my opponent rolling a 6.

yeah the 4/6 combo in Third Reich was devastating.

ultimately as play of World in Flames continued to increase, I think Harry made the decision to move it all to 1d10 over things like rolling (or not rolling) a "6" on Gibraltar



but you had absolutely the right Russian tactics there, especially with a German HQ-A in the hex. it can really surprise a German player in the middle of the game to suddenly be on the receiving end of +2 attacks on the Panzers ... and then your psychological victory begins to gather momentum. though a good trick is to use the Russian Armor divisions to tip the scales to their choice - so they can call Assault, aiming to kill German ARM in exchange for Russian MIL



now, about that one game where I had my Red Army primed, rested, and ready for the grand Winter counter-attack ... and lived through an entire fall/winter/spring of Storm or Blizzard without a single Snow impulse, allowing the evil Capitalists to win the race to Berlin......

Attrition favours the Allies in the second half of the game. So an attack against a German expensive stack, with the Soviets having a couple of cheap MIL taking part, is always a good attack if you can get a +6 or more using 2D10. Even if the USSR loses 2 MIL, the loss of a MECH or ARM is far more expensive on the German side. Even the average German INF or MOT is often superior to a Soviet INF or MOT. The Germans simply haven't got enough of the good ones around to make a solid line for ever.

Of course, the USSR needs a solid front to do this...

Look it this way: if the Allies lose exactly the same value in build points as the Axis, they are winning, because they have more build points available to them to compensate those losses...

But keep in mind: don't gamble in a situation where a good Axis counterattack might cause you to lose key hexes or very good units...

... editing error ...

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944.

Where to start? Well, this might have been the most decisive turn of the game. Whether or not that is true will, of course, be determined future turns. But, I don't think I exaggerate when I say this turn is definitely the most decisive turn played thus far this game. Though typically a Jan/Feb turn is both non-eventful and short because of the weather this turn I believe is an exception.

So here are the handful of events that happned this turn and why I believe it to be so decisive:

(1) Japan was conquered by the Western Allies,

(2) Corsica was (finally) conquered by the Western Allied,

(3) Kiungchow, Hainan was captured by the Nationalist Chinese,

(4) The axis managed to sink 8 more CW CPs and force another 6 more to abort (irritating, not decisive, but important enough to list,

(5) All 6 German oil points were lost to allied (CW, USA and USSR) strategic bombing,

(6) All oil lost meant no oil for reorganization, which on the Eastern Front left Rommel, Manstein, Guderian, 5 armor/mech/mot units, 10 air units (9 fighters & 1 bomber) unable to reorganize. And on the Western Front, left Von Leeb unable to reorganize.

Maybe I'm over reacting but all that seems to me to be a decisive turn in the game.

The allies (finally) one the initiative, elected to go first and were rewarded with a fantastic weather roll which they immediately exploited as you shall see.

Also, this turn ran long through impulse #19 and consisted of 9 actual impulses.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 4. Land Combat. Japan. Allied Impulse #1.

USA exploiting the fine weather, and very good weather roll, of their first impulse to take Nagoya and Tokyo. Note that the allies rolled a "2" on the 2D10 on their first land combat (i.e., Nagoya) and still managed to take the city.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Allied #9. Land Combat. Yokohama, Japan.

The captured of the last city and the destruction of the last IJN unit in the Japanese home islands.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Allied #1. Land Combat. Kiungchow, Hainan.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Japan. Completely Conquered by the USA.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Formosa. Japan's New Home Country.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Japanese Production. Japanese Oil.

Japan has no factories to produce anything. Japan has 8 oil points saved in the Dutch East Indies but no way to get to it.

For the Western Allies, the Pacific is now a mop up operation aimed at taking the 6 objective cities the Japanese still hold. These cities are: (1) Taihoku, Formosa, (2) Batavia, Neth. East Indies, (3) Port Arthur, Manchuria, (4) Singapore, Malaya, (5) Colombo, Ceylon and (6) Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Victory Totals.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Allied #1. Land Combat. Olbia, Sardinia.

The USA used an o-chit with Eisenhower to double their combat factors in a combined USA and CW attack to take Olbia, Sardinia. An attack that succeed with flying colors and resulted of the completed conquest of Sardinia by the USA.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Sardinia. Western Med. Italian Coast.

In addition to the complete conquest of Sardinia, the Western Allies also finally managed to drive the axis completely out of the Western Med giving them (the Western Allies) uncontested control of that sea area.

Next on the (Western) allies to-do list is the Italian coast.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. CP Losses.

German u-boats and Italian subs continue to press the Battle of the Atlantic and managed to sink 8 CW CPs and force another 6 CW CPs to abort this turn.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Euro-Axis Oil. Or Lack There Of.

The USA, CW and the Soviets all took an air action on Allied impulse #15 and used that oil to successfully strategically bomb all 7 German oil resources. And since the German have no saved oil points from last turn this meant that the Germans had no oil for reorganization at the end of this turn. So on the Eastern Front the Germans were unable to reorganize Rommel, Manstein, Guderian, 5 arm/mech/mot units and 10 air (9 fighter, 1 bomber) units. And on the Western Front, the Germans were unable to reorganize von Leeb. And to the delight of the Western Allied Merchant Marine (i.e., convoys), the Germans were unable to reogranize 8 of their u-boat units (4 in Brest, 3 in the North Atlantic and 1 in Cape St. Vincent), which left them with only 1 organized u-boat unit which is in the 0-box of the Central Atlantic.

So, a few more lessons learn by mean this turn. I learned the value of air actions, the real power of strategic bombing, and how vulnerable axis oil resources are if left undefended. As the German player I now know that from the mid game on (i.e., post US entry and mobilization in England), that I need substantiation and dedicated anti-air resources (fighters & AA divisions) defending my precious oil supply. Again, an obvious lesson that I knew from WW-2 but didn't think through to apply in this game (i.e., MWiF). Also, for me this is another example of how "accurately" the play of MWiF represent WW-2 at the corps, capital ship and strategic military level.

MWiF is the BEST Representation of WW-2 at the the corps, capital ship and strategic military level EVER!

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. The Western Front.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. The Eastern Front.

Turn 27. Jan/Feb 1944. Destroyed & Repair Pools.