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One interesting early WA move is the occupation of the Azores to use as a supply depot, which triggers Portugal to become an Axis ally....this was rectified as the WA invaded Portugal...

Germany Spring 42 Russian Offensive begins with the retaking of Kalinin....Note the tempting target of an undefended Kursk...

The Russian counterattack...The AI knows how to take advantage of the Armor 2 area movement as well... Russia springs 8 armor units in a two area blitz to retake Leningrad and conduct offensives along the entire front during Fall '43 turn...

attacking Turkey, can trigger an early Russian release

The Western Allies invade southern Italy

the AI is aggressive and surprised me, despite the many times I have played the game....

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

I read through this AAR again and have a few questions.

One interesting early WA move is the occupation of the Azores to use as a supply depot, which triggers Portugal to become an Axis ally....this was rectified as the WA invaded Portugal...

This is the AI planning ahead, declaring war on a neutral to set up logistics for future Med ops. Are strategies like this scripted or are you getting the sense that the AI is almost thinking of these things itself? [8D]

Some strategies are scripted, others are more generic. I don't really want to give away which is which.

Germany Spring 42 Russian Offensive begins with the retaking of Kalinin....Note the tempting target of an undefended Kursk...

Was this an AI decision, leaving an area undefended while ensuring other adjacent areas had enough defense? Setting up a trap almost. That's impressive, if I'm reading this right.

This is a definite strategy the computer uses, especially on the Eastern Front. Not so much setting a trap as realizing that certain areas are not worth protecting.

The Russian counterattack...The AI knows how to take advantage of the Armor 2 area movement as well... Russia springs 8 armor units in a two area blitz to retake Leningrad and conduct offensives along the entire front during Fall '43 turn...

Again, this is good. But then again, the Computer Third Reich AI knew how to conduct breakthroughs and exploitation if nothing else. Does the GGWAW AI tend to overextend itself or are offensives more deliberate and able to consolidate gains? It sounds like a smart and shrewd AI.

Like a human, it can get overextended, but I find it is fairly deliberate. I usually am very careful about AI double moves, especially against Moscow, and keep it well garrisoned. Yesterday I was playing a game against the AI where I guess I didn't realize just how much armor he had within 2 areas of Moscow. He through 6 armored units at it and took it. It really set me back. I was able to take it back, but it cost me a lot of damaged factories and lost production. I still won the game, but was impressed to see that the AI would take advantage of my mistake.

attacking Turkey, can trigger an early Russian release

So there are some political considerations which affect USSR and USA entry, yes? Can you provide any more insights about this?

There are some garrisons that must be maintained by the Germans and Japanese to keep the Russians from declaring war. Otherwise, unless the Germans attack Turkey, Persia or Afghanistan, they'll come in the war in 1943 if not already attacked. The US comes in in 1943 if not attacked previously. There are also rules for German minor allies. In addition to these factors, there are factory multipliers that are effected by what's going on in the world. Below is the data file that governs this (the number after the country name is the factory multiplier, the default multiplier is 1):
FACMULT,Russia,2,YEAR,1940
FACMULT,Russia,3,Attacked By,PLAYER_GER,PLAYER_JAP
FACMULT,Russia,3,YEAR,1942
FACMULT,United States,2,AtWar,Russia,PLAYER_JAP
FACMULT,United States,2,YEAR,1942
FACMULT,United States,3,WAR
FACMULT,United States,4,YEAR,1943
FACMULT,Japan,3,NONE
FACMULT,Germany,2,NONE
FACMULT,Germany,3,YEAR,1942
FACMULT,Germany,3,HOSTILE,PLAYER_SOV
FACMULT,Italy,2,NONE
FACMULT,France,3,NONE
FACMULT,Vichy,1,NONE
FACMULT,UK,3,NONE
FACMULT,Canada,3,NONE
FACMULT,Germany,4,YEAR,1944

The Western Allies invade southern Italy

Again, the AI demonstrated ability to plan for invading North Africa, secured North Africa first, and then invaded Italy. [8D]

the AI is aggressive and surprised me, despite the many times I have played the game....

Like I said previously, it's great to see a challenging AI in action. And that's on the middle difficulty setting! I am really looking forward to this. [8D][8D]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Hmm, even the solid green seems a bit muted to me. And why isn't the USSR a more bright red? The game looks fabulous, but the map's color scheme seems a tad muted to me.