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So what do you do with your air force then if you aren't hitting VP targets? It's winter 1/3 of the game.

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

This is like saying you should not use the tax code to your advantage, even though it is legal. If the rules are stupid, they will be exploited. So don't make stupid rules!

It is human nature to want to win and min / max your position.

We are not doing anything outside of the game's parameters, we are simply using the system to our advantage.

Sinc the western allies never did take berlin, how would you judge "victory"?

I am not alone

Pelton is a fan of me...


....I don't know how I feel about that. [;)]

Can I be the Allied player's Pelton??

Anyway the game is continuing now into '44 and my bombing vps have been reduced to about 5 a turn. I've grounded my AF and am just prepping the invasion. Can't really fly well in snow anyway and my bomber pool is pretty beat up.

The strategy will take you so far until you have to actually invade Europe.

That was kind of my take on it as well...however, the bombing should at least guarantee a Draw. Can't see the Germans pulling a couple thousand vp's out of their pocket. Not unless the allies give it to them.

Meklore has mysteriously pulled out of Italy without a fight in '44, handing me Rome...

You forgot to mention that I almost left several air groups, mostly transports and recon, in airbases around Rome. I got them before you got there, but that was a bonehead move.

Oh, and I forgot. The mystery deepens as to why Rome was given to the Horde! Anyone want to venture a guess?

Garrison Requirements. Having to maintain a line in Southern Italy, along with a Garrison in N. Italy, not to mention a contingency vs. a landing north of Rome, is alot of guys. Pulling everyone to North Italy effectively reduces the number of troops you need in Italy, so they can be deployed elsewhere.

Also City VPs reduce alot in 1944, and there is no important industry you give up down there, so what you lose isn't much relative to what you gain. You may even get some of the lost VPs back in Garrison points.

Damn Q! Your one smart cookie. You WIN! With the added bonus if he is going to invade me north of Rome, he'll have to retarget cause it's already his. I'm not going past the garrison zone line just to make him release my garrisons at this point. It's more realistic if I make him fight to get in it if he wants it. If he doesn't then I save some manpower.

With garrison requirements and not knowing exactly where he's landing, it's better not to lose all those para's being cut off and yes it will help ease my garrison requirements elsewhere putting all those men in the zone, but I'm not going to be cheesy and game him into releasing it. He'll have to fight his way in legitimately.

Fun watching you guys duke it out [:)]

I would say then my strategy is definitely working. I am incurring hardly ANY casualties so far and I have the important parts of the map before the big landings. Psychological warfare gave me Rome.

Actually my move was made due to game considerations and rule sets, not from any psychological advantage you may perceive.[;)] From my stand point it's imperative to have the maximum men available to contest your next invasion, wherever that may be, and the points I lose from cities is not that big a deal after 44. What's the advantage of keeping all that ground? None. I put all those combat units in my northern zone, and now I have more combat units to spread around. It was a strategic withdrawal, nothing more. My defenses have been ready awhile, I'm just making sure I have some reserves somewhere, especially the Para's I had holding the line. If it makes you fell better to think I pulled out cause of your strategy, then that's fine.[:D]

Honestly I would have forced me to keep holding that line. By tying down my best defensive units, The FJ divisons, they can't be used against you in the invasion. I withdrew without a fight, and now I have three FJ divisions to spread around. Let's just agree that we both won that round?[;)] (I forgot about the Pz Korps that will be released too, so now I have a few more panzer units to move around.)

You've only played axis with the EF Box on against a human, if I'm not mistaken. You don't have all those units to pull out of the EF to use for garrison and defense, so your Strategic considerations are very limited.

Was abandoning an area useful to to base his Heavy Bombers, bringing into range several industrial areas any consideration?

He already had the fields in Southern Italy, the ones closer really weren't a considerations as there aren't that many above Rome. What I gain in Strategic Reserves, more than makes up for his gaining a few new bases. If he expands them it will take time. Fighting that far forward after 44 just isn't a good strategic decision imo, when he has the minimal forces he can spare there. He's not fighting for anything really, so I'm saving my manpower to fight for the ground that's important. There's no real strategic value to holding that area after 44. Your too exposed and vulnerable down there, and with the axis air force dwindling, you can't maintain good air cover.

He was already in range of that industry from the southern airfields.

You could just retreat to Germany, that would be helpful. [:)]

I could. I'd sure save a lot of manpower that way.[8D] We're not fighting anyways, so I actually could.[;)] Except that, OMG! I have to man garrisons![:D]

It's been blizzard the last few turns, and I have grounded my airforce.

Invasion will be on the way soon enough, target ....Denmark?! [X(]

On a cold February morning in 1944, Dwight Eisenhower was pacing around his cottage somewhere in England.

After some thought and seeing the weather clear, along with a full moon he decide the time was right to invade.

His top military advisors disagreed. They argued it was still winter, and the weather could turn any time.

But Ike was not persuaded. He pushed on stating that the weather can always turn for the worse. The invasion site is only 20 miles from England, how bad could it be? And the Germans would be thinking they had more time to prepare themselves, it being February. He believed that the element of surprise was worth the risk. All naval task forces were prepared for months, they were getting bored sitting around playing cards.

And the political situation was growing more tense on Ike every day. FDR wanted an invasion. Stalin had wanted one for years. He couldn't put it off much longer.

Some say Ike was drinking too much that night, others say he was a genius. He was probably drinking too much regardless. It would not be decided until the dust settled. That evening, the paratroopers were given a green light and Ike personally shook their hands before take off.

I would have waited just a few turns more for the Heavy Mud. Then the panzers cant fight through interdiction and the weather to get to the invasion, and it gives you time to advance forward. Especially if you drop paratroopers behind his lines (8 hexes from England)

I was just getting bored honestly. I had 4 TF's prepped to 90. Clear weather broke and I figured why not. I lose the game if it fails? Meh. At least it will be fun to see what happens.

The other foregone conclusion is I'd have gotten 10 hexes in may and I'd just have to press end turn until I held a minor victory.

thats a bold choice ... you've lost the gain of clear skies for your tactical bombers but his ability to attack you will be weakened badly by the poor weather in any case.