"Fall Rot" blues

[SLAAKMAN]

Uuuuhhh its hideous. I cant believe I fell for the ultimate newbie debacle. WiFFE w/SiF, PiF, MiF, CiF, AfA Mods. Conquered Poland, Denmark, Italy still neutral, Japan busting ChiComs. I invaded Belgium first impulse M/A. Its second impulse Sept/Oct, raining in the NT and Im only 2 hexes from Paris. Ive lost 2 mech korps, 1 panzer korps, the first pzr and inf divs and several inf/MI korps in the campaign. I still have air supremacy and have only lost 1 fighter in an exchange w/French TE fighter but the French and Brits have committed 90% of everything to France and I still face a double line with French covering 2/3'ds of the Front line. (Of course my opponents are horselaughing all the way with every bloody exchange that I role. All theyve lost is 6 inf/MI korps and some odd divs.) This is my virgin baptism as the Germans and Im choking hard. (Even my Roman Kamerad chortles at my bumbling assaults [:@] ). I suppose theres still hope but it seems as if it will be a long Verdun until '45. What say you?? [&:][:@]

[Neilster]

All is not lost! The French could still collapse faster than you can say "deflating soufflé", packing up the Citroen with wine, soft cheese and mistresses and honking their way to Vichy. [:'(]

Having said that, you'd better hope Sep/Oct lasts a long time and even then, the Wehrmacht may be getting some early practice at winter campaigning. At least it's not Russia where your p!ss freezes before it hits the ground!

There's nothing worse than some smart-arse Italian "ally" sniggering at one's trials too. What was that quote about their worth? "Like being chained to a corpse"? I'll always remember an episode of Minder (a classic 70s English TV show. Utterly brilliant.) where the run-down Winchester Club was described as "having had less decoration than the Italian army" [:D]

Perhaps it's time for Goebbels to crank out the "Do you want total war?" speech. No more 1 shift a day at the armaments factories and swanning about on the Unter den Linden with pretty frauleinen in the Autumnal sun. Nein und abermals nein! National Socialist fervour will equip your troops with the steel will to overcome the degenerate French and British! Or something. [:'(]

Cheers, Neilster

[composer99]

My only piece of advice, SLAAKMAN, is to roll better. [:'(]

But this is not only a newbie debacle. The German player in my game didn't finish the job in France until Christmas; and this is probably his fifth or sixth game just playing Germany.

Edit:

The situation on the ground, coupled with German air supremacy, reminds me of the old NATO joke about the two Soviet tank officers meeting in Paris.

"So, who won the air war?" one asks the other.

It's a bit of a hoary old joke, yes, but it desrcibes the German situation described here fairly well.

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: composer99

My only piece of advice, SLAAKMAN, is to roll better. [:'(]

But this is not only a newbie debacle. The German player in my game didn't finish the job in France until Christmas; and this is probably his fifth or sixth game just playing Germany.

Edit:

The situation on the ground, coupled with German air supremacy, reminds me of the old NATO joke about the two Soviet tank officers meeting in Paris.

"So, who won the air war?" one asks the other.

It's a bit of a hoary old joke, yes, but it desrcibes the German situation described here fairly well.

Well, the inverse of the situation really [:'(] but it's a good joke.

Cheers, Neilster

[brian brian]

ouch. but you still have both O-Chits?

maybe you could use more motorized divisions for cheap losses?

Italy being neutral that long certainly doesn't put any pressure on the W. Allies either.

[SLAAKMAN]

Italy being neutral that long certainly doesn't put any pressure on the W. Allies either.

This is the key issue. When should Italy declare war?

ouch. but you still have both O-Chits?

I have 1 O-chit left.

maybe you could use more motorized divisions for cheap losses?

True but not always practical when flipped.

[composer99]

Generally, an early DoW is better so that Germany can begin to provide assistance, and Italy can mess about in the Med more often.
 
As the Allies, I would rather Italy be neutral through 1940 so I can use the Med as a pipeline and prep freely for my eventual assault upon Italy's overseas colonies & Sardinia.
 
After that my preference is to declare war on Italy myself rather than the reverse.
 
Therefore, an early DoW by Italy against the Allies, especially if it can use a frogman attack on the surprise impulse, is the way to go. I would suggest 1939 sometime. As you no longer have that option, Italy should position itself to be able to land somewhere in Egypt and/or frogman-strike the CW fleets in the area, and let 'er rip. Sooner rather than later.

[SLAAKMAN]

Italy should position itself to be able to land somewhere in Egypt and/or frogman-strike the CW fleets in the area, and let 'er rip. Sooner rather than later.

My sentiments exactly. A surprise frogman attack on the Queen Mary would be quite delicious right about now. [:D]

[brian brian]

unless you get three 1/10 splits on the Queen Mary and she survives all three of them, even the second damage rolls

[composer99]

I take it you speak from bitter personal experience.

[thrud]

I personally like to try an Italian amphibous assault on Gibraltar the turn the I declare war on France/Britain. With the suprise and max air power and naval bombardment (and a weak defense by Britain) you stand a 50/50 chance of taking Gibraltar and with Gibraltar gone, the allies have a very hard time holding Africa.


Been playing World in Flames since 1989


Thurd

[Dave3L]

Except no one but a hopelessly incompetent CW player will give you an opportunity to make a winnable invasion against Gibraltar on a surprise impulse.  With divisions/arty and the free set-up infantry corps, you'll have a tough time getting anything higher than a 1-4.

[SLAAKMAN]

Update;
Sept/Oct 1940 ended quite favorably. I occupy two hexes adjacent to Paris and didnt have to expend the OC to get there. Also a British attempt to groundstrike my lead panzer column was repulsed inflicting heavy losses on the enemy (2 Spitfires, 1 Hurricane, 1 [font=arial]Hampden bomber, all 4 pilots lost) while suffering no casualties (Bf-109E's clocked 'em) . Perhaps Ill get a chance to have a cognac under the Eiffel Tower before Christmas 1940 after all. [:D][/font] 

Also on the Chinese front the Japanese scored a glorious victory. Mao's HQ was eliminated and Japanese units took LanChau. The tide turns.

[brian brian]

that's why I love WiF. there is enough dice rolling that it all works out great in the end. unless you tell the little cardboard pieces to do stupid things.