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Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:40 am
by room
Hi everyone, I Wonder which side is the more frequent winner in pbem games?

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:01 pm
by KorutZelva
I would say:
at lower level of play: the Allies,
at medium and high level of play: the Axis.

The Axis control the tempo of the game but it can be challenging for a beginner to take advantage of it or to handle the game's supply rules on the offensive.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:59 pm
by room
ok that makes sense. Thx.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:46 pm
by sillyflower
ORIGINAL: KorutZelva

I would say:
at lower level of play: the Allies,
at medium and high level of play: the Axis.

I'm not sure that I agree, but maybe I just play with opponents who pretend to be fellow idiots. I'm currently playing 1 game as G and 8 as allies, with 1 G and 2 A games using FWII 9.1. 5 are SoE version 12.0 and 1 Barbarossa. I prefer playing allies (obviously) partly because I think it's easier in the sense that mistakes don't matter quite as much. The game is a bit more subtle than it appears at first so the allies have to be flexible, but the allies are more resilient than the axis IMHO.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:54 pm
by PvtBenjamin
ORIGINAL: KorutZelva

I would say:
at lower level of play: the Allies,
at medium and high level of play: the Axis.

The Axis control the tempo of the game but it can be challenging for a beginner to take advantage of it or to handle the game's supply rules on the offensive.


I agree. If you are just starting PBEM you are better off playing the Allied a few times. Axis is very hard for a newer player especially if you are playing a seasoned person.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:57 pm
by James Taylor
No doubt that in HvsH games the Allies have the advantage. Pretty simple actually as the game is decided in the USSR. The Red Army needs only to get to AA & IW tech 2 early in 42 and that is "game over" unless of course the Allies make some monumental mistakes or the Germans pull off some miraculous maneuvers(which is an Allied mistake of defensive planning).

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 2:09 pm
by wie201
And I think it depends somewhat on whether your opponent is playing it as a "game" versus a "simulation." If you play it as a game only, I have seen the United States conquered before the UK.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:38 pm
by Rannug61
Hi

I've have a handful of Pbem-games behind me now and I would say there is an axis advantage but it takes more skill to play the axis. So it's better to be allies in your first 3-4 games. If 2 top players fight it out I think the axis would win 3 out of 4 times. Air power is the key to victory and the Luftwaffe rules the sky in most games. If Russia is alive and well in summer of 43 things can change but it's very hard to keep the Red Army in shape. One needs some early luck with research.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:50 pm
by Leadwieght
I also think the Axis has the advantage, though maybe it's more like 60:40, ceteris paribus.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 5:47 pm
by room
I wonder what Bill or other devs have to say on this since they must have some more substantial data to educate their guesses ?

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:07 am
by jjdenver
I really like Fall Weiss mod so would like to hear thoughts on play balance in PBEM using that mod. I prefer it to the base campaign by far.

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:01 pm
by crispy131313
ORIGINAL: jjdenver

I really like Fall Weiss mod so would like to hear thoughts on play balance in PBEM using that mod. I prefer it to the base campaign by far.

In my experience thus far, the advantage is always in favor of my opponent. [:D]

RE: Which side has the advantage?

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:07 pm
by GeneralFerraro
You nailed it on the head, crispy, who needs playtesting, statistics, or lenghty discussions? I knew it from the beginning, the game always favors (unfairly) one's opponent, particularly in PBEM. It's cruel, really. [X(]