(1) Just having completed my GW Counterfactual Take 3 GW scenario and AAR in August 2024 I was both relieved and sadden.
(2) This endeavor went from March 11, 2023 to August 12, 2024 and consisted of 161 pages of AAR posts.
(3) After finishing I felt as if I had lost a friend, dare say I was "grieving".
(4) It's silly I know, but no other wargame I tried could fill the void left by the "loss of MWIF".
(5) I even gave thought and some effort to vassal and WiF CE (FYI, I own CE Deluxe).
(6) Even with rules and map updates, the thought of me having to physically enforce the rules, make supply calculations and keep up with the counters seemed "primitive" and a bit overwhelming.
(7) Having cut my teeth on MWIF, the different hex scale on the Pacific and Asia maps in CE seemed liked an unknown foreign language.
(8) And then add to that the off map hexes and the US mini map, which felt like a long lost dead language.
(9) The counters, map and for the most part the interface of MWIF kept calling me back.
(10) For example, warship type (e.g., BB vs CA vs CL) is right on the counter in MWIF but in CE one must look at the 1st & 2nd cycle costs to distinguish between them.
(11) A minor gripe, I know, but a gripe never the less on my part (again) having cut my teeth on MWIF where such wasn't a problem.
(12) While the CE WiF vassal module is functional, MWIF is a work of art with the irritating exception of convoy routing and production.
(13) I couldn't stay away but I could stay dark (i.e., no solo AAR), which is what I've done until now.
(14) Below are short summaries of four previous solo attempts I started and which I've "raged quit" in the early game for failed axis strategy.
(15) In my "competitive" solo play I have and will continue to be a stickler for no die roll take backs even if such rolls result in a bad outcome that effectively ruins the game.
(16) Which such happens as you'll see below, my solo policy is to continue or end the game and start another, which as you know is a time consuming to setup and begin again.
(17) Thus, this is my self imposed penalty for taking a risk, even in solo, of which the worse outcome makes the game not worth continuing.
(18) Given that my last full game took 17-months to complete, risking blowing up the game in the first week or two is something I've hopefully learned my lesson on with the four solo rage quits summarized below.
Solo Rage Quits.
(1) Japanese Asia First Gambit. In this gambit, the Soviets setup the majority of their Asian forces for a strike into the Middle East (Persia then Iraq and even possibly Saudi Arabia). Setting up after the Soviets, Japan decided to maximize setting up their land forces in Manchuria and Korea and naval forces in the Sea of Japan to go full force against the USSR in Asia and capture the 4 Soviet Asian RPs on or near the border with such. Unfortunately for Japan, which can't DOW until the 3rd impulse of SO39, the weather in the north temperate and arctic turned to and stayed storm until the end of the turn. And, didn't improve on the ND39 second turn. Given the weak Japanese commitment to China due to their strong commitment to Manchuria and Korea, the Nationalist and CCP through maneuver (no combat) was taking back lost territory including blocking a couple of RPs and costing Japan production. Thus my first solo "rage" quit and a valuable lesson learned, don't risk Japan's opening position in China, and guaranteed first impulse fine weather, on a 60/40 opening gambit that could wreck the game for Japan if it doesn't pan out.
(2) Cruisers in Flames. Not sure this is really a rage quit as much as a matter of personal preference. I love the naval warfare part of MWIF and wanted to include more naval units. However; for me personally, the CLIF kit doesn't add to my MWIF naval wargaming experience. It just adds more counters to manage without improving the realism of the submarine war. Don't get me wrong, I feel that the macro effect of submarine warfare in MWIF can be quite accurate if both sides are willing to commit the equivalent "historical" resources and actions to such; however, the micro effect (i.e., realism) isn't and can't be without the explicit inclusion of destroyers, escort carriers and other smaller warships, which is well beyond the scope and scale of WIF. While the tactic of "escorting" convoys with BBs, CAs or in the case of the CLIF kit, with CLs, is not realistic the results of the naval warfare models in MWIF are. In reality, BBs, CAs and CLs were the prey of submarines, not their hunters. Again, when played with "historical" focus and effort, the outcomes are believable, just not exactly how we get those outcomes. So, CLIFs just added to the "burden" of my play without adding accordingly to my enjoyment; therefore solo "rage" quit #2.
(3) Fall Rot 1939 Gambit. In this gambit Germany setup strong forces in the West to go after Belgium and France as quickly as possible. When the weather cleared on the 3rd impulse pair of SO39 (axis #7), Germany decided to avoid the Rotterdam redoubt and go after Belgium. The Belgium setup prevent a direct attack on Brussels on the invasion impulse. The French moved into Belgium on the the following allied impulse to include a 3 unit stack in Brussels. With one more axis impulse before the turn ended Germany was able to to gain an additional (3 total) adjacent to Brussels. With Germany losing the initiative, even with a reroll, the allies were able to strengthen their positions in Belgium. Feeling a bit desperate about their situation, Germany played an O-chit with Rundstedt but only managed +7A assault, which failed. With the turn quickly playing out because of weather and on tilt, Germany tried again (axis impulse #7) with a desperate +5.277A assault which not only failed but got the dreaded "14" assault roll. Thus, solo "rage" quit #3, this one legit as Germany was in a horrible position.
- 2024OCT15-Weather-Actions.png (52.01 KiB) Viewed 503 times
- 2024OCT15-GER-LC-CL.png (46.4 KiB) Viewed 503 times
- CF-4-Weather-Actions.png (60.05 KiB) Viewed 503 times
- CF-4-GER-LC-CL.png (53.9 KiB) Viewed 503 times
