I had a long game last night and this afternoon, and had a tremendous lot of fun
I have now played 55 turns on the second-hardest level, as the Axis, and have conquered the Netherlands, Greece, Yugoslavia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, All of France except for the city of St.Etienne, Denmark, Bulgaria minus Galati, and all of England, except the cities of Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Scapa Flow. The Axis has at this point secured a decisive victory.
The Axis was able to secure a peace for a while with the Soviet Union, and when war broke out, able to secure a line in Poland, though constantly challenged by Soviet forces. The three prototypes of a Tiger Tank was very helpful in sustaining the defense on the Eastern front, and have so far survived the war to participate in the now ongoing advance against the Soviets. After securing France, the Atlantic wall was built, but only after a successful dash at invading the south coast of Britain, where Plymouth and Southampton was taken with surprisingly little effort - german paratroopers and naval bombardements made a mockery of poor English defenses. During the whole game, the vast stream of German submarines secured Axis Naval supremacy, and the UK navy only made but one attempt at invading at Dunquerque, an attempt easily squashed by Axis bombings.
Axis forces are now advancing on the Soviet Union in the North and in the South, and at war with practically everyone, including imperial Japan, concluding an alliance with the United States of America.
The Minor Axis at one point joined hands with the Soviets and captured Munich, but was quickly thrown out by a mass of fanatical Hitlerjugends (Axis Partisans), where after the mass movement of Hitlerjugends crossed the Alps and attacked the rich valleys of North Italy (badly supported though, they failed). Fighting continues in small pockets at the fronts all over Europe, but Axis victory is clear. The US has (despite their war declarance) stayed out of the conflict all the game through, and not a single US ship has been sighted despite several sub patrols of the Atlantic.
Bitter fighting between the USSR and Japan in Asia. Japanese forces surprisingly succeeded at taking out the key Russian city of Krasnojarsk, but even more surprisingly, the Russians succeeded in taking the city back, much later in the game. At no point did Japan attack US possessions in the Pacific.
Comments :
Loved the new events, found a few typos though ('cubanian cigars' are 'cuban cigars').
Maybe a repeated make-aggression event between the US and Japan, and the US and Axis will help bring the US into the war? - maybe even in combination with free units generated at key entry points in Europe?
Axis economy can easily be tightened further, IMO. At no point did I face economic problems, despite maintaining a huge number of military forces all over Europe. I would like to face the selling of improvements to sustain the war effort kind of dilemma. Things would be made considerably harder, if the Axis ran into a cash deficit, perhaps further pressured with a strategical bombings event. I also think that subs and artillery are much too cost-efficient (cheap) in comparison with other units. Artillery can be pumped out in masses in a few turns, and will secure victories in sieges, if these are helped with AA guns and fighter protection. The same goes for the subs, which will easily secure naval supremacy, when they are built in great numbers, with free torpedos.
Just a few suggestions for an otherwise excellent scenario, Bo !! I especially enjoy all the sound effects and dll-pictures
