[TOT] Axis Thread - Over the Reich McMonkey vs. JPetroski

[McMonkey]

I want to start by saying how fantastic this scenario looks. The previous version was very innovative but also very clunky to administer and by the time it got to moving the aircraft I was usually mentally exhausted and didn't always give my best. It looks like John & Knighttime have worked incredibly hard to eliminate a lot of the admin work and allow the player to focus more on the fun stuff - shooting down enemy planes & laying waste to their cities!

There are a lot of new concepts to get to grips with, though the excellent & detailed Readme has been a huge help. My main concern now is to formulate some solid long term strategies to focus on & not to get distracted chasing shadows. I have a feeling that building up and maintaining a healthy industry & fuel supply will be crucial to Germany's ability to prosecute a robust defense of the Reich. I will need to balance building aircraft and developing new technologies with ensuring that I have enough fuel. There's no point having masses of high tech fighters if I don't have the fuel for them to take off!

I also need to strike a balance between defending my industrial cities, preparing for a possible invasion and prosecuting the war in the Atlantic. The slower the Allied buildup, the better the chance I will have of of resisting or preventing an invasion, which is the only way the Allies can win. One aspect I'm not sure about is continuing the bombing campaign against Britain. On the one hand this may help tip the balance in the Atlantic and slow down the Allied buildup. On the other it could be a drain on my resources as I'm bound to lose bombers. The Allies are obliged to attack, I have a choice.

I have a few concepts I'm not entirely sure about but as soon as I have clarification from John I'll be playing my first turn in earnest.

 

[McMonkey]

My focus early on is to build up my fuel stocks, industry, flak defences and construct as many Jagdfleigerschule (airbases for veteran pilots/planes) as possible. I hope my existing Luftwaffe forces will see me through until there are sufficient bases to start building newer aircraft. In the west of France the focus is obviously Submarines. I'm sending my bombers on a sweeping left hook against Britain's western ports to try and slow their ability to land Freighters. My subs will do their best to take out as many Freighters as possible & generally be a presence in the Atlantic 'box' to limit the number of Allied Freighters generated each turn.

I've focussed my production on Quartermasters where possible to reduce Diversion of Fuel (corruption) and as soon as I develop the technology I'll be building refineries all over the place. The option to hide my new industry away in the South West should work until the Italian front is opened up. I'll need to build up my flak batteries & radar at some point. So many potential priorities!

In terms of grand strategy, this will need to evolve as the game goes along and I learn new tactics. Stay posted!

 

[Prof. Garfield]

Think carefully about how many Jagdfliegerschule you want. Veteran status is not transferred to the attacking guns, nor does it provide a bonus to the 'reaction' functionality of aircraft. They're also extremely expensive (remember, you get one on the day airfield and one on the night airfield). Hence, veteran status is useful when your planes are at risk of being attacked by Allied fighters, but otherwise it is not very valuable.

 

[McMonkey]

Thanks. I did think the number I've switched to building is far too high. As I don't have much production ability in airfields and not enough Trains to go everywhere I thought I would keep my options open for now as where to build and lose a few production points if I choose to swap back to producing aircraft instead. I guess it's better to make these decisions soon. I think I'll go with John's advice and just build a couple each for day & night near industrial heartlands.

 

[McMonkey]

Working out when I'm being suckered into a trap will be interesting. Right now the Allied escort fighters lack range, so the two B17s I spotted off the French coast may well be bait to draw in my fighters, which will then be attacked by Spitfires. I'm going to take a risk and see where these bombers head to. I don't have an abundance of fighters yet (probably never will) so I have to box clever and not charge in all guns blazing.

I'm wondering what people think about my slow moving & shield rich capital ships. I already cancelled the production of the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin and I have a load of battleships & heavy cruisers in the Baltic. Getting them into the Atlantic is going to be pretty much impossible, I could disband them (900 shields cost) but leaving the Baltic completely undefended is unwise. I think I can spare half of the ships to boost up the industry of Northern Germany. If this is a terrible mistake please let me know why. As far as I can see they will spend most of the game sat in port and I'd rather take a risk & convert them into industrial potential in cities like Kiel, Lubeck, Rostock & Peenemunde. I could even sail a few around to Hamburg/Bremen.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

If this is a terrible mistake please let me know why.

I don't know if it is a terrible mistake, since there hasn't been a lot of strategy developed. However, when I played against JPetroski, I brought (at least part of) my North Sea fleet down to do various coastal bombardments (naval shells can reach several squares inland), and the German fleet was quite useful in repelling those units. Air protected stacks still exist for targets that are not strategic (i.e. not factory/refinery/etc.), so a ship can help defend a plane, and a plane prevent bombs and shells being used against a ship.

 

[McMonkey]

That's not something I'd considered. Despite all my preparation & planning I still feel a bit like a headless chicken running around. I guess I'll develop into some kind of rhythm/pattern, but that in itself may be dangerous if the Allies figure them out and work around them!

 

[McMonkey]

I'm hoping that with a fair few of the Allies Beaufighters buzzing around the Low Countries that my hit & run raid on Swansea might escape relatively unscathed, but I really have no idea how many nightfighters the enemy has. I'm judging Swansea to be a primary destination for unloading Freighters coming out of the Atlantic corridor. If they are forced to divert to Bristol I have some daylight He111 on course to intercept them. I don't anticipate my bombing campaign to be particularly sustained as I will soon run out of bombers. All I can really hope to do is cause maximum damage to western ports before the Allies beef up their defences & radar in the area.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

That's not something I'd considered. Despite all my preparation & planning I still feel a bit like a headless chicken running around. I guess I'll develop into some kind of rhythm/pattern, but that in itself may be dangerous if the Allies figure them out and work around them!

That's not surprising. In many ways, this is a brand new game. I spent the first several turns of my playtest just figuring out what was going on, and trying things out. We have no idea if the game is balanced or not, and can only guess at what is the best strategy. Since the game changed so much since the last playtest, in many ways you are playing the first game.

 

[McMonkey]

I've already made a bunch of stupid errors but nothing that should be critical in the long run. The most head-scratching aspect is what to do with my aircraft. I don't want them all sitting on the ground waiting for a hit & run raid, but I also don't want them all low on fuel when a big attack comes in. I think that building up an effective early warning system with Radar & patrols will be crucial to ensuring I can concentrate on large enemy formations.

 

[McMonkey]

Allied Turn 5 was a bad one for the Kriegsmarine U-Boat campaign. At this point, I'm not going to be able to keep up with losses unless I wind a way to reduce the number of enemy Destroyers & aircraft. At least I have a focus on that front.

 

[McMonkey]

My industry seems to be developing well with the help of the event generated Freight Trains. The Atlantic ports will all soon have industry to ramp up submarine production. I plan to build up a number before venturing out into the Atlantic again as they will be picked off piecemeal if they go out individually. It would be nice to have some bombers to help take out some of the Allied destroyers & give me a fighting chance. I've built/am building quartermaster improvements in all cities with high fuel production and also refineries where I can. So far my fighter attrition has not been too high so I can afford to concentrate on building up industry for the time being. I'm going to need to build some more airfields to spread the risk. I also want to replace my destroyed radar sites and build more in depth. So many areas that need addressing!

 

[McMonkey]

Disaster at Stalingrad!

Advanced Radar I developed. Fuel Production II next on the scientist's agenda. Antwerp, Rotterdam, La Rochelle & St. Nazaire build Industry I. Mannheim builds Quartermaster.

The bombing of urban areas of Karlsruhe & Freidrichshaven has no immediate impact on production, though once they grow in size these areas may need to be rebuilt.

I'm starting to work out a system to predict where his bombers are heading & box them in a bit. All it takes is for a few to sneak through and they can cause significant damage. Detection is going to be key if I want to maximize the efficiency of my defensive fighters, especially when the big B17 squadrons get going!

 

[McMonkey]

Industry rebuilt in Paris. Cologne builds Civilian Population I. Vienna builds Quartermaster.

There seems to be a lull in Allied bombing raids. I'm anticipating a large scale American daylight raid with the bombers that attacked Paris joined by newly produced aircraft. The aim will be to overwhelm my defences with large numbers. I have a feeling the raid will either come against my Atlantic coast ports of the Netherlands. The lack of escorts probably precludes a deeper raid into Germany (unless he has a really large amount of B17 assembled).

 

[McMonkey]

Peenemunde builds Industry I. Cologne, Amsterdam & Bordeaux build Refinery I. Hannover builds Quartermaster.

This definitely feels like the calm before the storm.

My naval production is going well. I'm still planning to wait until I have a significant force assembled in Brest before I attempt to take on the Royal Navy.

 

[McMonkey]

Amsterdam & Cologne build Quartermaster. Brussels & Brest build Industry I. Karlsruhe & Schweinfurt build Refinery I.

Fuel production II developed. Night Fighters II next up with the aim of getting to Wild Sau so I can utilize my old Me110s against the British night raids.

High altitude day raid detected near Le Havre.

I've taken a big risk by sending up so many fighters to destroy the B17s over Calais. I hope this show of force will deter the Allies from counter-attacking but I think their next turn could be pretty brutal!

 

[McMonkey]

The expected Allied fighter counter-attack over Calais did not materialize as anticipated. Phew!

Turn 12:

The Hague builds Industry I. Bordeaux builds Quartermaster. Cologne builds Refinery II.

I'm going to have to start thinking about building some more aircraft soon! Thankfully losses have not been very high so far.

 

[McMonkey]

Turn 14:

Calais rebuilds Military port. Bremen, Stuttgart & Prague build refineries. Night Fighters II developed - Wild Sau next. That tech is going to be a massive help! That's why I've tried to keep my day Me110s out of trouble thus far. I declined combat with the B17s over Cherbourg again. I just don't want to drain my fighter strength until my industry is a bit more developed and can boost my numbers.

 

[McMonkey]

Turn 15:

Ophoven AF builds Jagdfleigerschule. Schweinfurt builds Quartermaster.

I decided to engage over Le Havre as I have some AA defences to back up my fighters and enough of them within range to put some hurt on his Fortresses.

I'm preparing to venture out into the Atlantic again now I have a decent number of ships and aircraft assembed. The planes will go in first for a hit and run, hopefully before the Allies can respond with their own fighters. This will be followed up by the U-Boats and the Destroyers will shepherd the dameged ones back to Brest.

 

[McMonkey]

Turn 16:

Karlsruhe builds Quartermaster. Cologne builds Civilian Population II.

The Atlantic raiders set out.