Over the Reich - McMonkey vs. JPetroski

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 21

-Fixed events to restore the battleship fix again.
-Gun Battery and protected radar in Calais both destroyed, though it takes one heck of a bombardment to do so
-2x Schutzen destroyed in Calais

 

[JPetroski]

If I could start over I would do various things differently, but that's life.

What I'm hoping I achieved here is a scenario where even if you did do various things differently, they might not have worked for more than a few turns before I reacted, and vice versa. I think what's fun and somewhat unique about this scenario is that we're at war, but we can't capture territory for awhile due to mechanics. So we're actively fighting and get to just see a large battle unfold where one side thinks of something, the other eventually notices and reacts, and vice versa. There's also time to hatch plans and put them to action. There's (hopefully) a counter to each plan and (hopefully) no way to simply do one thing over and over again that the other can't counter (read: can't at all, not can't because other decisions were made), but if you should find one let us know so we can figure out a way to change that.

I love the rocket firing Me110. I'm a little concerned about how many Fw190s it just took me to just cripple one B17 but then I guess that's the luck of the dice roll.

The strength of the munitions decreases over time as better aircraft get better stats (remember, we're using the same ammo units throughout) and you'll eventually need to address that by researching Tactics I, II, and III, which will work to increase the firepower of your guns by +1 for each advance. I don't think the rockets get the boost because I believe they're still pretty effective throughout the whole game but we can revisit if they need one.

I'm enjoying it very much. It's so much better than the last version which I found a little tedious due to the clunky mechanics.

I'm glad to hear that! There's certainly something to be said for simply being able to play rather than needing to keep a little journal with coordinates of units from 4 civs over 4 maps, eh?

It's probably too early to pass judgement on the overall balance, but in terms of managing my forces, it's pretty smooth.

We'll have to see how it goes. It's a tough one to balance because I'm trying to depict a scenario where the Allies should, eventually, gain an overwhelming superiority but at the same time, by that time, it is hoped the Germans will be able to at least field some nifty advanced aircraft to somewhat offset it. The Ta152 is a monster prop plane and the Me262 is just plain old fun to play with. They can tear through bomber streams without fear of reactive attacks (*VERY* few aircraft can intercept them - other jets, obviously, and two Mustangs for me -but with very low chance- and then the Ta152 with very low chance for you). So, can one player outnumber the other 10 to 1 if the other has some super weapons? We'll see.

 

[McMonkey]

"I'm glad to hear that! There's certainly something to be said for simply being able to play rather than needing to keep a little journal with coordinates of units from 4 civs over 4 maps, eh?"

That was probably the biggest drawback. You've solved that quite brilliantly. Now I've got into a routine I can easily use the wait order to go through the day & night maps in turn and direct my forces in a more organized manner. In the last version, it all felt a bit chaotic & the turns were taking me ages to play.

 

[McMonkey]

Not having to manually search with radar waves every turn is also an inspired innovation.

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 21

Heavy Cruiser (already damaged) sunk off Calais (U-Boat).

Damaged Stirling located & shot down SE of Brussels by Ju88Cs.

In the largest air battle of the war since the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe, RAF & USAAF join in combat over the French coast north of Nantes.

Two Me109s & one Fw190 lost (massive defensive fire). Four Spitfires shot down, two B17s crippled and three destroyed.

 

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 22

And now we see the price for not destroying that radar set early on...

-7x Fw190 are shot down for the loss of 2x P-38 and 1x Spit which are both killed by high cover. A further 190 is damaged.
-The first wave of bombers presses on to Nantes and La Rochelle. A factory at Nantes and the port at La Rochelle are attacked but not destroyed.
-Light flak on channel island destroyed by shelling.
-U-Boat sunk

 

[JPetroski]

@McMonkey it would seem that we have a full blown war on our hands!

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 22

In another turn of heavy combat over Brittany, one B17 is crippled over La Rochelle (Flak88). Two B17s crippled over Nantes and one destroyed (Fw190). Six (or was it seven) P38s shot down and another badly damaged north of Nantes. Two Fw190s lost to defensive fire.

 

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 23

Heavy fighting continues in the air and a Kriegsmarine detachment is spotted steaming towards England and engaged!

-Panzer destroyed by battleship
-2x Fw190 shot down and a 3rd damaged
-Factory at Nantes destroyed (near run thing considering the cloud cover but I make it happen).
-Port at Cherbourg badly damaged but not destroyed
-Sub and something else sunk near Holland
-Heavy cruiser badly damaged near Holland

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 23

Three B17s destroyed over Nantes. Four B17s and a P38 destroyed North & to the west of Cherbourg. The gaggle of P38s & Spitfires are avoided for now.

 

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 24

- P-38's pounce on Luftwaffe fighters, downing 2x Fw190 and 2x Me109 near Cherbourg. The "Fork Tailed Devil" is a large, susceptible target, but very capable interceptor in its own right.
-Cherbourg port destroyed, B-17 that attacked is damaged but not destroyed and can return to base. Just a reminder - your units that you stack on these targets get moved when I call up bombs, and perhaps not exactly where you want them.
-Port at La Rochelle attacked with no effect.
-Shore Battery destroyed near Brest
-U-Boat destroyed in Bay of Biscay
-2x German ships (believed to be heavy or light cruisers) sunk off coast of Holland

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 24

Sunderland flying boat shot down in Bay of Biscay. B17 shot down over La Rochelle. Two P38s and a Spitfire shot down over Cherbourg. Spitfire shot down NW of Holland over the North Sea.

 

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 25

-P-38’s catch Luftwaffe fighters refueling at Servon AFB! 2x Fw190, 2xMe109 destroyed on the ground. Carpiquet is also attacked to no effect.
-1x Fw190 is shot down in the skies near Carpiquet
-Woensdrecht AFB is shelled – radar damaged as is an Me109. 1x Me109 destroyed.
-St. Nazaire factory attacked by B-17s but not destroyed
-88mm Gun in Brest attacked by destroyer but not destroyed. Destroyer lost.

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 25

Two Heavy Cruisers sunk off Belgian coast (Shelling & U-Boats). Three B17s crippled over Nantes. Two P38s shot down over Carpiquet Airbase.

 

[JPetroski]

I unfortunately won't be able to play again for about 9 hours, just fyi

 

[McMonkey]

Thanks for letting me know. I may be able to squeeze in a turn after work tonight.

 

[JPetroski]

@McMonkey I was able to get in a turn at lunch after all. I did find a bug but not one that would prevent you from playing your turn. I'll wait for mine. I took steps to make things "fair" so we can carry on. See below.

-2x U-Boats sunk
-1x Heavy Cruiser sunk
-2x Me109 bombarded and destroyed at Woensdricht
-1x Fw190 destroyed over Carpiquet
-Brest shelled to no effect

-An error was thrown by a B-17 that attacked St. Nazaire factory – I wasn’t able to save the text and hadn't saved recently, so I brought in another 17 to see it but didn’t use the bombs to attack as you weren’t given the defense. In trade I offer both these units as viable targets as you weren’t able to attack the first one that attacked (i.e. you get a free shot at the 2nd bomber, if you want it, even though it didn't get to attack). I see no reason why you can’t play your turn but I’ll probably have to wait to play my next one until Garfield responds. St. Nazaire is not destroyed but is damaged.

@Prof. Garfield - I am not sure what is causing this - this is a new type of error for me.

88mm Flak Battery

D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:4326: attempt to perform arithmetic on a userdata value

stack traceback:

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:4326: in upvalue 'targetDamageRollModifier'

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:4439: in local 'targetReactionDamage'

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\reaction.lua:210: in upvalue 'individualReaction'

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\reaction.lua:242: in function 'reaction.reaction'

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:4768: in upvalue 'primaryAttackReactionWrapper'

                D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:5602: in function <D:\Test of Time\Scenario\OTR\events.lua:5345>

 

[JPetroski]

Here is the events fix

 

[McMonkey]

Axis Turn 26

Two B17s shot down by Flak over Vannes Airbase. P38 & Mosquito shot down over Carpiquet Airbase.

 

[JPetroski]

Allies Turn 27

Liberators from the 15th Air Force sortie from the recently captured Foggia airfields, wrecking destruction on Southern Germany and Austria.

-Linz fuel refinery destroyed by 15th Air Force
-Fuel refinery at Regensburg was destroyed – it didn’t trigger the terrain change and I’m not 100% certain that I can do this without causing issues. I don’t *see* why this would be an issue but I’m inclined to simply let you have it rather than risk having to replay a turn. Can you confirm that the fuel refinery improvement was destroyed so I can at least confirm that part of the event works?
-Fuel refinery at Munich attacked but not destroyed
-Woensdrecht shelled and a few Schutzen destroyed or badly damaged
-Brest port attacked but not destroyed
-Bodilis AFB shelled to no effect
-We curse the loss of our photo recon plane. Those things are expensive!!!!

**Note I made an error in the events – I had the 15th Air Force show up at D-Day instead of now so I am attaching the corrected version. This was found instantly as I was missing my air force!