Wow, I absolutely love the scenario and think it quite honestly is a computer game in its own right. It has completely supplanted CIV 3 and 4 for me.
For all those who have kicked ass several times with Germany, I strongly suggest trying to play this scenario as a minor power like Turkey. I am having an amazing game with Turkey (Sid level and maximum aggression) that is absolutely taxing my Civ abilities.
I am currently in Week 40 of 1940 and am glad to be at peace after barely holding on against the combined strength of an awesome onslaught of Soviet tanks and a pathetic attack by the Greeks.
At the start of the scenario, I disbanded all Turkish special fortress and regular fortress units to remove what I thought would be an unfair advantage against the AI. I then evaluated my position (no tanks, artillery, or aircraft; no oil, coal, nor rubber; Nazi Germany to my left, the USSR to my right, and Britain to the South!) and shuddered.
My first move was to acquire oil from the Soviets, Coal from the Japanese, Wines from the Italians, and Rubber from the Germans. I hoped that making deals with the Axis powers and Soviets would earn me some goodwill that would forestall an immediate attack.
Then, I built every industrial improvement possible in Ankara, Istanbul, Ezurum, and Samsun. This was completed by early 1940 and I proceeded to build tanks, heavy artillery, infantry, and aircraft in an effort to build a modern army.
My strategy was to keep all my regular strength infantry on the border with the USSR (in fortresses) to "deter" a Soviet attack. After building up an army of about 10 tanks, 10 heavy artillery and 10 veteran infantry, I intended to invade Greece starting with Thessaloníki and ending with Crete. Investigate city showed that with this force ,I could overwhelm the 8 infantry defending Thessaloníki and the 7 defending Athens.
I built this army and was a turn away from initiating my attack against Greece with an Inchon-style landing to cut off Thessaloníki when I noticed that on the Eastern border, the Soviets had moved a marine and a paratrooper around my line of fortified infantry into my territory. Worried, I reconed the area with my paltry fighter force and found 20! tank divisions near my Southern border (they had a ROP with Iran and Britain!). It looked like a Soviet invasion was imminent.
Even more concerned, I investigated Baku, Grozny, and Sachi. To my horror, I discovered a total of 45 !!!!! Bombers and fighters ready to attack my air force of 3 fighters. Realizing how much trouble I was in, I moved my navy to Samsun and new armies to Erzurum and I gave tobacco to the Soviets in an attempt to placate Stalin . . ..
The next turn, the dastardly Greeks sent 9 infantry units at Istanbul and the Soviets moved their forces right next to Erzurum. I had to declare war on both and struck hard at the Greek forces, defeating them easily and getting some elite tanks from the slaughter. I also defeated the few soviet units around Ezurum. In a desperate move, I landed 6 veteran infantry in the mountains near Grozny in an attempt to block the Soviet road from Astrakhan to Baku. I was about to be smacked by the power of the USSR . . .
The Soviets launched every bomber in the area against me, by my count around 30!. They destroyed all my bombers and pummeled Ankara. I lost barracks and other key improvements. The Soviets also punched holes in my border fortifications and flooded Southern Turkey with tanks. I desperately fought the tanks at my southern border, hitting them with heavy artillery and killing weakened units with tanks. I was only able to destroy a few tanks, but the computer USSR felt obliged to withdraw most forces from the South into Iraq.
However, this focus on the south only made me overlook the threat coming from the East. Over the next few turns, at least 100 Soviet tanks (T-34s, KV-1's and tank divisions flooded into my eastern border in the spots where the Soviets had breached fortifications. Resorting to desperate measures, I abandoned Trabzon in the face of 51 tanks and blew up every mountain road behind it so that tanks could not penetrate into central Turkey. The result was that a force of 80 tanks gathered outside Ezurum, while a second Soviet force of 10 tanks menaced Adana and a central army of 10 tanks tried to pincer Ezurum!
I used heavy artillery and tanks to destroy the army group in the center, took potshots at the 80 tanks
outside Ezurum, and did something I never thought I would do in CIV: prayed for deliverance.
Unbelievably, my counterattack impressed the Soviets; Stalin finally accepted my emissary and accepted peace for 300 gold. It was worth every penny to stop the carnage and starvation in my cities. As I survey the damage left by the Soviets, my only consolation is that now I am free to kill those treacherous Greeks
Some other observations: The Soviet AI was very hesitant to keep any non-full strength tanks in combat. If I weakened it with artillery, it would withdraw back to Soviet territory, even if it was just 1 HP.
The Soviets conquered Sweeden early in the scenario. The Germans conquered France by week 10 of 1940. The British captured La Coruna and lost it to the Germans. The British quickly evicted Italy from North Africa and are by week 40 of 1940, about to capture the remaining Italian possessions. The British captured Caglari and Palermo, they lost the latter to the Germans. The Germans invaded Ireland, capturing Dublin and razing Belfast. The British recaptured Dublin. Brazil and Argentina are at war. Japan has captured all of China but done little in the Pacific.
Looking forward to 2.2,
Dan
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