On the last of what must have been six impulses, the Axis finally rolled bad weather.
However that didn't stop them from taking Smolensk.
(This is the "before" image)
Losses. Apologies for the sideways aspect.
Ready for the July August turn.
The USSR had 37 build points (20 from cadres).
This allowed for the immediate build of 11 militia.
The rest was spent on 8 garrison units.
If the Axis go first it is going to be ugly...
In the Far East, the USSR and Japan came to peace.
China feels a little more stable.
That 2-4 cavalry unit near the Red Chinese was put there in error,
it had to go to a city way over in the west of the country.
Bad, but it could have been worse. There is a break of two weeks until play resumes.
You are really making me want to track down a copy of WiF as a retirement project, though not sure I could sell Joy on the space required. :)
ReplyDeleteIt would need its own dedicated room plus a few dedicated brains to master the rules.
DeleteI am toying with the idea of doing it on Vassal - I've already purchased and tested it on my machine, but the shear brain power required is a bit daunting for solo play. With our live game and with five players there are still lots of rules to check and discuss, not that they are poorly written, it is just that it is a massive complex game. The computer game, Hearts of Iron, certainly is easier, although it has it challenges, particularly with the AI and speed.
The posts that Mike does to the Facebook group are well worth reading, I will send you the link.
Speaking of 'Hearts of Iron', I've tried it, but perhaps I'm the wrong demographic! I find it difficult to figure out what's going on and how to move things around. The thing LOOKS good, though!
DeleteI've played HoI a few times with different editions and combinations. The AI does some crazy stuff at times and the interface is a bit varied as new bits add their own twists on how to access them (right click, menu selection, left click hold shift etc etc). As the game progresses it really makes demand on CPU and that has caused me problems with units no responding to me clicking on them and that then just spirals in a click frenzy and really mad stuff happening. Of course can always go back to a save point, but that seems like cheating.
DeleteHoI is a lot more accessible and cheaper than WiF and my friend Bruce keeps reminding me that when I started playing HoI I said it made WiF redundant. It does in a way, but a face to face boardgame with a group of like minded individuals is different, positive experience to playing WW2 on a computer which can sometimes feel like "What's the point?"
That may be why I don't generally 'do' computer games. I do like the strategic IGoUGo type games such as the WiF here, though the sheer size of the game is a bit daunting. I have a copy of the SPI 'Global War' I bought about 40 years ago and have never played. Most of the counters are still on their card sprues.
DeleteOne computer game I do like is Europe in Flames, a tactical level game (I have only the East Front). It plays very like the table game 'Command Decision' for a long time my favourite WW2 war games rule set. Though pretty ancient, it works well on Win10. Which is more than can be said for Panzer General II or Civilization III - both games I liked, but can no longer play.