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I'm am slightly worried about an upcoming D-Day either in France, Italy, or even Denmark and the Balkans. But I'm also concerned there haven't been any attempts to invade so far....

The AI switch files at this point in the game instruct the USA and ENG AI's to give high priority to amphibious assaults on the French coast. Unfortunately, however, the AI often ignores these instructions, and just stacks like 30-50 divisions in random provinces instead of actually using them in combat....


@Gringoesteban.... did you make any event for the fall of Vichy? I assumed it would've collapsed when Casablanca/all of North Africa was lost.
Vichy France stays in the fight until the bitter end. (VIC is quite angry about the British scuttling the French navy, among other things). The event series to have Franco's Nationalist Spain join the Axis will cause Vichy France to collapse, but other than that, VIC behaves like a normal country.

One thing to watch for is VIC's IC. If the Allies bomb it down to zero, then the entire VIC army will starve and die from lack of supplies. (Same can happen with Bulgaria, too). Make sure you periodically check those countries' supply level (you can see that in the diplomatic screen if you start to make a deal with them). If their supplies are very low, send them some.
 
You believe the troops would be unable to beat Americans in Persia?
Yes, after seeing 70 divisions in Tunis I fear how many are stationed in Persia. As the USA has cores on all of Persia (presumably to encourage the US to station troops there and give it high priority) I cannot get general information through the revolt risk (although some might say that's gamey in the first place). I could build an airfield in Baku and use Luftwaffe bombers to 'recon' the area by bombing any US forces in the area, or maybe capture Astrakhan and use that airfield. Even if there aren't that many US troops in the region at the moment, there soon would be if I invade. But then again capturing Persia's oil-rich province would help. It's a tricky one.
 
What an epic struggle! Certainly this will be somebody's bitter end!

Some thoughts:

Luftwaffe: While I'm not in the pilot's seat, I can clearly see the difference when you engage with only 3 wings, or a proper minimum of 4. But generally, the modernization seems to be holding off the Allies. As regards the dimise of the SU airforce, it might become a surprise - if there are reinfocements, but now all going into the Red Army (?)

Norway: That cost the Brits a lot.

Resources: Well, again you seem to have moved beyound several crises.

Casaulties: Over 2 million KIA - tragic but true (abouts). However, your reinforcements slider is the best caught up I've yet seen, meaning the succesful air defense is paying dividends.

MP: Looking good... quite steady.

Tunisia: 70 divisions and nothing much to transport them... how nice, and most forunate!

Bermuda: Well, I suppose one must try these things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In your case: Ventured, but no goal gained!

Baku: This looks quite insecure to me... hope you can hang onto it... but that's getting to be a very long east-stretching front. Now's when you need all those disbanded MOTs since you have the oil and the spaces to roam. Aren't war plans ironic? Well, you still have the ARM. How many divisions might that be?

Spies: Too bad player can't get better info on things like MP pool, etc than deductions based on battles fought.

Manhatten: But this might all change with a big BOOM! Hopefully the AI will stay historic and only bomb Japan.

Great AAR... chin up, brave face... march on to your glory or doom. GOOD LUCK!

Request: I would like to see more regularly not the production but the IC sliders on production display. The FULL OUT zooms are great. As long as I can find Riga, Warsaw, Kiev and Moscow, no problem. I guess I should start looking for Stalingrad.
 
Yes, after seeing 70 divisions in Tunis I fear how many are stationed in Persia. As the USA has cores on all of Persia (presumably to encourage the US to station troops there and give it high priority) I cannot get general information through the revolt risk (although some might say that's gamey in the first place). I could build an airfield in Baku and use Luftwaffe bombers to 'recon' the area by bombing any US forces in the area, or maybe capture Astrakhan and use that airfield. Even if there aren't that many US troops in the region at the moment, there soon would be if I invade. But then again capturing Persia's oil-rich province would help. It's a tricky one.
Scouting from Astrakhan wouldn't be too dangerous, I guess. Looking forward to V-1 attacks, and the capture of Stalingrad. Maybe an all-front offensive to finally topple the Red Army?
 
The AI switch files at this point in the game instruct the USA and ENG AI's to give high priority to amphibious assaults on the French coast. Unfortunately, however, the AI often ignores these instructions, and just stacks like 30-50 divisions in random provinces instead of actually using them in combat....
Good to know they'll prioritise France. AI inactivity seems to be hardcoded. Would switching the AI to aggressive help or would that do more harm then good?

Vichy France stays in the fight until the bitter end. (VIC is quite angry about the British scuttling the French navy, among other things). The event series to have Franco's Nationalist Spain join the Axis will cause Vichy France to collapse, but other than that, VIC behaves like a normal country.
Fair enough, not that historical, but I'm not complaining! It's good to have an ally with 7 interceptors and enough troops to defend the southern-French coast.

One thing to watch for is VIC's IC. If the Allies bomb it down to zero, then the entire VIC army will starve and die from lack of supplies. (Same can happen with Bulgaria, too). Make sure you periodically check those countries' supply level (you can see that in the diplomatic screen if you start to make a deal with them). If their supplies are very low, send them some.
Thanks, I will keep an eye on that.

What an epic struggle! Certainly this will be somebody's bitter end!
It will indeed! Hopefully the war has irrevocably turned in my favour! At least on the eastern front anyways.

Luftwaffe: While I'm not in the pilot's seat, I can clearly see the difference when you engage with only 3 wings, or a proper minimum of 4. But generally, the modernization seems to be holding off the Allies. As regards the dimise of the SU airforce, it might become a surprise - if there are reinfocements, but now all going into the Red Army (?
I am trying to use 4 wings, I only have 3 when 1 wing is so badly damaged I need to send it to Berlin so it can avoid combat for several weeks/months and get some R&R. Not sure why the Soviet AI isn't reinforcing its airforce, maybe (hopefully) it's because it's maxing out production of new air and army units.

Norway: That cost the Brits a lot.
It really did, I'm surprised they used armoured divisions to invade, hopefully it'll be the same in France, only not during the actual landing process! Norway should be secure now thanks to the Kriegsmarine and me sending enough units to Norway for a secure defence. I could place more coastal forts there, but there are more important places that need defending to be honest. I do not need metal from Sweden now Metz has been fully repaired and its infra maxed out at 200. Although it has been trading several rares with me.

Resources: Well, again you seem to have moved beyound several crises.
Somehow I can been. Italy will at least be able to give me 5k rares in the upcoming months, meaning German industry should survive at maximum capacity into 1945. I am also building up Hannover's infrastructure, and Baku's in order to alleviate the oil and rares problem. As I said to Barvinok, invading Persia is also a possibility in order to get even more oil. But not sure if that'll lead to a complete collapse on that front. My army is simply not big enough to invade Persia unless I am able to free up a significant amount of troops from the eastern front.

Casaulties: Over 2 million KIA - tragic but true (abouts). However, your reinforcements slider is the best caught up I've yet seen, meaning the succesful air defense is paying dividends.
Thankyou, I got the idea to only reiforce land units that are away from the front from panzergenerals and it is certainly paying dividends.

Tunisia: 70 divisions and nothing much to transport them... how nice, and most forunate!
I am suprised Japan has been able to sink so many US transport ships, I guess the AI is doing its suicidal (and not in a good way) stratey of using unescorted transport ships.

Bermuda: Well, I suppose one must try these things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In your case: Ventured, but no goal gained!
Exactly, it would've been nice to get all those rares the French must have but luckily for the Allies, it was not the case. Maybe the French had based must of their units in Libreville anyway, so the plan might have failed in the first place.

Baku: This looks quite insecure to me... hope you can hang onto it... but that's getting to be a very long east-stretching front. Now's when you need all those disbanded MOTs since you have the oil and the spaces to roam. Aren't war plans ironic? Well, you still have the ARM. How many divisions might that be?
Very ironice, but needed to be done. I should be able to upgrade my infantry to 1945 if the oil situation stabilises. I have a total of 17 l.arm and arm divisions.

Spies: Too bad player can't get better info on things like MP pool, etc than deductions based on battles fought.
Yeah I agree. In real life the Germans made quite accurate estimates asto what avaliable manpower the Soviets had each year. Although they also made wrong assumptions about how many would go into industry or the military etc.

Manhatten: But this might all change with a big BOOM! Hopefully the AI will stay historic and only bomb Japan.
I highly doubt (but highly hope) so! I imagine Gringoesteban has made specific AI files that enoucrage the US to bomb Berlin once it has nukes.

Great AAR... chin up, brave face... march on to your glory or doom. GOOD LUCK!
Thankyou, I will certainly march to the very end, even if that means going beyond 1946 (which is the end year for the mod).

Request: I would like to see more regularly not the production but the IC sliders on production display. The FULL OUT zooms are great. As long as I can find Riga, Warsaw, Kiev and Moscow, no problem. I guess I should start looking for Stalingrad.
As In editing out the production side of the screenshot to just include the IC sliders? If so, yes I can do that. :) I am always happy to oblige. Although I hope there will be no changes regarding Warsaw or Kiev. Kiev now has 6 land fortifications so the Red Army can try all it wants to take the city! Their might be an upcoming change regarding Stalingrad, maybe even Moscow. Only time will tell :D

Scouting from Astrakhan wouldn't be too dangerous, I guess. Looking forward to V-1 attacks, and the capture of Stalingrad. Maybe an all-front offensive to finally topple the Red Army?
The Red Air Force is no longer a threat so Astrakhan is probably the best option, just need enough units to capture it. Its a marshland so it'll take a while to capture but it should be more-then worth it. The Red Army is certainly weak in the south, but not so sure in the centre and north. I think they outnumber most of my forces 2-to-1, it's suprising they haven't attacked there. Although I have placed at least 2 land fortifications on every bordering province with the USSR, except Riga as I don't expect to hold the city for much longer.
 
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....AI inactivity seems to be hardcoded. Would switching the AI to aggressive help or would that do more harm then good?
I'm not sure what impact that would have. It may only impact the AI's willingness to declare war, rather than how it deploys its troops.


....Fair enough, not that historical, but I'm not complaining! It's good to have an ally with 7 interceptors and enough troops to defend the southern-French coast.
Yeah, I figure that having VIC as an Axis Minor member is okay given that the Allies and Soviets get so many bonuses and free units in TRM. And I believe that VIC did halfway consider joining the Axis IRL, although obviously they did not really do so and quickly collapsed after North Africa fell. If I remember right from a book I read a while ago, Vichy and Free French forces did fight some bloody battles in the Palestine area, but that is not really discussed much in most history books.

Not sure why the Soviet AI isn't reinforcing its airforce, maybe (hopefully) it's because it's maxing out production of new air and army units.
Could you please upload your save game -- both the .cfg and the .eug files -- to Gamefront or another file sharing site (not Rapidshare, though, because that does not seem to work anymore). I will take a look and try to figure out what is going on.

My army is simply not big enough to invade Persia unless I am able to free up a significant amount of troops from the eastern front.
The USA AI files prioritize Baku as an objective, so you want to stay away from the Americans in Persia until you can free up a lot of troops. The USA has cores in Persia and Karachi, and the intent of that was for the USA AI to prioritize the defense of that area, and basing of troops in that area, which would both protect the approaches to India from the Caucasus (ENG will only surrender after Delhi falls, among other criteria) and also give the Americans a springboard to drive into southern Russia.

I am suprised Japan has been able to sink so many US transport ships, I guess the AI is doing its suicidal (and not in a good way) stratey of using unescorted transport ships.
The version of TRM you are playing gives troop transport ships 1 sea defense and 1 air defense (vanilla AoD is zero on both). This did not seem to give the AI enough protection since it sends its ships into dangerous areas with minimal escorts, so the latest version of TRM (1.08.1) gives troop transport ships 2 sea defense and 2 air defense.

Exactly, it would've been nice to get all those rares the French must have but luckily for the Allies, it was not the case. Maybe the French had based must of their units in Libreville anyway, so the plan might have failed in the first place..
When I saw the screenshot of you going for Bermuda, I thought your plan was to pull a Kilolima and land an armored or motorized infantry division in Texas and do a suicide run for Los Alamos. If you take the province with the USA nuclear reactor, th reactor would be destroyed, and then the Americans would have to start over and build it from scratch, with not enough time left in the game from them to build a bomb.

Yeah I agree. In real life the Germans made quite accurate estimates asto what avaliable manpower the Soviets had each year. Although they also made wrong assumptions about how many would go into industry or the military etc.... The Red Army is certainly weak in the south, but not so sure in the centre and north. I think they outnumber most of my forces 2-to-1, it's suprising they haven't attacked there. Although I have placed at least 2 land fortifications on every bordering province with the USSR, except Riga as I don't expect to hold the city for much longer.
Another reason I would like to see the save file. I want to see what the F the Russians are doing if they are not reinforcing their units, and why they are not attacking. At this point in the war, their ferocity is set to 3 (the most reckless and aggressive setting). Also, the attack odds should encourage them to attack even if their is slim hope of victory, the idea being to wear the Germans down over time since the Soviets have much deeper manpower reserves. But like so many things in the AI switch files, the instructions are often ignored and the AI does whatever the heck it wants to do....

I imagine Gringoesteban has made specific AI files that enoucrage the US to bomb Berlin once it has nukes.
Unfortunately not. AI nuke targeting is hardcoded. The USA -- if it uses a nuke at all -- usually drops it on a random undefended Japanese island in the Pacific....
 
I'm not sure what impact that would have. It may only impact the AI's willingness to declare war, rather than how it deploys its troops.
I think it does impact the AI's aggressive in battle too, but I don't know to what or extent or how it manifests itself.

Yeah, I figure that having VIC as an Axis Minor member is okay given that the Allies and Soviets get so many bonuses and free units in TRM. And I believe that VIC did halfway consider joining the Axis IRL, although obviously they did not really do so and quickly collapsed after North Africa fell. If I remember right from a book I read a while ago, Vichy and Free French forces did fight some bloody battles in the Palestine area, but that is not really discussed much in most history books.
Ah ok, makes sense and sounds fair. Yeah there was a campaign in the Middle East between the two French sides, and also, as you probably know, campaigns and attacks in Dakar, Madagascar, Gibraltar and (obviously) North Africa.

Could you please upload your save game -- both the .cfg and the .eug files -- to Gamefront or another file sharing site (not Rapidshare, though, because that does not seem to work anymore). I will take a look and try to figure out what is going on.
Here you go: http://www.sendspace.com/filegroup/ElLeQnr%2B%2FSw2e51E9PmojQ

The USA AI files prioritize Baku as an objective, so you want to stay away from the Americans in Persia until you can free up a lot of troops. The USA has cores in Persia and Karachi, and the intent of that was for the USA AI to prioritize the defense of that area, and basing of troops in that area, which would both protect the approaches to India from the Caucasus (ENG will only surrender after Delhi falls, among other criteria) and also give the Americans a springboard to drive into southern Russia.
Even more reason to stay away, thanks for the information.

The version of TRM you are playing gives troop transport ships 1 sea defense and 1 air defense (vanilla AoD is zero on both). This did not seem to give the AI enough protection since it sends its ships into dangerous areas with minimal escorts, so the latest version of TRM (1.08.1) gives troop transport ships 2 sea defense and 2 air defense.
Fair enough, I guess this is a hardcoded issue (and a long-standing one too).

When I saw the screenshot of you going for Bermuda, I thought your plan was to pull a Kilolima and land an armored or motorized infantry division in Texas and do a suicide run for Los Alamos. If you take the province with the USA nuclear reactor, th reactor would be destroyed, and then the Americans would have to start over and build it from scratch, with not enough time left in the game from them to build a bomb.
Damn, that's a good idea! I wish I'd thought of that. But I guess the US has all its coastlines well defended, especially considering it's effective IC!

Another reason I would like to see the save file. I want to see what the F the Russians are doing if they are not reinforcing their units, and why they are not attacking. At this point in the war, their ferocity is set to 3 (the most reckless and aggressive setting). Also, the attack odds should encourage them to attack even if their is slim hope of victory, the idea being to wear the Germans down over time since the Soviets have much deeper manpower reserves. But like so many things in the AI switch files, the instructions are often ignored and the AI does whatever the heck it wants to do....
Oh blimey, I have certainly not experienced many attacks recently, especially no reckless ones.

Unfortunately not. AI nuke targeting is hardcoded. The USA -- if it uses a nuke at all -- usually drops it on a random undefended Japanese island in the Pacific....
Oh, that's annoying and unfortunate. Maybe 1.09 can fix this! One big advantage of Darkest Hour is the mass amounts that can be modded by any player when compared to AoD.
 

Thank you for posting the file.

All the softcoded Soviet AI instructions seem to have fired appropriately.

Here are some of the SOV AI settings from your save file, in no particular order....

recklessness = 2 Possible values range from 0-3, so this is fairly aggressive, but not suicidal. At a level of 3, sometimes the AI charges forward and gets encircled too easily.

distrib_vs_human = offensive The AI should move troops to where your front line is weak, and then attack.

passivity = { GER = 0 Possible values range from 0-100, so the AI should behave aggressively against Germany.

target = { 300 = 100 Berlin a priority target for the Red Army.

reinforcement = 0.1500 This tells the AI to focus up to 15% of its IC on reinforcing understrength units, but nevertheless the Red Air Force is in tatters. I don't know of any other way to make the Russians replace their lost aircraft.

base_attack_odds = 1.0100 The Soviets should launch attacks when the odds are just slightly better than even that they will win the fight. In theory, you should be experiencing attacks all along your lines.

Other than that, the build scheme in the production queue looks good, with a nice mix of various unit types. The Russian's research is going well and they are focusing on the important techs.

I just don't know why they are not counterattacking...
 
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I am trying to use 4 wings, I only have 3 when 1 wing is so badly damaged I need to send it to Berlin so it can avoid combat for several weeks/months and get some R&R.

The counter argument would be to simply not fly those 3 good wings which are alone. They would only be used to assist the other stack of 4 after that stack has engaged. The exception would be for the 3-stack to go after only bombers. Meanwhile the 3-stack resting on front line are also swapping out (aircraft merge) the weakest one or two in stack of 4 so that 4-stack is always best possible. And the resting wings are always available to add to any ongoing battle with enemy INTs or strong bombers.

I think two things are happening:
1) You are probably "zone missioning" because of demands of the rest of the map. With zone missioning you often can not get the advantages of micro-management.
2) Number 2 is your "focus". I think you are focusing on gaining air superiority over the enemy INT so then you could have more free range to go after the bombers. This has a plus and a negative. The plus is that the enemy INT actually can not hurt you (or your country) if you can get the enemy bombers without tangling with his INTs also. The negative is that as France fills with more enemy INt, the chances get better you will be tangling with both enemy INT and bombers simultaneously. That is a very bad situation.

But let's consider the true fact that "you really are putting yourself into an attrition war" with the enemy INTs. Obviously, in your current situation - attrition with enemy INT (in fact all contact) should be avoided - if it is possible.

Ordinarily this complexity is handled by gaining air superiority over the enemy fighters first. I don't think you can do that anymore. You can only win more - but be paying the heavy attrition price. Meanwhile, you weaken against the bombers. This is exactly the AI's intention... and why he can sacrafice his INT - but you can't.

I think the past "quiet months" would have been an excellent time to devote to micro-management to better gain more superiority. But the oppurtunity might soon be gone if the Eastern Fronts erupts again.

I really am not in the pilot's seat. How to get bombers while his INTs are "well and alive" I can't detail in your game. I only know if you can avoid his INTs so your airforce fully recovers, and then could micro-manage 2:1 odds against his INT you might do much better by getting greater superiority that way. In the meantime, you absolutely must stop the bombers... I understand.

EDIT: IF trying this be sure to set message popup so game pauses as soon as contact with enemy occurs. Now you can probably mission the resting 3-stack to get in on the fight (if game speed normal). I think on faster speed you might not get pause exactly on hour contact occurred. It also helps to watch the map for intruders coming (impossible if serious battles on Eastern Front).


Thankyou, I will certainly march to the very end, even if that means going beyond 1946 (which is the end year for the mod).

Aah! There might be a way to avoid a bitter end! How can you go beyound '46 if MOD stops there?

As In editing out the production side of the screenshot to just include the IC sliders? If so, yes I can do that. :) I am always happy to oblise.

Yes, exactly - just to see your upgrade needs, degree of reinforcement you are managing, and all slider settings only. Please include portion of resource bar above that width of crop. Thanks! And GOOD LUCK!
 
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Thank you for posting the file. ...I just don't know why they are not counterattacking...
You're welcome, thanks for checking the files. So everything is how it should be for the AI regarding the files then? If so then I guess nothing more can be done. Although it works out well for me, it's still worrying.
 
I just don't know why they are not counterattacking...

They are burying their dead? :D

AI nuke targeting is hardcoded. The USA -- if it uses a nuke at all -- usually drops it on a random undefended Japanese island in the Pacific....

Sounds like Bikini Atoll. How disappointing... I was so looking forward to Mr_BOnarpte reporting that all future updates will be indefinitely delayed because of massive infrastructure damage in Berlin! :cool:
 
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The counter argument would be to simply not fly those 3 good wings which are alone. They would only be used to assist the other stack of 4 after that stack has engaged. The exception would be for the 3-stack to go after only bombers. Meanwhile the 3-stack resting on front line are also swapping out (aircraft merge) the weakest one or two in stack of 4 so that 4-stack is always best possible. And the resting wings are always available to add to any ongoing battle with enemy INTs or strong bombers.
I will fly 3 wings in order to protect my industry! I am normally grouping 10-12 fighter wings in the same province anyway, so the 3/4 wing distinction becomes less meaningful. Although in Greece and Italy it's still relevant.

I think two things are happening:
1) You are probably "zone missioning" because of demands of the rest of the map. With zone missioning you often can not get the advantages of micro-management.
That is the case in Greece and Italy.
2) Number 2 is your "focus". I think you are focusing on gaining air superiority over the enemy INT so then you could have more free range to go after the bombers. This has a plus and a negative. The plus is that the enemy INT actually can not hurt you (or your country) if you can get the enemy bombers without tangling with his INTs also. The negative is that as France fills with more enemy INt, the chances get better you will be tangling with both enemy INT and bombers simultaneously. That is a very bad situation.
I don't have any planes flying over France, only Vichy and Italian planes in the south in order to protect northern Italy and Vichy's industry. If I get into combat with both enemy FIG and bombers, they will have a higher stacking penalty, thus strengthening my attack.

But let's consider the true fact that "you really are putting yourself into an attrition war" with the enemy INTs. Obviously, in your current situation - attrition with enemy INT (in fact all contact) should be avoided - if it is possible.
Not when those FIG are bombing my airfields! I am not re-basing my INT in Kassel and Frankfurt only to have a horde of bombers destroy the industry in the Rhineland. The AI seems to know when I cancel my air missions, with bombers being seen the next day or two.

Ordinarily this complexity is handled by gaining air superiority over the enemy fighters first. I don't think you can do that anymore. You can only win more - but be paying the heavy attrition price. Meanwhile, you weaken against the bombers. This is exactly the AI's intention... and why he can sacrafice his INT - but you can't.
Planes require little manpower and I have the IC to deal with the losses. It is the oil that most worries me, I keep planes stationed when possible, but that possibility is reducing.

I think the past "quiet months" would have been an excellent time to devote to micro-management to better gain more superiority. But the oppurtunity might soon be gone if the Eastern Fronts erupts again.
I have been resting units that need resting, and taking opportunites when they arise. There have been smaller air battles throughout this time period, maybe I should post even more screenshots :p

Aah! There might be a way to avoid a bitter end! How can you go beyound '46 if MOD stops there?
Yes, I can just change the end date before loading the save. Gringoesteban designed it to last to 1946 as their aren't many others techs to research after that, but I'll still continue it, if I last that long!

Yes, exactly - just to see your upgrade needs, degree of reinforcement you are managing, and all slider settings only. Please include portion of resource bar above that width of crop. Thanks! And GOOD LUCK!
Okey dokey. Thankyou.
 
I will fly 3 wings in order to protect my industry! I am normally grouping 10-12 fighter wings in the same province anyway, so the 3/4 wing distinction becomes less meaningful.

I was not discussing your total Luftwaffe effort. I was discussing the 3 flying as a 75% stack. That is good they have choices which 4-stack to assist. 10-12? My suggestion was - if 10 - it should be 8 flying and 2 resting on "stand by". But if you have 10-12 in SAME province - is that not micro-mamagement, and does that not go against stacking penalty as you mention next? I certainly agree with more in same province is the very best (and don't care about stacking penalty details). But I thought you were doing something quite different.

they will have a higher stacking penalty, thus strengthening my attack.

Higher stacking penalty does not create a net negative when discussing 4, 8 or 12. More aircraft = net positive if those TACs have ESC/FTR. I am assuming you are meaning 4 enemy INT and 4 TAC against your 4 INT. I would not wish to be commander of your lone stack.

I don't need to do any math to see the battle results display and judge it only by the damage I suffered. Looking at it from who got the most damage (attrition) simply is not a winning philosophy as regards what real air superiotity can win. It is a focus difference. Anyway, I was meaning to apply the 3-wing stack to where ever it is.

Not when those FIG are bombing my airfields! I am not re-basing my INT in Kassel and Frankfurt...

As I said, "I'm not in the pilot's seat". I offered an idea of "focus" and saving up for micro-mamaged attempt to gain air superiority. But I wonder why no air war over Germany or France given the seemingly contradictory statements of "Kassel" in Germany but "you don't have planes flying over France". Where is the major air war?


There have been smaller air battles throughout this time period, maybe I should post even more screenshots :p

Too bad that there is not the equivalent of "poltical map mode" for the air.
 
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I was not discussing your total Luftwaffe effort. I was discussing the 3 flying as a 75% stack. That is good they have choices which 4-stack to assist. 10-12? My suggestion was - if 10 - it should be 8 flying and 2 resting on "stand by". But if you have 10-12 in SAME province - is that not micro-mamagement, and does that not go against stacking penalty as you mention next? I certainly agree with more in same province is the very best (and don't care about stacking penalty details). But I thought you were doing something quite different.

Higher stacking penalty does not create a net negative when discussing 4, 8 or 12. More aircraft = net positive if those TACs have ESC/FTR. I am assuming you are meaning 4 enemy INT and 4 TAC against your 4 INT. I would not wish to be commander of your lone stack.
I mean my 10-12 INT up against 10-12 enemy FIG and bombers. I always go for parity, even against bombers.

I don't need to do any math to see the battle results display and judge it only by the damage I suffered. Looking at it from who got the most damage (attrition) simply is not a winning philosophy as regards what real air superiotity can win. It is a focus difference. Anyway, I was meaning to apply the 3-wing stack to where ever it is.
What is 'real air superiority' to you? Surely inflicting more losses (then what you take as casualties) on the enemy is good no matter how you look at it.

As I said, "I'm not in the pilot's seat". I offered an idea of "focus" and saving up for micro-mamaged attempt to gain air superiority. But I wonder why no air war over Germany or France given the seemingly contradictory statements of "Kassel" in Germany but "you don't have planes flying over France". Where is the major air war?
Northern Germany, Kassel is near the south. Most of my planes are based in Essen and Wilhelmshafen.

Too bad that there is not the equivalent of "poltical map mode" for the air.
Indeed.
 
September 1944

Losses charts

ScreenSave3_zpsb900a1b0.png

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Eastern front
The Crimean territories were successfully held as the siege of Sevastopol was clearly succeeding. Zaporozhye was lost to the Soviet Union, but the Heer and its allies managed a successful counter-attack, only to loose the territory again once it was captured. It plans to re-capture the province next month. The Luftwaffe was utilised with great success throughout the month against Soviet forces in the south, including their units around Stalingrad. It is hoped the city will be besieged before the year is out. However Soviet forces are being raised, with an estimated 12 infantry divisions suddenly being created by the Red Army to defend the historic and industrial city. A stalemate has broken out in the very south, with Baku being the furthest limit of the German empire and Soviet troops below holding out against attacks.

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The German and Italian bomber units are able to document the success of the siege of Sevastopol.

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The Red Air Force has still not been able to over-come or change the path to its inevitable annihilation.

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Air war against the Allies
The German Air Force continued to defend Germany's air space with significant battles over Wilhelmshafen and Essen. The lone American strategic bomber spotted over Essen on the 26th was completely annihilated.

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The first V1 rockets are launched and successfully used against the UK industry. Although embarrassingly the German leadership did not know they needed to first give the relevant staff time time to organise, with the immediate attacks causing literally no damage to the British isles. An important lesson has been learnt, with the next batch of V1s being available in less then a months time there will be another chance to launch successful attacks.

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Japan's situation
The Japanese empire continues to shrink as American forces have begun to re-take the Dutch East Indies, and Australian forces taking the important naval and air bases of Eniwetok and Kwanjalen. Somewhat ironically, Japanese forces hold Pearl Harbour.

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Other events
Germany started to bulk trade with Italy and Spain in order to maintain a stockpile of rare materials and oil.

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The so-called 'underbelly of Europe' appears to be well defended by Italian forces, especially with German assistance through the construction of coastal forts in the area. 4 German divisions also remain in the area, in order to ensure the support of the Italians as well as providing further defence of the region.

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Wow! Those rares you traded were used up pretty fast! :p

BTW, nice to see rockets in use. I've never tried those. Are they a good thing to use, or is it more of a last resource? :)
 
Wow! Those rares you traded were used up pretty fast! :p
Haha, yeah my industry is pretty big and my oil stockpile very low, a bad combination for Germany! I think I'll make through 1944 though.

BTW, nice to see rockets in use. I've never tried those. Are they a good thing to use, or is it more of a last resource? :)
The rockets can be very useful, once they have organisation! We shall see how useful they are soon enough. :)
 
Wow youre very overstretched!
My flank is very over-extended, but I think I can hold it :) If not, I can convoy in supplies through the Black Sea in order to hold the Caucasus.
 
October 1944

Losses Charts

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Eastern front
German forces advance in the area around Stalingrad. A complete siege looks possible by the end of the year. Units south of Stalingrad are utilising the river Volga for defence, except for Astrakhan which was captured in order to controls its airfield. However Luftwaffe bombers can still not reach Persia, with the German leadership ordering the construction of airfields, which are hoped to be placed in Baku once completed.

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Zaporozhye was held, with the help of German bombers interdicting the attacking Soviet forces. Sevastopol fell to German forces on the 9th after the siege had completely succeeded in starving to death the Soviet forces trapped there, an estimated 15 Soviet divisions had been encircled in the coastal fortress. A successful encirclement of 2 divisions was achieved in Konstatinovsk, one an infantry divisions and the other an armoured division, both with up-to-date 1943 equipment.

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Air war against the Allies
Air battles over Essen and Dortmund provide more victories for the German air force. The Vichy Air Force was also able to defend against the Allies bombers and fighters.

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The US Air Force logistically bombed Brest several times, crippling the infrastructure there and causing fear of an invasion amongst the German leadership. However no such invasion occurred during the month with another coastal fort being placed in the territory, totalling 5 major coastal fortifications in the province.

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V-1 attcks
With the lessons learnt from the previous rocket attacks last month, the V-1s caused major damage, particularly with Britain's infrastructure. Even London was bombed. Now Britain can experience the bombing Germany has been taking since 1941.

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Current resource and production situation:

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