Hey Steve, thanks for your comments. It is a closely fought war so far!
As there are player agreed limitations to the use of Chinese & Indian forces outside of Asia, their influence on the war is limited (but China still has the Korean frontline, and Taiwan sits closely by too), and Indian forces can be used in most of Asia, a lot still up for the taking.
Japan, as of 6 January 1944, has the 2nd biggest army in the Axis - so it's still a force to be reckoned with!
It really was all quiet on the eastern front for 1943, the Heer spent much of it resting. However a big problem facing Germany is a severe lack of oil, a problem it's had since mid-1942. Some examples, and a list of Germany's battles for part of 1942 and all of 1943 are listed below:-
Italy, as of 6 January 1944, has just 10,100 men it can call upon in reserve.
The Axis war on shipping hasn't been worth much of a mention, but here are their achievements (and losses) so far:-
Not at all, please ask away! I enjoy researching this epic campaignMany thanks for the info and looking forward to seeing how things develop. Heavy losses especially for the US and I wonder how bearable they are. Were the RAAF bombers a legacy of when Oz was allied or has Australia become the prime bomber production centre for Japan for some reason - possibly closer to oil supplies.
Thanks for the offer but I would be way out of my depth. Haven't played for ~3 years now, last game being on v1.10 and as a micromanager by the time I got a game or two under my belt the version had changed. As such apart from one brief go at Germany I only really played Russia - no great naval or air demands and only really one front - at least against the AI. Tend since the Germans don't attack until roughly the historical time to concentrate on the economy and then mass build from late 1940 with a just in time defensive position so would very likely be a total disaster in a multi-player game. Which is a pain as I initially got involved due to reading Trekaddict's AAR where he has the British empire against just about everything else and would have loved to have the experience to try a variant of that but that's never going to happen. Plus my one regular gaming session with a mate is Saturday evening going into Sunday morning and although as we get older its not as long as we used to do it tends to mean the weekend is pretty much booked up, between that and trying to recover.
Anyway thanks and hopefully I'm not taking up too much time with the questions.
Not at all, please ask away! I enjoy researching this epic campaign
Having annexed and then creating Australia as a completely new puppet state from 9 May 1940, the Axis got it to produce tactical bombers to help with the war at sea (Japan wasn't going for naval bombers, so only had the 1938 variant, whereas 1940 TAC was available). As of 6 January 1944, it has 16 tactical bombers (making it the largest of such force in the Axis). It also has 14 militia divisions, mainly in response to the Allied invasions in the area. Oil appears to be an issue for Australia too, but I imagine that was considered the "most impactful" unit Australia could build given it's low MP and relatively high IC.
You could always experiment with a minor (Canada, Hungary, Romania, Manchukuo etc) if you did join. You wouldn't need to attend every session as we use a mod where the AI handles itself well (and we could always sub you to ensure the AI does not divert your production/research etc). But it does sound like you are a very busy man!
RAAF in action
- so it might not be up to it. I generally play stratagy games with the sound off and minimal graphics so don't need a top rank performance. Plus as a bit [lot ] of a dinosaur what would be involved software wise in such games? Speaking as someone who has never used zoom, facebook, twitter etc.
We use Steam, which is a free software, to communicate and organise our sessions - and we also have a dedicated website too. I was able to play it using a laptop from 2009, which I'd bought purely for playing AoD online! Part of the beauty of the game is its simplicity, it has minimal requirements for playing, and does not require a fast internet connection either.
If you did join us I'm not sure you'd be the oldest miser in the group
] Might be tempted by Canada as it would ease me in and with advice from the UK and US player could hopefully aid the allies and avoid a sudden nasty invasion. As I say however since my mate still works I wouldn't be available on a Saturday evening - we play from about 8pm onward.
