| Date/Time: |
TBA
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| Location: |
Earth
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| Score: |
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| Winner: |
baxter |
Bayder (Axis +9) surrenders to Baxter (Allies) after G6
Axis bid to Japan, 1 trans in sz 50
It was a fast paced exciting game, with some spectacular moves, and a couple of heavy sea battles. I also had the luck in the early rounds which certainly helped consolidate Russia’s position against fierce pressure from the Japanese.
R1 and the Russians luckily kept 7 inf in WR which along with a 4 tank buy kept Germany from stacking Karelia. Without a bid, the Germans took Egypt with 2 units surviving. The UK went high on UK1 to immediately start the assistance to Russia by taking Karelia and Norway, and so didn’t drop troops to Africa, but was able to reclaim Egypt. The Jap transport bid meant that Jap units hit the mainland hard, right from J1 and started to turn Eurasia yellow. G2 and Bayder had the first of 2 very low odds losses in Karelia, the 2nd of which on G3 allowed a temporary Allied stack. But it was an inspired move on G2 to hold WE with all the Luftwaffe, which called for a major decision - keep the US momentum through Africa and possibly sacrifice the US fleet (2 dest, 5 trans), or hold back a round. I decided to go the sacrifice route and put them in position in SZ 12 and on G3 Bayder took the battle with a +34TUV result (keeping one fig above expected, but which made up for a fig I’d been fortunate to keep in a US2 battle). With the benefit of hindsight, this might not have been the best move, as probably waiting that one extra round might have paid a higher overall dividend - it effectively left the US unable to do much more for the rest of the game than just drop troops to Africa - but at least the Germans were down 3 figs too and the US had troops in Africa. On with the game though, and it progressed with tit for tat battles for the next couple of rounds, leaving me just over 3 ½ units above expected net hits by the end of J5 – a considerable help.
At this stage the Japs had a stack in Persia, the Germans had a stack in Karelia, and the Jap fleet had entered the Med. The Allies though had maintained their outproduction of the Axis by 20-25 IPC per round and Russia was growing strong. US5/R6 was a lucky turn with a clean round of battles, and the net hits in my favour jumped above 6, much to Bayder’s frustration. And so at the start of G6 with the Allies up 162IPC’s and 48 units on the Axis, Bayder decided to take a battle in sz5 which may have swung the game back into his favour, if successful - 3 fig 1 bom vs UK BB & 4 trans. Thankfully I scored a hit on a 2 on the first round, meaning the battle was effectively over, and Bayder surrendered the game.
This was the first time we’d played against each other and it's clear to me that I still have plenty to learn. So thanks to Bayder for a powerful game, one in which I certainly had the luck, and I appreciate the in-depth analysis we had following it. |
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