A question of honor

But on some level games mirror our real life attitudes

@Audacity:

But on some level games mirror our real life attitudes

That is a very introspective point. The games do bring out traits in our personality and that’s why these dicussions are so interesting in how they turn into moral and philosophical debates. It’s a good thing for us to go with it and challenge each others views because I know that I’m learning a lot by participating in these dicussions.

….And thank you Der Kommander. You honor my SS battalion with your unsolicited praise. We won a very one sided battle last night. One sided in the sense that more than 10 units and 2 tanks remained of my force to my enemies complete decimation. It was fear that lost this opponent his battle. He diverted his forces (US) west; away from the objective and the bulk of my force and even pulled valuable resources away from the field in fear of my Tiger 1. These actions set us up for an aggressive stance the entire game.

Anyways – I really enjoy what everybody brought to this debate which is really about morals and codes of conduct, not Axis and Allies miniatures.

Speaking of which, If you know anyone that wants to trade German stuff for my Japenese army, let me know.

@Obergruppenfuhrer:

@Audacity:

But on some level games mirror our real life attitudes

That is a very introspective point. The games do bring out traits in our personality and that’s why these dicussions are so interesting in how they turn into moral and philosophical debates. It’s a good thing for us to go with it and challenge each others views because I know that I’m learning a lot by participating in these dicussions.

….And thank you Der Kommander. You honor my SS battalion with your unsolicited praise. We won a very one sided battle last night. One sided in the sense that more than 10 units and 2 tanks remained of my force to my enemies complete decimation. It was fear that lost this opponent his battle. He diverted his forces (US) west; away from the objective and the bulk of my force and even pulled valuable resources away from the field in fear of my Tiger 1. These actions set us up for an aggressive stance the entire game.

Anyways – I really enjoy what everybody brought to this debate which is really about morals and codes of conduct, not Axis and Allies miniatures.

Speaking of which, If you know anyone that wants to trade German stuff for my Japenese army, let me know.

I had the funniest fight ever not that long ago, speaking of German-asskickery. I beat a Soviet Army with my Germany in 1 turn. I had 2 Veteran Tigers, 2 SS Elite Infantry Platoons, and a Fallschirmjager… He took a bad selection of pieces and it was on a wide-open map. I killed more than half of his guys in my first assault phase, and all he managed to do was disrupt 2 of my infantry on his. He surrendered because he had a better chance of winning the lottery than winning that match.

That’s freakin awesome Ducky!  :lol:

I tell my kids, the ones that claim winning does not matter, that life is much like a game, people win and people loose-except the stakes are higher.

Speaking of honor, perhaps its been a little unfair that I’ve been playing someone who does not have a weapon with “bombardment”. Well last night we both bought out the rest of the Afrika and contested skies packs at our local store and we STILL haven’t got a single plane. I’m really getting irritated. We’re just going to buy individually. He was really cool though and traded me 4 German units for a Russian Su-122.

I got the 2 rare russian tanks in buying 2 afrika packs and out of BOTH of those packs, I only was given 2 axis cards. REALLY irritating. My opponent now has an amazing array or armor and plays Russia quite well. So I think my tanks are finally going see an end to their overwhelming supperiority on the field.

@Obergruppenfuhrer:

Speaking of honor, perhaps its been a little unfair that I’ve been playing someone who does not have a weapon with “bombardment”. Well last night we both bought out the rest of the Afrika and contested skies packs at our local store and we STILL haven’t got a single plane. I’m really getting irritated. We’re just going to buy individually. He was really cool though and traded me 4 German units for a Russian Su-122.

I got the 2 rare russian tanks in buying 2 afrika packs and out of BOTH of those packs, I only was given 2 axis cards. REALLY irritating. My opponent now has an amazing array or armor and plays Russia quite well. So I think my tanks are finally going see an end to their overwhelming supperiority on the field.

How many pieces do each of you have, roughly?

Ironically, I found Contested Skies didn’t net me a ton of planes. I got a ton out of the green 1939-1945 boosters though…

That’s hard to say. My German Army has A SOLID 100 pieces or more. He is using mostly my Russian army which must have 80 pieces at the very most.

I bought the first 2 Afrika packs and got 2 german units. One from each.  :x He was nice enough to go buy the last contested skies and the last Afrika pack and he got tons of German stuff so we just straight up traded and I’m really happy about it. I got my FIRST vetern paratrooper! I’m SO happy with this unit. I also can’t wait to use my new. Stug III Ausf D and SD Kfz 231. FINALLY a decent strike and fade vehicle for the Germans for only 6 points!! The armored car 222 is the most useless, expensive thing from the base set. I HATED it.

Now I at least have 2 Weirhmacht Veteran Infantrymen (he traded me the 2nd) and the 2 Luftwaffe Infantry (he traded me). I would love to have more SS Panzergrenediers. (I have 2). I always split my troops into 2 divisions for each side of the field and base their strength accordinly but I always have an Oberleutnant and Haupstumfuhrer present with each unit and at least 1-2 MG 42 teams. The Haupstumfuhrer is a life saver, removing disruptions every round. My units always stay dug in in the worst fighting becuase of him and if we have to blitz him, I use the Oberleutnant to move units into their hex.

I also almost always field at least 2 expert snipers, one per unit but most of the time they are off on their own to in cover with artillery or tank support to make sure no one gets close enough for a kill. The snipers are always among the last surving units in the game and so is my Haupsturmfuhrer usually because I do my best to protect him.

My Brummbar tank is fielded EVERY game without exception and is usually the last of my tanks to be destroyed (if it even gets destroyed).

The WVI are awesome, and so are the Veteran Fallschirmjager and StuG III Ausf. D. I try and field those things most of the time. My first 15-20 games or so all involved the StuG D…

Looks like my game against the Russians isn’t going so bad after all! We’d be entering turn 4 and I’ve lost 58 points as opposed to his  armies 146 points. And yeah! I was so pumped when I saw that Veteran Fallschirmjager. I would love to know what the Stug G’s stats are. I have 2 F’s which I’ve begun to field on occasion.

The best part was last turn, his t-34/85 kept moving behind these hills to aviod my Nashorn, so I moved my Burmmbar using the road bonus into a town hex with 2 of his troops in it. This move cornered and destroyed his t-34/85 from the west. The Brummbar wasn’t disrupted. I also just ordered 2 spotters and 2 81mm mortars and I can’t wait to field them instead of my stupid light mortars which have rarely done me any good. His 81mm’s have done pretty well this game and I was forced to move & take out his damn spotter as soon as possible to avoid further devistation.

My opponent plays the Russians well but we got into a discussion where he was kind enough to tell me the reason I keep winning is the placement and tactical moves of my men. He at one point reffered my tanks as “Rooks” on a chess board.

I couldn’t have agreed more with the analogy; being a decent chess player.

I told him he was very meticulous and just wasn’t looking at the board in a larger perspective. I look at a battle map and concentrate on the open lanes. My artillery and tanks are constantly moving to cover and close these lanes. The Germans have an excellent advantage of having artillery and especially tanks with extended range. The troops often act as pawns and units like machinge gun teams and snipers can be similar to bishops. In my opinion, your best tank often acts as the queen, dominating any postion it’s placed in.

He also brought up an interesting point that his army didn’t have, to his knowledge, any commander which removes disruption counters like my Haupstrumfuhrer of which I ALWAYS field 2. This unit alone has preserved and saved my front line troops on countless occasions.

Now out of 4 tanks, both his T-34/67 and 85 have been killed with an Su-122 and KV-1 remaining in the far West. The Su-122 is disrupted so one of my tanks will take full advantage of this and use a long, open lane to destroy it next turn. His KV-1, while disrupted, amazingly survived an attack by my Panzer IV Ausf G. I cant wait to finish this game. Entering turn 4, there will be perhaps one to no survivors on one of our sides side by turn 7.

I thought the Chess analogy he made was interesting because in chess I always am looking at the board in terms of applying pressure on lanes. The same thing applies in this game in a strikingly similar manner.

Taking out a T-34 with a Brummbar is quite a feat!  Even at point-blank range that’s only 8 dice vs 5 defense so your chance of landing more than a disrupt is pretty slim

5 defense WITH superior armor none the less!! It was from 3 hexes away. Only 6 dice I believe. A lucky shot or a good shot, whatever; it’s DEAD. And the reason it wasn’t able to counter attack is the tank used it’s movment in the assualt phase to try and run. He was backed up against the board though. Check mate, mutha f###er.  :evil:

I forgot about the Superior Armour!  He had to have been damaged first or the SA would have made it impossible with only 6 attack dice.

Even still, excellent job.  Glad to see where the Nashorn fits in…I’ve never been comfortable using them in most matches.

@Motdc:

I forgot about the Superior Armour!  He had to have been damaged first or the SA would have made it impossible with only 6 attack dice.

Even still, excellent job.  Glad to see where the Nashorn fits in…I’ve never been comfortable using them in most matches.

Actually, he just rolled REALLY bad. I forget who had the quote “bad roles hurt you more than good ones” but I love that quote. He did do the smartest thing however, he backed his tank into a corner so there was 2 hexes of hill between him and my Nashorn. He knew that his tank stould a MUCH better chance at surviving a blow from my Howitzer than the Nashorn. He was right. He did have a BETTER chance but he still got cornered and killed. All because instead of using that tank aggressively to secure key lanes in the field, he tried to hide it the whole game like a chess player who protects his queen when sacraficing her can divert attention away from a swift checkmate by other pieces.

I think it was Ducky who said that one tank on the field is to draw fire and the other is to engage. In a 300 point battle we both had 4 to 5 vehicles on the field but the same strategies apply. I LOVE the Nashorn. It can sit in the back of the field and rain hell on any tank on the board ignoring one hex of cover if it’s in the hills. The one tank I ALWAYS use without exception is the Brummbar. I only have one out of all the packs of that set I bought. (hundreds of dollars)

None the less, that single tank has always more than paid for itself by bombarding key positions with multiple units using cover. It’s a stone cold troop killer that’s tough as nails. I call it the “Makes it rain” tank. Raining fire from the fixed howitzer on villages and forests turning everything into smoking rubble, blood and dirt. I’m in love with the thing in case you can’t tell.

(hundreds of dollars)!!!  Every hobby has its costs.  You’re enjoying this game so don’t worry about the money too much.

@Audacity:

(hundreds of dollars)!!!   Every hobby has its costs.  You’re enjoying this game so don’t worry about the money too much.

Oh I know! It’s the only thing that makes the saddness go away for that brief, but beauiful interlude. :Sniff:

The tricky thing with this game is that you don’t feel like it’s costing you that much as you buy a few boosters here and there, but it certainly adds up after awhile. One of the best units in terms of cheap but powerful is the PAK40. 14 points, but it dominates tanks.

@Ducky:

The tricky thing with this game is that you don’t feel like it’s costing you that much as you buy a few boosters here and there, but it certainly adds up after awhile. One of the best units in terms of cheap but powerful is the PAK40. 14 points, but it dominates tanks.

I agree it’s awesome but I’ve been hesitant to field it because the terrain often prohibits it’s use. I’ve been using the 7.5 for less than half the points. My opponent likes to move his tanks out of harms way. A lot. He doesn’t use his tanks effectively as a result and I literally have to hunt them down with my more mobile units. (Tanks) In an open terrain, the pak 40 is great.