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From: Andrew Hung Wed Dec 19 00:30:50 1990
To: wif@imryrr.Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: DoD/WiF article - 1936(revised)
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This is the description on the game of DoD/WiF which occurred on
12/14-12/15, with only 4 players. Unfortunately, due to time constraint
the game lasted until 1938 Jan/Feb. Judging from the result, it was a far
cry from the earlier games in which most of the minors jumped on the Axis
bandwagon from the start.
The notations are the same as earlier articles with the following
changes. (+1) on the init. roll indicate the init. modifier, something
we have totally misinterpreted before. The result of the init. die rolls
now show the win after a tie result. The weather roll is now included, the
-1 in parentheses. indicated next turn modifier.
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Result of Init. die rolls
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Side Win Tie(Win) 2-1 3-1 6-1 6's
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Allies 5 1 1 0 1 4
Axis 5 2 0 1 0 2
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Total 13 turns
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1936
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Jan/Feb Init. roll: 4(+1)(Axis) - 1(Allies)
Axis - 16S Germany occupy the Rhineland, mil. support for Belgium.
Allies - 16S France occupy the Rhineland, demands Rhenish resources.
Minors - Aust(-3), Bulg(+4), Czech(+3), Den(+2), Fin(+4), Greece(-4),
Hun(+1), Iraq(+3), Neth(+1), Nor(-3), Per(-2), Pol(+1), Port(+2),
Spain-R(+1), Swed(-3), Turk(+3), Yugo(+3)
US Entry - +5, -3***** Weather - 1(-1)
Build - JA(I), IT(I), RU(I,C)
Comment - Yow, the Allies caught us flatfooted with the French occupation
of Rhineland. We(Axis) thought our play of Axis 16 would have
prevented the Allies option 16, that was apparently not so
according to the rules. A brilliant gamble on the part of the
Allies caused some of the important minors(Czech, Turk)
to swing toward them and seriously shocked the Axis players.
Now we have to fight for every minor who comes our way.
In retrospect, it was a mistake to play 16S; may be we should
have let the FR march into Rhineland and eat the die roll every
turns until FR pulls out.
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Mar/Apr Init. roll: 1,5(Allies) - 1,2(Axis)
Allies - 19P(failed) France & CW guarantee Rumania & Greece.
Axis - 19S Germany offers NA Pact with Czech and sign moratorium on build.
Minors - Aust(-1), Belg(-2), Czech(-5), Den(-2), Fin(+1), Greece(-2),
Hun(+3), Iraq(+1), Neth(-2), Nor(-1), Pers(-1), Pol(-2),
Port(+1), Rum(+2), Spain-R(-1), Swed(-1), Turk(-1), Yugo(+1)
US Entry - 0, -3 Weather - 4
Build - JA(2I), IT(I), RU(I,C) Coup cell: Mong(Axis) - Mong(Allies)
Comments - We became really concern about some of the minors which are
heading toward the Allies. Main thing at this point is to
get Czech into our control quickly and may be Belgium if
possible. The Allies attempted to get Rumania and Greece,
but fortunately failed. This is by far the most aggressive
maneuver to appease the minors by the Allies(Yow!!). It would
have seriously crippled our option play if it was successful.
We were having problems due to the play of Allies option 16
and would have lagged behind badly.
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May/Jun Init. roll: 6(Allies) - 3(Axis)
Allies - 6P(failed) France off economic pact to Benelux Countries.
Axis - 11S Germany signed econ and military pact with Sweden.
Minors - Aust(-1), Belg(-1), Bulg(-1), Czech(-1), Den(+1), Fin(+2),
Hun(-1), Neth(+1), Nor(+2), Pol(+1), Port(-1), Rum(-1), Swed(-4)
US Entry - 0, +5 Weather - 1
Build - JA(ARM), RU(2I,C), CH(I) Coup cell: Bulg(Axis) - Ice(Allies)
Comment - A momentous event for the Allies, the change to political
effectiveness is US(-1), CW(+1), RU(+1). Not bad except
for the US which should have gone up to improve its chance
of reelecting a Democratic President. The Allies actually
got an intelligent coup on us but were unable to convert it
due to failed dice roll again. Japan decided to build an ARM
to present a creditable threat to RU and CH. Of course, this
was in part due to my failure to do so in earlier games until
it was too late. By building the ARM early, Japan would be able
to attack either at late 1937 or early 1938.
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Jul/Aug Init. roll: 5(+1)(Axis) - 6(Allies)
Axis - 3S Japan signed econ pact with Netherlands, demobilized army.
Allies - 19P(failed) France & CW guarantee Rumania & Greece.
Minors - Aust(+1), Belg(-2), Bulg(+1), Czech(-2), Den(-1), Fin(+3),
Greece(-2), Hun(+1), Iraq(+1), Neth(-4), Nor(-1), Port(+1),
Rum(+1), Spain-R(-2), Swed(-1), Turk(+2)
US Entry - +1, 0 Weather - 6
Build - IT(I), CW(N), RU(I) Coup cell: Greece(Axis) - Fin(Allies)
Comment - A momentous event(again!!) for the Allies, the result is RU(-1).
Yet another chance for US to go up. The Allies tried again
and choked on the dice rolls. No so lopsided as last time
for the Axis, the minors are hanging around the Neutral zone.
Japan got one more resource but lacked factories, can't build
any land units for a while. I wonder if Russia is going to
purge at all this game, this would have been the ideal turn
since most of its European INFs and replacements should be
at Vlad. by this time.
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Sep/Oct Init. roll: 5(+1)(Axis) - 5(Allies)
Axis - 18S Germany signed NA pact with Poland, moratorium on build.
Allies - 0(voluntarily)
Minors - Aust(+1), Belg(-2), Bulg(-1), Czech(-2), Den(-2), Fin(+1),
Greece(-1), Hun(+1), Neth(-2), Nor(-1), Per(-1), Pol(-5),
Rum(+1), Spain-R(-1), Swed(-1), Turk(+1), Yugo(-1).
US Entry - -4, 0 Weather - 3
Build - JA(AC), CW(N) Coup cell: Yugo(Axis) - Greece(Allies)
Comment - We were hoping to get Poland to at least influenced status
by General War in order to shorten the distance to Russia.
The Allies are shocked by the numerous failures(3 in a row) and
decided that the -1 to next turn die roll is more appropriate.
I think this is a real good thing to do especially if the
Allies planned to play a real important option like US gear up.
CW continued to pour out those CVs which really worried Italy,
especially since I have hardly built any Italian units. It
would have been better to have played Axis 19 right after
we played Axis 18, this would have reduced the moratorium on
build for Germany. No one is spending for Spain Civil War and
the chance of it is real low(1 in 6). However, I rolled a 1
and the Civil War started. Initially, the forces are evenly
distributed since part of the Nationalist force is not in
mainland Spain. The Republicans tried for a push for Seville but
rolled a 1 and lose 2 units. Both navies failed to find
the other side, will have to wait for reinforcement.
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Nov/Dec Init. roll: 6(Allies) - 1(+1)(Axis)
Allies - 11S CW supports Republican forces,
7(failed) Stalin purges army.
Axis - 10P Germany supports Nationalist force.
Minors - Belg(+2), Fin(+1), Hun(-2), Iraq(-1), Neth(+3), Per(-1), Pol(-2),
Port(-2), Spain-N(-2), Spain-R(+2), Swed(-1), Turk(+2), Yugo(+1)
US Entry - -4, +2 Weather - 5 Coup cell: Greece(Axis) - Ireland(Allies)
Build - JA(AC,N), CW(1Spain), CH(I), US(N)
Comment - A momentous event(argh!!) for the Allies, the result is US(+1),
CW(-1), RU(-1). The US finally managed to go up one but still
rolled a 10 and got a Republican President!! Well, unless the
US plays Allies 12 with secondary effect, the US won't be in
the war for at least 1-2 years when General War breaks out.
That should allow Germany plenty of time to carve up Russia
and France. If the Spain Civil War go the Nationalist way,
the Axis might be able to close the Med by taking Gibraltar.
The Nationalist is slightly advantageous at this point, but
I'm still unwilling to launch a major attack. I initially
thought that the Allies would play options 10 & 11 together,
but Steve thought they would play option 11 & 7(he's right!!).
Ouch, bad dice roll prevails as only option 11 was played
successfully. Russia need to purge badly!!
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Summary - This has been a real roller coaster game, especially the early
gamble of Allies option 16. It looks like a long fight uphill
for the Axis this time and a surprisingly aggressive style of
play for the Allies. Three(3) momentous events in the first
year would have been a real bonanza for US except for the bad
dice rolls. A real disaster for the Allies in failing so many
options. No one wanted Spain Civil War and naturally it occurred
by chance. The failed attack on Seville broke the Republican
force but I failed to capitalize on it. A dead even with init.
at this point. Japan will probably not attack until 1938 since
the US entry is so low(-3, I think). Once again a Republican
administration in US, hopefully LoN will be used to counter
the +1 to US entry rolls. Overall a real improvement on the
last game for the Allies, I guess we didn't expect Allies to
play option 16 just to cancel out the modifiers on the minors.
I think that was a real positive move and should be used as the
opening gambit for the Allies. Of course, the Axis should in the
future play something else to counter this!! The Axis objective
is still an early capitulation of Russia, still unsure whether
Germany would have attacked France or may be just build the
Siegfried line instead.
p.s. Comments would be very welcome...
>From andrewh@pyr.csuhayward.edu Tue Dec 18 23:59:03 1990
From: Andrew Hung
To: andrewh@pyr.csuhayward.edu, wif@imryrr.Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: DoD/WiF article - 1937/8
This the second part to that game of DoD/WiF which occurred on the
weekend of 12/14 and 12/15. Hopefully one of these days we will finish
the whole game so that I can write more than two parts. The notations
remained the same as part one. This article will contain 1937 and Jan/Feb
of 1938, which is the point in which we stopped.
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1937
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Jan/Feb Init. roll: 2(+1)(Axis) - 3(Allies)
Axis - 15P Aircraft and Tanks provided to Franco.
Allies - 0(voluntary) no opt.
Minors - Belg(+1), Czech(-1), Iraq(+1), Neth(+1), Nor(+1), Pers(+1),
Pol(-1), Port(-1), Spain-N(-2), Spain-R(+2), Yugo(-1).
US Entry - +2, 0 Weather - 5(-1) Coup cell: Fin(Axis) - Iraq(Allies)
Build - GE(AC), JA(I,2N), CW(1Spain), RU(I), US(2N)
Comment - Due to the arrival of the new Republican administration, the
US entry roll is modified by +1. The US capitalized on this
and build a couple of CVs. Unfortunately, this also mean
that Japan can have a free rein in naval construction until
LoN bill is played(I strongly recommend this). A flanking
maneuver resulted in the fall of Valencia. However, the
drive to Madrid faltered due to Republican forces dug in
at the resource pt SW of the capital. Once again both fleet
failed to spot each other and more Nationalist units arrived
from Tangier. The lousy weather prevented any real fighting
and the mud really slowed things down.
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Mar/Apr Init. roll: 6(Allies) - 4(Axis)
Allies - 7(failed) Stalin purged the officer corp.
Axis - 13P Germany gears up PM from 1 to 2.
Minors - Aust(+1), Belg(+1), Czech(+1), Den(+1), Fin(-1), Neth(+1),
Nor(+1), Pers(-1), Pol(+1), Rum(-1), Spain-N(-1), Spain-R(+1),
Swed(-1), Turk(-1), Yugo(+1)
US Entry - 0, +1* Weather - 2 Coup cell: Bulg(Axis) - Belg(Allies)
Build - GE(N), JA(2I,N), CW(3Spain,N), RU(C)
Comment - Another momentous event, the result is CW(-1), RU(+1), US(+1).
I don't know whether to laugh or cry, the Allies tried to purge
which would have helped immensely but failed again. We were
hoping that some of the positive modifiers on the minors would
be canceled out by the Allies option, but we didn't expect
another failure. My Nationalist troops continued to try to
outflank the Republican. Fierce air battle raged as the
Nationalist forces attempted to get thru the bottleneck in
mountain south of Madrid. The attack on the resource point
succeeded with all except for 2 units disorganized. Republican
forces moved to block the advance but leaving only the HQ to
defend Madrid. However, Nationalist force sallied forth and
managed to capture Madrid on a 10-1 attack(initially only 4-1
since I didn't notice the 6-3 can also make the attack, thanks
goodness Steve spotted that!!). Victorious Nationalist forces
paraded down the main avenues of Madrid and cutting off the
supply to all the Republican force in central Spain. Oops, I
read afterward that the effect of losing Madrid is that there
is no production for the Republican force that turn!!
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May/Jun Init. roll: 1(+1)(Axis) - 1(Allies)
Axis - 12S Germany signed econ and mil pact with Rumania.
Allies - 13P(failed) France gears up PM from 1/2 to 1.
Minors - Aust(+2), Belg(+1), Bulg(+3), Czech(-2), Den(-1), Fin(-1),
Greece(+2), Hun(+2), Iraq(+1), Neth(+1), Nor(-1), Pers(-1),
Port(-1), Rum(-4), Spain-N(-1), Spain-R(+1), Swed(-1), Turk(+2),
Yugo(-1).
US Entry - +5, 0 Weather - 1 Coup cell: Spain-N(Axis) - Spain-N(Allies)
Build - JA(I,N), CW(3Spain), RU(AC), CH(I)
Comment - The option attempts by the Allies are looking real ugly, so many
failed dice roll that not much have been done. YOW!! Good thing
I have saved up for Italy to protect the Spain Nationalist force,
it turned out that the Allies bought the same coup cell. Things
are looking grim in Spain as more Republican forces are destroyed
and Italy no longer send any resource to support the Nationalist
force which is overflowing with resources!! Now I hope for a
speedy ending to the civil war so that I can use the fac and
resources in Spain for Italy. I have finally decided to postpone
the attack on Russia until 1938(may be Mar/Apr) to get a bigger
forces to face China in case it intervenes.
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Jul/Aug Init. roll: 6(+1)(Axis) - 5(Allies)
Axis - 6S Hitler support Rumanian claims against Hungary.
Allies - 0(voluntary) no opt.
Minors - Aust(-1), Bulg(+1), Czech(-1), Greece(+1), Hun(+2), Pol(-1),
Rum(-2), Turk(+2), Yugo(+1)
US Entry - +3, 0 Weather - 6 Coup cell: Yugo(Axis) - Neth(Allies)
Build - GE(N), JA(2I), CW(4Spain), RU(AC)
Comment - Wow, a momentous event for the Axis, the result is JA(-1),
IT(-1). No a real good turn of event for us in lowering both
of those countries political effectiveness. Republican forces
are now pushed back to Barcelona and Bilbao area of Spain. I
should have attacked more vigorously but my forces are still
in the area south of Madrid trying to sweep up the Republican
forces. The Nationalist force has so much resource that I ended
up building the other LS in the force pool. Out at sea, the
Republican LS was hunted down and destroyed with the aid of the
German TAC(7 factor - Rudel practicing early). The only course
for the Allies is to drag out the civil war in order to erode
Spain's support for the Axis cause.
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Sep/Oct Init. roll: 6(Axis) - 4(Allies)
Axis - 20P(failed) Italy send Condor Legion to support Franco.
Allies - 7(failed) Stalin purged the officer corp.
Minors - n/a
US Entry - 0, 0 Weather - 4 Coup cell: Neth(Axis) - Yugo(Allies)
Build - JA(I,AC)
Comment - Another momentous event for the Axis, the result is JA(+1),
IT(+1). Geeze, back where we were at the beginning for those
two Axis powers. No much happening in Spain as the weather
closed down most operations. I ended up buying an offensive
chit for Spain to get more of my forces moving. The first
and only failure on option play, I rolled a big 11 for Italy.
Japan build the ATR to fly the HQ over to Manchuria.
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Nov/Dec Init. roll: 5(+1)(Allies) - 4(Axis)
Allies - 13P(failed) France gears up PM from 1/2 to 1.
Axis - 2S Italy signed NA act with Yugo., disarm army as good will.
Minors - Aust(+2), Belg(-1), Bulg(-1), Czech(-2), Den(-1), Fin(-1),
Greece(+1), Hun(+3), Iraq(+1), Neth(-1), Nor(-1), Pers(-1),
Rum(+1), Spain-R(-1), Swed(-1), Turk(+2), Yugo(-3).
US Entry - 0, +2 Weather - 3
Build - JA(2I), CW(3Spain), RU(ARM,I,AC), FR(I,AC), CH(I)
Comment - More failures on the Allies who failed to gear up for France.
Bad weather make it impossible to make any inroad in Spain.
The white print 7-4 Nationalist unit gambled and moved to the
coast to get back in supply. Russia did a massive build to
booster its forces. Both sides forgot to buy coup cell.
CW continued to pour money to Spain in hope of delaying the
inevitable.
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1938
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Jan/Feb Init. roll: 3(Allies) - 2(Axis)
Allies - 12S US gears up PM from 1/8 to 1/4, passed LoN bill.
Axis - 20P Italy send Condor Legion to Spain.
Minors - Aust(+2), Bulg(+2), Czech(-3), Den(+2), Greece(-2), Hun(-2),
Iraq(-1), Pers(+3), Port(-3), Spain-N(-4), Spain-R(+4), Swed(+1),
Turk(-2).
US Entry - -5,+3 Weather - 4 Coup cell: Czech(Axis) - Czech(Allies)
Build - JA(2I), RU(2I)
Comment - At this point we stopped the game, but things were not looking
so good for the Allies. Despite the improvement on the minors,
the Allies were unable to get much done in term of options.
Spain is a lost cause except for dragging it out. The passage
of the LoN bill will at least get the US entry back in track,
which at this point is at -3. If General War breaks out at this
point, another -5 would be tagged on to make it -8. This is a
significant delay of 1 1/2 year but there are still so many more
option to change it. Japan is military ready to attack Russia
and still has enough force to guard against China. Italy is in
real danger if France starts a war with it as I have removed
the units in E. Africa for the disarmament with Yugo. Russia is
politically cripple and probably can't do much until it purges.
Should be interesting to see if Poland joins our cause and open
the way for the conquest of Russia. However, Turkey will present
some problems for us and it's very likely to join the Allies.
The overall situation for the Allies is better than the previous
games but they will have to work on the gear up a bit. I have
never seen so much momentous events within 13 turns!!
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