Remembering PRESTAGS

Look what I found

a blast from the past (I also found the access codes too). I don't know where disk 1 is though.

I don't have a working computer that accepts these disks anymore ... 

What were they thinking?

2017 was a very good year for me at the office. I had successfully brought my Manila posting to the originally requested outcome and received my best bonus ever for my development work. I had also written a product that falls into the top five best products I have ever written - largely unsung at the time, it has become a major selling feature late last year. In recognition of my hard work, I knew a deserved a lovely piece of crockery in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the kitchen is brimming with lovely pieces of crockery such that they have overflowed into the dining room cupboards, which are also now full. This left me on the horns of a dilemma, so I had to go with my third option (the second being membership to the art gallery, but when would I find the time!), a subscription to everything coming out of Strategy and Tactics press, at an eye watering US$1000 for two years.

Reviewing it now, I think it was a good decision - I had many evenings of pleasant reading and some great maps and counters to review. From top to bottom:

• the venerable Strategy and Tactics, now up to issue #314,
• Modern War, that provides interesting insights into the current tensions of the world, mostly from a military perspective, which you rarely find the in the news
• World at War, which tries to be S&T but for only World War 2, so perhaps the least interesting of the set, but perhaps the most believable of the games
• Strategy and Tactics Quarterly, the new kid on the block, with a lot of articles on just one topic, no games, but a poster.

A feast of new games, and the anticipation of finding room in the attic for 18 more in 2019. I have failed in one respect, I have not punched the counters of any of them last year. I resolve to so this year. Let the readers of this auspicious blog pausing their eating and spider hunting to hold me so accountable.

The observant would ask why there is a gap? The answer is simple: if a US Civil War game arrives in your mail box, there is a board room I know of where it can be swapped for a Scotch, for some people simply cannot have enough US Civil War games!

And the winner is

I think the best read of them was the Quarterly of Caesar, and how a Roman of modest means, but the highest ambition, can break into the Cursus Honorum. (The article on that was fascinating - young aristocrats were expected to move from government post to post building up an understanding of how the Roman state worked until they reached the role of consul. It gave the state a large pool of experienced leaders to fall back on in times of emergency, and something to consume the energies of the young. The article went to far as to suggest that Rome's resilience during the second Carthaginian War was due to this.) The poster showed Caesar's marches during the Gallic Wars and the Civil war, and is on my wall.

The magazine about Stalingrad was a close second. I do not read a lot of WW2 history, but had heard of this one (and watched the excellent "Enemy at the Gates" with Spetz). Stalingrad was never the objective of the the drive into the Caucasus. The original plan was to get close enough so Germany artillery could interdict the railway and interfere with Stalin's transfer of troops and oil. One of the reasons given for the diversion was that Hitler had become a drug addict. There was a doctor for the German elite who used to mix his own remedies for the wealthy who felt they had lost their vim. These remedies contained stimulants and narcotics. Hitler had appointed him as a personal physician at the time, and soon developed an obsession that a capture of Stalingrad would equate to a defeat of  Stalin.

It was matched with a World at War article where you can attempt to replay the the campaign. You have all that lovely oil to the south and boring Stalingrad to the north. However, the action chits you have to pull each turn keeps pulling you south. I like the action chit idea as it adds a lot of colour to otherwise boring Panzer corps and Guard armies.

An honourable mention goes the World War 3 Quarterly for all the bits that happened when I was little that nearly resulted in me not growing big. I am still reading that one.

Puti-phobia

Puti features in two of the Modern War series. There is much interest in his possible future actions, but the general consensus is that he is more interested with disrupting the US Hegemony to create a series of Russian based alliances, than territorial acquisitions. There is more fear about these alliances backfiring and drawing Russia into a war they did not intend and the US into it. This game, Puti Moves South, looks at the Stans south of Russia and north of Persia and Afghanistan. There is oil and gas there that mostly travels through Russia so disruption to that supply could draw in the Russian army. Interestingly with this game, at the start of each game you roll a die for each power to decide whether it is in the Russian Coalition or US/NATO aligned. Every game would be very different. The latest Modern War, The War on Terror, does the same in the Middle East. It means that every play of the game would be quite different. I think this is one of the games I should set up.

Rise of the Solitaire games

Six of these games are solitaire. I should set up a few this year. I have played a couple in the past, but the issue is that there is no marvellously clever play you can make to give you the game. You are grinding through taking objectives that weaken the strength of the enemy play system, while having some flexibility for random events. That said, I should try them as some game systems are brilliant. Perhaps there is a new John Michael Young other there.

The most intriguing of the game is submarine warfare in the Pacific. Unlikely the Atlantic, submarines featured in navel battles. This game lets you play as the Japanese or the US.

Perhaps this article is better named "What was I thinking?" I stand deprived of a new piece of crockery in my kitchen by pure obsession!

 

Anticipation of endorphins - Steam status

Just one more turn. Game or addiction?

So, Thygo is sitting here, checking his email, and checking it again, and again, and again.

"There are no new emails"

Now he's checking Steam to see if Python is online ...  'Offline for 12 hours'

Yes, Thygo is addicted to the internet, and PBEM games in particular.

And this is obviously not a unique situation judging by the number of images that came up on a search for 'just one more turn'.

BBQ and the induction to ATGE

Maurice and Dino came to visit and we had BBQ, with Thygo's usual penchant for kangaroo sausages and rissoles, in addition to beef and lamb. (Not sure if Python was taken with the roo?) A nice evening, and a few pics.

We had a little adventure retrieving one of the chickens from the neighbour's yard but that was successful.

ATGE - then Python inducted Thygo to Advanced Tactics Gold Edition ...

Thygo is now addicted to this game, even though he is scrambling to learn the mechanics before the AI overwhelms him.

Screen shots from several turns ago (while the future of the Thygonian empire seemed bright)

 

Python Magnus Omnia Vincit

Kansas has capitulated in Advanced Tactics Gold (Empire on Steroids).

You guys should give this a go. It is fun, easy to play, loads of options that gives lots of opportunity for asymmetric strategies and you get through turns really fast.

There is even a YouTube for people who cannot read.

 

It costs US$30. Perfect for a friend's birthday present: http://store.steampowered.com/app/310390/

Retaliation demo ...

Hi baby, want to play a wargame with me?

A rare but sweet victory

Normally Thygo is trying to tenaciously and/or tenuously defend against the mathematicall and tactically superior Paul and Python. However, with the help of a good handicap, Python leaving his Generals out in the open, and Uncle Paul spending his treasure on nukes, Thygo has won a game. Well at least Paul resigned. I must say thought that Paul's nuke strategy was really frustrating my attempts to form up new armardas ...

The map:

The EDEE world - just how big was Paul?

Paul kept saying that Maurice was 'huge'. However my intelligence suggests that it was him that was huge and Maurice was being squeezed.

A Great Picture

A fully loaded transport in reserve

I have copied Paul's favourite tactic by having a fully loaded transport in reserve. As soon as I detected the Fording Abbots' invasion of the Don Croy's bench, I launched the reserve with air support. By placing an anti-air in sentry, I should be able to discourage recon by ennemy forces. Getting an HA (Paul's and my new tactic) on will take a few more turns.

Actually, I am not a fan of the transport in reserve:

1. They eat a lot of baked beans while waiting
2. You never really know where the next Paul Strike will happen
3. If it is too close, Paul's armour can easily take the city with the reserve
4. If it is too far, Paul's  airforce and naval units can get it.

I prefer to flood expected invasion zones with armies. It discourages the invasion and gives you a good spring board for one of yours. I am now trying to equal the flood with LA and HA.

Banco Libre

I can happily report that my bench has remained free from incursion since I unleashed Cerebus. It seemed an ideal place to rest my bag this morning.

If at first you don't succeed...

I am at the end of a long journey. Many times I despaired, but then, on my dog walks a new strategy presented itself and I would try again, only to fail again. Twice I walked a way and promised not to try again, but both times I came back with a "What if" in my mind. Last night, I was crowned in laurels. Blood soaked and radioactive, but victory against the odds.

The journey began in February when between filling our resumes, I started up Darkest Hour and played as  Nazi Germany. I thought it would be a quick game as I had won the game a few times on the previous version, but I was in for a shock. For something different, I decided to focus on a Germany enmoured of naval power. I started in 1933 and built a fleet of aircraft carriers. By 1939, I had a small elite army and a big fleet. I wiped out Poland in normal time, but then came crashing halt in France. Unlike history, the French did not waste their time in the interwar years, but had built up a large army and causualties mounted. No problem, I thought, so I sailed my fleet out to out flank the French. It worked well and the army advanced again, but I had taken my eye off the fleet. Suddenly I found it engaged against the combined navy of the United Kingdom and France. It the end, I had two damaged carriers left of my fleet of 6, and my armies were being pushed back. So, I did what Hitler couldn't, I reset the game back to 1933.

This time the army got much more emphasis, and I had a smaller carrier fleet. Unfortunately, by early 1939 I ran out of my manpower reserve and had to mobilise. Mobilising in peace time is very expensive, and you cop a nasty disaffection rating from your people. Strikes in the factory, production in disarray, I had to reset again.

In the third attempt, I got the balance right and was rewarded with swift victories in Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Denmark, and Norway. Further I cut a good deal with Yugoslavia and Spain and brought them in. That meant I could take out Gibraltar. I then unleased my carrier fleet on the Atlantic and destroyed the British convoys. By avoiding naval battle, I kept the fleet intact and the British impoverished. I invaded USSR on schedule and wiped captured the Ukraine and occupied Poland quickly. Then I died. The USSR had a higher production than me by 20% before I invaded. They got a massive hit, perhaps from the Americans, and my spies told me their production was more than twice mine. My casualties mounted. Then an American carrier fleet wiped mine out, and I reset.

In the fourth and fifth attempts I tried to really build up my production before the war started, so I could match the Russians. I even tried invading Turkey to outflank the Middle East and start with a salient in Armenia to try to outflank the Russians. No joy.

At this point it occured to me that it might be a good idea to ignore the Russians for as long as possible. So around the 6th attempt (16 march according to my save games) went south and south east. I took out Iraq, Persia, India and all of Africa. This left me with oil and resources to spare, a starved England, but still not within coo-ee of Russian production yet. I settled down to a technology strategy, and built elite armour and air force and equiped every infantry division with a brigade of support artilery or armoured cars. I also began to research Nuclear Power with intent. By 1944, I was dealing well with the US and English incursions and strategic bombers when the USSR ruined the party and attacked. Without the element of surprise, I could not destroy their forward armies. When Romania and Hungary surrendered, I saw the writing on the wall and reset again.

At this point, I gave up for the first time. The game was biased! On a train trip homeI read up on other's tactics. They suggested that an invasion of England has possible through a "bug". While all their beaches are well defended, their isolated ports are not. So I reset and made sure that after France fell, I had a paratrooper division ready in Antwerp. I dropped it on the Hull and raced in with my transports. I got three corp ashore when a concerted British counterattack destroyed most of my transports. My main fleet was intact, but the transports were gone!

The next few resets I tried different fleet compositions. The best was a few carriers and a swarm of destroyers to screen. So around the 9th attempt, I had England out of the war, but Russia was still a cliff face. I then read another article the advocated a massive factory building program starting in 1933 and finishing after the 1936 Olympics. That meant that I could have industrial parity with USSR and make up the rest on tactics.

The eleventh attempt looked promising, but I failed to properly garrison the USSR front. They launched a surprise attack in Winter 1940 while I was occupied in South Africa, and again causualites mounted and I was losing.

So attempt 12. I started on the 14th of April my time or March 1933 game time. Massive factory building increased my initial production of 135 to 240. With the Anschluss of Austria, partition of Czechoslovak Republic and invasion of Poland, along with some good policy, the became 360 (top right corner).

France fell quickly and I moved on to Britain. My production was now nearing 600 but the soviets were massing.

 

This time Spain wanted no part of me, so I invaded their country to take out Gibraltar. (Canada had taken on the mantle of the United Kingdom at this point.)

 

The quiet USSR frontier looked like a WW1 Map:

 

All the while, I was invading darkest Africa. It was November 1941 (or 20 April my time).

 

My fleet and submarines were patrolling the Atlantic to stop reinforcements:

 

And Erwin Rommel was having a rumble in the jungle:

 

I waited until May 1943 before taking on the USSR. My production was nearly 600:

 

Their's was a hundred less and still to spike:

 

But I had a lot of armour and and surprise. By June 1943 I was in Stalingrad, Leningrad and approaching Moscow:

 

The Soviet production was collapsing along with army and they surrendered two months later:

 

In 1944, I began to think about USA. Although my production was now a healthy 490 raised to 680 by good policy, theirs was 590 in peace time. It jumped to 800 when I declared war. Then I was very impressed to find that the Italians had snuck an invasion force into Newfoundland, so I raced over with my army. However, on the second crossing, I lost most of my transports so a clever Canadian counterattack. Fortunately, I had enough to force Canada out of the war. A few years later I had rebuilt the fleet and got a large fully mechanised force over.

 

I tried my hand in 1947 and crashed into a massive game bug. My convoys would not supply an Italian holding. The automated convoy builder had created a massive convoy between Caen and Exeter (in England), and thought that was good enough. Within a day of fighting, my forces were unsupplied and within a week retreating everywhere.

Rather than resetting, I quit and went back to the save game. (Well, it was a bug. Just don't mention the bug above that gave me Britain.) I found that one of my conquests had granted me French Guyana, so over the next 18 months I ferried my entire army there. I then began another rumble in the jungle and worked my way up to Mexico. (Crazy game. Each country took no action until I declared war on it, so I only fought one at the time.) By late 1948 I was on the Mexican border, fully supplied and ready for fun.

 

What's more, I had all turbojet bombers, which was cool!

 

Bt winter that year, USA surrendered, although it was a tough fight and I took surpising casualties. That just left Australia and New Zealand, but at this point it was over. What is more, I had two nukes.

 

So I tried to Hiroshima approach. I asked politely for a surrender and was told no. I then nuked Sydney and Auckland and asked again. (Hey, this is the Nazis. They don't have a conscience.) The stupid game said no again, so I had to sail an invasion force all the way to Nouvelle Caledonie. (I am unsure again how I got that.) I then had to fight a one sided battle across both islands. To my surprise I found the remains of the UK fleet in Melbourne, so we had a big naval battle to finish. I lost a few carriers, but I had them coming our my ears at that point of the game so did not care.

Then I expected a screen to pop up saying you win, but no. Nepal was holding out. I begged the British Raj (they went neutral when Britain fell), but  they refused me passage. I had ICBM at this point with Hydrogen Bombs, so I launched those and hit another bug. ICBM do not fly over neutral countries. I told the game I was the Nazis and didn't care about other's neutrality, but it told me it did not care either - neutral was neutral - and if I didn't like it, I could guess what to do. So I launched a final invasion of India to get at Nepal. As soon as I declared war, I heard four big explosions as four ICBM hit Nepal. I had forgotten about them and as soon as India was no longer neutral, they launched. Well, you can imagine the rest. Armour across India finishing with a final rumble in the jungles of Burma. And an enormous sense of accomplishment (and not bad value for a $10 computer game).

 

Pale blue india shows that I gifted that to Bulgaria to administer

 

USA split into the Northern states, Confederacy, Texas and California after the surrender.

 

Australia with a boat people problem.

So now I can finally rest, or do I need to go back a try without the paradrop in Hull bug?

Oh, and a final summation. Praise God Hitler did not have a retry and stuffed his one shot!

Vox populi

The claim to this neutral city should be clear by the will of the people who inhabit its environs.

We welcome the citronellean explorer but bid him think none harm, speak none harm, do none harm to the good people of the tribe Arachis hypogaea nor to the good folk of Laing's Nek