Combined WiFCE/DoD III Campaign Playthrough #5: May/June 1936

[@pm71241]

Best boardgame TV on the Internet.

[@thetabletopsedge]

Thank you, sir! You are too kind!

[@thecountercorps]

Loving your commitment to playing this chonkster of a game. Looking forward to the next video!

[@muchpower1s67]

Please keep this going!! Really enjoying the videos. As always doing a great job teaching and playing!

[@thetabletopsedge]

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you are enjoying the series. Much more to come. Stay tuned...

[@ardwulfslair]

Loving it so far. Picked up DoD3 myself just last week.

[@thetabletopsedge]

Thanks! Nice pick up. It's not a perfect fit with WiFCE, but it's certainly close enough to make it work smoothly.

[@jamescurran9002]

RU did not flip their PE marker face up after the Purge. On set up ,the RU and US PE markers are face down due to previous Naval Treaty . And therefore had to lose one dollar so long as facedown

[@usapatriot4163]

Great series of videos! Subbed!

[@thetabletopsedge]

Glad you are enjoying the series! Thanks for watching.

[@jamescurran9002]

One thing that I do is to plot out a year in advance what options MP wants/needs to play. So I keep a running list six turns or priorities ahead.

[@thetabletopsedge]

That is an excellent habit to get into! Just like putting together a build schedule for your units, putting together an "option schedule" is the best way to stay on track and make sure you are doing what you need to in order to fulfill your overall strategic goals. Doing what you do will make your game play much more coherent, and therefore more effective. I highly recommend everyone do this when playing with DoD.

[@edh9999]

I've watched all 5 episodes so far and the similarities between your game and Hearts Of Iron are striking. There too, '36 and '37 are usually slow in SP, while everyone is getting ready for the big events of '38 and '39. I am liking it very much.

[@thetabletopsedge]

Thanks for watching! Glad you are enjoying it. I hope to get the next episode uploaded later this week/weekend. As the MP's gear up and increase their Production Multiples (PM), they will have more money with which to pursue political activity as well as increase the speed of their military build up. 1937 will hopefully see a little more action on map. Stay tuned!

[@stevendolges8372]

Woah 1d10 combat table. Not something you see every day. :)

[@fixer10091994]

Shouldnt the ussr have 9 bid total? Bid 5 + 2 Modifier + 2 PE for not being able to perform an action the last turn?

[@nikolai877]

Why wouldn't Germany want to buy two Swedish iron at once? Since you spend so much on bidding, you'd save a lot of money by not having to bid yet another time for the last resource?

[@thetabletopsedge]

You are correct that Germany could have agreed to receive 2 resources with the one agreement. However, the second time the option was played only cost her 1 money for the bid. Signing an agreement gives you +1 influence in the minor. Option 0k allows a MP to target specific minor and gain influence in it. The amount gained is variable, based on a die roll, and could even be negative. The cost of 0k is also variable, depending on the willpower of the minor. In Sweden's case, her low Will power of 2 would make the cost of 0k 7 BP's. With a lucky roll, Germany could gain more than 1 influence, but there is a better of chance of gaining no more than 1. So by playing IPO2 twice on Sweden, it is a cheaper way to gain an assured 1 influence. The total cost for the second play of IPO2 was 5 (1 bid + 4 option cost), which is 3 less than it would have been to play 0k and have a less sure chance of gaining influence. Germany desires more than just the resources of Sweden. She hopes to bring Sweden fully into alignment with her, and make her an active participant in any future war. So by playing IPO2 multiple times, it gives Germany more opportunities to pick up the influence needed to move Sweden into her orbit. Is it the best play? The most cost effective? Maybe, maybe not. I do not proclaim to display the best strategy in this playthrough. MP's will make mistakes, miss opportunities, and sometimes do stupid things, just as you would see in any actual game. The goal of this playthrough is to expose folks to how DoD works in combination with WiF and give them a small taste of how a combined game plays out. Thanks for watching!

[@nikolai877]

@@thetabletopsedge Thank you for you answer. I must say I would not have considered trying to sway Sweden be a cost-effective idea. It will be interesting to see how far your Germany manages to go with that idea. If you have time, by the time you get to the start of this worlds WW2, could you do a comparison of the "standard WiF" starting forces with the ones this world ended up with? (I seem to see a lot more Euro-Axis Carriers being laid out)

[@thetabletopsedge]

@@nikolai877 I think that would be a cool idea. With DoD III, there really isn't a "General War" breakout, however, if the Democracies have done their pre-war jobs correctly, most of them will be able to go to war with the Fascists at the same time, which is essentially DoD III's version of "General War". At that point, I can do a run down on the "at start" forces for each MP and compare them to the standard S/O'39 Global War set ups. Yes, the Fascists have been on an aggressive naval construction program the first year. The big question is how many of those CV's will make it out of the Construction Pool? It would seem to be a waste if they languished there the rest of the game, but second cycle costs can be higher than first cycle, and then you have to pay for the CVP and pilot. Germany has opted for a heavy Northern emphasis, thus the wooing of Sweden, and a strong naval presence in the Baltic (and perhaps even the North Sea if the RN gets distracted enough) is a part of that plan. I expect things to speed up a bit in 1937 as most everyone gears up and has more BP to work with (both for political options and military build ups). Germany is evaluating the possibility of striking very early to conquer some minors before the WAllies can build enough of a military (or enough alliances/guarantees) to interfere. For example, if Germany can gain control of eastern Europe before the WAllies can act, it will not only make Germany that much stronger, but also give her a border connection to the USSR, perhaps enabling an "East First" strategy. Only time will tell.

[@nikolai877]

@@thetabletopsedge Time will tell, but it will be interesting to follow you on the way there. Thank you for your hard work and your in-depth answer.

[@denisdelarive7753]

Great game, as always, but you missed setting up Japan's Convoy chain to Malaysia, that you played the option for. I think I saw 3 CP in Japan so it was possible?

[@thetabletopsedge]

Good eye! Yes, I caught that mistake and corrected it off screen. I mention it in the next episode. With the convoy pipeline established to Malaya, that leaves the Japanese with 1 CP and 4 TP's in excess. Look like they will have to start building more CP's if they want to bring home all those Chinese resources they plan on capturing next year.

[@vms77]

min 10:30 USSR bid is 5, +2 for the rank and you forgot to add her political effectivness... the total is 9, not 7... no tie at all with Japan. Also, you haven't add the political effectivness to Italy and the US, they total 3 and 4, not 1... the political turn ranks are completely mismatched...

[@thetabletopsedge]

Correct. The USSR should have had an additional 2 for their PE due to the early end of the Political Phase last turn. That would have put her in the 2nd position behind Germany, with Japan coming in 3rd place. The first couple of turns I did not add the PE bonus to MP's that didn't bid that turn, which is not correct. I think I mention this correction in the next episode. The correct initiative order (there are some errors in the text at 10:16) should have been: Ge, USSR, Ja, CW, It, Fr, USA, Ch. So USSR and Japan got swapped and Italy and France got swapped.

[@kevinansett3521]

Did you consider the optional rule where those who dont get a political action get double Bid?

[@thetabletopsedge]

I'm not sure if it's the optional rule you are referring to, but I did consider the rule where MP's that do not choose an option (even if they did not bid) get bonus bid points equal to their Political Effectiveness and rejected it. MP's that bid for Political Initiative but do not get to choose a Political Option due to the Political Phase ending before they can go are getting bonus bid points equal to their Political Effectiveness for use in the next turn. The version of the DoDIII rules I have are a bit contradictory regarding these bonus bid points. One section of the rules states that MP's who do not get to choose an option get them, but another section appears to contradict that by giving the bonus bid points to everyone who did not choose an option, whether or not they bid for Political Initiative that turn. My personal interpretation, based in part on previous editions of DoD, is that a MP must have bid in order to be eligible for the bonus bid points. The bonus bid points are a sort of consolation for getting screwed out of being able to implement your planned option that turn. A case could be made that the bonus bid points represent the amount of work and progress done on implementing the option before the phase ended, allowing it to be completed "earlier" in the following Political Phase. I don't really see any justification for giving bonus bid points to a MP that did not bid for Political Initiative on a given turn. Thanks for watching! I'm currently editing the next episode and hope to get it uploaded in the next few days.

[@kentnilsson465]

Would you please add how many BP each nation got?

[@thetabletopsedge]

I think this is doable. When I go into the Production Phase each turn (which I handle offscreen), I should be able to do a review of the resources/factories each MP has for use that Production Phase, giving the resulting amount of BP's. For many countries, this won't change much from turn to turn, but it can still be a nice review. And once a major war erupts between multiple MP's, things WILL be changing more frequently, so it would definitely be warranted.

[@vms77]

min 46:38 The Facist Inititive should be +1 not +2...

[@thetabletopsedge]

Yes, the Fascists, having had 1 more impulse than both the other ideologies should have moved 1 left. Instead, I moved the other two ideologies 1 right. However, the net effect if the same. The relative DRM's are still correct. I have not bothered too closely with initiative yet as nothing important is really going on on the maps and initiative order doesn't mean that much. Soon, though, that will change, and the resulting DRM's from these early turns will have an impact on those later turns. So I will be paying a little closer attention to how the initiative rolls go, which order the ideologies act in, and how the end of turn affects the movement of the DRM markers.

[@kentnilsson465]

What happens later in the game if the Soviets dont trigger option 6? Must be a reason for them doiong it(in the game), and the political effectiveness increase cant be it?

[@thetabletopsedge]

The Soviet Union may not DoW a MP unless they have played Option 6. As you can imagine, knowing that the USSR cannot declare war on them would make German (and Japanese) strategic calculations a lot easier. For example, it would greatly facilitate a "West First" strategy for Germany, since she could discount any surprise attack in the rear by the Soviets. Of course, the Soviets could always try to lure the Germans into attacking the Western Allies first and then playing Option 6 followed immediately by a DoW on Germany, but losing Tukhachevsky and your 3 best INF right before an invasion can be tough. The Soviets usually have to choose between one of two general strategies. They can either do the Purge and go down a roughly historical path, or they can try to be the warm and cuddly Soviets, foregoing the Purge and instead trying to buildup a common defense among the countries of eastern Europe to repel a German attack. The latter can be difficult with some key countries because of the built in minor country affects to Soviet political actions, but if the Soviets are willing to invest heavily it may pay some dividends when the Germans finally come calling.

[@davidkujala3603]

When is next video due ? ☺

[@thetabletopsedge]

I am working on it as we speak. It has been filmed in its entirety. I just need to edit it together. I was hoping to have it uploaded this past weekend, but it's taking longer than I expected to get the files onto my computer so I can assemble the video. Hopefully no later than this coming weekend. The episode, by the way, will go all the way through the end of 1936. Thanks again for watching!

[@davidkujala3603]

@@thetabletopsedge thank you and the best of luck looking forward to that, as is my friend to are