Originally posted by Dawggus
Widewing, I was one of the ‘clueless twits’ helping to direct traffic up North yesterday, so I guess I should reply to your post. First of all, you seem very upset, so I guess an apology is in order. If my actions of moving North ruined some of your gaming pleasure, I am truly sorry for that, and it was not intended. I certainly subscribe to the theory of letting people do what they want in this game. Sometimes I like to do something organized, sometimes I just want to furball. To each his own, its only, as they say, a game.
I don’t profess to be a grand strategist, I only play this game as a diversion from real life, and to have a few laughs with friends, but let me explain my thoughts about last nights situation. Again, I may have been way off base, but what the heck, it’s only a virtual life anyways 
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When I logged on about 9pm EST, the Bishops had about half the map, and we and the Knights about a quarter each. All three countries were fighting a two front war, which, given the way the map was divided, added up to a Bishop reset in my book. So, knowing the Damned, a large Knight Squad, had Squad Night on Sunday, I talked to them about moving North against the Bishops, telling them our Squad would do the same. They agreed, and the race was on 
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By the time I logged, we took about six bases from the Bishop, and it seemed like the Knights took about ten, and the Knights and Rooks traded a couple bases back and forth down South. The map stood at a third Rook, third Knight and third Bishop. I congratulated the Bishops on a fine defense against a strong two-prong attack and logged.
Widewing, please send me an e-mail at dawg898@fuse.net so we can talk some more about this. I feel terrible that you are so upset, heck, I don’t think I’ve made anyone this mad in all my years of gaming. I’d like to make it up to you if there is any way I can!
Cya Up!
Well, to begin, I must apologize for presenting my frustration (in that post last night) with all the manner of a 1st class Dickhead. Using terms such as "clueless twit" are unjustified and equally undignified. I regret my tone and inflection. Hopefully you can accept this as a poor substitute for an in-person apology. But, since the insult was public, my apology must be public too.
On to the strategy. I'm a firm believer in not surrendering territory that has been paid for with sweat. At least not without being forced to do so. Within this context, I found the attack north, regardless of offline agreements, to be wasteful in that it allowed the generally unopposed loss of two critical bases in the south. Compounding this was the loss of a task force, which could not be replaced with the corrosponding loss of the southern port. Now, since it appears that it is difficult at best to organize anything in the MA, stopping the momentum of anything that does get started seems impossible. And, that's what this is, momentum. Success breeds success, so, once the horde of players sees the enemy fold, they continue to attack. Understandable. However, it is not generally prudent to reach beyond one's grasp. Most of my frustration was founded in the actions that took place earlier in the afternoon. When I logged on in the evening, the northern attack had apparently continued, but at least much of the Knits forces were now pounding the Bishes. Typically, the Knights were taking our bases with less than twenty attackers. No more than that were required at 18 because there were no more than four defenders. Had 5 or 6 players joined the defense before the field went down, we could have held it. As it was, my constant requests for assistance finaly paid off with individuals who came to 17 after we began fighting off attacks. By midnight we had enough people to retake 18. Even as I write this (7:15 PM), we still don't have A19 and P21 back. So, that loss is still haunting the Rooks.
A balanced offense is absolutely necessary when faced with a two-front war. You can certainly concentrate on one front, but you cannot afford to ignore the other. That happened Saturday evening, leading to a reset. I cannot overstate the value of ports. The ability to have mobile airfields and bombardment capability is a key to success. A one-two punch of a task force and land based airpower can dominate any area on the map.
One more point. Few understand that the best way short of capturing fields is to put the field out of service. Since we lack any sort of attrition effect, the concept of using bombers as bait to draw up fighters (as was done in the ETO during WWII) won't work. However, we can use fighters to draw up fighters, keeping them occupied while heavy bombers knock out any supporting fields, this allowing for much easier captures. Indeed, there are many effective strategies that can be employed in the MA. One factor that can never be underestimated is this: Your enemy cannot attack you if his resources are pinned to their own fields. There's no doubt that many more bombers would go a long way to keeping the enemy off guard. Yet, most players are not here to fly bombers.
Anyway, I will be happy to discuss the many possibilities in an e-mail. And, no, you were not responsible for my being torqued last evening. It was the situation in general that had me crazy.
My regards,
Widewing
