Quick note.

My last note was Thursday talking about the capture of Stekene.

Last night I participated in the fall of Willemstad (if you consider participating running around the castle while 20 tanks camped the AB). So far this is a fairly spectacular collapse on behalf of the Axis. I, for one, am fairly mystified at its causes.

Lets look at the timeline: (my memory is a little rough, be kind).

- Axis have stormed west, crushing the BEF, Gent is Axis. Germans also threaten Mauberge.
- Allies launch counterattack taking several towns back up to Brussels and including the recapture of Gent. Namur is also allied.
- Axis recapture towns around Brussels. Front is somewhat stagnant for a cpl of days, then the Werchmact begins to push East again (IVg arrives on battlefield). Upper Meuse , including Namur, Dinant etc is Axis. All towns up to Gent are Axis. Axis push out from Brussels to Soignes and take Charleroi. Also sometime during this Axis take Mountfacoun and Sedan area. Later in this period the Sherman is introduced but the front remains stagnant with a slight push by the Axis.
- The Spit IX is introduced. BEF goes mad, captures towns E and SE of Gent. A few days later the German front north completely collapses. In the course of Fri/Sat night, Brussels and Antwerp fall + several of their buffer towns. South front remains stationary.

The triggering factor 'appears' to be the Spit IX but I don't get it/believe it. Why would a plane have such an influence on numbers, espcially ground numbers? And don't kid yourselves for a second that it was anything else but numbers. On Friday night (US EST) we had ridicolous numbers and were simply steamrolling towns. Brussels fell in approx 30 mins with barely a whimper from the Axis forces.

The French had the Sherman, which is usually a big numbers getter, for several days before the German collapse. In fact the Germans were a plus in towns captured for the first days of the Sherman arrival.

Are we seeing the beginnings of a of a true 'dinner/weekend club'?. The Allies have at most times enjoyed a slight numbers advantage in the evening hours (US) and weekends but it now appears to becoming even more pronounced.

This is not good for the game. It's not good for the Axis OR the Allies. To be truely a game I believe side numbers have to avoid these large differentials in all timezones. The problem that the Allies have always had with the 'breakfast club' is not that the Axis have a numbers advantage, it's that the difference is so large at those times. Now it appears that the Allies are enjoying an imbalance of such proportion but in US prime time, a much bigger recipe for disaster in terms of game balance.

I hope I'm wrong.


(That was a quick note wasn't it? :P)