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abukede

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  1. I think that I was on my way to winning but Jim could have still pulled it out in the end.
  2. Absolutely... thank you all for following. I hope you enjoyed and learned a few tricks. The rest is now up to you! abu
  3. The Germans got busy once again on the Eastern Front. It has been very quiet for them for sometime now. Time to shake things up! This picture does not do it justice, but I launched a surprise major offensive drive in Southern Russia. I slammed into Russian advance units destroying both light armor in view. Most of Jim’s combat firepower appears to be in the north… so I hit him early in the South with a lot of force using the principal of hitting your enemy where they are not. Supply rebuilt and as a result German moral and readiness is up… You can see from the picture that the weather is not perfect yet… which is why I struck now… I wanted complete surprise. I have been preparing this operation since January and it is finally nice to kick it off. In Egypt, I was able to push into the Sinai mauling the defending corps and also the HQ. It is official… the Med is now an Italian lake! Italy and the Germans are now working to consolidate gains, secure Syria and ensure that Iraq is safe. In Burma… Japanese units moved with surprising speed and occupied Mandalay. In the process, I destroyed this US fighter that was understrength. I was also able to cut the UK corps defending the Oil well off from supply. Japanese reinforcement are pouring into Burma. I also have Japanese units pushing into Singapore… where I was able to surprise and maul an advancing UK corps. In China, I was finally able to take Chungking this turn, destroying the defender, and also bagging an engineer. This is the final shot of what the Chungking front looks like. You can see fighting is nearly over in Southern China… I also have Japanese forces coming up from French Indochina. On the Sian front I was able to destroy another army and am actually contemplating pushing across the mountains. China has taken massive losses and the Japanese are on a roll. I am also having surprising success fighting in the mountains. Elsewhere in the Pacific… I unzipped my fly around Pearl and used carrier air to help destroy the defending marines in Hilo. So… Jim knows where at least 1 carrier is. The Hawaiian islands are now officially Japanese occupied territory. Beyond that still working on repositioning massive amounts of firepower to open my next operation. Back to Jim.
  4. Still terrible weather conditions on the Eastern Front. Jim is pushing a bit of a limited winter offensive… trying to push his way toward Riga. I shifted a few units around to block him better. We are into March now… and ground conditions should soon be improving. I am ready to conduct operations once the ground is good and have planned a few surprises for Jim when the time comes. I was able to successfully bombard Cairo with German medium bombers, while tactical units struck at the unit next to Alexandria. The unit in Cairo was entrenched only to level 2… so the medium bombers easily took the entrenchment down. My HQ with my German aircraft is Kesselring and he is now at 3 bars of experience… so with solid supply lines and a second HQ in Africa for my ground component… I have been seeing some very good results from my airpower. German armor destroyed the defenders in Cairo… The defender’s morale and readiness were in a terrible state. My Italian corps essentially just walked into the city. (Yes I gave Egypt to Italy…. She needs the money and morale points) German and Italian ground units finished off the corps in the north next to Alexandria. Jim is still occupying the Canal Zone, but with my combined arms firepower I expect to remedy that. I was also surprised to discover 2 UK BBs just south of the canal. They are in easy range of my airpower and should they remain I will likely begin hitting them next turn. Once the canal is in my hands… the Med will essentially become an Italian lake, removing the need to garrison much of Italy and most of North Africa. Italian defenders can pretty much be moved to likely points of contact or formed into combat groups. So far… I am very pleased with the results of my Africa campaign. In Asia… I took Fiji and a number of other islands. I also invaded French Indo-China. Why did I not do this earlier? Simply put, when you take France out of the game with a complete surrender… French Indo-China is defended by colonial French troops. So I waited and then after taking Nanning… pushed right into the country… smashed the defending corps and took the capital. I also attacked Chungking and destroyed the defending corps but was unable to actually take the city. I screwed up my attack order and the finishing unit did not have the movement points to actually take the city. Next turn I will take it. Japanese strategic bombers struck a second Chinese city with solid results. I also began the assault on Hilo battering the defenders. I should take the city next turn. I am still in the process of redeploying massive amounts of forces with Japan for my next major operation. I have no idea what the US is up to.
  5. The weather was pretty poor across much of the Eastern Front and there was very little action… the Germans primarily took the entire turn to repair and upgrade units across much of the front. I expect things to heat up again in a couple of turns. Then it should get ugly for both the Germans and Russians. The Soviets have built up a large army and it is questionable whether the Germans can break it in 42. Keep in mind the Germans and minors now have units in multiple theaters, with a major commitment in the Med which is paying dividends as the UK is really struggling. My offensive drive in Egypt succeeded it capturing Alexandria. My attack began with a heavy air bombardment of the city. Once again British fighters defended and there was a large air battle for air superiority over Egypt. German and Italian ground forces assaulted the city and finished with the Italians successfully taking the city. Jim assaulted Damascus last turn in an attempt to take that city. The defending division was fully entrenched. His supply situation in Syria is very poor with some units at supply level 3 and 4. He took very heavy casualties in the attempt. In Egypt things are little better for him supply wise. Due to secure supply lines, having seized Malta the Axis units are comfortably operating with levels 6 and 7. Since the Alexandria fell Jim’s supply in the region is now unhinged… meaning larger problems for him… Having taken the Alexandria I pushed forward in the direction of Cairo arriving 1 space away. With luck that city will fall in the next 2 or 3 turns, which would be nice as I should be able to secure Italian East Africa and then either liberate Syria or ensure that country is secured and safe. Jim has taken a beating in Egypt and I am not sure what his plans are… at this point… the US is a big wild card capability wise. I have already begun taking steps to secure the Moroccan Atlantic coast. In China I began my assaults on Chungking. You can see the city is only hanging on by a thread. With luck it will fall next turn fatally disrupting Chinese operations in the South. To make matters more interesting for the Chinese… Japanese strategic bombers began operating this turn… hammering one of Jim’s northern cities. Elsewhere in the Pacific… a Japanese carrier caught a UK Cruiser off the coast of Northern Australia and sunk him. Japanese forces also successfully occupied Rangoon, which was followed by the country’s surrender. Jim is occupying the Burmese mine… shortly I expect to push northward and confront him. The US is still occupying Hilo (I think the city is named Hilo) on the Hawaiian islands. Japanese forces fresh from their conquest of Honolulu began working their way toward Hilo. I wonder if Jim will leave the marine unit there in place or evacuate before they arrive? Also… Jim has to wonder where the Japanese carriers have gone and what the next major goal for the Japanese is? It has been a very interesting game so far.
  6. Japan got busy this turn… there is no time to waste on continuing my offensive push into the Pacific and beyond. I spent a lot of time beginning the shift of units to begin phase 2 of my Pacific push. Last turn I pushed into Burma and this turn I assaulted the capital using airborne forces to complete the defenders destruction. Jim had placed an American fighter there and he intercepted the paras doing near catastrophic damage… 6 steps to the unit! Not one to shy away from risking it all… I attacked anyway and completed the defender’s destruction. Unfortunately I was not able to take the city, however I have reinforcements following up so I expect to take the city, even if Jim reinforces it from the sea. I successfully completed the conquest of Honolulu, using carrier strikes (which were mostly ineffective) followed up by ground assault, destroying the defender and occupying the city. I was able to loot 50 MPP and the USA took a morale hit. I destroyed a CA near Peal Harbor and also one that was trying to escape from the Philippians using carrier air. In China the Japanese pushed hard on the Sian front, destroying a corps and mauling another that retreated further into the mountains. Facing Chungking I continued my assault destroying the defending army holding the mine next to the Chinese capital. This is how the front looked at the conclusion of my attacks. You can see upgraded Chinese units… but I fear it is too late to save the capital. I expect to begin the assault in earnest next turn. Here is an interesting picture on the situation in the Middle East. Look at all of the UK combat power in Syria! I think that had Jim had most of the UK combat power in Egypt, he could have made a real fight of it… however he is too far away to make much of a difference in the battle for Alexandria. I would have launched a major assault on Alexandria this turn, however a sand storm grounded most of my airpower. Should I have good weather I hope to take the city next turn and then push further. The Germans are pouring reinforcements into Africa… to exploit the success of breaching British entrenchments. Right now I see the real possibility of capturing Egypt, securing Syria and Iraq, which is currently Axis. After that… I have no idea what I would do with those units. On the Eastern Front… I expected a major winter offensive. There was no action.
  7. JJdenver, In answer to your questions: “Why wait until now - so late - to take Nanning in southern China? Was it some tricky move to keep US Entry down?” My objectives were to wear down China by destroying her army in the South and in the process keep Jim’s production focused on replacing losses. I figured that if I destroy the army the key towns, cities and mines will fall to me in the long run, which has started to happen. So under that scenario Nanning was a secondary objective. Also do you have to take all ports in Philippines or do they all fall to Japan once Manila is taken and the minor country surrenders? Same question for NEI? No you just need to take that capital city. “How early did you have to launch Amphib forces to get them in place for all of these operations?” I started moving amphibious forces around in June. From January to December I was prepositioning forces for my massive push in the Pacific. From the beginning of the game I focused my builds exclusively, with the exception of 2 arty for China, on what I would need in the Pacific. “I'm curious how you decide what ports to take east of NEI to take with Japan? I'm glad that you explained about Wake, but what is the logic with other ports in the south Pacific? Does Japan pay MPP's to launch amphib forces to eventually take them all? Or only those listed as secondary or primary supply? What are the first targets and why? By the way what good is a secondary supply hex on an island that isn't linked by land to any primary supply source?” The secondary supply hexes help naval units better operate, in my experience helping keep morale and readiness up. Those are critical to extended operations in the Pacific and one of the reasons I went to take Midway and the Hawaii. I have also found that these areas tend to be main objectives “Doesn't it seem that Japan is perhaps too powerful in this iteration of the game? They have a huge income, are able to pursue an almost inevitably successful conquest of all of China east of the large mountain range (not historical), and at the same time build up a huge invasion and naval assault force for the Pacific including taking Hawaii along with clearly heavy research. Japan is quite a super power ya?” No… I actually think Japan is underpowered in this game. Against another player... you have to work very hard to make Japan a powerhouse and you are permitted few mistakes. By choosing the path I did I had to sacrifice/slow down production in several key areas that I hope will not come back to bite me… primarily in Aircraft, Naval and to some degree investment in research. My gamble is that by taking Midway and Hawaii and then moving to take the rest of the Pacific islands and opening another theater in either India or Australia I will buy myself enough time to catch up and balance things out again. That said… Japan has a large navy however the US will shortly be able to challenge Japanese supremacy in the Pacific. Should things go poorly for me initially I could be in real trouble long term. So I have to play smart. I think the Allies in this game are much more powerful than the Axis with the US being more than an equalizer. The UK is clearly in trouble… however it all will hinge upon what Jim has done and will do with the United States. He needs to immediately help take pressure off the UK and Russia, while at the same time checking Japan. It will be a tall order, however it can be done. Also In China… I pretty much used the forces that were already in China to clean up on the Chinese. It took some creative reorganization on my part to make it happen. Also… if you notice throughout the AAR I rarely gave the Chinese a break but kept the hammering up constantly… even taking additional casualties to keep the pressure on. Had I not invested heavily in Japanese industry I would not have been able to pull off what I was just able to do. At all times I had 3 chits invested in Industry… and my industry level is now 3… and I am working on level 4. I hope this helps in answering your questions... wait until you see what I have planned next.
  8. In Southern China the Japanese occupied Nanning and cut trade to China. Here is an over-view of central and southern China. I began the assault on Chungking this turn, reducing entrenchments and expect to take the city next turn, including the mine next to it. On the Sian front there was vicious fighting with 2 units mauled and 1 retreating. To complicate Jim’s commonwealth position… now suddenly having to defend India, Burma and Australia, I unleashed the full might of the Luftwaffe on the defenders holding the line in Egypt. This is the picture after the airstrikes concluded and the ground assault got started. I hammered Jim’s defenders with 2 upgraded medium bombers, and 3 tactical units supported by 3 fighters. It is an awesome amount of firepower. Since there are winter conditions over much of Russia those units would have been useless in Russia at the moment. There was a titanic air battle over Egypt as Jim had 3 defending fighters. I also have 2 German HQs supporting the action to ensure maximum supply and readiness. In this picture you can see the first army, that held the entrenched line, has been destroyed and I am in the process of destroying the second. Note the poor condition of the UK HQ… this means he generates less supply that translates into the defenders being less effective. Also note that there are only 2 corps defending. The rest of Jim’s offensive units are spread out in Syria (trying to take Damascus) or in Italian East Africa. You can see Axis forces pouring through the gap and into Egypt proper. You can also see the worn down condition of Jim’s fighters. I assume the other 2 are in a similar state. Jim has also been using his carriers to strike Axis positions… which were protected by German and Italian fighters… so I assume those carriers are in rough shape… as well. Egypt has suddenly become a crisis. It will be interesting to see how Jim reacts. In the East… there was some fighting with German armor mauling a Russian corps. At the end of this turn… Russian winter struck German positions. I carefully positioned my troops over the last few turns in defensive positions… waiting for Jim’s winter offensive. I expect Jim to strike me this turn. I feel I am more than ready to receive him. Overall I am very pleased with my position. The German army has a lot of firepower deployed. The UK is in trouble in Egypt… just at the wrong time, with Japan now running wild across the Pacific. The DEI, Philippians, Brunei, Solomons, most of Southern China, Midway, soon to be Hawaii… have fallen into Japanese hands… Japan has the units and power to strike directly at either India or Australia. Jim now has to field and support forces in those combat theaters while Egypt is in crisis. If I am not successful in Egypt, I will likely be successful elsewhere… where he was unable to allocate resources. In addition, his preparations for liberating Europe have also become complicated. The upside for Jim… is that the US has entered the war. Back to Jim
  9. You can see I was successful in taking Manila, but took some casualties doing it. Jim’s bomber was destroyed. Make sure you always nail the bomber and do not let him escape. US heavy bombers can cause the Axis a lot of economic headaches. Better to delay their entrance for as long as possible. I would rather have Jim rebuild it and face it a year from now, than having him in action in 2 or 3 turns. Here are Japanese forces storming the Solomons to gain a foothold near Australia for potential future operations. The Solomons make a good staging point for any assault in the region. There are plenty of ports. I also landed troops on an island nearby. Here you can see Japanese forces about to storm their way ashore in the DEI. I used overwhelming firepower to take the DEI. The Dutch destroy the port after you take it and before the island gets to full production it must be repaired taking 5 long turns. Japan needs the DEI’s income fast… so the DEI should be one of your primary objectives when opening the war in the Pacific. Japanese forces also took Brunai, however Singapore got a pass… primarily due to Japanese forces landing in Hawaii… however it will not be a long pass with the DEI having rapidly fallen. Japanese forces also pushed into Burma this turn as well. Hong Kong was also assaulted and occupied among a number of US islands in the Pacific, including Wake. Japan got off to one heck of a start in the Pacific.
  10. Japan opened the war in the Pacific this turn in a big way. This is the Japanese blitzkrieg! Let’s take a look at the Hawaii operation first. Hitting Pearl Harbor note that one of my carriers is on escort duty. This is intentional… as I want to damage the defending fighter. This also makes my carrier strikes be more effective. I was successful in destroying all 3 BBs. I used a reduced carrier force… to hit Pearl Harbor. My 4th heavy carrier is elsewhere. You can see there are 3 heavy and 1 light carriers. I am trying to be economical with my carrier force so that I can field a powerful second body elsewhere in a few turns. I wonder where they are? One of the best aspects of this game is guessing where the American and Japanese carriers might be. This is the second shoe dropping on Hawaii and the reason I wanted the defending fighter damaged. You can see the landing force standing off Hawaii, just out of view range from Jim’s fighter recon. I did not want to alert him that this was coming. My entire force was able to get ashore destroying the defending fighter and taking the Barracks. I expect to begin the assault on Honolulu next turn. Since I was invading Hawaii, the island of Midway, as a supply source, needed to be secured as well. Once Hawaii and Midway fall any US strike force sent into the central Pacific will suffer from reduced supply. Jim will likely have to go after Hawaii first, before beginning an island hopping campaign. This will give Japan extra time she needs to prepare. Here you can see the first troops coming ashore in the Philippians. Note the Amphibious transport south of Manila. Always go after the Philippians from both sides. It allows you to land additional forces and take Manila in one turn.
  11. I elected not to attack the US on December 7th. US readiness is at 41% and Japan is doing just fine at the moment without opening the war. On the Eastern Front the Germans redressed their line and prepared for Winter. Jim launched a counter attack in the center that also forced me to adjust my front and move some armor and mechs around in the event he has more power behind it than expected. At this point I believe that much of the fighting for the season is now over. In North Africa Axis airpower hammered Jim’s fortifications into Egypt and my ground forces lunged forward and attacked. I did not break the line but hope to do so in the coming turns. There was a massive air battle over Egypt as a result of Jim having 3 British fighters down there. The Egyptian offensive is becoming an expensive operation for both sides. I continue to beat up on China. Kweilin fell this turn meaning that the forces in the South will finally get around to Nanjing probably this turn. I was able to destroy a corps blocking the road to Chungking and then was able to advance adjacent to the city. China’s position in the south of the country is now hopeless. Jim can only hope to slow me down at this point, however he has been taking massive casualties doing it. On the Sian front Japan was able to maul a couple Chinese corps and forcing one to retreat. Over-all I am very pleased with my position. Germany, having paid of Franco, is rolling in cash. I believe I made 571 this past turn and Japanese income is seeing a nice bump due to Industry tech and occupied Chinese industry. When I get around to opening the war in the Pacific Japan should be real powerhouse.
  12. The Germans continued their advance in Southern Russia and launched major attacks in the north. I was able to destroy 2 Russian units… (corps I believe) that had been thrown into the line in front of Leningrad, but no advance was made. The weather and ground conditions were pretty poor in Northern Russia this turn. German supply is poor so it is possible I will not be able to take Leningrad this year… which is a strategic failure for me. That said… Jim is being forced to throw units into the line to stop me and the Germans are chewing them up at an amazing rate. In Southern Russia, you can see supply finally caught up with the lead German units and another powerful advance was possible. In this picture, I am in the process of taking the mine. You can see Rostov off and within reach of German armor. In North Africa… Axis forces pushed forward into Egypt and took the key supply center of Siwa Oasis, destroying a UK corps in the process. German aircraft bombed Siwa pretty heavily in advance. I expect to assault Jim’s entrenchments next turn. I am not entirely sure what Jim has waiting for me… however Italian units in Syria have a UK armor in view, which puts that unit well away from the action and unable to respond should German units break through. In China… the Chinese units got hit hard. I conducted a prepared assault on Sian and was able to seize the city fairly easily. You can see that Jim’s units are pretty beat up from several turns of rough fighting. There is no nearby supply source and several of those units are now in trouble if they stay. Jim opened up an opportunity to take Sian a few turns back and now the city has fallen permitting an early assault through the mountains if I can manage to spare the units. With the coming operations in the Pacific… we shall see if that is possible. In Southern China, Japan was successfully able to take the mine in view. The Japanese also assaulted the city of Kweilin mauling the defender. The mine alone generates 10 MPP and 15NM points… Chinese resistance in the South is essentially crumbling. I also suspect that Jim has stopped placing new units in the South… instead opting for placement in the North… beyond the mountains, where he can regroup. We are now at the end of October, 1941 and things should really begin to get interesting.
  13. It is starting to heat up and things are getting exciting. I have a lot going on behind the scenes that I cannot show you at the moment. Soon. The Italians landed and took Malta this turn! My supply for the Med is now secure and the Axis forces in North Africa pushed forward this turn to the Egyptian border. Weather in Russia is beginning to deteriorate. I was able to destroy the corps just south of Leningrad at great cost. German supply is being affected by the weather and it is costing me. This is to be expected. In southern Russia the advance continues… yes we are into October and I am slow walking things for a reason. This picture is right before the city fell. In China, Jim launched a number of attacks against Japanese units taking very heavy losses. The Japanese drive in Southern China continued. With the destruction of a corps and the mauling of several other units. I expect significant gains in the next few turns and Chinese industry to fall to Japanese might. Japanese preparations for a Pacific offensive are continuing at a fever pitch. It is difficult to manage with the war in China going so hard at the moment… however I am very pleased with the Japanese position at the moment. Back to Jim.
  14. Serious action in Russia this turn as the Germans close in on Leningrad and directly threaten that city. This is the beginning of the turn… hammering the defenders. You can see, at moderate cost, I was able to destroy the defending corps and engineer. I am especially pleased by the destruction of the engineer as it will be awhile before fortifications will be constructed in Russia… at least until Jim gets around rebuilding him… making my job that much easier. I was able to destroy another corps in the south and I also hammered a couple of defending units as I prepared for my next push deeper into Russia. My assault on Malta was successful in destroying the defenders. You can not see, but after the defender was destroyed supply levels are at 0 for both Port and City. It will be hard for Jim to defend the island now… It is only a matter of occupying the fortress island and securing my supply for North Africa. Unfortunately, my firepower was such that the fortress succumbed a turn earlier than expected. In China I was able to destroy another corps in the South and maul a few additional corps badly… including the one before Sian. Unfortunately no pictures in China this turn… a lot going on behind the scenes. Almost all of my resources are being consumed for Pacific operations, which are shortly about to get underway. Back to Jim
  15. The Germans and Italians continued their air offensive against Malta with good results, knocking the fortress down to 2 strength steps. I think I have a good chance of destroying the defenders next turn. My holding of Gibraltar has also begun to affect Allied supply in the Med, which not only reduces the effectiveness of Allied ground units, including those defending Malta, but also of those at sea! My offensive against Russia is going well... I am taking my time with her for a specific reason. More on this later. I was able to take Pskov and get within 1 space of Leningrad. One of my main objectives this year is Leningrad. Just north of Pskov you can see the second prong to my northern offensive striking home destroying a Soviet army. In the South I was able to seize Odessa using German armor, destroying a 3rd soviet unit… a corps if I believe correctly. I have 2 powerful armored thrusts going forward at the moment… one in the North and one in the very south. More pictures next turn. My U-Boats continue to raid Jim’s convoy lines around the globe! Germany has multiple U-Boats in the Indian Ocean now, along with the North and South Atlantic and the North Sea raiding the Russian convoys. I am trying to create multiple fires for Jim to put out… or at least try to. It means he has to send DD’s and CVs across the globe making the RN less powerful and able to concentrate. In Asia, I took a bit of a strategic pause to reposition units (redress my line) and strength up… prior to making a final push for Chungking. Japanese forces in the area were worn a bit thin due to constant offensive operations over the past year. I did manage to attack and heavily maul a Chinese corps, forcing it to retreat. On the Sian front Japanese forces mauled another Chinese corps… so even though the operational tempo was down… Jim still took casualties this turn. The remains of the Chinese army around Chungking is in rough shape. At the same time all of this is going on, I am actively preparing for operations in the Pacific. I have had to carefully manage my income to conduct a full scale war in China, while prepping for one in the Pacific. To make matters worse the US slapped the oil embargo on me this turn. We are in the middle of August, 1941. Had I not heavily invested in Industry… Japan would be in a bit of trouble at the moment. This turn, I was able to get Industry 3!!! Do not neglect industry with Japan. The war in the Pacific is really a war of economy. The more powerful Japan is… economically speaking… the better you will do and the better you are able to weather reverses. Japan’s income right now is well over 300 as a result… even with the oil embargo. When I seize the Pacific possessions and the industry/mines around Chungking I expect to have Japan humming with an income over 500. Back to Jim
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