Scook

June 6, 1943 {Atlantic} Quiet again, for now. Many men and ships have been lost to these cold waters by both sides, and neither side is done yet. {Russia} We decide to take Kursk, and we do. We also decide to assault Sevastopol, with mixed results. Kill a few Soviet units, and keep ourselves in decent form. {Balkans} Allies threaten Bulgaria, we reinforce with some of our Strategic reserves. Rundstedt isn't looking to chew gum around Sofia. {China/Burma} Monsoons affect bombing from Burma to Russia, everyone is grounded this turn. Vladivostok falls, troops move to next city. Russian corps at Borzya being stubborn. Another Chinese army destroyed around Nanning, Japanese troopers picking up steam in the south as Chinese reinforcements move north to counter the threat there. American aircraft in China will eventually make this rough. Burma, kinda happy for monsoons there, keeps the Allied aircraft grounded. {Pacific} 1st carrier strikes by the Japanese result in 2 BBs sunk. I make a huge mistake, the grey ships of minors blends into the background for me, so don't see the CA De Ruyter sitting there, able to spot one of my BB. Think I might get my eyes checked for color blindness. Hmm, maybe I will play with settings to make them more visible to me. {other} Anyone have any good books about the Japanese and their war effort? I find it very easy to slide into the thought processes of every nation except Japan, and to an extent, China. I find playing with passion makes me a better player. Any titles would be appreciated.

My money is on the Allies too, but I am having a lot of fun, and I won't make it easy.

May 5, 1943 "Helm! Set course 315 degrees flank speed!" "Aye Captain!" "Jeurgen, what is it?" "Well, Tirpitz sortied to the last know position of that destroyer contact, and found a hornet's nest." We decide now is a good time to mix it up with the Allied navies. Once we spot the transport, that becomes our main objective. Churchill and Roosevelt should be very proud of their escorts, they occupy the subs. I run out of resources to prosecute the attack. Even though almost every casualty on the subs was from this battle, that is a very scary sight. 2 or 3 Allied ships are sunk here. Even so, the cat is out of the bag, and High Command is on alert. Meanwhile............... "Banzai!" is heard at dawn all along the Russian front. 7 months of planning is coming to fruition. Bombers knock out the rail lines of the city south of Iktursk (I hope, too far to see how much damage). 6 special forces, 2 armies, and 3 corps cross into Soviet territory. That is the sum of Manchurian garrison, along with Pacific invasion forces not taking Dutch East Indies and Phillipines. I think I want to call it Operation Ichi-Go, even though that was in Burma historically. We are now throwing caution to the wind. China might be hurting, replacements are as forthcoming as they were before. I am almost expecting a massive shift of Chinese forces in Burma back to China (see previous post's pics for reference). {Pacific Ocean} Bait, meet subs, subs, meet bait. 1 American CA and BB sunk, 1 sub reduced by a DD strike. Cut bait and run, or.............?

April 11, 1943 {Europe} Oh yeah, Norway! Ok, we go take it. They have good plunder, those lovely Norwegians. Russia, we kill the assaulting tank, and a corps because we can. Hold our positions, as mostly mud and rain still. The reason we haven't seen the tanks sooner: Yep, USSR has JS-2's (tank 4). The Tech gods hate me, as I stay behind the ultra elite Russian forces. {China} We kill the understregth army outside Nanning. I do like the strategic bomber modeling in the game, its expensive, its long term, and can pay nice dividends. North is slow, for now. {Burma} We aren't moving forward, here is what we see: {Central Pacific Ocean} The Americans are fishing, and haven't got any bites. Maybe it's the bait of cruisers, subs, and old battleships.

A good Grognard complains about the weather every chance!

Snow/Mud/Rain, most places. Chinese in Burma! Americans in China! Next, I expect to see dogs and cats sleeping with each other. Outside of some attacks in Russia where no one dies, nothing happens. Well, we almost kill a Chinese army near Nanning, but we aren't playing horseshoes. Next turn please.

Oops, was going to do screenies, eh, will wait for good weather. {Russia} Christmas break is almost over, heathen Communists look to destroy traditions in the near future. {Med} Albanian corps forgot about entirely until the money runs out, left to it's fate. American corps still onshore, but pinged by Italian corps. We refuse to leave our defensive positions for now. {Atlantic Ocean} I wonder how much money is being sent to Russia from the USA as I hit 50-60 MPP a turn for now. Either a) there will be a large fleet hitting my subs in the near future, or Allies are so rich they are using the convoy route to keep my subs a long way from the mainland and essentially, out of the way. {Asia} Singapore falls, use many carriers to strike the defenders, couldn't wait any longer. The morale boost the Chinese receive from liberating the Solomons and conquering Persia prevent any death and destruction of their troops. Axis do enjoy how Uncle Joe treats Churchill, you walk into Persia, you can walk out now too, just without supply. Wonder if this would lead Western Powers to come to a separate peace with Axis that could lead to a war with Communism. Hmmmm, if only I could read the future........

{Russia} The good news, Soviet Winter strikes so I can repair before he can attack. Reinforcements sent to the Eastern Front, many rejoice. {Italy} 2 strength bomber moves to make way for geared up German corps. German fighter moves so ships can't take free pot shots. {Pacific} Expedition Army leads way in killing Commies, one corps dies. Attacks get more intense around Nanning, we inflict 5 losses and take 1. Chungking and uhm, Sian maybe(?) are kept at 0 production. Singapore corps in a sling with 2 strength, might fall next turn.

December 29, 1942 {Russia} AGS counter attacks, takes out the tank army and a corps, recapture the Donets Basin mine. AG Center and North dig in for the winter, send a wireless message to the Finns to deal with that tank on their border. {Med} Hmm, what to make of this: Palermo is barely nicked, and it looks like USSR is giving up their ships to the Imperialist Empire. Do I take this to mean something, or just a feint? They can also shift east or west to support an invasion. Stay tuned, folks. {Asia} Expedition Army shifts fully north to assault the Commie Chinese corps stationed up there. Still pings happening outside Nanning. All other forces quiet.

December 6, 1942 Sitskrieg is effect, that is all. Looks like we are going back to the 1700-1800's, getting quarters for the bad weather, and preparing for the next campaign season. Napoleonic era, anyone?

October 25, 1942 Russian land troops jump from 25 to 32. Discretion is the medal winner for now. Kharkov falls to 10th Army. We pull back slightly in the north, partisan pops up to link Leningrad up to Moscow. I sense another country being DOW'd upon by Allies next turn. Troops close in on Singapore, finally. Major Rain and General Winter look to rule for a bit.

And the watch word today is: rain. Rain covers western and southern Russia, slowing my offensive to a halt. Only kill the one corps who is out of supply. Marat is sunk by CA Graf Spee and DD Z-31. Outside of that, quiet world wide, just enough for everyone to start that deep breath before the Hammer is dropped and Indiscriminate Justice is met out.

August 30, 1942 {Russia} Smolensk falls, everything cleared between my troops and the ones dug in front of Moscow. It's like a weird history one year later, let's see how the rains come. Kharkov attacked, but special forces being stubborn. Russian corps out of supply pinged. September coming up, so have to watch for more Soviet tanks. Here's a view of Army Group South: {Europe} Yugoslavia, even though friendly to us, attacked and conquered. I need to counter his conquering morale bonuses, and can use some extra cash. Hmm, quiet everywhere else, I do believe. Waiting on the British assault on Persia though, only thing in the area that is neutral and worth anything. {Asia & Pacific Ocean} Some more movement, not much else. Some pinging outside Nanning. Here is another shot, so you can see China DOES look the same:

That is one thing I haven't figured out how things are counted, countries that fight for a long time will generally spend more in MPP losses than they produce. I don't think that is possible. I would have to play a hotseat game vs myself and keep record all MPPs, so I can see where the accounting problems lie.

I am guessing because of my limited play in SCGC, I think the Allies must have bigger economies from the other versions. I do have to keep in mind we have all the USA, not just half of it, and that does mean they have to build for 2 fronts. I think that is what is throwing me the most, USA is shown to have true economic might. Here is a tip, last time I posted it 2-3 years ago, most people didn't know: you can control how much Lend-Lease you send, bring up the strategic map, go to convoys, and click on the flag of the sending nation, which will be either Britain or USA. From there you can adjust the percentage you send from 0 to 40% of your economy.

Sorry about last night's short reply, did the turn, went to bed, and now up 11 hours later, was beat. Kudos to my opponent for the one turn assault on Turkey. I do appreciate minors falling the same turn you do DOW them. Iraq was lucky, they seemed immune to his air attacks last turn. But now, onto the current action. Snapshot mid 1942: There are a lot of ways to analyze this, as you can see Axis have the land and air advantage right now, and navy goes to Allies. To be fair this was taken at the end of the turn. USSR peaked about 36 or 38 land units, down to 25 right now. I whacked 6-8 more units this turn. What I am not showing you is the economic strength of USA and USSR, both are at scary levels. Those two nations are close to twice the MPP power of the Axis alone. A year from now this graph should be a bit different. The British Empire is somewhere between major and minor power. Their numbers are good here, but don't currently have the economy to back it. Get them into a head to head tussle they would be fragile. So eating minors works well for now. Since we don't see much growth in US forces, I can only surmise a big investment in Navy, that's going to be scary. {Russia} Death, cleaning up of units, I thank you for moving those units out to the open for easier kills. Odessa falls, we are in position to make more cities fall depending on next turn's weather and situations. {Europe} Everything else is quiet, but my favorite part of owning Gibraltar pops up end of turn, supply problems for Allies in the Med. {PTO} The place is big, really big, takes time and money to shuffle my troops. So nothing happens. Things I have learned: Going to build as many paratroopers in future games, they are infinitely useful in player vs player games. Going to pick Crispy's brain a bit (if he will let me) on that economic situation. Could have just been lucky Industrial tech hits, but I have never had/seen the MPP power both USA and USSR. Japan: I suck. Need to work on planning better, and how to crush China. Will probably need to get whacked upside the head by some other people so I can get a clue. In our game, the amount of pressure on the Allies Japan is putting can be summed up by, "oh, we are at war with Japan?"

July 1942 Gibraltar falls. Spanish CA sorties, strikes a transport carrying an army for 5, I am just hoping the Allies will hang up to pick up my survivors once they sink the ship. Quiet in the Atlantic. Kiev and Minsk fall, Germans watch Russian corps to see what they will eat now. Odessa holds on with a strength of 1. Partisan pops up in front of us. {Pacific} Nothing to report (I think). All quiet.

The turns have slowed waaaayyy down for me, I am taking an hour to an hour and half to do the last two turns. Lots of stuff to look at, consider, then act upon. June, 1942 Clear weather, everywhere! Atlantic Ocean We consider staying and fighting, but we do turn tail and run. Doenitz knows when to hold 'em, and right now he's folding. Gibraltar Takes a pounding, down to strength 2, should fall next turn. Sidenote: reinforcing Azores by Allies will be a pain for me, would have loved to have that island. Med Too quiet. Eastern Front 5 Soviet tanks die, I think 1 corps also, Minsk holds on by the skin of their teeth. There are a lot of Soviets on the map, but losing their offensive punch should help me this whole summer. Have to watch out in September though. Philippines Carriers and land based air pummel Manila, it falls easily. Quiet everywhere else. I know he has some big surprises coming my way, and I hope to do the same for him. ps, forgot, Finland so impressed they join the Axis.

Is it possible to have most of China have a supply level of 5, and when captured of 3, except way back up in the corner near Urumchi? Been thinking if really crappy supply and not as many MPPs available in Central China would make it harder and not as worthwhile to overrun. The downside I can maybe see is the Chinese might be easier to kill, but without playing like that I can only speculate.

May 10, 1942 Atlantic Ocean, somewhere between Maine and Iceland, communique to Churchill: Unbeknowst to the Allies, the Kriegsmarine was lurking in the middle of the Atlantic, ready to assist the sub fleet. Bismark, Tirpitz, and others intercept destroyers and wreak havoc. Subs come in and clean up. 6 destroyers sunk, one massively damaged, and one Canadian DD unscathed. Now all we can do is see what backup the destroyers have. {Portugal and Gibraltar} Lisbon comes under the Jackboot, paratroopers assault 'The Rock', cause no damage. Two fighters, however, score hits on the defending corps. {Eastern Front} More troopers die, Riga falls. rain hovers over the Polish/Russian border, all air grounded. Russian tanks are scary, but not going to be held hostage to them. But, somehow, corps mostly end in front, imagine that! Romanian army attacks Soviet tank, and you can see the results. Ok, he was a 7 when we started, so we lose 4, them 2. But for propaganda purposes we will post that on billboards. {Pacific Theatre} More bombardment in Philippines, we'll see if that worsens their supply any. Monsoons still in, ships still out. Chinese army attacked outside Nanning, just some pings both sides. Quiet times, Sean reflects he really needs to learn to play Japan much better for all future games.

I am leaning to believe we had them the same time then. You are as forthcoming as I am as putting all your cards on the table.

Both parties heard from, game on!

April 12, 1942 {Spain} The target is obvious, Portugal! The evil Portuguese people will pay for their transgressions, we'll make those up later. 2 units pop up there, kill the 1st next to capital. {Atlantic} We slip away from the American coast, no need to stay so close to the enemy bases. {Russia} 1 army, and 4-5 corps fall this turn. Mud, but clear skies for once! Both sides are going to have to be careful here, losses are going to mount rapidly. {Phillipenes} I hate this place if you can't take it in one turn. Monsoons in, we shore bombard the capital, and Corrigedor. Should only be a matter of time though. {China} Still wanting to take advantage of the amphetamines, errr, victories our troops are high on morale with, Expedition Army slams into 8th Route Army. Follow-up Banzai wave assaults from the frony bring them down. Expedition army notices Chinese special forces troops are now armed with Russian sub-machine guns (infantry weapon 2). Technological advantages can be short lived.

March 1942 {Pacific Theatre} Japs hopped up on conquests take Nanning, with support of 4 carriers. Chunking bombed flat. Wake Island in our hands. The important one, Dutch East Indies, falls. The other important one, Phillipines, holds out. Need to study the weather charts more next time . Sub I-20, heading to shell Hollywood, runs into the BB, California, and takes a hit. Don't have much hope for those boys. Maybe the can capture John Belushi 1st. {Fortress Europa} Snow and blizzards mar the Eastern Front, however one special forces dies. Spain does join us, glad she did it on my turn, otherwise her fighter, starting next to Gibralter, might have died. Everything else is a quiet shuffle, on the continent, and at sea.

Oh yeah, I am pretty darn sure you will win this, even if you move pieces only every other turn until 1944. February '41 Europe: Here's what it looks like, giving away some intel here, but they will be moving soon: All quiet for now, subs are the highlight of my life, but with the island gone, they have to go far to find convoys. {Pacific} How to define all dressed up and no where to go: I had to go this turn, couldn't wait one more. Lots of carrier sitting there, and monsoons are everywhere. {Hawaiian islands} Oh? We are at war? Really?..........really? {China} It hasn't been mentioned yet, so Crispy may or may not have noticed, Japanese do have IW2, really, it will just keep the Chinese from driving them off the continent this game. Notice all those forts way out by Lanchow, just in case.