Official AAR: Global Conflict Gold

[SeaMonkey]

Nice plan CH, and a beautifully executed attack on Paris abukede, don't you just love those FJs? I always have three at this point in the game.

Musso coming in early and jumping on the Italian fleet is a good move, but I'm looking at vulnerable German forces along the French coast and wondering where the shore bombardments are? Could you have followed up a destroyed German Corps along the coast with an amphibious diversion targeting perhaps an HQ, disrupting the paradrop, or polishing off another enemy army, just before the surrender? Strategic food for thought!:cool:

[Catacol Highlander]

I've never much liked exposing the RN to air attacks along the French coast - shore bombardment might do a point or two damage, but a single point of damage to a RN BB is much more expensive relatively to buy back, especially when Sealion is a possibility.

An amphib diversion would be interesting, but surely nothing more than a sacrifice of a corps for the sake of a 1 turn delay plus the cost of the amphib landing and an inability to have that corps defending the UK for the next few turns. That doesnt smell like a good exchange to me - i'll save what I've got to repel the German invader!

[abukede]

Okay... interesting turn.

Germany repositioned. Prep for Operation Sealion is going ahead. Perhaps I will launch it... perhaps not. I have plenty of time and 2 FJs plus the entire Germany navy and Luftwaffe to back me up. Germany spent a lot of badly needed cash.

Italy... there was a very large naval battle in the med. The UK lost 1 BB, 1 CA to an upgraded Italian Navy. Al's positioning of his ships appeared to be in the manner of a blockade to keep me reinforcing Africa. I'm not sure he was ready for me to sortie. He has 2 carriers in the area but they've been in action last 2 turns... so I am not too sure their airwing strength. With any luck... I've caught him with his pants down. Next turn will see how badly he will hurt me. My move may have been a mistake but I saw an opportunity to strike and I took it. The arrow pointing to an empty space is where his BB was. The Italian navy came through the battle in good shape.

Japan... The weather in China was terrible. I brought up reinforcements and strengthened up. I also invaded and took French IndoChina. Readiness boost next turn. Hope the weather is good.

All in all... a fun but bloody game so far.

[Catacol Highlander]

The naval battle that possibly decides the Mediterranean is now nearly complete. I came back at Marc as hard as I could - actually I had evacuated a part of the RN from the Med to try and bolster any possible requirement to repel Sealion so I could not quite finish the job, but I had enough to sink 2 battleships, a cruiser and damage most of the rest. The battle finished thus:

I have too much here for Marc to be able to sustain this battle, so the Med should now be mine. This means I can blockade Africa - for I suspect that the 1 turn window Marc now has to ship German troops to North Africa has not come at the right time for him to be able to use it - and use everything else to prepare for Sealion.

China continues to look like a rock - the garrison in Changsha was even able to do some damage to an adjacent Jap army.

Very happy with my position so far.

[SeaMonkey]

True enough CH, the amphib is kind of "out there", but the French naval assets(you're going to lose them anyway) are easily covered by UK fighters and usually airstrikes on naval vessel's by LB air is not that effective without NW tech. Besides, if the Luftwaffe decides to attack the French/RN, they're not bombing your land units.

Sure is early to surrender the Med abukede, you know SC is about threat, but with the RN down there in strength Sealion is looking good. Next time don't extend the RegiaN beyond fighter coverage and make those Brit CVs pay.

[abukede]

Okay... heavy fighting in Africa as the Italians (upgraded infantry) get frisky. More fighting at sea. I lost a sub this turn but took down another UK BB. In China Japan pressed forward again beginning the assault on another production and supply city in the South. I also began Japanese strategic bombing of China with solid results this turn. The Airwar over China has begun in earnest.

[Dellinger327]

Intersting AAR... thanks for posting, I love reading these things...

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - no graphic again this time...

War in Med is won: I sank another Italian cruiser with my remaining aircraft carrier power, and then reduced what I think is Marc's final battleship to strength 1 in port. Placement of the RN in the Med has now prevented any German reinforcement of the Italians in Africa (I think!).

In Africa itself I withdrew behind the Alamein fortifications as Marc's Italians are present in force, and took a slice out of the forward Italian Army with an attack out of Alamein. I cant see Marc breaking through here without German support - my unit on alamein is fully entrenched at level 6, and has fighter support and a decent HQ. Stalemate here I think - at least for now... :-)

Elsewhere I decided to take a slight gamble and move a freshly upgraded army into Changsha and give the previous defenders a bit of a break as they had repelled multiple attacks last turn and dropped to strength 6. The swap unit function is really useful, but the new garrison is on 0 entrenchment so might be a bit vulnerable next turn - we will see.

RN around the UK gets stronger, and more troops arrive to defend the homeland. Not sure whether Marc will risk Sealion, but without an African adventure I am not sure what else remains for him. Maybe Norway.

Finally I got a very odd script option that turn - the French Gold in the Caribbean used to be an axis opportunity, but in this new Gold version i had a script that allowed me to make a move for it. Great risk involved - might mean war with Vichy - but I took the gamble and we will see what happens. Initially nothing other than a message of an angered Vichy government popped up.

Time for Marc to decide on his next option. My money is on Norway with continued diplomatic pressure on Spain, but we will see!

[Catacol Highlander]

Into October 1940 and it is quiet. I carried out some pointless naval attacks in the med that annoyed me afterwards, but sometimes you get lucky - not this time. China looks very strong - more of that another time.

Thought today I would show you the stalemate that is now ongoing in Egypt. This is the war in Africa at present:

You'll notice that my long range desert group in the oasis to the south is strong and ready to go, while the army in Alamein is dug in and fortified. I have already taken Abyssinia and will soon be ready to attack the large and rather lonely Italian Army to the West, effectively cut off by an allied naval blockade of the Mediterranean.

The only way for Marc to lift this is to try and take Spain and Gibraltar and get U boats into the Med, but that is a lot of work and already he needs to be thinking of Russia now that it seems it is too late in the year for Sealion. He might get lucky diplomatically, but it is a long shot. I think now the axis is already in trouble especially with China so strong - I promise a focus on that in my next post - and the only way out of it now is a hugely successful campaign in 1941 against Russia and a very effective Japanese leap frog around the Pacific.

So the allies continue their very effective start to this game.

[SeaMonkey]

I'm beginning to think this Chinese thing is a bit over done. Acknowledging I haven't been extremely careful, but as the Japanese I've lost a couple of Armies and that many corps to Chinese attacks and they haven't even got any IW tech applied.:eek:

[Bill101]

Hi everyone!

Marc is on holiday for a little while now, so he's asked me to take over running the Axis side for him until he's back. This looks a bit of a responsibility given the situation in the Med where the Italian navy is feeling a bit sorry for itself, but I'll do my best and hopefully be able to knock a few spots off the Allies in the meantime.

Turn update to follow shortly...

[Bill101]

Even though the Royal Navy currently has supremacy in the Mediterranean, the Italian air force is not beaten and I've just enjoyed bombing the Malaya Battleship down to strength 2. That'll teach it not to harass our troops to the east of Tobruk!

Germany turns its attention to the north by invading and conquering Norway with a Stuka attack followed by a para drop.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the Royal Navy's strong presence in the Med, the Kriegsmarine sends out the Bismarck to sink a British Destroyer that had been patrolling the Belgian coast. A Luftwaffe Renaissance patrol spots a British Battleship in Harwich, but we'll take our chance that it won't sally out to give battle.

In the Far East, there are a few air battles over China as we test enemy strength there. Some more significant moves might have to wait until our troops have been reinforced and some tech upgrades implemented. Stay tuned!

The turn ends with Hungary joining the Axis, hot on the heels of the Romanians who joined last turn.

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - Bill takes up the reins and straight away he is clearly an aggressive player, hitting me in several places.

I experienced one of these imponderables in Africa last turn, namely that Italian bombers hit my navy near Alamein but my air cover did not get off the ground. I have scratched my head about this one before, and have a vague memory of intercept range being different to attack range... but whatever the answer to it my navy lost crucial mpps in the attack and I have withdrawn the mauled BB to harbour. I'll have to take on the Italian air force the old fashioned way... hitting it with ground units. :-)

I was lucky elsewhere - Chinese attacks did damage to the Japanese Army without loss, and in the North Sea Norway did not surrender despite the predicted para landing in Oslo. I tried to withdraw the Norwegian navy consisting of a very understrength destroyer unit to Scapa Flow (there is always a small % chance that a unit sitting in a city or harbour belonging to the allies will choose to fight on even if the mother country surrenders) and found a German cruiser in the North Sea that ambushed and sank my poor Norwegians. However, having revealed itself, I was able to mobilise the RN to sink the cruiser, some revenge at least for the loss of my scouting destroyers last turn off the coast of France, sunk by a nasty looking German battleship. I should never have sent those destroyers out - a very dull move on my part last turn.

However aside from these small skirmishes I am essentially sitting tight. I need to wait to see just where Bill will hit me in 1941 before I commit. I am close to assuming now that it will simply be a conventional Barbarossa, but Sealion is not outside the realms of possibility, so mpps on the British side are being held back and invested in home defence rather than any ambitious stuff elsewhere at present. We are now in November 1940.

I will do a graphic turn next time up.

[Bill101]

Japan is busy licking its wounds in China as quite a few units were getting a bit low on strength. We're also busily purchasing some devilish weapons of war!

Germany celebrates as Norway surrenders, and our U-Boat commanders are recalled to port to upgrade their subs.

Very little fighting this turn, but the Royal Navy that is hanging around the Italian coast like a bad smell may well regret it if it doesn't sail away soon.

[SeaMonkey]

Get those Italian subs in the game Bill, then you'll have a followup to the Regia Aero's efforts!

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - Winter 1940 and most is quiet. I consolidated further in the UK, and also launched a limited counter attack out of Alamein in Africa to keep the Italians on their toes, knocking an army down to around 2 in strength and forcing it to retreat. A minor success.

In China a coordinated attack by several armies on one poor Japanese one reaped more damage. The Japanese are going to pay dearly for this - constant reinforcing of their army in China will take away from the naval build up for Pearl Harbour, and the long term benefits for the allies are huge. Here is a nothing hidden image of the Chinese front: to all new players if you can create a front like this with tech investments in infantry, air and industry as I have on top then you are in a very strong position.

Note the army in the south that has taken a pounding. Nearly every turn from here on in I should be able to give a Jap army a tough time and keep wearing down Marc/Bill's troops.

Therefore still very happy with the war situation. Waiting for the Russkies to be brought into play now...

[SeaMonkey]

Oh Boy, the Chinese theater looks fun??? What a stalemate, I believe now as the Japanese, it's time to pull back and bring the enemy to the coast, or better just decide to get out or possibly with a DE to never go into China.:eek:

[Dellinger327]

2nd SeaMonkey's thoughts on the Chinese front.

[Bill101]

And I third them! My advance there to the south west of Changsha was a mistake, as my supply levels are very low there.

Elsewhere though, things are brighter as a British army near Tobruk is brought down to half strength, Algeria swings towards joining the Axis, and Japan develops some extra long range aircraft.

More to follow, but it's now December 1940 so not really the best time for launching new offensives.

[Sharkman]

I don't have gold yet, I'm amazed at the size of the chinese army in 1940, in the pre-gold version this would be completly impossible, I take it the chinese have been seriously pimped-up.

[SeaMonkey]

I want a DE so that I can leave the Marco Polo bridge incident to just that, an incident. Designers can run the belligerency level up and make either or both Chinese and Japanese invest in diplomacy or DoW, the choice is for the players.

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - 2 objectives to this post.

Firstly my turn. In 1940 Britain should really be playing it very cool and probably investing mainly in destroyers to take on U boats, but the situation in the Med was so tempting I could not resist. Here is a shot of the situation before I launched my offensive, but after I had used a carrier to attack Italian ports:

I caught a cruiser on strength 3 in Taranto and sank it, and a battleship in the ports in Albania and sank it also. The Med is truly painted red, white and blue.

You will note the situation west of Alamein: I have 2 armies and a tank corps and flung them into battle. This was the end result:

Italian armour was blasted out the way and a corridor opened up for the infantry. I suspect I have enough momentum here now to drive this Italian bridgehead into the sea, though I am wary of using too many mpps here and not enough in the mother country in case of a very late Sealion. However to my mind a very late Sealion would be madness, so hopefully worth the risk, at least in winter.

Now to my second post objective - China. I think a few readers are getting the impression that China is on steroids compared to vanilla GC. No - not really. My mpps per turn are about 80 after the fall of the first two cities adn that is not excessive, but the real problem here is that the Japanese attack has come too slowly and in the wrong place. My corps in the north should have been blasted early doors (check my earlier post and graphic to see the vulnerable corridor in the north with no mountains), but they werent and after the fall of my first couple of armies and the one in Foochow I have not lost a unit. This has allowed me to stock up heavily. In addition the SCww1 tech rules allow a guaranteed tech increase after a period of time. China often seemed to get unlucky with tech in the past, but not now - infantry weapons are in place and a big bonus.

Why have the Japs not upgraded? I can only assume inf tech was not seen as a priority to go to level 2. However if the axis player wants to hit China hard then getting inf 2 before the Chinese get inf 1 is an excellent way of doing it. It hasnt been done here although it could have been done quite quickly.

I wont give away how I would play it now if I were in the axis chair, but suffice to say it wouldnt be to throw away units in the south. That last turn I destroyed a Jap army next to Changsha, sat as it was surrounded on 4 sides...

Anyway - these are not my problems. The priority from my angle now is to make sure that the Russian campaign goes well. If I get duffed up in Russia then all the success in China and Africa wont mean a thing.

[SeaMonkey]

abukede left you in humbling circumstances Bill, CH will make toast out of the Italians in Africa, there's only one thing to do. Pull back to Tripoli and pack the Italians around an HQ there, UK will have to extend itself to get to you. You'll buy some time and get the X Fliegerkorps into Sicily(supported) for the Malta assault. Any RN will get hammered if they try to intervene, tech up your TAC with NW, and by the way, we ought to have a naval upgrade for Bombers, Ju88 & He 111 were very good against naval targets.

You put those nasty naval teched bombers with double strike in the mix and your opponent will be casting a glaring eye at anti-air upgrades.

And don't forget about those Italian subs!:cool:

[Bill101]

The Luftwaffe has entered Italy, and has a lot of fun on its first mission when it bombs the Australian cruiser Sydney down to strength 2. Alas, having only one Stuka unit at the moment means that little more can be done to relieve the blockade of the Italian coastline this turn, but our endeavours will continue.

Better still, the Kriegsmarine wins a really surprising victory in the Atlantic, north west of El Ferrol, as we run into a British Cruiser which is, or rather was, escorting transports that were carrying Leclerc's Free French Army. I was only moving a submarine out to attack the UK's convoy routes when I discovered, and sank, this charming prize! The cruiser ended the turn at half strength, and will be lucky to reach port at all.

In China we lost an army near Changsha. That will teach me to be impetuous and underestimate the strength of resistance here. A new approach will be needed here in the east if we are to be able to face the might of the USA when we can't even take on Chiang Kai-shek!

The turn ended with three tech increases, one for Germany and two for Japan. We'll need quite a few more in the coming year, but it is a morale booster at what is a rather worrying time for our side!

[Catacol Highlander]

German presence in the Med has just increased, as it probably had to. I was forced that turn to send a cruiser limping back to port that was hammered by the Luftwaffe, and change the angle of my blockade as I spotted Rundstedt making his way to the coast. This is not all bad - if Rundstedt and tac bombers are spending time in southern France and Italy then it means my Russkies get it easier in the Summer. Lose a bit to win a bit. :-)

In Africa an Italian corps was got rid of, and the special force desert group let loose from their cage in the desert. I'm still playing it cool with regard to mpps and investment in Africa: I dont want to get caught with my pants down in the Atlantic or Southern Britain...

... and talking of pants... the Free French Army was sent to the bottom of the Atlantic as I tried to send it to Bristol. Last turn I thought I had put it in a reasonable spot, far enough north to strike for Bristol in one move next turn, but not so far north that any U boats operating out of Biscay would discover it. I was wrong. Gutted.

However the RN has not been idle - I sent destroyers out from Bristol to start a sweep for U boats and prepare the ground for Battleships and Carriers to sally, and found a cruiser. 2 Battleships and a cruiser were enough to sink it, and my carriers closed in. The escort cruiser that failed to save the French also managed to slip away. Unfortunately the U boats and Bismarck that entered Biscay were out of range of my retaliation, but if they stay there much longer there will be carnage... This graphic shows the battle position off Biscay.

In China more casualties for the Japanese as ambitious Chinese commanders begin to wonder if an early offensive might be worth a go!