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1939 Storm over Europe - AAR


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Hi

Our latest WWII campaign, 1939 Storm over Europe, is now nearing completion and as we move towards release two of our beta testers, Marc and Al, have volunteered to post an AAR here for us all.

Just as with my recent WWI AAR against Dan, they have agreed not to read each other's posts so please respect that when asking questions or making comments.

They are both rather competitive players with strong gaming reputations and many victories under their belts, so this should hopefully prove to be a hard fought contest as Al will attempt to conquer Europe while Marc who will command the Allies is going to do his best to stop him.

This is still a beta version so amendments may still be made before release.

Enjoy! :)

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Just a note for everyone. Al is an excellent player. He and I have a rivalry that goes back some time and he is one of the few who have beaten me badly. He is also gunning for revenge from our last WWI game. I managed to surround in a pincer movement the bulk and flower of the Russian army which then took 5 turns to destroy. (Yes WWI) He really wants revenge. So expect an cut throat game. We have never played each other the WWII campaign so it will be interesting to see what happens. He thinks out-side the box and focuses on speed.

Turn 1 for the Allies. My opponent hammers Poland very hard. I’ve played against numerous players who all approach Poland differently. Some use Poland to build experience. Others just want that cash as quickly as possible. Al is focused on speed and hammers Poland hard bypassing many large concentrations of forces to go right for Warsaw. He destroys the Warsaw garrison unit. (Yes… a new unit that you will quickly grow to love) He does not have the legs to take Warsaw on turn one. I manage to operate in a weak Corp, move an artillery unit in for support and also an HQ but my other units are now isolated and can not react in time. I also hammered him with Polish air. He was too far forward for German air cover. Sometimes a risk worth taking. This time it paid off. Poland falls on the next turn.

One other thing... Poland is a major at the beginning of the game. I actually think it's pretty cool and allows the use of unique units, including cavalry.

PolandTurn1.jpg

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Hello all. A privilege to be asked to do this AAR - I hope Marc and I can make it interesting and highlight how the game works. Both of us are historians in our real lives - added spice. It is also the first time I have played this new scenario, though I am well versed in the reality of WW2 and have played many games of SCGC.

I have taken the axis; Marc the allies.

Having mulled over the map, checked the victory conditions and looked at my own style of play my initial strategic plan looks like this:

- London or Moscow are the key objectives for an axis victory. After thinking through my rather chequered history with naval warfare, and uncertain quite how the navy war is balanced in this new scenario, I decided to go for a long term priority of taking Moscow and obliterating the Red Army.

- I will look to defend in the West using air power in the first place. Withdraw the U boats to start, wait for technology and then unleash them sometime in 1941 for a sustained naval campaign through 1941 - 42. This campaign will not win the war, but will be designed to occupy the RN and USN sufficiently to prevent any idea of an early D Day.

- North Africa looks to me a potential drain on resources, so the Mediterranean will be put below Russia as a priority, and Italy tasked with a defensive role.

- Defeat Russia by 1943 thereby putting me in control of the game - I hope!!

As an extension of this my plan then is as follows:

1. Destroy Poland as quickly as possible and endeavour to engage France before Winter 1939.

2. Refuse the Nazi Soviet Pact to reduce the distance required to get to Moscow and the Caucasus.

3. Plan to invade the Soviet Union in April 1941, or March if the weather turns early. Strike first for the economic resources in the South in the belief that my opponent will have to defend the northern sector around Moscow properly leaving the south thinly defended, and look to take Moscow in a second stage assault in 1942.

4. Put maximum research attempts into industry, infantry and armour initially, with intelligence and air power as secondary priorities. U boat development will be brought on as a third stage in research should the Gods be with me and the first two successfully developed sufficiently.

So there is the plan. Post 1 complete. Next post - some action...

-

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Al will post his thoughts on he last turn but while I have a moment he took Poland on turn two and failed to honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This infuriated Stalin. No other beta tester has taken this route against me yet. I am wondering what implications it will have for him. In another game... Germany took Lithuania and paid for it by early war.

Note that he took Eastern Poland :(

PolandTurn3.jpg

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OK - first image. Start of turn 3 looks like this.

ww2Turn3.jpg

Not a remarkable image in itself - the 2 arrows show where I put most of my effort into destroying the Poles, but I would point you to what you DONT see. There are 2 armour units not present, an HQ less than there should be and no Tac Air either. Check back to my plan - I want to invade France before the Winter comes and so used up all available mpps at the end of turn 2 to move them west early as possible. The allies will not have a winter to prepare - if I get the weather I will hit them as hard as possible in late autumn!

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OK - now the main event is about to start. Here is my Western Front disposal at the beginning of November:

ww2Turn4.jpg

Conventional military wisdom would dictate that I wait for winter to pass, but every turn is going to count if I am to be ready to invade Russia on time, and also prepare for the possibility of an angry Stalin starting hostilities of some kind even earlier than that. I am always keen to look at other opportunities too, maybe an invasion of Spain or even an adventure somewhere else. One thing is certain - I want France out the war before we get close to the end of Summer 1940 at the latest, so as to give me time to invest, refit and consider my options prior to March/April 1941.

The turn then finished like this:

ww2turn4end.jpg

Taking the conventional Schlieffen Route through Belgium I can confirm that Belgium surrendered at this point, despite the fact that rain meant my Stukas were grounded, and Holland will fall next turn. The destruction of a Dutch naval unit in port gave me a handy National Morale doost. I destroyed the frontier Belgian Armies with infantry strikes, and then used the panzers to wipe out the Brussels Army and Belgian Air Force behind. I saved my artillery shells for future softening up of predicted French armies to my South West. I will be in Northern France before Christmas, spearheaded by 2 upgraded and still full strenth panzer armies.

A decent start.

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He has caught me flatfooted in France. France is not fully prepared yet and the BEF is not fully deployed yet. I think I will keep the remainder of my British forces in England. I should have expected a fast drive from him but did not expect him to waste so much cash operating his army back from Poland. (Huge expense.) You need that money to prepare for Russia. On the flip side... it may not be wasted cash. He's going to crush France rapidly and then will have time to either prepare for the Russian bear or go for England. I think he will have a tough time with England. If he does attack England... it will give Russia the advantage in the East, especially since he did not honor the pact. Russia's army becomes huge fast.

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The advance continues. This zoomed image shows the front line now just prior to Christmas. Destroyed a French Army next to Lillle and also a British Corps in Ypres. The door to Northern France may well now be open, and I decided to try and speed that up by diverting my last panzer corps, not yet upgraded, away from Holland to strengthen the thrust in Spring. Holland will fall in its own time - actually I will not be too upset if Marc pours reinforcement mpps in to it as it is a dead end for the allies now.

ww2turn5endcopy.jpg

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Winter slowed things down slightly. I expect a German push next turn. France is in a bad way but I am going to try to drag it out as long as possible. England is preparing for invasion. Russia is making more cash due to Germany not honoring the Pact. i.e. readiness is up and increasing. Stalin I think is still angry. Not much I can do at the moment other than try to slow the tide and prepare for future action. As I told Al this turn it will be interesting to see what he does after France falls. He spent a lot of cash operating his army across Germany to get an early strike and improve future strategic options. Will it be worth it? He could easily have invested the cash in new units and tech and walked his troops back to the West. Will he start the war in the East early? Or... Wait and build up? Pull off Sea Lion? Either way he is forcing both Russia and England to invest heavily in building up large ground armies early.

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Exactly how the Axis gain the tech advantage, forcing the Allies to buy ground and air units. I would suggest the ground unit purchase, especially for USSR, keeping a vast reserve in the Q (don't deploy them right away). Once you're comfortable with your force mix in the Q, tech the priorities, heavy weapons, anti air, and wait, you have the advantage of interior lines and flexible deployments.

How about it......did we get the ability to tech units that are still in the Q or do we have to still deploy them first?

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New Year 1940 - German tanks slowed up in the ice and mud of Flanders, but forces further north secure the surrender of Holland. Wont bother to post an image as the advance into France was geographically rather unimpressive. Mauberge was captured, however, with the loss of another French corps and the first point of damage inflicted on the panzer spearheads by perhaps a rather rash assault on Lille in the ice.

Bring on Spring!

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Nice! An AAR grudge match. :)

he took Poland on turn two and failed to honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

This really caught my attention. So if you take Poland before the Russians march in, you have the option to tell them to stuff it when they ask for their take of the loot?

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Last few times I played, I'd always refuse M-R Pact. A DE could dissuade this type of activity with the loss of USSR MPP transfers, or just grease the German palm with some trade MPPs from USSR at the beginning to go away if the Reds reach a certain belligerency level.

Why not just have a number of DEs to shape a player's strategy from the initial game turn. These could actually go back in time with decisions like create the Z-Plan which if chosen would cull the beginning air and armor available. Diplomatic DEs could create a different alliance potential, a whole new foundation for first turn dynamics could be formed with "Days of Decisions" before the first turn deployments.

You roll the dice, you get a different force mix.

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Winter has complicated the German advance. It's now February and I have managed to form a new defensive line south of the border along a river complete with anti-tank units and the odd garrison unit. I do not expect my line to fare well once the weather turns. Both low countries have surrendered... most likely giving Al around 200mmp each. He has not touched Denmark or Norway yet. French morale has fallen rapidly. I think I am below 40%. I honestly do not expect France to last much longer before she surrenders. The remnant of the BEF is holding out around Dunkirk... and dug in. They will most likely be evacuated in the coming turns when the Germans break the French lines. UK strategic bombers have begun bombing occupied ports, reducing their ability to launch an invasion. The UK has deployed a number of Destroyers in the last few turns. (which is a relief as I do not know where his sub fleet is operating.) I will be getting many more shortly due to lend lease.

It's shaping up to be a very interesting match.

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Ice and snow covers the flat ground of northern France and Belgium, slowing up further the axis advance. This was always a risk and a likely result until March, but worth the gamble in terms of an early invasion.

As Spring approaches the Wehrmacht is deployed like this:

ww2turn7end.jpg

I notice that Marc scrambled units to form a very WW1-like line to try and halt me. Doesn't work in WW2 of course! So using mobility I have changed the point of attack, taken Sedan and will drive at Paris over the next 3 turns mainly from the East. He will have to move again to block me, and that will reduce entrenchment, an important factor if the rains return and ground the Luftwaffe. Stukas and artillery had to be used this turn to secure Sedan, but I deemed that a necessary use of resource and a risk worth taking in terms of any Luftwaffe losses: I got lucky and all my bombers came home unscathed.

Spring to follow now - my next report should see me closing in on Paris.

In the meantime my forces in the East have marched to the Russian border and formed a staging position for future operations. In the North preparations are underway to seize Denmark, an easy operation I would expect.

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French morale is in the toilet and dropping rapidly. Trying to slow Al down to keep from accelerating morale loss faster than it is now. If I give up too much ground too quickly... i.e. fall back from cities and valuable points I could rapidly tip France over. So I am walking a tight rope. As a result I can not just abandon the Maginot line. It would allow him to flood into France and cause France to surrender much quicker. At best I am hoping to slow him down to the point where his early offensive only gives him a 2 month lead. Mother nature and creative dispositions have slowed him down.

I took a risk and put the French fleet to work this turn hammering captured ports with a focus on destroying key facilities that could be used to launch an amphibious attack against England. I hope the German navy comes out to play. I also conducted a bombing raid on German industry. There was no air defense as the German airpower is supporting the invasion of France. It’s not much but it’s a beginning at striking back. Baby steps. As the game progresses my goal will be to hit him where he is not expecting it and make the strikes costly so he is forced to defend everything… stretching his defenses and making him vulnerable. One thing he will discover shortly is that once France falls… he has to defend it and it’s one big coast with a lot of key points to assault. England is rapidly becoming a tough nut to crack.

strategicbombingA.jpg

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Sorry abukede, I didn't mean to pull all them out, leave a threat on his flank, say Verdun and Metz, a couple more in the trenches to ruin his supply if he advances and take the rest to Paris.

Ahhhh.....Paree'..... is so nice in the Springtime!:)

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First, thanks for doing this. Seems like a most interesting match. I played a fair bit of the pre Global games, but was turned off by descriptions of Japanese engineers in France and and Japanese invasions of UK.. so did not buy the global. But I am thinking about getting back into SC now that there is a European Theater focused scenario (also would like to try WWI). So this is a very timely AAR! Now a few questions and comments:

-- Days of Decision -- this would be a wonderful addition to SC. So I second SeaMonkey's advise here. The board game "Totaler Krieg" does an nice module on this as an illustration of what can be done.

-- Poland/Lithuania -- as a followup to the last point I noticed a mention of USSR attacking due to Lithuania pact option. From what I've read of the history of that pact Lithuania as German was originally going to be a part of the pact and Stalin would get more of Poland. So a bit surprised on Lithuania going to Axis yielding a war... comments?

-- Air Power -- in pre Global Tactical Air Power seemed quite overpowering. I always had to focus the soviets on anti-aircraft and then airpower to try to stay alive. I noticed comments recently to the same effect about Global. So I'm curious as to why the German player here has decided to treat Air as a 2ndary tech objective (I know tech in general is secondary for him...understood.. but within tech he says Air is still secondary as well). Does this mean tac air is less powerful in this scenario? That would be welcome news.

-- National Morale -- I've read on how National Morale impacts WWI game. I don't recall it being present in pre-Global. Can you speak to it's impact in this scenario please?

-- Moscow -- sounds like Moscow is central to victory or defeat for USSR in this game. True? I don't recall clearly it being absolutely key in the earlier SCs but maybe I have forgotten.

France winter -- I'm also not too keen on the whole 'conquer france in 39 to 40' from a history standpoint and it always seems to be a big advantage in SC. Getting France early pays off big. I'd like to see winter toughened perhaps. Just a comment. Or at least you can't take down poland and france in this period. One or the other.

Thanks guys!

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lhughes41,

In answer to your questions:

Poland/Lithuania -- as a followup to the last point I noticed a mention of USSR attacking due to Lithuania pact option. From what I've read of the history of that pact Lithuania as German was originally going to be a part of the pact and Stalin would get more of Poland. So a bit surprised on Lithuania going to Axis yielding a war... comments?

Germany taking Lithuania and not honoring the Pact did not start a war but it swung the USSR heavily against Germany and increased war readiness making the USSR more beligerent. Stalin is irriated and Germany will have to live with the consequences should Russia enter the war early. On the flip side Germany gets a little more income and can start the war in the east closer to Moscow.

-- Air Power -- in pre Global Tactical Air Power seemed quite overpowering. I always had to focus the soviets on anti-aircraft and then airpower to try to stay alive. I noticed comments recently to the same effect about Global. So I'm curious as to why the German player here has decided to treat Air as a 2ndary tech objective (I know tech in general is secondary for him...understood.. but within tech he says Air is still secondary as well). Does this mean tac air is less powerful in this scenario? That would be welcome news.

I will get Al answer this one...

-- National Morale -- I've read on how National Morale impacts WWI game. I don't recall it being present in pre-Global. Can you speak to it's impact in this scenario please?

Morale does not play as huge roll as it does in WWI game but it does affect gameplay in the form or readiness and morale at the unit level and also when a country surrenders. i.e. loses the will to fight. France is nearing that point and should cave in shortly. It is much harder to force Germany or Russia to do the same... much harder.

-- Moscow -- sounds like Moscow is central to victory or defeat for USSR in this game. True? I don't recall clearly it being absolutely key in the earlier SCs but maybe I have forgotten.

There are alternative capitals like Stalingrad... however Moscow is a critical city.

France winter -- I'm also not too keen on the whole 'conquer france in 39 to 40' from a history standpoint and it always seems to be a big advantage in SC. Getting France early pays off big. I'd like to see winter toughened perhaps. Just a comment. Or at least you can't take down poland and france in this period. One or the other.

Al was betting he could nock out France much quicker... winter, mud, ice and a creative deployment slowed that down significantly. Likely he will still manage to knock out France early but I'm trying my best to keep that from happening. Once the weather turns it will be all over for France.

Anyone else have any questions?

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