1939 Storm over Europe - AAR

[abukede]

It's now December 6th, 1940. O'Conner has started his winter offensive. Tobruk is under siege by UK and Commonwealth troops. Continued the air war over France bombing what ports I could (weather permitting) and the infantry corps in Brest. German troops are advancing on Gibralter. The Royal Navy has had more heavy ships delivered, including additional DD's from Lend Lease. Russia is coming along nicely though the lost land from Germany not honoring the Pact will complicate things a bit come spring when the German juggernaught gets going. I can't wait. He will beat up on me early but I love a defensive fight.

[Catacol Highlander]

December 1940 and all (nearly) is quiet. Around Gibraltar I could not resist destroying a UK corps in North Africa that showed itself. This may not have been a wise move on my part - every turn is precious now, and by allocating 2 strikes to get the job done I had to put back my assault on Gibraltar by a turn. It may even be that I put it back even further - the air power down there will be needed elsewhere soon, and needs to be moved, reinforced and allowed some rest. I might have to go about cracking Gibraltar a different way...

Elsewhere more movement, and more purchasing. I will be honest here - I have still not decided upon the exact point of my attack, but that decision will need to be made next turn as I will need the remaining time before Spring to deploy correctly.

Ironically the weather in December 1940 right across Europe is good. When I needed it good in 1939/40 it stayed horrible right until the end of May. C'est la vie - and C'est SC!

[abukede]

Great turn for the allies this turn.

Got a really cool decision event. I did choose the Yes option. Can't wait to see if it works.

O'Conner's offensive continues. Tobruk Fell.

I have a lot going on. The weather did not comply with me to continue the strategic war in Europe. We're well into December. Russia deployed a lot of units last turn. More still coming. Got a really cool tech advance for Russia that will make things much easier. Russia's war readiness remained at 46% again. Once into January I expect it to grow.

On the down side Hungry joined the Axis... but this is to be expected.

[Catacol Highlander]

Turn of the year 1941 and all is very quiet. Not a shot fired this turn...

[abukede]

I launched what I call Operation M this turn to hammer the Italian Fleet. I moved a carrier fleet quietly into the Med with a small surface fleet screened by subs. I felt the time was ripe to locate and begin the destruction of the Italian fleet. One of my subs succeeded in finding the enemy fleet.

I then moved in the carriers and surface ships to begin the reduction of the Italian Fleet. Note the upgraded BB in port. He must have just gotten the tech and upgraded it... a very expensive upgrade. That BB has been sunk and another heavily damaged. The sub was damaged too. Land based air and weather kept this from being a complete disaster for the Italians. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

At the moment the entire Italian fleet is bottled up... and it's a large fleet. I may have to go in and get them. Better that then have them escape into the Atlantic and join up with the Germans once Gibralter falls. I expect some very costly fighting. Nice morale boost for the UK.

I also advanced deeper into Libya this turn. We're still on baby steps.

[lhughes41]

I predict an Allied victory. The Soviets have been building up way too long. That's if the Soviets are very careful about preserving their army :-)

[Catacol Highlander]

Ho hum - a mistake made there in the Adriatic, the result of me not being aware that subs do not block other subs as they used to in SC. An expensive mistake too, and an annoying one as I would not have left my fleet like that if I thought they could be searched out.

You live and learn - wont make that mistake again!

Elsewhere I took Gibraltar after 5 or 6 shots of artillery and an armoured assault. The weather will turn, I hope, in around 2 turns time and then the serious part of the game will start.

Russia has grown her army substantially according to the graphs, although I am still very unsure what index the graphs use. How does a garrison match up against an armoured corps on those bars? Good question! Cant see it in the manual, but a bit of Fog of War on those report options is no bad thing.

MPPs up over 600 each turn now, which is good. Will it be enough?

lhughes - it would be a brave player who attacked Russia in 1940...! The Allies may well go on to win the war, but I dont think it will be the result of the timing of any attack on them, or lack of it. In every game of Global Conflict that I have played where the German player attacks Russia in 1940 the Germans go on to lose. There is a critical moment that has to be caught right, where the Germans have enough force to make big gains but havent waited too long to allow the Russians to grow too big.

Anyway as soon as my next major offensive begins I will pull out the graphics again. Until then you will have to do with Marc's pictures of North Africa, an area I am quite happy not to contest at this stage so far.

[lhughes41]

Thanks for replying. What I was really reacting to was the Nazi-Soviet pact not being signed and the earlier Soviet mobilization (i.e. higher MMPs).. if I understand correctly.. so maybe you have to wait till 1941 regardless but boy its seems like the soviets will be strong by then!

I hear you thought.. it's all about "catching the wave"

[abukede]

Well. It's now April 41 and I expect the invasion of Russia though wouldn't it be interesting if Al struck elsewhere? Russia ticked up in readiness to 52%. Income is lagging just slightly. I never occupied Lithuania... so it's neutral at the moment. The USSR has 44 units deployed (with 9 more locked) so a total of 53 to Germany's 60. I expect the war to start this up coming turn or next. My strategy is one of delay and I've deployed a lot of little speed bumps with my punching power further back. Everything will come down to how heavily he hits me and when. At the moment he has an advantage. Russia's war readiness is climbing very slowly. If he waits till Russia hits the 90s he can make up for lost ground and quickly out-build me as he is at full production. It means a later start to the War in the East but a greater chance of maintaining momentum and suceeding. I think this is unlikely as everything Al has done to this point is hurry up offense. We will just have to see.

Benghazi fell with no resistance. The UK forces are running across an undefended North Africa and the Med is now a lake for the Allies. Limited action in the Adriatic between my sub and an Italian DD. The Italian Navy pulled back and is now completely bottled up. Italy is virtually undefended and vulnerable.

Also... Al made a mistake and took Gibralter which really pissed off the USA. Both Spain and Gibralter falling raised US war readiness to 67%... a huge jump in income for the USA. Once he attacks Russia USA war readiness should climb even further... so perhaps he will delay the inevitable till he has overwhelming firepower... perhaps not.

I got a cool Decision event at the end of my turn. I picked Yes.

[harry33]

Is it possible to prohibit Italy to participate at war or to join the Axis?

In my opinion it would be advantageous to have no frontline in the south and perhaps spend mpps (instead to opcupy spain) for bribe yugoslavia to join the axis.

[Catacol Highlander]

Probably my last post of nothing much - from here on in it is going to get white hot. I scared the British Sub in the Adriatic and moved some air power down there to give my Navy some covering support - otherwise little in terms of battle. I did scout some U-boats up towards the Russian naval bases near Leningrad just to see what could be seen...

However, on the eve of big things, here is the unit picture:

As you can see my German land forces are now large, about as large as I wanted them to be at this stage, and they will be able to do some serious damage in the next few turns wherever I unleash them. What you wont be able to see from this is just how many high quality units I have gone for: I have very few corps in my army: it is mostly armour, special ops and full armies on good upgrades - I am gambling on being able to make quality pay a dividend and smash whatever is in front of me. My air force is also substantial now. I also have 4 HQs at maximum experience which should help.

There will be no more lull...

(Harry - Yugoslavia is at 45% in favour of the allies at present. It would take an awful lot of diplomatic work to turn that around: instead Yugoslavia will have to be conquered.)

[lhughes41]

OK let's see how the surfing goes! Really enjoying this AAR

[abukede]

Not much to report. The German army is skyrocketing... due to the large flow of cash. Most likely a lot of that is garrison units. The German airforce has also grown. Waiting for the ball to go up. Also... if you look on Al's chart above you will see the Royal navy has exploded in size to 32 ships.

[Catacol Highlander]

Barbarossa is here. Bang on the long term plan I declared war on Stalin on 9th May 1941, and immediately headed for Kiev as per intention. Very kindly Bulgaria joined the axis immediately before my declaration: more good news. The only disappointing aspect was the poor weather which grounded the Luftwaffe, but at least even in rain air units can now be moved and redeployed, so it was not a disaster.

Here is an image of the front line in the south at the beginning:

Fast units have sped along the north road, and to the south Stalin has chosed to leave a packet of useful units ready for action.

Once I had destroyed the forward air unit it turned to this:

German units surrounded the pocket, and the panzers, revelling in their new machines, finished off the job. A major blow to the Russian army.

At the end of the turn the front looked like this:

You may wonder why I did not use the Romanian border as my major jump off point. I did ponder this, but did not want to leave any Russian units behind to the north of my major thrust, so decided I might as well hit hard across the whole front, and especially in the sector to the north of Romania.

What next? No genius required to work it out: I will drive hard due East until I run out of supplies or hit my objectives. Meanwhile there is the northern sector of the front to consider, and I will being that into play when I am good and ready...

[abukede]

Good news for the Soviets... I expected a more powerful drive that would hammer everything across the entire front north to sounth on the opening turn and would strike deeper into my lines. This did not happen and seems to be more of a limited offensive. Curious. Armor and air units locked by Stalin to the north escaped the brunt of the offensive.

Nothing much to report on my turn. Repositioned parts of the Russian army. The UK sighed. Churchill slept well. Strategic bombing resumed. My offensive drive across North Africa continued unimpeded which I think will turn out to be a mistake for Al. He could have very easily delayed me a year with a handful of units. Instead within 2 months he will have to worry about invasion from the South.

The USA is now at 69% and making good cash finally.

Got some great tech advances for the Russians. I am confident Al will not like them.

[lhughes41]

Were the soviet air force and tank so far forward because they were locked? Like the idea of locked units. Allows soveits caught offbalance. In WAW I would ahistorically keep almost all Soviet units except road blocks back.

[abukede]

Yes... they were locked but most escaped. Only 1 block of 4 units was completely destroyed. (I believe a 1 fighter, 2 armor and a garrison) Nothing too catastrophic.

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - turn 2 of Barbarossa and German units flood East. Kiev is taken after a major multi-unit assault, and I will admit that I made a last minute change of plan and diverted units to the Black Sea to seize Odessa - I had originally intended to bypass it for now.

Turn ended like this:

So far Marc has allowed me territory in order to wear down my supply and take me on when/where he sees fit. As I approach the resources of the Donetz Basin I think he will have to stand and fight... Elsewhere some land based artillery damaged a UK sub and I moved around a few other bits and pieces.

I'm having a ball. I am in Kiev quicker than I believed would be the case, and from my angle that is good news.

[abukede]

It's now July 4th and the German assault though powerful seems confined to the south only!!! I've redeployed part of the soviet army to help defend. To kind of give you an idea of how underwhelming the assualt was:

To date I have lost 4 garrison units, 3 corps, 2 armor and 1 fighter. The 2 armro and 1 fighter were part of a locked unit. In a normal game I would have lost triple that on turn 1 and 2.

I have traded space for time. Though Al is correct. Shortly I will need to fight for territory. Oh and in Al's picture you can see the little fortification I've built for him. It seems like he has funneled the entire German army south. This is absolutely no fighting in the North of than a sub and DD action. I expect as he advances closer the fighting to get more intense and the shere weight behind his advance will grind me back. The question is... will I be able to slow him before the weather turns. If not, I am in trouble. The next 3 turns will be critical.

As a side note... advance continues. Almost to Tripoli which is defended by an Italian army. I bombarded the port to prevent him from fleeing. The Italian navy is still bottled up. USA readiness is now high. I strategic bombed ports and rail heads in France.

Oh and don't let Al fool you he is a hardcore SC vet and as you can see so far plays a cut-throat game. It is far from over. He's kicked my ass too much for me to say otherwise.

Cool Decision event.

This is one you always say Yes to... though it's nice to have the option.

[Catacol Highlander]

OK - getting to the really crucial stages. Here is the unit analysis now:

This is gradually swinging in my favour, but this is also very important:

Note how the USSR received a massive mpp boost when I invaded. I have now captured 3 industrial centres: Kiev, Odessa and last turn I started my northern offensive and took Kaunas but this is only scratching the surface: what I really need to do now is deal with this:

Note the 6 mine squares on this shot, each holding a great deal of resource. My fast advance has got me to Krivy Rog, the first one, but there are 5 more here and another just off the the South East, and these are now a priority. There is some mighty fighting coming up.

Finally here is something else for Marc to concern himself with, as I do not intend to make a Rookie mistake and give him only one area to defend. As well as my advance in Lithuania here is one arcing northwards from the Ukraine up towards Bryansk:

Plenty therefore going on!! Elsewhere quiet...

[abukede]

Falling back. Buying time. Some strategic warefare. Still closing the ring around Tripoli.

[Catacol Highlander]

More advance, more destruction of garrisons. The main drive in the south finished thus:

Marc has put up a decent line across my main line of advance, but it is not difficult at present to bypass it and such is the force I have at the point of attack that I cant see it holding. 2 more mine squares fell that turn which will hit his income fairly hard and raise mine reasonably well I hope over the next few turns. There is pressure on all sectors - in the North my navy and army around Kaunas is ready for a bit more action too.

I am puzzled that so far I have not encountered any armour or army units. I know that Marc will want to choose a battlefield of his liking, but nevertheless I did not expect to find the Donetz mines so lightly defended in general. I am well on schedule at present, and in approaching 2 years of war have yet to lose a single German ground unit. That may well change this turn or soon after as I am bracing for some kind of counter attack, but at present all is going well for the Axis. Finland has also dramatically leaned my way - a Finnish declaration would be perfect right now: and certainly historical so it has to be a possibility.

[Bossy57322]

Great stuff!

RELEASE THIS GAME DAMN YOU!

[abukede]

Okay it was time to release the Russian armor. I decided to go with a limited attack rather than an major offensive. I could have sent in a much more powerful force and not only eliminated 2 Panzer korps but an army, corp and an SS unit. The problem with that approach is that Al has too much power behind the frontline units... including strong air support. As it is I expect to lose 2 armor and a smattering of other units. I was not willing to lose a much larger force. Still I think the trade off was worth it. This is a picture of the situation pre-offensive:

My objective was his most powerful and experienced units... the 2 Panzers which were "very" experienced. Notice the disparity between tech. Looks good right? Wrong. His unit experience would have made a direct attack on these units at 80-90% readiness and morale very risky. I waited till he reached the end of his supply line and were weakened. The Panzers were at 1 (one accorss the river) and 0 supply (on my side of the river).

This is mid attack:

I destroyed both armor korps, the 2nd Panzer Group and 5th Panzer Group. And expect to lose the two armor I sent in as a result. A fair trade to destroy such experienced units. Remember when I said that Russia would have the largest amored force in the game on the turn he invaded? I was not kidding. Gee... I wonder where the rest of my armor is? I bet Al's wondering too. Is it up north or facing his advance? The size of the front is literally amazing. Since he chose to attack in the south those units could be anywhere.

A problem he now faces is this: The quicker he advances combined with the further he advances translates into units weakened by supply. Ripe for a spoiling attack. Al probably has 4 or 5 armored korps left... but I am betting 4 with another in build. I've only seen 3 more that I can identify by name. There is also Italian armor but they are useless at these levels.

Now I fully expect him to crawl all over my defensive line this turn. He has no choice. They are dug in... and it will be expensive. He needs to advance and take as much ground before winter as possible. I expect to suffer heavily but it's all about wearing him down and causing him to take as much damage as possible prior to when I really hit him probably around winter. He has to suspect a powerful Russian winter offensive will be in the making. It is when he will be his weakest.

Another problem he will face shortly is getting new units up to the front. Those 2 armored korps take 6 months to build. Expect another 3 turns to get them to the front with sufficient morale and readiness to survive and I probably will not see them back at the front in action for 7 months. Fresh armies... expect 6 months.

Russia is huge... there is a lot of territory to trade for time. It's now August 1st. His headaches and mine are only beginning. I love a defensive fight and my units are a lot less expensive than his.

In the West I bombed Paris heavily. I also began the attack on Tripoli which will most probably will fall next turn. The USA is close to 90% readiness.

All in all... I am pleased with my position in the East but that could change any time. This should be an epic fight.

Feel free to ask questions. Thoughts? Anyone like or dislike what they see?

[lhughes41]

You guys are doing a great job getting across your strategy and thinking.

Why is Russian armor cheaper? Built in or some tech? If built in was that always the case in Sc2?