Catacol Highlander

... and Stalin sits and waits, building his strength and sharpening his sword. The Chinese revel in a snow storm, and do more upgrading. The British? Not a lot from them... or so it seemed. Very quiet turn - it is Dec 41 though, so the final throw of the dice by the Japanese in the Pacific cant be far off.

The German placement of a green and tech 0 corps in Helsinki wuth no HQ command was a suicide move, and Helsinki fell easily. Had the snow come it may possible have been different as the extra unit made it impossible for me to get my infantry to Helsinki, but Red armour was enough. In this regard I have been fortunate as the snow has held off. Finland is out the war, Russia a bit richer, and the northern flank now secured. No action elsewhere in Russia where I simply wait and watch while my forward units are chewed up, but they have already offered more resistance than I thought would be the case and cost the Wehrmacht not insignificant amounts of damage. The Red Army's time will come, but for now I am happy to give ground and watch the clock tick. No action in Africa where the British continue the mop up operation. In China my teched up Chinese armies north of Changsha managed to destroyed a Jap Army that turn. It will not be long before the Japanese, with the US breathing down their necks, will be in big trouble in all areas I think, though not before Bill has had the opportunity to massively increase the size of the Imperial Pacific Empire. Waiting with interest to see how far he can push his attack, and how much damage my chipping Chinese have done to the overall Japanese war effort. The impact of the impending Pearl Harbour attack will be a good guide to this.

Italy runs away from North Africa leaving the British to charge along the coast and capture the towns that are left. In a few turns time I'll return to this theatre once I am ready to go to the next stage... In China pretty quiet... It's all about Russia now. I like to divide my operational areas into sections in my mind, and currently I have 3. Here is the end position in Army Group Finland (Zhukov) I chose to destroy the Finnish HQ first which had fled to the far SW before taking on the Helsinki Corps. This may not have been necessary, but had I attacked Helsinki and not taken it thanks to the influence of the HQ I may have then hit ice and snow the following turn and been left up a creek without a paddle. As it is even if snow comes now Helsinki should fall - a unit on 0 tech with no HQ is easy meat to tanks at level 2 commanded by Zhukov. Then Army Group North. Holding out with minimal force around Riga and Minsk, but not without causing the Germans some problems and taking a real toll of the one panzer corps in that area. Picture here: Finally Army Group South where Bill has placed most of his air assets. This line wont hold, but note the damaged German units and I can tell you that the initial attack on Odessa cost both panzer corps about half their strength. Picture here: Key aspects are my infantry tech superiority and the fact that I now have anti air level 2 as well which should help my ground units be more resilient. Tank and Air tech are also good. Stalin is happy... for now.

Hitler invades, and the allies crank up the pressure... Specifically my assault on Tobruk, made easier by the evacuation of the Italian general staff, began. Didnt manage to take it, but should do next turn. Assault finished thus, and from here I can plan to threaten Italy and stretch Bill's forces: In Russia I decided not to sit and wait for the Germans withouth doing something myself, and I pre empted Finnish treachery by invading Finland. This was the attack forces used, commanded by my best general - Zhukov: I forgot to save an image of the end of the assault, but in simple terms Zhukov's troops smashed the Mannerheim Line and ended up at the gates of Helsinki. The corps in Helsinki comes with entrenchment 6 - not a happy reality - but with some expensive attacking I should be able to elimnate it next turn unless the snows come early. That was the risk with attacking so late in the season (September) - I had assumed Barbarossa in August at the latest, and so there is an element of danger in my assault here, but it seemed worth the gamble. Bill will drive on from here - but by the time he gets close to Moscow I hope to have enough to blunt him, and in 1942 turn him around...

I had a turn of almost total building and reinforcement. Intel spied a U boat off the coast of France which 11 Group strafed and Bomber Command had a go at, but probably not for much damage. The Chinese kept up a slight peppering of the Jap Army, but only in 2 areas as Bill has withdrawn most of his front line units or got them entrenched now. In Africa the British government, convinced now that Sealion wont happen, ploughed all resources into reinforcing the British Army outside Tobruk, and next turn a British offensive there should begin provided I dont hit dust storms. Tick tock... in my opinion allowing the USSR to sit on a high level of mobilisation - 80 something % - plays into Stalin's hands. Mpps are high, and production is advancing unhindered, and once Barbarossa does actually start winter will be close behind. All looking good. I plan to be in Berlin in time for coffee and cake in 1943. :-)

Brits in Africa destroy another Italian army leaving Tobruk nearly open to attack. Stalin's boys prepare further, but are glad to see the clock ticking through July 1941. The longer the wait, the better. My mpps are up over 300 for Russia now, and that is good. China was the main interest for me. Bill launched a big air offensive on Nanning in south, making a bit of a mess of my small Chinese air force, but not doing any damage to the corps in Nanning. Is this the start of something new? Attacks on southern China are still bamboozling me a bit, but with so much air power concentrated there I can only assume that another offensive is imminent. I hope the Emperor hasnt forgotten the need to hit Pearl Harbour if he is to have his Pacific Empire! :-P Graphic of China attached - lots of Jap air visible at the start of my turn. Chinese ground attacks did damage to 3 of the Jap units visible here, totally around 9 from memory. The constant hacking away at Japanese strength in China I am certain is going to have a big impact on the whole war.

Very little from the good guys in June 1941. I spent a lot of mpps in Africa beefing up my units there in preparation for a big final push to drive the Italians out. Some Chinese chipping still. My Russkies put some final touches to their plans, and everything else took a deep breath and waited... Barbarossa this coming turn? I reckon not quite. One more at least before Bill is ready, but who knows: I could be wrong...

A very quiet allied turn. Did some more damage in China and Africa, but nothing that changed the battlefront geographically. Need to reinforce and rest my armour in Africa really before I can do much more, and awaiting Bill's next move beyond Greece. Across the globe India decided to through its lot in with Britain. Early in the game I had not forced this via a decision event because now I will enjoy good relations with the Indian government and much better supply in India should the Japanese invade. To be honest that looks unlikely now as China is still so bouncy, but at the time it seemed wise. An invasion of India by the Japanese is very bad news for the allied powers... It's surely got to be Russia next... I predict a late June invasion, maybe early July. I hope I am ready.

Ouch - the crew of the Gloucester were caught offguard by that air attack. Didnt realise that air power could do that in one hit, or perhaps I had just forgotten! The RN retreats to get itself some new AA guns, but as the Italian Air Force is destroyed as a tactical force at least the cruiser did not die in vain. :-( As an act of revenge the British Army in North Africa attacked again, destroying another army and leaving the situation thus: The Italians here are doomed unless Bill decides to reinforce with Germans, but we are now into Spring 1941 and if he does that my Russkies will be happy. All in all the situatuion continues to be a good one for the good guys. China saw more attacks on Japanese ground forces. I believe I am doing at least 50mpps of damage each turn in China, and that is an effect that will tell on the Japanese in the long run.

OK - I attacked in Africa again, taking an Italian Army down to 4 and destroying the Italian Fighter formation. Air superiority is now mine, and I expect to be able to wipe out this Italian Expeditionary Force within the next 5 turns. However - is Bill about to hit Greece and from there send Germans to Africa? Can he afford to ignore the Russians much longer? All very interesting... In China pretty quiet. I chipped away at another 2 Japanese units for little loss to me and more loss to them, but I am running out of good targets. I think Bill has decided to go on the defensive in China while preparing all out for Pearl Harbour now. I will need to make as much mischief of my Chinese as possible in a few more months when I am ready to launch some limited counter attacks of my own in that area. Nothing at sea - the U boats have disappeared. Upgrading? If so might be a sign of an attempt to wage a big war in the Atlantic. That would be interesting too, though the loss of the 2 German cruisers to incidents in 1940 wont please the Kreigsmarine at all!

Into March '41 and one of the quietest months of the war so far. I could not find any targets at sea, and in Africa and China I continued some limited attacks with some limited damage, but nothing to write home about. A bit more shuffling of the RN and further adjustment to the Red Army... but really I am waiting for the next axis move now. Summer '41 is getting close, and for sure there is going to be some major action!

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!

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.

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...

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Darn it - France fell. I had hoped I had done enough to survive one more turn and launch major attacks again on the Italian Fleet with French naval forces, but it wasnt to be. Should I have evacuated the garrisons in the Med earlier to try and goad Italy into the war sooner? Good question - one for a future game. :-) OK - time for an assessment. What will Marc do now? Seems to me there are a few options: 1. Try for Sealion before winter. 2. Hit Spain, although diplomatic axis activity in Spain already suggests that he is not going to invade. 3. Hit North Africa. 4. Take Norway first, and then do one of the above. 5. Attack Russia very early. 6. Attack the Balkans - but that might anger potential axis partners, so unlikely. My own response is clear. Britain is now preparing for Sealion, as I must do in case he comes. However I think he will go for Africa... In the Med I am on the brink of a minor offensive of my own as I can see Italian troops lined up to invade Egypt. I took Ethiopia that turn so have more troops I can throw at the Italians and any German forces that try to come to Africa. It is all about thrust and counter thrust now - I must preserve what I have but also do enough to delay him. Russia is the key... In Asia my Chinese now are a brick wall. Cant see Marc going anywhere fast there, but we will see. One final new thing: there is a new "player" in the game now called Minor Nations. This appeared with the fall of France and my decision to support the Free French. Income is small, but I have one unit and two mpp producing centres so maybe sometime in the future the Free French can play an active role!

Remember my point in the long term plan about knowing when to pull back and when to try and throw a spanner into the axis plan? I looked at the global map and decided to throw that spanner this turn. The first decision was a spontaneous one. It had been my intention to sit tight in France and try at least to survive 2 more turns. As it is Marc offered me a tasty opportunity that was too much to ignore, so I took a gamble. Here was the start and my tactical plan rather clumsily shown with arrows: The army in the triangle was the focus, and I put everything into hitting it. No sense in leaving Maginot units doing nothing, so first of all used them to wear it down, then a corps to do more damage and lastly my precious armour to finish it off. I got lucky and took only 1 damage - it could have been 2 as predicted in the combat precalculator that gives you a rough idea how much damage an attack will cost. The final position was this: I got a corps out in front of Paris again to act as a bit of a block, and hope to still be alive next turn. Marc has lost 2 armies in his assault on France - and I am happy. My second spanner was pre planned. By getting Italy into the war against Mussolini I have given the French Navy an opportunity to do some damage before it quits the war. I scouted Italian ports and then threw ships into the Adriatic. The result was not all good - I found a sub but it dived and escaped, and then I could not move my carriers close enough to finish off a cruiser that was exposed (bad planning on my part - no excuse really for attack carriers being out of range! - shows how mistakes play a big part in SC..) but I have enough force in the Mediterranean to be fairly confident that I can do major damage to the Italian Navy next turn. I must also balance this by saving enough of my RN to be able to defend the shores of Britain should Marc attempt Sealion. Here was the final position: Finally I had laid a trap for the Italian destroyer unit that in vanilla GC used to lie off the east coast on Africa. It wasnt there. Either my trap was too obvious and the unit escaped, or the game has changed down there. I decided to invade Abyssinia from the Sudan anyway, just to see what can be found. Addis Adaba was found unoccupied, but I could not take the city this turn. Can Marc get a garrison in there to prevent its early capture? Lots going on. In China more troops deployed and more weapons were handed out. In Russia Stalin broods and plans...

OK - Marc has begun his 1940 offensive. No graphic from me tonight, but a few messages of interest for you: 1. Italy has been "encouraged" to join the war because of my decision to weaken garrisons in the Mediterranean. This was just what I wanted, and I hope to be able to do some mischief now. 2. The loss of Foochow in China was expected, and the corps was bought straight back. A number of Chinese units were given new weapons that turn, so my line will quickly stiffen. The swap unit feature that is now present in Gold (hold shift and highlight 1 unit after another and they will swap positions) will be very useful here. 3. In France I decided to counter attack. That may seem foolish, and it may well reduce my defence by a turn, but to sit there and be destroyed by air and armour was something I did not want to do, and I was lucky: the army I hit chose to retreat after my last attack, and it retreated right into range of units on the Maginot Line who were able to destroy it. To knock out a German Army at this stage is a big bonus and may prove significant for future operations in North Africa or the UK. 4. Marc has used airborne forces in France - 2 units. This surprises me - Norway is currently untouched. What is he getting up to here??

OK - Marc took Belgium though the RAF gave some decent air cover and the Luftwaffe was bloodied somewhat. Not much i can do but show you my disposition in West and East before Marc begins the major offensives coming. Here is China: Signifantly I just got level 1 infantry at the end of this turn, so now China becomes a massive headache for Marc. Here is France: Still a little bit of movement I would like to do, but ready for the assault, and ready with enough available power that Marc will need some time to wear me down. So - it's game on!!

China standing firm, and another army takes to the field. Waiting now for level 1 infantry, and then all will be very good. In the west Mussolini has not yet taken the bait, but he might soon... I have so many French mpps sitting around doing nothing I was even able to invest in some French diplomatic action. Not sure if this mpps excess is also a new feature in Gold: I dont remember having so much to spend, and I have a lot of units grouped round Paris now so hope to be able to significantly delay Marc. I get the definite impression that Hubert has set up Gold to give the axis player a much bigger 1940 headache than before! Action will hot up soon...

OK - next update from me. I thought I would highlight the situation in China a bit. Note this graphic: Marc, I think, has made an error. The unit highlighted in a delightfully lilac box is his elite expedition army. This is a vital unit for Japanese fortunes in China, as it is the one unit with the experience and oveloaded power to knock the hell out of the Chinese. However he attacked across a river with it last turn and it has dropped to strength 8. This will cost it one of its experience stars when it reinforces, and that is good for me. Also I have highlighted the "Changsha Ring" as I call it; a defensive perimeter in the south. I have nearly got this fully established now, and it will be a pig for Marc to break it. With good weather and lots of carrier support he will be able to grind it a bit, but all the way to Chungking? - virtually impossible. I suspect he will sensibly take the southern edge as far as Nanning as a launchpad to activity in Indochina. Elsewhere I decided it was time to wind up Mussolini, and by withdrawing French garrisons in the Mediterranean am hoping to provoke him into a declaration on the allies. We will see if he takes the bait in the next turn or two...