Exel

Turn 69: British corps are on the run in Africa, but the chase doesn't produce any results yet. I hope I can annihilate them before they reach Tripoli again and before the RN gets in range to strike. Algiers taken, but the corps there will surely be destroyed. Italian corps pull back to Albania from Yugo after receiving a beating. Yugos break their line and send one corps west to slow the Soviets down on their voyage south. Gariboldi disbands and a new corps is formed to fill a gap in the west. Army from Rome is moved north - this war will be fought to the end in the Alps.

Turn 67: Soviets breach through the line in the east and reach the gates of Venice, but an army is brought up while HQ pulls back. British corps run into the defenders on Tobruk and get beaten. Counter-attack reduces them to two. Corps close on Algiers.

Turn 65: The Allies brutally attack via neutral Switzerland and Yugoslavia. Their breakthrough attempt fails, but the Swiss are forced to withdraw in line with the Italians to close the gap. An Italian army moves behind them in anticipation of Swiss surrender. Yugoslavians pull into line west of their capitol, and Italian corps move to reinforce from Albania. Now I hope I had decided differently about Yugo - at least I would have gotten the plunder before facing the Soviet steamroller. Air force sinks a British battleship, but carriers are spotted - I suspect that'll be the end of my air war...

Turn 63: Nothing much going on, minor clashes and reinforcing along the fronts. Tripoli taken without resistance and the British Africa corps (hehe) are now cut off between Tobruk and Tripolitania. Brits sail in more ships, but they're all understrenght and a battleship receives a pounding from Italian Air Force. I still would have enough reserves to take Yugo in a blitz with little luck, but any delay would be fatal to my troops participating in the campaign. Also, it would expose my southern holdings to the Soviet onslaught, and the plunder wouldn't quite be enough to compensate that. [ June 09, 2004, 02:19 PM: Message edited by: Exel ]

Nope, I write them after each turn, though I may sometimes comment on the events of your turn too.

Turn 61: Italy stands alone. The lines hold, and some small scale counter-attacks are made with good results. Western front is commanded by Balbo with one army and three corps, while Gariboldi commands one army and two corps in the east. One more army is moving up to join with Gariboldi's troops, while another starts entreching in Rome. One army is sent to Tobruk to meet with the advancing British, while a corps is sent behind them to take Tripoli. Air fleet rebases to Corsica to harrass the British navy while there still is a chance - I suspect the RN carriers are well on their way to the Med.

Turn 59: Germans defenders are down to two armies, but they still destroy yet another Soviet army outside Berlin. Italy gives up plans to attack Yugo and pull most of the forces in Greece to reinforce the homeland defences. Garrisons are left to Athens and Albania. Re-entering North Africa with limited force is also considered. *note to Arngrim: you are really missing some turn AARs

Turn 57: The defensive ring in central Germany tightens and a Soviet tank army is destroyed outside Berlin. German troops now totals 3 armies and 4 corps. Italy suffers a setback as RAF wipes out the elite army in southern France. More troops are summoned to the eastern Alps while withdrawal in the west slowly continues. Greece falls and troop deployments for Yugoslavian campaign begin.

Turn 55: Wehrmacht sets up for its last stand in central Germany, in and around Berlin, with Bock - now appointed Reich's Feldmarschall - in command. The Army is surrounded from all directions, but it still fights on valiantly, destroying a Soviet corps outside Berlin. Italians continue their withdrawal in good order, southern Germany is evacuated and a new line established in the Alps. In the west the Italian elite army counter-attacks while the corps around it pull back to the line. Africa, too, is evacuated and is now open for Allied invasion already on its way. Invasion of Greece begins, and the defenders of Athens don't stand a chance against the veteran Italian armies disembarking from their landing craft directly to the gates of the city.

Arngrim got ahead of me in the AAR postings (missing some turn descriptions somewhere?), so here goes another: Turn 53: West Germany evacuated and left open for the French in the face of imminent Soviet threat towards Berlin. A coherent line is established against them, but it will now be only a matter of time before it is squashed in between two armies, the Soviet and the French. Italy also starts withdrawal in southern France, partly to ensure that the French wont flank to Italy from the now open western Germany, but mainly to get better defensive positions as attacking is no longer feasible. British cruiser fleet sunk, but the sub fleet is dangerously few in numbers now, and the air force fails to cause much damage to the remaining British battleship. Another British cruiser fleet sails in, though it is severly understrenght as well. Italian invasion fleet sails towards Greece.

Turn 51: Alexandria taken, ground forces move to ports and air fleet relocates to Sicily with intentions to attack the British ships nearby. Sub war provides a tad more casualties to the Brits than to the subs themselves. Königsberg ties up Soviet troops and buys Germany time to strenghten the defences around Berlin and Prague, though the latter is already threatened by Soviet armor. The front line in southern France is stable, but the French casualties are higher, especially due to an elite - though badly understrenght - Italian army directly under Balbo's command. This allows West Germany to be defended with only few corps, as the French wont be going anywhere without exposing their underbelly to the army in the south.

Btw, we seem to have some inconsistency in our AAR files, Arngrim's postings being one turn ahead of mine here and one turn behind there. Blame the long (3 weeks?) pause we were forced to have. :/

Turn 49: Battle in southern France keeps the western Allies occupied and their feeble offensive attempt and the Axis counter-attack result in rather heavy losses for them. Eastern front is not so good, Königsberg is surrounded but it holds against overwhelming odds. Warsaw is pounded heavily but the corps withdraw. Berlin and Prague are defended by hastily summoned armies, and are each supported by additional corps. In the fleet battle just off of the coast of French North Africa the British sink the last Italian battleship. But the subs retaliate, and a British battleship is sunk as well. Now it's one near-mint British battleship and badly understrenght cruiser fleet versus lightly damaged Italian sub fleet. Brits also prepare to re-invade Algiers, but Alexandria on the other hand is emptied and Italians prepare to invade. Plans to attack Iraq are cancelled, but preparations for a blitz invasion of Greece take place. If Germany manages to delay the Soviets for a couple of turns and the west Allies yet fail to advance on Italy, the invasion of Greece and its plunder should give Italy what it needs to fight its own war after Germany collapses.

Turn 47: Fighting ensues in southern France and Egypt, producing little results for either side. Italian navy engages British fleets near North African coast, and one British battleship is decreased to 3 strenght. Another fresh one and a damaged cruiser fleet are nearby however, facing the damaged Italian battleship and sub pack. Germany assumes sparse defensive positions on all borders but abandons Copenhagen. I'll be glad if I can hold for more than two turns. USSR declares war on the Axis on June 15, 1941.

Turn 45: Germans set for defensive in the north with corps (one Italian in the south against Maginot). Rundstedt relocates with one army and one corps to southern France with the Italian main force that now turned to British held Bordeaux. Time is running out, however - USSR prepares for war. British withdraw their badly beaten ships from the Med, but sail in two fresh Battleships via Gibraltar, shocking and decimating the Italian fleet. The last surviving Battleship pulls to port in Sicily and the sub moves to intercept between it and the British fleet. Air fleet in Egypt reinforces and prepares to support the ground offensive on Alexandria. Algiers taken.

Turn 43: Stalemate in the German front, British invasion fleet probes the coastal defences in the Baltic. Italy's Army Group France reinforces and more troops are brought in - airfleet rebases to Libya. Beirut taken, Alexandria refuses to fall, Algiers garrison defeated after amphibious invasion. British Mediterranean Navy has suffered a defeat, but the Italians fail to issue the final blow. USSR war entry is getting dangerously high, well above 70% now. US war entry is still negative. The only way the tide can turn now is if Axis minors join before USSR declares war.

Turn 41: The pressure against the Germans is relieved as Italians advance to the gates of Paris from the south. Italian corps advance towards Beirut and another one prepares for amphibious invasion to Algiers. Meanwhile the fleet battle in the Med ensues, and this time an Italian battleship gets sunk but the British attacker is also reduced to one. Sub gets in strike range... British invade Malta, but the invading corps is down to just one strenght.

Little Joe: Yeah, this game went straight to hell from the start (although I refused to realize it until it was hammered into my brain). Turn 39: Fleet battle ensues in the Med and a British battleship is sunk. But the Italians are unable to stop the Brits from invading Malta, though the invasion fleet suffered heavy losses. French troops enter the vicinity of three German cities, Essen, Hamburg and Münich, and additional defences are hastily summoned. Luftwaffe is out of the picture for good, and east is undefended - Soviet readiness begins to increase. The Italians take Marseilles and advance north. If they are not successful in their campaign, this war will be over before winter. [ June 08, 2004, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: Exel ]

Turn 37: January 1941. A new phase begins. France counter-attacks after merciless British air offensive that the Luftwaffe is unable to stop even with two full-strenght air fleets. Germans are forced to retreat, and only few understrenght corps stand between the French and Berlin. One Luftlotte is disbanded to allow MPPs to ground reinforcements. Italian armies destroy Marseilles garrison and Egypt will fall soon, but both progresses come too late to change the situation. Royal Navy re-enters the Med and bombards ungarrisoned Malta. Italian fleet moves in from two direction, and Battleship in the west intercepts troop transports headed for Malta.

Arngrim's AAR posting have been one turn ahead of mine, as you may have noted. So, to fix the situation... Turn 35: Minimal progress, and with the loss of one army and one corps the French army already outnumbers me. My only hope is that Sir Arngrim is not aware of the situation and wont start pushing back just yet. One airfleet disbanded to get resources to reinforce the two others into fighting condition. Italians take Suez.

Turn 33: One French and one British corps destroyed in the north, but I suspect another army falls victim to the pounding of Allied aviators. This campaign has been way too costly, as the German war machine is down to three armies and three understrenght air fleets plus the corps. I need some plunder, and I need it fast. Otherwise we'll be seeing Operation Overlord in 1941.

Turn 31: Brussels and Marseilles fall under siege and Egypt invasion fleet reaches its destination, but yet another army is destroyed in the north, and a panzer army will be crushed on the next turn with utmost certainty. Luftwaffe is unable to do much to prevent these horrific losses caused by the RAF and RN, as the resources allow only one air fleet to be kept fully operational. The situation is becoming catastrophal, even though the fall of France is just the matter of time now.

Turn 29: France loses two corps and final breakthrough is achieved on both fronts - the Allies have no hopes of recovering if only I can keep the initiative. The cost has been heavy, however. Another unit was destroyed in a bulge in the breakthrough point, and this time it was a panzer army. I don't know if I can recover from this in time for Barbarossa, with the loss of LC plunder and all, but I really have no choice but to push forward and see what's in store for me. Speedy victory in France is now crucial, since every turn drains my resources and gives the Allies more and more lead in the tech race.

Turn 27: Breakthrough in the north! Panzers roll into France, but at a grave cost. The Allies destroyed a forward army in the bulge and one Luftwaffe air fleet was lost in a daring air offensive with badly understrenght formations. The French regroup in the south and prevent a breakthrough for now, but are immediately in trouble. Malta taken, Desert Task Force boards their transports...

Turn 25: Axis armies continue to exert pressure on the estimated soft spots both in the north and the south, and it seems as if the Allied line would begin to shatter. Final breakthrough may be only a few turns away. Italian interdiction corps capture the mine behind the French lines in the north. UK evacs Malta in face of intense naval bombardment, and corps prepare to invade the isle. Italy purchases another HQ and prepares for the desert campaign. The bad news is that Luftwaffe is no longer capable of offensive operations, and the budget allows only one fleet to be fully operational.