Colin I

Japan continues to be effective grinding the Chinese and killing a British Indian unit in SE asia. Russia reinforces its presence in Rumania but still faces an excellent German defense.

Bloody fighting in Balkans and on Russian border. Rumania changes hands several times but now has good Russian presence. Allies destroy another U boat in harbor. Japan closing in on China. Strangely quiet - USN, IJN and Italian navy. Spain drifts back towards allies but is still about 40% Axis.

I believe you....! I was just wondering if the designers could comment relative to WaW. I really like the weather, its frustrating as hell if you are poised to strike but pretty realistic.

We are used to bad weather in SE Asia. In the Global game I've noticed bad weather keeps going longer in Europe - especially into the Spring. I kind of like this, gives a chance to rearm and stops air being too powerful. But it caught me by surprise a few times and screwed up a TAC air plus paratrooper mediated SeaLion. My question is has the weather model changed since WaW or is it just a run of bad luck in the games I'm playing?

Europe: Total Mayhem German TAC and armour destroy Russian armies and armour. Russians hit back taking out armour in retaliation and knocking Rumania out of the war. British swing using land based air plus carriers to attack his remaining subs and another armoured unit. Germans are fighting very well and Russians taking historical levels of casualties but they just keep coming. Vichy keeps edging towards the Allies. SE Asia and China: Pretty much as before - no major changes this turn.

Weather clears in Europe and action escalates. German TAC and armour devastates 3 Soviet armies on Russian border. Soviets reveal jet fighters and with British bombers attack German armour - Soviet ground troops finish the Tiger and Soviet armour advances into German on a suicide mission and destroys an Italian TAC bomber. Meanwhile in the Balkans Russian air downs an obsolete minor German ally fighter and destroys some minor German ground troops. On the whole German defense is excellent but Soviet MPP must equal Germans and numbers should tell. Meanwhile British use ground and air to take Copenhagen and sink a German sub in Copenhagen harbor. Next turn will be very bloody - German air has a wealth of targets but he can't be everywhere. I expect to lose Soviet ground troops and some navy but its worth it to apply pressure all around Germany. In the East Japan continues to grind British and Chinese positions. But where are the Americans? Spain swings to Axis - nice diplomatic move on his part given he could guess Allied diplomats mostly in Vichy. But also an MPP drain.

Astonishingly bad weather in Europe. During a break German TAC bombers kill a partisan and damage an army. Russians infantry assault a sub pen sinking a U-boat. In Far East Japan continues to look dangerous. Allies bomb convoy from SE Asia.

Bad weather slows the action but this year should be decisive. the Japanese still are holding the Allies in SE Asia and slowly crushing the Chinese but US has yet to intervene. Germans defend their homeland - great armour, fighters and TAC but the Russians are there in strength. British European Carrier group plus air from Sweden destroy a German corps in Denmark and damage Baltic defenses at Copenhagen harbour. Quiet turn. Broadly standoff to Japanese advantage in Far East but Germany, despite a superb armed forces, rather hard pressed.

Weather poor in Europe. Russians nail a Tiger unit (with a little bomber support from the UK units in Sweden) and blitzes through the gap with a corps only to find Germany packed with excellent air and armour. Not quite sure why he retreated so far given all this gear but the thaw will see quite some battles. UK take the opportunity to sink the German carrier in port. In the Far East UK looking for leverage but that L4 Japanese armour is tough. Japanese carrier nails a UK cruiser. US DOWs Germany (it was only at war with Japan previously).

China is destroyed by using bombers to sap MPP? That was how it was done in PTO. Agreed China cannot stand up to Japan but thats how it should be.

Minty - certainly would be good to play you. I'm enjoying GC too. Glad to see a few veterans back. German problems started early. UK used diplomacy to stop Swedish ore then France killed a German armour unit. But then Germany basically ignored the UK (no subs, no Battle of Britian, no DAK) and this is where the trouble really started. UK has quite a lot of MPP from the colonies if the Axis do not stress it. It got long ranged air 2, gathered its carriers and basically blockaded Fortress Europe, sunk Norwegian ore and then invaded Norway. This screwed up a German invasion of Sweden (he aborted). So, ultimately Germans did not have enough MPP and got his subs bottled up in the Baltic. The Axis TAC air never really got going in Russia and Italian Navy did not do much. I think late Barbarossa was just shortage of resources. Japan is doing a lot better.

German defenses on the Russian border are formidable but we will see come Spring. Russians harass an Italian engineer and Balkans troops whilst preparing. Vichy drifts further to Allies. Japanese move armour to confront the British though this does mean China will survive a while longer.

Even if you don't Sealion you need to stress UK - make it burn MPP. This now has knock on effects to the Far East. I think yopu might need to act in Middle East too - at least keep UK carrier there - if it combines it with the other three it gets in the West this is a nasty strike force. Sealion is hard - the UK can blockade ports, has a lot of Naval units relative to the scale and a small UK makes it hard to get lots of troops ashore and fighting well. On the plus side you can have multiple paratroops and combine them with TAC bombers and subs.

I think so, though I would like my opponent to comment, the account is rather biased right now. One reason for posting the human vs human AAR was there seemed to be the idea that holding your subs in the Baltic until they got L3 technology (say releasing them early 1942) plus TAC in Russia is cookie cutter. The Allied strategy was an attempt to refute these ideas, Sub + TAC is a good strategy but not an automatic win. In this game the UK was both lucky and proactive in derailing the sub issue by bottling up the Baltic. Long range air was a big help here. I'm not saying it will work every time but think a lot of the comments on the Axis strategy might be from games against the AI. A human player might not have the extra units and other AI advantages but can counter an Axis steamroller far more subtly. Also, diplomacy is an issue not yet explored in current discussions. The US can bring a lot of pressure to bear - its a nice way of using its MPP that can force an Axis response when it does not need the distraction. I'll actually ask the reverse question. I get German strategy, its not that different from previous games. But I think Japan is very hard to play. A fast China defeat is hard and it requires a lot of planning to set up the "Pearl Harbour" turn when Japan launches multiple invasions and takes on the US. Anyone want to post a good Japanese strategy which coordinates with Germany? In this game Dave has developed L4 armour which was really nasty (three of these monsters in China) but the single strike tanks and awful terrain still limits progress. And even the Chinese get L2 antitank technology eventually - though frankly it has not halted the armour.

Germans retreat to the border with Russia - no doubt backed up by air power but ultimately this can't hold the Red Tide. British repair and rearm, the weather is too awful to be active from Sweden. Vichy France continues to move to the Allies. Japanese are far from spent - making kills in China and SE Asia. Two Japanese Carriers are off China.

Desperate Kriegsmarine sally from the Baltic and are mostly sunk. Russians advance.

West: Germans fall back in Russia. Russians move forwards. British bomb Germany and Denmark plus take pot shots at the Kriegsmarine - all from Sweden. Germans have some very effective fighters on interception duty and those TAC bombers in reserve. East: Chinese get hammered by Japanese armour (L4 and experienced). The only things saving them are their population base and fortifications. I think if Japan had bombed their cities the whole thing would be over by now with China lacking the MPP to continue. IJN suspiciously quiet - bit worried what they are up to. Still, USN also not very obvious either.

WEST: Serious armoured and infantry clashes in Russia. Russians unveil Sturmoviks as tank busters. British carpet bomb tanks in Russia from Sweden.....! Vichy France starts to drift towards the Allies. EAST: Japan falls back in SE Asia and Chinese keep soaking up casualties but are holding.

Allies reinforce Sweden threatening the Baltic. On the other side of the Baltic a Russian partisan attacks the Graaf Zeppelin - bet you've never seen partisans attack a German aircraft carrier before....! They actually do not do much damage but it was still a morale boost. The Russians roll forwards though only one enemy army destroyed so far. But there are a lot of Russians. In the Far East Britain further crowds the Japanese in SE Asia and Chinese deploy AT2 technology. India wants rid of the British and riots break out.

WEST: German TAC guarding the Baltic is very effective and British careless with air cover - 2 Battleships sunk off Denmark. Sweden enters for the allies. RUSSIA: Germans fall back, Russians edge forwards using partisans to scout ahead. EAST: Japan keeps going in China but Chinese only give ground slowly. In Burma British and allies start to appear in quite some numbers to limit Japanese expansion. South America: Some political realignments - will go into details next post.

WEST: Germans seem to have redeployed air power to the South of Denmark to defend Baltic. British Navy still very strong around there. Meanwhile Sweden drifts further to the Allies. In Russia German Tigers edge towards Leningrad and Smolensk. Russians fight back a little including an air attack on a Tiger. The balance of air power in this game is interesting. Germany has problems in Russia so really needs its TAC there as Soviet fighting technology is otherwise nearly as good and there are lots of them. But to do this raises the problem of British pressure - an amphibious assault on Denmark or France or a Baltic break in. Whilst this situation continues German subs (a deadly L3) cannot sap all those MPP going to Russia. Sooner or later this balance or vicious circle will break and the whole game will change. EAST: Japanese heading towards India start to encounter Allied troops. So far no big engagement in the Jungle. British forwards deployment is really to offer the Chinese some indirect support. But China continues to fail to stand up to the Japanese tanks.

British carriers launch strikes into the Baltic (from south of Norway) sinking 2 German surface vessels. Also in the crowded Baltic German subs sink Russian battleship. Germans start to make inroads into Russia. Japanese armour, including one L4 unit, crawl towards Chinese capital. British lose a minor surface unit to an unexpected German sub off India/Dutch east Indies.

Germans advance back into Russia with lots of armour. Russians have AT2 so its going to be bloody when the weather finally clears. Germans build a carrier - I'm quite surprised, would have gone with more subs or more air. Sweden swings further to Allies. I think there is real pressure on the Baltic - imagine a pond full of tadpoles drying up - there must be a lot of subs floating around in there. On the plus side Finland declares for the Axis so he does have a lot of strength in that part of the world. China - they are holding for now but I do not expect this to last - then Russia should watch its back.

EAST: Japan keeps rolling, most major targets including Singapore have fallen. It remains to be seen where he goes next. So far Australia and India are unthreatened. His focus is still China which continues to crumble faster and faster. Again, only the Flying Tigers distinguish themselves. The Chinese do now have AT1 but this does not halt his three L3 tanks. WEST: Another story entirely. Barbarossa so far is limited with only Riga falling. The Germans retreat (from Riga, not Moscow!) to avoid Winter effects and are upgrading their armour - 1942 will be more violent. Soviets just prepare and wait. So far we consider this a border incident, not an invasion..... Sweden swings to the Allies. This is a threatening use of diplomacy given the Allied strength in Russia and Norway. Rest quiet. Finns stay out and Middle East quiet. Axis have strong fighting technology (IW/AT/Armour plus L3 subs). Russians are as good on the ground. British have invested in long range air and a balanced portfolio otherwise. US are not revealing much yet.

Russia gets a touch of frost (but not Soviet Winter Effect) towards the end of 1941 and Riga falls. Bad weather slows UK in Norway. More carnage in China and island hopping from Japan. Manila holds one more turn and Singapore still British. Africa and India quiet.