Happycat

I was hoping he would choose the wrong direction and run into my hidden DD---but he chose the right route. I would have closed the gate, but one ship was just out of range

Below is the situation off of Halifax. The U-32 hung around a bit too long, giving me time to bring up a couple of destroyers to support the cruisers already in the area. (For newcomers to the game---a good tactic when hunting subs is to either surround them completely, so that they can't escape. But this is often not possible, so the next best tactic is to station other ships just out of sight of the sub. When he moves, and if I'm lucky, the U-32 may find a French ship. The effect of this will be damage to both vessels, particularly the German, and the U-boat will be stopped in its tracks, allowing me to come in and finish him off next turn---IF I'm lucky. Marc may find the one (and only one) clear path out of the area, giving us each a 50-50 chance of having a smile on our faces next turn )

The summary above shows the situation facing the UK and France. Our enemy expressed surprise that French and British fighters were nowhere in the skies over Belgium, but Churchill felt that if Belgium was not going to help itself when faced with obvious danger, then the Allied warplanes needed to be held back for the defense of France. The RAF is particularly well prepared now, having complemented its Hurricanes with the even speedier Spitfire. The previous pair of photos shows the extent of British confidence in Italy's "neutrality". Having become far too cozy with Germany, he will now have to live with the consequences. (This turn, Italian war readiness was 92% at the beginning and jumped a small bit to 94% after I moved some French ships out of port, quite deliberately. At this point I don't care how much I tick off the Italians, because they're going to be in this thing within a turn or two no matter what I do. Now, my forces are disposed the way I want them to be when Italy makes the leap out of the frying pan and into the fire).

You won't regret purchasing this expansion. Between it and AoC I am not getting much sleep these days

With the invasion of The Netherlands, can an attack upon France be far off? The Anglo-French alliance is ready! Some British politicians and military planners are not convinced that the French plan to defend from the Maginot Line is a good one, and are urging the French to secure the (so far) neutral Belgian border. In fact, some have suggested crossing into Belgium, since that country does not appear willing or ready to act in its own best interests by joining the Allied cause. Just in case, there is also planning in Britain for what Mr. Churchill terms a "Home Guard"... No action in China, other than reconnaissance flights by Chinese and foreign volunteer pilots, utilizing the latest in American military pursuit plan technology as seen above. Planes such as the P-40, P-43 and P-35/36 will make short work of the Japanese "rice paper and bamboo" aircraft, will they not?

Replaced some of my losses in Shenzhen, otherwise it was a quiet turn. There was a LOT of movement of various Allied forces on land and sea, but nothing I can share---yet Iceland joined the Allies and Britain garrisoned it, so when my bombers have longer range, they will be able to join in on the war against U-boats, which is good---'cuz they are hurting the UK economy at the rate of about 30mpp's per turn

A word about my investments in Spain. Franco is a much misunderstood man. Sure, he's a Fascist, but he also has more of an affinity for France and Britain than he does for Germany. Something about the colour of British pounds sterling makes him want to break out singing "Rule Britannia"! Seriously; while it's true that an army would defend Britain more effectively than Spanish friendship, why not have both? Spain dropped from 40% pro-Axis to 26% pro-Axis. This makes it more expensive now for Marc to bribe them (which he might have considered doing). And if he later invades Spain, I can live with that---the Germans can never have too many fronts as far as the Allies thinking goes. Britain has a navy--that makes a German invasion a bit risky, provided I keep my carriers out of range of his land based bombers. And I have not totally neglected defense----by spring the Brits will have two more corps and another army. Plus I plan on delaying Marc in France so that he has little or no "weather window" for an invasion. Lastly, the British do not intend to leave anyone behind in France if things go badly there. We will see, in any event. Following two screen shots show the only action which occurred this turn for the Allies:

No action from the Allies this turn; just waiting for the hammer to fall on Amoy. The early invasion of Thailand was a surprise. Marc got lucky; there is a small chance that the isolationists in America prevail, and this time they did---no jump to American war readiness.

No maps to view this turn, as there is nothing to report from any of the Allied fronts. British, Canadian and French ships are searching for U-boats and surface raiders, but although merchant losses continue, so far no U-boats have been sunk.

As expected, Poland surrendered. See below for a summary of this, and other events from the previous turn. My moves in this turn were most behind the scenes, and those that were "on the ground" such as in France can not and will not be shown at this time. Shhhh...top secret. The extra turn that Poland held out may pay some dividends, because the weather will even sooner now be unsuitable for air and ground operations in the west. That said, I expect to see offensive action from the Germans in the Netherlands and Belgium sooner rather than later---possibly in December. In China, I replaced the losses to the defender in Foochow, and made some other moves elsewhere to further optimize my HQ placements. Overall, I feel that the Allied defensive plan is a sound one and it emphasizes a good balance of technical research, diplomacy, replacing losses, upgrading key units (and only those---no point upgrading units in the back lines) and construction of new units. U-boats are causing me some pain, but until I get some DD's in the water, I'm somewhat helpless. Bombers are next to useless against subs right now, until I upgrade them and I am reluctant to expose carriers and battleships to submarines. Back to Marc now.

NOTE: To toggle supply levels on the map, press "s" on you keyboard once for current supply. A second press of the "s" key will show you (after a slight delay, sometimes) projected supply for your next turn. This is YOUR supply, not the enemy's.

Warsaw still holds out. In terms of how the game works, this is probably because the Poles still possess a couple of key cities and the unit in Krakow is still quite strong. There are a number of parameters the game engine looks at for determining surrender by any nation, and sometimes just taking the capital city is not enough. For the sake of security, I am not showing a map of France right now, but I have now met the requirement of having five British units in France. Lord Gort is there of course, but I may replace him with someone more effective when finances allow.

Well here we go again, from opposite sides as in the last AAR. Marc has opened with a crushing invasion of Poland, no surprise there. I like the fact that it seems almost impossible now to take Poland on turn 1. There is no doubt that it will fall next turn, unless for some reason Marc decides to toy with the Poles as a cat would with a mouse. I've seen him do that sometimes in France, when he is looking for experience for his units, but in the case of Poland, I suspect he wants it over with fast, and then off for a possible early invasion of the Low Countries. As you can see above, I have to support the French in a very real way, or risk losing France early. The down side of that is that if I am not careful, some British units can be lost in France. This would lead to a situation where, if France falls early enough, Marc would be tempted to invade the UK and I would have little left to defend it with. The trump card for Britain is the Royal Navy of course. It can make an invasion very risky for the Germans. We'll see how it unfolds... The other decision I had to make this turn was about India. The Viceroy of India is a bit of a patriot, and wanted to bring India in on the side of England, without consulting with the Indian Congress. I don't want to risk upsetting the Indians, and having unrest (which costs money). So I told the Viceroy to cool his heels for a bit, and let the Indian representatives decide for themselves. Doubtless they will make the right decision. A benefit of this decision is that Indian troops will show up in Egypt fairly quickly, where I will probably need them. In China I have done nothing, beyond getting engineers into the task of building more fortifications. At sea, the Royal Navy is going hunting for the Graf Spee, and wishing it had more destroyers so that it could also hunt effectively for subs. France is pondering whether or not to cross the border and attack the Germans---but that is unlikely to be a good move. Although their fortifications do not match the might Maginot Line, they also can't be disregarded.

(GAME NOTE: Bad move on my part in Russia last turn; so this turn I regrouped. No action to report from that theatre).

It was interesting reading the discussion about armour in '42. I tend to agree with those who say the Germans were in for a nasty surprise when they encountered T-34's. However, the real point that was made, and with which I agree, is that this is a game. And as noted, it comes down to prioritization of research, builds, and overall strategy. I have made a few mistakes with Germany that are now coming back to haunt me: 1. Italy got France's resources 2. Not enough research, especially in production, industry and armour 3. Going after the Russian light armour unit was stupid--my supply sucked, and I paid for it. The beauty of SC games is the numerous options that players have. It is easy to get off of the "historical" track by making decisions different than the historical ones. And if those decisions are bad ones, it usually doesn't end well

This is an announcement from Naval HQ in Berlin: We regret to inform the German people that the Graf Spee was lost in a fierce combat with ships of the Royal Navy. Graf Spee successfully fought of a large number of British surface vessels, sinking more than we can count, but finally succumbed to bombing from the cowardly British air craft carriers. We will have our revenge, have no fear! This is the end of our announcement. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This is an announcement from Naval HQ in London, via the BBC World News. The Graf Spee and an unidentified Italian destroyer group were sunk today after bravely flown and well planned operations from Royal Navy aircraft carriers. While this is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, according to our Prime Minister, it perhaps marks the end of the beginning. It doubtless marks the end of the Graf Spee and of German surface ship operations in the Atlantic Ocean. We now end our broadcast ++++++++++++++++++++ (GAME NOTE: The Graf Spee had some effect upon British income while it lasted, but now I will have to rely upon by U-boats. They are worth continuing to build throughout the game, in my opinion because not only do they hurt British income, but they tie up enemy warships and air units. In addition, they will later be useful to guard ports in France, to ensure no surprises from the British army. *** I did have some action in Russia, but can't show maps this turn, in order to not reveal my unit locations. A Russian light tank unit south of Kiev was destroyed, and otherwise fairly quiet). DATELINE TOKYO: APRIL 12, 1942 This is Tokyo Rose speaking to all of you brave American sailors. While your girlfriends are dating the guys at home who didn't volunteer to fight, think also about this: Japanese bombers flying from His Imperial Majesty's glorious Akagi attacked Los Angeles, and sunk your brand new battleship "Colorado" before it could even receive a crew. Why do you fight us anyway? We have no grudge with America and will probably sell you Toyotas and Nissans after the war is over! (((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))) This is Admiral King speaking to all Americans, but in particular the American boys who would have served on the USS Colorado, which was sunk this morning in Los Angeles Harbor. We will soon have many more "Colorado's" and other ships for you boys, and we will avenge the Colorado a thousand times over. That is all @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

DATELINE TOKYO: (GAME NOTE: Just because Marc doesn't see Japanese HQ's doesn't mean they are not there. I have them close enough to boost supply, far enough away to avoid recon)

Absolutely--I would be happy to play a multiplayer with someone.

Not much action this turn, but I thought the charts below would be of interest.

Time to regroup; the Chinese are proving feistier than I expected this early, and so I withdrew away from Changsha, but not before heavily damaging the Chinese armour. I expect next turn to lose some more submarines, as I stumbled into another British DD. On the American west coast, my cruisers and destroyers continue searching for American carriers, to no avail. In Russia I am just digging in, holding on until spring. Axis readiness in Russia is very low right now.

(GAME NOTE: Finland is done; I am uncertain if I will retain the Finnish air unit or not, but I evacuated it anyway. I am happy that Minsk fell this turn; and glad that I stopped advancing otherwise because at the end of this turn, Russian winter struck, and although I don't know what my losses are yet, I could hear sound effects that tell me that some, perhaps many units lost strength. In the south, I did nothing---Kiev will have to wait another turn or two.)

(GAME NOTE: My attack for Japan against the USA and UK was a bit mis-timed, so the date is a bit later than I wished, and some of my amphibious operations are a bit slow off the mark. But all in all, I am happy with this first turn for Japan in the Pacific.)

This will be a very lengthy series of posts, as Japan decides to stir things up in the Pacific. In some ways, this will be a "real time" posting, because I am dumping screen prints as my operation unfolds----because the forum limits me to five pictures per post, it's going to take some time. As I write these words, even I don't know how this operation will end, because I am jumping from game, to my photo editing software, then to PhotoBucket and then to this forum. Here we go:

AXIS UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 23, 1941 Minimal action this turn as I get ready for winter in Russia, and...something in the Pacific The Allies are learning that finding U-boats comes at a cost---one of them discovered in the eastern Atlantic had friends nearby, and knowing that most of the enemy destroyers were near Iceland, the wolf pack had a great time sinking a Canadian DD unit. Economic warfare continues to pay off for Germany---31 mpp's last turn, and 39 mpp's this turn. Next turn I should have some maps and pictures to post, along with something newsworthy. EDIT: Oh, and I decided to leave the German units in Finland---the cost of transporting them home isn't worth the trouble. Rebuilding them from "cadre" status is not that expensive and will allow me to deploy them where I want them. Plus, they will cost the Russians something to get rid of them.