Will95

If you have a sub (in this case an Italian sub, as I hadn't captured Gibraltar) as close to the Suez canal as possible, which is then attacked, and subsequently dives, it can dive 'under' the Suez canal and end up on the southern side.

Given the amount of research (1 2 3) which suggests such DRM does not do anything to tackle piracy (in fact being detrimental to legal users), has there been any serious discussion as to whether to keep on doing the whole license activation deal?

Ah ok, that makes sense then. Still, with Malta basically killing any chance of an offensive in North Africa, I'm having a hard time justifying sending much German support down there...

One pretty big issue I've found with the Malta effect in my AoD campaign so far is that because it affects ports as well, it actually becomes near impossible to send German support by sea. You can send the Luftwaffe on its own, but if the Malta effect strikes at just the right (or wrong, depending on your point of view) time, then the ports are never going to make it back to a supply level where they can accept transports. No Rommel for me, it seems!

Ah ok, that makes sense. Malta must be next to impossible to take in AoD though surely, as there's no spot next to the fortress for a landing group to land on, so you'd need to bomb the units inside low enough that an amphib was able to do enough with an off-shore attack to clear it- unless I'm missing something?

In the middle of an AoD campaign as Axis, it's December 1940. I was attacking El Alamein with the Italians when suddenly all my North African holdings dropped from 5 to 1 supply from one turn to the next. Is that Malta's impact? And is it random when it strikes?

My knowledge of history isn't all that great, but isn't it a little off that the Russians can even have the possibility of out-teching German armour by spring 1942? That's something I found playing Storm over Europe as well, that the Russians could generally maintain tech parity with the Germans, and even superiority, relatively early on! Otherwise really enjoying this AAR, thanks guys!

Back in the driving seat and to the western front- it's 1914 once again... This time I'll be heading up the Kaiser's impressive forces and attempting to crush the Allies. Oh, wait, um...Entente. The first 2 turns saw Ash and I getting right into the thick of it straight away. In the early deployment stage, I was given several German troops to deploy as I saw fit- I sent some to the west, but most were redirected to the east. My plan this game is crush Serbia quickly with German assistance before focusing the bulk of my efforts on Russia, hoping to get improved infantry weapons quickly so that I can turn attentions west in the late game. The Schlieffen Plan went off without a hitch, although the Belgians are hanging on by the skin of their Ypres to avoid surrendering. Rather than trying to bulldoze my way to the capital, I'm mopping up as many troops as possible to build XP. In the east, the Russian bear revealed itself around the Austrian fortresses and pushed towards the oil, bringing a corps down to strength 1 (subsequently retired to the rear). Austrian reinforcements surged forward and avenged the losses, destroying a Russian corps. In Serbia, German reinforcements were brought in to assist while a corps was destroyed by Austrian reinforcements. The lackluster level 4 Austrian HQ was replaced with a level 7.

Ash surrendered. My first win against him, whoopee! The American tanks had just wiped out the (only?) HQ in Normandy, the Soviets had just virtually destroyed one of the few remaining elite tanks and in the south I was about to break through. All in all, a fun game, and one which I'm sure we'll debrief fully in another thread. Thanks all for reading!

D-Day has arrived. And it was extremely uneventful! The main landings hit Calais and Dunkirk, where the might of the US armour landed. Paratroopers took Le Havre and another army took Cherbourg. A corps was redirected to Holland to liberate the peoples of the Netherlands. The real test will be the Axis response to the landings. In Italy, the trapped Italian corps was wiped out and Allied troops pressed on. The allied navy found and trapped the carrier in harbour. In the south of Russia, where the only real fighting is happening right now, the Soviet tanks surged forward and destroyed a German army and artillery piece. A wounded Panzer sits in the backlines looking threatening. The Russians got level 1 ground attack aircraft this turn. With the rains now setting in for winter, we won't get a chance to use them until 1944, but it'll be worth it when they arrive.

Phew, what a turn this was. The Italian navy, in itself only consisting of 6 ships (although upgraded and most dangerous with their superior ports), was dealt a massive blow, losing 2 battleships, a cruiser and a submarine. This was the prelude to a follow-up invasion of Italy, which saw an Italian army brought down, Sicily conquered and more British and American reinforcements arriving. We are now into Italy proper- the march on Rome can begin. Ash continued to fall back from Smolensk, and I continued to advance. In the south, tactical bombers spotted an elite tank retreating having been hit last turn by the AT guns. Our own elite tanks gave chase and did yet more damage- even if I don't destroy it, that should mean the end of its elite steps. More tanks poured in from behind, and an army advanced to be pleasantly surprised by a 'rear admiral' of the Romanians. And if you want to see a really frightening picture.... D-Day has almost arrived. I'm short a commander (sent my spare to Italy when I should have really sent him to Britain, but the early French invasion was something of a spur of the moment choice) but Eisenhower should have no problem commanding the level 5 Pershing tanks at his disposal.

Unfortunately, it seems that if you have enough of a navy surrounding the port, then you can't amphib all eligible units

A few reasons: - I had so many ships in the port areas I couldn't actually amphib more than 2 at a time - Intel showed several corps in and around the Rome area, so I reckon Ash has probably concentrated everything there - I want an air base a bit closer to the capital and to give me somewhere to hit his fleet from So, the invasion! As we're now just into September, I didn't want to wait any longer. Stalin was getting impatient with the Allies lackluster intervention so far, and mourns the loss of many a Red Army unit to the elite Panzers. In Italy, as said I was only able to get 2 units out from each port, so in a combined US/British invasion, special forces and british army units landed on the island of Sicily, destroying 2 bombers. Waves of reinforcements will flood the back lines, and after some thought I'm going to take quite a leisurely approach to the invasion- with the aim being to draw units away from the USSR. In the center we advanced the line cautiously, but I'm not about to start wading forward out of position into the waiting arms of the Axis tanks. Heavy artillery and rocket batteries now support the front wave of infantry. In Russia, elite panzers struck around Odessa, killing an army. However, our ATG's were able to finally hit back at the seemingly unstoppable beasts, and did enough damage to hopefully kill a few experienced tank commanders (down to strength 6 from 12). I moved forward, taking out an Italian tank unit. I'm hoping the sight of the Soviet armour will distract him from pressing too hard in Odessa, which is in danger of falling unless aided. Fortunately, from the middle of September we will recieve major reinforcements to replace the battle of Smolensk losses. In Britain, the first US tanks embarked for an early invasion of Normandy, with a view to catching Ash off guard (hopefully he operates the big guns to Italy in his turn, and the following turn I hit France) and liberating it before the year is out. Things are about to get rather sweaty for Mr Hitler...

Feels that way, Smolensk remains in Soviet hands! Ash pulled back his lines and shortened them around his HQ's. With 2 tac bombers now ready to start hitting his HQ's at will, he should have a pretty tough time ahead. His elite panzers are definitely still a danger but should become dramatically less so when the major reinforcement waves arrive next turn. In Africa, the first allied troops have embarked on their amphibious transports to hit Sicily. A huge allied fleet protects them, including level 2 US battleships and multiple carriers. It seems Ash managed to get his hands on a carrier of his own which has made it's precense known a few times. Also in the Med, Hitler's need for cash drove him to an amphibious special forces landing in Athens, forcing an instant Greek surrender. Luckily, this also means the Italian navy is somewhat distracted from what I'm about to do.

The Battle of Smolensk continues, with elite Panzers blowing away Red Army troops by the dozen... As I can't afford to take them head on (I have literally nothing that will beat them in a head to head fight), I spied an opportunity to take a shot at Kesserling's extremely experienced (3 star) headquarters. The army will be lost, but it will be worth it to kill Ash's supply and readiness. I also did good damage to a SF unit, but failed to destroy it. Ash pulled back his troops from the city gates this turn, but I don't yet have the forces to counter-attack. Replacements for the losses taken will arrive in a few months. Further north, Zhukov fights in the marshes against Finnish troops, taking 2 armies down to less than half health. We may even try and retake Leningrad. In the south, I finally got a chance to use Russian paratroopers, who dropped into surprisingly empty territory and took shots at Rommel's HQ (the bastard, must've escape the last time we destroyed him!). A supporting German army was destroyed, but there's another elite Panzer unit here which will no doubt inflict some pain next turn... In Africa it's just logistics at the moment as we get ready for the invasion of Italy, which will hopefully take place within the next 3 turns. I would like to invade on this side of 1943 and deliver a quick killing blow to Italy. With so much force tied up in Soviet-land, I don't expect much German resistance. A sizeable navy has been assembled to assure safe passage for troops as they cross the Med.

The Battle of Smolensk continues, with heavy Soviet losses- 3 tank corps and an army were lost. The elite Panzers are proving their worth in battle, although sheer numbers of Red Army troops are allowing us to gradually surround the Axis forces. This turn we destroyed another German army and did heavy damage to a SF unit. In the North Zhukov's HQ took a supply town and are now positioned directly to the enemy rear. The first Americans landed in Britain, along with Eisenhower. I sent quite a lot of extra reinforcements to Italy, but mostly infantry. The big guns, the tanks and special forces, will land at Normandy.

Ah ok, that makes more sense. Well, the Battle of Smolensk is underway. After a lengthy build up between Axis and Red Army forces, the Germans were the first to advance. Here's how the front line looked before the Soviet counter. And here's how it looked afterwards. 3 German armies were destroyed, although Soviet tanks were left exposed, and there's some very intimidating Tiger tanks in the back lines... In the north, Zhukov advanced to try and take some backline supply lines. In the far south, I'm pressing further towards the German border. I suspect that Ash doesn't have much force here, and he isn't even aware of my 3 tanks I have in store for him. He's strong in the middle, but if I press hard enough in other areas he's going to be forced away. In Africa, the last of the Italians were wiped out in their entirety- North Africa is now in Allied hands! More US troops were sent to the Atlantic and Cadiz to support the push against Italy. With so much of the Italian force destroyed, I may go straight for the KO against Rome...

Some odd moves from Ash this turn. He invaded Switzerland and Vichy France, granting France a psuedo entrance back into the war as Libya. Spain got a little tetchy (understandably) and dropped all positive relations with Germany. Hitler is clearly going a tad insane due to the losses incurred on the eastern front. I would have liked to start a major offensive this turn but Russian morale took a nosedive and it wouldn't have been very smart to go in now. The rest of the Italians in North Africa were finally sandwiched between the Americans and British and all that remains is an understrength army. The first waves of US infantry began making their way to the North Atlantic, where they will start forming up on British shores ready for D-Day.

Yup I've got another 2 on the way for the summer and tech invested to upgrade them. Right now Ash has level 1 AA on most of his tanks anyway so they're not massively useful unupgraded, I've just been using that one to finish off 1 strength units. I think Ash missed a trick a bit with Leningrad, if he'd have surged forward while I was in 2-3 supply he could've wiped out a third of the Soviet army O_O As it is it's not actually that bad as you say, I just hope I can hit him before he gets tech parity on his tanks.

A few turns of nothing much- I've been upgrading to level 4 on the Soviet armour and mainly shuffling troops around for some major spring offensives. Down at the Odessa river, Ash seems pretty happy to camp there with his elite tanks- no problem. Corps are capturing swathes of territory to the west and will continue to cut into the German rear until resistance is met. Around the center, a truly huge Soviet force is gathering. The main force, when it is ready, will advance forward while Zhukov, in the north sneaking about in the mountains, will swing down to the south to hit the German rear. In North Africa, the retreating Italians continue to be picked off, with another army going down. There is just one army and the HQ left, and with the US advance finally catching up to Tripoli, there is nowhere for the Italians to go. On a more sour note, the Italian navy has remained a major pain in the backside, damaging US warships. Major reinforcements are being sent to the Red Sea to deal with them and assure safe passage for our troops when they invade Italy. This is the calm before the storm- if either side advances, it will be into a brick wall of entrenchments, tanks and artillery. However the Soviets now have equal or superior tech and far greater numbers (something like 63 total Soviet units vs 75 or so total German units)- I should be able to come out on top. Ash's elite Panzers are definitely a cause for concern though. With Soviet infantry and vehicles now at a good stage, tech focuses now become increasingly about putting the screws on the Axis- the glorious Russian industry, powering us all the way to Berlin!

Still wintery so no major offensives. The Italians continue to beat a hasty retreat, leaving Benghazi wide open and head back to Tripoli. Unfortunately for them, that port is bombed too, and the Americans are approaching from the opposite direction... The Soviet army continues to grow to massive proportions and is now almost as big as the entire German army combined. And level 4 tanks hit this turn. Oooh yeeeeeah. I've indulged in a few luxuries besides the bread-and-butter tanks and armies recently, with Russian paras, Kaytushas and special forces. The first American planes are being operated across to Britain to begin the razing of German cities....one by one.

Snow bit this turn as we got well into December. The US army continued to advance in North Africa, forcing the Tunisians to surrender. The Italians are now backed up against a wall, sandwiched between the Brits and the Americans. The only possible problem remains the issue of the Italian navy, which just commissioned an aircraft carrier into service. I've sent naval reinforcements from the Atlantic to the Med to try and ensure the invasion of Italy goes as smooth as possible. In Russia the snow allowed me to advance and take Odessa with special forces. We are now very, very close to level 4 tanks for the Russians, and army group center is constantly being bolstered with more reinforcements. Smolensk could be the site of the biggest battle yet.

As things haven't really changed much this turn, I'll show you guys the whole world map to get an idea of how the various front lines sit at this point. - The Leningrad fiasco, and subsequent Finnish entrance to the war, was unforseen. However, the overall impact appears to be relatively minor- army group north will fall back to Moscow and any attempt by the Germans to assualt the capital will ultimately be doomed. The force of army group north remains extremely strong. - Army group center will try to hold the line at the Smolensk choke. With enough reinforcements and fortifications it should be able to withstand the Panzers now bearing down on them. - Army group south will move upwards and attempt to hit key supply areas. This will no doubt force a reaction from Ash and alleviate some of the pressure on army group center. - The whole of North Africa will soon be in Allied hands, with much of the Italian army hopefully destroyed. Once the rest of the Vichy territories have been captured and the Italians driven out, a combined British/American task force will move on Rome. The British got level 2 infantry this turn, which combined with the extremely high tech American army should have no problems knocking out Italy. I know Ash has grown quite attached to his Italians and may send German support, but this just means less pressure on the Red Army. - As we head into 1943, we will start sending American troops to Britain. The actual landing may or may not happen in '43- it depends largely on how the war in Russia goes. If the winter and reinforcements are sufficient to drive back the Germans in a strong capacity, we will wait until 1944 to build up a force so large that the Axis will not be able to hold the western front. If the Russians start struggling, I'll launch the invasion early to force Ash to relocate.

Phew, real slogfest this one. Army group north continues to retreat along railway lines, although we have finally found a village with some meagre supplies- tanks get priority, everyone else is ordered to hot-foot it back to Moscow. Army group center has sustained the worst casualties in recent weeks and was reinforced with 3 armies and a new AT battalion. AGC has the most potential to do damage at the moment too, as the northern German army group advances ever further creating something of a peninsula. A corps out of supply was killed. Army group south took a breather this turn, to refit with the latest level 3 infantry technology after the enemy retreated to Odessa. We have also moved to cut off the infantry just to the north. The pressure of the US invasion must've got to the Italians because they finally evacuated Tobruk, and one unit managed to escape via port transport. We moved to catch up with them as they went to escape, while the USN damaged a cruiser in the Med.

In the north we continue to fall back in terrible supply to Moscow. Hopefully we can operate there rather than walking, or I may have to force march my troops to save their asses. For some reason Ash is choosing not to pursue me with any great zealousness, so I have a bit of time to get away. In the middle I lost 2 ATG's to the Panzers which are giving a serious headache- they seem to blow my tanks to smithereens while taking no damage. In the south things are going well, with 2 more armies destroyed and a clear shot at the artillery behind. There's no less than 3 HQ's to bag here if I play this right- for the Motherland! Algiers was taken, and most of the 1942 USA landing force is now back on dry land with the exception of 2 armies that have yet to arrive. There are still a few troops left back in the homeland but I'm going to wait for 1943- and all the reinforcements that it will bring- before sending them out. The Italians, sensing the noose closing, evacuated Tobruk leaving a skeleton defence. I'm not sure where they have gone given there is no rail line, and the ports behind them are bombed to crap and have no way of transporting. The USN was put to the test, sinking 2 Italian battleships. At the end of this turn, infantry level 3 hit for the Soviets- a massive tech victory. Hopefully the Germans are still some way off!