Will95

Fair point about Scotland, but my thoughts having done SL were basically that it wasn't worth it; - It cost a huge amount to amphib troops across - The British didn't seem all that worried, they just meandered over to Egypt - Stalin suddenly gets all worried and I'm left exposed while I desparately try to operate more troops to the east My whole gameplan was basically to appease Stalin so I could focus on the West and North Africa, but that sorta goes out the window when he insta-mobilizes Whereas I could've just sent everything east, blitzed Russia having had him over a barrel regarding M-R pact and Lithuania and left in a low state of mobilization, and be back in time for tea and biscuits with the British in 1944 (maybe that last bit is a tad fairy tale)

Whoops, fell a bit behind on the last few turns, mainly because there was no real action to speak of. Turn 51 + Recap + 1943 Warplan Northern and Central Sectors The Soviets suddenly withdrew in the direction of Minsk, and the Germans followed, taking out a few corps with them although nothing major. The Red Army now forms a single defensive line in the north. There is no real plan of action for now, as much of the heavy armour has been committed to a plan in the south. Southern Sector The Soviets also withdrew here, which was probably just as well for them as more stukas and tanks were arriving. We are now pressing forward, and they appear to be setting up defensively at Bucharest. Coming from behind however, we have a sizeable army including Rommel's tanks. We hope to force him to operate out and abandon the south, or be forced into an extremely bloody battle. Warplan In blue are expected enemy movements. Red represents our prospective movements. Intel revealed amphibious transports on the US coastline, so we can expect an incoming invasion towards the French, Spanish or occupied British coastline. Although we have something of a garrison army in France and Spain, Britain will be a weak spot, and frankly if the US bring enough forces to any of the three it will spell serious trouble. I have probably 5-6 turns of grace before they arrive if he makes use of the travel arrows to the North Atlantic, so Mediterranean subs will be immediately redirected towards the Atlantic to intercept the landing force as it approaches. We have also begun investing more into unit production of late so we can have a more sturdy defense. A British army has been moving through North Africa taking the Italian holdings there, and we expect an invasion of Italy to follow. Two new Italian armies were mustered on the coast, but once again, it won't be enough to resist a committed attack. Our plan is to use our resources for as long as we can afford them on the eastern front, to score a major victory in the south. With the enemy holed up at Bucharest and our flanking tanks and Stukas coming from behind, destruction of this Soviet army would be enough to justify sending reinforcements to the west against the Americans and British. In the North we will attack if we can but the enemy is dug in and we lack de-entrenching tools. I forsee a rough couple of years ahead for the Reich. We will try to dedicate as much MPP as possible in the coming turns to producing a whole new army, complete with armour and HQs, because it will be necessary if we are to have any chance of holding off the Yanks.

Turn 46 + 47 No pictures this time, sorry! Not much has changed though. In the Northern + Central sectors we sent a corps to claim the Soviet territory left mostly undefended. Otherwise it was refitting and rearming, with most of T47 spent arming our troops with the latest in infantry weaponry (level 3). Now we can really stick it to the Red Army. Intel has revealed a large central Soviet army however, one that we cannot crack for as long as they have such advanced fighters. Therefore we will soon operate more Stukas to the south, along with Rommel and his tanks, to see if we can drive back the Soviets there and take back the various capitals along the way. In the south our stukas took out one of the roving T34 groups and once again we are stalling for time as we upgrade to level 3 infantry.

Those of you following mine and Ash's AAR will see that I managed to pull off Sealion (ie the invasion of Britain), and I have a few questions. - Would it not make more sense for the British Isles to automatically come under German control, following the successful taking of both London and Manchester? Because the British technically don't surrender, but move their capital to Egypt/Canada, I was left in the awkward/annoying position of having to manually move an army all over Britain manually 'liberating' each city and supply source one by one, which feels neither efficient or particularly realistic. I'd understand if the answer was that it's for balance reasons to prevent a too-quick shift to Barbarossa, or simply impossible to code as the Brits don't actually surrender, but I think it would make a lot of sense and save the very unintuitive and time-costly process of running all over Britain in crap supply, especially if you've managed to pull off the operation in the first place. - This is just more of a general inquiry, but the reaction upon the loss of London, and then Manchester, by the USA seemed a little odd to me. You guys will know a lot more about the period's history than I do, but I was half expecting the USA to instantly enter the war, or at least reach a very high rate of mobilization, when the British come under attack directly, and especially after they lose their capital. They seemed rather indifferent, which struck me as amusing although odd One last thing, totally unrelated: what's the deal with bombing train lines? I've heard people talk about how they are the lifelines of armies etc but is there anything to be gained by actually hitting them with bombers when there's other targets available (like supply sources)?

Turn 45 Northern and Central Sector I decided to go for the first option, and press our recent advantages. Intel revealed an AT gun in the northern sector, and a scouting Corps showed an infantry screen protecting it. Some stukas and Panzer blitzes later, the AT guns were destroyed along with 2 armies. This leaves just corps in between us and the supply depot at Kaunas. In the center we cautiously advanced to reveal a sizeable Soviet army protecting their fighters. Combining a sweeping panzer attack from the north, a push from the center and paradrops behind the lines, we will seek to crush this central Soviet force. Southern Sector Things here are as dicey as always. While the Spanish deal with getting back Hungary to open up the train lines, the German forces are preparing an exit strategy. The one good thing is that the Soviets have only 1 HQ and few supply sources, leaving a good chunk of their army out of supply thanks to the rough terrain. We probed the Iron Gate once again, to see if we can cut their supply completely. Hungary Franco has been given the nice easy task to prove his mettle on the eastern front and prove to Hitler his armies can be more than expensive doorstops- to take back Budapest. A Soviet army moving to reinforce the stolen capital was destroyed by, sigh, German Stukas, when the Spanish tanks were too inept to do it themselves. However we should be able to liberate the capital next turn, especially with additional German armour moving in from the north.

Not sure what to do with the paras right now, I'm going to cautiously advance the line until I can get some better recon. Ideally I'd like to try and target his fighters, but I also need to send armour relief to the south, unless the stukas are able to do it alone. I'm either going to commit to another big central attack (where he's got room to manouver but also has a real lack of HQ's and armour) or a big flank down in the south (where I could potentially score a big win by encircling a huge Soviet army but it'll take time and mean no capitalization on the original central push).

Turn 44 Northern + Central Sectors Another quiet turn as we continue to prepare our troops for the next major push. Another Stuka was moved to the south as we don't have any immediate concerns in the north. Southern Sector This is where things have been a bit rough- the capital at Sofia will soon be under direct artillery attack, and Franco is busy trying to re-liberate Hungary. However, there only appears to be a small Soviet air force here, so with now a total of 2 stukas, we can start knocking out the armour. To assist, Kuchler's headquarters has been sent down for added leadership. I've also noticed that given how much this Soviet pocket is now sticking out, I should attempt a flanking move. Next turn, I'll operate the majority of the German armour (no longer required up north for now) and a HQ to swing down and come in from behind Bucharest. That should cut off this entire Soviet army and leave them out of supply. General Staff We reached level 3 intelligence.

Turn 43 Northern and Central Sectors The tank that we sent around the flank to take out the HQ was lost- unfortunate, but a relatively small sacrifice given the enormous gains made recently. This turn was quite quiet as we re-arm our troops, several of our units can now reach 12 strength. 3 stukas and accompanying fighters moved up to begin a new assualt. Southern Sector We continue to pay for the loss of Hungary, however temporary, as our special forces take a beating from the Soviet tanks. Franco's army was most appreciated, and the German AT tanks have reached the southern sector to help combat the blasted T34's.

Turn 42 Northern and Central Sector Blast, the northern army managed to escape. They managed to travel surprisingly far given what I took to be a low level of supply, but, oh well. We did however manage to send a Panzer division to the rear which struck at the weak HQ and destroyed it entirely, leaving the rest of the surrounding army without leadership or proper supply. An AT unit and a front line corps joined the HQ in the mass graves. In the center bombers revealed the Soviet air force, and the rest of the Luftwaffe re-armed. Next turn I will split them up a little- a few stukas in the south ought to tip the tides. Southern Sector Hitler spent all night on the phone screaming at the Hungarian ambassador after the country was 'liberated' by a single Russian unit sneaking through the lines. Serves us right really, for committing so much to the south and leaving so little to guard the important bits. We will be able to take it back in a few turns time, but it remains an irritation. With the Hungarian army now dissolved, we operated over Franco with a tank unit and 2 elite infantry armies to fill the gap. We continued to skirmish with Soviet tank groups with neither side able to claim a solid victory. General Staff Damn Russkies started raids on our Swedish convoys, but I don't have the resources to spare. We shall just have to eat the MPP drain for now.

Turn 41 Northern + Central Sector Units left behind in the great Soviet retreat were mopped up by reserve forces. The Panzers however, have bigger fish to fry and continued their relentless advance- now switching to deal with the northern pocket. The HQ was left exposed in the rear and our tanks did terrible damage. Stukas dealt with the only tank group protecting him, and unless a serious amount of AT arrives for the Red Army here, my opponent stands to lose a very large chunk of his army in an encirclement. Heavy bombers hit Koeningsberg, ensuring that the army is left out of supply. The Soviet army at Danzig was also destroyed, and the town retaken. Is this no way out for the Soviet Army Group? Southern Sector Our troops at the Iron Gate were spotted and force back- a nice idea, but I wasn't able to pull off what I had hoped. For the meantime, neither the Soviet tanks nor my Axis minor troops advance due to the geography. Next turn, I may try and surprise my opponent with an appearance by General Franco... General Staff We invested further into heavy tanks.

Fair enough, I'm sure Ash will surprise me with something nasty in the years to come

Well, they could use regular transports to get to the Med, but what then? Surely unless they have total control of the sea, it'll be amphibs into Italy or bust?

Turn 40 North and Central Sectors Hitler smiled with glee at his warmaps as the Soviet line, once a powerful force equal to or even greater than the German army that opposed it, was broken and systematically destroyed. After the loss of the HQ, the stealing of Brest-Litovsk and the continued bombing of key Soviet supply routes, the Red Army is left with little choice but to run away. Heavy bombers revealed a new HQ coming down from Grondo, but the bombing of the town should ensure the army finds nowhere safe to hunker down. Countless corps and various Soviet armies that did not manage to beat a retreat with their comrades were slaughtered, or simply driven past as they withered from starvation in the mud. Crucially however, our Stukas rained hell once again, assisting in the destruction of no less than two fresh tank corps that represented the only concrete division to prevent our panzers rolling forwards unopposed for miles. In the north, we sent one Panzer group to assist in the severe weakening of an army that sallied up. The Soviet army here is still relatively unharmed, but is not able to push back the German forces quick enough to be a major problem. Southern Sector Here two Soviet tank groups broke through and did some damage to a Hungarian HQ, and totally destroyed the Italian tank army I thought would provide something of a roadblock. It wasn't totally useless however- both tanks were taken down to 5 and 4 strength each, and I am now attempting to manouver in such as way as to prevent their resupply. The corps at the Iron Gate will soon be able to sweep down and cut off all supply to this little Soviet invasion. Meanwhile further south at the Hungarian capital, we noticed the enemy was extremely low on supply here, and moved forward to bring one army to its knees and forced to retreat. A single army now waits there but will be forced to retreat or die. War of the Med Not much action here- British cruisers continue to be a major pain, but a new Italian battleship arrived this turn to put them in their place. General Staff Germany reached Industrial level 2, bringing us to 95% efficiency. This will give us the healthy income we need to really put the boot into these Soviet forces. Yugoslavia fell, and netted us 150MPPs of lovely plunder.

Turn 39 Central Sector + Northern Sector The skies opened, hurray! Hitler ordered the long awaited Blitzkrieg in the central sector, which was carried out with devastating effect. Our new and improved tactical bombers proved themselves capable of destroying a whole Soviet tank battalion in a single strike, and with a little help from an advancing corps, was able to destroy no less than two whole tank units. This left our own tanks relieved from costly AT duties to attack more supple targets in the form of a Soviet HQ and two Soviet armies. To add insult to injury, our heavy bombers targeted the supply source at Bialystok, reducing it to rubble. Combined with the loss of the HQ, entire front lines of Soviet troops will now be left with the choice to retreat or die. Even more deliciously, an audacious paratrooper raid was launched at Brest-Litovsk, and incredibly, the fortress was found empty. Our paratroopers quickly entrenched themselves, cutting off yet another supply source to the Soviet army. We did however notice that in recent turns, the Soviets have upgraded their infantry to level 3, while we lag behind at level two. Infantry technology will be made a priority to gain parity with Stalin's men- something I have actually been neglecting. In the north, our opponent's desire to push led him to place a HQ directly on the front line, which our corps greedily gorged on before retreating. Besides assorted towns and the port, there is nothing here to be lost that cannot be easily regained. Southern Sector The Yugoslavian capital is now surrounded and is finally ready to fall next turn. A sizeable Soviet force approached the Hungarian capital, but my troops there are heavily entrenched and have mountains to protect them from flanks. With Yugoslavia soon under Axis control, we will be able to easily operate troops to this front if and when it becomes necessary. Battle of the Med In the Med we sunk a British cruiser and destroyer, although lost a Spanish cruiser to carrier attacks. Battle of the Atlantic The US Navy showed its face this turn, appearing all over my subs mining the ports at Canada with no less than level 3 destroyers. This is nasty stuff and the rest of the Axis fleet is heading back to safer shores while top brass considers their next move. A new battleship has been commissioned for arrival early next year to escort our u-boats, but for now we will concentrate our subs in the Med, attempting to wipe out the Brits before the Americans arrive. A thought also occured to me today; with Britain under (mostly) my control and Gibraltar siezed, a D-Day style landing in France or Britain is virtually impossible- it would require amphibious transports to make their way across the entire Atlantic unmolested, which is surely impossible as long as I keep an eye out. Although he can probably 'warp' into the Med and invade Italy, the invasion threat to Western Europe is low.

Turn 38 The central sector remains in deadlock, with mutually assured destruction for the first side that dares to strike. In the north we continue to fall back, conceding territory gains but making the Soviets bleed for every mile. We now have 5 tanks ready to blitzkrieg here, but with our stukas grounded we lack the crucial air support. We took the opportunity instead to refit our aircraft with the latest in ground attack technology- potent weapons indeed. Soviet tanks have been spotted rolling out from their recent conquets in Bucharest, so Italian armour (lackluster though it may be) was enlisted as a roadblock. The Yugoslavians stubbornly hold onto their capital.

Turn 36 + 37 The winter was uneventful, but now in March, things got interesting again. The central sector of the eastern front now has a substantial force. 4 Panzers, 2 of which are hidden from view and ready to strike from the north, wait for an attack next turn. Combining stuka attacks from our now level 3 tactical bombers, a 4 tank charge and the support of several armies, we hope to crack the deadlock in the center and score a major victory. In the south, we have put in a chokepoint defense at the Hungarian capital. The units here are entrenched heavily thanks to the mountains, and it will take a vast amount of Soviet firepower to crack it. The Yugoslavian capital will soon fall, and provide a valuable rail link to this southern sector in case the need arises to send some heavier equipment. Special forces invaded Yugoslavia this turn en route to Hungary, to add a bit of AT to the forces already there. Our fleet in the med found a chunk of the British fleet, which it pounded but was unable to destroy. We will follow them if possible to the ports they will no doubt move to hide in next turn and seek to wipe them out. In the Atlantic, another navy group is on the way to the USA to mine the ports and get some advanced recon of any kind of invasion. General Staff Italy continues to develop its industry, although stubbornly refuses to upgrade its infantry. This makes its usage in an African campaign near to useless, but at least they can be used as garrisons. Franco, having taken Gibraltar, now gears up to send the Spanish army, consisting of 3 armies, a tank corps and an HQ to North Africa to place pressure directly on the new British capital at Cairo.

Turn 35 Eastern Front North + Central Sector We pulled pack from Koeningsberg, leaving the garrison to its natural end. The rest of the army is on the retreat to where we have a fresh tank battalion ready to battle the Soviets. In the center, we destroyed a Soviet army and a tank battalion. The stukas are proving very useful now that the rain has gone! We operated yet another fresh tank group to the central sector. Southern Sector The Bulgarians are on the run and abandoned the capital. Either we lose the capital next turn and their remaining army disappears, or we guard the capital to the death, giving the Soviets plenty of experience in the process, and lose the army anyway. We have 3 German armies, 1 German corps and an Italian tank corps + HQ en route to defend, but I'm not sure it will be enough. Gibraltar Nice victory here; the fortress at Gibraltar was stormed by Franco's forces. We now control all naval activity in and out of the Med- this is a huge win. Intel reveal a carrier en route to the Atlantic, and we have prepared something of a welcome party. Coming from behind, we have an Italian sub and a Spanish cruiser. Depending on how much British force is coming to test us at Gibraltar, this could be a major win. Franco's forces will now be used to pressure the new British capital at Cairo. Could someone also fill me in on the exact victory conditions for Axis?

Turn 34 The Soviets advanced deeply this turn, although losses were fairly minimal- three tank corps hit a Panzer unit and destroyed it, so we moved across some dedicated AT for added support. This bad weather is crippling our stukas though, and delaying any kind of counterattack. More troops are operated in from the west. Down in the south we pull back the line awaiting German reinforcements from the rear. Overall Strategy We have no concrete strategy besides 'survive' at this point; once all available troops have been operated over and the bad weather fades allowing our stukas the space to work, things will begin to tip once again in our favour. For now though, it's pretty dicey.

Turn 33 Well, the Soviets have arrived. Remarkably few shots were fired however, with the only losses being taken by advancing Russian units running into prepared positions. As this is basically going to be 90% of the fighting for the forseeable future, I won't be sub-dividing the AAR until further notice. We pulled back across the line to seek better positions behind rivers. The enemy appears to have level 2 tanks and infantry, a most frightening prospect. There is still plenty more German army to arrive within the next few turns, but here are the lines as they lay currently. Stalin makes 3 main thrusts- north, central and south. The north is the most precarious, with the fewest proper fighting units and zero effective anti-tank. The south is currently weak as it is held only by Axis minors, but we will soon be able to operate no less than 3 elite armies and a HQ there to stem the tide. The center (below, with the north) is the strongest, and it is where we have our armour, and where more armour will go when it is ready to be operated. We have dedicated AT, as well as Panzer divisions, armies and a paratrooper unit. One of the positives of hitting everywhere at once, for me, is that the Soviet forces don't appear to be able to keep their spearhead in supply. We will try to lure them in by backing away until we have our full force to wield, then strike. We have 3 upgraded stukas sitting just behind the central line which will provide the devastating prelude to a counterattack in the weeks to come. However, as expected, rain grounded them this turn. In other news, we declared war on Yugoslavia. The country is host to several important train lines which will be useful when operating along the front. Little resistance was met and barring some surprise army we should have captured it in 2-3 turns.

Turn 32 War of the Atlantic Two destroyers were sunk, but otherwise the British fleet appears to have sailed. The German fleet is now nothing short of intimidating however, and it will arrive in the Med soon enough. They will succeed where the Italians failed! Eastern Front We continue to operate all available corps, armies, HQs and tanks from France in a desparate bid to plug the gaps before the Soviet storm is unleashed. On the plus side, bad weather will soon set in and delay the push, but it remains pretty fragile. Our skeleton defense has been beefed up considerably but we still have a lot of force left in England. I've left 1 army to continue to 'liberate' the rest of Britain while the rest makes its way back to France. As the US is still a while away from entering the war, I'm not expecting much of a threat in France. Spain No pictures of this one as there isn't much happening, but Franco brought quite a sizeable army and a decent navy to the show now that he's entered the war. The Spanish task will be to take Gibraltar, and then will either move to a North African campaign or be operated to the eastern front, depending on how much pressure we come under there.

Turn 31 Operation Sealion Manchester fell, and Hitler declared Sealion a complete and utter success. Nothing more to say here. War of the Atlantic We sunk a destroyer in port in Canada by chance, as we moved a sub to mine the ports there. The rest of the British fleet is out there, somewhere, and besides destroying a cruiser we found nothing. The British HQ has moved to Egypt, so the Axis fleet is en route there now. Eastern Front No moves from Stalin here just yet, but we wait with bated breath for the attack. Two panzer corps are back on the mainland now and will be operated to the eastern front next turn, and in the following turns we will bring two new HQ's and several armies.

I will, thanks for the tip!

Turn 30 Operation Sealion Our tanks surround Manchester, and severely damaged a HQ waiting for extraction from Liverpool. With such little of the British land army left, one army group has been pulled back to the coast awaiting transportation to the european mainland, and then Russia. We took Bristol and ran into a carrier in the Atlantic, but otherwise no British related activity. Greece Greece surrendered this turn as Athens was finally siezed by the Germans. We recieved about 250 MPPs of plunder. General Staff Russia entered the war this turn for the allies, and the Spanish joined the Axis. Russia's entrance to the war was earlier than I might have liked, and we have operated several corps resting in France to defend the eastern front. We reached level 2 in heavy tanks this turn, so once our armour is freed up from operations in Britain we will be packing some serious firepower for Stalin. The objectives for the immediate future are to knock out Britain, wipe out as much of her navy as possible as it moves to either Canada or Egypt, and defend against Russia as she wakes up. Pioneers are beginning to fortify France as a measure against a future Allied invasion, although the USA still appears some way off joining the war proper.

Turn 29 Operation Sealion Corps at Birmingham and Sheffield were annihilated and the German blitzkrieg continues to roll over the English countryside. Manchester is now just a few miles away. We sent the Bismark with accompanying u-boat up the east of the country to hunt down some carriers we spotted using Intel a few turns ago. On the left, a scouting cruiser ran into a pack of destroyers, and the Axis navy sank a destroyer. Greece As expected, the British HQ was able to extract from Athens. The remaining armies will not be so lucky though, and continue to take a battering in their last stand, with one of the two armies destroyed. The Italian tanks really suck though We did however lose a cruiser to a british Carrier in the Med, leaving the Italian navy practically non-existant. General Staff Spain is at 95% mobilization and will soon join the Axis. This will be important in preventing allied movement into the Med. Turkey is also mobilizing as a result of Sealion. However, Stalin is mobilizing his troops far faster than I'd like, and I invested into some serious diplomacy this turn to try and slow it down.

I kinda wanted to keep the Luftwaffe together for coordinated strikes at Britain, because honestly I was expecting more naval resistance. I guess the level 2 subs really did good legwork. USSR invasion will probably be more of a USSR invading me- they're at 90% mobilization and it all comes down to whether my invested diplomacy pays off.