AAR - "1939 Storm Over Europe" (Allies) - Return of the newbies!

[AshesFall]

- Actually, for Yugoslavia, it will probably come very close to your side but not 100%, you'll have to invest at least 1 chit to finish the job but usually Axis decides to deal with the threat first and invade, sparing you the cost .

- Your little venture in Greece is doing well so far, calling back your sailing units is an interesting choice given the cost. A bit surprised not to see more air support in Greece, one stuka would have done terrible damages and speed up things a lot for Axis though I know (and you know) operating/upgrading units can be punishing MPPs wise.

- Otherwise, fun game with unusual moves and a lot of naval action. Don't worry too much about USSR state, I've seen far worse. My first SoE campaign was a mess on both sides (bad production planning) with nearly no troops for Barbarossa: no defense in towns but not enough nazi units to grab them all . Tanks lvl 2 is a very good hit for Soviets in early 1941, that will do a lot of damage if Germans arn't cautious.

- Yugoslavia; Aw, really? . The Strat guide says;

"Yes: Yugoslavia joins the Allies and receives a full strength HQ. Greece will swing towards the Allies."

That sucks... I wouldnt have spent those badly needed MPP's for Yugo if I knew they wouldnt go all the way. Oh well, live and learn!

The unit: Basically, I knew I couldnt get them to Greece (the italian navy has surrounded greece with full strength battleships, cruisers and a submarine) and sailing them into the med would make them targets for being sunk by the active italian navy. All my own ships down there are too damaged to help. There are tons of axis ships roving the atlantic, so I figured I'd wait til I could get them a proper escort! Better to have them somewhere doing something than having them sit in a port too.

USSR: Thanks, I do tend to worry about that one, but I have plenty of units. Just scared of being surrounded and having them all slaughtered

[AshesFall]

Turn 24 – May 23rd, 1941

Scouting with the “formidable” carrier showed that I might be in for a very rough ride. I found a battleship near the coast of France, and several units in northern France along with a seriously advanced infantry army in Cherbourg. Together with the Panzer group seen in Antwerp, the risk of sea lion seems great. The Carrier “glorious” and the Battleship “prince of Wales” sank the Battleship after identifying it as the Tirpitz. I now fear that the Axis will send their Submarines to the channel. Intelligence spied a Sub close to Britain by the southern convoy lines and I really have no effective way of combating them. I spotted a level two one in port at Cherbourg. I have begun sending more fleets towards England, but they are so very far away. Axis airpower is overwhelming, and I think if the Hun does invade I will be hard pressed to hold England, and probably won’t manage. Definetly shouldn’t have spent all those resources on events, or sent Armies all the way to Greece. And of course I declined to strengthen the home guard! Hehe.

But then again, maybe seeing those armies in Greece is what prompted this tactic, so keeping them home wouldn’t have helped either. Such is the thrust and counter thrust of war. With Britains economy still awful, I’m very much hoping to stave off the worst of the storm at sea. We shall see how this goes…

Greece

I try to upgrade a fighter wing and strengthen another in England proper. Unfortunately, this threat makes sure that I cannot rebuild my navy in the med, so I cannot move there yet, or extract my troops from Greece. It is clear that there will be no support coming for that particular war. Yugoslavia is at 84%, and should join us according to the event, if they do, perhaps we can cut off the forces in Greece and hold. The enemy made another Paratroop attack at Athens, but I moved a Greek corpse by ship from Salonika months ago. However, I had to pull a corpse from the line to go and deal with it…

Italian submarines are harassing our damaged battleships in port, I am very happy that it isn’t a German submarine.

General Staff

I forgot to write about some interesting developments, the US are ramping up their research, hitting Ambhibious warfare lvl 3, Industry lvl 2 and anti-submarine warfare 1. The USSR has invested a chit in infantry warfare.

[AshesFall]

Turn 25 – May 23rd, 1941

The Graf Zeppelin cruiser and Bismarck showed up in the channel, and proceeded to attack the “Glorious” which sustained some damage to the hull, and had most of their carrier air squadrons shot out of the sky. Other ships were sunk by the Hun ( Campbelltown was sent to the bottom of the ocean floor) and many damaged (those lvl 2 subs fire atomic warheads ). I spotted a transport with an elite army (8th army) at harbor in Calais, and struck it, shelling the port With the Battleship King George and the Southhampton Cruiser. They blew many transport ships out of the water where the German lay packed as mackerel.

Unfortunately, this definitely confirms Sea-Lion. My navy is badly hurt, and cannot combat the U-boats for now or stay in the channel proper, they'll get sunk if they do. I need to refit the ships, and build units, and keep my airpower up so that I can prevent the Luftwaffe from running roughshod over all of it… and…. Well. Too much to do! ^^

Greece

Things are rapidly going pear shaped here, with the Greek peninsula surrounded by the Italian navy, and germans closing in on all sides, the British are trapped. I spent precious MPP’s reinforcing my carriers, hoping to use them and the just arrived battleships to break the Italian hold and extract the armies and the HQ. Then I can send them to Britain…

We did destroy the paratrooper, that was getting away to the west. Hopefully, this means a lack of Paras for sea-lion.

(You were right Strategic Layabout; sailing the army home was a bad call, sea-lion or no sea-lion. If I had strengthened the navy in the med then and there and sent the army all the way, the situation in Greece would have looked very different, and I could have sent them all home in good order. Learning experience!)

USSR

I keep building corps. The Axis could easily do a full 180 once he takes Greece and invade Soviet, and in that case I don’t want to be caught with my pants down.

General Staff

Nothing. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth from British high command about logistics and resources ^^

[Bill101]

- Actually, for Yugoslavia, it will probably come very close to your side but not 100%, you'll have to invest at least 1 chit to finish the job but usually Axis decides to deal with the threat first and invade, sparing you the cost .

It actually depends on Yugoslavia's political leanings before the coup. If Yugoslavia was more than 25% pro-Axis at the time, then it is true that some diplomacy will be needed to get them to enter the war.

However, even if that is the case, by supporting the coup, Yugoslavia is no longer a potential Axis ally, and they will be far more inclined to attack her.

[Bill101]

I don't know if you're aware, but the amount of MPPs sent by convoy from the USA to the UK can be altered.

If you go to the War Map, click on Convoy and select the route by clicking on the US flag. The % of US income sent to the UK can be increased or decreased - though only up to a point.

[AshesFall]

Turn 26 – July 11th , 1941

England

The German retaliation was fierce in the channel, with two cruisers and two submarine packs aiding the Bismarck in Sinking King George V, once the pride of our navy. The Southampton cruiser will soon join it below the waves. July shall forever be a month of infamy, as the enem has come ashore at Dover and destroying our corps there. German Panzers now roll through the English countryside, heading for London. For the first time since the Normans, a foreign enemy has landed on our shores. Churchill made a speech to the effect that the Harold of our time will not take an arrow to the eye…

Furious fighting on the outskirts of Dover and our combined airforce have damaged a Panzer Corps slightly...

I tried to reinforce the carriers around England as much as I could, their stopping power is essential if I want to keep the German units actually in England as few as possible. To that effect, the battleship Nelson sailed into the channel and braved the port of Cherbourg, hitting transports loading there. The crew know that they are doomed and will be sunk, but give their lives to buy more time.

Greece

The port of Athens is badly damaged, and O’Connors command staff has been hit repeatedly by Germans and Italians breaking through the lines. We shift the defenses as much as possible, making a stand in Athens proper. The Italians curiously landed an army on Crete, finding us already in control of the island. No doubt their will soon starve, and become nearly useless in combat.

The Courageous and Ark royal carriers take to the sea, refitted with as much aircraft as could be redirected to Egypt (str 8). Coordinating with the newly arrived Rodney and Royal oak battleships, they move on Greece to break the Italian hold and give our troops a chance at escape. The Italian battleship that has been shelling the harbor these past weeks was sunk, listing badly after several direct hits from carrier airpower, it was brought down by the plucky Greek cruiser Averof. The Royal Oak exchanged gunfire with group Lanciere destroyers, sinking several and receiving little damage in return. In these dark times, we must take whatever small victories are given to us.

General Staff

Preparations are being made to evacuate the Royal Family to Canada, and the government and war administration to Egypt. The Queen has refused to leave, “not until the hun stands in Buckingham palace”.

The Soviets and the US invest in infantry technology (one chit each) and the US actually develop anti submarine warfare lvl 2.

[AshesFall]

Turn 27 – July 25th

Both the Nelson and the Southhampton were sunk. The Germans have landed more troops and Destroyed the Polish corps along with our army in Brighton. With two armies standing in the field in total and the Germans not at all low on supply (I keep making strategic decisions based on erroneous assumptions. Like Yugoslavia joining as per the strategy guide, and Dover falling to “0” in supply when just captured like everything else, the HQ therefore being at supply 5, and everything else around him lower. This was … not the case as is evident from the picture. Why? I Guess "regrowth" of resources/supply can be the reason, but can this be prevented? when exactly does it rebuild if I bomb it to 0?) … England is definitely lost. The Germans will blitz it in a matter of a month or two tops. I pulled back, hoping that the fortified army in London will hold for a turn so that I can try to organize some sort of temporary defense in the north.

Greece

In Greece, things are desperate on the mainland. O’connor tried to rally some of his men to avoid destruction, and the Greeks are all but done. Our carriers hunted the Italian Submarine and damaged it moderately, while the Battleships exchanged shells with the Italian cruiser, which is now listing and smoking badly.

General Staff

With additional investments in infantry warfare from both the USSR and the US (they now have 3 chits each) the US got hits off both infantry warfare and heavy armor, they are now on par with the Germans in these fields.

[Strategiclayabout]

- I'm following both AARs so it's easier "to be right" since I know what the other side is doing . Maybe your move back to England will prove crucial later .

- About reasons for having a tank in Antwerp:

0) Sealion

1) just not enough MPPs to operate it to the east (yet)

2) a feint, as you said, to force UK to keep more units in England as long as possible

3) to prevent/kill any funny british move when Barbarossa starts (landings, paradrops)

4) deception about tech level, showing lvl 1 tank where you have lvl 2

5) trying to lure you in bombing it with carriers or ships to trap them with stukas/subs

[AshesFall]

Turn 28 – August 8th

This was… a grim turn for me, the darkest day of the war so far. I spent some ten minutes staring at the situation in Britain, thinking.

Taking London and destroying the army there, over a river and against entrenchment lvl 3 was about as hard for the Germans as a Sunday stroll in the park. This means that I have a grand total of One army in the production Que, one damaged army in Liverpool, one full strength corps in Manchester and three home guard garrisons in Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds. One German armor unit destroys a garrison in one turn (as seen in Luton recently). The army, fortified or not, won’t put up more resistance than the army in London did and the army in the building cue won’t arrive until September, way too late. I pondered whether keeping the two armies now in Greece in England would have mattered, but truly it would not have. The English armies simply cannot stand up to the Germans and their armor/infantry tech, even if I outnumbered them I would still have lost, and outnumbering them is a pipe dream at this stage.

England was lost the moment I failed to get anti sub tech for a solid year, and the germans got lvl 2 subs that savage my fleet and disallows any move to block their transport over to England in the long run. Well. At the very least he has spent resources to do this, and it will probably allow the USSR to join the war on its’ own terms. The US is stubbornly neutral, but even if they joined the war last turn my strategy was a long term one and they wouldn’t have been able to get any units that mattered over the Atlantic in time.

So, there is no point rebuilding the lost army, because I will lose my production items when Manchester falls (probably the turn after next). I moved my HQ, and the remaining army to Liverpool where I hope to be able to evacuate them. I started operating two fighters to Egypt to save them, and squirreled the rest of my air assets away northwards to operate them next turn. The queen has left the country, driven out of London just as the smoke from burning buildings was beginning to show on the horizon.

The battered British North fleet trying to evacuate and reach Egypt.

Greece

In Greece, O’connor managed to board transports and sail to Egypt, while the B.E.F is under attack from three German armies. With any luck, one british army will be able to escape this death trap. The Italian fleet ran, and british carriers traced the cruiser towards the horizon, finding it in port and sinking it. The Italian navy is now a grand total of two, a very damaged submarine, and an equally damaged destroyer squadron. Essentially a non entity. We have moved ships to monitor all ports into North Africa, to prevent or spot any reinforcements the Axis try to send. At the very least, we can ensure the safety of our new capital with total control of the Mediterranean.

Our operations in greece seems to have served to draw the Italian navy out to be destroyed, and delaying any move into North Africa.

General Staff

No advances. The US invests in heavy armor, there is just no point in bringing a knife to a gun fight tech wise with the Germans, and the USSR invests in motorization.

When it rains it really does pour. Turkey strengthens axis relations, and Franco is about to join the war. At this point, the allied low water point mark, a smashed and nearly broken england stands alone against the might of Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Spain.

[Sapare]

Turn 28 – August 8th

n time.

When it rains it really does pour. Turkey strengthens axis relations, and Franco is about to join the war. At this point, the allied low water point mark, a smashed and nearly broken england stands alone against the might of Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Spain.

Don't worry, you can always move to Canada. We have it nice here.

[AshesFall]

@Sapare; Hehe. Yeah, though most brits prefer the warmer climates. So we've decided to move to Egypt!

Turn 29 – August 22nd

The past few weeks have been ones of evacuation and damage control. The W.D.F. once again embarked on transports from a port soon to come under attack, heading for the red sea. Two german Cruisers and a destroyer squadron appeared in Bristol channel, sinking one of our Destroyer sqadrons. In return, the “Glorious” and our two destroyer squadrons destroyed the Gneisenau, before moving to escape into the red sea. The Northern British fleet ran into a submarine raiding along the North channel, and once again we were reminded about just how outdated and inefficient our destroyers are, as our destroyers did much of nothing to the submarine. Gort Remains in Liverpool to try and escape (unlikely if the germans move to blockade the port). A wing of tactical bombersleft Britain for Egypt.

We were right about the strength of the germans, anything they find is destroyed within a week. We cannot stand against them at all.

Greece

The East African army barely got out of Athens, under constant bombardment from Italian heavy bombers and fierce attacks from german armies and Italian tanks, they arrived in Egypt a shadow of their full strength. But they did escape. These are small things that give us hope.

General Staff

The USSR invests another chit in Motorization, One chit in advanced aircraft, and starts assembling an army. The US invests in industrial technology.

At long last, there is another nation ready to fight the menace in continental Europe. The Soviets are waking up…

[Strategiclayabout]

- Grim situation for UK but USSR industry gained valuable time to heat up and any Barbarossa will be far more complicated for Germany. You also have good chances of saving most of your first turn pop units including planes and tanks (which will be at lvl 3 quickly enough ).

- True Hitler will have more MPPs from England (and probably Spain) but he will also have to keep some units there and of the country hasn't fallen yet. Also, since USA already have amphibious lvl 3, things will get interesting very soon.

- And looking on the bright side, your new british capital being in Egypt you'll be closer to defend all those oil wells .

[AshesFall]

Turn 30 – September 5th, 1941

Much of England fell to occupation under the invanders, Greece Surrendered, and Spain joined the Axis.

Liverpool was hit by a storm of special operations troops and Panzers. Gorts headquarters staff died in the streets and their offices as they tried to destroy any remaining evidence of British war plans. At the last moment after waiting as long as he could for surviving members of his officers corps, hearing the noise of Panzers driving down the streets of Liverpool, Gort embarked on a transport. Having spied the position of blockading cruisers from Liverpool, the transports moved past silently under cover of night and reached the passage to the red sea (Gort is str 2…). Canadian cruisers, having been sent all the way across the Atlantic, scouted the mouth of the Bristol channel for other axis ships lying in wait, and warned the transports en route so that they did not run into more opposition. England is under the rule of the Hun, but Churchill in a fiery speech (and dead drunk at the time) claimed that they were only borrowing this beloved Island for a short time. “Soon, we shall come home to collect on all the grievous debts owed us”.

Most of the british north fleet escaped around the cape of good hope along with Gort, that skippy bastard...

General Staff

The USSR received the STAVKA command, and all the troops were at str 7, not 8 as in the strategy guide. They also were not upgraded at all, so much for the “we have the most advanced tanks and airplanes in the world” spiel. Nevertheless, the tanks were all upgraded, at great cost. Stalin also released funds for the war effort, a whooping 750 MPP! This, taken with the Soviet advance to lvl 2 infantry tech, spells interesting days ahead.

[AshesFall]

Turn 31 – September 5th, 1941

The last of the British naval forces, trying to reach the route to the Red sea, ran into roving German fleets. Only one destroyer squadron will reach their destination. The last of bomber command was evacuated to Egypt, and Manchester fell.

The War in the East

STAVKA released the latest in doctrinal and technological advancements across the front, having prepared for the war with Germany for almost two years. There was never any chance of peace. Newly built tanks rolled out of factories to swell the ranks of the armored tide.

While all of this certainly sounds good, the grim fact of the matter is that the Soviet army is still only 44 units in total, with the Germans at some 66. That is a pretty big advantage…

In the north, we plan to strike towards Koenigsberg and Warzaw. Any ground we can take before the Germans have time to redeploy fully to the east after their conquest of England is ground they will have to take back before reaching the motherland.

In the south, we will aim to conquer the Axis minor powers and knock them out of the war. To this end, we have assembled a pretty strong army here. It will be interesting to see how this goes!

General Staff

UK home defense (here reinterpreted to be patriotic Englishmen acting on their own behalf!) strikes at german supply routes… a day late and a dollar short.

The US develop anti submarine warfare lvl 3 and industrial technology lvl 3. When they do finally enter the war (they are certainly taking their sweet time) the U-boats wont be as happy has they have been so far.

[AshesFall]

Turns 32 & 33 – September 5th, to November 7th

The War in the East

We moved forward in awful weather, and as the Germans withdrew, the red army followed and struck when the weather cleared. Near Warzaw, three tank armies (because if you call a corps an army, then it’s really larger) struck a German Panzer corps, destroying it at quite a few losses. Elsewhere, enemy corps proved stubborn, taking many of our armies with them. Of course, that is the result when only every other man has a rifle… (that infantry tech has nothing to do with advanced and fancy weaponry or doctrines, quantity is a quality of its’ own).

In the south it was much the same, with the tankovy armies moving to the front and the red tide crossing the river into Romania.

The Mediterranean

Franco has declared war and is now laying siege to Gibraltar. It has not yet fallen, and we rush two carriers and two battleships there to strike at the axis fleet seen waiting for the fortress to be taken.

The first part of the British fleet arrived, and another carrier and two destroyers are sent towards Gibraltar.

General Staff

The Soviets invest in advanced aircraft and artillery. No advances this turn, though the US is very upset at the axis presence near Gibraltar and should join the war shortly.

[AshesFall]

Turns 34 & 35 – December and January

During December, our in the east stood still. Both mud, fog and rain put a lid on nearly all offensive operations save a limited movement in Romania, destroying one army.

The only other significant event during Early December was that the US finally joined the war, having had quite enough of axis aggression. They are gearing up their industry to a war footing.

January was more eventful, the axis struck back and destroyed a Tank Army, and we pulled our remaining two tank armies back to use them to react to enemy tanks.

Romania was struck, and surrendered after their capital was taken. We will now continue on to Bulgaria and Hungary if possible. Koenigsberg is surrounded in the north and will soon fall, but the Center is static.

Gibraltar fell, and we pulled our ships back towards Malta to try and refit the ships with the new sonar technology.

The US has deployed a very large and modern fleet (all of it has anti sub warfare 3 and naval warfare lvl 1) and I immediately sent it across the atlantic to aid the Brits in the Mediterranean.

General Staff

The UK finally developed anti-submarine warfare (lvl 1) in December and invested in naval warfare for the coming struggles in the Mediterranean. The US now have some of the most advanced intelligence techniques in the world, at lvl 4.

In January, major breakthroughs came. The US has developed industrial tech lvl 4, and the USSR infantry weapons lvl 3.

[Strategiclayabout]

- Bucharest + Ploesti is worth around 50 MPPs, with Axis losing them and USSR taking them that's a nearly 100 MPPs difference (+ plunder) made in income for a small cost, well done !

- Axis will have a hard time holding and pushing you back will be even more difficult. Finland seems also out of the picture so Allies will have it good from now on.

[AshesFall]

@Strategiclayabout; Thanks! I think the game now hinges on the Med and the battles there. If I can ward off the german/spanish navy and hold Alexandria it looks good for a win, if I cant and Alexandria falls, that is the game!

Turns 36 & 37 – February to April

There was far too much snow in the East to do much of note. Instead, the red army took the time to refit. Especially in conquered Romania, the entire Balkan army gained halftracks and each and every man was armed with the latest weapons. In the north, Koenigsberg fell and scattered reinforcements and upgrades made where possible.

In the Mediterranean the British finished pulling back to Malta, and the destroyers in port there were fitted with the latest technology (anti sub lvl 1). We will attempt to refit the Battleships with new sonar systems as well, and upgrade the aging aircraft on the two Mediterranean carriers. Another carrier is on its’ way to join them, with a fourth just brought to full strength near Alexandria.

The US navy continues over the atlantic. (I just discovered the arrows just outside the US, it would have been faster getting to the gulf that way!).

The weather turned in April, and with fine weather we started moving forward again. We’re being careful in the center, as we are just now deploying two Tankovy armies to strike the Germans from the southeast into the center. The aircraft covering that sector was upgraded, and in the north reorganizations and new equipment was distributed while reorganizing from taking Koenigsberg.

In the south the Yugoslavians are still hanging on by a thread, they will probably fall in the coming two weeks. Meanwhile, our forces are heading towards Sofia.

The Mediterranean

The British near Malta was struck by some three Submarines and a Spanish cruiser. Both battleships were badly damaged, but not sunk. Our Carriers (three of them) retaliated before withdrawing towards Egypt, sinking the Spanish cruiser. One of the upgraded destroyers struck against a U-boat, but it dove into the sea and vanished.

Both carriers in Egypt and another destroyer squadron are now fully reinforced, ready to join in and stave off the Axis fleet. Several battleships still need new sonars and serious refitting however.

The US continued their long trek across the Atlantic, they should be at Gibraltar in some two turns… I have a sneaking suspicion that they wont be able to pass however, something I didn’t think about when I sent them. That oversight may, if we’re unlucky, very well be the end of England and the game…

General Staff

Both USSR and the US developed advanced aircraft lvl 2. I redeemed the last two chits in the finished infantry weapons line of research. Both the US and the USSR have been maxed out in research the last couple of turns.

The US builds an armor group, and advances infantry and heavy tank technology to lvl 3.

[AshesFall]

Turns 38 – May 8th, 1942

The War in the East

Quiet. The centre is barely moving, with no destroyed units on either side, and only limited damage done. In the north, a single corps stood against a tankovy army and three armies attacking it with only one loss. Odd. In the south we simply moved closer to the Bulgarian capital. We began assembling a new army around Lwow, for a strike directly north of into Hungary.

The Mediterranean

A fierce naval clash in the Gulf of Bomba saw another Spanish cruiser sunk, and the Italian destroyer squadron joining it. Our refitted destroyers managed marginal damage on a U-boat. Our destroyer squadron near Malta was set upon by the Bismarck and another U-boat, and barely escaped afloat. The vast majority of the British fleet is badly damaged, but some vessels are refitted and ready to send out. How the clash in the pond goes is entirely dependent upon where the bulk of the Axis fleet is, if he has sent everything here then the British fleet is probably in a lot of trouble, if he hasn’t, I will likely hold on until the US arrives with the modern ships. I think I underestimated them a little though, just anti Submarine warfare lvl 1 makes a huge difference.

The US

Meanwhile, the following scene played out halfway across the atlantic;

“This is Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll to the battleship Washington and Captain Howard H. J. Benson, respond”.

“Captain Benson speaking”

“What in *much colorful language obscured for posterity* are you doing over there? Didn’t you get the memo that Gibraltar has been taken by that fascist lapdog Franco?”

“Um… memo? I… “

“It’s closed you nitwit”

“Well, we did that “huge arrows in the Atlantic” project a few years back to allow faster travel, didn’t we? Aren’t there any by the west coast of Africa, you know, where you would actually sail if you wanted to go around the cape of good hope?”

“NO CAPTAIN THERE IS NOT!”

“Why?”

“Budget constraints… “

“…”

In summary;

I don’t know what I was thinking. “Send relief to the brits” yeah. That’s all nice and good. I didn’t notice the arrows by America until I was way out in the Atlantic, and then I remembered that I probably can’t go through Gibraltar anymore. The Brits seem to be handling the situation for the moment, so I’ll send A battleship, two destroyers and a cruiser northwards to the med by the “Red sea” arrows near England. It’s about two turns faster than going back to the US and taking the arrows from there. The rest of the fleet heads back to the US, presumably for a disciplinary hearing for criminal stupidity and insubordination.

The US is also sending reinforcements in the form of Two armies, an artillery piece and an anti-tank piece to Egypt by the “shortcut” near the US. If the axis pressure the Brits enough they just might arrive in the nick of time. Or not. Still, I can’t risk England surrendering completely, as I think I loose immediately then with France fallen.

A submarine was raiding the coast of Canada, as has happened many times before. This time however, an extremely modern US destroyer found it and damaged it severely, before three commonwealth destroyers (one with the new sonar technology) sank it beneath the waves for the last time.

[Strategiclayabout]

The USN relief trip(ping) was quite epic I'll admit .

- On the good side, it seems clear the tide of Atlantic Battle is turning, axis subs can't roam free anymore.

- For the german corps 1 step loss it can be entrenchments + high level HQ/morale/readiness.

[AshesFall]

Turns 39 – June 5th, 1942

Disaster… a frankly brilliant attack on the Center front broke it apart almost completely. And those German aircraft… holy crap. Of course, the attacks success was compounded by my own stupidity.

First, waves of tactical bombers. Despite the fact that I have better fighters tech wise, I don’t seem to be making much impact at all on the German fighters as they escort the bombers. The bombers destroyed one tank group and brought another to 1 str. Then Heavy bombers hit Byalystok, and again my fighters were ineffective in stopping them, and they reduced supply. Next came a wave of armor, slaughtering pretty much everything including Timoshenko and his staff, exposed by the bomber attacks. To compound the issue, paratroopers took Brest-Litovsk behind the lines, stupidly left open. It seems I have a great deal of difficulty learning some lessons, and my opponent learns them much quicker.

The end result? The entire center front out of supply and vulnerable to slaughter. I couldn’t move most of it back, and had to settle for screening the fighters in the hope that I will be able to reform further back. During the attack, and in the north, it was once again apparent how much deadlier the Germans are. Every attack kills 3-5 steps, my counter attacks do little to nothing despite several strikes from all directions, and this is with troops in good order and with morale/readiness above 50%, as well as better tech. It’s… highly discouraging. With results like those, how can I ever do anything but loose? Of course, German readiness stands between 85% (at worst) and 111% (at best), and mine is around 65% most of the time. Still, I cant figure out how to make his readiness go down, and mine go up to create a more even matchup. “Cut his supply”. Yeah? How? If he just advances, garrisons, and keeps his commanders close I can’t do that, because it necessitates actually killing some of his units to get past and that seems nigh impossible. Bah... Stalin needs to get some vodka to quell his bitterness for a while.

The one saving grace is that the Siberian troops arrived, Zhukov and his second in command operated down to set up supply lines, and those troops were all reinforced to 11. Still, if their performance is the same as my previous 11 step units, it won’t make a lick of difference. I might have to run all the way to Moscow.

I snuck past and took a coastal city in the north, and hit the Italian tank group in Yugoslavia. I’m appalled that my tech does so very little, and very afraid of what will happen when the Germans get infantry tech lvl 3.

The Mediterranean

The Bismarck was sunk by two carriers, we chased a sub around, but it dove thrice in succession.

US

Trucks around the atlantic. We spotted some German naval elements with our breaking of enigma, and moved to intercept.

General Staff

US developed industrial tech lvl 5. I desperately need even more Advanced aircraft to start hitting the enemy ground attack aircraft directly with any effect. So both the US and USSR has three chits there.

[Strategiclayabout]

- One major thing about those terrible combat results is german forces have level 10 supply sources just in their back, that alone can explain the morale/readiness difference.

- However I also think the fact Axis units are more experienced (especially HQs) from all the previous battles makes them harder to kill.

- You also had nearly no defensive bonus (AA, terrain or entrenchment) as you were caught while attacking.

- So don't worry, it can't be worse ^^ ! You still have lots of ground to give if needed and MPPs will keep flowing. Just avoid losing too many units in low supply . USA have many cards to play to help Stalin and Churchill.

[AshesFall]

Turns 40 – July 3rd, 1942

Stalin has had himself a little drink and think with Comrade Smirnoff, and once he woke from his pity party and had engaged in some recreational shooting of soviet commanders (all the ones originally on the map will soon be “sacked”), he tried to look at the situation from a different perspective.

I think most of my disappointment derives from an error in expectations. I expected, with an army of larger size and better tech, to be able to stand toe to toe with the Germans. I was woefully mistaken. The game is simply designed to allow the Germans the greater strength for a long time, be that due to repeated conquests of minors (high readiness) or extremely experienced troops and commanders (the equal). I’ll have to change my perspective, and play it closer to history. I have to remember than in 1942 Stalin was busy having his butt whipped all around the motherland. This means that the plan for the foreseeable future is to say die in droves and give up most of Russia until 1944 finally rolls around. I really need A) better fighters and anti-aircraft technology. Unfortunately, the Soviets are maxed out on tech and stubbornly refuse to reach any new innovations. Stalin will shortly have to start shooting scientists as well, seeing as this technique really motivates clear thinking and the dissemination of one generations experience and knowledge to the next.

Grander Plans

This map crudely shows my general plans for 1943. I wont be able to do much with the Americans for 1942, they have sent 2 armies, an artillery piece and an AT piece to Egypt along with two destroyers, a battleship and a cruiser. These assets should hopefully aid the Brits in taking North Africa sometime early 1943. The rest of 43 will be focused on trying to get the Italians to surrender using the forces previously in NA. The surrender of allies should lower German enthusiasm.

In the same vein, the US will aim to make an invasion of Spain (not quite sure how yet, it seems impractical to move across the entire atlantic in ambhibious transports, we’ll see) and an invasion aimed at retaking England. Then with England as a staging ground and British economy strengthened (they are truly pitiful in their technological retardation) we should hopefully be on track for some sort of overlord in 1944, maybe coordinated with an invasion of France from Spain.

One thing that worries me is that the US troop pool is tiny, we’ll see how it goes.

The actual war of July 3rd

“Mostly pretty miserable” sums it up, two more Tankovy armies down to the damned Luftwaffe, slaughter of our troops in the center and mad scrambling backwards to run away. General preparations otherwise. Still no tech for anyone, which is depressing.

Central Disaster unfolding

Siberian forces awaiting trains to take them to the front

[Strategiclayabout]

- Moving amphibious transports by hand across the Atlantic wouldn't be practical, I agree but they can use red arrows for naval movements so why bother ?

- I don't think I help you too much by saying that gives you several interesting options. There are various possibilities for USA/UK (and even USSR) but you'll have to put those staff officers to work to find them !

[AshesFall]

Turn 41 – July 17th 1942

The slaughter continues, as the damned Luftwaffe turns its’ tender attentions north. Another Tankovy army lost to the airpower, that makes five in the past three turns, when covered by five fighter wings. Devlop AA-tech, priority number one! All I can do now is pray the summer is soon over so that the skies get too rainy and cloudy for the Germans. Nevertheless, with a lot of troops dead in the North and the bombers hitting Koenigsberg to destroy our supply lines, we pulled way back. Once again our HQ came under fierce attack by panzers (he was well protected, emphasis on –was-) and barely escaped with his life (not that he'll last once Stalin gets a hold of him. What about that no retreat directive?).

I operated the Siberian Tankovy armies to the Center, but I now think that I’ll send them to the back until I can develop AA-tech. They will do nothing but die near the front.

In the south I was fairly proud of this maneuver. STAVKA calculated that with heavy Hungrian and German attention on Yugoslavia (and me making as much noise as possible with my tanks to keep it that way) the Hungarians might have left their capital undefended. I had the corps next to Sambor last turn and thought I had counted right, but nope, I was one square short. I adjusted, hoping my opponent wouldn’t notice, and tried the gambit this turn. If it didn’t work, it would only have been a corps. But, the capital was undefended, and Hungary surrendered. Siberian artillery and infantry was moved into Romania by train, hopefully I can make them go down as well if I can get into position to start bombarding. For now, desperate action was required to try and save an army that was badly mauled by the Germans.

In the Mediterranean enigma broke the position of the Italian battleship, and we struck it with a nearby carrier. It didn’t sink, but I think we damaged it some.

General Staff

Advances for Soviet finally… the US develops Advanced Aircraft lvl 3 and Intelligence lvl 5, the USSR motorization lvl 2. Very nice, now I can redeem the second chit in that and invest in AA-tech. Threatening to shoot people obviously works better than I thought…