4 Player AAR with new PBEM - Game 3

[rjh1971]

I replaced the v1.053 beta ace with the latest one, could that be it?

[kondor]

Maybe it's connected with the new exe file? I haven't play the turn with it.
I have upgraded to it now, and I'll see if I have FOW on.

[Joel Billings]

Could be, I've emailed Karl and Erik about it.

[kondor]

I confirm that FOW is gone with the new exe.

[kondor]

Summer '41, soviets play.

I'm sorry to see my ally has so many issues with GE subs. I guess he will not underestimate them in future games.
Well, the game must go on w/o the FOW.

I was actually glad that Tim went for Kursk, that leaves me in a great position to counterattack.
This time RNG was not on my side, but the damage to the Germans has been dealt. Their offensive capabilities were reduced and threatened to be cut off in the future.

First the attack on Rumania, from Odessa with combined arms bonus. The damage estimate was favorable, I had solid chances of succeeding, and I've attacked.

[kondor]

An all-out attack on Kursk followed, with more than 50% of success and 1:1 damage prediction.
My forces failed, and I took more damage, but I'll get it next turn.

[kondor]

Kursk is a great area for staging attacks into SU soil, with a lot of juicy targets around.
The problem is that any troops which remain there (or move forward) will be cut off next turn when I'll surely succeed in a counterattack.
I don't think that Tim can bring enough reinforcements to defend Kursk. But he could do a lot of damage if he chooses so.

Moscow was reinforced, rested forces from Leningrad want a piece of the action, so they move into position to cut off the aggressors.
And the army to hold Kharkov + threaten Rumania is still in place.
Blue arrows = troop movement
Red arrows = possible places of attack for the next turn.


Fun times for the SU, with the biggest hurt, is lack of supplies.
Infantry attack +1 upgraded this turn.

IJ is ready to smack into China, but my factories finally built something, and I think Rafael will not like it. (first Chinese artillery unit is in position to fight the only IJ tank unit[:D]).

[tcart]

Germany Fall 42

The Germans must make lemonade.

First, the Russian Front. Here Germany mobility still reigns supreme. I had two choices: attack towards Leningrad or hit Kharkov and cut off the army in Odessa.

After some deliberation I decided for Kharkov. My rationale here is that Germany can't conquer Russia, but with the WA suffering due to uboats, I can wear the Russians down and keep them from pressuring too much to the West. This means killing Russian units and burning his supply. The chance to eliminate an isolated pocket in Odessa was too juicy to pass up. The VP from Leningrad, in contrast, wouldn't make any kind of difference.

I had very good odds but once again took more damage than I would have liked. Now we'll see if the Russians can break the pocket. I'm especially annoyed that my heavy firepower keeps targeting milita. Most annoying.

I made a mistake here in not pushing 5 supplies forward to add rail to the newly trashed Kharkov infrastructure.

[tcart]

Germany Cont

The Germans advanced towards Cairo and wiped out the RAF there. I should be able to take it next turn as I don't see a major reinforcement effort coming. This opens up a potential second front in the Caucusus for '43.

The Uboats have few targets, but hit what they can. I'm especially gratified by the number of LF's that have been hit during the Battle of the Atlantic. Every damaged destroyer prolongs the uboat's happy time.

Kudos to the Allies for strategic bombing of the Reich. I didn't expect that kind of damage. The Luftwaffe will redeploy to protect the homeland.

All in all, while it's not my ideal situation, I feel good out the Axis position. If I can seal off the Med I can both pressure the Russians and easy my resource issues for late in the game. I'll never win a long war of attrition vs the Russians, but I can probably keep them from becoming a juggernaught. He's got to run out of expendable MIL units sometime.

[rjh1971]

Fa42 Japan

Changsa and Foochow are not yet retaken, IJA keeps building up an army that will crush the Chinese once and for all the pesky Chinese when they release their wrath.

In India a Factory has damaged and Ceylon invaded, which stands for an excellent base to launch air attacks.

In the Pacific, Japanese forces land in Australia, while the CAGs finish off their mission in PH which was later easily invaded.

[kondor]

SU Fall 42
The last turn the WA airforce came through with a nice surprise for GE factories.
In this turn, I've done my part by bombing the W. Poland factory.

Tim offensive captured a part of my troops in Odessa, and I've not been able to use them in a counteroffensive.
I launched one from Rostov, despite the odds being slightly worse for my side. The battle was not enough to push the Germans back, but it weakened them further.
As the next turn is winter, they will find it hard to deliver a final blow to Odessa troops. Or they will, but with great losses again.

Lack of supplies shows, and I've not been able to attack E.Poland, but I did move the Moscow army closer to the enemy positions.

China has nothing to do, but to await Japan's army.

[tcart]

Germany Winter 43

This is how the Germans would like things to go. The Atlantic remains a German lake, at least for the short term. The Uboats can't dominate forever, but every turn they do is one more in the bank.

Cairo falls to the Afrika Korps, which now must decide whether India or the Caucasus is juicier. I lost a couple of uboats getting aggressive with WA transports, but it helped fully cut off the remains of the British med fleet.

FYI, if you use a LF to attack a uboat, you can force it to submerge, after which it can't opfire.

The Russian front finally yields the kind of attrition results I want. The Russian offensive into Kharkov cost him far more than me, and then 10 Russkies permanently killed in Odessa. I'll never fight my way back to Moscow, but I can use superior German mobility to create pockets and cause more damage than I take. With any luck this will create a stalemate.

[rjh1971]

Winter 43 Japan

Odds were more favorable to invade Changsa, predicted Chinese cassualties were two times the Japanase but chance of succeeding was only around 33% so the attack is postponed until better weather arrives.
Winter weather didn't prevent our brave pilots to disrupt Chinese production in Chungking.

In India the second factory was hit and damaged, their supply stock is down to two and with German and Japanese blockade there is very little chance they will break the blockade. It is a matter of time before India falls...

Johnston Islands south of PH were taken. Celebes was also occupied as well as Northern Territory in Australia.

Meanwhile Japan's economy is running at full throttle.

Here is the situation:

[kondor]

Losing those troops in Odessa hurts. I underestimated GE strength.
As Axis powers are one or two points from achieving a minor victory watermark, I'm forced to take chances and play aggressively.
Well, now I don't have the supplies to do anything meaningful.

[rjh1971]

Sp43 Japan

The time has come to teach the treacherous Chinese a lesson. Changsa has been occupied and there will be no halt now until the Chinese surrender. The Chinese withdrew to Chungking leaving only a small garrison of four militia to whom another 6 militia joined when invaded.When you invade a Chinese area militia sprout equal to the number of population.

Foochow is now irrelevant as occupying it will force us to garrison it. It will be dealt later on and will be an easy prey.

Factory in Lanchow was damaged and will have to be repaired further stressing the use of supplies for the Chinese, which currently have none. Russia will have to send more supplies or they're a dead duck.

Downside of taking Changsa is that now Chinese factories produce each turn instead of every three.

In Southern India the factory was hit again leaving it destroyed. Another transport fleet was damaged.

Central Philippines and Western Australia were occupied.



In the Pacific, a daring and foolish transport without escort was sunk.
The US air force based in French Polynesia was wiped out. The damaged bomber could not trace a path to a factory and was destroyed. Setback is that the Japanese CAG was an elite one and now will be veteran once repaired.

[kondor]

SU turn SP 43.
The last turn Goran finally cleaned a lot of subs from the Atlantic and hit the Luftwaffe with lots of casualties on both sides.
And while Japan has free hands to do what he likes, Germans will have to slug it out with the RA.
The massive army assembled in Belorussia.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? We'll find out soon.

[rjh1971]

Su43 Japan

Germany is bearing the weight of the war. The WA and Soviet Union have released all their wrath against Germany.
The WA allies managed to clear the Italian navy from the Med and landed in Southern Italy. More factories were bombed (4 damaged) by WA bombers only to be repaired again by effective and diligent TODT workers.

Meanwhile in Russia a preparation for a clash of Titan is underway. no battles, but the fuse on the powder keg could burn at any time.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, the Japs continue with the invasion of Australia, Sydney is captured. the Transport Fleet set sails only to be sunk by our Heavy Fleet nearby.



Chinese factories are all now damaged. The Chinese will have to spend some of their 8 supplies left to repair them.

India's factories are also a wreck and railyards have been bombed in preparation for a land assault.

[rjh1971]

Here are the production table, the damaged and destroyed units throughout the war table and the Sigint screen. Note that since we updated the game FOW screwed up so you are watching the real figures.

[rjh1971]

You can see that Japanese losses have been minimum [8D][:)]

[kondor]

SU 43 Soviets
Last turn WA has pulled a daring raid in S. Italy, and although WA is not yet strong enough to maintain that position for long, it does hurt the GE economy.

This SS was taken at the start of my turn, I forgot to take one at the end.
I've reinforced my main army, moved the troops to Odesa, and now the GE will have to defend or lose it.

GE tech advantage is problematic, as the lack of supply keeps plaguing me.

Chinese eagerly await their doom. Their main purpose is to drain the IJ supplies and army reserves. Delaying a two-sided attack on the SU is a good thing for me.