Sturm und Drang : Allied Perspective

[gwgardner]

Some overall notes: this will be a rather vanilla Allied effort. NO PP shipments other than 50 PP lendlease to the British and the Russians, once the US starts lend-lease. The game system makes it impossible to hold on to Gibraltar, if Spain goes to the Axis (I very much dislike the siege feature of the game.) So I'm assuming Gibraltar will fall, thus closing off the Med. As such, I'm having the British send early reinforcements to Egypt, since they will be blocked later on.

It's May 1st, and things have finally started to get lively on the Western Front.

British: Conferences with the French showed a defeatism that leads us to refuse an expeditionary force. The British air force was briefly based in France, but took heavy losses during ground strikes during the period of Sitzkrieg. With no resources to both reinforce the air units and to build up a defense capability, the air force has withdrawn to bases in Northern Ireland for further training and eventual refit. One air fleet is stationed in Egypt, performing recon against a possible Italian entry into the war. All available armor and motorized units, which were to have gone to France, have been dispatched instead to Egypt also.

France: The British having backstabbed us, by refusing all but moral support, we are left in dire straits. We have little to throw in the way of the German armored spearhead that is striking directly into the heart of France. Defeat seems certain. If Paris falls, so will the government fall.

USSR: We are poised to carry out the secret protocols in our agreement with Germany, and will take the Baltic states as soon as possible. Not trusting the Germans in the long run, however, we are looking to shore up defenses in general along our borders.

Situation on the Western Front:

[gwgardner]

May 9 situation:

The French High Command is confident that we can hold out for, oh ... two more weeks? And the British call that defeatism?

[gwgardner]

The right-wing thrust of the French army into the Ruhr has been blunted short of it's goal. Whether or not that effort delayed the German offensive in any way seems unlikely. The army is now falling back upon Paris and Metz. In the south, the perfidious Italians have declared war and show that they are of the same stamp as perfidious Albion. The Italian army shows no advance yet, through the Alps towards Marseilles.

[gwgardner]

Does anyone know if the Allies could send forces to the USSR, as an ally? Or would they be considered enemies? I used 30 diplo points to get Saudi Arabia to go Allied. My idea was to then get Iraq, and then send British/US units to help the USSR. But now I'm thinking that ain't going to work in this game system.

Yeah, I've been tardy posting on the AAR. All this early stuff is pretty standard anyway - hopefully the next patch will liven things up in that regard. Tension is building however - Chuck has hinted that he may not wait till the historical date for Barbarossa.

[James Ward]

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

Does anyone know if the Allies could send forces to the USSR, as an ally? Or would they be considered enemies? I used 30 diplo points to get Saudi Arabia to go Allied. My idea was to then get Iraq, and then send British/US units to help the USSR. But now I'm thinking that ain't going to work in this game system.

Yeah, I've been tardy posting on the AAR. All this early stuff is pretty standard anyway - hopefully the next patch will liven things up in that regard. Tension is building however - Chuck has hinted that he may not wait till the historical date for Barbarossa.

I don't think you can. The WA and Soviets are different factions.

[gwgardner]

It's late summer '40, and the Axis has run roughshod across Europe. Since the US has remained completely isolated, and hasn't contributed even one PP to any warring or neutral power, the Germans are using their superiority at will.

After a protracted siege of Lisbon, the city is close to desperation. As the Germans have finally brought up an infantry corps to help the Spanish forces, Portugal will soon go the way of France.

Yugoslavia has fallen, and now the Axis has invaded Greece. The approaches to Athens will be furiously defended, in the mountains and on the plains.

Malta fell, when the Royal Navy was unable to supply the island, making it possible for the Axis to make a push in North Africa. The British Mediterranean Commmand made a decision to withdraw all the way back to the Nile, extending Axis supply lines to the breaking point.

The fear is that the Germans will not stop with Greece, but will attack Turkey too.

[The game's diplomatic system is seriously flawed with regard to neutrals who are attacked by the Axis. Instead of becoming Allied, the neutrals become pro-Allied. So as far as I know, I am unable to go to the aid of Greece, for instance. Weird. Tell me if I'm wrong.]

[gwgardner]

The USSR is astonished at the rapacity of the Axis powers, and has continued with a armament buildup. current defenses are shown here. The arrows indicate the designed fallback directions, should an attack be made. The intent is to use the vast territory of Russia to suck the Axis into longer and longer lines., while gathering a mobile force to launch a counterattack when possible.

[James Ward]

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

[The game's diplomatic system is seriously flawed with regard to neutrals who are attacked by the Axis. Instead of becoming Allied, the neutrals become pro-Allied. So as far as I know, I am unable to go to the aid of Greece, for instance. Weird. Tell me if I'm wrong.]

I think they join your side the turn after they are attacked.

[gwgardner]

Yawn...
Let's see if the Germans have made any headway on their attack into the Pelopennesus.
What's this?
Bold headlines indeed!

Reuters News Flash:
Chaos in the Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin dead!
Red Army Coup!
Blood in the streets of Moscow and Leningrad!
German News Agency reporting attacks across the borders!

Sketchy and therefore preliminary reports out of the Soviet Union tell of a surprise and bloody coup d'etat. A coterie of high-level Red Army officers, including several Marshalls, backed by lower-level officers, planned and carried out widespread attacks on the Kremlin and other government installations. Enraged by a series of purges within their ranks over the recent years, and further outraged by the government's policies with regard to Germany, the officer corps has apparently been planning such a coup for some time.

Reports out of Berlin indicate that the Red Army has apparently launched cross-the-border attacks. Propoganda Minister Goebbels has made a special announcement on national radio, stating Reichs Chancellor Hitler has remained fully apprised of the developing situation and is personally in command of the situation.

[gwgardner]

All indications are that the recent coup against the Stalin regime was much better planned than the subsequent Red Army attacks across the border against Germany.

The situation in the North - Soviet, or should it now be said, Russian infantry are streaming into Prussia on a broad front. It is as yet unknown whether this attack has caught the German army by surprise, or how well prepared they are to meet the assault upon the fatherland.

[gwgardner]

In the South, without any modern mechanized forces to spearhead the invasion, the Red Army has apparently failed to take it's obvious first objective, the road and rail nexus of Lublin. However, the German high command cannot be unaware of the danger of these hordes of Russian troops approaching Warsaw from both the north and south.

[gwgardner]

new from the AP:

dateline Ankara
Marshall Zhukov has emerged as the leading figure in the recent coup in the Soviet Union. A slew of pronouncements and martial law decrees have emanated from his office in the Kremlin.

This yesterday:
"We intend to reverse the policies of the criminal Stalin regime. The Nazi regime in Berlin will be first to feel the impact of our decisions. We will return to Mother Russia all territories and treasure torn from us by their perfidy.

"Our forces are striking deep into Prussia and Poland, and we will march all the way to Berlin if our demands are not met."

[gwgardner]

new from the BBC:

There is rejoicing in the streets of London today, with confirmation of the Red Army's attack into German occupied territories, and indeed into Germany itself. The joy is less evident in Athens, where it is reported that German tanks are on the outskirts of the ancient city. It is feared that the coup leaders in Moscow have acted to late to draw attacking forces out of Greece. A more hopeful attitude can be found in Alexandria, where the government reports that German armored forces have continued to be reinforced, and are now threatening the government's hold on the vital Suez.

[gwgardner]

Situation at the front:

Note that the concentration of mechanized forces is intended to disrupt efforts by the enemy to construct a defensive line, forestalling the advance into Prussia and Poland.

[gwgardner]

In Egypt, a strong Axis offensive, led by two German tank corps, is almost within sighting distance of the Pyramids. Field Marshall Alexander is certain that the offensive can be blunted if we can hold out for two more weeks. In that time, two more infantry corps will be available.

The quality of our mechanized and tank forces are not nearly up to par with the German, and it's hard to envision going on the offensive ourselves until we can get better quality units.

Even so, on the southern end of the desert front, we have launched a small offensive against primarily Italian forces, attempting to isolate a lone tank division there.

[gwgardner]

Egypt stabilized (I think):

[gwgardner]

I couldn't have been more wrong about stabilizing the Egyptian front. Using heavy air strikes, he was able to destroy the one infantry corp standing between him and the Nile in front of Cairo. A German armored corps is now preparing for the crossing. I have brought in a mechanized corp to defend the outskirts of Cairo and forestall the crossing, but as long as the enemy can continue to use his air power at will, things are not looking stabilized at all.

I have one seriously damaged air fleet skulking in hangars in Lebanon, but no PPs to reinforce it.

Convoys carrying US lend-lease aid have finally begun arriving, and that is helping, but I fear too little, too late.

[gwgardner]

Not content with stasis on the northern front, and already feeling political heat from the rather inglorious outcome of his attack upon Germany, General Zhukov launched a surprise attack upon Romania.

Kishinev has already fallen to the Russian advance, and advance units have made a bridgehead across the Prut River.

[gwgardner]

June '41

The Russian offensive in Romania continues, with primarily infantry attacks all along the front, attempting to wear the defensive wall down and force a fallback.

Under diplomatic pressure, primarily from the British, it appears that Hungarian enthusiasm for the Axis has cooled somewhat. That is considered vital for the Russian cause, as a British ally.

[gwgardner]

On the northern front, the Germans have shifted the main focus of their offensives on the approaches to Lublin. The northernmost German armored spearhead was weakened and vulnerable to a counterattack. Combine tank and infantry forces attacked the lead German armored unit and almost destroyed it.

In Egypt, meanwhile, the continuous German assaults are making incremental headway. Most telling, they are absorbing huge expenditures by the British on supplies and reinforcements.