MWiF Global War Hot-Seat (AAR)

[Red Prince]

And here it is, my End of Turn Report for J/A '41:

Partisans
No Partisans

Pre-Build Scrapping
Germany scrapped 1 x FTR-2, 2 x LND-2
CW scrapped 2 x CL
USSR scrapped 2 x INF, 2 x FTR-2

Strategic Bombing
CW conducts Strategic Bombing raid on Prague, Roll = 6+1 = 7 = 1 PP Destroyed

Totals: 1 German Production Point Destroyed

Convoys Destroyed
Japan initiates combat in the Arabian Sea, using CL Abukuma; Axis Roll: 4, Allied: 1; Japan chooses a Surface Combat
.....Japan unnecessarily spends 2 Surprise Points to Increase Columns
.....Japan Destroys 2 CW CP
Japan initiates combat in New Zealand Coast, using SUB 4453; Axis Roll: 4, Allied: 10
.....Japan spends 4 Surprise Points to Choose Naval Combat Type, selects Submarine Combat, 2 to Decrease Columns, 2 to Increase Columns
.....Japan Destroys 2 CW CP

Totals: 4 Allied Convoys Destroyed (4 CW)

Builds:
CW (23): 1 x MAR, 1 x HQ-I, 2 x Convoy, 2 x NAV-3, 1 x BB(Repair), 2 x Pilot
France (0): Nothing
USA (56): 4 x INF, 2 x ARM, 1 x AA, 4 x Convoy, 2 x SUB(1st), 3 x FTR-2, 2 x BB(Repair), 1 x French CA(Repair), 1 x ASW Carrier(2nd), 1 x BB(2nd), 2 x Pilot
USSR (10): 3 x INF, 1 x GARR, 1 x Retrain Pilot
Germany (32): 2 x INF Division, 1 x MIL, 1 x ENG Division, 1 x ARM Division, 2 x FTR-2, 2 x LND-3, 2 x SUB(2nd), 3 x Pilot / 1 x Moscow INF (free)
Italy (17): 1 x INF, 3 x TERR, 1 x Convoy, 1 x LND-3, 2 x Pilot
Japan (22): 1 x INF, 1 x TERR, 1 x Warlord, 2 x Convoy, 1 x FTR-2, 1 x CVP-0, 2 x CV(Repair), 1 x BB(Repair), 1 x CA(Repair), 2 x Pilot / 1 x Manila GARR (free)

S/O '41 Gearing Limits (above 1):
CW: 3 x Infantry, 3 x Ship, 3 x Air, 3 x Pilot
France: None
USA: 5 x Infantry, 3 x Armor, 2 x Artillery, 8 x Ship, 3 x Submarine, 4 x Air, 3 x Pilot
USSR: 5 x Infantry
Germany: 5 x Infantry, 2 x Armor, 3 x Submarine, 5 x Air, 4 x Pilot
Italy: 5 x Infantry, 2 x Shipt, 2 x Air, 3 x Pilot
Japan: 4 x Infantry, 6 x Ship, 3 x Air, 3 x Pilot

Conquest: & Liberation
Philippines cc by Japan
Cyprus cc by Italy
Seychelles cc by Japan
New Guinea cc by Japan
Andaman Islands cc by Japan

Italy liberated Persia
Germany returns territory to Persia

USSR declines to Surrender to Germany

Factory Destruction:
None

Reinforcements:
Germany assigns Pilots to 2 FTR, NAV
Germany places MIL in Minsk, INF in Helsinki, FTR in Hannover, FTR in Vienna, NAV in Bremen, HQ-A Manstein, MECH, and MECH Division in Konigsberg
Germany places MTN in Saarbrucken, INF and INF Division in Kiel, MTN Division in Breslau, 4 SUBs in Kiel
Italy assigns Pilot to NAV
Italy places TERR in Suez, Oran, Ethiopia, NAV in Turin
Japan assigns Pilots to 2 FTR, CVP
Japan places TERR in Mandalay, CVP in Tokyo, 2 FTR in Sasebo
CW assigns Pilots to FTR(IND) and NAV(AUS)
CW places NAV and Convoy in Brisbane, FTR in Hyderabad, AMPH and INF Division in Liverpool, Convoy in Scapa Flow, HQ-I Rydz in London
USA assigns Pilot to CVP
USA places 2 TRS, CV and CVP in New York, Supply Unit in Norfolk
USSR places INF in Tiflis, GARR in Tiflis, Kazan, and Kirov

Trade Agreements:
USA creates new Trade Agreement with USSR, sending 1 resource

Victory Totals
Axis: 43
Allies: 23 (24-1 for aligning both Brazil & Mexico)

Initiative:
Allies win the Initiative 12-8
Allies choose to move first in S/O '41

Turn 13 S/O '41

Allies win the Initiative 12-8
Allies choose to move first in S/O '41
+2 Allied Initiative

Impulse: 1
Weather: 2
(Fine everywhere)
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The Soviets are in very rough shape. That's actually putting it mildly . . . they are in terrible shape. The Germans are going to need an O-chit or several attacks to crack open Leningrad if they try it before Snow sets in, but with the weather starting out Fine, Koniev is about to be in some big trouble. He's about to be overtaken from the North, and he's run out of cheap units to be road-blocks. It looks like he's going to have to rail out to the Urals and hope the Germans can't get there before the end of the turn.

The Wallies can only get one more resource delivered to the USSR this turn, due to a temporary lack of Convoys, but at least the Americans have both Murmansk and Archangel covered. They haven't started building O-chits yet, because they take only 3 turns to build and they haven't gotten a true invasion fleet built up yet. They might be able to make an invasion of France this turn, and they have 2 HQs in Ireland now, but they still might find it difficult to follow up and create a real foothold. If they try to invade, it will be with a Combined Action on the 1st impulse (I have to see how strongly I can attack). It would have to be with a MAR and 2 Divisions, and ideally one of those Divisions will be killed -- making room for an HQ to land in the hex in a later impulse. Almost any hex can be pretty easily bottled up to prevent expansion. Unless there is a good chance of turning the invasion away, this means the Germans might do better to just let it happen, and not include the Notional Unit in combat.

The problem here is that the CW will probably want to take a Land Action to start off the turn so that it can improve its position in India and E. Africa while the weather is still good. The Americans can still make the invasion and have an HQ ready to reinforce the landing, but it will leave them without a lot of Ground Support. They might do better to wait an impulse, but that will allow the Germans to close ranks.
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The Germans did commit a large number of their incoming forces to moving up on Leningrad, which should please the Wallies, because it means fewer forces to help on the coast if they do invade. However, there is some flexibility for the Germans this turn. The Americans don't get their fresh new AMPHs and transports until next turn, so if this turn lasts 8-9 impulses, the Germans might be able to clear away enough Soviet forces to start returning troops to the West.

Italy started building convoys to deploy in Persia, and they'll probably start sending a small force to cross the Kara-Kum desert and take over Samarkand and Tashkent. Alternately, they might consider putting pressure on India from the West. With the Japanese coming through Burma and already having an HQ on the Indian coast, this could be difficult for the CW, especially if Italy can reach Delhi.

The likely first move for Italy, though, is a Combined or Naval Action, depending on what the Soviets do with their Persian border forces. If they leave a very weak point, a Land Action might be needed, but it has been a while since Italy had a chance to move some of its Naval units, and there's one more invasion to be made in the Med -- the Balearic Islands.

The Japanese now face a good sized American fleet that is gathered in Adelaide, Australia. The question is whether the Americans are going to try to get that fleet to Calcutta or not. The Allies are now limited to Cape Town, Aden, Bombay, Calcutta, Adelaide, and Brisbane for Major Ports in this part of the world. That may sound like a lot, but until the fleets reach the Indian ports, they can't reach high sea boxes, and that favors the Japanese. Also, even though the American fleet is strong, the Japanese are still much stronger here. They do have to set up strong defenses against the American SUBs that reached Calcutta last turn, but they don't have much to fear from the CW SUBs -- those only reached Darwin, and they will have to get to Chittagong this turn.

Fortunately, the Japanese have 2 NAVs in Canton that can react into the China Sea and S. China Sea 0 Boxes, so they might be able to get away with a Land Action during their first impulse this turn. That would help a lot in Siberia, India, the Arabian peninsula, and Burma. It's starting to get to the point in the game which sees the Japanese struggling to find the right Action choice for each impulse. So much to do, and so little time.
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Here's the weather at the start of September, 1941:

[Orm]

I do not think I ever seen a WIF game reaching S/O 1941 with so few Axis losses. With so few losses Axis are in a very strong position. So it will take alot of forces for Allies to make any headway from an invasion in mainland Europe.

[Red Prince]

The next several posts show you the primary non-Soviet activity in the game.
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1 of 8

This shows the forces on the east coast of the United States. All there is on the west coast right now is the Los Angeles MIL and 2 convoys.

[Red Prince]

2 of 8

Here are the forces currently gathered in the UK. I've used the Naval Review Details (NRD) Form to show the units in Plymouth (left) and Liverpool (right). As you can see, the build-up has started, but more troops are needed for any sustained attacks on the European continent.

[Red Prince]

3 of 8

This is an overview of what is waiting for the Allies in Western Europe. You can see why the CW made the desperate attempt to clear out the Bay of Biscay here; there are some very nice hexes in the south of Portugal that would make terrific invasion sites. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. So, the best options right now are the hexes between the Rumanian and Yugoslavian forces. I don't know if it can happen, but a foothold would be nice to have here.

Once the Soviets are pretty much cleaned off the map in 1942, the Italians and Germans will start replacing the Yugoslavian and Rumanian forces with veterans of their own. The Rumanians will probably go to the USSR as garrison troops, and the Yugoslavian forces will likely move down into Spain . . . or they might return to Italy and the Balkans if the Allies are starting to threaten a return to the Med.

[Red Prince]

4 of 8

The Americans are holding on at Murmansk and Archangel for now. It would be nice to swap out HQ-A Eisenhower with HQ-I Clark. Besides the advantage of being an armor HQ, Eisenhower has twice the reorganization ability. Before I do that, though, I want to get 4 full Corps into these cities and pull the Division out of Murmansk (or move him to Finland). Moscow is only 14 hexes away from Archangel. If/when the USSR is conquered, then any number of troops can enter Russia through these 2 cities. Keeping them in Allied hands could make it that much easier to liberate Ivan. It will also force the Germans to leave some strong units around here.

[Red Prince]

5 of 8

The Good
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HQ-A Wavell has his troops now, and he's ready to storm up the East African Coast. He only has 25 factors of units to work with, but until he reaches Egypt he'll be running into Territorial units only. This is just too far south and too hard to supply for the Italians, so they won't commit any HQs or regular troops to the region unless both the USSR and India fall to the Axis. If that happens, the Allies probably don't have a prayer (but I'll continue playing anyway -- never say die!).

[Red Prince]

6 of 8

The Bad
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Nobody likes to see a Japanese HQ in India, so that's bad. The early effort to send whatever troops were available did help some, though.

While he only has a few Corps with him at the moment, HQ-I Yamashita can probably push into India, possibly all the way to Bombay, if the CW isn't able to reinforce the country. Japan has a lot of sealift right now, and can send more troops as needed. The good weather turns are on the way for Japan, but they are short turns, so Action selection will be crucial to the Japanese.

[Red Prince]

7 of 8

The Ugly
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Calcutta will be extremely difficult to take, especially if Japan is only able to mount a single attack each turn. I probably should have rebuilt some ENG units to help with this one (I've just put a comment in my notes so that I won't forget to do it). The CW attempt to cut into Burma looks like it failed. Given enough Land Actions, HQ-I Umezu should be able to take this band into the Calcutta region. If they can take Chittagong, it will go a long way toward making a push toward Delhi from the east.

The American fleet in Adelaide just isn't strong enough to take on the Japanese yet, even if they do rebase to Calcutta. They have the CV advantage for the moment, but that won't last long, and the next batch of 5 Essex-class carriers can't show up before J/F '43. The Allies are actually short of ships right now. Many of them are on escort duty with convoys, and many are needed for European operations. Until the Americans can extend their land-based air power into the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and S. China Sea . . . well, India is going to have to fight on its own. I don't even think I'll try to get the American Fleet to Calcutta just yet. For the time being, the SUBs will try to sink Japanese convoys if they can, but that's about it.

[Red Prince]

8 of 8

What would merry old England do without the Falkland Islands? I mean, if the Americans or French accidentally DOW one of the minor nations in the Americas, Germany can align Argentina!
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Note to Rob (and all other Brits reading this post): I don't mean to make fun of the war over the Falkland Islands . . . well, yes I do, but I'm a Yank, aren't I? I have to live up to our reputation and be a blithering idiot every now and then, or someone might inadvertantly get the idea that we are actually decent people, right? [;)]

[Red Prince]

Here's what I plan to do with the Soviets this first impulse:

[Red Prince]

I just did some calculations, and I'm pretty sure I can invade the hex east of Bordeaux with the USA, using HQ-I Nimitz, the MAR, and a Division . . . at 4:1 +1 Odds. That means they'll get ashore for certain, with a 40% chance to remain organized, a 30% chance of losing the Division, and a 10% chance of losing the Marine, too. If everybody makes it, that's 12 factors in a stack in France. I don't think Germany or Italy can counter that, and it leaves a division in Plymouth ready to take advantage of any openings created when the Axis tries to close in on them.

Of course, if they end up disorganized there aren't likely to be any openings. And they won't have a port or any way to expand the landing. But they should be able to survive until next turn easily.

So, I think I'm going to try it.

[Red Prince]

With an air mission to spare, I sent a Bolo out to Strat Bomb Prague . . . say what you will about these pieces of junk, but they've been getting the job done:

[Klydon]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

With an air mission to spare, I sent a Bolo out to Strat Bomb Prague . . . say what you will about these pieces of junk, but they've been getting the job done:

Goering should be ashamed.

[Red Prince]

Germany flew a CAP mission to HQ-I von Leeb, using the only fighter within range, a twin-engine 4-factor fighter/bomber. Since the Pe-8 will only be down +1/-1 in the Air-to-Air Combat and the Axis moves down a result, I decided to try the Ground Strike anyway. If successful, it should halt the middle of the German lines for an impulse or two . . . or they'll have to choose to keep the middle moving at the expense of the northern front. If unsuccessful, no harm is done unless the bomber gets shot down . . .

I decided not to try the Ground Strike on Guderian. I'm going to need those factors for defensive Ground Support, I think.
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The Air-to-Air Combat . . . me and my big mouth. [:@] I screwed this one up. I forgot that the twin-engine only loses a result if the enemy front fighter doesn't have an orange combat factor . . . but with no enemy front fighter, it doesn't matter and the German twin-engine FTR gets the regular result of the roll. Grrrrrr . . .

The reason I don't go back and "fix" this? These are the kinds of mistakes that get made when a game is played. Everyone forgets bits and pieces of the rules now and then, and they should suffer for it. I haven't uttered this mantra in a while, so it's time to bring it back: Too many rules . . . too many rules . . .

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

Here's what I plan to do with the Soviets this first impulse:

I've been reviewing the Persian Front, and I don't know what to do. If Germany really wants to break it, I think they can. It will probably all depend on Ground Support . . . who gets through and who doesn't.
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Edit: I probably should have railed the Siberian INF to Zhukov instead of Yeremenko. The 4-3 INF could then head in his direction. All I can think to do with the GARR is to send him toward the port of Batum, to prevent a possible paradrop on it. Steve's probably going to scream bloody murder at the mistake with rail moves. [:)] But that's how we learn, I suppose. (By "we", I mean "I" of course).

The best I can do to "fix" this is to not move Zhukov west, send the 7-3 INF there instead, disorganizing it, but hoping that the line holds for another impulse. I'll leave the GARR in Tiflis, and then I can rail it to Zhukov (if at all possible) next impulse.
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2nd Edit: Okay, I've also changed it from the INF moving off the Caspian end to the MIL, so from left to right (west to east):

7-3 INF (disorganized)
Zhukov
3-4 CAV and 5-3 MIL
4-3 INF and 3-2 MIL

That's a defense of 14, 16, 16, 14.

[Red Prince]

I've also completely changed the North mountain border. And it tells me which unit was the wrong one to rail . . . Instead of rebasing to Tiflis, the FTR is going to rebase to the hex just east of Tiflis. That leaves one air mission available. I'm tempted to do one of two things. Either send one of the LND/ATR to Rostov to threaten a paradrop (Yeah, I know), or use one to reorganize the 6-4 INF I just left hanging out in the wind. I think the latter is the better option, since it will let him get behind the Alpine hexsides next impulse. I'd like to be able to keep all of those Tactical Factors to help in the South, but mobility is probably more important. If I can't build a line in the North that will hold, holding the South doesn't matter. That's poor logic, I know.

[Red Prince]

I also pulled the Irkutsk MIL back into Ulan Ude. If the weather stays Fine for the next roll, he can pull back behind the river and make things that much harder for Japan (assuming they come near him).

[Klydon]

For the Italian bomber with the air to sea factor in Tabriz (Z1007), can they launch an attack on the Russian convoy in the Caspian? Would it be worth it in trying to pile the oil up in the Caucasus since the Russians can't get it out any other way?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

This is all I'm getting for the USSR this turn, and here's where I'm thinking of placing them . . .

Instead the 4-3 and 6-1 should both go into Tiflis. You have the other two where I would place them.

I'll make the change to my plans. The reason I thought the INF should go into Baku is that the Soviet line lost a unit, and assuming the Allies get the 1st impulse, this unit would let them close ranks without risking a breakthrough on this line.

If the Allies go first, the 5-4 Inf in Saratov rails to Zhukov. The Factory there rails to Baku.