DQ2004's AAR #2 - "Ouch. ...that hurt"

[DQ2004]

With the turn failing to end, Yeremenko's escape attempt is over. Ouch.

[DQ2004]

With a Luftwaffe strike force finally available Antonescu launches his long awaited assault on Sevastapol. As expected it is a costly one, but necessary. The Soviets also lose the cruisy Krasny Krim, scuttled in Sevastapol harbour as the Germans enter the city.

[DQ2004]

Yeremenko meets his doom. He takes a German INF corps with him, at least.

[DQ2004]

On Impulse #11 of Nov/Dec 1941 here is the situation in Southern China.

[DQ2004]

In Pearl Harbour, the US fleet sits, uncertain of its fate.
The turn ends. The year ends. Next: 1942

[Majorball68]

Lot of high rolls with your risky attacks. Some of those attacks don't seem that important to risk such attacks.[:D]

[DQ2004]

As 1942 commences all sides assess their situation.

For the Allies, it is the hope that the US will be in the war soon to try to turn the tide. They realise too that they have made a terrible mistake; the US needs two aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor to be able to declare war on the Japanese. However they can’t even pass War Appropriations yet! They should be able to in Jan-Feb 1942. Of course the Japanese are also waiting for War Appropriations with the intention of declaring war immediately following that bill passing.
The US fleet has plenty of submarines, transports and amphibious units under construction as well as new aircraft carriers of course. There are also a reasonable amount of land units available to reinforce Europe. Where to strike first?

One thought is to leave the Indian Ocean to the Commonwealth, and use the US forces to invade Murmansk and French North Africa. The Indian Ocean is still at risk from the Italian fleet however, and this may not be possible when Japan joins the fray. Even the UK is still not safe with the Russian campaign almost a sideshow. In the Med Greece will not hold out much longer and it is not possible (or at least very easy) to reinforce anyway.

For the Soviets their only hope now is survival. If they can hold at the Urals they can survive until hopefully the US distracts the Germans sufficiently that they can build up and strike back in 1944. It will be a long drive back to Berlin even so. The biggest worry is that their production is lower even than that of Italy now! The Germans don’t need to do much to keep them down. The Urals aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be as a defence line either, with a rail line that goes around them to the south, and the centre with only forest. A concerted effort from the Wehrmacht will surely breach it, and then the Germans will be aiming for Novosibirsk, the last blue factory city, and all that will stand between them and conquest of the USSR…!!

Here then is global control at the start of 1942. Will it be the decisive year? And decisive for whom?
Please note the Vichy areas are grey also, so technically this is Axis & Axis allied in grey, rather than Axis controlled in those cases.

[DQ2004]

For the British the lack of things to do and the huge German production can only mean trouble for them. The production pools show that there are more German ships on the slipways and more submarines too. The Germans have plenty of aircraft coming and of course there aren’t many land units left in their force pool. The recent loss of convoys also hasn’t helped; the deliberate German plan of not attacking the Netherlands or Norway to prevent the Commonwealth from gaining those convoys has hurt. The Netherlands look unlikely to survive the first few months of 1942 though.
Here are the reinforcements (as currently scheduled) for Mar/Apr 1942:

[DQ2004]

For the Axis the plan from here is simple: Finish off the USSR in 1942, as much as possible.
Take Leningrad and move past the Urals. Against the Western Allies, take control of the Arabian Gulf and join the Axis allies together (we will call this 'Operation Orient'). The Italians will then lend the Japanese their oil from Persia and Iraq. With the Indian Ocean an Axis lake the Japanese must then continue to make life difficult for the US Navy and maintain their offensive as long as possible.

For the Germans and Italians it will be to make the Allies control of the Atlantic as unpleasant as they can. This will involve all three major groups of forces; submarines, strategic bombing and the Kriegsmarine.
If Britain can be invaded it will, but the essential aim will be to maintain the offensive and keep the Allies reaction to them. If they dare to land in Europe they will be kicked out. If they dare to fight them in North Africa then that will be reinforced with powerful German corps.

With that in mind, and with Japan yet to be in the war, the Regia Marina moves into the Red Sea for the first action of 1942.

[DQ2004]

As the new year dawns the Japanese army is fanning out across Siberia.

[DQ2004]

In Southern China the first Japanese moves of 1942 disorganise a unit. They send in the ATR to re-supply. However, the Flying Tigers are there, and they pounce!

[DQ2004]

In the North Atlantic the RN is hunting the German raiding fleet. On this occasion at least, there is no action.
With the Russian front less active, this game looks likely to have a lot of naval action from here on.

[DQ2004]

In the Red Sea, the RN catches the RM's transports with only a small escort, and they are sent to the bottom.

[DQ2004]

The Communists are trying to ensure that the Japanese can't rest in China. Despite not being able to get high odds , they accept the possibility of losses and attack

[DQ2004]

In the North Atlantic on the 2nd Allied impulse of Jan/Feb 1942, the Kriegsmarine gets the surprise points against a large group of ships. Naturally they don't choose all of the sea box sections!

[DQ2004]

The few escorts in the zero box do a splendid job in the finest traditions of the Royal Navy, and absorb the losses that would otherwise have slaughtered the convoys.

[DQ2004]

The Kriegsmarine raiders see the better part of valour and leave before the bulk of the RN fleet finds them. They are intercepted in the Bay of Biscay by yet another RN task force, waiting for them.
But the Luftwaffe has Bf-110's and Condors out on patrol to cover the returning fleet, and in a very equal air battle, the Beaufighters can't stop the Condors from getting through, although they do not inflict much damage.

[DQ2004]

In multiple rounds the Bf-110s are aborted but still the Beaufighters aren't up to scratch.
The RN carrier Glorious is aborted by the Condor strike.

[DQ2004]

In the Persian Gulf the Marines take Bandar Abbas

[DQ2004]

The Tirpitz arrives at Brest to join the German naval buildup, and replace her sunken sister ship.