Bob Flemin's MWIF AARse II The Sequel

[Courtenay]

It is time for the BEF to honorably leave. I hope you have been reinforcing Egypt.

Make sure the French battleships are in French ports, and that you hold the ports against Axis assault.

Be prepared for Italian entry at any moment.

[warspite1]

The 1st South African Infantry Corps is on its way!

The ships of the Marine Nationale are all at Toulon. Nothing guarding them at the moment.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 2

The CW stand their ground for a bit longer - you never know what might happen...

French movement is stymied by ZOC and, apart from one stack that has taken up position southwest of the capital, they cannot get into position to affect the forthcoming attack on Paris... it will all come down to the dice for an all or nothing attack on Paris..

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

And so it comes to the second Axis impulse - the weather remains lousy (Snow).
As a result there is not much chance of a ground strike succeeding.

Two attacks are planned for this impulse - Paris and against the clear terrain to the northeast of Vichy. Meanwhile, the Japanese are getting frustrated at their plans stalling and will attempt a 2:1 (no modifier) against Kweillin!

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

Billotte gives HQ Support and von Bock and Umezu try to do the same in attack. Both sides then pile every available aircraft into the skies above Paris.

The Germans have a 3.3 advantage in the air - surely even they cannot balls this one up?... can they?

Round 1

12 (DC) A German HS123 is cleared through
12 (AC) Incredible.. the French bomber is also cleared!!

Round 2

6 (DA) The Germans choose to abort their fighter rather than their bomber
12 (AC) No Effect

Round 3
The German advantage is down to 1.8...

4!! (DX) This is nonsense... The Luftwaffe decide to destroy their front fighter (the pilot survives)
12 (AA) The last French fighter is aborted

You couldn't make this air battle scoring up...no one would believe it.. just incredible..

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

4 is added to the attacker and 1 to the defender. The upshot of all this is:

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

In China the attack is 2:1 (Assault) No Modifiers. The roll is an 8. The Japanese lose a unit and are all disorganised. The Chinese lose 2 units.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

West of the Maginot Line the attack is 5:1;B (no modifier). The Germans choose the Blitzkrieg and roll an 8 that sees off the French Militia for no loss.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

And so to the one that REALLY matters...

Its a 2:1 -1 on the Assault table. The Germans feel they are due some good luck after the total debacle that has been the air war....

... but they throw a 3...[:(] All units are disorganised and they lose a Cavalry Division. The French suffer no loss...

[WarHunter]

While the German Luftwaffe looks around for anything that flies. The streets of Paris are safe from German victory parades.
Keep up the good work. [:)]

[warspite1]

I must say I have really enjoyed this second AAR - more so than the first for two reasons a) because of the extra knowledge I have gained in playing the first (the performance in Japan has made that theatre a more enjoyable experience, and b) I have to say playing without oil (given the current production problems) is sensible.

The only thing this current game lacks is serious naval activity, but I suspect Benito will not be sitting idly by for too much longer [;)]

[WarHunter]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I must say I have really enjoyed this second AAR - more so than the first for two reasons a) because of the extra knowledge I have gained in playing the first (the performance in Japan has made that theatre a more enjoyable experience, and b) I have to say playing without oil (given the current production problems) is sensible.

The only thing this current game lacks is serious naval activity, but I suspect Benito will not be sitting idly by for too much longer [;)]

Benito might have to rely on his own homegrown aircraft. Poor Germans will still be rebuilding and training the Luftwaffe.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: WarHunter

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I must say I have really enjoyed this second AAR - more so than the first for two reasons a) because of the extra knowledge I have gained in playing the first (the performance in Japan has made that theatre a more enjoyable experience, and b) I have to say playing without oil (given the current production problems) is sensible.

The only thing this current game lacks is serious naval activity, but I suspect Benito will not be sitting idly by for too much longer [;)]

Benito might have to rely on his own homegrown aircraft. Poor Germans will still be rebuilding and training the Luftwaffe.

warspite1

Good point! As soon as the French are despatched, I will need to set about building a serious Fliegerkorps X. The Italians will only b***** things up if left to their own devices [8|]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

And so to the one that REALLY matters...

Its a 2:1 -1 on the Assault table. The Germans feel they are due some good luck after the total debacle that has been the air war....

... but they throw a 3...[:(] All units are disorganised and they lose a Cavalry Division. The French suffer no loss...

I can't blame you for attempting this attack when you felt lucky. But, with hindsight, it would have been better to not make this attack. It only had 20% chance to capture Paris.

In this attack you had 1 MECH corps in the attack and the combat odds would actually have been higher if the MECH had not been included. This because once a ARM or MECH is included in the attack then the defending AA defends at double strength.

----

I notice that you use HQ support a lot. Personally I use the HQ more for reorganization purposes rather than for HQ support. With that said I find that HQ support can be crucial in many attacks.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

And so to the one that REALLY matters...

Its a 2:1 -1 on the Assault table. The Germans feel they are due some good luck after the total debacle that has been the air war....

... but they throw a 3...[:(] All units are disorganised and they lose a Cavalry Division. The French suffer no loss...

I can't blame you for attempting this attack when you felt lucky. But, with hindsight, it would have been better to not make this attack. It only had 20% chance to capture Paris.

In this attack you had 1 MECH corps in the attack and the combat odds would actually have been higher if the MECH had not been included. This because once a ARM or MECH is included in the attack then the defending AA defends at double strength.

----

I notice that you use HQ support a lot. Personally I use the HQ more for reorganization purposes rather than for HQ support. With that said I find that HQ support can be crucial in many attacks.

warspite1

Thanks Orm - I would never even have considered that! And that is a third reason I've enjoyed doing the AAR's - the support with the offer of advice, tips and encouragement is excellent [&o]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: WarHunter

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I must say I have really enjoyed this second AAR - more so than the first for two reasons a) because of the extra knowledge I have gained in playing the first (the performance in Japan has made that theatre a more enjoyable experience, and b) I have to say playing without oil (given the current production problems) is sensible.

The only thing this current game lacks is serious naval activity, but I suspect Benito will not be sitting idly by for too much longer [;)]

Benito might have to rely on his own homegrown aircraft. Poor Germans will still be rebuilding and training the Luftwaffe.

warspite1

Good point! As soon as the French are despatched, I will need to set about building a serious Fliegerkorps X. The Italians will only b***** things up if left to their own devices [8|]

But they might have some fun by port striking the French fleet in Toulon during the surprise.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 5

And so to the one that REALLY matters...

Its a 2:1 -1 on the Assault table. The Germans feel they are due some good luck after the total debacle that has been the air war....

... but they throw a 3...[:(] All units are disorganised and they lose a Cavalry Division. The French suffer no loss...

Does anyone else notice something very strange about this attack? Since when is a 66.5:14 a 2:1? Shouldn't that be a 4:1? Does anyone have any idea what happened here?

[Finarfïn]

Maybe it's due to the way the game shows land combat hex before resolving anything.
66.5 / 14 worth 4/1 but the weather gives a minus two shift.

Fin

[Courtenay]

Of course. Thank you. I had forgotten the weather; I am used to that being a separate entry, since I use the 2d10 table.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1940
Impulse: 7

So onto impulse 7, and what do the CW - and specifically the BEF II - do now? Choices are: 1. stay on the continent for nuisance purposes or 2. evacuate anyway as there is little actual good that they can do.

They decide to stick around for a bit longer and see what happens.

For the French, there is little to do but wait...