Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

[Shannon V. OKeets]

In MWIF Warlords can set up within 6 hexes of their home city. Typically they are deployed far to the east so they can become part of the frontline as the Japanese advance.

[Majorball68]

With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....

[peskpesk]

ORIGINAL: Zartacla



The Italians use their one naval move to send their fastest sub out to Cape Verde Basin. The Germans send their subs to Faeroes Gap. According to rule 11.4.1 (RAC, p 45) I should be able to move all subs that start in one port to any number of different destinations, and have it count as a single naval move. However, I have been unable to make that happen. If someone could explain the procedure for getting the game to allow that, I would be obliged. In the mean time, the two German subs sailed together and end up in the 2 box, even though one sub sailing alone would have been able to reach the 3 box.

...

At this point is Italy neutral? If so, When a major power is neutral, they may only take combined actions, thus limiting their naval moves and, to add insult to injury, furthermore forcing them to count every individual naval unit moved as a separate move. So only one sub may move.

[markb50k]

Italy isn't neutral, they DOW'd France only.

[joshuamnave]

Reinforcements! I'll try to remember to include a screenshot of expected reinforcements at the end of the turn this time. I think putting down reinforcements is one of my favorite parts of every turn. It's like Christmas day all over again!

The big news this turn is the 9 range 3 strength Italian bomber, which is quickly assigned a pilot and put on the board. The British have a few spare pilots, but will be moving most of its CV's back home this turn for retrofit and some of the carriers are currently without any air units at all. We'll keep those pilots in reserve until next turn.

Germany currently has 3 idle resources. Rather than letting them go to waste, Germany arranges to transport them, along with a German build point, to Italy. Italy is going to need to spend more on land units than I typically spend as a result of the attack on Nice. I'll probably build out the German nav bombers to help in the Med while Italy recovers.

According to the trade agreements in place, Japan is sending the US a build point, but we know by now that that's a fantasy. The Dutch are also donating 2 oil per turn to the Japanese, but already that has to be done manually each turn, since the conquest of the Netherlands.

The turn begins, as all turns must, with an initiative roll. Both sides roll a 6, but the Axis get a +1 on their roll and retain the initiative. At the start of the game, the Axis have a +2 on initiative rolls, but that is the far end of a dynamic scale. Two things can cause the pendulum to swing: If either side has both the first and last initiative in a turn, the marker moves toward their opponent. That happened in sept/oct, so this turn the Germans only got a +1. The second thing that can cause the marker to move is demanding an initiative reroll. The side with the positive initiative modifier can demand a reroll of the initiative, at the cost of moving the marker toward the other side. If the marker is in the middle, then either side can demand a reroll. In this case, the Axis have the initiative advantage and also won the initiative roll, so no reroll is possible.

When you win the roll, you get to choose whether to go first or not. Most of the time, you're going to want to go first, but sometimes it might be better to let the other side go first to give yourself a better chance at moving the initiative marker. In this case, the Axis definitely want to go first to exploit the breakthrough in Nice before the allies can plug the hole. The large number of unguarded convoys also make for a tempting target, and depending on the weather Germany may take a combined action.

The weather roll is a 7, with snow in the north temperate and rain in the Med. The Japanese southern expeditionary force has fine weather in the north typhoon zone.

Germany elects to take a combined, while Italy takes a land action. This is a bit of roll reversal - more commonly the turns will start with Italy taking a combined or a naval action while Germany takes land actions, but the Italians want to move more than 2 ground units this turn and Germany is more concerned with triggering sub searches than with land moves in the snow. Japan also takes a land action.

Germany has no naval moves to make, but a lucky roll of 1 in the Faeroes Gap finds the British convoys. Germany spends 6 surprise points bumping up its own naval chart, and the British merchant marine loses 2 convoys and aborts 3 more. Reasoning that the Germans can't get that lucky again (after all, the dice have memory!) the CW elects to stay and fight, as do the Germans. Unsurprisingly, the German subs lose contact with the merchant marines and the fight ends.

In China, the Japanese attempt to ground strike the southernmost Chinese unit in the mountains. Nobody is more surprised than Yamamoto when the bombers actually find their target. Later it is determined that the Japanese air commander misunderstood his orders and sent his bombers to attack a bridge 100 KM to the north, but they missed the target. Landing their bombs on the Chinese infantry was just a happy accident.

Meanwhile, Von Leeb rails himself to the hex just east of Nice. By stopping on a non city hex, Von Leeb has in essence created a rail head that other units can rail to later in the turn. He's also not taking up a spot on the front line, since he's going to spend the entire turn disorganized after railing in. The Italians move their reserves up to the border. They would love to move west from Nice and pin the British HQ to the spot, but in the rain and snow none of their units can move fast enough to cover Nice while the mech moves forward. Moving deeper into France under those conditions is just begging to be cut off, disorganized and destroyed. In Africa, Balbo and one infantry start marching up the coast toward Tunis and the Ethiopians take French Somaliland. What's the strategic significance of taking out the allied east African colonies? I don't know. But it's easy enough to do on your way to marching up the coast toward Egypt.

In Japan, the marines seize the Chinese resource in the south and move down the road toward Nanning. Even though it will trigger a roll for a US entry chit, taking nanning this turn is important, so Chinese units don't pop up there next turn. Yamamoto moves west one hex to keep the marines in supply. If the Japanese attack the flipped unit this impulse, it will be at +6, which could be costly. Clearing the Chinese out of the mountains is like getting rid of Republicans in Congress - as difficult as it is essential. After some reflection I undo the marine's move, and instead bring him up to the front line. Adding him to the fight will bring it close to +8. Not attacking this impulse gives the Chinese a chance to move a second unit into the hex, and then the ground strike may end up being wasted, as I won't be able to muster enough units for a decent attack until next turn. If all goes well, the marine can still grab the resource later this turn. In the north, the Japanese march into Yenan and the Americans are unfazed. The Taihoku militia occupies Nanyang, and America still slumbers. The remainder of the northern expeditionary force moves in around the ChiCom infantry in the mountains east of Sian. As long as it is sitting in the mountain, that 7-3 has 14 strength on defense. At some point, I'll have to make a low odds attack against it, but I'll wait until clear weather and a successful ground strike.

The only attack this impulse is the one in south China, which happens at +7.750. A brief word here about fractional odds - I can't imagine ever playing without them. All they do is take away the slide rule aspect of the game. It's ridiculous to think that a 20:10 attack is twice as good as a 19:10 attack, but that's what happens without fractional odds. With fractional odds on, you don't have to wrangle out the exact number of points needed to get to the next odds level. Every unit counts, as does every point of air and naval support. In this case, the .750 means that the computer will roll 3 dice. If the result is lower than 750, the odds level will go up to +8, if not it will stay +7. The actual roll is 254, so the attack goes forward at +8. The Japanese roll a 13 for a modified 21. The Chinese unit dies and half the Japanese are disorganized. This will put an end to the advance in the south this turn, although the marines will stay face up and still make a run for the resource and Nanning next impulse.

The Germans finish moving their bombers west, and rebase the Nav to Cagliari where it straddles two sea zones and can provide ground support in North Africa or the south of France. Yamamoto reorganizes one ground unit and the Nav bomber.

The CW decides not to declare on Italy just yet. Sure, they would have a nice shot at the Italian fleet, but they would also be leaving Wavell very exposed (assuming a naval action for the UK), plus the US entry hit with such an empty US entry pool seems like a very high price to pay. On the other hand, the Russians are willing to risk it in order to take Bessarabia.

So let's talk about the Balkans now. The rules governing the politics of the Balkans are covered by 19.6.2 (RAC pp 147-8). The decisions at this point all revolve around Yugoslavia and what Germany's plans for it are. Earlier I said that a lack of German pressure on Yugoslavia made Russia more comfortable delaying Bessarabia. This is because once Germany declares war on Yugoslavia, Berlin can declare Rumania as an active ally, and Russia can no longer demand Bessarabia. With any kind of threat lined up against Yugoslavia in Sept/Oct, Russia will usually demand Bessarabia ASAP. If Russia decides not to demand Bessarabia, then Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria all remain neutral until Germany goes to war with either Russia or Yugoslavia (Hungary and Rumania) or Greece (Bulgaria). Bulgaria can also align with Germany if Germany controls Belgrade (which would require a war with Yugoslavia, but unlike the other two, just going to war isn't enough). By not demanding Bessarabia, Russia can force Germany to declare war on Yugoslavia, or wait until the start of Barbarossa to align the Balkans. On the other hand, Bessarabia gives Russia 2 cities near the border which make it much easier to set up a screen for the start of Barbarossa. Remember that on a surprise impulse, units attacking across a river are not halved, so by pushing the border one hex away, the Russians can set up a line behind the river that won't be as vulnerable to a surprise impulse.

So the Russian demanded Bessarabia. Germany must either allow or deny the claim. Denying the claim forces Russia to declare war on Rumania, with all the incumbent effects on US entry. That's tempting. To sweeten the deal, if Germany can enforce a peace on Russia, then Germany can align Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria in subsequent impulses. As you'll see soon, this has a huge impact on Yugoslavia. So what does it take to enforce a peace? Ah... here's the tricky part for Germany. To enforce a peace, Russia must control no hex inside Rumania other than the border hexes during a peace step, which happens at the end of the turn. Because Russia demanded Bessarabia at the start of the first allied impulse, Rumania would have to keep Russia out of Rumania proper for an entire turn, and that's a tall order. If Germany can't enforce a peace, Russia can in theory conquer Rumania, seizing the oil fields. At the very least, Russian strat bombers are going to pound Ploesti, denying Germany the oil. If Russia conquers Rumania, to make matters worse, Russia and not Germany can align Bulgaria. Of course, conquering Rumania is a long shot. As soon as Russia and Rumania go to war, Germany can align Hungary and rail a few units into Rumania. They can't fight the Russians, but they can sit in Ploesti and Bucharest and the Russians can't fight them either. So the real danger is non stop bombing of the oil fields until the war begins.

What happens if the Germans allow the Russian claim? First, Bessarabia becomes Russian for all purposes, including reinforcements arriving in Cernauti and Chisinau. Worse yet for the Germans, Russia immediately begins supplying Germany with one fewer resource per turn under to Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The following turn, Bulgaria and Hungary press their own territorial claims against Rumania. If Rumania allows the claims, Germany can align Hungary and Bulgaria in subsequent impulses, but Rumania won't align with Germany until Germany is at war with either Yugoslavia or the USSR. If Rumania refuses the territorial claims, Bulgaria will align with Russia and Hungary stops giving Germany its resource and won't align until Germany declares war on Russia. But Rumania aligns right away.

What does all of this have to do with Yugoslavia? Germany wants control over Yugoslavia and Greece because it makes things much easier for the axis in the Med. Greece can only be conquered, but Yugoslavia can be either conquered or aligned. Obviously, aligning it means expending fewer units on minor military campaigns and the addition of the Yugoslavian units to the force pool. To align Yugoslavia (RAC 19.7) the Axis must control Italy, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania and Greece. If you followed the political ramifications of Bessarabia closely, you realize that the only way to align Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria without going to war with either Yugoslavia or Russia is if Russia demands Bessarabia, Germany says no, and then enforces a peace at the end of the turn.

TL;DR - if Germany wants to align Yugoslavia, it has to decline the Russian demand for Bessarabia and then prevent Russia from advancing into Rumania proper.

It's the start of winter, the weather is bad, the strat bomber is going to be less effective until March, so Germany rolls the dice and says no. Russia declares war on Rumania. To the allies chagrin, the "4" chit was removed from the US entry pool, along with a "1" chit. This was a big hit on US entry, and all but guarantees the UK will not declare war on Italy any time soon (or at all). Stalin vows to make the Rumanians pay for their obstinacy.

Rumania sets up with one goal in mind... to slow down the Russian long enough for the turn to end or Germany to rail in some border guards. The Axis need to keep Russia out of Rumania proper, and their best ally is General Winter.

CW takes a naval action, eager to reset its convoys, put some escorts out to sea, and intent on bringing one more ground unit into northern france. The French take a land action. Somehow they need to contain the Italian breakthrough without compromising their northern line. The French decide to turn over defense of Lille to the British. Meanwhile, a British naval action means that Wavell remains stuck in Marseilles. Rather than try to move him north, the Brits will evacuate him later this turn, once the BEF has safely landed in northern France.

The spare convoy points go into Faeroes Gap. The Germans did not sink enough tonnage to disrupt British production this turn, but Winston writes himself a reminder to increase production of British merchant ships just in case. The home fleet along with one transport sails into the North Atlantic, picking up the big infantry unit from London. Next impulse it will land in France, and the impulse following the CW will pull out the two HQ's. With that in mind, 1 transport at home and 1 in Gibraltar are held in reserve. The remaining transport heads south, intent on bringing volunteers from South Africa closer to the front lines. The CP's in NEI are broken down and used to extend the convoy line down to Australia and up to Hong Kong. The CP's in Iceland will be used in a few turns to shift the convoy line north, sending fewer resources through the north atlantic.

The TB-3 in Kiev strat bombs Ploesti. It's a roll of 9, costing Germany 2 oil resources for the turn. Without the oil rules, this is just a small hit to production. Playing with the oil rules, this would be a much most costly gamble on Germany's part.

The snow makes ground strikes much less effective, but it is a surprise impulse, and Russia sends bombers over all 3 Rumanian units in Bessarabia. Only the Cavalry is flipped.

Wavell creates problems for the allies, as his presence in Marseilles makes it impossible for France to rail units into Toulon. Instead, one HQ rails into the mountain resource, followed by an infantry out of Lille. France shifts border units around and swaps the mountain unit for the unit in Lyons. Having the mountain unit in Lyons makes that hex very difficult for the Axis to take. It's a factory city in the mountains garrisoned by a mountain unit surrounded on 4 of its 5 attackable sides by a river. The German High Command doubles the size of its secretarial pool in preparation for extra condolence letters it expects to have to write. Lille is now an open city, but the British will move in next impulse. Russia moves its mech along with Timoshenko southwest. There's nothing to stop them from walking into Rumania next impulse, unless... Meanwhile, the Russian army also prepares to attack Chisinau. Unfortunately, in the snow, the attack is just not practical. Russia's real strategy here is to ooze around the Rumanians into Rumania proper, making it impossible for Germany to enforce a peace.

The impulse ends. The weather remains bad for the following impulse with a modified 6. Save file for the game below.

incidentally, is there any way to set the forum to word wrap while typing/editing posts. I would rather edit for typos while writing or before posting, but it's almost impossible to do that right now.

Edited to fix an error regarding enforcing a peace between Russia and Rumania

[joshuamnave]

ORIGINAL: markb50k

Italy isn't neutral, they DOW'd France only.

At that point, Italy was still neutral. That's why they only moved one sub. My question about moving multiple subs as a single naval move was in regards to the German subs, and was an interface, not a rules question. Fortunately it has been answered and German U-Boat commanders are rejoicing.

[joshuamnave]

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....

Yup, that's certainly a danger. Of course, Italy lives under that particular threat until they go to war with the CW even if their keep their fleet at home. A British port attack with CV based air is also a pretty big threat in a surprise impulse. Weighed against the US entry impact of the CW DOW, I deemed it an acceptable risk. Of course, as with any solitaire game, the Italian high command had the advantage of an omnipotent spy in the highest levels of the British Government. We can pretend to play each side without regard to what we're thinking for the other, but in reality we're making the same strategic evaluations for both sides and it's unlikely that I'll evaluate a risk differently when I'm wearing an Italian hat than when I put on my bowler.

[Majorball68]

ORIGINAL: Zartacla

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

With only a DOW on France only and the Italian fleet at sea are you not opening yourself up to a CW DOW and a surprise impulse attack and all its advantages? Could get messy for the Italian fleet I was thinking....

Yup, that's certainly a danger. Of course, Italy lives under that particular threat until they go to war with the CW even if their keep their fleet at home. A British port attack with CV based air is also a pretty big threat in a surprise impulse. Weighed against the US entry impact of the CW DOW, I deemed it an acceptable risk. Of course, as with any solitaire game, the Italian high command had the advantage of an omnipotent spy in the highest levels of the British Government. We can pretend to play each side without regard to what we're thinking for the other, but in reality we're making the same strategic evaluations for both sides and it's unlikely that I'll evaluate a risk differently when I'm wearing an Italian hat than when I put on my bowler.

I like your thinking [:)]

[Courtenay]

The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.

[joshuamnave]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.

There's no convoy line to the Philippines. I'm not playing with saved build points. I read your method in another thread and tried it in my last game, but without using the saved build points optional rule, it didn't work. Even if it did work, it would still qualify as a bad bug - there is no reason the US should have to avoid convoys to Manila to get the BP, nor should they rely on the Japanese player setting aside a build point by hand, nor should they miss out on the first turn BP.

[Majorball68]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.

In my games I get the build point from the start. Seems odd!

[FJeff]

Excellent. Just what is needed.

[joshuamnave]

Right then, dinner is over and on we go.

Germany aligns Hungary, largely to open up the rail lines into Rumania. Any Rumanian defense now will rely heavily on German garrisons.

The Axis forces take land actions all around. Germany wants to shift Rumanians around and rail in an HQ to secure the border, while both Germany and Italy have some maneuvering to do in the south of France. Italy also wants to continue the march to Tunis. Japan plans to finally seize the southern resource and has a few other small moves to make. I may or may not move the Hiroshima militia into China this turn - with only one land unit in Japan to move, it may not be worth taking a combined. Time will tell how much moving I will want to do later in the turn.

Germany rails Von Beck into the Transylvanian hex SW of the Russian vanguard. Somewhere, an aspiring author is inspired to write a particularly bad horror novel. Rundstedt is railed west to take his place. Italy rails the 3-1 garrison into the Bessarabian port. Bad weather and rocky terrain continue to slow the axis advance in southern france, but the Italians do manage to secure the port of Toulon. The UK is increasingly uneasy about Wavell, the British fleet, and the African situation, but FDR urges Winston to keep the peace until the American population has grown more outraged by Axis atrocities. The Rumanians pull out of Chisinau in order to screen off the border, and Russia will be prevented from entering Rumania proper for at least one more turn. Veterans of the Polish campaign continue to trudge back toward the western front, a few hexes at a time.

In Japan, the marines seize the resource in the south and move adjacent to Nanning. The Manchurian militia occupies Kweilin, but the editorial board of the New York Times doesn't even notice.

There is something buggy about supply calculations for the Japanese in the Changsha region. In theory, you can force the game to recalc supply by saving and reloading the game, but it's not 100% reliable as a workaround. What's worse, sometimes you'll set up an attack and commit units, but then prior to the execution of the attack (but after you are able to cancel it) the game will decide that half the attackers are out of supply and you go from a high odds attack to a very poor odds attack. It's a known bug, so be careful with your units in the Changsha area until it's fixed.

The Japanese launch an attack on the clear hex SW of Nanchang. The attack will be at +7.6, prior to any air being flown. Japan adds 1 point of combat support from it's Nav, escorted by a 5 point fighter. China intercepts with its 3 point fighter, and we have the game's first air to air combat. It's a short dogfight as the Japanese bomber is cleared on the first round, and the Chinese fighter is blown out of the sky. Reports of parachute sightings in the area indicate that the pilot survived. With the air added in, it's now an exact +8. China can choose between an assault (bloodier for both sides, more likely to hold the hex) or a blitz attack, which will probably give up the hex but with a much higher chance of saving the units. After consulting the generals (P 173 RAC) China opts for protecting its units. A note here for new players - even if there is no armor involved, the blitz chart is always available. If the hex being attacked is clear, desert or forest, without a city, and the attacker has more armor/mech than the defender, then the attacker chooses the chart. In all other cases, the defender chooses. In this case, neither side has any armor so even though it's a clear terrain hex, it's China's choice, and Japan rolls an 18, or a modified 23+. It turns out the choice of chart was irrelevant - on either chart, the Chinese forces are wiped out.

Germany realizes the flaw in placing a Nav in Cagliari. Until the CW and Italy are at war, British ships in the med stop any supply from passing through Italian convoys to German units. The german plane is out of supply and will remain so for the foreseeable future, so Germany bites the bullet and returns it to the mainland, where it flips.

British pacifists, holdovers from Chamberlin's cabinet, continue to exert enough pressure to keep the UK out of war with Italy. Ideally the allies want the turn to end as quickly as possible. This will be true for the first half of the war, where every impulse is a chance for Germany to exploit its military superiority. However, the CW needs to land some units in France and take up positions in Lille. If everyone but the CW passes, there's a 20% chance of ending. Russia doesn't like that plan, however, and insists on pressing the ooze in Bessarabia. CW takes a land, as do France and China. Chance to end the turn is only 10%.

In China, the unit in the mountains west of Changsha is now almost completely surrounded. Rather than making a heroic (but almost certainly doomed) stand, it moves south west, creating an even larger mountain garrison for the Japanese to deal with. Here the Chinese have strengthened their position while falling back, something they need to do a lot of. In the north, the ChiComs are hamstrung by Russia's obsession with Bessarabia. The British march south into Lille and land a fresh infantry unit in Calais. They are now maxed out on the foreign troop commitment, and it's time to pull the HQ's back to safety (next impulse). France rearranges a few units on its line, the Russians ooze a bit more, but barring a long turn will probably be shut out of Rumania thanks to the units the axis railed in this impulse.

The turn does not end. The new weather roll is a 4, giving us fine weather everywhere but the north temperate (rain) and the arctic. Save game file below.

[joshuamnave]

Bessarabia. Note that the Axis screening force has effectively stopped Russia from getting past Bessarabia for at least another turn. Note also that poor planning on my part has grounded the Soviet Air Force until the weather clears up (or I move an HQ).

[joshuamnave]

South/Central China.

[Majorball68]

Axis units in Rumania..they can be there without Axis DOW on Russia? Not familiar of what happens when Bessarabia is refused.

[Majorball68]

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The French do not need a convoy point for the Algerian resource: there is a land rail line through Spanish Morocco Gibraltar and Spain to France.

Also, to get a the build point from Japan to the US, have the Japanese save a build point, and do not have a convoy chain all the way to the Philippines. I have gotten the build point every turn but the first, following those two rules.

In my games I get the build point from the start. Seems odd!

This is quite baffling. I have studied your save and my save game at the same stage and right from the first impulse Japan sends the USA a build point. The only difference I see is I have 6 Convoy points in US West Coast. One of mine is unused obviously. Try moving an additional convoy point to the West coast sea box sea what happens.

[joshuamnave]

I have often said that I can resist anything but temptation, and Wavell by himself and the Royal Navy in the western med all under clear blue skies is more temptation than I can handle. Italy declares war on the Commonwealth. Japan and Germany take land actions, Italy takes a combined.

The Italian Nav flies out to the 4 box in the western med. Normally I wouldn't want him all alone in a sea box without some fighter backup, but in a surprise impulse, with no british air (not even a CV!) in sight, I want every possible chance to find the CW fleet. That's the only naval air mission I fly - I want the other two air missions to ground strike Wavell.

For its naval move, the Italians send their subs out to Cape St Vincent. Now that I know how to move multiple subs as a single naval move, they end up in the 2 and 3 box.

Prophetically, both searches in the western med were successful with only the Italian nav included. It's a surprise impulse, and every unit involved in the fight is from either Italy or CW (if there were German or French units included, there would be no surprise effects), the CW gets 0 surprise points, even though they rolled better than the Italians. Italy damages a CW battleship, and the UK aborts rather than risk their fleet against the Italians in a surprise impulse. When one side aborts a naval combat, then it must send all ships in that sea zone home, even the convoys. So after one round of combat, the Italians damaged a CW battleship and cleared the sea zone. It could have been much worse for the UK. Sadly for the Italians, their subs all failed to locate British merchant marines as well.

Italian bombers do their job, and Wavell is ground struck. Pinned down, Isolate, disorganized on the coast next to the Italian fleet, Wavell is in trouble. Germany rails an infantry into Cernauti and another to the French Alps.

Meanwhile, in China the marines occupy Nanning and the US is once again unconcerned. The Japanese surround the mtn hex east of Changsha. The central Chinese theater is in real danger of collapsing. But bad weather in the north keeps things stable there.

The Italians walk into Tunis and move another unit into France. An attack on Wavell would be at +4.4, counting air and naval support. The CW would declare a blitz, and most likely Wavell would retreat, with a decent chance of killing the Italian mech in the process. Italy has to wait. Even if the turn ends before Italy can bring more firepower to bear, Wavell only escapes if the allies grab the initiative in Jan/Feb.

In China, saving and restoring the game works to fix supply, but the Japanese aren't ready to attack east of Changsha just yet. Another bug popped up here - periodically, when you try to open a saved game from within the game, it will make you exit and restart MWIF in order to load a game. It doesn't happen every time, or follow any pattern that I can tell. Not game breaking by any means, but a minor annoyance.

Germany rebases some air to the French Alps. The weather in Jan/Feb will almost certainly preclude any action in Belgium and northern France, but there may be room for some play in the part of France in the Med zone. Plus we're hoping for a shot at Wavell still. With that in mind, Graziani reorgs the infantry Germany railed in this impulse. Better to reorg it and have the turn end, then to not reorg it and have the turn continue.

However, the turn ends on a roll of 1.

The US adds a chit to the Euro pool which now stands at 1,1,1,2,2 and the Japanese pool is at 1,4. That's an entry level of 13 and 11, respectively, with nothing in either tension pool yet. There's still too much downside to removing a chit from the Japanese pool, especially when we're so close to an embargo. The Chinese are just going to have to tough it out without John Wayne and the rest of the Flying Tigers. I'm also in no hurry to pick any of the available euro options.

Germany is down several resources, and I was having trouble figuring out where they went until I remembered the strat bombing of Ploesti. That'll stop now that we're enforcing a peace. Japan once again manually orders the dutch oil resources sent home for production. The US continues to send out its mandated resources while receiving nothing in return. Not even a thank you card!

The bulk of the worlds navy returns to base. A handful of units, scattered here and there, stay at sea. Soon the UK will start having to set up rotating convoy guards to protect themselves on the first impulse, but they really don't have the fleet or air strength for that just yet.

Germany breaks two of its weaker infantry corps down into divisions in preparation for the attack on France. It's a lot easier if every stack his a division to soak up losses or to disorganize on 1/2 disorg results. Italy does the same with a 4-3 infantry near the French border.

Production:
Germany, 14 BPs - Pilot, Nav (3), Lnd (2), armor, sub
Italy, 5 BPs - Pilot, Nav (3)
Japan, 12 BPs - Pilot, CV Zuikaku, inf, inf, mil
China, 5 BPs - Inf, Cav
CW 11 BPs - Pilot, Pilot, 2 CPs, BB Prince of Wales, 2 CA repairs
France 6 BPs - Inf, Lnd (3)
US 10 BPs - BB Wyoming, BB, BB, CVP (1), CVP (1), CP
USSR 8 BPs - Pilot, Lnd (4), Mot Div

Germany enforces peace between USSR and Rumania. Rumania reverts to neutral status and Axis must move all units out to closest friendly hex. Rumania will reenter as a German ally in January, and the axis units that were in Rumania will remain in the Balkans, along with a few others, for an upcoming attack on Greece.

Save file:

[joshuamnave]

ORIGINAL: Majorball68

Axis units in Rumania..they can be there without Axis DOW on Russia? Not familiar of what happens when Bessarabia is refused.

When Bessarabia is refused, Russia must declare war on Rumania. At this point, it allies with Germany or Italy, just like any other minor that has been DOW'd, and all other cooperation rules apply. So yes, Germany can garrison Rumania, but not fight the Russians there. The main reason this doesn't happen more often is because Russia has nice strat bombers from the start, and will pound the Ploesti oil. When playing with oil rules, this is quite painful for Germany. But without the oil rules, it was a few resources for one turn, in return for which I can now align all 3 Balkans and set up for an aligned Yugoslavia.

[joshuamnave]

Reinforcements arriving this turn. Note that the Rumanian reinforcements won't be arriving after all, now that it has reverted to neutral status.