Courtenay's solitaire AAR

[Courtenay]

M/J 41 End of turn.

The Chinese get a 0-3 partisan. They place it on the resource in southern China, relying on the bad weather they expect to protect it.

The Germans pull a 3 and a 4 for their neutrality picks; the Russians get a 1.

The US entry chit is a 1. Anything higher, and they would have attempted to declare war next turn. They pick Embargo on strategic materials, and for once do not move a chit. The US does not want all of its convoy points at sea if Japan declares war on them.

In return to base, I discover that somehow all the North Atlantic convoys had come unstuck and wanted to return to base. I find two other sea areas with the same problem. I go back to my save at the end of the Stay at Sea step, and tell the convoys to stay put. I redo the Axis return to base step, and and when I redo the Allied return to base step I find the I missed a French convoy that is returning to base that shouldn't. Back to the save. The stay at sea step and return to base step are my least favorite part of the game, by far.

Germany used 3 oil, Japan used two, Italy, two, CW five, US one, French one.

The US lend leases a range 7 P-40E to the CW. The US has a lot more long range fighters than the British do.

After production, the Germans conquered Spain, and the British Martinique. The British wanted to give Martinique back to the French, but MWiF did not give me that opportunity.

Here are the Axis reinforcements for J/A 41. Production and Allied reinforcements in next post.

[Courtenay]

Production:

Ge: 30+0: ARM (last ARM), 2xINF (last INF), MIL, 2xFi-2, 2xPi, Finish 2 speed 5 subs (1+2), save 5 BPs;
It: 7+1: NAV-2, Pi, TRS, Repair Fiume, Repair Gorizia, No build points saved;
Ja: 16+0: INF, Finish TRS (3), 2xPi, 2xCVP-1, CVP-0, 4xCP.

The Germans get a 9-6 white print ARM, an 8-3 and 8-4 white print INF, the Hannover MIL, a Bf-109 F-2 (6 pt range 3) and an FW 190 A1 (6 pt, range 6.)
The Italians rebuild their NAV-2, and try and get a TRS built. It will take a year, though, and they only have one TRS left. If it gets destroyed, the Italians are in trouble.
The Japanese get a 5-4 INF, a 5-1 size three, a 2-3 size two, and 1-3 size one CVP (1942 sizes).

I suddenly realized that I had made a major mistake with the Japanese -- they don't have enough convoy points to get all the resources they might capture back to Japan, even if they don't lose a single convoy point. As the Japanese expect to lose convoy points, a merchant marine building program is in order. The Japanese are not happy; they don't feel they have enough of anything.

Ch: 5+1: INF, MIL, 1 BP saved;
CW: 22+0: 3xMIL, 2xFi-2, CVP-1, 4xPi, start TRS, CP;
US: 30+0: ARM XX, 2xINF, 2xFi-2, CVP-1, 3xPi, Finish Indiana (4), Repair Maryland, HMS Penelope, Ark Royal;
SU: 16+0: MECH, PAR, MOT XX, Fi-2, Pi.
(The CW and French are each sending the Soviet Union a resource, thus the increase in Soviet production.)

The Chinese build a 4-3 INF, the best in their force pool, and the Kunming MIL. The Chinese always want to have an INF or a GAR arriving every turn, so that if they urgently need a reinforcement in a city, it will be available. Of course, they do have the Nationalist/Communist problem, so even if they have a reinforcement it might be the wrong reinforcement, but they try.

The CW thinks that it is not at all ready for war with Japan, and so builds three MIL (their gearing limit). They get the Glasgow, Rangoon, and Auckland MILs. They are very happy that they got the Burmese and Auckland MILs. They also built a 4 pt range 8 Tomahawk and rebuilt the 6 point range 3 Spitfire that was shot down. I am not convinced that I shouldn't have scrapped this unit. They CVP is a 4-1 Fulmar that will actually fit on the Ark Royal. This is the first CW CVP with an air-to-air rating higher than 3. The Commonwealth has some respectable bombers in its reserve pool; thus all the pilots. The CP is to replace expected losses. Of course, the CW wants better CVPs, and in fact, they had better fighters. Where are the Martlets? There were 1200 F4Fs in CW service during WWII, starting in 1940 (although not deployed at sea until 41). The CW would very much want some of those right now. WiF has a great many aircraft that I never heard of, but ADG missed the Martlet.

The US gets its 2-6 ARM division, a 6-4 white print and 6-3 INF, a 5 point range nine wildcat a 5 point range 5 A-36. This got me to look up what an A-36 is. It is the ground attack version of the Mustang. Why was this plane every built? The Army didn't have any money to buy fighter planes, but did have an unused appropriation to build attack aircraft; as they wanted to keep the P-51 production line going, they ordered a dive bomber version of the Mustang. The CVP was an F4F-4, the US's first five point CVP.

Here are the Allied reinforcements for J/A 41. MWiF threw another bug at me: it did not let me place either Australian reinforcement. This seems a new bug introduced in v1.0.9; earlier Australian reinforcements worked.

[Courtenay]

J/A 41 Allied #1: Weather 1: F, F, F, F, F, F

Start of turn, JA 41:

Allies win initiative, 8+1 to 3, elect to go first. Axis can't reroll.

J/A 41 Allied #1: Weather 1: F, F, F, F, F, F

This weather is very surprising. Not that it is fair in the Northern temperate, but that it is fair in the Northern Monsoon. The Japanese are happy; all the units that they have trapped in the northern moonsoon will actually be able to move.

However, this poses a question: Should the Japanese declare war? They would lose a chance of Pearl Harbor, but would have targets of a lot of US convoy points. Most importantly, they would be able to invade in the Northern Monsoon with good weather. They have no guarantee that they would have a chance at a surprise impulse with good weather next turn, as the single most likely impulse for US war with Japan is S/O Allied #3. It could be later, it could be earlier, as the Germans want to make a some DOWs. The Allies are completely unready for war with Japan. Of course, Japan is not really ready for war with the Allies, but the invasion forces are positioned and ready to go. (Six divisions, one AMPH, and the MAR corps. Not a lot, but given the early date and the fact that I am not playing with unlimited breakdown, about the best that the Japanese could do.) The disadvantage, of course, is that the US production will be out of control.

So the trade off is should the Japanese take advantage of the good weather, and invade, but get a ridiculously early US entry, or should they wait, and possibly not get any surprise invasions at all?

I would like people's opinions while I work on the first Allied impulse. Thank you.

[hazmaxed]

So the trade off is should the Japanese take advantage of the good weather, and invade, but get a ridiculously early US entry, or should they wait, and possibly not get any surprise invasions at all?

Good weather, forces are in place. "I say go!" OK, I'll stop channeling Monty now...if he ever really said that.

I'm not really sure how bad it would be for the Axis to have the US in the war one turn earlier; July/August, instead of Sept/Oct. Is there any difference in the US production multiple if Japan declares war, compared to if the US declares war? I haven't looked this up in the rules.

[Centuur]

If you don't expect the weather to become good again before the US is ready to DoW you, than you should attack.

However, you should first ask yourself the question: are the Japanese units really in place to attack at least Singapore, Manilla and Rabaul this turn (and Batavia in the next turn) and garrison those area's in force. If not, I'll advice to wait.

[Courtenay]

I can attack Malaya, the Philippines, Ceylon, Batavia, Rabaul, and Guam, at the least. Note that I say the Philippines and Malaya, not Manila and Singapore. I could take either Singapore and Manila, or Batavia; I can't get good attacks on all three. The problem is simply lack of transport capability, and won't change soon; what units I have are in place. I just wasn't planning on having to fight this early; on the other hand, the Allies weren't planning on having to defend this early. That is why Ceylon is a possibility -- the unit designated for Ceylon defense is ready to sail, but won't impulse one because of action limits. (The CW needs air actions for Gibraltar defense, which has priority over everything else at the moment.) The CW is just happy that it got the Burmese and New Zealand MILs this turn, otherwise those countries would be vulnerable.

The effects on US production are the same no matter who declares war on whom. If the US manages to go war against both sides, then US production will go from 30 to 51 (including Brazil).

One thing I am trying to figure out is what effect an early DOW will have in the campaign against Gibraltar. There is one clear Axis advantage: the eastern supply line to Gibraltar will probably be cut. There is one big disadvantage: A US HQ is likely to wind up in Tangiers, where it can provide HQ support to Gibraltar. However, there are no US land aircraft ready to to help; the fighters don't appear until next turn. Going strictly by the Japanese perspective, I think attacking is probably better; going from an overall Axis strategy, holding off is probably better. I am playing this game as if Japan and Russia signed a neutrality pact in 1940 (and no US entry chit moved), so clearly Japan is already ignoring inter-Axis cooperation. I think that going to war right now makes it more likely that Germany will be conquered by the end of the game, but less likely that Japan will be. Given that, I think that the Japanese will attack. Besides, that is more fun. When has the US ever gone to war as early as J/A 41? Compare this Warspite's game, where the US didn't get to war until 1943!

However, right now I am putting the game on hold, while I wait for 1.1.0.0. The Japanese want to remove air units and the CW wants to get their Australian NAV. (Not to mention next turn's Australian NAV.)

[joshuamnave]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The stay at sea step and return to base step are my least favorite part of the game, by far.

Agreed! There has to be a better way to do it. It seems like almost every turn I return units I wanted to keep at sea, and often I keep units at sea that I wanted to return. Maybe a checkbox form would work better, listing all your units at sea (location, box#) and letting you check or uncheck the stay at sea box? At the very least, the select unit form that comes up with a display of eligible units in other phases should come up here, and clicking the arrow to take you to the next unit needs to do a better job of both centering on the unit and indicating which unit is selected.

[Centuur]

Ceylon! That's nice to take. If you can get reasonable attacks on any two of the three of Manilla, Singapore or Batavia this turn, I would attack. If not, wait, since it is early in the game.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: Zartacla

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The stay at sea step and return to base step are my least favorite part of the game, by far.

Agreed! There has to be a better way to do it. It seems like almost every turn I return units I wanted to keep at sea, and often I keep units at sea that I wanted to return. Maybe a checkbox form would work better, listing all your units at sea (location, box#) and letting you check or uncheck the stay at sea box? At the very least, the select unit form that comes up with a display of eligible units in other phases should come up here, and clicking the arrow to take you to the next unit needs to do a better job of both centering on the unit and indicating which unit is selected.

I use the next selectable unit button (the arrow) for this. Yes, it takes time, but if you use this button, all stacks will come on your screen, so you don't forget anything (only if you don't examine the stacks...).

[Courtenay]

I use the arrow, also. I still almost always have to make corrections to the Allied return to base step at least once (I make a save just before I leave it.), and all too frequently I have to do it twice. Zartacla is correct; there has to be a better way to do this. From his description, Zartacla also uses the arrow. It is the best tool we currently have, but it is not good enough. First I use the "Sea Areas" map display to get the major Allied sea areas, then I use the arrows to get all the units, then I check all the Allied convoys to make sure they are staying at sea, then I check everything again -- and still convoys go back to port that I want to stay at sea, and sometimes units I want to stay go back to port.

I am not well versed in designing interfaces, so I do not know what would be best, but I do know (or, to be honest, sincerely hope) that there has to be a better way.

[hazmaxed]

I am not well versed in designing interfaces, so I do not know what would be best, but I do know (or, to be honest, sincerely hope) that there has to be a better way.

Maybe the program could perform a check when the player clicks the end phase button during the "stay at sea" phase. If any convoys are not staying at sea, then a message pops up "Do you want these convoys to return to base?" with yes/no buttons. If yes is selected, then the convoys in question will return to base. If no is selected, then a "Select Units" window pops up with the convoys in question. The player can then find these convoys on the map and place them in sentry mode so they will stay at sea.

I don't know if there is a workable programming solution for this. I know that if I click the end phase button after moving Soviet land units and don't move any Chi-Com land units, a message pops up warning me that I forgot Mao's army again. So it seems like something similar could be implemented to help out with overlooked convoys.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: hazmaxed

I am not well versed in designing interfaces, so I do not know what would be best, but I do know (or, to be honest, sincerely hope) that there has to be a better way.

Maybe the program could perform a check when the player clicks the end phase button during the "stay at sea" phase. If any convoys are not staying at sea, then a message pops up "Do you want these convoys to return to base?" with yes/no buttons. If yes is selected, then the convoys in question will return to base. If no is selected, then a "Select Units" window pops up with the convoys in question. The player can then find these convoys on the map and place them in sentry mode so they will stay at sea.

I don't know if there is a workable programming solution for this. I know that if I click the end phase button after moving Soviet land units and don't move any Chi-Com land units, a message pops up warning me that I forgot Mao's army again. So it seems like something similar could be implemented to help out with overlooked convoys.

I like this idea. There are times when I want a convoy to return to base, but they are rare, and I would not mind the program asking me if that is what I really meant to do.

[IKerensky]

Shouldn't the chinese partisan put n Kweilin had put the whole japanese force in the middle out of supply ?

II think retreat is in order in China, while you can still move without OOS and flipping.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: KERENSKY

Shouldn't the chinese partisan put n Kweilin had put the whole japanese force in the middle out of supply ?

II think retreat is in order in China, while you can still move without OOS and flipping.

No. Roads are as good as rail lines for supply, and the Japanese hold both ends of the Hanoi-Hengyang road, so no single partisan on that road can cut supply.

As for what the Japanese should do, I am not clear. Next game I will not do what I did this game, that is for certain.

[Courtenay]

With the reappearance of Australia, not to mention the return of the remove air step, I restart my game.

The Japanese pull a couple of air units off the map. Akagi, Zuikaku and Shokaku don't have air units on them, but will get good ones next turn. Fortunately, the Japanese won't need a lot of carrier air this turn.

J/A 41 Allied #1: Weather 1: F, F, F, F, F, F

A Beaufighter flies to the 3 box of the Western Med.

The French move out to protect various convoy positions; a French battleship goes by itself to the four box of the Western Med, which is dangerous. The French TRS takes a Spitfire from Plymouth to Cape St. Vincent. The Netherlands TRS and a British TRS take a Mosquito and a 6 point Spitfire to the Cape St. Vincent, with some escorts. A substantial CW force moves to the three box of the Western Med.

The Allies try and find the Italians in both the eastern and western Med. Both sides fly fighters to the zero box. In the Western Med, the Allies roll a four and the Italians a nine. The Allies impose a surface action, and blow up the two Italian CPs. Both sides stick around, and the Allies roll a three and Italians another nine. The Allies think that they might do something good in naval air, so try and fight, reducing the Italian air-to-air by three and increasing their own by two. They put the Swordfish in front, rather than the Beaufighter, not wanting to deal with the twin engine penalty. The Italians roll a 14, aborting the Swordfish, but the British roll a 17, killing the Italain fighter and its pilot. In the Eastern Med, the Germans roll a 1, and the CW a 7. The Germans decide to try and kill off the CW air, and do not abort the combat, reducing the British air-to-air by two and increasing their own strength by one. The Germans roll an 8, aborting the British, and the British roll a 5. aborting the Germans. The Italian convoy point sees no reason to stick around without air cover, and leaves. Note that even though aborted, the Swordfish in the Western Med. is still on its carrier in the three box -- an advantage carrier planes have over other air units: after aborting, they are still around to fight in later battles.

Discovered a new bug: The Communist Chinese ART unit is not allowed to ground strike. Rolled it by hand, and will treat the ART as flipped. Rolled a nine, for no effect.

In land movement, the CW pulls their ARM unit in front of Gibraltar back to Gibraltar, which necessitates moving a unit from Gibraltar to Tangiers and the Cartegena MIL out of Tangiers. The Communists pull a unit back to defend Ankang, and also stack a unit with their ART unit. The Nationalists move the new units the got forward, the Kunming MIL to defend the Burma road, and the garrisons move towards the line. The one that had been in Kunming of course flips moving in the mountain.

In air rebase, the British add the three fighters to the defenses around Gibraltar. At the moment, the British have air superiority around Gibraltar. The Germans have plans to deal with that.

The British use Wavell to reorganize the RSA Spitfire that was aborted in the Eastern Med. A lot of oil for one fighter, but if it saves the CP, it is worth it.

[Courtenay]

I made a screen shot of the position in Spain at the start of the turn, and forgot to upload it. The flyout shows the defenders of Gibraltar at the start of the turn. The CW moved the MOT out and the ARM in.

[Courtenay]

Well, I did it:

[Courtenay]

J/A 41 Axis #2:

Japan declares war on CW and US. Rolls a 6 for CW, three chits, and a 4 for the US, 5 chits. CW

chits: 1, 4, 5; US chits: 5, 1, 1, 2, 4. Ge/It entry 58, tension 21 before moving tension.

Chinese build aircraft: 10, no chit;
Lend lease to China: 3, 2 chit moves;
Freeze Japanese assets: 2, 1 chit moves;
Oil embargo: 9, 5 chit moves.
At this point, entry tension is at 54/25. I want to get it to around 50/29, so keep moving chits. The reason is that a german entry action might add something to the entry pool, which would actually decrease US entry probability unless the entry total is lowered.
CW reinforces Pacific: 9, 2 chit moves;
US reinforces Guam: 4, 1 chit moves
US reinforces Philippines: 2, 1 & 2 chits move.
Entry levels now at 50/28; lost a point on rounding. This is where I stop moving chits.

US has an 80% chance of declaring war on Germany and Italy.

[Courtenay]

Ge land, It naval, Ja supercombined

I realized that I completely forgot about Hong Kong when I was planning the Japanese assault. I will not take advantage of that as the Allies.

Port strike: there is a CW TRS in Calcutta. The Japanese H6K is in Hanoi. If the Japanese can't get a Pearl Harbor, they will settle for this. The CW rolls a 10 for surprise. The Japanese increase their naval air column to X + 2D. The TRS rolls a 9 against the X but a 2 against the D, and sinks. If it had rolled a 3, it would have been bottomed, but as it is, the CW are down a TRS, and are very glad they started a TRS last turn. This TRS was the going to create the Ceylon garrison this turn; now there are no Allied TRS anywhere in the Indian Ocean, so Ceylon (and everyplace else) will not be reinforced.

At this point, discovered that I had "disable naval air phase set for the Japanese." Upon reflection, decide that Japan doesn't want to do any naval air, but I do undisable Japanese naval air, because they will want to naval air in the future. The Italians fly a figther out to the two box of the Western Med. They can't put a NAV out there because their NAV is in the Africa and is out of supply.

The Italains move four cruisers out to the four box of the Western Med, and a substantial fleet to the two box of the Western Med.

The Japanese move out invasion forces and convoy destroying forces. The "Choose naval combat" form is displayed at the end of this post, along with the Java invasion force. The HQ will be landing next impulse, not this one. The HQ is needed to get a reasonable attack on Batavia.

The Italians start the ball rolling in the eastern Med. They roll a nine, the French a four. The French captain looks at the enemy, and counts "Une, deux, trois, quatre." then looks at his "fleet", and counts, "Une." and aborts the combat.

In the Western Med, the Italians roll a 4, the Allies a 1. The Allies decide to fight a naval air, reducing the Italians by two and increasing their combat by one, giving the Italians -3 and the CW +2, but with a twin engine penalty. The air combat lasts many rounds, with the CW carrier plane cleared through, before the Italian fighter manages to abort the Beaufighter. The Italians roll two 10s and two 4s for AA, completely negating the CW attack. The next round of combat, the Italians roll a 7 and the CW a 9, ending the fight.

In the Arabian Sea, a patrolling Japanese cruiser finds the CW convoys. The CW rolls a two; these people were expect trouble. One CP is sunk, and the other two are aborted back to Cape Town.

In the South China Sea, the Japanese roll a 6, and don't find the American CP. The American CP rolls a one, and finds the Japanese! A little disconcerted, the CP picks only the zero box to include. The Japanese do have a cruiser in the 0 box, but it is not a good one, and the American CP takes no damage. After waving to General Yamashita, the American CP decides that this is a good time to sail to Perth.

In the Bay of Bengal, the Japanese roll a five, and the Allies a seven. Two cruisers are more than enough to sink the CW and US CPs that are there.

In the West Indian Ocean, a Japanese cruiser rolls a one, the CW a nine, and a CW convoy point goes down.

In the Hawaiian Islands, a Japanese SUB rolls a five, not enough to find the American CP.

In the Central Pacific, the other Japanese SUB rolls a 2, the US a nine, and the American CP there is sunk.

The US is very happy that it pulled back its convoy points in the Pacific.

Total Pacific losses: 3 CW and 2 US CPs sunk, 2 CW and a US CP aborted.

[WarHunter]

Glad to see your AAR continuing. USA entered the war too! Even more to do per impulse.
Good Luck [:D]