An advanced beginners AAR, and what i've learned so far and hope to learn

[Finarfïn]

Maybe i'll say something wrong but i think you can't use traded oil (VEN or NEI for you)
untill you ship them to a city or port you control.

Fin

[Banjo]

Finarfin,

I honestly do not remember back to the reorg. phase whether you can or not. I have a suspicion that you are correct. Regardless of which is the right answer, I do not have the means to transport it at the moment. What I do recall in the first couple of turnsint he game, oil usage for the CW can be limited enough so that all units can reorg, and that 1-3 units of oil may still be saved per turn. When the Dutch and Danish CPs that survive their respective countries capitulation, It will be enough to transport them to a safe location to make them available. Of course as the war progresses, that will become more difficult for a while when the Japanese declare war.

As I said in a previous post, the naval aspect of the game is still one of my weak areas, and my games never progressed to where the Royal Navy was really put to the test. My current game is at that point, and am learning from it. I also need to watch the tutorial video for naval operations, and read more of the manuals. As the old adage goes, "When all else fails, read the instructions".

Your comment is one of the reasons why I wanted to post an AAR, in order to have things like this pointed out. For that I thank you.

[Banjo]

With the Italian fleet sitting in La Spezia, the CW has them outnumbered in BB units 7:2. They have a fair sized cruser force all with AA capability. Yes the forces are split between Gibratler and Alexandria, but They can call upon the Home fleet in Plymouth and the Asiatic fleet in Aden. A coordinated effort in the Atlantic an Med. along with the Japanese when they enter, will keep them busy.For now, they can hold their own.

Here is the distribution of the Navy with the home fleet shown.

[Banjo]

The forces will be built up and shifted into the Med and India when possible. The French will only be able to help contain the Italians for so long, So getting some more air and a land units will be done as soon as possible before Italy enters the war. So much to build, so little time. Of course, transports need to be built to keep everything moving.

[Banjo]

Ah the French. How long will they last this time? Holding force against the Italians. Fast ships in Brest, slow in Oran with CV, subs and one CP. Oil will be saved in Damascus, with force pool oil in Paris. Reinforcing garrisons will man the Maginot line, allowing the infantry to redeploy.

[Banjo]

Resources were sent using same method as CW, except Senegal was routed through the Atlantic, and Hanoi through the Med. Oil transported overland to Syria as there are not enough CP to get to France. Trans in Syria to get 3-3 inf back to France. Algerian inf will follow.

[Banjo]

Before I call it a night, there are two more things that I have learned. Call it a day when you start to get tired, hence my waiting until tomorrow to set up the Japanese. Second, MWIF is not completly cat proof. No matter how hard the cat tries to rearrange the units on the screen he fails every time. He has walked across the keyboard and screwed things up to where I had to go back and reload the phase that I was in when I left the room.

One more. Make sure that you spend some time with the wife. The homefront is just as important as the frontline.

[AxelNL]

[:)]
Nice cat! Nice to see KiF being used as well.

[Banjo]

Looking at the Dispositions of the CHinese forces, there are four places that I can groundstrike and attack on the first turn. The 3-3 inf in the south offers a good target with some room to exploit a successful attack. The next impulse weather could put a damper on that, but the Chinese would suffer from that as well. The large concentration of forces east of Changsa have some chances of advancing if there is not enough troops to block it.

I think the best thing to do would be to place all of my blocking forces on the map, and see what is left to use as my assault force. The sun is finally out here and the ground is drying out, so I will need to take advantage of it and get some work done.

THis afternoon will be the time to spend setting up the groundwork for deciding where I will attack.

[Banjo]

After looking at the Chinese forces, I changed my mind and decided to hit Mao's forces in the north. Realising that I would not be able to concentrate enough forces for a first turn attack in the south, and the higher probability of bad weather, this was not a good idea.

The three attacking groups are not in position and spread out to show the units that will be commited. The other four were put in place so I could see where I wanted minimum blocking forces before I decided where to make my main attack. The attack groups will be put in place next, along with setting up the navy, which other than the transports and amphib will be sitting idle for quite a while. Air assets have not been placed yet either.

My goal is to have the forces on the Manchurian border secure the mountains north of Sian. China group will set up north of the Yellow river to secure the railroad between Tungkwan and Chenchow. The group from Japan will land and move into position to begin the assault on Sian from the south with the the China group. The main objective is to secure the area in white as soon as possible.

[Banjo]

THis is the setup in the south before air and naval forces are in place. There is an HQ just off the north edge of the map providing supply to the Changsa blocking force.

[Banjo]

All of the fighter were scrapped. I decided to keep all of the subs, as i will try my best to do as much damage to the CW convoys as possible, and tie up their fleet.

Saving oil as far from the British bombers as possible.

[Banjo]

What bad luck. This is the worst initial land bomber draw I have had to date!!

[Banjo]

That was the best tactical strengths I could choose from. I will have to have a word with my staff.

[Banjo]

Ready to start. I could be wrong, but I think the German fleet was in the Baltic ports at the start of the war. I placed them in Kiel with AA and fighter cover to save oil.

[Banjo]

Germany declares, a 7 was rolled, and 3 more points added to the US entry pool. 15 G/I, 9 Japan. No tension yet.

[Banjo]

Is there any way to prevent Poland from falling on the first turn other than bad attack choices or really bad luck?

How Germany will proceed after the fall of Poland will be determined by how fast France falls, and the amount of success the Italian navy has in the Med. I will probably spend two BP per turn building uboats, and possibly one maybe two more for SCS. The two navies can sortie to stretch the CW navy in order to get German SCS into action in the Atlantic.

If I had more experience with naval warfare in this game, I would possibly consider an attack Norway in the spring, but I see not too many people do it. When I get more naval experience, I will have to give it a try in a future game.

[Banjo]

Japan will not align Siam until France falls, and they can take advantage of the situation.

[Banjo]

Japan chose a combined in order to use the two naval moves to get the troops from Japan into China.
Germany land.
Italy combined for now.

[Banjo]

Italy flies a naval air to cover the convoy in case the CW or French decide to declare. This will not happen in order not to risk a hit on the US entry table. The Med will be quiet with the exception of transporting troops and convoy escorts until Italy declares war.