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

[Banjo]

SO the adventure begins for 1940. Allied impulse 1.

[Banjo]

France gambles that Italy will not declare war this turn to take advantage of the weather to position the army.
CW naval
China land
Italy, USSR and US combined

[Banjo]

Navel Movements Phase, JAN/FEB 1940

The CW will ship the rest of the BEF into France.

A the "Queens" liner, will transport the engineers from Malta to Bombay. It will then pick up a newly arrived Indian garrison, which will go to Gibralter. In the next impulse, the 5-3 INF in Gibralter, will go to Egypt.

I forgot to move the Bomber in Malta to Alexandria, so that will happen this impulse.

A transport in Malta, will sail back to England.

There will be at least three sea lift units in England to bring the BEF home if and when they are faced with evacuation.

Eventually one of the transport will end up in Aden or South Africa, for duty in the east.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Banjo

SO the adventure begins for 1940.

[Banjo]

Danish, Polish, and new CW convoy sail out and are able to send to oil from Caribbean to save in England.

CL units sail for convoy duty.

Units sail to protect BEF.

[Banjo]

In the spring of 1940, the CW will hold in France as long as possible.

The Royal Navy, will begin to be put to the test as Italy is sure to get into the war.

Units need to be moved to where they will be needed in Egypt and the east.

Only time can determine where and when things need to be addressed. Preparation is all that can be done in the meantime.

[Banjo]

There are publications that were published by the US Department of Defense I think it was, detailing the various branches of the armed forces during the war. I found five PDF books by chance while looking for something unrelated, that I downloaded to my ipad for free. They detail the USMC in the Pacific during the war. It begins with the events that led up to the pre war planning for a confrontation with Japan. When I can squeeze some time in I will look for at least its title.

I am trying using this as a guide for my US activity before the shooting starts, mainly securing the lines between the US to Hawaii, and Australia. All builds and deployments are made to do this, although I am only doing this from memory, and not refering to the publication for details.

[Banjo]

Three convoys sail for Hawaii. Tey do not have range to place them in their destinations. They will be used to put Wake, Pago Pago, Johnston Island, and Midway in supply. The third will begin to extend the supply chain to Australia.

[Banjo]

It is now the CHinese National rail move phase.

It is also time for a major re-evaluation of the overall picture in China.

The first place to look is Sian. The Garrison unit is now under threat from four sides. The weather is not good for ground strikes and that is in The Chicoms favor.

Since it is snowing, this also gives both sides the ability to move.

The Japanese can move west to the south of Sian and exert ZOC on the rail line.

The newly arrived Sian Militia can block that move this turn, but the garrison is still under threat.

With one impulse of good weather, the garrison could be eliminated and Sian is now the target. The weather will clear eventually. Possibly before the Chicoms can get reinforced.

The ability to move this turn, may provide an escape for Mao's forces who are faced with losses if they hold their ground, that at the moment they cannot afford.

If the garrison moves into Sian as a sacrificial unit, the Japanese will lose impulses and possibly troops in taking Sian. The weather can cost them more time to get into position to move west or south to Chunking where they will face supply issues.

This screenshot shows Sian. The one to follow will show the overall situation.

[Banjo]

As it stands now, it appears that the loss of Sian is a matter of time. The question is, what will the Japanese do then? They can hold Sian, and exert pressure on the open ground to the west. OPen ground for the Chinese at this stage of the game is a death zone for them.

They have three options for the bulk of their army. West to Lanchow, and hurt the Chicoms even more, Southwest to Chunking, and supply problems, or south to Changsa, the Burma Road, and towards Indochina.

Their forces need to go toward the coast soon anyway as war breaks out with the rest of the Allies. The USSR is another possibility also.

Whatever happens, the Nationals have to do something now.

I am still debating myself if it was a wise move to shift the Changsa forces east, and not bring them back after it drew the Japanese garrisons away from their original positions. They would be at least one move closer to have the ablility to redeploy to the west.

In the screenshot, the circles areas are where the Chinese need to focus on, depending on what the Japanese do. Whatever it is, The Changsa forces need to pull back toward Changsa, and provide at least one unit ofr redeployment this turn.

Now the question is who will get a railroad move?

[Banjo]

Nationals cannot railroad down the Burma Road, so they will not do any for now.

[Banjo]

Now that I think of it in the Chocoms railroad move, any unit that uses it will become unorganized, which they cannot afford to be, so all movement will be done in the land movement phase.

Wait, the Nationals are subject to the number of moves in the USSR combined limitations. Better check that first. This could be critical.

[Banjo]

Ok, they get 5 moves, and have six units.[&:]

[Banjo]

The Chicoms decide to withdraw, and trade space for time.Thw warlord, was in the best position to move back to Ningsia. The Sian Milita had to use the rail movement, so Mao could remain organized. With the garrison covering the retreat in Sian, the rest of the force has at least one more turn to get set up in the mountains, of course the upcoming weather may change things a bit, but it willslow the Japanese as much as the Chicoms.

[Banjo]

Another factor in the decision to pull out of Sian, was that it will take the Japanese at least 2-3 more impulses before they can mount a serious attack toward Lanchow, which will buy some more time.

[markb50k]

Appreciate the AAR. I'm following it closely and think youre doing a good job describing the action.

[Banjo]

The moves in China.

This was the hardest decision to make so far in the game.

[Banjo]

Thank you Mark,

I was not sure how the AAR was going to turn out, as I have never done one before. There has been so much that I have learned not only about the rules and game mechanics, but new ways to approach some of the parts of the game. I am finding that by taking the screenshots and drawing out ideas and possible plans, that it is showing me different options that I would have overlooked trying to do it in my head.

What we do in minutes and often seconds making decisions, in reality took months and years for the most mundane, boring things we do in the game. I think the approach would be different if we had the map physically in front of us, at least in ETO/PTO it was, since it fit in about an 4'x8' space. The HUGE size of this map might not really make that so, but could make it even more difficult because we can zoom out to see the big picture, and even that is not enough sometimes.

I am glad you are enjoying it. I know it makes it even more dramatic, even for me.

[Banjo]

The wetsrn front.

The French continue to move the reinforcements to the front.

Looking at this screenshot and the big grey mass that I am trying to organize, I realize that fancy movement diagrams to put the units in position is not possible. Even for the French forces to a lesser degree. I am thinking thst a solution could be to make a list of the ground units like 4-3, 6-3, 4-2...and add units as the are put on the board. Either that or start the list and each unit by the numbers as each one makes its first move from Poland or is placed on the board as additions to the bosrd.

The next step, would be to use a screenshot and draw in the units using only the numbers on the hexes where they need to be at the begining of the battle for France. Crossing each one off of the list as they reach their jump off point.

I might have to try this sometime.

[Banjo]

The Bomber in Malta flies to Egypt for the CW
France pulls her bomber a few hexes back from the Maginot Line
Nationals fighter from Chunking to Chengtu

The impulse then ends.