Bob Flemin's MWIF AARse IV - Nice AArse

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

The Soviets are in BIG schtuck here me thinks. Nothing for it but continue to retreat and, where humanely possible, maintain solid lines based on rivers and cities....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

Meanwhile in the Mediterranean....

The Commonwealth send a sub into the Italian Coast. The Italians respond with a couple of flying boats...

The Allies roll a 3
The Axis roll a 2

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

The Axis have 2 surprise points to spend. They only have the choice to spend these on increasing their Naval Combat Column - this increases expected Allied losses from abort to damage.

The British sub is duly damaged and, licking its wounds from those pesky flying boats, returns to Malta.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

The RAF decide to embark on a little Strategic Bombing.

Sadly the Wimpey's accuracy is a little off today and the only casualties are an empty cowshed and a Dachshund named Colin.

Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris: See Stalin, I can paraphrase from Blackadder too. Don't you go sowing the wind or you will reap the whirlwind.
Uncle Joe Stalin: Oh zip it Harris...

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

With the Luftwaffe fighters in the south not having caught up with the action, the Soviets long ranged bomber force attempts to ground strike two juicy German stacks in the Ukraine. The first attack successfully puts the German 37th Motorised Corps out of action.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

Sadly the second attack was less successful....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

Meanwhile the pull-back in the Soviet Union continues.... In the south the Soviets manage to keep a reasonably intact line from Odessa to the Pripyat Marshes.....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 4

...while in the north they manage to achieve the same. The Soviets are not finished yet....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

The weather roll is a 5 - still Rain in the Northern Monsoon but otherwise Fine.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

Three aircraft undertaking two ground strikes - one south east of Riga and the other in the forest hex in the south eastern corner of Latvia.

This time the Soviets sense it is the time to fight back. They commit what is essentially their entire fighter force to stopping the German attack.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

Round 1 (Allies to throw first):

8 - AC The Soviets choose which bomber to clear through - they chose the Ju-87B.
11 - AC Effectively no result

Round 2

13 - AC The Soviets have cleared the second Stuka through.
14 - DA The Soviet front fighter is aborted, although it no longer matters.

With both German bombers cleared through the fighting ceases.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

In the second battle the Germans once again have the advantage

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

Round 1 - The Allies to throw first once again:

10 - DC another clearance through for the German bomber.
6 - DX The Soviet LaGG-3 is destroyed (the pilot survives)

This was not the result the Soviets were seeking....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

And that is an impressive result. It took the German's two best bombers but they got the job done....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

The third Stuka refuses to be outdone!!

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

Just two attacks this impulse - in Latvia and in the Ukraine. In the north Zuhkov, no doubt fearing Stalin's red-hot poker, decides its time for some HQ Support.

The HQ Support fails quite spectacularly - Zhukov throws a 10 - and this leaves the odds at 2:1 +3 on the Blitz table....

...it's an 8(11) and the Soviets lose an Engineer. I convert the Shattered result to retreat.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 5

On the Black Sea coast the odds are 4:1 no modifiers on the Blitz table....

...we are back to 6's again! The Soviets lose nothing but the two defenders are shattered. I do not convert.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1942
Impulse: 6

We are getting into the phase now where the turns can end with or without assistance from either side. Things will become a bit more frantic as a result.

[composer99]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: composer99

I feel bad for the Soviets having their army up front like that. They're going to take it on the chin this summer.

warspite1

Where would a seasoned WIF player set the Soviets up?

Not having defended against a 1942 Barb, I must demur. Most of the advice for defending against a 1941 Barb is still applicable, although both the USSR and Germany have larger forces at their disposal.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1


I know they are really boring to build, but in future I am going to build large numbers of TRS and AMPH. Having so few means juggling their positioning all over the globe - Oz, South Africa, Canada - and forget New Zealand! [:)]

CPs, AMPH, and TRS are the most important naval units there are. Everything else is built either to get yours through or to stop the enemy from getting his through. If you don't have them, and your enemy is where he wants to be, he doesn't need a navy.

In my game, through M/A 42, the US has started 6 TRS and 5 AMPH, while the CW has started 5 TRS and 2 AMPH. The Japanese have started 1 TRS and 2 AMPH, the Italians 1 TRS. These figures are low for the Axis, because the game has been going horribly for them, and they haven't built enough of anything. A fair number of these units are still on the production tracks, but they will all get built. (except maybe for one Ja AMPH; their game is falling apart, and I have no idea what they are going to do.)

Note that even with the large numbers of AMPHs and TRS built, the Allies still never feel that they have an excess of transport.