A musical global war AAR...

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The Australian captain feels brave and decides to stay for another combat round:

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Disaster strikes for the Germans. The Australian cruiser opens fire on the German transport ships:

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The Australian captain decides that he did enough and he needs to get his ship to a shipyard for repairs. He aborts. The Germans abort too. Since the AMPH is damaged, the Italian GAR will arrive as a reinforcement next turn.

Some Italian music: Meme Bianchi - Macariolita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_i1jXP3ouM

In mountains at the Iraqi-Persian border, Stuka's ground strike Koniev:

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The flying artillery did it again...

The Italians move the HQ's in Syria further north. A Stuka gets rebased into the Ukrainian front.

Here's the weather report for the next couple of impulses:

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September/October 1941, Allied impulse number 5:

In Washington, the US secretly informes the Ambassador of the CW that it is advisable to declare war on Japan. That act might shift the public opinion in the US towards joining the war sooner...

First: again jazz out of the occupied countries: " Vous et Moi" ... Lise Coliny & Eddie Tower from Belgium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjBKWCr041s

Now: this isn't as crazy as it looks. Normally, the CW and France would want to wait until the US is in the war before declaring war on Japan. German intelligence has reported a high probability on a tension level of more than 55. Such a high entry level together with the low number of chits in the Japanese tension pools means that the US is probably further away from going to war then if the number of chits is reduced in the entry pools. And what better way to do this, than by going to war against Japan.

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The CW wants to avoid the surprise impulse against them and also wants to see if they can wreck havoc on Japanese shipping. There are some TRS around and killing them during the surprise impulse might come in handy. The Admiralty and the General staff advise Churchill to do so.

The next morning, the British war cabinet meets. After the meeting, the Churchill, in the House of Commons, denies all involvement in the “Bataafse Petroleum” skandal in the US. They claim that the funds received from the United States were given due to the Lend Lease act and used to buy important goods for the war effort. Nowhere in the Lend Lease agreement was stated that those funds couldn't be used to buy the necessary oil for the ships and troops in combat against the Germans and their allies. The Dutch have been attacked with no reasonable grounds by Japan and Germany. Since the Dutch Government in Exile has asked the British Empire to act on their behalve, the British have no choice but to go to war against the Japanese Empire. The US States Congress did agree on the Lend Lease Act, which stipulates that any asset may be given by the US to the CW for the war effort. This includes money, doesn't it? 2 entry chits in the Japanese entry pools are removed.

The CW takes a naval, the US a combined, the USSR a land and the French a Pass action.

Again, music out of the occupied countries. From France: Le Premier Rendez-Vous - Rose Avril

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLdLpn5JCcI

During naval air, a South African FTR enters the South China Sea. A CW fleet sails to attack Japanese shipping in theSouth China Sea. British Submarines leave Singapore.
However, the ocean is large and the Japanese ships manage too avoid the British ships (search rolls Allied: 10, Axis 9).

Another British fleet sails out of Brisbane into the Bismarck Sea. Their target: a Japanese TRS. Again, the British ships fail to find the Japanese (Allied 9, Axis 9).

Luck seems to be with the Japanese...

The CW sends cruisers out into the Cape Verde Bassin, The Rodney and other cruisers sail for the Central Atlantic. Of course, with all convoys present, the CW doesn't want to fight in those two sea area's...

Admiral Lütjens, however is still searching for those convoys he lost. But where are those British ships (Allied 9, Axis 6). The captain on board of the Schlesien also wants a fight, but he doesn't get it too (Axis 10, Allied 6).

The US sends out more convoys into the Denmark Strait Sea area.

In the USSR, the front is strengthened again. Small withdrawals take place and Zhukov and Timoshenko move outside of Stuka range.

The Belorussian Front:

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The Ukrainian Front:

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In Iraq, units are moved so that if Koniev is attacked, a German breakthrough won't be possible.

Soviet music, later used to make a hit called “those were the days”: Alexander Vertinsky - Dorogoi dlinnoyu - Дорогой длинною - By the long road

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMaz70bOd7w

Still, the attack will come on the hex Koniev is in, according to Soviet intelligence:

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September/October 1941, Axis impulse number 6:

An action packed impulse...

First, there is the need for some words here, regarding US entry. Fact is, I've never been in a game where the US had three good opportunities to DoW the Japanese and failed. Therefore, I've not reacted in the right way on how the handle the removal of the chits in the Japanese entry and tension pools.

The national anthem of Costa Rica:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUVT63d2P8A

Let's face it: the US is high on entry and low on tension. You can see this at the number of chits present in the pools. So what I should have done is, that after the third DoW roll failure, I should have DoW'ed Japan immediately with both France and the CW...

Again, last impulse I also made a mistake. I should have DoW''ed with both the CW and France. I didn't, and that is going to haunt the Allies...

The national anthem of the Dominican Republic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULeDsRcWyk

Why? It is the fact that US entry will now go skyhigh, because the Axis are going to DoW all neutrals without an army, victory hex or resources and France, hoping that the US entry will become so high, that Japan gets enough time to conquer British possessions like Malaya, Singapore, Hongkong, British Borneo and perhaps even Rabaul, without the US being able to interfere. The higher US entry gets, the more tension the US needs to be able to get a good DoW on Japan or Germany...

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So, the Axis now want as many entry chits as possible in the entry pools, to make sure US entry is permanently above 61, whatever happens in the rest of the game. The US is surely going to DoW the Axis succesfully at one time or another, but as long as tension stays low, it can't do so effectively. Also, if the Axis don't do this, the reduction of entry (by entry chits moved into the tension pools due to US options chosen) might result in a higher chance of the US being able to succesfully declare war on the Axis nations

The national anthem of El Salvador:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmrKWrnmlkk

In a lot of countries around the world, German, Italian and Japanese ambassadors demand that those countries will severe any ties with the governments of the USSR and the CW and to give unconditional support to the Axis aims of overthrowing those governments. In addition to this, Japan decides to declare war on all nations which are at war with Germany:

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Now, some people consider this to be gamey. I don't agree totally about this. Consider this: the United States can't declare war on any nation, without Congress giving it's blessing. So if Congress would reject this three times in a row, wouldn't the US public become less interested in going to war. Don't forget: the President is seen to be “war mongering” if that did happen and that would mean he is in deep political problems at that moment. You can say that the way the Axis is now behaving is somewhat of a counteract which simulates this. There are therefore a lot of national anthems at this point. Nepal and Tibet didn't have a national anthem during the world war.

The national anthem of Guatamala:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHKnuWxgI9w

12 chits gained for the Japanese and 18 chits for the German/Italy entry pools. There are now:
28 chits in the Ge/It, 20 chits in the Japanese entry pools. The tension pools have 3 for the Japanese and 6 for the Euroaxis. Abwehr estimates that entry is at least 90 for both Japan and Germany/Italy. This makes it very difficult for the US to DoW the Axis at this moment. They need a tension level of at least 24 to be able to DoW the Japanese and for Germany/Italy they need at least 32. Now, this gives the Axis breathing space.

The national anthem of Haiti:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXOOqj_wUpE

The United States Congress gives support to the small South and Central American nations. They guarantee the indepence of the countries and will support them against any Axis aggression (the US aligns all South and Central American minors now at war with the Axis). The CW aligns Tibet, Yemen and Nepal.

The national anthem of Honduras:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2LCgSdVjI4

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Germany, and Italy take land and Japan takes a combined action.

The national anthem of Nicaragua:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_oppAlORos

Japan flies a flying boat and a NAV into the South China Sea. The admiral in charge of the Japanese battlefleet is eager for a fight.

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Flying boats did spot the enemy fleet at nightfall and with his fleet running at maximum speed, he could be able to get within range of the big guns at daybreak. And so it happens (four surpise points spend for choosing a surface battle, since the Japanese lack FTR cover, even against the British CVP's). The courageous defense of the British make sure the CV's escape, but the cost were high:

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And at the Japanese side, the Yamato gets damaged:

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Of course, the British abort the sea area.

Here is the national anthem of the Kingdom of Yemen. It was a tough search for this, since there isn't any file on the internet, except for this one:

http://www.nationalanthems.info/yen-62.htm

In the Bismarck Sea, a FTR is send into the sea area too. Out of Truk, a CV taskforce sails into the four box. Admiral Nagumo searches for the enemy:

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A naval air combat is chosen by Naguma. An air to air combat is fought first, in which the Japanese decide to send all planes with bombing capability in as bombers. The Albacore goes on a suicide mission, but manages to avoid the Japanese FTR's...

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The Japanese, wanting to minimize losses on her planes, decides to use the two surprise points it has to lower the AA fire from the highest 1 of 2 D10 rolls to the lower 2 of 5 D10 rolls. The British ships open fire:

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While at the same time, the British aircrews are surprising the Japanese anti air guns:

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The Japanese pilots return to base with stories of a sinking CV and burning battleships:

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While the pilots of the Albacores ditch into the sea, after giving a Japanese CV some minor damages which forces it back to port: