Cohen vs Enrico - AAR

[AlbertN]

Yes, French can easily move a unit from the Italian front to Lyon.
But I can forfeit a Factory there, screen with garrisons, move to Spain, keep a unit in Paris - attack Spain and pierce Pyrenees and once in Spain declare Vichy.

[composer99]

Don't have the rules in front of me but as I recall, attacks in Siberia don't count towards boosting USSR production.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: composer99

Don't have the rules in front of me but as I recall, attacks in Siberia don't count towards boosting USSR production.

Indeed.

[AlbertN]

It does - Soviets have 0.75 Production Multiplier if I attack.
It happened earlier when the Japs seized Vladivostock and such.

What does not count is if Japanese units are in Soviet Homeland there - but if they attack, well the Soviet production is upped.
It seems very frustrating to deal with the Soviets as they activate fullest action (which is fine if it was limited to the Siberian portion only) and also they get all the Militias produceable, which would make the later Barbarossa attack a pain in that place as Soviets would have trillion of units at hand if they build up their whole Militia force pool.

It can be a hit on USA entry pool - but to be honest, to have all militias fielded and in position already and the ability to maneuver fully every turn / impulse is well worth that. (In this game Japan DoW'ed Soviets, but I am speaking of the opposite.)

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Cohen

It does - Soviets have 0.75 Production Multiplier if I attack.
It happened earlier when the Japs seized Vladivostock and such.

What does not count is if Japanese units are in Soviet Homeland there - but if they attack, well the Soviet production is upped.
It seems very frustrating to deal with the Soviets as they activate fullest action (which is fine if it was limited to the Siberian portion only) and also they get all the Militias produceable, which would make the later Barbarossa attack a pain in that place as Soviets would have trillion of units at hand if they build up their whole Militia force pool.

It can be a hit on USA entry pool - but to be honest, to have all militias fielded and in position already and the ability to maneuver fully every turn / impulse is well worth that. (In this game Japan DoW'ed Soviets, but I am speaking of the opposite.)

warspite1

As a wise man once said - never start a land war in Asia [;)]

At least the game is realistic in that regard - if in the real war Japan had chosen to take on the Soviets they would have been slaughtered as Nomonhan showed.

I tried a war against the USSR with Japan at the start of the game (I had it in the back of my mind I could take Vladivostok and I could get peace enforced) and it is a BIG no no....

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Cohen

It does - Soviets have 0.75 Production Multiplier if I attack.
It happened earlier when the Japs seized Vladivostock and such.

What does not count is if Japanese units are in Soviet Homeland there - but if they attack, well the Soviet production is upped.
It seems very frustrating to deal with the Soviets as they activate fullest action (which is fine if it was limited to the Siberian portion only) and also they get all the Militias produceable, which would make the later Barbarossa attack a pain in that place as Soviets would have trillion of units at hand if they build up their whole Militia force pool.

It can be a hit on USA entry pool - but to be honest, to have all militias fielded and in position already and the ability to maneuver fully every turn / impulse is well worth that. (In this game Japan DoW'ed Soviets, but I am speaking of the opposite.)

If the Soviet production multiplier increase when you make attacks against USSR in Siberia then that is a bug. See picture.

[AlbertN]

Then we definitely have a bug here!

I'll post a save in the Tech forums.

[CanInf]

wow that changes a few plans in my game! I thought for sure a Japanese attack would leave production the same!

[AlbertN]

The Manchurian Front - after one Axis impulse.
The Japanese are trying to exploit the disarrayed Soviet Army to launch a counteroffensive with their still operational forces.
The Soviets northern flank disintegrates at the counterattack - the Axis here is praising for another impulse of theirs, but the big question is to keep attacking the Soviets, or secure the mountains closeby Chita?

Anyhow the Allies have an impulse now ... and it's Allied#10, the dice could not be as merciful ... and the Germans, well they're preaching for another impulse too!

[AlbertN]

The Germans have no resistance in most of France, and another impulse can be marvellous to them.
So many undefended cities and land to grab!

The Germans attacked and successfully cleaned without losses some of the French leftovers scattered around, besides that they're spearheading as fast as they can in the heartland of France.

[AlbertN]

FDR is looking with extreme detatchment and lack of interest to the events unfolding in the rest of the world.

(Bad luck for the Allies with the rolls, they got almost no "extra" chit when rolls happened for Chinese Cities, etc, and with the Soviets they lost 3-4 Chits! Persia, Iraq and Finland DoW all costed one, do not remember if the initial Poland landgrab nailed another.)

[AlbertN]

The Romanian army is laying siege to Sofia.
The Bulgarians should have never dared to demand land! And the Hungarians as well, now they're to suffer Romanian military occupation.

[AlbertN]

The Mediterranean front saw increase in activity with the UK shipping troops to garrison beaches (Territorials and other weaklings!), meanwhile the Italians ship more footed units in Lybia.

The Regia Marina works well with the german forces, having previously seized Malta unopposed, the same german assault force is embarked again to claim Cyprus (and its mines).

It is expect a sortie of the Uk or French, if not both, fleet to try to damage the Italian convoys - as Italy lacks the BPs to replace convoys easily.

[AlbertN]

The Western Mediterranean situation.

The Axis airforces are ruling the seas currently, but shall they be able to stop sorties of the Western Allied navies?
Shall the France take a Naval, Combined or ... ? Who knows.
Will the Uk endanger their precious carriers against the allmighty (for the puny Gladiators the carriers carry!) Heinkel fighter?

[AlbertN]

Leaving behind a tail of disorganized units, the Japan relentlessly advance in China, preparing a lace to strangle the chinese army.
Chiang was captured as the army he was leading got destroyed (at the cost of the elite Tokyo militia!), and that leaves one City only as supply source for that bunch of Chinese peasants armed with rifles!

I still feel heavily the game balance in the Pacific is altered by the different size of the map.
The tabletop map fits to an extent better, much better, the amount of units that are present in the game.
Early in the game Japan here in MWiF is a powerhouse against the Chinese, and later on - if the Chinese survives - they'll infiltrate and surround the Japanese very easily as China will take always a Land action meanwhile Japan won't be able to afford that anymore.
The tabletop map is much more shrunk in hexes and both sides can have a decent defensive line. Now it's just who has more units and who can take Land actions in chain.
I would have liked the option to choose which Pacific map to use tbh, as I feel the Pacific quite fucked up right now - on another note, the added airbases on each and every single tiny isle in the Pacific which will favor the USA immensely with their amount of land based planes they can field later on!

[AlbertN]

Obviously the turn ended with the Allied impulse!

Onward, to July / August 1940.

To much dismay of the Japanese and the Germans which could not seize the objectives they prefixated (more Soviets destroyed and French cities respectively).
We go through the production, with the EU-Axis cherishing only 13 UK BPs due to lucky Italian submarines scattering some convoys at no cost for them (Some aborted) in the previous turn.
The USA keeps producing factories ... but the oddest thing is that France surrenders!

German plans to shield Lyon and proceed to Spain seems to allow more free troops!
Why, I thought, I got given a free turn pratically. French new units in Toulose could have well delayed me.
I thought over it after the session, and I think I was wrong in the initial thought of the benefit I've been given.
Germans could have lost some impulses in dealing with Toulose, it could have even gone very sour admittedly, but could have gone smooth - and Germany gets to pick Vichy or not before France can surrender. My pal ensured that his French fleet moved away intact to Dakar, got sure Senegal resource remains firmly in Allied hands instead of fuelling Vichy production (That would be stocked and then seized by Germany or Italy), denied French Indochina to Japan (Well no USA chits for that!) and possibly Madagascar, holding Jap submarine bases further away from Afrika.
What he has lost is a slow factor of some impulses, and maybe 1 USA chit (depending on Vichy roll - which never happened.)

We played up to the 5th Impulse of July / August, which saw little action with some exception:

Axis won the initiative, and obliterated the BEF. All of it. In the air battle above the cost skies the UK loses as well a 5 Air-Factor fighter. Hitler celebrates in the Reichstag, and commands the Wermacth to march toward Spain. Some German troops arrive in Romania and occupied Bulgaria to finish Sofia.
Italy covers the seas with planes, and send a three engined NAV in Morocco and then in Cape Verde Basin. The Spitfire in Gibraltar scrambles to protect the convoys - nonetheless the Regia Aeronautica finds and sinks some escorts (in the 1 Box, not covered by the nasty Spitfire based at Gibraltar). The UK loses a light cruiser and another is sent home to the repairing docks, and third with minimal damage has just to return to the base for meaningless repairs (aborted).

The Japanese due to bad weather fail in any offensive operation, mud and mountains do not favor their mobility in the southern sector. The Com-Chinese withdraw in the safety of the mountains, waiting for better times.

The Soviets withdraw as well, being cut of supply as during the first impulse the Japanese forces advance toward Chita, that is anyhow not conquerable for the time being.
Stalin ships in more troops, including some coming from Persia, the army that conquered Iraq. Will Zhukov get there? Now that the Germans are moving to Spain much can happen, and Tojo issues anti-tank specialized units to assist on the Siberian Front, having the unhealthy vibe that soon armoured units will start to make their appearance there. The Japanese are in the process of forming still their armoured forces (having an ARM and a MECH in the production spiral!)

[AlbertN]

July / August 1940.
Blitzkrieg in Spain! The Germans fire their 2nd Offensive Chit upon declaration of war on Spain, as Franco declined the military passage to get to Gibraltar in peaceful terms.
The Spanish Army was already prepared guarding the Pyrenees at full force, but the combined might of the Luftwaffe and the Wermacht shrivelled in three different locations their defensive assets, with mobile reserves pinned down by relentless ground strikes.
Landings performed by German troops aboard of Italian ships bring troops in Almeria, Cartagena and Spanish Morocco. The CW has not show interest in claiming Tangiers.

Franco opts to retreat the forces still able to toward Madrid, left unmolested under the shelter and concealing offered by woodlands, the Germans pour into Spain seizing Bilbao, Valencia e Barcellona (That was empty). A dire assault for Madrid is made - where defenders (the Spain CAV) fights to the last bullet (It smashed 6 BPs of German forces, ENG and MECH-DIV). It was not enough as the defenders of Saragossa (The Spain MOT, disrupted by bombing) inflicts losses to the attackers.

Germany occupies Tangiers as well.

It was bloody (8 BPs of units lost, 15 BPs for the O-Chit) but fast (2 Impulses), and the UK has no reserves to bring forth. (Only 3 land units in UK proper)

[AlbertN]

Spain & Med - Sept / Oct & Nov / Dec 1940
(3rd Impulse played, 5# for End of Turn computing)

Before July / August ended the British garrison in Gibraltar attacked the SS Division in Tangier.
The hopes that the bait could cripple the Brits in an attack across the strait were overly generous, and the Brits, for how unable to forfill more operations destroyed the defenders of Tangier, still not showing any interest in occupying the city.

The Germans pour down in Spain and prepare to attack Portugal.
Italian submarines and airplanes move in to hunt convoys in Cape St. Vincent, grand clash occur.
The UK sends in reinforcements, Carriers and Spitfire scrambling from Gibraltar.
Both precious Italian NAVs have been shot down in the encounter, and one submarine damaged; the Royal Navy suffered the loss of 2 light cruisers and some sent to the repair docks; the Spanish Chirri too was shot down by the machine gunners of the Sparviero.

It seems it is grand season of hunt for the Royal Navy, operating in both Eastern and Western Med, sinking 3 Italian Convoy Points and 1 Light cruiser, isolating the resources in Algeria and Cyprus. The efforts of the Luftwaffe to keep the Royal Navy honest have been easily foiled (by the rolls!).

In the while the German forces invaded Portugal as well, and the Kriegsmarine arrived (not exactly safely, and shrunk of a few cruisers) at Bordeaux, a raid at the Faroes Gap was not blessed with success and the Royal Navy retaliation left the german navy even more crippled than before (Accounting one of their battlecruisers was damaged in the surprise turn).

But the hour of Gibraltar approaches. The High Command had to review plans, since the Italian NAVs they relied upon to disrupt the supplies have been eliminated, and the other NAVs are operating in the other sector of the Med for other plans (Namely, Greece - considering in '41 they get an extra MNT!).
Meanwhile a long term plan was set in action (To produce more Land Bombers and try to carpet bomb to death Gibraltar!) Hitler tasks Goering to cover The Rock with bombs.
And that exactly happens, the Germans masses about 15 bombing factors in a ground strike, and about the same for ground support; Von Rundstedt leading the assault personally, with a bold Regia Marina sailing out en mass to provide support with the big caliber guns of the battleships. (That is where we saved!)

In the while in Balkans the Germans started to assault Sofia with the help of Romanians, in the openings of september the Bulgarian defenders got whittled down some, and by the end of the year the OKH plans are to raise a banner over Sofia.
With such in mind there was a declaration of war to the Greece to ensure better bases to operate in the Eastern Mediterranean. Bases not subject to British submarine interdiction!
A mixed force of airplanes strike the Pyreus, the port of Athens, meanwhile a detatchment of Romanians march south to occupy Salonika. Meanwhile there is scepticism of a fall of Athens before Christmas, it should be surrounded by then. Alpenjager forces land in Patras as well, and the Regia Marina is expected to ship in more german troops to help the effort. Planes once relieved from the task of supporting the assault at Sofia are to move south toward Athens.

Until now the Axis has suffered staggering losses compared to the previous game - but they're pretty ahead on the timetable.
The attack at Gibraltar is playing lottery, a +9 with an ARM-HQ involved, a bad roll can severely cripple the Germans, but the average roll which is 100 implies a loss of 2 Germans and taking Gibraltar: an INF and a CAV-Div are well bearable for Gibraltar within the 1940. Suez shall be next!

[AlbertN]

Almost the end of 1940 - 1st Axis Impulse of Nov / Dec.

Balkan situation:

[AlbertN]

End of 1940 - exactly as above.

In Egypt Axis and Allies look at each other face like cat and dog, but none choose to perform an advance.