Cohen vs Enrico - AAR nr. 5

[AlbertN]

Hitler's Glory and Tojo's Sorrow (and il Duce in the middle)

We played some - and I was short of time to update the AAR properly so you'll get a short resume.
The game has swung neatly in Axis favor though - but we're playing on; as Japan is slowly getting mauled.

Strategic Bombing Campaign over Europe - Jul / Aug 1943:

Churchill said in the year of the Lord 1943: "After the battle for Soviet Russia, it will start the Battle of Britain."

Luftwaffe and RAF have removed the gentlemen gloves (since a while) and are pounding each other in the skies of France, Channel and Britain. Nowadays both forces attack the counterpart - the Germans though have issues with Air Actions, still needed to finalize the conquest of Russia.

Alas for the Brits, the Germans have more punch, more fighters and more replacements - the US are looking far far away and there are no Mustangs or Thunderbolt in sight yet. (Funnily enough the US has them but it is short of pilots!)

But besides that - the W.Allies are pretty dubious to manage to land, somewhere and somewhen in the foreseeable future.
Veteran German forces are regularly being shipped from the Eastern Front (which is almost non existant) and more are being produced in the Fatherland, which presently has an immense production.

[AlbertN]

Jul / Aug 1943 - Ostfront, Hitler's Glory

Stalin is counting his last days by now.
He gathered his last loyalists at Novosibirsk; with Zhukov imminently coming to take on the defence (if he gets on map in time!)

Josif played the last aces he had in the sleeves in poor gambles:

The O-Chit of the Soviets was spent in Baku, an attempt to hammer some the Axis and delay them, which backfired greatly.
Four Soviet armies led by Yeremenko (supported by 2 GARR-Divs) attacked a 18 strong stack of Germans (The only stack they could attack fully without rivers or issues); but Germans had an ARM and the Soviets had 1 ARM and 1 Mech, they could not even call the Blitz table (that meant the Axis ARM provided a -2 and the Soviets gained nothing from their armoured troops).
Ontop of that the VVS invested in its last big battle all the 3 FTR squadrons in the Baku sector - which fought til the bitter end.
The Luftwaffe went overkill, and brought in on the target 20 more bombing points - litterally doubling the combat factors.
The battle was at +0 in the end, accounting both Yeremenko and Von Manstein giving HQ support.
All the Soviets got disrupted - and the Germany in May / June blasted them away stack by stack.

First a 2-4 CAV that was organized, but alone in the mountains, then in the 2 subsequent impulses the 2 stacks that attacked and were fully disrupted (that attack roll was a 13 - nothing done in the end).
Baku had only a Garr DIV.

Baku was a retreat hex for the Soviets - so the Germans had to shatter both the big stacks (in one case, inflicing only 1 casualty), and good Soviet troops are back and operational now at Novosibirsk (from Baku! As they were in supply from Baku!)
But the turn did not ended - and Baku was assaulted with only 1 Garr-DIV inside, and easily seized.

Tashkahet:
Similar fate suffered Tashkahet.

Meanwhile a Soviet CAV army was running across the desert to be a distraction (and block supply) the Soviets established a minor perimeter with the few units they had there.
The Germans destroyed a CAV at the cost of one of their INFs - and then the Soviets gambled again, leaving in Tashkahet only a GARR-Div; in the (sensible) hope the turn would end and they could place 2 new units there.
Alas the turn did not ended in time and the Germans attacked the lonely weak unit, claiming Tashkahet and leaving 2 Soviet units OOS forever there.

Ural Pocket:
That was liquidated the moment May / June went into good weather, as Germany brought in Pioniere troops too.
Once Ufa fell, the rest of the units were OOS and disorganized; a quick job of 2 impulses total to clear 6 units in 3 hexes.
Then the march to Novosibirsk started.

Novosibirk in sight:
Helpless, the Soviets got their recylced troops (and one pilot) from the Baku zone, ontop of newly produced units in that area, but the German forces coming for them are overwhelming in numbers and quality.

[AlbertN]

Jul / Aug 1943 - Tojo's Sorrow

Due to Italian troubles in the Indian Ocean, and the desire to extract the good Japanese units from Persia - Japanese focused on the Indian Ocean.

The US simply acted on that unleashing their carrier might all around.
By now in the last 3 turns the Japanese have lost 12-15 convoy points, 6-7 cruisers, and 5-6 land based planes; got other damaged ships too.

The US though grew overly self confident, and spread their forces a bit; trying to setup landings in Australia (coming soon in the next impulses) and bringing a task force with McArthur and a Marine in the Solomons.
The Japanese reaction forces in the sea are non existant (Their forces in the Indian), their land based planes mauled (They lost 2* 13 range Zeros in May / June and a 4 strong FTR) - having only destroyed a 7 strong Hellcat (amazingly enough, a Nell, shooting at -5 or -6, rolled 20; and as the US fighter was rolling at +8 got the NAV of Japan cleared so it could even damage an old BB!)

So only a land based Wildcat strong 5 was protecting (along other ships) the invasion force of McArthur. The Japanese poured all their local land based planes in the spot; and embattled furiously the US task force that counted (but in a different box than the transports) 1 CV, 5 CVL, and other ships.
Japan finds, the 2 FTRs they have best the Wildcat and then the transports are sunk over time; in the while the US fighters have found a few times (more times than the Japanese admittedly) the Rising Sun squadrons but only a Val got gunned down (lucky rolls, I've been found at +7 / +8 twice!).
The US lost an INF-HQ, a MAR, a TRS and an AMPH there.

In the while their "Death Star" task force of Essex is picking a sea zone per turn and obliterating it.

The Japanese perimeter at the moment is entirely out of supply, from Australia, to the Marshalls to anything that is beyond the Coral Sea.

Currently the US has 12 Carriers proper (including 2 * 5 moving carriers, Ranger and Wasp); and 8 Light Carriers in the Pacific, each of them loaded fully with modern planes (and many Essexs have 2 squadrons each on). Plus an amount of land based NAVs and FTRs supporting.
And over the next 4 turns the US will get 11 more Carriers.

[AlbertN]

Jul / Aug 1943 - Il Duce Uncertainness

Meanwhile the Italian troops prosecuted their campaign in Persia (admittedly gaining only 1 of the oil rigs), Regia Marina tried a sortie from Aden, and got lucky in the sea sinking 1 Cruiser and 2 Cps.
But then the Brits caught them in Aden - and that was hurtful; Lepanto got bottomed, Roma & Impero one sunk and the other damaged along with a cruiser.

The Japanese then tried to sneak through their TRS to pick Umezu up but they got intercepted and that forced the hand of the Italians and Japanese which are going to armwrestle the control of the sea from the British Royal Navy.

It's all down the rolls to see who finds the other - but I admit I could have fucked up bigtime here.
If Japan loses carriers in abundance - which can happen if there are bad rolls - they could lose forever the ability to counter the US.

All it will boil down to the search rolls.
But IF the Axis finds the UK ... (Japan has a lesser death star in terms of carriers) with all their 5/6 moving carriers there (That's 11 of them on the map currently)

Other Japanese fronts:
US Submarines are all over the place, and they seem to be snipers at getting the Japan convoys.
The minor successes of Japan against the submarines are non relevant for what they're sinking regularly.

The Soviet front is very much stale, Mongolia fell - but the Japanese are more than happy presently to ship back troops elsewhere; leaving to the Wermacht the duty to claim Novosibirsk. There is no need to perform banzai attacks at Chita.

In Burma the W.Allies are pushing with well 3 HQ and other forces; Yamashita has only 2 Japanese INF armies at avail, plus a TERR and a Siam INF - which are extremely subpar as fighting forces.

[AlbertN]

All out Production - this is just Sept / Oct 1943 coming in!

As you can see - maybe silly of me in a professional gaming scope - I got Japan to rebuild some ships that got sunk in the past.
Ships never seem to be enough, though they're whittling away much quicker than one replaces them!
You wait 2 years or so to get that new shiny BB or CV - and in one turn it can be vaporized.

[AlbertN]

Further Production:

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - London on Fire

To give an idea of the intensity of the fights over the Channel.

The RAF though is badly outgunned here and after the loss of the Typhoon the Brits scoots away.
London is heavily bombarded - 3 PPs lost and 1 Factory gone.

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Not all doughnuts come out with a hole.

One of the largest mistakes I've done here - to try to attack the Soviet units in the mountain after having bombed 1 one of them.
It was a +9.x attack but it went bad. I lost 2 units and got one Italian LND3 "vacant" in a hex - which got merrily stomped over by the Soviet units.

I wished to free the rail for the resource AND to start rail these troops off - I should have waited.

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Stalin Last Stand

Germans are still to move and attack and turn can end with 70% chance. (Which I praise it does because of Japan situation)

Hitler proclaimed that Russia will be conquered by the end of 1943, but that was by summer ... now I am not very sure.

In the while the Soviets have also made a suicidal attack against Japan, and at the cost of 2 of their troops, they destroyed a Japanese INF in the Siberian-Manchurian front (that by now is at Chita).

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Allies advance in Burma

Japanese are trying to scramble reinforcements - including Umezu - after a poor attempt to attack the Brits which were marching across the mountains.

The Royal Navy intervened in the Bay of Bengal but was repelled by aerial Japanese forces - it costed to the Japan 1 FTR2 (with Pilot), the RN suffered 1 carrier damaged, 2 CVP and 1 Pilot.

Closeby in Arabian Sea the Regia Marina (Italians) found in the storm the battle squadron of the Royal Navy there that was though devoid of carriers because of the previous debacle of the Brits.
The Italians sank a Battleship and damaged some, at the cost of only 1 damaged unit for them.

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Japan Coasts endangered

The USN sailed heavily - in both China Seas, and Japan eastern coasts; ontop of dominating anywhere except the Bismark Sea.

The USN managed successfully to shot down an amount of Japanese planes, destroying convoys at sea and in the ports, litterally bringing mayhem to the Japanese internal lines.
They also sank cruisers, and 1 CVL, at the measly cost of 1 damaged carrier.

Japan managed to sink in the Bismark an USN Heavy Cruiser.

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Coral Sea

The USN keeps successful operations, in the Coral Sea; having controlled the sea and then performed successful landings despite the intervention of the planes from the Japanese carriers.

The Japanese perimeter is endangered and starts to get shattered to pieces - not just infiltrated by naval power projections, seizing Port Moresby and Espiritu Santu (destroying a Japanese GARR-Div)

The US too after having liberated Australia, marched on Melbourne and vanquished the Japanese garrison (actually an INF-Div there).

[AlbertN]

Sept / Oct 1943 - Destroyed Pool at the end of the Turn.

Japan is just being mauled savagely - and so has been Russia.

Soviet resistance in Persia has been erased as well and Axis got these oil rigs by now.

[AlbertN]

Nov / Dec 1943 - Start

Indian Ocean is pretty quiet right now.

The Royal Navy has tamed itself a bit, leaving an Indian Hurricane as presence in Bay of Bengal, reinstating the convoy pipeline to India itself.

The Japanese have managed to fend off in the previous turns the invasion of Ceylon and Diego Suarez is still in their possession.

The Italian Navy, still parked in Aden, is in inferiority being alone vs the Royal Navy and unable to perform anything pratically; albeit evaluating to go on the 2 Box in the Arabian Sea (along with a Sparviero and 2 FTRs)
The Axis is short of airbases there.

[AlbertN]

Nov / Dec 1943 - Start

The USN in their first impulse moved the submarines - which triggered some reactions by Japanese Airplanes.
The Japan was quite successfull with the planes in fending off the submarines in South China Sea (damaging one and aborting the other) and otherwise did not suffered losses.

On the other hand small task forces of the USN have surrounded Truk, where the Japanese Carrier force is currently based.
Since there is only a measly 5 strong Zero FTR in Truk, to remain in port is a bit out of question, with like 8-10 CVLs ready to port strike.

In Sept / Oct the USN avoided the stack of IJN to go raid everywhere around with smaller task forces.
But now they've got 3 new carriers as well which are operational - and 3 the previous turn meanwhile Japan hardly reinforced itself. Wisdom would suggest to avoid the confrontation right now.

There are Japanese units locked too in the bases of Efate / Porto Villa; and Melbourne - which cannot be exactly be evacuated and the US has just got a nasty 8 strong Corsair FTR (range 11, can move on the 4 box) in the recently taken Porto Vila.

The Japan though is to get consistent reinforcements in the carrier terms in the next turns that would shrink some the difference.

Given it seems impossible to remain in Truk - the main decision would be if to defend the Bismark Sea and provide air cover somehow to Truk and Rabaul at least - but be more exposed to the USN retaliation; or fall back in the China Sea to defend the convoys and production.

[AlbertN]

Nov / Dec 1943 - Ostfront

Germany has 1 O-Chit.

To use it or not to use it to storm Novosibirsk before the snow falls (and the Soviets have winterized units all out!)?
I think Von Bock will be the selected HQ for a brave assault on the last Factory-City of the Soviets and getting rid of them for good!

[AlbertN]

Production Coming in Jan / Feb 1943

[AlbertN]

Further Production Coming:

[AlbertN]

Production Insight - Axis outproduces Allies still!

With the downfall of Soviet Union, the Axis accessed an amount of resources to fuel more and more factories, which got produced over time (and 2 more are coming for Germany).

The next US gear up is by May / June 1944.

On the other hand for how long Japan can produce at full rhythm is another big variable.

And Donitz got his submarine Uber-Wolfpack ready (13 submarine units in Kiel waiting to kick into action).

[brian brian]

The Soviets already lost Tashkent and Samarkand?

Too bad the Euro-Axis didn't start some AMPHs in 1942.