GD1938 Game 22

[Bombur]

USA declared war on China, GB, France and USSR. With the worsening of the situation in USSR, the British are escalating their offensive in France. The Luftwaffe still has enough power to challenge the RAF, but our tanks forced Italian units to retreat and our forces are close to Nantes again. In the Pacific, British submarines engaged American naval units, sinking 3 heavy cruisers and 2 destroyers. However, british submarines in atlantic were ordered not to interfere with USA shipping in an attempt to limit the confrontation with USA to those areas where our allies are being threatened.

[ironduke1955]

Congratulations looks like China is the victor, well played Baloo7777. Thanks to Bomber and cpdeyoung and to RufusTfirefly for stepping in at short notice to take over the US.

[cpdeyoung]

Well played Tom, you have set a high bar for the Germans.

Larry, once you attacked, the Allies we had to consider you as enemy number one, and knock you out as quickly as possible.

Bombur and Baloo you guys were great. Lets hope we do as well in game 23 together!

Jurgen, the Allies could not take a chance on the USA going against us.

Gary, I wish you had gotten into the fray. Please know you are welcome, more than welcome, to play GD1938 again. Thanks for all those turns with so little of the fun stuff.

A good game, indeed.

Chuck

[baloo7777]

I am glad I was able to participate in G22 as China. The victory was really won because of our China's allies. It would never have occurred without the Soviets and the British/French. Thanks to all for a well played game. Looking forward to G23.

[ironduke1955]

May 25th 1942 This is the final situation on the East front with Army Group South approaching Moscow and up to the West Bank of the River Don, Stalingrad Rostov and one of the Oil Fields to the south are in ruins not requiring a battle to take them yet. Army Group North have started to press the Soviets in Poland but the Soviets are still very strong despite the threat to Moscow, Minsk is threatened by SS Panzer units and 7th Panzer Army. and units from various infantry armies.

[ironduke1955]

May 25th 1942 This is the situation in the West with the British once again Pushing out from L'havre except for two German Infantry Armies the defenders along this front are Italians, the Germans now totally focussed on the Battle for Moscow. The Atlantic has been quite for some months and the Germans are unchallenged to the most part but it does not do for the Keiegsmarine to venture to far under Allied air ranges.

[ironduke1955]

Casualties for the last month fairly heavy in terms of Infantry and Tanks the need to press the Soviets more urgent since the collapse of the Japanese.

[ironduke1955]

Casualties for the wars total Germans losses and kills. Just needs noting that more than a third of German Fighter losses for the entire war were due to one airbase being overrun with Soviet tanks.

[cpdeyoung]

Ouch.

Chuck

[Bombur]

It was a great game, congraluations to all players. Tom played a brilliant game, as always, btw, what were your objetives? France was survival and Britain defeat Fascism.

[ironduke1955]

The European Axis had a fairly simple strategy to defeat the Soviet Union sending all German production to the Eastern Front with that aim. The way that was to be done was combined arms with the use of artillery Air and Ground attacks to take out strong points and large Soviet concentrations. When the Soviets concentrated the priority was to hit them hard and throw them back never allowing them to get on the front foot. This had to be done as the Germans rarely fielded more than 100 PZIVg's with some insanely elite PZIII's no more than 30, if you look at Soviet losses often there would 3 to 4 times more soviet tanks in the front lines, if they had gained momentum it would have been over for the Germans very quickly, and I presume the units coming back from the Japanese front would have high experience levels, to the Soviets are no where near defeated, Looking at Over all strength the Germans have 14k the Soviets and British some 20k plus each. And now we will never know what the outcome would have been and I was planning to throw German R&D at the end of the year into the Panther Tank and the ME262 that would have been the new German front line fighters, I had stayed away from heavy tank technology as to develop the Tiger King Tiger amounts to nearly 3 months of German production that's the equivalent of some 120 Medium German tanks, and you can only produce relatively low numbers of these heavy tanks so they do not have the area coverage as the cheaper medium tanks. And heavy tanks are not necessarily kings of the battlefield 6 IS2 Soviet tanks were destroyed on the Germans last turn if they are hit with combined attack they are as vulnerable as any other tank.

The Italians were to hold the British they have no great quantities of oil/fuel so they developed the AT gun V (88mm to 90mm gun) and of course Huge quantities artillery and AA 40mm 20mm and Heavy Flak 4 artillery factories were being built, and they would build a waLL to keep the British contained, with the Luftwaffe providing air cover (a task made MORE difficult by the loss of some 1600 frontline aircraft on one air base near Kharkov a patch please VIC[:@]) If success was reached against the Soviets the Germans would switch resources to the West to deal with the pesky British.

[cpdeyoung]

As an alternative to changing the game, airbases should be defended by troops other than staff, the front line near high value targets should not be held by understrength divisions, concentration of aircraft in one under defended basket may be unwise. Just saying.[8D]

It is probably not a good idea to change the rules when operational and tactical alternatives in player method can do the job.

Chuck

[ironduke1955]

Totally disagree if you care to find figures on operational Germans planes destroyed by tanks on the ground that would be zero, the idea of providing low quality infantry units to man a airbase against a huge quantities of tanks is equally futile like the staff they simply would be swept away.

The Change would simply displace air unit back with a hit to readiness that's not a earth shaking change but a essential change to give the game credibility. Personal I find the existing rules less that credible, in fact its just plain daft.

[cpdeyoung]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsinskaya_Raid

Forczyk, Robert. Red Christmas; The Tatsinskaya Airfield Raid 1942 (2012). Osprey Raid Series #30. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781849085861

the idea of providing low quality infantry units to man a airbase against a huge quantities of tanks is equally futile

To defend "half the Luftwaffe" you might want to go a bit more. I wouldn't have even tried if it were not for the wimpy four divisions in the front line. t know you can solve this problem without a rule change. I overran a Japanese airfield of yours in Game 20, and now this one in Game 23. It is a lot of fun.

Chuck

[ironduke1955]

Yes I guessed

it is a lot of fun

was your core argument, Game 14 also saw the RAF wiped out twice, players will be dissuaded from using air units at all if they are so vulnerable, one tends to get one airbase you can't even spread the air units out, I am still waiting to hear a explanation as to why a infantry man can walk out of a hex in retreat but a pilot can't fly his plane out. Given a choice I am fairly sure who my money would be on to make a quick getaway. If a breakthrough occurs rear area units would have hours even days to fly aircraft out of the path of the forward enemy elements.

Regards the example you give, reading the analysis it was the first Soviet success at breaking into German rear area's "the first" it destroyed 10% of German JU52 transport planes not half of the Luftwaffe. And occurred after the Soviets had surrounded the Sixth Army in Stalingrad the Germans to the west of Stalingrad were barely able to man the huge hole left in the line by the encirclement of a entire German Army and the destruction of a couple of Rumanian Infantry Armies, so the German front was incredibly porous.

[baloo7777]

Watched a show on the Military channel last night about both British and German using radar during WW2. I perked up when it said that German night fighters with the radar array that the British were keen to study, had been overrun intact on airfields in France in August 1944. The show went on to talk about the use and counter measures of radar, but I noticed that air units were taken on their airfields by overrunning mechanized forces.

[ironduke1955]

Its August 1944 the Germans have collapsed the few planes they did have and they didn't have many would have would have a)been without pilots b)without fuel c)unserviceable d)or simply did not see the point of taking to the air thick as it was with allied planes

So that's two examples both of a collapse of a German front have a look at the last pic I posted of the Eastern Front does that look like a collapsed front, and this is a turn based game the shoulders on the flanks of the Soviet breakthrough there were more than enough panzer units to intervene but on a you go I go game, the defence remains static, all the more reasons for air units to retreat in all circumstances. As the current rules allow for attacks aimed at airbases and I have never heard of planes on a airbases being the target of a offensive on any front in the entire war. Certainly a airbase would be target but I am fairly sure no one expected that the base would be full of enemy planes.

[baloo7777]

Actually, I am in agreement with you on the planes being retreated to nearby airbase if overrun. Especially because we are talking about month long turns. Perhaps if no airbase within normal range they would be overrun.

[ironduke1955]

It is likely that will happen eventually they will run out od safe bases. Lack of fuel could be another reason for planes not to retreat, it would be a good reason to keep a small reserves back at the end of your turn for retreats, as it is rebasing range for the FW190a is 12 hexes that's a long way.