653Nv1.7 Axis AAR

[sPzAbt653]

The Diplomacy is something that gives me the most trouble. By nature I am a terminal fence sitter, and that doesn't help in self-debate.

Yugoslavia. To answer your question, it won't go active by these events. It goes from Axis immediately to a low Allied leaning.

Why it is this way. It joined the Axis because it was surrounded by Axis countries, and Britain was their only friend but could offer no direct assistance. But the country revolted at the Axis alliance and therefore the coup, after which they made an agreement with Russia for protection [lol].
As I understand it, the new pro-Allied/Anti-Nazi government said they would honor the agreement with Germany, which didn't require them to join as active belligerents. Hitler attacked them out of spite, no other reason as far as I have ever heard. So how do I make the player want to attack them? Should the player have to attack them? It's all very complicated [to me].
As it is now, after the coup Yugoslavia is leaning Allied, which means no lead imports for Germany [Yugoslavia provided 40% of Germany's lead requirements]. Either the Germans must attack them to take the imports, or get an Axis leaning back. It sounds fair [again, to me]. I'm certainly interested if anyone else has a knowledgeable opinion.

[sPzAbt653]

As to the DE in Post #79. I took a long drive in the country to think and came up with this:
The spirit of the DE is to keep Russia at bay while fighting the Allies in France or England, not to artificially delay a Russian entry in order to get the UK to sign an armistice [that would be silly].
So even though I want to force an armistice to see how the events pan out, I can do that another time because it doesn't fit in this game. And this current game hasn't been ruined by anything thus far, it seems like a very valid playtest, with my game-play mistakes being the only issue.

Therefore, I say NO to this DE, and will either get an armistice with Britain NOW or Hitler will lose patience and order Barbarossa to commence. [Even though it is too late in the campaign season to be reasonable].

[sPzAbt653]

It seems that Opie is in a panic and retreating.

[sPzAbt653]

A look at my Supply Chain. I know the Supply Rules, I still don't fully understand Chaining. In the shot below, only Tobruk has any affect. Siwa Oasis in the south is too far away, and there are no other towns or settlements [they are removed from this version of 653N].
So I can see how 12.Army is getting 3/8 from Tobruk, and how 10º Army is getting 5/8 from the chain with 12.Army, but how is the PzArmee Africa getting 5/8 ? I thought HQ's could only chain with one other, not two or more. I think the only way that this is possible is if the three HQ's are chaining each other.
Whatever is going on, I have no idea how far I can move those HQ's further to the east [except the 12.Army, which can move no further or else it will drop from 8] before they start dropping.

[sPzAbt653]

I may have succeeded, this is the End of Turn shot. I've got Alexandria, Cairo and Suez, but I may have to get Port Said in order to get the UK to give up. However, I think Egypt may surrender, which may make a difference. But with the USSR at 79%, I've got to move my troops in Poland up to the border and attack next turn, no matter what happens here. We'll see what the inter turn calculations bring.

[sPzAbt653]

Success !!

Of course I said YES.

[sPzAbt653]

And ... the USSR joined the Allies. But it's not such a bad thing because it joined at the end of the Allied turn, which means the Axis gets the first strike. I'm not sure if that is right, or what I can do about it.

[sPzAbt653]

Dang it, something is fouled up. USSR joined the Allies and the Russian units that are scheduled to arrive when this happens did arrive , but the Axis can't move into Russia, nor attack a USSR unit it is next to [red circle]. And USSR does not show up in the Belligerent List, but is gone from the Diplomacy List [:(]

I've no idea if I should refer this to Hubert, or Bill, or if it's back on me.

EDIT: Hubert has notified me that the BELLIGERENCE Scripts need adjusting for this mod, which I was sort of unaware of. I made reference somewhere else here to the fact that when taking the option to have the UK sign an armistice, the scripts with a Condition that the UK be active are no longer valid. So I need to go thru the Belligerence scripts and make some adjustments. Thanks Hubert !

[KorutZelva]

USSR joined the allies but didn't declare war on Germany? Just declare war yourself?

[sPzAbt653]

I can't, it's not in the Declare War box [see inset at upper right in the screen shot in post 88].

After pondering it for a few hours, I just e-mailed Hubert with a save file. I don't think it's something I did, but I think it is something that isn't working properly. We'll see what he thinks if he takes a look at it.

[sPzAbt653]

The result is that after one Zombie Turn where both sides mill about aimlessly, the USSR will attack me. That is not much of a threat, the real downside of the USSR going first is that all of the units that it gets for mobilization, Opie will Operate them to the front. You will see on my next turn how the entire border area will be clogged up good with Soviet units!

So, it's still a valid play, just a little glitchy, plus I picked up on a few minor tweaks that were needed for when the UK is out and Canada becomes the senior Allied participant.

Theoretically, for this Alternate Situation, I guess we could rationalize that when the UK suddenly went out, that Stalin realized he was in big trouble and decided to make the first attack, not realizing that his army sucks as bad as it does.

[sPzAbt653]

After I got my Subs built, I started in on Research. I'll post a screen shot in a few turns when it is filled out. Meanwhile, I've got a fair amount of MPP's, so I'll start building the PzArmy HQ's, which will be needed for the '42 Campaign when the front widens and unit counts increase.

[sPzAbt653]

Ok, I was wrong, nothing changed on the next turn. So there can be no war with Russia, and Britain is out. I don't see any point in battling the USA alone, so this game is over [:(]

However,I will regress to when France surrendered and start from there. That way I should be able to avoid this mess.

[sPzAbt653]

Ok, I am back on track. Practice works, as I got Gibraltar and Malta quicker, which allowed me to get Egypt before Russia joined.

I'd like to mention for those that might not know or are maybe not clear on Plunder, the country whose unit moves thru a captured capital LAST during a turn will get the Plunder. In the case pictured below, the Germans certainly did the bulls share of fighting in Egypt, but in order to get the woeful Italian economy moving in an upwards direction, I let an Italian unit occupy Cairo first [and last] during the turn. I will do the same thing thru the Middle East and in this way will be able to get Italy up to maybe 80-100 Mpp's per turn.

And by the way, this also works for Resources of unconquered countries. So for example, in Russia it is nice to have a few Italian units around to occupy a newly captured Resource, and in this way they get a little MPP boost. If Russia is conquered, then all the Resource benefits go to the conqueror. [So let an Italian unit occupy the last capital in Russia, and it will gain all the benefits, from all of Russia [;)] ].

[sPzAbt653]

Picking up at post 86 and ignoring the buggery of posts 88-91, plus 93. And moving the date back a little due to my better play. The situation is that the Axis have conquered Egypt, Churchill has been sent home, the UK has signed an armistice [not a surrender where the Germans would get all their plunder and booty], and I am ready to attack Russia.

Here is Army Group North, with 18, 16 and 9 Army's. II and IV Luftlottes, and IV and III Pz Groups. Russia is currently at 75% Mobilization. It is August 1941, which is late enough to bother me, but I think with more practice I could get the UK to bow out quicker [the UK will not leave if Russia or USA are in].

[sPzAbt653]

Army Groups Center and South, with 4, 6 and 17 Army's, II Luftlotte and I and II Panzer Groups. .

[sPzAbt653]

The south wing - on the left, Hungarians and Slovakians, on the right the Rumanian 4 and 3 Army's with German 11 Army.

[sPzAbt653]

In the far north, in the cold and desolation, 20 Mountain Army with XIX and XXXVI Korps are marching thru northern Norway and Finland to reach and assault Murmansk.

USA is at 60%. We have some few months before they enter, but they will start sending Lend-Lease to Russia as soon as we attack. The idea is for the Axis to cause as much damage to the Russian forces as possible before they get a chance to recover during winter.

[sPzAbt653]

Results, end of turn 1 - AGN
The USSR border defenses are pretty weak and easy to eliminate.
For 653N, the USSR National Morale starts at 80%, reflecting their poor state of preparedness. They get bonuses for holding each of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad at July 1, 1942 that compensate for the at-start reduction.

[sPzAbt653]

AGC
I always send one Mot.Korps to Pinsk to prevent that becoming a thorn. I think in the stock campaign that Pinsk was removed as being to difficult, and that appears to be a true assessment if I have to divert a valuable Mot.Korps to take care of it. But to me, historically the Pripyet was a pain to the Germans because they bypassed it initially, so I have the choice to do the same or not.