CFNA 1940-43 devoncop (Axis) vs warspite1 (CW) - no devoncop please

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I am as confident as its possible to be that those aircraft did not fly.

Sure you had them on Interdiction ("I") and not Sea Interdiction ("T")?

warspite1

100% sure. I am a wargaming bozo, but in a game without Italian naval vessels it would be well beyond the realms of bozo to place my bombers on sea interdiction.

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

In a shocking development no Axis units retreating from the front line were engaged.....

At least this time I think there was an airstrike as the air briefing states there were 3 Allied aircraft lost.

There were a number of over-excited AA units (in recce mode) destroyed and one land attack that destroyed and LRDG unit and the AA it was stacked with.

The German appear to have brought up panzer and anti-tank units to defend the Sidi Omar area.

The Germans should have no more replacements with 14 turns to go (although I am assuming that to be the case if the CW take back Alexandria - it doesn't specifically say so) - and I didn't see any new units pouring over the Tripolitanian border.

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

I haven't done an update on any nos. for a while - the Axis air force has disappeared and, lets face it, there is no point holding anything back at this stage! However it might be interesting to see just what the CW has left....

But first a summary

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

The actual nos. of aircraft has never been so high - although the reserves have been hugely eaten into. The last of the Wellington replacements arrive this turn and the Spitfire the turn after. While saying the total aircraft is high in number, the actual bomber strength has reduced markedly.

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

A comparison of infantry and small arms - I've chosen turn 199 simply because that appears to have been about the peak... that's a lot of losses....

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

Same rationale with the artillery and turn 207 seems to have been a high point. There is only one number worth looking at here. If devoncop has any tanks left and he sees this I'm screwed....



I don't intend to go through the tanks regiment by regiment, but will simply do a total. There are 1,240 remaining in the 8th Army - that is 116 less than the peak - although there were no Shermans and now there are 222.

[warspite1]

Turn 230
28th November 1942

With one round to go the CW has made a breakthrough at the Pass and captured (at least temporarily) Sollum.

[MikeJ19]

Warspite,

I find it interesting to see that most of your posts show the units with their movement allowances showing - not their strengths. Do you usually play that way or is it just because a lot of your posts are during the last round of combat?

Good luck as you finish off this game.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

Warspite,

I find it interesting to see that most of your posts show the units with their movement allowances showing - not their strengths. Do you usually play that way or is it just because a lot of your posts are during the last round of combat?

Good luck as you finish off this game.

warspite1

No I always have this as my setting - its just personal preference.

[warspite1]

Turn 231
2nd December 1942

The victory level is 96 - and for the first time moves to marginal victory. However I have a message from devoncop to say that he will concede at the end of my turn as he is literally scrabbling round for units.

It would have been nice to see how the last dozen turns play out and how far the CW could get, but I understand from devoncop's point of view that simply retreating in the hope that you keep the score as low as possible isn't perhaps the best fun.

I still don't quite understand what happened - and guess I won't until I see it from the Axis side. One minute it seemed there was an impenetrable wall of Axis units, well dug-in with copious tank, aircraft and artillery support and then..... there wasn't. And let's be honest, the only reason devoncop lost this is because, as a new player, he didn't realise (and neither did I) that the RN could be killed off with the Ju-87 so I was able to destroy so many of his units and delay the taking of Tobruk to fatal effect for the Axis.

So thanks again to devoncop for a thoroughly enjoyable frolic in the sand [&o]

With STBP and now CFNA done, I can concentrate on PAW - and that needs a lot of concentration. I still have four other CFNA non-AAR games going (and am losing heavily in three of them!) so I can give them more time too.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Turn 231
2nd December 1942

The victory level is 96 - and for the first time moves to marginal victory. However I have a message from devoncop to say that he will concede at the end of my turn as he is literally scrabbling round for units.

It would have been nice to see how the last dozen turns play out and how far the CW could get, but I understand from devoncop's point of view that simply retreating in the hope that you keep the score as low as possible isn't perhaps the best fun.

I still don't quite understand what happened - and guess I won't until I see it from the Axis side. One minute it seemed there was an impenetrable wall of Axis units, well dug-in with copious tank, aircraft and artillery support and then..... there wasn't.

So thanks again to devoncop for a thoroughly enjoyable frolic in the sand [&o]

With STBP and now CFNA done, I can concentrate on PAW - and that needs a lot of concentration. I still have four other CFNA non-AAR games going (and am losing heavily in three of them!) so I can give them more time too.

I'm really impressed Rob dude. You're working on your PhD in TOAW wargamming and you're learning by leaps and bounds and I see steady improvement. Good for you. You're a good opponent and you have instincts for this.

I'm constantly running into potential opponents that want to play PBEM but have very limited time for it. I'm feeling their pain. I kind of think of TOAW as not just a video game but as a pretty accurate simulator about war. An accurate way to play out what-if's and try different things to see what's best. A scientific experiment being conducted using mathematical models that have been tweaked fur accuracy and relevence. It's a very much more complicated form of Chess.

[devoncop]

Hi Rob

I have popped in to give you appropriate public recognition for both the victory and the phenomenal AAR. Though I haven't been able to read it I have seen the pages increasing along with the page views (over 30,000....,wow).

I thought maybe you would find it a bit tedious driving through empty desert capturing towns which is why I suurendered. After conducting a too long delayed fighting withdrawal from Egypt I had nothing but the tattered remnants of the 15th and 21st Panzer Division's left...maybe two or three regiments worth. The Tobruk garrison had long since been stripped to try and maintain the line.

The game as a whole has been a revelation and this scenario ....learning as we did in tandem has been invaluable. So many mistakes....I never realised the power of the JU87's in driving off the CW fleet (despite clear advice from Curtis) so took far more losses taking Tobruk than needed.The delay in using armour to storm the defences also wasted a lot of Italian infantry.

I also failed to recognise the damage poor supply causes when trying to batter through the CW defence lines in Egypt. In retrospect I am not sure that preserving the Axis force just East of Bardia and digging in with good supply rather than pressing on to El Alemain would have been possible but for a short time it did look possible to get to Alexandria....ah those were the days[:)]

I hope people enjoyed the to and fro despite our stumbles and thank Rob again for all his work.

Now I have an appointment with Adolf to explain how it all went wrong[:(]
I

[Szilard]

Thanks for the hugely enjoyable AAR.

And kudos to the scenario designer - it seems to capture the history pretty well, combined with a tense fun game.

I wonder how many people ever got this far with the original CFNA monster?

[MikeJ19]

Rob,

Great job. I really enjoyed reading your AAR. The scenario looks like a good challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to put it all together! I look forward to reading more in your PAW AAR.

All the best,

[Curtis Lemay]

That was an extremely enjoyable read, despite the continuous piteous whining and the less-than-ideal shots of movement points. To have come back from a complete balls-up of O'Connor's Raid to absolute victory is a signal accomplishment. Well done!

Maybe we could have some end of game shots?

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: Szilard

And kudos to the scenario designer - it seems to capture the history pretty well, combined with a tense fun game.

Thank you. Things did work out pretty historically, didn't they.

[devoncop]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

ORIGINAL: Szilard

And kudos to the scenario designer - it seems to capture the history pretty well, combined with a tense fun game.

Thank you. Things did work out pretty historically, didn't they.

As the designer you must have been tearing your hair out at some of our idiocies but I can only applaud your design. If you don't look too closely at the tactical screw ups the strategic to and fro could hardly have been modelled better.

I heard this scenario was a masterpiece and I heard right.

Many thanks

Ian

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

That was an extremely enjoyable read, despite the continuous piteous whining and the less-than-ideal shots of movement points.

warspite1

Yes, the AAR's are warts and all productions [;)]. They are sanitised because its a family friendly forum, but the anger, at game design, bugs, and my own monunental stupidity are there for all to see. The former hopefully helps with an even more superior product [8D], the latter is a bit of self-flagellation that showcases my gaming limitations [:(].

But the key point - if its not clear from the number of games I'm playing and the comments I've made on this game in this and other forums is that this is an excellent, fun, immersive game.

Now, there's the praise - now just fix interdiction already (as our Colonial cousins say [:)])

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: devoncop

Hi Rob

I have popped in to give you appropriate public recognition for both the victory and the phenomenal AAR. Though I haven't been able to read it I have seen the pages increasing along with the page views (over 30,000....,wow).

I thought maybe you would find it a bit tedious driving through empty desert capturing towns which is why I suurendered. After conducting a too long delayed fighting withdrawal from Egypt I had nothing but the tattered remnants of the 15th and 21st Panzer Division's left...maybe two or three regiments worth. The Tobruk garrison had long since been stripped to try and maintain the line.

The game as a whole has been a revelation and this scenario ....learning as we did in tandem has been invaluable. So many mistakes....I never realised the power of the JU87's in driving off the CW fleet (despite clear advice from Curtis) so took far more losses taking Tobruk than needed.The delay in using armour to storm the defences also wasted a lot of Italian infantry.

I also failed to recognise the damage poor supply causes when trying to batter through the CW defence lines in Egypt. In retrospect I am not sure that preserving the Axis force just East of Bardia and digging in with good supply rather than pressing on to El Alemain would have been possible but for a short time it did look possible to get to Alexandria....ah those were the days[:)]

I hope people enjoyed the to and fro despite our stumbles and thank Rob again for all his work.

Now I have an appointment with Adolf to explain how it all went wrong[:(]
I

warspite1

Hi devoncop - thank-you.

I would say (from my limited view of things) that you made just one tactical mistake (the Stuka/RN thing doesn't really count as we were learning the game). There was a point where your advance seemed to stall and I really felt the need to get on the attack. However I decided instead to withdraw and try and draw you forward out of your prepared positions. That was the one time in the game I thought a plan of action was actually working.

Although I'm not happy, with the game, that the German paratroopers could land in Alexandria when I had air superiority (I may have mentioned that once or twice [:D]) the game allowed it and you played that brilliantly - capturing Alexandria and putting the RN out of the game permanently.

You got your reward for being bold whereas by contrast I was too chicken to use the amphibious capability east of Derna that I had toward the end of the game.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

Rob,

Great job. I really enjoyed reading your AAR. The scenario looks like a good challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to put it all together! I look forward to reading more in your PAW AAR.

All the best,

warspite1

Hi MikeJ19 I hope to be meeting you in this scenario when you end your self imposed PBEM exile in the autumn [:)]