Witness to World War 2.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Allied #5. Italian Sub Groups. Cape St. Vincent.

The captains of the two Italian sub groups operating in Cape St. Vincent look to gain some glory for themselves and attempt a (non-phasing) search to find RN convoys. The ensuing battle goes two rounds, with a bloodless first round. In the end, the two sub groups are run off, with one group being damaged, and with nothing to show for their attempt.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. France. OKW/OKL (Pre) Impulse Plan.

It's worth noting that (pre) designated land combat (2), if it actually happens, will be the Wehrmacht's second go at de Gualle and the French armor corps. And as you shall see later, ironically at almost the same exact odds as the previous attempt (+8.3 blitz vs +8.4 blitz).

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. Italian Desert Army. Egypt.

But, before we get to France we go to the Italian Desert Army and their ~50/50 land combat to take Alexandria and wipe all CW forces in Egypt and the Middle East.

Great Britain breathes a big sigh of relief when General Balboa rolls a "3". The Desert Rats hold for now. But, they'll need and get reinforcements before next turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. Germany. France. Luftwaffe Ground Strikes.

The two ground strikes exceed expectations. Two key units are disorganization, though the French HQ and bomber were missed.

(A) Was a low probability (10%) which had an expected result of 0.2 units. It missed both.

(B) Was a modest probability (30%) strike that got 2 of 3 units and had an expected result of 0.9 (i.e., 1 unit).

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. Germany. France. Land Combat (1) & (3).

Both attacks go very well. With respect to the assault on Strasbourg (LC(3)), there was some consecration on the part of OKW and whether or not to carry through or cancel the assault. Germany's engineering division was used which meant that there was a 22% chance (slightly larger than 1 out of 5) chance of losing that division. In the end, OKW decided to order the attack and was rewarded for it.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. Germany. France. Land Combat (2).

German panzers fair better in their second go around with Charles de Gaulle and the French armor corps. Better, not great. The French tank stack is shattered with no units lost and the Germans lose another mot division. But this powerful French stack is out of the way. The only issue is that if the turn ends before Germany can get to Paris, all three of these units will return fresh and ready to continue the fight.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. Germany. HQ Reorg.

The two remaining organized German HQ's are used to reorganize 4 ground and 1 stuka air unit. OKW certainly hopes these reorg aren't wasted on the 10% chance that the turn ends next impulse and before the Germans get another move.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #6. France.

Turn 7. Jul/Aug 1940. Allied #7. Weather. The allies roll a 10, which for Jul/Aug is still fine everywhere except the north monsoon, which has storms. The impulse still advances by 1, but the next weather roll will be modified by +1. By the way this is the second 10 rolled this turn for weather. Fortunately for the axis, the two 10's weren't rolled consecutively.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. July/August 1940. Allied #7. Great Britain.

The Royal Navy.

Well the Admiralty was expecting to get a naval this impulse in order to mitigate somewhat the 9 CP's sunk and 6 aborted by the Italians during their surprise impulse. Also, the Admiralty wanted to get ships out to sea in the 1-box in key sea areas in anticipation of keeping them at sea at the end of the turn, which would move them down to the 0-box and provide ASW escorts for the CP's in those key sea areas next turn. However, as can be seen in the top third of the picture below, the Italians would be able to walk into Cairo next turn if (1) the Brits took a naval, (2) the turned ended before the allies got another impulse and (3) the axis won the initiative. Though, all of this was probably only around 10%, that was way too high to gamble giving Cairo away free to the Italians. So once again this turn, Great Britain is forced to take a combine.

Two Naval Moves.

(1) Queens + CW V Inf corps from Malaya to the Red Sea.
(2) 4 CP's to the Bay of Biscay which replaces the 4 sunk but not the six aborted in the sea area. Also, this is no where close to addressing the 5 other CP's sunk in the West Med.

Egypt. Great Britain use 2 of 3 of their land moves (from a combine) to shore up their defense in Egypt. 1 of these 2 land moves was used to disembark V corps from the Red Sea to Suez city.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. July/August 1940. Allied #7. Great Britain.

Operation Revenge. Try 3. Was an attempted port strike against an Italian transport and CP left exposed in La Speiza. RN carrier planes missed badly.

[rkr1958]

Turn 7. July/August 1940. Allied #7. Great Britain. West Med.

Operation Revenge. Try 4. Well finally the RN managed to extract some revenge from the Italian RM. RN carrier planes sunk the Italian RM CA Trento and forced the CA Trieste and BB Conte Di Covour to abort. The Italian BB's and CA's left decide to retire (i.e., retreat) and live to fight another day.

Knocking out the two CA's, one sunk and one aborted, reduced Italian AA form 9 to 5, which is equivalent to one column shift.

End of Turn Check. To the great relief of German, the turn continues.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Japanese Ground Strike. Chungking, China.

The Japanese have finally got a fighter base close enough to escort their 2-strat factor Nell bomber wing to the 2-factory city of Chungking. So far this turn, Japanese bombers have knocked out 2 Chinese PP's. Another 2 was be a disaster for China and a fantastic result for Japan.

Flying Tigers. However, the flying tiger squadron lead the way for the Chinese fighter wing, intercept and turn back the Japanese bombers.

In the figure below the spec values, target hex and base hex are shown for: (A) Nate fighter wing and (B) Nell fighter wing.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Germany. France. Planning Document.

OKW, under the supervision of OKH, have identified 5 potential land combats, called pre-designated land combat (PDLC) or just PD for short, of which two included planned breakthroughs. Note PD 1, which if successfully achieves a breakthrough will result in the German capture of Vichy.

It should be noted that the actual order in which the planned, or pre-designated, land combats take place will most times not be in the same sequential order as the PD numbers. Also, as the situation on the ground dictates, OKW if allowed by OKH may cancel or postpone a PD land combat and / or select a target of initiative (TOI) not included in the PD land combat list.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #8. Germany. Reims, France. PD 3. Land Combat 1.

A good start this impulse for the Wehrmacht.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #8. Germany. France [56,34]. PD 5. Land Combat 2.

Automatic.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Germany. Axis #8. France [54,30]. PD 4. Land Combat 3.

A victory and breakthrough but at the cost of the HG armor division.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Germany. Axis #8. France [54,30]. PD 2. Land Combat 4.

Another victory and breakthrough.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #8. Germany. PD1, Land Combat 5. France [58,31].

And another victory and breakthrough, which puts the entire French army in the north in danger of encirclement if the axis get another impulse this turn (56% chance).

End of Turn Check. To the great delight of France the turn ends at the end of this impulse on a roll 2 on a 20% chance that the turn would end (i.e., 2 or less required).

The French high command breath a big sigh of relief, however, France is far from out of the woods.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. End of Turn. Partisans.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. End of Turn. Nazi-Soviet Pact Chits.

The Soviets pull a 1-chit and add it to their defensive pool. The Germans pull a 0 and 1-chit (very poor draw) and add both to their offensive pool.

US Entry. US entry has been decimated this turn by the loss of a 2 and 4 chit due to the actions of the Soviets. That is, invading Persia and claiming the Baltic States.

The US elects to put their new chit in the Japanese entry pool and draw a 1. With US entry levels hurting, the US elect not to choose any additional options.