Reporting from the Front. A Narrative AAR.

[rkr1958]

Turn 5. July/August 1940. Start of Turn.

[al] Reinforcements. Allies.
(1) China places both Stilwell and GARR in Changsha.
(2) CW. Assign PIL to both Beaufighters. Place HQ Alexander and the 2 Beaufighters in Bristol. Place CP in Bombay. Place SA INF in Durban.
(3) France. Place BB in Mogador and Syrian TERR in Beirut.
(4) US. Assign PIL to CVP size 4 and place it on a CV in San Diego. Place INF in San Diego.
(5) USSR. Place Yeremenko and Siberian in Smolensk. Place 6-4 and 5-3 in Kiev. Place 4-4 in Dnepropetrovsk. Place 3-3 and 3-5 in Novgorod.
Place 4-2 TERR in Mukden. Place the other 2 TERR in Changchun.
Place 5-1 GARR in Taiyuan.

[ax] Jul/Aug 1940. Place Units. Germany.
(1) 2 of 2 PIL used to fill He 100 FTR2 & Ju 87B Stuka.
(2) Magdeburg MIL to their city.
(3) MTN div, He 100 FTR2, Ju 87B Stuka to Konigsberg, Germany.
(4) BB Bismarck to Kiel.
(5) No planes removed.

[ax] Place Units. Italy.
(1) 2 of 2 PIL used to fill Gabbiano LND2 & Re 2000 FTR2.
(2) Rome MIL to their city.
(3) XV Gar to Naples.
(4) CP to Tireste.
(5) FTR2 & NAV2 to Naples.
(6) No planes removed.

[ax] Place Units. Japan.
(1) 1 of 1 PIL used to fill A6M2 Zeros FTR2.
(2) Peking Warlord to his city.
(3) 3rd inf div, 1st SNLF Mar div, 1st MTN corps to Fukuoka.
(4) A6M4 (Zero) FTR2 to Sasebo.
(5) No planes removed.

[ax] Resource Lending. Axis.
(1) Germany stops the 3 BPs to Italy, but keeps the 3 non-oil RPs.
(2) No other changes.

[al] Trade agreements. Allies.
(1) France scraps lending to CW.
(2) CW lends 3 BPs to France instead.

Resource Lending.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1.

[al] If I win the initiative I will move first, no reroll though

[ax] Turn 6. July/August 1940. Initiative.
(1) No advantage, allies win ties.
(2) Axis=4, Allied=3. Axis win first roll.
(3) As instructed, allies do NOT request a re-roll.
(4) Axis win the initiative and elect to move first.

[ax] Weather, D10=3. Fine everywhere except for rain in the North Monsoon (i.e., Southern China).

Weather.

[Courtenay]

A major power is given the option to surrender when half of its printed factories are enemy owned.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1.
No DOWs. No special actions. No alignments.
Actions: Japan - combine, Germany - land, Italy - combine.

[ax] Port Strike. IJN B5N1 (Kate) w/3 a2s vs Vladivostok.
(1) USSR sub groups Not committed (per standing orders for both sides).
(2) USSR D10=8, IJN D10=2.
(3) IJN gets 5 SPs.
(4) USSR AA is no effect.
(5) 4 SPs increase USSR risk from D to 2D, A.
(6) D vs CA Voroshilov=10, flipped.
(7) 2nd D vs CA Voroshilov=3, damaged.

Port Strike. IJN. Vladivostok.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Naval Air. Italy x 3.
(1) Gabbiano NAV2 in 3-box Italian Coast moves down to 2-box.
(2) Re 2000 FTR2. Naples to 2-box Italian Coast.
(3) Gabbiano Nav2. Naples to 4-box Italian Coast.

[ax] Naval Movement. Italy x 1.
(1) CP moves from Trieste out into the Italian Coast.
(2) Does the lone CW NAV3 (Beaufort) in 3-box attempt intercept (4 or less required)?

[al] Yes please

[ax] Italian Coast. CW Intercept Attempt.
(1) Beaufort NAV3 vs Italian CP=2, intercepted.
(2) CP stops and moves into the 0-box of the Italian Coast.

Italian Coast.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Naval Movement. IJN x 2.
(1) Task force out of Fukuoka with loaded amph and trs supported by BBs and CVL moves out into the 3-box of the Sea of Japan to join IJN carrier division 1 already on patrol there.
(2) A second task force out of Fukuoka composed of 3 BBs, CA w/mar div & empty trs (carrying supplies) moves out into the 3-box of the China Sea and joins elements of IJN carrier division 2.

IJN. Naval Moves x 2.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Naval Combat. Italian Coast.
(1) Italian NAV2 in 2-box initiates.
(2) Italy reacts CR.42, Falco FTR2 to 0-box.
(3) Allied, no air reactions possible.
(4) Search. Italy=3, CW=7, only Italy finds and gets 5 SPs.
(5) Italy elects to fight a naval air.

[ax] Italian Coast. Air-to-air.
(1) Initial odds are -3 allied/+3 axis.
(2) Italy uses 2 of their 5 SPs to increase their air-to-air to +4.

[al] Do you have a FTR in the 3-box?

[ax] 2-box with a nav so it found.

[ax] (3) Allied, 2D10=14, no effect.
(4) Axis, 2D10=20, Beaufort Mk. I. shot down and PIL killed.

[ax] (5) Only Italians left, who stay. Combat ends.

Italian Coast. Naval Combat.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Ground Strike. Japan x 2.
(1) IJN B5N1 (Kate) CVP (2 TAC), Sea of Japan vs Timoshenko HQ-I KOR 64,158.
(2) IJA Ki-51 (Sonia) (2/2=1 TAC) vs Stilwell 2-stack in Changsha, China.

[ax] (2a) Chinese P-36A (3 a2a) is in position to intercept ground strike on Stilwell's 2-stack.
(2b) Bomber which has 1 defense is unescorted and Japan has no fighters in position to counter-intercept.
(2c) Do you wish to intercept?

[al] Yes please

[ax] copy that.

[ax] Air-to-Air. Changsha, China.
(1) -2 IJA / +2 Nationalist.
(2) Nationalist 2D10=18, IJA bomber shot down and PIL killed.
(3) IJA 2D10=16, Chinese P-36A aborted.
(4) Abort where?

[al] Changsha please

[al] Deadly aircombat this round

[ax] Definitely was.

[al] At least we score some hits each

[al] so everyone is miserable [:)]

[ax] Painful but the IJA decided to make intercept attractive (i.e., +2 allied) in order to get the Chinese fighter out of the way. Unless you've got some oil I don't know about? [:(]

[ax] Though I was hoping at worse to have the bomber aborted, not shot down with pilot lost.

[al] No oil!

[ax] I had to take the risk, which I paid dearly for, and make intercept attractive enough to you so that you'd use up the Chinese fighter which, for now, can't be reorg. And now since its flipped it can't be removed.

[ax] Though you could always use Stilwell to reorg it. Though you could always use Stilwell to reorg it. [;)]

[al] Can Stilwell use CW oil?

[ax] No, not CW oil.

[ax] He has to use Chinese oil.

[al] Ok

IJA. Ground Strike. Changsha, China

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Ground Strike. Japan.
(1) B5N1 (Kate) (2 TAC) vs Timoshenko HQ-I.
(2) D10=9, missed.

Ground Strike. IJN. Timoshenko HQ-I

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Rail. Japan. none.

[ax] Land Movement. Japan x 3.
(1) SNLF Mar corps moves east of the Liao river on the southern coast of Manchuria and adjacent to Soviet lines. Man 67,194
(2) 1st SNLF Mar div disembarks into the hex with the SNLF Mar corps (Man 67,194)
(3) IJA 1st MTN corps disembarks from an amph in Rashikn Korea (KOR 65,158)

[ax] Air Rebase. Japan x 1.
(1) A6M2 (Zero). Sasebo, Japan to Port Arthur, Manchuria.

IJA. Southern Manchuria. Northern Korea.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

IJA. China.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Rail. Italy x 1.
(1) 5-1 Gar. Naples to Brest.

[ax] Land Movement. Italy x 2.
X inf & LBA Terr retreat to Jebel El Akhdar (2-hexes from Benghazi) and are flipped because of no supply.

Eastern Libya.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] Rail. Germany x 3.
(1) 5-1 Gar. Warsaw to Nantes, France.
(2) Magdeburg MIL. Magdeburg to Bordeaux, France.
(3) 4-1 Gar. Strasbourg to Cherbourg.

[ax] Land Movement. Germany.
(1) The troops of the Wehrmacht who have been engaged in combat from Poland, Yugoslavia, Holland, Belgium and France were looking forward to some deserved leave and time home.
(2) However, the vast majority of Wehrmacht units have been given orders to move east to either Poland or Romania as quickly as possible.
(3) Similar orders for the Luftwaffe are soon to follow.

[ax] Air Rebase. Germany x 4.
(1) Bf 109 E-2 FTR2. Reims France to Magdeburg, Germany.
(2) Bf 109 E-4 FTR2. Belgium 53,31 to Germany 52,36.
(3) He 111H LND3. France 57,33 to Romania 57,53.
(4) He 111H LND3. France 56,31 to Poland 47,47.

Western Europe.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #1 (continued).

[ax] With no HQ or naval reorg possible the game advances to the allied #2 impulse.

[ax] JvR-06-JA40-AL-02.zip game turn sent.

[al] Great! I will look at the turn but no doing it until tomorrow

[ax] Sounds good. Got some errands to run anyway. [:)]

[al] What are your initial thoughts on a French surrender?

[ax] Personally, I wouldn't have done it.

[al] Reasons?

[ax] You've given me an outside chance of a Jul/Aug 1940 Barbarossa. And if not that, and the weather is decent, Sep/Oct 1940 for sure.

[al] But I do not think a 40-Barbarossa is a bad thing though. It gives USSR so much production and Germany is far from ready in 40.

[al] and starting late means a short start before bad weather.

[ax] It'll be interesting … [:)]

Eastern Europe.

[jesperpehrson]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Allied #2

[al] No DOW or alignments

[al] CW naval
[al] France naval
[al] US combined
[al] USSR land
[al] China land

[al] No port attack
[al] No naval air

[al] CW moves a TRS to Cape St. Vincent
[al] The Queens sail around the Cape from Singapore.
[al] A South African INF is transported towards Egypt
[al] A dutch TRS sealifts a Beaufighter into the Bay of Biscay
[al] A dutch SUB is sailed into the Italian Coast
[al] CW protects their convoys

[al] France sends out some convoys to transport the build points from England.
[al] Some convoys in the Pacific are sent towards Madagascar.
[al] A french SUB is sailed into the Western Med.
[al] The french TRS rebases to Casablanca to escape the Italian NAVs.
[al] The french fleet prepares to share the burden of protecting the Allied shipping.

[al] The US starts protecting the convoys on the East Coast.

[al] CW will not initiate in the Italian Coast.

[al] CW will strategic bombard Stettin
[al] an 8 is rolled
[al] 1 PP is lost


[al] CW will groundstrike Balbos hex
[al] 7, 9 and 2 is rolled. The territorial is flipped.


[al] No rail movement

[al] Land movement hightlights:
[al] USSR organizes a defensive line in the west. Rumours are brewing about German armies moving east rapidly.



[al] The Chinese move into the vacuum created by the Japanese withdrawal from China




[al] No land attacks

[al] A russian FTR moves north of Mukden

[al] Weather roll is 2.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #3.

[ax] Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #3.
No DOWs. No special actions. No alignments.
Actions: Japan - land, Germany - land, Italy - land.
End of turn chance: 0%

Weather.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #3.

[ax] Port attack. none.

[ax] Naval air. none.

[ax] Strategic bombing. none.

[ax] Ground Strike. Japan x 1.
(1) G3M2 (Nell) (1/2=1 TAC) vs Stillwell HQ-I.
(2) D10=10, missed.

[ax] Rail. Japan. none.

[ax] Rail. Germany x 1.
(1) 150 mm arty div. Antwerp to Warsaw.

[ax] Rail. Italy x 1.
(1) CCNN inf corps. Toulon, France to Amsterdam.

IJA. Ground Strike. Stillwell HQ-I.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #3.

[ax] Land Movement Summaries.
More of the same on all fronts by all powers.

[ax] Land Combat. none.

[ax] Air rebase. Japan x 1.
(1) Ki-30 (Ann). Kaifeng to Wuhan, China.

[ax] Air rebase. Italy x 1.
(1) CR.42 FTR2. France 60,31 to France 53,30.

[ax] Air rebase. Germany x 4.
(1) Bf 109 E-2. France 56,29 to Germany 51,35.
(2) Ju 52 ATR. France 56,32 to Krakow, Poland.
(3) Ju 87B. France 55,32 to Czech 54,41.
(4) Bf 110C F/B. Belgium 54,32 to Lodz, Poland.

IJA. Korea. Southern Manchuria.

[rkr1958]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Axis #3.

[ax] That ends my impulse at the HQ reorg phase.

[al] That was very unexciting. I am used to being at the edge of my seat!

[ax] I agree. Boring in fact.

[ax] I think we may have an impulse, maybe even two, before things get lit up again. I don't think it's any surprise where I'm headed.

[al] Yeah, Germany is wider than it looks

[ax] JvR-06-JA40-AX03-eoi.zip game turn sent.

IJA. China.

[jesperpehrson]

Turn 6. Jul/Aug 1940. Allied #4.

[al] No DOW or alignments.

[al] USSR land
[al] China land
[al] CW land
[al] France land
[al] US combined

[al] No port attacks

[al] No naval air

[al] US transports an INF to Midway and an ENG to Iceland.

[al] No naval combat

[al] CW stratbombs Stuttgart. a 4 is rolled, no effect.


[al] A Russian CAV is railed to Vladivostok.

[al] Landmovement highlights:
[al] A Russian defensive perimeter is established around Mukden.
[al] Nationalist China conquers Hangchow.


[al] The British In Libya surround Balbo and capture Tobruk.


[al] A South African INF debarks in Suez.
[al] A US engineer debarks in Reykavik.

[al] Minor rebases.

[al] No HQ reorg.

[al] New weather is 10!
[al] No difference almost