By the Numbers: Another Solo Global War AAR

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Asia. Combat Logs.

Allied #3.
1. Mao's CCP forces in the mountains of northern China achieve victory over IJA's 1st eng div.
2. However, the battle is realtively bloodless as the IJN's 1st eng div survives but is forced to retreat.
3. Mao also takes no losses but sees 2 of his attacking units flipped.

Axis #11.
1. Japanese Terror Bombing in China misses the mark. No damage to Chinese war production.
2. Yamamoto's IJN army group captures Ichang. No reaction by the US.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. End of Turn. China.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. End of Turn. India.

1. Another separatist group springs up in India!
2. England outraged! Another Iron Ore Mine Seized by Separatist.

Competitive: A partisan check has been made for India in all 4 end of turns. Of those, 3 have produced partisans. This is why you can never leave Bombay and Calcutta be ungarrisoned when the turn ends, or could end.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. End of Turn. US Isolationist.

1. Isolationist appear in charge in the US.
2. To date through 4 end of turns, no options have been chosen.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Destroyed/Repair.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Economics.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Production Spiral. Axis.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Production Spiral. Allied.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Victory Totals.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Global Map. Control.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Global Map. Units.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Global Map. Active Axis.

[rkr1958]

Turn 4. Mar/Apr 1940. Global Map. Active Allied.

[brian brian]

The forward Dutch defense is easily beaten by good German panzer deployments. Those aren’t always set up right though. It is still a useful defense early in the turn in S/O if it rains as that requires a successful Ground Strike, probably drawing in 2 bombers, and can flip some overrunning units and that is worth something. But in the spring Germany will have far more units and won’t care about using up ARM/MECH since they don’t need them for their next op in Belgium.

If it rains on the Holland invasion a set up in Rotterdam can be good as it forces a one hex attack front unless 6 mover Panzers are on the border. A one hex attack will draw in more Luftwaffe at half strength to reduce Germany’s risk.

But by M/A with the PARA available it is all moot. Germany has no need to invade Amsterdam as if they take Rotterdam then the capital is worth little to the Allies.

Using the PARA on Brussels does always give the Allies a chance to decline the notional and send in a counterattack vs the lonely PARA. If it is late in the turn the Allied risk of taking subsequent consequences from a bad roll goes down. But an even bigger prize for Germany is risking the PARA another hex row west where the PARA could face a much bigger counterattack. But the turn could end for the Germans perhaps. The battle for France is all about those hex rows between Brussels and Paris.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

The forward Dutch defense is easily beaten by good German panzer deployments. Those aren’t always set up right though. It is still a useful defense early in the turn in S/O if it rains as that requires a successful Ground Strike, probably drawing in 2 bombers, and can flip some overrunning units and that is worth something. But in the spring Germany will have far more units and won’t care about using up ARM/MECH since they don’t need them for their next op in Belgium.

If it rains on the Holland invasion a set up in Rotterdam can be good as it forces a one hex attack front unless 6 mover Panzers are on the border. A one hex attack will draw in more Luftwaffe at half strength to reduce Germany’s risk.

But by M/A with the PARA available it is all moot. Germany has no need to invade Amsterdam as if they take Rotterdam then the capital is worth little to the Allies.

Brian, thanks! I always look forward to your comments and analysis.

So maybe I was overthinking all this? As the CW player my hope was, and as the German player my fear was, was that the ground strike missed the NED I inf. In that case Germany would have indeed dropped on Rotterdam with the CW refusing the notional. Then the CW during their impulse would take a combine and land (i.e., disemark) three strong units in Amsterdam in addition to putting as much bombardment factors into the 3 and 4 boxes of the North Sea. Then take Rotterdam via Amsterdam and advance all three attacking ground units into Rotterdam. Thus, in an unorthodox way, establish the Rotterdam redoubt and destroying the German para corps in the process.

Again, maybe I was overthinking all this ... but at least both sides were equally quilty. [:D]

[brian brian]

I couldn't really see the stacks involved for the Germans. So a lot depends on what you can park next to the PARAs - for example the 4-2 ART or the Rundstedt HQ just might make the difference in keeping the PARAs around. A lot depends on the balance of air forces on the map right then too. Or the Germans could still risk a division invasion to add to the PARA as the price of failure on that is one heavy cruiser and an infantry division (always send the SS).

But a roll of a Rain impulse changes everything and the more the Germans look at that, the more complicated their set-ups for that possibility becomes.


And thanks for the details on SUBs/counter. I had that idea of 30 in Classic, 15 in SIF for a long time, well before WiF8/CE rules came out. But I looked and that bit of detail on counter scale is not in that same spot in Final Edition, though the other naval counter details are. Perhaps I read that in the original bit of description with the Ships in Flames "kit", I dunno. I think maybe this could be a deliberate change to note in Classic Edition now - iirc, the new CE version of Global War gives the Germans 2 SUBs to start, but they have 3 in Final Edition Global War?

Ultimately what I circle back to when thinking about how many German SUB counters appear in a game is that historical production statistic of 1,100 U-Boats. That's 20 SUBs at Classic's 55/SUB = build 18 through a complete game. And with SIF in play...

However it works, the longer you play WiF the more you realize worrying about the scale just doesn't matter. No one needs accurate scale to the air counters when the Germans built like 14,000 Me-109s in 1944 or whatever it was. If the scale wasn't flexible, the map would disappear under stacks of counters late in the game.

[rkr1958]

Turn 5. May/June 1940. Trade, Weather, Actions & Events.

Resource Lending (Giving). CW to France.
1. Currently CW gives 1 oil & 3 non-oil to France.
2. Until Paris is occupied/surrounded, this trade can only be increased.
3. Increase if any determined by D10, 0-3=no change, 4=+1 non-oil, 5=+2 non-oil, 6-9=no change.
4. D10=4, traded from CW to France increased by 1 non-oil to 1 oil & 4 non-oil in total.

Initiative.
1. Both sides wish to move to first.
2. Axis with +1 advantage wins the (first) roll.
3. Allies unable to request a re-roll.
4. Axis elect to move first. Double impulse by Germany bad for the allies in France.

Axis #1.
1. Fine across the map, which is exactly what Germany wanted.
2. Germany takes a land and plays an o-chit.

Axis #5.
1. Even with storms raging over Europe and rain in the Med, Italy enters the war.

Axis #11.
1. Turn ends with axis moving first and last.
2. Also, axis moved last (last turn) and first this turn.
3. Axis got 5 impulses to allies 4.

[rkr1958]

Turn 5. May/June 1940. The Western Front. Combat Logs.

Lots of action on the Western Front as Germany pushes into France, Italy enters the war and France and Great Britain try to deal with the deteriorating situation.

[rkr1958]

Turn 5. May/June 1940. The Western Front (1 of 2).

Axis #1.
1. Germany launches major offensive out of Belgium and into France.
2. Land and O-chit w/Guderian.
3. Luftwaffe performs poorly.
4. Panzers breakthrough and link up (overrun) II Para corps dropzone just outside of Paris.
5. Heroic defense by French mech corps stops cold Wehrmacht army in the north.

Allied #2.
1. To counterattack or not to counterattack that was the question for the French High Command. And what better way to resolve that question than with a D10 roll. 1-3 then counterattack, 4-10 then don't.
2. D10=2, the French are order to counter-attack the panzer spearhead(s) outside of Paris.
3. This counter-attack is supported by massive allied ground strikes on two Panzers spearheads manage to flip the II para corps and HG panzer division. (Apparently the allied player failed to log these two ground strikes. There only a short reference to them in their notes.)
4. The French counter-attack fails due in large part to Luftwaffe ground support made possible because of the French fighters were used up to counter Luftwaffe fighters attempting to intercept the allied ground strikes (see 3).
5. The lose one corps and see all their attackers flipped, which is bad news for the allies this early in the turn. Germany loses the HG division in an heroic defense of the German spearhead.

Axis #3.
1. Crisis for the allies in France!
2. German forces secure the positions outside of Paris east of the Seine.
3. The Wehrmacht also makes a push in north of Paris to split the BEF and significant French forces away from the rest of the French army.

[rkr1958]

Turn 5. May/June 1940. The Western Front (2 of 2).

Axis #5.
1. A major storm hits France with the allies hope will slow the Wehrmacht down in a way that the allied armies can't seem to do.
2. But their hope is mostly in vain.
3. German panzers continue their push against the French army.
4. Germany take an important position that threatens to flank the French units holding the Magnoit line.
5. German mechanized units cross the Maars.
6. Italy joins the war.

Axis #9.
1. Weather over France clears.
2. Italy pushes across their border with France and into the French Alps.
3. Germany turns some of the attention to the BEF and gravely wound them.
4. Chamberlain's governments falls with a vote of no confidence. Winston Churchill becomes England's new Prime Minister.
5. In addition to a decimated BEF, the French army is in Chaos.

Axis #11.
1. Italian forces capture Marsellies and overruns the French naval units attempting to take refuge there.
2. Lone British Mech corps, last unit left of the BEF in France, makes an heroic defense and wards off an attack by the Germans.
3. Metz Falls!
4. The Wehrmacht manage to to gain full control of the East Bank of the Seine.