It Takes A Village to Raze a Village

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. The Western Front. Italy.

1. Med bombers brought up to full strength for 45 MPPs.

QUESTION: Will Italy be able to declare war on France? If so, when? If not, is this an automatic event?

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. North Africa. Italy.

1. Gazzoni HQ reinforced by 1-step to 7-steps for 18 MPPs.
2. Italian subs moved out into allied convoy lanes in the Med in the hopes that Italy can get into this war soon.

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. East Africa. Italy.

1. Abyssinia corps reinforced 2-steps to 7-steps.
2. 10th garrison reinforced by 1-step.
3. Again, Italy on the border ready to move into allied territories if, or when, they can get into this war.

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. Japan. Manchuria. Northern China.

1. V and XXXII corps transported out of Seishin and into Pakhoi in Southern China.
2. Swap out of garrisons for corps/armies continues as another Japanese corps move towards Seishin for redeployment.
3. Japanese 3rd army in the northwest and near the border of Mongolia is upgraded for 25 MPPs.
4. Japanese XVII corps in Mukden is upgrade for 15 MPPs.
5. Japanese garrison transported from Japan to Port Arthur and will relieve the Japanese XVII corps, which will be redeployed to central/southern China.

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. Japan. Southern/Central Chinese Fronts.

1. Looks like Japan might have gotten a bit over extended as the Chinese destroyed the Japanese II corps during their turn (X marks the spot).
2. Action this turn was a mixed bag of reshuffling, upgrades, reinforcements and a couple of attrition attacks knocking off 4-steps from a Chinese corps in the south and 2-steps off a corps in the center.
3. 17th Korean arm reinforced for 25 MPPs, 21st Naval flotilla medium bombers upgraded fro 15 MPPs and 2nd air army fighters upgraded from 38 MPPs.
4. KB Carrier division 1 (Akagi and Kaga) with screens were bought back into action (Gulf of Tonkin).

Japan. Build.
1. 21st Naval Flotilla Maritime Bombers purchased for 150 MPPs.

QUESTION (? marks the spot): Why can't either Japanese army move into the adjacent hex? Weather look fine. What am I missing?

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. Japan. Decision Event. Chinese Collaboration.

It happened historically so why not? Yes.

[rkr1958]

Turn 17. April 12, 1940. MPPs. End of Turn.

1. Denmark and Norway invaded and captured.

Question: I got a message about Iceland and a slim opportunity to seize it before the allies. I think I've probably "missed the boat" on that one but do folks generally make an attempt as the axis to get Iceland? If so, how do they do it?

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Case Yellow. Invasion and Conquest of Holland.

1. Weather turned from foul to fair and Germany transitioned from Sitzkrieg to Case Yellow.
2. Truth in lending - this is the first time against Man or Beast (i.e., AI) that I've attempted Case Yellow in this SCWAW.
3. The invasion of conquest of Holland took a bit more than I anticipated.
4. Also, I wound up with an armor corps in The Hague that has 1 of his 2 strikes (i.e., attacks) left but no movement. Not to give anything away but this does turn out to bite me I think.
5. And, the mistake I made moving the 1st FJR last turn and knocking it out of prepare mode also bites me.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Case Yellow. Invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg.

1. I needed one more good attack (I think) to finish off that stubborn Belgium corps NE of Brussels.
2. If only I had the 1st FJR then I would have been able to finish off Belgium.
3. It occurred to me after my turn and looking over this screen cap that Germany is attacking through the Low Countries exactly how the British and French thought they would do historically.
4. Though my first time in this game at Case Yellow, I am disappointed with my play and inability to also conquer Belgium on the invasion turn.
5. I did compound my other two mistakes, (1) FJR accidentally knocked of prepare mode last turn and (2) Pz corps in The Hague not in position to carry out second attack, and that was (3) used 2 or even 3 fighter units to attack the 2 step Belgium corps. All this did was knock steps of my fighters.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Case Yellow. Battle of the Atlantic.

1. Germany lost U-47 and U-32 during the last allied turn.
2. U-37 comes in and is deployed off the Coast of Germany.
3. The damaged U-30 finally makes it way to Kiel.
4. U-35 transitions to hunt mode and moves out in the North Atlantic along a British convoy line.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Case Yellow. Battle of the Atlantic (2/2).

1. Adm Graf Spee at flank speed, well not flank but as fast as she can muster, moves around the east coast of Africa.

[amandkm]

Couple of quick answers for you.

Italy will enter the war when it's diplomacy % reaches 100. You can check the diplomacy screen each month to see how close you are getting.

As to movement, don't forget Zone of Control. Every Unit with a strength over 5, I believe, has a zone around it which stops enemy movement. If you hit the Chinese unit and weaken it, you might then be able to push past if you take the ZoC away.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Norway.

1. Germany spends 41 MPPs to reinforce all garrisons in Norway up to full strength.
2. Germany ended the turn with 71 MPPs still left in the coffers.
3. I think Germany has enough infantry so they'll look into maybe buying some artillery next turn or maybe even a u-boat.
4. After France looks in hand, Germany will start buying more garrison in order to cover the West Wall when their attention turns to the East next year.

Italy
1. Italy was entirely a spectator this turn.
2. No MPPs spent. I'm looking to get enough to invest in more research. Not sure if naval or some other area would be best.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Norway. Decision Event.

1. Germany decides to take the hit in winter for the safety for the rest of the year in moving the Swedish iron ore to Germany.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Northern China.

1. This front has been and remains static.
2. In Manchuria, Japan has moved corps to Port Arthur and Seishn for transport to the Southern/Central Chinese fronts next turn.
3. Japan purchases another garrison (17th) to replace the last non-garrison unit left in Manchuria.
4. Japan also purchased a light tank corps.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Southern/Central Chinese Fronts.

1. In the south, Japan manages to capture Kweilin.
2. Were odds were favorable Japan continues attrition attacks against Chinese corps/armies on both these fronts.

[rkr1958]

Turn 19. May 10, 1940. Axis. MPPs.

[rkr1958]

Turn 21. Axis. June 7, 1940. Military Action Summary.

[rkr1958]

Turn 21. Axis. June 7, 1940. The Western Front (Start of Turn).

1. I was happy to see that 7th FJR (SW of Brussels) survived the allied turn. Honestly, I was expecting to see it destroyed so seeing it at 4-steps was relief.
2. Now, what I wasn't happy about was the weather! Rain over northern France.
3. So I though initially to make the best of things I'd finish off Belgium, reinforce, upgrade and shift units around.
4. I didn't think I'd have much odds against the French or British. Against the British I didn't. But against the French to my surprise I did.

[rkr1958]

Turn 21. Axis. June 7, 1940. The Western Front (End of Turn).

1. I repaired the 7th FJR back to full strength, reinforced several air units and upgraded three infantry corps.
2. After that I looked to see what damage I could do and I was able to destroy a French crops and garrison and threaten an armor breakthrough against France through the Ardennes.
3. Surprisingly, well at least to me, I seem to be repeating history except that I a little over a month behind scheduled.
4. Interestingly, not finishing off Belgium my last turn could actually be to my advantage because of the rain. Finishing them off this turn gives me the hit on French morale next turn (hopefully with better weather) than if I had finished them off last turn with rain this turn.
5. 1st FJR, who couldn't jump this turn because of the rain, is still in prepare mode and ready to go when the weather clears.