Nirosi vs Boldairade(Nirosi welcome)

[John B.]

Regarding your fighter in N. Africa losing effectiveness, I confess my ignorance as I have not played the game very much, but is it possible that you have too many units at the front drawing from a limited amount of supply? There are a lot of allied counters up there.

[boldairade]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Regarding your fighter in N. Africa losing effectiveness, I confess my ignorance as I have not played the game very much, but is it possible that you have too many units at the front drawing from a limited amount of supply? There are a lot of allied counters up there.

it's possible. perhaps even probable. usually you get a supply notification in game if a unit is in partial supply. BUT i've never gotten one for an air unit. maybe there's a loophole/omission there?

you should definitely play more! i know it's hard to find time though.

[redrum68]

Hmm. Interesting. If the Axis doesn't look to advance in 1943 anywhere along the Eastern Front then it seems you have pretty much won the game unless he has some kind of crazy plan to invade somewhere else. Definitely surprising considering it looked like he had enough of a strength advantage to still attack.

[michaelCLARADY]

ORIGINAL: redrum68

Hmm. Interesting. If the Axis doesn't look to advance in 1943 anywhere along the Eastern Front then it seems you have pretty much won the game unless he has some kind of crazy plan to invade somewhere else. Definitely surprising considering it looked like he had enough of a strength advantage to still attack.

Got to disagree there. The Axis is still strong in front of Tripoli and has a safe rear in French NA. Very good for the '43 campaign season. With normal prudent reserves in the West an invasion of the French med coast can be economically contained at the river lines. Also the Vichy Army and Fleet join the Axis. That Army can build up to a very useful force for the '44 campaign in the West. Greece looks to be nothing but a resource pit for the Allies at this point. Troops tied down in NA and Greece won't be a threat to France. If the Axis in the East has secured Riga/Minsk/Kiev then VP scores at this point are in Axis favor and growing more so. By going on the defensive the Axis by conserving forces can make Italy and the French Atlantic coast damned near impossible to invade in '44. Remember if both Germany and Italy have not surrendered by August '45 the game is decided on VP's. Right now I would bet Axis wins 75 - 25 odds.

[redrum68]

Really? I don't have much experience with how the VPs work as haven't played a game all the way to the end but figured that since the Germans didn't advance along the Eastern Front as far as they did historically that they wouldn't be generating enough.

[michaelCLARADY]

ORIGINAL: redrum68

Really? I don't have much experience with how the VPs work as haven't played a game all the way to the end but figured that since the Germans didn't advance along the Eastern Front as far as they did historically that they wouldn't be generating enough.

Russia has six VP locations, three of which are Riga/Minsk/Kiev. If the Axis have those they are on track for the typical VP score which pulls ahead of the Allies in mid '42. Also in this game there is a VP gain from holding Algiers and Tripoli far longer than usual.

[boldairade]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Oh those Marines are really out on a limb in Sardinia. If you can hold it, however, you basically have Italy flanked on two sides with air cover for invasions all over the Peninsula. When you get a chance, would you mind posting the current losses? Thanks!

Absolutely

[boldairade]

And for good measure...

[boldairade]

Check out Italy-they are nearly as strong as the UK in almost every category. That is the result of Nirosi's incredibly successful uboat war.

Russia has recovered fairly nicely over the winter, with the help of heavy Allied aid.

[redrum68]

Interesting. USSR looking pretty strong. If you can hit 50% ground experience then USSR should be able to start advancing. How is production? With <100 MM, I'm guessing the UK is suffering some.

[boldairade]

ORIGINAL: redrum68

Interesting. USSR looking pretty strong. If you can hit 50% ground experience then USSR should be able to start advancing. How is production? With <100 MM, I'm guessing the UK is suffering some.

For the most part we have had enough MM. this turn we have EXACTLY enough. which means when the subs come back out, we won't. we continue to keep the shipyards full of MM and escorts and landing ships when there is room.

the problem is, that's ALL the UK can afford(along with replacemants). that's why england is so weak. everything is going into the BOA.

[boldairade]

June 4, 1943

BOA-No raids. All subs are in their pens, except for the group raiding the Arctic convoy, which abandons its attack to prevent heavy losses.

The respite is welcome, but Allied planners fear the subs will be back with a vengeance.

US Strategic Bombing-An opening raid is flown within cover of escort fighters vs the Dusseldorf. German interceptors do not scramble. Knowing this, we shift our raids to deeper into Germany where we know AA guns are less concentrated. Both Dresden and Prague are hit hard, with Dresden being completely leveled. In the Med, Ploesti is hit again, but US formations are wearing down.

Norway-Supply continues to plague us here, with VIII Armor not recovering effectiveness. No offensive can be carried out without it. We may try to take a northern port(Trondheim) to help alleviate this issue. We withdraw a division and replace it with our HQ to try and reduce logistical needs.

[boldairade]

June 4, 1943

Sardinia

Perhaps the biggest difference between Nirosi and me is how economically he plays the game. In all his invasions, he is able to take neutral countries in one turn, denying me the opportunity to use those 'free' troops or tie him up.

We see this again in Sardinia. He does not deploy forces or his navy to deal with our minor incursion. Instead, he will use his subs, which are not needed elsewhere, to starve me out. I can't fly any land based air in to fight the subs because we lost Malta. This means I could ship them in...but then they'd get hit by the subs.

What it probably means is, I am going to have to abandon this effort, though I hate to. For now, we will sit tight.

[boldairade]

June 4, 1943

Africa-The Axis forces do not try to overrun 1st Armor. It is withdrawn. We attempt to push back the Italian XX Corps in the Axis line, but make the SAME mistake we made last turn, failing to properly rotate troops in. The overall losses go our way, but again, a missed opportunity. I am going to have to give up my practice of sipping whiskey while playing WP.

Greece/E Med-With the Axis fleet returning to port in Malta and our carriers recovering in port, we decide to launch a carrier strike vs the Italian fleet in port. We have been trying to execute this for about 4 months, but the fleet has been always needed elsewhere.

All carriers set up 5 hexes from Malta and launch a single strike(all that is permitted after movement). The results are disappointing, but not negligible. One hit on two battleships, 2 hits on a DD group. Obviously we hoped for more. Economically it is not a big hit, but it will force Nirosi to rethink his basing. This might prove important for future ops.

[boldairade]

June 4, 1943

The two most massive land armies in the world bask in sunlight. It is campaign season, but nothing is happening.

Soviet production the last few turns is changing. MM are being produced. Russia has also changed its production priorities. Up until now, the absolute priority was to produce one AT army per turn. Now, Stavka is considering what might be necessary to break open the front. Unfortunately, production times on these units is lengthy.

Upgrades to heavy tanks continue, along with refitting the Red Airforce. Soviet surface groups are almost ready for operations in the Baltic, but unless the Germans sortie their surface fleet, they are deemed too risky.

[John B.]

Thanks for letting us the the casualties and the forces! At some point the Red Army may want to be unleashed. I'm sure you'll take a lot of hits from it but it's probably good to pressure the Axis where ever you can find them.

[boldairade]

I'd certainly like to bring the Russians to bare.

However, Nirosi knew exactly what he was doing pausing at these river lines. Nowhere can I attack not across a river line. The best odds I could achieve anywhere are 1-3. In WP terms, that equates to 'attacker loses a lot, doesn't scratch defender'.

Having spent the last 6 months building the Red Army to fight a defensive war means it will take time to try to find a way to effectively attack Germany. Of course, time isn't something those Allied armies clinging to ports in the Med have a lot of...

[boldairade]

One cannot blame the mettle of the pilots. But the day of the Swordfish bomber has passed. Brave English pilots could not do significant damage to the Regia Marina at anchor in Malta.

[boldairade]

IS-1 Heavy tanks are being deployed into existing Russian heavy tank corps. But Stavka can find nowhere to effectively employ them.

[redrum68]

For the most part we have had enough MM. this turn we have EXACTLY enough. which means when the subs come back out, we won't. we continue to keep the shipyards full of MM and escorts and landing ships when there is room.

the problem is, that's ALL the UK can afford(along with replacemants). that's why england is so weak. everything is going into the BOA.

Are you sure about that? I thought just the starting UK convoy routes needed over 100 MM to be fully operational?