AAR - Becket v. von Beanie

[Becket]

Hi all...thought you might enjoy another PBEM AAR. This one is my first PBEM in a long while, and it's von beanie's first PBEM altogether. I'm the Axis, he's the Allies.

Turn one was a standard German & Japan open: Germany took the quick Vichy win, losing only one armor unit in Paris (of the starting seven); Germany also took Denmark, Norway, and Yugoslavia. DAK formed up and moved to North Africa: 2 armor, 2 militia, and 2 infantry, plus a load of supplies. For Japan, we took Foochow and otherwise just began preparing for future offensives.

Turn two picks up in high summer, 1940. I've managed invasions of the Soviet Union at this point before, but it's really hard to accomplish anything in the Summer - you do more harm than good. Really, you have to choose between Fall, Spring, or Summer to launch the invasion (winter is not a realistic option).

I took Greece and Crete, and consolidated my positions in conquered territory. I moved DAK into position to threaten Cairo, so that should put some pressure on von beanie.



On the far side of the world, the Imperial Japanese Army & Navy cooperated on a joint bombing of Liuchow. It was not a good day to be a Chinese soldier in Liuchow.



Otherwise, we just moved supplies to central staging, I mean, storage areas.

On the research front, it looks like the Japanese and the Soviets are working on raising infantry levels, while the Germans, Soviets and Western Allies spend on armor levels.

[Becket]

Fall, 1940:

German turn.

The brits went after my Med navy, mauling a few fleet assets and forcing my transports to retreat. However, they elected to remain in the Med, and this turn the Germans made them pay, killing two light fleets, one heavy, and damaging a brit carrier.

DAK took Cairo, forcing the remnants of Brit 8th Army into Palestine. We bombed a few areas and generally prepared for upcoming offensives in 1941.

Japanese turn:

IJN & IJA air forces launched a strike on a Chinese troop concentration in Changsha, severely damaging the garrison. We began moving supplies south just in case they prove necessary.

[Becket]

Winter, 1941

German turn.

The Brits strike back! A daring raid seized Morocco and left me reelling. My supplies were drained, and I simply didn't have enough to eject the UK fleet from the Med and take back Morocco. However, all of the former Vichy territories are now unfrozen. If I can eject von Beanie from Morocco and shut down the Med, I will have a good start on a defense against the coming entry of the US.

I sent Sixth Army and some of the newly freed Vichy troops into Spain, as Franco hadn't called or written in a while. Sorry, Generalisimo.



Japan turn.

We smashed Changsha. Again. A few reinforcements came off the line, and we built some more supply and called up more infantry. The Soviets look menacing in Vladivostok, so we reinforced.

[Becket]

Spring, 1941.

Germany.

The plucky Brits continued their expedition into the North Africa. It was to prove costly for them. Here's the situation at the start of the turn:



First order of business was to complete the sealing off of the Med and the Brit Expeditionary Force living there. Forces in Spain moved into Gibralter, taking it easily. The Italian fleet then came out and reduced the brit western Med fleet to scrap, paving the way to take all remaining territory on the western coast, trapping the BEF-Africa. A simple invasion then wiped out the BEF.

On to bigger fish. The Brits had stretched themselves very thin by both trying to block me outside Cairo and attacking in NA. I seized the opportunity to strike at the denuded Brit homeland. A heavy air and amphibious assault, and Scotland was mine.



These offensives have stretched the German war machine almost to the limit - I don't think I can hold all of this, but we'll see. One thing is for sure, it's been costly for the allies. Here's the units damaged/destroyed screen:



The remainder of the German turn was spent responding to demonstrations on the Soviet border.

Japan:

We turned our eyes to Kuniing this turn, wiping out the forces there. I am annoyed at Chinese production and think that I need to do something about that soon.

[Becket]

Version changes may result in this game being abandoned.

[Becket]

Summer, 1941:

Germany.

Germany follows up on the Med offensive by destroying the remaining British fleet bottled up there. At this point, the signal is given: attack the Soviet Union! The attack begins. I don't have much margin for error, so I use my surprise attack round to take the Baltic States, then send my bombers and panzer forces at Leningrad. The city is taken (my opponent spent a lot on research in the turns, so Leningrad was not heavily garrisoned). We proceed to strike south and end up holding all territory from Leningrad south to the Black Sea. Sadly, the British affair has meant that I did not have the troops available to take Kharkov. However, the loss of Leningrad unhinged the northern Soviet defense, releasing the Finns, who surge across the border.

Flushed with success, the Germans invade London. A spectacular battle results, after which the city falls.

We had just enough supplies to half-repair each rail on the Soviet frontier. I'm going to have to fix the rest of it next turn. I'm holding off on repairing factories just yet, but the magic production number for decisive victory is in sight. If (big if) I can knock out the Soviets....



Japan:

Pressured by Germany, Japan strikes at Vladivostok, taking the area and its coveted factory. We also raid nearby areas to kill off Soviet troops so that they cannot be sent West.

In China, we launched strikes at the factories in Chunking.

(NOTE: my opponent didn't know we were playing with Advanced Supply until just recently....so the results in this game should be taken with a grain of salt since that's a pretty huge handicap.)