DQ2004's AAR #2 - "Ouch. ...that hurt"

[Kathi51!]

Hi CrusssDaddy,

it sure does look like an axis dream come true...

But then every once in a while fairy tales come true.

I´ve seen this happen in tournament play - grown men weeping, dice burning ( the other dice in a circle around the burning one - " now listen up you XXX - this will happen to you, if you don´t man up ) etc..

I saw somebody complain about some poorly executed aar the other day, which might put newcomers off the game due to poor axis results ( resulting to play ) in Poland. This could set the record straight.

And then - DY 2004 did call it "Ouch" in the first place.

Best regards

[DQ2004]

To answer some of the questions, firstly please remember this is a 'solo' game and as such I don't think it's very easy to play both sides equally. Secondly I never claimed to be a great player, so you can expect mistakes.
In terms of 'managing' the game, the only thing that happened was that the Russians were played as if they 'didn't know' that the Germans would attack in 1940. Having said that I didn't think the Germans would be in a position to attack in April 1940.

The difficulty was that US entry had a disastrous start, and for the first three turns if the Soviets tried to claim Bessarabia they would have been risking the ability of the US to declare war on Germany/Italy at all!
That was why the Soviet army was out of position, because they weren't even trying to garrison Poland, they wanted to get Bessarabia (which they did, just prior to the German attack, in March 1940).
In terms of the French, they had bad luck (a clear weather turn in December 1939 really helped the Germans), but the British have not done too badly. Well, except that because the Italians moved two corps to Egypt in 1939, the British didn't have any forces available to stop them taking Egypt so quickly, given they were busy with the BEF in France. There were no other corps to spare to send to Egypt.

Anyway, to prove that the Axis aren't being given a free ride, here's what happened when the Italian Marines tried to storm the Greek harbour at Piraeus, near Athens...

[DQ2004]

And in fact, in Baku von Bock orders a very risky assault, hoping that the German luck will continue.
It doesn't. Ouch, that hurt

[DQ2004]

The July-August 1941 turn then ends, to the relief of Stavka.
However, their relief is shortlived when they total up their available resources and production capacity.
It is the lowest since the war began. Yet another 'ouch' moment

[DQ2004]

They did not lose that many units in Jul/Aug 41, however even these losses are irreplaceable with such low production.

[DQ2004]

The reinforcements pool for Sep/Oct 1941 aren't too bad for the Soviets, but this is mostly thanks to two shattered corps from the previous turn.

[DQ2004]

When the various 'end-of-turn' phases were almost complete, this question unexpectedly popped up!
Ouch! ...but I said no. As if the Heroes of the Soviet Union would ever give up!!
And of course you can see the global control map shows the disastrous situation for the Russians.

[brian brian]

the game is over, the Allies aren't coming back

[CrusssDaddy]

I think you should go ahead and surrender the USSR and then see if you can achieve a world not unlike The Man in the High Castle.

[brian brian]

ORIGINAL: CrusssDaddy

I think you should go ahead and surrender the USSR and then see if you can achieve a world not unlike The Man in the High Castle.

that's what I was just thinking. keep the USSR alive though, so Kruschev can shine as a Partisan. but if you threw the I-Ching right now, it would suggest the Germans and Japanese should build factories, and start laying down a heavy duty fleet. you'll get ashore in North American eventually....it has lots of fun hexes now. be careful with your Vichy French policy so you can get Martinique on the cheap.

[Zorachus99]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

the game is over, the Allies aren't coming back

Bet the allies come back and conquer Germany before the historical date - possibly.

US production is monstrous.

[Coeur de livre]

Yes, it would be interesting to see an AAR that sees the fight taken to the USA's front door. Excellent AAR.

[DQ2004]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Appreciated.

It is now September 1941. US entry has still not recovered and they are still a couple of turns away from being able to pass War Appropriations. Of course, the Japanese do not know this and are preparing for a strike in December, although they are going to wait until the bill passes. They also have to wait for the US to actually move their fleet to Pearl Harbor, because they have been too busy passing to do it.
In Singapore, as the monsoon rages, reinforcements arrive to defend the British Empire.

[DQ2004]

In the Mediterranean, the Greek convoy ships that survived the first turn port attacks try to flee to Gibraltar.
They are caught by the waiting Regia Marina fleet.

[DQ2004]

On the Russian steppe, the Red Army is still struggling to escape the net of panzers - and whilst the rain doesn't help German supply lines, it doesn't help the Red Army much either. Yeremenko and his army group is in big trouble

[DQ2004]

The German marines land on the Greek coast to trap the defending mountain units - by yet another ridiculous stroke of luck the Stukas have again successfully disorganized them. Now they are doomed.

[DQ2004]

North of Penza two more Soviet corps are caught and destroyed.

[DQ2004]

The Greek mountain unit is overwhelmed

[DQ2004]

The Soviets desperately try to escape the trap. The 4th Mechanized Army moves west to try to help Yeremenko.
The Allies are passing turns like no tomorrow to help the Russians - but the turn just keeps going.

[DQ2004]

In the horn of Africa, the British liberate British Somaliland, and are now threatening to liberate Ethiopia.