Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post descriptions of your brilliant successes and unfortunate demises.

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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

One British bomber gets shot down, the other clears through along with the German bomber. The combat odds drop to +9, and the British take a blitz, trying to keep Franco alive. A modified 19 means Franco is shattered, but he'll be back next turn. The Axis lose a mot div, and half their units flip. Not a bad result for the allies, really. Unfortunately, it leaves a flipped Gort in a pickle, as German infantry advance into the hex next to him. He could be surrounded on 3 sides by large German corps next turn.

In north Africa, the Italians roll an 8 on a +16 combat, and kill the South African garrison, taking Algiers. Rundstedt flips some air back up, and it's the allied turn again. The weather is clear, as it will be the entire turn, and the CW takes a land action. They are the only unconquered major power still fighting on the allied side, although France is still technically at war and able to take any action it chooses as well. Russia and the US take their court ordered combineds.

The CW is getting pretty tired of sending units into continental fights and losing them, over and over again. Next run through, I'll have to seriously consider being less engaged with the British army prior to American entry into the European war.

In Spain, the British and Spanish move some troops around, closing the line as best they can while abandoning as little of the mountain hexes as possible, but it's going to be a lost cause. Delay, delay, delay and let Russia put more and more pressure on the Germans, that's about the best they can do.

British bombers find holes in the axis fighter net and strat bomb Metz and Lyons, costing the Germans 1 BP. Alexander flips them back up for another round, if Germany decides to ignore them. The impulse ends as quietly as it began and the axis set up for a hammer drop on Spain. Germany and Italy take land actions, Japan combined.

Here's the situation on the ground:







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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

And on the still to be declared eastern front, the situation on the Rumanian border



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

The Germans advance into eastern Spain, flanking the flipped Gort and putting him out of supply. It's more clear to me than ever that over committing the British army without a real extraction plan (or proper air cover) is a recurring blunder for me this game. In past games, I've held the British army back on the theory that I didn't want to put it in harms way when the German army is much larger, and I wanted to see what happens when the Brits take a firmer stand. I think there's probably a good middle ground somewhere, but this isn't it.

Needless to say, Gort dies in a +21 attacks.

The impulse closes out with the Spanish line about to collapse. Here's the saved file:

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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

The allies continue to probe for weaknesses in the fighter net, hitting Turin (or missing Turin, in this case).

In Spain, the CW comes to conclusion that the war is over, and all that remains is to defend Gibraltar. They pull off the line and head south, leaving the Spanish to fend for themselves.

On the Axis half of the impulse, Germany presses her land attack, but the Italians are ready to take a naval action and bring the subs into play.

The Italians go to sea, and in the western Med, the British shoot down another Condor. German Nav bombers have taken a beating this summer.

Actually, the whole Luftwaffe has had better turns. In Spain, the Spanish fighter picks off a German bomber on a groundstrike mission. Bombers attempting to pin the retreating British to the ground fail. Germans cross the northern border and move into Bilbao. Groundstrikes put the retreating Spanish unit face down, and German armor cut his supply, then attacks. The disheartened Spanish are obviously no match for the Germans.

Meanwhile, in China, Japan is slowly moving her troops toward the coast. Most of the air is home or in the air over the home seas, and will land at the end of the turn.

Impulse 7, and the allies all pass but Britain. The UK needs to continue the orderly retreat toward Gibraltar. With the rest of the allies passing, the turn will end on a two.

British strat bombers finally hit Lyons, taking a second build point from Germany. The UK needs some longer range fighters or some American air units!

The turn does not end. Germany and Italy take land actions. With a little luck, Madrid will fall this impulse. Germany already holds the other factory cities, so the fall of Madrid means the fall of Spain, and the battle for Gibraltar can begin.



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

The Spanish units are crushed, and the British begin to fear for the worst.

The turn continues and the British take a combined.

The UK sends out transports and some naval escorts. In the Western Med, a major dustup develops with the Italian navy. With so many bombers in the air, Britain is eager to protect her remaining transports and uses surprise point to make it a surface fleet. The French fleet will be absorbing some of the losses. Round 2 is a repeat of round 1, with the allies burning surprise points to keep the planes out of it. They're tearing up the Italian navy now, although losses are high on both sides. I didn't make a note of the total damage. The British did more damage, but the Italians rolled better on defense. At least 3 Italian cruisers sank, with 5-6 Italian ships damaged. The French had most of the remainders of their navy sink or damaged, and a few British ships were damaged as well.

Engineers arrive in Gibraltar and quickly go to work shoring up the defenses. Sadly for the allies, the turn does not end. With almost nothing between German units and Gibraltar, Germany and Italy both take land actions.



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

German units start to outrun their supply in France, but they close in on Gibraltar, and bring some air into range. Japan gets a few units on the Russian border, ready to attack Vladivostok if there's some clear weather next impulse. The Russians will have to place some reinforcements in the east or risk losing Siberia to a bored Japanese army. The turn does not end, and the CW is glad for one more chance to move units this turn. Everyone else passes and the UK takes a combined.

Another unit sails into Gibraltar and the allies breathe easier. Now to get some air down there. The turn finally comes to an end. Russia adds a chit to its offensive garrison.

The US embargos the Japanese oil and starts patrolling the north atlantic along with the east coast.

Production:
Germany 28 - 2 Pilots, 2 Nav (4), 3 Ftr (2), Gneisenau, mech, inf, inf
Italy 11 - Nav (3), Ftr (2), amph, 3 CPs
Japan 15 - Pilot, Hiyo, Ftr (2), BB, CA, Inf, 2 CVP (1), CA repair
CW 21 - 2 pilots, 2 cps, Gort, Arm, Ftr (2), CVP (1), Iron Duke
US 20 - Clark, Massachusetts, 2 CVP (1), Marine, arm div
USSR 16 - pilot, 2 ftr (2), arm div, eng div, lnd (3)

Some nice units coming on the board. The Italian 4 pt bomber, a class 4 Japanese CVP, several good naval units...


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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

Here's the save going into S/O 1941. Spain has fallen, Gibraltar is threatened, the Japanese are trickling over to the Russian border, the US is still a few turns minimum from war, and Barbarossa has not happened. If that sounds like an interesting starting position to you, then download and play from here!

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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

September starts out bright and sunny, and the Axis have the initiative. Japan is tired of moving 2 ships and 3 units at a time, and declares war on Russia. This displeases the US, who draw another chit.

Japan sails its fleet en masse to the sea of Japan, ready to hit Vladivostok with everything it has. The Italian fleet also comes out to provide shore bombardment on Gibraltar. In a stunning bit of roll reversal, Japanese bombers ground strike both land and both air units in Vladivostok, while 3 German stukas can't hit a thing in spain and north Africa.

The Japanese kill the unit outside Vlad and advance. In Spain, the poor showing for the Stukas slows things down as Germany moves to surround the out of supply but still face up British infantry in between Madrid and Gibraltar. Italy and German move their air up, and the impulse passes to the allies.

Russia takes its first land action of the game. CW takes a combined, eager to pull their infantry back into Gibraltar, and move the fleet out.

Britain bombs Lyons and Metz again, but this time to no effect.

Summer turns to autumn and rain falls across the Med and N Temperate. Germany and Italy both take naval actions. Japan takes a land.

Germany takes advantage of the CW's combined, and brings the full fleet out. German subs, supported by the fleet, clear out the Faeroe's Gap. Unless the CW can move a bundle of CP's safely here this turn, this will take a real bite out of British shipping.

In Cape St Vincent, Italian subs surface right in the middle of the British fleet. 6 CVP's swarm the sub, and it quickly resembles a piece of swiss cheese. But wetter, and heavier, and full of dead sailors.

Nothing much else happens in the rain. Turn passes to the allies, and the CW takes a naval action. Russia takes a land.

The brits sail their home fleet into Faeroe's Gap, hoping to catch the german fleet. And they bring some convoy escorts and fresh convoys. But the germans turn the tables on them and sink the escorts. The British retaliate with another round of strat bombing, taking out a BP this time.

The Axis catch a break and the third impulse is clear skies everywhere. This looks like another good spot for a save file.
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

This is going to be a tough one...

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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

Land actions all around. Goal for this turn is to take Vladivostok and possibly to kill one or two units in Gibraltar.

A nice air to air battle develops over Gibraltar, as 3 CVP's fly up to intercept a stuka escorted by and Italian fighter. On the first round of combat, the CW sends the Stuka home. One CVP is also aborted, but it's too late for that to help the axis.

Axis bombers once again fail to groundstrike either the OOS brit in Spain, or the OOS French inf in Algeria. That's going to slow things down.

Vladivostok falls on a +11.87 attack. Really all Japan wanted was the freedom to take full actions again, but now that we're at war, might as well get stuff for it. The Soviets are going to have to redirect some reins to Siberia for a few turns.

The allies take the pass and pray plan this turn. Germany is one or two chits, or a few units, shy of war with Russia if they want. Obviously not likely to happen in the winter. The Soviets have to decide now whether to stand and fight (they have their armor and infantry built out, along with most of their air) or trade land for time to build their '42 units.

And the bad news for the allies is the turn doesn't end. It's raining in the N Temp, but fine in the med, so Gibraltar can expect to see some action this impulse. Land actions all around.

German bombers manage to flip one unit in Gibraltar. For the 3rd straight turn, the OOS Frenchman in Oran manages to stay organized amidst a rain of axis bombs.

It's a long shot, but even killing a unit or two will make it easier next time.



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by IKerensky »

Could the CW send some empty TRS to Cap St Vincent to reorganise Gibraltar unit ? The CVP didn't try to interçept the ground strike ?
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

And it didn't go well. 2 dead German infantry corps, and the British Eng division. But if the Germans get another go this turn, we'll try again.

But they don't. The turn ends on a roll of 1. Gibraltar not only survives, but it claimed some heavy German casualties.

On the other side of the world, the Japanese seize the 2 Kamchatkan resources, and line up to do some more damage to the soviets.

The Germans put their chits into defense. At this point, they'll have no trouble breaking the pact when they want to, and they don't want the Russians to do it first and deny them the surprise impulse.

The US passes the war appropriations bill. Entry now stands at 39 and 41, w/ tension at 21 and 22. 40% chance of declaring war on either, and the fleet isn't even in Pearl. Japan needs to get ready, and I need to figure out just how to do that!

Production:
Germany, 30 - pilot, 3 inf, 2 mech, sub, Lnd 2, Lnd (3), CA, CA repair
Italy, 11 - BB repair, sub, Lnd (3), Lnd (3), Ftr (2)
Japan, 17 - pilot, 4 CVP (1), inf, eng, mech
CW, 21 - 2 pilots, 2 cp, CA, CV, terr, inf, mech, 2 CVP (1)
US, 30 - O Chit, BB repair, CVP (1), Ftr (2), Inf, Mtn, Mar div
USSR, 20 - Inf, 2 pilot, 2 ftr (2), Lnd (3), 3 Mil

Didn't get a chance to stop and take a screen shot between production and place new units. This shows the reins arriving this turn, but doesn't include air:


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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

ORIGINAL: KERENSKY

Could the CW send some empty TRS to Cap St Vincent to reorganise Gibraltar unit ? The CVP didn't try to interçept the ground strike ?

If you mean the 1 air to air factor cvp, then no - it tried to intercept the ground support and got shot down on the first round.

I forget about using transports to reorg things - that's very non intuitive to me so it rarely occurs to me to do it. As I'm sure you can see, I'm far from an expert at this game :)
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

Here's the save file for the start of ND 41. After plodding along for the early part of the game, US entry exploded in the last few turns and we're right about where we were historically, although behind a bit on entry options taken.
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by jcrohio »

Zartacla

Have been following along very carefully. In fact I have taken all your saves (though I am just finishing up 1939) and played them out trying to learn the system. I never played the board game and therefore have no reference as to how to start. Following along with yours has made me go through all the steps and actually do them. I have opened two versions of WIF (I have dual monitors so it is easy for me) play through a current turn on one screen and have the next turn open on my other monitor as a reference. Been great for me.

I have one question right now. In the end of turn sequence in 1939 every power was taken to the Air Reserve Form and given the chance to place pilots with planes. It looks like you never did this. Japan even had 6 pilots (I think) and as near as I can tell you never used any of them. Not being critical just wondering why. Is there another way to place planes and pilots together which makes this step of the end of turn sequence unimportant?

Thanks
Jack
Jack
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

ORIGINAL: jcrohio

Zartacla

Have been following along very carefully. In fact I have taken all your saves (though I am just finishing up 1939) and played them out trying to learn the system. I never played the board game and therefore have no reference as to how to start. Following along with yours has made me go through all the steps and actually do them. I have opened two versions of WIF (I have dual monitors so it is easy for me) play through a current turn on one screen and have the next turn open on my other monitor as a reference. Been great for me.

I have one question right now. In the end of turn sequence in 1939 every power was taken to the Air Reserve Form and given the chance to place pilots with planes. It looks like you never did this. Japan even had 6 pilots (I think) and as near as I can tell you never used any of them. Not being critical just wondering why. Is there another way to place planes and pilots together which makes this step of the end of turn sequence unimportant?

Thanks
Jack

With both the US and Japan, I didn't load pilots into carrier planes at the start of the game because the carrier planes would become obsolete (or change classes) long before they every flew for the first time. It's just less headache for me to place them in 1941 or even 1942 than to swap them out in January of each year. With the other major powers, I often had a pilot floating for a turn or two, but only because there were better planes in the pipeline so rather than put them in an already obsolete plane that needed to be kept face up and in supply so it could be removed the next turn anyway, I just saved the headache by not putting it on the board.
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

To be a bit more specific regarding Japan... I put pilots in every land based bomber with 2 or more tactical factors (and with most countries, 2 tac factors would never see the board, but Japan's bombers are weak) and a few fighters. I just didn't put pilots in carrier planes until the end of 41.
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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

Winter is coming. But not this impulse. The Allies have the initiative, and it's fine weather everywhere. CW takes a naval, USSR takes a land, and the US takes a forced combine. The US is ready to send the fleet to Pearl, but has to wait until they take the option - so next turn. On the other hand, by then they may not need to bait the Japanese into attacking, or need the die roll modifier to declare war.

The British send out 3 strat bombers, baiting the axis fighters. One fighter responds over lille, and a pair of British fighters counter intercepts. Unless the axis rebase more fighters into the area after this turn, the British will have free reign to bomb in france for the rest of the turn - and they have 2 HQ's in the UK to keep the bombers going.

Of course, they'll have to do it with one less bomber. Germany rolled a 3 on the first round of A2A and knocked a bomber out of the sky. The bomber over Lyons takes out a BP.

The axis take the stage. Germany and Japan take land actions, Italy takes a combined to get the fleet back into shore bombardment position. Japan will need to take at least one Naval action this turn to set up for invasions, but we're going to take advantage of the clear weather in the north while it lasts.

The Italian fleet comes out, and both Italy and Germany launch bombers to groundstrike Gibraltar. Naval air jumps in to intercept, the axis send their fighters, and we have the largest air to air fight of the game thus far:



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

Each side lost one fighter, and one bomber was aborted. The remaining 3 cleared and disorganized everyone in Gibraltar. Meanwhile, the French unit in Oran survives its 4th straight groundstrike.

Round 2 in Gibraltar, Germany loses an Inf division, CW loses a militia unit. The german units flip, but we'll reorg them at the end of the turn.

Germany and Italy both bring in more air for round 3. There won't be any shore bombardment this time however.

The impulse ends and the weather turns nasty. Snow in the Med (and N Temp) will slow the Germans down.

UK takes a combined. The Indian infantry steps off the transport into Gibraltar. The UK doesn't have enough unlipped transports to flip the infantry in Gibraltar back up. But it's a snow impulse so a German attack is unlikely for the moment.

The allied impulse ends and all three axis powers select a naval action. Japan won't be making the big declares this turn, but wants to have her fleet in position to do it at the start of January.

Japan sets up marines and amphibs and splits up her fleet. Targets for turn one will be Rabaul, the hex adjacent to manila, and the hex adjacent to Batavia. The US hasn't brought her fleet out to Pearl yet, so we'll declare on America but ignore the fleet for the first turn.

German subs find some convoys in Cape Verde and spash a few of them before losing track of the shipping lane.

The turn ends and the skies clear over the Med. The allies quickly pass, giving them a 50% chance of ending the turn before Germany can take advantage of the clear skies. The end of turn roll is a 6, and here come the Germans. The attack on Gibraltar won't be as good as the last one, but we have to keep grinding away at it until it falls.

Italy and Japan also take land actions. A joint force of Italian and German bombers quickly flip the newly arrived Indian infantry. Third time is the charm, and on a +6.111 attack, the germans roll a modified 22, clearing the hex and taking Gibraltar. The Med is now closed. Elvis has left the building. So long and thanks for all the fish.

The turn ends, and Germany breathes a sigh of relief. It's time to turn our attention on the slumbering bear... being mindful of the waking giant.

Here's how things look on the eastern front now:



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RE: Play along with me! - Global War Solitaire AAR

Post by joshuamnave »

And here's a save file for the end of 1941. This is in the middle of the return to base phase, and before production. I'll be back in 10-12 hours or so to do the production for this turn, but would be very interested in what anyone who has been following along would choose to produce.
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