MWiF Global War Hot-Seat (AAR)

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: bean5671

been trolling WIF forum for awhile now and have to say great job this looks like a hit and a must buy for me

Welcome to the WIF forum.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Orm

The descision to pick blitz in the Dnepropetrovsk attack may come to haunt USSR if Germany gets one more impulse this turn.

Don't worry about it. I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse for the Russians, and I don't think we will know until the Initiative roll comes around for J/A '41, but the turn is ended.



On the plus side of things, the Allies get to keep their +2 on the Initiative Track, for what that is worth (and it was worth a lot at the start of this turn).

I'll start posting my end of turn stuff soon, but this one may take a while.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

Italy rebased another LND/ATR to Iraq, along with a FTR, and also got it's 6-factor LND to Copenhagen -- within reach of the enemy stack in Denmark. Germany rebased its last FTR in the Ukraine so that it wouldn't get overrun by the Soviets, too.

Below, this may seem like a strange choice. I decided that I won't need to rail Antonescu to the Soviet front lines (even if I get another impulse), so I decided to "double" his value as an anti-Partisan garrison by reorganizing the MTN unit. Before I did this, I checked my Oil needs this turn. As things stand, I needed 6.5 Oil to reorganize units. If the turn ends now, that means I lose half of an Oil Point unless I decide not to reorganize something. The chances for a Partisan to show up in France were higher than I'd like, mostly due to having to shift units to Denmark, so I decided I'd spend the full Oil Point and lower those chances a bit. This move drops the chances from 20% down to 16% in France. It isn't much, but it's better and it costs nothing in the end.

I think the Romanian MTN should be used to hunt partisans in USSR instead where it can double as a winter attack unit along with German MTNs.

Cut from RAC: 8.2.7 Land combat
....
If at least half of your attacking land units are MTN, ski troops (AsA option 65), Swedish, Finnish,
Norwegian, or elite Soviet units, you may lessen the odds reduction in snow or blizzard by 2 (i.e. snow has no effect
and blizzard becomes a -1 odds shift). If you use this power, your first loss must be from one of these units

[Orm]

On the plus side of things, the Allies get to keep their +2 on the Initiative Track, for what that is worth (and it was worth a lot at the start of this turn).

Allies must reroll for initiative if they do not win the first roll. And if they win the initiative they must go first.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: Orm

On the plus side of things, the Allies get to keep their +2 on the Initiative Track, for what that is worth (and it was worth a lot at the start of this turn).

Allies must reroll for initiative if they do not win the first roll. And if they win the initiative they must go first.

I think so either, however: wait and see what happens when the reinforcements come in, before making a decision about a reroll or not. Building program for the USSR again: empty the GAR and the MIL pool, after that it's time for INF (if there are enough build point available with all those factories railed last turn).

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Centuur

ORIGINAL: Orm

On the plus side of things, the Allies get to keep their +2 on the Initiative Track, for what that is worth (and it was worth a lot at the start of this turn).

Allies must reroll for initiative if they do not win the first roll. And if they win the initiative they must go first.

I think so either, however: wait and see what happens when the reinforcements come in, before making a decision about a reroll or not. Building program for the USSR again: empty the GAR and the MIL pool, after that it's time for INF (if there are enough build point available with all those factories railed last turn).

I think there are 17 BP available, which means 4 x MIL, 3 x GARR and 1 x INF, based on what seems to be available.

I think the Soviets will need to go first, if only to un-make the mistake I made with the MECH and ARM in the forest hex. In addition to the planned MIL builds, they'll be getting 5 Corps, an ART Division, an HQ-I, and another LND-4/ATR. That's a lot more than the Germans will get.
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Anyway, for those keeping track, here is the weather report for M/J '41 (Turn #11):

[Taxman66]

You should strongly consider using the Soviet bombers at night, late in the turn. They'll fair much better against the fighters, and the ones with odd factors (i.e. the 3 TAC guys) don't loose that much in effectiveness.

[Red Prince]

It's complex, trying to work with Convoy Points from 3 major powers and a handful of minors, but I think I can cut another sea area out from the list of vulnerable sea areas. That leaves only 2 that need extreme defenses (in the Atlantic). I'm not sure how much this will cut into CW production over the next few turns, but it probably will by a little bit at least. It may also cut into what can be sent to the Soviets. I just don't have the Convoys available to send them all that many BP and also deliver a full supply of resources to the CW. I did have a good sized backup, but that is going to get used up. Fortunately, a convoy counts as only 1/2 a ship for gearing limits, so I can build a bunch this turn for the USA, though it may cut into some other planned builds. Sure, they won't arrive until the start of 1942, but that's better than not building them at all.

Anyway, this end of turn report is going to be a long time in the making, since I've got to figure out where to return a lot of convoys and ships to base.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Taxman66

You should strongly consider using the Soviet bombers at night, late in the turn. They'll fair much better against the fighters, and the ones with odd factors (i.e. the 3 TAC guys) don't loose that much in effectiveness.

I started doing this a little bit with Strategic Bombing, since the CW has a night fighter (and is about to get 2 more), but I'm still getting a handle on the concept. I sometimes forget the option is available. Thank you for reminding me.

[Red Prince]

In the meantime, I can show you the units Destroyed in M/J '41 (Turn #11):

[composer99]

I believe the USSR also lost a pilot this turn, putting their losses at 56 bp, which is fairly typical for a summer 1941 turn.

On the whole, it wasn't too bad, especially since the Germans only just got across the Dneipr south of Dnepropetrovsk and into the Crimea and have only just reached it up north.

This next turn, though, will be tough.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: composer99

I believe the USSR also lost a pilot this turn, putting their losses at 56 bp, which is fairly typical for a summer 1941 turn.

On the whole, it wasn't too bad, especially since the Germans only just got across the Dneipr south of Dnepropetrovsk and into the Crimea and have only just reached it up north.

This next turn, though, will be tough.

Yes, they did lose a Pilot. Forgot to add that to the image. Thanks.

I think the real danger may be a break for Moscow by the German forces. They actually have a good deal of powerful (and fast) units up in the north, and with Fine weather likely for most of the coming turn, these might be hard to stop. Even if they don't head for Moscow, if they break through near Tula and Bryansk, things are going to get very dicey down south.

Also, the Russians now have effectively 5 Fronts to deal with: Moscow-Yaroslav, Tula-Gomel, the Dnieper, Crimea, and Persia. If they get the first impulse, I think the the Soviets should seriously consider folding the middle 2 Fronts into a single defense at the Don. That lets them defend from Rostov to Voronezh, then up the river to Tula and Moscow, with some token units up near Yaroslav. I think the incoming 5-1 GARR should be stuck in Archangel. If not, someone is going to have to rail there soon. That just leaves the Kerch-Krasnodar defense to create . . . there is a single unit in Kerch right now, and then nothing else between there and the Turkish border!
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On a different note, I'm beginning to think that I need to simply return almost my entire Allied fleet to concentrated bases and set up the defenses when I send out the convoys around impulse 7 or 8 of the next turn, leaving small goups of defenders in the few at-risk areas remaining. This might also have the benefit of showing me exactly how much naval power I can muster against the strong Italian fleet in Cape St. Vincent . . . as well as what I can do to counter the expected attempt by Japan to take control of the Arabian Sea.

I'm finding naval operations now that the USA is in it to be a little more confusing than before (and that was pretty bad to start with). I hate "regrouping" all the time. I think I've done it 3 times in 11 turns so far . . . but if I can't get the right fleet in the right place, I need to do something about it. Leaving random ships at sea just isn't going to get the job done.

Yes, it'll cost a lot of Oil to do this, but America is rich in Oil, and the CW has been hoarding it everywhere it can. All those aligned minors have a lot of regular resources that can be used for production in the place of CW Oil. Now that the CW has lost a lot of its oil-producing territory, they'll need to be a little more careful, but they aren't in danger just yet.

[Klydon]

You could always do what most of the WITE types do and that is Dnepropetrovsk = D-Town. [;)]

The Russians may have stopped the Caucasus incursion, but so far it seems the German investment of units down there is paying off in better results for them on the central front. If that southern front push continues, the Russians are going to have some decisions to make when it comes to Caucasus defenses or risk being trapped from the north perhaps.

[Red Prince]

The Allies desperately need the first move next turn. If not, the CW risks having 2 of its TRS trapped in India . . . unless they can dislodge the Japanese fleet that is going to try to take the Arabian Sea. The Americans have Battleships and CVs on the way, but they won't be able to reach a high sea box next turn.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Klydon

You could always do what most of the WITE types do and that is Dnepropetrovsk = D-Town. [;)]

The Russians may have stopped the Caucasus incursion, but so far it seems the German investment of units down there is paying off in better results for them on the central front. If that southern front push continues, the Russians are going to have some decisions to make when it comes to Caucasus defenses or risk being trapped from the north perhaps.

I think you're right. For an investment of 6 land units (an HQ-A, 1 ARM, 2 MECH, a MECH Division, and a Tank Destroyer Division), plus 3 LND (2 of which can rebase up to 30 extended range hexes, I believe) . . . well, I just counted, and the Soviets have:

38 land units on the map: 6 of these are Divisions

1 of these units is holding the rail line in Siberia
1 of these units is holding Sevastapol
3 of these units are holding Leningrad (2 Corps +1 Division)
9 of these units are tied up in defending the Persian mountains and Teheran (8 Corps +1 Division)
24 of these units have the task of holding back the German offensive (20 Corps +4 Divisions)

That offensive spans 22 hex rows from Vologda to Kerch right now. With a full third of their forces tied up on static defenses, that's going to be hard to cover. Add in the fact that 19 of their units (including Divisions) have 4 factors at most, and you've got even more trouble. The entire Soviet army now has 166 factors (not counting incoming reinforcements), which is an average of 4.37 per unit. That is 4.875 per Corps, and 1.67 per Division.

The Germans have 87 land units on the map, 10 of them Divisions. Dedicated to the Soviet campaign are 59 of them, 50 Corps and 9 Divisions. They total 332 factors, or 5.63 per unit. That's actually 6.2 per Corps, and 2.44 per Division.

Notice that the forces dedicated to the campaign agast Russia total exactly twice the entire Soviet army. That 2:1 ratio has got to be scary for the USSR.
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Edit: For reference, in M/A '41 Germany destroyed 16 Soviet land units (15 Corps, 1 Division). In M/J '41, they killed another 20 land units (17 Corps, 3 Divisions). Of those 20, only 5 of them were Militia.

[composer99]

The naval game is definitely the hardest to get a hang of, no doubt there.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: composer99

The naval game is definitely the hardest to get a hang of, no doubt there.

I've never played WiF over the table, so I don't know how it compares, but one of the things about playing a Solitaire or Hot-Seat game of MWiF that is giving me some confusion is that for most things you can do, you can switch back and forth between the major powers on the same side. This comes in very handy when you're setting up a Strategic Bombing mission with American bombers and RAF fighter escorts, or when you have to shuffle land movement in the Perian mountains between the Italians and Germans. Where it gives me trouble is with the Naval system . . .

I want to make this clear: this is not a problem with MWiF, or a player-interface issue that needs to be resolved. It is simply that I have so little experience with naval operations that it would actually be a little easier to be able to decide who stays at sea and who returns to base from a specific sea area for both USA and CW units at the same time. You can actually do that, by switching between the major powers. But it's hard to do major planning when you're pretty much clueless to begin with. [8D]

[composer99]

What's the breakdown of German & Axis forces in Persia vs on the main front?

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: composer99

What's the breakdown of German & Axis forces in Persia vs on the main front?

German forces devoted to the Persian campaign:
33 factors from 6 units (4 Corps, 2 Divisions), averaging 5.5 factors per unit, or 7.25 per Corps, 2 per Division

That's 10% of the German forces in units, and also 10% in total factors.

Soviet forces devoted to the Persian campaign:
38 factors from 9 units (8 Corps, 1 Division), averaging 4.22 factors per unit, or 4.625 per Corps, 1 per Division

That's 24% of the Soviet forces in units, or 23% in total factors.
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Take these figures out of it, and you have 299 German factors and 128 Soviet factors on the main front. Take Sevastopol and Leningrad out of the equation, plus the Siberian defender, and it's 299 to 107 . . . or just under 3:1 odds in factors, and a little over 2:1 odds in units.

Now, keep in mind, that Leningrad has 4 German units keeping it boxed up, and Sevastopol will need 2 units there. Additionally, some units will need to stay in Poland and in the Ukraine for Garrison duty, but that's still an overwhelming total, isn't it? Particularly when you add in the 28 units not being used on the Soviet lines, and the Italians in Persia and Iraq helping out.
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Edit: The Italians have 25 factors, not counting the HQs, dedicated to the Persian campaign.

[Red Prince]

I should also add, though, that the factors coming in for the Soviets, not including Militia units, total 41 factors. The Germans have 18 coming in.
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It's dinner time for me. This evening I'll return my fleets to base and run through the rest of the end of turn. Probably sometime in the middle of the night (here) I'll post some detailed screenshots of what is on the map before placing the USSR reinforcements that can go into any city. For now, I give you an overview of the situation at the end of the turn: