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janS should take Potugal, put more pressure on germany.[;)]

There will soon be pressure. This AAR is delayed and we are into the dark days of 1945! But back to the innocent days of '44. Winter is relatively quiet. The Germans enjoy a turn free of the risk of sea invasion in the North, and once again counterattack Russian forces that retook Czechoslovakia!

A lone heavy fleet has annoyed Japanese shipping in the Pacific - but the IJN carriers find it CAP-free this turn and hits it. You can also see the buildup and stalemate of forces in Alaksa/Canada.

As it's been about a year, I thought I'd show forces and damaged units (I think this was the beginning of my turn). The Wehrmact has weathered 1943 in pretty good shape - but Allied strength is also growing. I have not rebuilt the Luftwaffe damaged fighters - but may do so if an opportunity presents itself.

Damaged and destroyed units =

Spring begins with a disappointment - the odds were favorable to push the Soviets out of Poland, but the Germans are repulsed.

The Germans are forced to attack Hungary to push the Soviets away from Austria and the core of the Reich.

Summer of '44 actually sees some success for the Axis, buying a little precious time. Jan informed me that the Soviets got a bit of luck in his turn - they seized East Germany. But the German high command responds quickly - cutting off the line of retreat in Poland and then attacking the isolated Soviet army in East Germany. The odds were about 90% for the German counteroffensive, which succeeds in liberating Berlin. Fortunately, the Soviets hadn't located the fuhrer-bunker. [;)]

On the negative side, the Germans are forced to recall all troops from Western Europe to defend the Fatherland (and Italy). Spain, France, and the Low Countries are virtually evacuated. The victory celebration is not enough to hide the fact that Germany is beginning to collapse.

Taking advantage of a redeployment of Allied troops to Europe, the Japanese strike into Canada.

A small IJN taskforce had been redeployed to the Indian ocean earlier - to hit the Allied fleet guarding East Africa.

The world picture - sometime during the Japanese turn.

Fall of '44 sees the Allies move into vacated territories in Western Europe. Jan elects to move his main army from Denmark to the Low Countries. The Germans attack the Western Allies in a battle of attrition. The Germans have a strong ground force with artillery support, which helps. But casualties in militia are heavy for the Axis.

The Japanese land in Africa with the hope of seizing East Africa next turn and cutting off that line of advance.

This is a little out of sequence - as these were actually taken during the German turn. But I thought I'd show a few of the important tech specs. First up, Infantry. The Russians have been battling with a lot of militia and artillery - and haven't improved their infantry too much. The other main combatants have strong forces.

Next up, tanks. In this, the Russians and Germans have invested heavily. The Western Allies have built almost no tanks - relying instead on infantry, artillery, and air.

Artillery forces are strong for all powers. The Japanese lag a bit in quality.

As for Heavy Bombers, the Western Allies have begun to improve their attack ability. It occurs to me that Japan could have been well-advised to start development earlier - but some investment is made in that direction as well.

Winter of '45 = we are approaching the last days of an exhausted Reich. Here are current troops. Note - I've left the damaged Luftwaffe on hold in production. I considered bringing back the damaged fighters if Jan gave me an opportunity - but none has presented. And disbanding damaged bombers and ships provide a few extra resources if the need is great.

Casualties so far - a fairly bloody war (although the Japanese have got off easy so far) in part because of Jan's intense focus on Germany first!

With the advantages of winter for the defense, I figure Germany does have at least one more turn in her. Unfortunately, Jan has retaken Cairo and moved his carriers in a position to block my ability to reinforce Africa. Note - I also forgot about the double border - so don't have enough supply to use all four units in an attack on East Africa. A miscalculation on my part - as the Africa adventure will go down as "too little, too late." [X(]