Crossroads: Axis Perspective

[Chocolino]

June 1st, 1940

Our offensive is ground to a halt. All our attempts to side step the defensive line at the river were frustrated by the crafty French and British. Not able to extend the pocket near Metz towards the West, we tried at the other end near LeHavre and made only very small gains. In desperation, we attempted a sub-optimal attack at a French Mechanized Corps with the result that our loss ratio plummeted from 10:1 to about 6:1 in one round. We also made mini-steps towards Metz. It is only a secondary target, though. We need to get to Paris and fast.

The lesson of this campaign may very well be that you better bite the bullet early take some losses but take Paris head on instead of dallying about in the French countryside - as scenic as it may be.

Little activity in the desert, but new British troops arrived at the scene. We are starting to get worried.

[Chocolino]

June 9th, 1940

Germany occupies Le Havre, surrounds Metz but makes little progress overall. The Maginot line has been vacated with the exception of some rearguards. German units take over in some areas. The strategy to delay a German victory in France as long as possible is working very nicely for the Allies.

The Italians in the south are of not much help since they are not very mobile. In Africa it becomes apparent that the British Forces are superior (even though less numerous so far) and Italy has not the supply required to withstand if the UK becomes serious here.

[cpdeyoung]

To counter the convoy report bug write down your STP at the end of each turn.  When the next turn starts the STP count will reflect the losses to enemy raiders.
 
STP June 24   160
STP July 1      143
                     17 STP lost to raiders.
 
Chuck

[Chocolino]

June 16th

For a brief moment it looks as if we can close in on Paris by bending the defensive line southwards. But the remaining units are very well defended by rivers and forest. It will take the Luftwaffe again to dislodge them and Hermann will get very upset about the mounting losses caused by Chocolino's never-ending requests for more air support.

The German research laboratories, supposedly world leading, claim severe underfunding and strictly refuse to accept any suggestions of incompetence or tardiness. Only the Krupp Werke make some progress on Artillery and Tank research - but at the snails pace of a single light bulb. All other funds must be going instead into big party parades and renovating Hermann's hunting lodge.

The war in Africa is becoming a problem and the Italians are retreating somewhat uncoordinated leaving openings to be partially surrounded. The British units happily accept the invitations and some casualties are recorded.

Italian units also close in on Marseilles and probe towards Lyon.

[Chocolino]

The Italian Fleet is still at home and awaits first reports of interference with the supply convoys before deciding on a course of action. (However, those reports seem to be intercepted by some secret agent

To counter the convoy report bug write down your STP at the end of each turn. When the next turn starts the STP count will reflect the losses to enemy raiders.

STP June 24 160
STP July 1 143
17 STP lost to raiders.

Chuck

Counterintelligence - excellent! Thank you.

[gwgardner]

I have completely different advice on handling convoy reports. From experience, mind you. What you do is get your navy completely destroyed, so that you don't have to worry about no stinkin' counterintelligence.

[Chocolino]

Deep down I'm afraid that I will follow your advice in the not too distant future, even if not too willingly.

[Chocolino]

June 24th, 1940

A quiet move with repairs and rest west of Paris. The French withdrew units from the Metz area to help in the defense of Paris. As a result the front line south of Metz weakened and will collapse soon. But that does not help the Germans much since Paris is the target that counts.

Africa become a battle of slow retreat for the Axis and the Italian fleet entered the central met to counter Raider activity.

[Chocolino]

July 1st 1940

The Western campaign is now active for 5 month. Little visible progress was made in recent weeks as allied forces skillfully avoided any envelopment of Paris. Chocolino has been "invited" back to the Berghof in Berchtesgaden to explain the situation. For once free from his tactical interferences, the German forces could exploit their high potential and drove to the outskirts of Paris in the north. But this area is still separated from Paris by a river and in all likelihood not enough in itself to take Paris even with air-support. The German forces will have to gain more attack areas before launching the final strike. Everybody is hopeful that Chocolino is detained further at amiable social events in Bavaria.

The Italian commander in Africa has unfortunately never heard about the possibility of strategic movement so skilfully applied by the French on the continent and tries to withdraw from the British on foot through the desert. The retreat is becoming increasingly disorganized. Unfortunately, telephone lines are down between Tubruk and Sidi B. in the desert and the urging requests by his superiors to apply strategic movement to retreat will not arrive for weeks to come.

A new tank corps has been purchased by the Germans and was placed near LeHavre

Italian ships are picked up by allied submarines and carries in "first-shot" attacks. No real naval engagements develop.

[Chocolino]

July 9st, 1940

As soon as Chocolino is back at the front line from his visit to the Bavarian Alps losses start to mount. It took a massive 6-wave air strike, costing 8 air-points total to destroy another French corps holding a forested hex near Paris. Instead of 8:1 the loss ratio is now only 4:1. In exchange for the devastating blow to the airforce, Chocolino had to promise a well known friend a brand new over-sized fancy dress uniform with red boots to distract him from the bad news.

But the noose around Paris is starting to form. The long delays so far were intended to avoid these high losses by only engaging the enemy in the most favorable conditions. However, the delays this causes become unacceptable and some losses must be accepted now to bring this to an end.

Slow retreat in Africa by the Italians (phone lines are still down), and some minor naval engagements in the Med.

[Chocolino]

July-16-1940

Slow grinding in front of Paris.

In the desert, the Italian weakness is amplified by a lack of sea transport. To replenish this will take resources from other planned activities. The Italian fleet - acting as one large battle fleet - was not too successful in fighting the individual allied raiders. Even when a raider was engaged and destroyed, an Italian ship of equal value followed its fate usually.

Spain has joined the Axis side and we have hopes that the Spanish can influence the war in Africa positively.

[Chocolino]

July 24th, 1940

The never ending story in front of Paris continues. Whole military careers must be made there. The encircled area was reduced from 5 to 3 hexes.

The war in the desert was a miscalculation so far. The strong British commitment here will result in a debacle for the Italians.

Interestingly, the allies feel strong enough to ship single transports across the central Med. We caught one and are wondering where he was going (Gibraltar?, Greece?).

[Chocolino]

August 1st, 1940

Paris has fallen after a 6 month campaign. Vichy France has been formed even though all VPs were taken at this point - Marseilles fell to an Italian siege at the same time. (I wasn't sure what the consequences are for Tunesia and Lebanon when fighting France to the end. The extra 100 DP are also welcome after spending 150 DP on Spain. There is also the option to control the Vichy fleet later and I assumed it will be scuttled if France falls completely)

Lessons learned:
1) I expected PBEM to be much harder than AI of course. But I didn't realize by how much.
2) I should have been more aggressive in France early on and not worry about PP ratios too much. By prolonging the campaign, smaller losses over a longer time against an opponent with cumulatively more resources is very hurtful, too.
3) The Italian contribution in France is minimal. They eventually took Marseilles but only since the Allies totally ignored them - and rightly so. The Italian effort did not shorten the war.
4) The Italians alone will not do well in Africa if the British commits there. I also made mistakes in sending too many small units to Africa and didn't realize that I don't have the resources to upgrade them in time. Mishandling of the retreat and of supply convoys further aggravated the situation.

What should the Axis steps be from now on. Some of the options are:

1) Invasion of the UK (many UK troops are elsewhere)
2) Get seriously involved with German units in the desert after helping to take Gibraltar
3) Support conquest of Yugoslavia and possibly Greece
4) Directly turn against the USSR aggressively or just screen defensively for now.

[jjdenver]

Selfishly I'd love to see operation Sealion. It also logically looks like you are well set up for it in this game.

1) Brits heavily committed to France and Egypt - including what looks like entire air force and army.
2) You have Spain

[gwgardner]

yeah, Sealion!

From my AAR you will recall, however, I took at least 50% losses in transport of invading forces to the UK. So unless the Germans can transport directly from port to port, it's a toughy. (I didn't know about that port to port transfer at the time, so I didn't investigate whether it's possible for the Germans.)

[Chocolino]

Thank you for reading the AAR.

I think your assessment is correct. If at all then now is the time. But Sealion, while the most exciting, is also the most risky option and hence against my inner nature. (But I truely haven't decided yet what to do next).

Risk of Sealion as I see it:

1) BEF has evacuated France with almost no losses at all, probably via Brest (or after the fall of France they just go into the redeploy screen). I am not sure where they did go, possibly home.
2) From the Africa campaign I see how effective raider activity can destroy supply transports. I will have to buy massive amounts of STP every turn to make up since I cannot match the RN.
3) How to get "in" and get the first supply port in the first place is the biggest question. Amphibious landing against a stronger navy is disastrous because of how the game system handles naval interception. There are other ways but they can be prevented, too.
4) Even in the unlikely event that I manage all that, I have to transport a majority of my forces incl all the stronger units there. I am completely vulnerable to USSR first strike that can come in a few month.

[Chocolino]

August 9th, 1940

Rest and repair for the German Army. Some air units are transferred to Spain to help with the siege of Gibraltar. The UK has landed additional troops for the defense of this crucial point. We are not sure but some intelligence suggests they were part of the BEF evacuated from France.

Two larger naval engagements ensued in the central Med. In the first the Italians hold their ground, in the second they were beaten.

[Chocolino]

September 16th 1940,

The battle for Gibraltar heats up and both sides commit considerable forces. The diplomatic effort to woe and win Spain completely exhausted the German DP resources at the time. It makes no sense not to follow up and take the only objective of this effort, Gibraltar.

Germany declares war on Yugoslavia and crosses its borders with small number of forces only. We hope the Italians can take over this job since they will soon be unemployed at other fronts (i.e. Africa)

Slowly, German infantry is also transported to the USSR border. Not nearly enough to do anything active, though.

[cpdeyoung]

It is fun to see all the different variations that can occur in the different AARs.  I suspect the British will not have an easy time reducing Tobruk unless they can really hurt your supply, or bring up some larger units.  The Italians will not have an easy time with Yugoslavia either, and the Germans will be back to help I suspect.
 
Can't wait to see the fireworks!
 
Chuck

[Chocolino]

Thanks, Chuck. Yes, I suspect I will need to delegate some Germans to Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, they have to be everywhere at once these days. I have less faith in the Italians at Tobruk.If low supply events form Malta fire, battleship bombardments are made and siege level reduction occur plus combat damage is inflicted, they cannot be brought back up again fast enough. But I will try to hang on as long as I can.