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June 16th, 1940

Still pouring into Germany in the northern part. The south has already been sealed off by a German line near Lublin. We cannot move past individual German units there with the slow moving Russians - not even one hex except backwards (maybe a hint ...). At the moment, we feel confident about Romania and Finland. The desert is about even. In Germany the Russian invaders are slow and very weak, even more so the further they move away from supply points. We need to conquer a city but don't have enough units in the vicinity of Warsaw to besiege it and are too weak to conquer it. We need to occupy at least a few cities with production to call the early invasion of Germany a success. The Russians are far less dangerous than they look on the map.

June 24th, 1940

The Axis attacks Yugoslavia. That is a surprise since the Russian high command thought they have other concerns right now. But apparently, the Russian attack is too obviously harmless. Marseilles and Gibraltar are still holding and we have a small success in the desert against two units that were a bit too aggressive passing us to the south.

July 1st, 1940

In Poland, it becomes more and more clear that the Russians are not yet a match for the Wehrmacht. While they are economically strong, they are too weak (not only tech level but also in regard to doctrine). As more German units arrivenear Lodz, Danzig and Poznan, our offensive comes to a halt and our minimum goal of capturing Koenigsberg, Lublin and Warsaw has not been reached. We also cannot say we have significantly slowed down other operations (maybe Yugoslavia depending on how many German units are committed there and maybe an early Sealion which may not have been part of the German planning in any case). We did get a free hand in Romania but that is not really that valuable if our advance into Germany will turn into a rout and an open door policy into Russia in a few turns.

July 9th, 1940

The resistance of the German defenders is getting stronger and we feel that the pendulum will soon swing the other way. But we make good progress in Romania and have to fight forward in Finland. in the desert it is a give and take situation.

July 16th, 1940

The situation in Germany hangs in an ominous balance. We are happy with the situation in all other theaters but would gladly sacrifice all other theaters in exchange for success in East Prussia.

July 24th, 1940

We fight on many fronts ...

August 1st, 1940

In Poland, the pendulum slowly starts to swing the other way and the USSR makes some initial retreat to lines that we can easier defend. Gibraltar falls and our troops in the Med are trapped in place.

August 16th, 1940

First alarm bells go off in Poland where strong German units reach around Warsaw. In the desert, fresh Axis troops stop the British advance. In Finland, the Soviets still need a few more turns to finish it off.

September 1st, 1940

The war is one year old and the Red Army suffers is first major defeat. Substantial forces are encircled near Warsaw. The early USSR attack on Germany certainly helped to make things interesting, though in different ways than we would have liked. (Correction: Romania is worth 30PP and not 25 as stated below).

September 16th, 1940

I forgot to take a picture from Prussia/Poland since I was annoyed about myself and a big blunder I committed. Instead of starting to extricate the Red Army from a forming noose near the Oder with strategic transport (the noose was not closed yet but will be soon) I used up distractedly the STPs for the transfer of a tank corps from Finland back to the German front. That cannot be undone and it will cost some additional unnecessary losses on top of what the USSR will loose anyways. Finland falls.

October 1st, 1940

Losses, losses and more losses. For those thinking the Allies usually too dominant and seeking to balance the game, consider a Russian first attack. It does wonders for the Axis. But my mistakes made it worse than necessary. Progress in Bulgaria and the Yugoslavians still defend bitterly.

October 16th, 1940

The Russians hurry back with their tails between their legs. Once we have the Bulgarian income, our earnings will be a slightly higher than the Axis income. But currently we loose PPs faster on the ground than we can replace with our small surplus.

November 1st, 1940

This promises to become a very interesting 1941. We need to hold things together for more than a year until the USA will likely join in.

December 1st, 1940

Trying to stabilize the front against Germany (is it still called "East Front" form the Soviet perspective?). The situation is quite fluid.

January 1st, 1941

We are conducting a fighting retreat in Russia and hope we can delay German attackers sufficiently long until our higher income makes itself felt. We also consider several options on how the UK can participate in the fight against Germany more directly instead of only battling Italians in the desert (which is actually hard enough). The British have several options: 1) invading Turkey form the south and later participate in the Balkans (if there is still an active front by then) 2) Land early on the continent as a distraction. 3) Conduct a strategic bombing campaign. 4) Ally herself with Norway and invade Sweden and threaten Prussia. There are probably more options.

February 1st, 1941

Stabilizing the front behind the Memel river was wishful thinking on part of the USSR. Our retreat continues. The good news is that if anything, the USSR has a lot of space for retreats.

February 16th, 1941

Still slowly disengaging the Germans near Kaunas and falling back to new river lines. We had a few unsuccessful attacks as well this round.

March 1st, 1941

In order to aid the Yugoslav army against Germany, the USSR has to ironically declare first war on Yugoslavia. Otherwise, the Red Army cannot enter the country since Yugoslavia is neutral and not Comintern.

March 16th, 1941

The Germans are very powerful in the Baltic and there seems to be no way stopping them at the moment. Losses continue to rise and the battle is fluid.

April 1st, 1941

We continue our retreat in the Baltic and cannot plug the approaches to Minsk. The USSR is in negotiations with the USA (still computer controlled since neutral) and has applied urgently for economic aid. We hope we will receive Lend Lease soon.