Time of Writhe - Allies

[PDiFolco]

Pretty interesting AAR, giving hindsight on some "2nd line" stuff like convoys. The only funky (ahistorical) thing I spotted is the efficiency of strat bombing... look at what looked like the Brits bombers at that time ! And why no German fighter intereception ?

Note/tip about attached screenies : jpg format can't stand red chars and blurs them to death... use another color or use png format !

[gwgardner]

thx for the tip

You'll have to ask Chocolino if he had interceptors in range for the strat bombers. Don't worry, in this game strat bombers can take it on the chin bigtime. Also, that was a particularly good strike. I have seen strat bombers go out in other instances and have zero or 1 hit.

[gwgardner]

4th week Sept

UK: Both BEF and Egyptian forces are being reinforced, to bring up to full strength. Continued air searches in the North Sea and NE Atlantic show no enemy activity.

France: Heavy air losses for recon units. The Luftwaffe is apparently transferring assets from Poland. Still no buildup of ground forces along the Benelux borders.

Poland: Lodz has fallen. The remaining two corps on the south of the Lodz defense are falling back upon Warsaw. The strongest two Polish corps are now situated in and south of Warsaw. Depending on the commitment of the Luftwaffe, it is projected that Warsaw will hold out for another two weeks before the order is given to the remaining troops to disperse and go into partisan mode. There will be no surrender, although the Nazis may fabricate one. The govt is enroute to London via a Balkan route.

USSR: Against advice Stalin ordered the commencement of operations against Finland. Destruction of three Finnish frontline divisions is a sign of what is to come for the Finnish Army.

[PDiFolco]

Ouch, those Russians units are *huge* !! How could the Finn stand even a couple weeks (and even less stall the attack as they did historically) ?

[gwgardner]

Wondering that myself. Chocolino now has control of Finland. We'll see if he gets some PPs to reinforce, or has some units in reserve.

I'm thinking Finland should start with more fortifications.

If Finland joins the Axis automatically, which I don't know yet, it could get German troops.

Can't believe I didn't do recon. I amaze myself sometimes.

[cpdeyoung]

Finland has events that invite the other powers to contribute PP. Even Italy gets an invite. With these the weak units can be rapidly upgraded, and the Finns put up a very good fight. The situation for Finland is much improved if you allow the human to control it before the attack. Perhaps the aggressor should have to allow one or two week notice, allowing the opponent to take over. Even Pearl Harbor did not take the USA by surprise strategically.

I have given the AI I very tough time in Finland.

Chuck

[PDiFolco]

Yet the Mannerheim line should be represented by some fort hexes, no ?

Look here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannerheim_Line

[Anraz]

The Mannerheim line is represented by some fort hexes - just look here: tm.asp?m=2169819 

[PDiFolco]

Weird, why don't they show in post"23 screenie above ? Fortresses hexes are affected by FoW [&:]  ?

Edit : Forget it, my mistake, I thought the Mannerheim Line was not far N of Leningrad, I've checked the game map and real maps : in fact is farther Northwest from the screenie area, and correctly placed in game... [8|]

[gwgardner]

1st week October

Poland fights on. Marshall Smygly-Ridz has taken to the field, fighting on the front lines outside Warsaw.

[note the modded counters by swatter555 - more on that in the next post, where I updated it]

[gwgardner]

Far across the Atlantic the govt in Washington has taken note of German aggression, and is weighing options. It's obvious that further spending on the military will be necessary. It's also obvious that the US military has fallen behind in some areas of technology. Research options are as follows:

[note: huge change over RtV - in ToW the US starts with limited production and relatively low technology levels. It's taken 5 weeks to get the US PP total to 200]

[gwgardner]

Nothing of note beyond continued buildup in France and Brittain. Recon shows no buildup on theborders of Benelux. Three UK air divisions are in the process of a transfer to Egypt - that will be a three week process in stages to France - Malta - Egypt.

USSR: recon shows that the Finns are moving several divisions towards the Mannerheim Line. However, that string of fortifications has already been breached in several places.

I got the latest version of swatter555's counter mod. Forgot to take a closeup pic, but even in this zoomed out view the mod makes a huge difference. Air units, for instance are distinguishable easily. The more standard Nato format is welcome. Overall the mod is really sharp. Thanks to swatter555!

[gwgardner]

2nd week October

Snow flies in the northern woods, making the advance of the Red Army into Finland a tough slog. The Finns have put to good use all the support they have received from the West, with strong reinforcements to their forces in Vyborg.

Another alarming note comes in in the diplomatic pouch. The French report that the Luftwaffe has transferred some assets to the Western Front, but there is no sign of the Wermacht along the French or Benelux borders, other than static units. Stavka wonders if this presages an about-face in German policy, and a stab in the back for Russia.

[now there's a good look at that counter mod by swatter555. Very sharp indeed.]

[oldspec4]

I have to agree on Swatter555's counter mod [8D]..and watching your back w/ the Germans.

[gwgardner]

Oct. 3rd week

All quiet on the Western Front. Really, really quiet. The British and French have sent urgent warnings to Moscow, indicating that the Wermacht has not been moved west. Ergo ....

Stalin has become alarmed for three reasons:

1) the apparent failure of the Germans to deploy out of Poland.
2) the steady influx of supplies to the Finns from the perfidious West, including Italy. Recon flights have identified six - count them, SIX, new corps/divisions in Finland. They're bringing up new divisions faster than the Red Army can destroy them. The cold forests are proving very difficult to move armor in.
3) the complete silence from Berlin concerning the secret protocols of the Non-Agressino Pact. In fact, it is plain that the Wermacht has taken over all of Poland.

Stalin is itching to fly recon over Poland, but doesn't dare.

Stavka was ordered to call up reserves and man the Stalin Line of fortifications around border cities. 200 PPs have been expended on the mobilization. All regular units are being moved back from the border, behind the that string of forts.

Meanwhile, the Red Air Force has gotten its wings clipped over Finland. In air strikes against Finn frontline infantry divisions, seven hits were taken by the air units. It was a costly blunder for little return, reducing two Finnish divisions by perhaps 50% strength.

Cooler heads in the Kremlin are hoping to dissuade Stalin from any future mistakes like that.

[gwgardner]

end of Oct.

Tensions have eased in the East, as the German govt was responsive to Foreign Minister Molotov's request for a meeting on the Non-Aggression Pact. With some apparent reluctance, the agreement's secret protocol for the division of Poland and other territorial realignments was honored.

In the West, however, French recon photos of sites along the Benelux borders reveal elements of three German armored units that were involved in the invasion of Poland.

[gwgardner]

1st week Nov

Notwithstanding the threat of bad weather, the Wermacht launched a surprise offensive across Benelux borders, after very little preparation and movement of troops from Poland. It remains to be seen if that lack of preparation spells trouble for them.

UK/Netherlands:

Seeing the relative (relative in terms of what they could bring to bear) weakness of the invading forces, the PM thinks he sees an opportunity in the Netherlands, to at least hold Rotterdam. Perhaps even delay the enemy advance into Amsterdam. As a result, he ordered a hasty transport of British forces into the two cities. The units arrived in a much weakened state, and it will take several days for all elements to catch up.

The Dutch, while grateful for the British support, note that the weakness of the UK forces may be more a detriment than an advantage early on, if the intent is to hold the two great cities.

The Germans have already crossed the upper Rhine and the Maas, and the Allies will attempt to set up a defensive line along the Neder Rijn. The major allied effort will be to hold Rotterdam.

[gwgardner]

The situation in Belgium is similar, in that the Germans have already crossed the Meuse, and indeed are across the Albert Canal north of Antwerp. A holding effort will be made in Antwerp, but the major effort of the Allied defense will be along the Meuse and Sambre River lines just southeast and south of Brussels.

Both the French and British are undertaking their long-planned advance into Belgium for a forward defense. The BEF was surprised by the early German assault, and is not yet in position to cross into Belgium, but the French are moving forward in force.

[gwgardner]

Luxembourg fell on the first day of the German offense. Recon flights show the strongest German armored units across from the Ardennes. General Gamelin is certain that this is mere coincidence, and those units are moving to support the Belgian offensive. However, he has ordered a portion of the French reserve into position behind the Ardennes.

[gwgardner]

Dateline Nov. 4th
AP-New York Times

As the Red Army moves forward to take control of Eastern Poland, in keeping with the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement, Joseph Stalin has apparently felt emboldened in his offensive against the Finns. He ordered another round of intensive air strikes against Finnish infantry holding the very southern end of the Mannerheim Line. Those attacks have been deadly - but not on the Finns. For practically no gain, approximately 20% of the Red Air Force has been lost to the futile assaults.

Western efforts to bring aid to the Finns have been largely successful. While heavy fighting north of Vyborg continues, the Finns are moving up reinforcements to the front. Russian gains are slow and costly.

Rumours out of Oslo are that there has been turmoil within the Kremlin over Comrade Stalin's ill-planned and so far unsuccessful attack on Finland. There is apparently also much gnashing of teeth in the Red Army officer corps over Stalin's accord with the Nazi regime. And then there was the recent expenditure of valuable Russian treasure in the abortive mobilization of 40 reserve infantry divisions, when the Communist dictator panicked over the German delay in honoring the so-called Non-Aggression Treaty. Can it be that the steel-fisted Georgian has a more tenuous hold on the Russian govt. than has been formerly believed?

At any rate, the military situation on Finland is still looking strong for the tenacious Finns.