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December 9th, 1940

Only cynics at Allied HQ say that the loss of Valetta will save the UK lots of merchant shipping which will henceforth not be lost to German and Italian subs. The truth of the matter is that this disaster may cost the Western Allies the entire North African coast including priced Egypt. Axis supply convoys will now be able to reach Africa much safer and nothing will stop the Axis to expand its campaign there. It is unlikely that sufficient British supplies will reach Alexandria to stop them. The position of the British PM is getting perilous as public unrest continues to rise in the UK also because of the unresolved French surrender issue.

The Western Allied ASW campaign is currently conducted with 6 carriers (5 UK, 1 French) and averages less than one HP per turn. The situation has worsened as the Bay of Biscay is now a save haven for Axis subs since it is protected by Axis tactical bombers operating from occupied France.

December 24th, 1940

There will be no merry Christmas for British troops in Egypt. The Axis has taken an active role here and presses toward the Nile.

Belgrade had to exchange/rotate defenders as the supply officers of the incumbent unit failed to replace lost equipment. Given the two powerful German tank units at the gates, the effort may be a bit futile in any case.

The USSR has recently reached Lvl 2 in infantry technology and upgrades selected corps in key defensive positions. But there is still no sign of an imminent German attack. But spring '41 is just around the corner.

January 9th, 1941

As long as those German tank corps conquer Yugoslavia they are not yet on-route to Moscow.....

The Western Allies were recently more successful battling German convoy raiders in the Atlantic - but there are very few other good news at the moment. The Axis drive to the Nile does not proceed at a fast speed and seems to have stopped near El Alamein even though we did not oppose the move much. Not sure what is holding the Axis back.

February 1st, 1941

During the last three weeks, Yugoslavia has surrendered and Gabes has fallen to a combination of Italian and German attackers. Greece has been switched to human control of the Western Allies in anticipation of a possible DoW (the DoW did not take place yet).

What was not known to the deceived Greek public was that this particular player is not very experienced at handling their or anybody elses affairs. (Just sent British colony convoys to Egypt instead of the Briitsh Isles and am now surprised by the angry reaction of the British public. Lost 50 precious PPs - Ups - those pesky British cvilians.)

February 24th, 1941

The situation in Egypt is almost unchanged. The British public has also gotten used to the fact that the French continue to fight and the social unrest in the UK is not further increasing. French North Africa will occupy some Axis forces for a few more weeks while the French CV Bearn is continuing its hunt for German submarines.

It is still unclear what the next major German move will be.

March 9th, 1941

Now that the Axis realizes just how weak the remaining French forces are, they become ever more aggressive. Successful amphibian landings happened in Tunis and Algiers.

The German "maneuvers" at the border to Greece are becoming also more and more threatening. When will they strike?

March 24th, 1941

In an interesting twist the Germans declared war on Turkey (AI controlled so far, now human controlled). Turkey is not prepared to withstand a sustained attack for long. Their units are spread out far and thin. The Western Allies have no resources left to help. Instead USSR planers are debating if they should intervene.

But it is actually too early for the USSR to become pro-active and it smells like an attempt to draw the USSR into a gambit that is favorable for the Axis at this early time. The USSR will probably wait and see and prepare defenses in the Caucasus region while keeping all options open for a counter-strike in the future.

The Axis has now quite a number of smaller scale active operations underway that all require some level of resources. They fight in French North Africa, the British in Egypt, screen Greece (or maybe attack soon), have some defenses at the USSR border, and have not subdued Norway completely. The USSR decisions will depend on how many troops the Axis deploys in Turkey. (But then they can quickly put Turkey on the back-burner and focus on the USSR once at war).

April 9th, 1941

Another demonstration of the Axis amphibian capability, now at Athens. Athens was defended by a full strength Infantry corps which was apparently no problem for the landing German tank division.

A recent article in the Prawda states: "The recent violations of neutral countries by Axis forces in the Soviet sphere of influence have caused the USSR to cancel their non-aggression treaty with the Axis unilaterally."

At least in Egypt we could achieve a temporary standstill of the Axis avalanche.

April 24th, 1941

Crete prepares for more amphibious landings. An Italian task force is underway and has been sighted in the Aegean sea.

May 16th, 1941

All land fighting is now concentrated in the Southern Mediterranean. Greece has surrendered after another well executed amphibious landing by the Italians on Crete.

Western Allied planers are worried about the German intentions after Turkey. Will they turn east and try to establish a second front on the USSR in the Caucasus or will they move south to support the Italians in Egypt? The UK is also struggling with suddenly skyrocketing upkeep costs. A defense of Egypt on two fronts is unlikely to succeed given the existing force limits.

News from neutral countries:

The US has enforced an oil embargo on Japan and Allied planers hope that this will speed up a war entry of the US (note: not sure if that is actually how it works - but we will see).

The USSR has improved her strategic transport capability so that they can move units easily to and from the Caucasus region as needed. Where and when should the USSR strike in '41? - or should we wait until '42 when major technological advances will be available?

June 9th, 1941

Maybe it should have not been a big surprise given that we have June '41 but the Germans have declared war on the USSR. Our lightly defended border guards and custom officers have been overwhelmed and White Russia is wide open to German tanks. Russia's main defenses are further east.

But the USSR has countered into Axis-leaning Romania and pushed this country to join the Axis. USSR planers hope that the Soviet army efficiency is as high as our party leaders claim. (some prophesize nasty surprises in the coming weeks)

It will be interesting to see how the Axis deals with the increased length of the East Front while still waging war in quite a number of southern countries at the same time.

Really enjoying this Choco, I hope this marks the beginning of the end for Axis tyranny.
Good Luck!

Hello Agent S, thanks for following the AAR and for the encouraging remarks. Quite a bit of work left before the Axis tyranny will cease to exist - and it looks like luck will be indeed required by the Allies.

June 24th, 1941

The Russian population begins to realize that the leadership of the Bolshevik party must have been wrong for once. The Russian land forces are not quite as efficient as always claimed at home.

The Red Army troops in Romania must have had better leadership since the efficiency loss was less severe. These troops wanted to mount a challenge there while the rest of the Russian army is in a crisis mode. But we have to admit the plan failed. The Germans could react quicker than anticipated via railroad and fast Russian tank divisions - suddenly vulnerable - had to be withdrawn.

July 16th, 1941

The Axis attacks everywhere - and is successful at it. This time I wanted to update on North Africa, the Levant and Turkey.

Status East Front: The Germans advance currently east from a line (roughly) Riga - Pinsk - Odessa and use only few tank units. Most tanks appear to be still tied up in southern campaigns. The USSR has to survive a few more turns with 1% unit efficiency in core Russia.

July 24th, 1941

Quick update on the final days of the French nation and status of the East Front. The USSR needs to survive a few more days of shock. Luckily, most of the German tanks were still occupied elsewhere in this early stage of German/Russian conflict (but they will come soon enough and wreak havoc).

August 9th, 1941

The French nation will only be remembered in history books - it has ceased to exist.

The British are getting desperate in Egypt. The Axis open up a two front war which may have been the whole idea of the attack on Turkey. If Egypt is lost - and that seems likely - it would be another international embarrassment for the British.

The British have now 3 strategic bombers decimating industries in the region of the Ruhr. But losses to A/C are about as high as damage inflicted.

More German tank corps arrive at the East Front and the pressure on the Red army is mounting noticeably. It is all hanging on a thin thread now.

(The game is really exiting even though it is not going too well for the Allies at the moment. Maybe the game is already tipping towards the Axis now but the West-East Alliance is still hoping for better days to come).

August 24th, 1941

The German can now create holes in our line at the East Front with the help of more tank corps present. So far no major breakthrough did happen in the north, though while they manage to push steadily east in the south.

The British are near collapse in Egypt while Turkey is still having a shadow live since nobody has bothered so far to finish them off. Once Egypt falls a whole host of Axis troops will be freed up and I have already an idea where they will appear.

The US has passed the lend lease laws.

September 16th, 1941

(catching up on previous turns - these screenshots are at the time of writing outdated by 1-2 turns depending on which player you look at.)

Since many of the German tank corps are now engaged successfully at the East Front, the situation is getting critical there. The Germans can take USSR defended strongholds almost at will. Land Lease from the US is still not flowing so far.

The Italians are also on the brink of victory in Egypt - with critical help from a few strong German units. The British government has to deal now with a revolting public once the bad news of loosing control of the Suez Canal was publicized (where was the military censor now?.)

[:(]
Time to start learning Deutsch.