Matrix Games Forums

September/October 1939

Allied Impulse 6

Highlights. Not many. More like lowlights, or something. Or maybe Axis highlights? I don't know. Let's just say the Royal Navy isn't covering itself with glory.

Port attack called off: Bad weather and/or lack of coordination lead to a port attack on the lone Italian cruiser in La Spezia going bad (search rolls It 2, CW 7, giving Italy enough to call off the attack). Guess I should have been bold and bombed Malta.

Merchant ships sunk in the cold Atlantic: With organised subs still in the North Atlantic, the RN sends cruisers to defend the convoys. Unfortunately, they're still a little rusty at this whole "war" thing, because when the Germans initiate, it's a 3-10 split for Germany. 9 surprise points means the German sub in the 2 box (the one that found) gets aborted to Kiel while 2 cp are sunk and 3 aborted.

Disaster in the Mediterranean: RN task forces from Aden and Port Said join up in the Eastern Med to fight the RM, but after a decent start bollix it up.
- 1st round both sides roll a 3 on their searches, CW carrier planes abort the cruiser Trento from the 4 box to Malta, after Italian AA fire that falls just short of amazing.
- 2nd round Royal Navy makes a complete hash of it with a 1-10 split in Italy's favour. With 10 surprise points, Italy calls surface, picks its X on the carrier HMS Glorious, and reduces the damage it takes to 1X 3A. Glorious and cruiser HMS Dorsetshire are damaged and aborted, while the rest of the Italian cruisers in the 4 box are all aborted to Malta, with one of them (Zara) damaged.
- 3rd round search results are CW 7 and Italy 10, ending the combat.

About the only unambiguous upside is that the Royal Navy managed to find and sink the unprotected, isolated convoy point in the Red Sea. I guess they know what they're doing when the other guy is unarmed. Yay? [:D] Also, they have more cruisers they can throw in to reinforce the E Med while the Italians are tapped out, so if the turn goes on and a combat goes Britain's way, they could get some serious attrition on.

Here are the lowlights in pictures. (Except the sub combat in the Atlantic, I forgot to take a screen capture.)

September/October 1939

Allied Impulse 9

With a little teaser of the end of turn.

In Axis impulse 7, the weather didn't change, but turn length did (weather roll of 7, as compared to 6 the previous impulse).

The Axis went all land this time, with Germany transiting the Army from East to West, Japan manoeuvring in China, and Italy sending the Army into Egypt and the Sudan.

As for my impulse, not much happened: all the Allies save for the Commonwealth passed. I figured it was better to end the turn early and cost the Axis an extra impulse in Europe and China than to try to get them to end the turn.

The Commonwealth sent the infantry division in Liverpool to the Western Med (where it eventually was forced to return to Gibraltar at the end of the turn), and reinforced the stack in the Eastern Med with more cruisers. Unfortunately, the attempt to stick it to the Italians in the Eastern Med failed abjectly - searches were CW 7, Italy 10. If this performance keeps up, it could be cause for the current Government to lose confidence in the House, I daresay.

The British Army in Egypt moved to defend against the Italian invasion, and then the turn ended.

Sneak Peak of End of Turn: Chinese cavalry corps breaks down into divisions.

September/October 1939

Allied Production

I already shared this on the "public" thread, but I'm sharing it again here with some of my own thoughts on Allied production.

China: Kind of a no-brainer. Since I got lucky and lost all of 1 unit last turn, I want to get as many Communists out of the force pools as I can before Nationalist losses start filling them.

France: It's a bit of a gamble, building the MECH, since it can muck with gearing limits and you have fewer units coming down over the winter, but it's a great unit to have over the summer. If the next two turns are long with fine weather, I'll regret building this, but otherwise should be good.

United States: Putting down the SYNTH early. Once I can lend resources to the other Allies, the oil taps will be turning on so the Commonwealth can stockpile as much oil as possible. To that end, the more oil the US has to lend, the better.

Soviet Union: Nothing fancy here: some infantry and a pilot so I can put the 4-factor fighter in reserve on the board as well as the beefy bomber.

Commonwealth: Always a bit hard to plan, as the Commonwealth needs... well, a bit of everything. I don't think I'll be facing an invasion of the United Kingdom, but it's too early in the game to dismiss the possibility. I also had some naval losses to make good on. And of course I want to prevent the Axis from taking Egypt, 'cause it's a huge pain in the arse to get back, and it will seriously mess with my own designs for the Middle East.

With those in mind, I built two garrison units, and will follow up with infantry and militia in later turns, along with repairing a bunch of ships in the repair pool and laying down a convoy point.

Somewhere in there, I need to squeeze in some air units.

September/October 1939

US Entry

A bit out of order here, but since US entry didn't change anyone's production, no big deal.

I didn't get the marker I wanted into tension, but nothing doing.

I'm going to take some extra time to talk through how I like to play US Entry.

I like passing Chinese Build Aircraft early, both for a chance to get the 1939 markers into tension early on, and so that if China has a light turn, losses-wise, it can try to get an air unit out early. I especially have to make up for being sloppy with oil placement, so if I manage not to take any losses, I might even build a pilot in November/December in order to be able to build a fighter the following turn (an American-lent one, natch).

The game plan going forward for the Japan pool is to pass Resources to China as soon as I can, as well as Re-open Burma Road if need be. Otherwise, I usually like to build up entry in order to pass Fleet to Pearl in order to better manipulate tension levels before going nuts here.

The Europe pool is a bit easier to deal with because the average tension levels on options are higher. Usually I try to pass as few options as possible, save for high-tension gimmes such as Occupy Greenland & Iceland and must-haves like Resources to Western Allies or USSR.

For global options, it's pretty normal for me to only pass Intern French CV and Destroyers to CW, other than the gear-up options, before the war starts.

November/December 1939

Here are the highlights of November/December 1939.

Initiative: Axis roll 8 + 2 = 10; Allies roll 2. Axis wins initiative and makes Allies go first.

Allied Impulse 1
Weather roll is 6 (Snow/Storms/Rain/Fine/Rain/Fine)

Actions are USA & USSR combined, CW & France naval, and China land.

Naval Moves (other than convoy & 0-box escort moves):
- USA sails 3 cp from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands sea area;
- USA sails USS Salt Lake City from San Diego to The Marshalls sea area with the 4th Infantry Division embarked - the division later debarks on to Wake Island;
- France establishes presence in the Italian Coast;
- French TRS and SUB sail from Marseilles to along the coast of Africa;
- RN sails task forces of battleships and cruisers from Aden and from Port Said to the Eastern Med (3 box);
- RN sails HMS Malaya (BB) and HMS Eagle (CVL) to the Red Sea;
- Transports loaded with Hurricanes sail from Plymouth to Cape St. Vincent (0 box);
- Transports sail from Plymouth to the Bay of Biscay (0 box) and embark the Ulster Territorials (Northern Irish TERR);
- The Queens, having previously docked in St. Helena at the end of last turn, sail to the Bay of Biscay (0 box), embarking II Corps (the 7-3 INF).

Naval Combats
With a lone Italian cp in the 0 box, and unprotected Italian battleships in the 2 box, and with weather reducing the capabilities of the Italian naval bombers, the Royal Navy initiates combat in the Eastern Med. The Italians react fighters to the 0 box and the NAV to the 2 box. Search rolls are CW 4, Italy 3 - both sides fail to find.

Land Stuff
- Siberians in Chita rail to Blagovyechensk;
- Minor adjustments by the Red Army around Rumania (including a rebase later) and the Communist Chinese in the rear;
- The Nationalist Chinese vacate Hengyang, preferring the mountains immediately to the west;
- The KMT also moves divisions formed from breaking down a CAV last turn to new positions in southern China.

Rebases
- The French fly their fighter to Strasbourg, in case they decide it needs to escort bombing missions into Germany;
- The US NAV in Honolulu flies to Midway;
- RAF Hurricanes at sea in Cape St. Vincent rebase to Gibraltar, while other Hurricanes in London rebase to Dover;
- The RAF Fairey Battles rebase to Plymouth.

November/December 1939

Jiminy Christmas, all this naval stuff means long turns and lots to report. Also, the Eastern Med is easily the critical theatre of naval combat so far this war.

Highlights of Axis Impulse 3
I'm going to assume people reading along are also reading Ronnie's Axis AAR, and so getting the blow-by-blow of Axis impulses there. As such, I'm just going to recap a few important bits of this impulse, and will do something similar in future posts here.

- Japan calls a combined, sails transports to sea to pick up MIL from Japan, occupies Hengyang, and disorganises the Chinese 4-1 GARR nearby;
- Germany continues redeploying the Heer and Luftwaffe from Poland to the Western Front;
- Germany and Italy sail out subs, which aren't particularly effective this impulse;
- Italy establishes a 0/1/4 defence in the Italian Coast;
- Italy sails a big-ass fleet of cruisers to the Eastern Med 4 box, but the RN gets the drop on them in the ensuing naval combat (search rolls CW 3, Italy 6). HMS Barham is damaged, while Birmingham and Cornwall are aborted to Port Said. For the RM's part, Duca D'Aosta is damaged, and Garibaldi is aborted, at which point the fleets lose contact with each other.

Allied Impulse 5

Weather
Roll is 3 for result of 4 (Rain/Rain/Fine/Fine/Fine/Fine).

Impulses
CW & USSR combined, Fr & Ch land, US pass.

The USSR continues its build-up along the Rumanian frontier, while the French continue building up along the Franco-Belgian frontier. British forces defending the UK adjust their positions, and Chinese forces defending China stay put.

War in the Mediterranean
The Royal Navy sends a task force from Gibraltar, consisting of carriers and battleships, to the Eastern Med, linking up with the forces already present. They seek battle with the Regia Marina.
First Round: Search rolls are 3 and 3: it's RN in 3 box versus RM in 2 & 4 boxes, and a naval air combat. Despite having a serious advantage in the air, the RN Gladiators can't stop the Gabbiano bombers from getting through (Allied air combat roll is 11). Even worse, Italian AA fire is pretty on the money, easily holding the Swordfish at bay. To top off the farce, the Gabbianos force carrier HMS Furious to abort.
Second Round: Search rolls are both 9, ending the combat.

November/December 1939

The war at sea goes on!

Highlights of Axis Impulse 7
Air Raids: The Luftwaffe launches vicious, unjustifiable air raids on French cities, damaging priceless city centres in Paris and Lyons! (And also hitting factories & stuff for 1 pp of damage each.) This is, of course, to be contrasted with the vital, strategically necessary Allied air raids on Germany. [;)][:'(][:D]

Redeployments: Japan shuffles units around in China and debarks the MIL at sea into Canton, while Germany continues its build-up along its western frontiers.

Submarine Raids: Axis subs in Bay of Biscay try to find convoys, but to no avail. Subs in Cape St Vincent are far more successful (search rolls Axis 2 versus Allied 9), evading the Hurricanes trying to spot for them (4 surprise to call the combat). The submarines disregard most of their usual targets to close in on troopships (3 surprise to pick a target). A TRS takes an X result, but fortunately makes its save (8 rolled for a damage result). A damaged and aborted convoy point round out the damage to the Allies, while both Italians involved in the combat are aborted, ending the combat.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Nothing happens as the Italians elect not to initiate combat.

End of Turn: The Axis roll a 2 to just barely not end the turn.

Allied Impulse 9

Weather
Weather roll is 8 (Snow/Snow/Rain/Fine/Rain/Fine).

Impulses
US passes again; CW naval; Ch & Fr land; USSR combined.

Battle of the Atlantic
Such spare convoy points as can be found are sailed to Cape St Vincent (to replace the losses) and to Bay of Biscay (because of lending to France). The U-boats in the Bay of Biscay hear reports of new convoys in the area and try to hunt them down, but someone must have been reading their mail (as it were), because they are caught on the surface by an RN cruiser (search rolls CW 1, Axis 4 - because the Axis are in the 2 box they don't find). One SUB unit is damaged, to no Allied damage. Search rolls in the second round are CW 5, Axis 10, ending the combat.

Battle of the Mediterranean
A bunch of RN cruisers try to sail through Italian pickets in the Eastern Med to break out westwards. Those that succeed sail to the Italian Coast, while the ones that are intercepted join the rest of the fleet in the Eastern Med. Submarines in Gibraltar also sail to the Italian Coast.

The RN tries to find and sink Italian naval forces and/or merchant shipping in the Italian Coast, but the Italians intercept their signals and manage to evade them. (Search rolls are CW 6, Italy 2, Italy pays 4 surprise to avoid combat.)

In the Eastern Med, in the meantime, both sides enter battle fairly well prepared (search rolls are CW 2, Italy 1), making it the Italians in the 2 & 4 boxes versus the RN in the 3 box.

First Round: Neither side has enough surprise to call the combat, so it's a naval air battle. This suits the RN just fine given the air battle is +3/-3 in its favour - provided the Gladiators perform better than last time, of course. They perform just well enough by sending the Gabbianos packing to Malta.

Second Round: Both sides are still pretty well prepared (search rolls are CW 1, Italy 3), making it the RN 3 box versus RM 4 box, with 2 surprise points for the RN. The Royal Navy could have made it a naval air combat in the hopes of getting a better surprise split, but opts for a gunnery battle instead (surface combat), boosting the damage it inflicts on the RM. Damage results are 2X, D, and A inflicted on the Italians, and X and D inflicted on the British.

In a vicious battle, RM cruiser Pola is sunk and Gorizia and Trieste are damaged. For the Royal Navy, HMS Warspite led the charge right into the thick of the Italian formation, but took an unlucky hit to her main magazines and exploded. (Warspite took both the X and D result, rolls were 9 and 4 respectively, the latter being just enough to sink her.)

With damaged ships still at sea and with the Royal Navy possessing a decisive advantage in both firepower and airpower (insofar as its CVP is part of its main fleet, while the Italian FTR is sitting in the 0 box), the Regia Marina flees from the Eastern Med, leaving it in Allied control for the time being. (Italy aborts, ending the combat.) First Sea Lord Churchill gets to present the House of Commons with a present for Christmas: an important victory at sea only months into the war.

The Air War
The French and British launch retaliatory raids on Berlin and Prague, to no avail.

War in China
Not much happens up north, where the Chinese are hoping snowy weather will keep Japanese attacks at bay. In the south, the KMT leaves the disorganised 20th Reserve Army (4-1 GARR) to its fate, and the units stacked with it withdraw in good order into the nearby mountains.

Miscellany
The USSR continues adjusting positions along the Rumanian frontier. In the Middle East, the French infantry in Syria march down (both last impulse and this one) into Egypt. British Fairey Battle bombers (LND2) fly from London to Bristol, with the thought that they might sail out to Egypt at some later date.

November/December 1939

The Allies didn't end the turn - end-of-turn roll of 10, where a roll of 3 or less was required, so it's back to the Axis.

Highlights of Axis Impulse 11
Germany Expands the War: There's no "Phoney War" in this war. Just after Christmas, German forces advance suddenly into the Netherlands (Germany declares war, although I'm sure no such declaration actually happened.)

German naval bombers bomb Dutch ships in port in Rotterdam, sinking merchant shipping (2 cp sunk) and damaging the cruiser De Ruyter. German Army formations rapidly overrun the country, closing in and seizing Amsterdam with the help of the Luftwaffe (automatic +21 attack).

War in China: The IJA, for its part, launches two offensive operations, on the city of Nanyang in the north and against the 20th Reserve Army in the south. The second battle turns out "just right" (10 rolled on a +13 assault). While the Japanese encounter a few difficulties in the reduction of Nanyang, their losses are not severe and they capture the city (12 rolled on +8 assault means disorganised Japanese and 1 loss, the 2nd infantry division).

End of Turn: Turn ends on a roll of 5 or less. End-of-turn roll is 8, so it's back to the Allies.

Allied Impulse 13
Weather
Weather roll is 9, for a net result of 10 (Blizzard/Snow/Snow/Rain/Storm/Rain).

Impulses
Ch land, CW & USSR combined, Fr & US pass

End of Turn
End-of-turn roll was 7, which was just enough to end the turn.

War in China
The Nationalists and Communists both adjust their positions in response to the successful Japanese offensives, as shown in the embedded pictures.

Battle of the Mediterranean
The Royal Australian Navy continues its hunt for Italian forces in the central Med (Italian Coast), but to no avail.

Battle of the Netherlands
The British Army disembarks the Ulster Home Guard (Irish TERR) to Liverpool, while reserve formations (London & Manchester MIL) shift around by rail or walking. I changed my mind about the lnd2, so I send it back to London, where I will either use it to support operations in the Low Countries, or take it off the map, whatever I feel like doing next turn.

Most importantly, however, the transport that I had left in reserve for just this occasion sets sail, joining the fleet in the North Sea and embarking the XLV Corps (4-1 GARR), which then disembarks into Rotterdam. Although not enough to prevent the Netherlands from being conquered, this move will have some strategic ramifications, as we shall see at the start of next turn.

Sadly, I forgot to take a screen capture of the situation in Western Europe at this point.

November/December 1939

End of Turn

Entry Markers
Ge draws 1 marker offensive, 1 defensive. USSR draws 1 defensive marker.

US draws 1 marker against Japan, but passes no options.

Return to Base
I'm sure Ronnie described Axis RTB, so I won't bother. The Allies sent a lot of convoy escort cruisers in the 0 box home from various locations. The Royal Navy fleet in the North Sea stays at sea, dropping to the 1 box, while the RN ships in the Med head back to port, leaving the French (who are still not at war with Italy) to patrol the seas - and, conveniently, to provide presence when the CW needs it next turn).

Production
The embedded picture in my next post will show the production for the turn, including reinforcement pools.

Peace Phase
Germany conquers the Netherlands, which chooses the UK as its new home country. The Italians have not been idle in East Africa, but the undermanned British have been, so the Italians managed to occupy Khartoum and Berbera over the course of the turn, thus completely conquering Anglo-Egypt Sudan and British Somaliland, leaving French Somaliland as an isolated Allied base in the region.

Taking Stock
A pretty good turn overall, I would think.

US Entry: US entry is low. They have a solid marker in the Ge/It pool that I'm loath to risk losing, so I don't see a French DoW on Italy any time soon. At any rate, unless 1940 is especially miserable I don't think I'll be too far behind.

China: I'm definitely concerned about the losses China took this turn, though. Last turn was okay - 2 bps lost versus 5 produced, but this turn is 7 bps lost versus 5 produced, so they've basically only made good on their losses over the past two turns instead of expanding their forces. We're not tipping towards collapse just yet, but the Japanese have churned out land units early, so the pressure is still on.

USSR: I must admit, my set-up was a bit sloppy vis-à-vis making an early claim on Bessarabia, so it just isn't happening until March/April at the earliest. However, once I'm ready to go, I'll have a big force on the frontier, flanking manoeuvres to keep the Germans from forcing a peace (and also cutting off potential reinforcement). I'm pretty confident that Germany will accept the claim.

Germany spent 5 bps in SO39 on stuff that isn't that great for Barb (the para div and sub builds), and spent another 3 bps this turn on subs. 2-3 bps a turn on subs, plus any other naval builds (perhaps upgrading the battleships?) will take a bite out of Barbarossa.

As far as the situation in the Far East goes, I'm a bit less worried about the possibilities of going to war with Japan than I was at the start of the game, mostly thanks to Germany's production to date. I'll keep monitoring because things can change. With the timing of a Bessarabia border claim, I'll probably pull the air units off the board in May/June and pop them up in the Far East in July/August. Just pulling the aircraft off the map might spook Ronnie and get him to send units back up to defend Manchuria, easing the pressure off of China.

War in Europe: The RN gave as good as it got this turn, which is definitely a win for the Allies. With Egypt looking stronger and the Italians facing supply problems (both due to a shortage of cps overall and action in the Eastern Med) and no German reinforcements (yet), once I can get a unit or two flipped I can clean up the invasion of Egypt.

As much as I'd love for the French to be taking the hits instead of the British at sea, there are two benefits to their continued neutrality vis-à-vis Italy: first, of course, their ability to run their convoys unmolested through the Med, and second, they provide free, unsinkable presence for the Allies. (That latter benefit definitely punishes the Axis for only DoWing one of the Commonwealth or France with Italy.)

I also want to clear up the East African situation. If the Axis turns things around in the Med and manages to seize Egypt, them controlling all that territory will give them a solid springboard to taking control of the Indian Ocean away from me, possibly for the entire game.

As far as the Western Front goes, I'm hoping the defence of Rotterdam, plus some wintry weather, will delay German plans. The later they invade Belgium, the longer France holds out.

ND39 End of Turn
Here's the production record along with the reinforcements.

ORIGINAL: composer99

I'm going to assume people reading along are also reading Ronnie's Axis AAR, and so getting the blow-by-blow of Axis impulses there. As such, I'm just going to recap a few important bits of this impulse, and will do something similar in future posts here.

Thank you for doing recap of the important Axis events. I've decided to just follow this thread, and the common one, until the game is over. After the end I might take a peek at the Axis thread.

I followed the first turn as it happened and am now catching up. I hope to follow your thread daily from now on.

I think it will be more exciting to only follow one side.

ORIGINAL: composer99

USSR: I must admit, my set-up was a bit sloppy vis-à-vis making an early claim on Bessarabia, so it just isn't happening until March/April at the earliest. However, once I'm ready to go, I'll have a big force on the frontier, flanking manoeuvres to keep the Germans from forcing a peace (and also cutting off potential reinforcement). I'm pretty confident that Germany will accept the claim.

I think you should make the claim 1st Allied impulse of Jan/Feb. Especially if the weather is snow or clear. If Germany declines the claim I find it improbable that Germany can force a peace. And while Germany may send peacekeepers to Rumania you should be able to put them OOS soon enough. And keeping German units away from France can not be all bad. So, I think, as long as you can avoid the enforced peace a war with Rumania is good for USSR. Even if it is a prolonged war. You have, most likely, a year to conquer Rumania. And while you do so you can always have fun bombing the oil.

And I must say that I doubt that Germany will risk the precious Rumanian oil. Especially with so much naval action and naval builds.

I suggest that you do a test DOW on Rumania, and set up their units, and see if you can make progress enough in Rumania with two bad weather impulses.

Also, it doesn't look to me like USSR will be needing many moves in China during the next turn.

Hehheh,

This war of attrition in the Med. seas will cripple Italy within two years.
The only thing better for you is French ships taking losses instead of the RN, but not too big of a deal. Althoug if France could have a devastating surprise impulse in the Med., destroying 4/5 Italian ships in 1 impulse that would be cool .

Don't worry about axis taking Egypt away from you .
If things keep going like they are now, they won't even be able to keep a single unit in supply in Africa, let alone an army that might be a threat . Keep it up!

Oh and before I forget: building all your FTR3 almost as soon as they come available plus a couple of long range NAVs (range > combat factors), really helps keeping the luftwaffe at bay if/once they show up.

January/February 1940

Start of Turn

New Year Scrapping
Allied: The US, France, and CW scrap a few obsolete planes. The US also scraps XXXI Corps (4-5 MOT).
Axis: Italy and Japan scrap some old planes. Japan also scraps old, slow light carriers.

Reinforcements
- Repaired RN ships are placed in Liverpool;
- All French & CW militias are placed in their cities;
- France places one of its ftr2 from reserve instead of the Potez ftr3, into Paris;
- Red Army 25th & 33rd Armies are placed in Odessa;
- CCCP 8th Route Army is placed in Sian;
- Canadian 6th Garrison Corps (3-1 GARR) to Halifax, Indian 7th Garrison Corps (5-1) to Calcutta;
- The RAF pulls aircrews out of Fairey Battles to be reassigned to other aircraft (lnd2 in London returned to reserve pool);
- As you would have seen from last turn's production, the only Axis reinforcements were Japan's MIL and o-chit.

Lending
Allied: The CW continues to lend France 1 resource (from Cyprus, unless and until it gets conquered) and 2 build points.
Axis: Germany lends Italy 2 resources.

Initiative
Initiative rolls are Axis 3 + 2 = 5 and Allied 8. Axis uses a re-roll. New rolls are Axis 1 + 1 = 2 and Allied 9. Allies win initiative.

At this point, I was seriously considering letting the Axis go first. If I go first and end the turn, after all, the initiative shifts back to Axis +2. Also, the situation in China was such that I felt comfortable if Japan went first. However, I decided that Rotterdam really needed a second land unit: with a 60% chance planes would fly in the North Temperate, a single 4-strength unit just wasn't going to slow the Germans down long enough. If I wanted to waste precious German time, I needed to go first.

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #1

Weather
The weather roll is 9, with a +2 modifier from the end of last turn, for a net result of 11.

That's horrible weather all round: Blizzard/Blizzard/Blizzard/Rain/Storm/Rain

Just the weather the Allies are looking for, except for fighting at sea, where they want their planes to fly.

Impulses
China land, everyone else combined.

US Build-Up
The US sails convoy points from Honolulu to 0 box China Sea, The Marshalls, and Christmas Island sea areas. The latter two convoy points are providing redundant supply to Hawaii, while the first will return to base to Manila for the purpose of lending resources to China.

Convoy Defences
- The Dutch cruiser Sumatra sails from Rotterdam to the Bay of Biscay 0 box;
- French cruisers Lamont-Picquette and Suffren sail from Marseilles to Cape St Vincent 0 box.

Western Front
- CW troopships sail from Plymouth to North Sea 1 box and embark the London MIL, which disembarks into Rotterdam;
- RAF Hurricanes fly from Dover to Rotterdam;
- Marseilles MIL rails to hex with HQ Georges;
- French ftr2s rebase to Franco-Belgian frontier and the lnd3 rebases to Paris.

Mediterranean Theatre
- CW reinforces the front line in Egypt;
- French XLII Corps advances into Egypt;
- Hurricane squadron (ftr2) in Gibraltar rebases to Algeria;
- CVPs in Gibraltar consolidate on HMS Courageous, leaving HMS Furious empty.

USSR Activity
- Newly-formed armies in Odessa leave the city to new positions along the frontier with Rumania;
- The 3rd infantry division leaves Odessa and takes up position near Dnepopetrovsk, while at gun formations replace it in Odessa.

War in China
- The 8th Route Army advances into the mountains between Sian and Tungkwan;
- KMT formations around Kweilin shift positions to reinforce the second-line militia holding position south of the Hsi river;
- I forgot to capture a screenshot of Chinese moves.

January/February 1940

Axis Impulse #4

Despite the bad weather, the Axis were busy.

Impulses
Germany & Italy naval, Japan combined

War in China
Japan sails troopships to China sea; MIL are either loaded upon departure or embark. It disembarks the MIL into Shanghai and Canton, and makes other adjustments (1 land unit moved, 1 rebase).

Redeployments in Europe
- Germany sails 2 cps to Baltic Sea; they now have five present. (I do wonder what that's about.)
- The Luftwaffe rebases Stukas to Amsterdam and air transports close to Germany's western frontier.

Battle of the Hook
Based on an OKW assessment that supply lines for the British second-line forces defending the southwestern Netherlands are tenuous, KM forces are dispatched from ports in East Prussia on 3 January with orders to bypass the Royal Navy blockade and cut the supply lines. (Germany sails Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein to North Sea 1 box, and Scharnhorst, Admiral Hipper, and Blücher to North Sea 3 box.)

After crossing through the Kiel Canal, the German ships manage to evade detection as they snake down the German and Dutch coasts. The slow, old battleships stay out at sea to watch for Royal Navy reinforcements while the faster, newer vessels move in to strike. By 7 January, they reach the approaches to Rotterdam, and are able to ambush troopships on station there. (Search rolls are Ge 2, CW 7; Ge 3 box finds with 7 surprise; Ge inflicts X as damage and spends 3 surprise to pick the organised TRS as a target.) Caught unawares, the troopships take significant damage and losses, though not enough for the flotilla to be written off (damage saving throw is 8, so the TRS is damaged).

Fortunately for the British, the troopships were not unescorted. Unfortunately, the escorting forces weren't expecting trouble, and so aren't able to bring their full might to bear. (Germany spends remaining surprise to reduce its own damage from X/D/3A to X/A.)

All the same, as Blücher and Admiral Hipper dash back out to the open seas, they are caught by battleship broadsides. Admiral Hipper takes minor damage and light casualties (1/2 abort result). Blücher takes the brunt of it, and begins listing and taking on water after a series of explosions rock her lower hull. Such crew as survived the attack mostly evacuate, and she sinks beneath the waves at 5:39 AM on 8 January. (Blücher took the X result with a saving throw of 6.)

With poor visibility, the Royal Navy quickly loses contact with Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper, and they slip away into the North Sea. (Search rolls the next round are Ge 4, CW 3, ending the combat.)

(The battle name reference is to the municipality of the Hook of Holland, which sits right where ships leaving Rotterdam would pass out into the North Sea.)

Battle of the Atlantic
Italian submarines based in Malta sail to Cape St Vincent and the North Atlantic; the latter subs are joined by German U-boats.

Rolling seas and poor visibility in the open ocean make finding British merchant shipping impossible. (The subs in the N Atlantic are in the 1 box, and can't find in Blizzard.)

Weather conditions are just good enough for the Italians west of Gibraltar to make the attempt, although they search in vain. (Italy initiates in Bay of Biscay, where they can find, but search rolls are It 3, CW 4.)

Battle of the Mediterranean
With unseasonably cold and stormy weather, the Regia Marina focuses on defending its supply lines to Malta and Egypt instead of attempting to fight the Royal Navy. A strong force sails to patrol the waters of the central Med (2 BBs, 2 CAs to Italian Coast 4 box, while a cruiser drops to the 0 box), and lighter pickets sail to patrol the shipping lines to Tobruk (2 CAs to Eastern Med 4 box, and 1 CA to 0 box with the cp).

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #7

Weather
The weather roll is 10, for a net result of 12: Blizzard/Blizzard/Blizzard/Rain/Storm/Storm. It's pretty frightful to be out at sea.

Topical songs: "The weather outside is frightul, and the ship furnace is hardly delightful." "Sailors, it's cold outside."

Impulses
With bad weather and not a lot to do, most of the Allies pass. Only the CW takes a naval impulse.

Transports at Sea & Redeployments
- The Queens liners sail from Suez to embark the South African MIL out of Cape Town, sitting in Mozambique Channel 0 box.
- Dutch troopships in Batavia sail to the E Indian Ocean 0 box, where they can return to either Australia or India as required or desired.
- Aircraft carrier HMS Furious sails out of Gibraltar into the Atlantic (Cape St Vincent). Since the Italians elect not to attempt to intercept, she makes it to Liverpool without incident.

Battle of the Atlantic
The Royal Navy adjusts its convoy defences across the Atlantic:
- HMS Berwick and HMS Terror sail from Halifax to 0 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Cumberland drops to 1 box E Coast;
- HMS Edinburgh drops to 1 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Valiant (BB) sails from Liverpool to 0 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Norfolk sails from Liverpool to 4 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Erebus, HMS Exeter and HMS Resolution (BB) sail from Liverpool to 0 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Glasgow sails from Liverpool to 4 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Sheffield drops to 1 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Newcastle drops to 1 box Bay of Biscay;
- HMS Southampton sails from Liverpool to 4 box Bay of Biscay.

Axis naval intelligence picks up on the activity (the Germans having done a good job of breaking RN codes at this point) and the subs at sea redouble their search for convoys - but to no avail. (The subs in the N Atlantic still can't find, so don't initiate, while the subs in Cape St Vincent initiate but search rolls are It 9, CW 10.

War in the Mediterranean
HMS Eagle (CVL) & HMS Malaya (BB) sail from Suez, joining HMS Revenge (BB) and cruisers Cornwall, Birmingham, and Kent out of Port Said, in 3 box E Med. This task force has orders to find and sink either RM warships or merchant shipping - the Admiralty's not picky. However, the weather confounds their efforts. (Search rolls are CW 6, It 10.)

The RAF fighter squadron in Algeria redeploys to airfields around Tunis.

Edit: I quite forgot to mention the end of turn roll! With all Allies but one passing, the turn ends on a roll of 2 or less. The roll is 8, so the turn continues.

January/February 1940

Axis Impulse #11

The Imperial Japanese Army is on the march. Hopefully they get frostbite in the privvies.

Impulses: Germany combined, Italy & Japan land.

End of Turn: Roll was a 7, with a 6 or less required to end the turn, so the turn continues.

North Sea
The Kriegsmarine still has orders to find and sink Allied troopships running supplies across the Channel to the Netherlands, so the Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper patrol the waters just out of sight of the cliffs of Dover. However, the Royal Navy suspects trouble and has ships on patrol. The KM forces catch sight of hulls but identify them as battleships that they don't want to engage with at this time, and so slip away towards the open seas to evade detection. (Search rolls are Axis 4, CW 1, nobody finds.)

Egypt & East Africa
- Italian land and air forces in Egypt pull slightly back, though not entirely leaving the country.
- The Italian supply unit in Eritrea moves inland towards Khartoum.
- I'm told there are adjustments to Italian positions in Italy proper, though I haven't yet seen what they were.

War in China
- Japan rails MIL in ports inland, and the IJA pushes forward in all sectors despite the weather.
- No offensives or assaults are launched, however, and IJA/IJN air formations redeploy to more favourable bases. (The latter with reluctance, I'm sure.)

Western Front
Germany undertakes minor adjustments to its land and air positions along the frontiers with Belgium and France.

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #15

Boy, the turn's gone by fast.

Weather: There's a lull in the weather in February, with a roll of 3 becoming 6 (Snow/Snow/Rain/Fine/Storm/Fine).

Impulses: With an 80% chance of ending the turn, I decide everyone will act, save for the US. Actions are US pass, China land, everyone else combined.

End of Turn: The end-of-turn roll was 9, so the turn continues.

Raids on Kiel
Allied intelligence reports that the port of Kiel no longer has nearby air cover. (No planes in range to intercept, and Ge declines to CAP.)

With great enthusiasm, Churchill requests an all-out air raid against any German ships that might be in harbour. RAF Bomber Command demurs, wishing to reserve long-range land bombers to support operations in the Netherlands. So Churchill orders the Gladiators aboard HMS Ark Royal be outfitted with torpedoes. The carrier and escorting ships approach Kiel in the early hours of 19 February and launches planes.

The Gladiators discover there are only merchant ships in harbour. Poorly-designed for such work, they simply aren't up to the job of inflicting losses. Some merchantmen take damage, and a freighter or two are sunk, and harbour facilities are also damaged, but it amounts to little more than an inconvenience (1 cp aborted).

Redeployment on the Western Front
With the troopships put out of action in January, the RN is concerned that refueling and resupply efforts will temporarily halt the flow of supplies to the Netherlands. (I don't really want to have the fleet in the North Sea sitting in the 0 box at the end of the turn.) As such, the RAF squadron based out of Rotterdam returns to bases around Dover.

Battle of the Atlantic
Light carrier HMS Hermes, outfitted with Baffin planes, sails to the North Atlantic to hunt for submarines and protect merchant shipping there. (0 box North Atlantic.)

The Axis subs at sea search for the merchantmen, but the weather is still too foul and the seas too vast. (Axis initiates combat, search rolls are Axis 3, CW 8.)

Battle of the Mediterranean
The French send cruiser Primaguet from Marseilles to patrol the Western Med, undertaking spotting duties on behalf of their British allies. (4 box W Med.)

As for the Royal Navy:
- The Australian cruiser HMAS Australia and her destroyer escort, laden with the men and matériel of the British 2nd Infantry Division, sail across the Mediterranean, hoping to reach the Suez Canal. (My goal was to go to the Red Sea and disembark there.) However, she is spotted by Italian reconnaissance planes as she crosses the narrower passage between Malta and Tunisia, and briefly makes contact with ships believed to be RM warships. Her CO decides to link up with Royal Navy forces on patrol near Alexandria. (Italians intercept with a roll of 3, so the cruiser stays in the E Med.)
- For its part, the Royal Navy continues its own hunt for the RM and Italian merchantmen, but to no avail despite the better weather. (CW initiates combat in E Med, with search rolls of CW 4, Axis 5.)
- Unbeknownst to the British, in response to the sighting of Australia, the Axis scramble large numbers of planes in the hopes of catching and sinking her and/or RN ships at sea. (Italy sends 2 ftr2 and a nav2, and Germany a ftr2, to sea in various boxes as part of the combat.)

In the end, Australia and her escorts are able to disembark the 2nd Infantry Division and return to sea to patrol the waters of the Eastern Med.

Defence of Egypt
- Egypt's monarchy and the British work out an arrangement whereby the former's militia are stationed in Port Said to defend the harbour there (Egyptian TERR moves to Port Said).
- The French XLII Corps moves to the western banks of the Suez canal, positioned to guard both Suez and Damietta.
- RAF fighter squadrons in Tunis, bound for Egypt, redeploy to the Tunisian frontier with Libya along the coast. (They're now in range for a naval air mission to the Eastern Med 0 box.)

War in China
- Believing his position in the plains around Tungkwan to be exposed (i.e. no doubled defence factors), Mao retires CCCP forces there to the highlands between that city and Sian.
- For his part, Chiang and his central formations (including the Chungking WLD), reposition to the highlands somewhat southwest of Chihkiang, while KMT formations far to the south retire in good order across the Hsi river.

Other Stuff
- Sydney MIL rails to Adelaide.
- The Red Army 3rd Infantry Division marches from the Dnepr river bend not far from Dnepopetrovsk into Sevastopol.

So the next Axis impulse was played just last night, meaning I'm almost caught up to the current state of the game. (Yay!) Only thing not done is the Axis end-of-turn roll.