Aussiematto (Axis) v amandkm (Allies) AAR 1.07 full game

[amandkm]

I'm torn. A block to give the DD a chance to escape it's initial placement seems reasonable, but having the neutrals acting as ongoing blockers seems a bit... well...

But then again, we could make a list of similar tactics that either side can and often does employ....

Shore bombardment training cycles
Camping French ships to bottle up the exit to the Med.
Italian scouts in the Atlantic
Suicidal strikes by the French fleet against the Italians.
Suicidal pinpricks on the Italian mainland to reduce Italian Morale
Italian garrison moving to occupy Siwa Oasis to deny the Brits their SF.

etc.

I guess I don't get worked up by any of them, since there are so many and they seem to be pretty evenly split.

[Aussiematto]

I thank you for your equanimity. I for one never do the bombardment thing (not that it really matters here since i am axis). The IJN destroyer trick is usually my limit on things and is a bit of a trick just to help out that orphan destroyer. But, having played a game which ended in stony silence from my opponent once because we could not agree on what the exact meaning of “no gamey play” was (error on my part i think in misinterpreting the restrictions he vaguely suggested). I will trade you engineers in the desert .

Meanwhile ....

We have duelling colonial empires where the blood of poor africans is being split to prop up the Brits and the Italians. A lightning surge of hardened Boers into Somaliland will soon succeed, while Sudanese conscripts appear at the gates of Massawa. Gurkhas rampage through Ethiopia and All looks lost there. Graziani mounts a spirited defence of Tobruk though the RN will soon starve him into submission, and some desultory sparring off Malta sends the Regia Marina back to port. Italy is flushed with success from France but we all know that pasta and coffee are more to their liking than desert fighting. Greece has little to worry about.

Relentless Chinese pressure on Peking costs another Jap army, but the tide is turning in Nanning. The Kulun pass is open, and a lone corps now defends this vital city. Engineers bravely dig trenches on the road to Kweichow even as they take casualties from Kimura’s mud bound sloggers. A thrust to ichang finds Chinese forts unguarded! I admire the brave strategy, breaking thd back of Japanese land power just when it needs to consolidate and think of island holidays.

Unusual troop movements on the Dutch border presage something unpleasant in the Netherlands while the Luftwaffe tests the RAF over London ....

[amandkm]

The British and their allies make slow, but steady progress in Africa. Given the weakness of the Italian economy, Mussolini will be left with the choice of reinforcing to hold on a few more months, or to ready his European armies for the battles to come.

Another Japanese army falls to China, but the southern and central fronts are under relentless pressure.

[Aussiematto]

The good weather continues as a horde of panzers brush aside brave dutch defenders under Von Rundstedt’s clever leadership. Even the Kriegsmarine gets involved, just to be sure of breaking the Netherland’s will to fight. Where is the RN we wonder, nervously rushing back to port. Greece is shocked when bombers appear over Larissa and, following an infantry assault there, a lone tank division is free to drive into Athens. It is all over bar the shouting, from Mussolini to Hitler wanting to know why Italy was not involved!

And the raging tide of dictatorial ambition still floods with Malta’s hard pressed ack ack gunners subjected to a relentless bombardment while the Regia Marina shells the docks and cuts off the tiny island from reinforcement. Mussolini’s desert empire might yet be safe, for a year more perhaps?

China is indeed bleeding Japan dry, as shattered remnants rebuild in Tokyo. But General Zhu, alone in a defenceless Chengchow faces three Nipponese armies and Nanning is saved only by the rain. Peking looks safe now but will the cost Of defending it have been too high as the lack of armies brings all thoughts of an advance on Chunking to a close.

The lightning pace of advance, the thunder of tank and aircraft engines, might be read as confidence but, in his lair, Hitler grows ever more nervous about comrade stalin, whose own empire grows in the baltic states.

Can the axis secure malta? Will Yugoslavia back the axis or allies? What of the gurkhas who lack supplies but seem destined to take Addis Ababa and then join the fight for Tobruk and Benghazi? This is still very much in the balance ...

[amandkm]

With the swift fall of Greece and the Netherlands, eyes turn to Belgrade as the last major neutral between Spain and Turkey. Will they join their fascist neighbors, or will a small group, landed by submarine on the Dalmatian coast, succeed in their endeavor?

Ghandi and his friends in India bitterly protest the shipping of native soldiers to fight Britain's wars, even if it is against another colonial empire. Will they stay loyal or is treachery in store?

Poor weather and sheer exhaustion slow the Chinese counterattacks, save for a late, bold drive to cut Peking off from the southern forces. How will Tokyo react?

[Aussiematto]

Malta holds! Furious discussion now underway as to what went wrong, with even an attempt to land italian infantry rebuffed. Perhaps OKH should have invested In those special forces after all... the weather now is vital, because the RN is appearing in strength in the western med and the RM braces for heavy losses. This setback is offset somewhat by the fact that a lightning thrust of desert recce troops ran into an unexpected garrison in El Agheila and was repulsed. Then, to rub salt into the wound, the surprising appearance of Mk III panzers in the desert led to the destruction of this brave unit. Slovakian infantry bolster the defence of Tobruk as Graziani hangs on.

The light cruiser Belfast, meanwhile, holds off the entire Kriegsmarine off the Danish coast.

China is teetering now. Nanning is cut off and will fall soon. Chengchow has been captured and light infantry rush towards Sian. Chinese troops are cut off east of Peking. Will the slaughter soon be over for those brave peasants?

(Side note ... Amandkm is really testing my nerve in the desert. Have I overcommitted Germany to help my hapless ally there who cannot even get off the boats in Malta?)

[Bo Rearguard]

ORIGINAL: Aussiematto

Malta holds! Furious discussion now underway as to what went wrong, with even an attempt to land italian infantry rebuffed. Perhaps OKH should have invested In those special forces after all... the weather now is vital, because the RN is appearing in strength in the western med and the RM braces for heavy losses.

Painful. That's always the rub when playing the Axis. Everything seems to be going so well for a short while and then the kaflooeys begin to show up and the second guessing begins.

[Aussiematto]

Fortune smiled ... August 30, 1940 and Malta has fallen! Paratroops do what conscript italians cannot. More to come, as I now review the rest of the field. I got bloody lucky. Rain everywhere except on the airfields n Malta. That was a very near run thing

[Aussiematto]

The luck in the Med has held and while the Italians have taken a naval battering, most units still survive until the carriers appear to Bomb them In port. The arrival of German armour has given Graziani confidence, and supply problems bedevil the Brit attacks in East Africa. Spies report suspicious agitators are active in Belgrade. We might need to act decisively, since that seems to have worked elsewhere. The weather gods are Norse this game.

China is cracking. Nanning falls, Chengchow is taken, peking holds and the road to Sian beckons. Japanese factories are in overdrive now, to catch up those losses.

Fighting will decline now, but planning and building go on

[amandkm]

A few observations now, since I am away from my game machine.

This game is a lot of fun. (I'd have more fun if I was doing better) I think the game is at it's best when the opponents are fairly evenly matched as I feel Aussie and I are.). Less entertaining when I am little more than a speedbump to my opponent, like ElvisJohnRambo, and also not when I far outclass my opponent, though those games are useful as educational exercises. It sounds obvious, but I have played many games that are very enjoyable even when I can't make any headway against my opponents, or they against me. (Empires in Arms is a great example of this). It might be the way the combat and morale system is designed, where victories in one area can lead to a steamroller effect in others, while a successful defense can blunt that momentum.

I think 1940 is the most interesting year of the game. Right now, Aussie has slowly built up a head of steam, but I think it has taken him a little longer than he'd expected/hoped, and while he's done well, the flank powers are getting stronger and more motivated to enter the fight, and the question will soon be- Has he done enough, fast enough, to be in position to close the deal next game year?

Anyhow, the allies fight on, and are not without their successes, even in these dark times.

[Aussiematto]

Those are generous words, amandkm and I agree we are well matched. I too have been elvis’ speedbump . Your work in the desert will be crucial now

I think I was lucky to get France a turn earlIer than I expected, since it gave me One more turn in the med which i ended up needing. So, yes, maybe on target or one turn behind, but that depends on Yugoslavia where weather can be an issue. We will see soon whether I am headed back to Russia, or going hard for Cairo, or have More unusual plan.

I think the biggest challenge is MPP management at this stage, i wish there was a way to forward plan expenditure

[amandkm]

A few bright spots peek through the dismal news that fills the headlines as Swordfish find a damaged Italian Battleship in harbor and sink it in a bold attack that draws interest from numerous powers. Who'd have thought that planes could sink Battleships?

As the month ends, a daring strike find French Gold in Dakar, which is spirited away to fund the Free French Cause

Vive La France!

[Bo Rearguard]

ORIGINAL: Aussiematto

I think the biggest challenge is MPP management at this stage, i wish there was a way to forward plan expenditure

Do you mean something like a production planning queue where you can request what projects gets started when the current units in production are finished? That would be nice feature provided you had a last minute "yes or no" option to go ahead if events had changed your priorities in the meantime.

[Aussiematto]

ORIGINAL: Bo Rearguard
Do you mean something like a production planning queue where you can request what projects gets started when the current units in production are finished? That would be nice feature provided you had a last minute "yes or no" option to go ahead if events had changed your priorities in the meantime.

Yes, something like that, or a calculator at least! Anyways, pen n paper are coming in handy,

The Brits have taken Mogadishu, and more amphibious work off Massawa continues the threat there. Strong defences, built by Spaniards in French uniforms perhaps, confront Graziani, so he awaits instructions and the Luftwaffe and Regia Marina do some damage in the med. two carriers gone, plus a cruiser or two. Satisfactory, though not decisive by any means.

Belgrade falls in late October and my minors all rush to join the fray.

In China, there is something of a lull as the exhausted armies square off at the gates of Sian, with armies still threatening Peking, and strong defences at Kweichow. The lack of airpower, and poor supplies, hold up Japan while new equipment and men are brought in for 1941 offensive

[Aussiematto]

So, in what might be the last update for a few days while I am away, we will draw 1940 to a close.

The Allies have been fighting aggressively and effectively but, for the moment, superior technology, morale, experience and HQ leadership favour the Axis. As a dreary Christmas is halfheartedly cheered by men pushed to the limit in incessant war, this is how things stand.

China caused serious concerns early with its strong advances on Peking, concentrating armies and just once breaking through a corps behind Japanese lines where it caused consternation but succumbed to lack of supplies. A turning point came when the last reserve army was the reformed Kwantung Army, shipped in to march from boat to battlefield in Tsientsin. Now, however, the advantage lies with Japan for 1941. The loss of 23 corps, 9 armies, plus engineers and special forces and fighters cannot be undone (and while Japan lost 4 armies, only 1 corps joined them). 2 armies only stand between Itaguchi and Sian, where HQ troops nervously dig in; and, although Japanese light infantry with new weapons bestraddle the Paotow-Sian road and Yenku is about to be taken within a fight, Mao still prevaricates. That month's delay could be a fatal piece of luck. Okamura thrusts up to Kweichow from the south, making slow but steady progress. Two corps hold Ichang and the approaches to the Wu Gorge but without fighter cover they will be bombed hard in coming months and Kimura still threatens the southern side of Chongking. Yamamoto is hatching something for late 1941 but what is it to be?

Britain fights gamely in the desert, behind rows and rows of trenches (presumably back to the Suez canal!). This was not expected and has caused some concern for OKW. For now, however, "the desert rabbit", General Kuchler continues to advance inch by inch with a combined arms assault of infantry and airpower aided by some better-performing Bersaglieri who have more dash and new semi-automatic weapons. His panzers are nowhere to be seen, but the skies are full of bombers and fighters, pounding land defences, duelling with the carrier Courageous, and targeting a British sub squadron. The RN, like China, has been aggressive and may rue that later: the Axis losses of 2 battleships, 5 cruisers and a sub probably are worth it for Malta, plus 2 carriers, 4 cruisers, and 5 destroyers. Even as the year closes out, bitter fighting off Skaggerak suggests this naval duel is far from over!

Meanwhile, Soviet border guards have attempted to report the presence of large encampments and training grounds near the border but Stalin has ordered them all executed so, for now, the friendly relations between brute and bear continue.

I think I am ahead in China, but behind in the Med - I guess the Brits put more into defending Cairo than prepping the RN for the later years of the war and they can afford some naval losses whereas the fight to Cairo is probably now hopeless, with East Africa going to fall soon freeing up good troops.

[Aussiematto]

Things have recommenced, with February seeing an alarming buildup on the Eastern German border. Russia is swinging to the conclusion that war is coming. It is a race in three ... tech improvement, positioning, and weather. When will Barbarossa be unleashed?

Seriously hard attacks in the desert reduced my lead panzer to the bare minimum to survive but the surprise arrival of Von Kuchler’s 2nd panzer corps has made things sticky for the Brits; robbed of targets on land due to sand storms, the Luftwaffe has been off sinking more RN capital ships. Now, of course, OKH would prefer those planes and tanks in Russia but the French engineers have done their job and Nth Africa is a maze of forts and trenches.

China teeters, tho Mao is finally realising he cannot just wait this out. Peng holds SIan and Xue holds Chongking, but armies are few and far to see. HQ troops plead for permission to retreat ... will their wish be granted? At last, Japan can start to consider its next move in the Pacific...

[ElvisJJonesRambo]

Watching this match-up. You two guys love them Tanks! Not gonna say anything, don't want to tip the scales or give free information.

[amandkm]

The fortification of Egypt continues to delay the axis onslaught. We're taking and giving casualties here, but more importantly, we're buying precious time for Stalin to wake to the danger to his west.

The Chinese fight desperately, but they suffered badly in 1940, and it is difficult to find enough recruits willing to take arms against the Japanese.

[Aussiematto]

Despite a brave and desperate fight, it is true that China is now suffering badly. Feng and three armies have been destroyed north of Piatow, unable to retreat fast enough from attacking Peking. Mao’s nest of red cronies in Yenan has fallen to a depleted and exhausted XIXth corps under Itageuchi, whose main force pins the communist remnant army and pushes towards Tianshu. One communist group down! While the northern road to chungking is well guarded, Kimura and Okamura turn the fortifications from the south and batter at the twin objectives of Kweichow and the capital. Naval infantry are reported to be practising on several Pacific islands while the ships of the IJN are all in port awaiting orders.

Italy’s imperial dreams are shattered ... a few brave troops fight on in Addis Ababa but a masterly campaign by the Allies here has been effective. No doubt the Indian commandos are soon to appear in Egypt, where a lone platoon of Lee/Grant tanks in the 10th Armd is all that remains in El Alamein and the RAF nervously guards Cairo. But for a break down in C&C El Alamein wouldHave fallen. It appears Herr General Kuchler Does not understand the word “attach“ (bugger).

Yet all this is a sideshow for Barbarossa has commenced, on May 10. As in France, it Is air land battle, with fallschirmjaeger taking Minsk (undefended!) and Zhitomir, linking with panzer thrusts. The Regia Aeronautica puts in a strong show, supporting tanks and infantry from Mussolini’s better troops. While new equipment had not reaches Hungarian forces, the Rumanians are effective and thrust past Odessa, whose few remaining defenders might yet pose a problem for the next month or so. Up north, a cautious infantry advance takes KAunas but little else ... the main game appears to be aT Kiev and Dneipropetrovsk Now that the border armies have been crushed or isolated. It would appear that Hitler has become too nervous to wait any longer... Will the extra month compensate for the lack of full preparation?

[Aussiematto]

It is June 1940 and my skilled opponent has me stymied in the desert (that error in non-attachment really hurt me). The weather is poor (sandstorms) so the LW is mostly grounded and the narrow frontage and low supplies are turning it into a slugfest. Von Kuchler despairs of his chances of success and wonders why he got the short straw to be stuck in the desert while the merriment unfurls in Western USSR. Italian human torpedo attacks on the remaining Med carrier in Alexandria are followed up by Italian sub attacks. No sign of the RN except for this unit and a sub doing threatening things off the tip of Greece. The Boers are headed north and the Indian troops from East Africa are lurking for something.... Italy strengthens its home defences!

Russia is still reeling from the initial shock of Fascist betrayal (though given the trail of devastation in the west is it any wonder Stalin was next?). Manstein leads AGC in a panzer-blitz towards Smolensk... there is little there, with Orsha, like Minsk, undefended. Deep defence awaits, we suspect. Leeb, in his customary role in AGN, is bringing heavy infantry to bear on Riga but otherwise seems to be holding position, faced by the normal strong defences on that riverline. Without the Finns, there seems no chance Leningrad will fall. AGS with Steppe Fox Rommel at the helm has smashed through the Dnepr line. Kiev falls after relentless Italian and German bombing and, now, tanks lunge through the city to find a fighter unit in Konotop - it is an uneven fight, and a brutal end, for this unit though the town itself does not fall. More tanks, under the new AG even more South, swing into Dnepropetrovsk and threaten Rostov and Kharkov with Rumanians taking Kerson and pushing for Sevastapol. The desert campaign does mean the Luftwaffe is weaker than expected, but at this stage, they have enough to break down defences and let the Wehrmacht make some progress.

China defends well - what is left is causing delays and problems in the mountainous terrain and some new troops arrive. While the news is grim, there's no sign of a surrender at this stage, just more bitter fighting.