Matrix Games Forums

Dec 6, 1940
Japan reaches the outskirts of Chungking and it will probably fall in the spring. Overall Allied income is pretty good with USA mobilization ahead of schedule and the USA convoy to the UK means they are getting ~400 MPP per turn. Its about time for the UK to figure out how to start either causing German losses or hitting their income as every MPP they have to spend against the UK is one they can't spend against the USSR. Given that I know Germany is focusing as much as possible on the USSR means the UK has to play very aggressively and be willing to even trade 2 for 1 in losses in the Axis favor. If I can trade the UK's 400 MPP for just 200 MPP of Germany losses, I consider that worth it.

Jan 3, 1941
Tripoli is captured by the Allies which means all of North Africa and East Africa are controlled by the Allies. The Axis left only garrisons throughout Africa so besides Italy taking the NM hits, had very minimal losses. The UK destroys an Italian heavy cruiser and destroyer which leaves them with just 2 naval vessels. The Allies have full control of the Med now.

After a few rebuilding turns, the UK begins its aggressive action by bombing and destroying a garrison in Norway. Initial plan is to try to capture some of Norway's ports and then potentially assault Oslo. The goal is to protect the arctic convoy to the USSR, limit convoys to Germany, and distract some German units.

The UK also starts its strategic bombing campaign hitting the mines along the France/Belgium border to reduce German income. It appears the Germans don't really want to contest the skies over France as they have only 1 German and 1 Italian fighter.

Jan 31, 1941
The British land and capture the empty port in Norway. Once the port is repaired, the UK could land a few units and a HQ there to attack Oslo. It doesn't appear the Germans want to contest the North Sea or protect the Norway convoy route.

In China, Nanning finally falls and a number of our units in low supply are destroyed.

Dutch East Indies moves 8% towards Allies. We've invested almost the max into DEI for quite a few turns now and know the Axis has invested 0 into diplo yet this is the first hit we got. Definitely got really unlucky in the early diplo rolls.

Feb 28, 1941
Denmark surrenders to the Axis and Germany DoW and invades Yugoslavia. Belgrade barely holds and will probably fall next turn. Dutch East Indies moves 5% towards Allies so 1-2 more hits and the Japanese convoy will stop.

UK recons most of France and finds only a few Italian units. There are even some empty ports and very few units in Benelux. UK begins to consider an invasion of France rather than focusing on Norway. It will be costly but if we can get a repaired port then could transport in all the UK units sitting in England and force Germany to react.

Mar 28, 1941
Yugoslavia surrenders after the fall of Belgrade. The UK decides to go forward with a small invasion of Benelux (my version of Operation Jubilee). A paratrooper lands in Brussels and liberates Belgium. Carriers and bombers weaken a German corps in The Hague which is then destroyed by a UK corps but it is unable to move in to capture it. This was probably a mistake as I should have instead used the paratrooper to capture The Hague to get the ports as the Axis will probably be able to move a unit into it. But the Axis have no units in all of Benelux so will have to rail units in to respond which this close to Barbarossa is exactly what we want.

UK's income continues to grow and is almost at 500 MPP per turn now. Also with the strat bombing and landings, the Germans don't have the income from the 2 mines, 2 minor capitals, and 1 city which is considerable.

Apr 25, 1941
The Axis respond in Benelux by moving a German corps in The Hague and moving in most of the Italian ground forces (2 armies, 3 corps, AA). This is about what I expected as the Germans don't want to weaken their Barbarossa forces so send the Italians to deal with it. But based on recon, I believe this leaves even more ports undefended in France and an AA captures an undefended French port. This initial invasion will mostly likely become a decoy as the UK prepares additional forces to invade France next turn.

The USSR prepares its defenses as the German forces are waiting at the border. I decide to try to defend forward in the North and Center to hopefully save some of the autospawn units.

May 23, 1941
Barbarossa begins! The Germans surge across the USSR border and absolutely crush everything. I've never seen such an impressive opening turn. The USSR takes losses of 3596 MPP vs German losses of ~250 MPP! The only autospawn units save were a corps, a fighter, and the 2 light tanks. Its an absolute disaster and the Allies consider surrendering. The Germans appear to have 8 panzers, 8-10 bombers, and an array of infantry. Their strategy was to use most of the bombers in the north to destroy the autospawn units around Riga while using their panzers to crush the Center and South autospawn units. I guess the lesson here is if the Germans have all their panzers and bombers for Barbarossa then there is no hope of defending forward.

The only Soviet offensive is in Finland where they capture the Finnish artic port to protect the convoy lanes. Everything else is pulled back into the best available defensive positions.

While the Soviets are being destroyed, the British in desperation launch D-Day without the cowardly Americans. The UK captures 3 additional ports in NW France and use the major port which is captured intact and the port captured last turn to stream in all available units. The corps defending Brest is destroyed and the city/port will be captured next turn. The UK plans to turn south and capture the French capital of Bordeaux to improve supply. The Germans have a tough decision to make on how to react to this as Barbarossa is now in full swing.

The Japanese begin sieging down Chungking which will fall any turn now. The Chinese are largely a defeated nation and quickly running out of units to defend with.

Here are the starting positions for Barbarossa:

Here is the Eastern Front after the invasion and Soviet turn:

Here are the positions in France and China:

Current Game State
Its a good time to review the overall losses, income, and research now that Barbarossa has begun.

Losses
Germany and Italy have taken pretty significant losses and even after an incredible opening to Barbarossa are about equal to UK and USSR. China has been a disaster with China having almost twice as many losses as Japan but its also a large portion of Japan's income so probably won't be a strong DoW on USA as they seem all in on China.
- Axis - Germany (6099), Italy (3539), Japan (5546)
- Allies - UK (6883), USSR (3596), China (9257)

Income
Even without the USA, the Allies have around a 50% income lead over the Axis though Germany should increase a bit as they conquer some of the USSR. Japan will suffer income wise until they DoW on the USA as the DEI convoy is stopped now.
- Axis - Germany (500), Italy (120), Japan (260) = Total (880)
- Allies - UK (500), USSR (650), China (120), India (90) = Total (1360)

Research
The Allies have generally spent more on research with UK and USSR spending a bit more than even Germany and Japan. This could be a significant factor if the game goes into later years. I know Germany has focused on infantry, tanks, and bombers. I know Japan has gotten infantry, bombers, fighters, long range, and amphib. The UK has focused mostly on infantry, carriers, fighters, and amphib. The USSR has the standard infantry, tanks, and AA. The USA has a bit of everything but it was decided to focus first on infantry and bombers rather than tanks or AT though if the early D-Day is successful then this was probably a mistake.
- Axis - Germany (1650), Italy (825), Japan (1775)
- Allies - UK (1975), USSR (2030), China (630), USA (3655)

Axis losses and income:

Allied losses and income:

Axis research:

Allied research:

Allied techs:

June 20, 1941
The UK cautiously expands its beachhead in France and begins sieging down Bordeaux. It appears the Germans responded with a handful of infantry units railed into Paris. Soviet NM improves based on their being a number of Allied units in France. On the Eastern Front, the Germans approach Riga, Smolensk, and Kiev while destroying a number of units and capturing Minsk. In China, Chungking falls to the Japanese and the Chinese retreat. Another tough turn for the Allies with heavy losses for the USSR and China.

July 18, 1941
The UK sieges Bordeaux down to 0 supply so it should be captured next turn. In the USSR, the Germans seem unstoppable with massive numbers of bombers and panzers. They capture Riga and Smolensk easily crushing the defenders. They destroy the Army defending Kiev but are unable to move into it. At this point, almost all of the panzers are near Smolensk and it appears they are probably going to focus on trying to push for Moscow.

Aug 15, 1941
Bordeaux is captured and France is liberated but the real benefit is that Bordeaux will eventually provide full supply. The Axis approach the UK front lines and the fighting begins but its clear the Axis are going for more of a contain strategy rather than quickly pushing them into the Ocean.

On the Eastern Front, the Germans finish pocketing the remaining units around Riga. They use all of their panzers to smash the units in fortifications east of Smolensk. In the south, they capture Kiev but limit their advance. At this point, I now know its an all-in for Moscow and probably try to capture all of the USSR's capitals in 1942.

The USA begins the oil embargo against Japan hurting their NM.

Sept 12, 1941
The fighting heats up in France with both sides taking some heavy casualties and the UK taking advantage of controlling the skies by bombing with carriers and bombers based around London.

The Chinese retreat to Lanchow and try to fortify it as best as they can. The Japanese will struggle with supply for a few turns so we should be safe for a bit.

The Germans surge forward towards Moscow with just about all of their forces on the Eastern Front. It appears they just have a few units in the north and south so the Soviets move everything they can to defend Moscow. The weather should turn bad soon around Moscow as even fall has good odds for mud/rain/snow.

Oct 10, 1941
The UK is just hanging on in France as they still only have infantry weapons 1 and the only thing saving them is the UK navy and air. The Germans are now only 2 hexes away from Moscow and the Soviets just pray for bad weather. The Soviet industry finally triggers to move to the Urals (this should really be changed IMO to transfer much sooner as otherwise the Axis can game it when focusing on North/Center).