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Turkey and the Middle East on Jan 3 1942 ... future options for a 2nd front? However... the Axis control the Mediterranean...

Western Europe Jan 3 1942 ... Britain fights on!
The Royal Navy took a beating early on (part my own stupid fault, too overconfident [8|])
But replacements will come... and US forces will start to arrive in 1942... Second Front options... Norway, Denmark... if the Soviets hold out! Can't give up Moscow, or it's game over...

ORIGINAL: L`zard

Silvanski:

Do you still have the .sal files for these?

I'd be interested in a closer look at what's going down here, eh?

Perhaps I can convince you to zip 'em up and mail 'em to

lzard2@comcast.net so that I can pick things apart at my leasure?

They should be in your inbox by now L'zard

ORIGINAL: Silvanski

They should be in your inbox by now L'zard

Thanks, Sivanski!

10 January 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
AXIS successfully defend Bagdad.
AXIS successfully defend Orel.

17 January 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Bryansk.
AXIS successfully defend Bagdad.
AXIS successfully defend Dnepropetrovsk.
AXIS successfully defend Orel.

24 January 1942
AXIS capture Kursk.
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
AXIS successfully defend Hasakah.
AXIS successfully defend Dnepropetrovsk.
AXIS successfully defend Bagdad.

31 January 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
AXIS successfully defend Hasakah.
AXIS successfully defend Orel.
AXIS successfully defend Bagdad.
AXIS successfully defend Kirkouk.

7 February 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Moscow.
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
ALLIES successfully defend Moscow.
Bagdad has been reduced to ruins.
AXIS successfully defend Bagdad.
Kursk has been reduced to ruins.
AXIS successfully defend Kursk.
AXIS successfully defend Orel.

14 February 1942
AXIS successfully defend Voronezh. A sole German panzer division went on the rampage behind Soviet lines, thereby capturing Voronezh... The same happened with Stalingrad which has been cleared...

21 February 1942
The United States begins sending units to Europe! [&o] [:D]
Soviets launch counterattack along entire front According to the news yeah... The main action is still on the Moscow front, but I'm managing to grind my way forward...
ALLIES successfully defend Dover. Not givin'up aren't you Adolf? Elmer's not creative cuz else he'd choose alternate landing sites
AXIS successfully defend Kursk.
ALLIES capture Orel.

28 February 1942
AXIS successfully defend Voronezh. Stubborn resistance by the isolated but entrenched panzers in "Fortress Voronezh"

7 March 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
ALLIES successfully defend Kursk. Two of the most contested cities

Here's a shot of the Eastern Front on March 7 1942... notice the limited but important advance made by the Soviets... Moscow is out of immediate danger... Further to the South I'm counting on reinforcements to stabilize that vulnerable area...

The situation in the Middle East on March 7 1942... The presence of the Axis there seems to be coming to an end... Taking Beirut or Damascus will cut of an important supply line for the Axis who still have a firm grip on Baghdad but the unit near Kirkuk is severely weakened (these are major elements of the Afrikakorps which invaded the Middle East after the collapse of the Suez front), but reinforcements don't seem to come... Their Italian partners keep sunbathing on the North African coast...

March 14 1942 (halfway through the turn)
The German forces in Baghdad attacked and destroyed all Soviet units !
The Soviet expeditionary force will have to rethink it's objectives...

28 March 1942
Axis reorganize after this terrible winter Yep... their a/d factors have increased, but the Soviets are starting to get stronger Guards units
Sping thaw commences!
Tver has been reduced to ruins.
ALLIES capture Tver.

4 April 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Tver.

The front on April 4 1942.. Finally managed to get in touch with the units which where isolated in and around Novgorod since October 1941 ... The Leningrad of this World War

11 April 1942
AXIS capture Tver.
ALLIES capture Tver.
18 April 1942
ALLIES successfully defend Dover.
ALLIES successfully defend Tver.
25 April 1942
AXIS successfully defend Kharkov.
2 May 1942
AXIS capture Dnepropetrovsk.

Halfway through the turn of May 2 1942...
I'm trying hard to form a solid line in the Southern sector by railing in some fresh and reconstituted units, but reinforcements are also needed in the North in order to consolidate and later on exploit recent gains.
The Southern sector is mainly manned by weaker (broken up) Italians (Yellow/White), Bulgarians (Dark gray/Gray) Romanians (brown/gray) and elements of the Vlasov army (Black/Red) ... The Hungarians only played a part in the opening stages of Barbarossa and then went on the defense... This is where I hope to make a major breakthrough later in the war... if I can reinforce my frontline there faster than Elmer does... [&:]

I must say that the Elmer I'm facing is a tough cookie... Every single part of this frontline has to be watched very carefully or he'll break through a weak spot... I've never had the opportunity to play first in the turn, but am managing up to 4 combat rounds at times since I regained the initiative in the North after the battle for Moscow... In the South it's still Elmers game...

Meanwhile trying to clear Turkey of the two remaining German units before their Iraq based units arrive...
The first USAF units have arrived in Britain... Gaining air superiority in the West will only be a matter of months now

Stalin wants to see a major offensive ... STAVKA (that's me of course hehe) is studying two options (see map)... both are aimed at cutting of vital supply lines and subsequently eliminating the Axis forces contained by these manoeuvers... But I know well enough that I'll need more manpower and equipment and that Feldmarschall Elmer is unpredictable...

Halfway through the May 16 1942 turn...
I'll really have to squeeze out that Kharkov bulge... All fancy offensive plans wll have to wait till that sector of the front is secured... and when my lawn has been mowed [:D]

Notice that I switched to the sharp edged counters with clearer numbers, good mod [&o]

June 13 1942: halfway through the turn (still some 20% of my turn left) ... this looks a lot better... [:)] (and so does my lawn btw [;)])

Many Italian, Romanian and units of that traitor Vlasov have been eliminated in a series of short sharp blows... Notice the German panzers behind Soviet lines. Although isolated they still pose a threat. They have to be taken care of before any other offensive actions can take place in the South...
In the North it has been complete relief for the heroes of Novgorod.

I believe that the Germans are starting to run out of steam... Notice that in general the German front is starting to lose its density. Two deep defense lines are not possible in various sectors.

I sent two units to the southern Caucasus to secure my hold on Turkey. If more reinforcements become available I will again attempt to drive the Axis out of the Middle East... Stalin is of course frustrated with the lack of offensive operations by his Western allies...[:-]

Yep the Ruskis have to save the day

USAF heavy bombers have started to arrive in Britain.

July 11 1942 halfway through the turn...
The fact that Elmer focuses on Moscow and the South makes a breakthrough towards Kiev to seem possible; if I can take and hold the city the Axis front will be split by the Pripet marshes... Some gains were also made in the Northern and Southern sectors but not enough units for the follow-up in the South as I'm still dealing with surrounded German units. The Panzers south of Kursk are my main worry... they might establish contact with the rest of the Wehrmacht.
The Minor-Axis partners counter-attack in the South can be contained.

Skirmishes continue in Turkey where elements of the Bulgarian army chased the Soviets out of Istanbul.

The weekly German attacks on Dover are more an annoyance than a real threat. Most of the time it's a turkey shoot for the RAF and USAF.

8 August 1942
ALLIES capture Donetsk.
15 August 1942
ALLIES capture Kiev.
22 August 1942
AXIS capture Petrozavodsk.
AXIS capture Kiev.
5 September 1942
AXIS re-capture Zaporozhe. ... briefly yeah!
ALLIES capture Kiev. ...and manage to hold the city
ALLIES capture Bryansk.
12 September 1942
AXIS capture Chernikhov. ...but not for long... not in the news but the Soviets recaptured that city two weeks later
19 September 1942
AXIS capture Gomel. ...here and in other places the frontline has been see-sawing back and forth...
26 September 1942
AXIS successfully defend Odessa.
3 October 1942
ALLIES capture Odessa. ... knocking on the door of Romania
10 October 1942
AXIS capture Novgorod. What I gained in the center I lost in the North but Soviet strength in the Northern sector is increasing

Here's the front halfway through the turn of Oct 10 1942... Important gains but it involved heavy fighting and high casualties ... No change around Britain, the Germans keep raiding Dover every other week... The Romanian fighter unit in Odessa was evacuated to Mosul... that proves all other airbases in Romania are full...

1943 is approaching, which will see more reinforcements for the Western allies, so I can start thinking about offensive actions there

This is a really interesting game. I have played Inside The Reich (as the Axis), and, as in your game, Elmer had been downing steroids.[:D]
 
Have you incorporated the update for this scenario? It is in the Wargamer Depot. It changes things a bit, but the author still claims that he has revamped an older scenario to create a wicked, unpredictable, and difficult to beat PO.[:'(] If you read the designers notes, you will find that this scenario has has 2 earlier iterations (with different names), and that the author of the current version feels he has created (or revamped) things to the point where he has plugged all the earlier leaks to make it the best WW2 in Europe PO (either side).
 
I havent played it enough to say THAT, but it is sure as hell is unpredictable (and fun) .....as Axis I had Hungary help me invade Poland.
 
Tom OC

Yes it's the latest version I'm playing and indeed, as I mentioned somewhere, the PO is tough and seemingly quite capable. I'm not through with this one [;)]

24 October 1942
US Merchant Marine mobilized! This can mean an increase in supply, which the Allies need after the loss of supply points like Malta and French Africa during the Axis Avalanche in 1940-41.
19 December 1942
ALLIES capture Smolensk.
2 January 1943
The Allies complete researching the Atomic Bomb! I don't know if using the A-bomb is a TO
AXIS capture Smolensk. temporary setback
9 January 1943
ALLIES capture Smolensk. Tough battles, but in the end the increasing amount of Soviet units will make the difference. Axis minors have seen significant losses

The Eastern front on Jan. 9 1943. Slowly grinding my way forward... The natural North-South divider -the Pripet marshes- play their part in splitting the front in two distinctive sectors. I will try to attempt a huge outflanking manoeuver into Romania with the Carpathes as (hopefully) cover... at last some room to manoeuver... In the central sector it is a war of attrition with hardly an opportunity for outflanking action...

The Soviets regained control over Turkey after beating the German-Bulgarian armies.

The time is not right yet for action in the West...

Nothing noteworthy in the news except the arrival (from Iceland) of 4 strong US units

Eastern front halfway the February 13 1943 turn... I'm surprised by the (up till now) lack of German opposition in the center... Zhitomir was liberated without a single shot being fired...

20 February 1943
US industry increases allied supply. [&o]
AXIS defend Kichinev.
27 February 1943
AXIS defend Casablanca. Trying to get a foothold on African soil
6 March 1943
The Allies cut off the oil supplies from Ploesti That's a big coup, the Axis supply will drop
The Axis war effort declines! [:D]
For the first time in this game the variable initiative comes into play. I can go first on the March 13 1943 turn[8D]

Here's the situation on the Russian front. With JM's excellent small counters mod!!!
Too bad that a roge Bulgarian mechanized unit stormed into the Crimea... Gotta hold Ploesti at all cost...

The Black Sea region at the start of the March 13 1943 turn
I'm considering some offensive action out of Turkey thereby cutting off the Axis in Bulgaria and Romania...