Another Solo Global AAR

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
2nd Strike has 1 axis bomber, a 6pt Stuka hitting the two isolated Allied units. Any hits on these will reduce their defensive factors. Allies send up a few fighters to defend as well. Axis have a +1/-1 advantage.

1st round, Allies roll a 8 for no effect. Axis rolls a 5, destroying the lead Allied fighter, a 6pt Spitfire. Both side stay, advantage up to +3/-3 Axis.

2nd round, Allies keep their hot rolling going, rolling a 19. But with a twin-engine fighter in the lead its reduced to a AA. Allies choose to abort the Stuka. Axis rolls a 13 aborting the lead Allied fighter, but the Allies were withdrawing anyway.

Two air combats, two prevented strikes, so far not bad.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
The last two strikes were not intercepted.

In Egypt, the 5pt Stuka misses the INF corps, but hits the ARTY DIV.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
Finally in China, the last unit, sitting in Kunming, is attacked by two 2pt NAV bombers. Axis looking for a lucky shot...

They dont, missing both rolls. Overall, 4 strikes, 1 unit disrupted. Not a proud day for the Axis air forces...

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat:
Axis makes 2 attacks this impulse.

The 1st attack is in Calcutta where 3 Japanese units make landfall SW of Calcutta. I'm kind of playing by the seat of my pants and just seeing how this will work out. With ground support (2 pts) and 6 points of shore bombardment, they roll a 12, getting a 22. The Assault table is pretty messed up for anything but a max roll, and this one causes the Japanese to lose their invading division, and disorganizing another of the attackers.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 2nd attack is the inevitable assault on the surrounded pocket of Allied units in Morocco. Axis get a +6.75 modifier, and the CW picks the Assault table. The fractional is made and a 14 is rolled for 21, causing half of the attackers disorganized but the two defenders destroyed.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 2nd Impulse:

Weather:
A mild winter continues with a roll of 1, FINE everywhere.

Declaration of War:
USSR declares war on Iraq. Iraq aligns to Germany and places one cav unit in Baghdad.

Actions:
China - Land
CW - Land
France - Land
US - Combined
USSR - Land

Naval Moves:
US moves 3 carriers on the West Coast out to sea, they will join the fleet at Pearl at the end of the turn, and be a pretty nice fighting force.
US moves a SUB to South China Sea, Japan responds with 2 NAVs to the sea area. Searches unsuccessful.

Strat Bombing:
CW does a mission on Paris and Lille. Rolled a 2 and 3. No effect.

Ground Strikes:
USSR disorganizes the Iraqi CAV unit in Baghdad.

Land Combat:
Allies make 2 attacks this impulse. Yes, that's right, the Allies are attacking.

The 1st attack is in Baghdad, at a +18 modifier. USSR rolls a 8 (23 overall) winning easily. Iraq will now be in Soviet hands.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 2nd Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 2nd attack is in Morocco. A lone Italian territorial was maneuvering south to threaten the southern port of Mogador. The US attacks with 2 INF plus a South African territorial for a +18 modifier. US rolls a 16, destroying the Italian unit.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 2nd Impulse:

Situation in Morocco:
Here we see the Allies attempting to form a line while they have cleaned up their southern flank. Fresh units including Alexander and a 8-6 MECH help.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 2nd Impulse:

Situation in Egypt:
The CW has to defend two sides now with the Axis in Palestine. While 2 corps + 2 div defend the west flank, Wavell moves east along with a 6-4 INF and 7-4 MOT. Next impulse they could conceivably attack the Axis forces in Palestine, wherever they leave themselves weak.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 2nd Impulse:

Situation in Calcutta:
The CW has a lot of units in this area, but with the Japanese not having to worry about China very soon, the Japanese will likely be able to overwhelm this mish-mash of defenders. Luckily Calcutta is a very defendable hex being in a swamp and surrounded by rivers on each side. It won't be (shouldn't be) easy for Japan to take it.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 2nd Impulse:
The Axis feels they need to get a little more out of this turn, given the favorable weather. Let's see what they can do..

Actions:
Germany - Land
Italy - Combined
Japan - Land

EDIT Port Strikes:
Japan performs a port strike on Port Moresby, finally damaging the US SUB there.

Naval Moves:
Italy moves a Yugo 4-3 INF to Haifa to reinforce the beachhead.

Ground Strike:
In Morocco, the Allies have temporary air superiority due to them using Alexander last impulse to reorganize two FTRs. So no ground strikes there. However, in Egypt, the Italians take a shot at the CW units pulling back towards Alexandria, sending one 2pt NAV3 to see if they can get the 7-3 INF disorganized. Whaddya know? They hit it. Lucky rolls like this can spell disaster for parity in theaters like this.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 2nd Impulse:

Land Combat:
Axis makes 3 attacks this impulse.

The 1st attack is a seaborne invasion of Trincomalee on Ceylon. Because this is not India, the notional defenders don't get an additional bonus. With shore bombardment it ends up being a +11 modifier. Japan rolls a 13, taking the major port. If Japan gets another impulse, they'll take the capital, Colombo. This move was most designed to make the French fleet have no place to base on the Bay of Bengal.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 2nd Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 2nd attack is along the Egyptian coastline. With two disorganized units, the Italians throw shore bombardment and ground support in on the attack. On the blitz table the attack has a +11.4 modifier. Italy gets the modifier and rolls a 18 (23 modified), destroying the CW 7-3 INF and 3-4 ARTY. This unhinges the line in the West and it should put the neighboring CW corps in danger of being put out of supply. The Axis was worried that the CW had muscle enough to make trouble in Palestine, but with the west front broken CW may have to start thinking evacuation. We'll see.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 2nd Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 3rd attack is the most lopsided one. Japan lands their new Yamashita HQ outside of Calcutta, and then launch an attack on the Belgian Congo Territorial guarding Calcutta's western edge. With bonus because of the territorial defending, the attack is at a heavy +16 modifier. Japan rolls a 12, destroying it easily.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 3rd Impulse:

Weather:
Roll of 8 gives a +1 modifier to the next roll and impulse advance of 2. Weather turns bad, Snow in North Temp/Arctic, Rain in Med

Actions:
USSR - Land
China - Land
CW - Land
France - Land
US - Combined

Naval Moves:
US moves some TRSs from Sydney back to US. 1 will transfer to East Coast since they seem short on TRS assets.

Strat Bombing:
CW tries to hit Paris again. Rolls a 4. No effect. Anecdotal evidence shows that CW strat bombing rolls have definitely gotten worse over time.

Ground Strikes:
With the rain, some of the Italian units in Morocco are OOS. CW takes a shot at disrupting the 4-3 Territorial sitting along out of range of friendly air cover. The DB7 rolls a 4 unfortunately, missing (Needed a 2 or lower).

Land Moves:
US and CW shore up the line in Morocco.
Wavell moves to Alexandria as the CW pulls back to defend Cairo and Suez.
CW defenders move to defend Calcutta.

Situation in Morocco:

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 3rd Impulse:

Situation in Egypt:
Here we see the CW putting 2 corps + DIV in Alexandria with one corps guarding its flank. The Eastern edge is protected by one INF and two Egyptian Territorials. Two South African units are on transports off of Cape Town. CW was planning on landing those in Tanganyika and rolling up the Italian conquered minors, but they may be of more use in Egypt.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

ALLIED 3rd Impulse:

Situation in Calcutta:
CW takes troops off the eastern border of India and moves them back to Calcutta. They leave 2 Territorials behind to guard the ports from seaborne invasions. If the Japanese take Kunming they'll be able to take the Burma road and close in from the East. The US needs to open up a front in the Pacific to keep the Japanese busy.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 3rd Impulse:
Japan hopes to get an attack on Kunming, while Italy wants to press their gains in Egypt.

Actions:
Germany - Land
Italy - Land
Japan - Land

Land Combat:
Axis has 2 attacks this impulse.

The 1st attack is a long shot to kill the last Chinese unit in Kunming. Japan was able to get 4 units on the attack, giving a +2.5 modifier. Anything 13+ would give them the city. They got the fractional and rolled a 15! This disorganizes all units but kills 1 defender, clearing the city and the Japanese take control of Kunming. To get use of this red factory, they need to take 1 last hex to clear the rail lines, otherwise next turn, with China conquered, they'll get the factory with no problem.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 3rd Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 2nd attack is an cross-river attack on another Territorial defend the outskirts of Calcutta. Yamashita throws HQ support in to give the Japanese a +8.1667 modifier. They do not make the fractional but roll a 10, killing the defending unit and disorganizing all Japanese units. This exposes another hex on Calcutta but any further attacks will have to wait until next turn. This move also blocks Calcutta from providing the CW with its production.

[markb50k]

Nov/Dec 1941

AXIS 3rd Impulse:

End of Turn roll:
Well, not everything goes the Axis way, as they roll a 1 to end the turn. They gave the Allies initiative this turn hoping to allow the Allies to pass the last impulse and giving the Axis a +2 on the initiative roll. With Axis going last this turn, this doesnt happen. But, with the gains the Axis got this turn, there is not much to complain about.

Losses:
At end turn, here is an update on losses for this turn. Overall, not much hurting the Axis but a few units here and there.