ORIGINAL: composer99
Here's a thought for a summer '41 campaign for the CW (assuming Germany is attacking USSR). The AIO can add it to its bag of tricks.
Step 1: Denmark.
Typically, Germany leaves 1 corps in Frederikshavn and (maybe) 1 corps in Copenhagen, and that is the German defence.
What the CW does is invade along the southern coast such that it ZoCs the rail line; and up north on the island with Frederikshavn to get a beachhead there.
Then blitz units come in and knock the Frederikshavn defence into the sea while the CW builds up to assault Copenhagen (possibly including invasions from the Baltic by ships passing through Frederikshavn). After that comes the Copenhagen assault, opening up the Baltic to the Royal Navy.
The key here is, by cutting the rail line, if the Germans want to assist they have to do a combined (which Russia will be very grateful for) to bring out the sealift (if they have any available to sail into the Baltic to pick up troops).
At the end of the turn, the sealift that brought troops ashore RTBs to Frederikshavn and/or Copenhagen (if they have the movement).
Step 2: Finland
CW forces sail out into the Baltic and land in Finland. Over the turn they build up land and air assets and conquer Helsinki. During the end-of-turn step, Finland is completely conquered.
Now that the RN is in the Baltic in force, Germany will have a very hard time sending anything other than air units to defend Finland unless Leningrad has fallen (which has usually not taken place in summer of 1941).
Reasoning
(1) There has been a suggestion that the CW should commit land forces to Karelia to help the USSR by defending Murmansk against the Finns. I've never been a big fan of that option. This option accomplishes the same goal by removing the Finns from the game.
(2) This reduces German production by having the RN active in the Baltic, sinking German convoys. Denmark is also a handy airbase for strategic bombers.
(3) A blocker force with an anti-tank gun on the Danish-German border will require serious German effort (at least 1.5 armour) to crack (if they want to blitz), and the straits can ensure the islands containing Frederikshavn & Copenhagen will hold.
(4) If the Axis diverts long-range fighters & naval bombers to fight the RN, it means less Axis land-based air in the Med. Likewise, if they divert airpower from fighting the USSR to defend Finland, it is a respite for the USSR.
(5) Lend-lease to the USSR can now be as follows:
Murmansk (city + port) = 2 bp plus 1 res & 1 bp per railed factory (up to 2).
Leningrad (city, 2 factories, port) = 4 bp and 2 res.
With this scenario, I would not bother lending to Archangel.
So the theoretical limit is 8 bp and 4 res, which in 1942 is a hefty 13 bp on turns the Germans attack in the USSR's home country.
If Murmansk did not get any factories you're still looking at 6 bp, 2 res, which would be 9 bp (still respectable in 1942).
Yes...or given that it's summer, you could challenge them to a game of cricket. For all their cleverness, the Germans were hopeless at cricket in 1941 (and not much better now it must be said). The Italians, typically, showed great flair but their batting technique was suspect, their bowling erratic and they often looked lethargic in the field. The Japanese had tremendous trouble pronouncing the word correctly and never really mastered cricket, although they always fought out games to the end.
Apart from great English players, the Commonwealth could draw on tremendous reserves of cricketing talent from all over the British Empire, like George Headley from the West Indies or Australia's Don Bradman, the greatest batsman of all time. Historians now recognise that the Japanese advance into India was essentially stopped not by supply difficulties and stiffening Allied resistance but rather by their poor performance against quality spin bowling. Probably.
Of course the Germans recognised their cricketing deficiency and by 1942 were planting huge forests of Willow trees for bat manufacture on a vast scale and began a complex network of practice nets and cricket grounds surrounded by white picket fences, much of it underground for protection from the growing Allied bombing offensive. They mass-produced an austere cricket bat, the Volksschläger, that could be made in far less time and by unskilled labour. German aerodynamicists developed advanced balls that swung more and used less leather but, as with so many other of the Third Reich's desperate projects, it was all too little, too late.
By 1943, the great all-rounder Keith Miller was in England, and when his superiors could pry him away from socialites and princesses and get his trousers back up from around his ankles, he could really give Jerry some curry. [:'(]
On a serious note, Keith Miller flew Beaufighters and Mosquitoes in 1944/45 and had a post-war career as a fabulous, attacking cricketer who played with an attractive style, both with bat and ball. Tall, powerfully built and a natural sportsman (He also played the top level of Australian Football and declined a trial with the Boston Red Sox baseball team), he was described as "the Australian in excelsis", to which another writer commented "By God he was right". He was a legendary ladies' man and struggled with military discipline, being involved in more than a few punch-ups. Many years later he famously answered a Michael Parkinson question about pressure playing cricket by saying "pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse, playing cricket is not". My Dad, who is a man of few words told me, "When I was young, Keith Miller was my hero".
And BTW, just to give you an idea of how good the aforementioned Don Bradman was, this is from Wikipedia...
"Statistician Charles Davis analysed the statistics for several prominent sportsmen by comparing the number of standard deviations that they stand above the mean for their sport. The top performers in his selected sports are
Bradman, Cricket, Batting average, SD = 4.4
Pele, Football/Soccer, Goals per game, SD = 3.7
Ty Cobb, Baseball, Batting average, SD = 3.6
Jack Nicklaus, Golf, Major Titles, SD = 3.5
Michael Jordan, Basketball, Points per game, SD = 3.4
The statistics show that "no other athlete dominates an international sport to the extent that Bradman does cricket". In order to post a similarly dominant career statistic as Bradman, a baseball batter would need a career batting average of .392, while a basketball player would need to score an average of 43.0 points per game. The respective records are .366 and 30.1.
When Bradman died, Time magazine allocated a space in its "Milestones" column for an obituary:
... Australian icon considered by many to be the pre-eminent sportsman of all time ... One of Australia's most beloved heroes, he was revered abroad as well. When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, his first question to an Australian visitor was, "Is Sir Donald Bradman still alive?"
His record would have been even more formidable but he suffered a serious illness early in his career that he never really recovered from. That said, he is statistically about twice as good at batting as anyone else. The relative worth of players who can bat and bowl, such as Keith Miller, is another argument again. Bradman was quite stylish but the distinguishing feature of his batting was its ruthless, relentless, robotic quality.
Cheers, Neilster
Here's Keith Miller
