Another Solo Global AAR

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes:
Germany does 4 Ground Strikes, Japan does 1.

1st Strike is against Zhukov, looking to disorganize him.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
2nd Strike is against the 7-6 ARM on Zhukov's flank. Germany wants to cut down on the USSR ability to maneuver in their impulse.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
3rd Strike is in Morocco on the Montgomery HQ. Axis has 3 hexsides on this hex, so they want to soften up the defenders. The Allies decline to intercept given the Forest hex and the single bomber attacking. Montgomery is missed, but the Germans hit the other.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
4th Strike is in Egypt on the 3 CW units in Alexandria. Italy throws in an ARTY strike as well. Only 2 of 3 units disorganized.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Ground Strikes (continued):
Japan misses on their attack around Calcutta.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat:
Took me a long time to do all the moves for this land impulse, given the amount of forces invading Eastern Poland. In the South, honestly, the Axis is not going to do well early on with no air cover and not alot of troops. They are able to get one attack on Chisinau in Bessarabia, while the Northern Axis forces are doing 4 land attacks. In Africa, two land attacks, plus Italy puts an Ethiopian territorial in Djibouti.

Only 1 attack had any air combat over it, and that is in Morocco over the Montgomery HQ. Allies use what they can to intercept and provide ground support including newly arrived US ARTY.

Its a big air battle once again, and once again the Axis has the +1/-1 odds advantage...

1st round, Allies roll a 13 for NO EFFECT. Axis rolls a 13 as well for NO EFFECT.

2nd round, Allies roll a 5, a KILL, Axis chooses to destroy the lead bomber, a NAV2. Axis rolls a 11, a CLEAR, Allies decide to clear the B25 Mitchell.

3rd round, Allies roll a 7, an ABORT, Axis choose to abort the Condor. Axis rolls a 7, ABORT, and they get to choose, so they pick the Allied lead fighter. This puts the odds at +3/-3, and with the Allies already clearing their best bomber and ARTY, they abort with no losses.

4 combat factors added to Attacker and Defender

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The other Axis Ground Support missions are all successful, so now we move to the SEVEN land combats.

The 1st is in Morocco, with ground support factors, etc. it end up being a +8.353 modifier. With only 2 units, the chance of losing Monty is high, so CW chooses the Blitz table, hoping for a Shatter result if they lose the hex. Axis gets the fractional and rolls a 10, for a modified 19. Axis takes a loss and half disorganized, and the CW units are shattered.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 2nd attack is in Latvia, with several high powered German units trying to cross the river adjacent to the capital. With 7 points in ground support, the modifier is at +8.6. Germany chooses the Blitzkrieg table. Germany gets the fractional and rolls a 13, for a 22 overall. USSR chooses to destroy the MIL and shatter the rest.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 3rd attack is in Alexandria, with the Axis adding in 21 pts bombardment and 6 pts air support, at a +10.4 modifier. A victory here will really complicate things for the Allies in Egypt and will probably signal the need to evacuate. The CW is trying to conserve units so chooses the Blitz table. Italy gets the fractional and rolls a 15, resulting in a '2B'. Italy chooses to convert to a retreat, and in response, the CW chooses to retreat the white print Sydney MIL.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 4th attack is outside of Leningrad. Finnish units are attacking a lone USSR 3-4 CAV. With a victory here I THINK Finland will get the borderlands back if the USSR doesnt put any units in it by the end of the turn. Finland added 1 pt in air support and have a +10.667 modifier. Germany chooses the Blitz table, gets the fractional, and rolls a 12 (23 overall).

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 5th attack is for Vilna, Poland. Here the Axis poured 20 points in air support giving them a +11.154 modifier. USSR not wanting a breakthrough, choose the Assault table. Germany does not get the fractional and rolls a 9, for a 20 overall. Germany loses 1 INF DIV and half disorganized, USSR choosing to shatter the 7-6 ARM.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 6th attack is in Kaunus, Lithuania with a +15.8 modifier. Axis rolls a 7 and gets the fractional for a 23. Lithuania's capital is now in Axis hands.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Land Combat (continued):
The 7th and FINAL attack of the impulse is in the south, for Chisinau in Bessarabia. Mannstein and friends attack at a +16 modifier. USSR chooses the Blitz table. Germany rolls a 8 for complete victory.

As the Germans were moving into the city, a popup told me that Bessarabia was now part of Rumania again. Ok.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Situation in Egypt:
You can see where Italy forced the CW unit to retreat to, now its OOS and disrupted.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Situation in Morocco:

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Situation in Southern Russia:
USSR has the advantage of air power here, but all the Germans are across the river, so unlikely they'll be able to do any massive attacks UNLESS they use their O-chit.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

AXIS 1st Impulse:

Situation in Northern Russia:
The USSR line has two holes in it, also notice the Finnish units on Leningrad's doorstep. I've never played this war, so I'm guessing the USSR will defend in depth and start falling back?? No clue as they enter their impulse to react to this Axis aggression.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

ALLIES 1st Impulse:

Actions:
USSR - Land
CW - Naval
Fr - Naval
US - Combined

Naval Moves:
CW and US move NAVs out to Coral Sea, and the US fleet joins them in the 3 box. There may be a big carrier battle this impulse.

US searches in the Coral Sea and rolls a 3, while the Japanese roll a 9. 7 surprise points for the US. US does not use any surprise points for the air battle, saving for the bombing runs. The odds are 0/0 in the air combat...

1st round, Japan rolls a 16, US chooses to kill the Catalina NAV. Allies roll a 5, and Japan chooses to lose the lead NAV, a G3M2 Nell.

2nd round, Japan rolls ANOTHER 16, US chooses to kill the Beaufort bomber. Weirdly, the Allies roll ANOTHER 5, and Japan chooses to lose their front bomber.

3rd round, Japan rolls a 4 (US curses madly with the luck the Japanese are getting!), Japan kills the lead US bomber a SBD. US rolls a 13, no effect.

4th round, Japan rolls a 12, YES!! allowing US to clear through a bomber. US rolls a 8, Japan chooses to abort their front bomber.

5th round, Japan rolls a 12, US clears their last bomber. US rolls a 10, Japan clears their first bomber, their best a 5pt NAV bomber.

6th round, Japan rolls a 11, clearing for no effect. US rolls a 14, Japan chooses to abort their front fighter. Ratio goes to +1/-1

7th round, Japan rolls a 7, aborting front US fighter. US rolls a 15, and chooses to abort the front Japanese fighter. Ratio goes to +2/-2!

8th round, Japan rolls a 11, clearing for no effect. US rolls a 19!!!! and kills the lead Japanese bomber. So far only 1 Japanese bomber has gotten through.

9th round, Japan rolls a 6, aborting the front US fighter. US rolls a 14, and chooses to abort the lead Japanese fighter. Ratio goes to +2/-1, a slight improvement for the Japanese.

10th round, Japan rolls a 16, aborting the front US fighter. US rolls a 9 for no effect. Ratio is now even again at 0/0.

11th round, Japan rolls a 19, killing the front US fighter. US rolls a 11, clearing another Japanese bomber.

12th round, Japan rolls a 7, aborting the last US fighter. US rolls a 7, Japan aborts their front fighter, and clears the last bomber through.

Bloody battle, with Allies taking a larger pounding, and Japan getting more bombers through as well.

US lost a NAV2 and 2 CVP1, CW lost a NAV3, Japan lost a NAV3 and 2 CVP1...

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

ALLIES 1st Impulse:

Naval Combat (continued):
Japanese AA gets highest 1 of 2, and rolls a 9, destroying one US NAV bomber, and reducing bombs of other by 4 (to 1).

US AA gets highest 1 of 4, and rolls a 10 as one of them, destroying the land based Japanese NAV. Two CVP NAVs remain.

US gets 2 aborts on Japanese fleet, and are able to abort the Shokaku.

Allies so far have lost 5 aircraft in this battle, Japan 4.

[markb50k]

Mar/Apr 1942

ALLIES 1st Impulse:

Naval Combat (continued):
Japan gets X, D, A on the Allied fleet...

- Japan tries to destroy the Enterprise, but only damages it.
- Allies choose to damage the NED CL Tromp
- Japan tries to abort the Saratoga, but misses the roll.

Due to aborts/damages, US is reduced by one more CVP, while Japan has 2 CVPs leave the sea area...

US tries to search for the Japanese again, and the searches fail..

So, the American and Japanese navies get their first taste of carrier combat. With the good rolls by the Japanese, only the American's surprise points ended up saving their fleet from a larger beating. But, the US fleet survived and is still in the Coral Sea. Next impulse will be interesting if they find each other again.