4 Player AAR with new PBEM - Game 4

[rjh1971]

Sp42 Germany

Germany is now paying for Romania late entry into the war, I am know suffering Dalibor's pain in our previous AAR when the same thing happened to him.
This turn nothing much Germany could do, the troops were not in position for a spring offensive hopefully for the summer.
Only the LW was able to harass the Soviets.
Our U-boats are still 2-2 evasive and attack so they're pretty much useless, despite that fact they damaged a TF in Murmansk paying a high price.

Sp42 Germany.jpg (1.02 MiB) Viewed 1521 times

[tcart]

Japan Spring 1942

Sorry all, I will try to start posting SS's again. Hey, question, what game was that rogue shot from? Looked interesting.

Ok, back to Imperial conquest.

The IJN lingers off Hawaii to facilitate marine landings. We now control Pearl Harbor. Will it be the bulkwark of our defenses or a springboard to even more outrageous conquest? Who can say.

Japan also takes Changsha. It's a bit perilous to have the bulk of the Japanese army so far inland, but all that juicy territory (to say nothing of VPs) is hard to resist. Now the race is on to get my supply situation sorted and choose between India (which suffered some light bombing) and Australia.

So many lands to conquer.

Japan's industry is almost but not quite at capacity. I'll soon be looking to rebuild conquered Chinese factories.

[rjh1971]

Japan Spring 1942

Sorry all, I will try to start posting SS's again. Hey, question, what game was that rogue shot from? Looked interesting.

...

Advanced Tactics Gold

[kondor]

WA spring '42.
No SS-s again, nothing stellar.
Fight with the Luftwaffe commenced mixed results. A factory and TAC bomber in W. Berlin bombed.
More supplies were transported to Stalin.

The WA is still not ready to take the fight with IJN, but soon, very soon we'll have our revenge! Now I have to protect my exposed flattops and rebuild my counterattack force.

Australia & India are well protected and are in no immediate danger.

[rjh1971]

Germany Sp42

The bulk of the Soviet army moved to Kursk, Kharkov was left with a weak garrison of 3 militia and an artillery unit and Odessa was taken by the Soviets. The factories and resources in Kharkov were all operating at 100% so a raid on the area was a must. After taking an retreating from Kharkov the inf. unit in Odessa was damaged and subsequently destroyed as it had no retreat path.
The air war was not favorable to Germany this turn. Two heavy bombers were damaged one in Leningrad and the other in Stalingrad.
Also no luck trying to hit the WA navy off the Norway coast.
The WA are accumulating a huge fighter force in England

Intel info for my Japanese ally, three CVs were revealed near Portugal, most probably on their way to the Indian Ocean...
And now I'm thinking my naval force in the Central Med is going to be slaughtered

Su42 Germany.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 1426 times

[kondor]

Slaughter is a bit too strong a word. How about your sailors will be sent home paddling?
But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
That was my plan, who knows what will go wrong with it .

[kondor]

WA Sp '42

Uneven combat in the central med went as aspected. After a few waves, Italian forces were mostly destroyed/damaged.

Central med air.jpg (225.3 KiB) Viewed 1383 times

[kondor]

That veteran TAC unit on Sicily was a problem, as it prevented the transition of my units/supplies. I've tried amphibious landing on Sicily only to be destroyed.
But I did manage to take him out in a follow-up attack.

Sicily tac.jpg (132.79 KiB) Viewed 1382 times

[kondor]

In Denmark, I've damaged/destroyed GE CAG and an FT unit, major air battle is still avoided. GE has tied up around 10 FT-s units there, and most of my FT-s are there as well.
As I have a range advantage (3 over 2), I can dictate where will I hit and when. And this odds will only get worse for the GE.

On the IJ front, in the south Pacific, I've managed to damage one sub (one remaining). Those two raided my TF last turn, and were acting as scouts for the IJ CV-s

South pacific.jpg (78.54 KiB) Viewed 1381 times

[kondor]

Japan's CV-s are based in Pearl Harbour, with FT-s escort. They move out, hit what they can, and move back again.
As they are all veteran/elite units this is a smart tactic, my CV-s can't touch them yet.
But I'm building more, much more.

Japan.jpg (1.89 MiB) Viewed 1379 times

[rjh1971]

Fa42 Germany

In the Eastern Front everything is paralyzed, we have come to stand still that will end tipping to the Russian side as Germany has to fight a two second front war, if only yet against the WA air force which is way superior in fighters.
Only the LW remains active and its numbers are dwindling.
In the Artic odds were 0.9 for each side but only my U-boat got hit...

INTEL TIP for my Japanese ally CVs spotted near New Zealand!!!

Fa42 Germany.jpg (981.19 KiB) Viewed 1356 times

[tcart]

Japan Fall 42
Sadly, Japan didn't read Germany's report until after I'd played my turn. Email!

Instead of searching out what was surely a juicy target I consolidated China and began to reposition for the invasion of Australia, which will now be a lot more interesting.

[kondor]

FA '42 WA
I've moved my Pacific CV-s in complete silence. Even had a chance to strike the subs with them, but decided against it not to warn the enemy.
Imagine my surprise when the GE spies revealed their position off N. Zealand!
My surprise was even bigger when Tim didn't act on it.

It was an eventful turn.
Sicily has fallen.
The massive air battle over Berlin followed.

W. Germany air raid.jpg (344.83 KiB) Viewed 1321 times

FT-s are the same tech lvl, I had a little more of them, and I had an advantage with conducting airfield attacks.
It went very well.

You might ask yourself - where are my heavy bombers squadron?
Very good question.

[kondor]

I've spotted unprotected GE HB-s in Berlin, and I've sent all of my available HB-s to take them out.
Both of the GE HB-s stationed there were destroyed.

Berlin HB-s raid.jpg (257.99 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

Remnants of the Italian navy are stationed in the port of Taranto, I've not sent my CV-s to deal with them, as they were needed in the Indian sea. The Italians are not going anywhere.

[kondor]

Luftwaffe took some heavy blows this turn, and it's now only a shadow of itself.

Luftwaffe.jpg (28.22 KiB) Viewed 1318 times

[kondor]

IJN conducted a successful amphibious assault on Northern Australia. And I had to act, luckily I had a few cards to throw at them.
The main IJN naval force, with the CV-s, is still a few thousand miles away. And the soft underbelly is poorly protected.

The battle of the Java sea followed. My objective was to take 1 LF, and 2 TF-s, out of the equation.
In the first wave, I've sent 3 CAG-s to deal with them. After the smoke cleared, two of my CAG-s were damaged by the IJN deadly AA (2 auto hits). But LF and 1 TF were sink.
I've sent 1 LF of my own to clean up the field.

No IJN survivors in this battle.

Java Sea.jpg (730.87 KiB) Viewed 1316 times

[kondor]

I held one of my CAG-s in reserve, and I've used it in the Gulf of Siam raid.
This time there were no WA casualties, one IJN LF damaged.

Gulf of Siam.jpg (386.43 KiB) Viewed 1313 times

[kondor]

Of the N. Australia cost, another battle took place. My pacific fleet CV-s steamed from N. Zealand, around Australia and delivered a punch on the invading force.
In the first wave 2 CAG-s vs 1 LF and 1 TF. IJN LF was damaged, again clearing the way for my LF to move in and clean up the unprotected IJN TF.

N, Australia CAG.jpg (436.93 KiB) Viewed 1310 times

I've maneuvered a lot this turn, stretched my supply capacity to the limit, so sadly - no land lease for my SU partner this turn.

Now the IJN will be forced to reposition its CV-s and burn its precious oil. How will Tim respond?
We'll find out soon enough.

[kondor]

So far neither Australia nor India are in imminent danger. My position is pretty comfortable at this stage.
I have to be careful, or Tim could deliver a counterattack and change all of that. But at this point, everything is under control.

PS. I've tried to attack the IJA expeditionary force in Australia (after I've cut them off from their transports).
But my attack with an arty unit, supported with militia unit vs 1 IJA paratrooper + 1 infantry unit, failed miserably. The odds were 1:1, ended up my arty damaged, militia unit destroyed for no IJA casualties.

It will be a hard fight from now on.

[rjh1971]

Wi43 Germany

The situation seems to be worsening at a fast pace, the USSR is massing up a huge army. I refused to retreat from Kiev, it has valuable resources. The air war against the WA prevent the building of more land units.

Here is the map with the battles of the turn.

Wi43 Germany .jpg (1.21 MiB) Viewed 1281 times