Taifun (Axis) v EarlyDoors (Allies)

[EarlyDoors]

*** Allied commanders are conferring on the south coast of England for the next two weeks. There is much to ponder ***

[archmache]

This is a great ARR .. I'm enjoying the read

[Taifun]

Thanks for following archmache!

June 6 1941

Although Germany’s final preparations for Barbarossa weren’t completed, Hitler ordered operation Barbarossa to start. The combats for Yugoslavia were still raging, their capital Belgrade still resisting. The 4 Luftwaffe medium bombers were still deployed in the Balkans, being upgraded to level 2 or engaged in bombing missions, out of reach of the Soviet border troops. Our infantry formations were still equipped with Infantry Weapons level 1 at best. As stated before, Germany’s new built forces were 4 panzerkorps, 2 Special Forces, 1 Mechanized infantry corps, 1 rocket artillery and 1 armored train. No additional troops, bombers or HQs could be afforded. The Mechanized infantry corps was already in Libya with Rommel, leaving only 4 German HQs to lead the attack.

But Hitler sensed that no Russian troops were stationed near the border and that the Soviets were stationed in defensive positions inside their huge country. Our intelligence services detected fortified positions around Pskov on the road to Leningrad and behind the Dnepr river between Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk. Germany deployed a grand total of 62 land units against the 41 Soviet land units. The Wehrmacht will need every turn of good weather to advance as far as possible: no delay will be accepted. The USSR was 62% mobilized.

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The UK had invested quiet a lot of MMPs invading northern Norway and taking control of the future convoy route to Murmansk. It is obvious that they want to keep clear the convoy route to help Stalin. The USSR will be getting 600-800 MPPs per turn (more than Germany) and they will be able to rebuild most of their units as fast as we can destroy them. There is nothing the Kriegsmarine could do as 3 U-Boote and 2 CAs were operating in the Mediterranean or near Gibraltar and 2 other U-Boote and several capital ships were in the Baltic ready to attack the Soviet Baltic Fleet.

I will take some time to review the Global situation as it was in June.

So far the UK invested in Research only 600 MPPs (8%), 400 MPPs (6%) in Diplomacy and their moral was at 86%. They collected 7264 MPPs and spent 4927 MPPs on units (67%), losing 5410 MPPs. Their investment in research seems insufficient in many areas, and most probably will suffer in the battlefield as they engage better equipped Axis units.

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The US collected 4646 MPPs and spent an impressive 1660 MPPs (35%) on units. Their mobilization was 36%. I was surprised by the amount of MPPs already invested by the US. They were most probably buying land units to protect their various Pacific outpost, Hawaii and the West Coast. But our intelligent sources were not sure as their unit count was still at 7 land units.

China invested in Research 900 MPPs, 150 MPPs in Diplomacy and their moral was at 68%. China was doing OK in their fight for their homeland. But to our surprise their didn’t buy a single AA unit so far… These units are cheap and very necessary in all fronts.

India invested in Research only 250 MPPs and 250 MPPs in Diplomacy. They have been concentrating all their MPPs buying infantry corps, at least 5 of them. Their investment in research seems insufficient, concentrating on numbers instead of quality. Their infantry will suffer against better equipped and led Axis units.

Italy invested in Research 725 MPPs and 150 MPPs in Diplomacy. Mussolini was focusing in AA and improving Italy’s economy.

Germany invested in Research 1875 MPPs (22%), 50 MPPs in Diplomacy and their moral was at 109%. So far they collected 8317 MPPs and spent 5733 MPPs (68%) on units, losing 2545 MPPs. Their losses have been relatively light so far and some units are already veteran with 1 star or close to reach that category.

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Japan invested in Research 1950 MPPs and 150 MPPs in Diplomacy. So far they collected 7034 MPPs and spent 4369 MPPs on units (62%), losing 2643 MPPs in China. Japan started to deploy their units in the Pacific and planned to attack the Western democracies during the late summer, most probably August-September.

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Interestingly the UK, Germany and Japan invested a very similar amount of their budget, around 65%, in building units...

[Chernobyl]

But Hitler sensed that no Russian troops were stationed near the border and that the Soviets were stationed in defensive positions inside their huge country.

So far the UK invested in Research only 600 MPPs (8%), 400 MPPs (6%) in Diplomacy

Yes I think it is actually optimal for the Axis player to not worry about getting all the units there for Barbarossa, they can show up a couple turns late because the USSR player is not going to station forces near the border anyhow. You just need to be able to wipe out the spawning units.

And 600 MPP for UK research sounds really low to me!

[redrum68]

Great AAR! Interested to see if the Soviets are able to slow down the Germans. With the UK's research so low, the Axis should mostly have free reign the next year or so until the USA is able to enter the war and mobilize some forces.

[Taifun]

Thanks for following! I don’t have pics for June but I have taken captures from the Allied replay showing the Axis dispositions at the beginning of the June Allied turn.
Belgrade fell in our hands, but the OKW was unsure if the revel government would surrender as some units escaped destruction.

After a short pause, General Rommel (by now a 2 star General), was ready to renew his offensive in Libya. His beloved panzers were refitted and upgraded to level 2 as were the Luftwaffe medium bombers and fighters. He ordered forward the infantry that soon made contact with the Indians defending Tobruk fortress.
A big combined Italo-German Task Force assisted by our 2 naval bombers covered the coast north of Cyrenaica, ready to engage any hostile naval units. Four subs (2 U-Boote level 2) covered the main capital ships of the Regia Marina, including 3 BBs and 2 CAs.
Rommel expected to capture Tobruk in a fast furious assault and then push as far as possible towards El Alamein. The numerous Allied Infantry corps present in the Horn of Africa, after crushing the Italians, will be soon available to be shipped to Egypt as reinforcements.

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The largest military operation in history was underway. Aiding the German advance, Soviet deployments were set well backward, with only the most rudimentary of prepared defenses.
North of the Pripyat Marshes newly promoted General von Leeb commanded most of the German forces, although for the initial attack he was assisted by General von Bock based near Lublin. General von Leeb’s designated primary objectives were Riga, Daugavpils and Minsk. He was assigned 3 panzerkorps, 2 Armies, 2 Special forces and 2 Infantry corps but no artillery nor bombers. Only the 2 Armies were upgraded to infantry weapons level 1 but at least he could count with an armored train. With the exception of the 4 infantries, all units were new, untried and recently built.
General von Leeb’s forces managed to destroy most of the auto-spawning units, but the Soviet medium bombers managed to avoid destruction. Kaunas was defended by a calvary corps that later retreated to Wilno. Brest Litovsk and Przemysl Fortresses were defended by garrisons, and only Minsk was strongly defended by an entrenched Army.

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South of the Pripyat Marshes were concentrated the best German offensive units. Under the overall command of General von Manstein, recently transferred from Italy, our troops were to advance east with Rostov as their main objective: the gate to the Caucasus and beyond. He was to be assisted by Generals von Rundstedt and von Bock, veterans with 2 stars. They will command initially 4 panzerkorps (2 mot), 5 Armies (2 Rumanian), 4 Infantry corps (1 mot), 1 para, 1 Antitank and 2 artillery units.

The weather was clear (during the Soviet turn it rained) and all of the auto-spawning units were destroyed, including the light tanks in Zhitomir. Advancing from the Lublin area our spearhead mobile units advanced towards Kiev. Then the reconnaissance unit made a most surprising announcement: the fortified positions behind the Dnepr near Kiev were empty! General von Manstein immediately realized the importance of this crucial discovery and requested the OKW to transfer General von Bock to Army Group South. Hitler hesitated as usual. The transfer of General von Bock to AGS would leave General von Leeb alone north of the Pripyat Marshes, thus commanding both AGN and AGC. Under Von Manstein’s insistence Hitler gave in and von Bock, by now a 3 start General, advanced to Kowel.

Here again the Allies made a serious mistake: the Soviets wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of their carefully laid fortified positions. If we could cross the great Dnepr river in force, the whole Soviet South Front would be imperiled.

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[Bavre]

If I may ask: why are you specifically building german Marines for Barbarossa?

[Taifun]

Hi Bavre!
The main reason is because they are cheap and Germany needs more assault units. They cost only 34 more MPPs than a corps and 61 less MPPs than an army. Special Forces units have a high de-moralization value of 20, double the value of an army, and have the same Hard and Tank attack-defense values of an army. Being cheaper they are cheaper to motorize also. So I use them to attack fortified Soviet units, gain valuable experience and who knows... in the future they might even attempt a seaborne invasion in hostile shores!

[EarlyDoors]

June 1941

Traitors!! - Those back-stabbing Germans have broken our pact and together with the Finns invaded the USSR.
4 Corps, 4 Mechanized, Light Tank, HQ, 2 Garrisons and 4 Air Units are destroyed.
Odessa, Uman, Tarnopol, Vinnitsia, Bialystok, Kowel and Lviv are captured.

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No axis losses to date

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Unit matchup

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[EarlyDoors]

June 1941 - Elsewhere

Luftwaffe bombers in Yugoslavia helped their land forces to capture Belgrade and force the Yugoslavia surrender. I had hoped that they would hold out a little longer.

UK Royal Marines land at Tromso but the Finns anticipated a Russian push at Petsamo and railroaded a corps in. The Canadians have cut the railroad line to hinder further reinforcement. Russian marines are redeployed to Murmansk to add a seaborne assualt option.

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The Allies hold at Tobruk

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The South Africans capture Moghadishu and East Africa is cleared of the Axis menace. Indians head to the ports for re-deployment.

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[Taifun]

Following a heavy aerial bombardment, the Indians defending Tobruk were destroyed by our assaulting forces, but unfortunately the fortress couldn’t be captured. Our Long Range reconnaissance planes reported that no reinforcements were yet arriving to Egyptian ports. What will General O’Connor do next turn? He could defend the Tobruk fortress or retreat back to the Nile fortified positions…

We knew that a British CV was moored at Alexandria so the port was targeted by our naval bombers. To our surprise they found a second undamaged CV that was subsequently seriously damaged by our U-Boote (5 points of damage). Apparently the Royal Navy didn’t deploy strong forces in the eastern Mediterranean.

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In a pure Blitzkrieg style General von Manstein’ s forces assaulted and captured Kiev, then crossed the Dnepr river destroying some fortification works and continued their advance until they reached Konotop, surprising an armored train stationed in the town. Further south our slower infantry forces reached Kherson and the Krivory Rog mine complex. The Soviets unable to contain our bridgehead near Kiev retreated. As they abandoned Konotop a huge gap was created in their Northern flank.

Further north Riga and Brest-Litovsk were captured by General von Leeb but the garrison defending Przemysk Fortress still resisted stubbornly. Our 4 tactical bombers finally reached the front, a most welcomed reinforcement. The Soviets deployed 49 units at the end of the turn.

The attachment Kiev.png is no longer available

[EarlyDoors]

July 1941

China's 54th Army defending the road from Changsha are destroyed. China has plenty of manpower about the capital Chungking but i would have liked to have also added some anti-air capability.

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The Japanese make bold moves in the north destroying the XLII Corps and breaching the Yanku mountain range. Mao Tse Tungs nationalists are becoming alarmed.
Japanese advances in China also cause concern in USA and mobilisation rises to 57%.

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In the desert, the British Army of India and XII Corps are lost at Tobruk. Churchill is reluctant to pour more resources into this theatre although the Indians in East Africa are an option.

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In Ukraine, Kiev and the northern Dnpr fortifications are overrun. Soviet loses 1 army, 3 corps, 1 cavalry corps and a garrison this month.
Marat Battleship goes down with all hands in the Baltic. Wilno, Kaunas, Riga and Liepaja are all seized.
Stalin fires Voroshilov and replaces him with Meretskov on Leningrad front : German Level 2 fighters spotted

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UK boffins have discovered an improved way to deal with the u-boat menace.

[Taifun]

General O’Connor opted for a weird tactical deployment of his forces. He left the Tobruk fortress empty and preferred to leave the WDF Army entrenched where they were in the open though they were supported by the field artillery.

General Rommel ordered his troops forward and inflicted severe losses to O’Connor. Rommel was exultant after capturing Tobruk and requested an additional panzerkorps to the OKW. He personally communicated to Hitler that with additional panzers he might capture Cairo in a few weeks, before the Allies could bring additional reinforcements. Hitler hesitated but finally accepted and ordered the transfer of the 11th Panzerkorps from AGN (Riga area) to Libya.

The Royal Navy abandoned the Mediterranean. The Regia Marina reigned now in the Mediterranean and Il DUCE announced “THE MARE NOSTRUM”.

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General von Leeb's forces approached Daugavpils and Orsha in an enveloping maneuver targeting Minsk.

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Further south General von Manstein’s panzers reached Kursk defended by elite Siberian troops. Additional mobile troops advanced north from Konotop, menacing Gomel and the whole Soviet Smolensk Front from the south.
The assault of Kherson began. The strategic city was pounded by artillery and bombers. A second para unit, recently transferred from Malta, approached Kharkov. The 2 para units were now in full view of the enemy, menacing his rear areas and hopefully forcing Stalin to garrison many locations, spreading his forces thin. The fact that no AA units were present in Ukraine made the task of our tactical bombers much easier. I always recommend to buy as many AA units as soon as possible. They are good in defense when entrenched and cheap.
The garrison defending Przemysk Fortress still resisted stubbornly.

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[redrum68]

@Taifun - Looks like the Siberian units are arriving to the Eastern Front. Is it still possible to use Japan to strategic bomb them to significantly delay them from arriving?

[EarlyDoors]

@Taifun - Looks like the Siberian units are arriving to the Eastern Front. Is it still possible to use Japan to strategic bomb them to significantly delay them from arriving?

Not in this game - gentleman’s agreement

New ELO game started,

Taifun (Axis) vs EarlyDoors (Allies)

ELO standard with additional house rules:
Japan will not reduce Tulun (USSR) with strategic bombers until after DoW on USA
UK/Commonwealth will not attack Japanese spawn locations before DoW on USA

[redrum68]

@Taifun - Looks like the Siberian units are arriving to the Eastern Front. Is it still possible to use Japan to strategic bomb them to significantly delay them from arriving?

Not in this game - gentleman’s agreement

New ELO game started,

Taifun (Axis) vs EarlyDoors (Allies)

ELO standard with additional house rules:
Japan will not reduce Tulun (USSR) with strategic bombers until after DoW on USA
UK/Commonwealth will not attack Japanese spawn locations before DoW on USA

Ah that makes sense. I was just wondering if something had been patched to limit that but appears that isn't the case.

Still have nightmares for when Taifun did it in our game as it was brutal

[Taifun]

@redrum: After our game I never used it again. You are a great player, you should play again in the forum!

TIP FOR NEW PAYERS. How to effectively move Zhukov HQ from Siberia after the first Barbarossa turn (or any other HQ).

- Select the required HQ and set mode to auto-assist.
- Deselect all attached units.
- Operate the HQ to the new front.
- Select again the required HQ and set mode to auto-assist.
- Attach the required units already present in that front. You can´t attach newly operated units. In this way you can have Zhukov leading units on the first Soviet turn and launch even a counterattack!

[EarlyDoors]

July 1941

The Soviets passed up the idea of a seaborne attack on Petsamo as there was enough supply coming out of Murmansk to surround the town. Royal Navy blockaded the port and Bomber Command re-located to Alta to interdict the rail head at Ivalo.

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[EarlyDoors]

August 1941

Army Groups North and Central push on - this does not appear to be the main axis of advance.

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Strong forces in the south threaten the motherland. Konotop and Cherkasy are captured. USSR lose 3 more Corps. Zhukov is concerned about a paradrop into Rostov and has no forces available to prevent it. A token defence of the port is provided by a light cruiser.

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In Scandanavia, another Finnish Corps arrives and takes Kirkenes. Allied Command thought there was a possibility of this but all the Finnish forces are in low and decreasing supply. An HQ and German Corps are spotted at Ivalo. With ice on the wing tips Bomber Command are unable to reduce Ivalo. This may turn in to a graveyard without an HQ unit.
Further westward a British Corps together with the Royal Marines begin the reduction of Narvik.

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In the Western Desert, O'Connor's forces are routed about Tobruk. WDF, its Artillery and the Malayan Westforce Corps are lost together with the fortified town and its port. The remnants fall back on Mersa Matruh. The two South African Corps are transported into Alexandria.

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[EarlyDoors]

August 1941 - The Japanese Peril

Chinese headquartered in Yanku are surprised by a Japanese Corps striking over the mountain range and the defensive line splinters with the 41st Army destroyed. Paotow is abandoned.
Mao Tse Chung is concerned about japanese gains in China. Japan gains access to Indochina from Vichy French Authorities.
US is concerned at Japanese move into Indochina and with mobilisation at 67% its imposition of an Oil Embargo last month looks justified.
Japanese morale falls.

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Then most unfortunate discoveries are made.
Gunboat diplomacy threatens Hawaii.

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A Japanese Carrier group are spotted in the Maldives. What is their intention? Do they have a landing force attached?
The Admiralty orders a defence of the Red Sea to protect the battered ports about Suez and Port Sudan. An Indian Corps are shipped North. There are many ports to defend. I'm equally worried about the Persian Gulf. It seems likely that a Japanese force may link up with Rommels forces to threaten the USSR from the Middle East.

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