Matrix Games Forums

SO39 Axis #3

All Quiet on the Western Front
With the Polish army pinned down in the cities, German army forces commanded by von Bock surround Lodz, intent upon assaulting the city.

However, German mechanised and tank forces are redirected to Rundstedt's command on the Western Front, while the fast infantry of Army Group South, under von Leeb, head south towards Austria.

In addition, with the Polish air force no longer in play, German fighter squadrons are redeployed to protect the forces in the West, allowing air transports and Rundstedt to expedite resupply and reorganisation of German reserves and the forces that were disrupted by RAF bombing previously.

SO39 Axis #3

War in Poland
Despite failing to disrupt the remaining organised defenders of Poznan, von Bock, with orders to proceed as swiftly as possible, launches an assault on the city.

Not only are the Polish forces strongly outmatched by the attackers (+16 assault), the attack itself proceeds very well (die roll of 12), and the defending army is shattered (two units lost, the division shattered), with many prisoners taken.

With almost all the rest of Poland now either in German or Soviet hands, only Warsaw stands defiant. Hitler's goal of ending the war in the East before the British and French, with their larger war economies and expected support from the USA, can decisively intervene, seems well within reach.

...forces commanded by von Bock surround Lodz, with the intent of surrounding it

this made me chuckle [:)]

A French Ground Strike in Germany in 1939 is even more imperative when the Germans put 2 HQ near the Rhine. Then they are likely planning to re-org 3 or 4 RES units with one HQ, and play an Offensive Chit on the other. In that situation, the RAF should make a roll on one HQ, and the French the other. Odds of success are low, but the result of a good roll is significant, much more than adding those factors to a land battle. And the Allied surprise impulse is the time to do it.

"France First" can be an extremely potent German strategy. It is high risk (bad weather roll, USE 5 Chit being drawn, & maybe both together), but high reward - perhaps eventually yielding a chance at Gibraltar in 1940, thus leaving time for a regular 1941 Barbarossa - devastating to the Allies.

Denmark is just not significant to the Germans. Raiding the Baltic seems to give the Allies something to do during the 'Phony War' and gamers like that.

ORIGINAL: cfinch

...forces commanded by von Bock surround Lodz, with the intent of surrounding it

this made me chuckle [:)]

Heh. Fixed in the original post.

01 September/October 1939

Allied Impulse #4

Impulses
USA combined
USSR combined
CW combined
Fr combined
Ch land

Pacific Build-Up
USAAF fighter squadrons are shipped to Hawaii.

SO39 Allied #4

Bessarabia & Far East Redeployment
With no reasonably impending threat from Japan, with the US still firmly in the grip of isolationism, with Britain and France weakened by the Great Depression and distracted by war, and with a freshly-signed non-aggression treaty with Germany in hand, Stalin decides the time has already come to take advantage of the freedom of operation offered by the circumstances.

As part of the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany indicated it had no interest in the Bessarabia region, thus giving the USSR a free hand.

So it was that in mid-September the USSR sends an ultimatum to Rumania, demanding that it withdraw government and military personnel from Bessarabia and parts of Bukovina, ceding control of the region to the Soviet Union.

Despite some border clashes, the Rumanian army withdraws as demanded, and, with support from patrolling Red Army forces, the NKVD moves in to secure control of the region.

After the initial seizure, Red Army Air Force bomber squadrons fly north for cold-weather exercises, and exercises in bombing woodland areas, not far from Leningrad.

In the meantime, Red Army Far East detachments continue their slow redeployment towards Europe.

SO39 Allied #4

War in China
With the possibility of making gains in Shansi province denied by the Japanese redeployment, Communist militia formations withdraw towards Yenan.

In the south, KMT forces in contact with the IJA again withdraw to avoid the risk of envelopment. The army now sitting in Kwelin, however, has been given orders to stay in place come what may.

SO39 Allied #4

War in the Baltic
The French cruisers Duguay Trouin and Primaguet continue their search for German merchant shipping in the Baltic. Recovering from the French audacity (aka the surprise impulse), the Luftwaffe sends coastal bombers to patrol the skies.

However, at first, the French give the naval bombers the slip and manage to ambush several merchant ships, sinking several and inflicting minor damage on others. (Search results are Allied 3, Axis 7, allowing France to call a surface combat; 1 cp sunk, 1 aborted.)

Eventually, the Luftwaffe tracks down the French and chases them out of the Baltic. (Second round search results are Axis 1, Allied 6; both cruisers are aborted.)

SO39 Allied #4

Mediterranean Manoeuvres
The Allies remain active in the Mediterranean, reacting in part to the aggressive Italian deployments. From West to East:
- Canadian levies brought over earlier in the month debark into Gibraltar (Canadian TERR sailed last impulse, units debark during land movement this impulse);
- The French rail garrison troops to Nice and debark the XIII Corps in Marseilles - the latter corps still with orders to rail to northeastern France;
- Royal Navy submarine squadrons deploy in the central Mediterranean to monitor Italian naval activity.

Signals intelligence reports that Luftwaffe fighter squadrons are now present in sufficient quantity in Western Germany to present a danger to Allied bombers. The Anglo-French Supreme War Council therefore decides not to pursue any further bombardment for the time being. (No action this impulse in the North Sea or Western Front, so no pictures.)

01 September/October 1939

Axis Impulse #5

Weather
Very bad weather sets in throughout the active theatres of war in Europe and China. (Weather roll is a 10, so weather is St/St/R/St/R/F.)

Impulses
All Axis powers call combined impulses.

Mediterranean Deployment
The flotilla of troopships and freighters bringing the specialised mobile supply depot (aka the supply unit) back from Eritrea sails into Tobruk.

SO39 Axis #5

War in China
Japanese troopships, for their part, sail into Swatow with HQ Yamamoto and supporting specialty forces, while the Imperial Guard marines and Special Naval Landing Forces sail to the vicinity of Canton and the island of Hainan; the Imperial Guard debarks into Canton, while the SNLF debarks into Hainan.

In the bad weather, the IJA advance is limited. IJA aircraft squadrons continue to deploy forward to support the IJA once the weather clears up.

SO39 Axis #5

Phony War
Any possibility of offensive land action by the German Army stalls in the rain. German units in Poland shuffle around to besiege Warsaw, although the furthest salient begins to suffer from supply problems as a result.

With no present danger of Allied naval action in the Baltic, German merchant shipping is dispatched to replace the losses due to the prior French raids.

Over the course of late September and well into October, Germany and Italy mediate Hungarian and Bulgarian claims to Rumanian territory, which they eventually support. (Hungary and Bulgaria claim Transylvania and South Dobruja, respectively, and are awarded the claims.) Their pre-war borders in tatters, and with the only hope of Allied support coming through Yugoslavia - with no indication that the Yugoslavs would support such a move - the Rumanians repudiate the Anglo-French guarantee of 1939.

01 September/October 1939

Allied Impulse #7

Actions
US pass
USSR combined
CW, Fr, Ch land

End of Turn
End of turn roll is a 2, just barely avoiding the turn end.

Soviet Redeployments
Regular Red Army formations finally enter Bessarabia. Red Army Air Force squadrons continue redeploying northwards. Not shown is a cavalry division railing from the Far East to Omsk in Siberia.

SO39 Allied #7

Western Front
The French VIII and XIII Corps rail up from southern France to join the forces assembling in preparation either to defend against a German attack or to launch an Allied offensive.

Meanwhile, the BEF debarks in Calais.

01 September/October 1939

Axis Impulse #9

Weather
There might be scattered showers or storms here or there, but the weather mostly clears up. (Weather roll of 3, with a die roll modifier of +2, for a weather result of 5: rain in the Arctic and North Monsoon, fine everywhere else.)

Impulses
Germany and Japan call land impulses, while Italy, with nothing further to do, passes.

End of Turn
Axis rolls 7 for end-of-turn, so the turn continues.

War in China
IJN commanders fume as the Army convinces the War Cabinet to order their long-range naval bombers to load a mix of high-explosive and incendiary bombs and embark on a raid directly bombing Chungking. Despite being poorly designed for such a raid, the bombers get lucky and destroy or damage key infrastructure.

SO39 Axis #9

War in China
In the south, the Japanese press forward despite the rain and mud. In the north, HQ Terauchi's detachment from Manchuria finally links up with the forces surrounding Chengchow, giving the Japanese sufficient force to assault the city without risk despite a poorly-coordinated attack (+18 assault, making up for the die roll of 6).

SO39 Axis #9

Invasion of Denmark
Once the roads and fields dry up in late October, Germany invades Denmark, on the pretext that it was inadequately enforcing the bounds of its territorial waters against belligerents (citing the French raid in the Baltic).

Danish Setup: 5 cp in Tórshavn of the Faeroes Islands (more or less representing merchant shipping at sea at the time war breaks out), 1 cp and both cruisers in Frederikshavn.

Fast German divisions manage to occupy almost the entire country before the Danes can even begin mustering a defence. Danish merchant ships in port waiting for cargo in Frederikshavn are scuttled by their crews before they can fall into German hands. The Danish cruiser Peder Skram is able to escape, fleeing to England, but the Niels Juel is heavily damaged by shelling and sinks in the harbour.

Gameplay Note: This is my favoured setup for dealing with Denmark as Germany early in the game. It ensures the entire coast facing the North Sea is under German control, preventing the Allies from debarking on a friendly hex and causing trouble here at this stage of the game.

SO39 Axis #9

Quiet Sectors
German mechanised forces complete their redeployment from the fighting in Poland to the Western Front. Fast infantry under the command of HQ von Leeb are assembled along the frontier with Hungary and Yugoslavia.

SO39 Axis #9

War in Poland
The mud prevailing in the eastern part of Poland causes supply issues for the Ostheer, leaving a stack of German units out of supply. (This is what I get for sending von Leeb south too early.)

Nevertheless, with the Führer impatiently demanding that the Poles be finished off as quickly as possible, OKH orders the attack on Warsaw to proceed.

Planning and execution come off brilliantly, and the city falls with only light German losses. (None at the scale of the game - +10 assault, 15 rolled.)

Although large parts of the Polish Government escaped along with reservists and aircrews, vowing to fight on, Poland is now under uncontested German and Soviet control.