The Plague Diaries

[John B.]

In the Ukraine the Germans have made it to the gates of Stalingrad. And, they are about to push into the Caucuses. But, it's very late in the day for them with bad weather coming. Germany also has a wide open flank to its north. As you can see, I almost eliminated a German armor unit this turn. The fact that I'm at infanntry level 2 in weapons is a huge plus that will get better as I'm able to upgrade units.

Sevastopol holds and is the latest Hero City of the Soviet Union.

[John B.]

The main thing the Germans have going for them on the eastern front right now is airstrikes. They have a LOT of air units and my defenses are sadly lacking. I am at Fighter level 1 (at last) but I'm really hoping bad weather can stop that.

More fighting along the front. A number of his units are Axis allies which have not been upgraded and that's helping me to hold out. I'm not sure what that German panzer unit is doing wandering the forests like that. It is very low supply and bad morale so hopefully it starts taking attrition damage soon!

[John B.]

We've moved into December 1942. Not too much to report from most fronts. The British are closing in Palermo but can't land anything at Syracuse yet as that report repairs up to level 5 (at least I think that's what the hold up is.

On the Russian front the Germans lost a cavalry division and, sadly, it appears that they been able to upgrade to infantry weapons level 2.

Here in Western Europe the Germans have stymied my invasion by putting fighters on the coast. So, I concentrated efforts on killing off at least one of the fighter units. Hopefully, I'll be able to land next turn and attack Cherbourg.

[John B.]

Don't worry about the AI handing the navy, he said. It's easy to beat the AI in the naval war he said. Well, ok, maybe it's not so easy. The Japanese attacked me in the Central Pacific. I lost 3 BBs and a CA. In my counter attack, the Japanese lost 2 CVs (Soryu and Zukakau) with heavy damage to the CVE Hosho I also damaged another Japanese BB but was not able to get enough airpower to sink it. I believe his remaining air arms are very depleted (one of his CVs is down to 3 air points) so my hope is that the Japanese will retreat which will allow me to go back to Pearl and rebuild.

[John B.]

It's March 1943 and there has been plenty going on! First, the naval battle in the Pacific ended after three turns of slugging it out. Japan came off the worst losing 4 CVs and 3 BBs plus a couple of smaller ships. The US only lost the 3 BBs and a CA. But, it was very close to being much worse for the good guys. One American CV was down to 0 airpoints and just two points of ship left before it limped into Pearl. But, all the American CVs survived and can be quickly rebuilt and more are on the way.

Meanwhile, the British moved their far east fleet into the DEI and have begun to raid Japanese convoys taking away 15-25 MMP per turn. The Japanese did finally take Singapore and are on the verge of taking Rangoon.

[John B.]

Right now there is a stalemate at Stalingrad as German level 3 tanks are hard to damage, even with Russian level three tanks. The Germans also pushed south and have taken the oilfields at Maikop. They have stopped attacking Savastopol which is fine with me.

[John B.]

In the Center and North the lines are pretty much as we left them. Just more dead bodies. The Russians have managed to hold the German offensives and the last couple of turns have seen a few dead Axis units. German national morale is holding up near 100 so they don't seem to be too disheartened.

[John B.]

Italy surrendered when Palermo fell and the Germans built their fortified line in Italy. That can be very tough to breach so I may sit there with the brits and simply tie down some German forces, especially as the supply in Italy is wretched. But, Greece and Yugoslavia revolted and the South African army opted to go to Athens rather than to Iraq. Just trying to open up more fronts as the German force pool contracts.

[John B.]

Speaking of which, the allies are ashore in France. They captured Cherbourg and St. Malo and are tied up right now in front of Caen. No sign yet of any massive German response, but, Germany is facing a lot of moles that need whacking at the moment.

[John B.]

More beating each other up in China. Mao entered the war and provided two badly needed elite infantry units. India is supplying air cover and a bomber to help the Chinese hold on and, in a hopeful sign, China has been accumulating MMP again.

[John B.]

Finally, the battle for the North Atlantic continues to rage. Here the allies are hunting the Bismark and have her down to two strength points. German subs continue to be active and to avoid taking a final point of damage.

[John B.]

It's May 1943 and the Germans are feeling the strain. The Allies are firmly ashore in France with three ports under their belt and two armies near Paris while the strat bombing war continues to wear down the German Luftwaffe and drain MMPs.

[John B.]

On the Northern part of the Russian front the Soviets are at the gates of Helsinki. The Finns have been severly hampered by not being able to upgrade their infantry weapons and they may be out of the war soon. Meanwhile, in the center the Russians are breaking through to German support units and the Germans have lost a number of infantry units in the past two turs.

[John B.]

In the South Savastopol still holds despite being the object of attention from two panzer units. The Germans are still at the gates of Stalingrad but they are woefully short of units and the Soviet push onwards.

One real help has been fighter level one and air doctrine (ok, that's two real helps). This has allowed the Russians to at least interfere with relentless German bombing.

[John B.]

Stalemate in China but the pendulum is starting to swing the way of the Chinese. They now have MMP left at the end of the turn and are slowly rebuilding their army. Here, it's been the Indian airforce that has helped China survive. The Indians can intercept Japanese bombing raids and then pay for the replacements for the fighters. Mao is now in the war and the extra two corps are very helpful.

Rangoon fell as the Japanese cut it off and them bombed it to zero supply. The question now is if the Indian army can hold Burma.

The US fleet is rebuilding and reinforcing for the next big push

[John B.]

Finally, in the Med the Brits were able to get into Greece and Southern Yugoslavia. At the same time, I'm stuck again in Southern Italy. I can never figure out how to get that into any sort of supply so I wind up sitting there for a long time. A large part of the British fleet is heading to the Pacific.

[John B.]

It's August 1943 and the allies have not made any spectacular advances in France, but, they did Liberate Paris. The French are now building two armies and are back in the fight. The Germans have most of their fighter force here, but not much in the way of ground troops. I'm still building out the allied ground forces.

In the Med, we're stuck at Naples and the Germans put a tank unit into Greece that destroyed my HQ that was in Thessalonki.

[John B.]

The Germans are hurting a great deal in the Ukraine. They've given up trying to take Savastopol and they have two heavy tank units basically frozen near Stalingrad. I did have a chance to take Deniperpetrovsk but opted to send my tank unit south. Upon further reflection, I should have taken the city with it's level 6 supply.

[John B.]

In the north there is a pocket at Smolensk and it looks like Finland will leave the war as I just captured Helsinki.

The Russians are also putting unrelenting pressure on the Germans in the center.

There is also a build up of Russian forces starting to take place in the Far East. Expect a Russian declaration of war on Japan before the year is out.

[John B.]

In the Far East the Japanese reacted to British convoy raids in the DEI and I thought I'd have an easy shot to sink his carrier (the Kaga as it happens) but it was tough and may live to fight another day.

The British thus far continue to defend Mandalay and the Chinese are starting to grind forwards as the American fleet heads back into the Pacific.