It Takes A Village to Raze a Village

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. The Eastern Front. Army Group South. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. Production. Germany.

1. German added a corps and two corps, all three with full upgrades, to their production queue.
2. Japan and Italy built no additional units.

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. China. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. Burma. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. Dutch East Indies. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 77. Axis. July 31, 1942. MPPs.

1. I meant to capture national morale for all three axis but ended the turn (i.e., I forgot).

[LoneRunner]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

The mathematics of escorts on a hex grid favors concentration of forces. To cover all possible attack angles:

Carriers Escorts
-----------------
1...........6
2...........8
3...........9
4...........10
5...........11
6...........12
7...........12
8...........13

I typically later in the war use the latter formation. Over at the War in the Pacific board they call that a Death Star.

I'm still terrible with navies. I was wondering with the Death Star (good name), do you group the ships in a tight knot or do you keep a certain amount of space between ships? Is it better to have destroyers on the outer edge or capital ships?

Thanks for your help Elessar.
Lone

[Elessar2]

Tight as possible, which also reduces their liability to be spotted.

While historically the task force would lead with destroyers, you can do that while just cruising towards objectives (to sweep up any subs you encounter), but when you expect a major engagement the battlewagons have to go to the fore. Timing is everything when it comes to carrier battles; you can't be the guy who stuck his neck out prematurely, but you also can't always be too passive either and just wait for the enemy to appear.

If I start work on the Pacific map it will at that scale make it even harder to find task forces.

It was likely a mistake to abort your drive on the Caucasus oil-there's really nothing of worth to be captured in the SE portion of Russia. You're also going to find your supply will be low in the swamps and forest SE of Leningrad-better to just charge your best units up that road S of the city and cut it off at Lake Ladoga.

[LoneRunner]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Tight as possible, which also reduces their liability to be spotted.

While historically the task force would lead with destroyers, you can do that while just cruising towards objectives (to sweep up any subs you encounter), but when you expect a major engagement the battlewagons have to go to the fore. Timing is everything when it comes to carrier battles; you can't be the guy who stuck his neck out prematurely, but you also can't always be too passive either and just wait for the enemy to appear.

Thank you for the advice.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2
It was likely a mistake to abort your drive on the Caucasus oil-there's really nothing of worth to be captured in the SE portion of Russia. You're also going to find your supply will be low in the swamps and forest SE of Leningrad-better to just charge your best units up that road S of the city and cut it off at Lake Ladoga.

Yeah ... I can see that now. I have a feeling that I may be approaching my zenith, if not already.

I curious to see the particulars of the axis collapse, which I'm sure will/is hastened by my novice play.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Opening Messages.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Decision Event. Form Cossacks?

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Battle of the Atlantic. Murmansk Convoys.

1. U-boats sink 30 MPPs headed to Russia.
2. They also tangle with 2 RN DD squadrons and, I think, came out on the losing end.
3. U-boats attacking the Murmansk convoys are starting to look a bit tattered.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Battle of the Atlantic. Italian Subs.

1. Italian subs managed to sink 10 MPPs headed to the UK.
2. However, the Axum became the focus of an intense effort by the RN & RCN and is now fighting for its survival.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Western Front & German U-boats in Port..

1. Made two tactical errors here ...
2. Forgot to upgrade/reinforce either of U-30 or U-37.
3. Worse, after making the "original" screen cap which had U-37 in port at Brest, when I returned to the game I had U-37 (pre)selected and accidentally moved him out to sea!
4. I take that there was a training crew on-board that sailed from port without orders!
5. Gross Adm Donitz is not pleased.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. East Africa. End of Turn.

1. 2nd garrison (in Mekelle) was knocked down to 2-steps during my opponents turn and was reinforced back to 5 during mine (this turn).

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. Med. Rhodes. End of Turn.

1. The Italian garrison on Rhodes still holding strong.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. The Eastern Front. Army Group North. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. The Eastern Front. Army Group Center. End of Turn.

[rkr1958]

Turn 79. Axis. August 28, 1942. The Eastern Front. Army Group South. End of Turn.

1. I was baffled by this ... my opponent transport the Soviet garrison that's been holding Sevastopol out and left me the city for my taking.
2. Baffled but grateful.