Global War: Japanese Aggression

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Weather. Actions.

Another short turn with the axis, or Germany, moving first. It didn't matter.

On the allies first impulse, the CW plays an o-chit and takes a super-combined and the USA plays an o-chit to double their attack factors. The target of this one-two punch is Berlin. The CW will use its unlimited air to ground strike the two HQ units and engineering division defending Berlin. Also, any and all other German land units in the Western Allies zone will be ground struck too.

The Soviets also play an o-chit to double their attack factors. While the capture of Berlin by the them is not a realistic possibility, grabbing as much land from Germany is.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Western Allies #3. Assault on Berlin. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

I won't keep you waiting on the assault to take Berlin. CW led ground strikes with half a dozen or more air units resulted in the disorganization of the Berlin defenders. The assault was made by USA units, 6 of which were double by MacArthur with an o-chit. The creme on the pudding was 129 US air factors added through ground support. A bit overdone but this was the most important attack of the game. Also, all American aircrews in the area wanted in on this attack. Berlin fell easily to the Americans.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Western Allies #3. Netherlands and Germany. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

The Western Allies also cleared up a couple of pockets of German holdouts in the Netherlands and in Germany.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. USSR #3. Germany. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

The Soviets played an o-chit with Zukhov to double their attack to push across the Oder. There was only suppose to be one land combat, the top one, with 9 Soviets units attacking the 2 SS mech corps. Through a mistake, one stack of Soviet units "attacked" in wrong the direction, or the wrong "stack" of German units. This "mistake" was not noticed until the land combat resolution phase at which point it was decided to let the attacks go as shown and take the results as they come. Though the Soviets suffered the loss of two units the results were two victories and two bridgeheads across the Oder and not one.

Note that on the bottom attack since only one unit survived it remained organized with the "half of the surviving attackers disorganized" result.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. USSR #3. Balkans. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

Bucharest, Romania captured again by the Soviets. Recall from the earlier days of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, that the Soviets managed to defeat Romania only to have the defeat overturned by advancing Germans one or two turns later.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Western Allies #8. Hungary and Germany. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

Hungary captured by the CW with help from their Yugoslavia allies. Note that the CW player rolled a "2" on the automatic attack. I guess if you're going to roll 2's, then rolling them on automatic attacks is the best placed to roll them.

The USA finishes off some hard core Germans holding out on the Baltic coast. This attack clears out all German land units left in Germany. This is the total destruction of the German army.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. USSR #8. Germany. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

The Soviet Union with this attack has establish with no uncertainty the position of their frontlines west of the Oder.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. USSR #8. Romania. Combat Reporter's Notebook.

The Soviets make sure that the Romanians know their defeated this time by finishing off the rest of the Romanian army, just in case anyone in Romania had any doubt.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Destroyed Pool.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Germany Surrenders. Hardcore Nazis flee to Bulgaria.

I really don't think for the Nazis that Bulgaria is safe to be in given that there is nothing between them and the Red Army but air and very little time.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. A New World Order in Europe is Born.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Victory Totals.

The game's automatic victory conditions kick in and the game ends. The equation I originally was using to determine the winner, by faction, was: score = VPs - Bid, where "Bid" is the number of victory points historically held by each faction as given in the player's manual. I decided for an automatic victory where the game ends before the end of turn 36, to give all allied factors a bonus given by the formula, Bonus = (36 - Turn_of_Automatic_Victory) x 2.

So now the formula I used (by faction) is:

score = VPs - Bid + Bonus

By that equation the Western Allies, composed of CW, France and the USA, are the winners with China coming in second and the Soviet Union 3rd. Japan is the biggest loser which ironically with the focus, initially, of my game. My Japanese strategy was definitely a loser. Fun, but a loser none the less.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. CP Losses.

Over 100 allied CPs were sunk (102 to be exact) and 50 aborted. This definitely put a strain on the allied navies to maintain the convoy routes and full production. But maintain they did but only because of the all out effort and priorities they put on the Battle of the Atlantic.

By the way, I don't like playing with the optional rule that gives light cruisers. I feel this is too big of an advantage for the allies in their war against German u-boats and Italian subs. For me, without light cruisers, the Battle of the Atlantic plays out very well. I do, however, like food in flames because it highlights some of the longer convoy routes from CW countries back to England.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Geo-Political.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. Mar/Apr 1945. Allied Relations.

[rkr1958]

AAR Completed.

This completes my AAR, however, any and all follow on posts / discussions are more than welcomed. In fact, they're encouraged as I find this community's enlightening and helpful in making me a better player.

I started this Global War scenario and AAR on August 28th of this year (2015). Looking at my calendar, it's December 21, 2015 which means it took me almost four months to play and document this scenario. A lot of work went into both but all of the work was a labor of love with much enjoyment and excitement indeed.

Thanks for following my AAR and please don't be shy posting your comments including any critiques or criticism on my play.

[brian brian]

I just wanted to note that you started with an interesting premise, and you might want to try it again some time, with one minor/major change - trigger the major US Entry effects in 1940, rather than 1939. The US Entry Chits are at their lowest in 1940, and can be quite high in 1939, depending on draws.

Also if Japan wants to beat up on the CW in 1940, the rest of the Axis should join in. Such a decision will bring the USA in very early, obviously, so the entire Axis needs to work together to try and grab enough goodies to withstand the Jolly Green Giant juggernaut that will be coming at them. All of the oil in the Middle East and a defeated United Kingdom might be enough to hold off the US powerhouse. Or might not.

[Mayhemizer_slith]

Thank you for this AAR [&o]

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

I just wanted to note that you started with an interesting premise, and you might want to try it again some time, with one minor/major change - trigger the major US Entry effects in 1940, rather than 1939. The US Entry Chits are at their lowest in 1940, and can be quite high in 1939, depending on draws.

Also if Japan wants to beat up on the CW in 1940, the rest of the Axis should join in. Such a decision will bring the USA in very early, obviously, so the entire Axis needs to work together to try and grab enough goodies to withstand the Jolly Green Giant juggernaut that will be coming at them. All of the oil in the Middle East and a defeated United Kingdom might be enough to hold off the US powerhouse. Or might not.

All the oil in the Middle East Axis? I believe Stalin won't see this happening. If the Axis go for the CW or a close the Med, the USSR should grab the Persian and Iraqi oil fields...

[Barbuesque]

This is the second game I've followed that included an early DoW by Japan on the CW and both times the results have been the same: The USSR intervened (the cost in US entry becomes entirely tolerable at this point) and Japan ended up bogging down in India at the same time. And indirectly, instead of helping out with added pressure on the CW, the accelerated US entry ends up hurting the EuroAxis.

It seems to me that the best Japan can do is improve it's long term position by conquering as many of the chinese resources as possible, and to support a 1941 Barbarossa by grabbing as many siberian resources as possible.

If the axis are going for a decisive victory, it will have to be in Europe.