Bob Flemin's MWIF AARse IV - Nice AArse

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The CW use their surprise points to choose a surface action. Needless to say the convoy is destroyed. The Axis decide they have had enough of this lottery and abort the area.

EDIT: That's strange. I asked to abort with the Italians and the computer ignored me and rolled for search instead....

..not only that but the Italian subs have found - and surprised - the CW. Despite that - and the fact that the naval column is increased - the four submarines not only do no damage to the surface units (there is no attack offered) but they suffer damage to one sub themselves.

That chain of events doesn't look right. Is submarine warfare vs surface ship THAT penal against the subs?

EDIT II: One Italian sub remains at sea???

I will need to re-load this and run through that sequence of events again - that just looked plain wrong.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The Italians have 3 surprise points and use this to increase the naval column.

The results though are really disappointing. Both British cruisers are aborted thanks to some ridiculously high throws.

What did the Italians expect? Fighting against The Enterprise!?

We are the Enterprise. The perfect naval vessel. Resistance is futile.

warspite1

Is that the real starship Enterprise? It's not very big is it? How small is James T Kirk??

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The Italians have 3 surprise points and use this to increase the naval column.

The results though are really disappointing. Both British cruisers are aborted thanks to some ridiculously high throws.

What did the Italians expect? Fighting against The Enterprise!?

We are the Enterprise. The perfect naval vessel. Resistance is futile.

warspite1

Is that the real starship Enterprise? It's not very big is it? How small is James T Kirk??

Nah. It is just a replica from Vulcan.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The CW use their surprise points to choose a surface action. Needless to say the convoy is destroyed. The Axis decide they have had enough of this lottery and abort the area.

EDIT: That's strange. I asked to abort with the Italians and the computer ignored me and rolled for search instead....

..not only that but the Italian subs have found - and surprised - the CW. Despite that - and the fact that the naval column is increased - the four submarines not only do no damage to the surface units (there is no attack offered) but they suffer damage to one sub themselves.

That chain of events doesn't look right. Is submarine warfare vs surface ship THAT penal against the subs?

EDIT II: One Italian sub remains at sea???

I will need to re-load this and run through that sequence of events again - that just looked plain wrong.

No, looking at the Italian fleet you displayed, the submarines should have 10 points of surface combat power. Something very strange happened here. If this is repeatable, please post a save game to the Tech Support forum.

[Centuur]

On playing the USSR in 1942 (when you should know as the USSR that the attack will come):

1. Never allow a Soviet HQ to become part of the frontline.

2. Never allow your airforce to be on the frontlines. They should be in the third hex for garrison count and be rebased as far away as possible after war breaks out, but stay within range of the frontline (especially the FTR's). Use your bombers for ground support, rather than ground strikes and use your puny FTR's to intercept ground striking Stuka's (even when there are German FTR's in range too). You are better off losing and rebuilding FTR's than ground units, if the Germans decide to fight, always abort after the first round if you have the disadvantage. The goal is to make sure the Axis can't move the airforce up front, because the FTR's they have there have been used. The more disorganised aircraft the Axis have, the better. Also: ground strike any Axis HQ if they don't have FTR cover.

3. When the Axis declares war late in the turn (as they did in your example), don't try to hold the front line but start running away immediately. The goal is here to run away from the short range German airforce. Only leave a couple of units as speed bumps in the cities (such as Kaunas, Riga, Odessa, Lodz and Minsk), but that's it. Try to outrange the German airforce. It takes a lot of guts for a German player to stop the movement of his land forces, to take an air actions and put the airforce back on the frontlines. And guess what: at that moment you withdraw again! Only make sure you rail away the precious factories first...

Keeping a front line is useless, for as long as the Axis has superior air in the region. And: the longer the frontline becomes, the worse will the Axis positions look...

Finally: don't forget your offensive chit! You can reorganise all your HQ's using it... It's best used to reorganise all your HQ's when defending. And why keep it for later?

Demand (no, not ask) that Mr. Churchill opens a second front now and starts stratetic bombardments now. Every FTR send back to the homeland is one which can't be used against you...

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The CW use their surprise points to choose a surface action. Needless to say the convoy is destroyed. The Axis decide they have had enough of this lottery and abort the area.

EDIT: That's strange. I asked to abort with the Italians and the computer ignored me and rolled for search instead....

..not only that but the Italian subs have found - and surprised - the CW. Despite that - and the fact that the naval column is increased - the four submarines not only do no damage to the surface units (there is no attack offered) but they suffer damage to one sub themselves.

That chain of events doesn't look right. Is submarine warfare vs surface ship THAT penal against the subs?

EDIT II: One Italian sub remains at sea???

I will need to re-load this and run through that sequence of events again - that just looked plain wrong.

No, looking at the Italian fleet you displayed, the submarines should have 10 points of surface combat power. Something very strange happened here. If this is repeatable, please post a save game to the Tech Support forum.

warspite1

Just tried it again. Definitely an issue. I cannot post a save game so will send to Steve via e-mail with instructions.

[warspite1]

Right, instructions and game sent to Steve - hopefully he can look at the North Sea too - this is too important a sea zone not to be working.

I will replay this with a different outcome at the weekend and continue the AAR.

[warspite1]

Actually I've a better idea. I will just replay to the point just before it all goes wrong and then get both sides to withdraw. If I don't put the Italian convoy in the Italian Coast again this turn then the effect is the same (well except the CW have been denied a likely victory against the subs).

So the game restarts from the Strategic Bombing phase.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The Germans see a way to smash a wedge into a gap that has been created between the Soviet Fronts in the North and those just north of the Pripyat Marshes in Belorussia.

A Stuka and Heinkel He-111 are sent aloft to try and ground strike Timoshenko. There are other tempting target but the Germans are now starting to make serious advances and the Luftwaffe is acutely aware that it will need to conserve air missions for re-basing.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The Soviets were in Forest and these were not top-drawer Luftwaffe ground support aircraft, but the Germans are still a tad miffed at the result...

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

There will be five attacks this impulse, against:

- the Yugoslav Partisan in Zagreb
- the lone Militia northwest of Kiev
- the Guards Army near Krivoy Rog
- a Mechanised Army in Latvia
- Timoshenko and his group in Eastern Poland.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

The Soviets cannot contest the battles in the north, but in the south, where the Germans are more stretched, they bring in bombers (and fighters) to bring the odds down.

And so to the battles:

1. The Partisan is toast on an auto attack

2. In Latvia the odds are 4:1+1 on the Blitz table....

...its a 10. The 1st Mechanised Army is destroyed for no loss.

The breakthrough leaves the 9th Guards Infantry Army out of supply.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

3. Possibly the most important attack now. Its a 3:1 +1 against Timoshenko on the Blitz table.....

..its a 7(8). The Soviets lose no units but they are all Shattered. I do not convert in order to clear the way east.

...another Soviet Army moves out of supply...

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

4. This is the attack near Kiev. It is a 5:1 no modifiers on the Blitz table....

...Ouch. It's a 2. The defender retreats and the Germans lose an Infantry Division and are disorganised.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

5. The Germans need a good result on this one to keep the momentum up. Its a 2:1 +1 on the Blitz table, and the Fractional Odds increase this to 3:1 (negating some of the good work done by the Soviet air force)....

...Oh dear its a 3(4). The defender is destroyed but all attackers are disorganised.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 3

Guderian and von Rundstedt are both used to reorganise units. This is a little risky in case of bad weather, but the alternative is to stop the advance....

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 4

This is the grim reality facing Uncle Joe on the 1st August 1942....

In the north, the Dvina line is a long distant memory. One Infantry and one Mechanised army are disorganised and out of supply. If the Soviets bring units forward to re-supply, they run the risk of being chewed up in the open.

Decision now is whether to abandon Minsk and try and hold around Vitebsk and then Smolensk. At least the units around the Belorussian capital are not disorganised.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1942
Impulse: 4

The south is, if anything, even more wide open - due to the great tank country; miles and miles of endless steppe...

The only good news is that both HQ are disorganised and so there is a limit to how far the Germans can advance this turn without risking being out of supply if the weather turns nasty.

[warspite1]

You really wouldn't want to be agrophobic and out here would you?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

Similar question for Italy. What do the Italians try and defend? Assume Sardinia? Albania? Sicily? Taranto? Rome? Naples? and at least a couple of Corps in the north?

This is a defence for Italy that peskpesk and I made for the Italian AI thread. The green squares are where Italian corps sized go and the dotted redline are where there is a weaknesses in the defence. The main idea with this defence is to give a +1 for ZOC to the notional defender.

We made three variants using 7 to 12 corps. More is recommended when a serious invasion invasion is imminent.

warspite1

So does anyone bother to defend Sardinia?