All out war!

[joshuamnave]

Note that the center of the map isn't really centered on a hex. The center of the map is just barely inside the hex it's "centered' on. When you're talking about two adjacent hexes, this can make it tricky. The same "centering" is used in other instances, like HQ reorg, that sometimes involve multiple hexes and it can be even more difficult to distinguish.

[joshuamnave]

To make matters even more confusing... the US and French are given the same choices, but the targets are listed in reverse order! If the US fired at the first set of coordinates (as they did), that coordinate shows up second in the French list! There's no way to sugar coat this kind of thing - it's just plain sloppy in comparison to modern UI designs.

[joshuamnave]

Note that the unchecked box to center the linked map doesn't affect the targeting map, only the map that is obscured by the pop up targeting form. And even if it were visible while the targeting form is active, it also "centers" much the same way.

At any rate, the AA knocked one point off one bomber in the northern hex, and all 3 units were disorganized. In the southern hex, the US militia was disorganized, but the artillery remains face up. Italian bombers fail to disorganize Wavel.

Badoglio rails to Iraq.

Germany could have used an o-chit for a good odds attack on Paris this impulse, but needs to clean up the US units as well (if they can). Plus clearing another hex around Paris means they might be able to save the chit. With 3 disorganized units, the hex NW of Paris is ripe for an attack. Prior to air/artillery, it's a +14.8 blitz. Meanwhile, Italian units freed up from the siege of Toulouse move north, closing the gap on the recent arrivals in western France. Swiss units continue to screen off Lyons, which has 2 full corps (including a MTN corps) defending it.

[joshuamnave]

The allies elect to keep their powder dry for the attack on Paris. With limited air support and one artillery in theater, they couldn't reduce the odds enough to warrant using up their meager resources. Germany clears the hex with no losses.

The Allies take land actions. The US is in a quandry... with the fall of Paris virtually inevitable, America now has to consider the aftermath. If they hold the position behind Paris, they can provide some defensive support at the risk of a German pincer attack taking them out. If that happens, not only will Paris fall, but the US will lose some valuable units, making Germany's job that much easier.

[joshuamnave]

Even more worrisome is the possibility that Germany will ignore Paris for the moment and try to turn the corner on the American line in the south, which is anchored by weak infantry corps. If that happens, Germany could roll up the majority of the American forces currently in theater before attacking Paris.

[joshuamnave]

After much deliberation, Macarthur decides that the US troops must switch their focus from defending Paris to preparing a counterattack. To that end, it's more important to preserve American troop strength and to prevent a breach in the line. Paris will have to suffer, but Macarthur broadcasts a stirring speech in which he vows to return. Unfortunately the speech is in English, so nobody understands it. But they do understand what it means as American troops to the west of Paris begin to pull back...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... British bombers attack the Swedish and German defenders NW of Oslo, disorganizing one of them, then move in to attack. America drives down the center of Mexico. Russia fidgets, practically daring German units to cross the border.

Britain decides to wait one more impulse to attack, so as to bring up a few more units including a division for losses. If the Norwegian try to move in to block, then they'll shift the attack to Oslo.

[joshuamnave]

On the Axis impulse, it's 3 land actions.

Japan closes its fist around Sian. But it's a velvet glove for the moment as the best they can muster is a +5 against a stack of 3 units in a factory city. And the Japanese don't have any division to soak up losses. Normally at this point in the war, Japanese Nav's are doubling as tac bombers, but now they're busy in the S China sea. Japan is building land based bombers to replace them, but they haven't arrived yet. However, barring any further disasters to the shipping lanes, Japan's production will finally start looking respectable this turn. In the meantime, they begin to form up for an attack in the mountains outside of Changsha. There's an infantry corps on it way - once it arrives, they'll attack. For now Japan settles for occupying Rabaul.

Italian and Turkish forces cut the supply lines running into Baghdad. But with no bombers in theater, and Russian long range bombers in Tehran, it will be another turn or two before they can attack.

German and Italian forces link up in France, extending the line across the country. Germany pops the disorganized unit behind Paris, and a joint German and Italian force hits the weakest link in the Allied line, a lone French corps east of La Rochelle sitting in a forest. Both attacks succeed, although the Axis suffer heavy losses when they roll a 5 on the southern attack.

[joshuamnave]

On the third allied impulse, the US takes a naval to land some more troops. Britain and France take a land. Russia and China fidget some more.

2 Mech corps and a B-25B "Mitchell" arrive in France. British strat bombers hit 1 factory in Essen. In Norway, the Brits clear the hex NW of Oslo, but the Axis units are merely shattered and most of the British are disorganized. Oslo will hold out another turn. Longer, if the Germans can spare an air wing or two. Macarthur reorgs the recently arrived Mech units, and the turn passes back to Germany. Time to take Paris.

Germany and Japan take a land, Italy takes a naval. Among other things, Italy ships another infantry (Militia) into Egypt to help take out Wavel.

The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese navies sail into Bay of Biscay to challenge the American fleet. Spain sends its transport with another inf down to west Africa, in preparation for an attack on Senegal. Italian convoys begin setting up supply lines for Persia and east Africa.

The mixed Axis navies surprise the Americans, and force a surface combat. The Axis are outgunned, but American ships are worth more than the Portuguese destroyer flotilla and the Spanish fleet. 2 US cruisers hit the bottom of the Biscay Bay, and 2 more are heavily damaged. The Portuguese ships are sunk along with 2 Spanish relics, and 3 more Spanish ships are damaged.

Japan makes a halfhearted attempt to groundstrike Sian but the pilots don't even attempt to hide their laughter when they get the orders.

Germany finally attacks Paris. Making a 6 hex attack with engineer support and a Paradrop, with 1 unit in Paris disorganized, it's just over a +9 attack prior to air. A large air battle shapes up -

[joshuamnave]

In a stunning reversal of previous air to air setbacks, the Germans manage to shoot down every allied plane save for one fighter, while clearing all of their own bombers. The final odds are +10.8

On a roll of 11, Germany clears the hex, losing their engineer division and disorganizing a large portion of their army. At which point the game locked up completely, and I had to go into task manager to shut it down. And... it happened again on the reload. Turns out the popup form telling me that the shattered unit was destroyed because it had nowhere to retreat was hiding behind the map, so I managed to move on. Germany reorganizes the ground forces, and we drive on.

The Allies are now anxious to end the turn, so all but the US pass. America wants to bring the mech units up to the front line and takes a land. The army approaches the outskirts of Mexico City, but the city is ringed in Mtns which will slow down the attack.

[joshuamnave]

Had the allies all passed, the turn would have ended, but instead they miss by 1. The Axis take 3 land actions.

In Scandinavia, Swedish units move up to the Norwegian border and mount a joint attack with German/Swedish units on the end of the British line. German units, freed up from the attack on Paris, rush to the front line with the Americans. Unfortunately the best attack they can currently muster is a +8.8 blitz, with no air and no divisions for losses, so the only attack is in Norway at +11. Japan launches an attack into the Mtns near Changsha at +7.6.

China loses one unit and shatters the other. Typically with China I'll defend on the blitz most of the time as my units are more valuable than the ground they're holding. But China has been at max production for a few turns now and hasn't been losing many units, while the Japanese are spread thin, so I chose assault. Didn't work out - Japan lost nothing, but flipped a few attackers. In Norway, the Axis obliterate the British Mot while taking no losses. The turn ends on a roll of 1. Not a long summer, but not a super short one either. With good weather and the initiative, Germany can inflict some damage on the American line in France.

Here's a shot of China, since I don't think I've updated those positions lately.

[joshuamnave]

Production
Germany 24 BP's, 5 oil
Italy 12 BP's, 2 oil
Japan 18 BP's, 4 oil
China 8 BP's, 1 oil
CW 12 BP's, 3 oil
France 2 BP's (1 saved), 0 oil
US 48 BP's, 16 oil The US gets their BP boost next turn.
USSR 14 BP's, 10 oil

The British are rapidly losing the ability to move ships around Africa as they lose ports in the west. The only friendly port north of the Ivory Coast is Senegal, and that's under siege.

Germany - 2 Pilots, Sub (2nd), Sub (1st), Lnd2, Ftr2, BB (1st), Arm div, Mech div, Mot div, Eng div
Italy - Pilot, Lnd3, CP, Sub (2nd), BB (1st), Inf
Japan - 2 Pilots, BB (2nd), CA repair, Lnd3, CVP, BB (1st), Mil
China - 3 Mil, Mot div
CW - Pilot, CV (2nd), Sub (2nd), CVP, CA (1st), Inf HQ
France - Terr
US - 2 Pilots, 2 subs (2nd), 2 CA repairs, Trans (1st), BB (1st), Ftr2, CVP, AT gun, Mech div, Arm div, Marine div, Mtn Div, Mil, O-chit
Russia - Pilot, ftr2, AT gun, Arm div, Inf

The US has nearly built out its force pool, and is about to get a production upgrade. They're going to up their donations to the British this turn, and even then they'll probably have to start dipping into the build ahead pool.

[joshuamnave]

Incoming reinforcements

[joshuamnave]

Conquests -
Mauritania (Italy)

And since I haven't show you the map in a while...

[Centuur]

Personally, even with France almost out of the game, I believe the Axis will go down pretty fast during 1942...

The US has got a small army to take on all those Axis minors in America, they just have to slowly press south. By the way: did they put a division in Cuba already? There is a resource on the island and it hasn't got any defenses. The UK needs every resource the US can get there hands on.

Africa is a problem at the moment. As the US my goals would now be:

1. aim for reoccupying the Panama Canal.
2. make sure South Africa, India and Australia are save
3. continue to put forces into France.

If you've emptied the TRS/AMPH pool, than the US should have plenty of TRS on the globe in a couple of turns time. Those are the most important units to have on the map at the moment for the US.

[joshuamnave]

I agree with pretty much everything there. The US gets another Transport this turn and several in the pipeline. The UK has started building their amphibs as well. Mexico probably falls this year, followed by the rest of central america pretty quickly. I haven't taken Cuba yet but only because every available unit has been heading into France. That should change shortly, and the US is now building out their pool of divisions.

The Germans might actually push the US out of France, but I wouldn't place bets either way just yet. Doesn't matter... D-Day can happen in 42. And the bigger problem for the Axis is Japan, I think. Unlike the western Axis powers, Japan didn't get much benefit from the minor allies. Yes, they got the NEI resources without a fight, but they would have gotten most of them through most of 40 anyway, and they've had to ward of attacks on their shipping plus send land units into places other than China much earlier than normal. They're already pretty bogged down in China, and have little chance to increase their production very much now. They'll take the resource in Vietnam, and probably Sian, but won't likely get any red factories in China or break into Burma. The only thing they have going for them is the US is busy elsewhere.

[joshuamnave]

The allies catch a break as they get the initiative and a 10 on the weather roll. The US and CW start off with a naval and the others take land, but with most of the world covered in storms, it will be a fairly uneventful impulse.

The US ships a marine unit to midway and an AA to Hawaii. Eisenhower boards a ship bound for France. US transports in France sail back and pick up 2 Mot Corps and 1 Inf Corps. They'll land later this turn. The British home fleet does double duty. Several battleships and cruisers head into the Bay of Biscay to help safeguard American shipping while the rest take their usual post in the North Sea. British transports arrive off the East coast and pick up the New York militia unit. It's going to take both navies to keep up with troop production now.

In the South China Sea, British spies in the IJN tip off the Pacific fleet to the latest merchant shipping routes. No other way to explain how Britain makes their search rolls here every single turn. Due to the storms, Japanese air cover is grounded, but a small contingent of Japanese ships slips in between the British and the Japanese convoys. 2 Japanese cruisers and 1 British cruiser are damaged. Britain also makes nearly every defensive roll in this sea zone. In round 2, Japan gets the jump on some allied subs and damages one, aborting it and a second sub back to Calcutta, but the subs also chase the Japanese cruisers out of the sea zone.

The Russians pull their bombers back from the front line. By the end of the year, they'll move everything in the south to behind the Dnepr, in preparation for the inevitable German attack in 41. Should Germany not attack in 41, then by 42 Russia will take the offensive. Of course the only way that happens is if Germany is too tied up with the Wallies to move east, in which case they've lost anyway.

Britain sends more air to Norway and then it's the Axis turn. All 3 take naval actions. Best time for the Germans to move their fleet is when the weather is too lousy to do much on the ground anyway. Japan moves a white print militia down to Rabaul and brings the marines back home. Germany sends the Scandinavian navies into the North Sea. Should they find the British fleet, they'll get beat up pretty bad but trading the Danish ships for British ships is a pretty good deal. Germany gets more convoys into place. Barring any maritime attacks on the merchant fleet, German production will go up to 29 this turn, with 9 oil. And could go higher if we get some good weather in France. With Suez open, Italy can now bring home the Saudi oil and sets convoys up to get the Persian and Iraqi oil if the middle east campaign goes well.

The bulk of the Italian fleet sails into the North Atlantic, where the convoy line is only lightly guarded. Spain ships their HQ to Mauritania to help in the battle for Senegal, then to provide supply as Spanish and Italian units push into the interior of Africa. The Axis miss all of their search rolls, so there is no naval combat.

The weather stays bad. The US dodges the Italian fleet in the North Atlantic and lands 3 corps in France. Britain once again finds the Japanese in the S China Sea. An Australian cruiser is damaged, and the Siamese navy is sunk. The remaining 0 box escorts are sent home, exposing the Japanese convoys, but they miss their follow up search roll.

Japan and Germany take a land but don't expect to accomplish much in this weather. Italy takes a combined and searches for the convoys in the Atlantic again. The British refuse to loan their dice to the Italians, so no combat this impulse.

Germany flies two Stukas on a groundstrike mission against the northern hex of the Allied line in France, and disrupts one of the two units. Unfortunately, it was the in supply American unit, and not the out of supply French unit in the hex.

The weather clears up. The Allies are torn between passing to try and deny the Axis a fair weather turn, or taking advantage of the last good weather in the north for a while. Finally they decide to play, with the UK and US taking land actions. Britain wants to attack Oslo, assuming they can groundstrike one or both defenders, and the US needs to close the circle around Mexico city.

The Russians send a pair of TB-3's to attack the oil fields of Ploesti but only manage to hit one of three targets. Let's see if the wallies ground strike rolls are as low as the Russian strat bomb rolls..

Following an uneventful air to air combat between the Swedish and British air forces, two bombers disorganize both defenders in Oslo. American bombers aren't so lucky in Mexico, however.

The Russians begin pulling back from the Romanian border, rather than risk being encircled and slaughtered. The UK makes a +12 attack on Oslo and captures the city.

The Axis get a fair weather turn and immediately delcare 3 land actions.

Japanese bombers attack Sian. In France, Germany groundstrikes two key hexes in the allied line. The northern hex contains a 3 factor artillery that Germany would like to take out of action before attacking the hex to the NE.

[joshuamnave]

Italian bombers fly against Wavel. In total, 5 bombers flew groundstrikes against 10 targets. Only one unit was disorganized. Fortunately, it was the artillery unit.

In Scandinavia, Swedish troops rush to form a line against the Norwegian border.

4 attacks - a +14.3 Blitz in France, with the German navy providing shore bombardment, a +19 invasion of Haiphong, a +7 against Wavel, and a desperation +5 attack on Sian. This will probably be the last shot at hitting Sian before Spring, but with a 3 unit stack there, the Japanese will need to get lucky.

The Japanese don't get lucky, but they don't get unlucky either. A roll of 14 kills 2 of the units in Sian, including the big 7-3 infantry, and leaves Mao alone. The Japanese lose a garrison and a cavalry. Should the turn go one more round, they'll have a decent attack on Mao.

Wavell dies, but takes an Italian mech with him. The British forced a blitz just to put the mech at risk. Still, Italy has now cleared Egypt, and those units are soon to be enroute to Iraq/Persia. In France, the Germans smash through the line and exploiting armor units create a dangerous situation for American forces.

[joshuamnave]

The turn doesn't end and the weather stays good. Now the Allies are in a bind. If they pass, the US risks being slaughtered. If they don't pass and the turn goes on, the US risks being slaughtered. The best play seems to be for everyone else to pass while the US tries to reform a line. But some of those hexes also have French units that will end up being left behind to die. C'est la guerre.

On the plus side for the Allies, the US captures Mexico city on a +10 attack. Fortunately for the US, the turn ends before Germany can capitalize on the weak points in the now much shorter French line.

[joshuamnave]

Production
Germany, 29 BP's, 9 oil
Italy, 13 BP's, 3 oil
Japan - 18 BP's, 4 oil
Chian - 6 BP's, 0 oil
CW - 14 BP's, 4 oil
France - nada
US - 57 BPs, 15 oil
CCCP - 14 BPs, 10 oil

Conquests:
Mexico (US)
Norway (CW)

[joshuamnave]

The Axis retake the initiative now that winter has set in. Raining in the N Temp, south everywhere south of that.

Japan - naval, Germany - Land, Italy - combined

Italy sends 4 ships to Cape Verde to provide shore bombardment for an attack on Senegal. Italy also rails another unit into Mosul. Some bombers will arrive in theater this impulse so a reconquest of Iraq may happen soon.

Germany hits the two weak points in the allied position - places where French units were left behind in the US pullback. One is an automatic attack, the other is at +17, even in the rain. Neither breaches the line. Spanish troops assault Dakar, taking the city without any losses. The French fleet rebases to Martinique. In Nov/Dec it will start harassing Axis shipping. Italy begins making plans to invade the Caribbean islands still controlled by the allies.

Britain takes a Naval, France and the US take a land, to shore up the line.

The UK presses all of its transports, including the Queens, into duty carrying American troops across the Atlantic. US troops start heading for Guatemala and points south, while more arrive in France. It's looking more and more like Germany may push them back into the sea, but winter is coming... here's how it looks now. I've turned off weather effects to make it easier to see, but it's raining in northern France.