End of the Japanese Empire, Dmitry (Allies) vs LoneRunner (Axis)

[LoneRunner]

Congratulations LoneRunner for this excellent AAR, a real pleasure to follow. It is difficult to imagine how Germany will lose this game. With 120 units and all tanks and no Soviets..!

It is indeed a fantastic Game! Many thanks again Hubert and Bill for your amazing work.

Thank you Taifun. Yes, I thought I was in good shape with 120 land units and a super armored assault force. But Dmitry is an excellent player and was able to use his strengths to counter mine. Of course, then I countered his counter, heh.

You'll find the rest of the war interesting where the balance of power swung back and forth as we both adjusted strategies and tactics.

[LoneRunner]

An interesting choice Bill. In our epic game I thought that was what cost me the game.

The Middle East has poor supply, bad terrain and too easy for the Allies to ship in reinforcements. Option 3 for me next time. And build fortifications.

An excellent AAR - well done.

Thanks Pete. Yes, our amazing game was definitely on my mind when I made the decision. I remember our massive battle in Iraq where the evil Axis threat was finally halted, heh.

During the petedalby/lonerunner game, I think it was 1943 when strong Axis forces moved through Persia and Turkey into Iraq, threatening the entire Middle East. In response, I shifted all units available into Israel/Palestine/Sinai including most of my air force and three strategic bombers. Those strategic bombers continuously bombed Axis supply sources. As a result the entire Axis army appeared to struggle in constant low supply. Then, under sunny blue skies, Allied bombers tore through Axis armor despite your careful placement of anti-air.

I'm hoping that Dmitry's weakness in air power will prove to be the difference. He has a few strategic bombers but not nearly the force that I had amassed. Anyway, that's the plan, haha.

[LoneRunner]

July 1943

The second front has arrived. Allies simultaneously landed in South France and Sicily. Italy wavers but holds firm. Churchill stated during the landing, "We have returned" ,which irritated Macarthur immensely. Stalin, rotting in a dank Berlin prison, raged at the hypocrisy of the Allies, "Six months too late!"

Here's the situation in South France at the beginning of my turn:

France South beg Jul 2 43 1.png (1.41 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

Allies destroyed an Italian garrison in Montpellier and captured the port at level 5 supply. Dang! Luckily the German corps at Marseille held. Allies were able to land an HQ, two tanks, and several corps, capturing St Etienne and Perpignan on the initial landing. Two carriers off the coast provide close air support. Nice start.

Here's my response:

South France Jul 2 43 1.png (1.59 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

Three tanks, two mech, two artillery, three anti-air, and assorted infantry rushed to the South France front. I'm not throwing more into the battle because I'm wary of another landing in North France. However, I've got pretty overwhelming force considering the Allies tanks are only level 2 and mine are level 4.

Hope that HQ is Patton. I'd really enjoy capturing him.

I've got 4 fighters within intercept range. The Allies have a lot of carriers but they can't compete with land based air.

Notice my tanks are well back from the front. Close enough to attack but far enough away that I don't provide the Allies with free shots

South France is an easy landing site but has terrible supply for the invader, especially if Marseille is not captured. Basically, you can land and capture the coast but you aren't going anywhere after that.

My main concern is getting hit by ATs on the northern Italian coast. That's why the tank is in Milan.

Here's the situation in South Italy at the end of my turn:

Italy Jul 2 43 1.png (1.41 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

Strong landing at Palermo. Almost impossible to drive the Allies off Sicily once they've landed in force. I moved a German corps into the mountains north of Syracuse but really I shouldn't have. With overwhelming Allied sea power it's too easy to cut my units off. I'm just throwing away a good corps.

Notice my anti-air unit in Brindisi (on the heel of the Italian boot). That unit provides air cover for the sub. The Allies are itching to destroy the remainder of the Italian fleet but that sub is tough to get past without carrier strikes and carriers are loathe to fly though anti-air. I'm bringing in more air units. Hopefully the Adriatic will be a deathtrap for the Allied navy.

The massive Allied fleet sails calmly off the coast of Italy. No reason to hide I guess. Anyway, I provided a sharp lesson by sinking the Royal Sovereign (battleship).

The reason I'm hunting battleships is this section of the manual:
6.6.6.2. Sinking Enemy Vessels
Whenever a vessel is sunk, the Major whose unit sinks it will receive a
National Morale bonus equal to the MPP cost of the vessel sunk, and its
owner will suffer a similar penalty. If it were a Carrier, Battleship or Cruiser
then the penalty is double the cost.

An upgraded battleship costs over 400 MPPs. Double that and each battleship sunk reduces Allied national morale over 800 points and increases Axis national morale over 800 points. USA starts at 100,000 morale. So the loss of one battleship equals about a 1% hit on national morale.

I talked about the importance of national morale earlier in this tread if you are interested.

[LoneRunner]

July 1943

Here's the situation at the beginning of my turn:

Persia beg Jul 2 43 1.png (1.76 MiB) Viewed 2067 times

The Chinese defense of Baku has limited my "lightning" attack through the Caucasus. Ouch.

Dmitry cleverly moved a garrison into Leninakan. I'm impressed with his attention to detail. Leninakan appears worthless but it's a key supply source for the Axis. Notice the rail running through Leninakan provides supply into both Persia and Turkey. Tabriz is another key town for my assault on Persia. Tabriz is more important than Rasht, because Rasht doesn't have a rail.

So my objective this turn is to capture Tabriz as quickly as possible.

For you beginning players, here's an interesting quirk in the map north of Tabriz that allows quick movement through the mountainous terrain.

Persia beg Jul 2 43 2.png (236.28 KiB) Viewed 2067 times

The two hexes north of Tabriz are clear terrain. As a result the German mech unit can move through the mountains into Tabriz with 4 movement points. Cool huh? The army in Rasht should have been placed on the mountain hex to the NW of Rasht to stop that move.

Anyway, I'm sure the Allies have placed a unit in Tabriz so I've got to kill that unit and occupy Tabriz.

Notice also the Chinese corps moving toward Ashkhabad. It's probably been whittled down to 3 points due to lack of supply. I'm sure the unit is heading to Krasnovodsk so I got to stop that move.

Here's the situation at the end of my turn:

Persia Jul 2 43 1.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 2067 times

Baku is mine, hoorah. Also, I shipped a garrison to Krasnovodsk to stop the Chinese. My fighter landed in Krasnovodsk to take advantage of clear weather. I'll move it further south next turn to provide close support to the front.

I destroyed the garrison in Leninakan and another garrison in Tabriz. Then in a risky move, I force-marched a tank from north of Grozny to almost Tehran, discovering a fighter and strategic bomber. Too bad I couldn't attack the planes. Would have been glorious. The tank's morale is shot because of the force-march, but I felt I had to make a quick move before the Allies could set up a defense in the mountains.

The tank is on a mountain and behind a river so it's not terribly vulnerable but if the Allies have tactical bombers or an anti-tank gun, I could be in for a bad turn.

Supply is an issue in this area but I'm moving two HQs into position to provide support. Another tank has operated into the front near Grozny, plus two bombers. Hopefully that's enough.

[LoneRunner]

August 1943

The Allies bombed cities throughout France cutting supply and limiting operational movement, isolating West France. The bombings could indicate that Dmitry plans another landing soon.

I noticed that USA air power increased significantly in the past two months, from 8 units in June to 12 in August. Ouch. I was hoping to fight a ground war.

Here's my defensive setup on Europe's north coast:

North Coast Aug 43 1.png (2.5 MiB) Viewed 2030 times

I attempted to minimize the number of vulnerable units on the coast (lesson learned in Seoul). Brest, St Malo, Le Havre, and The Hague are defended by corps because I don't want to give away those important positions for free. Also, by defending those cities, I can channelize his landings and force him to use up a lot of AT attacks on inexpensive corps.

Notice the armies in Nantes and SW of Caen. The Allies can't hit those from the sea and they will be tough to get past. The fortress NW of Paris is a must build. I don't like defending Paris with a garrison, to easy to be killed by paratroopers, but that's all I had.

Normally I place an anti-air in Lille and adjacent to the Essen and Dortmund mines. But strategic bombing of resources has been minimal and those anti-air are protecting tanks at the moment.

The torpedo boat in Bremen harbor is also a must. Torpedo boats are surprisingly resilient in port and they'll automatically hit any AT attempting to land in adjacent hexes.

South France

France South Aug 43 1.png (1.88 MiB) Viewed 2030 times

Axis forces hit the Allied landings hard, destroying a tank, a special forces, and two corps. At last USA is incurring heavy losses! The tank and 2 corps were in low supply. Even better.

Odd that the USA HQ moved to Perpignan. Dang, just Wainwright. I was hoping for Patton. Anyway, he's trapped now. I knocked him down to an 8 just to lower supply some more. The more units I kill in low supply the better.

The Allies landed more units including two artillery. Great, like shooting fish in a barrel. I decided not to push forward too hard. Let the Allies keep landing units.

Notice Dmitry placed a sub in the Montpellier harbor. Nice move. If I bomb the harbor with anything but a strategic bomber, I'll hit the sub rather than the harbor. That way the harbor stays at level 5 . Actually, I don't want to hit the harbor. Keep the units coming.

Allied navy showed up in the Bay of Biscay and I noticed an AT in an English port. I'm concerned about another landing in Western France which could trap the Axis units near Toulouse. Every city in Western France has been heavily damaged from bombing cutting any operational movement.

New Orleans

I almost forgot to mention the brave soldiers who captured The Big Easy. Vastly outnumbered, they held the French Quarter for four months, gloriously fighting to the last man.

Italy

Italy Aug 43 1.png (1.32 MiB) Viewed 2030 times

Allies destroyed a couple garrisons and bombed Syracuse hard, despite the defending anti-air. Notice I'm attempting to defend the toe of the boot. Really a waste when the Allied navy is this strong. I should pulled back to at least Catanzaro.

I moved an anti-air unit into the mountain fortress between Rome and Naples. A strong position that provides protection to two air units and two armies. Notice all my air units near the Med are hugging anti-air.

I gave the Allied navy a good pasting sinking a battleship and battle cruiser.

[LoneRunner]

August 1943

Persia Aug 43 1.png (1.38 MiB) Viewed 2006 times

USA reinforcements apparently operated into Tehran. Dang, that means the whole rail from the Persian Gulf to Tehran is at least level 5 supply.

The ramifications of my delay moving through the Caucasus are now becoming painfully clear. I should have continued the attack through the Caucasus instead of sending everything north a year ago. With the bad weather in Perm, an extra couple tanks probably didn't make a difference as to the timing of Perm's capture, but they would have made a huge difference in the South.

Well, no use crying over spilt milk. I got to take Tehran.

Rain and sandstorms blanket the region, so I used the opportunity to pull the force-marched tank back into good supply and regain morale. The other two tanks moved forward into strike range. Next turn's a go.

East Russia

Russia East Aug 43 1.png (1.38 MiB) Viewed 2006 times

Forward Axis units finally draw within range of Chinese defenses in Novosibirsk.

Supply has slowed my advance to a crawl. Dmitry smartly occupied every city on the rail. As a result I am able to advance supply only as fast as an HQ can move. Why can't we force-march HQs? Officers can run as fast as enlisted!

I'm keeping my tank out of sight range. Hopefully it will be a big surprise next turn.

[Bavre]

With the hindsight of Hamburgermeat's thread, were those corps in the coastal towns of France really helpful?
Asking for a friend who might get D-Dayed in the near future.

I mean the a AVLs attack is basically a 100% risk free bonus action which does massive damage provided it has the tech.

[LoneRunner]

With the hindsight of Hamburgermeat's thread, were those corps in the coastal towns of France really helpful?
Asking for a friend who might get D-Dayed in the near future.

I mean the a AVLs attack is basically a 100% risk free bonus action which does massive damage provided it has the tech.

You are right Bavre, after reviewing HM's thread, I'm not sure how to defend a coastline. I hope the developers fix the problem with the overpowered ATs soon.

You'll find Dmitry's invasion of Northern France to be interesting. He did kill my defending corps pretty quick but I think I'll continue to use them.

First, I don't want to give up all the coastal cities without a fight. If I were Allied and the Axis left the coast open, I'd capture an entire section of the coast on the first invasion turn, perhaps grabbing one or two cities at level 5 supply, and then it would be almost impossible for the Axis to contain the invasion.

Maybe, even pre-invasion, I'd start capturing undefended cities all along the coast, forcing the Axis to rush units from point to point, until I cracked a weak spot.

Second, the MPP cost/benefit of using a corps to defend a coastal city actually benefits the Axis. A corps costs 150 MPPs. Replacing a corps destroyed in good supply costs 90 MPPs (150 x .6). Then each level of Production Tech reduces the cost 5%. I was at level 4 Production Tech, that's another 20% discount. But then the cost of upgrades probably brings the cost of the corps back to 90 MPPs.

Loading a unit on an upgraded AT probably costs about 50 MPPs, depending on type of unit, level of upgrade, and level of logistics. Killing an entrenched corps in a city appeared to require at least 3 or 4 AT attacks. That's with upgraded ATs. So, it cost the Allies about 200 MPPs to destroy a 90 MPP unit. That's pretty good attrition.

Of course, the Allies are swimming in MPPs by 1944, so there's that.

[LoneRunner]

September 1943

Here's France at the beginning of my turn:

France beg Sep 43 1.png (2.01 MiB) Viewed 1966 times

Not a big landing at Normandy. The tank seems out of place. Three corps would have made more sense. Probably the tank was chosen because it was available.

The Allies appear to have taken Cherbourg harbor at 5 supply, hence the tank. St Malo was not hit so maybe Dmitry is not making a big investment in Normandy.

My guess is that the Normandy landing is just to get my attention. Maybe take the pressure off South France. But a second wave could be coming especially considering the bombing of France.

The air war over France is fierce. Just about every city in France has been bombed, including Paris. Notice all my fighters are heavily damaged. I'm spending about 200 to 300 MPPs a turn just repairing fighters. But they appear to be giving as good as they're getting, so the Allied air force must be hurting.

Only one corps reinforced the Allied southern France beachhead. Odd, I thought the Allies would pour in more units.

Here's the situation at the end of my turn:

France Sep 43 1.png (1.94 MiB) Viewed 1966 times

I moved units to contain the Normandy beachhead. Perhaps strike it hard next turn. I'm sort of in a wait/see what develops mode with Normandy. Concerning HM's thread regarding the potency of ATs, I should have moved that army south of Le Havre off the coast.

Considering the landing at Normandy and the harsh bombing campaign, I decided to put a end to the South France beachhead and launched a strong attack. Destroyed a tank and 2 corps and heavily damaged 2 more corps with minimal losses.

Germany has 132 land units (up from 121 in June) so I'm in pretty good shape to handle multiple emergencies.

USA air units increased to 13 from 8 in June. Huge jump. USA land units stayed at 35. So, USA is strengthening air power.

UK land units dropped to 39 from 45 in June. Number of air units didn't change. UK has plenty of MPPs to replenish land unit losses, so I suspect UK is building up air power also. Luckily, I started building all fighters available a few months earlier.


Italy

Italy Sep 43 1.png (1.12 MiB) Viewed 1966 times

Like I said last turn, that was a bad move to place the German corps in Sicily. I launched a desperate counterattack on the surrounding Allied unit which was at zero supply. Got within 1 point of success. And almost sunk the carrier in Syracuse harbor. Got within 2 points of success. Ouch on both.

Now my Sicily corps is at zero supply and the German army on the toe of the boot is in danger. Ouch again.

The Allied navy got smacked again with a battleship, destroyer, and AT sunk. Sure would have been nice to add a carrier to that list.

[LoneRunner]

September 1943

Here's the situation at the beginning of my turn:

Persia beg Sep 43 1.png (975.16 KiB) Viewed 1944 times

USA strategically bombed Leninakan and Baku severely damaging Axis supply in the Caucasus. Excellent move by Dmitry. Perfect timing because Leninakan had just reached level 5 supply and I was expecting good supply for my attack through Tabriz. In addition, a strength point was knocked off of Rommel, which made supply even worse and my lone fighter was heavily damaged defending the two cities and is now sitting in the rain.

End of turn:

Persia Sep 43 1.png (1.02 MiB) Viewed 1944 times

Despite low supply I attacked and destroyed the army defending the mountain on the road to Tehran. Both my bombers participated in the attack, sans fighter cover, and were damaged. I noted that the Allies placed at least 3 fighters in Persia. Apparently Dmitry is placing high priority on Persia.

I decided to leave the tank exposed on the road to Tehran. Risky, but I've got to break through.

Here's a screenshot showing the terrible supply situation.

Persia end of turn supply Sep 43 1.png (483.22 KiB) Viewed 1944 times

Just about the entire Axis army is in low supply. Did I mention that the three keys to WaW are supply, supply, and supply? I plan to continue the attack but it's going to get rough.

Eastern Russia

Russia East Sep 43 1.png (712.43 KiB) Viewed 1944 times

I surprised the Allies by destroying the garrison in Novosibirsk, racing an armored car into Prokopyevsk, and cutting supply for the Allied air force. The two allied planes near Kemerovo have zero supply even though they occupy a mine. At zero supply, I think they can only fly one hex. If so, I should be able to destroy them next turn.

The Chinese haven't yet taken Krasnoyarsk. It's going to be race as to who gets there first. Krasnoyarsk is important because it's located in the middle of rough terrain and wilderness and therefore is easily defended. In addition a mine is located on the road to the north.

[LoneRunner]

October 1943

Shaken by heavy losses, the Allies hastily retreated from Southern and Northern France. The French public was stunned. Thousands demonstrated in Paris burning effigies of Churchill.

France North Oct 43 1.png (924.38 KiB) Viewed 1937 times

The Allies cling to Cherbourg after losing a tank and a corps in the Normandy bocage.

Italy Oct 43 1.png (2.18 MiB) Viewed 1937 times

An HQ (Wainwright) and two corps were destroyed in the retreat through Montpellier. However, two artillery units escaped, dang, I wanted them all.

The Axis Sicily corps was destroyed in low supply as expected. Italian morale tanked after the loss of Syracuse (34%).

Italy morale Oct 43 1.png (508.43 KiB) Viewed 1937 times

In response to the wavering loyalty of the Italian army, a German heavy tank and HQ motored into central Italy for "support". Also, replaced the Italian corps in Tirana with a German corps. Can't be too careful at this point.

I left the German army in the toe of the boot for another month. A terrible placement. Notice I've moved a lot of air units into the Mediterranean front anticipating an opportunity to pound the Allied fleet. The air units are all sitting in the rain of course.

And actually, considering the power of the Allied fleet, that's bad placement of air units. Too close to the coast and they should be grouped around anti-air. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.

The war at sea continued during October. Italy lost a sub and torpedo boat, while USA lost a light cruiser.

[LoneRunner]

October 1943

Persia Oct 43 1.png (1.55 MiB) Viewed 1899 times

In a desperate bid to end the Persian war, Axis armored forces swept aside an Allied army and streamed to the edge of Tehran, destroying a valuable unit of strategic bombers. To the north, the Axis attack on Rasht was repulsed with heavy losses.

My advance discovered two tac bombers and two heavy artillery. Looks like Dmitry decided to make a stand.

My tank is toast. An upgraded panzer in low supply is not a good exchange for the strat bomber but I felt I had to test the Allied defense. The tank heading for Krasnovodsk was an unwelcome surprise.

Turkey would be an immense help for breaking open this front. Unfortunately, USA's diplomatic effort has not yet shown results. So I'm still not sure who the Allies are attempting to influence. I don't want to waste 500 valuable Axis MPPs (Germany and Italy) in a vain diplomatic effort on Turkey until I find out who USA influenced.

East Russia

Russia East Oct 43 1.png (1.1 MiB) Viewed 1899 times

Heavy snow and mud hit Eastern Russia. Axis units destroyed an out of supply Allied bomber while the Flying Tiger unit appropriately committed hari kari (eliminated due to low supply attrition).

The Axis armored car prepared to race the Allies for control of Krasnoyarsk.

[LoneRunner]

November 1943

Relatively quiet month throughout Europe. No major moves by either side.

Persia Nov 43 1.png (1.05 MiB) Viewed 1865 times

On the Persian front, Axis captured Rasht. But mostly used November to improved supply lines and reinforce. Notice I've brought in another tank, anti-air, an army, and HQ into the Caucasus. Rebuilt Rommel to a 10. With the new HQ and full strength Rommel, my attacking forces will be at least 5 supply.

Allies diplomatic success is the big news of the month. Greece was influenced! That means the USA is targeting Greece, not Sweden or Turkey.

The successful influence brought Greece to 81%. Won't take much more to nudge them into the war.

Is Greece a good choice for diplomacy? I don't think it's a bad choice. But I don't think it's the best choice.

Greece is easy for the Allies to push into the war. However, their army is worthless. Germany can easily capture the nation in one turn.

Bringing Greece into the war opens a new front. The soft underbelly of Europe. However, with the Allies overwhelming control of the seas and ability to isolate regions with air power, they could have surprised Germany with an invasion of Greece, easily conquered Greece in a turn, and been on Bulgaria/Romania's doorstep before the Axis could react.

In my humble opinion, Turkey would be the best choice for the Allies to influence because first, they have lots of units to build. The Allies have MPPs to burn. And Turkey provides an excellent base for building units and sending them directly into the Balkans or Caucasus.

Second, converting Turkey would open the Black Sea and outflank the Caucasus. Germany would be hard pressed to cover all those tasty ports on the Black Sea. Both the Caucasus and Romania would quickly fall and Germany would be back to fighting a true two front war.

Turkey leans toward the Axis but with the USA, UK, India, China all maximizing diplomacy, Turkey would change sides pretty quick.

Sweden would be my second choice for Allied diplomacy because that would open the Baltic to Allied air power and threaten Finland.

[LoneRunner]

December 1943

Both Rome and Naples fell to AT attacks and Italy surrendered. Aagghhh. Did I learn nothing from Seoul?

Here's the situation at the beginning of my turn:

Italy beg Dec 43 1.png (1.56 MiB) Viewed 1845 times

The Allies hit Rome and Naples with about a dozen level 4 ATs. And it was a massacre. Both armies destroyed. After losing their capital, Italy promptly waved the white flag, leaving their German allies on the lurch.

Axis units throughout Italy are in dire straits. Trapped in small pockets. Many in zero supply and no way to get away from the extremely dangerous coast. I should have placed more German units in cities, except not Rome or Naples. And not any in southern Italy.

Here's the end of my turn:

Italy Dec 43 1.png (2.32 MiB) Viewed 1845 times

I've reinforced northern Italy and rectified the zero supply issues, but most units are in low supply. The upgraded heavy tank, army, and engineer in southern Italy are toast. Model inched his way north but he's a goner too. Excellent attack Dmitry. Assisted by my terrible unit placement.

Germany can hold the top of the boot but considering the Allies awesome AT (amphibious transport) weapons, that's as far south as they go. So much for recreating Germany's historic defense of the boot.

Hopefully the developers will fix the overpowered AT issue. They are like floating invulnerable missiles, able to hit and destroy anything that dares placement on the coast. By 1944, the Allies can continuously sail a dozen of these super units. After each attack, the untouched units can land, then re-embark for the cost of 40-50 MPPs, reloaded on a fresh AT missile. With a 32 hex range, ATs rule the coast. Not battleships, not carriers, just ATs. Wow.

IRL, I don't know of any city that the Allies directly assaulted with beach landings. Maybe the Dieppe raid or Anzio were the closest. Even Operation Olympic where the Allies had absolute dominance over land, sea, and air, landings were planned outside of cities. Why? Imagine fighting through harbor defenses and engaging in street fighting right off the landing craft. It would be a disaster. I recommend that the developers make cities tougher to conquer from the sea.

Notice I'm preparing the attack on Greece. I figure they could join the Allies anytime.

[LoneRunner]

December 1943

Italy has surrendered. Greece is about to join the Allies. The whole Adriatic coast is vulnerable to invasion. And, soon, the Allies will invade somewhere in northern Europe. What do I do with Persia?

Here's the situation in Persia at the beginning of my turn:

Persia beg Dec 43 1.png (1.03 MiB) Viewed 1798 times

I count 2 Allied armies, 4 corps, 1 SF, and 2 artillery. Plus, the Allies have at least 2 bombers and 2 fighters and armor. Dmitry has definitely decided to make a stand in front of Tehran. And his decision makes perfect sense, it's a great defensible position. His supply is good, while mine is terrible. His flanks are secure. I've got basically one route of attack, a rail winding through mountainous terrain.

I'm sure I could bludgeon my way into Tehran but Dmitry would love the attrition exchange. Plus that's a long tenuous supply line running from the Caucasus that could easily be cut with a strategic bomber.

Uggh, I hate to give up this attack but to continue would play right into Dmitry's hands. And I'm sure petedalby is nodding in agreement.

So, I'm pulling out. The Axis has lost the initiative in this war. A somber note to the end of 1943.

The good news is that any Allied offensive through northern Persia will be just as tough as the Axis offensive south. I'll pull out the panzers and tac bombers but leave Axis infantry to force a fight for every mountain hex.

Here's the situation at the end of my turn:

Persia Dec 43 1.png (994.93 KiB) Viewed 1798 times

The tanks escaped north while infantry dug into mountain terrain. Notice Leninakan is almost back to 5 supply, woohoo.

Lake Urmia is a nice defensive wall allowing units to counterattack the rail north of Tabriz without fear of being hit from the east while protected from the south with mountains that block all supply.

[LoneRunner]

December 1943

Okay, I've abandoned the Persia offensive and decided to turtle in Europe. Can I hold Berlin for two and half years?

Unit Report:

Units Dec 43 1.png (656.01 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

Germany:
Accumulated 138 land units as of end of December, woohoo. And I'll need every one of them. Unit count was 121 in June. I've built 17 land units in the past six months, a major effort. Added 3 air units, all fighters and one naval unit, a sub.

Probably not going to continue to increase unit count as I've barely got enough MPPs to cover losses. Just replenishing fighter losses is costing 300 to 400 MPPs a month.

UK/USA:
Land unit count dropped from 80 in June to 73 in December. The Allies took heavy losses in the French invasions. Most of them at low supply.

Unit count and unit quality are Germany's key to winning the war. Germany has experienced upgraded units that can beat the tar out of any Allied unit. Allied land unit have been unable to gain much experience because they are destroyed as they land. I've got to continue to quickly destroy landed units while staying off the beaches.

Air unit count increased from 17 in June to 25 in December. A huge change. Just what I feared. Axis fighters are already getting battered. Pretty soon the Allies will have a 2 to 1 advantage in the air.

In response to the increase in Allied air power, I've double-chitted anti-air research and started building anti-air defenses in key cities and resources. Apparently, anti-air defenses don't kill bombers but they do reduce the impact of bombing.

India:
I'm surprised India has only one air unit. IMO air power is where India can contribute most to the war.

MPP Production (includes convoys):

Germany: 1,115

Allies
UK: 800
USA: 1,240
China: 340
India: 155
Total 2,535

Allied production is more than double Axis production. At this point any type of attrition benefits the Allies. The Allies can even accept 2 to 1 losses. My objective is to destroy Allied units in low supply and avoid losses. A tall order.

National Morale:
IMO national morale is the Allied weakness. Here's the morale charts for UK and USA as of December 1943:

UK Morale Dec 43 1.png (486.64 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

US Morale Dec 43 1.png (481.2 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

UK and USA morale are still high, but notice morale is already starting to slide. As casualties mount, morale will continue to erode reducing the effectiveness of land, air, and sea units.

On the other hand German morale is like a rock.

German Morale Dec 43 1.png (490.23 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

[LoneRunner]

January 1944

Multiple Allied landings throughout Italy and Adriatic destroyed an HQ, tank, engineer, maritime bomber, and fighter. Ouch. Here's the situation at the beginning of my turn:

Italy beg Jan 44 1.png (2 MiB) Viewed 1728 times

Yeah, looks dire. Three Axis units are in danger of being cut off. The rest are doomed. Both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas are owned by the Allies. Several transports float off lazily off the coast looking for targets of opportunity.

Not sure why the landing craft NE of Bologna didn't land in Bologna. That would have put the nail in the coffin of the three Axis units south of the city. Probably the transport moved on cruise to destroy the fighter. Anyway, I'll take it.

The three Allied units with red Xs are out of supply. I destroyed two of them and opened a path to retreat. Here's the end of the turn:

Italy Jan 44 1.png (2.25 MiB) Viewed 1728 times

The two Axis units in southern Italy are abandoned to their fate.

My defense at the top of the boot could be improved. I hate to leave tanks in the front line, especially on the coast, but both tanks were needed to destroy the blocking units. Besides, I think the Allies need at least a turn to reload their transport missiles.

Unfortunately I was unable to destroy the Allied unit in Bihacs (Yugoslavia). One point. Sheesh. That defeat provides the Allies a toe hold on the Adriatic.

I moved all my air units away from the dangerous Adriatic coast but still within range of attacking shipping. Sunk another USA battleship. Woohoo. That's about a 1,000 national morale points.

Notice that my conquest of Greece is prepared. I'm hoping for a one turn blitz when Greece turns on their master. The swarm of Allied shipping in the Adriatic at the back of my attack force is a concern but nothing can be done about that.

[LoneRunner]

January 1944

Axis used January to reinforce and entrench on the Persia front.

Persia Jan 44 1.png (919.2 KiB) Viewed 1724 times

The Allies advanced an army into Rasht and it was promptly destroyed. I'm hoping the USA corps continues across the mountains south of Lake Urmia. Be great to kill an out of supply unit.

The two tank units are waiting to see what develops back west. I don't plan to operate them out of the Caucasus until I see a threat.

East Russia

Russia East Jan 44 1.png (1.78 MiB) Viewed 1724 times

Hah, I won the race for Krasnoyarsk. Small victory, but I'll take it. Axis forces trapped a couple Chinese units in Barnaul. Considering the weather, I'll wait to attack until their supplies run out.

Tough decision to leave a valuable tank and HQ in east Russia. My reasoning is that Chinese units crumble under the treads of tanks. They really don't have much of a counter to upgraded armor. By keeping a tank on the frontier I can nip any developing Chinese threat in the bud.

[LoneRunner]

December 1943

How do you defend a coast that's indefensible? I have no idea but here's my Atlantic Wall. I'd welcome any suggestions.

North Coast Feb 44 1.png (2.83 MiB) Viewed 1679 times

Here's the basis for my defense plan:
1. Allies can destroy any two or three units placed within range of AT attacks. Doesn't take more than three lessons for me to figure that out, haha.
2. A unit can be on the coast, but not vulnerable to attack by ATs. For example the army in Nantes is safe from AT attack.
3. Coastal gun are good defenses against AT attacks. A coastal gun will fire on an AT that stops in an adjacent hex. And the coastal gun fires first. And apparently a coastal gun has unlimited fires on ATs. I tested a gun on hotseat and the gun fired on six ATs in one turn. And the fires did not affect the number of shells available for the gun owner's turn. The only problem is that coastal guns are weak after Allied units land.

The corps defending coastal cities are sacrificial lambs. Yeah, I hate to throw them away, I can't let the Allies have those cities for free and for the cost of two or three corps I can force the Allies into a limited landing zone.

My real defense is the armies behind the beaches. I've selected several strongpoints that will limit Allied access to the interior and allow reinforcements to contain a landing. Notice I've got a couple heavies a short distance from the coast but close enough to strike. I'm figuring the Allies will bomb every city in an attempt to isolate the landing, so the tanks are there to provide a quick response.

So the plan is to contain the Allied army just off the beaches and hopefully destroy units in low supply. I need at least a 3 to 1 attrition. I can't get near the beaches so the happy times of driving a landing into the ocean are gone.

My weakness is anti-air units. I just don't got enough of them. For example, I really need one in Paris to protect the HQ and tank.

Defense of the Boot

Italy Feb 44 1.png (1.66 MiB) Viewed 1679 times

Defense at the top of the boot has settled into a grind. I've brought in a couple anti-air guns to protect those tanks. Allied air power is extremely powerful everywhere in the Med. Notice my fighters are keeping a healthy distance from the coast.

I'll probably pull out of the Po valley pretty quick. Too much coastline to worry about.

My army is still waiting outside Greece. I don't plan on attacking until the last possible moment. The longer I can delay Allied diplomacy on Turkey the better.

[Bavre]

...
How do you defend a coast that's indefensible? I have no idea but here's my Atlantic Wall. I'd welcome any suggestions.
...

After a bit of hotseat strategizing the one thing I can say is: Don't put units of types soft or hard on the coast. A lvl 5 amphib has atk 7 vs soft, 6 vs hard, 2.5 vs everything else and everything (yes everything) you can put on the beach has def 0 vs amphibs (unit type transport).
Those corps will just go poof for nothing, I'm afraid.
The best thing on the coast would probably by AAs, but you need those elsewhere. So maybe antitanks? Or just don't defend the coast at all and add those corps to the chokepoint forces.
I can't quite see one on the map, but do you have a naval bomber with decent long range upgrade to give you advance warning via passive scouting?