Solo Global War with no clever name

[Admiral Delabroglio]

Hello

After being a long time lurker and having fun reading AARs, maybe it's my turn to give it a try. Let's not let this place die without at least trying to keep it alive.

Options :
All additional units
Old "scrapaturi" TRS and AMPH replaced with newer Aif and Patif ones
Synth Oil and Oil Rules
2D10 tables
Extended game

Goals :

USA
Enter the war ASAP in order to get larger spoils

USSR
Do not goad Japan into a pointless war.
Get Bessarabia and the Finnish Borderlands without a war, massing an overwhelming force.
Try to stuff the border in 1941 unless France gets under too fast.

Italy
Get lots of German resources and build points
Get German help to weaken the CW throughout 1940 and early 1941

China
Point Japanese agressiveness some place else

CW
Beef up the BEF to enable France to sserve as a shield into 1941

France
Get British help to survive into 1941

Japan
Gang with Italy and Japan against the CW once China is properly weakened

Germany
Give Italy lots of resources and use it to keep the CW out of Germany's back once Barbarossa begins.

Here is the Eastern Europe map after Germany declares war on Poland.

Best Regards

[Admiral Delabroglio]

From :
FDR

To :
All our allies and so called allies

Please note that a whole congressload of sabre rattlers have been elected.
Therefore, please do not take any aggressive action lest that sabre be pointed at you.

Yours greedily
FDR

In the game : 2 chits from the German DoW on Poland.
Chits in the Ge/It pool : 4 4 3 2
Chit in the Japan pool : 4

The CW put the Polish HQ, best INF and Div in the marshes to intern them and get them once the USSR and Germany are at war.
Germany put most of its army east so Poland does not hope to survive past S/O 1939

Best Regards

[AllenK]

Welcome Admiral,

Congratulations on starting an AAR. Always good to see new perspectives on the game.

Of course you do realise that titling the AAR as you have is actually a clever name [8D].

[Admiral Delabroglio]

(AllenK : thanks, I belatedly read the AARs from your games with Mayhemizer without posting)

Axis 1st impulse.

Japan chooses combined, loads the 4 Transports and Amphibious units with Yamamoto, 2 corps and 2 divisions and sails them to China Sea and South China Sea. Japan also sends 4 planes to ground strike Chengchow. One of the two nationalost corps gets flipped.

Italy sends a TRS to the Red Sea and loads the INF from Eritrea

Germany, sends the flying boat and a fighter to the Baltic sea, ground strikes Lodz and Warsaw (1 and 1 unit flipped). The land attack against Danzig succeeds, Germany overruns the destroyer but the CP escapes.
The attack against Lodz fails badly with the dreaded 14
The attack against Warsaw succeeds with a 21, flipping half the germans.

Note to myself : do not get greedy and do not attack both Lodz and Warsay in the same impulse. I have grossly mismanaged the German first impulse. Now, both HQs in Poland are flipped, and it looks like the German army will not move west until the following turn. Onthe bright side, though, Poland has only one unit left in Lodz.


Allied first impulse :
1 entry chit removed from the Ge/It pool when the CW and France declare war on Germany.

The CW port strikes Kiel and gets a great result : Scharnhorst sunk, Gneisenau damaged and one of the two pre-dreadnaught battleships damaged. Fortunately, the TRS and AMPH were out of CW planes range.
Otherwise, naval impulse and convoy protecting.

France also picks a naval, loads the INF in Syria and ships it back to the Western Med. French submarines sail from Brest and sink 2 German CPs in the Baltic sea.
French planes ground strike the Germans at the Danish border and flip one of the German corps.

Göring officially asks his name to be changed for "Meyer"

The USSR starts sending the Siberians back to Europe. China shuffles troops.

Other note to myself : the Japanese position in China does not look bright. The size of China in MWiF is staggering.


Best regards

[Jagdtiger14]

I like to intern the Polish HQ and INF div as well.

[Admiral Delabroglio]

S/O 39, Axis Impulse 2

Italy notices a CW carrier fleet "performing peaceful exercises" North of Malta, and, it seems, in port attack range of the main Italian fleet in La Spezia. Italy can't risk the fact that it is just a bluff and declares war on France in order to be active. One chit added to the Ge/It US entry pool. Italy is not supposed to know that the 3 chits in the Ge/It US entry pool are 4, 4 and 3 and that the allies do not want to loose them. Honestly, playing Italy, I would not dare not entering the war.
Side note : I wish Harry would change the rule regarding French/CW declaration of war on Italy and state that :
a) If Italy declares war on just one of the western allies, the other one may declare war on Italy during the first following allied impulse, for 0 US entry, but without surprising Italy (read : ultimatum and all the following diplomatic ballet, as if Italy had declared war on the two allies at the same time). The idea that the US would consider the CW a nasty warmonger if entering the war against Italy at France's side if already at war against Germany with Italy entering the war at Germany's side is ludicrous, and the 14 US entry, twice the Italian DoW against France US entry, seems like pure science fiction.
b) If the unattacked ally bides its time and surprises Italy, then 7 US entry
c) If Italy is neutral and one or two of the western allies attack Italy, then, 14 US entry, as the current rule.

Italy : Naval.
The TRS with the INF from the Red Sea goes back to Sardinia.
4 cruisers sail to the Eastern Med, where they sink the French CA "Tourville". France decided to apply 2 Damaged results in a row on the same cruiser, not so much because of a gamey foresight warning against a few turncoat officers deciding to side with the Germans as to decrease the likelyhood of another round, as the sunk CA was in sea box 4. The French shells barely scratch the Italian cruisers' paint (1/2 A). The French gamble pays, as the second search rolls produce no combat.
In the Western Med, the massed Italian fleet does not spot the French pickets... nor do the Italian submarines in Cape St Vincent find the French convoy points.
Italy : disappointing 1 France : lucky 0

Germany : Naval.
Germany sails some CP and the two TRS to the Baltic Sea. The French submarines find two times in a row, but are also found by the German Nav in sea box 3. The submarines are hunted back to Brest.
Germany also puts 2 submarines in the Northern Atlantic Ocean (sea box 1), fail to find anything, and the CW escorts do not spot anything either.
Finally, Germany sails 6 cruisers to the North Sea, hoping to surprise the BEF in sea box 0.
Unfortunately, they are surprised by the Home Fleet with 6 surprise points. The Royal Navy decreases the German column to a single A (saved, by the best British Battleship) and promptly sink the Königsberg, the Köln and send two more cruisers packing. Germany aborts, Britannia rules the waves.
CW : 2 Germany : 0

Japan : Land.
Japan attacks Chengchow and conquer it with a modified roll of 19. China looses a GAR and a MIL (one that can be rebuilt), Japan looses an INF Div and an AT Div.
The USA geefully collect another Chit in the Ja entry pool after rumors of Japanese misconduct in the conquered town.

US entry : Ge 21 (4 chits), Ja 15 (2 chits). Looks like the sabre rattlers are currently leading the US policy.

Best Regards

[Admiral Delabroglio]

S/O 39, Allied second impulse

The CW declares war on Italy and chooses a combined action. One chit removed from the German US entry pool.
Eastern Med : the CW manages to surprise Italy 2 times in a row, the second time rolling a 1 and including the two CV from the Indian Ocean in the fight. Italy looses 3 cruisers, and the forth one aborts with the CP.
Italian coast : the CW carrier planes port strike the Italian CP in La Spezia and sink them all. Then, the find the CP at sea and its guarding FTR, destroy the fighter with its pilot and sink the CP too.
In the Western Med, 3 or 4 successive rounds with the two sides finding result in 3 Italian and 3 French cruisers sunk, the Italian NAV destroyed (pilot survived). The two fleets loose sight of each other. The allies chose surface combat in the last round, since they had only the Bearn fighter to use as a naval bomber. Italian units in Libya are still in supply.
A part of the BEF lands in Calais and Dunkirk, and the CW invades Sardinia (automatic in the surprise impulse) with a division from a cruiser in Western Med.

Russia claims and gets Bessarabia. Three hundred thousant red army soldiers taking a late summer holiday behind the border convinced Germany to grant the claim. Japan looks stuck in China, so Russia keep railing the Siberians back towards Europe... and forgets to grab Eastern Poland and the Baltic states. I forgot about the combined action land movement limits, and when I clicked done, I thought I would stick to my mistakes.

France assists the CW in the naval battles (Combined, the whole fleet sailed). French admirals complain that the CW gets the glory and France gets the losses.

China shuffles a few units. The Chinese Commuinists hog nearly all the communist land moves.


S/O 39 Axis impulse 3 (impulse 5). Fair weather for the third pair of impulses in a row. Too bad for Germany that I botched the attack on Poland.
Germany declares war on Denmark. Apparently, the sabre rattlers in Washington don't like Denmark (no chit added). Germany also grants the Hungarian and Bulgarian claims. The CW aligns Denmark and places 5 CP in Iceland

Rationalization : those CP are actually at sea, not loafing in Iceland.

Best regards

[Admiral Delabroglio]

S/O 39 Axis impulse 3 (impulse 5). Fair weather for the third pair of impulses in a row. Too bad for Germany that I botched the attack on Poland.
Germany declares war on Denmark. Apparently, the sabre rattlers in Washington don't like Denmark (no chit added). Germany also grants the Hungarian and Bulgarian claims. The CW aligns Denmark and places 5 CP in Iceland

Germany (Land) occupies Denmark with a 6 movement point ARM, the 6 movement points artillery and the fast, weak INF. The two old cruisers and the CP in Frederkshaven escape to Great Britain. Germany also wipes out the last Polish defenders in Lodz without any loss.
The three best reserve units get reorganized in front of the Dutch border.

Italy unloads an extra division in Sardinia, fearing the flipped corps might be put out of supply, and advances an INF in Tunisia

Japan strat bombs one of the communist cities (1 PP lost) and attacks in two places. No Japanese loss, a NAT and a COM corps are wiped out. Now, it's the Chinese situation turn to look bleak.

S/O Allied impulse 3 (impulse 6)
France and China shuffle some troops.
The USSR occupied Eastern Poland (1 US entry chit lost) and the Baltic States (no US reaction). Russia rails a third unit away from the Manchurian border.
The CW sails the Danish convoys in Iceland and searches the Italian Navy in Western Med. There are over 50 ships there, but no one spots.

Point of information : how many units should the USSR keep in Siberia for the Japanese not to become complacent ? Zhukov isn't there any longer, and the Japanese plan to leave only 4 units in Korea / Manchuria. I'm starting to doubt the USSR's wisdom.
I hope the USSR / Japanese "deal" doesn't spell China's doom.

Best Regards

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Admiral Delabroglio

Side note : I wish Harry would change the rule regarding French/CW declaration of war on Italy and state that :
a) If Italy declares war on just one of the western allies, the other one may declare war on Italy during the first following allied impulse, for 0 US entry, but without surprising Italy (read : ultimatum and all the following diplomatic ballet, as if Italy had declared war on the two allies at the same time). The idea that the US would consider the CW a nasty warmonger if entering the war against Italy at France's side if already at war against Germany with Italy entering the war at Germany's side is ludicrous, and the 14 US entry, twice the Italian DoW against France US entry, seems like pure science fiction.

warspite1

+1 I hate this idea that Italy can declare war on one and not the other - and that the non-attacked side would stand idly by......

Not one of ADG's best rules is it?

[Jagdtiger14]

Hey everybody, should I say it?...in response to the third pair of fair weather impulses in a row? I'm sure everyone is sick of my suggestion by now.[>:]

[Mayhemizer_slith]

You get royalty for people using Fall Gelb? [:D]

[Jagdtiger14]

It does seem like I'm selling something, right? Maybe like a used car salesman?[X(] If I could just make enough to buy my copy of MWiF...

[Admiral Delabroglio]

S/O Axis impulse number 4 (7th impulse)

The autumn rains come. Germany declares war on the Netherlands all the same, to the outraged shouts of the US citizens (+1 chit). The Dutch TRS sets up in Batavia, the CP in Guyana and Batavia, the rest of the Navy in Rotterdam and the INF in Amsterdam.

Germany : Land.
German units advance into the Netherlands, only to discover that the reduced supply range does not enable a good attack on Amsterdam. I decided NOT to attack, but threw the dice all the same to see what would have happened. Well, good that I did not attack, the Germans would have lost 2 corps, the Dutch none.

Italy : land. The Italians advance in Tunisia. Italy very nearly attack Nice, noticing their idle fleet in the Western Med, and have second thoughts when they remember the defensive shore bombardment that the French Fleet could provide. My computer screen if definitely too small.

Japan : since units are going to get flipped anyway, Japan marches GAR units into mountains. I feel uncomfortable for China

S/O Allied impulse number 4 (9th impulse)

Russia moves back 2 units towards the Manchurian border, and starts building their force in the North against Finland
China shuffles a few units to stop the worst gaps in their lines
The CW takes a naval and searches for the Italian Navy in Western Med.
First round : Only Italy finds with surprise, picks the 0 section and sinks a French Battleship. No Italian loss
Second and third rounds : Italy and the Allies find with the higher sea boxes. In the following gunnery duels, some French and Italian cruisers get sunk.
Fourth round : the Allies surprise the Italians (1 versus 9 for the search rolls), pick a surface fight and use all the surprise points to increase the losses inflicted upon the Italian Navy. In the previous rounds, Italy lost only cheap, weak cruisers. Not so any more. France looses another battleship and possibly another cruiser. Italy aborts the sea zone and curses its decision to pick up a fight in the first round instead of avoiding the fight. Now, North Africa and Sardinia are out of supply, the Italian Navy got a severe mauling and is reduced to a mere shadow of its former glory.
The CW also lands its MOT in Rotterdam (TRS return to base, flipped unit)
France chooses a land impulse and moves its North African INF towards the Italians in Tunisia.


S/O Axis impulse number 5 (11th impulse)

The sun comes back. Germany chooses a land impulse and attacks Amsterdam. The CW provides devensive shore bombardment and ground support, destroying the intercepting German FTR. Germany eliminates the Dutch INF but looses two units in the process, and gets flipped. German generals are concerned with the CW thorn in their side in Rotterdam. No way to eliminate it with flipped units, and if the Allies get the initiative next turn, the London MIL could very well reinforce the CW position.

Japan shuffles some troops. The situation in China is interesting. With many flipped units after the advance in the mountains during a rain impulse, Japan can't attack and does not dare to try and ooze around the Chinese. The Chinese also feel to weak to ooze around the Panaese, so there are only small line adjustments, each side hoping to entice the other one into making a mistake.

The Italians are sulking and belatedly remember their bomber. The ground strike out of France's FTR fails. A TER also conquers French Somaliland, the fast TER and the Italian INF take Tunis but flip in the process. The TER goes all the way to the mountains west of Tunis.


S/O Allied impulse number 5 (12th impulse)

The CW attacks in Egypt, with shore bombarment, and in Sardinia. Both combats are a success...
France advances its North African unit and attacks the Italian fast TER, also with shore bombarment, and eliminates it.
Red army units keep moving and railing North from the Rumanian border.


S/O Axis impulse number 6 (13th impulse)

More fair weather everywhere. Germany declares war on Belgium, hoping to get rid of the CW in Rotterdam and overrun 2 planes and a TRS with units newly arrived from Poland, and then that the turn will end (Italy and Japan pass). The CW takes control of Belgium.
Bad idea :
1- The attack rolls against Rotterdam and Liege both fail dismally (4 and 5 rolled, or such). Germany looses 3 units, the CW is still entreched in Rotterdam and one of the Belgain units in Liege survives !
2- The turn does not end. Rotten luck !

S/O Allied impulse number 6 (14th impulse)

The French army enters Belgium, attacks and eliminates a German INF on the Belgian resource with a +12 assault. France also attacks and eliminates the Italian INF in Tunisia (with shore bombardment)
The CW MECH from France advances and reinforces Antwerp. So, instead of having 1 CW stack behind rivers with the Royal Navy support, Germany now has two of them. And France got its army behind the river and in the forest. With a shorter line, at that. What more can go wrong ?
China surrounds a flipped Japanse INF and eliminaes it. Now, China finally got the gap it hoped for in the Japanese lines, with a CAV in range of flipped Japanese planes.
The turn STILL does not end.

S/O 39 Axis impulse number 7 (15th impulse)
Germany gets its slow units coming back from Poland closer to Belgium.
Japan moves a CAV to narrow the gap

The turn finally ends. And the USA get a chit for the Allied support to Belgium. The USA pick Chinese aircraft, Resources to CHina, resources to Western Allies and occupy Greenland and Iceland.
The S/O losses are displayed belw. I believe I have given a perfect example of how not to play with the Euro Axis. I won't give up right now though. The superior race must prevail against the plutocrats, and so on...


Best regards

[AllenK]

Any chance of swapping those Axis dice of yours with Mayhemizer?

[Mayhemizer_slith]

No thanks, but I am willing to borrow mine [:)]

[AlbertN]

So, Euro-Axis has lost the game in the first turn already by what I see.

Rolls can be bad, but Axis needs really to attack only when they have good chances to win without suffering losses - in land battles at least.

[Admiral Delabroglio]

Indeed, the Axis should only launch attacks with good chances to succeed. My first attack on Lodz was a mistake. The attack in Belgium and Rotterdam was not, I think, for two reasons.
1- The last Axis S/O impulse was fair weather with no more CW air support available and a flipped CW unit in Rotterdam.
In N/D, the CW has three additionnal bombers in Great Britain, so that instead of a 14 strength stack in a city behind a river, they can have a 21 strength one and oblige the Luftwaffe to fight the RAF over CW held hexes. Worse, there could be snow or storm making an attack next to impossible.
2- If Germany did not boot the CW out of Rotterdam in S/O, there was a chance that the CW could reinforce with the London MIL of the 7-3 reserve INF. I'd rather not expend an O-Chit to kick them out.
3- The Axis is racing against time. Every delay can kick the Axis away from their tight time table.

And the roll was a 4, which gave one of the worst possible results. Almost any other result would have eliminated the CW unit and overrun 2 planes (13 CW build points, and a possibility to sink a 6 BP TRS on capture it. Even the dreaded 14 would have been better for Germany.

Well, Germany will have another chance, as the Axis got the initiative in N/D 39 and the weather is a 1.

The Axis may have lost the game, but I still want to see how long before the virtual defeat becomes a real one. I picked the easier to break Nazi Soviet pact, so even after loosing some units, the Germans might go down with guns blazing.

[Courtenay]

If one really wants to see how to screw up as the Axis, take a look at my AAR.

I actually have played on a little in that one, and am thinking of posting another turn or two, if people want to look at a horror show.

[Admiral Delabroglio]

N/D : The Axis get the initiative and keeps it

Impulse 1 (Axis 1) : fair weather everywhere. Italy combined, Germany land, Japan land.
Italy Port strikes Toulon with its brand new 3 air to sea land bomber, as there is no French FTR in range. However, I forgot the CVP on the Bearn. Italy looses its plane and the pilot.
Italy then gets a submarine in Cape St Vincent : the CW convoys are barely escorted. However, the CW cruiser in the 3 box spots the submarines and sinks them (Allied search roll 1, Axis 9).
The AOI territorial moves from Djibouti in the direction of the British Somaliland port.
Germany launches attacks against Rotterdam and Liege. This time, there are German bombers and fighters over the targets. Unfortunately, there are also CW fighters and bombers, and Britannia seems to rule the skies as well as the waves : Germany looses 2 fighters, 1 bomber and 2 pilots, the CW looses 1 fighter and keeps the pilot, and ALL the CW bombers are cleared through.
Germany rolls the dice for the now (thanks to the lost air combat) very bad attack on Rotterdam and gets a…
A “three”. As is 2 + 1. The attacks fails. The CW now rebases its planes in Great Britain and in Belgium, behind Allied lines.
Liege : The modified result is 16. Two German units (SS INF div and an INF corps) lost for capturing the city and eliminating a Belgian corps.
The entire German line from Amsterdam to Aachen is flipped.
Japan launches 2 attacks with HQ support. China looses an INF and a GAR, Japan looses an INF, a GAR and an AA division. Mao is now flipped and alone in Tungkwan, surrounded by the Japanese. Fortunately for the Chinese, all the Japanese units around him are flipped too.

Impulse 2 (Allies 1)
CW : naval. Three CVP from the “Not(a) Bene” carriers in Italian coast port strike La Spezia. One battleship sunk, one cruiser damaged. Three transports enter the Northern Sea, where German has put a naval bomber and an escorting fighter in the 2 box. Germany intercepts, 2 of the transport are seen and stay in the sea area, loading 2 British units, and the third slips through unnoticed. The Queens rebase to South Africa in order to pick up the South African territorial, and the Dutch TRS sails from Australia with the Australian territorial.

France liberates some of the Tunisian hexes that Italy conquered and moves the militia units closer to the front.
Chinese communists surround and put a flipped MOT out of supply, attack and destroy it. Mao is not isolated any longer. The nationalists rearrange their lines. I do not use Chinese attack weakness, as I believe it only encourages Japan to be more aggressive in China, but the nationalists are not strong enough to attack all the same.

Impulse 3 (Axis 2) More good weather : 1 once again.
The Germans get Von Rundstedt and Von Bock closer to Belgium, as well as the Stukas. Japan also feels too weak to attack and Italy occupies the port in British Somaliland.

Impulse 4 (Allies 2)
The CW advances in Libya, lands three more units in France and Belgium, advances the remaining Belgian INF in Rotterdam (the minor countries’ soldiers must be really brave, they always seem to volunteer for defending exposed hexes). Also, a division invades Zara to find out that it’s a useless outpost until a CP is put in the Italian coast sea zone.
France replaces the CAV with the Paris MIL in the front lines
Russia rails and walks more units closer to Finland
China briefly considers attacking, but with only a +6 modifier, the Chinese decide to wait the Japanese out and save their strength.

Impulse 5 (Axis 3) The weather turns wintery with snow in most of Europe.
Germany ground strikes Rotterdam and disorganizes the two defenders. Then, Germany reorganizes 5 units with Von Rundstedt and its Air Transport. The CW tried to interfere with a CVP from the North sea, but a counter-intercepting 2 engine German fighter sends the CVP back where it came from.
Italy moves units next to the Yugoslavian border.
Japan has too few units to move without creating gaps that the Chinese could use to turn the stalemate into a mobile war.

Impulse 7 (Allies 3)
Some more unit shuffling for all the allies. The CW HQ is too far away in France to reorganize the Rotterdam units.

Impulse 9 (Axis 4) Weather : rain in North temperate.
Germany uses an O-Chit on Von Bock and attacks Rotterdam. Partial success at least : the Belgian corps is lost, the CW MOT gets retreated in Belgium. It is a sorry way to use an offensive chit, but without it, I think Germany would never have eliminated those pesky defenders. The CW could not use Dutch ships for defensive shore bombardment, the other CW ships were in boxes 3 or 2, some of them flipped, so the CW could not double the defenders, the RAF was flipped, and so were the units.
Japan forces the closure of the Burma Road. The USA add one chit to the Japan US Entry pool. The turn ends, the USA add a chit in the Japan entry pool and select reopen Burma Road, LL to China, Land based escorts and East Coast escorts.
Tension : 14 against Japan and against Ge/It
Entry : 18 against Germany, 17 against Japan. The US player is beginning to drool anticipating the production Gear Up.

The included pictures show the French and Chinese (next post) theaters.
Best Regards

[Admiral Delabroglio]

Starting J/F 1940, I noticed that Germany could break the pact with the USSR, as all the USSR units are away from the border and heading in the general direction of Finland. I might be tempted to make Stalin fight for the borderlands if the situation in the west was not so bad. There are only 3 German units in Poland : a MTN, an SS INF and the Königsberg militia. Hardly a proper force to launch Barbarossa.
Russia will need some time to gather troops at the border, so no operation "Tsarine Elisabeth" any time soon. Hence, the pressure on the Germans in the east is non existent and the Germans can gather a credible threat in the west.

Best regards