AAR - Crispy131313 vs TAIFUN. FALL WEISS 11.0: The Darkest Hour.

[Taifun]

Gentlemen, Generals, Commanders welcome to a new AAR that just started. We are going to use Fall Weiss 11.0 the latest modified version of this great mod. No need to present Crispy the mastermind behind this mod. Me as Taifun will command the Allied forces and Crispy the evil Axis. I have played very few times as Allies and have no been very successful to say the least. My forces will do their best to halt fascism in Europe.

The prelude to war has ended. In the darkness before dawn 1 September, an assault by land, sea and air had been launched against Poland. At 10 a.m. Hitler stood before the Reichstag in Berlin... Thus commenced World War II... The darkest hour arrived!

8 September. In a bold move the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance was ratified and now England and Portugal are allies. Spain went up immediately 35% to end the turn at 45% Axis leaning. Further more Germany and Italy promised civil aid to Franco and Spain passed the 50% a dangerous level of activation.

Poland collapsed in 2 turns and Germany invested politically the 5 chits using 250 MPPs, all their income!! Needless to say they are trying to get Franco in their sphere of influence and who knows where those extra 2 chits went...

[KorutZelva]

I bet all five went to Greece because Crispy likes to do that Greece-Yugo Axis thing. [:D]

[Taifun]

KorutZelva we will know very soon his intentions...

5 November 1939
We achieve our first Spanish hit and bring back Spain to 42%. There is much going in the European political arena...

[crispy131313]

*

[BPINisBACK]

God luck, Commanders!!!

[&o][&o][&o]

[Taifun]

27 November 1939
Germany declares war on the Netherlands and Luxemburg!!! The HQ defending the capital The Hague is destroyed by air attack but the capital itself is not occupied. We did not expect an attack this early.
Our British economy is hardly pressed by our decision to protect the South Atlantic Convoys... and 2 U-Boots are active in the Atlantic...

[Taifun]

The German offensive against the Netherlands continues. Bad weather hits Northern Europe 19 December and the brave Dutch resist holding their capital one more turn. By 20 January in terrible snowy weather German mechanised troops enter The Hague and the whole country surrenders. Now will be the turn of the Belgians...

[Taifun]

The Kriegsmarine has launched a big U-Boot offensive against our convoy routes in the Atlantic. 4 U-Boots are now active and are hitting hard our economy. We managed to find U-30 in the South Atlantic and inflicted 4 damage, this U-Boot now stands at 0 supply. Good news are that the Graf Spee wont be giving any trouble as we managed to eliminate it following the Battle of the River Plate...

[Taifun]

Battle of the Atlantic.
- 2 March 1940 in the South Atlantic the damaged U-Boot U-30 is further crippled and reduced to strength 2 (out of supply). This U-Boot was sunk next turn 3 April.
- Near the Portuguese coast our Battle Cruiser Hood bumps into U-32 and gets 2 points of damage 2 March. This U-boot is attacked by our destroyers damaged 1 point. Next turn U-32 attacks BC Hood further damaging this ship another 3 points (level 5). The escorting destroyers damage this U-Boot 2 points (level 7 now and out of supply).
- West of Ireland U-35 is intercepted and severely damaged to level 3.
So out of the 4 U-Boots in action in the Atlantic the U-30 is sunk now, U-32 damaged out of supply and U-35 severely damaged. Our convoys get to England almost intact...

[Taifun]

2 March 1940. The attacking Germans enter Belgium by the North and capture Antwerp after heavy fighting. In a serious mistake, a French Battleship is destroyed in the port of Antwerp, he did not leave the port in time...
3 April 1940. The fort of Eben Emael is captured after very heavy fighting. The defending French corps defended to the last man and inflicted heavy casualties to the attacking air and ground forces. Brussels is now surrounded and the Battle of France is about to begin...
It seems to me that Crispy's strategy of an early attack did not pay off. The advance through the Low Countries was no BLIZTKRIEG...

[crispy131313]

A very rough start for Germany on both land and sea. The winter attack through the Low Countries was slowed down by cold or muddy weather, in hindsight I should have waited for better spring weather.

In the Atlantic, German U-boats have had incredibly bad luck in the Atlantic, with most of the raiders detected by Allied destroyers quite quickly and struggling to move out of harms way once the Allied destroyers are on our trail. The Allies had also opted to send a task force to sink the Graf Spee, a pity as I had been hoping for the Heavy Cruiser to eventually return to port. Germany has already added Lutzow and Bulcher Heavy Cruisers to her fleet after denying the sale of Lutzow to USSR and by cancelling the suspected invasion of Norway (Maybe another bad move, we will see!).

Germany has had no success with diplomacy, with the UK getting the only diplomatic hit against Spain in the Fall of 39'. But Spain can be lured in other ways.

[Taifun]

Our convoys arrive safely to home waters... [8D]

[Taifun]

The French Front is pierced in the centre... Verdun and Nancy falls...

[Taifun]

17 May 1940.
The powerful Wehrmacht continues its advance towards Paris. Reims is captured and the city of Metz surrounded near the Maginot line. 3 tank corps spearhead the German attack. Furious air combat takes place over the front lines as the Royal Air Force with the help of 2 carriers attack an enemy STUKA Fliegerkorps near Antwerp and a Army unit... They give a good account of themselves and many Me 109s are shot down.
New British units arrive near Calais, an infantry corps and a mechanised division, disembark and take their place in the Northern front. The cities of Lille, Calais and Amiens are firmly held.

Battle of the Atlantic.
The U-Boot U-32 disappears with all its crew near Lisbon, only debris to be found...
A second U-Boot U-35 is sunk near the coast of Scotland again with no survivors. So far 3 U-Boots have been destroyed, a good job done by the Admiralty.

[Taifun]

8 June 1940.
Early June the Germans take the cities of Chalons and Lille. They destroy the recently arrived mechanised British division south of Calais. Not a single German plane is seen in the skies, obviously they are refitting after their severe losses.
During our turn the Royal Air Force and L'Armee de L'Air counterattack furiously and hit hard the Panzerkorps northwest of Chalons, inflicting 3 hits. Again heavy air combat with numerous intercepting Me 109s. Both sides take numerous casualties...
New fortifications are being build around Paris and new British units arrive to help their brother in arms... the French moral is suffering.

Italy belatedly joins the Axis. Bessarabia and the Baltic States are occupied by the Glorious Red Army.

[KorutZelva]

The French units by the tanks, are those AA or AT?

[Taifun]

Those are AA units. They are quite cheap and could be very useful in France. As France is doomed we need to reinforce with as many units as possible before the German heavy blows. Sometimes I buy 1 anti-tank instead of 2 AA...

[KorutZelva]

ORIGINAL: Taifun

Those are AA units. They are quite cheap and could be very useful in France. As France is doomed we need to reinforce with as many units as possible before the German heavy blows. Sometimes I buy 1 anti-tank instead of 2 AA...

It's true that AA are surprisingly sturdy.

Maxing out AA seems like a good idea for one planning a sturdy defense because if you build just two (let's say the UK ones) it seems too easy for the German bombers to find other targets to make themselves useful.

I see the France HQ are not reinforced, but it doesn't seem to hinder their fighting ability all that much.

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: KorutZelva

ORIGINAL: Taifun

Those are AA units. They are quite cheap and could be very useful in France. As France is doomed we need to reinforce with as many units as possible before the German heavy blows. Sometimes I buy 1 anti-tank instead of 2 AA...

It's true that AA are surprisingly sturdy.

Maxing out AA seems like a good idea for one planning a sturdy defense because if you build just two (let's say the UK ones) it seems too easy for the German bombers to find other targets to make themselves useful.

I see the France HQ are not reinforced, but it doesn't seem to hinder their fighting ability all that much.

Also if memory serves correct I have increased the attack values of AA, while also bombers are less effective against ground targets. The result is AA is extremely useful.

So useful in fact that in my other match after reducing Stalingrad to 0 entrenchment my HQ attached bombers with 2 exp. were facing 0-4 predictions against the defending Infantry Army in Stalingrad because of adjacent AA tucked behind the city (Immediately predictions changed to 1-2 once the HQ was destroyed during the turn). I had to flank the city with my mobile forces to destroy the HQ supporting the AA before I can launch an effective assault on the city's defensive line.

Of course that is a different match and the AA had been upgraded but they are useful no doubt when in good order.

[Taifun]

KorutZelva, it is a shame that my French HQ are not reinforced... I had no extra MPPs for them. Crispy is destroying my French units quite easily due to low moral and low value of HQs. I think next time I will reinforce them in priority...
Crispy is slowly but steadily approaching Paris, he is becoming advancing with precaution... but the end is near