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Pre Game

Hi, this is a read-along comangion AAR for ToTheLastBullets (Wahhim) Youtube series (To be found here!) where he plays the evil guys with skulls on their heads, while I will try to stop him and save the world, making use of the imperialist superpowers of the Allies.

And while one could read SC2:WaW as a showcase of the power and efficiency of the centralized moloch of the Third Reich, I have some ideas how we can find strength in diversity.

I have homebrewed something new for this game, but I am not sure yet, whether to call it a strategy or a gambit. At the moment I think the best description would be a “potentially high tradeoff strategy”. I will explain it in a lot more detail later on as the game plan - while long-term - is quite tight.

I want to use this post to describe how I understand the game, and what my plans are. First, I do not expect to win this game. ToTheLastBullet is an experienced veteran and I have been barely playing for half a year now. As we both know this, and this series should be entertaining, I do not expect my opponent to go super tryhard Russia first. I also hope that the recent balance changes, give a little more incentive to try to go a middle eastern or a pacific route.

Still this game will be decided in the USSR, unless I do something stupid and blunder Great Britan to an unexpected Sealion. So my overall goals for this series are: Don’t lose to Sealion, put up a stiff resistance in the USSR, and pose some exciting problems for ToTheLastBullet that keep the series fresh and entertaining.

By country that means:

France:
I do not plan to commit a lot of British resources to France. The Brits are going to have a bit of a passive role at the start, focusing on research and gaining naval dominance, so we can control the places where Germany can go. Therefore, the goal for the French navy is to find action. If we can get rid of 1 or 2 Italian combat ships (BB,CA), or get some engagements with the Kriegsmarine, I think we can count this as a win. Obviously, I will be trying to hold France as long as possible, but without additional British support and a capable opponent my baseline would be that France surrenders in Axis’ June or July turn. So if I get to play France in July, that is a win.

Great Britain:
I don’t want to lose the island, AND I want to research, AND I want a strong navy, so there will be little money for Africa. Research prios will be spying (else the Germans just roll over us with hover tanks in ‘43) and a bit of naval and air basics. The general idea is to get the British posture to a point where they might bind considerable Axis forces anywhere in the theater, with the goal of diverting resources away from the Motherland.

India:
As the British will invest into navy, research and defense, the Raj will have to pick up the slack. That means Corps go brrrrrrr to have some kind of a defense in Africa, should he decide to send the Afrika Korps.

China:
I have not yet found room for much strategy in China. Lets see what Japan does, stand on defensive hexes, get AA and try to squeeze in basic infantry research. I will try to see where Japan invests so if he tries to go for a super greedy Pacific play, I can react accordingly.

USSR:
Well basically survive. I will not do anything experimental. Standard river defense, put units on relevant supply nodes, scramble to get basic research done, AA, AT, … . I am thinking of not taking the Baltics as they seem to be not worth losing the northern army group (a corps, a mechanized and some planes I think). Other than that I hope the buffed Siberian units will get me to the winter, and the harsher winter to a somewhat stabilized defense.

USA:
For the US the initial plan is to go a little bit Pacific leaning. But since the initial stage for the US is just greedy research I can adapt to the Japanese investment. As I will invest into having a reasonable Royal Navy, I also don’t think that I have to be especially scared of the IJN even if they are somewhat successful in the Pacific.

So to sum up my lengthy post, the strategy is to not roll over and die in the early part of the game, and develop the British capability to bind Axis resources by either posing threats or responding to them. + there is my homebrew which I will introduce should it become relevant.

Turn 1: Sep. 15, ‘39

Well this is a promising start. The Polish cavalry is surprisingly resilient, withstanding tanks and covering important villages on retreat. I get to play a Polish turn 1 against the guy who literally made the Youtube tutorial on how to knock out Poland in the first round. Also the Polish bombers take 2 points of a German tank. Small victories, but together they might amount to Paris being free in July.



In China, the Japanese open in the usual fashion and take out the army on the marsh tile (191,57) near Chengchow, and the corps on the field (192,63) near Nanchang. I respond by moving Feng to the South and covering his retreat with the two armies in his group. Ideally my retreat up there baits my opponent to advancing there, triggering Mao and the US. For research, I sell most to get a chit in infantry weapons and anti air.



In the west the British sell tank and artillery research to by spying and a garrison in Transjordan. The French ship in troops from Algiers and start to mobilize. The RN starts to raid Norwegian imports to the Reich.

In India I focused my research on infantry weapons and infantry warfare. I decided to delay spending the remaining money on either C&C or AA because I will not have an HQ soon. AA was more tempting but I decided to at least delay it, as I want to have reinforcements in Egypt and East Africa as soon as possible, and at least to begin with the British will have to provide air supremacy.

For the end of the turn the Viceroy declares war on behalf of the Indian people (yeay good guys) and all the other parts of the empire join the party too so Britain will have the odd 30 extra MPP to play around with ... which the German subs immediately raid away. I also tried to screenshot the spending of the axis but failed at my own incompetence, but I remeber some research for the Germans, a lot for the Italians, and a lot of points spent on units for the Japanese, I wonder what this could be.

Quick disclaimer, this is my first AAR so I think there will be significant improvements in the image quality and presentation of my ideas as the time goes on (we are well ahead of the publication of this so I know it does)

Fantastic start for an AAR.

Coming across such tasty quips like "Centralized Moloch of the Third Reich" means whe are in for some colorful reading.

Good Luck against that devil To The Last Bullet. We will be watching.

Great AAR, thank you.

I am thinking of not taking the Baltics as they seem to be not worth losing the northern army group (a corps, a mechanized and some planes I think).

Be very cautious. It looks great on paper, but GER may send an amphib transport to Talinn. Teen, with proper positioning, he will take all the Baltics in one turn, and then attack you in next one, possibly killing units you wanted to save. Not that easy, but if he dedicates resources... And he will be very close to Leningrad already in early summer of 1941, which spells doom for this city.
Good luck!

Thanks for the encouraging feedback!

Be very cautious. It looks great on paper, but GER may send an amphib transport to Talinn. Teen, with proper positioning, he will take all the Baltics in one turn, and then attack you in next one, possibly killing units you wanted to save. Not that easy, but if he dedicates resources... And he will be very close to Leningrad already in early summer of 1941, which spells doom for this city.

Thanks for the tip! I remember testing this and always getting the USSR to join the war on their own… but I was taking the Baltics by land not by sea. I will definitely try this one should I get the chance/ watch out for it. (In this game we are already some turns ahead and TTLB did spare me )

Turn 2: Oct. 13, ‘39

While the Polish cavalry brigades performed outstandingly against the German tanks, left alone and all out of horses, Poland surrenders in Turn 2.

In the Atlantic the standard opening raiding moves are made, with the northern group raiding the Canada lines and the Graf Spee blockading the South African harbor at Capetown. A mixed British & French strike group is dispatched to deal with the Northern threat, while the Cumberland shadows the Graf Spee awaiting the Australian squadron. As General Akbar said: “It’s a trap”... although I am not yet certain for whom.



In China the traditional southern offensive starts to take shape, with the 17th Korean army leading the offensive on Nanning, and the elite army group under Kimura pushing on Changsha.
Also Feng’s HQ got mauled on his way south… apparently ZOCs do not stack?? Well, I have been schooled and the tuition fee is ~80 MPP. On another note: Did the Chinese finally get an anthem when clicking on their capital, or was this always there?

Speaking of music, in Siberia long columns of Soviet soldiers sing marching songs, dreaming of their future lives as little green men in the Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the French army is reinforcing the border while tension builds. There is no major German buildup yet, so I decided to be greedy and save up some MPPs to potentially buy a unit next turn. I have not yet decided if buying an AT gun is just super stupid because it will be EXTREMLY thight reinforcing all other units in time, or hope for bad weather and pat myself on the back if the German offensive starts a turn later and everything is fine.

For research I picked up a second chit in LRA with the British (I love this upgrade for all the intel it gets you. A single maritime bomber with LRA 2 and the Kriegsmarine is practically unable to operate without the Allies seeing every move.) The Chinese got a chit in C&C for obvious reasons. Technically it's more efficient to double chit research first (in this case AA) but I think having 175 MPP surplus is rare enough as it gets so grabbing C&C while we can seems prudent.

Only India purchased a unit, a corps, following the strategy of it being responsible for containing the Axis in Africa. Here I want to purchase three corps, then reduce the MPPs shipped to the UK a bit to put double chits in the dirt cheap C&C, and then save up for an HQ. This should be ready to arrive in Africa around December ‘40, so still in time to either kick out the Italians in the East or help maintain the position in Egypt, should there be any significant German investment.

In Depth: Defending the South China Attack

From time to time, I will try to give my understanding of the current strategic situation if I think it's interesting and I have the time. This obviously only represents my very limited understanding of the game, but could give some insights into my choices and serve as a basis for discussion.

First of the South China attack:

As far as I understand, the general idea of that southern attack is to utilize the incredible power of the lvl 2 army to push through the Chinese, leveling it and another army or two as well as the HQ in the process. Having done this myself once or twice, I think there is no real counterplay, if done correctly. Even for strongpoints, a secondary HQ will command less experienced units that crash against the entrenched units and the Central Expedition Army will ride in announcing victory, giving itself and the lazy commander all those experience points.



In my understanding, the most important thing to slow that down somewhat, is to set up fortifications (blue in the screenshot) and control access to the mountain hexes next to the fortifications, as generally the Japanese need 3 hexes of surface area to successfully attack (with infantry only). This does not stop the advance, as corps are still able to enter ZOCed mountain hexes (light blue in the second screenshot), but this takes 4 action points, so a turn or 2 might get spent on bringing all assets into position for the next attack. And wasted Axis turns is the currency we are working with.



In order to achieve this we need to cover all light blue hexes with full ZOCs and therefore, we need at least 4 armies. To cover only the southern approach we need 3. Obviously, this is an ideal case, and I do not expect that I will have the time or the resources to set up all fortifications and man them with armies.

Turn 3: Nov. 10, ‘39

Axis turn 3 brings no surprises. The Cumberland (CA) engages the Admiral Spree (CA) and sails into the harbor hoping this will prompt a retreat from the German vessel.

We find U-30 (8 Supply) and U-32 (4 Supply) reducing U-32 to 2 HP with combined attacks from the Jersey (DD), the Courageous (CV), the Terrible (DD) and the Javelin (DD). The Deutschland (CA) is still raiding in the vicinity (7 Supply I suppose). Hopefully unbenounced to my opponent, nearly all remaining ships of the French navy and as well as an additional British destroyer have also cruised into the area of operation to guard the Courageous. A heavy cruiser has snuck through the gulf of St. Lawrence and lays in wait in Sydney Port (the other one) to block the retreat.



I calculate that worst case, the whole Kriegsmarine shows up and gets the CV and the damaged destroyer. But then I could still retaliate with 2 BBs, 1 CA, 1 CL and 3 Destroyers, which should yield at about a CC and the damaged SS. + the Kriegsmarine would be caught far from home and the rest of the Royal Navy would likely pick up some more. I think any somewhat even Naval Battle is a win for the Allies (although CVs are precious).


In China the predicted attack on the corps in front of Changsha took place, destroying it. In the North the corps guarding Paotow, is cut of. I respond, by retreating the corps with the intention to dig-in in Ningsia. The rest of the army group under Feng takes an opportunity to diminish one of the corps in the North while retreating to Yanku as planned. The goal here is to activate the US and Communist trigger and get the high quality troops up there to more important battlefields down south. As the growing numbers of armies around Chengchow indicate, they will be sure to find those battles soon.



The situation in Southern China evolves as expected: Bad. One of the two Corps near Changsha is destroyed, and four Japanese armies are lining up to do the same to the remaining one. I guess the clock on the fall of the city is 2 or 3 turns. A corps sets-up in the fortifications behind the river. In case the Army survives an initial assault, it can then switch into the entrenched position, while the corps buys us another turn in Changsha. The army queued for Turn 5 will deploy in the hex south to the fortification to take the corps place, should the one defending the city not survive. In the southeast of Nanning the 17th Korean is joined by the 21st Army through a cute switching maneuver with the corps. While the defenses hold I deploy an additional corps there to swap them out once in a while. Since the front at Wuhan is almost deserted, Chen’s HQ starts to march with the goal of getting south, as Nanning will soon need another source of supply.



I debated rebuying units this turn, but decided to buy the chit in infantry warfare. This research will take a while but it is a prerequisite for any form of stabilization in China. This means we only need to find 475 MPP more for research in the foreseeable future.

In Europe there were signs of a German buildup at the BeNeLux border. If the weather is good in any one of the winter turns I expect an attack there (maybe even if the weather is bad). I decided to be stupid and get the AT. This means I won’t pick up the Polish corps with the French, which is fine as I am happy about another guard on the island anyway. But, and that is likely the bigger issue, I think getting an AA now will be too expensive. Especially when we expect units at the northern French border soon.

To throw a wrench into the Jap advance in the far south, I found it quite useful to occupy the hex SE of Nanning on Allied turn 1. Mountain+river make a corps there super resilient and the Jap angle of attack on the town suffers greatly until they cleared that hex.
To get the northern chinese HQ south on a save path I used the fighter as something of a tugboat, swaping the General into hexes he could not normally reach.

Yes now that you point it out that seems like a quite obviously good idea! For some reason I always only considered the hex to the south-east...probably because I always hoped for the greedy harbor attack. [8|] This would have saved quite a bit of badly needed MPP in China.

Regarding the fighter swap: That would be an option, but we agreed on no "stupid airlifts" or something similarly imprecise. In this case that is bad for the Chinese, but I think overall it is a net positive if Japanese armies can not just teleport into the mountains.

"stupid airlifts" only work on hexes you already own, the Japanese have to do the "conquer with corps then swap in army next turn" routine anyway on 4 AP hexes, so it should not hinder them too much.
But realism wise this is a very good houserule.

To throw a wrench into the Jap advance in the far south, I found it quite useful to occupy the hex SE of Nanning on Allied turn 1.

This hex is important indeed, it hampers Japanese advance in the south noticeably.
But in fact an attack on Nanning is more dangerous if it comes from the east, not south. You may in fact leave south alone, those OP armies gathered near Changsha will do the work. Especially that it's difficult to reinforce this area after rail from Changsha is cut, you must march new units from Kweichow.

Turn 4: Dec. 8, `39

Axis Turn 4 rolls over without any surprises and the Allies breathe a sigh of relief. Winter is here and I have not lost the game yet.

Starting in the Atlantic. Until now it seems the trap was mine, but the mice got away. The badly damaged U-32 slipped away from my ships, not to be found again. Although with 4 supply it could not have gone very far. I searched most of the area where it could be, and I suspected it would go, but I did not find it. I have a sneaking suspicion that it hides in the unexplored hex right below U-30 (8HP, 6 Supply) but who knows. Anyway, at 2 HP & with low supply it will be a long time before it gets back in action - if it ever does. The Deutschland (CA) vanished without a trace.



The Graf Spee (CA) did not care for our efforts to drive them away, so the Cumberland (CA) attacked again, with moderate effect. Also the Australian Canberra (CA) steams into the area of operation and gets around the Graf Spee unnoticed. I hope that this will block their retreat, if they try to get away. In any case this is a worthwhile trade for the Axis. He already cost me 6 turns of the South African convoy à 12 MPP. As we traded evenly there is also no advantage to be found there. If we sink the Spee the equation changes slightly.



In northern China the weather is bad, and the Japanese just attack sporadically. I complete my retreat to Yanku, still hoping TTLB will follow me into the trigger zone (orange). This also ends my planned retreat for the time being. The goal now is to dig in over the winter and hold the intended front line (brown). I also spent a lot of MPPs reinforcing Feng’s HQ.



In southern China the Corps is shattered as expected, and the Japanese doomstack moves into position to munch on its next prey, Changsha. Chen’s HQ still marches into position and the engineers struggle to finish the first fortification. Another will need to be built before the Japanese arrive.



Having realized last turn that it was very greedy to buy the research chit, I decided to do it again and get another chit in anti air. Next turn I will have to buy back an army, otherwise the defense of Kweichow is in peril. It might already be…

In France I use the MPPs to reinforce key units. If I didn’t miscalculate, I will be able to buy an AA next turn and get most units into fighting shape by the March turn of the Axis. This is hoping there is a normal winter (2 turns of bad weather. The third turn is spent gobbling up the Low Countries). The AA will arrive a turn late, but I guess better late than never. Let’s just hope this is not a mild winter.

In the USSR, I decided I want to play a two engineer opening, so I purchased the second one this turn. I did not play this route yet myself, but against it once and it seemed very good. I also mapped out which fortifications to build assuming an April Barbarossa (the earliest our house rules allow) and it looks promising.

The UK starts to reinforce the BEF, and gets a second chit in AWS and one in amphibious warfare. We are almost done with our research spending spree. Maxing out on research so early on seems very risky, but Germany's research does not look like an early Sealion, neither does the fleet movement, so I feel somewhat safe. The US also just buys a chit in amphib, as they are a few points short of the next industry tech.

Turn 5: Jan. 5, ‘40

The new year brings good and bad news. The good news comes from the Royal Navy, likely the only source of good news for the next two in-game years, if not longer. In the Atlantic both the Deutschland and U-30 ran into RN ships. The Deutschland deals and takes 3 points of damage to our CA, while U-30 gets 1 engaging the Javelin. In front of South Africa, the Graf Spee (CA) is reinforced by U-47, but then runs away into the wrong direction, trading blows with the Cumberland (CA). Southern China is our point of concern. The army in Changsha falls to the Japanese deathball, while the corps in Nanning is shattered by the, quite ahistorical, combined arms efforts of the IJA and IJN.

On my turn the Allied task force in the northern Atlantic quickly spots U-30 and the Deutschland. The Suffolk (CA) finds and engages the Deutschland, and the Courageous (CV) dealing the final blow, drawing first blood on the Kriegsmarine. The Courageous then moves, sending out a strike group to attack U-30. The destroyers in the task force harry the U Boot further, dropping it to 4 HP and encircling it for next turn. As there are just 2 limping U-Boots remaining in the vicinity (that we know of), one of the French Battleships sails South to Dakar, as there might be trouble in the southern Atlantic.



There the Canbera (CA) deals major damage to the Graf Spee, but the Cumberland, quite damaged itself, fails to sink the German ship. The Cumberland continues towards Port Elizabeth, while the Australian fleet encircles the burning Graf Spee next to Capetown Harbour. If the submarine is not the vanguard of the remaining Kriegsmarine, the Graf Spee will most likely not see the end of the war. If the remaining Kriegsmarine shows up, (2CC,1CA,1SS), my local forces would probably still trade evenly accounting for our ports in the area, not to mention the approaching reinforcements. Big picture, those plays make me quite confident that TTLB does not intend to go an unorthodox naval route. Even Sealion seems increasingly unlikely.



In China the southern front develops badly, as expected. TTLB masterfully uses his turns to destroy a unit and position for the strike the following turn. With Changsha occupied, we retreated our forces, leaving a corps as rear guard to delay the river crossing. While the rain would mean that we might have been able to stay in Hengyang for another turn, continuing rain on his turn would have trapped the corps there should he advance his armies. Other than that, mud next turn could save this front, as the engineers need 3 more turns to build the second set of fortifications in the mountains. One turn attacking the rear guard, another the corps in front of the engineer, and one … well at least the fortifications should be finished the day the Japanese attack … maybe it's muddy??



The northern Chinese front is calm this turn, and I reorganize to withstand the coming attack. This turn I came to my senses and purchased an army for the Chinese, something I should have done the last turn as well I reckon.

For the French I decided against the Polish corps, but I purchased an AA gun because the weather in Europe was bad, and I just need one more turn of winter to make things work out.

In the UK I purchased an AA gun as well, since I am still scared. In turn one (or two) the Germans spent MPP on a unit suspiciously priced like a paratrooper. I also got the chit in infantry warfare. I think I should be able to continue spending a reasonable amount on the defense of GB, since the Kriegsmarine decides to wear itself out against the vastly superior combined Allied navies (Generally the gap between the navies in the Atlantic is smallest directly after Italian entry and French surrender and largest before those two events).

In India I purchased the final of the three planned initial corps. Now the idea is to get two levels in C&C and then the HQ. This way the arrival of the HQ in Africa should line up with the first level of the tech and potential German involvement in Egypt (October/ September).

The US are still sleepy and get another chit in industry research.

I am using OneNote to do all the drawings on the screenshots, but it appears that I can only export them in wired format which reduces the quality a lot when converting to something more internet friendly.

Does anyone know a better solution (I have done many turns of editing in OneNote already so that should stay the starting point)?

Turn 6: Feb. 2, ‘40

The trend we saw last turn continues. Horrible news from the Chinese front, victories on the waves. The IJA defeats our rear guard at the Xiang Jiang River as well as the corps guarding the retreat from Kweilin, effectively trapping the corps holding the town. The Graf Spee tries to run the Australian blockade, and is sunk. U-47 is spotted by the Australian destroyer Vendetta heading for the Indian Ocean. In the North Atlantic U-30 is spotted by one of the destroyers in an attempt to escape west.

We find the limping U-30 and sink it with the combined efforts of the Courageous (CV), Assiniboine (DD), and Javelin (DD). With no more local Kriegsmarine presence that we know of, the Allied task force is disbanded. The destroyers go back to convoy protection duty or get tasked with checking potential hiding spots of the severely damaged U-32 which we have not seen for 3 turns / not quite enough time for it to have snuck back to German ports. This leaves the Kriegsmarine at only 75% of their original strength with 2 CCs, 1 CA, 2 DDs, and 3 SS (U-32 at 2 HP, U-47 in the Indian Ocean, and the not yet spotted U-35).

Our new naval deployment zones are outlined in the overview map. Task Force Green is tasked with the protection of Britain, stopping Axis trade in the North Sea, and keeping the remaining, or deploying Kriegsmarine from escaping from the Baltic Sea. Task force Red, mainly made up of the French navy, aims to dominate the Mediterranean and engage all Italian shipping, at least until the French surrender. Task Force Blue controls the Suez, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Blue’s goal is to protect the shipment of colonial troops, engage the (minor) local Italian presence, and support our activities in Egypt and East Africa. Also should an opportunity arise, Blue could merge with Red to deal a decisive blow to the Regia Marina. Finally, Task Force Grey, mainly the Australian fleet, is tasked with protecting troop shipments in the Mozambique Channel, and the South Indian Ocean should the need arise.



In northern China the army north-east of Chengchow barely withstands a large-scale attack of the whole local Japanese force. We operate them out to Sian to get reinforced and reorganized. We also manage to keep our defensive posture (Brown) in reasonable shape, but I guess our retreating units should already deploy in the next defensive ring in the mountains east of Sian (Blue).



In southern China we try to abuse the fact that ToTheLasBullet only uses armies, by ZOCing the the Mountain-Hexes reducing the effective surface area he has on the Corps blocking the eastern road to Kweichow and access to the engineers, which still need 2 turns to finish the fortifications. To help protect the crucial garrison with more ZOCs, we also position the corps protecting Ichang. Practically he could break all our efforts with a single bomber attack, but this is a bomber attack not detrenching the corps, which might buy us the pivotal turn.



Bad weather in Europe makes me cautiously optimistic that we can hold France at least until the Axis June turn. It also means our greedy purchases likely won't come back to bite us in the but. We also ship the Spanish volunteers to Egypt, to construct defenses there.

We purchase another AA for the British and sell the chit in production to grab a second one in amphibious warfare. We also finish reinforcing the B.E.F. and start getting our HQs in Africa up to strength. India gets its first chit in C&C as planned. In Siberia they are still singing the International.

Turn 7: Mar. 1, ‘40

ToTheLastBullet stays precisely on timeline. Even though it rains in Europe he launches a small “Fall Gelb” and declares war on Belgium and Luxembourg, and conquers them without a problem. The rain prohibits any serious attacks on the French and British line. In southern China the corps in Kweilin is shattered, while the 70th corps guarding the mountain road to Kweichow holds. But at the very last moment a Japanese corps gets into the mountain hex and drives the 70th one hex South. In northern China the offensive continues, shattering the corps that took position in the North-Eastern fortifications of Chengchow.

Starting in southern China, the 70ths corps retreat was awful. We could have just reinforced it in place, having 1 entrenchment and the nice 3 defense bonus, easily taking the whole Japanese turn to get through it. Now we need to move it back into position at 4 HP. If we are very lucky and the Japanese have mud, there should be only 1/ 2 attacks on the engineer corps, which should be fine at entrenchment 3 and a hard defense bonus of 4. Otherwise he might get in 3 attacks, which combined with the Japanese air force could spell disaster. Otherwise we might be able to stabilize this front with the new army swapping into the fortification, which should slow down the Japanese advance for a few turns.



Other than that we do not do a lot this turn. We prepare Malaya for entry into the war, beef up the Home Guard in the UK, ship Indian troops to Africa, and spend the rest of the UKs, French and Chinese Mpp to reinforce the (soon to be) frontlines. In the USSR we get a chit in infantry warfare. I thought about getting C&C first, but 2 chits in C&C should mean we have the first level almost ready for Barbarossa. But to be completely honest I am not sure if flat 10% morale on infantry, and 1 command level or purely 2 command levels is better…I think it should be pretty similar.

At the end of the turn we get lucky a second time and get another boost on infantry warfare in China. Also the UK finishes the first level of spying, 3 turns earlier than expected, which means more research bonuses for us.

PS: I will explore the French situation in detail in the next In-Depth post.

In Depth: Defending France

So I am not an expert in defending France. Some people like to go all in on defending France, but first, I don’t really know how to do that, second my homebrew can’t afford spending a lot of British resources on a lost cause in Europe. So I decided to analyze the French situation from the ground up and devise the best defensive strategy I could come up with given this situation.

Before we get into operational planning, let's discuss the strategic limitations we have:
The British only send the BEF (+planes)
The engineer goes to Egypt
The corps on Tunis stays, because I do not want to be open to a paratrooper-fueled quick “The whole of France” play

The resources we have are:
.) 5 Armies

.) 9 Corps (1 from Syria)

.) Barely enough money to get an AT, an AA and reasonable reinforcement levels if the German attack starts in March

.) (1 HQ, 1 Fighter, 1 TB)

We start by analyzing the terrain we need to defend. First we identify the German goal, in this case obviously Paris (Blue). Then we think about the approaches the Axis could take taking Paris (Black Arrows). There are four routes the Germans could take.

I) Trough Lille

II) Straight through the Ardennes driving for Paris

III) Through the Ardennes but cutting of the Maginot troops first by pushing to Dijon

IV) Through the Maginot Line

Now we mark all defensive hexes (Yellow) along the way of those routes so we can see where defensive positions might be useful. Hexes that need to be always covered (the Maginot Line) are in Gray.



We are the defender, so we need to cover all possible German approaches, because the Germans need only a single way to Paris to win. We will ignore Route IV, as our Units on the Maginot Line need to be there and will be the strongpoint of our defense no matter what.

Before finding the optimal placements for our troops, a few additional limitations come to mind. We would like the BEF to survive at least partially, so they will deploy on the coast (as is normal for exactly that reason). Also, we would like to maintain a railroad from the Maginot Line to Paris if possible, so we can throw everything we have towards defending the capital once it becomes necessary.

After way to much time spent on it, this is the deployment I could come up with:



French units (in blue, except on Paris for visibility white):

.) 5 corps cover the Maginot Line

.) 1 army defends Paris

.) 4 armies defend the Ardennes and Châlons, since the Germans almost surely will try to break through there

.) 2 corps defend the rail line from the Maginot Line to Paris through Nacy. We could have put a corps on the field North-West of Nancy, but a corps there would have been very weak and be just begging for a paratrooper to Nancy

.) The AT gun defends Amiens, as this is the longest, and most open route, therefore most likely to see tank action. Also, it covers the retreat from the BEF, and is in good position to be annoying for a straight push for Paris

.) 1 corps guards Dijon as an emergency guard of the other rail lines connecting the Maginot Line and Paris, and make unsupported paradrops suicidal into 0 supply

.) The final corps on French soil defends Lyon, with the goal of slowing down the Italians should we hold that long

.) The AA gun is not placed yet, as it will arrive a turn late (end of March) ideally I would place it South-East of the AT gun, defending the 2 Armies defending the expected German main approach (the British units also have organic AA). I expect the Germans to break through the first two French armies in the first turn of their attack, so the secondary deployment position is one hex south providing anti-air fire to the remaining two forward armies, as well as just generally standing in the way towards Paris.

BEF (orange):

.) Deploys with the army in Lille, because this is the hex with the best defensive potential in the area, and the main local target of german attack

.) One corps on the mine on the front line, here is the more usual position of the army but i think, that while this hex has the weakest defensive potential, in turn 1 of the attack, the effective surface area is only 1 Hex, and the army’s ZOC is more annoying on Lille

.) On corps in the South-East of Lille. I also considered the more natural hex on step North, but this would leave the BEF to be cut off, if theGermans break through the weakened mine-hex. With this hex under control we practically guarantee that we can retreat the remaining BEF after the first turn of German attacks. This could give another hex on Lille, but I do not think this specific hex is that big of a deal.

This is our actual position after Turn 7:



do think that I likely would be better of having disbanded the bomber and used the MPPs to reinforce actually useful units…well next time.

To have a feeling for how good or bad we are doing I also mapped out how I would expect the fighting to go. In general, I expect a unit in defensive terrain to die if the German can get 3 hexes of surface area on it. For not-so-defensive terrain it is 2 hexes. Also I give the German 1.5 bonus hexes per turn to represent their airpower. Finally, I constrain where the German could get in a turn by gut feeling. The turns are color coded with the German turns in red getting darker by turn number, and the Allied turns in green getting darker by turn number. (I would be super happy for feedback on this way of presenting the dynamics, as I am not super certain if it is clear to readers.)

.) Attacker turn 1: the British and the two French armies at the frontline are shattered. The German pushes up, until meeting resistance, except the hex next to the AT as I suspect only a tank could go there (ZOCs), which he would likely not risk.

.) Defender turn 1: I place the AA in the N-W of Paris, and operate 2 Corps in from the S-E end of the Maginot Line. The 2 British corps retreat with the stronger one taking position at the river the other waiting for their transport ship.

.) Attacker turn 2: The AT, one of the operated corps, the AA and the army North of Châlons is destroyed. Quite possibly also a British corps, and/or the second corps operated in. The German pushes through the empty Maginot Line.

.) Defender turn 2: The Maginot Line is abandoned and the remaining French units form a defensive ring around Paris. The British units are shipped out or retreat towards the Bretagne.

.) Attacker turn 3: The ring around Paris is shattered

.) Attacker turn 4: Paris is captured (following an attack in March this would be June)

If we get lucky or the weather is bad twice, I think the Germans might lose a turn somewhere. Maybe even both and the French see their July turn, but I highly doubt that.

Turn 8: Mar. 29, ‘40

On the March turn of the Axis, we get quite lucky and it snows over Western Europe. This means the Wehrmacht only manages to shatter the army guarding the hill S-W of Luxembourg.
In south China the Corps holding the road is destroyed, and the corps manages a single attack on the engineer doing no damage. In the North only light attacks on Chengchow take place.

In France this poses an interesting problem. As only the “Sollbruchstelle” (intended breaking point) of our lines cracked, and we have a still well entrenched front line with no holes, it seems a bit premature to retreat the British behind the river, and open up the Maginot Line. But staying in our positions practically guarantees the destruction of the BEF army. Also Nancy became a bit less secure, and the Luftwaffe, and the Falschimjäger could maybe even take out the corps holding it. In the end I decide to stay, as the threat for Nancy is only marginal, and should it fall there is likely still the southern route open to operate the Maginot troops out. For the BEF, I am not hugely concerned about taking casualties, as a concentrated attack here will likely cost the Germans some resources and time, which I think would virtually guarantee that France holds until the Axis’ June turn. Therefore, we also place our AA gun directly behind the front line like originally intended. Finally, the British airforce bombs some German units and a, for both sides moderatly costly, engagement with the Luftwaffe takes place over northern France.



In Southern China our defenses finish just in time, and our new armies move into the trenches. The Japanese will be able to crack this position as well, but I expect it to take a few turns of preparation, or some other investment (an artillery, or an extra bomber/ GAW tech). Our goal here is to hold the current front line (brown) long enough to set up the next line of defense around Chungking (blue).



Just in time, the northern front starts to crumble. With the Japanese lining up their next wave of attacks on the remaining fortification defending Chengchow, the timer on the fall of the city is set to 2 or 3 turns. This means we should start to prepare our next line in front of Sian. Luckily the two armies that will form the core of this line are already in place, and I expect to get the three corps in the area back to the line as well. So I think together with the free army spawning in response to the fall of Chengchow, we should be able to put up a stiff resistance at Sian. The only thing missing will be an anti-aircraft gun, as mountains do not provide any defense bonuses against air (the high entrenchment obviously still helps).



This is also why we purchased our first AA gun with the Chinese. In India we got the second chit in C&C, and for the UK we immediately rebuy the spying and intelligence chit. This could have been a mistake, since this means we did not have the necessary funds to reinforce our African units. Right now is the most cash starved time for the Brits as we pay off the Malaya event and also have set the Indian convoys to 0 in order to afford the HQ in time.

This comes to bite me in the but at the end of the turn, where Italy decides to join the war, catching me 1 turn too early. The navy is set up OK, but I wanted to get in a garrison in Marseille. Also the South African troops are not in place yet, and the Sudanese are not reinforced. Additionally, the second Indian corps has not arrived in Berbera, so it remains vulnerable to attack.

At the end of the turn we get to more tech boosts, but I do not pay attention as I try to screenshot the MPP income and only catch that one was for China (and I failed to take the screenshot).

Our intelligence reports that the Germans have set up new air unit, which in combination with their production patterns let me to believe that this should be a maritime bomber unit. Similar production patterns have been reported from the Italian, but no corroborating evidence is there yet.