MWiF Global War Hot-Seat (AAR)

[Red Prince]

The CW made 2 more attempts at Strategic Bombing raids this impulse, sending a 3-factor LND with escort to Brussels and a 7-factor LND to Paris. Paris no longer has any air cover, so that gets a +1 on the die roll.

I could have added another FTR to counter-intercept the mission to Brussels, but it wouldn't have made any difference, so I'm glad I didn't. The CW lost a LND but not its Pilot, and this made it possible for both strikes to be repeated if either or both failed (and this one did), since the FTR Germany intended to get to the West Ardennes before this could become a problem is now disorganized.

As you can see below, the raid on Paris succeeded, and there are still 3 CW and USA LND within range to challenge against the single remaining German FTR in the region.
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The reason Germany chose to destroy the LND is that the CW has 2 more FTRs coming in next turn, but their next LND is 2 turns away.

[Red Prince]

I looked at the possibilities for a Ground Strike on the Germans somewhere, and this was the only one with real potential to succeed and have a real impact on the war. But at +3/-3 in favor of Germany, I am not going to risk it. That's 6 BP of aircraft that could easily end up dead with those odds.
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So, now I'll start trying to figure out what to do with the Soviet defenses. I'll work on these first, then move on to the CW, so that you can get a good look at them.

[composer99]

IMO while the Germans are still not at the Dneipr the USSR can concentrate their forces and leave hexes empty as long as ZoC prevent the Germans from crossing. That can have stronger hexes (10+ factors) behind the river and leftover units in reserve and in the cities on the wrong (west) side of the river.

Edit: Also, if there are any sitting around, anti-tank/anti-air guns need to be in hexes with INF-only defenders to blunt the German blitz forces.

Fortunately for the USSR, I don't think the Germans have any engineers, so they're not crossing anywhere at full strength.

[Red Prince]

Only 3 screenshots of the Soviet lines this impulse (they're shrinking!).

The North Setup:

In an attempt to hold the Leningrad region as long as possible, or at least to delay the Germans from the main front, I decided to rail the Sverdlovsk MIL to Novgorod. This creates a ZOC between Pskov and Novgorod that should help to buy that extra impulse. In the meantime, I railed the Lenigrad factory to Archangel, just in case this doesn't actually hold the rail lines.

I also figured out what Steve was talking about with using the swamps as end-points for the every-other-hex line. The top hex has 10 factors defense and the bottom has 6 factors -- as long as they remain in supply. I only used the MIL at the bottom because it is not likely to be attacked no matter what is put there. A MIL unit that can come back to fight another day is not appealing at all.

The most vulnerable hex is the clear hex to the east of Vitebsk. I placed 2 units with the ART in the hex behind it because if the ART gets used and an attack on that hex succeeds, this force is still something to be dealt with, and the ART will get to keep its full 3 factors. Then this hex can be part of the "new" line of defense, whatever that is.
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This area, for the Germans, is definitely going to need another HQ from somewhere. The approach to Leningrad and Novgorod is no longer looking like an easy ride. More on this in the next post.

[Red Prince]

The South Setup:

I tried to get at least 5 factors per attackable hexside arranged here. I came close. Both cities have the abilitiy to defend with 18 factors (including the ART in the south). Of course, Kiev only gets 16 factors of defense if the Germans don't use any armor for the attack. Either way, it's likely to be costly for Germany to take anything here. But I haven't actually run those calculations. I'll do that when I'm into the German impulse.
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As Germany, I think I may need to move up to the lines, see if I can successfully attack anything (probably not), and then take an Air Action next impulse. It may seem like a waste of an impulse, letting the Soviets retreat if they so desire, but right now I have 10 organized aircraft too far behind the lines to be of any use. Additionally, since it will be getting toward mid-turn (maybe), I could even use HQ-I von Bock to reorganize 3 of the LND that I've already used up.
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As the Soviets, I don't know how I would respond to this. I should play the next Soviet impulse as if I don't expect an Air Action by the Germans, I think. That means holding the line, doesn't it? Because if I do begin what I "expect" to be 2 impulses of retreat to the Don, the German player (me) can always change his mind and take another Land Action.

So, after trying to hold the river line next impulse, if Germany takes an Air Action after that, what do I do? Hold the line? or try to retreat?

[Red Prince]

The Persian Setup:

This actually took me some extra time to set up. I wanted to keep the move of Zhukov to the forest, to protect against a Ground Strike, but then I ended up having a hard time getting the right factors per hex if I retreated the 3-4 CAV to Tabriz. That left a hole which could be used by the Germans to get a relatively decent attack on the center hex. So, I switched things around and decided not to move back to Tabiz yet.
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Okay, now it's time to figure out the rest of the Allied land moves. This is still going to be open for a while yet, so it can all be changed if necessary.

[Lothrim]

Had i been playing USSR rundstedt would have been attacked.
Placing your hq alone in frontline hexes is too tempting.
Lucky for germany that zhukov is in persia rather than at the dnepr looking at his offensive chit.

I belive you have effectively demonstrated that the game is playable.
We are talking strategy here, not game flaws.
Only problem seems to be that it would be nice to have a feature to print a map full of units in a less complicated way.
Perhaps an "expand All flyouts and allow Them to be repositioned"
That said i woul rather have the game finished

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Lothrim

Had i been playing USSR rundstedt would have been attacked.
Placing your hq alone in frontline hexes is too tempting.
Lucky for germany that zhukov is in persia rather than at the dnepr looking at his offensive chit.

I belive you have effectively demonstrated that the game is playable.
We are talking strategy here, not game flaws.
Only problem seems to be that it would be nice to have a feature to print a map full of units in a less complicated way.
Perhaps an "expand All flyouts and allow Them to be repositioned"
That said i woul rather have the game finished

It's actually very easy in-game to veiw units this way. The only reason it looks complicated is that I have to cut and paste to show you what I see on the screen. Flyouts can easily be set so that every time you scroll the cursor over a hex with more than one unit in it, the flyout pops up. That keeps the map clean, so that the "extreme-flyouts" displays I'm showing you never happen in the game. There is also a "Units in Hex" form that you can leave open (anywhere on your screen) which shows the same thing the flyouts do, and for Naval units, there are even more options with the Naval Review Details (NRD) form.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Lothrim

Had i been playing USSR rundstedt would have been attacked.
Placing your hq alone in frontline hexes is too tempting.
Lucky for germany that zhukov is in persia rather than at the dnepr looking at his offensive chit.

I belive you have effectively demonstrated that the game is playable.
We are talking strategy here, not game flaws.
Only problem seems to be that it would be nice to have a feature to print a map full of units in a less complicated way.
Perhaps an "expand All flyouts and allow Them to be repositioned"
That said i woul rather have the game finished

As for an attack on Rundstedt, that could have been done with as much as a 48:7 set of odds, reduced to 48:8, given German Ground Support. Add in 8 Ground support of your own, and you've got an attack of 56:8 = 7:1.

Rundstedt knows he's going to die, so he decides to make it an Assault, which has a 30% chance of flipping the 9 best units the Soviets can muster at this time. That leaves them without a river in front of them, a weakened Kiev, and 10 of the 24 units on this front disorganized (30% of the time). If I were the Germans, and I guess I am, I'd be thrilled to have that happen. Sure, I have to rebuild Rundstedt, but the Soviet lines could easily be broken. Even if I didn't disorganize the enemy, that eliminates the need to cross the river, and it also brings the untis closer to my air forces. According to Steve's calculations, I've got about 90+ factors here to use against these enemies who killed off Rundstedt. And I have HQ-A Manstein arriving in 2 turns. I'd gladly trade Rundstedt for the chance to kill off the Soviet armor and its best infantry units. [:)]

[Lothrim]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince
It's actually very easy in-game to veiw units this way. The only reason it looks complicated is that I have to cut and paste to show you what I see on the screen. Flyouts can easily be set so that every time you scroll the cursor over a hex with more than one unit in it, the flyout pops up. That keeps the map clean, so that the "extreme-flyouts" displays I'm showing you never happen in the game. There is also a "Units in Hex" form that you can leave open (anywhere on your screen) which shows the same thing the flyouts do, and for Naval units, there are even more options with the Naval Review Details (NRD) form.

I am sure it is very easy in the game, but I suspect that people will want to produce AAR just like this, and in that case they will have to make a lot of screenshots just like you do.
Having the ability to produce screenshots like you do, but without the cut and paste would make it easier.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Lothrim

ORIGINAL: Red Prince
It's actually very easy in-game to veiw units this way. The only reason it looks complicated is that I have to cut and paste to show you what I see on the screen. Flyouts can easily be set so that every time you scroll the cursor over a hex with more than one unit in it, the flyout pops up. That keeps the map clean, so that the "extreme-flyouts" displays I'm showing you never happen in the game. There is also a "Units in Hex" form that you can leave open (anywhere on your screen) which shows the same thing the flyouts do, and for Naval units, there are even more options with the Naval Review Details (NRD) form.

I am sure it is very easy in the game, but I suspect that people will want to produce AAR just like this, and in that case they will have to make a lot of screenshots just like you do.
Having the ability to produce screenshots like you do, but without the cut and paste would make it easier.

Ah. I completely missed the point. Sorry about that. [>:]
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I've decided to move on with the game. I'm sure there are still errors here somewhere in the Soviet plans, but it's either going to be something that changes things only slightly (I hope), or something that I've completely misunderstood . . . in which case, I'm screwed. [:)]

[Lothrim]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince
As for an attack on Rundstedt, that could have been done with as much as a 48:7 set of odds, reduced to 48:8, given German Ground Support. Add in 8 Ground support of your own, and you've got an attack of 56:8 = 7:1.

An attack with 12 factors would be nice enough. I was thinking of a suicide attack, not a fullblown counter attack. A "3:2-1" blitz attack would have a 30% chance of killing Rundstedt.

I am not advocating that you do the attack, only that under most circumstances that counterattack would have been a bold move by USSR. Given that you have 3 HQ's south and only 1 north it is less tempting. Also it is still early in the campaign and the supply situation is good for the germans. Later though when the lines get stretched having your HQ disapear could be a serious problem.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Lothrim

ORIGINAL: Red Prince
As for an attack on Rundstedt, that could have been done with as much as a 48:7 set of odds, reduced to 48:8, given German Ground Support. Add in 8 Ground support of your own, and you've got an attack of 56:8 = 7:1.

An attack with 12 factors would be nice enough. I was thinking of a suicide attack, not a fullblown counter attack. A "3:2-1" blitz attack would have a 30% chance of killing Rundstedt.

I am not advocating that you do the attack, only that under most circumstances that counterattack would have been a bold move by USSR. Given that you have 3 HQ's south and only 1 north it is less tempting. Also it is still early in the campaign and the supply situation is good for the germans. Later though when the lines get stretched having your HQ disapear could be a serious problem.

The only problem here is that with Zhukov in the Persian theatre, the Soveits can't force a Blitz attack against Rundstedt. They only have one ARM unit available.
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To end the impulse, I rebased some American LND to continue the Strategic Bombing campaign, moved 2 Soviet FTRs into range to defend targets on the North Front and in Persia, and reorganized a bunch of convoy points using MacArthur. I decided not to reorganize the transports in the UK yet. I'll wait until I have made a bombing run, so I can reorganize that LND as well.

On to Axis Impulse #4 . . .

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

ORIGINAL: Orm

I think US should send around 4 CV to India.

Not without backup and going the long way around! Bay of Bengal is pretty much owned by the Japanese right now.

However, since the moves had to start from San Diego and Honolulu, they could only get so far anyway. The moves I made can be used to direct the fleet to Australia and then on to India, probably with the spare SCS from Norfolk heading the other way to meet up with them.

Of course they should be joined with fast BB and CA.

[Red Prince]

I may have found an error in the Persian Front, but I'm not certain yet. We'll see how things go for the Axis.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

The CW made 2 more attempts at Strategic Bombing raids this impulse, sending a 3-factor LND with escort to Brussels and a 7-factor LND to Paris. Paris no longer has any air cover, so that gets a +1 on the die roll.

I could have added another FTR to counter-intercept the mission to Brussels, but it wouldn't have made any difference, so I'm glad I didn't. The CW lost a LND but not its Pilot, and this made it possible for both strikes to be repeated if either or both failed (and this one did), since the FTR Germany intended to get to the West Ardennes before this could become a problem is now disorganized.

As you can see below, the raid on Paris succeeded, and there are still 3 CW and USA LND within range to challenge against the single remaining German FTR in the region.
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The reason Germany chose to destroy the LND is that the CW has 2 more FTRs coming in next turn, but their next LND is 2 turns away.

CW should avoid having a FTR3 as front fighter when the enemy has a FTR2.

[Red Prince]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

The CW made 2 more attempts at Strategic Bombing raids this impulse, sending a 3-factor LND with escort to Brussels and a 7-factor LND to Paris. Paris no longer has any air cover, so that gets a +1 on the die roll.

I could have added another FTR to counter-intercept the mission to Brussels, but it wouldn't have made any difference, so I'm glad I didn't. The CW lost a LND but not its Pilot, and this made it possible for both strikes to be repeated if either or both failed (and this one did), since the FTR Germany intended to get to the West Ardennes before this could become a problem is now disorganized.

As you can see below, the raid on Paris succeeded, and there are still 3 CW and USA LND within range to challenge against the single remaining German FTR in the region.
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The reason Germany chose to destroy the LND is that the CW has 2 more FTRs coming in next turn, but their next LND is 2 turns away.

CW should avoid having a FTR3 as front fighter when the enemy has a FTR2.

It's all that the UK had available. It used up its FTR-2 units already.

[Red Prince]

The Axis has a plan in Persia, just formulated, but no riskier than any other plan they could have for Persia . . . it begins with Ground Strikes against the two double-stacks in the mountains.

The Soviet fighter in Tabriz tried to stop the raids, but failed and was aborted back to Tabriz. I chose the even odds LND because it was attacking the more vital hex, and +1/-1 doesn't gain a huge advantage. With the way the die rolls went, it would have made no difference at all, in fact.

The final tally was only 1 unit disorganized, but I'll take it. This is just phase 1 of the plan.

[composer99]

Persian Front:
The USSR defence looks adequate for now. The FTR needs to rebase to Tabriz. You need another unit here (MTN for preference) to guard the hex southeast of Tabriz. Divisions or low-factor MIL will be wanted to get second units in the lines to make the Axis' job harder. The strongest defence needs to be in the hex alongside the Turkish border.

Southern Front:
If there were more organized German planes, I'd be more concerned about this sector. As it is, though, even with the weaker USSR defence factors the fact that the Germans aren't in a position to force their way across without making risky attacks (although that should be no obstacle to this aggressive Axis side, right? [;)]) should buy some time.

Northern Front:
I feel like the setup shown in post #1684 is a little too forward. At least the USSR ZoC setup can keep the Axis from getting more than 2 hexes on a single USSR hex. However the hex in the clear is ripe for being blitzed. Once again I guess it depends on the availability of German ground-striking forces.

[composer99]

Strat Bombing:
IMO the Allies should not be strat bombing areas with strong German FTR cover, especially if they don't have matching FTRs. If they want to anyway, they should fly at night.

Instead look for areas where there are no FTR to get the +1 to the roll to make up for the weaker strat factors from flying extended range. Ths forces the Axis to either: spend an air mission rebasing a FTR to cover the hex - either leaving a new area vulnerable (which should be duly bombed) - or taking FTR away from other theatres; or put their FTR reinforcements into defending against strategic bombing instead of being used to obtain, maintain, or contest air superiority elsewhere.

Also, given the oil shortages the Axis had early in the game I think the Allies should whack every oil point in range. Right now that's just the oil in Western Germany as far as I know.