4 player email AAR (from Euro-Axis perspective)

[jjdenver]

40 JF:

Unfortunately the chicom army in middle china was blocking the rail line north which made it difficult for Japan to deploy troops into Manchuria.

[jjdenver]

40 MA:

Allies won init and moved first. The weather remained bad for the first 2 axis impulses so German SUBs sailed into the North Atlantic but were rudely greeted by Royal Navy with (I think- don't remember exactly) both German SUBs being damaged. The German SUBs weren't able to have any effect so I probably should have just saved them until they could base in Brest.

Finally on the 3rd axis impulse, i14, the Germans get their first and only clear impulse since the one clear impulse they had to take Belgium in ND 40. However, the clever allies have pulled back out of Belgium to avoid ground strikes by the German ART during their clear impulse (i13).

German high command realizes this is probably the last impulse of the turn so every Luftwaffe plane with wings will be put into the air and the wermacht surges forward to try to disrupt the allied line, with the hope of exploiting any gains in May-June.

Ground strikes on the French ARM and the HQ behind it are flown but fierce French air resistance shoots down a German FTR. Nevertheless the there is some success disrupting the French armored corp.

A decision is made to make an infantry assault on the French armor because there are also strong AT assets in the hex so sending in panzers would be bloody.

Another assault is launched at Strasbourg over the Maginot using engineers, fallschirmjagers, and strong HQ support.

The attack has mixed success. Strasbourg is taken so the Maginot is breached. But the expected results are not gained vs the French armor (the hope was to cause 2 losses and force the French to lose the ARM or AT) and only the Paris MIL is lost.

The allies get a final impulse, i15 to try to re-order their lines.

In a heroic act the Fairey Battle wing flies from England and disrupts both Runstedt and the MOT stacked with him - an amazing ground strike. But the only effect is to burn some German oil.

The screenshot is at EOT MA 40:

[jjdenver]

40 MA:

Things don't go well for Japan in Manchuria. The Red Army continues its' march south, taking the Manchurian capital of Changchun.

When the allies get the clear weather impulse in late turn they are positioned for a devastating blitz on Yamamoto and his powerful army group which is unfortunately caught in the clear terrain north of Mukden. This attacks succeeds in cutting off Yamamato and to make things worse there are 3 face down JP planes in Mukden which are walked over and destroyed including all 3 PIL by the Soviets in the final allied impulse. Things have gone from bad to worse in Manchuria.

Note that we are house-ruling the JP-Soviet forced peace and now that Manchuria is conquered, SU can force the peace but not until next turn, MJ 40. This means that Yamamoto's surrounded army group has to try to survive May-June - which is unlikely.

[jjdenver]

40 MA:

Here is Manchuria at end of turn

[jjdenver]

40 MA EOT Med:

The Italians continued to advance into Morocco. During the only axis clear impulse I tried to move some German corps forward and the game appeared to let me move through CW ZOC's. I thought this was a bug so I intentionally re-loaded the land move and moved the German corp's before moving Balbo (HQI) to put them in supply - thus flipping them.

It was only later that I realized it was not a bug after posting a question on the forum. (thanks PaulDerynck and forum) The CW troops in Morocco are at war with Germany but not with Italy. When German troops move through a hex containing Italian troops the CW ZOC does not extend so the Germans can essentially move free of ZOC as long as an Italian is in the hex. Interesting rule nuance so I thought I'd mention it.

The plan for May-June will be to flank the Brits in Morocco. They are already short on troops with a double-BEF in France (Wavell + Gort) and trying to cover Malta, Gib, England, and Egypt. And with the ability for Italians and Germans to ignore ZOCs their flanks will be tough to secure.

[jjdenver]

Here are all losses to date at end of MA 40.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ:

Axis lose init MJ 40 but call for a re-roll and thankfully the initiative is won.
i1: sees an o-chit on Guderian. The Luftwaffe launches ground strikes and the French air force rises to the challenge. Both sides lose planes but the Germans get the better end of the air combat and the tally is 1 GE FTR2 shot down and 2 FR FTR2 shot down. The ground strikes go through with mixed success. The ARM and AA behind the French front are missed. The hex with 2x5-3 INF and an AT gun sees one INF flipped, and the Italian LND3 fails to flip anything on another ground strike behind the French lines. However in Metz both French corps are flipped.

2 attacks are launched.
1) the hex with 5-3,5-3,2-3AT is a +14B
2) Metz with 3-3,4-1 is a +16A

The +14B is not as successful as the Germans hoped but is enough to get a breakthrough and 3 o-chit doublings have been saved for the purpose of over-running the French 5(2)3 HQ. [:D]

[jjdenver]

40 MJ i1:

The +16 assault on metz is a bit of a disaster though with a roll of 4 causing the loss of the ENG.[:(]

But Metz is taken thus further cracking open the French front and putting the French troops still in the maginot in danger of being cut off.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ i1 continued:
The Italians fly naval air into the Cape Saint Vincent sz and cause some damage to the beleaguered French navy.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ i3:
Here is the situation at the start of i3 after the o-chit was used in i1. The allies have retreated but the line is vulnerable to the panzers.

5 attacks are planned:

1) automatic on the French CAV holding Lille
2) +14B on hex SW of Lille
3) +12B on the hex NE of Paris
4) +9B on the forest hex SE of Paris (retreated east to put them OOS and flipped)
5) +22B on the hex SW of Metz

The attacks are basically successful but flips make it necessary to use Runstedt to re-org units so that the offensive can proceed.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ Axis i5, allied i7, axis i9:

Unfortunately the weather turns rainy so the Allies have time to run the double BEF away into southern France. Here is the situation at the start of axis i9:

[jjdenver]

40 MJ i9:

However, with impulse 9 the sun comes out again and the Wermacht is ready to exploit the weakening allied position.

A +16 assault is planned cut off French corps south of Paris and a +17B on the 5-4 behind the river in the hex SE of Paris. This will allow over-run of flipped LND3 SW of Paris.

Both attacks succeed.

Heavy ground strikes are also launched on Paris, flipping the FTR and the ARM in the city. However the turn ends after i9 so there is no chance to make an assault.

Here is the situation at end of MJ 40 in France.

The German high command is satisfied with the situation. The turn started with the only French losses of the war as a GAR and the Paris MIL and a double BEF present in France. With 3 clear weather impulses in MJ 40 the Wermacht has made great progress and the fall of Paris seems likely in JA 40.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ Med:

The Axis forces in Morocco work to cut off the British forces there but the Brits withdraw to Casablanca. Rabat falls so Morocco is conquered.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ Manchuria:

In Manchuria the Japanese press to the outskirts of Seoul, taking the resource hex in the mountains there while also reducing the trapped army led by Yamamoto. The Imperial marines survive the turn and the Japanese sue for peace with the USSR.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ China:

The situation in China worsens as a partisan force takes Canton and the port there from Japan. Chang-sha is already surrounded and Umezu's army group near Kweilin is also in great danger of being cut off.

Japan is building at 8 per turn and the lone bright spot is that an ARM hasbeen deployed to the area west of Shanghai with a MECH about to arrive also next turn.

[jjdenver]

40 MJ:

Here are losses to date in the game.

I'll pause here to write briefly about Euro-axis strategic planning. I can't write everything that is being planned because this is an ongoing game but I will reveal some of the strategy thoughts being debated by German high command (of course in consultation with il Duce).

Paris looks like it will fall in JA 40. The BEF will either escape or form a defense of the Spanish border to delay any German ambitions for a Spanish invasion. German losses have been in my opinion: medium with 6 BP lost in Poland, and 15 BP so far in France (mostly planes and PIL but also significantly the Engineer on the Metz assault gone bad).

German builds have been in my opinion neutral (intentionally). Some would say the German build strategy is indecisive and that's probably a fair criticism. I haven't been able to decide yet which strategy to follow post-France. German builds have basically been:
3xsynth
ARM
2xENG (incl the dead ENG)
ART
lots of pilots and planes
a few MIL

Italy has built:
ATR
PARA
SUBs(mostly repairs)
lots of pilots and planes

GE has been lending IT resources and build points.

I think this set of builds will be fine for a Med strategy or a Barb 41 strategy. [8D]

It's also fair to say that this set of builds is not optimal for any strategy. [:(]

Progress in France is good but the convoy war has basically been a bust. I think the Axis have only destroyed a couple of cp's so far in the game. The French navy has been knocked about but the French navy isn't really a decisive factor in the game (to say the least). Progress in N. Africa has been good with Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia all taken.

In hindsight there are a couple of key Italian builds that I wish I'd made but that's water over the dam so nothing can be done about it now.

One solid option (imo) is to take Paris in JA 40, declare Vichy, and turn east to face the Soviets. This is because the Soviets are now sitting on 34 resources including Manchuria and are set up to also take Persia. If left alone they will be huge by 42. Their only loss is an LND3. Scary.

The fly in the ointment is that the Brits have a strong force in South France and if Vichy is declared while they hold Bordeaux or Bayonne it will be extremely difficult to force them out and that can turn into an allied beachhead in France if the Germans are not careful.

The Germans could also launch a med campaign in 1941. Spain can be assaulted and Gibraltar probably taken. The double BEF heading to South of France means the Wermacht has to chase them there and puts the Germans in position for an attack on Spain. This could be done over the winter of 40-41 but a winter campaign trying to cross the Pyrenees is a tough go. Instead it may be better to wait for MA or MJ 41 and set up a strong attack on Spain. This will give time to position invasion assets in the Med and quickly over-run the border.

Overall the situation looks very bleak for the Axis. The Japanese have taken grievous losses and are building at only 8 BP per turn. The British have lost literally nothing and their convoys have run basically un-molested. German losses while not high, are at least significant. It's hard to see a good path to Axis victory in the game, but Germany will make plans to try to achieve something in 41. First though it's necessary to take Paris which has a strong garrison (7-6 ARM/2-3 AA/6-1 GAR).

[jjdenver]

40 JA: Allies get init and decide to go 1st.

Britain declares war on Italy and sinks or damages some cruisers in the W Med. SU also declares war on Persia. A ground strike from Gibraltar flips the Italian FTR in Rabat but Balbo re-orgs it on i2. Here is the situation in France at the start of axis i2.

[jjdenver]

41 JA i2:
In China, Japan has now mustered sufficient force to go on a mid summer offensive. Here is the situation in China at the start of i2.

[jjdenver]

40 JA i2 China: JP launches an attack on the chicom army holding Nanking and the city falls.

The Empire (of the rising sun) strikes back! [:D]

[jjdenver]

40 JA i4:
Situation at start of i4. An assault is planned on Paris but first the Axis plans a strong air sortie into the W Med to challenge the huge British fleet patrolling there after pounding the Italians out of the zone in early July.