Global War AAR

[composer99]

So I finally bought MWiF around the start of this year, and started playing a global war game in fits and starts. Here's the AAR!

Note: I'm actually in the middle of September/October 1944 as of this writing.

00 Setup

Optional Rules

Optional rules are pretty standard. Oil, most extra units, but not light cruisers, 2d10 combat table.

[composer99]

United States Setup

Air Unit Lending
Since the US is the only power that lent air units at the start of the game, the air unit lending gets to count as part of its setup. The US lends its two good lnd3 to the RAF.

[composer99]

US Setup

Scrapping
I'm okay with scrapping older MOT corps: 4 build points for motorised movement rates and no blitz bonus means it's got to be worth spending them. So the US scraps the MOT corps that it can, along with its oldest cvp. Unlike many games I've played, I keep almost all of the old trs: they'll be good for constantly shipping units across the Atlantic in the late game.

[composer99]

US Setup

US Entry
The US' initial entry marker pulls aren't great, but they aren't terrible. With the potential to lose many markers from the Ge/It pools in the first year of the game, the US places all its markers in that pool.

[composer99]

US Setup

Setup
The US setup isn't particularly meaningful at this point in the game, other than making sure the convoy line to Japan is intact. Convoys also ensure the Alaskan and Venezuelan oil will make it to the US proper. Quite a few CVs are left without planes, and most air units are left in reserve as well.

[jjdenver]

TY for the AAR - is this a solo game? I don't get much time to read the forum but I'll check in every few weeks and read about your game.

[composer99]

US Setup

US Strategy
The US' early game strategy is fairly straightforward:
(1) Manipulate US entry in order to try and get the gear-ups (and then get into the war) as soon as possible. The expectation is that the US will be at war with Japan somewhere around ND41 or JF42, and at war with Germany & Italy around JF42 or MA42.

(2) The US' goals in the early and mid game are as follows:
- Establish defences of key hexes in the Pacific to prevent Japan from seizing them freely.
- Build up an offensive strike force capable of intervening decisively in the Pacific, consisting of land-based air, carriers with battle fleet support, and Army/Marine and sealift forces capable of seizing up to two hexes per turn.
- Build up a strike force able to accomplish a similar intervention in Europe, with most likely use in the mid game being in North Africa
- Any excess land and air units over the forces needed for the above objectives will be sent to the UK for the build-up for decisive operations in Europe in 1943-1944.

(3) The US then made up a production strategy, with guesses as to when certain production-impacting options might occur (such as the gear ups) that would enable achieving the goals outlined above.

(4) During the mid game, US naval builds, save for sea lift, convoy points, and repairs, would begin to peter out. At that point, US production would emphasise land and air units and offensive chits, and US strategy would be built around the following prongs:
- Assisting the Commonwealth in the Mediterranean Theatre in 1943-1945
- Taking the lead role in north-west Europe in 1943-1945
- Building up a decisive naval/air advantage over Japan and using that to seize key ports in the mid game, with a view to snatching objectives in the late and end game, rather than an invasion of Japan proper. (An invasion would be contemplated should Japan neglect its home defences, of course.)

[composer99]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

TY for the AAR - is this a solo game? I don't get much time to read the forum but I'll check in every few weeks and read about your game.

Yes, it is a solo game. Hope you find it interesting!

[composer99]

Soviet Union Setup

Strategy
USSR strategy assumes a German invasion in 1941, and every effort will be made to maximise the defences against such an attack. STAVKA plans for a rear defence, rather than a forward defence.
- Production will focus solely on the Red Army (especially infantry, anti-tank guns, and tank forces) until the mid game, at which point aircraft production will slowly begin to ramp up. Air units, artillery, and offensive chits will become more important to the production strategy once the war has turned in the USSR's favour, which is projected to happen during the winter 1942-43.
- While it's fairly conventional, I think, for MWiF players to leave a decent force in the Pacific, to be able to come to the aid of China if need be, I decided to bring the Far East armies west as soon as possible. China would be on its own.
- The USSR would claim Bessarabia in order to keep the Germans on the wrong side of the Dneister during the earliest phase of any invasion. The USSR would also claim the Finnish borderlands for the extra production. (*)
- No other international aggression is planned, save for going to war with Japan in the late game.

In the event of a German invasion, the Red Army would do its utmost to fall back cohesively, finally stopping at two points: the Caucasus mountains, and the rivers in front of the Ural mountains. Slower units would be sacrificed in so-called "hero cities" or as "speedbumps" in order to buy time both for the withdrawal in good order of the rest of the Red Army and to enable the retreat of factories.

Once the tide of the war has turned, the Red Army and Red Army Air Force will bludgeon its way back west. Since the game presumes Germany will have 10 objectives by the end of JA45, I won't presume that Red Army infantrymen will be flying the Hammer & Sickle over the Reichstag or shaking hands with US GIs on the banks of the Elbe, but I'd at least like to reach Warsaw and the cities on the Danube.

In the event that the Germans undertake an invasion of the UK or focus on Spain and/or the Eastern Mediterranean in 1941, the USSR will still assume an invasion in 1942, although it will deploy further forward in order to soak up as many German units as it can. In such a case, an early campaign against Japan will be contemplated.

Note (*): Since I wasn't planning to attempt to stuff the border, I felt okay with the decision to claim the Finnish borderlands. If the Germans aligned Finland before the war started, the USSR could potentially react to the Finnish setup so as to fight to keep the rail lines to Murmansk open.

Scrapping
The USSR scraps weaker MOT corps, older sealift, and the one ftr2 that it can scrap.

[composer99]

USSR Setup

Setup
The USSR sets up for an early grab of Bessarabia. Stalin's view is that Germany won't want to risk losing access to the vital Ploesti oilfields so early in the war. The units along the north end of the line will also occupy Eastern Poland, in keeping with the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

The Soviet Navy's submarines and sealift set up in Leningrad, in preparation for planned operations in the Baltic.

In the Far East, Vladivostok is lightly defended: Red Army planners believe that the Japanese, recently humiliated at Khalkin Gol, are focusing on China. Zhukov's Siberian detachments are deployed in the event of hostilities with Japan, but will be shipped to Europe at the earliest opportunity in keeping with the USSR strategic plan which, as noted previously, assumes an eventual German invasion (even as the ink has barely dried on the non-aggression treaty with Germany).

Soviet convoys are set up to ensure the oil in the Caucasus can be used for reorganising units even if the rail lines are cut, and with a view to maintaining trade with the outside world.

[composer99]

Italy Setup

Strategy
Italy's strategy is to attempt, with as much German assistance as can be finagled, to secure control of the Mediterranean for as long as possible. This includes conquering French North Africa, Malta, Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, and then fighting to keep the Allies at bay in the Western Med and (if all goes well) the Red Sea.

The dream scenario is to link up with Japanese forces operating in the Indian Ocean - not necessarily to invade India, but to deny the Allies the ability to operate there.

The quid pro quo for German assistance in this endeavour (and the reduced pressure the British can apply to Germany as a result) is a significant investment in the Regia Aeronautica, to be sent to fight Germany's enemies, whether in Spain, the UK, or the USSR.

In the event the Allies threaten to topple Italy, Italian forces will be consolidated into two groups:
- Naval air assets will be diverted to north-west Europe to help fight off the eventual landings there. (The idea is that German naval air forces will fight in the Med.)
- With or without German assistance, Albania will be defended as heavily as possible, as it may well be Italy's only hope of avoiding complete conquest.

Scrapping
Italy scraps outdated sealift, the old cv Sparviero, and the outdated ftr2. I used to scrap the 2-2 artillery, but have since decided to keep it, since Italy wants field artillery over anti-tank or anti-air guns.

[composer99]

Italy Setup

Setup - Europe
The Italians are set up in Europe with the following in mind:
- Using their reserves to threaten France
- In the event of an early German war with Yugoslavia, ensure the uninterrupted transit overland of the resource in Pola
- Spread out convoy lines to try to maintain supply and overseas resource transit across the Med.
- Deployment of mobile army units to French North Africa or Egypt.

[composer99]

Italy Setup

Setup - Sicily, Tripolitania & Cyrenaica
- A fast (6-range) ftr2 and nav2 are set up in a central location in Sicily, to be able to react anywhere in the Mediterranean.
- Fast camel troops (the 1-4 TERR) deploy along the Tunisian border. In the event of an aggressive war against France, they will attempt to rush to Tunis before anyone can interfere.
- Slow GARR and anti-tank forces are based in Tripoli as a garrison.
- The regular forces of the Regio Esercito in Libya are deployed along the frontier with Egypt. With the reinforcements from Italy, their goal will be to seize that country from the Egyptian crown and its British puppet masters.

[composer99]

Italy Setup

Setup - Africa Orientale Italiana
Despite Italian optimism regarding the success of the Egyptian campaign, it can't be taken for granted. Italian forces in its East African colonies are placed in a defensive posture.

The Italians intend on extracting the supply unit from Eritrea and bringing it to Libya, whether to ensure the offensive in Egypt can proceed despite interruptions in overseas supply, or, in the best case, to empower a drive across the desert into Mesopotamia.

[composer99]

China Setup

Strategy
Not having much experience playing the China campaign on the unified map scale, I intended to be very conservative with the Chinese: a rearward defence, preserve the army as much as possible, and try to stop up Japan at the mountain cities. The Nationalists, in particular, plan on making a stand in the mountains around the Szechuan, and at Kunming.

Since I had already planned, as the USSR, not to attempt to intervene, I knew things would be rough for China. Basically, it was down to hoping that bad weather would save the day.

Once Japan was in the war with the US, the hope was that the Chinese would be in a position to make some gains in 1944-1945.


Scrapping
It's hard to see because of the mouseover text, but the Nationalists scrapped their oldest planes. Might as well have as much chance to get good American stuff once that became available.

[composer99]

China Setup

Setup
The Chinese set up far back, relative to what I would have done in a tabletop game with the Asia-Pacific map scale. The objective here is to force the Japanese to waste time advancing to the Chinese positions, whether against the Communists in the north or the Nationalists in the centre or south.

In particular, in a tabletop game I would never leave Changsha empty - but in such a game it takes a few impulses for Japan to get into position to attack it. In MWiF Japan can manage a 3-hex attack on the city immediately.

[peskpesk]

ORIGINAL: composer99
...
The USSR would also claim the Finnish borderlands for the extra production.

Any chance we will se the Germans denying the claim so we will see a Winter war?

[composer99]

ORIGINAL: peskpesk

ORIGINAL: composer99
...
The USSR would also claim the Finnish borderlands for the extra production.

Any chance we will se the Germans denying the claim so we will see a Winter war?

'Fraid not.

[composer99]

Commonwealth Setup

Strategy
In the early and mid game, I had a fairly simple strategic plan for the Commonwealth:
- Leave sufficient forces in the UK to deter an invasion
- Send a BEF to France and endeavour to ensure it impacts the war
- Build up defences in Gibraltar, Malta, and Egypt/Middle East, to prevent those areas from coming under Axis control.
- Build up defences in India (both against partisans and against Japan) and in Malaya
- If the build-up permits, knock out Italian East Africa and begin offensive operations in Egypt/Libya/Middle East
- Control the sea lanes as much as possible

For the mid game on, I wanted to cooperate with the US to have sufficient convoy points to send lending around the world.

As intimated in the US strategic plan, the CW was going to take the lead in fighting in the Med from the mid game on. Since the US build-up would be well underway by the time operations in northwest Europe were being undertaken, I would expect the US' role to be increasingly dominant there.

Finally, one of the CW's objectives was to build a decent size strategic bomber force.

Scrapping
CW scrapped the old cvps, as well as the old MOT corps and the 2-factor motorised artillery. I kept most transports, but scrapped more aggressively than I did with the Americans. I don't normally scrap AMPH with the CW, but with the goals I had, I didn't think I would end up building every single AMPH the CW got, and given the choice I'd rather have newer, faster stuff, so I scrapped some older AMPH.

[composer99]

Commonwealth Setup

Convoys
This is worth a topic of its own for CW setup.

Since I included the Food in Flames optional rule (which I love for solitaire, but would almost never expect to get to play with in a multiplayer game), I made sure to get one resource each from India and Australia back to the UK. A convoy line through the Pacific sent the spare Australian resource to Canada, so as to free up a Canadian resource for shipment to the UK as well.

Convoys not shipping resources to the UK were also shipping oil - ideally to India, Australia, and (once I had enough) the UK.