RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/4/2009 3:18:34 PM

Chocolino

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February 16th, 1943

The USSR did transfer more tank corps into the narrow strip south of Bukarest. We harbor plans to cut them off form the south, but realize that we have barely the strength to do so. We will need luck - a very unreliable planning device.

It is ominously quiet in the Atlantic and air attacks have not resumed. Does the US shift focus and will strike somewhere totally different?

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/4/2009 3:59:41 PM

Chocolino

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March 1st, 1943

The USSR removes one tank corps from the area south of Bukarest and blocks effectively our intended attack northwards along the river. Instead we attack a mech. corps near the coast. Lacking sufficient air support, we get only marginal odds and fail to penetrate. Bukarest is still under a severe threat.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/4/2009 4:38:52 PM

Chocolino

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March 16th, 1943

A quiet move, build and repair only.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/4/2009 5:30:29 PM

Chocolino

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April 1st, 1943

Things are moving very slowly but definitely in the wrong direction. The USSR has arrived at a hex just outside besides Bukarest. We brace ourselves for the worst. All quiet in the Atlantic. What is the US up to. I am sure they did not invade Sweden to lower their outrageous beer prices.

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< Message edited by Chocolino -- 4/4/2009 5:32:30 PM >

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/4/2009 8:54:01 PM

Chocolino

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April 16th, 1943

The worst case scenario for Romania just happened - Bukarest and Romania are in the hands of the red hordes. An Axis campaign riddled with, mismanagement, poor decision making from the beginning comes to a gloomy end. Because of the idiosyncrasies of international law in RtV, all of our units in Romania were politely but firmly shown out of the country for redeployment elsewhere. While we did not actually loose any units in this process (with the exception of the Romanians of course), this causes a complete collapse of the front line which we will have to reestablish - much further west naturally. We feel already in early 1943 the strain to fight a superior air force and larger numbers of high end USSR attack units while the average unit quality is still on par. What will happen if the US decides to open a second front? Or does the strong USSR and inactivity of the US indicate that most US resources end up via lend lease in the USSR?

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/5/2009 4:14:32 PM

Chocolino

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May 1st, 1943

We rush east towards the former Romanian border with our redeployed Axis units and the USSR heads west to establish a new front line. In the process we manage to get good odds on a Sovjet tank corps near Craiova and destroy it. Even though we destroyed several tank corps by now and lost only one, the USSR is not deterred at all and can apparently afford those losses easily.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/5/2009 4:58:59 PM

gwgardner

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It looks like your forces are more powerful than the enemy's, in terms of strength points. Why not consider a concentration of your air and armor, with some powerful infantry support, and take the initiative. It may take a few turns to organize your forces at a given spot, but sometimes the best defense is a daring offense.

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Post #: 127

RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/5/2009 5:45:17 PM

Chocolino

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Gary, thanks for the good advice. Looking back at my own posts, I come to the same conclusion. But when I play I seem not to be able to pull it together. Of course I asked myself for the reason and I came up with three:

- I have yet to learn the patience to pull out my good units for a few turns out of the front and prepare behind the lines. Instead I use them up (fritter them away) every turn in some perceived emergencies or local mini-opportunities. That is inexperienced play and I am to blame of course.

- Lack of air power. That is not visible in the post pictures and is hence misleading on first glance. The reason the USSR is able to attack all the time is its heavy use of air power that I cannot match. Otherwise the USSR would face the same obstacles than I do.

- With the exception of a few opportunities (as just has happened), my opponent never allows for anything higher than 3-1 attack odds based on land units only. But that is not enough to be successful and looses on average quite a bit. That is the reason for my poor loss ratio actually. This situation requires that you can attack with air first - which I cannot at the moment.

To overcome the last two reasons, I had to pull out air and tanks, transfer them to a totally different location to make sure my air is not eaten up in defense, let the USSR go at it for a while and attack at a totally different spot, far enough to escape his air units in the south. But then there is still reason number 1.....

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Post #: 128

RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/5/2009 11:40:09 PM

Chocolino

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May 9th, 1943

We try to recapture Timisoara but fail. A new front line to the USSR is forming. Still quiet in the Atlantic.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/6/2009 2:33:35 AM

Chocolino

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May 16th, 1943

Border skirmishes in Romania. We have become more careful about when and where to attack and the loss ratio starts showing this.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/6/2009 3:06:29 AM

Chocolino

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May 24th, 1943

We try to change gears and get a small attack going. Let's hope the USSR is distracted.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/6/2009 11:32:11 PM

Chocolino

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June 1st, 1943

We were shown by the USSR that the time for German attacks is over and our mini-breakthrough was rebuffed quiet vehemently by the Red team. We lost one of our precious tank corps in the process. The USSR demonstrated further south how it is done correctly. Still quiet in the Atlantic.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/6/2009 11:53:48 PM

cpdeyoung

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Sounds like an awful lot of air power got to that armor. The reports for the turn will probably show multiple, perhaps 6-10 air strikes, followed by assault. Air power is a great misery when you are on the receiving end.

By the way Gary sent me an estimate that my naval raiders may have cost him 1,500 to 2,000 PP. I think you asked about this. That is a lot of damage.

Chuck

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Post #: 133

RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/6/2009 11:59:21 PM

Chocolino

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June 9th, 1943

It is not peaceful and quiet in northern Germany any more. The US has decided to take the shortcut to Berlin and has landed in Rostock which was defended by a single but good quality Infantry corps. Landing at a Baltic port was the logical next step after taking Sweden.

The Axis Atlantic fleet moves into the Baltic Sea with the idea to destroy supply for the US attackers which is probably shipped from US controlled Sweden (assuming supply convoys cannot pass the Axis controlled Skagerak narrow). We hope also to pick up possible further amphibious units for attacks elsewhere along the Axis Baltic coast. We did this with some concern, though since taking Copenhagen now would bottle up the Axis fleet in the Baltic in a similar fashion that the loss of Gibraltar had on the British fleet in the Mediterraneum. We will stay only as long as necessary and hope the US does not yet in 1943 have the means for two landings at the same time.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 12:56:53 AM

Chocolino

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June 16th, 1943

Troubled by supply problems, the US withdraws to Rostock. Maybe the Kriegsmarine and her allies are doing their job after all. Not shown here, but we have also dispatched a few forces to move in on Poznan to retake it as well. For once it is quiet instead in Romania.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 3:11:51 AM

Chocolino

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June 24th, 1943

The US heads back to wherever they came from (Sweden?) and just leaves a single tank corps as rear guard in Rostock. It looks as if we have survived the first onslaught of the western superpower. But it is just summer 1943 and they will have plenty of opportunity to renew their efforts. We also try our luck with a second little breakthrough near the former Romanian border.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 3:17:14 AM

gwgardner

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Looks like the US underestimated the force you could bring to bear on Rostok. Why do you think they had supply issues?

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 1:39:29 PM

Chocolino

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quote:

Why do you think they had supply issues?

Just guessing (or wishful thinking) of course. But I thought the US L2 tank corps should have been stronger than 5. Another explanation for the weakness could be that they were damaged of course.

Etienne and I don't exchange much analysis comments per email during our moves (I hope we can have a postmortem later). But in one of the few exceptions he stated that he used the last STPs to get people shipped back out of Germany despite stockpiling many STPs over the course of the game. I interpreted that as a STP shortage and supply issue. But it may just have been borderline.

Edit: I would be interested to learn about your experience on how effective Axis supply raiders are in the Atlantic. I understand that you are subjected to their attentions in SuD. Chuck gave me an estimate already. Was this equally distributed over the length of the war? How does the STP price change if you have to buy a lot? If you buy them in one move they price goes up but may be adjusted later. I'd be curious.

< Message edited by Chocolino -- 4/7/2009 1:43:38 PM >

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 2:06:57 PM

gwgardner

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Oh man! Chuck is hitting me hard in the Atlantic. I lose anywhere from 10-30STPs per turn because he has dominance on the sea. As a rough estimate, since the US invaded France in our game, I think the US and UK have expended perhaps 2000+ PPs on STPs. Certainly that's one reason my US force is so small.

As for STP purchase costs, one odd thing is that they are higher for the US than the UK. I can currently purchase 10 STPs as the UK starting at 40 PPs. For the US, that usually starts at 58 PP. It does go up for each PP purchase consecutively, and gets reset back to some minimum at the start of the month, I believe. (One reason Chuck's a better player than me is that he analyzes these things better.) So each turn right now, late '45, with the US pulling in 400 PPs a turn, it is spending 200 of that on STPs PER TURN! Ruinous.

Of course if in the real war, the Allies were taking these kinds of losses in the Atlantic, some kind of armistace would have had to be arranged. (According to Weinberg, Churchill was willing to consider a peace with Hitler in 1940! under the right conditions related to colonies, and if that is the case, then certainly he would have considered such a peace if the war in the Atlantic were lost.)

< Message edited by gwgardner -- 4/7/2009 2:11:56 PM >

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Post #: 139

RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 3:36:14 PM

Chocolino

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Thank you for the feedback on the raiders. That is very encouraging from the Axis point of view. I guess it has to be balanced against any investments of the Axis into his fleet. But if that is small it clearly reduces the PP gap between the two factions.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 3:45:23 PM

Chocolino

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July 1st, 1943

The last US troops have left Germany - for now. Denmark is under aerial attack again. Only the same little border skirmishes in Romania.

The Italians started a small reconnaissance mission from Turkey into the Caucasus. Since I never tried this before - not even against the AI - I didn't realize how stretched supply lines would get. Movement is down to one point which is not sufficient to enter even the foothills with the regular L3 Infantry. Unless you use higher level motorized units or build a mulberry port you may not even bother to try it. A good lesson. (Can a Mulberry port be built near the Caspian sea? It may not be possible besides inland lakes not matter how large. I didn't have the PP to try in any case).

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< Message edited by Chocolino -- 4/7/2009 3:46:46 PM >

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/7/2009 11:43:48 PM

Chocolino

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July 9th, 1943

We conduct a limited attack on Timisoara and retake the city but have no real plans of going further. Given their PP situation, defense is probably the wisest option for the Germans from now on.

The Caucasian explorers are still beyond the horizon of the Red Army but we are sure their advancing territory lines did not go unnoticed.

The paratrooper unit that landed in Poznan earlier did move around in the meanwhile and hence may not be ready to fly out yet. We hope we come in time to trap the unit.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 12:44:30 AM

Chocolino

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July 16th, 1943

An interesting move - but unfortunately an utterly unsuccessful one for the Axis.

The Sovjets again break through our lines south of Timisoara (where they amassed their tanks a turn before). But we get the chance for a good counterattack on the leading tank. Unfortunately, it only leads to medium losses and the USSR tank corps remains too strong for single unit follow up attacks.

The previously decorated German paratroopers were sent into a last-hurray suicide mission since spotters detected a USSR army visible near Ciuj-Napoca - just 23 hexes from the nearest paratrooper. Flying 20, walking 2 and one attack. But the German intelligence department mislead them just enough to make their sacrifice an utter waste. Enemy ZOC from units not visible so far resulted in the use of more movement points than (mis)calculated.

One more paratrooper landed close to the Romanian oilfields near of which we triangulated other USSR air armies. But again we were not close enough and just spotted the units for the third paratrooper to land nearby. They however suffered huge landing losses and were barely able to wipe out one air army in multiple attacks instead of the expected two. So instead of three we only destroyed one air army for 3 airborne divisions.

Poznan is under siege now.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 2:23:23 PM

gwgardner

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Dang, this is driving me crazy! Push that Italian division forward on the clear hex enough to see if there's any garrison in Baku. The world wants to know!

[there's a gamey way to check - just click on Baku and see if you can do an amphibious assault - will say if the hex is occupied.]

< Message edited by gwgardner -- 4/8/2009 2:24:33 PM >

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 6:23:07 PM

Chocolino

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quote:

Dang, this is driving me crazy! Push that Italian division forward on the clear hex enough to see if there's any garrison in Baku. The world wants to know!

As I said, the Italians can only move one field. So we have to wait one more turn until we know. But I would be very surprised if the Russian command has missed this. With the exception of the mech Inf. no unit will be able to get across the hills anyways.

quote:

[there's a gamey way to check - just click on Baku and see if you can do an amphibious assault - will say if the hex is occupied.]

Didn't know, very tricky. Thank you.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 9:05:50 PM

Chocolino

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July 24th, 1943

The airborne division holding Poznan surrenders and all of western Poland is again cleansed from capitalist influences. After the breakthrough, USSR tanks withdraw behind the lines and reorganize. Our paratroopers in Romania are starving and trying to blend into the Romanian countryside - unsuccessfully though.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 9:08:27 PM

Chocolino

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August 1st, 1943

In Romania, we start another round of attrition against the USSR and destroy an Infantry corps. As expected, Baku is occupied.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 9:17:07 PM

James Ward

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The one good thing is that if your allies surrender, when you re-liberate the country Germany can get the PP's. Better to be spending them on lvl 4 German infantry than on lvl 1 Romanians!

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/8/2009 9:38:15 PM

Chocolino

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Good point, agree - unfortunately it will have to be done in another game since even hard core optimists in the German planning section have removed Operation Dracula from their briefing charts by now.

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RE: Crossroads: Axis Perspective - 4/9/2009 12:22:06 AM

Chocolino

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August 16th, 1943

In the Caucasus we bypass Baku with an Italian mech. Infantry to explore the coast along the Caspian see (no picture). But we are in danger to be cut off at any time. Romania sees the only fighting this turn when we try to destroy another mech. Infantry unit with our tanks. This time, we were unsuccessful with our 7:1, causing only medium damage. The USSR has transported in a tank corps to Cluj, probably to reinforce the area of our attacks.