RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (Full Version)

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Orm -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/8/2020 6:33:08 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

I'm going to assume people reading along are also reading Ronnie's Axis AAR, and so getting the blow-by-blow of Axis impulses there. As such, I'm just going to recap a few important bits of this impulse, and will do something similar in future posts here.


Thank you for doing recap of the important Axis events. I've decided to just follow this thread, and the common one, until the game is over. After the end I might take a peek at the Axis thread.

I followed the first turn as it happened and am now catching up. I hope to follow your thread daily from now on.

I think it will be more exciting to only follow one side.



Orm -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/8/2020 6:59:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

USSR: I must admit, my set-up was a bit sloppy vis-à-vis making an early claim on Bessarabia, so it just isn't happening until March/April at the earliest. However, once I'm ready to go, I'll have a big force on the frontier, flanking manoeuvres to keep the Germans from forcing a peace (and also cutting off potential reinforcement). I'm pretty confident that Germany will accept the claim.


I think you should make the claim 1st Allied impulse of Jan/Feb. Especially if the weather is snow or clear. If Germany declines the claim I find it improbable that Germany can force a peace. And while Germany may send peacekeepers to Rumania you should be able to put them OOS soon enough. And keeping German units away from France can not be all bad. So, I think, as long as you can avoid the enforced peace a war with Rumania is good for USSR. Even if it is a prolonged war. You have, most likely, a year to conquer Rumania. And while you do so you can always have fun bombing the oil.

And I must say that I doubt that Germany will risk the precious Rumanian oil. Especially with so much naval action and naval builds.

I suggest that you do a test DOW on Rumania, and set up their units, and see if you can make progress enough in Rumania with two bad weather impulses.

Also, it doesn't look to me like USSR will be needing many moves in China during the next turn.



TeaLeaf -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/8/2020 7:50:44 PM)

Hehheh,

This war of attrition in the Med. seas will cripple Italy within two years.
The only thing better for you is French ships taking losses instead of the RN, but not too big of a deal. Althoug if France could have a devastating surprise impulse in the Med., destroying 4/5 Italian ships in 1 impulse that would be cool :D.

Don't worry about axis taking Egypt away from you ;-).
If things keep going like they are now, they won't even be able to keep a single unit in supply in Africa, let alone an army that might be a threat ;-). Keep it up!

Oh and before I forget: building all your FTR3 almost as soon as they come available plus a couple of long range NAVs (range > combat factors), really helps keeping the luftwaffe at bay if/once they show up.



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 1:08:32 PM)

January/February 1940

Start of Turn

New Year Scrapping
Allied: The US, France, and CW scrap a few obsolete planes. The US also scraps XXXI Corps (4-5 MOT).
Axis: Italy and Japan scrap some old planes. Japan also scraps old, slow light carriers.

Reinforcements
- Repaired RN ships are placed in Liverpool;
- All French & CW militias are placed in their cities;
- France places one of its ftr2 from reserve instead of the Potez ftr3, into Paris;
- Red Army 25th & 33rd Armies are placed in Odessa;
- CCCP 8th Route Army is placed in Sian;
- Canadian 6th Garrison Corps (3-1 GARR) to Halifax, Indian 7th Garrison Corps (5-1) to Calcutta;
- The RAF pulls aircrews out of Fairey Battles to be reassigned to other aircraft (lnd2 in London returned to reserve pool);
- As you would have seen from last turn's production, the only Axis reinforcements were Japan's MIL and o-chit.

Lending
Allied: The CW continues to lend France 1 resource (from Cyprus, unless and until it gets conquered) and 2 build points.
Axis: Germany lends Italy 2 resources.

Initiative
Initiative rolls are Axis 3 + 2 = 5 and Allied 8. Axis uses a re-roll. New rolls are Axis 1 + 1 = 2 and Allied 9. Allies win initiative.

At this point, I was seriously considering letting the Axis go first. If I go first and end the turn, after all, the initiative shifts back to Axis +2. Also, the situation in China was such that I felt comfortable if Japan went first. However, I decided that Rotterdam really needed a second land unit: with a 60% chance planes would fly in the North Temperate, a single 4-strength unit just wasn't going to slow the Germans down long enough. If I wanted to waste precious German time, I needed to go first.



[image]local://upfiles/16912/75A6B35FE5AE42128759A3A4A985B632.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 1:55:25 PM)

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #1

Weather
The weather roll is 9, with a +2 modifier from the end of last turn, for a net result of 11.

That's horrible weather all round: Blizzard/Blizzard/Blizzard/Rain/Storm/Rain

Just the weather the Allies are looking for, except for fighting at sea, where they want their planes to fly.

Impulses
China land, everyone else combined.

US Build-Up
The US sails convoy points from Honolulu to 0 box China Sea, The Marshalls, and Christmas Island sea areas. The latter two convoy points are providing redundant supply to Hawaii, while the first will return to base to Manila for the purpose of lending resources to China.

Convoy Defences
- The Dutch cruiser Sumatra sails from Rotterdam to the Bay of Biscay 0 box;
- French cruisers Lamont-Picquette and Suffren sail from Marseilles to Cape St Vincent 0 box.

Western Front
- CW troopships sail from Plymouth to North Sea 1 box and embark the London MIL, which disembarks into Rotterdam;
- RAF Hurricanes fly from Dover to Rotterdam;
- Marseilles MIL rails to hex with HQ Georges;
- French ftr2s rebase to Franco-Belgian frontier and the lnd3 rebases to Paris.

Mediterranean Theatre
- CW reinforces the front line in Egypt;
- French XLII Corps advances into Egypt;
- Hurricane squadron (ftr2) in Gibraltar rebases to Algeria;
- CVPs in Gibraltar consolidate on HMS Courageous, leaving HMS Furious empty.

USSR Activity
- Newly-formed armies in Odessa leave the city to new positions along the frontier with Rumania;
- The 3rd infantry division leaves Odessa and takes up position near Dnepopetrovsk, while at gun formations replace it in Odessa.

War in China
- The 8th Route Army advances into the mountains between Sian and Tungkwan;
- KMT formations around Kweilin shift positions to reinforce the second-line militia holding position south of the Hsi river;
- I forgot to capture a screenshot of Chinese moves.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/8CC7A606367B4443BE53003E81A485E8.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 2:54:02 PM)

January/February 1940

Axis Impulse #4

Despite the bad weather, the Axis were busy.

Impulses
Germany & Italy naval, Japan combined

War in China
Japan sails troopships to China sea; MIL are either loaded upon departure or embark. It disembarks the MIL into Shanghai and Canton, and makes other adjustments (1 land unit moved, 1 rebase).

Redeployments in Europe
- Germany sails 2 cps to Baltic Sea; they now have five present. (I do wonder what that's about.)
- The Luftwaffe rebases Stukas to Amsterdam and air transports close to Germany's western frontier.

Battle of the Hook
Based on an OKW assessment that supply lines for the British second-line forces defending the southwestern Netherlands are tenuous, KM forces are dispatched from ports in East Prussia on 3 January with orders to bypass the Royal Navy blockade and cut the supply lines. (Germany sails Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein to North Sea 1 box, and Scharnhorst, Admiral Hipper, and Blücher to North Sea 3 box.)

After crossing through the Kiel Canal, the German ships manage to evade detection as they snake down the German and Dutch coasts. The slow, old battleships stay out at sea to watch for Royal Navy reinforcements while the faster, newer vessels move in to strike. By 7 January, they reach the approaches to Rotterdam, and are able to ambush troopships on station there. (Search rolls are Ge 2, CW 7; Ge 3 box finds with 7 surprise; Ge inflicts X as damage and spends 3 surprise to pick the organised TRS as a target.) Caught unawares, the troopships take significant damage and losses, though not enough for the flotilla to be written off (damage saving throw is 8, so the TRS is damaged).

Fortunately for the British, the troopships were not unescorted. Unfortunately, the escorting forces weren't expecting trouble, and so aren't able to bring their full might to bear. (Germany spends remaining surprise to reduce its own damage from X/D/3A to X/A.)

All the same, as Blücher and Admiral Hipper dash back out to the open seas, they are caught by battleship broadsides. Admiral Hipper takes minor damage and light casualties (1/2 abort result). Blücher takes the brunt of it, and begins listing and taking on water after a series of explosions rock her lower hull. Such crew as survived the attack mostly evacuate, and she sinks beneath the waves at 5:39 AM on 8 January. (Blücher took the X result with a saving throw of 6.)

With poor visibility, the Royal Navy quickly loses contact with Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper, and they slip away into the North Sea. (Search rolls the next round are Ge 4, CW 3, ending the combat.)

(The battle name reference is to the municipality of the Hook of Holland, which sits right where ships leaving Rotterdam would pass out into the North Sea.)

Battle of the Atlantic
Italian submarines based in Malta sail to Cape St Vincent and the North Atlantic; the latter subs are joined by German U-boats.

Rolling seas and poor visibility in the open ocean make finding British merchant shipping impossible. (The subs in the N Atlantic are in the 1 box, and can't find in Blizzard.)

Weather conditions are just good enough for the Italians west of Gibraltar to make the attempt, although they search in vain. (Italy initiates in Bay of Biscay, where they can find, but search rolls are It 3, CW 4.)

Battle of the Mediterranean
With unseasonably cold and stormy weather, the Regia Marina focuses on defending its supply lines to Malta and Egypt instead of attempting to fight the Royal Navy. A strong force sails to patrol the waters of the central Med (2 BBs, 2 CAs to Italian Coast 4 box, while a cruiser drops to the 0 box), and lighter pickets sail to patrol the shipping lines to Tobruk (2 CAs to Eastern Med 4 box, and 1 CA to 0 box with the cp).



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 3:18:02 PM)

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #7

Weather
The weather roll is 10, for a net result of 12: Blizzard/Blizzard/Blizzard/Rain/Storm/Storm. It's pretty frightful to be out at sea.

Topical songs: "The weather outside is frightul, and the ship furnace is hardly delightful." "Sailors, it's cold outside."

Impulses
With bad weather and not a lot to do, most of the Allies pass. Only the CW takes a naval impulse.

Transports at Sea & Redeployments
- The Queens liners sail from Suez to embark the South African MIL out of Cape Town, sitting in Mozambique Channel 0 box.
- Dutch troopships in Batavia sail to the E Indian Ocean 0 box, where they can return to either Australia or India as required or desired.
- Aircraft carrier HMS Furious sails out of Gibraltar into the Atlantic (Cape St Vincent). Since the Italians elect not to attempt to intercept, she makes it to Liverpool without incident.

Battle of the Atlantic
The Royal Navy adjusts its convoy defences across the Atlantic:
- HMS Berwick and HMS Terror sail from Halifax to 0 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Cumberland drops to 1 box E Coast;
- HMS Edinburgh drops to 1 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Valiant (BB) sails from Liverpool to 0 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Norfolk sails from Liverpool to 4 box North Atlantic;
- HMS Erebus, HMS Exeter and HMS Resolution (BB) sail from Liverpool to 0 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Glasgow sails from Liverpool to 4 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Sheffield drops to 1 box Cape St Vincent;
- HMS Newcastle drops to 1 box Bay of Biscay;
- HMS Southampton sails from Liverpool to 4 box Bay of Biscay.

Axis naval intelligence picks up on the activity (the Germans having done a good job of breaking RN codes at this point) and the subs at sea redouble their search for convoys - but to no avail. (The subs in the N Atlantic still can't find, so don't initiate, while the subs in Cape St Vincent initiate but search rolls are It 9, CW 10.

War in the Mediterranean
HMS Eagle (CVL) & HMS Malaya (BB) sail from Suez, joining HMS Revenge (BB) and cruisers Cornwall, Birmingham, and Kent out of Port Said, in 3 box E Med. This task force has orders to find and sink either RM warships or merchant shipping - the Admiralty's not picky. However, the weather confounds their efforts. (Search rolls are CW 6, It 10.)

The RAF fighter squadron in Algeria redeploys to airfields around Tunis.

Edit: I quite forgot to mention the end of turn roll! With all Allies but one passing, the turn ends on a roll of 2 or less. The roll is 8, so the turn continues.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/BDD9E175331B4478971D835E25D3E975.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 4:26:37 PM)

January/February 1940

Axis Impulse #11

The Imperial Japanese Army is on the march. Hopefully they get frostbite in the privvies.

Impulses: Germany combined, Italy & Japan land.

End of Turn: Roll was a 7, with a 6 or less required to end the turn, so the turn continues.

North Sea
The Kriegsmarine still has orders to find and sink Allied troopships running supplies across the Channel to the Netherlands, so the Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper patrol the waters just out of sight of the cliffs of Dover. However, the Royal Navy suspects trouble and has ships on patrol. The KM forces catch sight of hulls but identify them as battleships that they don't want to engage with at this time, and so slip away towards the open seas to evade detection. (Search rolls are Axis 4, CW 1, nobody finds.)

Egypt & East Africa
- Italian land and air forces in Egypt pull slightly back, though not entirely leaving the country.
- The Italian supply unit in Eritrea moves inland towards Khartoum.
- I'm told there are adjustments to Italian positions in Italy proper, though I haven't yet seen what they were.

War in China
- Japan rails MIL in ports inland, and the IJA pushes forward in all sectors despite the weather.
- No offensives or assaults are launched, however, and IJA/IJN air formations redeploy to more favourable bases. (The latter with reluctance, I'm sure.)

Western Front
Germany undertakes minor adjustments to its land and air positions along the frontiers with Belgium and France.


[image]local://upfiles/16912/C8D11F2E2C6C46E08370F1EF664F94B9.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 5:15:55 PM)

January/February 1940

Allied Impulse #15

Boy, the turn's gone by fast.

Weather: There's a lull in the weather in February, with a roll of 3 becoming 6 (Snow/Snow/Rain/Fine/Storm/Fine).

Impulses: With an 80% chance of ending the turn, I decide everyone will act, save for the US. Actions are US pass, China land, everyone else combined.

End of Turn: The end-of-turn roll was 9, so the turn continues.

Raids on Kiel
Allied intelligence reports that the port of Kiel no longer has nearby air cover. (No planes in range to intercept, and Ge declines to CAP.)

With great enthusiasm, Churchill requests an all-out air raid against any German ships that might be in harbour. RAF Bomber Command demurs, wishing to reserve long-range land bombers to support operations in the Netherlands. So Churchill orders the Gladiators aboard HMS Ark Royal be outfitted with torpedoes. The carrier and escorting ships approach Kiel in the early hours of 19 February and launches planes.

The Gladiators discover there are only merchant ships in harbour. Poorly-designed for such work, they simply aren't up to the job of inflicting losses. Some merchantmen take damage, and a freighter or two are sunk, and harbour facilities are also damaged, but it amounts to little more than an inconvenience (1 cp aborted).

Redeployment on the Western Front
With the troopships put out of action in January, the RN is concerned that refueling and resupply efforts will temporarily halt the flow of supplies to the Netherlands. (I don't really want to have the fleet in the North Sea sitting in the 0 box at the end of the turn.) As such, the RAF squadron based out of Rotterdam returns to bases around Dover.

Battle of the Atlantic
Light carrier HMS Hermes, outfitted with Baffin planes, sails to the North Atlantic to hunt for submarines and protect merchant shipping there. (0 box North Atlantic.)

The Axis subs at sea search for the merchantmen, but the weather is still too foul and the seas too vast. (Axis initiates combat, search rolls are Axis 3, CW 8.)

Battle of the Mediterranean
The French send cruiser Primaguet from Marseilles to patrol the Western Med, undertaking spotting duties on behalf of their British allies. (4 box W Med.)

As for the Royal Navy:
- The Australian cruiser HMAS Australia and her destroyer escort, laden with the men and matériel of the British 2nd Infantry Division, sail across the Mediterranean, hoping to reach the Suez Canal. (My goal was to go to the Red Sea and disembark there.) However, she is spotted by Italian reconnaissance planes as she crosses the narrower passage between Malta and Tunisia, and briefly makes contact with ships believed to be RM warships. Her CO decides to link up with Royal Navy forces on patrol near Alexandria. (Italians intercept with a roll of 3, so the cruiser stays in the E Med.)
- For its part, the Royal Navy continues its own hunt for the RM and Italian merchantmen, but to no avail despite the better weather. (CW initiates combat in E Med, with search rolls of CW 4, Axis 5.)
- Unbeknownst to the British, in response to the sighting of Australia, the Axis scramble large numbers of planes in the hopes of catching and sinking her and/or RN ships at sea. (Italy sends 2 ftr2 and a nav2, and Germany a ftr2, to sea in various boxes as part of the combat.)

In the end, Australia and her escorts are able to disembark the 2nd Infantry Division and return to sea to patrol the waters of the Eastern Med.

Defence of Egypt
- Egypt's monarchy and the British work out an arrangement whereby the former's militia are stationed in Port Said to defend the harbour there (Egyptian TERR moves to Port Said).
- The French XLII Corps moves to the western banks of the Suez canal, positioned to guard both Suez and Damietta.
- RAF fighter squadrons in Tunis, bound for Egypt, redeploy to the Tunisian frontier with Libya along the coast. (They're now in range for a naval air mission to the Eastern Med 0 box.)

War in China
- Believing his position in the plains around Tungkwan to be exposed (i.e. no doubled defence factors), Mao retires CCCP forces there to the highlands between that city and Sian.
- For his part, Chiang and his central formations (including the Chungking WLD), reposition to the highlands somewhat southwest of Chihkiang, while KMT formations far to the south retire in good order across the Hsi river.

Other Stuff
- Sydney MIL rails to Adelaide.
- The Red Army 3rd Infantry Division marches from the Dnepr river bend not far from Dnepopetrovsk into Sevastopol.


[image]local://upfiles/16912/FEBA5DF6FFEA4F0D8089A1680D7DF3E3.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 5:17:24 PM)

So the next Axis impulse was played just last night, meaning I'm almost caught up to the current state of the game. (Yay!) Only thing not done is the Axis end-of-turn roll.



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 5:49:02 PM)

January/February 1940

Axis Impulse #17

All caught up! More updates hopefully this evening, and then hopefully I'll be able to stay current.

Impulses: Germany & Japan land, Italy combined

End of Turn: Hasn't been rolled yet.

I've included the situation in the central Med (Italian Coast & Malta) in the screen captures, since I don't think I've shown them visually in quite some time.

Battle of the Atlantic
Italy initiates combat in the North Atlantic. The Axis subs combine in a "wolfpack" while searching for merchant ships.

Unfortunately, they are caught out on the surface by patrolling cruiser HMS Norfolk. (Search rolls Axis 6, CW 3; CW finds with 6 surprise; surface combat CW takes no damage and Axis takes 1D 3A.) In the ensuing engagement, the German U-boats take moderate losses and/or damage (German SUB damaged), before returning to Kiel, and the Italian subs are forced to flee, returning to port in Malta.

War in Europe
With the weather clear enough for combat operations, the Luftwaffe tries to bomb British positions around Rotterdam, to no great effect - despite the lack of RAF opposition. (German groundstrike with no CW CAP, groundstrikes miss.)

Otherwise, there's not a lot of action other than German redeployments in preparation for the better weather and a likely spring offensive into Belgium and France.

War in China
Japanese bombers launch strikes on KMT and CCCP formations known to contain command-and-control elements. (Both hexes with HQs struck.) Given the weather conditions, they mostly fail, but not entirely. (CCCP GARR disorganised.)

(This was pretty clever: either I would have to choose to leave an HQ disorganised if by good fortune both had been hit, or I would have to choose to use up all the Chinese oil to reorganise both of them.)

The IJA then continues to press forward, looking to envelop KMT and CCCP positions.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/D80892EE71DA4E118F55C463ADFE7B68.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/10/2020 10:31:20 PM)

January/February 1940

End of Turn

So, the end of turn roll was a '3', ending the turn.

We're actually doing end-of-turn stuff as of this writing, so not much to report this post. But I did want to share the US entry markers.

First thing to note, Japan occupied Tungkwan during the turn and caused a marker draw (USE roll of 1). This pulled a '1' marker into the pool.

For US entry, I placed my free marker into the Japan pool and drew a '4', which is great! It helped me to pass one of the must-pass early options, Resources to China. (No tension generated, by the way.)

However, it does throw a bit of a wrench in any potential Soviet intervention. I can't say I'm keen risking such a nice marker. Such are the hard choices one must make. We'll see how China fares over the next turn or two, I suppose.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/62B46538789C46A288B5A7B7840714DB.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/11/2020 4:49:44 PM)

JF40 End of Turn

Here are the returns-to-base and units still at sea. I've got screen captures of Europe & the Med. (No changes in China on account of RTB relative to the last screen captures.)

Axis at Sea & RTB
Germany - North Sea: The Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper sail to Danzig, while the Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein stay at sea (drop to 0 box).

Ge & It - Med: The big fleet in the Italian Coast stays at sea (drop to 3 box); cruisers in the 4 box E Med stay at sea (drop to 3 box); cruisers in the 0 box Italian Coast & E Med return to Malta; an Italian ftr2 in 1 box E Med stays at sea (drop to 0 box); the rest of the planes in the E Med return to bases in Malta and Sicily (in the case of the German fighters).

Subs: Italian subs are the only ones at sea; they all return to Malta.

Japan: Japan only has an AMPH and a TRS in the 0 box China Sea; they return to Fukuoka.


Allied at Sea & RTB
US: Convoy point in China Sea returns to port in Manila.

France:
- French cruisers Duguay Trouin, Tourville, and Primaguet remain at sea, dropping to the E Med 1 box, Italian Coast 2 box, and W Med 3 box, respectively.
- French cruisers Foch and Algérie return to base from Cape Verde Basin and Gulf of Guinea, respectively, to harbour in Pointe Noire, Middle Congo.
- French cruiser Suffren returns from 0 box Cape St Vincent to Bingerville in Ivory Coast.
- French cruiser Lamont-Picquette returns from 0 box Cape St Vincent to Marseilles.

Commonwealth Convoy Defences
- Polish destroyer flotilla stays at sea, dropping to 2 box Faeroes Gap.
- HMS Southampton stays at sea, dropping to 3 box Bay of Biscay.
- HMS Edinburgh and Norfolk stay at sea, dropping to 0 and 3 boxes, respectively, of North Atlantic.
- HMS Sheffield and Glasgow stay at sea, dropping to 0 and 3 boxes, respectively, of Cape St Vincent.
- HMS Hawkins and Cumberland return from 0 and 1 box East Coast to Halifax.
- HMS Hermes, Valiant, Berwick, and Terror return from 0 box North Atlantic to Halifax.
- Dutch cruisers Java and Sumatra return to Liverpool from Bay of Biscay 0 box.
- HMS Resolution, Exeter, and Erebus return from 0 box Cape St Vincent to Liverpool.

Commonwealth Remote Transports
- Dutch TRS returns from 0 box E Indian Ocean to Adelaide (where the Sydney MIL is).
- The Queens return from 0 box Mozambique Channel to Mombasa, Kenya.

Commonwealth Med Forces
- HMS Eagle, Revenge, Malaya, Cornwall, Kent, Birmingham, and HMAS Australia return from 3 box E Med to Port Said.

(With the French providing risk-free presence, I don't have any reason to leave CW ships out at sea in the Med.)

Commonwealth North Sea
- HMS Effingham and York stay at sea, dropping to 0 box North Sea.
- HMS Ark Royal, Nelson, Rodney, Royal Sovereign, and Royal Oak, along with the CW TRS, return from 1 box North Sea to Plymouth.

This is a bit of a gamble - I'm leaving the forces in Rotterdam out of supply. But I really, really don't want to have the fleet and TRS sitting all in the 0 box. Also, this gives the Axis a strong incentive to make an effort to go first next turn, possibly including re-rolling the initiative roll if they fail - all in all, it's a way to try to shift the initiative die roll modifier my way for this summer and (most importantly) next summer.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/8D39A81F1DAE4ED4A957EC99D0124A0F.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/11/2020 5:20:48 PM)

JF40 End of Turn

Oil Use
Axis:
Ge - Spends 1 oil.
It - Spends 0.4 oil (so no oil), and leaves three cruisers in Malta disorganised. (Small win for me.)
Ja - Spends 0.4 oil (so no oil).

Allied:
CW - Spends 3 oil.
Fr - Spends 0.4 oil (so no oil).
USA - Spends 0.05 oil (so no oil).
Ch & USSR didn't have anything to reorg requiring oil.

Air Unit Lending:
China and the USSR aren't at a stage where they want to build air units, but the US and CW have lent then airplanes anyway.

Production
I've attached a screen capture from my production tracking spreadsheet as well as the reinforcement pools for the next 6 turns.

As you can see from the reinforcements, Germany has a whole lot of divisions coming on board all at once in May/June. This suggests three possibilities:
- An invasion of Norway, reinforced by the fact that Germany has 5 cp in the Baltic, when it normally needs no more than 4;
- An invasion of Greece;
- A "budget" invasion of the UK.

Both the Norwegian and UK invasion possibilities are made stronger by the UK's land unit commitments to Egypt & the Netherlands, and also the difficulties caused by the damaged transports over the past two turns. On the other hand, they're weakened by the heavy losses the KM surface fleet has sustained (two cruisers sunk and one damaged since the start of the war). What's more, Germany elected to upgrade Gneisenau, so she's in the construction pool (and Ronnie didn't spend the bps to fit her out).

It's no cause for complacency, however. If I empty the UK on the assumption Germany won't invade, that will only make them more likely to do so. I have Dover and Harwich covered, and a MECH in the central part of the country. It'd be good to get the Canadians to Plymouth, and maybe even the Sierra Leona TERR to the UK to cover other hexes, as well.

Taking Stock
A pretty good turn overall for the Allies, with no convoy losses or losses in China, and the German offensive in the West stalled by weather and Rotterdam.

The weather and initiative next turn are going to be crucial to determining the fate of the British defenders of Rotterdam. They'll also determine whether China can continue expanding their forces or have to make good on losses. (If I don't take any losses this turn, I intend on building a pilot to start getting my shiny new American planes on the map.)

I've already discussed the potentially changing situation vis-à-vis a USSR intervention in Manchuria, but it's good to reiterate it here: given the US entry against Japan, I'm contemplating foregoing an attack on Japan. I'll monitor over the next two turns.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/FED7D4653E004C3DB408D842B510899F.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/11/2020 8:11:47 PM)

March/April 1940

Sneak preview for the start of the turn: war in Europe continues to expand as Germany tries to swallow up yet another small neutral country!

Start of Turn

Axis Reinforcements
No pictures. Lots of naval stuff, not a lot of land or air. CW and France had better watch out.

Japan: D3A1 (Val) to Sasebo. Pretty sure that's a nav2? Manchurian TERR to Tsitsihar.

Italy: Vittorio Veneto, Zara (CA), and 1 SUB to La Spezia.

Germany: 2 SUB in Kiel, and PARA in Frankfurt.


Allied Reinforcements
I have pictures for this.

China & USSR: As shown in pictures. Not shown is the USSR 4th Army (3-3 INF) placed in Minsk.

United States: USS Wasp and LV Corps (4-1 GARR) arrive in San Diego, while 1 cp arrives in Norfolk.

France: Not shown in picture is 1 cp in Douala, Cameroon.

Commonwealth: Not shown in picture is the Burmese Auxiliaries (Rangoon MIL) forming up in Rangoon.


Lending
In addition to the default trade agreements:
- Germany lends Italy 2 resources.
- CW lends France 1 resource, 2 build points.
- CW lends China 1 oil while US lends China 1 resource.


Initiative

Axis roll 9 +1 = 10, Allies roll 10.

Axis wins ties because Allies won initiative last turn, so Axis wins, and goes first. I believe we all know the sound effect that goes with that.

[image]local://upfiles/16912/010B1D1A911B41C5A630F53E9F83DCB0.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/12/2020 1:21:00 AM)

March/April 1940

Summary of impulse: Ronnie's dice want to play the Commonwealth!

Axis Impulse #1

Pretty exciting stuff this impulse.

Battle of the Mediterranean
Well, not so exciting here. The Italians' shiny new battleship, Vittorio Veneto, sails with the recently repaired Zara (and, yes, implicit destroyer escorts [;)]) to patrol the waters of the eastern Mediterranean (3 box Eastern Med), while Bolzano and Trento drop to the 0 box.

In the central Med (Italian Coast sea area), Italian battleships and cruisers still on patrol stay at sea. (The BBs stay in the 3 box, while the CAs drop to the 0 box.)

Battle of the Atlantic
3 flotillas of Italian submarines sortie from Malta and La Spezia, bound for destinations in the Atlantic, in an effort to find and sink British merchantmen. Instead, they are all sent packing home - one flotilla with losses and damage. (One sub damaged, all three aborted over the course of two combats - one in the North Atlantic and one in Cape St Vincent, where the CW found and they didn't.)

War in China
While pulling slightly back from the CCCP formations in and around Sian, Japanese forces press onward in the south, intent on encircling KMT forces in and around Chihkiang (especially HQ Chiang). Bombers disorgaise the at gun in the hex.

War in Europe
With complete control of Dutch territory eluding them, the Germans look both to getting around the river lines the British defenders of Rotterdam are counting on and to pressing on against the French by invading Belgium. By chance, the onslaught coincides an upsurge in isolationist sentiment in the United States (the US entry roll was '10', so no marker drawn for the DoW).

The Belgian set-up was 2 units in Antwerp, the cavalry in Liege, and the fighter in the clear west of Antwerp.

The Luftwaffe takes off to pin down the British defenders of Rotterdam and the Belgian defenders of Antwerp (ground strikes). Due to confusion over whether they could enter Belgian airspace or not (i.e. the effects of surprise), the RAF does not intervene in Antwerp, while Belgian planes react far too sluggishly. However, the bombers flying to Rotterdam, along with their fighter escorts, unexpectedly encounter RAF fighters that had been assigned to patrol the skies of southwest Holland. The RAF inflicts heavy losses on the Messerschmitts and scatters the bombers enough that their raid is unsuccessful against the dug-in defenders. (CW rolled a 20 on the first round of combat, shooting down the escorting FTR, and while aborted by a roll of 14, the German ground strike rolls were 6,8 for the Stuka and, rubbing salt in the wound, 5,5 for the FTR flying as a bomber.)

The raid over Antwerp, against unprepared Belgians, bears far tastier fruit (both corps disorganised).

The Luftwaffe wasn't done, though: air transports loaded the II Fliegerkorps for a paradrop over Brussels. (Since the land combat with notional unit would have been an automatic victory, the CW denies the notional and the paratroopers end up the sole occupants of the hex.)

[image]local://upfiles/16912/604120395317497896A0851E3887F29E.jpg[/image]



Orm -> RE: rkr1958 vs Composer99 - Allied Thread (1/16/2020 8:13:52 PM)

What odds (before air support) will a French attack on Brussels have?



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