The tortoise and the hare (War is over)

[massina_nz]

I'd be wary about reinforcing Spain. A committed axis player can knock it over pretty easily and you dont buy much time dropping units about. Sending the Med GARs is useful as they are lost cost, low risk and will probably cause Max to burn oil if you can get them entrenched. Other than that, save your PPs for STR's so that you can put some pressure on Max that way - they are also useful for anti SUB operations if he goes that way.

The other question is whether Max will try something at the other end of the Med?

Yes I was also thinking if Max wants to send the Regia Marina into the Atlantic after takign Gibraltar, maybe a couple of extra UK subs might be useful in the medium term as it will be dangerous for the RN to intervene in the Atlantic against the combined might of the Axis fleets, but subs would be very annoying to his surface fleets. Yeah I knw thsoe extra subs are much use in the end game.

I definitely agree with you on the STRs, especially annoying when the Axis kick off Barbarossa

[schwerpunkt]

Just remembered - make sure that you drop a GAR off in Tangiers as it will force Max to have to invade Spanish North Africa rather than simply basing a plane there.

[massina_nz]

Just remembered - make sure that you drop a GAR off in Tangiers as it will force Max to have to invade Spanish North Africa rather than simply basing a plane there.

Aah thank you for that, forgot about it, that 'll be even more oil/PP expensive than Valencia, best to spread my GARs around so my opponent will have to move his TACs around to get rid of the GARs

[massina_nz]

The Germans make good progress in Spain. I spot 2 panzers (probably all of them), and 3 FTRs & 3 TACs, that probably means no more extra KG, so I guess the likelihood of Sealion is diminshed.



One of the Spanish DD stumbles into a u-boat outside La Coruna - both lose 4 steps – that’s a bonus for me. I guess the other u-boats are blockaing La Coruna as well.

A Taskforce leaves for Spain, with a couple of GARs – probabyl a bit crazy on my part, but at least the KG (if they intercept) will be out of air cover of the Luftwaffe. If the u-boats focus on Spain it means that convoys will slip through uncontested.

[massina_nz]

The wounded Spanish DD is destroyed by u-boats but does confirm my hunch that there are many u-boats screenng La Coruna. So I run two more DDs at La Coruna and combined with the STR based in Spain, I inflict serious damage to them as my transports slip by. One of the MED GAR's is ready to off load in Barcelona next turn - and two medium-sized conyoys are about to arrive in UK as well

And just to be annoying/useful a French partisan appears to the south of Bordeaux right amongst several German units, why so many German units for Spain? This seems overkill to me, maybe an early invasion of the US is on the cards? I'll have to keep a close watch on the Regia Marina and see where they head. I was going to send my Canadian INF that had reached Halifax this turn to the Med, but I may keep it there in the mean-time.

[massina_nz]

56pps of convoys arrive in Britain. The flow of supplies has hardly been hindered by the wolfpacks in this game.

Italy joins the war, hmm where will the Regina Marina go?



Well I find out what the intentions of the KG are, as my Spanish Taskforce is attacked, nothing completely destroyed but some serious damage.



My STR based in La Coruna knocks 4 steps off a u-boat rendering it impotent.

I retreat the RN, with the Spanish DD and the sub providing cover, I plan next turn on running the RN through the straits where the KG can’t follow, so I need to be careful in regards to what the Regina Marina do. So the DD in Malta races towards Gibraltar and a BB, sub & CV move to the southern side of Crete. I expect the RM to go West to join the KG.

I aslo drop off a GAR near la Coruna and one at Barcelona.

UK buys a naval lab – I only have 3 UK labs! So low for this point in the game.

[massina_nz]

Okay dumb move by me last turn, countered very effectively by the Regina Marina – there is no escape for the BB, so it attacks the transport, and so does the sub for 4 steps damage and the CV retreats to Cyprus. My opponent said he spotted the RN when moving a transport to Greece and saw my CV, but I don't see any movement tracks going to Greece. So maybe he's confused with another game. I guess he moved his sub out and fluked it next to the BB, and then saw his opportunity. I like the way he used the GAR transport to block my retreat.



Madrid should fall next turn. I have placed another GAR in Morocco and one will be placed in Cartagena next turn. I didn't leave it in the port because if Spain fell it would be lost, it may have to invade Cartagena next turn.

I can work out by the tracks were the BB should be, so I move the sub next to the expected postion of the BB, and I land right next to it. The sub attacks the BB and both do reciprocal 2 steps damage. Conscious of the 2 u-boats that should be around I move my DDs first – one bangs into u-boat, but other units managed to surround and destroy the DD. This is very aggressive, but I had to take the opportunity when the Luftwaffe is not around. I'm not really sure what my ploy my opponent is attempting sailing the KG so far south, but whilst I had the Spanish Navy and local superiority I had to use it.



It’ll be interesting what the KG does – if it continues the fight then it helps even more convoys slip thru uncontested – I’ve worked out in games as the Axis that being aggressive with the u-boats against surface fleets early on in the game, in a lot of ways helps the UK as the conyoys slip through and the u-boats need constant repair – it becomes very inefficient for the Axis.

UK buys an industry lab (no point building any units to UK manpower recovers), USSR a dogfight lab and US a naval lab – as I expect there to be action in the Atlantic

The STR returns to the UK to bomb the synthetic oil plants.

[massina_nz]

Well, well, well. Looks like the cat's out of the bag, and I can certainly tell by the massive increases in views of my opponent's AAR. If I was paranoid, I would say I've been singled out for special attention.

I won't know until the end of the game whether this was planned at the start, or after the early fall of Paris, or even working out that Port Said and Alexandria were vacant. Which BTW isn't all that bad.

So I'm currently running through some hot-seat games (as soon as I loaded my turn and saw the mass of transports in the Med, I just closed it again) to see what happens, then I'll contemplate my navel and do my next turn, which I suspect will be vital. I'm currently thinking that getting the Maltese fighter out of the Med before Gibraltar falls will be important, otherwise it will be useless, and the placement of my remaining CV and sub as well as the Cyprus GAR could be crucial. And in the medium term I guess I should look at moving my troops from the UK to Persia.

[schwerpunkt]

If an invasion of Egypt is on the cards and it is still inactive, then holding Cairo and getting your western force back there is going to be the key. You will probably want to avoid counterattacking unless absolutely necessary as you will need to be moving for the next few turns and you therefore will want to be minimising the amount of damage you take. Ultimately, it would be nice to get the units into Iraq but if you get cut off at Port Said then the longer your units survive around Cairo, the longer it will take for him to advance on Iraq, allowing you time to reinforce it.....

[massina_nz]

If an invasion of Egypt is on the cards and it is still inactive, then holding Cairo and getting your western force back there is going to be the key. You will probably want to avoid counterattacking unless absolutely necessary as you will need to be moving for the next few turns and you therefore will want to be minimising the amount of damage you take. Ultimately, it would be nice to get the units into Iraq but if you get cut off at Port Said then the longer your units survive around Cairo, the longer it will take for him to advance on Iraq, allowing you time to reinforce it.....

Yes I thinking not to worry about Aelxandria (which is empty!) as Max is bound to have put his sub in the hex to the west of it to stop me blocking it

[massina_nz]

I'd be wary about reinforcing Spain. A committed axis player can knock it over pretty easily and you dont buy much time dropping units about. Sending the Med GARs is useful as they are lost cost, low risk and will probably cause Max to burn oil if you can get them entrenched. Other than that, save your PPs for STR's so that you can put some pressure on Max that way - they are also useful for anti SUB operations if he goes that way.

The other question is whether Max will try something at the other end of the Med?

Well there you go I was warned wasn't I!



It's an ambitious, audicious and IMHO an utterly brilliant move. Upon reflection I realise there's nothing much I can do but retrieve what ever I can from the wreakage. It looks like I fell for this hook-line-and-sinker.

So the CV in Cyprus escapes to the Suez loop, and the Maltese FTR goes due westward.

The BBs in the Atlantic ship off to Halifax to escort the INF there at some stage, although I find out later in this turn that sending transports from the UK to Iraq will be relatively safe. That's when my two DDs sail to Gibraltar in preapration for escorting the Maltese FTR, they find two u-boats there and do significant damage to them, a gossamer thread of silver on a very dark cloud of a turn.

[ncali]

Congrats on the successful assassination of Mussolini!

[massina_nz]

Congrats on the successful assassination of Mussolini!

Thanks I hadn't posted my ploy on purpose.

I think that's one of the drawbacks of posting AARs is that readers get to see how you play. I know that my opponent has a tendancy not to garrison all his cities in other games, and I knew he's sent all his Italian INF units to Egypt, so it was a high likelihood that the INF originally based in Rome wasn't replaced. So rather than land a GAR in Cartegena I instead sent it to Rome around the north of Corsica, so that it's path couldn't be seen from lAxis controlled lshores. Helped that I new the Aeronautica and Regia Maria were all in the eastern Med as well.

Very much a low risk-high return ploy. Thankfully my opponent hadn't noticed that only 3 GARs had landed in Spain but 4 GARs had left ports.

[Lexmanbis]

Congrat's Massina, very well done indeed, i followed both your AAr's and was asking myslef how you were goin to stop his advance, if it was possible anyhow... and it was!!!

[massina_nz]

Congrat's Massina, very well done indeed, i followed both your AAr's and was asking myslef how you were goin to stop his advance, if it was possible anyhow... and it was!!!

Thanks, it wasn't a longshot, just an educated guess.

This game still remains in virgin territory, except the positions have turned upside-down.

[_Augustus_]

Greetings,

I'm enjoying reading both of yours AAR. It's so fitting how you titled your AAR. The title made me grin when you started the thread and makes me grin even more after the Romegate

I'm sure you both will pull out some good moves in turns to follow. May the Force be with you,

_augustus_

[rkr1958]

Congrats on the successful assassination of Mussolini!

Thanks I hadn't posted my ploy on purpose.

I think that's one of the drawbacks of posting AARs is that readers get to see how you play. I know that my opponent has a tendancy not to garrison all his cities in other games, and I knew he's sent all his Italian INF units to Egypt, so it was a high likelihood that the INF originally based in Rome wasn't replaced. So rather than land a GAR in Cartegena I instead sent it to Rome around the north of Corsica, so that it's path couldn't be seen from lAxis controlled lshores. Helped that I new the Aeronautica and Regia Maria were all in the eastern Med as well.

Very much a low risk-high return ploy. Thankfully my opponent hadn't noticed that only 3 GARs had landed in Spain but 4 GARs had left ports.

Wow. Does this mean that you captured Rome and forced Italy to surrender? Did I miss the post on this.

I just went to Max's AAR and I now see what all the fuss is about. Very well done!!!

[schwerpunkt]

Nice move Massina! It always amazes me how many players fail to garrison Italy properly. Having knocked Italy out a number of times using GARs, I'm quite paranoid when I'm playing the axis

[Suprass]

A bit of luck and well planned move. Very nice. They should put this in manual . Best sabotage I've ever seen.

[trulster]

Super counter to overly aggressive players!