Losing England AAR: the (failed) Comeback (game over)

[rkr1958]

October 5, 1940

I called it, didn't I? The weather in Central Europe this turn was mud. I guess it's a good thing I went with Option 2! My corps transport can't land as a result, but Crazyg has apparently decided to leave it alone. Hopefully I'll be able to get it ashore before spring, though nothing with the weather would surprise me at this point.

You do have a 75% chance of fair weather next turn (10/25).

[joerock22]

November 14, 1940

Not much going on. The corps landed last turn, though the weather delay cost me 2 sub steps thanks to the German BB. The RAF has gotten good ASW results the past 2 turns (7 steps total), and about 40 convoy PPs have slipped through. The northern convoy is lost for now, but I may be able to at least make it costly for him to attack the central one. Denmark and Greece have surrendered. The Germans are at Leeds, so my opponent still has a long way to go in conquering the whole of England. The Axis have made no move toward Egypt, and I don't think they will. Nearly the entire Royal Navy is now in the Med: 1 CV, 4 BBs, 2 DDs, 1 sub.

The British now have 2 labs each in Air (Dog Fight), Naval (ASW), and General (Industry). I'm now saving up to purchase a third in Air and Naval when 1941 rolls around.

[joerock22]

February 2, 1941

Still quiet. Leeds and Newcastle have fallen since my last update, but Scotland and Northern Ireland are still free. My Strat continues to get good results against German subs (5 steps in the last 2 turns). That's the only combat going on right now. Crazyg has shifted his focus to building up for Barbarossa, I'm sure.

The British now have 8 labs (3 Air, 3 Naval, 2 General). They won't have the resources to build many new untis until England is reconquered, so I need to focus on improving the units that I have. Getting good ASW tech especially means I won't have to build as many new DDs to escort my invastion force across the Atlantic. My next purchase will be another Strat, though it will take several turns for my economy to build up enough PPs.

The Russians purchase 4 tanks, Zhukov, Konev, and spend the rest on corps. I will build only corps from here on out. A couple units will be placed by Sevastopol to prevent a surprise landing there, but most will be placed the turn after the Germans declare war to avoid the effectiveness penalty. Because of very high German casualties thus far (450,000+ infantry, 800+ tanks, 1,100+ air, 150+ naval), I'm assuming Crazyg's Barbarossa will be weak and/or late. That's why I build those 4 tanks, for counterattack ability. I don't expect my need for infantry corps to be as dire as it would be for a stronger Barbarossa.

[joerock22]

Axis and Allied sides are starting to make progess in negotiations. Here is a sequence of communications between German and British diplomats.

British:

The RAF continues to be successful in the anti-sub role.

German:

Damn convoy spawns too close to Canada.

British:

You could always let it go.

German:

Ok, I let one through. You owe me one.

British:

Ok, the next time the Germans get a convoy, I'll let it through.

I think we're moving toward lasting peace.

[joerock22]

April 3, 1941

Nothing going on. Next turn I will build another Strat to aid in the fight against the u-boats. When Canada enters the war, the RAF will be able to cover the northern convoy all along its route to Halifax. In the meantime, all I can do is patrol a small area off the east coast of the U.S.

I will take advantage of this quiet time to tell you a little more about my Allied strategy. I think the key to being successful with the Western Allies is to specialize. Have the British only do certain things and the Americans only do certain other things. For example:

British
- Fighters
- DDs
- Strats (anti-sub)
- Corps

USA
- Tacs
- Armour
- Strats (anti-production)
- Mechs

If you focus your research from the very beginning on achieving these ends, you will get higher tech faster because each side can max out labs in a couple areas and leave other areas all or partially vacant. I can tell you right now that I won’t be building any American fighters, British tanks, or British Tacs (maybe in 1944 when air tech has basically evened and the British are rolling in convoy income). This game is a little different because I need both sides to be good at anti-sub. I will need the combined navy to be strong against the u-boats for my Atlantic operations in 1942. The Americans are actually ahead in ASW tech right now, and I will build more DDs on both sides.

[joerock22]

May 13, 1941

Well, surprise, surprise. The Germans have invaded the Soviet Union. I was not expecting Barbarossa for another couple months. Here is a rough composition of the German forces I can see:

- 5 Tacs
- 3 fighters
- 4 tanks
- 8 mechs
- All Axis minor and some Italian forces

This force looks formidable, but it is backed up by few German corps. So he has strong units, but relatively few of them. This could give me a counterattack opportunity if he gets careless. The presence of the Luftwaffe in Poland, plus his amphibious capture of Tallinn, tell me he’s going to focus his efforts in the north. So that is where I will focus my defense. Zhukov takes command in the north, Konev in the south. The Dnepr will be manned and I will try to hold there as long as possible. I am willing to sacrifice some infantry units to prevent deep German penetration in 1941. My tanks will remain behind the lines ready to pick off enemy units that move too close. But defending at the Dnepr is all about timing; you have to know when to retreat, something which I haven’t always been good at in the past.

I railed many garrisons to the front lines this turn. They will serve as roadblocks and should delay the Germans by a turn or two. Hopefully I can prevent him from capturing a few key cities next turn. In the south, Crazyg got a little careless with a mech, and one of my garrisons was able to cut it off from supply.

The one thing I cannot do is allow him to advance unchallenged into the heart of Russia, especially when his army is so small. His shock arm is strong indeed, but until he gets more support units to back it up, it will be vulnerable. Here are the screenshots taken at the end of my turn.






The RAF gets some good shots in on the subs attacking the northern convoy. We will make them pay dearly for their interference!

[massina_nz]

Just my 2c worth, unless crazyg exposes his valuable unit to counter-attack, then defending at the Dneiper against a May Barbarossa, IMHO is a recipe for disaster for the soviets in 1942. Ask UffzExner this, he did this is one of our games, I managed to inflict >5M Russian casualties before the start of the '42 summer offensive, and I lost only one unit and <1M german casualties. 1942 was a doddle for the Germans (and me) after that.

I would of defended further east, it has three advantages:
1) The Axis burns more oil reaching the Soviets
2) The Axis has less FAIR weather turns to attack you
3) There's more chance crazyg will expose his valuable units as he rushes to contact you.

[gerones]

Just my 2c worth, unless crazyg exposes his valuable unit to counter-attack, then defending at the Dneiper against a May Barbarossa, IMHO is a recipe for disaster for the soviets in 1942. Ask UffzExner this, he did this is one of our games, I managed to inflict >5M Russian casualties before the start of the '42 summer offensive, and I lost only one unit and <1M german casualties. 1942 was a doddle for the Germans (and me) after that.

I would of defended further east, it has three advantages:
1) The Axis burns more oil reaching the Soviets
2) The Axis has less FAIR weather turns to attack you
3) There's more chance crazyg will expose his valuable units as he rushes to contact you.

I agree. Joerock is right about the lack of german infantry corps but this is partially compensated by italian and axis minor troops. Anyway it is a strong Barbarossa no matter a Sea lion operation has been launched in this game.

[massina_nz]

<snip>

I agree. Joerock is right about the lack of german infantry corps but this is partially compensated by italian and axis minor troops. Anyway it is a strong Barbarossa no matter a Sea lion operation has been launched in this game.

Yes I was surprised how large the Barbarossa was. I suspect it's a consequence of not defending the UK to the death, which saved UK troops for later, but allowed the Germans to build up for Barbarossa better. BTW, I think I agree with the stratgey to pull of of the UK ASAP, I think it will work long-term. But as always the war is normally won/lost in Russia.

Crazyg is an agressive player, allowing him to attack you as much as possible I think plays into his hands.

[ncali]

I suspect, given the relative strength of the attack despite the attack on England - that CrazyG has let research in a couple categories slide. This may be good for you in the long run.

[joerock22]

Interesting comments, fellas. I think I should clarify something. By "defend at the Dnepr," I didn't necessarily mean try to hold the river line against a strong German attack. More likely, I will establish a line there, forcing Crazyg to either attack with his advance forces or wait a turn to engage. Then perhaps I would retreat before the main German assault came. So it would be more of a delaying action that an actual defensive stand.

But I'm going to play it by ear. If I think holding will be better than retreating, then I will do so. Keeping in mind, of course, that I've been burned a couple times in the past holding at the Dnepr for too long. Definitely don't want a repeat of that, even though I came back to win both games.

[massina_nz]

Interesting comments, fellas. I think I should clarify something. By "defend at the Dnepr," I didn't necessarily mean try to hold the river line against a strong German attack. More likely, I will establish a line there, forcing Crazyg to either attack with his advance forces or wait a turn to engage. Then perhaps I would retreat before the main German assault came. So it would be more of a delaying action that an actual defensive stand.

But I'm going to play it by ear. If I think holding will be better than retreating, then I will do so. Keeping in mind, of course, that I've been burned a couple times in the past holding at the Dnepr for too long. Definitely don't want a repeat of that, even though I came back to win both games.

That makes me feel better. Hopefully it will buy you some time. I'm sure I don't need to warn you how vulnerable your Soviet tanks are to German TACs. Ooops I have.

[joerock22]

June 2, 1941

My sacrificial garrisons prevented Crazyg from capturing Vinnitsa, but not Minsk or Riga. I saw a chance to attack an exposed German tank in the south and took it. Crazyg has mostly Axis minor units down there, and the main Russian army is in position to attack should his German units get overly aggressive. Forces in the north prepare a delaying action at the Dnepr.

[massina_nz]

Seems your opponent didn't learn from the lesson he taught me recently.

Nice job down south.

[joerock22]

Seems your opponent didn't learn from the lesson he taught me recently.

Nice job down south.

I told him in an email that I was "surprised" at his early invasion. Perhaps he took that to mean I was "unprepared." That was certainly not the case; I wasn't expecting it, but I made sure I was ready.

[joerock22]

June 22, 1941

I was so tempted to launch the planned counterattack, but in the end I cancelled it. Crazyg didn't advance close enough to my main army, and his ZoC would have prevented me from getting in enough attacks to make it worthwhile. That, and he would surely have burst through the holding force north of Gomel and threatened my flank. Instead, the Russians embark on a full-scale retreat. The only exception was the Soviet bomber finishing off the damaged German tank. Infantry forces moved to shield the air units from German attack, just in case Crazyg tried to send a tank after them. My fighter performed pretty well against the Luftwaffe, which only has Dog Fight Lv. 1. So do I, but I haven't upgraded my air units yet. I always focus on Air tech from the start with the Soviets; gaining air parity (and then numerical superiority) with the German fighters is crucial to a offensive later.

Since I know I'm going to lose Leningrad, the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet sails over to Sweden. That way he can't trap me in port with a transport as Leningrad is falling. At least now he has to actively come after me to sink my fleet, which might be useful later in the war. My guess is that he'll forget about it and leave it alone.

The British develop ASW Lv. 2 and some units start to upgrade. I'm afraid the central convoy will be out of escort range until the Americans enter the war, but the northern one is now completely protected. That's good, because I really need the extra resources. Hopefully I can get a few big convoys from the north.

[massina_nz]

Anything happening in the Med?

[joerock22]

Anything happening in the Med?

Nope; the Med is like the forgotten theatre. I haven't done anything there since conquering Syria, and Crazyg has been quiet since conquering Greece. I'm sticking with my plan to ship most British forces from Egypt to the Atlantic for the liberation of the British Isles, so there probably won't be much going on in the Med until 1943.

[joerock22]

July 12, 1941

The Soviets retreat further into the motherland. I lost a corps last turn and I will lose another, but the rest of my army should escape. The Red Army splits to form defensive positions around Moscow and Stalingrad. If I can save those two cities, I will consider this campaign a success. You can see the initial Moscow line already forming.

Crazyg's subs must have really taken a beating, because he let the 64-point central convoy go! Now the entire RAF is in position to provide air cover. That convoy would be huge for me as I try to repair damaged units and upgrade obsolete ones. And if he attacks, then I get to beat up some more subs. Win/win for me. I can't believe he let that convoy go...he had a perfect little area there where I couldn't touch him, as long as he kept it trapped in place. Not that I'm complaining!

[joerock22]

August 1, 1941

Not much happened in Russia. I continue to dig in and reinforce the Moscow area as Crazyg attacks the westernmost end of my line. Damaged units are repaired; I don't intend to give another inch of ground without a fight. By next turn, my units will have 2 entrenchment and will be immovable without significant air support. I will lose some infantry corps if Crazyg pushes it, but this is the only way I can save Moscow. I also moved some forces to block the Finns at Petrozavodsk.



But the real action this turn occurred off Canada, where the German Navy attempted to make up for its error in letting that convoy go. A BB and two subs (5-step, 6-step) attacked the convoy, and the RAF made sure they paid dearly. Both subs destroyed! I can't tell you how good that felt. Buying that extra Strat and investing in ASW tech paid off in a big way.

The USA developed ASW Lv. 2, and I placed an order for 5 new DDs, to be deployed soon after the Americans enter the war. I waited so I wouldn't have to spend resources upgrading them. Every PP counts in a game like this.