Sealion 41! Barbarossa 42? - GS 2.00.11 - WAR IS OVER!

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:22 pm

Turn 39 - German Panzer Corps destroyed near Southampton! Sealion becomes a disaster! Tobruk about to fall!

The Axis nearly manage to capture Southhampton and reduce the GAR to two steps:

I attack the 5 step German ARM first with the GAR from Southampton with only 2 steps. The GAR is of course destroyed immediately. Then I attack with the MECH for the expected 2:2 result and get lucky with INF with a 3:1 result (expected 2:1, but I still had a GAR with 5 steps and a STR to finish the ARM off).

At the end of my turn half of the German invasion force is out of supply:

I also bought two INF and one MECH for the British. The British commander will be ready from R&R next turn. If the weather gets bad this Sealion will become a complete disaster. For the US I produced two FTR and a TAC.

In Libya Tobruk is about to fall:

I also destroy an Italian GAR and next turn Benghazi should fall.

Crazygunner1 · Post by **Crazygunner1** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:31 pm

Nice counterattack in brittain...good job leaving all of those germans out of supply. Like you say, will be hard to recover from this....

BuddyGrant · Post by **BuddyGrant** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:26 am

Hrm, by the looks of things this game was basically over by mid-1941. The axis have a serious hurt on coming with the USSR and you can bet their oil and manpower levels have already taken a pounding early in the game. If that is a remotely accurate estimate: Is this because of poor play on the axis side, good play on the allied side, or game-play balance?

Crazygunner1 · Post by **Crazygunner1** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:55 am

It´s probably not poor play but some choices that went bad....the fact is that the axis can´t afford putting that much effort in anything else than the operation of Barbarossa after the fall of France.

Crazyg

PyrrhicVictory · Post by **PyrrhicVictory** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:07 am

Just like in any good WWII simulator, or even board game, the room for errors and or bad luck is quite tight for the Axis. The Allies have plenty of room and are much more forgiving. The Allies have time on their side. For the Axis, time is an executioner's axe. Because of this, the Axis have to be very aggressive and take much bigger risks.

How much of what happened here comes from bad play, and how much was from bad luck? Only the players really know. Rereading the synopsis, it looks like it was some bad luck for the Axis as well as good Allied play to force a very risky move. This has been exasperated by more bad luck/good Allied play.

richardsd · Post by **richardsd** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:08 am

I don't think thats entirely true in GS2.0. Derspite what you might think the Russian's don't get that much of an advantage with 'self activation' when you consider that should mean the German's have 'unlimited' oil.

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:46 am

Turn 40 - Good British weather stops German offensive! Tobruk and Benghazi captured! Soviets mobilize!

The weather gods are in my favor:

The next two turns there is only a 25 % chance for fair weather. Therefore I have good chances that until spting 42 any offensive in Britain will be impossible fo rthe Germans.

The situation in Britain at the end of my turn:

In Libya Massina forgot to reinforce the Tobruk defenders, so the city is easily captured and I also attack Benghazi, which I also capture. There is even an Italian SUB in the port of Benghazi, which will be destroyed:

Last but not least the Soviet begin to mobilize:

Hopefully I will soon be able to build some more LABs with the Soviets!

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:52 am

Turn 41 - Muddy weather in Britain stays! 8th Army chase remnants of Italian Army

The weather stays muddy in Britain, so there is no Axis offensive, but I was able to place Auchinleck as he came back from R&R:

As you see I have now some kind of defensive line in Britain. We will see how the Axis will handle this as soon as the weather changes. I also brought back the RN to several British ports and upgraded them. As soon as the US enters the war and I have a British SUB in the channel I will attack the Kriegsmarine there!

In Libya pursuit of Italian units towards Tripoli continues:

Despite mobilization of Red Army, I could not buy more Labs for the Soviets this turn.

Peter Stauffenberg · Post by **Peter Stauffenberg** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:41 pm

A good idea could be to use unit swap to get the corps into Southampton without losing more than 1 entrenchment level.

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:44 am

Turn 42 - Southampton captured by Wehrmacht as weather changes! Italian Army destroyed in Libya!

Unfortunately the weather changed to fair this turn, which allowed the Wehrmacht to resume its offensive in Britain and capture Southampton:

The Axis now control a supply source, which will make operations a lot easier in spring 1942! Nevertheless, I continue forming a defensive line in Britain:

I also have enough PP to buy a FTR for the British. I also place two FTR and a TAC in the US and buy a third FTR for the US. I hope next turn the transfer of US units to Britain will begin. I also move the upgraded RN towards the US coast as escorts.

In Libya the British destroy an Italian INF and MECH:

Finally I'm able to buy two more Labs for the Soviets:

I bought one Lab in General and one in Armour.

Crazygunner1 · Post by **Crazygunner1** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:56 pm

You got alot of PPs for the Russians, that is more than enough to build a strong army to withstand any Axis attempts....

What is your buidling plan?

Crazyg

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:33 am

Crazygunner1 wrote:You got alot of PPs for the Russians, that is more than enough to build a strong army to withstand any Axis attempts....

What is your buidling plan?

Crazyg

I will probably go for a good mix of units, but focus on Air units some ARM and MECHs.

Crazygunner1 · Post by **Crazygunner1** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:50 pm

zechi wrote:
Crazygunner1 wrote:You got alot of PPs for the Russians, that is more than enough to build a strong army to withstand any Axis attempts....

What is your buidling plan?

Crazyg
I will probably go for a good mix of units, but focus on Air units some ARM and MECHs.

Sounds great, you wanna post your research progress for the Russians?

Crazyg

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:56 pm

Turn 43 - Wehrmacht evacuates from Britain! 8th Army begins attack on Tripoli!

Massina surprises me again and begins to retreat from Britain:

British Army tries to prevent the evacuation, but fails as I got bad results against the Fallschirmjäger. I'm not sure if Massina does the right thing, but most likely this is a smart move. I hoped to put pressure on the Axis on three fronts (Britain, Italy and Soviet Union), but it will only be two fronts and the Wehrmacht units from Britain will be available on other fronts.

The 8th Army attacks Tripoli:

I also bought two LABs for the US and one for the Soviets.

Crazygunner1 · Post by **Crazygunner1** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:29 pm

I think at this point it doesn´t really matter if he evacuates Brittain or not. For every fourth unit he evacuates he gets a new one in terms of transport costs. In my opponion once you cross the channel you never go back....not worth it unless you capture all of brittain.

If axis doesn´t declare war on Russia, when do they enter in GS 2.00?

Should be interesting to see what kind of forces he has got in the mainland and on the Russian border.

Crazyg

richardsd · Post by **richardsd** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:36 am

May 42

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:31 am

To be exactly it is the first May turn of 1942 +/- 1 turn, i.e. it is possible that the Soviets activate in April 1942.

Therefore the Axis should attack in April and not in May 1942, otherwise they risk that the Soviet Union actives before they could declare war on them. However, this can be problematic, as it is possible that the weather will still be bad in most parts of the Soviet Union in April 1942. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe will profit from the good weather in the central Europe weather zone and some of the border cities, especially in the south of the Soviet Union are also located in the central Europe weather zone.

It will be very interesting to see how Massina will handle this. I'm also unsure how I should use the US forces now as they are not needed quickly in Britain anymore. Probably I will sent the TAC and 1-2 FTR and the CV into the Med. But I'm

I have absolutely no clue how strong the Axis can be in 1942 with a failed Sealion. I expect Massina to go for a strong but short offensive in the east, destroying as much units as possible and securing the border cities and then prepare defensive positions. He will use all of his Luftwaffe units and as many ground units he can muster.

I also wonder about the following points:

1. When will Finland join the fray, I assume as soon as the Soviets activate or a attacked?

2. It seems unrealistic that the Soviets do not gain any oil. I will start in 1942 with 50 oil, which will be kind of a problem if I buy a lot of air and some ARM/MECH units at least on the first few turns. From my point of view the Soviet should gain oil as soon as they begin to mobilise or is there any reason for the low oil level.

3. It also feels wrong that the Soviets cannot upgrade nor move any units before they activate, but after they are mobilised. Is there any reason why no movement or upgrades are allowed?

4. Will the Soviet units get the DOW surprise morale penalty or not? This would also feel wring, because after mobilisation the Soviets should not be surprised anymore if they are attacked (or at least considerably less surprised)

@Crazygunner
I already posted the science screen for the Soviets above (turn 42).

Peter Stauffenberg · Post by **Peter Stauffenberg** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:19 am

1. Finland joins when USSR activates or June 22nd 1941 +/- 1 turn.

2. Non-active countries can't get oil reserves or tech upgrades. In order to do that we need to change the game engine even further and risk introducing bugs. Russia gain about 90 oil per turn when at war effort 100 so they will quickly get spare oil to support offensives. The initial oil reserve for Russia was set low intentionally to simulate the chaos in STAVKA soon after Barbarossa begun. We had examples before when Russia used their air and armor units to hurt the Germans early in Barbarossa. This has been taken care of with more efficiency loss on the first turn etc. so maybe the initial Russian oil can be increased to 100.

3. It's in the game engine. We can change it, but we have to know what we do if we change this. USA can also benefit from this. You can always upgrade your units on the first turn of the war. If you place them at a location where you want to stop the Germans you have time until the Germans arrive.

4. They get a DoW efficiency penalty if the DoW was done when it's fair weather in Moscow. The penalty decreases dependent upon the number of turns before USSR would have joined the Allies by themselves. I think it's -10% for 1 turn prior, -20% for 2 turns prior and -30% for 3+ turns prior. The problem for the Axis player is that it's very unlikely the weather will be fair in USSR March and April. So they will probably have to wait till May to DoW USSR and then they get only -10% efficiency loss. That's is deliberate.

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:24 am

Turn 44 - Tripoli captured by 8th Army! British Army drive Wehrmacht from Britain!

@Stauffenberg
Thank you for these clarifications. I completely overlooked that Finland was already at war with the Allies.

Back to the game, I got lucky with science this turn:

For those interested in my science progress so far, the Lab screen for all three Allied powers:

The Allies also got Para capability this turn. As I do expect any other Air techs before the Soviets enter the war, I began producing air units (5 FTR/3 TAC). Even if Massina already got Dog Fight level 3 the Soviet FTR should not be so bad with Dog Fight Level 2.

Back to the action. The US also joined the Allies this turn and I immediately begin to transport three air units (two FTR and one TAC) to towards the MED for the assault on Italy. I also produced two GAR which will be upgraded to Paras next turn.

In the Med the 8th Army captures Tripoli and the RAF flies an attack on an Italian TAC airbase on Sicily for a 3:0 result:

Massina seems to have forgotten the Italian TAC as it was not protected by any FTR.

The Wehrmacht continues evacuation from Britain, but the British Army counterattacks, but fails to destroy a German INF and brings it down to 2 steps:

Also a British SUB attacks a German BB for 3:1 result.

zechi · Post by **zechi** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:50 pm

Turn 45 - US CV attacked by SUBs! RN counterstrike!

I nearly lost my US CV as it is attacked by three German SUBs:

However, my counterstrike with the British DD nearly destroys the SUB and brings it down to 1 step. The British BB has expected result of 6:1 but only scores a 3:1 hit. CV and transports escorted by DDs move south towards the waypoints.

The Wehrmacht finishes evacuation from Britain:

British SUB was bombed by Luftwaffe and flees to port.

In Libya I repair the 8th Army and move RAF into position for Operation Husky: