Amazing Weather and AAR (no KardInall please)

[richardsd]

I am playing a 2.0 game against KardinaLL and its fair to say the weather has been amazing

I am sure one of the clever maths people can tell me the odds - we have had maximum fair weather all the way to Dec 1940, two very long summers that my Allies haven't enjoyed

given things were going down hill fast I decided to go for an all out disraction campaign after the Axis eschewed Sealion for Spain.

I will post some shots after the next turn, but really, waht are the odds of two years of perfect (fine) weather

[richardsd]

as promised, a shot to show how well my opponent is doing

this is the begining of my Jan 41 turn



thats the last we hold of western Europe and will fall in the Axis turn

so 41 starts the same as 40, will there be a Sealion

as I mentioned I did interevene heavily to try and stop the fair weather juggernaught, but the weather just kept staying fine and my casualties piled up in the sunshine

here is a shot of the casualties to date



the only upside is that the Italians have been concentrating on spain so we have a bit of progress in NA,
but how long before the Axis brings force to bear

[zechi]

These Italians in Benghazi seem to sleep. You should have the element of surprise

[richardsd]

These Italians in Benghazi seem to sleep. You should have the element of surprise

they are probably tired from having conquored all of Europe

[richardsd]

seeing as how things are quiet in my games I thought I would post an update on this one

I am facing a slightly modified Morris type Barbarossa (V2.0) - the difference being he has more PP's becuase all the fine weather allowed him to take Spain

facing near certain defeat I decided to to mix up my previous 2.0 strategies - I have continued with my distraction campaign in the west (he holds Spain so can't do that trick again) with an all out defense of Leningrad (partly becuase he has spread his forces and partly because I have too!)

all pictures are at the start of my turn

here is Leningrad



you can see that I am sacrificing my Air units to keep hitting him combined with counter attacks

here is Moscow front



and caucuses where I plan to counter attack with my ARM against his forward ARM and the landed MECH



and finally distraction in Europe, this turn I plan to concentrate on sinking UBoats and the DD

[richardsd]

so its looking pretty grim (to be expected really)

here are the starting positions







after careful consideration we decide to pretty much - wait and see, that is, its very grim but there is only 1 guarenteed fine turn left

so in the North we adopt a defensive posture, although we decide to sacrifice Talinin to hit his FTR - trying to wear him down!



in the south we counter attack with our surviving ARM to destry the advancing MECH



and in Europe we concentrate on holding the beachhead by pressureing the defenders with Air attacks - but results don't go our way



the only thing we can say is that surely he can't do everything in Russia before winter

[richardsd]

well well, we get a very pleasant suprise as the Axis seems to be mostly thinking about positioning for winter not so good is that he did decide to go for my exposed TAC in the North

here are the starting positions







in the North our plan to put pressure on Finland works as the Axis retire the Kreigsmarine and we can now use our Russian amphibious assualt to take out the fort. Its risky and 50/50 but success will bring big rewards



but no so we spend some more time looking at the north and decide to keep the pressure up - I moved the STR to see around Moscow and not much is there

in the south we try some tricky stuff trying to get our GAR and partisans joined - but no again none from two



in the west our distraction plan has done its job and the troops will be lost but we new that when we started - we would have liked to have concentrated on another SUB to sink it but they are to strong so we decide to kill the weak CORP

it will be expensive in the west but at least our convoys aren't being molested so maybe not all bad



after taking our last shot we did an attack on the CORP ashore in Caucuses which was a bad idea - probably why we didn't do it before!

all in all not a great turn for combats

[Kragdob]

Do I see a UK INF next to Krasnodar?

[richardsd]

Do I see a UK INF next to Krasnodar?

yep. its a 2.0 game so you can have UK units in Russia

once I knew I was facing a Morris style Barbarossa a moved to get some UK units in to help the ruskies

[richardsd]

moving on, here are the start shots







in Europe we attack trying to do the most damage, we will be dead at Axis hands very soon anyway!



in the South we pretty much do nothing



in the North we decide not follow up, teh risk of continual fair weather scares us but we do connect the dots to cause some choices for the axis

[richardsd]

arghhhhhh

of course its severe winter as I didn't follow up last turn

here is the start







so are careful assessment we focus on relinking to create an attack opportunity, we make the link with an airsweep and ground attack and look to expand the position - unfortunately our suicide fails with our GAR as do a couple of other attacks, but we do make some progress and are in position to put pressure for a few turns



we finish off the stranded CORP in the caucuses and not much else



in Europe we conduct Air sweeps at 1-0 odds and get thumped 0 -1's



we are going to try and maximise the damage we can do to Axis units in the North - why oh why didn't I follow up

[richardsd]

finaly some time for an update - have been very busy with work and moving house

so winter didn't go quite as well as we would have liked but we did wear down some of his ARM and MECH's which is why he isn't totally ready for his 42 offensive yet, although he did start moving for Lennigrad last turn.

we are just trying to hurt his manpower and buy time as our bombing campaign should start to hurt his PP's a little soon

also he moved his units from the south to help fight in the North and he is now building in the South again (result is we have moved our reserves and will defend the Cuacuses)

here are the start shots









Lennigrad will be lost but he will have to pay a bit to get it. After a good look we decide to be bold (or foolish maybe ) and move to kill the lonely MECH and pressure his air units



in the South we build up to meet him if he advances South and try to hurt his landings again - pretty poor combat results really



in the middle we have been planning the demise of the Italian MECH (small goals are all we can manage ) not quite but close

his lack of garrisons in Russia is starting to hurt him though



in the west the bombing starts in earnest



42 is going to be very tough as it still looks very grim but we will try to survive with a combination of defence and selected attack where we can do damage

[richardsd]

ok - I have to give it to KardInall, I am confused - I don't know what he is up to

here are the start shots









In the North we don't trust his retreat at all! We can know there are at least three ARM in the area but we see a chance to kill his IT ARM and damage his MECH, in for a penny in for a pound! We dither about his most northern MECH and make a token effort whilst reinforcing the area generally. We also play the 'try for a guard in Lennigrad' game



we miss the ARM by one - again! But we take a gamble and reinforce our attack.



In the South I have my doubts now that his intensions are the Caucuses, my guess is that its now Stalingrad next



In Europe our Air assualt gathers steam

[richardsd]

well well - it seems that my opponent has indeed modified the Morris approach

with his return turn he delares that he has caught me and now owns Stalingrad and why have I wasted myself with suicide attacks

now it is true that if I had known that he didn't really want Moscow or even the Caucuses I would have been more defensive but we are very happy to lose Stalingrad in July 1942 given he had maximum fine weather in 1939 and 1940. Now he can't really take much more in Russia without risking getting caught in winter.

So we are both happy

here are the starting shots







in the North we fiddle around his MECH and continue to play with the Lennigrad team as well taking a prudently defensive posture



in the middle we just upgrade



in the south more defensive postures



in Europe we bomb some more



and launch a distraction in Spain

[richardsd]

very interesting turn, I think KardInall is trying to use my over agression against me!

what can I say - we take the bait

start shots











in the North we move to engage in Finland - in doing so we spot a MECH that looks like its going to help the Finish defence



in the middle we try to give the spotting Rumanian FTR a blodd nose, but don't get quite the results we wanted



in the South we just organise around our leader and see a chance to hurt his transport, even though its probably a trap for his TAC's we have a go



in Spain we see no response to our distraction ok then, we will make him respond



of course he would survive at one step

in the west we continue bombing and take the bait in Paris



thats about the only thing that goes my way - para survived well

[Schnurri]

Wow - that is a good one - he is leaving everything ungarrisoned. Now, he can't rail to France.

[Morris]

compare with 2.1 , It is much easier for Allies . RAF FTR in Russia ! It is fatal to Axis !

[richardsd]

Wow - that is a good one - he is leaving everything ungarrisoned. Now, he can't rail to France.

he will be able to Rail in Spain so missing by 1 step is a big miss

[richardsd]

compare with 2.1 , It is much easier for Allies . RAF FTR in Russia ! It is fatal to Axis !

its definately easier with being able to rail everywhere - but IMHO he has missed an opportunity by not concentrating his forces in 41, we were toast

[richardsd]

its August now and the Axis seem content to leave their aggression to the UBoats

here are the start shots that matter







In the north we pick on in his BB - guess what



1 step left

In Europe we take a risk and try our luck with air attacks on his MECH followed by the Para to eliminate it, we switch some bombing to weaken the Axis units around Paris - can he take Paris or will we get another chance to reinforce?



in Spain our air and sea bombardments have little effect