GS 3.0 Gogs Axis versus Hüs Allies

[hue]

Welcome to my second AAR, this time with Gog the gentleman playing on Axis side, hope you enjoy it:
Game started three weeks ago and is some 16 turns ahead. Gog, please feel invited to have a look and post comments!


PRE-TURN:



Germany invades Poland and




Denmark in the first turn.




Denmark surrendered already, Poland still fighting.



POST-TURN


As Gog wrote on the first page of the other Dyle-AAR I also decided for a Dyle ... although there were not all German armed forces in Poland...



Belgium before...




and after attack. Brussels taken with almost no losses.




In Poland we try to build some frontline and hope for the best.




first casualties of the war.

[hue]

PRE-TURN



Good weather for attackers...



Warsaw falls in the second turn... that is very unfortunate! We were hoping it would hold some more turns ...




... with almost half of German armed forces in West Germany destroying our poor French Mech and capturing Liege and Antwerp!


POST TURN



The French answer: a bang! A whole German Panzer-division destroyed! Rest of the troops try to form a stable frontline. And first BEF-units landed in Normandy.

[hue]

PRE-TURN:



Still fair weather...




and Gog uses the weather very well! Two GARs and second French MECH lost... With the MECH French forces also lost the ability for counter-attacks ...


POST-TURN:



Looking for a commando - GAR leaving to Casablanca we find the German DD in open waters! British BBs sink it immediately!




The French front-line ... we just try to build up the two-hex-frontline.
And heading East in the Channel our DD runs into a German SUB. We try to hit it with the CV and StrB but the SUB dives.

[Cybvep]

That ARM was in a very exposed position and that DD... well, I think that Gog simply left it there by accident. Anyway, besides that, he is doing what he should be doing, i.e. making aggressive moves in the West ASAP. He should keep up the pressure. I don't know whether he will try to do a Sea Lion with no DD (although he could build a new one or go for a 1941 Sea Lion), but if Paris falls early, he will have enough time to activate Spain and take everything that's within his reach. In short, Fortress Europe strategy.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

This Dyle attack looks quite interesting too. In your situation I'm not sure the Allied short-term benefits outweigh the long-term deficits. One destroyed German armor is certainly nice, but it looks like Paris will fall no later than June so the long term losses could be worse.

Would you have done a turn 2 Dyle if you had played with the revised Allied 1939 setup posted in the other thread with Morris'es game? Do you think those changes alone would be enough to make a Dyle attack maybe a bit too risky?

[hue]

It depends. I would say if Axis rails no or only one or two units to the West I guess I would do it in turn-2 as well. In this game I think Dyle was a mistake as Gog already had a Tank and a Mech in the West, so I do agree: the long term benefits for the Germans outweigh Allied benefits (in this particular game)!

[GogTheMild]

Being Dyled took me by surprise, even though I had prepared about as well as possible for it. Certainly some French units ended up a bit exposed. After two air and two ground attacks the French MECH was a sitting duck for my ARM. But I shouldn't have got carried away and followed up. I was too keen not to let Hue establish a line along the Albert Canal. In my defence this was probably the first ever 3.0 Dyle and all of the helpful discussion in the Morris AAR thread had not yet been posted. (All of that said, my response did mean that both French MECHs, and the Allies offensive ability, were dead by turn 3.)

Warsaw. I remember looking at the defence line and feeling a bit daunted, but my memory is that it fell fairly easily.

DD. Sheer stupidity on my part . If I had realised that Hue was going to AAR the game I would have made an effort to play better .

I don't know whether he will try to do a Sea Lion with no DD (although he could build a new one or go for a 1941 Sea Lion).

I could build a new one in time for a 1940 Sealion .

As a footnote, I would repeat, from the Morris AAR thread, my ignominious claim to fame - the earliest the Axis have ever lost an ARM .

[Cybvep]

I've just realised that a DD can now be built in 5 turns. Not a big deal, then. You may build it in time for 1940 Sea Lion easily, if you want.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

It depends. I would say if Axis rails no or only one or two units to the West I guess I would do it in turn-2 as well. In this game I think Dyle was a mistake as Gog already had a Tank and a Mech in the West, so I do agree: the long term benefits for the Germans outweigh Allied benefits (in this particular game)!

I think that is not bad since the Germans should fear Allied invervention while they fight in Poland. However, if the Axis player can make Dyle cost the Allies by getting some units to the west on turn 1 then it's probably ok.

The biggest impact on the Dyle situation is that Axis Scandinavian blitz strategy. It's quite risky to rail units from western Germany to Bremen to invade Norway on turn 3. That is fine too.

I don't know the long term effect of a Dyle on the Allies because previous such AAR games have often deviated from the historical path towards Barbarossa. Often you see a Sealion or an Axis failure and the Axis player folding in 1940-1941.

It seems to me that a successful Dyle means the Axis player wants to accept defeat early and a failed Dyle means the Allied player wants to accept defeat early. It's the same with Sealion. If the Axis player makes a failed Sealion attempt you often see the player accepting defeat to start a new game.

[Cybvep]

Yes, because the outcome of the game becomes very predictable. A failed Sea Lion or France falling in late 1940/early 1941 are game-enders. In such case, many players become bored and want to start a new game.

[hue]

Warsaw. I remember looking at the defence line and feeling a bit daunted, but my memory is that it fell fairly easily.

Yes, I believe that. But one always hopes for the Polish to survive a little longer


PRE-TURN

Second War month is ending, weather keeps staying on Axis side...



mud in Russia, rest of Europe: Sun!




and that brings some problems for our brave French! Two more GARs are lost, the frontline already has first holes and cracks.


POST-TURN



First Candadians reach a French habor.




and the frontline: high command managed to estabilish a 2-hex front-line again.

POST-TURN-REPLICA



Also in that turn I were successfully scanning for the German SUB which was in the English channel the turn before... it was right were I thought it was. But finding it surprised me so much I forgot to take screenshots... so these two pictures are replicas




found the SUB and luckly it was not diving so the DD inflicted 5 steps damage!

[GogTheMild]

5 steps! The next day in a different game I ran an Allied DD into a German sub in 1939 and got a 2:2! Which doesn't excuse my predictability. I can see my play in this game becoming a long list of things to avoid doing.

[hue]

5 steps! The next day in a different game I ran an Allied DD into a German sub in 1939 and got a 2:2! Which doesn't excuse my predictability. I can see my play in this game becoming a long list of things to avoid doing.

I have the feeling, that if you run into a SUB (sub-ambush) the results are worse for the DD, compared to if you scan & find it. When I run into you SUB for example the result was a 3:1 (turn 3), but after scanning it was a 5:0 (turn4), (and in a later turn it was 4:0 (T7?)). Ok, I know this isn't enough for a statistical proof, but I had this feeling in other games too. However, I can't find anything on this in the new manual.

[hue]

PRE-Turn



Finally: MUD!




But the French are suffering nevertheless. That nasty MECH South of Brussels threatens the whole Northern wing!




The DD which found the SUB last turn...


POST-TURN



Virtually the French are giving up Belgium and try to build a new defense line at Lille. In the Dover-strait finally the Homefleet arrived.




All other naval vessels scan a bit un-systematically to find that 2-step SUB ... but none is successful. :/ at least the second Canadian GAR safely reaches a French harbor.