Ronnie vs Allied Player

[rkr1958]

Why not making an amph landing near Southampton to bypass the blocking UK units. That port should fall soon. If you land 2 units near Southampton you either take the city or the UK will have to fall back to hold the city. That means your forward units can push on.

I've thought of that ... I'm just running low on infantry corps and on PP's. I can but either it will impact my weak Barbarossa or wait to after it start. In the latter case, I'm hoping to have the blockade broken by then. Also, I don't relish the idea of using 16 PP's on invasion transports. Oil is now longer the constraining factor. It's PPs and everything I need to do with them. There just isn't enough of them to go around.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

The sooner you can get England under control the sooner you can free up German units for the east. I think you need to take all of England in 1941 before USA join the Allies. Otherwise you will lose England in 1942.

You really don't need many infantry units in Russia until late 1941 when you have expanded the front line and need a double defense line. If your main goal is to get to the Dnepr then you get some turns of calm before the winter sets in. That is a good time to rail in some reinforcements.

When I start a Barbarossa then most of my corps units in the east are built AFTER the May 1941 start. I usually build 3 corps units per turn for the east from that time.

This game is now at a critical stage. If you put too much effort into the conquest of England then Barbarossa will fail its objective. If you put too little effort then England will be liberated by the Allies in 1942. Since Libya is lost it means the Allies can quickly put pressure on Sicily. That means Germany can be on the defense already in 1942.

[rkr1958]

The sooner you can get England under control the sooner you can free up German units for the east. I think you need to take all of England in 1941 before USA join the Allies. Otherwise you will lose England in 1942.

You really don't need many infantry units in Russia until late 1941 when you have expanded the front line and need a double defense line. If your main goal is to get to the Dnepr then you get some turns of calm before the winter sets in. That is a good time to rail in some reinforcements.

When I start a Barbarossa then most of my corps units in the east are built AFTER the May 1941 start. I usually build 3 corps units per turn for the east from that time.

This game is now at a critical stage. If you put too much effort into the conquest of England then Barbarossa will fail its objective. If you put too little effort then England will be liberated by the Allies in 1942. Since Libya is lost it means the Allies can quickly put pressure on Sicily. That means Germany can be on the defense already in 1942.

And couple all this with the fact that I've given my opponent max advantage ... my head is ready to explode.

Well, not really. I'm definitely having a blast playing it. If it doesn't look like I can break the blockade in the next turn or two then I'll will launch the amph operation. Once I get a port I do plan to bring in a couple of mechs or a mech and armor to get things rolling in England.

How can a grave error by my opponent cause ME so much grief. Well, I guess another way to look at it is that he gave me a very good opportunity to win; but to capitalize one it requires good play and sound strategies.

P.S. I think I've hurt the RN and RAF. I think with subs and fighters I can keep the western allies off of mainland Europe until 1944. Also, if he doesn't escort allied transports I plan to hit them hard.

[BattlevonWar]

Not trying to rub salt in your wounds here, as I would likely make the same error as you. Although when you got a cheap London, you should have just pretended like you wanted England. Force your opponent into a dash to defend, wiping out what was easy and then get the heck out of there, "Cheap..." You don't need England, you need the damage that it does. If he wants to he can make England a nightmare to take and I didn't know the British were so capable of defense until I got my first Sea Lion.

[richardsd]

Sealion is fraught with difficulty - as noted before I might have been tempted to just take London and make life difficult for the Brits

In one of my games my opponent has started a very successful 41 Sealion - caught slightly with my pants down



but lets see how it turns out

[rkr1958]

Turn 30. 4/3/1941 Axis.

1-2. The KM BB did a sweep and made no contact. Did it miss the UK sub group? I then moved the 7-step KM DD to the suspect position of the sub group and it wasn't there! The blockade of Chatham had been lifted by my opponent pulling out the troublesome sub. Personally, I think this was another grave error. I would have held that position to the death. In fact, and this was what I was worried he'd do, I'd brought a second sub group (either from the Med or built from new) to rotate with the 1st group between the blocking position and port (where they could fully repair and upgrade). With this strategy, he could have held that blockade almost indefinitely; especially if he'd brought in a 3rd group. But he didn't. He chose to withdraw and save his sub group and I'm grateful for that.

3. Rundstedt's corps and a German garrison in Antwerp are ready to transport to England next turn. Actually, the garrison transport will queue up in the hex where the 7-step KM DD is. This will free up a warship / u-boat flotilla for action.

4. Speaking of action, an RN DD tried to move past the German u-boats southeast of Norwich and was ambushed. This DD, which was left at 7-steps was easily finished off by 2 Luftwaffe and 1 u-boat attack. Oh and speaking of Norwich, it finally fell to the axis.

5. Luftwaffe fighters hit the RAF fighter base on the Isle of Man knocking off 4-steps.

6. (Off Map). And Luftwaffe fighters hit an RN CV in port and knocked off 1 to 2 steps. My u-boats may not be killing convoys but these losses to the RAF and RN has to be hurting my opponent.

7. The Italians are holding tough in Tripoli. Well, those left behind are. I'm looking forward to the Iraqi uprising that's soon coming. Every little bit helps.

8. Speaking of losses, my estimates for UK losses are:

PPs: [2.833*(131-70)*0.6 + 28.33*7] + [(34*5.5)*0.6 + 55] + [(20*9)*0.6 + 90] + [(104-50)*6.75*0.8 + 5*67.5] = 1296 PP's.

Manpower: [0.8333*(131-70)*0.8 + 8.333*7] + [(34*0.8 )*0.8 + 8] + [(20*0.3)*0.8 + 3] + [(104-50)*0.55*0.9 + 5*5.5] = 190.8 MPs ~= 33.5%.

[rkr1958]

Not trying to rub salt in your wounds here, as I would likely make the same error as you. Although when you got a cheap London, you should have just pretended like you wanted England. Force your opponent into a dash to defend, wiping out what was easy and then get the heck out of there, "Cheap..." You don't need England, you need the damage that it does. If he wants to he can make England a nightmare to take and I didn't know the British were so capable of defense until I got my first Sea Lion.

No wounds ... just opportunities. When an opponent makes an error or a reckless play he gives you an opportunity. However; with this opportunity comes disruption of your current plans. To win as the axis you have to hold up against both the Western Allies and the Soviets. I've found that you can got petal to the metal against one, doing that one great harm; but still lose in the end because the other allied (i.e., western or Soviets) are overwhelmingly strong. So the delicate balance I try to find as the axis player is to hurt both them enough to win in the end.

The question is can I hurt the Soviets enough to win? And I guess a second question is, am I doing enough to hurt the Western Allies?

[rkr1958]

Sealion is fraught with difficulty - as noted before I might have been tempted to just take London and make life difficult for the Brits

In one of my games my opponent has started a very successful 41 Sealion - caught slightly with my pants down



but lets see how it turns out

This post caused me a funny moment. I didn't notice it until I made the post above. When I did I thought it was from my game. I saw the armor in England and was really confused. Am I losing it? How in the heck did armor get there? Anyway, I then realized it was from another game.

[BattlevonWar]

I do like the way you put that to put the hurt on the Western Allies and The Russians. Your losses are still relatively very light considering the gains you've made.

[rkr1958]

Turn 31. 4/23/1941 Axis.

1. I never assume a path is clear of subs when moving transports. In sweeping the path a KM DD uncovers a UK sub group laying in wait and reduced it from 5 to 3-steps. Unfortunately, the sub group evaded the 2 follow up air attacks.

5. (out of order). After ensuring the path was safe, Rundstedt and his corps were transported from Antwerp to Chatham to take command in England.

2 and 3. The Luftwaffe hit RN DDs knocking off 4 total steps for a loss of 4 total steps.

4. The TAC southwest of Norwich got a bit beat up, losing 3-steps, in the attack on RN DD.

6. Another infantry corps and 2nd airborne (not shown) queue up for transport to England.

7. 2 Mechs were purchased. At least 1 will go to England.

8. My opponent was well prepared for the Iraqi uprising. Disappointing but not surprising.

[rkr1958]

Turn 32. 5/13/1941 Axis.

1 & 2. The axis kickoff their '41 summer offensive in England. The target was the UK mech with Alexander southwest of Birmingham. This represents 100 PP's, though Alexander will come back.

3. The attack is successful and also manages to put out of supply a UK corps. The 1st FJR division make their 3 combat jump, with this being their second jump in England.

4. The Luftwaffe manage to take 2-steps off a transport docked in Plymouth.

5. Oil levels are very good.

6. However; the German war economy is in the red. I need troops and lots of them to support this English campaign and the upcoming invasion of Russia.

7. Speaking of the invasion of Russia, that will happen turn after next.

[rkr1958]

Turn 33. 6/2/1941 Axis.

This is the last turn before a launch an anemic Barbarossa.

1. In the West, the Brits launch a counter attack and nearly destroy a German corps.

2 I'm not sure the wisdom of the counterattack as this presents me a great opportunity to get Portsmouth, destabilize the British defense in the south and trap a number of units.

3. Portsmouth falls.

4-5. U-boats move in position to interdict RN naval movement and transport.

[rkr1958]

Turn 34. 6/22/1941 Axis.

1. In England the axis summer offensive continued with the capture of a coal resource and the isolation of Bristol / Cardiff. A UK mech was destroyed and an infantry corps was badly mauled.

2. In my haste I made a tactical error in my movements, which left 2 air units vulnerable to attack by a UK garrison. On the upside the garrison can't attack both; but only 1 air unit. To do what I could to counter this I moved an invasion transport (garrison) northwest of Norwich to at least make my opponent think twice about moving forward and attack 1 of the 2 air units.

3. 2 German mech are deployed to the West and will be moved to the UK as soon as possible.

4-6. Barbarossa was launched this turn. I know my opponent loves to attack into Finland as the allies during the initial turns of this invasion. To counter this I moved 2 German infantry corps and 2 fighters to Finland as my first action after the DOW.

7-9. My initial turn focused on grabbing what boarder cities I could and killing what Soviet mechs I could.

10 (Not shown). My oil level was 731 and about 200 points lower than what I normally have when I launch Barbarossa. I seem, for now, to be doing ok on oil. The thing that's constraining me the most is not enough PP's. I need infantry, garrisons, fighters, subs, labs, leaders and repairs.

[rkr1958]

Turn 35. 7/12/1941 Axis.

1. In the Med, the Regia Marina spotted an RN BB and track heading west towards Gibraltar. The RM sortied and sent the BB to Davy Jones' Locker.

2. The RN has been a target for the axis both in the Med and in the Atlantic. My objective is to force my opponent to invest heavily in ASW or risk losing transports and convoys. Though, I haven't attacked any convoys in the while.

3. In the North Sea, a German u-boat wolfpack traps and RN BB and CV near Rosyth. I hope to introduce those 2 units to Mr. Jones also.

4. Interesting, the RN seems to have abandoned England.

5. Another port in England, Bristol / Cardiff falls the axis.

6. The next objective is Leeds, and then Liverpool.

7. The Luftwaffe in England has been flying unopposed and is the reason for the axis success. However; they've taken a beating and need to be repaired / reinforced.

8 - 10. The axis continue their push into the Soviet Union on turn 2 of Barbarossa.

[BattlevonWar]

That is a powerful Barbarossa for so little units involved. With your Manpower constrained you should stick to mechs and pay the 15+pp extra instead of buying slow Army Corps, plus when you gotta run you gotta run, they are also much more powerful than Army Corps..

[rkr1958]

That is a powerful Barbarossa for so little units involved. With your Manpower constrained you should stick to mechs and pay the 15+pp extra instead of buying slow Army Corps, plus when you gotta run you gotta run, they are also much more powerful than Army Corps..

Arm and Mech are great for gaining ground; but to hold the line in severe winter against the Soviet counterattacks that are sure to come I'll need infantry.

I, too am surprised by the ease of my advance so far. Either this is a trap or my opponent is defending against my typical Barbarossa and not the weaken one I playing this game. Either way, I need to be careful ... and I need more infantry and fighters! It's so frustrating being so constrained by PP's at this stage in the game.

[OxfordGuy3]

You have an impressive amount of oil, considering the fighting in the UK!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think the Allied player is making life easy for the Axis. Royal Navy units are lost for no apparent reason. I don't understand why they remain in port in England or sail towards Gibraltar. The Allied player must consolidate now and try to save as many units he can until he can get on the offensive. That will be in 1942 at the earliest.

E. g. in England the Allied player needs to head for difficult terrain and delay the Axis advance towards Scotland. Losing units by losing supply obviously hurts a lot. England can't be saved so better to get units to safety instead of allowing them to be gobbled up one by one. If the war goes badly then you need to evacuate to Northern Ireland or even Canada before it's too late. Soon the Kriegsmarine will start blocking UK west coast ports. Then it's too late.

There won't be any counter attacks in Russia for quite some time. The Russian morale is still down in red or orange. So the Germans can at least push to the Dnepr with no fear of a trap.

The Russians must find good defensive terrain and try to save as many units as possible. Then maybe they can regain some group in the upcoming winter offensive. Sacrificing units to hold ground will just play in the German's hands.

[BattlevonWar]

Stauffenberg is right, I played a very similar game to this..the one flipside is the Germans have taken till Summer of '42 to finish off the British. I did not realize the British/USA can do just fine without England(for awhile), and over defending it can be detrimental if all appears lost. Losing tech, manpower and Naval Units for the Western Allies as much as they have may not be in time to recover to retake all you need to get victory conditions!!!

[rkr1958]

Turn 36. 8/1/1941 Axis.

The progress I continue to make across map continues to amaze me! I'm leery that I'm running myself into a trap. But; I'm not stopping! Not yet anyway!

1. I don't know if my opponent is losing focus; but in the Med he failed to move the RN DD from last turn. The RM swarmed the DD squadron but fell shot of sinking it by 3-steps. I do want it; but with its speed I'm afraid it will get away. Honestly, I felt a twinge of guilt going after this DD, which my opponent obviously forget to move away last turn. Oh well, not guilty enough not to try to sink it though.

2. The trapped RN BB near Rosyth was sunk, the CV was reduced to 3-steps and the KM uncovered a hidden UK sub group, which was reduced to 3-steps.

Belfast, N. Ireland. A German u-boat flotilla attacks a transport in port and knocks off 2-steps. Is my opponent evacuating to Northern Ireland? I'll need to keep a watch on that.

3. RN losses continue to mount. Also UK infantry and mech losses do too.

4. The '41 summer offensive in England continues full force. The axis push to the outskirts of Leeds and almost have 2 corps and a garrison in / near Liverpool. The only way my opponent can save these three units, one of which has a leader, is by evacuation through Liverpool. My hope is that he'll stay and fight. If he does he will lose those units for sure within 2 to 3 turns.

5-6. The first of 2 German mech corps arrive in England. The second will land in Cardiff next turn.

The Russian Front.

Army Finland. Looks like my aggressive reinforcement of Finland on turn 1 of Barbarossa has paid off. My opponent appears to have to fully defensive there and gave up the 2 hexes in front of Leningrad without a fight. I really don't understand, but do appreciate, that move.

Army Group North. They capture Riga and are pushing on Pskov and Vitebsk. Where are the Russians?

Army Group Center. Minsk and Vinihtsa fall and Kiev is threatened. Unless the Soviets bring in reinforcements next turn, I may be able to capture that city; especially if he continues to defend it with a garrison.

Army Group South. Both Odessa and Chisinan are isolated. Chisinan should fall next turn and Odessa in 2 to 3 turn. Again, where are the Russians? Am I driving deeper into a trap?