Battlefield Europe - Barbarossa V1.8 (General)

[GeneralWerner]

This time a brief AAR for Battlefield Europe V1.8 on level General and Chess mode for battles without story but more details about strategies, successful and failed plans.

The masterplan
Total victory in max. 99 rounds. Strategies for the main battlefields:

England
It is planned to land in England end of 41 with 3x Panzer, 3x anti tank, at least 2x artilleries, 4x infantry, 4x Flak and 3x fighter squads. Landing zone is the area around the airfield south of Bristol.

The invasion forces will be strongly hindered by the British minefields in the Channel, by the strong forts the British have built at the coast, the strong RAF and the superior British Home Fleet.

The minefields will be bypassed slowly. There is no plan to destroy them with German destroyers.

The forts will be suppressed with bombardment from the German fleet and will be attacked and destroyed with tanks and experienced pioneers covered by artillery to decrease the damage from British counter attacks.

The RAF will be taken out of the game for the critical phase of the invasion by starting it with the first snow in November 41. Later the Flak and the fighter squads have to cover the invasion troops and as many German ships in the Channel as possible.

By all means the British fleets have to be prevented to enter the Channel. Especially the very strong Scapa Flow Fleet in the east would end the German invasion immediately by sinking all transport ships quickly. The western British fleet also has to be stopped far away from the invasion area. The only successful weapon to block the British Navy long enough will be the submarines.

Red: land in winter 41/42. Orange: attack in 42. Light blue: Attack in winter 42/43. Blue: Finish England in 43. Yellow: Blockade to keep away the overwhelming British fleets.

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The invasion has a good chance to be a success if at least 10 divisions (including the three battle tanks) can land on the British isle. The invasion will be rated as a success in the moment the area of London is occupied. The invasion will immediately fail if the British fleet is able to enter the Channel in the first phase (red/orange) to sink Germans transporters and to bombard and suppress repeatedly the German ground forces (high danger of surrender if a British counter attack is coming).

Afrika Korps
The Afrika Korps is powerful enough (supported by the Italian fleet and superior bomber forces) to repel the British near Tobruk, capture Tobruk and build the main defense force in Tunisia when the American Torch invasion will start end of 42. After defeating Torch the duty of the Korps will be to invade Egypt from the west.

Red: Defend/attack in 41/42. Orange: Move to Tunisia in winter 42/43. Additional troops will come from Italy. Light blue: After repelling Torch attack west to recapture North Africa and move east to invade Egypt in 43/44/45

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Palestine & Middle East
The second important maritime landing operation near Aleppo will include 3x Panzer divisions, 2x anti tank, 2x artillery, 4x infantry and 2x tactical bomber squads. This army must be strong enough to have a chance fighting the strong British tank armies in the open desert. First the northern part of Palestine will be captured but then the army will reach as quickly as possible the Euphrates River and Tigris River to capture Bagdad and the oil field. Then again a quick attack will be done east to capture the Basra oil field. This will be very important to supply the Axis battleships with oil. In best case the oil fields are captured before the British can organize their strong counter attacks. After defeating the counter attacks the Axis army will move back west, capture Palestine and invade Egypt from the east.

Red: Forces embark in Greece and land near Aleppo in winter 41/42. Also Cyprus is captured. Orange: Move to Bagdad in 42/43. Light blue: Move to Basra in 43/44. Blue: Capture the rest of Palestine in 44/45 and invade Egypt from the east

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The big risk is that after landing in Palestine and moving far east to Bagdad it would take too much time to send reinforcements from Greece if the losses against the strong British forces in Iraq will be too high. That means this army is more or less cut off and has to be strong enough from the very beginning to fulfil its mission. The tactical bombers will be most important against British tanks. It will be mandatory to capture cities (for upgrades) and an airfield quickly to supply the Axis fighters and bombers. Hopefully the British tank army that will be landed near Suez will move west to Tobruk and Tunisia to fight the Afrika Korps. But in worst case two British tanks armies have to be defeated in Iraq with inferior German tank forces.

[GeneralWerner]

Russia, Die Ostfront
At least 12 tank and anti tank divisions will be not available for the invasion of Russia. This will slow down the approach to the Volga River and will require to set up a well planned defense front line (including infantry, artillery and Pak) for the extremely strong winter counter attacks of the Red Army.

To compensate this all light tank divisions will be upgraded to type III tanks. In late 43 these tanks can be upgraded to Panthers. But until that time the German tank forces will be inferior against the Russian T34s.

The focus is in the north. Moscow has to be captured until end of 41. Leningrad has to be captured in 42. The Caucasus will not be invaded to keep the front line as short as possible. This time line is critical. Moscow and Leningrad provide the Red Army a lot of continuous prestige. The longer the Russians occupy it the stronger the Red Army will become. In the south the Axis troops will slowly and carefully move east to reach Rostov only supported by Romanian and Hungarian tank forces.

Red: Rush for Moscow in 41. Orange: Capture Leningrad in 42 and move to the Don River. Light blue: Cross the Don River and reach Stalingrad in 43/44. Blue: Final approach to capture all victory cities at the Volga River latest summer 45.

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The risk in the east is that the slower approach east (due to many divisions fighting in England and Palestine) will lead to a situation in 45 that all target cities at the Volga River can’t be reached and captured before round 99. On the other side, preventing Overlord means there is no need to move troops from the eastern front to France in spring 44. So they can focus to defeat the Red Army and will even be reinforced by troops that will become free after England has surrendered.

Global
Prestige management will be difficult because there will be four battlefields (England + British Channel, North Africa+ Mediterranean Sea, Palestine + Iraq, Russia) with intense fighting in parallel. Positive effect for prestige will be that the attack on England will reduce the British bomber raids on German cities and the attack on Iraq – if successful - will provide two valuable oil fields for the Axis (also increasing the mobility of the heavy Italian and German battleships).

[GeneralWerner]

The year 1941 (starting June 41)

In general in this mod the first 6 month the Germans have the initiative everywhere and still a lot of prestige. So whatever the plan for the next years is the first six month should be used very carefully.

England 41
August 41 (round 5): The Flak and the fighters are concentrated at the Channel to cover the repair of the German battleships. Selected Panzer divisions are loaded on trains at the eastern front. The German battleships in the East Sea start to move west. The infantry divisions that are planned as Sturmtruppen are upgraded to Pioneer and Grenadiers.

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November 41 (round 10): Soon snowfall will start. Still invisible for the British Army the first German troops are already embarked or prepared for embarking (yellow). Submarines (blue) move to the planned blocking positions and the surface fleets are entering the Channel from west and east.

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December 41 (round 12): The beach head is built (yellow). The strongest German Panzer division has entered British soil first. The radar east of the airfield will not be destroyed. It shall “protect” the open flank of the German beach head for some time. The main task is to destroy the British fort west of the landing zone to extend the beach head to the north and northwest. German battleships support the attack (red) while the submarines (blue) move to the planned blockade positions.

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[GeneralWerner]

Africa 41
The Afrika Korps is fighting east of Tobruk against British troops attacking from the east. An Italian fleet west of Malta is stopping British convoys to reach Malta. With the first snow, Rudel’s Stukas are ordered from the east front to Malta to bomb the fort starting spring 42.

Palestine 41
August 41 (round 5): North of Crete the Italian fleet is gathering while the first divisions have left the Greek harbors moving east. British bombers and submarines are a threat. Also strategic bombers and tactical bombers are gathered on Crete to support the invasion.

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November 41 (round 10): Two infantry landed in the west of Cyprus, the Fallschirmjägers in the east of Cyprus to attack in the next round. The airfield has to be taken quickly to bring Axis fighters to Cyprus that can protect the ships against British bombers. The enforcement chain (yellow) for the invasion is built up (and protected) from the head currently north of Cyprus back to the two Greek harbors.

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Russia 41
August 41 (round 5): Blitzkrieg to Moscow. By following the red route many Russian troops are bypassed to reach Moscow as quickly as possible. The first recon unit will reach Moscow next round.

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[GeneralWerner]

November 41 (round 10): Half of Moscow already captured - but with recon and tank troops that can’t defend the city in the next months. They have to be exchanged with infantry before the Red Army will counter attack with infantry and T34s from the east. Capturing the airfield north of Moscow quickly with a recon allows to supply the German Luftwaffe at Moscow. The bombers do a great job to weaken Red Army troops around Moscow. German artillery is still far away from Moscow and can reach Moscow only after the railroad from Smolensk to Moscow will be in German hands. A strong Russian counter attack will start soon.

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December 41 (round 12): Just in time Grenadiers occupy the eastern part of Moscow and start to dig in before the first T34 division is approaching from the east. The necessary artillery to support the infantry is still far away around Smolensk (yellow). By all means the railroad has to be captured to allow the transport of the heavy artillery to Moscow soon.

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The southern front now stopped to wait for the Russian counter attack. This front has a lack of medium tanks but is well equipped with infantry, artillery and Flak.

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Global 41
A hell of logistic decisions had to be made: what troops in what sequence to move to the harbors of France and Greece (even already hindered by Partisans) what troops to upgrade and what troops to keep as they are. A lot of prestige is used for the repair of the German and Italian surface fleets.

[GeneralWerner]

The year 1942

England 1942

January 42 (round 15): The beach head (yellow) consists of a Panzer IIIJ and a Grenadier supported by a StuGIIIE artillery. The British start immediately with counter attacks. The Germans have to press the British away from the beach head to have place to land more troops. The danger of surrenders for the Germans will be very high when British armor is attacking the crowded beach head. Far in the northwest (blue) 4 submarine Flottilles fight a British fleet that tries to move south.

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February 42 (round 17): The beach head (yellow) was extended but now British tank forces are attacking from the east threatening German divisions to surrender. Snowfall is over. Two 88 Flaks and three of the best fighter squads of the Luftwaffe (2x Fw 190-A2 and 1x Fw190-A1) protect the invasion. In the northwest the British try to break the submarine blockade. The four German Flottilles (blue) are still in good shape but now become vulnerable for British tactical bombers. The situation at the east side of the Channel becomes dramatic. Only two submarine Flottilles try to stop the Scapa Flow fleet near Dunkirk (blue). Three 2cm Flak are protecting the submarines against British bombers. All surface vessels of the Kriegsmarine east of London will be brought quickly under the water line by the British Scapa Flow fleet. So the U-Boote have to do the work. It would be good to have even more fighter protection especially for the submarines but the other fighter squads are far away in the east or in North Africa. Hopefully soon the Thames River will unfreeze closing the very open eastern flank of the beach head.

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April 42 (round 20): 12 German Army divisions are ready for action in England. This should be normally sufficient to defeat the British armies but there are still some transport convoys (with anti air and infantry) in the Channel. The beach head is protected by the British rivers in the east and in the north. Now the attack to the west can begin.
The submarines in the west are successful to hold back the British fleet but already the first of them will soon go out of ammo. In the east only two weakened Flottilles are standing against the break through of the Home Fleet. Most of the German battleships need resupply. After that it is planned that they stay at the eastern and western entries of the Channel to block the British ships as long as possible.

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[GeneralWerner]

June 42 (round 25): The city of Plymouth is under heavy attack and will fall soon. In parallel the German tanks and 88ers repel all British tank counter attacks at the eastern side of the beach head. German fighter squads protect the beach head. But there are not enough to protect also the naval units. Thus the submarine blockade in the north west is broken by the British Navy. In the east only a weakened (strength 2) submarine Flottille is blocking the entrance to the Channel. The submarines have dived to be invulnerable for the British bombers. The last enforcements are crossing the Channel. Two ship transports with anti air units try to land on the crowded beaches while an infantry division is approaching the airfield.

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November 42 (round 35): Still the resistance of the British Armies is strong. But German Wehrmacht has entered London and the defending British artillery and tanks have no chance against the infantry in urban area. The frozen Thames Rivers allows the German Panzer troops to leave the beach head and move north. The plan until end of winter 42/43 is to cross the Welland River before it is unfreezing. Then in 43 only Liverpool and Glasgow stand between the successful German occupation of England. The surviving German battleships still hold the Channel. Only a last U-Boot-Flottille has survived, but it was able to hold the blocking position at the eastern entrance of the Channel still keeping out the Scapa Flow fleet. In the meantime two new Flottilles from Kiel are on the way to the North Sea to fight the British ships.

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Victory in England is planned for summer/autumn 1943.

[GeneralWerner]

Africa 42

January 42 (round 15): The Afrika Korps made a fault in its tactical setup. The Korps stayed too far away from the coastal road (avoiding the fire from British battleships) allowing the British tanks to bypass to Benghazi (yellow). Thus now the Korps is surrounded and has to defend it position (blue) not to be overwhelmed. It would have been better to block the coastal road or to retreat to the mountains east of Benghazi to repel the British operation Crusader.

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November 42 (round 35): It took the whole year 42 to resolve the faulty setup of 41. The Korps was reduced from 13 to 8 divisions but the most important units: artillery, 88er and tanks survived. The British Crusader army was defeated while the Korps slowly moved west. But there was no time to start an attack on Tobruk. Now the operation Torch started and the Korps is on the way to Tunisia to build the backbone of the defense against the Americans that will attack in early spring 43.

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On Sicily the Axis is gathering more troops that will be transported to Tunisia soon. The core of the Italian fleet was coming back in summer 42 from the Palestine battlefield and is now also repairing and resupplying around Sicily to prepare for the upcoming hard battle against the American Torch fleet. Rudel’s Stukas have brought the fort on Malta down to strength 2 but now have to wait for spring 43 to finish Malta.

[GeneralWerner]

Palestine 42

January 42 (round 15): The beach head (yellow) is built near Aleppo with help of the Italian fleet. Two infantry divisions are supported by a tank division and an artillery that will be disembarked soon. In the back of the British defenders of Aleppo German Fallschirmjägers are parachuting. They came from the airfield on Cyprus and soon all victorious infantry divisions from Cyprus will be transported to Aleppo via air to join the rush for Bagdad.

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June 42 (round 25): Blitzkrieg attack on Iraq. After capturing the northern part of Palestine the German forces move at highest speed through the desert to reach the Euphrates River. After capturing Falluja and Nadjaf they plan to cross the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers quickly to reach Bagdad. The army is not as strong as initially planned. The third tank division could not be extracted from the eastern front and the second tactical bomber squad was shot down by the British fighters. But there is still time before the British are ready to set up their strong counter attacks with a huge number of tanks. If the plan is working the Germans will be already in “safety” behind the Euphrates River before the British tanks can reach them.

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November 42 (round 35): The Blitzkrieg attack in Mid East was a big success. Bagdad is in German hands and soon the two German tank divisions (red) will cross the Tigris River to dispel the British defenders. The oil field is within range. And the supporting Axis air force (yellow) is waiting for the capturing of the Bagdad airfield to have a base for the attack on Basra at the Gulf in 1943.

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[JimmyC]

Wow, GW. You make it look easy! Did you do the earlier scenarios and bring a force (and prestige) to Barbarossa?

[GeneralWerner]

Hello JimmyC,
as in the past again I started directly with the Barbarossa Scenario.

Die Ostfront 42

January 42 (round 15): The Wehrmacht went to defense (blue) in the Moscow area facing a strong Russian counter attack trying to recapture Moscow. The railroad to Moscow in now in German hand and artillery can be transported to Moscow to support the defenders. In the center and the south of the Russian front the Red Army counter attack is not as strong.

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April 42 (round 20): The Russian attack on Moscow was intensified and the German defenders (blue) are under strong pressure. But still the Russian attack on Moscow has a lack of artillery. West of Moscow the remaining troops of the Russian winter offensive are encircled and will be defeated soon. Next strategic target in the north is the railroad/road from Kalinin to Novgorod (yellow). This will allow to transfer strong artillery and tank troops to the Leningrad area and to start the attack on Leningrad. It is planned to break the Russian defense line in the south of Leningrad and capture the city before end of 42. An important airfield also lies at this road. The support of the German Luftwaffe in the Moscow area is limited because the Russians are holding the eastern airfield and are continuously attacking the western airfield.

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August 42 (round 30): After capturing the road between Moscow and Leningrad the Wehrmacht transfers heavy artillery (yellow) and the several tank divisions (red; including the two strongest divisions of the whole Wehrmacht: Panzer IVG) to the area south of Leningrad. They will start a massive attack on the defending Red Army tank divisions south of Leningrad. A huge number of infantry divisions is covering the eastern flank of this attack.

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[GeneralWerner]

In the center of the Ostfront the Germans reached the important Don River and start a pincer attack on Lipetsk. Crossing the Don River is an important step to reach the Volga River in the east. So the Wehrmacht tries the risky maneuver to establish a beach head on the eastern Don shore. But the Russian resistance is strong and if it is not possible to capture Lipetsk and the forests east of the city before winter 42/43 the Wehrmacht will take back the frontline to Kursk because a very strong counter attack is expected in this front segment.

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December 42 (round 38): In the north the massive attack of the Panzer IVGs near Leningrad could not be withstand by the Red Army and German infantry has entered the center of Leningrad. The front line in the Moscow area is still unchanged and the Red Army attacked Moscow from the east without any pause in the whole year 1942.
In the center it was not possible to capture Lipetsk in time and thus the frontline (yellow) was took back to Kursk (blue) to build a strong defense line (backbone are the deeply entrenched infantry divisions in the cities) against the expected Russian winter attack.
The spearhead of the Russian winter attack (red) appears in the south and will attack the weakest Axis front segment including many Romanian infantries and only few light tank divisions. It will be necessary to transfer tank divisions from the north to the south and to send the new StugIIIG division from Berlin to this area.

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Global 42
After doing the hard work to set up the troops for all main battlefields in 1941 the play in 1942 is more straightforward trying to reach the goals for each of the battlefields. Due to the intense fighting on all four battlefields, some British bomber raids against German cities and the still not captured oil fields in Iraq the prestige becomes low. The planned attack on Tobruk was not possible and the beach head on the eastern Don River shore was given up to have a better defense line in Russia. The new StuGIIIG division will be very valuable at the southern Ostfront while the new Tiger division is on the way to Tunisia to guarantee the defense of Tunis in 1943 against the American operation Torch.

[GeneralWerner]

The year 1943

England 43

April 43 (round 45): After the loss of London the remaining British tank divisions fought north of London to stop the German invasion but they were defeated end of winter 42/43. It was even possible for the Wehrmacht to cross the Welland River before it was unfreezing. The RAF is attacking the German invasion forces continuously (especially the artillery) but is losing one bomber and fighter squad after the other in the crossfire of German Flaks and German fighters. Now the attack on Manchester and Liverpool is going on. After that the last battle will be done in the north to capture Glasgow.

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September 43 (round 55): The battle of Glasgow will end the resistance of England soon. Infantry and artillery is ready to capture the city. It is time to think about the transfer of the German troops from England to Russia where they are urgently needed. Hopefully the surrender of England will remove all the mines that would strongly slow down the transport of the German divisions back to the continent.

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In the Channel the Germans have the control but by a careless mistake the Kriegsmarine allowed one British submarine Flottille (yellow) to enter the Channel. First this was not rated as a serious problem but only some few rounds later this submarine Flottille was endangering the whole strategy to win the battle at the Ostfront in time.

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In round 56 Glasgow was captured and England surrendered. England … but not the Empire. Thus the minefields around the British Island stayed active and looking at the harbors of England it became clear that moving the German divisions quickly from England to Russia would not be possible.

[GeneralWerner]

November 43 (round 60): It was initially planned to use the harbor of Plymouth in the south west of England to embark the tanks, anti tanks, artillery, Flak to send them back to the continent and via rail to the Ostfront where they are urgently needed. It is by far the quickest and shortest way.

Move unit via railroad in England to Plymouth: 1 round / Embark and move to a harbor on the continent: 3 rounds / Move via rail to the Ostfront: 3 rounds / Upgrade+repair and move to battle: 3 rounds => 10 rounds in total
Partisans in England and Russia may cause an additional delay.

But exactly at Plymouth the British submarine Flottille (yellow) stopped blocking this way. The east coast is very risky and slow because there are still some battleships of the Scapa Flow Fleet active and a lot of mines are in the way. From Liverpool also transports can leave to the west but it is a much longer and dangerous way through mine fields threatened by British battleships that still come down from the north. All German tactical bombers in England were shot down by the RAF and even if there would be a bomber squad available, in the next weeks the weather will be too bad to attack submarines. So what to do?

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Africa 43

January 43 (round 40): Operation Torch. The American fleet is approaching the Italian fleet. While the Axis is slowly setting up a defense line (blue) in Tunisia the Italian fleet is covering all the transport ships (yellow) coming from Italy with enforcements. The German Tiger division (orange) has an extra guard because it is mandatory to bring this division unharmed to the Tunisian coast. The Afrika Korps (green) is moving west but has first to recapture Tripoli and Gabes to reach Tunisia. The British troops occupying these cities are still a consequence of the faulty Axis strategy near Tobruk end of 41.

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April 43 (round 45): The first American land forces show up in the west (red) while the Axis defense line takes shape. The Tigers have landed and will move north to protect Tunis and the airfield. The Afrika Korps (green) finally reached Tunisia.

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[GeneralWerner]

June 43 (round 50): The Axis defense line for Tunisia is set up and waits for the arrive of the heavy American tank divisions

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September 43 (round 55): The main armored core of the Americans is attacking (red, picture was taken with fog of war off) in the north and in the central front to break the Axis defense. The Axis defense line contains several anti tank units and is supported by four artillery divisions. Near Tunis the Tigers are waiting for their preys. And after upgrading Rommel’s Panzer IIIM to a Panther division also in the south the American will face heavy resistance.

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December 43 (round 62): Game over for operation Torch. After a short but intense battle the Axis defeated the attacking Americans. In the meantime the British have gathered a fleet near Benghazi. Thus the Italian fleet and some parts of the Axis air force already start to move east to fight the British and to prepare the return of the Afrika Korps to the battlefield of Tobruk opening the gates to Egypt.

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[hugh2711]

what did you do with your brandenburgers? anything interesting?

[GeneralWerner]

Hello Hugh2711,
no. I found no good idea how to use them best und simply used them for partisan fighting somewhere. They were defeated.

Middle East 43

January 43 (round 40): The battlefield of Iraq 43 is most decisive for the whole Axis war strategy. In case the Axis armies would be defeated by the British tank armies it will not be possible to defeat the British Empire and it could even prevent a victory in the east because 200 points of prestige will be missing every round. Thus the Middle East could make the difference between a total victory and a draw. The hope of the OKW was that the British army landing near Suez would move west to join the battle of Tunisia. But in the last rounds one after the other occupied cities in North Palestine were recaptured by the British. So the tank army was moving to Iraq. Unclear is now what way they will go (yellow). To use the time the British need to move through the desert the OKW decided to capture the oil field and the airport of Bagdad by all means now even moving divisions through the river. After that a Blitzkrieg attack with tanks and motorized infantry will be done on Basra to capture the second oil field. Holding two oil fields is necessary to end the oil shortcut for the Italian and German battleships. And it will activate the Italian battleship Roma to fight against the American Torch fleet.

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April 43 (round 45): And here they come (green). While the Wehrmacht is attacking the oil field (red) of Basra the British tank army is approaching the Euphrates River. The Wehrmacht is setting up a defense line (blue) on the northern Euphrates shore with Stug IIIF/8 and Stug IIIG units. The two Panzer IIIM divisions from Basra are called back to help in the defense.

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June 43 (round 50): The British have broken the Euphrates defense line quickly. Some of their tank divisions were approaching from the west between Euphrates and Tigris River attacking the flank of the Wehrmacht defense line. The only solution for the Germans was to retreat behind the Tigris River. The German army that attacked Basra moved back to Bagdad. They were able to capture the oil field of Basra stopping the oil shortcut. After the German retreat the British recaptured the oil field again (but the oil shortcut was already broken). Now starts the critical part of the battle. The Germans are capturing some cities in north Iraq to open the way for the worst case scenario. If the British would also break the Tigris defense line the Wehrmacht will fight a battle of retreat to the north. Bagdad and Nadjaf are defended by deeply entrenched (level 7) Gebirgsjäger divisions.

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[GeneralWerner]

September 43 (round 55): Looks like a Pat (picture was made with fog of war off). The British do not find a way to cross the Tigris River. Two of the three strong British artilleries (yellow) are too far away to join the battle of Bagdad. And they have no planes while the Germans are supported by a recon, a fighter, a tactical bomber and a strategic bomber squad from Bagdad.

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October 43 (round 57): Preparation for the main strike of the Wehrmacht in winter 43/44 to decide the fight of Iraq. The Panzer IIIM are upgraded to Panther A. As some core slots were already free a new artillery (Grille) was bought. The strong and well motorized infantry (yellow) could no help in the battle of Bagdad and is ordered to blitz back to Basra and recapture the oil field.

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November 43 (round 60): A Panther and the Grille division (yellow) are crossing the Tigris River unseen by the British forces. In the meantime the German motorized infantry was able to defeat the British parachute troops (overstrenght 12) at the Basra oil field. The begin of 1944 will see the Panthers attacking the British south of Bagdad and hopefully the German victory at Basra securing the second oil field until the end of the war. The prestige is urgently needed for the expensive battle of attrition at the Russian Ostfront.

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[McGuba]

Another most interesting AAR by GW.

With England taken and Tunisia defended and the Middle East more or less secured by mid game it looks like you are doing quite well. Now I wonder what is happening in the East but I guess that will be the subject of the next post.

Just like you, I was surprised by that lone British sub unit which seemingly stalled your plans of a quick transfer to the east form England. Indeed, it might even decide the outcome of the war! As a representative of the British government in exile I immediately award the heroic commander of that submarine flotilla with the Victoria Cross!

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Really, sometimes the AI can make stunningly unexpected moves under certain circumstances which gives an excellent replay value to this mod.

I was also surprised a bit by the maneuvers of the British forces in the Middle East. But it looks like you reacted well and just managed to stabilize that area despite another surprising flanking by the AI. I am quite happy that now the mod seemingly works as intended - sometimes the AI reacts to the players' actions in a believable and almost human like way which makes sense more often than not.

[hugh2711]

Sorry to ask another question; What unit did you use to land on the airfield south of bristol? Previously I landed in the bulge on the east coast (version 1.6) but this time I tried to land on that airfield but whatever unit I got there I found the enemy just brought up enough units to destroy it and if I moved forward one unit the unit behind as well. Is there a trick to keeping it alive?. Yes I kept the radar on my right flank for protection? thanks for info