Before I get to that, I'll give you a brief rundown of how the game progressed. Germany took Poland in 4 turns, Denmark in 3, and didn't even attempt Norway, opting to launch straight into an invasion of the Low Countries and France. All of the usual features of an AI attack were in full display. The computer always went out of the way to conquer useless territory rather than making a beeline for cities and units (for example, sending a tank and two motorized corps to sweep the entire Danish peninsula rather using a couple of units to quickly take out Copenhagen.) Also, the AI had a habit of attacking Polish, Dutch and Belgian units even after the capital had fallen, on occasion losing a step or two in addition to lost time.
So, pre-Barbarossa, I thought I had done pretty well. Germany thrust westward in December of 1939, but Paris held out until July 1940, and Britain managed to extricate 3 units from French ports and maintain enough naval dominance to deter Sealion and reduce sub attacks to a nuisance. In Africa, the British conquered Tobruk prior to Barbarossa, and British reinforcements soon followed from Iraq and Beirut.
But once Barbarossa got underway, I knew I was in trouble. Not only were the Axis forces rolling through the Russian countryside, their units were destroying Soviet units with little effort. In every other game I've played, the Soviet tanks could at least hold their own, but in this one the German tanks and infantry had been upgraded to be far superior to my Soviet tanks, and absolutely crushed my infantry. Winter counterattacks yielded very little results for the Russians, mainly in the south. These temporary gains soon gave way to a renewed German onslaught.
One other crazy thing about this game. I chanced a late 1942 D-Day combined with an invasion of Italy. Both stalled and were eventually defeated. Against the German occupiers in France, my forces barely retook Paris before being forced back to Normandy. I evacuated 3 infantry units and a motorized corps when Perm fell, anticipating that I would need all hands on deck for a defense of England, and that I couldn't stand long in France against the German army once it turned its attention from Russia.
But Sealion never came. I built several destroyers, fighters, tac bombers, and subs, anticipating a battle to keep the North Sea clear, but there never was a sign of a German buildup in France, the Netherlands, or northern Germany. In fact, the Germans only sent 2 units to slowly advance toward Cherbourg and Bourdeaux, never even retaking Normandy. So instead of waiting to invade Western Europe after a failed Sealion, I went ahead and invaded with about 30 units, and supported by fighter and bomber units based in England. Reserves were in the pipeline en route from America and also purchased in England. And when the Axis declared war on Turkey in late 1944, as my fleet was amassing off Wales, I thought I had it all figured out. Germany had sent part of its post-Soviet victory army south through the Caucasus toward Turkey, and oil shortages and winter had prevented the rest of the army from coming west in force.
I was right, to a degree. Look at these maps of the Axis victory in June 1945. Given a few more months, I might have take Berlin and decapitated this massive army that for some crazy reason was sent south through Turkey and on toward Iraq and then North Africa.
Western defenses crumble as Allies head towards Berlin:
Monster Axis Army pours south through the Caucasus. Turkey and Iraq have already fallen.
World Map:
