Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

[joerock22]

I am going away on vacation for a week starting today. I am bringing my laptop with me, but I don't think I'll be able to play very much. The game will resume at normal pace next week.

[joerock22]

Turn 20 – September 15, 1940

And I’m back. Plenty of action this turn. Norway surrenders (Tac + corps + corps killed 5-step garrison). Yugoslavia was invaded as well. And some air, naval, and land action in and around Scotland. Here are the post-turn screenshots:





The weather over the next few turns is going to be VERY important. *fingers crossed*

[joerock22]

Turn 21 – October 5, 1940

Mud weather. Darn it! In my last Sea Lion game, I got mud in all 3 October-November turns. A repeat of that would be a major pain! I really hope the skies clear. In the meantime, I will scale back my goals (on land anyway) and do what I can.

Pre-turn





Post-turn

[joerock22]

Turn 22 – October 25, 1940

Fair weather returns, and the Axis know they must make this opportunity count!

Pre-turn



Post-turn



In other news, Belgrade falls to the massive Axis force and Yugoslavia surrenders.

[Cybvep]

Good job, you managed to eliminate the bulk of the RN in the Atlantic. It will take time to build a sufficient navy now.

[Morris]

Turn 22 – October 25, 1940


In other news, Belgrade falls to the massive Axis force and Yugoslavia surrenders.

Joe smashed Uk & he also did not miss anyother mission of Norway , Demark & Yugo with few loss . It is impressive !

[Crazygunner1]

Good job on England, by the looks of it you can probably deny the britts any foothold on the island during 41 before US enters the war. Rumanian, italian bomber together with some fighter support should do the job. This you will benefit from a lot later in the game. You are in a sweet spot, you can concentrate the major power of the Luftwaffe on the eastern front. Make sure you start railing troops as soon as possible to the eastern front so you can get an early start.

What about the 6th army in Egypt, is it still there? Any plans for dealing with it? In my oppinion it is low priority but somehow you seem to manage those as well

How much are the britts loosing in organisation each turn due to not having enough "Home guard"?

[joerock22]

Good job on England, by the looks of it you can probably deny the britts any foothold on the island during 41 before US enters the war. Rumanian, italian bomber together with some fighter support should do the job. This you will benefit from a lot later in the game. You are in a sweet spot, you can concentrate the major power of the Luftwaffe on the eastern front. Make sure you start railing troops as soon as possible to the eastern front so you can get an early start.

What about the 6th army in Egypt, is it still there? Any plans for dealing with it? In my oppinion it is low priority but somehow you seem to manage those as well

How much are the britts loosing in organisation each turn due to not having enough "Home guard"?

The British Army is still in Egypt to the best of my knowledge. Morris just sortied into Libya with his tank, but I think it was just to scout out my defenses because he withdrew the next turn. I anticipate a major assault at Tobruk sometime in the next year; it is the only place the British will really be able to mount an offensive before the Americans enter the war.

To this point, the British are not losing any morale due to the Home Guard rule. I guess they still have enough troops in core UK hexes.

[joerock22]

Turn 23 – November 14, 1940

A stroke of good fortune—the weather remains fair! This looks lucky, but in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t. Projected results in October-November of 1940 are 2 of 3 turns fair, and that’s what happened here. Morris will not be happy, but then I was not especially happy with the weather in our last game.

Back to the present, the Germans attempt to take advantage of the unexpected break.

Pre-turn



Post-turn



On a side note, the Allies DOW and conquer Syria. The Vichy French government is outraged, but German leaders tell them to go pound sand in Algeria for awhile. The Middle East is definitely not a priority at this time.

[Crazygunner1]

Don´t think Morris can use the rail in England so aberdeen should be yours without a fight.

At this point how much pps do you make, 110? What is you oil status, 250?

[joerock22]

Don´t think Morris can use the rail in England so aberdeen should be yours without a fight.

At this point how much pps do you make, 110? What is you oil status, 250?

Could he have placed a new unit there? I was worried about that too.

I'm making about 120-125 PPs per turn now. I won't give my exact oil levels, but I will say that they never fell below 250.

[Cybvep]

Do you plan to take Belfast?

[Crazygunner1]

Don´t think Morris can use the rail in England so aberdeen should be yours without a fight.

At this point how much pps do you make, 110? What is you oil status, 250?

Could he have placed a new unit there? I was worried about that too.

I'm making about 120-125 PPs per turn now. I won't give my exact oil levels, but I will say that they never fell below 250.

That is a good revenue.... no he can't place new units after taking London and Liverpool. After that they have to be shipped from canada.

[Crazygunner1]

Do you plan to take Belfast?

He wont be able to before winter and My guess is that Morris Will turn Irland into a base of operations against England for future attacks. Might take quite an effort to dislodge him there....

[Kragdob]

Do you plan to take Belfast?

He wont be able to before winter and My guess is that Morris Will turn Irland into a base of operations against England for future attacks. Might take quite an effort to dislodge him there....

This is the question if he wants to seal the West completely (taking Irleand, Scapa Flow + all NA) or just focus on USSR.

[Diplomaticus]

Do you plan to take Belfast?

He wont be able to before winter and My guess is that Morris Will turn Irland into a base of operations against England for future attacks. Might take quite an effort to dislodge him there....

My two cents: When I was up against Max and lost England, he was too busy (and maybe short on oil) to take Northern Ireland. That ended up helping me a lot, since I was able to turn N Ireland into a giant carrier for my fighters and bombers. IMO it's dangerous to let the Brit survivors hold onto Belfast.

[joerock22]

Thank you for the input, everyone. Fast-forwarding a couple turns, I had already decided to invade Northern Ireland for the reasons stated. But your posts confirmed my opinion. For the results of that invasion, you'll have to wait a little bit. Here is the current AAR turn:

Turn 24 – December 4, 1940

With the onset of winter, the action dies down a bit. Still, the Germans capture Glasgow, forcing the crews of the UK CV to scuttle their ships in port to avoid capture. I think I will enjoy this quiet time; I need a break to increase my oil reserves.



Nothing interesting happening post-turn, so no screenshot. But here is the casualty screenshot. My losses have been heavy, especially in the air and at sea, but the sacrifice has been worthwhile. England has been (mostly) conquered and the Royal Navy is in shambles. It will be a long time before the Allies are able to make a serious attempt at retaking England.

[joerock22]

Turn 25 – December 24, 1940

The Christmas season brings peace in Europe, however brief it might be.

On a side note, the British finally start suffering the morale loss from the Home Guard rule—only 5 points, but it’s something.

[joerock22]

Hello all,

It’s been awhile since my last post due to lack of time and the general slowness of turns (due mostly to my aforementioned lack of time). But fear not—I do plan to continue this AAR. In fact, the posts should come more often for awhile as we catch up on the action. And remember, I’ve been typing this as I go, without the benefit of hindsight.

Turn 26 – January 13, 1941

The new year brings a new operation—the Germans prepare to invade Northern Ireland. My thinking is this: I can probably do either Ireland or northern Scotland right now, not both. By conquering Belfast, I deprive the British of a free base later. Now is also the best time to do it. The RN is in no shape to contest me and my navy is still in the area. After this, I can release my subs to hunt convoys and I won’t have to worry about bringing them back to support any invasions later. Necessary air assets are currently in place as well. The British defensive forces in Northern Scotland can be contained until I am ready to tackle them at a later date.

I also think it will be crucial for me to land on the first fair turn I get, which is why I launched the transports now even though they only have a 25% chance of being able to land in the next 2 turns. The only reinforcements Morris will be able to send are air units, and if he does that, those air units will be exposed to attack. I believe there are currently only 2 garrisons in Northern Ireland, so he should be unable to block the landings even with 2-3 turns delay.

Here is the post-turn screenshot:

[Cybvep]

I don't have any insightful thoughts about your strategy ATM, but I just want to say that I'm enjoying the AAR immensely. Your style is good and screenshots are very informative . Are you still going for 1941 Barbarossa?