Turn 54. 7/27/1942 Axis.
1. In the Battle of the Atlantic, a u-boat wolfpack operating in the Labrador Sea attacks and sinks 32 of a 77 PP UK convoy, leaving at 44 PP's.
2. As luck would have it, the fleeing convoy "runs" directly into a 3rd flotilla moving to join in on the wolfpack attack. Another 13 PP's were sunk reducing the convoy to 32 PP's.
3. In the South Atlantic, a damage u-boat flotilla follows the tracks of allied warships to see what's up. Two more flotillas (only 1 is shown) moves into position to go after whatever convoy they're moving to escort.
4. At the end of the turn, a 75+ allied convoy zooms by and will be a subject of interest next turn.
(Not shown). Western Allies Force Estimates: In tracking these estimates over the past several turns, my opponent is investing heavily in destroyers, and I must assume, ASW tech. Total number of allied destroyer squadrons are estimated at 15, carriers at 4 and battleships at 3. That's a total of 22 naval units, which seem to be operating mainly in the Atlantic off the US east coast protecting allied convoys. The Germans deployed their 9 u-boat flotilla this turn. Though I estimate my opponent has the upper hand protecting these convoys, I plan to continue to attack them as long as losses aren't excessive. I want him to continue to focus time and resources in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Elsewhere, estimates are 8 to 10 AFV (armor + mech), 6 fighter, 2 TAC and 4 fighter units. Not formidable in the air; but appears to be building up ground forces for a limited invasion. Where? North Africa, Italy, England? This is another good reason for operating u-boats off the east coasts of US and Canada. That is, I can use them to detect and then determine the objective of any western allied invasion.
The Russian Front.
This is an area where I'm getting bloody a bit, but honestly, not as bloodied as I though. In fact, I'm quite pleased (so far) how my summer '42 offensive is going.
5. Soviet mech and corps destroyed along with knocking out 2 Soviet leaders (Bagramian & Chernyakhovsky).
6. Kursk is captured and 2 corps (includes the one defending Kursk) destroyed.
7-9. Quite a bit of air action with both Luftwaffe and Soviet fighters taking some losses. The bad news is the cost to repair those losses. The good news is that the Luftwaffe has achieved parity with the Soviet airforce. This is especially good given the 8 additional PP's per turn to the Soviets and the late / weak launch of Barbarossa due to Sea Lion.
10-11. The focus of the axis offensive is in the south (i.e., Kursk and south). Though I would like to make additional territorial gains, the main focus is on the destruction of Soviet units (especially armor and mech). And on inflicting air losses. In the center and north my objective is just to hold my ground.
12. I took the time this turn to do a survey of Soviet commanders deployed by my opponent. It's a quite impressive list. From what I can see, he's invested 515 PP's in Soviet Commanders. This total does NOT include Timoshenko, who's included in the at start forces. 53 turns x 8 PP's / turn = 424 PP's is the number of additional PP's the Soviets have received since the start of the game due to the large allied advantage. My typical investment in Soviet commanders at this stage of the game would be ~225 PP's, or 290 PP's less than what my opponent has invested so far. So using my experience as a guide, my opponent has used 290 PP's of his advantage bonus for leaders, leaving 134 PP's for additional air and ground units. Truthfully, I'm happy that he's investing so heavily in leaders and not in fighters, TACs and armor.
