AAR: Horseman (Axis) v AI (Allied)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:11 am

November 14, 1940 - Resistance in mainland Britain finally crushed! Cairo falls! Allied leades fear loss of Suez canal!

Italian scientists make a break though

Hungary brings 3 army (corps) units and a Mobile (Motorised) corps to the fight.
And Romania 4 Corps and a cavalry (motorised) corp as well as a the FRAA (fighter)

Germany Purchases another fighter unit and that'll give me 2 so far for the eastern front.

The UK's last city on mainland Britain (Glasgow) falls only taking 1 step off of 2 Korps in the process. Next stop Ireland! And with that in mind the Highseas fleet shells Belfast knocking off 1 step from the UK garrison there.

My Uboat fleet contiue to search the Atlantic finding nothing..

16 Panzer and 6 Motorised rail to Budapest ready to support the attack on Yugoslavia and then Greece. 7 Panzer lands in France.

1st and 3rd Hugarian armies move to get withing attack distance of Belgrade and the Romanian FRAR rebases into range.

Africa at start of turn

Luftflotte 1 opens the attack on Cairo followed by Luftflotte 2. Both knock a step off the UK garrison for no loss.
4 Korp leads the ground assault losing a step but killing a further 3 followed closely by 3 Panzer who knock off another 3 steps for no loss. The UK garrison is also rduced to 0 efectiveness allowing the Italian Armoured corps to take the city for no further loss.

The Italian 3rd fleet once more bombards Port Said knocking a step off the Egyptian army. The Italian fighter also attacks hoping to lower Egyptian entrenchment and succeding to knock another step off as well...these guys must have been practicing with the Luftwaffe!

19 Motorised Korps and the Italian Alpini corps cross the river encircling Port Said and other Italian units surrond the last garrison unit of the British 8th army cuting off its supply.

Africa after Axis moves

Axis man power/PP status

Its looking ok on the manpower front. Germany is at 112% and Italy at 101% though I've not really built many units so I expect this to drop quite quicky before Barbarossa as I intend bulding lots.

Allied turn
Nothing that i can see going on here....

Summary:
Well its kind of the calm before the storm now as I build up for Barbarossa. Ireland shouldn't put up too much of a fight and nor should Yugoslavia if I play it right. I wanted to take Belgrade with an Italian unit but doubt I'll get 1 over there before I attack so will have to content myself with Germany gaining more PP's...
Greece will go to the Itlalians as will Port Said and most of the non oil East!

In my last post I said I was using the 1941 scenario from the game as a "yard stick" to measure what units I need for the attack....I'll keep tack here of how I'm going towards the targets. Note these are only units on the Eastern front and German units.

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 4
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Fighters - Have 0
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:08 pm

December 4, 1940 - Axis gain control of Suez canal! Balkland states get nervous...are they next?

German scientists continue to make progress

Germany purchase Guderian and another motorised corp. Italy purchase an air lab with a focus in dog fight. The fighter will obviously benefit from this but my main reason for doing this is to help out the Italian carriers I intend to purchase eventually.

The Highseas fleet and Luftwaffe rain death on Belfast knocking the Garrison down to 2 steps, effectivness 1 and 1 entrenchment, shame I dont have a ground unit in place yet!
9 Korps although only at 6 steps ships over ready to land next turn, with the bombardment I've already unleased this will probably be enough to take the city next turn. 2 Korps moves next to Glasgow port ready to ship over to help out taking southern Ireland. 27 korps garrisons Glasgow and 17 Korps garrisons London.

My Uboat fleet moves closer to Canada but still no contacts..

7 Panzer rails to Warsaw ready to give effectiveness bonus's to all units in area when Guderian takes command next turn.

In the Balklands some units shift position ready for the invasion of Yugoslavia next turn and this included railing the Italian 2nd corps to Budapest..they might just make it in to take the country and its precious PP's.

The Balklands

Egypt start of turn

The Italian fleet continues bombarding Port said knocking 1 step from the Egyptian army. The Luftwaffe jon in taking no loss and killing 3 more steps. The Italian airforce do no damage but the Egyptian army is down to effectivness 4 with no entrenchment.
19 Motorised Korps knocks the Egyptian army down to 2 steps and the Italian Alipini corps takse Port Said for no loss.
21 and 10 Italian corps attack the remaining garrison unit of the 8th army knocking out 7 steps for no loss. As its out of supply there will be no reinforcements so the Italian 20 motorised corps moves east ready to lead the attack into Syria.

The Italian 1st fleet moves north taking up position NW of Cyprus to block any escape attempt by the UK's 2nd Carrier squadron. The 2nd fleets moves to support operations against Greece.

The Africa Korp ready to drive into the middle east

Allied turn
Great news for Axis command

Nothing else I can see happening!

Summary:
All good. Germany will now be driving for Iraq/Iran and the Italians for Syria.
Ireland will probably fall quite easily with my naval and air support....though I am wondering where the RN is hiding!

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 4
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 2 (1 will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Fighters - Have 0
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:51 pm

December 24, 1940 - World leaders stunned at Yudoslavias rapid fall! German units land in Ireland! Axis units enter Syria

Axis scientists work overtime...

With an increase in war effort Germany build their 13th lab, another infantry one.

The Belfast garrison managed to repair some loses

The highseas fleet, Luftflotte 3 and 5 manage to reduce the garrison to 1 step allowing 9 Korp to all but walk into the city.
Luftflotte 4 upgrades.
2 Korps embarks for Ireland whilst 27 korps repairs to full strength.

Uboat flotilla 2 moves closer to Halifax and spots the 1st, 2nd and 4th RN battle squadrons clustered around its port (the 3rd was destroyed at Cardiff) the 1st Destroyer flotilla is just a bit further north. This prompts flotillas 1 and 3 to head north looking for convoys, no luck yet!

Germany declares war on Yugoslavia and prepares to cross the boarder

Yugoslavia can call on 7 army units. 5 are 2nd rate garrison units, the 1st and 6th are corps units (the 6th holding Belgrade)

The newly christened Luftflotte 6 (tac) opens the attack knocking 2 steps off the 6th army.
6 Motorised korps loses a step and inflicts 2 loses on the 6th army before the 3rd and then 1st Hungarian armies throw thier weight in. They both inflict 1 step loss and lose none. I forgot the Romanian FRAR who now go in reducing the 6th army by another step. 16 Panzer with Manstein at its head completes the conquest, rolling into Belgrade for no loses!

YUGOSLAVIA CONQUERED

The Italian 2 corps was too far to get in without fighting through more Yugoslavian armies and delaying the conquest so rails to Taranto ready to ship to Greece and go after Athens. The Italian 6 corps joins them.

The Afrika Korps begins their advance towards Syria and Iraq with all 3 air units rebasing to withing range of Beirut, the only military presence seen is a UK corps unit in the city.

My new fighter unit deploys to Vienna and Guderian to 7 Panzer Korps.

Allied turn
Again nothing I can see!

Summary:
Southern Ireland will hopefully only last 1 more turn allowing me to give full attention to the east.
With most of the RN around Halifax I'm hoping I can punish the northern convoys, I dont know where the 1st carrier squdron is and of course it is possible the AI has built more naval units..
For some reason I only had 1 supply for 2 of my German units in Egypt, im hoping it was becaue they were in a desert hex, if not it means I may have made a mistake as I dont have a city (other than Italians) providing supply to them? Do allied cities provide supply to other countries?
1 other worry is my research. I will probably have a tech edge in the air against Russia but their armour units start with1 tech level in all 3 areas and their infantry have level 1 in defence. I dont think I'll have any for either unit types....I'll be relying on my air and advantage and Organisation!

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 4
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 2 (1 will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Fighters - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)[/b]

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:36 pm

January 13, 1941 - Neutral Ireland shocked as Germany declares war!

Research

Italy builds their 3rd general lab. Germany purchases an armoured , a motorised and a corps unit.

Uboat flotilla 2 blocks the passage past the island off the coast of Canada which will force the RN round the long way..flotilla's 1 and 3 head NW but still no contacts!

Germany declares war on Ireland

The Irish army is just a single garrison unit in Dublin.
All 3 Luftflotte based in the UK bomb Dublin knocking off 4 steps from the garrison and losing just 1 step from Luftflotte 3.
2 Korps lands and attacks losing a step and taking 2 off the Irish army. 9 Korps is too far away to attack this turn...I forgot with only 3 supply I lose 1 move point.

Ireland holds!

The Highseas fleet docks at Glasgow.

2 and 6 Italian corps set sail for Greece. Luftflotte 6 and 7 rail to Tirana and are now in range of Athens. 6 Motorised Korps repairs back to full strength. The Romanian FRAR rebases on the Russian boarder, the remaining Romanian and Hungarian forces also start moving to take up position for barbarossa..

The middle east

The Italian navy stays out of spoting range of the UK carrier whilst the ground forces advance.
The Italian airforce make a ground attack on the corps in Beirut and is intercepted by a UK fighter group based NE of the city. The Italians lose 3 steps dog fighting and a further step on the ground attack. In return the RAF lose 2 steps and the corps unit 1.
Both Luftflotte upgrade.

Final positions

My new fighter unit deploys to Vienna and the motorised corps to Berlin.

Allied turn
The RAF in Syria rebases to the hex north of Beirut...a total of 1 hex moved! Not sure why they did this.
The UK corps unit repairs to full strength.
The Irish army repairs to 7 steps but still only has 11 effectiveness.

Summary:
Who'd have thought little Ireland with only 1 garrison unit would hold longer than Yugoslavia!!! Still will probably be conquered next turn.
I couldn't quite get both Italian units into position to land next turn so might hold of my DOW on Greece...not decided yet but it would mean my new fighter could also come down and help.

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 4
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 2 (1 will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 2 (1 will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Fighters - Have 2 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:35 pm

February 2, 1941 - Ireland surrenders!

Research

Germany purchases another tac bomber and a corps unit.

Uboats hold position hoping to see a covoy soon!
After another Luftwaffe bombardment Dublin falls with no further loss.

I hold off declaring war on Greece and both Italian Corps are in position to land next turn. The new Luftflotte 8 (fgt) rails to Tirana just in range of Athens.
The new 11 motorised Korps rails to Warsaw.

I upgrade Lufflotte 6 to gain level 1 close air support, the other German units involved in Yugoslavia move towards the Russian boarder.

Middle East

Luftflotte 1 attacks Beirut killing 2 steps from the intercepting RAF and 1 step from the UK Corps. They lose only 1 step against the Corps.
Luftflotte 2 knocks 2 more steps off the Corps for no loss. The Italian airforce attacks only succeding in knocking off an entrenchment level for no loss.
Ground units continue to advance.
Middle East - end of Axis moves
My new Corps unit deploys to Berlin.

Allied turn
RAF moves away and out of sight
The UK Carrrier leaves port a staitions herself north of Cyprus

Summary:
Well Ireland put up a fight better than some other countries! But still she fell.
The advance into the middle east is going (predictably) slow but I'll get there in the end...more oil here I come!
Greece is next and hopefully will fall in 1 turn...time will tell. I'm building frantically for Russia now but should be in position to launch at the historical date at the latest. Research on Infantry and Armour is stil going slow and it would be nice to get a breakthrough in a couple of areas over the next few turns!
Oh and lets see what that carier is made of now!

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 5
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 2
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 2
Want 2 Fighters - Have 2 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:50 pm

February 22, 1941 - Greece invaded!

Research

Germany purchases an armoured and a corps unit.

Uboats in the Atlantic still have no convoy sightings....have the northern runs stopped!?!??!

Middle East at start turn

Luftflotte 1 attacks Beirut and draws out the UK fighter...it has rebased to cyprus. Luftflotte 1 takes no loses and takes a step off the UK fighter and 1 off of the Corps unit.
Luftflotte 2 takes another step off of the Corps unit in Beirut as does the Italian airforce!
The ground forces continue to advance. Due to the slow going I send the Italian 21 Corps via the sea.
The Italian fleet surronds and attacks the RNs 2nd Carrier squadron knocking it down to 1 step! Italian loses were lighter than expected - 2 steps from submarine flotilla, 1 step from 3rd fleet and 2 steps from 1st fleet.
Middle east after Axis moves

Dow on Greece

Greece has 3 corps units and a garrison unit in the fortress.

The Italian 2nd fleet shells the Greek 3 corps in Athens removing a step. Luftflotte 6 removes another step, Luftflotte 7 deals no damage and Luftflotte 8 takes out 2 steps. All for no loses.
Defenders of Athens

2 Italian corps lands and deals out 1 step loss for no damage. 6 corps takes a loss of 1 step and inflicts 1 step loss.
Greece after invasion

14 Korps (new) rails to Konigsberg. The new motorised and corps unit deploy to Berlin.

Allied turn
The RAF fighter on Cyprus relocates 1 hex west. The Corps unit in Beirut repairs to full strength.
The Greek 3 corps in Athens repairs to 7 steps.
The Greek 2 corps attacks the Italian 6 corps. resulting in 1 step lost to the Greeks and 4 from the Italians!

Summary:
Hmm the attack on Greece is not going quite as expected/hoped! I'm in real danger of not only not completing the conquest next turn but also of losing 1 if not both Italian corps that I landed. Not good! My naval and air bombardment needs to be better this turn, wish I had that 2nd tacbomber and not fighter now.
The UK CV unit did not try and run so is lost - that leaves only the BB based in Malta (assuming its still there) in the med so I will probably repair the Ialian fleet and send them to the Atlantic. That'll be 4 BB's and 4 subs, not so shabby.

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 6
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 3
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 2
Want 2 Fighters - Have 2 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1 (Will be attacking Balklands 1st)

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:38 am

March 14, 1941 - Greek goverment forced to surrender as Athens falls! Beirut surronded! Axis military might swells as Bulgaria declares for Germany!

Research

Germany purchses Kesselring and a corps unit. Italy builds her 4th General lab to hopefully speed up industry and organisation.

Uboat fleet still has no contacts.
Luftflotte 4 rebases to France ready to redeploy to the Russian boarder.

Middle east at start turn

The Italian submarine flotilla sinks the last of the UKs 2nd carrier squadron leaving known allied naval strength in the Med at only 1 BB based in Malta. The 3rd fleet shells Beirut causing no damage.
Luftflotte 1 flys to Beirut and as expected is intercepted by the RAF based in Cyprus. German loses amount to 1 step against the RAF. 2 steps are knocked out from the RAF and 1 from the UK corps unit.
Luftflotte 2 adds her bombs against Beirut knocking out a further 3 steps and reducing the Corp to 0 effectiveness and even the Italian fighters knock out another step!
21 Italian corps lands to the north of Beirut and attacks knocking out a further step. Then I realise 21 corps will be out of supply....luckily I hadn't yet moved the 1st fleet into port so they redirect to act as a supply source for 21 corps.
10 Italian Corps repairs in Port Said, 20 Motorised Corps advances on Beirut and all other forces head towards Iraq.

Middle east at end of Axis moves

Greece

The 2nd Italian fleet shells Athens and knocks out a step. Luftflotte's 6, 7 and 8 combine and manage to knock out 3 more steps leaving only 3 defending Athens.
2 Italian corps leads the assault and loses a step but manages to wipe out the defender, Athens is taken.

GREECE IS CONQUERED

6 Italian Corps repairs 1 step and all other forces continue deploying to the Russian boarder.
The new armoured unit deploys to Berlin.

Allied turn
Bulgaria mobilises

Uboats have contact! A 110 step convoy appears in the north.
The Royal Navy moves out to escort them and the 1st Destroyer Flotilla runs strait into Uboat Flotilla 2. The ensuring battle sees 2 steps lost from the Uboats and 3 from the Destroyers. With this path blocked I spy several (2 mabe 3) BBs move NE to go around the Island.
The corps in Beirut repairs back to 7 steps.

Summary:
Well I finally have a convoy to worry! With the RN heading out in force I'll only have 1 maybe 2 at best turns to do damage so I wont sink the Convoy but can hopefully knock out 20-40 steps, still lots of PPs for the UK to lose (especilly with all cities they no longer have!) I wont risk battle with the RN with only 3 Uboats!
With the UK CV dead in the med I'll repair the Italian fleet and move them out to the Atlantic now.
Greece put up 1 hell of a fight and I was very lucky to take Athens this turn. Most attacks caused more damage than the odds predicted. lesson learnt - those 3 points of organisation the Germans have makes a huge difference!
Beirut should fall next turn...with so much damage taken by the corps unit defending it I'm confidant that this time the 2 Italian corps going to take it will succede. Iraq is next.
I'm still worried about my research...it really doesn't seem to be going quickly enough!
I pulled 1 fighte rout of the UK as I felt it would be overkill.....the air there is now really only there to help against Partizans.

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 6
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 3
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 3
Want 2 Fighters - Have 2
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 1

OzHawkeye2 · Post by **OzHawkeye2** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:14 pm

Seems to be coming along nicely there.

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:35 pm

OzHawkeye wrote:Seems to be coming along nicely there.

Indeed, I'm far more optimistic this tim eround than I was in my 1st game. The sheer amount of ground to cover in Russia is a bit daunting but I have faith!

JyriErik · Post by **JyriErik** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:47 pm

Most important thing to remember in Russia that I've found is that a unit in a pocket that isn't threatening your supply line or a city can be left to rot. It costs you zero casualties and gives you more units on the front to capture cities.

Jyri

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 6:03 pm

JyriErik wrote:Most important thing to remember in Russia that I've found is that a unit in a pocket that isn't threatening your supply line or a city can be left to rot. It costs you zero casualties and gives you more units on the front to capture cities.

Jyri

Sage avice. In my 1st game my desie to wipe out everything cost me alot of time, manpower and PPs..the trick is working out which units you can afford to leave to rot!

JyriErik · Post by **JyriErik** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:56 am

Simplest rule of thumb. If they're 3 or more hexes from a city and uable to get to another source of supply, leave them be.

Oh, and I've found that it's good to put the German surface fleet near Leningrad. It makes it easier to kill the Russians in Karelia and keeps the Russian Baltic fleet from causing any "mischief".

Jyri

OzHawkeye2 · Post by **OzHawkeye2** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:24 am

Yup, Russia is a very mobile battle. The longer the fight goes, the harder it gets so it's definitely not the time to "go for every last hex and unit". Besides, Russia is just Moscow+Perm, everything else is just the roadhumps you speed over on the way to that target.

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:03 pm

Never thought about bringing my (admittadly limited) surface fleet over...

I am looking forward to this....my last attempt was a complete hash so fingers crossed I can perform better!

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:38 am

April 3, 1941 - Iraq invaded!

Research

Germay puchases 1 armour, 1 motorised and 1 corps unit.
The Bulgarians have the 1st, 3rd and 5th armies (all corps units)

Uboat flotilla 2 heads for open sea whilst flotillas 1 and 3 manage to sink 15 ships of the convoy.
On land the general redeployment towards the Russian boarder continues.

The Italian 2nd fleet having completed her duties assisting the attack on Greece heads towards the Suez canal to join the rest of the Italian navy preparing to goto the Atlantic.

Middle East

The Italian 3rd fleet shells Beirut knocking a step off the UK corps there.
Luftflotte 1 is intercepted by the RAF losing a step but knocking out 2 more from the UK fighters (now only at 2 steps) The ground attacks causes no casulties.
Luftflotte 2 manages to reduce the UK corps by 2 more steps and even the Italian airforce knock a step off.
The Italian 20 motorised and 21 corps finally take the city for no further loss.

The 1st Italian fleet docks in Port Said and the Submarine flotilla docks in the newly conqured Beirut port.

Germany declares war on Iraq
With no sign of enemy military units 3 Panzer Korps heads towards Mosul and the valuable oil. the 7th Australian (UK corps unit) holds the oil wells and 3 Panzer attacks losing 2 steps and killing 4 Australian steps.
The Italian armoured corps joins the attack knocking out a further 2 steps and losing 1 allowing 19 Motorised Korps to oust the Australians for no loss. Axis high command is relieved to now have another source of oil!

Middle east at end turn

A new tac bomber, motorised and corps unit are all deployed in Germany. Kesselring is held back as I want him to join the new armoured unit next turn.

Allied turn
The RN move out in force to protect the convoy

Summary:
Barbarossa slated for a June start....plans forming in my mind.
I cant see Iran going down before I attack Russia but hopefully that means by time the Africa Korps areready to attack into the Caucussus most of the Russian troops will have transfered west...time will tell if this is a smart move or a disastor!

The Italian Navy will repair and then head for the Atlantic, its time to start challenging the RN and stop the UK from geting all those convoy PPs. I will also want to hurt the Northern runs to Russia....the big bear hardly needs any more points to spend agianst me!

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 7
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 4
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 3
Want 2 Fighters - Have 3
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 2

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:46 am

April 23, 1941 - Resistance movement organised in mainland Britain!

Research

Germany purchases a fighter and a corps unit. Italy a motorised unit.

German Uboat fleet heads for open sea...they dont want to tangle with the RN yet!

Luftflottes 3 and 5 rebase to France ready to rail to the east next turn. Other units continue deployment in the east and also a few units (air and some minor ground units) upgrade.
A new armour and a new corps unit deploy to Berlin and Kesselring takes command of the newly minted 20 Panzer Korps.

Middle East

3 Panzer Korps heads for Baghdad which I now see is guarded by 10th Indian (Uk corps) all other units of "Afrika Korps" move easterly towards Baghdad. I do leave 1 Italian unit in both Port Said and Beirut.

The Italian 1st fleet and submarine flotilla both repair to full strength.

Allied turn
The RN escort the convoy towards port...
Partizans appear in the UK next to Liverpool! Its a garrsion unit.

Summary:
Typical, i make the decision to pull the Luftwaffe out of the UK as I felt they were wasted just sitting there incase some partizans appear and what happens?!?!? GAH!!!! Still my ground troops should be able to deal with them....I will replace the air units with new builds at some point soon but I wanted the experience on the eastern front...with the new build fighter that I'll have in 3 turns that'll give me 5 German fighters, 3 tac bombs and the Romanian fighter...I'll use 2 fighters and 1 tac bomb for each army group.
I plan on building a few Italian Motorised corps to tag along with the German advance and capture the odd city to help boost their income. The plan is simple (this might sound familiar!) I'll have 3 basic army groups (North, centre and south) Each with their own objectives (obviously the final target is Moscow and Perm!) But I'll go more into this when I actually launch the invasion....as some one important once said "No plan has ever survived contact with the enemy!"

My build up for Barbarossa:
Want 10 Corp units - Have 8
Want 4 Motorised units - Have 4
Want 4 Armoured Units - Have 4
Want 2 Fighters - Have 3
Want 2 Tac bombers - Have 2

I proably won't get my 10 corp units but I will have extra Motorised, armour and air so all told probably ok! I also of course have the minors and I will have a couple of Italians

JyriErik · Post by **JyriErik** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:36 am

Don't recall if you said anything previously about it, but you might want to stick a couple of bombers (Tac for killing power or Strategic for range) into the UK for the inevitable counterinvasion(s). Some airpower in the west is necessary to stop/maul the landings that will be coming.

Jyri

OzHawkeye2 · Post by **OzHawkeye2** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:54 am

Against a human player I'd agree, against the AI....I've yet to see it ever try and retake the UK.

Horseman · Post by **Horseman** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:02 pm

JyriErik wrote:Don't recall if you said anything previously about it, but you might want to stick a couple of bombers (Tac for killing power or Strategic for range) into the UK for the inevitable counterinvasion(s). Some airpower in the west is necessary to stop/maul the landings that will be coming.

Jyri

Indeed I do plan on replacing the air units in the west once barbarossa is underway...plus they'll be useful against Partizans (see last update grrr)

OzHawkeye wrote:Against a human player I'd agree, against the AI....I've yet to see it ever try and retake the UK.

I think the AI (like most games) can react only to what it sees....if England/france are badly defended then the AI will attempt to take them back...that happened in my last (and 1st!) game....I was getting so badly mauled in Russia I had next to nothing in the UK (1 corp in london and 1 in Ireland!) and only a handful of Garrisons in France....Uk was retaken as was Paris!

Still as I plan going pbem once ive got the hang of this a bit more I think its good policy to get used to doing things like not leaving the west too vulnerable in preperation for getting mauled by a human player!

JyriErik · Post by **JyriErik** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:54 pm

OzHawkeye wrote:Against a human player I'd agree, against the AI....I've yet to see it ever try and retake the UK.

In the games I played where I took the UK but left Canada alone, the AI would hit the UK with about a dozen British and American units (in late 1942 IIRC). After those were killed, it would build up in North America until the Axis invaded.

Jyri