Slitherine

14. March 1941 – All quiet
No German activity reported by allied intelligence.

I am beginning to worry that Ike99 might start an early Barbarossa in April or May.

PanzerGeneral wrote:

joerock22 wrote:
Neither England nor Egypt have come under attack? I think it's important for the Axis player to either capture one or the other. This means the Brits get to keep both the oil and the resources, and it also means the Axis have very little room for error the rest of the game. If you can stop the Germans in Russia, you have this game won.

Thanks for your vote of confidence Joe. I find playing Russia hard even against the AI (AI with advantage). I tend to get to eager and don't pull back as far as I have seen in other people do in their AARs.

I must be patient and let Ike99 run out of steam in Russia before getting to bold with my counter attacks.

I have the same problem, as I'm naturally an aggressive player and hate full-scale retreats. If Ike99 mounts a strong, early invasion, I don't know what advice to give you. Keeping the main Soviet army intact is probably more important than saving any city except Moscow, but you may have to give that up too.

The biggest problem for Russia is that its war effort won't increase much past 50% until Fall 1941, no matter how early the Germans invade. So your army is weak, and you lack the resources to build more units during one of the most crucial stretches of the game. It officially sucks

3. April 1941 – All quiet
No German activity reported by allied intelligence.

The British get Dog Fight Level 1. All planes are upgraded immediately.

23. April 1941 – Sweden invaded
Sweden has been invaded by the Wehrmacht.


Stockholm is well defended by units, and I think the Swedes will hold on a couple of turns. I send the Swedish BB to attack the amphibious landing units.

Personally I think this is a mistake by Ike99. Sweden is a detour at this time and will delay his Barbarossa until June.

13. May 1941 – Sweden is defending itself, convoy attacks in the Atlantic, the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean becomes active
The Wehrmacht is pushing towards Stockholm. No attacks yet. The brave Swedes will hold on another 2-3 turns. The Swedish BB fires some pot shots at a German unit.


I get some more techs. Finally my scientists are beginning to produce some results. I upgrade my planes.


The uboats have become active again. A wolfpack attacks a convoy in the North Atlantic. All destroyers are being rushed to the area.


Since Ike99 is busy in Sweden, I feel that the German presence in the Mediterranean is dimished. I am feeling quite bold and send out the Royal Navy out do some recon. The recon turns into a few attacks to see what is out there. It seems that only Italians are defending the area. I will show some restraint and not start attacking just yet! The British land forces could to do with a couple of tech upgrades. If feel bold enough I will turn up the heat in this area after Barbarossa has started.

22. June 1941 – Barbarossa has started – Russia under attack, Sweden is defending itself, the Royal Navy shells Italian infantry
The Wehrmacht has made good progress towards Stockholm. Two Swedish units have been annihilated, another has been cut off.


The Swedes counter attack.


The Royal navy continues to attack the unlucky Italian unit along the coast.
Iraq joins the allies. The allies get two infantry corps.

Ike99 has started Barbarossa! This is it. The war will be decided on the east front.

At the centre of the front most garrisons are not surrounded, but they take a beating.


The same goes for the south front.


The Red army is in full retreat, I will trade space for time.

The Russians buy Zhukov and 12 infantry corps.


Summary of the war so far
Again Der PanzerGeneral will share some thoughts on the last year of fighting.

The Wehrmacht has suffered few losses the last year. But again there has been little combat.


England
My destroyers have been active lately but have not found any uboats yet. I try to make them travel together and I will use them to escort the convoys to Murmansk. The Russians need all the PPs they can get. It will be most likely that I will run into the uboats along this route.

My fighter spots the defence in France. Ike99 has already stationed some infantry units there.


The British research teams are picking up the pace.


The goal for the next year is to kick the Italians out of North Africa. I am feeling confident as it seems that there are only Italian units there. This should draw some PPs/units to this theatre instead of Russia.

USA
Not much to report. The US research progress.


Russia
Ike99 attacked on the Barbarossa date. I actually thought that it would be postponed as he was bogged down in Sweden. The Red army is in disarray too many holes in the front line and too few PPs to plug the gaps.

The Russian strategy is simple (thanks for the advice from Joe). Avoid any fights and retreat like a coward :/ I need time to build infantry units and lots of them. The goal is to have a stabilized front line next summer.

The Russian research progress.

12. July 1941 – The Red army withdraws, Sweden is defending itself, the 8th army in North Africa attacks the Italians, clash in the Atlantic
The Wehrmacht attack against Stockholm has suffered a fair amount of casualties. I spot a Luftwaffe fighter with only 1 step left, my Swedish fighter finishes it off. My first axis unit kill of the war! I repair the unit in Stockholm, perhaps it will stall the Ike99 some more.


A wolfpack attacks a convoy and pulverize it (only 3 PPs left). Luckily my destroyers are not too far away they manage to attack and sink a uboat.


England gets a tech upgrade.


In North Africa, I am feeling bold I attack the Italian infantry unit along the coast and finish it off with my armour.


The Red army flees, correction make that a strategic withdrawal


Two more Russian infantry units are purchased. At this rate I will never get a continuous front line


My first unit kills of the war and I manage three in a turn! Way to go England!

1. August 1941 – The Red army withdraws, Sweden is defending itself, the 8th army in North Africa attacks the Italians, another uboat sunk
Stockholm is still holding out. I attack with the fighter and BB. The fighter is destroyed. The corps in Stockholm gets reinforcements in a hope that it will hold another turn.


The destroyers stumble upon a uboat and sink it.

Another Italian corps is attacked and destroyed. The Italian defensive line is beginning to crumble.


The Red army defensive line is coming along.


Two more Russian infantry units are purchased, along with a UK tactical bomber.

21. August 1941 – The Red army builds a defensive line, Sweden is defeated itself, the 8th army in North Africa advances
Sweden has surrendered.

England gets another tech.


The Royal navy CVs almost destroy the Italian fighter. Two Italian corps are nearly destroyed. The Brits are advancing. Hopefully Ike99 must spend some effort in order contain me. This should help Russia a little bit.


The Red army defensive line is coming along very slowly.

10. September 1941 – The Red army builds a defensive line, the 8th army in North Africa advances
England some more techs.


All British DDs travel towards the nearest port in order to have some upgrades.

The 8th army continues to attack and advance towards Tobruk.


The Red army defensive line is coming along very slowly.


Wehrmacht manages to make a breach in the front line in the south. I pull back my forces. Hopefully Ike99 will wear out his troops before winter and then my counter attack should knock some of his units out.


The current build queue.

30. September 1941 – The Red army waits for winter to arrive, the 8th army in North Africa advances on Tobruk
The 8th army attacks and destroys an Italian garrison. The road to Tobruk seems clear.

The Red army spends its PPs to try to stabilize the front in the south. A new unit is deployed there and damaged units are repaired.

In the north the Wehrmacht advances slowly.

20. October 1941 – The Red army waits for winter to arrive, the 8th army in North Africa advances on Tobruk
England gets another tech.


The 8th army will cut of Tobruk before capturing the city.


The Russians use all PPs to repair damaged units. Some units are pulled from the front line as I don’t have enough PPs to repair everything.

The front line in the Leningrad sector is just holding on.


The front line in the Moscow sector is stable for now.


In the southern sector, things are not looking very promising. I will let the Wehrmact run out of steam, and pray for an early winter.

9. November 1941 – The Red army waits for winter to arrive, the 8th army in North Africa advances on Tobruk
England gets another tech.


The 8th army advance slows down because of repairs.


The Russians have enough PPs to repair almost all units. One infantry corps is purchased.


The front line in the Leningrad sector is still just holding on.


The front line in the Moscow sector seems stable.


In the southern sector, things are still not looking very promising. On the bright side the southern sector is mostly manned by axis auxiliary units, and almost all units have low efficiency. When winter starts this area is ripe for a counteroffensive.

29. November 1941 – The Red army is under pressure, Tobruk is captured
Tobruk is captured by the 8th army. Next stop is Tripoli.


The Russians buy another air tech. The rest is used for emergency repairs of units. England buys two infantry corps that will be sent to North Africa.


The front line in the Leningrad sector is under pressure. Leningrad is attacked and has only 2 steps left, it is reinforced of course.


The front line in the Moscow sector is also under pressure. The Germans see to press on towards Tula.


In the southern sector things are grim. I move in an armoured corps which will be use when winter arrives.

19. December 1941 – The Red army is under pressure, USA joins the allies
England gets a number of techs this turn.


In North Africa the British forces upgrade their equipment.

The US enters the war! All US forces are shipped to England.

The Russians use all PPs to repair their units.

Leningrad has fallen. It is time to pull back the remnants of this front back to Novgorod.


The front line in the Moscow seems under control. An Italian infantry corps is reduces to 2 steps.
North of Voronezh I spot an opportunity to trap three panzer korps. I attack and manage to surround them. This will halt these panzer attaks, and Ike99 will throw everything at me to free them.


In the southern sector things are bad. Rostov is surrounded. I pull my forces back to Stalingrad. When is winter coming?


The Red army has taken many casualties in men and armor.

8. January 1942 – The Red army counterattacks
England gets a number of techs this turn.


In North Africa the British forces upgrade their equipment.

The Russians use all PPs to repair their units.
Winter has finally arrived. I do what the Russians did in 1941. I let everything that can attack go into a general offensive to bleed the Wehrmacht of its manpower.

In the north I will attempt to cut of the two panzer korps from their supply.


In the center the Red destroys an Italian korps. The rest of the units close in on the Wehrmacht.


In the south there are vicious battles. Ike99 managed the get a line of supply to his panzer near Voronezh. I manage to cut them off again. At Stalingrad a korps manage to get a Bulgarian unit on the run. Rostov has fallen. I move in my battleship to supply the surrounded unit. Maikop has fallen. I have no spare units to contain Ike99 in the Caucasus

28. January 1942 – The Red army counterattacks
Russia gets a tech.


In North Africa the British push towards Tripoli.


The current build queue.


Novgorod is almost surrounded, they will fight to the bitter end. I manage to cut off an infantry korps. A panzer korps is destroyed and I am sooo close to surround the other panzer korps and an Italian unit.


South of Tula I send in some forces. The plan is to attack the Germans in the rear and try to surround a second group. The panzers have a supply line. My two armoured corps and a motorized corps attack a panzer corps which bearly hold on with a strength of 1 step.


In the south I push a Hungarian korps out of the Crimea. At Stalingrad the front line is stable for now.

17. February 1942 – The Red army counterattacks
In North Africa the British slowly push towards Tripoli.


Novgorod is lost. The northern front is in dissary. It is time to pull back.


The battle of Voronezh is also going badly. My Russian units are running out of steam. Again it is time to retreat and rescue as many units as possible.


In the south the units pull back to the Crimea, they will entrench and hold on to the end. A new corps is deployed near Grozny. The attacks at Stalingrad are also running out steam.


Another lesson learned when playing against an aggressive human player in Russia. The winter and severe weather did not favor me as much as I had thought. My counterattacks did some damage, but I got the same in return.

The current plan is to start a slow fighting withdrawal, and build up my army. The USA must come to the rescue. The allied plan will be an Overlord in 1943. I need to get large army and air force assembled before landing in France. After the Brits take Tripoli they will go straight for Sicily.

9. March 1942 – The Red army is in need of repairs, Tripoli under attack
USA gets some techs.


In North Africa the British slowly push towards Tripoli. Tripoli is bombarded from the sea and air.


The front line is stable on the centre front.


On the south front I manage to surround the armor again as I try to extract my forces from Voronezh. The units around Stalingrad get some much needed repairs.


In the Caucasus I need more forces. All PPs go to repair the units I have in order to have them stay alive so I cannot afford any new units


As my turn ends I get my first partisan unit. The partisans appear near Pskov and I notice one interesting thing. There are no garrisons in Pskov. Does this mean that Ik99 has all his forces at the front line and none in the rear? My partisan unit will try to grab Pskov before Ike99 can send his forces to it.

29. March 1942 – North Africa under Allied control, the Kriegsmarine spotted near Murmansk
England gets a tech. USA (Air) and Russia (Armour) by a tech each.


In North Africa the British have captured Tripoli. The Italians have been kicked out of North Africa. Next stop is Sicily!


I send in my DDs before the convoy to Murmansk. I spot two German BBs and I bet there are a couple of subs hidden in the area. So Ike99 is going to starve the Russians of their desperately needed PPs. I have to assemble the US and Royal navy and attack in force.


At the Moscow front I start a slow withdrawal. A Finnish korps is annihilated north of Rzhev by my tanks.


At the South Front I try to pull out my forces from the front line.


At the Caucasus front things are quiet for now. An army is placed at the oilfield near Grozny.