Slitherine

Turn 62

Not much to report, evacuation by the russians is almost complete and i begin advancing past Gorki and head towards Omsk with my standing infantry, the tanks and Mechs are being railed to the frontline whenever possible. Bombings over germany continue during winter, since Raf has got better dogfight than me i choose to keep my fighters on sentry until i catch up in research.
I don´t think we will see an invasion of France in 43 judging by the forces sheet. Most of US and UK tanks and infantry is accounted for in the Med, but when i see those tac bombers i get kind of worried....

Turn 63 winter

Still no action here. Producing a lot of new units for 43 action. Where they will go is a bit uncertain, it all depends on Zechis plans



The fleet that set sail from the atlantic is starting to appear in the Med, i also staioned 1 italian mech and a 1 tank on Sicilly to counter attack any successful landings. They have got good upgrades 3 in air attack so hopefully they will defend themselves ok despite Allied air superiority here.

Turn 64

A surgical strike against Vichy in NA, all ports and cities there was captured upon delcaring war. I get some more pps from the rest of Vichy France. There is an avalanche heading for Italy, will be fun to see how she will manage.



Some small fighting in the east, a scouting party of hungarian infantry got cought near the russian front border and destroyed after a couple of airstrikes, so we form something resembling a defense line. I doubt that Zechi will launch any major attacks since there is probably only 2-3 more turns left of bad weather. In any case i would be glad if he did, catch the russians out on the open field in summer 43 would be a good start.

Turn 65

Zechi feeling his way forward with a couple of infantry...not much more than that happening. It will be interesting to see if Zechi is building infantry for defense of Russia or he aims for shock troops to be on the offensive. There is nothing wrong with his bombers though, 1 run at my mech that was placed just beside rail depot Saransk knock down 3 steps. I had to retreat it north out of the way so it won´t get destroyed.



Next target is Sardinia. It is a good airbase for attacking Italy so why not. Allied enjoy total air superiority here as well as naval. The rest of Italian fleet is sitting scared in thir harbours and waiting. I am wondering where Zechi will strike, Sicilly, Italian mainland or Vichy?

In the East, Zechi will probably form a defence line behind the river. However, your position is strong there and if you don't make big blunders, you should be able to at least hold your ground. The big question is how strong the Allies are in GB and the Med. Just don't feel too confident - remember Morris' AAR where Joe Rock made a massive counter-attack from Siberia and actually won the game .

Cybvep wrote:In the East, Zechi will probably form a defence line behind the river. However, your position is strong there and if you don't make big blunders, you should be able to at least hold your ground. The big question is how strong the Allies are in GB and the Med. Just don't feel too confident - remember Morris' AAR where Joe Rock made a massive counter-attack from Siberia and actually won the game .

Yeah i do remember, Morris had placed his tanks and mech in the frontline over winter so german elites units got wasted. I don´t plan on doing that
But i will have to be catious when advancing towards Omsk that is correct. Hopefully i can deal the russians another blow in the summer of 43 and then retreat back towards Moscow in 44 and defend the city for major victory. Ofcourse i have to hold the allies at bay also...

Allied convoys haven´t been getting through most of the game(that i know of) and they spent a lot of money on naval units so far. Looking at the force table i doubt they got that much to spare. Unless Zechi completes a lot ground units in UK and US next turn there won´t be an early attack on France, though Italy will probably feel the wrath

Turn 66 April 1943

Still quite, mostly upgrades and transporting units. My tank research is really good now for both italians and germans. The allies will have something to chew when the land.
Action here in the atlantic, DD ran into a sub and nearly destroyed it. Antisub research is becoming too good for my uboats, so it´s only a matter of time before they loose the battle for atlantic.



No surprises here...Sardinina falls and most of the allied units in africa is securing their newly won territory. That will take em a couple of turn.

Turn 67 late april

More upgrades and resupplying for summer 43 action. Think next turn will be fair so then i shall start rolling. Infantry advancing towards Omsk to see what is out there and also to lure out potential russian attacks. I don´t know if i still have tech superiority over russian infantry...so it shall be exciting to see. Zechi seems to have retreated all the way back to the forest of Omsk, probably the best option to make me fight in 3 supply zone. Next turn i will be able to see what kind of defense he has got there



Petrozavodsk was bombed and captured by combined finnish and german infantry. The russian guard infantry was an annoying thorn in the side so i had to deal with it....also i didn´t want zechi to establish a rail link there to rail in lot´s of units to start causing havoc so far behind my line.



Powerfull naval units attack italian navy in port. They are hopelessly outnumbered and i will not even try to keep them alive. Battle for the Med is lost now.....Zechi is really biding his time. I am surprised that he hasn´t moved in on Italy or vichy france so far....maybe he will wait until he can launch operation overlord as well???



The most annoying part of the game so far. Strategic bombing of germany and with my lousy fighter tech i can´t really do anything about it. Stationed fighter are inflicting losses at the US bombers but not to the extent that i would like. I still make around 170pps and good oil production...but i am gonna have to do something about this sooner or later



Since most of Zechis fleet is in the Med, german uboats have been enjoying unescorted convoys for a while. Also most of the strat bombers are in the UK. Let´s see how long that will last

Atlast....1943 may and fair weather

It seems like i have been waiting for ever....on the eastern front we start rolling again and 5 cities fall, Vologda to secure the flank of Moscow and then the ones towards Omsk. Russians have upgraded their infantry to 5 in attack, but survivability is still one lower than mine, that will be helpful during 43. No air support for the russians so far.



Since most of the german targets have been demolished i am gonna try a new tactic. Since my fighter tech isn´t good enough i will keep them out of range of allied fighters but close enough to fly interception against enemy bombers. Hopefully that will cause more damaged to allied airforce. Bad thing is that i will give him 2 runs at each target.



Still surprised, no action in the med or in France....

Great AAR! I suppose you have some strategic reserve for dealing with Allied action vs France or Italy? Looks pretty empty in Germany.

trulster wrote:Great AAR! I suppose you have some strategic reserve for dealing with Allied action vs France or Italy? Looks pretty empty in Germany.

Thanks.... Italy is pretty much holding it´s own for now. They got good defense on Sicilly and the southern part of Italy with some offensive units to strike with as well if the allies land. But i do have a reserve waiting of heavy german units....since there has been little or no action i am thinking about moving them to the east in 43...but in a few turns i will decide

Turn 69

Couple of more cities fall into german hands as we advance on Omsk and hit the Russian defense wall. This turn i got next lvl of fighter research so i now match the allies....i am still behind but closing in. I recently discovered that the russian manpower is below 75%...that´s good. Did some upgrades on fighters this turn. Next turn shall be interesting here...



Still no action in the Med, also have some spare units to send here incase of emergency but otherwise i think it looks good, what do you guys say? Italians are mostly building gar and corps now....cannon fodder



In Europe strat bombing continue, this time US and UK bombers suffered much more damage. My guess is that Zechi will have to stop and refit next turn. Looks like my plan to keep fighters further in land will work....will take a while to see full results though. This turn i upgraded my fighters to pararity with the UK. That is really nice....will give me some tactical space in the future. On other notes i have seen a medium large force that set sail from USA. Also the free french units have left africa....i don´t know but i get a funny feeling that he will try and land in France since my defense there is only gar. They will probably be there in 2-3 turns

I wouldn't be suprised to see a multi point assualt once he thinks you are too far forward in Russia to react quickly in the west

richardsd wrote:I wouldn't be suprised to see a multi point assualt once he thinks you are too far forward in Russia to react quickly in the west

Yeah...you are probably right....that seems like the only possible explenation to why there is no action so far

A glimpse at the casualties table

Staggering losses for the russians, would be interesting to see how their manpower % is

Turn 70

We hit the russian defense wall. Destroy 4 corps and inflict some damage against russian airforce



In the west bombings continue. But since i now got air pararity with the allies i can be more on the offensive with my fighters. 3 of them are put in range of England and his bombers, to disturb his runs. Now Zechi is gonna have to move them or suffer heavy damage.



Med fleet is on the move, but it looks like the task force is heading for Greece??? Or perhaps the backside of Italy. Since Sicilly is heavily defended, he will have to think of something else.



Here we got german research progress. Since oil is not a problem i think i am gonna take one away from general and put it on armour.

will be interesting to see what he does now - I would rotate the front rank in Russia back behind my second line, that way he keeps max entrenchment and you have to fight in the forests - much harder for you

Turn 71 before my turn

Russian counter attack and destroy a corp and a tank....this can be very costly for me on the russian front. But i hope it will be worth it. Since russian got practically no airpower, all offensive operations will be costly for them and my goal here would be to inflict as much damage as possible before winter sets in. Perhaps i can be on the offensive here in all of 43 and then retreat to the forests of Moscow during winter for a last stand to hold on to the russian capital in summer 44.



We manage to destroy another 4 corps and a fighter where star is marked. I could have done with some more bombers....i have felt that during the whole war since beginning of Barbarossa, but more pressing matters have always come before constructing of a 5th and 6th bomber. Retaliation will be hard i thinkg....my guess is that Zechi will go for another tank and some corps.



In the south, we are gonna attempt to secure the Baku oilfield, if i can do that i will surely win this war....and it does look good, doesn´t it.



Major allied landings take place from Denmark to France to Italy, we start here. Since i can´t contest his powerful air prescence in Norway i will simply be on the defense here. If he lands i will rail some heavy german units that i have on stand by just in case. Note that there are a couple of more bombers here now since i put some german fighters in striking range of England.



I managed to draw out his fighters and get a clean run at RAF bomber for a 8 hit....so nice to air pararity again so i can manouver a bit with the Luftwaffe. Don´t think it will last long though....Anyway, allied landings are very welcome here, i actually would like him to land so i can destroy his units. Doubt he will....



Here is were the real threat is...major landings pretty much everywhere. I think i have coved pretty well so he can land but not capture any cities. He hasn´t put a single landing craft in Sicilly, perhaps i over did my defense there. Anyway i have begun to evacuate some units to help out with mainland defense.

I think its a mistake to counter in Russia - better to have let you come forward one more turn

I think there is quite a bit of cat and mouse being played with his 'landings', will be fun to see what develops going forward

richardsd wrote:I think its a mistake to counter in Russia - better to have let you come forward one more turn

I think there is quite a bit of cat and mouse being played with his 'landings', will be fun to see what develops going forward

I agree...but Zechis strategy in Russia has been to bleed the axis as much as possbile. Remember in 41 he chose an pretty early defense and it has been bloody ever since. This way he will sure suffer from heavy casualties but so will the germans.