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

After action reports for Commander Europe at War.

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joerock22
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Turn 16 – June 27, 1940

You know what the goal this turn was—the capture of London! Well, that was the original plan anyway. After evaluating the situation, I concluded that it was highly unlikely that I could take London in just 1 turn from this position. I could only attack from 2 hexes on the correct side of the river. I could also get 1 attack from across the river, but that is basically useless (you are far more likely to get slammed than do anything good).

Since my goal now is to capture cities quickly in 1 turn without allowing a chance for reinforcement, I decided instead to go for Birmingham. This city I could potentially attack from 4 sides, none across a river. That is a much higher probability of capture than against London. Plus it would give me a base in the heart of England from which I could safely spread in all directions. And finally, it would put me in a better position to blitz London next turn.

Pre-turn

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Post-turn

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joerock22
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Turn 17 – July 17, 1940

No change of plans this time—the targets are London and Birmingham.

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ncali
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by ncali »

Now that you have London, I'll interject. I'm a bit surprised your opponent didn't try to put some effort into defending the river Thames line from London-Birmingham. Even a couple garrisons between the inf. at Birmingham and the mech. at London could have slowed you down by perhaps a couple turns and made the whole operation a bit more difficult. Even better would have been additional units behind them to prevent their retreat and hold the line! It looks like your opponent did have at least one additional garrison to spare even without building any more (as I would have let you have Bristol in order to do this).

It's possible he has less PP's than I thought. But I think the Brits are smart to immediately sell any labs they have bought once the Axis sets foot in England and turn out as many units as possible. The longer Sealion takes, the more expensive to the Axis, and the more oil burned - the better! London is huge because the supply advantage switches from the Allies to the Axis.

Anyway, good job Joe. You are on the path to having a very strong Barbarossa in addition to taking England!
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

ncali wrote:Now that you have London, I'll interject. I'm a bit surprised your opponent didn't try to put some effort into defending the river Thames line from London-Birmingham. Even a couple garrisons between the inf. at Birmingham and the mech. at London could have slowed you down by perhaps a couple turns and made the whole operation a bit more difficult. Even better would have been additional units behind them to prevent their retreat and hold the line! It looks like your opponent did have at least one additional garrison to spare even without building any more (as I would have let you have Bristol in order to do this).

It's possible he has less PP's than I thought. But I think the Brits are smart to immediately sell any labs they have bought once the Axis sets foot in England and turn out as many units as possible. The longer Sealion takes, the more expensive to the Axis, and the more oil burned - the better! London is huge because the supply advantage switches from the Allies to the Axis.

Anyway, good job Joe. You are on the path to having a very strong Barbarossa in addition to taking England!
I agree completely. In a couple turns, you'll see that Morris took the defend Scotland approach. I haven't started the main attack on his defense yet, but it shouldn't take too long to break with reasonable weather.
Peter Stauffenberg
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Peter Stauffenberg »

I will be interesting to see if the Axis unit will be sent back from England to the East Front for a May 1941 Barbarossa. It will also be interesting to see if Joerock attacks Yugoslavia and/or Greece. Getting Yugoslavia is actually quite important because Romania and Hungary will then use German production war effort instead of local. That means the oil production will be slightly higher.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Morris »

Stauffenberg wrote:I will be interesting to see if the Axis unit will be sent back from England to the East Front for a May 1941 Barbarossa. It will also be interesting to see if Joerock attacks Yugoslavia and/or Greece. Getting Yugoslavia is actually quite important because Romania and Hungary will then use German production war effort instead of local. That means the oil production will be slightly higher.
yes , Joe does have time to do All of these . If he give up 1941 Babarosa , He can conquer all the map except USA & USSR ! :)
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Crazygunner1 »

Dislodging the britts in Scotland will take some effort but it is surely something to prorities for 1941 action. In my oppionion he have to do a 41 Barbarossa since the armictise was signed and no activation of Spain is possible. Ofcourse he could head down to Egypt-Irak and take all the minor countries, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece and perhaps Sweden(though no point) in 41 but that seems to me like loosing initiative.

Barbarossa 41, target Stalingrad and the oil in the Caucasus, perhaps take Leningrad or atleast isolate it. Strat bomb Moscow all the way until winter.... :D
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Morris »

Crazygunner1 wrote:Dislodging the britts in Scotland will take some effort but it is surely something to prorities for 1941 action. In my oppionion he have to do a 41 Barbarossa since the armictise was signed and no activation of Spain is possible. Ofcourse he could head down to Egypt-Irak and take all the minor countries, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece and perhaps Sweden(though no point) in 41 but that seems to me like loosing initiative.

Barbarossa 41, target Stalingrad and the oil in the Caucasus, perhaps take Leningrad or atleast isolate it. Strat bomb Moscow all the way until winter.... :D
Yes , If I were Joe , I will do like your words ! Actually USSR is always the fatal enemy for Axis ! If you want win , a sucessful 1941 babarosa is necessary .
joerock22
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Turn 18 – August 6, 1940

Liverpool is the next target…

Pre-turn

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Post-turn

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If you’re wondering where the rest of my air support is, it is needed for other operations. Here is one of them—simultaneous invasion of Denmark and Norway with guaranteed fair weather attack on Oslo in September.

Image
Peter Stauffenberg
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Peter Stauffenberg »

I guess it's time to sail in garrisons to England to place them on cities and resources to not having partisans spawn there.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Morris »

Stauffenberg wrote:I guess it's time to sail in garrisons to England to place them on cities and resources to not having partisans spawn there.
you are so thoughtful for Axis !My partisans will be homeless :(
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Kragdob »

You needn't have taken Norwich. When you take Liverpool Allies can not place any new unit in England.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Morris »

Kragdob wrote:You needn't have taken Norwich. When you take Liverpool Allies can not place any new unit in England.
it is for partisan .
It is quite similiar to our pbem until now . :)
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Kragdob wrote:You needn't have taken Norwich. When you take Liverpool Allies can not place any new unit in England.
Good to know. Too late for this game, but thanks. I should've looked it up.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Turn 19 – August 26, 1940

No changes in England on the Allied turn, so just the post-turn screenshot:

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And Norway:

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Finally, here’s the setup for the second “other operation” I alluded to. The invasion of Yugoslavia is weaker than normal because my strong troops are in England and I’ve been spending on labs, but I should get the job done. Avoiding bad luck with the weather would certainly help.

Image

Now that I see Morris’s defense in Scotland, I’m rethinking my decision to undertake Norway and Yugoslavia before England was fully conquered. But I think conquering those two countries in 1940 is more important than finishing off England a turn or two earlier. I can attack even during winter in Scotland, but I cannot invade Norway or Yugoslavia during bad weather.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Cybvep »

Will you DOW Yugoslavia next turn or wait before ARMs are in place? In the second case it's probably better to rail the units on the same turn that Hungary activates, as it saves oil and you don't lose time, anyway.

Understandably, Morris wants to prolong the conquest of GB, but it will only matter if you are planning to start Barbarossa in 1941.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Cybvep wrote:Will you DOW Yugoslavia next turn or wait before ARMs are in place? In the second case it's probably better to rail the units on the same turn that Hungary activates, as it saves oil and you don't lose time, anyway.

Understandably, Morris wants to prolong the conquest of GB, but it will only matter if you are planning to start Barbarossa in 1941.
I DOW'd in September. That German armour in Kosice could have moved into better position in August, but I didn't propertly plan out where my attack would come from. So that tank ends up attacking the Yugoslavian corps from across the river. Fortunately, it does not end up costing me.

My mistakes have been small so far. Let's hope I can keep it that way. :)
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Crazygunner1 »

joerock22 wrote:Turn 19

Now that I see Morris’s defense in Scotland, I’m rethinking my decision to undertake Norway and Yugoslavia before England was fully conquered. But I think conquering those two countries in 1940 is more important than finishing off England a turn or two earlier. I can attack even during winter in Scotland, but I cannot invade Norway or Yugoslavia during bad weather.
It might be costly to dislodge the britts from England but it is well worth it. First they get the organisation penalty when fever units is on the island "home guard". That applies to all units and is pretty tough on all brittish operations. Second if you conquer the whole island you can actually defend it quite easily with a low-medium sized force. There is a strategic value of also knowing where the allies will strike, since US will be forced to set sail for England.

Maybe you can still get it done in 1941 during Barbarossa? I don´t know the size of the RAF but send some minor axis allied bombers and fighter to keep pararity and smoke em out. They won´t be missed on the eastern front anyway. If the RAF is powerful perhaps leave luftwaffe fighters instead since there is little or no airbattles on the eastern front in 41 anyway? My point is, if you do it....it has to be done before the americans enter the war. Otherwise there is no point and you can put your troops on the eastern front and do some damage there instead.

My guess is that oil will be low if you do the 41 Barbarbarossa? In that case might i suggest that you don´t do do the first armour upgrade for your tanks. That leaves your tank units consuming only 3 barrels per turn instead of 4. If you got 7 tanks and move them every turn with an early attack, that is about 8-9 turns of fair weather, makes 63 barrels extra in stock. To be honest, you probably won´t need that upgrade since 41 Barbarossa is all about taking ground. Also stay away from the Mech artillery upgrade that consumes extra oil(doubt you will get that far in tech though). Together with using rail effecient it should keep you on an ok level until you can secure new resources.
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by Morris »

joerock22 wrote:
Cybvep wrote:

My mistakes have been small so far. Let's hope I can keep it that way. :)
Yes , almost no mistake ! If you really keep no mistake in the future , I will have no hope to win ! :)
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Re: Joe v. Morris Round II (Joe's AAR)

Post by joerock22 »

Crazygunner1 wrote:Maybe you can still get it done in 1941 during Barbarossa? I don´t know the size of the RAF but send some minor axis allied bombers and fighter to keep pararity and smoke em out. They won´t be missed on the eastern front anyway. If the RAF is powerful perhaps leave luftwaffe fighters instead since there is little or no airbattles on the eastern front in 41 anyway? My point is, if you do it....it has to be done before the americans enter the war. Otherwise there is no point and you can put your troops on the eastern front and do some damage there instead.

My guess is that oil will be low if you do the 41 Barbarbarossa? In that case might i suggest that you don´t do do the first armour upgrade for your tanks. That leaves your tank units consuming only 3 barrels per turn instead of 4. If you got 7 tanks and move them every turn with an early attack, that is about 8-9 turns of fair weather, makes 63 barrels extra in stock. To be honest, you probably won´t need that upgrade since 41 Barbarossa is all about taking ground. Also stay away from the Mech artillery upgrade that consumes extra oil(doubt you will get that far in tech though). Together with using rail effecient it should keep you on an ok level until you can secure new resources.
Two good suggestions. I actually did the second one in my last game against Ronnie, and it did save me some oil. But I don't think I'll have to worry about it this game if I do Barbarossa. My research stinks right now. :)
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