Ftgcritt2 (Axis) v Joerock22 (Allies) NO JOEROCK

[ftgcritt2]

Well since no one is posting a GS AAR yet, I thought I would pop Grand Strategy's AAR cherry. Here's the situation after turn 2:



One thing that jumped out at me was the ease with which my glorious blond armies liberated the German Poles. I was able to get three tank corps adjacent to Warsaw on turn one. Joe counterattacked and pushed one of them away, but I was still able to capture the capital on turn two. Although I had to use more units than I would have liked. It would have been nice to rail a few over to the western border. I also made the mistake of not looking at my pp storage before going ahead. GS only starts you out with 20 pp's, and I would have liked to use them on a lab. Instead, I overused my rail capacity by 3 pp's moving units west. It is going to be little boneheaded errors like that which will be my undoing against a great player like Joe.

As for my overall strategy, I'm planning on blitzing France asap. Winter be damned. I should have enough pieces in place to do Holland after next turn and hopefully Belgium right after that.

[ftgcritt2]

October 11, 1939

The one step defenders of Copenhagen were finished off, and Wehrmacht forces moved into position to invade Holland next turn.

Can someone tell me how to get pictures on a posting?

[rkr1958]

Can someone tell me how to get pictures on a posting?

Response deleted since you've got it figured out. I don't want to clutter up your AAR.

[ftgcritt2]

Thanks Ronnie.

Oct. 31, 1939

The Wehrmacht stormed into Holland and captured its capital. The only problem was that after two attacks, the defenders still held out by one step and I had to use a BB to finish them off. This left my most powerful KM unit exposed and vulnerable to entrapment/attack by RN forces. I tried to move my DD from Copenhagen to the Rotterdam port so as to discourage an attack by Joe. But when I tried to move, my DD ran into one of the French BB's. Oh well, I will be in Brussels next turn regardless. Almost as important as taking Brussels, however, is the necessity of getting a unit across that first river between Lille and Antwerp.

[ftgcritt2]

Nov 20, 1939

So much for the one turn victory in Belgium that I so arrogantly predicted in my last post. Thanks to the mud, it will likely take two turns. The news wasn't all bad, though. First, I tried to move my BB to safety. As I suspected, Joe had detected it and placed a sub at the mouth of the gulf. The losses were light on both sides, but then the Luftwaffe pounded the sub down to 5 steps, so I don't think it will be sticking around much longer. The remaining Luftwaffe units softened up Liege, which was then occupied by Wehrmacht forces. I also destroyed the garrison in front of Brussels, which will hopefully fall next turn. From the looks of how he has deployed his French troops, it appears as if Joe wants to challenge me in Belgium. This is something that I readily welcome. He won't be able to do much damage in a counterattack, and I may just be able to kill some froggies without having to fight across those new rivers in northern France.

Here is my research situation:

Armor: 1 - Blitzkrieg
Air: 1
General: 1 - industry

BTW, has anyone tried the sitzkrieg strategy yet? I thought about it long and hard when I saw the weather situation, but I decided to go ahead as planned since I had spent good money railing units west.

Oh yeah, and ROLL TIDE!

[ftgcritt2]

Dec 10, 1939

As expected, Joe sent the French army to the aid of Belgium. Only time will tell if this was something worth wishing for. I have tried the forward French defense of Belgium a few times with varying levels of success, but I usually get burned by good players when I try it. It just seems like a no-brainer to me to sit back with the French and use all of those wonderful new rivers in northern France. I was able to capture Amsterdam and all but destroy a French garrison next to Brussels.

On a sad note, it appears as if the days of the High Seas Fleet have been numbered. Two French BB's came and blocked it in this turn effectively putting an end to any chance of pulling off Sealion. I've never actually attempted Sealion, but I always like to at least make a big show and threaten an invasion. With the HSF gone, however, there is no way I will be able to convince Joe that it is coming. The news wasn't all bad for the KM, however. The three sub units found a 23 step convoy and knocked it down to 6 steps. I plan on building a fourth next turn.

[ftgcritt2]

Dec 30, 1939

Well, it came three turns after I had predicted, but Brussels finally fell this turn. I had to do some creative shifting of my forces in order to bring all three tank corps to bear on the city, but now I can focus all my attention on the French. Hopefully he won't retreat this turn so I won't have to fight across those rivers.

It also appears as if the HSF will be gone for good after Joe's next turn. It is very frustrating when you see something like this happening 3 turns in advance and you are powerless to prevent it. Sorry everyone I forgot to take a screen shot this time. I'm sure if you go take a peek at Joe's thread he'll have some posted shortly.

[ftgcritt2]

Jan 19, 1940

Germans all across the Fatherland mourned the loss of the High Seas Fleet and all those who served on it. After nearly a month of action in the Wadden Sea near Hague, French naval forces finally broke through and sank every single vessel in the German fleet trapped there even the clearly marked hospital ships. As if that weren't enough, the French uboats proceeded to prowl through the wreckage just to surface and gun down survivors pleading for help. In what has become known as the Wadden Sea Massacre, only roughly two dozen Kriegsmarine life boats were able to paddle through the frigid water to the safety of the shore. All the other seamen either froze to death or were murdered by French. It is grim displays of brutality such as this that remind all good Germans of the need to wipe the wicked French government from the map.
German troops on the ground celebrated the new year by destroying three whole corps of French garrison infantry.

Below is an overview of the situation thus far. The blue lines indicate my planned axis of attack. I will try to focus my attacks in one area as much as possible and stay away from the coast and the big guns of the RN and French navy.

[ftgcritt2]

Feb 8, 1940

Alright, finally the Wehrmacht can get down to killing froggies. The weather cleared, and German forces took the opportunity to destroy a French garrison, damage a few others, knock the fighter down to 4 steps, and knock an inf unit down to 1 step. The French can never hope to replace all these losses, so it's just a matter of time now. My next objective is Reims. Once that city is taken, the ground between me and Paris will be very poor defensively. I will still have to cross a couple of rivers, but those rivers lie roughly parallel to my axis of advance and shouldn't be too much trouble. It was nice not hearing from the RAF this turn. If Joe wants them to be a factor here, he will have to re-base to France.

[ftgcritt2]

The Germans continued through the mud on their southern offensive, still with no word from the RAF. I now control three hexes adjacent to Reims which should fall next turn.

It is time to start thinking about what to do once Italy enters the war. Sealion is almost definitely out of the question with the High Seas Fleet gone, so I think I'll just go straight for Egypt. I've already built another fighter, and I plan on railing units down to the Mediterranean coast as soon as Italy declares war. Feel free to weigh in if you have any advice.

[ftgcritt2]

March 19, 1940

The weather finally cleared, and it looks like the Wehrmacht is on the home stretch in France. The French resistance is crumbling as I write, and it appears as though I may have a chance to cut off the entire French army north of Lille. That would be huge if I could keep Joe from ringing Paris. I just need to maintain contact with all of the retreating French troops to prevent them from railing to Paris.

[ftgcritt2]

April 28, 1940

General von Rundstedt was pleased to inform Der Fuhrer this morning that nearly half of the French army has been cut off and will not be participating in the battle for Paris. After smashing through the center of the French defenses, German armor and motorized units raced across the Seine and now control 4 hexes adjacent to the French capital which was knocked down to 2 steps this turn. It would take a miracle to prevent it's capture next turn.

In the Atlantic, a large portion of the RN was spotted heading westward. I am going to see if I can get them to turn around so that I can kill a few. Since I have all but made up my mind at this point that I am going to go for Iraq instead of England, here is my tentative plan: I am going to rename a hand full of garrison units after bigger more threatening units like infantry and tanks. These are the units that I will park adjacent to the English coast in an attempt to draw out the RN. If Joe bites, I will attack the RN with everything at my disposal. If he doesn't, then the garrisons will return home.

On a side note, does anyone know what happens to German units that are in Vichy France when Vichy France is created?

[rkr1958]

I am going to rename a hand full of garrison units after bigger more threatening units like infantry and tanks.

I think you may get a letter of rebuke from the folks at Geneva (i.e., Geneva Convention). But I like it. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?

On a side note, does anyone know what happens to German units that are in Vichy France when Vichy France is created?

German units are put into the Germany build queue as is. If a unit has a leader when placed into the queue from Vichy it is placed with the leader. If it is at 7-steps when placed from it is place at 7-steps. Garrisons and infantry corps are available next turn for placement. The other units are available on the turn as if they were built. That is, mechanized corps two turns later and armor corps three turns later. Again, if depleted they arrive with their depleted status.

Unlike German and Italian units in Vichy France at the fall of France, Allied units are destroyed.

[rkr1958]

I am going to rename a hand full of garrison units after bigger more threatening units like infantry and tanks.

Maybe I'm missing something but how are you going to make them appear as anything other than transport(garrison)? You can rename the unit but you can't rename the type. Can you?

[ftgcritt2]

Hmmmmm

you may have a point. I'll check on a single player game but I think you may be right. Oh well it would have been fun. I don't think information like that should be visible to your opponent anyway.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Ronnie is right. The type can't be renamed and it's the type that's shown behind the transport.

[ftgcritt2]

June 27, 1940

Alright, I'm finally back at it after a short hiatus from the game. I just got a new job, so my schedule has been kind of crazy.

I got lucky this turn when Joe made a teeny weeny little mistake. He had the good fortune to have a small partisan unit pop up two hexes away from Bordeaux (a city which he technically still controls) on the first turn after France surrendered. I immediately moved the closest armored unit as close to the city as I could, but I was still two turns away from the city. From here, if Joe had moved the partisan unit to the north west hex then he would have had a free shot into the city. Instead the partisan moved north and just barely into attack range of my armor. Before the puny band of French rebels were even within sight of the city, German panzers came roaring across the river and crashing through their ranks. A few dumb, brave Frenchmen stood and fought and were quickly blown to bits. But most of the brigand mob threw down their weapons and fled into the surrounding countryside. Hopefully this will convince the rest of the natives that the Wehrmacht is here to stay.

On a side note, I now have two subs in production right now which will bring my total to six. Since I am not going for Sealion, I plan on waging the largest U-Boat campaign I have ever done before and hope to have at least 9 or 10 roaming the Atlantic by the end of the year. However, I did continue to go through the motions of threatening Sealion by parking units next to ports, blocking the channel, making air assaults, etc. Hopefully by the time Joe realizes that Sealion is off the table, I will have enough submarines to really put a hurt on the UK's ability to wage war. Italy joined the war this turn, and I will be launching an invasion of Greece from the port of Taranto next turn. I am going to try to take advantage of all that new open terrain in the middle east to make a strong push for the Iraqi oil fields. Hopefully the RN will be so busy in the Atlantic that they will be unable to intervene.

ROLL TIDE

[ftgcritt2]

Damn, I forgot to take screen shots again. Landings commenced in Greece, knocking the capital defenders down to 5 steps. I also bought another sub this turn which will bring my total to 7. I probably could have finished off a convoy that I began attacking last turn, but instead I knocked it down to 11 steps and left my last sub in position to intercept when it tried to move east towards England. To my surprise and dismay, it moved north at the end of the turn and safely made it to the Irish coast. Since this last round of sub attacks has most likely tipped off my opponent that I will not be attempting Sealion, I have stopped the charade. Bombing of England has now solely become strategic, and I have begun shipping units away from the coast.

[ftgcritt2]

August 26, 1940

Greece surrendered, and the buildup in North Africa continued. Here is the force that I will attack Egypt with:

1 German fighter
1 German TAC
1 German armor
2 German inf
1 Italian fighter
1 Italian motorized
and an as of yet undetermined amount of Italian infantry

As soon as the first Allied port falls, I will ship the Italian armored corps to Africa. Hopefully I will be ready to cross the Egyptian border by mid October. Taking a page from Ronnie's playbook, I have renamed all of my sub units to "Sub" in order to hide their true numbers.

[ftgcritt2]

Sept 10, 1940

The only real action occurred when an Italian dd ran into a British sub. This left the dd exposed to the RN, so I placed my Italian sub in position to intercept if the British bb decides to attack. In France, SS troops were tipped off about a possible meeting of French underground leaders. As the rebels were huddled around a map inside a barn in Brittany, German troops burst through the door, guns-a-blazing. Most of the rebel froggies tried to run away like Texas quarterbacks with pinched nerves, but all were eventually caught and executed. Roll Tide.