AAR AC (Axis) vs. Frank (Allies)

[AC67]

Hi all,

this is my first AAR for a CEAW:Grand Strategy game. I have played (with the ones ongoing) around 10 pbems so far, and also a couple of matches against the AI. Therefore, I would define myself as a quite acceptable player, not so good surely as my opponent, Frank from Germany, with whom I already have crossed swords a couple of times. This is our first GS mod game, and this is how it goes:

Turns 1 to 2

Poland was conquered in two turns; I managed to get two armour corps adjacent to Warsaw on the first turn, and took Copenhagen on the second with a classic assault by the German battleship, a tac bomber, and two infantry corps. I guess I was lucky as before the last assault the defenders had still four steps left, but the German infantry saved the day.
Always on turn 2 I prepared for the seaborne invasion of Norway: I would really like to get that business done before other, much more important tasks will come up. The U-Boote that came from the Baltic were ordered in position to block access to the waters in front of Oslo, and two infantry corps where prepared for sailing on ...

Turn 3

And they sailed. Now, they are ready to take the shores, and then to move onto Oslo.

[Surtur]

Good luck on this one mate!

[AC67]

December 20, 1939

Last turn, Oslo fell and Norway surrendered. Unfortunately, when moving home, my battleship ran into both British and French subs and was reduced to 4 steps, with no alternative than to flee into Oslo harbour. My tac bombers reduced the British sub in turn to 2 steps, but we will see if the pride of the Kriegsmarine will survive the next turn.

Meanwhile, the Netherland's capital has been surrounded, but without air support the defenders still hold out. My subs in the Atlantic have seen the Canadian fighter join the RAF, so I now face two fighters in England. I have produced a third figher so far, and this turn I ordered a third tac bomber. I also have labs for general, air and armor research, and the Italians finally earned enough points to get their first (general) lab.

Next orders will go for more armor and another commander for the Germans, and another general lab for the Italians.

[joerock22]

Next orders will go for more armor and another commander for the Germans, and another general lab for the Italians.

Just out of curiosity, why do the Germans need another commander? It seems like Rundstedt can cover everything in France just fine, and your resources would be better spent elsewhere.

[pk867]

You and your opponent should upgrade to version 1.02 for bugs have been fixed from version 1.00

[AC67]

Next orders will go for more armor and another commander for the Germans, and another general lab for the Italians.

Just out of curiosity, why do the Germans need another commander? It seems like Rundstedt can cover everything in France just fine, and your resources would be better spent elsewhere.

Joerock,

most probably you are right. I usually tend to forget commanders, so I thought to better get one right now, but in effect for France one is enough. Better buy some labs instead.

BTW, just keep your thoughts coming, all of you!

[AC67]

You and your opponent should upgrade to version 1.02 for bugs have been fixed from version 1.00

I proposed it to my opponent, but he said he has other games going which are quite advanced so he preferred not to update right now.

AC

[Peter Stauffenberg]

You can upgrade to v1.02 with no negative effects upon existing games.

[AC67]

January 9, 1940

The subs that laid ambush to my battleship seem to have retreated, but I feel that waters aren't save yet and decide to repair the BB in Oslo.

Given the weather (winter) I decide to attack and declare war on Belgium. I cause some losses and manage to get several units near Brussels. My tac bombers have been railed to the western front, so next turn I can use them. Den Haag is attacked again and reduced to six steps.

I now have four subs around the Great Britain and spot a 28pp convoy heading in from north-west.

Stauffenberg: I know that, but my opponent didn't want to upgrade either, so it's fine for me.

[joerock22]

Joerock,

most probably you are right. I usually tend to forget commanders, so I thought to better get one right now, but in effect for France one is enough. Better buy some labs instead.

I think that's smart. Get 2 labs in every category as quickly as you can, and you can assure technological superiority over the allies in most areas until late in the war. You have the resources to do it now, extra ground units in France won't do you that much good. It may be wise to invest in an additional tactical bomber. You already have 3 fighters, and that would have been my next suggestion, so you're ahead of me there! You should be able to do some serious damage to the RAF should it continue to fight you.

You're doing quite well so far.

[Gianmix]

Seems to me that these are some smart lessons for me

[AC67]

January 29, 1940

Both Den Haag and Brussels fall this turn; the intervention of the German tac bombers was decisive. Notwithstanding the bad weather, first elements of the German army reach the French border; the orders are "Vorwärts!"



A heavily escorted convoy is spotted west of Scotland.




February 18, 1940

Due to the heavy weather, we press slowly forwards in France. In trying to intercept the large convoy, one of my subs is badly mauled.


March 9, 1940

The French have set up a double defense line all along the front. I concentrate two tac bombers on the only spot not protected by a river, manage to destroy the defenders (an infantry corps) and advance into the hex. I may loose it next turn, but the goal is to inflict more damage than the French can bear, and to force them to re-arrange their line.



March 29, 1940

As expected, the French counterattack and destroy my infantry corps . In my turn, and with good weather, I achieve a breakthrough: the two remaining French infantry corps and a garrison are destroyed, and the French front is split in two. Better, with only their tank corps left, there will probably be no counterattack worth to mention.



In the Atlantic, a 20pp convoy is spotted and attacked and reduced to 7pps.

[AC67]

April 18, 1940

As expected, there has been no counterattack; the French have retreated trying to form another defensive line.



"Achtung Stukas!" My tac bombers reduce the French armor to 4 steps, and a Panzerkorps does the clean-up. The garrison occupying Reims is destroyed, another one pushed back across the Seine, and the French fighter reduced to 1 step. The first German unit is next to Paris.



In the Atlantic, the now 7PP-convoy is destroyed. I buy another general and air lab.






May 8, 1940

I press further forwards, destroying several garrison in the process, manage to get across the Seine and have now three units adiacent to Paris. Next turn I will attack the city.



At sea, I decide to become daring and attack an english carrier with two subs, taking her down to 4 steps. I buy my 8th lab (tank).

[AC67]

May 28, 1940

The German panzers exploit their breakthrough and continue the encirclement of Paris from the south-west.



June 17, 1940

The French army stages is last, yet hopeless offensive and recaptures Reims.



But there's no more hope for France. Paris fall to concentric attacks from Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht, and on June 17, 1940, France surrenders.



Losses so far:



The following turns see not much action. I repair losses, and begin to transfer a tank, a mech corps and a fighter to Africa. Build-up for Barbarossa will begin shortly; I would like to attack as early as possible (March or April at the latest). Yugoslavia is also on the list, but I want it to be another blitz, and will wait for Hungary's activation at least.

[joerock22]

If you let us know approximately how many of the British casualties were actually British (and not Polish, etc.) then Ronnie can add them to the Fall of France list and you can get a better idea of how you did compared to other games. Just figure out how many steps the Polish fighter unit lost before it was destroyed.

I think you did pretty well. The date is good, and though your air losses are high, so are the British. Sealion is probably a long shot since it is already late in the year, but you can now load up for a strong Barbarossa, take control of the Atlantic, or any of several other things. Now comes the first major decision time for the Germans.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

There is something strange about your turn dates. Somewhere between September 21th 1939 and December 20th 1939 (should have been December 10th or 30th) the date counter must have been corrupted. This can actually influence the entire game because the join dates of powers can be different and the number of bad weather turns can be different. E. g. players usually have 2 October turns and 1 November turn, 2 December turns etc. You have the opposite. 1 October turn, 2 November turns etc.

I wonder how this happened, but I've seen this bug in some vanilla games too.

[AC67]

There is something strange about your turn dates. Somewhere between September 21th 1939 and December 20th 1939 (should have been December 10th or 30th) the date counter must have been corrupted. This can actually influence the entire game because the join dates of powers can be different and the number of bad weather turns can be different. E. g. players usually have 2 October turns and 1 November turn, 2 December turns etc. You have the opposite. 1 October turn, 2 November turns etc.

I wonder how this happened, but I've seen this bug in some vanilla games too.

Now that you say it, I noticed that too, but didn't pay any further attention. From the screenshots taken, I can confirm the following dates.

September 11, 1939
September, 21, 1939
October 21, 1939
November 10, 1939
November 30, 1939
December 20, 1939
January 9, 1940

Given that the game starts on September 1, 1939, the next turns should be September 21 and October 11, right? - so definitely something has been screwed up. I would go on with the game anyway, but I will ask my opponent too.

AC

[jjdenver]

Hey thanks for posting the AAR. I have a few comments and suggestions.

First - great idea attacking the British CV. Those are a nice easy target early in the war if you can find them lightly escorted or unescorted.

Second - I noticed that there were empty Maginot hexes left by France. Your garrison units cannot move through the ZOC to pass through the empty fortress hexes because they don't have enough movement. You can however rail an infantry into one of your maginot hexes then walk right through the empty Maginot hex, effectively turning the French right flank pretty quickly.

Third - I noticed that you had spread subs out around Britain. If convoys are your target it's good to know that they spawn in 3 places: A) North of Canada at map edge B) South of U.S. at map edge C) West of the African coast along map edge. Once spawned they travel toward a port in the west of Scotland by a fairly direct line, passing along the west coast of Ireland for (B) and (C) spawn points. You can use this knowledge to intercept them farther from Britain. A wolfpack of 2 or 3 subs can shut down one of the convoy lines pretty well. Additionally it is good to engage the convoys far from England so that air based in England or Ireland can't bomb your subs. The British STR early in the war will do this and knock down your sub strength forcing you to go back for repairs eventually.

I look fwd to the rest of your AAR.

[AC67]

January 23, 1941

After some months of resting and refitting with almost no activity neither from the Allies nor from the Axis, a pro-allied coup d'etat in Jugoslavia forces the German Wehrmacht to intervene on November 11, 1940. Fortunately, just days before Hungary has joined the Axis. The bad winter weather, the good defensive terrain and the relatively few forces employed make it a tough fight, however, and even the employment of 4 tac bombers does not achieve much.
After two months of fighting, the Belgrad garrison is down to 6 steps, and I assume it will take at least another two turns to take 'em out.
In Afrika, I have begun to advance eastwards, and have spotted the British defensive line. I will not be much aggressive here, as Barbarossa is my main objective, and will try to do without the Iraqi and Persian oilfields.
In the Atlantic, my subs destroy a 24pp convoy, the first spotted after a couple of months.







In the meantime, I have been building troops for Barbarossa - I want to go in there with 6 tanks (the last 2 are in the building queue), 6 motorized (2 built, 1 in the queue) and 20 infantry corps (10 already present, from which two employed in Jugoslavia). I have also built another tac and another fighter.
So, I still have to build 3 motorized (150 pts), and 10 infantry (350 pts), which will, at an income of 113 pts, take me five turns, which means that I will be ready at the end of May ... but I could always build some garrisons and get at least 5 infantry from France, where they are currently doing garrison duties, gaining at least one turn and lots of money ... we will see.
As far as R&D is concerned, I plan to give priority to those items that will save me oil; I have therefore switched from Blitzkrieg to armor, once I got the second level in Blitzkrieg, because armor level 2 will save me one oil point. Same goes for air, as soon as focus points wil be available.
Below, the actual R&D levels.





To jjdenver:

Thanks for the advice!
First: I will always go for a CV when opportunity arises as the cost to repair them is poison for the Allies in the first years.
Second: I figured that an infantry corps could infiltrate, but didn't had any to spare.
Third: So one of the areas to lay ambush could be just west of Ireland?

[AC67]

February 12, 1941

The battle of Belgrad is reaching its end: the defenders are down to 4 steps and their readiness is about the same. So, I expect Belgrad to fall next turn.



In North Africa, the Royal Navy and the RAF show up and inflict some damage to the Italian front line troops (1 step each). In return, I unlash the Luftwaffe and reduce the enemy fighter to 5 steps, and one of the battleships to 7. Not a bad deal.



My subs find another convoy, but only one is in range and attacks. A second sets up an ambush and the convoy runs promptly into it. I "discovered" my fifth sub, which I forgot at Trondheim Guess the guys had a good time off in that lovely harbour.



Last but not least, a picture of my build-up on the eastern front. As said earlier, I have begun to rail some infantry corps from France to Poland.