AAR, Gerry (gmothes) vs. Plaid
Moderators: Happycat, rkr1958, Slitherine Core
AAR, Gerry (gmothes) vs. Plaid
Well, this is my first AAR game. Plaid was looking for some Axis competition, and I took the bait, fully expecting to be playing a superior player. I figure even if I get schooled, I will learn. So, I am only starting this write up several turns into the game. Plaid captured the game from turn 1, so you can at least see his perspective. For a brief recap, Denmark fell and Poland was invaded on turn 1. I pushed infantry too far forward from East Prussia and Plaid moved a Polish Corps north and took Koenigsburg. Annoying, but didn't stop the advance. Turn 2 Poland fell. I tried some attacks against the Maginot line, that ended up not bearing any fruit. Turn 3 Belgium was invaded and it went pretty well. I was able to push fairly well. However, I left a Panzer Korps exposed and he was able to destroy it. The following turn I took Belgium though. Here is where my AAR begins.
Last edited by gmothes on Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well, thanks to PionUrpo's help (thank you), I have figured out how to post pictures:
Axis turn 8, Jan 14th 1940
Germany has had a tough fight in Belgium and is poised to break out into France.
The plan this turn is to break out in the south and turn the French southern flank. Air attacks will hit the French defending the mine and get across the River.
Uboats spot Canadian troops crossing the Atlantic, but they are heavily defended.
At the end of the turn, I have accomplished my short term goals and gotten across the Moselle, ready to drive toward Paris.
Axis turn 8, Jan 14th 1940
Germany has had a tough fight in Belgium and is poised to break out into France.
The plan this turn is to break out in the south and turn the French southern flank. Air attacks will hit the French defending the mine and get across the River.
Uboats spot Canadian troops crossing the Atlantic, but they are heavily defended.
At the end of the turn, I have accomplished my short term goals and gotten across the Moselle, ready to drive toward Paris.
Last edited by gmothes on Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Axis Turn 9, February 8th 1940
French troops have conducted a general retreat. The road to Paris seems much more open.
Out in the Atlantic, Wolfpacks attack an escorted convoy. We'll see how the Uboats hold up. Convoy is reduced to 12
Lille is surrounded and Reims is seized. After having lost a Panzer Corps in Belgium, I was worried about how long it would take to conquer France, but it seems to be going well. I am somewhat undecided about my next move. I may try Sealion, but if it fails, there are dire consequences, so who know. Plus, I still have the pesky Dutch to clean up.
Obviously, the next move is onto Paris!
French troops have conducted a general retreat. The road to Paris seems much more open.
Out in the Atlantic, Wolfpacks attack an escorted convoy. We'll see how the Uboats hold up. Convoy is reduced to 12
Lille is surrounded and Reims is seized. After having lost a Panzer Corps in Belgium, I was worried about how long it would take to conquer France, but it seems to be going well. I am somewhat undecided about my next move. I may try Sealion, but if it fails, there are dire consequences, so who know. Plus, I still have the pesky Dutch to clean up.
Obviously, the next move is onto Paris!
Last edited by gmothes on Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Axis Turn 10, February 28th, 1940
Well, I forgot to capture the picture at the start of my turn. Again, losing those panzers has made me paranoid to advance faster. I will have to get over that in a hurry. The French continued their retreat opening the door to Paris even more for me. France should fall soon. I sort of had it in my head that I was going the traditional route on this game, but maybe Sealion will be an option. We'll see how things look after France falls.
Rather than attack British destroyers, Uboats move north and finish the mid Atlantic Convoy.
The noose is tightening around Paris. I'm not sure what Plaid is saving the French Air Force for. Maybe hoping I don't take the Armistice, but I'm thinking I will. The BEF looks to be evacuating. I think France will fall next turn. If not then, then one turn after that.
Well, I forgot to capture the picture at the start of my turn. Again, losing those panzers has made me paranoid to advance faster. I will have to get over that in a hurry. The French continued their retreat opening the door to Paris even more for me. France should fall soon. I sort of had it in my head that I was going the traditional route on this game, but maybe Sealion will be an option. We'll see how things look after France falls.
Rather than attack British destroyers, Uboats move north and finish the mid Atlantic Convoy.
The noose is tightening around Paris. I'm not sure what Plaid is saving the French Air Force for. Maybe hoping I don't take the Armistice, but I'm thinking I will. The BEF looks to be evacuating. I think France will fall next turn. If not then, then one turn after that.
Last edited by gmothes on Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Axis Turn 11, March 19th, 1940
The turn begins with the Wehrmacht on the outskirts of Paris, poised to attack. One of my bombers is too far back, so it will have to be attacked with a fighter and bomber.
The French Air Force is found in Cherbourg and does sortie against the Luftwaffe for the first time in a few turns.
Paris holds, but is almost encircled. French Commander wounded. France will fall next turn.
And the Dutch still hold
The turn begins with the Wehrmacht on the outskirts of Paris, poised to attack. One of my bombers is too far back, so it will have to be attacked with a fighter and bomber.
The French Air Force is found in Cherbourg and does sortie against the Luftwaffe for the first time in a few turns.
Paris holds, but is almost encircled. French Commander wounded. France will fall next turn.
And the Dutch still hold
Axis Turn 12, April 8th 1940
Richard, next turn I will post casualty figures.
France is on the verge of collapse at the start of this turn.
UBoats spot a convoy and attack. Unfortunately, only one is close enough
Paris Falls and Germany accepts the Armistice, creating Vichy France. What to do now?????? Any suggestions? Well, first I need to finish the Dutch.
Richard, next turn I will post casualty figures.
France is on the verge of collapse at the start of this turn.
UBoats spot a convoy and attack. Unfortunately, only one is close enough
Paris Falls and Germany accepts the Armistice, creating Vichy France. What to do now?????? Any suggestions? Well, first I need to finish the Dutch.
Axis Turn 13, April 28th 1940
France has been conquered and the Armistice accepted. I am tempted to try Sealion. I have flown my fighters up to the Channel coast for some reconnaissance. It looks inviting, so I think I may give it a try. I have to bring my U-boats back, but they aren't too far away. I'm nervous to try it, since failure means an early defeat, but "no guts, no glory." Infantry is pretty much in position already. One of the problems with this plan is I have inflicted no British casualties. Plaid has done a good job conserving his strength.
Channel Area at the start of the turn.
Channel Area at the end of the turn. The English coast looks fairly open. Notice, Holland still holds out.
I am also lagging on research, which I HAVE to start investing in. Most of my PPs have gone to air and ground units, as well as one additional U-Boat.
At sea, wolfpacks locate and sink the northern convoy. Picture before.
Picture after.
Some bad luck at sea, I was shadowing the Central convoy and moving toward France at the same time. I stopped right in front the the convoy, which as you can see is heavily escorted. It ran into my U-boat, so at the beginning of Plaid's turn, I will get hit by 2 destroyers.
France has been conquered and the Armistice accepted. I am tempted to try Sealion. I have flown my fighters up to the Channel coast for some reconnaissance. It looks inviting, so I think I may give it a try. I have to bring my U-boats back, but they aren't too far away. I'm nervous to try it, since failure means an early defeat, but "no guts, no glory." Infantry is pretty much in position already. One of the problems with this plan is I have inflicted no British casualties. Plaid has done a good job conserving his strength.
Channel Area at the start of the turn.
Channel Area at the end of the turn. The English coast looks fairly open. Notice, Holland still holds out.
I am also lagging on research, which I HAVE to start investing in. Most of my PPs have gone to air and ground units, as well as one additional U-Boat.
At sea, wolfpacks locate and sink the northern convoy. Picture before.
Picture after.
Some bad luck at sea, I was shadowing the Central convoy and moving toward France at the same time. I stopped right in front the the convoy, which as you can see is heavily escorted. It ran into my U-boat, so at the beginning of Plaid's turn, I will get hit by 2 destroyers.
-
Peter Stauffenberg
- General - Carrier
- Posts: 4745
- Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:13 pm
- Location: Oslo, Norway
I think it's fun to see Sealion being attempted. If you have a para ready and managed to capture a port then I think you will be able to get England.
The problem with Sealion is not to succeed with the invasion, because most Germans will. No, it's what to do next. You probably need to invade Egypt as well and maybe even push all the way to Basra. It can be combined with an attack towards Gibraltar, but Spain is not easy to knock out.
Most Sealion games I've seen end up with the problem in Russia. If you go after the Middle East it means Barbarossa will be hard to do in 1941, at least with a strong force. If you wait till 1942 it won't be easy to get far in Russia.
So if you get Sealion done early enough you might still launch Barbarossa in 1941, although a weaker one and maybe get to the Dnepr line. Then the struggle will begin in Russia.
Most Axis players have problems keeping England in 1942 and beyond because the Allies can still rule the sea and send an invasion force to England. So in order to prevent that the Germans need a strong sub force. That means less units to Russia.
I believe Sealion is probably best if the Germans can quickly take England and at the same time rush towards Baghdad. Then the Germans can take Persia and threaten Baku from the south. That should divert enough Russian units from the main front line that it's possible to deal with them there. Taking Russia will be hard, but they can be delayed long enough to maybe win the war.
With England secured then the Russian convoy should never be able to reach Murmansk.
So Sealion certainly has potential, but there are many pitfalls to a quick Axis defeat as well. Not clearing England fast enough is one of them. London MUST be German controlled before the bad weather starts in 1940. You also need Liverpool to prevent British builds in England.
The problem with Sealion is not to succeed with the invasion, because most Germans will. No, it's what to do next. You probably need to invade Egypt as well and maybe even push all the way to Basra. It can be combined with an attack towards Gibraltar, but Spain is not easy to knock out.
Most Sealion games I've seen end up with the problem in Russia. If you go after the Middle East it means Barbarossa will be hard to do in 1941, at least with a strong force. If you wait till 1942 it won't be easy to get far in Russia.
So if you get Sealion done early enough you might still launch Barbarossa in 1941, although a weaker one and maybe get to the Dnepr line. Then the struggle will begin in Russia.
Most Axis players have problems keeping England in 1942 and beyond because the Allies can still rule the sea and send an invasion force to England. So in order to prevent that the Germans need a strong sub force. That means less units to Russia.
I believe Sealion is probably best if the Germans can quickly take England and at the same time rush towards Baghdad. Then the Germans can take Persia and threaten Baku from the south. That should divert enough Russian units from the main front line that it's possible to deal with them there. Taking Russia will be hard, but they can be delayed long enough to maybe win the war.
With England secured then the Russian convoy should never be able to reach Murmansk.
So Sealion certainly has potential, but there are many pitfalls to a quick Axis defeat as well. Not clearing England fast enough is one of them. London MUST be German controlled before the bad weather starts in 1940. You also need Liverpool to prevent British builds in England.
Axis Turn 14, May 18th, 1940
Sealion still looks inviting. I'm sure Plaid has some reserves waiting to hit any vulnerable units trying to make a landing.
As I knew would happen, my unfortunate U-boat is hit very hard.
The Dutch finally surrender!
My damaged U-boat is moved to port. The rest of the fleet is heading back to block the channel. RN CV is hit by a German fighter with decent effect. And his Central convoy has run into another one of my U-boats. The OKW is very close to authorizing Operation Sealion.
[/url]
Sealion still looks inviting. I'm sure Plaid has some reserves waiting to hit any vulnerable units trying to make a landing.
As I knew would happen, my unfortunate U-boat is hit very hard.
The Dutch finally surrender!
My damaged U-boat is moved to port. The rest of the fleet is heading back to block the channel. RN CV is hit by a German fighter with decent effect. And his Central convoy has run into another one of my U-boats. The OKW is very close to authorizing Operation Sealion.
[/url]