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WWII: Struggle for Europe____WWII: Struggle for Asia => After Action Reports / Playtesting => Topic started by: Mark on June 29, 2015, 03:41:27 PM
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Well, I think all the players from the CSWX 2015 game are still in recovery. . .it was a 4 day slug-fest that started Tuesday morning and went until late Friday afternoon - and it was a BLAST! Amazing how time flies when you are playing this game. . .
The after action report may take me a while to post in its entirety - but I will get started on it. Took a lot of pictures - but did miss a couple turns. . .
The ALLIES were played by: Dave Simmons (Britain & France 39-40), Ron (Soviets), Mark (US), George (Allies NW Europe 41-44), Lance (Allies Med 41-44), and Gerry (?) (China).
The AXIS were played by: Dave Young (East Front Axis), John (West Front Axis), Charles (Med Axis), and Wolf (Japan).
No pictures from the first couple turns (I guess we were all anxious to get started!).
The German invasion of Poland went off mostly without a hitch except that the Polish fighter chose to bypass the German interceptors and shot down a Stuka group. . .an ominous start for the Axis.
In the Winter, The Soviets managed to win the Winter War against Finland with light casualties. A German invasion of Norway was thwarted when the transports shuttling the German invasion force was sunk by a British submarine flotilla off the coast of Denmark.
The Germans attempted a surprise Winter invasion of Belgium which was stopped cold by the Allies. The Belgian Army hung on long enough for French reserves to come up and stopped the Bosch in their tracks.
The Italians declared war on the mechanized phase of the first turn of the game, but made little progress. The French fleet managed to blockade the Italian Navy for the first few game turns.
In Asia, The Japanese made good progress in pushing back the Nationalist Chinese. Early victories convinced the Army Command to invest more in China and take the production the Emperor needed from the Chinese Nationalists.
So - overall, a bit of a tough start for the Axis, but progress was being made across the board.
In the first picture, the Axis high command plans their Winter offensive into Flanders and the Ardennes.
In the second attached pic, Dave Simmons plans his brilliant defense of Belgium and moves in the French Army and BEF in reserve to halt the German offensive.
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Spring 1940
In the Med, Wavell takes advantage of Italian indecision and the French blockade of the Italian fleet to push Graziani out of Bardia and occupy Tobruk.
In France, the Germans quickly recovered from the Winter debacle and sliced through both Belgium and Holland in the good Spring campaigning weather. Guderian's panzers have blitzed through to the coast and occupy Calais and the channel ports. Also, a successful Falschirmjager assault on Norway (launched from occupied Denmark) has established a German foothold in Norway. The British, however, are not about to give up, landing reinforcements at Bergen and bolstering Norwegian defenses around Oslo. . .
In the Pacific, the Japanese offensive into China overextended itself, with Okamura being cut-off by nationalist forces deep in China (a hopeful Tojo placed Yamashita and Homma on the board early, but alas they needed to be removed until Spring 1941). . .
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It's nice to see you are still using a Yope dice tower.
I really should send you guys a couple of the newer look towers (no dowels showing). You've earned it.
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Yes - I have two Yoper dice towers - but could only fit one in my luggage for the expo. . .
So - one design feature you may want to consider for the next version: Wolf made a temporary fix for is to tape a flap over the 'exit' from the dice tower into the tray because dice kept rolling back under the tower and were hard to read - the added flap prevented the dice from rolling back under the tower - it ws pretty helpful.
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Summer 1940
In France, the German First Army took Paris. The French and BEF had reinforced it with quite a large army, but were unable to get reinforcements into the battle fast enough and Guderian's panzer chewed them up in a couple rounds. France surrendered and the remnants of the BEF has retreated to Normandy and Brittany.
The Germans reinforced their position in Norway and the Luftwaffe was able to cut the British reinforcements in Southern Norway out of Supply. The Kriegsmarine has invested in a massive u-boat building campaign. . .Also note the two factories the Germans have built in Berlin to boost their economy for the rest of the game.
In North Africa, the Italians have retreated to Tripoli. Wavell has taken Tobruk and is fortifying British defenses there.
In the Pacific, Okamura got the initiative and was able to break out of the pocket. The war of attrition in China continues. . .
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Couple of memorable events included losing 2 of the 3 u boat aces to defending ASW. The Brits were not intimidated by the covering Luftwaffe over Norway and it seemed to be paying off...
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There are a couple of issues with that early tower design of mine and the dice combo you are using.
The main thing is that it was really designed to work with six sided die. But really the problem is the length of the tray. Add that to the d12s and you have a lot of action that causes them to bounce back into the tower area.
I did do a couple of towers for my buddy Dan with a step to stop the dice from going back under the lip, but then it causes more of the dice to fly out of the tray.
The newer ones are a bit wider and a bit longer. I no longer have my buddy selling them online so I only make them sporadically. But for you guys I would fire up the production line.
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Yoper - can you make the perfect D12 dice tower?
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Autumn 1940
Limited pics for Autumn 1940. In the Pacific, Okamura managed to get the initiative and break out from the encirclement he found himself in China. The Communist Chinese managed to liberate Peking. The struggle continues in China. . .
For some reason :) a picture of Cunningham's fleet in the Eastern Med and British reinforcements pouring into Egypt.
Elsewhere in Europe, The Germans redeployed the bulk of their Army from France to the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The battle continued in Norway with the Royal Navy bravely reinforcing and resupplying the BEF in Norway through a hail of Luftwaffe fighters and bombers. . .
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Spring 1941
no pics from Winter 1940.
The ongoing struggle in Norway came to a climax in the Spring of 1941. The Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe finally eliminated the remnants of the BEF and Norwegian defenses. While the Allied effort may be regarded ultimately as futile, it delayed the Germans from redeploying the bulk of the Luftwaffe and other units for Barbarossa. Will this delay make the difference between the ultimate victory in Russia or defeat? Only time will tell. . .
The Germans and Italians mopped up most of the Balkans in Winter 1940 and Spring 1941. The Axis opted for an Italian only invasion of Greece - which, while taking more time, will give the Italians a morale bonus that may be critical later in the game.
In Winter of 1940, The Germans landed a mechanized corps in Africa and by the end of Spring 1941, Rommel had conquered Tobruk. Wavell's Western Desert Force was building up around Sidi Barani.
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Summer 1941
We all held our breath on June 22nd 1941, when Dave unleashed operation Barbarossa on the poor unsuspecting Russians. . .
Panzers rapidly overran Western Ukraine and encircled a Soviet army around Zhitomir. Guderian advanced as far as Smolensk by the end of Summer, however, much of the Soviet forces in the Baltics were able to withdraw in good order back toward Leningrad.
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Autumn 1941
In Russia, Hoeppner's 3rd Panzer Army takes Kharkov. Army Group Center, spearheaded by Guderian's panzers, swung North to help the German advance on Leningrad. They successfully eliminated Soviet resistance around Veliki Luki and Pskov, but allowed the Russians to stiffen their defenses before Moscow.
In our second photo, Stalin (left) emerged from seclusion looking more positive about the situation than he did at the end of Summer. . .our German player (Dave) studies the map and is beginning to ask himself why the invasion of Russia is not the swift campaign he originally thought. . .
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Autumn 1941 (cont)
In North Africa, Rommel advances to the Egyptian border. A major naval engagement in the sea South of Crete led to the sinking of the Italian battleship group and several capitol ships of Cunningham's Eastern Med fleet damaged. The British are worried about Italian paratroopers in Crete and are looking at Cyprus as a potential airborne invasion target. The British, under Slim, eliminated the pro-German Vichy units in Syria and are mopping up the Iraqi insurrection further East.
In Western Europe, the occupation of France continues, with the increasing threat of the u-boat menace. Several Italian submarines escaped the Med past Gibraltar earlier in the year and now the Axis have 8+ u-boat flotillas in the Bay of Biscay. The British, who have under-invested in ASW assets up until now (but have been lucky with what they had) are now in full destroyer building mode in both England and Canada. . .
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Winter 1941
In the Pacific, an undetected Japanese fleet of 3 carrier groups is refueled by a replenishment ship and sails out from behind a storm front on its way to Pearl Harbor. . .
The Japanese attack was a turn that will live in infamy. . .They sank both US battleship groups and the destroyer group. . .leaving the US Pacific surface navy in shambles.
The surprise Japanese attack also managed to take Luzon and Leyte in the Philippines with light casualties, most of the Solomons, the Gilberts, established a foothold in the Dutch East Indies, as well as an invasion of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians.
In the second pic, our China-India-Burma theater player scrambles to stem the Japanese onslaught. . .
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If I'm not mistaken Auntum 41 is when Day 2 started
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Hi George - yes, I think you are right. We got through Summer 1941 on Tuesday (Day 1) and started at 9am on Day 2 with Autumn 1941.
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Spring 1942 Pacific
In China, the war of attrition continues. Yamashita has taken Rangoon, but the British are reinforcing Mandalay to keep the Burma road open. Singapore is still in Allied hands.
In the Pacific, The Japanese consolidate their gains in the Solomons and take Guadalcanal. The Japanese navy is based out of Rabaul and Truk.
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Spring 1942
In North Africa, Rommel was victorious in the Battle of Sidi Barrani and drove the British back to Mersa Matruh. Auchinlek was replaced with Montgomery to re-organize the 8th Army. German and Italian paratroopers continueto threaten the Eastern Med and Cyprus in particular. Axis airpower has severed the supply lines to the island making it a tempting target for invasion. On top of that, the Italians have completed their first (ever I think) carrier group! British intelligence is aware of the Italian fleet in the Aegean Sea along with a possible invasion fleet with landing craft at Athens. . .
In Western Europe, the U-boat menace continues to grow with now 10 flotillas at various ports and sub pens along the French Atlantic Coast (that is the equivalent to 300 active u-boats!). . . British shipping (production points) is in peril of collapse. . .
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At this point all Greek production points were going to the Italians - they did take all the territories after all. Brits were putting up stiff resistance and mopping up remote Axis controlled areas like Iraq. The push into Russia was becoming very difficult. Between the numerous factories built and lend lease, they were producing very quickly and churning out good quality units. Struggle is living up to its name...
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Spring 1942
In Russia, The Soviet Winter counter-offensive managed to push the Germans back before Moscow and liberate Veliki Luki and (briefly) Smolensk. The German Army Group Center ceases to exist - at least temporarily.
In the South the Germans are gathering their forces around Kursk and Kharkov to launch what appears to be a strike toward Stalingrad - or so Soviet intelligence believes. . .
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Summer 1942 - Pacific
The US and Allied navy fought its first major engagement with the Japanese in the battle of the Solomon Sea. No flat tops were sunk, but the Americans successfully stopped the Japanese surface fleet by sinking one of their battleship groups. The victory enabled the Allies to knock the Japanese in Guadalcanal out of supply, but Japanese aircraft also threatened the supply lines to Port Moresby, keeping MacArthur's Australian & US army in dire straights as well.
In China/Burma, the Japanese continue to struggle to gain the upper hand against the Chinese. Stillwell invaded Northern French Indo-China with an army of nationalists and the Japanese have withdrawn the bulk of their army from Rangoon, but have rushed reinforcements to Yamashita to launch an offensive in the Autumn.
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Summer 1942
In North Africa, Rommel drives the 8th Army out of Mersa Matruh and Montgomery withdraws to El Alamein. The Allies gain air superiority in the Med as the British begin to build up for an offensive.
The Allies end the Summer 1942 turn with a significant fleet and invasion build-up at Gibraltar. Perhaps the Americans will land in North Africa in the Autumn?
A still very large u-boat fleet continues to harass Allied shipping out of ports on the Bay of Biscay.
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Looking forward to seeing what the Russian front evolved into- I remember it was very interesting but many details have faded...:)
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I remember the North Africa battles like it was today, Rommel was advancing but the Allies were getting stronger, and I think but this point they were starting to gain local air superiority, Cyprus was out of supply for a couple of turns, Allies had to reinforce it with a couple of commonwealth units, due to the Axis paratroopers lurking around, British naval forces were pinned down due to the Axis air presence in the East Med and strong Italian Navy. In the Atlantic at this point they were up to 12 subs stationed off the coast of France, strategically they were not doing too much of a damage (could have been a lot worst), but the Allies were having a tough time sinking them.
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Yeah - u boats kept getting distracted with hitting ports and stray capital ships... Axis missed some good opportunities- but hindsight is 20/20.
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It was due to British Intelligence cracking the Enigma code. . .Honestly, with 10-12 u-boats prowling the Atlantic, I am not sure how England stayed in the game. . .they dodged a lot of bullets. . .errr, torpedoes. . .
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Autumn 1942
I missed Summer pictures in Russia. But, essentially, German intelligence had convinced the Soviets that they were going to do their big Summer 1942 offensive in the South and caught the Russians off guard. When the reinforcements did come to the Eastern Front, they mainly got directed to Army Groups North and Center.
In the South, Hoth's panzer army seized the Donbas and Stalino, but was stopped by two Soviet fronts under Koniev and Rokossovsky.
The German hammer blows in the North caught Soviet Intelligence less prepared. Army Group North, spearheaded by Paulus' 6th Army, took Novgorod and cut the last land supply route to Leningrad. Meanwhile, Army Group Center, led by Manstein's 3rd Panzer Army and supported by armies under Weichs and Kleist advanced on Moscow. By the end of Autumn, Weich's had flanked Moscow from the South, taken Tula and ripped a large hole in the Soviet defenses. . . the road through Vladimir to Gorkii was wide open.
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Winter 1942
In the Desert, the first Battle of El Alemein was a British attack that was repulsed by the Afrika Korps in the Autumn of 1942. Both sides suffered significant casualties. However, the British reinforced themselves very quickly with troops that were in Gibraltar and that had finally put an end to the Iraqi insurgency. This led to the Second battle of El Alemein, which saw Montgomery blast through what was left of the Axis defenses. On the subsequent two mechanized movement phases, Monty's tanks overwhelmed the remnants of Panzer Armee Akrika and destroyed their artillery through over-runs.
In the Winter of 1942, the Allies also landed in Morocco. A lack of transports and an active Italian airforce in Sardinia prevented the Allies from also attempting a landing in Algeria. Even with a scaled back Morocco-only Operation Torch, the Allies had a tough time. The Germans threw most of their U-boat fleet at the invasion force and attacked the shipping to Gibraltar to knock it out of supply. The Germans sank one of the invasion transports, but also suffered severe u-boat casualties in the process.
Nevertheless, Slim got ashore with a small expeditionary force. Rommel sailed from Tobruk to Algiers with what was left of the Axis forces in Africa with orders to throw the Allied invasion back into the sea. Vichy remained loyal to the Axis and continued to fight with Rommel in Algeria.
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One thing I really enjoy is how mobility can trump larger, less mobile forces. Getting large army units repeatedly worn down through a series of continuous mechanized attacks can radically change the military landscape in one turn. The North African scenario above clearly illustrates this...
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Winter 1942 - Russian Front
In Russia, The Luftwaffe sank the flotillas that were keeping Leningrad in supply across Lake Ladoga. Leningrad is now isolated and out of supply! Rundstedt is massing artillery for what looks to be a possible Spring assault on the city.
In the center, German mechanized forces exploit the gap in the Soviet lines South of Moscow to breakthrough to Gorkii and Yaroslavl. Manstein also appears to be preparing for a Spring assault on the capitol. Soviet administrators are busy burning papers and the factories are prepped to rail East to the Urals. . .
In the South, the Russians launched a series of counter-attacks against Army Group South. While the Germans held their ground, they took heavy losses which prompted them to withdraw to Kharkov and behind the Dnepr.
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The Germans at this point of the game were placing all of their reinforcements into the East front as well as the Luftwaffe, leaving them exposed in the west and the Mediterranean. I think the Allies were strategically bombing northern France and Belgium, causing about 6-7 PP of damage every turn, not much if you consider the German production at this point of the game was around 110PP but it's something. How long they can hold back the allies in the Mediterranean? are Allies going to take advantage of the axis lack of strong Atlantic defenses and attempt an early invasion, taking some pressure off the Russians are waiting to be seen. German army is still strong, but they can't be strong everywhere, soon they will have some tough decisions to make.
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Yes - it certainly felt like the Axis were nearing their apex. . .but it also felt like Russia was on the point of collapse - if they lost both Moscow and Leningrad in the Spring, it could be disastrous. . .
At this point it was about midnight on Day 2 and we decided to call it a day. . .several restless players went to sleep wondering what tomorrow might bring. . .
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Spring 1943 - Russian Front. . .
Army Group North: Leningrad was a very near run thing. . .Rundstedt attacked with armies from Pskov and Novgorod and was reinforced by additional units ferried in from East Prussia. The out of supply Russians fought nearly to the last bullet with the battle going all four rounds and the Soviets left with only 1-2 front line units left at the end of it to hold the territory. . .Timoshenko launched an attack to relieve the siege and managed to take Novgorod back from the German forces left there to defend it. On the non-combat movement phase, the Russians poured reinforcements into the city.
Army Group Center: Manstein takes Moscow and drives Zhukov's front back toward Kalinin. . . The German salient extends all the way to Gorkii (reinforced with German paratroopers to threaten Soviet Factories in the Urals). However, the German advance hangs by a very thin thread with an undefended salient at Vyazma and with Koniev's and Yeremenko's fronts closing in from the South.
Army Group South: With nearly all of the German reinforcements poured into the Moscow and Leningrad offensives, Army Group South was starved of troops, enabling the Soviets to gain a bridgehead over the Dnepr. The remnants of Model's army retreats from Kharkov in disarray.
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Spring 1943
In North Africa, the Germans are aggressively trying to blunt the Allied landings in Morocco by throwing most of their U-boats at interdicting supplies to Casablanca. The British built a Mulberry and landed it on the coast to try and get more supplies in to Slim's forces. While the strategic warfare is limiting the Allied forces, the positive side is that the effort decimated the once massive U-Boat fleet which is down now to only 5-6 flotillas.
In conjunction with the U-Boat effort, the Axis have reinforced Rommel's Italian-German-Vichy army in Algiers to either defend or attack Slim's forces and potentially push him back into the Sea. Monty's Desert Rats have taken Tripoli and plan to advance into Tunisia in the Summer. Busch has been ordered to form an army to defend Tunis as the Germans rush reinforcements to Sicily to delay the Allied offensive in North Africa as long as possible.
Stalin continues to demand a Second Front be launched in Northwestern Europe - and - having lost Moscow and with the French Coast only lightly defended - who can blame him? At the end of Spring we see the Allies massing an army and amphibious capabilities in Southern England for maybe just such an enterprise. . .
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The fact that Leningrad held was amazing. That was our version of Stalingrad in this game. It was an "all in" situation. The French coast was lightly defended and the German army was extremely overextended - in danger of many units being cut out of supply. Looks like a turning point - but you never know...
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I still felt Axis were ahead at this point of the game, despite the Russians defending and holding Leningrad till the last man(literally!!!!), they were weak in some areas (northern France, southern Russia), but they still have a firm foothold in North Africa, holding Moscow and the surrounding areas, and the Italian morale was still pretty strong. The Allies will have to take some calculated risks in the next turns, if they want to turn the tables around. I feel the next 2-3 turns of this game will be extremely interesting.
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Summer 1943 - Pacific
It has been a while since we checked into the Pacific theater - but it has been no less dramatic than Europe. . .
Most of the action has been fought in and around the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. The Americans and Australians have been moving aggressively to stop the Japanese advance and take back the Solomon chain. In the Winter of 1942, the allies succeeded in taking back Guadalcanal and by Summer of 1943 they had taken Rabaul and Northern New Guinea.
The Japanese fought tenaciously to prevent the allied advance which resulted in two major naval actions between surface fleets and carrier forces: Battles of the Solomon Sea and Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Again the carrier forces got off light with only a damaged flat top group for the Japanese. The Japanese surface fleet suffered significant losses, however, losing both of their battleship groups to only damaged cruisers for the Americans.
The Japanese also lost many of their best pilots in these battles and had to start replacing their veteran crews with '4' factor fighter units. . .With all of the Japanese carrier forces still intact (Wolf built an additional 2 carrier groups), the American advance had to be cautious and was very reliant on land based air out of Port Moresby and Guadalcanal to push the Japanese back.
In the China-Burma theater, the war of attrition continued, but the Japanese were finally able to secure Singapore and take back Rangoon. China continues to be a thorn in their side, however, chewing up most of their infantry replacements and preventing them from being shipped out to the Pacific where they could help stem the American advance. . .
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Summer 1943
In North Africa, Rommel attacked Slim in Morocco, but was unable to dislodge the British and had to fall back on Oran after sacrificing most of his Vichy infantry (which, we assume by the die rolls, must have just surrendered en-mass and melted away). in Tunisia, Busch's army was reinforced by an SS panzergrenadier division and some Italian armor. The cautious British 8th Army, now under the command of Horrocks, brought up their infantry and artillery before planning an assault on the Axis positions. The Allies now enjoy air supremacy in the Med, making maneuver much easier. . .
In Northwest Europe, The Allies launch an invasion of Dieppe and the pas-de-Calais in the Summer of 1943 against the weak German coastal defenses. Monty is ashore with the 1st Allied Army, but the Germans were swift to rush reinforcements into France to push him back into the sea. Airpower was diverted from the Med and the Eastern front along with Model, Kesselring and a lot of units that were originally destined to fight in Russia. Will the Allies be able to hold onto their Beachhead faced with this kind of firepower?
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Summer 1943 - Russian Front. . .
The transfer of reinforcements to France has created a vaccuum in the Ukraine which the Russians are quickly filling. . . Kiev and Odessa are both liberated and the Romanians are suddenly a bit nervous that nothing stands between them and the Red Army. . .
In the North, The Germans evacuate their Moscow-Gorkii salient and Manstein withdraws to Veliki Luki to shorten the German lines. It looks like the Russian front has gone over to the defensive.
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Feel bad for the axis players, last turn you come within a dice roll to be in great position to win the game, and the next turn everything has been turned upside down. South Russia is so empty of axis units I don't know how they will be able to contain them over there. Early invasion of France is always a big gamble, but at this game it took so much pressure of the Russians and the Med, I think the benefits outweigh the risk. Do you trigger vinchy surrender dice roll when you occupy a territory in France? If you do, we forgot to roll for it.
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Autumn 1943 - Pacific
By the end of Autumn the Allies had taken back all of the Solomons, Rabaul, and New Guinea. The Japanese fleet was still a lurking threat, but after two minor losses to the US Navy and a loss of trained airpower it was keeping its distance to the preponderance of carrier and land based planes the Allies had based in and around the Solomons.
On the mainland, the Japanese continued to reinforce their positions in Indo-China and fall back to key territories along the coast in China.
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Autumn 1943 - Russian Front. . .
In the Ukraine, the Germans are falling back faster than the Russians can advance. The rest of Ukraine is liberated and the Red Army has taken Bessarabia, but need to pause in order to build and bring up reinforcements for a Winter offensive.
Army Group's North and Center have regrouped in the Baltic States and Eastern Poland as reinforcements pour into East Prussia to try and stem the red tide. Koniev liberated Minsk as Zhukov builds up his forces for a big push in the Winter for force back Rundstedt and Paulus.
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Autumn 1943
In the Med, the Allies have managed to finally mop up Axis resistance in North Africa and are poised for an invasion of Italy or Southern France. The Italians have reinforced Rome and Northern Italy, but have completely neglected any defenses in the South, opening up Sicily, Taranto and Naples to easy Allied landings. . .Perhaps the Italian leadership is already planning on switching sides?
In France, the redistribution of German strength from the Russian Front enabled the Germans to smash the Allied beachhead at Calais and force a Dunkirk-like evacuation of the mainland. The Allies lost their artillery and armor, but retreated the remnants of their infantry back to England. . . The history books will record this event as a raid, rather than invasion, planned all along to draw German strength from the Russian front and to test the Atlantic Wall defenses and not to be THE invasion . . .whether that was the true planned intent of the operation will never be known except by the Allied leadership that launched it. . .
German defenses in France now look much more formidable. If the Allies are to attempt another invasion in 1944, it will need to be much better planned and organized.
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No need to feel bad for the Axis - they started this whole thing.
Good choice for early Allies landing. All the rail was diverted West and the Allies came very close to holding on. That would have really collapsed thing quickly....
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Winter 1943 - Pacific
Halsey takes the Gilberts by assaulting Tarawa. As the US fleets move beyond the Solomon islands, it is forcing the Japanese to react. Now that the Japanese carriers are once again fully complimented with aircraft (though with lower quality pilots), things are looking like they are going to culminate in a major carrier battle soon.
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Winter 1943 - Russian Front
On the Eastern Front, the Russians launched their Winter offensive - driving the Germans out of the Ukraine and Southern Poland. Rokossovsky even broke into the Carpathians and Eastern Hungary and Zhukov took Lwow. Model desperately is pulling together remnants of retreating forces and establishing the defense of Budapest while the Romanians are digging in around Ploesti and Bucharest to stop the Russians from overrunning their country.
All is not lost and the Germans are not beaten yet, however. Army Group's North and Center have established strong armies reinforced with heavy armor in Lithuania and Poland for a Spring offensive to try and seize the initiative back from the Russians.
It is a little frightening, though, with eight Soviet Fronts arrayed and bearing down on Central Europe. . .
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Winter 1943
The Allies invaded undefended Southern Italy and quickly occupy Sicily and Taranto. The 7th army, under the command of Clark, is quickly brought in on the non-combat phase to push up the boot and seize Naples in the Spring. The 4th Panzer Armee under Weichs is building up Axis defenses in the mountains around Monte Cassino. Cunningham is keeping the Italian fleet bottled up at Genoa.
In England, the Allies are building up for Operation Overlord. At the end of Winter, the 1st US and 2nd British armies have been established, backed by 3 airborne divisions, and a number of heavy bombers and fighters. Facing them, the Atlantic Wall has been significantly reinforced since the Summer of 1943. Nearly every territory has 4-5 front line units (including SS Panzer divisions) backed by artillery. But, with two groups of V-Rocket units raining economic ruin on London every turn, even Churchill is demanding action. Spring 1944 will likely be D-Day. .. but where?
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Winter 1943
Our two German players. . . . Oblivious to the growing doom advancing from the East, the Second front in Italy, and the impending invasion of France, they are all smiles being fed only Goebbels propaganda. . .
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We just needed a little more time to bring the Allies to their knees. Our engineers and scientists assured us that our secret weapon(s) were nearing completion...
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Winter 1943 - Russian Front
On the Eastern Front, the Russians launched their Winter offensive - driving the Germans out of the Ukraine and Southern Poland. Rokossovsky even broke into the Carpathians and Eastern Hungary and Zhukov took Lwow. Model desperately is pulling together remnants of retreating forces and establishing the defense of Budapest while the Romanians are digging in around Ploesti and Bucharest to stop the Russians from overrunning their country.
All is not lost and the Germans are not beaten yet, however. Army Group's North and Center have established strong armies reinforced with heavy armor in Lithuania and Poland for a Spring offensive to try and seize the initiative back from the Russians.
It is a little frightening, though, with eight Soviet Fronts arrayed and bearing down on Central Europe. . .
WoW that is a huge russian army by this time. Impressive !
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WoW that is a huge russian army by this time. Impressive !
Yeah - I am not sure exactly what happened. The situation on the Eastern Front changed dramatically from the beginning of Spring 1943 to the end of Winter 1943.
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As the Axis player - we pushed hard to take Leningrad and Moscow while extending the push to within range of threatening the Urals but, in doing so, put a huge portion of our forces at risk for being cut out of supply. We won initiative, saw the Allied invasion of France coming early and withdrew ALL overextended units to deal with stemming that advance. Two fronts this early would just be too much to manage....
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Spring 1944 - Pacific
The Japanese were tempted with a late war invasion of Ceylon, but decided against it and instead reinforced Rangoon. Allied strength continues to grow in the Burma theater with Slim now in command. US bombers and P-38s sank one of the Japanese transport groups which prevented the Japanese from reinforcing Rangoon any further by sea. In China, Maoist forces have liberated Peking and Japanese troops have withdrawn into the Shanghai perimeter.
In the Pacific, MacArthur has returned to the Philippines. US subs have been doing 10-20pp of damage a turn to Japanese shipping (and the Japanese have been doing 5-10 points to US West Coast shipping) for much of the game. The Americans have been much more successful at ASW though than the Japanese, having sunk at least two sub units. I don't believe the Japanese got any of the US boats.
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Spring 1944 - Russian Front
In the Center, the Germans launched their Spring offensive to take back the initiative on the Russian front. The operation had local success with Manteufel taking back Minsk and stalling the Soviet offensive in the Baltic States and Belorussia.
Model was able to stop the Russian advance with the resources he had available to keep the Russians out of the Hungarian plain, Budapest, and Slovakia. However, Bucharest fell, Romania surrendered, and the Soviets are massing for a renewed assault on Budapest in the Spring. Rokossovsky and Koniev advanced as far as Krakow and Poznan in Central Poland with little between them and Berlin.
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Spring 1944 - D-Day
After careful consideration and planning, the Allies agreed on the beaches of Brittany to launch operation Overlord. The chits fell in a way that had the Allies land early in the phase and the German rush reinforcements into the battle later in the phase.
The landings were conducted by 2 US, 1 Canadian, and 1 British infantry divisions supported by 3 airborne divisions. US and Free French infantry were in reserve along with British armor and artillery. Montgomery was in overall command.
They were opposed by a mix of lower quality German infantry and an SS panzer formation, with mechanized artillery and AA in support. Reinforcements rushing in under the command of Schorner consisted of another heavy panzer division and a mix of 88s, artillery, and AA guns. They would need to get to the beaches through an air interdiction screen of spitfires and typhoons who were bombing all the bridges and strafing all the roads between Paris and Brittany.
The invasion was successful with only light Allied casualties. On the non-combat phase, reinforcements were brought into the beachhead with the 1st US and 2nd British Armies firmly ashore. German reinforcements were rallying in Paris, but the remaining defenses in France were pretty thin.
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Summer 1944 - Pacific
Spruance invades and takes Truk, the major Japanese Naval base in the Caroline Islands. US carrier airpower is projected over the central Pacific, interdicting Japanese supply to the Marshals and Marianas. MacArthur is reinforced in the Philippines, but so are the Japanese - it is going to be a fight for Manila. The Japanese fleet is massing in Tokyo Bay for the big showdown with the US fleet should they push for the Marianas or to support the attack on Luzon.
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Summer 1944 - Western Europe
Clark is stopped by tenacious Axis resistance outside of Rome and in trying to break the Gothic line. However, in France, the Allies spectacularly break out of their Brittany Beachhead, smash the remnants of the German defenses and race across France. Patton makes it all the way to Alsace-Lorraine by the end of Summer, but pulls back his overextended units to Reims to consolidate for an Autumn offensive into Belgium. Another allied army sweeps South to liberate Marseilles, while Montgomery reinforces the British 2nd Army at Paris for a push along the channel toward Flanders in the Autumn. Allied heavy bombers have been pounding Germany and brought German production down into the 50s.
The remnants of the German Army in France is rallying in the Ardennes and Holland to try and stop the Allies and defend the Reich.
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So when the Russian and Western Allied forces are about to neighbor each other - that's a Bad Thing for the Axis... Just saying...
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Summer 1944 - Russian Front
Rokossovsky takes Budapest, knocks Hungary out of the war and blitzes on into Vienna. German heavy armor units dart here and there trying to plug gaps in the line and manage to isolate one of the Russian spearheads in Silesia. The 6th SS Panzer Army is formed for the defense of Warsaw as Mantueffel's offensive withdraws and goes on the defensive. Soviet strength continues to increase as German forces are dwindling to a handful of elite units successfully defending a few territory pockets. . .
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Never really understood what really happened to the Germans the last 4 turns. In summer '43 they were literally 2 areas away from the Ural Mountains, behind Moscow, it was even a discussion about relocating the factories they were built there. And now a year later Russians had knocked out the Romanians, and the Hungarians out of the war, and they were in German teritory . I just never thought a recovery like this was even possible, in such a short time.
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At the time - it was more important to stem the early 2nd front in France. We thought pulling all of the overextended Axis units in Russia in order to relocate them and plug that leak - before it became a flood, was the way to go. Losing the Leningrad battle really sealed our fate - we just had too many areas to defend - which was impossible. Two big. Fronts meant the end was nigh...
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Autumn 1944. . . .Gotterdamerung
In the Pacific, Slim's British army, supported by Chinese led by Stillwell captured Rangoon and destroyed much of the Japanese army defending French Indo-China.
The US and Japanese fleets had a huge battle in the Philippine Sea - which may go down in history as the 'Great Philippine Sea Turkey Shoot'. The Japanese lost something like 8 air units to the US losing only 2 and the Japanese had two fleet carrier units sunk to no losses for the Americans. Wolf's consistently bad dice throughout the game did not fail him on this last big battle which basically put an end to Japanese air and naval power in the Pacific.
Wolf and I had three large naval engagements over the course of the game in the Pacific - and the most fun part about them is each of them drew a big crowd of spectators from around the con. . .each die roll for a dive bomber going in against a carrier was very dramatic and usually followed by a lot of cheers for one side or the other! - A lot of fun!
In Europe, the Soviet steam roller continued it's Western drive, with the Russians taking Riga (and knocking the Finns out of the war), Warsaw, and Munich in the Autumn. In the West, Dietrich managed to stop Patton with a furious attack into Champaigne, But Montgomery's army swept into Flanders and Allied paratroopers landed in the Ruhr and Bremen establishing an Allied bridgehead over the Rhine and into Germany. P51 fighters swept the German countryside pinning what was left of the Luftwaffe from supporting any battles (East or West) and unmolested Allied heavy bombers bombed what was left of the German economy by over 20pps.
With these losses and no hope, the Axis threw in the towel. John and Dave boarded their last u-boat and sailed off into the sunset (err. . .I mean Argentina). From a WW perspective they still had enough victory points to stay in the game for another turn, but Europe was all but done and the end was not in doubt.
All in all - a great game with a great bunch of players. We had a blast at ConSimWorld and must have gamed something like 55 hours Tuesday through Friday. We hope to be back next year. . .we are now even planning a "Struggle-con" here on the East Coast maybe this Fall with some of the players - we will see. . .
Here are the players from the ConSimWorld Expo 2015 Game: L-R Standing: Charles (Italy), Lance (Britain Med), Mark (USA), Wolf (Japan) Seated: John (German OB West), George (Britain NW Europe), Dave (German OB Ost), Ron (Soviets) Not pictured: Dave Simmons (France & Britain in 39-40), and Jerry (China) and special thanks to Sean King who helped us set it all up!
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Very cool Action Report... by the way how you guys feel about the changes to the japanese carriers ?
Do the 2-Hit carriers play better than the cheaper 1-hit (4-4-4-4) ones ?
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Yes - I think we are all on board for 2 hit carriers - seems to play well and cause concern for the Allies - they need to be pretty well prepared to face the Japanese fleet...
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Hey Darkman if you have access into the pacific Dropbox folder, Wolf has some great ideas about the Japanese carrier builds.