JohnCon 2014 - After Action PbP

[John D.]

By this point the Allies were getting pounded economically. U boats were cunningly deceptive at avoiding patrolling destroyers and the Luftwaffe was poised to industrial bomb the UK. Damage adds up fast when those two factors are combined - even with the 10 PP of US Lend Lease...

[Mark]

End of Turn 5 - Autumn 1940

The British got the initiative and were able to pull off a Dunkirk-like evacuation of France under the noses of the Luftwaffe. The Germans made the English pay dearly though through the Blitz of Southern England production centers and a ferocious u-boat campaign.  The u-boats continue to do better than average convoy damage and suffer below average losses - we must have cracked the Allied naval codes. . .

In Southern Europe, a combined Axis assault from Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Northern Greece attack Yugoslavia.  The Italians declared war on the Allies and staged an assault on the Eastern Med fleet anchored at Alexandria.  Italian air units based in Crete and Rhodes bombed the British fleet while the Italian navy sailed to attack the Royal Navy as it sortied from port.  The attack was largely successful, thanks to Italian submarines, and the Axis managed to sink the British battleship group and damage a cruiser group, crippling the Eastern Med fleet.

On the non-combat phase, Italian transports moved 2 German armored units from Croatia down to Benghazi and promoted Rommel to lead the newly formed Afrkia Korps.

In Northern Europe, the Germans moved reinforcements under Reichenau to Trondheim to finish off the Norwegians.

[Darkman]

Mmh looking at this turn i wonder why you moved your second transport away, in my eyes you had a pretty good option to land in Plymouth, finishing off the british :-) Hell were are the german elite paratroopers ? *grin*

By the way, do the italian still get a +2 morale Bonus when german helps attacking greece with planes?

[Mark]

I think my Fallschirmjagers bought it during Guderian's ill-fated Spring assault on Paris. . .

In order for the Italians to get the morale bonus for Greece, no German units can participate (air, naval or ground).  I have not used any Germans yet in my attack of Greece.  I have now based German planes in Crete, but they did not attack any Greek units.

[Mark]

In hindsight, I should have probably gone for an invasion of England instead of reinforcing Norway.  But, England is a commitment, and I was not ready to shift resources away from my future planned assault on Russia.  I lost more infantry than I thought in France and was looking for a couple turns to build myself back up before hitting the Soviets.

[Mark]

End of Turn 6 - Winter 1940

In the Med, the Italians were able to defeat the remnants of the Greek Army and take Athens.  The spectacular victory of Greece provides the Italians with a morale bonus.  With French Vichy VPs in Italian hands, Mussolini declare a New Roman Empire in the Med!

Rommel's new Afrika Korps advances into Egypt as the British withdraw and hastily build fortifications near El Alamein.  German reconnaissance units reach Mersa Matruh on the mechanized phase before withdrawing back to the main Axis army consolidating near Sidi Barrani.

In Norway, Reichenau planned a combined land and sea-borne assault on Bergen which failed utterly.  The poor Winter weather and reinforced Norwegian troops with British units withdrawn from France threw back the German assault with heavy losses.  This Northern front is beginning to sap too many Axis resources, but is a thorn in our side.  The u-boat war continues to have much success against English shipping.  With the Luftwaffe withdrawn to the East, the Kriegsmarine has withdrawn back into the Baltic Sea to stay out of range of the RAF.

In the East, The Axis continued their redeployment of much of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe.  The stage is set for a Spring Barbarossa.  Three large army groups in East Prussia, Central Poland and Romania are poised to smash across the frontier.  Soviet forces are deployed to meet their border requirements and have concentrated a large armored force around Kiev for a potential counter-offensive. . . We will need to plan our assault carefully for the Spring thaw. . .

[Darkman]

Ouch, that Norway campaign hurts !

Just thinking.. with the removal of ZOCs is there still a reason why anyone should still build cruisers (= cheaper battleships)?

[Mark]

with the removal of ZOCs is there still a reason why anyone should still build cruisers (= cheaper battleships)?

I would say yes - cheaper and faster to build than battleships.  Do you have other ideas for cruisers to make them more valuable?  I think the current sea zone control rules work very well - I don't know if I would want to introduce zones of control again.

[Mark]

Operation Barbarossa - the plan

This was essentially the German plan for Barbarossa in the Spring of 1941. . .The intention is to pin and encircle two of the larger and more powerful Soviet armies in the area around Brest-Litovsk and Vilnius in Southern Lithuania while blitzing our panzer spearheads on into Latvia, Minsk and Zhitomir.  A Romanian army will advance into Bessarabia to threaten Odessa in the Summer.

[Darkman]

with the removal of ZOCs is there still a reason why anyone should still build cruisers (= cheaper battleships)?

I would say yes - cheaper and faster to build than battleships.  Do you have other ideas for cruisers to make them more valuable?  I think the current sea zone control rules work very well - I don't know if I would want to introduce zones of control again.

mh the job of the cruiser was sea control-to patrol and observe anything going on, to look for the enemy fleet, and to enforce blockades/harass enemy shipping  maybe giving them
a bonus to the strategic value of a fleet (+1 for each cruiser or +1 max for having cruisers in the fleet). Don't have more ideas on that

@Barbarossa
Nice tactic, but pinning such are huge army. How many troops do you let attacking (dying) on that?
Don't you fear counteroffensives from them?

[John D.]

The pins are only one round - and with the defensive penalty the Russians incur on the first round of the German assault - it usually is not a big deal... Then the next round everything is out of supply so the German can reduce the pockets - as long as they get initiative....

Allies did keep the Germans busy in Norway - the mountains are good defense to say the least. Better come in very prepared...

[Mark]

For Barbarossa, perhaps 4 infantry is enough to conduct a pinning attack.  If the Russians counterattack (with a -1 modifier because of the 1st round surprise penalty), they are unlikely to score more than 2-3 hits.  The Germans retreat after the first round of battle - you just want to prevent the Russians from moving or reacting - so just attack for one round to pin them and then retreat (the attacker always has the option to retreat first after every round of battle).

[Mark]

End of Turn 7 - Spring 1941

In North Africa, the Afrika Korps takes Mersa Matruh.  The British Eastern Mediterranean Fleet has had to vacate Alexandria due to Axis air power.  The Italian fleet has relocated to the Aegean Sea in order to support potential attacks against either Cyprus or Egypt.

In Norway, the Axis debacle continues with British infantry units fortifying their positions around Bergen.

In Russia, the Germans launched operation Barbarossa.  In the South, the Romanians take Bessarabia.  Army Group South managed to encircle a large Soviet force near Brest-Litovsk and successfully defended against a fierce Russian armored attack near Zhitomir. In the North, Kleist drove his panzers through Riga over the Dvina and into Latvia. List pinned a large Soviet army in Southern Lithuania while Army Group Center drove through Bialystok.  While a German panzer corps seized Minsk, Gurderian attacked the Soviet pocket around Vilnius.  With no place to retreat, the Soviet pocket was reduced and the Germans bagged hundreds of thousands of POWs. 

On the non-combat movement phase, Army Group North consolidated its gains in Latvia while Army Group Center infantry and artillery caught up to the Panzers at Minsk. The Soviet border defenses were mostly shattered.  I do not believe the Russian end of turn builds were placed when the picture was taken, but there was not much left between Minsk and Moscow.

[Darkman]

Norway looks pretty lost... I'm sure the OKW goes into raging mode with Reichenau and some other Leaders that start to argue too much 

P.S You guys forgot to replace the italian leaders ;-)

[Mark]

End of Turn 8 - Summer 1941

In North Africa, Rommel attacked El Alamein.  In conjunction with a seaborne invasion launched by the Italian navy (1 infantry unit landed via landing craft and 2 infantry in reserve from Greece), Rommel attacked with the full force of the Afrika Korps and Axis air force.  The attack came within a hairs breadth of succeeding, but in the end, Auchinlek succeeded in defending the British positions and Rommel was forced to retreat back to Mersa Matruh having lost several Italian armored divisions and infantry formations.  Slim, who was leading an attack against the Vichy French in Syria (who had joined the Axis along with Iraq with the fall of Athens), had to withdraw to speed reinforcements to Alexandria.

In Norway, the British landed more reinforcements and the Royal Navy managed to cut off Reichenau and the German expeditionary force was out of supply.

In Russia, Guderian turned his Panzergroup South to help Hoeppner encircle a large Soviet army withdrawing from Kiev (I know, kind of historical).  The Soviets were not going to let their encircled army at Sumy be annihilated without a fight and even committed two parachute corps to the fight.  The Soviet defense was hopeless, however, and they were overwhelmed by the German armored fists.

Bock advanced Army Group Center up to Viazma (albeit without much of the armor which had been diverted South).  Von Leeb and Kleist attacked and drove back the Soviets out of Pskov and reached the gates of Leningrad.