Courtenay's solitaire AAR

[Courtenay]

The Italians bite the bullet, and rail Badoglio from Nantes to adjacent to the French bauxite resource, two hexes from Montgomery. The Germans have to come up with units from somewhere to man the Alps, and there is only one source: Germany raids the Italain garrison, railing an 8-3 white print INF from Rome to on top of Bagodlio and a 5-3 INF from Ancona to Nice. The Germans also rail Kesselring from Hungary to just west of Ploesti. The Germans have an O-chit, and they know where they are going to want to use it, so they get Kesselring in position to do so.

[Courtenay]

The Axis has to make some hard decisions about what to do in the Central Massif. In the end, they take the simplest option, and just pull back. They thought about leaving the Rome MIL as a delaying force, but Rommel says he does not have enough forces to throw them away just to delay the Allies an impulse. Rommel orders the evacuation of Marseilles; the place has little strategic value. The mountains are more important. Also, Rommel leaves the radio on when Hitler orders him to hold his positions in the plains in France; he does not want to abandon an ARM division for no loss to the Allies.

The Germans get a large ARM corps into Ploesti, and organize a defense of the Danube. They also get defenders in place along the Carpathians. They abandon a mountain hex where they had a salient in Romania; they just didn't have the units to hold it, they saw little point in doing so.

The Germans look at their garrisons on the North Sea coast, and realize to their horror that the CW could theoretically sail its MAR into Dover, and then have it walk into Calais, and then have another unit unload on top of it. In fact, the Allies could have done that this impulse, but I did not see the possibility. I am glad that I did during an Axis impulse; I would not like to take advantage of a mistake like that. Unfortunately, this discovery means that the Germans are short one corps on the North Sea. The gulp, and leave St. Malo and Cherbourg uncovered. If they get another impulse, they will find another corps from someplace.

The Japanese advance to try and take advantage of the flipped Communist Chinese units. To do so, they had to pull back their rightmost unit on the line there. They also move to attack the Korean partisan on the resource.

[Courtenay]

The Japanese debark two corps and two divisions adjacent to the Korean partisan.

The Japanese declare an attack against the Korean partisan.

The Japanese add eight points of NGS. The Yamato gets to use its guns in action.

The Japanese don't get the fractional odds roll, and roll an 8, for a 2/1. They wouldn't have minded losing one unit, the second one hurts. They choose to lose an INF corps rather than an ENG, because the INF corps will come back a lot faster. That one partisan cost the Japanese a build point last turn, and five points of units killed this turn, plus a significant diversion of Japanese resources. However, if the Japanese had not diverted those resources to Korea, the Chinese Communists would not have made their disastrous attack, so the Japanese high command is saying that they had a brilliant strategy to lure the Communists into a trap.

And if you believe that....

[Courtenay]

End of turn 2, turn ends. The Axis streak of turn ending continues. The Allies were certain this was going to happen. Now lets see if the Allies win initiative again. The Allies really, really wanted another impulse. This is how the Axis will win the game: A long series of short turns. [:)]

[brian brian]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The Japanese debark two corps and two divisions adjacent to the Korean partisan.

The Japanese declare an attack against the Korean partisan.

The Japanese add eight points of NGS. The Yamato gets to use its guns in action.

The Japanese don't get the fractional odds roll, and roll an 8, for a 2/1. They wouldn't have minded losing one unit, the second one hurts. They choose to lose an INF corps rather than an ENG, because the INF corps will come back a lot faster. That one partisan cost the Japanese a build point last turn, and five points of units killed this turn, plus a significant diversion of Japanese resources. However, if the Japanese had not diverted those resources to Korea, the Chinese Communists would not have made their disastrous attack, so the Japanese high command is saying that they had a brilliant strategy to lure the Communists into a trap.

And if you believe that....

Don't mess with the Kim family! Kim family defeat all! U want some more of that, Hirohito? Bring it! Winter is coming! Magic 14 next time, Nippon!

[Admiral Delabroglio]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

I am not happy with how Siam is modeled in WiF; historically Siam only aligned with Japan after Pearl Harbor, necessitating an amphibious invasion of Malaya; here you can just march down the peninsula.

I suspect Siam did not accept to be aligned with Japan because of Japan's declaration of war on the CW and the USA. Rather, the Japanese had no real use for Siam before they declared war on the CW and the USA

In real life, Bolivia, Columbia and Cuba aligned with the USA in early 1942. I believe WiF should allow the USA to align them once they are at war against Japan and (at least) one of the Euro Axis countries. That's 2 resources and one oil. I think I will make it a house rule that the Axis MUST declare war on them once the previous mentionned conditions are met.

Also, I wish the weird rule that the USA loose one objective if they align Brazil and Mexico would be cancelled. They must align Mexico and Brazil !
If they do not, in J/A 1945, lo, the remaining Axis powers declare war on those two countries, the USA gets robbed out of a victory point for no previous gain. Devious and gamey perhaps, but legal.

Great AAR to read, thanks for sharing. I love AARs, enven when lurking and not commenting on them.

[Admiral Delabroglio]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay
Oil usage:
CW: 9! (no, not 362880; it just feels that way.)

How about [:)]! ? I had to recalculate that one, I think I can recognize all of them up to 8!, but for some reason, 9! is too large for my narrow memory.

Best regards

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: Admiral Delabroglio

Also, I wish the weird rule that the USA loose one objective if they align Brazil and Mexico would be cancelled. They must align Mexico and Brazil !

I have often stated that that rule is the stupidest rule in WiF. I always ignore it.

[Courtenay]

No partisans appear.

The Allies continue to not have time to empty out the Bay of Biscay ports; again many units (two corps, four divisions, and a FTR) have to unload in Britain rather than in France. (Well, one of the corps actually could have landed in France, but for some reason chose not to. Hmmm.) The Allies had intended to press forward in Burma, they had major plans for an attack on France, and, of course, Zhukov fully intened to take Ploesti this impulse. He rather doubted that he could hold it, but he intended to take it.

The early end of turn does have one benefit for the Allies: Mao and the MTN Army that took Ichang unflip, and the Communists get a division and an army to replace the division and the army they lost.

[Courtenay]

Oil:
Ja: 1
Ge: 4
It: 1
Ch: 1
CW: 7
Fr: 1
US: 7
SU: 5

[Courtenay]

Here are the losses for the turn:

The US and SU scrap the bombers destroyed this turn: an A29-A and a B25-C for the US, and an SB-2RK for the Soviets. Both countries would be perfectly happy to see all three point LND-3s disappear from their force pools.

[Courtenay]

M/J 43 Axis Production:
The Japanese spend one oil on production. Despite the liquidation of the Korean partisans, partisans cost them two more resources, i.e 3 BPs, than they did last turn. The anti-partisan campaign will continue.

The Allied capture of Cartagena cut the last rail line the Germans had to Barcelona. I had not noticed this; MWiF did. The French Bauxite resources is in an Allied ZOC, and there was a point of strategic bombing. All of this reduced German production by 3 factories, which translated to a five build point reduction. This was the first turn that German production was not sufficient to replace all German losses, and that is not even counting Rumanian losses.

The Italians scrap their 47mm AT gun

Ge: 35+0: ARM, 2xMTN, GAR, ENG, 5xFi-2, LND-2, 2xPi, no build points saved;
It: 9+0: INF, AT, FTR-2, Pi, no build points saved;
Ja: 20+0: INF, GAR, 3xFTR-2, 3xPi, CP, start SUB, repair Sendai, no build points saved.

The Germans build an 11-6 white print ARM Corps, and a white print 7-4 MTN, rebuild the 8-4 SS MTN, 5-1 GAR, 2-5 ENG, and all 6 aircraft destroyed this turn: 3 FW, 2 Bf-109, and a Stuka. The Germans cut way down on pilot production, because almost all the pilots survived; the only one they lost was the Stuka overrun on the ground.
The Italians build the worse of the two INFs in their force pool, a 3-3. They make up for it by building their best FTR, a 7 pt range 4 Macchi C.205N. They also build a 3-3 AT gun, after scrapping the 2-3 AT gun.
The Japanese rebuild the 6-3 INF and 4-1 GAR they lost, start a 7 pt range 8, a 5 pt range 5, and a 4 pt range 11 float plane FTRs, and start a 5 point 6-3 Sub.

[Courtenay]

M/J 43 Allied Production:
The Chinese save the oil they are sent.
The German raid on London cost the CW 3 build points.

Ch: 5+2: CAV, CAV XX, INF XX, 2 build points saved;
CW: 33+0: ARM, ARM XX, 2xINF, 3xFTR-2, CVP-1, 3xPi, finish TRS (4), no build points saved;
Fr: 2+0: Nothing, 2 build points saved;
US: 70+0: O-chit, ARM, 2xMOT, ART, 3xFTR-2, 2xFTR-3, 3xCVP-1, 7xPi, CP, start 2 TRS, SUB, repair SUB
SU: 44+1: O-chit, MECH XX, MOT XX, CAV XX, MOT ART, 3xFTR-2, LND-2, LND-3, 4xPi, no build points saved.

The Chinese rebuild the Communist 3-4 CAV, the 1-5 CAV XX, and the 2-3 Communist INF XX. They save 2 build points. The only thing they can build for 2 build points is the MTN division, and they don't quite see the point.

The CW builds a 10-5 White print ARM, a 3-5 ARM XX, builds out its INF force pool, getting a white print 8-3 INF and a 7-3 Australian INF, and builds out its FTR-2 force pool, getting an 8 point range 5 Spit IX, a 7 pt range 6 4 AT Typhoon III, and rebuilds the 7 pt range 5 Spit VC. They also build a 6-1 Seafire, which, much to their surprise, is exactly the CVP they were looking for; it will fit perfectly on the new carriers coming J/F. To my shock, I discovered that I had built no ships for the CW last turn, so was only able to complete the one transport. The CW can not afford to build an O-chit every turn; they are trying to decide if they can afford to do it every other turn. They will build another this year; the question is whether they will build two.

The US, on the other hand is building an O-chit every turn, although even it thinks about skipping one at some point. One O-chit equals 3 MECH corps, and the US does want to get those MECH corps built. At any rate, the US built a 9-6 white print ARM, a 7-4 and a 6-4 MOT, a 5-3 MOT ART (which leaves a 6-3 MOT ART in the force pool, a unit that will be built next turn), built out its 1942 FTR force pool completely, getting 3 7 pt FTRs a Hellcat range 12, a P-47D, range 8, 3 AT, a range 10 P-51B, a 6 pt range 12 P-38, and last, but not least the P-61 Black Widow, a 7 pt range 20 ground strike 5 aircraft. The US doesn't think that this plane will be flown as a fighter very often. The three CVPs are all Hellcats, two 6 point and a 7 point. It also starts the last two transports and the last sub in its force pool, two range 4 TRS, one speed 5 and one speed 4, and a 5 pt speed 5 range 4 sub.

The US notes with interest that it now has fewer land units in its force pool than Germany does. This change is not because the US is outproducing the Germans; in land units, it isn't. Germany produced more land units than the US this last turn, and the turn before that, and an equal number the turn before that. The reason that the US is catching up is that Germany has lost a dozen land units the last two turns, while the US didn't lose any.

[Courtenay]

In the Peace step, even though the game does not implement it, I invoke the provisions of the USSR-Japan compulsary peace optional rule. Manchuria and the few hexes of Korea that the Russians took are ceeded to the Russians. Now, the game does not invoke this, so I will do my best to implement everything by hand. The Russians probably won't be able to get ot the Manchurian resource in the southwest of the country, so if the Japanese still have it, I will set it to idle. Also, if the Japanese Manchurian territorial is still in Mukden, I will have Russians attack it at least a +2 blitz and hand roll a 20, ensuring that it dies.

The fact that this rule is not implemented does not really bother me; This is a rule that human players can implement without the aid of a computer. Japan and the USSR will remain technically remain at war, but so long as the neither side does anything to the other, this will not make a difference.

[Courtenay]

Here are the Axis reinforcements for the turn. Units shattered last turn are enclosed in black boxes. The Cernauti MIL has been in the reinforcement pool for years now, as the Axis has never owned the place.

[Courtenay]

And here are the Allied reinforcements. A few more of them, aren't there?

[Courtenay]

J/A 43:

The Russians raise the amount of oil they send to the CW to three.

Sure enough, the Axis rolls a 1 for initiative. At this point the Allied roll is immaterial, since they have a +1 advantage; the Allies roll a 6. The Allies of course choose to go first.

[Courtenay]

J/A 43: Allied #1: Weather 8, F, F, F, St, F, F, impulse advance 1, no modifier
US combined, CW land, Ch land, Fr naval, SU O-chit, Konev doubling.

The Russians have several choices for their O-chit: Use it to cross the Vistula, use it to take Ploesti, save it for later in the turn, or save it for a later turn. No one even brings up the last possibility to Stalin. This is J/A; this is the turn one attacks. Since the Germans have an edge in the air ("How did that happen?" Stalin demands.) the Soviets see preemptive German ground strikes if they don't attack now. The final question is where to use it? Insure success at Ploesti, or force the Vistula? The attack over the Vistula has already failed once. Zhukov says Ploesti can be taken without an O-chit. (He says nothing about holding it afterwords, though.) Stalin believes in broad front attacks. He orders the emphasis should be on getting over the Vistula.

(Stalin did believe in multiple attacks. This has been obscured in the historical record because of omissions and obfuscations, not to mention out right lies, in the Russian accounts of the war. The unsuccessful attacks disappeared from the record. The largest Russian offensive of the Winter of 42/43 failed. Almost no one has ever heard of it. The second largest Russian offensive was such a success that very few have even heard of the first.)

(If you're curious, look up "Operation Mars". It had more men and equipment committed to it than Operation Uranus.)

The US plans to take advantage of last turn's early end of turn, and so uses a combined.

[Courtenay]

The US puts 7 pt FTRs in the three box of the North Sea, the Bay of Biscay, and the Western Med.

The US uses two naval actions to move three corps in AMPHs to the three box of the North Sea, escorted by a few French and US ships. The French move their TRS carrying Carrar to the Bay of Biscay, where the US escorts it with a couple of battleships from the Med. The French put their battleships in the three box of the Western Med. The US and the French put their submarines in the South China Sea.

The Allies roll a nine in the South China Sea, the Japanese a seven. No one comes close to finding anyone.

[Courtenay]

The Chinese use their one air action to bomb Hata, who is sitting in a hex without FTR cover.

The Russians use all three of their artillery units, one to bombard Warsaw, hoping to flip Rudel, one a lone German ARM corps in a Slovakian mountain hex, and their best against Ploesti. They send their best bomber and a mediocre one to bomb across the Vistula, and send a bomber to hit Ploesti.

The CW sends the Typhoon to bomb the stack of three units the CW can attack from three hexes, and the Tempest to bomb Rommel.

The Germans let the Tempest through, intercept the Typhoon with a six point Bf-109 E-7, intercept the Vistula raid wit a 7 pt FTR and 5 pt FTR, and intercept over Ploesti with single 6 pt FTR.

The CW lets the Typhoon fight by itself; the Russians respond over the Vistula with a 6, a 5, and a 4 pt FTR, and a 6 pt and a 5 pt FTR over Ploesti.

In France, the Germans roll a 12, clearing the Typhoon through, while the Typhoon rolls a 15, which sends the Messerschmitt home.