Maginot/Vale vs Svend/Jaular; Allies Thread

[Maginot]

Winter 1943
Finland Revisited

Svends U-Boats are at it again. Hes got at least nine of them, and every turn they stroll out and wreak havoc amongst my merchant fleet. I really don't have a chance taking them out up close anymore so I consolidated my supply chains to let my destroyers do their thing. Thanks to the Allied damaged glitch (were still playing on 1.033), some stuff Svend damages is never repaired. I'd say I've lost at least 6 fighters to this, and it would be real nice to get that stuff back.

While Fortress Europe remains shut tight, Japan is an entirley diffrent story. Following a joint Russo-UK assualt the Japanese Empire collapsed on all fronts. Russia manged to snag Manchuria, clearly the most important gain. I took Siam, and then used my uncontested air-superority and sub power and damaged four transports. If Japan wants to get any of his ships moving he'll need to remove all transports from the Chinese cost, and even then he might not be able to make it. The Allied Fleets sweep across the Pacific, and while Japan is not aware of where I am (I hope) I am very aware of his postion. Japanese production is now at five.

My main action for the turn was a Finland manuver, in an attempt to remove some pressure from Russia. Using the task force that was already there I reinforced Finland, bringing the garrison up decently high -- at least where Svend doesn't have the muscle to launch a succesful attack this turn. I brought in a lot of Flak units just incase he has some extra airpower hiding. The Task Force is well supplied, and includes; 3 Tanks, 3 Flak, 3 Artillery, and several Infantry -- along with 15 supply. Svend will have to decide if he wants to try and press onward and risk my letting my Northern Army Group sweep across his rear or rellocate some addtional power to the East to keep me checked. Either way its good news for my Russian ally.

I still feel we can save Russia, but wether or not its too late for a victory I cannot tell.


The Finnish Garrison

[Maginot]

Spring 1943
Japanese Blockade

This turn saw a fair amount of action. In Europe, the pendulum still sways in Germanys favor. My 'n00b' mistakes from early in the game come back to haunt me as I look at my research screen in disbelief at some of the stuff I dabbled in. The result is that stuff that should have been done by 1942 are just begging to finish now. In Finland I launched an attrition raid against the rather large garrison at Lenningrad, ending with less then desiarable results. Needless to say, the Lenningrad garrison managed to hold. Following the attack more units were brought in to continue the fighting next season, as well as some supply.

In the Netherlands a joint RAF/USAF raid on the Netherlands caught three U-Boats in port, damaging two. Two German Fighters scrambled to intercept the Allies were destroyed, at the cost of two allied fighters and a heavy bomber damaged. Wether or not I'll ever see those again is questionable, as im not sure if the 1.033 glitch will still happen in this game since we upgraded to 1.4. Overall, a satisfying raid.

In the Pacific the US Navy was busy. I moved my fleet around quite a bit. I cleaned up what was left of the attackers on my trasnport system (two light fleets), and used my airpower to pound away at some lone transports. I then turned my eyes to Japan. With only 13 supply left, ALL in Tokyo is became clear the time for action was now. In a risky raid I moved my fleet into postion to blockade all of Japan, effectivley trapping the massive Japanese armade in the middle of the South China Sea. The blockade took the Japanese production down from five to two. With Japan effectivley frozen, I launched a few raids in South-East Asia. With the Japanese war coming to a close, I will be able to turn my full attention to the destruction of Germany.

The US Blockading Force

[Maginot]

Summer 1943
The Gambit of Gambits

My mistakes early in the game are coming back to haunt me. The lack of lend-lease crippled vlale for much of the game, however, with the proverbial collapse of Japan I've been able to devote the majority of my resources to the German war-effort. With guidance from my Russian ally the German and Western Allies faced off in a series of engagments. Noticing three more U-Boats ported in France a daring RAF raid left Four Allied Fighters and a CAG damaged, with two German U-Boats Damaged and two fighters destroyed, leaving me pretty happy. A CAG slipped in past Finland and launched a raid into Northern Russia damaging a German railroad that was brinigng critical supplies to the German task force.

With Russia on the ropes (due mostly to my poor lend-leasing) the gambit to end all gambits was launched. First, a Tactical Bomber and Heavy Bomber dove into Denmark, damaging the stationed artillery. The Royal Navy then lunged into the Baltic, damaging a light fleet and transport, sending the rest of the German merchant fleet scattering. With the sea-route to lenningrad cut off, a daring Milita-Commando raid left the Baltic-States occupied by a lone milita. What does this mean for Germany? His nine-tanks, poised to attack the Urals are in an iffy situation. There is a good chance they are completely cut off from supply, unable to launch raids until NEXT season. If Svend manages to supply them, he'll have to think hard about what he wants to do. He could fight in the Urals more, but his already ridiculous supply lines would be streched to the breaking point. The cost in repairs alone to move nine tanks back home form the Urals would be rather pricey. In effect, he'll burry a good majority of his tanks in Russia. With rail-roads at yellow he can move exactly one tank out of Russia per turn. With them at green he can move three.

With US production at its peak, the world waits with baited breath. With Japan all but out of the war, its no longer a question of 'will the US and Germany fight a land war' but 'when will they?'.


The Results of the Baltic Raid. There are nine German panzers in Kazan, nothing else.