Playing The Struggle for Europe as Axis

[Marko]

This is description of my test game of TSFE. I played the same version (1.2) what I sent to playtesters, so all the new features (negotiations, fortresses, climate zones, Turkey etc) are not in this game.

I played on Deity difficulty level.


MAY 1940

Offensive in West has been successful: Amsterdam, Arnhem, Brussel, Reims, Metz, Lille, Dunkerque, Amiens, Paris, Besancon, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Lo, Orleans and Vichy are taken. French and Allied armies are destroyed. Several French cruisers were captured.
In North Africa French Tunis and Binzert are taken.

I decided to make all-out offensive against Soviet Union in 1941 and not to try Sealion before all Russia is conquered.

I set all captured French cities to produce AA Guns, coastal cities build Coastal Batteries first. Norway cities are producing neccessary equipment (tanks, planes, infantry) for Finnish front. Most German cities are producing Panzer III tanks because Barbarossa needs many tanks. Cities with airports produce aircraft, mostly Ju-87 tactical bombers. Smaller cities produce infantry.

In Atlantic I try to achieve total control with submarines for 1942 when American transports full of tanks start crossing the ocean.

Mediterranean part of Axis will be waging war only with its own resources until Barbarossa is over. Capture of Greece will be the most important task in near future here. All available tanks and cavalry in Balkans are sent against Greece.
The main task for Italian navy is the capture of Malta. All Italian cities are producing infantry for this operation.
In Africa I plan to be defensive against Allies but conquer all French colonies in West. :rocket2:

 

[SunTzu]

sounds good

 

[Marko]

JUNE 1940

During their move, Allies made descent and captured Narvik and France made unsuccessful counterattack with Somua S35 tanks near Orleans. Greeks attacked Tirana.

I bombed Narvik with Ju-88 bombers and recaptured it. Also conquered all France except Toulouse. Constantine in Tunesia was taken too.

All intact Ju-88 planes from France are sent to Italy and Balkans to assist the conquest of Greece. I transported some Italian tanks to Albania, also Cavalry and Turan 40M-2 tank divisions arrived to Greece border. :tank:

 

[Marko]

JULY 1940

British navy bombarded French coast and made some descents. Greeks made furious attacks against my advancing tanks.

Toulouse was taken. All French mainland is under Axis control.

After bombardment I took also Corsica with air descent. French fleet, who had left from Toulon, was discovered near Corsica and sunk by Ju-88 bombers.

British descents in French coast were destroyed and several British battleships and cruisers on North Sea near Netherlands were sunk by German cruisers, submarines and bombers. Naval battle near Narvik was also finally won.

I decided to bring most of my fleet from Norway to North France.

 

[Marko]

AUGUST 1940

I airlifted one Panzer III and one Motorized infantry division to Tunesia. They will hopefully speed up the conquest of French posessions there.

My defence system in Northern Coast:

0. All cities have AA Guns.
1. Coastal cities have Coastal Batteries and tanks. Cherbourg, Dunkerque and Amsterdam have Kriegsmarine vessels also.
2. St. Lo, Lille and Arnhem have Me-109 fighters.
3. Paris has bombers + reserve tanks and fighters.

Wehrmacht is deploying along the border with Soviet Union. Main armies will be in Königsberg, Warszaw, Oradea, and Constanta.

 

[Marko]

SEPTEMBER 1940

In their turn Allies made strong attack against Tobruk with several Matilda I tanks, infantry and bombers. Defenders suffered many casualities but city was held. The offensive was supported by descent to Benghazi. The last one was executed surprisingly classical way for AI: At first Benghazi was emptied by bombers from Crete and then occupied by 4 infantry divisions who arrived with transport.

I discovered Mobile Warfare III and can now produce Panzer IV tanks. I set my scientists to research Aircraft IV (FW-190 fighter) to get good fighter protection against future Allied air raids.
In most cities, Panzer III production was changed to Panzer IV.

My West African army (Panzer III, 2 CV 35, 2 Motorized, 3 Bombers, Me-109 and Fighter) took Algiers.
Balkan army (2 Turan 40M-2, 4 Panzer III, L6-40, 3 Light Tanks, 2 Cavalry, 2 Ju-88, 3 He-111, 2 Ju-87, Bomber, 2 Me-109, Fighter) is ready to assault Thessalonike in October.

In Cyrenaica situation became critical: army in Tobruk is weak and not able to liberate Banghazi. And there is no good attacking unit in North Africa until Tunesia. I have to somehow hang on until Rommel arrives in February 1941.

 

[Marko]

OCTOBER 1940

In their turn, Allies took Tobruk.

I sent Ju-88 and CV 35 divisions to Libya to slow down Allied advance in North Africa. Also rushbuilt some Sturmtruppen there.
Balkan army took easily Thessalonike and is preparing to the conquest of whole Creece.

 

[Marko]

NOVEMBER 1940

British Matilda II tanks attacked Surt. Situation in Darnah is hopeless: the city is isolated and under intensive bombardment.

Winter arrived.
Brest was totally destroyed during Allied descent and German counterattack.
:rocket3:

There are 5 regions where military fighting occurs:

1. Norway - against Norwegian partisans on mountains, they are almost under control.

2. North Coast of France - Allies make small descents and bombard with ships and aircraft. It needs much attention but everything is under control.

3. North-West Africa - West African army is slowly advancing inside French territories. Haven't met strong resistance yet.

4. Greece - superior Balkan army is preparing to attack Athenai. Victory in this theatre is not far.

5. North-East Africa - here the situation is serious. Allies are in position to take all Cyrenaica and invade to Libya. I have little forces to resist. Hopefully Rommel will stop them.

 

[SunTzu]

Send in Field Marshall Sun von Tzu, he will kick the british out of Afrika

 

[Marko]

 

[Marko]

DECEMBER 1940

Nothing important happened. German armies are deploying around Yugoslavia. Craiova, Trieste and Tirana are the main platsdarms.

 

[Marko]

JANUARY 1941

Balkan army captured Athena, Sparta and Patra without losing a unit. Next step is conquest of Crete which will be achieved by air bombardment and paradropping.

 

[kobayashi]

Have you thought about putting this thread in the Civ2 Stories forum. Your description is pretty detailed and there are other similar threads there.

 

[Marko]

I have posted my other stories to Stories forum but this thread is special. This is my playtest game and is meant for other playtesters. They can compare their successes and strategies here. Also I'm making changes to scenario all the time I play.

 

[Marko]

FEBRUARY 1941

During their turn, Allies took Darnah, completing the occupation of Cyrenaica. Also Balkan army in Greece was under strong bombardment by British bombers from Crete. I have to take Crete as soon as possible.

Rommel with Panzer IV and Panzer III tank divisions arrived to Tripoli. He was immediately sent to Surt to stop advancing Allies.
Italian fleet (2 Battleships, 3 Cruisers and 2 Destroyers with 9 Stormtroopers units) sailed off from Taranto and took course to Malta. This is its first battle mission. Before Italian ships only transported tanks from Taranto to Tirana and in one occasion a Destroyer carried CV 35 tank unit to Libya.

West African army took quite easily Ouahran. This completes the mission of the army because successful attack to Rabat and Casablanca is not possible. These cities are most likely defended by strong French tanks and air attack is not possible due to long distance. Also the road to Rabat is inside the range of Gibraltar-based British bombers. French inland cities are hard to reach and militarily unimportant. So, the army will stay in Ouahran and its bombers will be sent to Rommel.

 

[Marko]

MARCH 1941

In their turn, Allied Bombers attacked Ouahran and destroyed the great part of West African army. Greece cities were bombed also.

Spring arrived.
Axis scientists discovered Aircraft IV (FW-190). I put them to research War Economy I in order to boost up the production.
FW-190 production was started in several cities. These fighters are invaluable against Allies.
I sent submarines and destroyers from North Sea to Baltic Sea in preparation of Barbarossa.
All British bombers who attacked Ouahran were shot down.

 

[Marko]

APRIL 1941

During their turn British wasted many Spitfires for attacking Caen (they killed AA Gun and Me-109 though).

Invasion to Jugoslavia started. All the country was occupied with few casualities in concerted assault. All units assigned to Jugoslavian campaign will go now to Russian border.

Malta was captured by Italian fleet. Stormtroopers were very effective knocking out fortifications with amphibious landings. Battleships and Cruisers cleared the island from other defenders. The next task for Italian fleet is the capture of Gibraltar.

Rommel's African Corps are digging in Surt, waiting arrival of bombers.

In result of Iraq rebellion I got to Axis disposal 3 Cavalry and 3 Homeguards. I destroyed some British infantry and Matilda I tanks with them and then concentrated rebels against Mosul. I hope that Allies don't have any tanks or aircraft there.

 

[Marko]

MAY 1941

Soviet Union developed Mobile Warfare II (T-34/76 tanks)!

My main objective for 1941 in war against Soviet Union is reach to line Petrozavodsk - Novgorod - Smolensk - Bryansk - Sumy - Dnepropetrovsk - Sevastopol. In 1942 I plan to take Moscow and Stalingrad and their environs and in 1943 finish off with Soviet Union. If I succeed the war in Europe will be won. :soldier:

Axis armies:

1. army - near Vadso. Panzer IIIs, Panzer IV, infantry, some bombers. Task 1: capture of Murmansk. Task 2: capture of Kirovsk. Task 3: capture of Petrozavodsk.

2. army - in Königsberg. General, Panzer IV, Panzer IIIs, infantry, few bombers, fighter. Task 1: capture of Riga and Vilnius. Task 2: capture of Tallinn and Pskov. Task 3: capture of Novgorod and Vitebsk. Task 4: capture of Smolensk.

3. army - in Warszaw. Panzer IVs, 105mm Guns, infantry, bombers. Task 1: capture of Brest-Litovsk and Pinsk. Task 2: capture of Minsk. Task 3: capture of Gomel. Task 4: capture of Bryansk.

4. army - near Oradea. Panzer IVs, Panzer IIIs, infantry, bombers. Task 1: capture of Lvov. Task 2: capture of Chernovtsy and Rovno. Task 3: capture of Kijev. Task 4: capture of Sumy.

5. army - in Constanta. Panzer IVs, Panzer IIIs, infantry, bombers. Task 1: capture of Kishinev and Odessa. Task 2: capture of Kirovograd. Task 3: capture of Dnepropetrovsk. Task 4: capture of Sevastopol.

Armies in other war theatres:

6. army - in Athenai. Panzer IIIs, light tanks, bombers and fighters. Task: capture of Crete with sea and air descents supported by air bombardment.

African Corps - in Surt. Rommel, Panzer IIIs, Panzer IV, light tanks, infantry, bombers. Task: defend Surt until reinforcements will arrive.

West-African army is completely destroyed by Gibraltar bombers. Its remnants defend Ouahran and wait the arrival of Italian fleet.

 

[Marko]

JUNE 1941

Operation Barbarossa began. :tank:

The first month of Barbarossa has been very successful. All armies achieved their immediate objectives almost without losses.

Murmansk, Riga, Vilnius, Brest-Litovsk, Pinsk, Lvov, Kishinev and Odessa were captured.

Iraq rebels escaped to Balkans when Barbarossa began. They were joined with 5th army.

Italian fleet left from Malta, loaded Sturmtruppen units from Sicily and took course to Gibraltar.

Thank to conquests I got more than 3000 gold which was spent for factories around the country.

 

[Marko]

JULY 1941

In their turn, Russians made counterattack against Vilnius with T-28 and T-26 tanks. 2nd army suffered serious losses but holded the city.
British made descent to Greece with Matilda II tanks and infantry supported by bombers and captured Sparte.

All 5 German armies in Russia achieved their task 2. Kirovsk, Tallinn, Pskov, Minsk, Rovno, Chernovtsy and Kirovograd were captured.

Axis armies have been unstoppable in Russia. But they are getting weaker all the time and Russian resistance is expected to grow. I'm still optimistic about the outcome of the campaign.

Army 6 destroyed bigger part of Allied forces in Greece. Transport was rushbuilt in Athenai and descent to Crete is planned in next month.

African Corps got some new Ju-88 bombers and FW-190 fighters and Rommel is planning to start offensive against Benghazi next month.

West African army got Panzer IV and Panzer 38(t) tanks. I rename it to 7th army.