WW2-Global

[Rocoteh]

Kelly Whiting,

Thank you for the report.

"My game moves very slowly. I take a great deal of time over each turn (I average an hour and a quarter on a turn). So bear with me if my reports don't rush through the years rapidly. Anyway, on to the report.

It is week 37, 1941. Since my last report, here are the changes and status:

1. Australia. I have taken every city in Australia except Normanton (should fall to my original Australian invasion fleet in about 3 turns), Alice Springs (my armor, the five surviving units of the six I originally landed, is resting and refitting after taking Winton, then it will go after Alice Springs), and Perth (my new invasion fleet departed from Java, took Darwin and has moved down the west coast and has only Perth left to take - this fleet has no Marines, using Infantry to invade, and only 1 Shokaku-class carrier, though it does also have an Escort carrier and a BBC2 with several heavy cruisers). The Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney are has done well at producing workers and city improvements and I am starting the process now of converting Australia, over time, into a major air-sea producing power. These 2 fleets will gather in the East Indies when they are done in Australia and, when combined, will head to southern Africa to spearhead our drive up the African west coast. The combined fleets will have (when combined with other ships on the way from various directions) 6 Shokakus, 1 Yamato, one old BB, 2 BBC2s, 8 heavy cruisers, an Escort carrier, and an assortment of light cruisers, DDs and AA cruisers, with 2 transports, which carry 2 Japanese Marines, 3 ANZAC Infantry, 3 Heavy Artillery, and a Marine unit produced in New Caledonia - the bombing strength of the combined fleet will be 20 squadrons of Kates and they will have 12 squadrons of the new Ki-84 fighters for air cover. The Australian air force will stage to the Middle East. I thought it would be early 1942 before I had taken all of Australia, but I now expect to be done inside of 5 turns. This fleet had 4 Japanese Marines with it - clearly more than are now needed, so as we passed Cooktown, where I placed an airport, I dropped 2 units off, lifted one to Karachi, and will lift the other the next turn - they will then load on transports at Suez once we've taken it for operations in the Med."
Kelly Whiting

Its very positive to see that it will pay off for Japan to build a strong
carrier-force like this one.

No doubt the converted Australia now will be of crucial importance.

"2. South Africa. I have taken three British cities in south africa - including Praetoria and Johannesburg. I have pounded Kimberley down to a pop of 1. I'm now pounding Cape Town. I just landed 4 new units of tanks here and will begin the offensive south to take Kimberley. The Birts did counterattack aggressively and in reasonably large numbers, but with SA Infantry, regular Infantry and individual Tank Brigades. They attempted to bomb me on 2 separate turns but my zeros intercepted and shot down every bomber squadron they used (15 of them over the 2 turns) and my Bettys found their fighters and destroyed them on the ground before they could be used to intercept me (7 squadrons - not sure what they were except British fighters). The fleet that was down here has deployed to the Red Sea (it now has 4 old BBs, 5 Shokakus - with a sixth en route, and one Yamato with a large number of heavy and light cruisers, etc.). I had stationed half a dozen Otsu subs at the exit to intercept enemy ships. A Brit light cruiser came out and I sank it, then we spotted 2 British BBs, the Resolution and Revenge - and I sent my fleet north to get them. We arrived, sank both, then intervened in the air by pounding the Brit ground forces that were attacking Italian East Africa - they lost Mogadishu, but their remaining 2 cities are still firmly in their hands due to our timely intervention. This fleet will now move north, ravaging Brit holdings all the way to Suez and sinking everything it can find. It has 10 squadrons of the new Ki-84 fighters and AA cruisers, so I'm hoping the Brits will throw a bunch of bombers at us (we can take a LOT of pounding before we are at any risk and we should intercept and shoot down a lot of enemy aircraft before that ever happens). Meanwhile, I had stationed another squadron of 8 Otsus off South Africa to give me warning if any Brit ships approached - they spotted a squadron of 5 Portueguese DDs coming and sank them all. I have about 2 dozen Otsus at various points en route, half to south africa, half to the Red Sea for when we take Suez and break into the Med (my fleet won't take it because though it has a transport, I left the Marines in South Africa to fight on the ground (due to my small ground force there - which I am building up with relays of transports - I have 6 infantry and 6 tank units en route) but when we take it from the middle east, the 2 air-deployed Marines from Australia will join this fleet at Suez for operations in the Med."
Kelly Whiting

I think it will be very hard for the British to defend Africa.
The lack of infrastructure is in itself a severe problem.

"3. Middle East. Persia is out of the game. We have also taken Kuweit, Baghdad and Kirkuk and will take Damascus next turn, then Jerusalem within 2 or 3 turns thereafter. This Army and air force is very large and grows every turn as I deploy newly constructed units in from China and Manchuria. There are well over 250 units here - a lot of heavy artillery and flak, 70 each of infantry and tanks, and about 70 squadrons of air (when I deployed the new Ki-84s to the fleets, I moved the zeros into these groups). Both the Brits and French counterattacked aggressively and heavily with lots of ground and British air. They have been roundly defeated in each case. I expect this force to move on, take Suez, then fan out and take all of Africa, driving France and Belgium out of the game and further cutting into British production and resource capabilities (they will be helped in this by the force coming north from South Africa). It will also link up with the fleet and take all of the allied-held islands in the Med and hopefully sink a bunch of British and French ships. When done, this campaign should have eliminated France and Belgium, reduced Portuegal to Lissabon, crippled the British fleet and driven them entirely out of the Med and Africa."
Kelly Whiting

After that British-AI will not have much to respond with.

"4. North America. We have taken all of Alaska, and Whitehorse from the Canadians. Prince Rupert is next on the target list and has been brought under bombardment by my invasion fleet's 12 Kate squadrons (only 4 Shokakus here, 2 more en route). The Canadians intervened with air, but my zeros destroyed their bombers, then my bombers destroyed their fighters on the ground in Whitehorse. I am ferrying over convoys of transports loaded with infantry, armor and workers. I need to rapidly get a road network built south to the other in-land Canadian cities and my infantry will have to move through the mountains and take those cities, supported by Bettys. The coastal cities will fall to the fleet. It still carrys 20 infantry, six heavy artillery, 4 flak and 15 tank units to put on shore and 2 new marine units are also en route to joint his fleet. One advantage up here is that the borders of cities are so extensive, the enemy has a difficult time counterattacking - especially since I totally control the air - at the moment anyway. There are about 70 squadrons of ground based air up here, in addition to my fleet air units. I'm dreading the appearance of B17s. I expect that they may actually swing the balance the other way, if they appear in large enough numbers."
Kelly Whiting

Hopefully they will lack fighter-escorts.

"5. Panama. Finally finished off all of the American units. They attempted to leave when I attacked Alask/Canada, but my bombers red-lined them and they stayed in place to heal up - helpfully right on the coast, 2 spaces from Panama, which allowed me to transport a pair of marine units each turn (I have 4 here) over to destroy them and over about 10 turns, I attritted them out of existence - about 20 or so marine and paratrooper units. I also have 4 Canadian units, and a British Commando unit in similar condition on Yucatan - I'll finish them next. Once that is done, I'll be able to deploy the ground forces out from Panama and take Cuba and Puerto Rico. My original battle fleet is still here - soon it will have an additional 2 shokakus. I'm also setting up a pair of escort carriers about halfway between Hawaii and Panama, so I can stage over Kates and Ki-84s to join my Bettys and my fleet air units. I'm tempted to aim for Miami with this force in time (I'm also ferrying over tank and artillery and flak units) but I'm hesitant. All of my advantages would disappear once I was on the American mainland out in that exposed spot. AI would be able to concentrate air and ground forces in overwhelming numbers faster than I could. My Fleet should be able to protect the islands though. I also have about 20 Otsus en route to Panama to head into the Carib. and Atlantic. I have 1 Otsu and 4 subs in the Carib now, and I had 4 Otsus in the mid-Atlantic, but after nothing happened over a lot of turns, I moved them down to Gibralter - en route the British BB Barham ran over one and wiped it out - so I have 3 down there, watching the entrance to the Med (once they got down near southern England and Spain they saw lots of German u-boats running around)."
Kelly Whiting

Do you have any info on how large forces US has available?

"6. RRs. They are now complete all the way into the Middle East. It takes a tank unit less than 1 turn to get from Pusan to Baghdad. This is hugely important and my workers will continue to follow the army extending the RR, and normal roads, behind them and into north africa. I have connected all of south-east asia and northern India to my main line and have only to finish northern China (the border cities with the Soviets), the Malaysian Peninsula (which will take forever due to the jungles), southern India and some internal mountain cities in China - then to the Persian cities I bypassed, etc. The pace of this has increased as I continue to produce lots of workers, especially in India, about 1/3 of whom join the RR crews and the rest work on improvements in India to make the cities more productive. By the end of the year, India will join China, south east asia and Manchuria as major unit producers."
Kelly Whiting

An impressing rail-net!

If AI had been smarter with regard on attacks on infrastructure that
would have great importance.

"7. Technology. I'm at land 1943. I should be in the 1944 tech section before the end of 1941."
Kelly Whiting

That is for sure very good.

"8. Victory Conditions. My alliance is now in second place with about 6000 VPs. The US alliance is still in first with about 9600. As to the domination stuff, I have 46% of the pop, and 26% of the terrain. I think this is the category at which the game will end if the Allies don't stop me and drive me back, the Russians don't attack, and if no one gets the nukes before I get 60% in each category (not letting Japan develop nukes is just wrong). I won't attack Russia until I have all of Africa, Turkey, the Balkans (if any are left by then), Portugual and Spain so I expect the domination category will come into play at some point."
Kelly Whiting

You are right on Japan and the nukes.
Japan will be able to build nukes in version 2.5 of WW2-Global.

Thank you and welcome back.

Best Regards

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Hornblower,

Thank you for the report.

British -Sid - week 40 1939

"The British and her Commonwealth allies at the start of this game are really in quite an unprepared state much like they were in reality. As a result I am in consolidation mode. A massive amount of potential income is being lost to corruption so Police stations are being built in every city and town that is displaying corruption of more than two. Additionally I can hurry this production since police stations are really quite cheap. I have traded with every sympathetic country under the sun to beef up my bank balance. The Indian subcontinent also has the potential for social strife so temples, cathedrals and the like are next on the build list. It will be some time before military units are available to garrison and quieten uneasy cities. Hopefully I will not be faced with invasion in these far flung regions just yet.
Australia is being prepared as my factory in the south and Canada as a feeder for the British Isles to the west by an ambitious build of workers and infrastructure. The navy should be able to hold any early Axis commando probes but most likely at great cost. In my retentive state I have named every ship of the Royal navy roughly in accordance with their type. The old four stackers and 1939 destroyers are not much of a match for the U-boats as they are all inexperienced and at a bit of a disadvantage. It will be interesting to see which ones survive at the end of the game."
Hornblower

Yes the strategic situation for Britain when the scenario starts is for
sure not easy!

"The British Isles are having infrastructure hurried and railroads laid throughout the country to speed production when it is needed. Hopefully the few forces there can hold until my tech gives me something to work with.
The Italians are having the same sort of uncommon luck with their navy that the Germans are having. All my Med based Battleships are sunk and not many BB's remain elsewhere. Fortunately the Italians seem convinced that amphib assaults on Malta is a good idea. Thanks be to the fortress of Malta for holding them off and bleeding Italian infantry dry where otherwise they could be threatening me with more success.
Now that the Poles have capitulated the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht have turned their truly formidable forces west and have swept aside the low countries. They have commenced bombing London in conjunction with Kreigsmarine bombardment. The French Navy is being destroyed in futile engagements whilst I try to get my Scapa Fleet south to engage as well."
Hornblower

AI will often choose to focus on wrong aspects.

Looking forward to follow this.

Thank you and welcome back

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

one below middle.

Am up to week 51 of '40 and should update things a bit:

In England Sheffield has fallen, so has Alexandria and Algiers. In Week 48 the Soviets accepted peace with Germany ceding Odessa, Kishiniev, Lwow, Minsk, etc along with the Baltic states minus Estonia to Germany. So basically all of Lithuania, Byelorussia, the Ukraine West of Kiev, Bessarabia and Odessa are now German. That same week London celebrated it' first "we love the Fuhrer day."

Week 49 the Soviets declared war upon Britain and her allies declared war upon the Soviets. Germany consolidates it' forces in the East and redeploys air assets to strategic forward areas in Russia.

That comes in handy as in week 50 Russia declares war on me and all my allies pile on them in response.

So Russia is now at war with pretty much the whole world and their first offensive against me this go round was more pathetic then the first time and my counter offensive is going to be brutal as I have roughly four times the number of air units then before and a much increased and overall better quality (lot of elite units) force then the first time.

I have almost the entire KM set as a single stack steaming toward New York which I intend to bomb and shell. I have three Pocket battleships, the Bismarck, three Gneisenau', three CA', 2 AA cruisers and 2 CA C2' along with a C3 and C2 carrier and numerous destroyers and light cruisers.

Really though at the point the Russians made peace IRL I would have won the war given the position in Britain and Egypt.

bobtdwarf,

Russia at war with most of the world.
Then you have a very good diplomatic situation!

Thank you for the report and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

leonidas 1982,

Thank you for the report.

"italy monarch week 4 1946

The italian barbarossa campaign continues succesfully. 3 weeks ago the soviets brokered a peace with the japanese with italian forces at the gates of moscow. needless to say italy did not respect this peace and seized the city. The soviets now appear to be collapsing after a series of massive couter attcks were thrown back around aralsk. One of these was partially succesful as I left some artillery relatively unprotected and 20 m15 divisions and 40 heavy atillery were lost in one week. However Italy is now too strong for even relatively major setbacks to alter the strategic situation and the soviet attcking forces were destroyed.

I noticed an interesting thing in one attack aralsk was virtually undefended and around 80 soviet armoured divisions arrived half is1s and 2s the rest old kv1s and t34 types. I was unable to get enough artillery to destroy them in first turn so destroyed the 10 divisions threatening aralsk that turn and protected the artillery with a 100 m15 divisions. I followed standard italian battle practice and built a fort on the tile and a radar station behind it to make it a less appealing target. Seeing the strength of this force the ai withdrew the is1s and 2s. Oddly it then attacked with its obselete divisions. With radar and a fortress i won over 50 percent of these battles and the battlefield was mine. Very odd ai decision anyway!"
leonidas 1982

With regard to Italy playtests I think this one is unique!

"Even with the soviet high command trying to protect its heavy tanks as mentioned above they are now down to less than 250 divisions. They have also now wasted nearly all their old type armoured units t34s and kv1s which which numbered above 600 at the opening of the war have been reduced to less than 50 divisions in total.

My attacks are now gathering pace as the soviet counterattacks dry up my main thrust is in the north as shown but i now also have a light army group (mobile artillery only) attacking into persian russia. The sheer number of assaults is draining my forces m15 divisions had crept over 300 but are now around 275. I am rush building armour to maintain numbers. having completed tech tree i have plenty of gold to spare, as per aecon i had tried to help the germans by subsidising them 2000 gpt but this seemed to have little effect so i am using the extra myself now."
leonidas 1982

It seems like the campaign is in going in the right direction.

"The russian war is consuming all my resources however i now have 6 transports near gibralter for italian sealion. I plan to launch around week 15 possibly using my light army group from persia. I grow bored of the russian war but i need to emasculate them as the american invasion will require all of my forces and i cannot leave myself unprotected if russia is still a strong power. I plan to take all russia up to the urals and then determine if she is weak enough to be left."
leonidas 1982

Sounds like a good idea.

"On other fronts the wehrmacht has finally retaken konigsberg but has not yet moved onto russian territory. London is still a part of the reich. Japan has taken one city in central russia i beleive it has also razed a fair few along the border. Japan seems to love razing more than anyone else!

Australia is being built up as i will move my far east fleet to take hawaii and then launch a diversionary invasion of the us pacific coast before the main atlantic invasion."
leonidas 1982

I am concerned by the fact that Germany-AI plays so bad.
A special Germany-AI version should be next in priority after version 2.5.

Thank you and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Drivebymaster,

Thank you for the report.

"Week 29, 1942
Deity
Germany

Gold: 289 (+2 per turn)

Well after long deliberation and thought, I have decided to continue playing the Deity campaign until I die or until I conquer the globe. I have about 62 Panzer IIIE's left and about 35 Panzer IIIH's left. Now that is small compared to the Soviets, but I have artillery and the A.I. is ********"
Drivebymaster

Maybe you should build more Stukas. They are quite effective versus
Soviet armour.

"For the last 30 turns or so their has been a stalemate between the Soviets and I. Neither one of us can make an advancement. And due to Japan's "sub bug" I can't build up an offensive because I have to take those troops made and put them on defense.

The British are creating Lion Class BB at an incredible rate. I see stacks of 3 just roaming around freely and I can only engage a few at a time with my Bismarck class BB's. Currently I am trying to take all of the medeterainian sea so the British have no use of heading in that direction. However I can't accomplish this because the Japanese keep declaring war . Oh well."
Drivebymaster

I will look over the problem with Japan declaring war all the time.

"Week 30, 1942
Deity
Germany

Gold: 278 (-11 per turn)

The Soviets are everywhere in my country on the east side. They keep taking my airfields but the funny thing is, is that they stack the airfield with planes that very turn and defend it poorly. This is how I am going to destroy the Red Army's airforce, or atleast render them useless."
Drivebymaster

Sounds good.

"Week 35, 1942

The Soviets have pretty much come to a stop and so has my army in some aspects, though I lost many panzers but the Soviets lost tons of troops and they are on the retreat/attempting advancement.

The British have researched land 1944 and I know this because I saw a Comet land on my coast, though no match for my bombers and artillery it was destroyed and also with it my hopes of even taking britain before 1943 is over."
Drivebymaster

Hopefully Soviet has lost most of its offensive capacity.

Thank you and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[warmwaffles]

Just a quick question guys before I get started. How many of you actually play with the animations, and I really mean like how many of you guys actually show battle animations and movement?

I don't and I make it go even faster by pressing the caps lock and letting it run its own course.

When I typically write these game play accounts I typically write them in a journal fashion and I don't normally go back.

=======================================
Week 44, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Well I took your guy's advice and continued to play the Deity game and its actually turning out to be pretty good, but sure its going to take me a while to get caught up but playing defense is what I do and its doing pretty good now.

The Soviets have stopped attacking me with so many troops because now the Allies are against them so they have to fight on 3 fronts spanning their entire empire. One of the many draw backs to having such a huge infastructure with no way of transporting troops effectively.

I have now upped my science out put to about 70% while just pulling out ahead in gold per turn.

In a few turns I will be attempting to take Rostov or Sevastapol, or which ever one looks ripe for the taking. I need to cut the Soviets flow of Oil and make them feel the pressure of my Panzers. Once the Oil is cut I believe I can then focus on making my way into Africa first by taking Turkey and then proceeding to Egypt and then well...Africa. But following the troops would be a stack of workers making a railroad all the way there so I can move troops in and out faster. This is how I have been working all along, well that is until I came into a stalemate with the Soviets and their forces flooded the Eastern side and I couldn't put a stack of workers to build a railroad because it was too risky and I might have lost 50+ workers.

Currently though I am trying to rebuild the my mighty Luftwaffe bombers but my Fighters have been pretty good at protecting the main land but the coast is taking a huge pounding and so is North Africa.

As bad as this sounds, I wish Italy would topple or something because they are just wasting precious land and resources that I could use and if I see at any time one of their cities fall, I am going to jump on it faster than a fat kid on cake.

=======================================
Week 46, 1942
Germany
=======================================
The Soviets requested an audience and wanted a peace treaty for now. Hopefully this one lasts long enough for me to storm through Bulgaria and to take Turkey that route. That way the Soviets have to deal with me not only in the East of Europe but also I threaten their Oil supply.

I'm very sneaky sneaky and I can take their Oil fast, but will I be able to hold onto it? If anything I am going to have bombers harrassing it and destroying their cities with them.

Right now I have set up a quick strike spear head to take Turkey out. I should take the country by the end of 1942 or early 1943.

=======================================
Week 48, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Again the Japanese have declared war on the Soviets which is really frustrating because right when I have preperations for a quick strike that would yeild me a lot of land something has to go wrong. I have yet to have more than 3 turns of peace against the Soviets.

I think I am going to stop supplying Oil to Japan just so I can have enough time to research and catch back up in the game

And what doesn't help was that I just moved all my bombers from the eastern front to help out in taking Turkey. I think I learned my lesson this time around. Don't move any bombers stationed on the eastern front, only move the ones produced on the western front.

The funny thing is, is that I have this hope that I will have some peace in the east when it will probably never happen. Never the less I am still going on with the plan to take Turkey. But I will just defend the East front like I have been but just attacking through Turkey and from what my recon and intel tells me is that, that route is the easiest route to knock on the Soviets back door...or side door what ever door you want to call it.

Actually I just came up with an Operation name, I'm going to call it Operation Baked Turkey.
=======================================
Week 52, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Like I said before, I will take Turkey before the year is out.

I think the Soviets caught onto as to what I am doing down south because I now see all of their troops slowly migrating that direction, which can only mean one thing. That area is going to be a very very hot zone. Though if the Soviets move most of their forces that direction I will beable to advance onto Stalingrad and further.

 

[Vericitas]

Just a quick question guys before I get started. How many of you actually play with the animations, and I really mean like how many of you guys actually show battle animations and movement?

I don't and I make it go even faster by pressing the caps lock and letting it run its own course.

I also press caps lock!

 

[Hornblower]

British - Sid - week 1 1940

The German Blitzkreig in Western Europe continues. The French have showed considerable resistance with counterattacks all along the border. Antwerp, captured by the Germans in week 45 was liberated by French armour the next turn. A massive Luftwaffe raid soon reversed this little victory and signalled the end to any French backbone. Perhaps seeing the collapse nearing and with a little goading from Hitler, Spain declared war on France. It will now be a race to see whether Germany or Spain control southern France.

The Spainish declaration of war on France has brought the rest of the allies into the melee. The remaining French and British fleets in the Med still reeling from the Italian naval assaults suddenly found themselves hopelessly outnumbered. A large number of US ships was lurking in the straits of Gibraltar cleaning up stray Italian ships however the toll on the USN by Spain has been equally devastating.

Italy's tide is beginning to turn in North Africa though. Tobruk has fallen to the ANZAC, Indian and British troops. Benghazi also fell however that attack was premature and a it was retaken shortly afterwards. This however could prove fortuitous as the Italian navy has entered the harbour for repairs. An audacious attack by the Australian 6th Division and the British 7th Armoured, supported by two artillery batterys should sink the last big guns they have. It will mean over extending again but will be worth it to catch their fleet at rest.
A troop transport has departed Australia bound for the middle east to improve my momentum there.

It seems that the Japanese have over extended themselves in places too. Despite successfully capturing the Phillipines and Hong Kong they have redirected their assault fleets to Palembang. Anticipating an attack on Singapore I despatched my Australian fleet at the start of the game. They arrived too late to save Palembang but managed to sink a convoy bound for Kuala Lumpur. The remainder scurried back to Palembang. The entire Japanese southern assault force has been paralysed by my fleet. Their ships and transports have been sunk in Palembang harbour. It remains to see what heavy forces they send down to attack my own fleet but for the moment I have bought valuable time for the Dutch East Indies and Singapore.

The Royal Airforce in the UK are hanging on by a thread. I have mustered the strongest naval force possible and have drawn out the big German ships and sunk many. The Luftwaffe has counterattacked and damaged my fleet but it has been holding thanks to me building airfields along the english coast around London and stacking them with the few Hurricanes and Spitfire Mk I-II's that I have as CAP. They don't shoot down many aircraft and I lose more than I kill but it will work until I can start pumping them out in my industrial heartland.

 

[Rocoteh]

Drivebymaster,

Thank you for the report.

"=======================================
Week 44, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Well I took your guy's advice and continued to play the Deity game and its actually turning out to be pretty good, but sure its going to take me a while to get caught up but playing defense is what I do and its doing pretty good now.

The Soviets have stopped attacking me with so many troops because now the Allies are against them so they have to fight on 3 fronts spanning their entire empire. One of the many draw backs to having such a huge infastructure with no way of transporting troops effectively.

I have now upped my science out put to about 70% while just pulling out ahead in gold per turn."
Drivebymaster

Hopefully that investment will pay off soon.

"In a few turns I will be attempting to take Rostov or Sevastapol, or which ever one looks ripe for the taking. I need to cut the Soviets flow of Oil and make them feel the pressure of my Panzers. Once the Oil is cut I believe I can then focus on making my way into Africa first by taking Turkey and then proceeding to Egypt and then well...Africa. But following the troops would be a stack of workers making a railroad all the way there so I can move troops in and out faster. This is how I have been working all along, well that is until I came into a stalemate with the Soviets and their forces flooded the Eastern side and I couldn't put a stack of workers to build a railroad because it was too risky and I might have lost 50+ workers."
Drivebymaster

A cost of 50 population points to replace!

"=======================================
Week 46, 1942
Germany
=======================================
The Soviets requested an audience and wanted a peace treaty for now. Hopefully this one lasts long enough for me to storm through Bulgaria and to take Turkey that route. That way the Soviets have to deal with me not only in the East of Europe but also I threaten their Oil supply.

I'm very sneaky sneaky and I can take their Oil fast, but will I be able to hold onto it? If anything I am going to have bombers harrassing it and destroying their cities with them.

Right now I have set up a quick strike spear head to take Turkey out. I should take the country by the end of 1942 or early 1943."
Drivebymaster

Soviet-AI will often go for Turkey.
Control of it should be of great value.

"=======================================
Week 48, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Again the Japanese have declared war on the Soviets which is really frustrating because right when I have preperations for a quick strike that would yeild me a lot of land something has to go wrong. I have yet to have more than 3 turns of peace against the Soviets.

I think I am going to stop supplying Oil to Japan just so I can have enough time to research and catch back up in the game"
Drivebymaster

In version 2.5 Japan favorite government will be communism.
The 28 Soviet subs in The Far East will be replaced with 10 Light Coastal Flotillas.
Changes have been implemented.
Hopefully the above mentioned changes will solve the problem with
repeated declarations of war from Japan against Soviet.

"And what doesn't help was that I just moved all my bombers from the eastern front to help out in taking Turkey. I think I learned my lesson this time around. Don't move any bombers stationed on the eastern front, only move the ones produced on the western front.

The funny thing is, is that I have this hope that I will have some peace in the east when it will probably never happen. Never the less I am still going on with the plan to take Turkey. But I will just defend the East front like I have been but just attacking through Turkey and from what my recon and intel tells me is that, that route is the easiest route to knock on the Soviets back door...or side door what ever door you want to call it.

Actually I just came up with an Operation name, I'm going to call it Operation Baked Turkey."
Drivebymaster

I think this plan will work.

"=======================================
Week 52, 1942
Germany
=======================================
Like I said before, I will take Turkey before the year is out.

I think the Soviets caught onto as to what I am doing down south because I now see all of their troops slowly migrating that direction, which can only mean one thing. That area is going to be a very very hot zone. Though if the Soviets move most of their forces that direction I will beable to advance onto Stalingrad and further."
Drivebymaster

A crucial battle should not be far away.

Thank you and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Hornblower,

Thank you for the report.

"British - Sid - week 1 1940

The German Blitzkreig in Western Europe continues. The French have showed considerable resistance with counterattacks all along the border. Antwerp, captured by the Germans in week 45 was liberated by French armour the next turn. A massive Luftwaffe raid soon reversed this little victory and signalled the end to any French backbone. Perhaps seeing the collapse nearing and with a little goading from Hitler, Spain declared war on France. It will now be a race to see whether Germany or Spain control southern France.

The Spainish declaration of war on France has brought the rest of the allies into the melee. The remaining French and British fleets in the Med still reeling from the Italian naval assaults suddenly found themselves hopelessly outnumbered. A large number of US ships was lurking in the straits of Gibraltar cleaning up stray Italian ships however the toll on the USN by Spain has been equally devastating."
Hornblower

In some playtests Germany-AI seems to be ineffective even in France.

"Italy's tide is beginning to turn in North Africa though. Tobruk has fallen to the ANZAC, Indian and British troops. Benghazi also fell however that attack was premature and a it was retaken shortly afterwards. This however could prove fortuitous as the Italian navy has entered the harbour for repairs. An audacious attack by the Australian 6th Division and the British 7th Armoured, supported by two artillery batterys should sink the last big guns they have. It will mean over extending again but will be worth it to catch their fleet at rest.
A troop transport has departed Australia bound for the middle east to improve my momentum there."
Hornblower

To knock out Italy early should be a good idea.

"It seems that the Japanese have over extended themselves in places too. Despite successfully capturing the Phillipines and Hong Kong they have redirected their assault fleets to Palembang. Anticipating an attack on Singapore I despatched my Australian fleet at the start of the game. They arrived too late to save Palembang but managed to sink a convoy bound for Kuala Lumpur. The remainder scurried back to Palembang. The entire Japanese southern assault force has been paralysed by my fleet. Their ships and transports have been sunk in Palembang harbour. It remains to see what heavy forces they send down to attack my own fleet but for the moment I have bought valuable time for the Dutch East Indies and Singapore."
Hornblower

When it comes to large scale amphibious operations far away from the
homeland AI will be in severe trouble.

"The Royal Airforce in the UK are hanging on by a thread. I have mustered the strongest naval force possible and have drawn out the big German ships and sunk many. The Luftwaffe has counterattacked and damaged my fleet but it has been holding thanks to me building airfields along the english coast around London and stacking them with the few Hurricanes and Spitfire Mk I-II's that I have as CAP. They don't shoot down many aircraft and I lose more than I kill but it will work until I can start pumping them out in my industrial heartland."
Hornblower

That should be the right way to go.

Thank you and welcome back.

Rocoteh

 

[warmwaffles]

All right it is Week 16, 1943

Turkey is destroyed and between the weeks of 1 and 16 a couple fun things have happened

Cities Conquered:
Damascus
Groznyj
Baku
Rostov
Liepaja

All of which were extremely easy to take because the Russians would attack one direction and I would counter in the other which would make the AI rethink and head back to take the area.

Taking Groznyj and Baku was easy, I simply built a railroad through turkey and pumped 20+ panzers in to storm the area and take their Oil. When the Soviets saw this they Immediately stopped attacking me on the Eastern front which set the doors open for the taking of Liepaja which again made the Soviets stop and head back to the Eastern front and quite honestly the taking of Rostov has always been a plan and when I saw a damaged KV-1 gaurding the city I immediately jumped on it because I knew it was poorly defended.

But now its Week 17 and the Soviets and I are at "peace" or as I like to call it the positioning of my troops ahaha.

 

[Rocoteh]

Drivebymaster,

Thank you for the report.

"All right it is Week 16, 1943

Turkey is destroyed and between the weeks of 1 and 16 a couple fun things have happened

Cities Conquered:
Damascus
Groznyj
Baku
Rostov
Liepaja

All of which were extremely easy to take because the Russians would attack one direction and I would counter in the other which would make the AI rethink and head back to take the area."
Drivebymaster

A very good result.
This can be a turning point in the playtest.

"All of which were extremely easy to take because the Russians would attack one direction and I would counter in the other which would make the AI rethink and head back to take the area.

Taking Groznyj and Baku was easy, I simply built a railroad through turkey and pumped 20+ panzers in to storm the area and take their Oil. When the Soviets saw this they Immediately stopped attacking me on the Eastern front which set the doors open for the taking of Liepaja which again made the Soviets stop and head back to the Eastern front and quite honestly the taking of Rostov has always been a plan and when I saw a damaged KV-1 gaurding the city I immediately jumped on it because I knew it was poorly defended."
Drivebymaster

Russia-AI seems to be heavily confused now!

"But now its Week 17 and the Soviets and I are at "peace" or as I like to call it the positioning of my troops ahaha."
Drivebymaster

Looking forward to follow this.

Thank you and welcome back.


Rocoteh

 

[krwhitinglaw]

I managed to play several turns this weekend and have made significant progress. It is week 43 of 1941.

1. Australia. It has been fully captured. My Australian fleets are now gathering south of Sumatra to head for South Africa to support the attacks up the west coast. The longer range aircraft have deployed to Hawaii and the Kates and Zeros will stage to panama (I have set my 2 escort carriers in place and they are located so Kates, Zeros and Ki-84s can jump from Hawaii to them, then on to Panama, only 4 at a time, but that's better than zero - several destroyers and cruisers are with them just in case), the Bettys to Canada.

2. North America. I've taken both Prince Rupert and Vancouver with my invasion fleet. I've also been pounding Edmonton and Calgary with Bettys and Kates (when in range). Seattle should fall to ground forces from Vancouver next turn. The fleet will head south with Marines and some Infantry to go after Portland. Interesting stuff up here. The Americans and Brits attacked my fleet with multiple waves of fighters and bombers over 2 consecutive turns. Fortunately, on the first turn, my Ki-84s and AA Cruisers handled all 14 sorties. I then had to rest my depleted carrier fighters, but I had just taken Prince Rupert and staged in a dozen squadrons of zeros the turn before and they were all in the air within range of the fleet on the second turn and intercepted and (again combined with my AA cruisers) defeated all 12 sorties on the second turn. Then my land-based Bettys found their remaining aircraft and destroyed them on the ground (in Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary - a total of another 15 squadrons or so). So, all told, they brought about 40-45 squadrons of fighters and bombers over and lost them all without destroying any of my air units and without managing a single successful bombing run. I consider that a big win. I then took Vancouver and landed the vast majority of my ground army. It will take Seattle then move inland toward Calgary. I have 5 Infantry units approaching Edmonton. These ground fights will be interesting to watch. I still have air superiority though not supremacy yet, but I have seen at least a dozen Canadian Infantry units, lots of Militia, 2 Matildas, 4 Mk V (? I think) Cruiser units, and several smaller ones. American forces moving around by Edmonton and Calgary include at least 7 Grant/Lee units, 1 paratrooper, and several infantry units. One British Commando unit wandered into Val range of Prince Rupert and I redlined it and took it out with an Infantry unit. It will be interesting to see if my infantry can handle their larger ground forces when combined with air support. I'm fairying over as much ground reinforcement as fast as I can but it's slow at 5 spaces a turn (why can't Japan build those awesome convoy units? that would be very useful at this point). I also have about 12 Otsus spread in a big picket line down the American coastline - these prevent any american ships from surprising my fleet.

3. Panama. Finished the remaining Canadian and Brit ground units, then moved on up and took Havana. A couple interesting points. The Americans ran a brand new BBC2 out and my first fleet promptly sunk it (this fleet air arm has accounted for 12 of the US BBs of the 15 I've sunk so far - it's definitely my leading combat fleet - even though it's composed of the oldest carriers in my navy). The Americans had placed a bunch of fighters and bombers in Havana which I discovered when I started pounding it with Bettys from Panama for the several turns before my fleet got there. I lost about half a dozen squadrons of Bettys before I acheived air superiority and smashed their air units on the ground. Every turn thereafter, there were between 5 and 8 new air units in Havana, which I would hammer with Bettys (I have over 40 squadrons of them in Panama). I'm not sure how many I eventually destroyed, but I did take Havana with Marines and infantry from the fleet. I then staged my bettys and new Ki-84s and zeros and Kates (from the escort carrier ferry) up to Havana. I have also started pounding Miami but have seen no air units there. I now have about a dozen Otsus that have cleared the Carib and are set up in a picket line around Puerto Rico, Cuba, the American Coast and the Atlantic. These should alert me if any enemy ships move anywhere then my fleet air can hammer them. Not sure what I'll do once I have Puerto Rico, but I can't let this large force stand idle, so maybe I'll attack Mexico and start moving North.

4. Middle East. Huge changes here. I took Damascus and Jerusalem as planned. My RRs caught up with me (large stretches of open flat ground helped a lot along with steady increases of new workers) and I placed an air strip right on the edge of the border between Jerusalem and Suez, moving most of my enormous ground army just across the border. The next turn I brought all my air to bear on Suez, redlined the 10+ ground units there, took it with tanks, then attacked Alexandria with air until everything (14 units) was redlined, took it with tanks, then did the same to Cairo. Then moved my RR up through Suez to Alexandria, then attacked with my reamining tanks and mobile artillery west and took both Tobruk and Benghazi. All of that happened in 1 turn. I took all 5 cities, destroyed about 25 squadrons of air and over 40 ground units. I lost about a dozen squadrons of bombers as a cost - no ground units were destroyed. My army is now splitting - most to go west and attack the French, the rest heading south against the Brits. Some units, including the Marines I brought by air and rail from Australia, will load onto transports at Suez (my subs have moved into the Med and my fleet here will be in Suez next turn to pick them up and head to Nicosia, then Malta, etc.). This one turn was also the turn I took Havanna, Vancouver and Alice Springs, as well as Cape Town in South Africa - a disastrous turn for the allies, surely.

5. South Africa. Took all of British south africa, except Walvis Bay - which is staggering under air attacks. This force will now turn North and chew its way up Africa.

Seriously, unless the Russians do something soon or the allies get nukes, this game is over - except for the complexities of winning the individual battles, the strategic problems have faded dramatically as the allies have lost so heavily and have lost so much territory and population that they can't possibly (speaking of Britain here) keep up technologically or in unit production. Even the Americans are about to start suffering heavy losses in terrain as I've finally reached the point that I can start taking cities from the lower 48. Even if the Russians attack, I think I can handle them now. The enormous production capabilities I've developed allow me to turn out units at a crazy rate and that rate is just increasing as further conquests get added and as workers continue developing the ground I already have.

Regards,

Kelly Whiting

 

[Rocoteh]

Kelly Whiting,

Thank you for the report.

"Japan Update

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I managed to play several turns this weekend and have made significant progress. It is week 43 of 1941.

1. Australia. It has been fully captured. My Australian fleets are now gathering south of Sumatra to head for South Africa to support the attacks up the west coast. The longer range aircraft have deployed to Hawaii and the Kates and Zeros will stage to panama (I have set my 2 escort carriers in place and they are located so Kates, Zeros and Ki-84s can jump from Hawaii to them, then on to Panama, only 4 at a time, but that's better than zero - several destroyers and cruisers are with them just in case), the Bettys to Canada."
Kelly Whiting

It will be interesting to see how large forces Britain can mobilize to
defend South Africa.

"2. North America. I've taken both Prince Rupert and Vancouver with my invasion fleet. I've also been pounding Edmonton and Calgary with Bettys and Kates (when in range). Seattle should fall to ground forces from Vancouver next turn. The fleet will head south with Marines and some Infantry to go after Portland. Interesting stuff up here. The Americans and Brits attacked my fleet with multiple waves of fighters and bombers over 2 consecutive turns. Fortunately, on the first turn, my Ki-84s and AA Cruisers handled all 14 sorties. I then had to rest my depleted carrier fighters, but I had just taken Prince Rupert and staged in a dozen squadrons of zeros the turn before and they were all in the air within range of the fleet on the second turn and intercepted and (again combined with my AA cruisers) defeated all 12 sorties on the second turn. Then my land-based Bettys found their remaining aircraft and destroyed them on the ground (in Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary - a total of another 15 squadrons or so). So, all told, they brought about 40-45 squadrons of fighters and bombers over and lost them all without destroying any of my air units and without managing a single successful bombing run. I consider that a big win."
Kelly Whiting

I agree. An important victory.
One must consider the above as a very massive counterstrike from AI.

"I then took Vancouver and landed the vast majority of my ground army. It will take Seattle then move inland toward Calgary. I have 5 Infantry units approaching Edmonton. These ground fights will be interesting to watch. I still have air superiority though not supremacy yet, but I have seen at least a dozen Canadian Infantry units, lots of Militia, 2 Matildas, 4 Mk V (? I think) Cruiser units, and several smaller ones. American forces moving around by Edmonton and Calgary include at least 7 Grant/Lee units, 1 paratrooper, and several infantry units. One British Commando unit wandered into Val range of Prince Rupert and I redlined it and took it out with an Infantry unit. It will be interesting to see if my infantry can handle their larger ground forces when combined with air support. I'm fairying over as much ground reinforcement as fast as I can but it's slow at 5 spaces a turn (why can't Japan build those awesome convoy units? that would be very useful at this point). I also have about 12 Otsus spread in a big picket line down the American coastline - these prevent any american ships from surprising my fleet."
Kelly Whiting

I guess there will be a major Allied counterattack soon.
Japan will be able to build Convoy units in version 2.5.

"3. Panama. Finished the remaining Canadian and Brit ground units, then moved on up and took Havana. A couple interesting points. The Americans ran a brand new BBC2 out and my first fleet promptly sunk it (this fleet air arm has accounted for 12 of the US BBs of the 15 I've sunk so far - it's definitely my leading combat fleet - even though it's composed of the oldest carriers in my navy)."
Kelly Whiting

That is very positive since its my intention that carrier-forces
should be hard-hitting (like the historical ones) and not just support-groups
to battleships.

"The Americans had placed a bunch of fighters and bombers in Havana which I discovered when I started pounding it with Bettys from Panama for the several turns before my fleet got there. I lost about half a dozen squadrons of Bettys before I acheived air superiority and smashed their air units on the ground. Every turn thereafter, there were between 5 and 8 new air units in Havana, which I would hammer with Bettys (I have over 40 squadrons of them in Panama). I'm not sure how many I eventually destroyed, but I did take Havana with Marines and infantry from the fleet. I then staged my bettys and new Ki-84s and zeros and Kates (from the escort carrier ferry) up to Havana. I have also started pounding Miami but have seen no air units there. I now have about a dozen Otsus that have cleared the Carib and are set up in a picket line around Puerto Rico, Cuba, the American Coast and the Atlantic. These should alert me if any enemy ships move anywhere then my fleet air can hammer them. Not sure what I'll do once I have Puerto Rico, but I can't let this large force stand idle, so maybe I'll attack Mexico and start moving North."
Kelly Whiting

I think that sounds like a good idea.
A landing in in Texas or Florida will probably meet a very heavy US counterattack.

"4. Middle East. Huge changes here. I took Damascus and Jerusalem as planned. My RRs caught up with me (large stretches of open flat ground helped a lot along with steady increases of new workers) and I placed an air strip right on the edge of the border between Jerusalem and Suez, moving most of my enormous ground army just across the border. The next turn I brought all my air to bear on Suez, redlined the 10+ ground units there, took it with tanks, then attacked Alexandria with air until everything (14 units) was redlined, took it with tanks, then did the same to Cairo. Then moved my RR up through Suez to Alexandria, then attacked with my reamining tanks and mobile artillery west and took both Tobruk and Benghazi. All of that happened in 1 turn."
Kelly Whiting

Incredible!

"I took all 5 cities, destroyed about 25 squadrons of air and over 40 ground units. I lost about a dozen squadrons of bombers as a cost - no ground units were destroyed. My army is now splitting - most to go west and attack the French, the rest heading south against the Brits. Some units, including the Marines I brought by air and rail from Australia, will load onto transports at Suez (my subs have moved into the Med and my fleet here will be in Suez next turn to pick them up and head to Nicosia, then Malta, etc.). This one turn was also the turn I took Havanna, Vancouver and Alice Springs, as well as Cape Town in South Africa - a disastrous turn for the allies, surely."
Kelly Whiting

Yes, I doubt they will recover from this severe defeat.

"5. South Africa. Took all of British south africa, except Walvis Bay - which is staggering under air attacks. This force will now turn North and chew its way up Africa.

Seriously, unless the Russians do something soon or the allies get nukes, this game is over - except for the complexities of winning the individual battles, the strategic problems have faded dramatically as the allies have lost so heavily and have lost so much territory and population that they can't possibly (speaking of Britain here) keep up technologically or in unit production. Even the Americans are about to start suffering heavy losses in terrain as I've finally reached the point that I can start taking cities from the lower 48. Even if the Russians attack, I think I can handle them now. The enormous production capabilities I've developed allow me to turn out units at a crazy rate and that rate is just increasing as further conquests get added and as workers continue developing the ground I already have."
Kelly Whiting

You are right.
If Russia stays out from the war there is no hope for the Allies.

Thank you and welcome back.

Best Regards

Rocoteh

 

[bobtdwarf]

bobtdwarf,

Russia at war with most of the world.
Then you have a very good diplomatic situation!

Thank you for the report and welcome back.

Rocoteh

It gets a bit better in '41....

Stalin sues for peace after I have nabbed Tula, Novograd, Rostov, Kharkov, and Kiev and maybe one or two other small tidbits; and gives up 55 gold per turn.

Then I sell him wines at 45 gold per turn

And the Japanese just declared war against him again and I have not been prompted to honor our defense pact, neither have any of the other members.

Bad news though is the Yanks just took Plymouth and have about 6 units in it all mostly infantry types that will be easily smashed by my oncoming army of 9 elite panzer units with 3 units of heavy artillery backup and half a dozen available aircraft.

And since the silly wombats put a BB and a couple of cruisers in the town along with the transport they are going to lose them.

I have over 2400 gold in the bank, about 344 coming in a month. I have the major cities of Egypt and the entire KM is just about to steam to within bomber range of New York....

 

[goodsmell]

I'M 100% Deadly suprised Rocoteh is still on it , and drivebymaster keep play this scenario, I mean , Wow it's great guys ! I guess that any of you don't remmember me, right ? : )

I'm lookin' for my C3C for already a week , grrrr it must be somewhere in my place ^_^

 

[MORG]

Now that I've come out of lurker mode after a few years and actually posted; I just have to say that these AAR's and responses from Rocoteh are great reading, keep em coming.

 

[Rocoteh]

It gets a bit better in '41....

Stalin sues for peace after I have nabbed Tula, Novograd, Rostov, Kharkov, and Kiev and maybe one or two other small tidbits; and gives up 55 gold per turn.

Then I sell him wines at 45 gold per turn

And the Japanese just declared war against him again and I have not been prompted to honor our defense pact, neither have any of the other members.

Bad news though is the Yanks just took Plymouth and have about 6 units in it all mostly infantry types that will be easily smashed by my oncoming army of 9 elite panzer units with 3 units of heavy artillery backup and half a dozen available aircraft.

And since the silly wombats put a BB and a couple of cruisers in the town along with the transport they are going to lose them.

I have over 2400 gold in the bank, about 344 coming in a month. I have the major cities of Egypt and the entire KM is just about to steam to within bomber range of New York....

bobtdwarf,

Overall a very good strategic situation!

Thank you and welcome back with more reports.

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

I'M 100% Deadly suprised Rocoteh is still on it , and drivebymaster keep play this scenario, I mean , Wow it's great guys ! I guess that any of you don't remmember me, right ? : )

I'm lookin' for my C3C for already a week , grrrr it must be somewhere in my place ^_^

goodsmell,

For sure I remember you.

Welcome back!

Rocoteh

 

[Rocoteh]

Now that I've come out of lurker mode after a few years and actually posted; I just have to say that these AAR's and responses from Rocoteh are great reading, keep em coming.

MORG,

I am glad to hear that.

In December its 3 years since WW2-Global was launched.
Interest for the scenario is still very strong.

Rocoteh