Sat, 02 Mar 2002

From: "crowroadaw" <crowroadaw@yahoo.com.au>

Subject: GR - Brisbane in Flames

Options S / O 1939 N / D 1939 J / F 1940 M / A 1940 M / J 1940 J / A 1940

S / O 1940 N / D 1940 J / F 1941 M / A 1941

Options:

We play WiF:FE with MiF, PiF, SiF, CVPiF, AiF and some of the units from PoliF. No GBA, no Heavies. LOC Vichy, using 2 BBs = 1 chit.

Vichy gets no Partisans unless it is active and not hostile to any Allied Major Power. In that case her Partisan value equals her Loyalty Number. Most optional rules are used; the omissions are Limited Supply Across Straits (we use Limited Overseas Supply instead), HQ Movement, In the Presence of the Enemy, Hidden Task Forces, Bounce Combat (which is likely to be in our next game), Optional CV Searching, Defensive Shore Bombardment and Japanese Carrier Plane Range.

We play with slightly modified ENG rules (they get their bonus against Forts and Rivers, but we don't require them to end the turn in a factory hex in order to use captured factories there), Carpet Bombing (target units can only be shattered, not destroyed, unless you are carpet bombing with an A-bomb) and fractional odds (fractions of .5 or more get a +1 on the 2d10, fractions of less than .5 get nothing).

We also play a house rule for forced Italian and Japanese surrender, but they won't come into effect until the US, CW and RU are all active.

Full details of this house rule are not included here, as they run to about two pages, but they can be found at http://www.adamwindsor.cjb.net/wif/axis_surrender.html

Finally, we limit the ability of the Western Allies (not Russia) to DoW minor nations until US entry option 48 is taken. Until that time, the Western Allies can only DoW a minor if: - it is providing resources (or oil) to an Axis power

- Axis resources are being shipped through the minor's port(s); or

- the minor is able to be aligned by an Axis power under RaW.

If a power doesn't play a significant role in an impulse, it won't be mentioned, so as to save you from reading "The US (Comb) does nothing" three hundred times.

S/O 1939

GE conquers Poland without loss. JA takes Sian. There is no BEF.

RU conquers Persia without loss. Axis powers pass and end the turn before RU can claim East Poland.

The US authorises planes for CH.

N/D 1939

CW lends 4 Res to FR. GE conquers Denmark and incompletely conquers the Netherlands, both without loss. RU prepares for a claim on Bessarabia.

The US interns the Bearn.

J/F 1940

CW continues lending. GE's bad weather rolls prevent any action on land. His bad search rolls prevent any action on the sea.

The US occupies Iceland and Greenland, generating tension.

M/A 1940

CW continues lending. IT rolls even worse weather than GE, and the land war remains stalled, though SUBs do finally sink a couple of CW CP.

The US chooses Resources to Western Allies, generating tension.

M/J 1940

The CW ceases to lend to France. The western front hots up as GE easily rolls Belgium, but is then stalled by Allied counter-attacks and a shock DoW from RU, who advances into Lvov.

IT joins the war against FR and RU and enjoys some success, capturing Nice and French Somaliland and also succeeding in a risky assault on Marseilles. Meanwhile GE plays an O-chit and 'goes for broke' against FR. The Wehrmacht takes heavy casualties and the attack largely stalls, though they do force a small hole in the French lines..

JA *finally* occupies Chang-Sha and the neighbouring resource, and shapes up for an offensive in the south, but the resultant attack on Kwei-yang fails.

The US chooses Gift of Destroyers to the CW, causing tension.

J/A 1940

Lending Stage

GE announces that it will lend 2 resources and 1 Oil to IT.

FR uses Intel to roll Initiative and gives the resulting '2' to the Axis. After losing, the Axis demands a re-roll. The initiative shifts to +1 Allies, who win again.

Notable Reinforcements

The Axis MAR start to arrive. RU and CH both get HQ-I.

Impulse 1

The weather is clear and remains so all turn.

The CW (Naval) sends ships everywhere. They repair the lines in the Faeroes Gap and sortie fleets to all three Mediterranean sea zones, as well as the Faeroes Gap and Bay of Biscay. The Sydney MIL sets sail toward East Africa, and a MOT lands in Algiers. At the end of the impulse, they also rebase two NAV-4 and one NAV-3 to the Mediterranean.

FR (Land) ground strikes an exposed German MECH and ARM stack, but fails to flip. They then shuffle units to provide better coverage of Paris, as - despite the French successes last turn - they have almost nothing in reserve.

The Maginot line is also stripped of units, with only Metz still held. A GARR and a MIL are railed to Toulouse and Bordeaux, where France plans to hold out if GE does not accept Vichy.

RU (Comb) sails SUBs and searches the Baltic, but fails to find. He also moves a pair of INF to block the two GE Corps in Vilna from retreating, and flips one of said Corps with a ground strike.

Impulse 2

GE (Land with O-chit on Rundstedt) ground strikes a French stack.

The French FTR-2 intercepts, shooting down the German FTR but being destroyed itself. France gets a Vichy chit. The ground strike flips a DIV and a Corps.

Weak German forces occupy Strasbourg (+1 Vichy chit) without resistance, and a massive assault takes Lille without loss (eight double-strength Corps will do that ...) to gain another two Vichy chits. A second attack in East Belgium, however, is a 1/0 failure: another chit for France.

IT (Land) snaffles the resource hex near Marseilles and takes Tunis (+2 Vichy chits). This choice ignores the ominous build-up of CW naval forces in the Mediterranean, as the Axis gambles that the USE hit will compensate for the surprise impulse.

FR initiates combat in the Italian Coast but fails to find. RU initiates in the Baltic and sinks 2 German CP, aborting the third.

Impulse 3

The CW (Comb) DoWs IT (-1 USE) and shows the Axis that their gamble was a bad one. 1 IT TRS is sunk and the other damaged (would have been sunk too, if not for very lucky rolls by IT), while a CA is damaged and 2 CP sunk. A third CP is left trapped in the Red Sea, and the fourth is aborted. North Africa and Sardinia are out of supply, as the only Italian CP left at sea is in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Sydney MIL lands in British Somaliland as the TERR there advances into Ethiopia and the TERR in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan moves toward Eritrea.

FR (Comb) makes a blitz attack, but the 1/B result only serves to give Germany a Vichy chit and flip some French units.

Impulse 4

IT (Naval) and GE (Comb) sail and initiate combat in no less than 8 different sea zones. All that activity sinks a mere 2 CW CP and aborts 1 CW CV.

GE flies a ground strike against the French ARM/MECH stack, escorting with a 6 AtA FTR. France intercepts with the only thing on hand - a 2 AtA CVP press-ganged into land service. The French roll comes up a '2' and the German FTR is destroyed, but succeeds in clearing through the bomber. France gets a (very lucky!) Vichy chit. Both units are flipped by the ground strike, however.

Germany recovers in the land combat, with a */2B result against the stack just north of the ARM and MECH. This garners them another chit.

JA (Comb) transfers troops from the south of China to the north, where the weather is better.

Impulse 5

The CW (Comb) finds and sinks 2 German SUBs in the Faeroes Gap. The Anglo-Egyptian TERR moves next to the capital of Eritrea. Fierce naval battles rage across the Med throughout this and the next impulse (see Impulse 6 for a summary of losses).

FR (Comb) declares Paris an open city. Both they and Germany gain 2 chits each. The Axis entry level is now high enough that a French peace offer will be automatic in the next Allied impulse. FR also give half their Intel to CH at this point, to prevent GE getting half of it in the Vichy process.

RU (Land) surrounds the two German Corps in Vilna, but does not attack yet. Another ground strike against the units fails.

Impulse 6

IT (Comb) attacks the British Somaliland TERR with the AOI TERR.

Both are destroyed in the battle.

GE (Comb) occupies Paris (+1 Vichy chit) and assaults the flipped French MECH and ARM in order to deny the units to Free France. The +13 attack garners a 1/2 result and a chit for Germany.

GE also restores the convoys in the Baltic; this time with escorts.

In the Mediterranean, the battles really heat up, with several rounds of combat fought. Italy's luck with the damage rolls continues, and she wins a tactical victory. In total, the Allies lose 4 CA sunk (2 CW, 2 FR) and 2 damaged (1 FR, 1 CW) as well as 1 BB damaged, 1 FR CP sunk, and 4 CW CP aborted. IT has no units sunk thanks to very lucky damage rolls, but does suffer 4 CA damaged - a loss that they will find much harder to replace than the CW. The battles do give them a Vichy chit, however.

JA (Land) tries to ground strike Chiang Kai-Shek. The bombers clear through after the FTRs on both sides are aborted, but fail to flip any units.

Impulse 7

The CW (Comb) begins to realise that keeping spare CP in the 'safety' of Canada makes repairing her lines very difficult, and moves most of the CP back to the UK. The capital of Eritrea is captured, as is the (now empty) capital of French Somaliland.

France (Land) offers a Vichy settlement to Germany, who accepts.

French units occupy all uncaptured resource hexes to deny them to the Germans.

RU (Land) finally attacks the two OOS GE Corps in Vilna, destroying both.

The turn does not end.

Impulse 8

GE (Land) begins to send troops eastward, toward the front lines in Poland, while IT (Land) sets about establishing joint defensive lines with her Axis partner.

JA (Land) has another attempt at a ground strike on Chiang Kai-Shek, but fails again.

The turns does not end.

Impulse 9

All allies pick an action, though only the CW (Naval) does anything, using Gort to re-org the CP in the UK, in hopes that the turn will not end until the next Allied move and the convoy lines can be repaired.

The turn ends.

End of Turn

Still no partisans, despite a 70% chance in China.

The US chooses Resources to China (no tension) and Embargo Strategic Materials (gets tension).

The US starts AMPH number 3 and also puts out the Bearn CV.

CW gets another LND4 and an HQ-I.

JA gets some more CV.

IT repairs her damaged TRS and gets a NAV-3.

Russia and China get 3 Intel.

France is Vichied by Germany (only +1 USE). See below for details of the settlement. Tunisia is conquered by Italy. Eritrea is conquered by the CW. French Somaliland is liberated by the CW.

Vichification

Germany has 11 chits while Italy has 7. France has a whopping 17, with 9 BBs in French home ports.

The Allies do not destroy any units.

Italy and Germany make no territorial demands.

France gets 5 chits for her BBs (total now 22). The Axis demand no ships.

Germany installs a level 3 Vichy, and Italy demands the Rump. France gets the 3 Italian chits used, and now has a total of 25!

France puts 3 chits into each of Morocco/Algeria, West Africa, Syria, Indo-China and Equatorial Africa. All go Free, as does the Pacific map. Madagascar, the Asian map, and the remaining French holdings (including newly liberated French Somaliland) go Vichy.

Germany or Italy put 1-2 chits into each of the same five territories that France did, but the rolls were consistently high enough for the groups to go Free.

Both sides used all their remaining chits to influence units. Free France gained De Gaulle, the WP MTN, a 5-1 GARR and a 6-3 WP INF, as well as a TRS and 4 CP.

Morocco is the new Free French home country. The land units are all set up in Algeria (as they were the closest Free French hexes to Vichy France), while the CP and TRS are in Gabon (which is where they were for the influence process). The Free French Rabat MIL and Algiers MTN have been placed on the Production Swirl to arrive next turn.

After two-thirds reduction, the Vichy army consists of an INF, a MOT, an AA Gun and two HQ-Is. The Vichy navy, deprived of a home country port, is in French Somaliland, French Guyana, and Madagascar.

S/O 1940

GE reduced its lending to IT to 1 resource and 1 oil. FR announces it will lend 1 resource to China, and 2 resources and 1 oil to CW.

Goebbels' propaganda machine makes much of recent increases to the KM: the Graf Zeppelin, the Tirpitz, and two cruisers all set sail for the first time. Meanwhile,

Japan avails itself of the latest synthetic oil manufacturing facilities.

As the second year of the war begins, highly trained Italian commandos attack Scapa Flow and successfully damage a CV, but are all killed in the process. Suffused

 with a spirit of solidarity with the oppressed French, brave Soviet volunteers (the Vladivostok MIL) land in Hanoi, in order to guarantee French Indo-China against

 "any possible German aggression".

Japan finally launches an offensive in China. Losses are heavy on both sides, and force the Chinese to withdraw their lines slightly.

EuroAxis activity is almost entirely at sea. Massive SUB and surface fleets raid the CW's merchant convoys, but fail to land any convincing blows, being thwarted

at every time by the brave escorts of the Royal Navy.

N/D 1940

Faced with a growing Wehrmacht presence in Poland, the Red Army withdraws to less exposed positions - on Russian soil.

EuroAxis operations once again focus on naval activity, inflicting some damage on the CW's convoys and also damaging several escorts. The CW gets its revenge

on IT by liberating Ethiopia and conquering Italian Somaliland, and on GE by shooting down their only CVP.

Japan shocks everybody by actually attacking again. Once more, losses are heavy on both sides, but this time the Japanese actually manage to advance, capturing

a resource. Kwei-yang is now open to the Japanese ... but is it all too little too late?

J/F 1941

Lending Stage

GE and FR continue to lend as before. CW lends 4 BP to FR

Allies win initiative.

Notable Reinforcements

CW gets Alexander and a PARA.

Impulse 1

The weather is terrible for the new year, and remains so for the next two months (rolls of 11, 13 and 13). Blizzards lock down the whole of Europe, preventing any

kind of offensive on land or air, and ensuring that the war's focus moves to the sea, where the Axis sees great advantage out of the lack of Allied air cover.

CH (Land) repairs her lines, falling back one hex in the south (the first retreat of the Chinese lines since the game began). With the rain coming down hard in

southern China, it looks like Japan's breakthrough will come to nought.

FR (Land) cannot attack Tunis in the terrible weather, and instead settles for moving a unit to ZOC the Tunisian coast and prevent IT from reinforcing the city from

the south.RU (Land) slowly falls back from what used to be the Polish border, seeking better defensive positions from which to face any future German aggression.

CW (Naval) sails out to protect the fleets, feeling rather exposed without the customary security of his air defences. However, the weather does give him a chance

to sink the IT CP in the Italian Coast, with the Dutch SUB claiming its first scalp of the war.

Impulse 4

GE (Comb) finds that the weather means the majority of the Kriegsmarine is out of supply, and rails von Bock into position to rectify this problem. The Fuhrer also

 orders the troops into Metz to eliminate the partisan activity there, ordering massive reprisals against the civilians who harboured these 'dangerous animals'. At sea,

 only a single SUB wolfpack is able to sail, and it fails to find. IT (Comb) begins to station troops on the Yugoslav border. It seems certain that the Axis intends to

turn south into the Balkans. The only question is whether Hitler will arrange for permission to go through Hungarian territory, or simply overrun the country on his

way to Belgrade.

Mussolini also sorties some additional CA to the Western Mediterranean, where they can support the Primo fleet, and protect his last remaining CP. Finally, he

orders the Libyan TERR to abandon Tunis, preferring to save the unit for the defence of its homeland.

Impulse 7

RU (Comb) sails his fleet into the Baltic and catches the German convoys without protection. The last of the German CP is sent to the bottom of the Ocean,

depriving GE of the Swedish resources until he is able to repair the line.

FR (Comb) sails 4 CP to the Bay of Biscay and also enters Tunis.

IT's African empire continues to contract. The CW (Comb) garrisons Singapore with the Sydney MIL.

Impulse 11

GE and IT (both Naval) sortie all of their SUBs and ships, trusting to the bleak weather to let them get up close and personal with the Allies, and to exact some

revenge for their own lost convoys.Maddened by 'Bolshevik piracy', Hitler orders the Schleswig-Holstein and Schliesen into the Baltic, where they do battle with the

equally aged Marat. In the end, it is the presence of the modern Kirov CA that tilts the battle in favour of the Soviets, as it uses its superior speed to 'cross the T' on

the Schleswig-Holstein, which limps, damaged, back into port. Things go better for the Axis in other seas, however, as their SUBs sink a huge amount of Allied

shipping (12 CP). The success is not without cost, however, as both Axis partners suffer damage and disruption to one of their wolfpacks, which return to port for

repairs.

Impulse 14

RU (Land) continues to reposition his defences, while the CW (Naval) sails the Home fleet to protect the Atlantic convoys from the Kriegsmarine. Neither of those

fleets find each other, but the Devonshire catches two Axis wolfpacks in the middle of a surface re-supply and attacks, destroying the German wolfpack entirely as

well as damaging the Italian one.

The turn ends.

(As an aside, the Axis did roughly as much damage to the Allied CP lines in this turn as they have done in the entire war up to this point, which underlines the

effectiveness of air cover in convoy defence, as this was the first turn where it was completely unavailable. Unfortunately for the Axis, their own convoys also took

hits, especially GE.)

End of Turn

Initiative shifts down to the zero box due to the Allies moving first and last in the turn.

No Partisans.

The US takes no entry options - still looking for the 22 entry needed to Gear Up.

The US kicks off the five Essex class CV, while FR stores her BP - obviously a factory is on the agenda. GE gets Manstein. The CW and all three Axis powers

start more CPs, but GE in particular will have a long wait to repair his lines. Stalin, for reasons known only to himself, puts the CV Lenin out for its second build.

CH and RU each get 2 Intel.

Tunisia is liberated by FR.

M/A 1941

Lending Stage

GE, CW and FR continue to lend as before, and FR also pledges an additional resource for CH (they will now get the resource from New Caledonia as well as

from Indochina).

Allies win initiative.

Notable Reinforcements

JA gets her second SYNTH (forward built).

Impulse 1

With Europe's bad weather unabated, the CW (Naval) once more orders the Royal Navy out to guard the convoy lines, holding only the Home fleet in reserve.

Sunderland and Beaufort NAVs from the RAF are also seen in the skies throughout the Mediterranean. Storms keeps planes grounded throughout most of Europe.

 There is also a substantial re-organisation of the convoy lines themselves, as Churchill pledges to restore British industry to maximum production.

The CW also reinforces Egypt with an Indian INF corps at Suez, and lands a TERR from Sierra Leone in Gibraltar. Finally, they provide the shipping required to

meet the French commitment to CH. Seeing a chance to sink the last of the Italian shipping (though more will arrive next turn), the CW searches in the Western

Med. IT scrambles an FTR and a NAV for naval interception and the resulting air fleets collide. The fighting is fierce, and the Beaufort squadrons are destroyed.

However, the cream of the Italian FTR forces are also destroyed, and many pilots die on both sides. At the end of the fight, only the Italian NAV - having

successfully aborted a Dutch SUB force - remain in existence as a fighting force.

On the eastern front, RU (Land) continues to shuffle troops through flurries of snow, moving into defensive positions along river lines. De Gaulle makes scathing

remarks about Stalin's timidity - with the exception of a force in Minsk, the gap between the Russian and German front lines is over one thousand kilometres. FR

(Land) continues to move forward slowly in Tunisia, but the rain prevents any further activity there, whilst continued storms in northern China leave the front there

completely static.

Impulse 4

GE and IT (both Naval) sail their fleets in search of CW convoys, though Mussolini chooses to commit only his surface fleet, holding his SUB forces in reserve.

Presumably he plans to wait until later in the turn, and try to break the CW lines so late that they cannot be reformed before the turn ends.

Impulse 7

With the weather still foul, most of the Allies are content to hunker down and wait for the storms to subside (ie they Pass to get a +1 on the end turn chance). Only

the CW (Comb) is active. First, Churchill sails the Home Fleet out after the Kriegsmarine, but storms prevent the two forces from finding one another. The CW

also completes its plan to repair the convoy lines by sailing 6 more CP to the Bay of Biscay.

Not content with this, however, the CW also rails the Indian INF in Suez to Syria, consolidates his forces in Burma, and moves up a MOT in support of the French

forces in Tunisia.

Despite the Allied passes, the turn does not end.

Impulse 9

GE and IT (both Comb) continue to develop their nascent policy of co-operation. Units from both major powers advance to the Yugoslavian border, and both also

seek their CW opponent on the high seas. Only IT finds, and even this success becomes a failure as CW Gladiator carrier planes cut the Italian Sparviero NAVs

from the sky. The Italians draw what comfort they can from the fact that they manage to recover most of the downed pilots.

Mussolini again omits to sail his SUBs, though this time the cause was simply that he forgot to do so!

JA (Land) begins to withdraw some of his troops to more defensible positions in China, while still others head for the ports. Oddly, he even withdraws the unit

defending the resource west of Peking.

Impulse 11

Finally, the dismal weather ends and fine weather can be found across most of the world. Only the Arctic misses out, with the rain there still falling steadily.

The CW (Comb) takes the opportunity to point out some gaps in the Axis FTR cover by Strat Bombing Rome and Hamburg. The attacks cost Germany 2 PP,

though Italy escapes unharmed. The CW also rails an INF Div from Rabat to Tunis as FR (Land) continues to build up in that area CH (Land) finally has a chance

to reorganise his defensive positions

and does so, moving the northern-most Nationalist forces south as Communist corps come up to fill the line.

RU (Land) makes some final adjustments to his line, and begins assembling 'blitz stacks' of MECH and ARM to support key positions.

Stalin is evidently not going to take any risks, despite the relative weakness of the Wehrmacht forces arranged against him.

Impulse 12

GE and IT (both Land) issue a joint declaration of war against Yugoslavia (which aligns to Free France), citing flagrant acts of provocation as their motivation. The

 US Public reacts with derision to this blatant fabrication (+1 USE) but are not perturbed by Hungary's decision to support the Axis aggression.

Yugoslav forces suffer heavy aerial bombardment, and the successful ground strikes encourage Hitler to authorise a risky assault on Belgrade, using only Rommel

 and a MECH (Yugoslav deployment screened the capital, preventing any other forces from reaching it). The attack (+8 assault) is a success, eliminating two corps

of Yugoslav INF, though the MECH is destroyed in the process.

Simultaneously, Graziani leads Italian forces in a successful assault on Zagreb, destroying Prince Paul's HQ in the process. The only downside to all this land activity

for Mussolini is that he is again unable to send out his SUB fleet. However, he does authorise his exposed forces in Tunisia to fall back toward Libya, preserving

them from a potential Allied attack.

The turn ends.

End of Turn

No partisans.

The US takes no entry options - still looking for the 22 entry needed to Gear Up, though from the US player's mutterings it was obviously only narrowly missed this

turn.The US kicks off the five small 1941 CVs, while FR begins her factory. GE gets an SS MECH, but omits to buy more CP. Given his past experience in the

Baltic, Hitler needs to give more attention to the Merchant Marine. JA kicks off another CV. GE gets 1 Intel.

Yugoslavia is conquered by Germany and the ageing Dalmacija is scuttled, though her merchant marine succeeds in escaping to Malta, declaring their loyalty to the

Free French cause.

Adam Windsor

A.D.G. Copyright notice

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