Wed, 13 Feb 2002

From: Wendell Albright <wifwendell@yahoo.com>

Subject: GR: Mixing Bowl in Flames VII

Mixing Bowl in Flames, a WIF game being played in Springfield, Virginia, near the infamous I-95/495/395 interchange.

Players Options 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

The cast

Bad Guys: Mike Peck – Germany; Kevin Bernatz– Japan; Dave Jarrett – Italy

Good guys: Bill Jaffe – CW; Derrick Sexton (a newby) US/China; yours truly – Russia/France.

No apologies for the unabashedly pro-Allied slant! Our worthy opponents are quite capable of spreading their own propaganda, I mean, expressing their own views…

Options

We’re using most options, including 2d10, LOC Vichy (latest version), WIFCON oil, most extra counters, heavies, LOS, Africa in Flames & Scandinavian maps, Chinese warlords (not friction, though). No Leaders! No intelligence, either. Also an option 70 that only allows DIVs to invade off of TRS/AMPH, except MAR DIVs that may also invade off of SCS.

1939

Poland, Hungary, and Denmark all conquered in Nov/Dec. Bulgaria attacked by Germany but still holds Sofia. Japan takes three cities in China, politically closes Burma Road. Italy DOWs France.

1940

JANUARY/FEBRUARY ’40 - Short turn, with bad weather.Italy occupies Ft Lamy, Tunis. China holds KweiYang despite heavy losses on both sides.

MARCH/APRIL ’40 – Another short turn. Germany invades Netherlands, takes Rotterdam but not Amsterdam. Italy moves into eastern Algeria. CW declares war on Italy.

Japan again attacks KweiYang but is repulsed. US occupies Greenland and Iceland.

MAY/JUNE '40 - Germany conquers Belgium, enters France. Soviets conquer Persia.

JULY/AUGUST '40 - France is Vichified, level 4. Italy/Germany declare war on Greece, move on Athens. Soviets and Finns fight brief war before cutting a deal. No attacks in China.

SEP/OCT ’40 – Gort HQ killed in France. Bad weather. US reopens Burma Road, fleet to Pearl.

NOV/DEC ’40 – Greece conquered by Italy. Japan takes KweiYang. Dutch evacuate Amsterdam.

1941

JAN/FEB ’41 – Bad weather. Yugoslavia aligns to Italy, Germany finally conquers Netherlands. US oil embargo on Japan, Japan sends troops to Manchuria.

Germany shifts troops from France to Poland/Rumania.

MAR/APR ’41 – More bad weather. More Japanese reinforcements in Manchuria, near Vlad. US gears up.

MAY/JUNE '41 - Germany and Japan invade Russia. CW conquers Portugal.

JULY/AUG '41 - Germany takes Odessa, Kiev, reaches Dnepr. Japan takes Vladivostock, surrounds Blag. Italian marines invade Egypt, are blitzed by Wavell. Chungking survives Japanese attack. US passes War Appropriations Act. Soviets reject Japanese peace overtures.

SEP/OCT '41 - Japan attacks US, CW, France, takes Honolulu, Rabaul, NEI oilfields, Hanoi. US declares war on Germany and Italy. Little progress by Germany on the Eastern Front.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER '41 -- CW MERCHANT MARINE POUNDED, INVASION OF MOROCCO NIXED; SOVIETS HOLDING FOR NOW; MIDWAY FALLS

German operations in Russia slowed a little in early November, as the snows began to fall. Army Group South moved to squash a couple of Soviet stragglers -- but was rudely shocked by the heroic resistance of the Bryansk MIL. Helped by a bomber that managed to get thru, the Bryansk boys inflicted three-for-one losses before falling near Kursk (ie, Germany rolled a modified 14, lost 2 INF/1 MIL corps).

Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy fanned out and put Egypt out of supply by cutting British shipping in the Arabian Sea -- and landed a MAR DIV in Somalia. The RN evacuated Aden, and began running supply ships thru the Mediterranean, provoking a small skirmish with Italian air forces in the Eastern Med.

In mid-November the Russian skies cleared and temperatures moderated, much to the dismay of the Soviets. Runstedt ordered the assault on Dnepropetovsk, by now completely isolated. The Luftwaffe struck efficiently, disorganizing the defenders, but the Wehrmacht was shocked at the strength of the resistance (rolled a 4). This left much of Army Group South disorganized – including headquarters, which had reorganized some Stukas previously. In the far north, a Finnish corps cut the rail line to Murmansk. Von Loeb gave up supply duties in NW France to an Italian HQ and railed to Vilna.

Meanwhile, the IJN in the Arabian Sea port-struck Bombay, destroying CW convoys and damaging the NEI TRS there. In the E. Med, Italy sent out lots of naval air but despite being mostly chased away by withering CW anti-air fire, managed to damage the Courageous.

Also, on November 18 Italian and Yugoslavian forces finally wiped out Bulgarian resistance and took Sofia.

In early December the weather was still nice... so the local Soviet commander in Latvia and NW Russia took a gamble. Gathering together a motley crew, including a garrison, a couple of infantry corps, and the Irkutsk MIL, they swarmed on Vilna and attacked and destroyed Von Loeb's HQ (rolled a 17...). Stalin, delighted by the audacity of the counter-attack (the first for the Soviets) immediately promoted one of the INF to Guard Banner Army status... At about the same time, a long-range Soviet bomber struck the Ploesti oilfields, damaging a third of its oil production...and US bombers hit Stettin.

Churchill gave the go-ahead on a plan to invade Vichy held Morocco. British TRS sailed to Cape St Vincent and prepared for the invasion...

Italy and Germany returned the favor to the USSR, destroying a Soviet CP in the Black Sea, and later successfully striking Moscow, while a German bomber hurt Soviet oil production near Stalino. The Japanese marines walked into now-empty Aden.

Mid-December, the Italian and German subs sallied again (earlier Italian forays were ineffective). They found the lightly-protected CW TRSs in Cape St Vincent, damaging both TRS and aborting the attack on Morocco. Italy also found British subs in other areas like the Gulf of Guinea, doing some damage, while Japan portstruck Calicut in India, killing more CW merchant ships. (For the turn, CW lost 12 CP, US 2.) Japan also rubbed out a couple of Chinese partisans.

On Christmas Day, Belgian Congo forces conquered Angola... and on New Year's Eve, Japan took Midway.

A tough break for Japan -- massive partisan outbreak in China sees Tsi-Nan fall under partisan control, completely disrupting Japan's production for the turn (cost 9 BP)...

Comment: USSR dodged a bullet this turn. Three straight rolls of "1" on weather meant there was lots of clear weather -- but poor German dice disrupted most of their land forces early in the turn and couldn't take full advantage of a rather long turn.

BP losses (not counting bombing and partisan disruptions): CW 25, Germany 15, USSR 10, Italy 5.

1942

JANUARY/FEBRUARY '42 -- DNEPROPETOVSK FALLS, MINSK HOLDS

Japan wasted no time retaking TsiNan from the partisans...

In late January the CW declared war on Vichy France, landing units in Morocco. Vichy is not hostile. Brazil joined the Allied cause, joined in February by Mexico. Soviet subs, taking advantage of unseasonably mild weather, launched a surprise raid into the Baltic, sinking 2 German CPs and getting away safely.

Italian bombers again hit Moscow...

In February, in the rain, Germany again went after Dnepropetovsk, and Minsk. Air strikes were pretty effective. The besieged defenders of Dnepropetovsk couldn't hold (roll a 15); that city fell. However, Minsk proved tougher, repelling the Germans for no losses (roll a 4+7=11 on assault), and causing Stalin to authorize another GBA.

Also in February, Axis subs did serious damage in the Bay of Biscay, sinking 7 CW CPs. Making things worse, the Axis then ended the turn (only 2 impulses per side), costing the CW about 10 build points.

BP lost: CW 7, USSR 6, Germany 5, Italy 2.

MAR/APR '42 - Japan conquers S Africa. Minsk holds. EuroAxis ravage CW shipping.

MAY/JUNE '42 - GERMANY ADVANCES IN RUSSIA; ALLIES TAKE SYRIA, ALGERIA; ANOTHER TOUGH TURN FOR CW SHIPPING; MINSK, CHUNGKING STILL HOLDING OUT

In early May a motley assortment of Manchurian TERR and MIL, led by Terauchi, finally killed the week Soviet garrison in BlagXXXX, losing 2 corps in the process. Farther soiuth, Japanese CVs port-struck British convoy points in India again, and damaged the US cruiser Vincennes (protecting a TRS that had delivered a US INF to Fiji). In China proper, following a couple of groundstrikes, Umezu again led a 3-hex attack against Chungking -- which once again held.

Falling Soldiers, From the Sky. The 82d Airborne, flying from freshly-liberated Morocco, dropped onto a heavily-defended Algiers. However, the Vichy infantry corps there greeted the Americans with open arms, and declared their allegiance to the DeGaulle Government in Senegal. Meanwhile, the Palestinian TERR occupied Damascus, which Churchill returned to French rule.

With fine weather, Germany pushed forward in Russia, blasting a couple of Russian corps defending the bottleneck into the Crimea, but taking heavy losses in the process. In June, having cleared out a couple of screening units, Germany (and Italy) groundstruck Minsk and Stalino, and launched attacks. Stalino was a crushing victory for the Wehrmacht -- but despite Guderian's best efforts, Minsk held again, killing 2 German corps. Adding insult to injury, a Red Air Force bomber managed to shoot down a German FTR.

Later in June, the Luftwaffe bombed Kursk (all 3 defenders flipped) but Germany failed to take advantage in the assault (rolled a 7), only killing the division defending. Meanwhile, German forces infiltrated past the heavily-defended Kharkov, drawing adjacent to the also-heavily-defended Rostov.

Apart from successully bombing Ploesti and disrupting 2/3 of its oil production, the Soviet Union is definitely on the defensive. From Bryansk to Rostov Soviet forces fell back into forests, and into cities, where-ever possible. Although Minsk still (for now) holds, the Red Army is also preparing for the defense of Gomel and Vitebsk.

The EuroAxis sub fleets took another swipe at the Royal Navy in June, sinking 4 CPs in the Bay of Biscay. The Portuguese fleet, now operating out of Mozambique, managed to damage 2 British cruisers and sink 2 CPs in the Cape Basin; French convoys had to sail to reestablish supply to Gort's forces trying to reconquer S Africa -- an effort that became complicated when Japan managed to outfit 2 corps full of disaffected Boers (ie, TERR) to fight against the British and Americans...

There was a naval skirmish in the Eastern Med, as Italy managed to re-establish supply to North Africa, allowing Germany to get its DIV out of Cyprus and PARA out of Libya. By the end of June, all of Libya's eastern ports were in CW hands.

With the fall of Algeria and Syria, and the presence of US PARAs and C-47s in Algeria within range of Metropolitan Vichy France, Hitler and Mussolini began to plot to overthrow Vichy. Separately, Billotte and the Vichy MTN corps attacked a strong (2-pt) French PART in the Massif Central, successfully committingsuicide (even though the defenders called blitz)... And Italy successfully highjacked the Strasbourg.

BP losses: USSR 22, CW 16, Vichy France 9, Japan 6, Italy 3, China 2, US 2

JUL/AUG '42 -- Germany captures Minsk, Kharkov, Riga, Kursk. Italy collapses Vichy. CW and US liberate S. Africa.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER '42 -- JAPAN CONQUERS NEI; ALLIES LIBERATE TUNISIA

The Royal Navy managed to re-establish supply in the Mediterranean in early September, before the feared Italian/German amphibious assault could be launched.

There were skirmishes in both the Eastern and Western Med during this period. A Condor port-struck Algiers and damaged a US TRS. At one point, large CW forces were in the Western Med ready for invasion but the right moment never presented itself. This force, which included carriers, battleships, and land-based fighters, was jumped and surprised by Italian and German naval air, which managed after a bloody air-to-air combat and withering CW anti-air (destroyed one NAV) to sink a British AMPH loaded with a MAR DIV and ENG DIV.

US and French forces supported by the Royal Navy pounded the Italian INF defending Tunis, capturing that city in early October without loss.

Bomber Command again struck Germany, disrupting all production at Cologne and Stuttgart (3 PP) – and killing a Finnish FTR (far from home) in the process.

There was some clear weather (3 impulse-pairs) on the Russian Front. German armor elements captured Kerch in mid-September -- but still can't use the resource since Sevastapol is held by Soviet troops. They crossed the Kerch Strait but didn't take Krasnodarsk

--Koniev managed to order troops into that city ahead of the panzers. Elsewhere, Germany attacked a Soviet INF in the open near Voronezh but thanks to rain and unusally effective defensive ground support from the Red Air Force, found themselves stymied there.

German forces moved towards Pskov in the north, but made no attacks.

Japanese units that had surrounded Batavia in August finally launced an assault on the Netherlands' capital-in-exile, first disorganizing the defenders with air strikes, then successfully storming the city without loss in October. The Dutch announced the establishment of a Government-in-Exile-in-Exile in Delhi. Japan killed a Chinese partisan that was threatening Shanghai; another Chinese PART occupied Nanking in the south.

A second partisan unit arrived in western Hungary;

Polish patriots rose up in protest against the Nazis in Posnan.

BP losses: CW 28 (amphs are expensive!), Italy 14, USSR 13, Germany 10, US 2, Japan 2. (Doesn't count strat bombing, cost Germany 3 PP, China 1)

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER '42: LIBYA CONQUERED, SARDINIA INVADED

(NOTE: Having won initiative but deciding to go second, the Axis players were kicking themselves when the incompetent weather roller (me) rolled a 1 for clear weather throughout Russia on the first impulse.)

November opened with unusually fine weather – the Soviets stuck a sacrificial lamb or two out in front of the Germans in the south (between Rostov and Voronezh) and prayed for snow. Germany ground struck Pskov, flipping the Leningrad MIL there; later they surrounded that city but never managed an attack.

In early November the Royal Navy's main fleet sailed to the W Med, with the Royal Marines loaded on a TRS; Free French INF and MIL advanced into Western Libya. No other invasion forces, but two US PARAs were in Algerian ports with C-47s ready to fly.

The Italian navy in mid-November sailed four battleships/cruisers out to the Italian coast; an AMPH delivered one German unit to Corsica, the TRS dropped a guy into Sardinia's northern port (an Italian INF defends in Cagliari).

The weather then grew bad -- from mid-November to mid-December blizzards raged in much of Russia, and storms wracked the Med. Allied reinforcements from the US and Gort's South African Expeditionary Force arrived in Algerian ports. The Soviets, finding no sufficiently attractive and vulnerable targets to attack in Russia, ordered out the subs from Palestine (these are the former Soviet Pacific sub fleet, which slowly over the course of a year, made their way from the Soviet Far east the Suez to the Med) to the Italian Coast, joined by British subs. Later on, they managed to find the Italian fleet, damaging the AMPH.

With bad weather (blizzard/snow/storm in Arctic/NTemp/Med) the Axis subs sallied. They found and badly surprised a Royal Navy fleet in the Bay of Biscay, sinking the Illustrious (chose sub combat, used surprise points to pick a target) and 6 CP.

Germany later brought Mannerheim over from Finland to Danzig; who knows where he's headed.

Strat bombing continued in the snow -- Bomber Command hit Stuttgart, and Italian and newly-arrived German strat bombers hit Stalingrad and Tbilisi for one PP each (Tbilisi is the home of the former Odessa factory).

Later in December the storms in the Med subsided. French and US forces supported by the Royal Navy smashed the Libyans in Tripoli; the Western Allies agreed to place Libya under US administration. US paratroopers and the Royal Marines hit the beach in Sardinia, capturing the resource hex without loss.

In the Far East, Japan again conducted anti-partisan exercises, losing a MIL while recapturing Nanking. They struck Chungking heavily but failed to disrupt any of the defenders there; after the weather turned to snow in China, Japan turned it's attention south.

They managed to disrupt one of the 2 powerful INF defending Singapore (both white print), and briefly put Singapore out of supply by sinking the CP in the Bay of Bengal, but never managed an attack.

China invaded Japanese-occupied French Indochina with one GAR to the west of Hanoi. Japan reinforced the local territorials with the Tokyo MIL.

BP losses: CW 14, Italy 9, Germany 4, USSR 3, Japan 3, China 2.

1943

JANUARY/FEBRUARY '43 -- SITZKRIEG IN RUSSIA, ACTION IN THE MED

On New Year's Day audacious Italian frogmen were headed into Sousse (Tunisia) where several US TRS were in port. Unfortunately for Il Duce's submarine suicide squad, they struck a shoal not shown on their charts (maps altered by brave resisting French cartographers, no doubt!), and sank without a trace, not coming within 500 meters of the US TRSs... In snow and storms, German and Italian subs fanned out across the Atlantic but were less effective than usual, sinking 5 convoy points over the turn but getting a bunch of Axis subs damaged.

The CW sailed a massive fleet into the W Med, carrying various troops and sinking the Trieste. After dodging the Axis air fleet that reacted, US and CW troops attacking from their Sardinian beach-head and paratroopers from N Africa took out Cagliari with heavy losses.

With the Royal Navy committed, Mussolini decided to reinforce Sardinia, sticking a couple of German an Italian MIL into Olbia from the Italian Coast (CW/Soviet subs were ineffective).

The Russian Front was quiet. Weather went from blizzard to clear in the N Temperate zone, but Hitler for once took his generals' advice and actually pulled back slightly -- retreating from forward positions near Pskov, and largely disengaging from the Russian lines (Russia holds this line, roughly: Pskov-Smolensk-Gomel-(near Kursk)-Rostov, with Germany having taken Kursk, Stalino, and Kharkov in '42. Even in winter, Soviet generals looked in vain for suitably vulnerable German stacks but found nothing that looked ripe for picking -- an entire turn passed with no attacks on either side in Russia. Communist guerrillas in Hungary succeeded in occupying the mines in that country, denying valuable whatever to the Nazi war machine.

Japan sortied ships out here and there, mostly missing US/CW convoys. A small CV task force risked the Mendocina area, and was fortunate to get away unscathed when a large US CV task force responded. The Imperial Japanese Air Force continued to be ineffective in Malaya, failing to disorganize the Aussie defenders of Singapore. And MacArthur still reigns in Manila.

Japan was disturbed when a powerful Communist rebel army appeared in the mountains NE of TsingTao (a 3-2 and 4-2!), bringing the number of partisans in China to 5. China only appears 30% of the time on the PART table but has been included for about 6 of the last 8 PART rolls. Conversely, the Soviets have only raised one measly partisan the entire game.

BP losses: US 13, Italy 10, CW 7, USSR 2 (a sub got caught in the Baltic in the ice!)

MARCH/APRIL '43 -- DISASTER IN THE MED FOR ROYAL NAVY

In the cool, rainy first two weeks of March, the Royal Navy, including six CVs and a few US TRS, sortied to the Western Med, escorting lots of reinforcements with orders for Sardinia. Unfortunately, the Luftwaffe and Reggia Aeronautica caught wind of this, and sent their entire naval air force after the RN. Something like eight FTR and seven NAVs flew -- and brought the British/US fleets, including the one or two land-based FTR with decent range,to battle twice (2 finds, both times with about 8 Axis surprise points, in the rain). After the smoke cleared, the CW had a TRS with the Royal Marines, another TRS with the Royal Engineers, the Kent, and the Suffolk all sunk; another CW TRS with a MECH was damaged, and some ships aborted. CW damage control failed on five consecutive attempts. Italy lost a couple of NAVs (one to CW AA fire) and Germany a FTR; CW had a couple of FTR and a CVP shot down. US/CW survivors reinforced Sardinia, but the turn passed without an attack against Olbia. The German sub and surface fleets sortied in March and April respectively, causing little damage to the convoy lines; the Bismarck was damaged in the Bay of Biscay, sinking the Norfolk in the process. Bad weather thru-out the short turn prevented any notable activity in China or Russia. Pro-independence partisans appeared on Borneo, capturing one of the NEI oil-fields.

BP lost: CW 41, Italy 11, Germany 7.

MAY/JUNE '43 -- SINGAPORE FALLS

Weather on the Malay Peninsula changed rapidly back and forth from monsoons to clear during Spring '43. In early June, Japanese cruisers managed to sink the supply fleet keeping the besieged Aussie defenders of Singapore in contact with India; Japanese bombers struck and managed to disorganize the defenders, and Japan finally assaulted and took Singapore with heavy losses, ending a siege of over a year-and-a-half. Apart from successful strat bombing against Chungking, the China theater was quiet. But there was bad news for Japan on Borneo. The Borneo and Spice Islands League of Socialist-Syndicalist Independence Fighters (BSILSSIF) seized the oil fields of Tarakan in late April, and expanded their control by kicking out the few renegade Dutch and supervising Japanese out of Balikpapan, declaring the Independent Socialist Republic of Borneo and executing a few dissidents (for the unimaginative, partisans appeared in NEI in Mar/Apr and again May/June, squatting on the oil fields). Italy and the Royal Navy maneuvered in the Med. The entire Italian fleet patrolled the Italian Coast for the entire period; during a rainy period British, Free Dutch, and Soviet subs encountered the fleet and lost a couple of British boats. The Royal Navy's surface fleet at first didn't challenge the Italian Coast, instead delivering more reinfs to Sardinia (Italy/Germany hold only Olbia); there were skirmishes between the RAF and the Italian fleet, damaging the Zara. However, German Condors caught an American TRS without fighter cover in Algiers and sank it. The Soviets moved a little bit, and then attacked the Germans between Gomel and Kiev. German and Italian long-range bombers hit Gorki, but there were again no Axis land attacks in Russia even as a few bold or suicidal Russian units crept forward out of the river/forest/city lines they have been holding. Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force, operating out of England, bombed various French and Belgian factories, rubbling Brussels and depriving Germany of 4 production points. In mid-June the Royal Navy sortied to the Italian Coast, but the two large fleets managed not to encounter each other. Both sides put significant shore bombardment into the US/British attack on Olbia, which killed one defender for no attacker losses.

BP losses: CW 17, US 8, Japan 6, Italy 4, USSR 3, Germany 1 (Strat bombing cost Germany 6 BP, USSR and China 2 each).

JUL/AUG '43 -- Allied invasion of Sicily fails, more Allied lift sunk. Soviets reoccupy Kursk. Japan quashes NEI partisans.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER '43 -- CHUNGKING FALLS, RABAUL HOLDS

At the beginning of September, Nimitz's forces in the south Pacific took advantage of the slow Japanese response to the threat to Rabaul (in WIF turns, Allies got a

double-move by winning initiative). The US Pacific fleet steamed off the coast, Australian and US LBA added shore bombardment, and Nimitz led the attack vs the

disorganized, out-of-supply defenders (2 white-print corps) of Rabaul. Disaster; the US lost 2 MAR DIVs and a MAR corps, killing one defender. (YES, Derick

rolled a natural '2' with +12, hit the nasty 14 on the assault table.) With the weather in the N Monsoon improving, Japan quickly reestablished supply to Rabaul, and

reinforced it with another WP corps and a DIV. So much for that campaign. Japan also dropped a division off in the Philippines; the long-delayed Manila Campaign

appears to be in the offing. In China, Japan finally blasted the communist partisans holding TsingTao. Then in October, Imperial Army headquarters released their

strategic stockpile to Uzema (ie, an o-chit) and he used it to disorganize the defenders of Chungking (4-pt ART doubled), and successfully stormed the city. Chiang

pronounced Kunming the new KMT capital. After clearing Borneo of partisans, Japan withdrew its forces -- and was rudely surprised when local partisans again

rose in revolt, occupying the Balikpapan oil hex. Naval skirmishes again in the Atlantic. Italian subs AGAIN found a loaded CW TRS in Cape St Vincent with

enough surprise to pick it as a target; however, for once the Allies made their damage control roll and it was only damaged. Italy tried to re-establish supply to

Sardinia but failed. After a couple of attempts, the W. Allies finally successfully disorganized the defenders of Olbia (N. Sardinia), and took that port without loss. In

the far east a Red Army CAV occupied Blagxxxx, greeted by the partisans that were holding that city. Japan rushed reinforcements to the nearby resource hex and

Khabarovsk, and also Manchuria; Mongolian CAV has entered Manchuria, and Timoshenko and a MECH are also in the area. The Soviets lead by Chernychev

HQ concentrated eight arm/mech corps/divs against a German force between Kursk and Kharkov, obliterating them. However, Runstedt led a counterattack which

returned the favor against the occupiers of that terrain -- Germany's first land attack in Russia in 1943. Germany shortened its line slightly; it is under pressure roughly

from Kiev to Kharkov down to Stalino, but it's strong -- especially with the Luftwaffe. Soviet guns failed in their groundstrikes of Stalino. In a rare occurrence,

Soviet partisans emerged from hiding on the Black Sea Coast, ambushing and wiping out a Stuka air wing. This was only the 2nd Soviet partisan in Europe (1 in

Siberia) all game. BP lost: Germany 23 (+5 BP lost to strat bombers), S 13, USSR 10, Italy 10 (+2 BP), CW 6, France 3, Japan 3, China 2.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER '43 -- JAPAN TAKES MANILA, DUTCH HARBOR

Early November was Indian summer (weather=1), and Japan took advantage, doing a division invasion against Dutch Harbor. FDR promised to get even real soon.

Germany took advantage of the fine weather to smash a strong Soviet PART near the Crimea, and British and US air forces bombed German and French factories.

British bombers struck Rabaul, successfully disorganizing both corps and the division defending there. Japan hastily sent a couple of TRS into the Bismark Sea to

reorganize the MTN corps there, and the weather in the S Monsoon Zone stayed bad enough that the US made no attack there.

Japan assaulted MacArthur and his Philipino territorials in December, easily taking Manila.

MacArthur, as he fled on a PT boat, was heard to say "I didn't even know there was a war going on."

The W Allies sailed a large fleet into the Italian coast, loaded with troops -- but the rest of the turn was storms or snow in the Med, so no attacks were made.

Most of the period was Soviet weather: blizzard/snow in the Arctic/N Temp for two full impulse-pairs. The Soviets concentrated winterized units up and down the

line, making attacks near Vitebsk, southwest of Kharkov, north of Kiev, culminating in a Christmas Day assault on Kharkov led by Zhukov that recaptured that city.

Unfortunately, apart from blasting two corps in Kharkov, most of the Soviet victories only blitzed or retreated the German defenders; Soviet losses were also

extremely light (Germany called blitz every time except Kharkov). An earlier attack southwest of Kharkov saw a huge air battle, with half-a-dozen Soviet FTR up

against five (better) German FTR escorting five bombers. For once the Soviets managed to prevent Germany from adding adequate ground support -- and didn't

get any Soviet FTR shot down in the process... The Soviet Air Force takes its victories where it can get 'em.

By the end of December, most of the Luftwaffe was face-down, all German HQ were disorganized -- and some on the line facing large Soviet stacks; the Soviets,

except for a couple of HQ, had almost all its land forces still face-up. The Axis heroically willed for the turn to end -- and by passing guaranteed it, since we were

on the '14' impulse box.

BP lost: USA 10, Germany 9 (- 5 BP to strat), USSR 2, China 0 (-1 BP strat)

1944

JAN/FEB '44 -- SOVIETS MOVING FORWARD; US LANDS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

Snow fell and blizzards raged all thru Russia. And the Red Army attacked. Zhukov ordered a New Year's Day offensive, throwing all reserves into the battle (an o-chit) in the eastern Ukraine. The Soviets recaptured Stalino January 7 and hammered a German group between Kharkov & Kiev, and continued to attack in the Ukraine. Mannstein managed to dodge ground-strikes and attacks on surrounding hexes so he wasn't pocketed. Despite strong Soviet pressure, German forces fell back in good order to a line in front of the Dnepr (still holding Kiev & Dnepropetovsk) by the end of February. Unfortunately, several attacks did nothing but shatter the German defenders... On the other hand, Soviet losses were very light.

In northwest Russia, the Soviets also attacked, pushing Germany back from positions near Vitebsk & Pskov into Latvia -- destroying the Kesselring HQ in the process. Russia continued to slowly build up forces in Siberia facing the Japanese.

In late February US paratroopers and British DIVs landing off of TRS captured part of the lightly-defended French Riviera (the two coastal hexes that are 2 and 3 hexes NW of Marseilles), managing to fend off Axis air forces. French partisans rose and took control of Toulouse.

Allied bombers rubbled the factory in Lyons, as well as successfully bombing other German/French/Polish factories.

In the Pacific, Japan rushed the Hata HQ-A to defend Truk. US subs never quite found the right time to attack Japan, and little else happened there.

Japan launched an assault on Nanning in southern China, killing a MTN DIV but not taking the city.

BP losses: Germany 41 (also 5 PP lost and one red factory destroyed by strat bombing), USSR 9 (+ an expended o-chit), China 2 (-1 PP strat bombing).

MAR/APR '44 -- JAPAN WINS BATTLE OF THE MARSHALLS; ALLIED PARATROOPERS TAKE CHERBOURG

Most of Europe was wracked by storms for the whole month of March, keeping Soviet actions to a minimum for that period. In early March, US C-47s tried to reinforce the Allied beach-head west of Marseilles. Unfortunately, an Italian and German FTR wing managed to shoot down both C-47s carrying British and Free French MTN corps -- in one round of combat (bounce got one). Italy and Germany rushed to reinforce Marseilles and Toulon; Eisenhower landed in late March to put the Allied forces in supply.

At roughly the same time, the US Pacific Fleet sailed to the Marshalls and retook the Hawaiian island west of Pearl Harbor.

Japan immediately began to fly massive air to the islands bordering that sea zone. In April, the Battle of the Marshalls happened when the Japanese fleet found the US Navy (3 surprise points only). Japan had 18 carriers, 6 FTR, and 2 NAV to the US/CW's 19 CVs, 7 FTR, and 2 NAV. Despite near-parity in the air to air battle, Japan prevailed on the hot hand of its pilots (ie, Kevin's dice), and the NAVs and CVPs targeted the US lift, sinking an AMPH and two TRS as well as the Northampton. (For the game, the W Allies have made damage rolls successfully on about 2 of 13 attacks vs TRS/AMPH. Damage control is woeful.) US/CW also lost a couple of CVPs and a NAV, while Japan had the Ryoho CV damaged and a couple of CVP/FTR shot down.

In April, unseasonable blizzards and snow, followed by rain, returned to Russia, and the Soviets attacked again. Attacks near the Russian/Latvian border did little, but Soviet attacks near Kiev whacked a couple of ARM corps and helped the Soviets cross the Dnepr; they have four hexes on Dnepropetovsk and Kiev both.

In early April US/CW paratroopers took Cherbourg in northern France. Despite German reinforcements rushing forward, several Allied corps landed later on as reinforcements, whacking the hapless Paris MIL. At the end of April, the W Allies hold the area between Toulouse and Marseilles up to the mountains, and Cherbourg and a couple of hexes near that port. But Germany and Italy have significant forces in that theater...

BP losses: USA 49, Germany 26 (also -1 strat), Japan 16, USST 15, CW 8, Free France 4, China 0, Italy 0

MAY/JUNE '44 -- ALLIES SOLIDIFY POSITION IN FRANCE; SOVIETS RETAKE KIEV, DNEPROPETOVSK; JAPAN REPELS ASSAULT ON RABAUL

A Canadian INF corps captured Nantes, St Nazaire and St Malo at the beginning of May and the Allies began to pour reinforcements into northern France. British forces whacked a German MECH corps that had rushed to block the Allies advance.

Also at the beginning of May, Nimitz put together another Allied assault of Rabaul. US subs did their part, cutting the island out of supply. Bombers managed to flip two of the three defending units, giving a reasonable attack -- but again the brave Japanese defenders held firm (roll was a 7).

Meanwhile, rain lashed much of the Russian Front but Soviet artillery completely disrupted the defenders of Kiev and Dnepropetovsk -- and Yeremenko led the assault that retook Kiev.

Germany began what would be a two-month long general retreat in the Ukraine, leaving various minor units to be munched by Soviet armored forces, and trying to get out of Crimea. Mannstein reorganized the defenders of Dnepropetovsk, but Soviet artillery again disorganized them, and they were soon disorganized and cut off from the rest of the Wehrmacht... Tank-busting Rudels groundstruck Soviet armor columns near the Ukrainian coalmines and on the Soviet-Estonian border but they were soon reorganized. In the West, German and Italian forces poured into eastern France, Paris, and the Low Countries, eventually forming a line on the Seine.

In mid-late May the Soviets reoccupied Kerch -- lifting the Siege of Sevastopol -- and took Riga, meanwhile blasting a couple of rearguard corps in the Ukraine and recapturing the Ukrainian mines. The W.Allies consolidated their position in France, linking the northern and southern groups and isolating the German defenders of Bordeaux and the Yugoslavs in Brest. A British para div captured the Danish port of Fredrickshaven.

Having survived the assault on Rabaul, Japan re-established supply and reorganized the defenders. The US fleet being largely committed, Japan concentrated forces on Nanning in southern China, disrupting its defenders and then in early June storming the city. China took heavy losses but held.

The Pacific and East Asian theaters were largely quiet the rest of June; US subs never quite had the right weather (storms) to attack Japanese shipping.

The Soviet onslaught continued in June. Having disrupted the last face-up corps in Dnepropetovsk, the Red Army recaptured it with ease, and blasted a couple more fully-stacked hexes in the Ukraine, concentrating eight armored/mechanized corps & divs in three-hex attacks (the nineth units were MOT DIVs, of course). Soviet forces have three hexes on Minsk in the north, and are on the Polish and Rumanian border south of the Pripets.

In late June the Western Allies invaded behind German lines in northern France, destroying an Italian FTR wing, and Eisenhower got across the Seine, blasting the German defenders and taking the forest two hexes SE of Paris.

Germany and Italy frantically patched their lines in France; in Russia, Germany holds Odessa (home of a face-down Mannstein) and a few hexes north of it.

Japan noticed in the Austral sea four US carriers and a few surface ships escorting TRS with reinforcements from the US. The IJN sent out a large raiding force -- nine CVs and a couple of fast battleships, but were unable to make contact.

(At this point, needing a '4' to end, Kevin rolled a 3, probably saving 20-30 BP worth of Germans in the Ukraine. Rats! On the other hand, the Axis failed on two initiative rolls at the beginning of the turn, having initiative certainly helped the Soviets.)

BP lost: Germany 65, Italy 11, CW 9, USSR 8 (all FTR/pilots), Japan 6, USA 5, China 3.

JULY/AUGUST '44 -- RABAUL FINALLY FALLS. PARIS HOLDS. SOVIETS INTO EAST PRUSSIA, ADJACENT TO PLOESTI.

Pacific and Asia: The US and CW again got a jump on Japanese forces in the seas around Rabaul. US subs put the besieged island out of supply and US/CW bombers disrupted some of the defenders. THIS time, Hodges' US Marines and their Aussie comrades in arms carried the field and lifted the Oz flag, Stars and Stripes, and Union Jack over Rabaul on the 4th of July.

The Pacific was active for the entire period (and it was a long turn, 12 impulses). The IJN sortied widely following the fall of Rabaul, sending subs and 5 CVs to the Coral Sea, subs to the Tasman Sea, 2 CVs and subs to the NZ Coast and Solomons, a carrier to Polynesia, and again 2 CVs and subs to the Marshalls. Naval battles went back and forth as Japan sought to put the Allied land and air forces in New Guinea and Rabaul out of supply -- sometimes succeeding briefly only to have US, CW, or French merchant mariners risk life & limb to keep the lines open. US subs also inflicted serious losses on Japan's shipping lanes, in particular in the South China Sea.

In mid-July the US and Japan fleets made contact in the Marshalls. In a storm, US subs sank the Myoko cruiser. Later in July, Japan launched a series of port strikes, aiming for transports and convoys in ports. Little success, since US transports FINALLY made some damage control checks, and in a couple of instances AA or bad weather (WIF terms, surprise results) aborted Japanese raids.

August saw the naval war go against Japan. The US sent out some LBA and CVs to Polynesia and surprised the Japanese fleet there. When the planes landed, the CV Shokaku was becoming an artificial coral reef, and super-battleship Yamamoto was damaged. At the end of the month, US subs in the Marianas surfaced during a storm in the middle of the Japanese fleet and sank the CV Kaiyo and damaged a transport.

The Chinese and Manchurian fronts were fairly quiet, although Japan's strat bombing campaign badly hurt Chinese production. Soviets sent troops and limited air forces to reinforce Timoshenko's Manchurian Front, but no action.

Western Europe/Med: As the battle for Rabaul raged, US forces advanced in France, taking Lyons from an isolated German GAR, while British invasion forces waited in the North Sea. In mid-July British paratroopers captured Aarhuis (Denmark), and in late July Le Havre fell to an Allied assault from land and sea. Allied forces also occupied Marseilles as the Italian and German defenders retreated to their alpine defenses.

Hitler FINALLY released some stockpiled supplies and reserves in late July (ie, a supercombined o-chit) and ordered the Luftwaffe to do something so with their Italian allies, they went hunting in the North Sea in late July. Unfortunately, they were never able to make contact. (see below for the Russian Front.) The Luftwaffe was able however to disrupt both the Eisenhower and Bradley HQs in France.

On the recently-quiet Med front, the US finally conquered Corsica, killing the disorganized out of supply German defender without loss. The Wallies blasted a German corps or two in France, and finally launched an assault on Paris in August. Monty (the last face-up HQ in the area) led the charge, with lots of air on both sides, but the Allies were repulsed (light casualties on both sides).

Russian Front: With the Red Air Force seriously trailing Soviet land forces following the advances in June, Zhukov authorized extra fuel (supercombined) and the Soviets resumed moving forward. (The Soviet Black Sea and Baltic Fleets shook off the rust and sallied, but did no thing useful.)

Brushing aside scattered German defenders (the Germans abandoned Odessa and Minsk before being isolated), the Soviets reached the Dniestr river line between Russia and Rumania in late July. Zhukov threw in all the reserves (a land o-chit) and blasted German defenders in two places, getting across the river in good order on both sides of Cernauti despite heavy Luftwaffe commitment to the defense.

At this point, Germany used its supercombined to sail the Baltic fleet, to no effect. Lots of railing of land units, rebasing of aircraft and reorganizations too. But the Soviets kept coming, smashing the defenders east of Cernauti and again outflanking the increasingly meager defense of Rumania. Worse yet, Soviet ground forces captured German air fields left and right, destroying in August numerous fighter and bomber wings on the ground (seven or eight). Germany retreated from Chisinau and the Soviets occupied Lvov (in the north, Soviets retook the empty Minsk and advanced on Brest, took Memel and built up on the East Prussian border).

At the end of August Soviet armored formations attacked across the river from Memel against East Prussia and along the Prussian/Polish border from the south, retreating one defender into Konigsberg and cutting off completely 3 corps/2 divisions in the forests of eastern E Prussia/southwestern Lithuania. An assault on Brest-Litovsk failed (rolled a 2, doh) as did the attempt to roust German defenders in the western swamps of Rumania (rolled a 7) -- but by the end of the month, the only thing between Rossokovsky's Bessarabian Front and the Bucharest and the Ploesti oil fields were the heroic Cernauti (2-3) MIL and an Italian (4-5) MOT (not stacked together, don't worry).

At the end of July the two German corps defending Bordeaux quietly surrendered to the French partisans guarding the city (we allow voluntary isolated corps destruction)...

Situation as of 1 September '44. German defenses in Rumania are collapsing, and suddenly the Soviets have pushed well into East Prussia. German/Italian lines in France are still strong and still hold Paris. Despite the loss of Rabaul, Japan still holds outposts like Pearl Harbor and Dutch Harbor, plus Chungking, and the IJN is in good shape.

BP losses: Germany 92 (+ 1 ochit), Japan 36, USA 16 (+1 ochit), USSR 15 (+2 ochits), CW 4, Italy 2, China 0 (but 2 production points lost to strat bombing)

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