Império Novo - An Axis Portugal AAR

[Stuyvesant]

The thing that I take away from this update most is that you've worn down your fighting forces - be it your shattered Armored Car brigade, be it your supply-less units in Egypt, or be it your navy after taking a pounding around Gibraltar. You're certainly not down, but it will take you a while to put your forces back into fighting shape - time, I expect, the Allies can better afford than you can (I mean, in the time that you can duct-tape that heavy cruiser back together, the Brits could launch a whole fleet of cruisers - or worse).

Oh, and the Italians actually overran Turkey? On their own? I'm horrified by this display of competence!

[Ricardo Rolo]

That was quite bittersweet ... to not say worse. Besides the Australian front, it is a litany of failures: Gibraltar, Alexandria ,the shattering of of the Armored cars div ...

Well, for better or worse, the African theatre is basically closed with the fall of Alexandria. Now, onto the middle East ? BTW you should think on liberate Madeira and Goa ... ok , the first is basically without value in the game and Goa means to enter in the Indian theatre, a thing I am pretty sure you do not consider to be ready to do , but I'm pretty sure that your chief of state would do that , no matter the costs

[WhisperingDeath]

Welcome back! As always, fun to read.

You must always be careful when poking the bear as the bear might poke back! (In this case insert 'Bulldog' for 'bear,') It is best to have a very long stick or to poke so strongly that there is no poking back. You have neither, and that's what makes this AAR so much fun (and fascinating) to follow.

[poloport]

An update!

Too bad about Alexandria and gibraltar though

Luckily Australia seems to be going along nicely.

[Rensslaer]

The thing that I take away from this update most is that you've worn down your fighting forces - be it your shattered Armored Car brigade, be it your supply-less units in Egypt, or be it your navy after taking a pounding around Gibraltar. You're certainly not down, but it will take you a while to put your forces back into fighting shape - time, I expect, the Allies can better afford than you can (I mean, in the time that you can duct-tape that heavy cruiser back together, the Brits could launch a whole fleet of cruisers - or worse).

Oh, and the Italians actually overran Turkey? On their own? I'm horrified by this display of competence!

Worn down? Hmmm…. In many ways, I think Portugal is stronger now than at any previous point. The difference is we’re spread too thin (when weren’t we?). We started out spread thin, and we’ve only “spread” further! So the supply network isn’t working. The supply sealanes are being worn down. The “tip of the spear” is further extended beyond where it can be supported, so it’s not as effective. So in a way, “worn down” is correct, but not when referring to objective measures of power. Only when referring to measures of effective power. Make sense?

The big loss is that heavy cruiser – I spent all that time building it, and then I lose it right away in a probably unwise attempt to take Gibraltar. I keep thinking if I can knock it out, it will make it a lot less likely that they will be able to mount an attack against Portugal itself, but at the same time it hasn’t proved very useful to them so far, or very dangerous to me. It’s just galling having a center of enemy power so close to my shores.

W/re to Italy – they’re quite on the march! Their navy is doing well in the Med. They took on Greece, as historical, and Germany had to rescue them, as historical. But they took on Turkey on their own, and yes they appear to have done a good job with it. Add Alexandria and Cyprus, and they’re becoming a force to their own!

That was quite bittersweet ... to not say worse. Besides the Australian front, it is a litany of failures: Gibraltar, Alexandria ,the shattering of of the Armored cars div ...

Well, for better or worse, the African theatre is basically closed with the fall of Alexandria. Now, onto the middle East ? BTW you should think on liberate Madeira and Goa ... ok , the first is basically without value in the game and Goa means to enter in the Indian theatre, a thing I am pretty sure you do not consider to be ready to do , but I'm pretty sure that your chief of state would do that , no matter the costs

Looks this is the first time you’ve posted in this AAR, Ricardo Rolo, so Welcome!

Yes, you’re right about Africa. There are isolated pockets of enemy units, but I don’t think they have anything to use against me anymore. The Middle East is going to be a challenge, because it’s opening a new front. They have a lot of units there. I’ll have to approach that carefully.

Madeira I can do… maybe. Goa is right out, I think! I may get to India at some point, but I’d just as soon go up against the British home islands. lol

Welcome back! As always, fun to read.

You must always be careful when poking the bear as the bear might poke back! (In this case insert 'Bulldog' for 'bear,') It is best to have a very long stick or to poke so strongly that there is no poking back. You have neither, and that's what makes this AAR so much fun (and fascinating) to follow.

Thanks, WhisperingDeath! That’s quite a compliment! Yes, I do seem to be prodding the beast and feeling lucky when he doesn’t swipe my head off. I wonder how long I’ll remain lucky!

An update!

Too bad about Alexandria and gibraltar though

Luckily Australia seems to be going along nicely.

Thanks, Poloport! Australia becomes quite an adventure – almost like a game/AAR into itself! Much excitement ahead.

Thanks, everybody, for reading! I’ll see if I can get another update up in a couple of weeks. I HAVE begun posting in my Rome AAR again (The Die is Cast, a Roman Civil War scenario), and I’ll also be continuing Kriegsgefahr.

Rensslaer

[Stuyvesant]

So in a way, “worn down” is correct, but not when referring to objective measures of power. Only when referring to measures of effective power. Make sense?

Sure does. I see it as you having blunted the tip of the spear, the units that do the actual fighting: they (or at least some of them) are in pretty bad shape. I'm sure that, overall, you're more powerful, it just those units that have been actively taking the fight to the enemy that have borne the brunt.

[Chief Ragusa]

This was always likely to happen, wasn't it? The allies were going to get their act together at somepoint. You have units in Africa, besieging British units. Without a supply base, yours are also short of supply. Supplying the sealanes is your pressing need. That cruiser, in hindsight, was an extravagance that would have been better spent on keeping the sealanes fully supplied. I thought it would make a contribution to stoppingthe Canadians out in the caribbean. Have you finished taking the Dutch East Indies and the other OIl producing areas in the Far East? Your forces in Africa could do with being re-deployed. Have you the manpower to finish off the African campaign?

[Rensslaer]

This was always likely to happen, wasn't it? The allies were going to get their act together at somepoint. You have units in Africa, besieging British units. Without a supply base, yours are also short of supply. Supplying the sealanes is your pressing need. That cruiser, in hindsight, was an extravagance that would have been better spent on keeping the sealanes fully supplied. I thought it would make a contribution to stoppingthe Canadians out in the caribbean. Have you finished taking the Dutch East Indies and the other OIl producing areas in the Far East? Your forces in Africa could do with being re-deployed. Have you the manpower to finish off the African campaign?

Chief Ragusa,

Regarding the Duth East Indies, I've been making progress, and have all the resource locations, but not entirely all of the Dutch lands are mine yet. New Guinea is still partially occupied by the Australians, but they're trapped and will be reduced eventually. You may be right about the cruiser, but I think my main mistake was in its employment at Gibraltar rather than elsewhere (I might better have skipped the Gibraltar campaign). I do need to maintain sealanes, so investment in a navy is a must.

As to Africa, I'll let the next update serve... I have one almost ready to post. One or two days, if not tonight.

Great to see you again!

Renss

[Rensslaer]

The Portuguese war in Africa – or, perhaps more properly, the British war in Africa – was near to its close. Only a handful of British divisions remained uncaptured across the whole continent, and Portuguese divisions were busy trying to dismantle the last of them so they could be free to redeploy elsewhere.



Two of these British divisions were trapped in the interior of British Somaliland, squeezed between Italian and Portuguese forces. The 2nd Cavalry began to reduce the 42th Infantry on the 12th of September, at the end of a waiting game of attrition that favored the Axis. On the 20th, after having welcome assistance from Italian bombers, Gen. Watson offered his sword to Gen. Guerra, and planning began to take on the last enemy resistance in the Horn of Africa.

A similar process was taking place north, along the coast, in Egypt. Troops recently engaged at Alexandria were transferred south to eliminate the British presence in the Nile River Valley, which was partially the cause of the supply problems.



The British division in question was completely out of supply, and had difficulty even moving within the confines of its perimeter. But the provinces occupied by them were obstacles which needed to be cleared away so supply could move north.

Such lines of communication were needed as Portuguese armies first ventured across the Suez Canal and into British Palestine.



British opposition to the move was paltry. If they didn’t make a stand at the Canal, where would they stand? It gave commanders hope that Palestine would be an easy conquest. But they were cautioned not to become overconfident.

The Canadians continued to assail the Bahamas. What else could they do to contribute to the war effort? Not much, really. But this persistence was costing them dearly. Their divisions and ships were flagging.



As the 20th Garrison Division approached the limits of its tolerance, it was again moved out of the invasion area and replaced by rested cavalry from Jamaica.

You may recall, at the end of the last update, we had engaged the enemy for the first time at Rawlinna, in Australia.

At first, the Australians backed off at the shock of first contact. But those initial skirmishers were followed by more substantial forces, including Australian Vickers light tanks. The armored cavalry hit the Portuguese 3rd Cavalry at a time when they were already tired from crossing the desert and then fighting infantry, and so they were forced to withdraw.



Hopes were raised when the 18th Infantry moved up to take their place just a few days after the cavalry pulled back, and the Australians hadn’t had time to consolidate their recapture of the territory. But they were also suffering great attrition from the desert crossing, and they were not in much better shape to face Australian tanks than were the cavalry.

The fight was clenched, on the 6th, when the Australian 23rd Division flanked the 18th from behind and to the north.



On the 10th of October, the 18th shattered under the Australian force of arms! The 14th Infantry, nearby, dug in with hopes of holding a line, but they were also in bad condition to fight.

All seemed to be falling apart. The early success of the invasion had fallen into the disarray of an army fighting in unfamiliar conditions on unknown battlefields, and with undue preparation. It was trying to fight a conventional war against an army prepared to fight conventionally, and on its own territory.

Portugal’s success, to date, had relied upon unconventional tactics and risky movements, often by sea. The Australian Royal Navy was known to be active, but its actual deployments were unclear, and Portugal lacked enough units in the region to scout out their presence.



But it was decided to roll the dice once more – to mount an amphibious invasion to try to take some of the pressure off the front in the western desert. Gen. Azevedo embarked his garrison troops – the ones brought in to guard the back door at Perth – onto transports for a destination no one was informed of until they were at sea.

Would this gamble pay off? Or was Portugal’s lightweight army about to be routed in the South Seas?

Before I go, I wanted to show you a Production Screen comparison over the years, just to show you how things have gone…



From a 1936 start of only 11 IC, we’ve come quite a ways! By 1940, we’d more than quadrupled that, through conquest and industrial construction. By a year ago, in autumn 1941, we were seeing 62. Just the amount of IC dedicated to production has increased ten-fold since the start of the war!

The increases have dropped off some since then. What can I say? There’s less left to conquer!

You can also see the dramatic increases in raw materials from year to year. We basically dominate both Oil and Rare Materials production, worldwide.

And one more thing before we go, to set the scene and mood on the world stage. This is a screenshot I happened to snap of Britain in September 1942.



The German bombers, finally, are dominating the skies over Britain. Her submarines besiege the shorelines.

What could this foretell or portend?

[Ricardo Rolo]

Well, this is looking nice. Too bad about the losses in Australia, but it was to be expected to lose some units ... Australia is not Curacao Anyway, I'm assuming you're going to VP hunt a little downthere , so with some luck the Aussie days are numbered.

Besides that ... well , as I was expecting, Africa is closed for now besides cleaning up, apparently the road to Jerusalem ( or even further ... maybe up to Baghdad ? ) is wide open and the brits seem to have lost control of both the seas and the air even in home ( ripe for a Sealion , maybe ? ). BTW it is interesting to wonder if the Portuguese war effort is actively helping with that, given how it is providing the European Axis a ton of resources ( like crude and rares ) that they normally have very difficulty in having in appropriate amounts ( and denying them to the Allies ) ...

[Chief Ragusa]

What does it portend? German invasion of the United Kingdom.

Your supply is a bit low- you pick our fights. Your production has increased 10 times. Ten fold would be 1024 times.

Off to take the Australian supply base -the capital Canberra. That should make the conquest of Australia that much easier.

All that oil and not enough fuel. More refining capacity needed for Portugal. Looks like yoou've lots of needs. What are your priorities for research?

[WhisperingDeath]

Always scrappy, that Portugal! I won't repeat the comments made above but they echo my thoughts. I also notice from your last screen shot that manpower is non-existent. That's rarely a good thing. Any chance some Portuguese troops are heading to Northern Ireland? I know, it's wacky, but that has been a hallmark of your success to date!

[Funnyman320]

Happy to see you've returned from hiatus. This is quite the accomplishment taking Portugal this far, I can barely succeed with Germany

[Rensslaer]

Well, this is looking nice. Too bad about the losses in Australia, but it was to be expected to lose some units ... Australia is not Curacao Anyway, I'm assuming you're going to VP hunt a little downthere , so with some luck the Aussie days are numbered.

Besides that ... well , as I was expecting, Africa is closed for now besides cleaning up, apparently the road to Jerusalem ( or even further ... maybe up to Baghdad ? ) is wide open and the brits seem to have lost control of both the seas and the air even in home ( ripe for a Sealion , maybe ? ). BTW it is interesting to wonder if the Portuguese war effort is actively helping with that, given how it is providing the European Axis a ton of resources ( like crude and rares ) that they normally have very difficulty in having in appropriate amounts ( and denying them to the Allies ) ...

Well, heretofore, I've avoided any consideration of going head-to-head with Britain, because I've been concerned about having enough troops to spread around. Now, even though I've lost a couple of units (reconstituted after shattering, not completely destroyed), I feel that pressure less. I feel like I've "turned a corner" and I can look for bigger challenges. Maybe India. Maybe Britain itself. Hard to say.

What does it portend? German invasion of the United Kingdom.

Your supply is a bit low- you pick our fights. Your production has increased 10 times. Ten fold would be 1024 times.

Off to take the Australian supply base -the capital Canberra. That should make the conquest of Australia that much easier.

All that oil and not enough fuel. More refining capacity needed for Portugal. Looks like yoou've lots of needs. What are your priorities for research?

You know, I'm an editor/wordsmith -- I should have known that about "tenfold" but I didn't! Learn something every day!

I'm still not 100% sure (because I don't have scouts) how well defended some of those eastern Australian cities are. So I'm not sure how certain I can be of success if I go too far.

Yes, fuel refining continues to be a problem, but I still don't need that much of it. Not very highly mechanized.

Always scrappy, that Portugal! I won't repeat the comments made above but they echo my thoughts. I also notice from your last screen shot that manpower is non-existent. That's rarely a good thing. Any chance some Portuguese troops are heading to Northern Ireland? I know, it's wacky, but that has been a hallmark of your success to date!

Thanks! Yeah, Manpower has been bouncing between 0 and 3 for my whole game. Portugal is just used to it. As soon as I get up to 2 or 3 it's time for a new unit. Reinforcements haven't been that much of a problem. Losses have been relatively low, except for the shattering and that attrition in the Australian desert. I wasn't expecting that (I SHOULD have, but didn't).

Wacky? Well, I'm not sure if I can promise wacky. But I also do breathtaking, and I have some of that coming up.

Happy to see you've returned from hiatus. This is quite the accomplishment taking Portugal this far, I can barely succeed with Germany

Thanks! Welcome, Funnyman! Glad you've joined in. Got more coming up.

I'm not 100% sure if I'll do an update for this next or for Kriegsgefahr, but should be an HOI 3 AAR coming up sometime this week.

Until then, thanks everybody for your continued readership and comments!

Rensslaer

[Jape]

Impressive as always but your MP is worrying. Though the Imperio Novo will always triumph, I'm sure!

[Thandros]

Hmm your turning Portugal into a true industrial Powerhouse. Unfortunately it seems you'll soon have no one to work the Factories.

[Stuyvesant]

Hmm... Australia is proving to be a tougher nut to crack than Africa (I shouldn't be surprised, after reading Saithis' excellent Last Man and Shilling ). But even if you're not quite dictating the terms of combat in Australia, the fact remains that you're fighting on their turf, and there's no way they'll come calling for you in Lisbon. So overall, the situation is still in your favor.

I do worry about the lack of manpower, the continued tightness of IC... You're not simply walking the tightrope, you're dancing and somersaulting all over it!

[Ruunu3004]

One thing, if possible, I and I'm sure others would like to see how much your generals have skill and if possibble your navy ships list also. Hard time remebering them all.

[poloport]

Very nice!
I eagerly await your next update!

[Rensslaer]

Impressive as always but your MP is worrying. Though the Imperio Novo will always triumph, I'm sure!

Thanks, Jape! I'm always worried about my MP, but it's never really been anything but worrisome, so I've learned NOT to worry too much about it. What will be, will be.

Hmm your turning Portugal into a true industrial Powerhouse. Unfortunately it seems you'll soon have no one to work the Factories.

Hmm... The old men and women of all ages have been called up for factory service, so as to increase the likelihood that their sons and husbands will come home! In actuality, Portugal's problem (in IRL terms) isn't so much that she's lost that many men -- it's more that they're all occupied. I don't have a count of total casualties, but I would be willing to bet it's actually quite low as a percentage of my total-longterm-MP. It's mostly bottled up in a huge number of units that Portugal was never really forseen to have the capacity to produce, but somehow produced them anyway!

Hmm... Australia is proving to be a tougher nut to crack than Africa (I shouldn't be surprised, after reading Saithis' excellent Last Man and Shilling ). But even if you're not quite dictating the terms of combat in Australia, the fact remains that you're fighting on their turf, and there's no way they'll come calling for you in Lisbon. So overall, the situation is still in your favor.

I do worry about the lack of manpower, the continued tightness of IC... You're not simply walking the tightrope, you're dancing and somersaulting all over it!

Indeed, it may be so that Australia represents the majority of existing Commonwealth military strength. Or a plurality, perhaps. Or perhaps not.... it's hard to say what's still available in the Home Islands. Or in India (India may have more troops, but not necessarily more "strength" in raw military terms). But you're right -- we're still making war on OUR terms, not theirs. Tightrope indeed! It's quite fun to not know whether you'll be crushed at any moment -- quite exhilarating! Thanks!

One thing, if possible, I and I'm sure others would like to see how much your generals have skill and if possibble your navy ships list also. Hard time remebering them all.

Hmm... I will see if I can get that info. I should be able to pull up an old savegame for the next update (if I forget, remind me!). I do have a fair number of decent generals (from a third-world perspective), but certainly nothing to match the major powers.

Very nice!
I eagerly await your next update!

Thanks! Appreciate your support!

I want to make mention of the AARLand Choice AwAARds (Q2 2012) which are currently underway. There's always been a "stigma" against promoting votes for your own AARs, but a general decision (between Mods and awards promoters) has been made to encourage such promotion this time, as a means of encouraging votes. I will say this: 1) I encourage votes for ANY worthy AARs, not necessarily my own -- Go vote! 2) This AAR (as well as Kriegsgefahr) technically qualifies for votes, despite having only two updates during the quarter (sorry!) -- it is CERTAINLY fair to consider how little has been added to the AAR during the quarter as a strike against it. 3) I do appreciate the 2 votes this AAR has already gotten (and the 2 votes Kriegsgefahr has already gotten). 4) No matter who you're voting for, PLEASE go read and vote for the most worthy AARs!

As for updates, I'll get an update for this up soon after I post my next Kriegsgefahr update, which should be relatively soon (it's mostly written). Sorry for all the delays! RL has been particularly vexing lately.

Thanks!

Rensslaer