Years of Jolly Carnage - a Multiplayer AAR

Laurwin said:

I wonder if the USA A.I. is completely hapless in this game though. I mean, Germany A.I. at least researches the correct technologies (infantry, tanks, fighter aircraft, bombers, doctrines and extras...) and always tends to spam infantry and combined arms divisions which makes them theoretically speaking playable, although they do often build a battleship fleet as well. Worst case scenario I guess would be a USA with no ready tanks/mech/mot, pure infantry, crappy air (only CAGs and strats etc...), no carriers in queue or built, spammed garrisons and militia all over the American territories etc... That might be irrecoverable for USA player, considering Germany's massive tech potential through leadership, theoretical and practical. I guess UK must think positive though.

Therefore a lot rests on USSR as well, since they've been being geared towards Barbarossa from the start, if Germany doesn't attack, then eventually USSR neutrality will allow it to DoW anyway, which is what it should do frankly, to put some pressure on Germany, and maybe even Japan.

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With Germany going for Spain and Gibraltar, Allies started to suspect there would be no Barbarossa during 1940 since it would have to start early autumn. Its not impossible, but it was about now when we started to think that UK was in for a long haul. And, with that in mind, we too started to worry over the US AI. But we'll get back to that.

About a USSR attack. We discussed that as well. Still, if USSR attacks, we reckoned German threat on US would build so slow that it would take a long time before US would join. And Allies really need the US mamoth economy to win in the end. Personally, I think it is only at very special scenarios when USSR should attack Axis.

But, I must admit, I am not really in full understanding in how "threat" works. Some actions give a direct increase in threat and some seems to only increase the spead of threat build-up? For Germany to declare war on USSR in Semper Fi gives no direct increase in threat but I gather it must increase the speed of threat build-up substansially. Anybody knows? Another example if U play singel player in the later SF patches is that Danzig of War gives Germany about +30 in direct threat increase on US but if you start a -39 scenario AFTER Danzig of War, Germany starts with a threat 3 on US. Now, how does that make sence?

Years of Jolly Carnage – a multiplayer AAR

Part XXI - One offensive each for the Allies and the Axis






Authors note: Players are UK, CAN, SU, GER, ITA, JAP
FRA/IRL player acting USSR for a while as that player had difficulties to comply with our gaming dates









In the last chapter Spain fell to the Germans and so did Gibraltar. The Med also saw some naval combat again with new clashes between Regia Marina and Royal Navy. The battle now rages mostly in the air and at sea as Axis and Allies have very few front lines facing each other. The only real frontline is Burma where things have been fairly peaceful for a month or two, except some minor skirmishes.












September 5th, 1940

After the fall of Gibraltar, the world was taking a deep breath, and not much killing took place. In the face of the high losses of UK tonnage it came as a small victory that the British raiders patrolling the opening of the Baltic Sea finally started to sink German tonnage again. It could only mean that Germany had started up new trades. Did it also mean that they started to run short on something? Well, you could always hope. The convoy raids continued and continuously sank tonnage on the same route.












September 16th,

More than two weeks after the fall of Gibraltar came the next attack on the Empire. It was a God forsaken Island so far away that the British leadership had all forgotten about it. The loss was not that catastrophic. It only made a small article in the news.
The British leadership was at this point very suspicious about the silence from the Axis. What were they planning? What were they waiting for?











September 19th, 1940

At this point, the British leadership had gotten the fix idea that Germany planned an attack on the British Isles itself. The Royal Navy was now spread thinly over the world, and Axis knew this, and a decisive attack from Kriegsmarine could possibly open up for a landing.

The brand new heavy bomber squadron made an attack at Kiel and bombed away about half of the industries there. Also, they found no major troop concentrations or navy here. It did not mean much though. Germany could still prepare the invasion in a port out of the range of the heavy bombers.











September 21st-22nd, 1940

Italian bombers had conducted raids over Malta for a couple of days without Britain having the possibility to send aid. Finally, the 21st, Sholto-Douglas and three squadrons of Hurricanes intercepted the bombers and shot down plenty without particular losses (the losses seen are ‘old’ that haven’t been reinforced yet). The Italians reacted by sending fighters, and now things went worse for the Brits. After a few sessions of wild dog-fights, the Hurricanes had to leave and it did not take long before the bombers returned.











September 24th-25th, 1940

In Cardiff, on the British mainland, the situation was somewhat similar. German bombing runs had made a mess out of the local industry, now just smoldering remnants. Leigh-Mallory managed to intercept them and concentrated the attacks on Jagtgeschwader “Richthofen” with such force that the entire squadron was obliterated. That was a small comfort for the people in the burning city of Cardiff.

RAF was now strained to its limits, having to defend against numerously superior opponents.











September 28th, 1940

In Burma it had been peaceful for more than a month. The Brits was happy over that, badly needing the break. However, as they had the air superiority here, they made occasional bombing runs to harass the Japs. It was said, as the crews were debriefed, that the Japanese troops seemed to be in a lousy state, not even shooting back anymore. Following these news, Fitzpatrick was sent into Kyangin to test the defenses of the enemy.

The intel from the bomber crews were correct. The Japs badly lacked supply and made a poor defensive force. Needing some good news back home, the British leadership activated two tactical bomber groups and the heavy bombers to pound the invaders continuously while the ground forces started to move in positions for a broad offensive along the entire border of occupied Burma. The leadership sincerely hoped that the early summer bombing of roads and bridges in Rangoon had paid off.











September 30th, 1940

Not thinking much of the Regia Marina, the Brits patrolled the Med with a fairly weak task force. Still, as they sighted a less numerous Italian force, they immediately attacked, well in order and in good position. Still, the mighty Italian battle ships proved to make a distinct difference and the British Task force took hit after hit and started to pull back. Several ships from the Italian screen were hits as well, but as the Brits retreated, they were the only one that lost ships.











September 30th, 1940

Thinking they got away, they could not believe their eyes as Japanese naval planes flew out of the horizon, soon followed by a mighty fleet and attacked the already broken British Task Force. It was Yamamoto himself - the infamous Brit-Killer. The Brits scattered and tried to flee in the best possible way.

They were actually surprised afterwards, that only a light cruiser and a few destroyers were sunk. On the other hand, the remaining task force was in a desperately miserable state and would need a long haul at the dry docks of Alexandria before being operational again. This meant, which was extraordinary, that Britain no longer had any active Task Force in the Mediterranean. The few sub-hunter teams were instantly pulled back too. Axis now controlled the Med.

Cybwep July 14th, 1940: It is very much possible that the Axis powers want to create a link between themselves ranging from Spain to Japan. In such case they would be able to support each other to much greater extent than in a typical HOI3 game...

Authors Note: It seems you were absolutely right, Cybwep. Good call. Bad for me, though











October 2nd, 1940

The British offensive in Burma is rewarded with its first victory. The Japs lost Sandoway after short battle as their Guard division with light tanks moved to reinforce Kyangin were battle still raged.











October 3rd, 1940

Engaged at supporting the attack on Sandoway, Cunningham was attacked by yet another Japanese fleet. It turned out quite like so many other naval battles. A loss. Still, a Japanese heavy cruiser was sunk, but the amount of sunken British war ships started to raise alarms again. Churchill was still confident though, and relied on the sheer size of the royal navy while other men, lower in rank, started to doubt and mentioned more careful strategies.

Authors note: The last sentence describes my own ambivalence. I felt I just had to keep pushing the Japs in order to keep them off India and Sri Lanka. I felt I could take slightly higher losses and be ok… but it was just that the naval losses started to mount a little too high.











October 8th, 1940

With the Med more or less lost, the Allies could not do anything to stop an Italian landing near Tarabulus. The Fascists had reopened the battle of North Africa. The Spanish defenders, now fighting under Canadian flag, could not hold the city against the three Italian divisions. The British leadership could only sigh deeply. Another front. How much could a single country cope with against the might of the Axis?











October 10th, 1940

After two weeks of British offensives in Burma, the Japanese defense started to buckle slightly. They had a lack of supply and no air force. RAF could harass them continuously and the British Infantry had plenty of supplies and could press on relentlessly.

::Being based in Burma had good sides and bad sides, Joe Monaghan thought. The good side was that the Japanese air force was crap and the hurricanes could easily keep the sky clean. The bombing runs with their heavy bombers went without mishap. The bad side was that they were based in a small bloody air field in the middle of endless jungle. It was just nothing here that even was close to being civilized. It was just jungle, rain and thousands of various insects trying to suck you dry. Well, Joe decided, as long as I don’t get to see more fighters up close, I won’t complain… but a good looking woman with a broad smile and a promising glint in her eyes wouldn’t be bloody wrong.::




...............



UK is beeing under severe preassure in air, sea and on land. The naval losses are running away somewhat and with a Japanese fleet in the Med the balance there have tipped distinctively in Axis direction. The potential of the Burma offensive is like a ray of light in the darkness, though...

I still found it hard to predict Axis next move. It won't be no 1940 Barbarossa, obviously, so it will be more violence in the Med and with the Japanese navy in Europe and Kriegsmarine still virtually unhurt Axis had a great potential to go Seelöwe with Gibraltar open and all.

ADEE1 said:

What you desperately need is a human player on USA and an entry from them ASAP to absorb most if not all the pressure from Japan.

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Heh.. Tell me about it. Unfortunately, our house rules for this game states that Allied/Commies are only alowed to play countries that are within the pacts.... which US is not. So we can only affect it the best we can (UK influenced and CAN/UK made various spying missions as well) and hope for them to enter - but honestly - without GER going for Barbarossa it will take a long time for them to get even close. That is also why we did not want USSR to DOW Axis as it would delay a US entry substansialy.. or so I think. As we have discussed earlier... I'm not really sure how threat builds up in various scenarios. I reckon, though, that GER gets a lot more threat if they attack USSR than the opposite.

ADEE1 said:

What you don't want is (what I fear the axis are doing) is cornering your Med taskforce in Alexandria as it closes the net with the Italian and Japanese navies, and land forces in the North African Campaign. That would be disastrous for you; either losing the majority of that navy in the subsequent rout and losing control of the suez (worst case scenario) or, at best, just losing suez with your taskforce escaping to India where it would be of no use for a defence in Sea Lion.

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At this point I was not sure if they would go for the British Isles next or continue capturing the Med. I felt an attack on the British Isles was the most dangerous option and prepared my defences. Daphna (Can) though that they would continue with the Med-campaign until it was all captured. Still, depending on which course Axis will choose the Allied remedy will be different. It was just so damn difficult with the thin and stretched forces at hand to try and calculate the best defence against such a superior foe.

ADEE1 said:

If things turn out to be in such a dire situation and the Axis launch the Sea Lion operation (without USA entry to knock out Japan) it would be inevitable that you would be occupied, despite a valiant defence. The only hope here would be to open up a second front on the Axis with a pre-emptive strike from the USSR, even if they are not as prepared as they would hope to be so that (hopefully) the Axis would become overstretched.

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As mentioned above, I don't believe in a pre-emptive strike from USSR. If USSR have to strike Germany in order to save UK... then Allies/Commies have lost already. If UK is strong elsewhere - its even better to lose the British Isles even if its an extremely tough blow for the Allies. Still, with the forces I have in England and the RN still beeing strong... My belief at this point was that I could handle a Seelöwe.

Cybvep said:

Ouch. Those hits from Regna Marina and perfect coordination with Japan in the Mediterranean were surprising. You are losing grip on the Med at an alarming rate.

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Yes. The ITA/JAP players set this trap nicely and I sailed straight into it. I'm just happy I got out if "as good" as I did. I thought I'd lose half the task force in that second battle.

Cybvep said:

What is the status of Siam, BTW? If I were the JAP player, I would either influence or invade it.

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Siam is neutral. Japan is influensing them though, but UK is counter-influensing so they barely move.

AUSTERLITZ said:

Sealion is now a very big prospect,i'm surprised captain easy didn't retreat his mediterranean fleet out of the med when gibraltar fell,now its probably trapped.
Adee 1 is absolutely right that fleet is going to get boxed into alexandria and if suez falls there will be no escape,with its damged state it can't flee now but i think u should get out of the med via suez and by the cape of good hope[south africa] into english mainland before it is double teamed and whittled down.

But as always ur sacrifice isn't in vain,the longer u hold the stronger the bear becomes and as i have said from the beginning ,that will be the key encounter.
So just hold on.

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Well, I don't see it as trapped. I can still retreat it to Britain - it will just take a little longer time. Seelöwe will not be over after the first landing. It will be a long fight in which I can pull back the entire RN. Still, being boxed in is a potential risk to wich I am at least aware. But, honestly, I did not feel the fight of the Med was over yet. I wanted to delay the Axis at every step. But then again - knowing when to retreat is a weakness I have...

AUSTERLITZ said:

The japanese presence was the true shock of the game for me,usually they don't have enough fuel for forays into the indian ocean and they entered the med by going all the way around the cape of good hope and through gibraltar?wow,anyway that fleet is simply now making the naval thing too hot for the allies in the med.
I see ur covering kattegat,but when the KM approaches u will face surface aircraft from wilhelmshaven i think,can ur RAF fighter cover reach there?

Looking forwards,probably my best aar ever[better than wildfires i would say,that was a little quick]

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It was a shock for me too, mate. I hadn't forseen that at all. Cred to the Axis for that. Still, I did not even think it was possible over that distance. It feels somewhat unrealistic.... No, the whole situation is bad. RN is beeing very thinly stretched here... but I couldn't, at this point, give up any of my three main theatres (The isles, North Africa, India).

Thanks a lot. I get a lot of help for my fellow players for the interesting turn of events Yeah, Wildfires was far to short. This size is a little better

Baltasar said:

The Japanese in the Med, the RM still largely intact and a new Italian offensive in North Africa. I'd try to get my ships out the Med and preferrably somewhere save. They'll not be able to do much in that bathtub and the Suez might be closed off sooner than you think.

The Canadian player will probably need to churn out some units and fast, preferably something to help you out with.

PS.: Had a quick look at the other posts. Seems like Italy has lost quite a lot of ships so far, about 5 CA, 10 CL, at least 15 DD and 10 SS units. I'd estimate the total losses at about 50+ ships with the majority being screens of course. The Japanese have also lost some units up to CA size, but much fewer than the Italians, about 20-25 units. (I assume the French also made some use of their fleet during their participation in the war?)

The UK hasn't fared too badly up to now, the worst loss was probably that of the HMS Hermes early in the war. The heavy units are basically all intact with loss count only slightly higher than the Japanese. A Seelöwe attempt might still turn out devastating for the Axis.

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Heh, you also favor the "give up the Med" theory Future will tell if that would have been the wisest. For it felt impossible at this stage. I feel I have a few potential tricks to play on the Axis and also, as mentioned above, it was all about delay here. Just handing over the Med now would turn up the heat on India or The Isles even quicker. Some things you just can't run away from...

Nice counting there. I am actually quite bad at looking on the statistics chart. But yes, the French navy did some damage too - both to Italy and Japan - but quite little compared to the many clashes RN have had.

And thanks, Baltasar, for believing in the defence of the Isles I'm quite confident as well for the moment. But then again, I have directed quite a lot of ground forces to the home defence which of course is noticeble on other fronts.

Cybvep said:

Careful, folks. Remember that when Suez falls, the vast Axis Empire will be connected through the fastest route. The Royal Navy is not powerful enough to block Japan in the Indian Ocean. The situation will turn from bad to worse. CptEasy should monitor the Axis forces in Europe carefully from air and watch for force concentrations, but he shouldn't panic.

In the most pessimistic variant, India will be the last Allied stronghold. What if he gives up India and the Axis still performs a successful Sea Lion? Then it's game over for the Allies. When Axis gets Suez, then they increase their strategic options. They can go for Sea Lion OR they can secure the Middle East by conquering countries rich in oil and then conquer India, thus increasing their IC and resources (and decreasing UK's potential at the same time) and creating another front with the Soviet Union in the Caucasus.

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I think we can summerize this input by saying that UK can only survive alone for so long. If I abandon India, I might have a better chance in Seelöwe... but then I have no back door. Then again, if the Isles fall and India is left - how long will that last when Axis can make a joint attack? As ADEE1 said "Much to think about..."

Years of Jolly Carnage – a multiplayer AAR

Part XXII - David's struggle against Goliath






Authors note: Players are UK, CAN, SU, GER, ITA, JAP
FRA/IRL player acting USSR for a while as that player had difficulties to comply with our gaming dates






In the last chapter, the feared Japanese navy appeared in the Mediteranean and lured the royal navy into a trap togeather with the Regia Marina. Uk struggles but resieves a constant flurry of blows. In Burma, an opportunity for vengence have presentet itself. The Japanese troops have, partially due to logistic bombings from Newall's heavy bombers, lack of supply - and the Brits press on.












October 17th, 1940

One week after the breakage of the Japanese frontline, and the Japanese infantry are in full flight. There defense has more or less crumbled and Hobart and his motorized infantry have surprised badly organized troops in Rangoon itself. The Japs quickly realized the danger of losing Rangoon and the only port in the area and rushed to its defence.











October 18th, 1940

The Japs, however, came too late. Hobart conquered the ruins of Rangoon and the port. He immediately came under attack but with Fitzpatrick being inbound with another division the Japanese counter-attack was not to be considered a serious threat. The British leadership now could now start to hope for a decisive victory with plenty of enemy troops actually being surrounded. If so, it was a well needed British victory in the midst of all bad news.











October 19th, 1940

A small naval contingent from the Kriegsmarine tried its luck in the Norwegian Trench, but it was still held by Admiral Sommerville. Without much drama he could sink the destroyers and make a burning Schleswig-Holstein (picture) flee back to the safety of the Baltic Sea.

The German probe still worried the British leadership. They could not shake of the worry about a German attack on the British Isles and therefore saw the sudden appearance of Kriegsmarine as an ominous sign of what’s to come. Could they really dare and attack of that scale?











October 19th-20th, 1940

When the Brits gave up protecting Malta’s air space, the island was doomed. When the amphibious attack came, the defenders had suffered relentless bombings for quite some time and only gave token resistance before they gave up. For the present situation, the loss of Malta was of small importance as the Royal Navy held no real presence in the Med. Still, the on the streets of London it was perceived as a major loss. And it was an important win for Italy’s future role in the Med. With the strong Italian air force it would be very difficult to re-take.












More than a week after the loss of Rangoon and the Japs are still holding together a unified front even though they are attacked in every province, with occasional bombing-runs by RAFs bomber command. The situation, however, seem to be slipping away from them.











October 30th, 1940

Finally, the Japanese front in Burma has crumbled. Two divisions just east of Rangoon managed to flee out in the ocean to awaiting transports but four other divisions were trapped in land and surrendered while a last Japanese division in the east tried to flee southwards. It really turned out to be a decisive British victory - and a much needed one. With the Med lost and North Africa being contested again, it was a great source of confidence that land around the Eastern Indian Ocean was in British hand again after beating the Japanese ground forces on location after location.











November 6th, 1940

As the last Japanese infantry divisions finally were cornered, they tried to flee out to awaiting transports. Brits and Canadians made a joint attack to crush them but realized, during the battle, that the Japanese Navy still would pick them up. Eager to maximize Japanese losses of ground troups, Admiral Pound was sent out with a task force to deal with the Japanese navy they knew was there.

::Mark Monaghan was eager but doubtful as he stood on the bridge of HMS Renown. The Royal Navy had taken so much punishment the latest month, with Cunningham’s battle group lying in docks up in Chittadong, that Admiral Pound’s task force was a sorry mix of everything available in Colombo. Still, it was not a too weak force and the Japanese force was bound to have transports. Great Britain needed a naval victory after the latest trend of disasters. But as usual, Mark Monaghan was cold and peaceful outwards. It was reassuring for his man. Also, he knew he would fight to death if needed. He was not afraid. Only to fail… that was his only fear.::












November 7th, 1940

The Japanese fleet awaiting them in Mergui Archipelago proved to be, as they hoped, a weak one, used for transporting troops. They also had slight, if hardly noticeable, supply problems. Still, Admiral Nagano had the skill of using what he had to his advantage and the Japanese losses were not as great as they could have gotten. When they fled, they only left one ship burning and that was the heavy cruiser Takao (picture). IJN Takao soon sank.











November 7th, 1940

Admiral Cunningham’s battle group, coming out of Chittagong, had sailed into a much stronger Japanese fleet north of Pounds position and had to flee immediately but still received terrible losses. Knowing this, Pound did not dare to give pursuit of the Japanese transport fleet, fearing to meet the stronger Japanese battle group, and fell back to Colombo.

Still, the battle of Mergui Archipelago proved to be a success as the Japanese transport fleet fled and did not return in time to save the Japanese infantrymen on the coast who surrendered. All in all, the liberation of Burma had also succeeded in eliminating five Japanese infantry divisions. With the two lost divisions outside Calcutta and a division of marines in Ceylon it was hoped that Japan would be careful to launch another ground operation in the Indian Ocean area in quite some time ahead.







November 7th, 1940

Easter Indian Ocean has been cleared on Japs except for one harbor. Due to lack of naval forces, it is not likely that the Brits will try to re-take it anytime soon.
However, the terrible losses at sea have definitely tipped the balance to the Japanese advantage. The British leadership has now decided to more or less abandon the Eastern Indian Ocean for some time, hoping that the land based losses will keep Japan away. The convoys, already heavily over-strained from attention from Germany and Italy, will continue to have a tough time here.











November 7th, 1940

Around the Med, the situation is even worse from the Allied point of view. Gibraltar and Malta is lost and Italy is re-capturing its lost lands in North Africa.



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More and more losses. Cunningham's loss of yet another carrier was a heavy blow but the victory in Burma a bliss. Due to the absence of RN in the Med there is not much UK have been able to do to stop Italy's onslaught. Now, pulling back all my naval forces from the Indian Ocean, its time to take up the fight...