• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Thanks for all comments. Very fun and interresting to read. I can, of course, not answer your speculations about the future as it would ruin the story - but here's a few other commets.

* I think the GER victory over Royal Navy was more important than the losses themselves. It hopefully made Maxyboy (Britain) very nervous about the German intent and also, he had to pull good ships from other arenas to strengthen this front. Or how did your thinking go Maxyboy?

* I have not recieved any screenies from SU - so you'll have to do with mine :)

* Concerning House Rules on Japan, we have made a deal for next game. --When Japan DoWs Allies/Commies, Allied team may put a player on USA. Also, at this date, Japan must break all their trade-deals with USA (this is important if Allies chose not to put a player on USA immediately). This doesn't directly affect the limit of Japan's choices - meaning Allies can't relax completely (like if we put a certain date). BUT, on a long term strategic view, this means that the Japanese player must really think twice before attacking Allies/Commies as their action will affect their resourse situation and when USA can enter the war (and when Allies can start planing the tec-tree and production of USA).
 
Sudden Carnage

Chapter XXXII – Operation Barbarossa










Countries played by humans: UK, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan.









Recap: With the recent fall of France, Germany is preparing a new huge offensive. At last, Operation Barbarossa, the full on attack of Soviet Union is about to unfold. Japan is steady but slowly gaining ground in the Far East – never faltering. UK seems to have left South East Asia. Instead, after securing entire Africa, winning the initiative in the Med and conquering Greece – they have dared an attack on Sicily. And they are gaining ground.












16-6.jpg

August 11th, 1940

While Italy and United Kingdom fought in the Med and in Sicily, Germany extended their raids in the Atlantics. It was believed that UK had been cutting down considerable on the convoy routes as each U-boat had a lot lower ratio of sunk tonnage. I could mean, of course, that they convoys had become better at avoiding the raiders – but the German leadership chose to believe in the first explanation.











17-6.jpg


This is the present size of the 3rd Reich shortly before the launch of Operation Barbarossa – the attack on the Soviet Union.











18-5.jpg

August 11th, 1940

The main blow will fall on the northern section on the front. Here, the Red Army has formidable defensive positions behind rivers, in woods, cities and marshlands. There were hardly any open fields and thus, Wehrmacht had not put many panzers here but a majority of the infantry.

Due to this formidable defense, and the constant warring in the south, the German leadership hoped that the Red Army’s second line here would be weak. Once a breach was made, through which all the German reserves could pour, the Red Army was hoped to be overwhelmed and outmaneuvered.











19-4.jpg

August 18th, 1940

Three days into Operation Barbarossa and three main thrusts had been launched in the northern part of the East Front. Wehrmacht came in strong and in superior numbers. It was tough going in the rough terrain and all the Soviet units had extensive trench-systems and dug bunkers. They also knew the province like the back of their hands. Still, the Germans were more numerous, better equipped and better trained. Luftwaffe was challenged in the skies and the bombers could not operate at full effectiveness. Still, the Russians did not deploy any bombers at all.











20-6.jpg

August 23rd, 1940

In the southern part of the east front, Wehrmacht actually attacked out of the Valley of Death, Shepetivka, even before they attacked up north. The reason was to hopefully make the Rus believe that this was the main thrust. Still, for being a deceptive maneuver, it met quite successful result. Large contingents of the Red Army were being grinded down in the open field.

::Heinrich Hahn and the 1st Panzer had been order back into Shepetivka after various manouvers. Whermacht had actually lost a few provinces resently due to Red Army offensives. But the Valley of Death had surpisingly been unchallenged. When he came back to the this hell hole, he was surpriced of the changes. Most of the boddies had been burried and the summer made the province's huge fields filled with untended crops and wild fields.::

::And now they were reinforced. France had fallen and several panzer divisions had joind up on this sector. It was time to push the Rad Army back. Finally! Michael Wittman was apparently eager and his mood carried on to the rest of the tank crew. Heinrich and Bobby looked forward for the late summer offensive.::











21-5.jpg

August 24th-30th, 1940

During about a week the amount of battle escalated to include a majority of the frontline. Some were only to tie down the Red Army and later cancelled. In some cases, the Red Army had to retreat from winning battles when risks for pockets occurred. Some of the key battle fields (above) became bloody and about 60-70 000 men on both sides was killed during a single week.

New recruits surged from far behind the lines to fill up the holes in all the trashed divisions. This was carnage on a new and terrible level. But Wehrmacht won all the important battles and the Red Army was being forced back.

This time, they had plenty of rare materials in stock, manpower was not yet a problem and Germany had a secure back. It was up to the Red Army themselves to protect their country…











23-6.jpg

September 1st, 1940

15 days into Operation Barbarossa and Wehrmacht had busted through the dug-in wall of the Red Army. Now, as the Soviet troopers started to tumble back the German leadership felt optimistic. Alas, they still had a troublesome terrain ahead and it was unknown how much reserves the Red Army had.

Wehrmacht also initiated an attack across the river into the city of Minsk. It was a bitter fight for the Germans, but it was important to tie down the huge amount of troops here – and to refuse the tired Russians any rest while fresh German troops moved into position.











24-6.jpg

September 1st, 1940

In the southern part of the East Front the going was slightly slower, but still forwards without any real hesitation.

At the same time, the army group of mechanized and heavy mechanized divisions was finally ready to be deployed. As the southern front consisted mostly of plains, the choice fell here. The German leadership was eager to use this new type of unit. It was not stronger than a regular medium panzer division but considerable faster.

::Finally, Johann Keller and his 1st Heavy Mechanized Infantry Division was deployed in the southern part of the East Front. He would be part of Operation Barbarossa. He, the cheese-merchant, would be part of the great crusade against Marxism. All the darknes in his heart was long gone. He would do his part - if not in the frontline (as he was an logistics officer) - but he wouldn't be the one to stay behind.::











25-3.jpg

August 25th – September 3rd, 1940

In rapid succession, Japan offensives met several crucial victories which led to the fall of several small nations. The leadership of Tannu Tuva managed to flee to Soviet but Nepal and Bhutan gave up – just switching one tyrant for another. Japan chose to puppet these nations as they really did not bother to deal with them. As long as they would just stay passive in the Himalayas and not cause any trouble it was all good.











275.jpg

August 25th, 1940

Authors note: Due to intense warring in Soviet I missed taking screenshot during a peak of UKs offensive in southern Italy. The red lines symbolize UKs northernmost position before they were pushed back somewhat.

UK made a decisive landing in southern Italy, isolating the rather big Italian Army on the “toe of the boot” and pushing northwards. The surrounded Italians were attacked from all sides and bombed as well. Axis now sent a lot of air force here to support Italy, fearing a major Italian disaster. RAF was more or less chased away after some tough air-battles and soon bombs started to fall on the Brits. The experienced troops in the 2nd Paratroop Division landed in front of the blitzing Brits and thus bought Italy some time to consolidate their defense. Soon, the Brits were being pushed back in the North.

Still, UK continued their attack on the “toe” and the Italians there were mighty worn down by now. What was worrying, except the loss of the Army was the fact that Italy’s last real fleet, with most of their battle ships, was stuck here – and in bad shape. During a recent naval battle, they had punished the Brits but with the effect that most ships needed repairs. If they were forced out into the Straight of Messina and the awaiting Royal Navy – it would be a an even worse disaster than the loss of the army. Axis diverted lots of attention trying to stop yet another British trap from snapping shut.










28-5.jpg

September 9th, 1940

A Panzer spear-head had blitzed right through the Red Army’s southern defense. Three Soviet divisions, of which one was armor, were caught in a pocket. They were already in a disastrous state and soon gave up. This led to a great unbalance in the Soviet defense and it was obvious that they stumbled backwards to try and find a new line.

The German leadership had already seen that a line of fortification had been build quite strategically deeper inside the country, and they did not want the Red Army to be able to dig in here – especially as they did not know how powerful these forts would be.











29-5.jpg

September 14th, 1940

Even though the southern attack initially was mostly a diversion, it was here, on the open field, that a break-through came. Close to the Rumanian border, the Soviet defense crumbled and Wehrmacht busted through and found undefended land.

In the North, progress was steady but slow. The terrain hindered all kinds of fast movement and the Red Army covered up skillfully. It was bloody work for the Germans.

The Italian leader was mighty nervous about the British attack on the heart of Italy and they now pulled the majority of their expeditionary forces home. The loss of the Italian forces in the East would weaken Operation Barbarossa locally - but it was concidered more important to secure the heartland of Italy for new British tricks.

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

Operation Barbarossa is unfolding quite nicely. Germany is taking a lot of casualties but are reaching their objectives. The "loss" of the Italian forces in the south of the Soviet front, in combination with the wall of Soviet forts of unknown strength, might cause a unwanted stalemate there. The outcome of the "Battle of the Toe" in southern Italy will be mighty important. If Italy lose, they will be very weak until their Eastern Army have returned. Also, they are lighly to also lose the majority of their last fleet wich will make United Kingdom completely unchallenged in the Med. Yet another "nail-biter" in the Med.
 
Last edited:
The British daring moves in Italy seems to be working. The British player is probably determined to secure the Med once and for all. Eliminating the bulk of the Italian navy would allow the Brits to focus on the Japanese threat, i.e. to prevent them from landing anywhere beyond India.

Good progress in the East, although I would be worried about your casualty ratios and the Italians withdrawing their troops from the Eastern Front to their homeland. I don't know how many divisions the Soviets have in reserve, but I doubt that they will be able to stall you on those forts for long, as there are vast open plains in Ukraine which can serve as great playground for your mobile divisions. What you should NOT do is to attack the forts head-on, as your casualty ratios will deteriorate and you cannot allow that. Try to outmanoeuvre the Soviets.
 
Well, the Brits have already achieved an important objective - the Italian player won't contribute any further on the Easter front, and his troops will be locked in defensive positions for the next year or so. That's a good strategic victory. Of course, the worrying part is that Germany doesn't really need those troops anymore, now that France has fallen.
The Soviet player seems to have anticipated the German plans relatively well - the major offensive in the north is relatively slow-going. :)
 
Hello again. UK player from this game here. Sorry for not commenting for a while. I'll try to comment events in a chronological order.

First off, the UK retreat from France was mostly due to the fact that France was becoming controlled by AI. Once that occured you could never really know were your escape routes were. Had it been human controlled I might try to hold it another couple of weeks. Railing the troops to the western harbours made for a quick and safe escape. When the AI took over it shifted the entire frontline (visible in one of CptEasy's screenies).

About the "defence" of India. Yes, at least up until now I've made the call to give up those parts. As Yunnan had joined the Axis and Siam was conquered, they would have fairly good supply for a change. But the dominating factor was that the Jap was supirior at sea and able to allocate their entire naval force at the UK precense. To avoid a constant trickle of naval losses (as noted, I already had a few) I had to give up the fight for the seas. And with the seas lost, India just can't be hold safely. It wasn't an easy call, but at the time, it seemed like the only sensible option.

When the last fleet was on retreat from India it was caught by a surprise landing (also shown in the screen shots). The Japanese fleet manage to "lock it in", and have it constantly retreat to the same unsafe harbour. The losses in minor ships were haevy. But just when the major ships was in turn to be sunk (including my flagship!), there was a hole in the constant attack and they made for a safe retreat back to Africa.

As the sub-convoy war was costly to me, I didn't mind loosing the convoy routes to India. Also, I got a lot of extra land and naval forces that I could use to "dominate" other arenas.

I don't see gaining new ground in the med as spreadign my defences. In fact, most of these newly achieved areas were left undefended. If Italy tried to free those it would most likely end up in another lock-in of forces and costly surrender for him. So far, he had also refrained from such adventures.

About Greece, thanks for all the praise on that manouver. I had spotted the expeditionary forces from Greece on the Italian main land, and puppeting Greece and gaining those forces was a part of the plan. Well, by now you know that faith wouldn't have it that way and of course that was a major set-back to me.

* I think the GER victory over Royal Navy was more important than the losses themselves. It hopefully made Maxyboy (Britain) very nervous about the German intent and also, he had to pull good ships from other arenas to strengthen this front. Or how did your thinking go Maxyboy?

Hmm... It might have been a bigger issue to me if I hadn't withdrawn from India. But as I did, I had ships to spare. But none-the-less, the naval losses hurt bad and I found out that the German naval forces was more than a token force. I was however pretty sure that you took the safe route back into the Baltic. I had a second strike force just west of the "Eastern Norwegian Trench" and as that didn't see any action I assuen you went back the way you came.

I had totally ruled out the option of CptEasy attempting Sealion in the middle on Barbarossa. Thus Britain only had some token defenders.

Finally a short note on the sub warfare. As I had chosen not to confront the Japanese navy at this time, I had quite a lot of ships to conduct anti-sub-warfare with. Far ahead in ASW-radar and with most destroyers deployed to the area, I had the tech to match it as well. Still the outcome was most unsatifying. No doubt the German had did some sub-research himself. Only in the med did I see an occational enemy submarine loss.
 
sprites - mostly because of USA not being involved.
And SU has good chance still to defend well, they just need to find a place where to stop and defend.
 
sprites - mostly because of USA not being involved.
Oh, yes, that's very plausible. It's obvious that the USA would do nothing while Japan would be able to conquer China, Siberia, Indochina and India ;)

You should really do sth about USA, because they are crucial for game balance. If Japan gets overly aggressive, the USA should be able to join the Allies. Sea Lion should result in immediate US DOW, too, but that's not related to this AAR.
 
Is USSR a European nation? Is NEI?

Else the only thing Japan can do from 1937 is dow Australian and NZ :)

Yes. Yes. That's the idea, Japan can kill China and satellites, even Siam. But any further attack provokes USA.
Historically Japan did receive serious warning about Dutch and UK posessions.
Soviet Union attack could go through... maybe.
 
Sorry for the lack of new posts. I am moving to a new flat with some renovations involved wich is sucking up all my sparetime. More over - I am temporary out of Internet at home but that is probably solved within the next few days. Hopefully, I am up and running this weekend again. Cheers.