Five for Fighting - How Hockey Saved the Allies - An FtM AAR

[InnocentIII]

I'm not going to have a discussion Chapter for OVERTIME like I did the first three periods. I'll save that for game over, whenever that happens. I don't have anything of substance to say that wouldn't be about how I'd do things differently, anyway. I'm back to thinking Canada can have either a Navy OR an Air Force, but not both. Mostly because my Air Force keeps getting its lunch money stolen by Italy, and I suspect that my Navy chases Italy's around these days only because the much-maligned Royal Navy won a few battles at sea I was not part of [Ed - you're gonna regret giving them credit later. Me - I'll just deny I ever said it. Ed - sounds like a plan].

On the other hand, much of this chapter will be an overview of where things stand now. Let's face it, Italy is not the center of WW2. Well, it is, but other areas deserve 5% of our attention, too.

I'm trying to take Civita Castellana, willingly exchanging my beachfront property for something which connects up with what I already own. However, 33,000 men attacking 50,000ish is not a recipe for success, even 50,000 Italian Garrison troops. You don't think the title says too much, do you?



Here my Air Force makes me regret doubting them. For the moment. I take another peak into Rome.



Another 75,000 raids like that and Canada is in business! Sure, it's micromanagement...

Meanwhile, the CC battle looks to be a drawn out affair even if I could pull it off, and I'm thinking Darth Maul there is going to head south once the force fields come down. No sense waiting.



These are my freshest units from the pocket, so they'll be transported to the eastern side of Italy to see what they can see. I'm going to have to go back to slicing up the peninsula it seems. Bold strokes aren't getting me what I want in Rome, at least not the direct kind.

When the Civita Castella battle ends it's roughly even 470 Canadian dead for 483 Axis, and our Air Force killed a few dozen more. Still, a war of attrition will not get me victory. Even half of Italy can out MP Canada forever. Meanwhile, our Air Force is like a vintage sports car, it's wonderful, but you dare not use it.



A nice reminder I have some more troops coming, and I have to admit I enjoyed seeing some old province names which don't matter anymore. But some things do, such as Victory Points and surrender progress.



Yeah, the Axis are doing almost as well as the Comintern, and the Allies are doing nearly as well as both combined! But it is a lagging indicator.

Good news, however, Canada is the 5th most powerful nation on earth!



I should have conquered Portugal. They looked Axis.

Here is the task I face.



I can ignore either Milan in the far north or Venice in the east, they seem most likely. But I have to crack the Rome Nut first. I'm back to -17.5 MP, too.

Germany isn't looking too good, that's her (moved) capitol on the left.



Someone told the US High Command there was a squirrel in Manchuria.



And, drumroll please, I found the British Army!



No, that's not it. That's Netherlands, who are not doing too badly for a conquered nation. Here it is:



The ants go marching two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching two by two, the last one stops to say "WTF?"
But they still go marching down, in the ground, to get out, of the rain, BOOM BOOM BOOM!



The USA is not going to be first to the squirrel, no sir!

[Hearth]

What the [curse word] are UK doing in freaking Central asia?

[alhoward]

What the [curse word] are UK doing in freaking Central asia?

They do own India. How they have MA from the Soviet Union is another issue entirely.

[Wallienator]

Afaik, that ain't the Dutch, but the Yugoslavians.

[sprites]

Hey are they trying to invade Manchukuo from the north?

[Saithis]

That's definitely Yugoslavia, not the Netherlands.

Also, what the hell Britain? This is one of the worst AI decisions I have ever seen!

[InnocentIII]

What the [curse word] are UK doing in freaking Central asia?

They do own India. How they have MA from the Soviet Union is another issue entirely.

Hey are they trying to invade Manchukuo from the north?

It's the Great Game many many years too late. It's the USA I'm pissed at, totally freaking useless outside the Pacific all war long, from what I have seen.

Afaik, that ain't the Dutch, but the Yugoslavians.

That's definitely Yugoslavia, not the Netherlands.

Also, what the hell Britain? This is one of the worst AI decisions I have ever seen!

Thanks on the ID, I'm fairly useless on the various three-color flags. I also assumed the Yugos had been rolled up or something ages ago. The Netherlands still has stuff in the Pacific iirc

[InnocentIII]

Hey, I figured out how the solve the problem of the German Heavy Armored Division, aka Darth Maul.



I'm pretty sure this means we're safe. Out of sight out of war.

Anyway, if you can't beat 'em, fight someone you can beat!



Hmm, mountain troops landed and we need to take mountains, what will I think of next?

Why, picking up a few hockey players in their home province, that's what.



Dibs on Marcus.

Well, it is true that the defenders understrength, but somebody shouted squirrel here, too.



The Italians counter-atatcked from Ancona, you can actually see them coming in the screenshot above. So I tried to unload the other two divisions from my fleet offshore.

With all those divisions on the move I took another look into Rome. Only 118,000, so it's not so bad, just 2/3s or so of the entire Canadian army.

I don't want to play round robin, and I don't want to wait until that third division gets into line.



Still, the two ought to hold out just fine, and I'll connect up so I'm assuming supply will not be an issue. I want to trap one division, the Germans, and then look for my next victim(s).

When the first division landed, the Axis called off the attack, having lost only 75 and killing 150 Canadians. Then they launched the rest of a rather impressive stack on a momentary attack. Maybe it was a raid to see how many guys we had there? Hey, Benito! To launch a raid, use a small stack to attack a big stack, not the other way around!



Then we got two announcement we liked. First, actual technical progress! It's been a while since I'd seen that, I think. Then a few hours later, victory in Foligno. Yes, we jumped.



Then someone on the other side realized it was a trap.



Excellent timing, sir! Brilliant as always. Sorry about the "bug eyes" comment. 20,000 Canadians attacked 6,500 sleeping Germans.

Then, faster than you can say "ixnay on the oopidstay", I did this.



Yes, yes, yes, I knew the Croats were a zombie division, and yes, I'm going to regret wasting the attacks of all three divisions here. What's your point?

Hmm, something seems to be missing here.



Jar Jar, you go into the basement, and if you begin to die, try to be as loud as possible, mmkay?

Three things are noteworthy in this next shot. One, I've left out quite a few bombings, this is probably a fifth of what I've lost lately. Two, hey, more tech advances, yay for our side.



Three, and I can see it in the last shot, too, the Germans tried to escape by changing uniforms. Sorry, fools, that only works after you've been captured! Nice try though.

I win the battle in AP against the Italian/German troops, killing 1500, capturing 5000 and losing only 435.

"Okay, fellas, we're going to try this one more time. This time, no messing up, no time machines, no dream sequences, let's just do this thing!"



Oh, crap.

[Dewirix]

I've got to say: I'm impressed with Canada's tenacity. If I were you I'd probably have bailed by now and gone looking for softer targets. It's all the more impressive given that you're the only Allied nation engaged on the European mainland. In fact, you'd think the Italians would see which way the wind was blowing and surrender to you rather than wait for the Russians to crush them.

[InnocentIII]

Thanks! Though it's as much resignation as tenacity. As I realized I might just lose, I figured I'd just bang away until the end, like a team losing in a blowout just trying to break the other goalie's shutout (I was at a deciding playoff game like that, ended up 8-0, but for my team). As for the Russians, that thought has crossed my mind as well, the crushing part, not the surrendering.

[InnocentIII]

Well, Canada finally succeeded in surrounding Rome, but the Axis suddenly realized they had way more guys than us.



And I'd taken such pains to equip my divisions with exactly the right commanders, I had my best man on the job! Sure, I have lots of guys 3 or above, and this was a defensive battle, with no tanks, but someday we'll need this guy to have more experience. It's not like I need to win this battle, right? Plus, Rum Tum Tugger should be around here someplace [Ed - another "Cats" joke? Me - no, it's the same "Cats" joke. Reduce, reuse, recylce!].

Along the coast, what with the port and all, I should be okay before too long.



As soon as the other three get into the fight, I'm A-okay.

It all looks so peaceful from up here.



It didn't take long for things to be going surprisingly good for the good guys.



I try to get my guys to board ship from on land, and they won't. I hope that they'll go via boat if I send them directly somewhere (it happens all the time in EU3 when I do not want it to), but my local commander apparently knows the catacombs like the back of his hand.



You don't think Canada is going to run out of fuel, do you? The commander convinces me it's worth a shot.



Hmm, 186,000 enemy trapped in Rome. More than I wanted, really. At this point, it's kind of a stand-off. I can attack an army which is larger than all I possess, and which is sitting on Italy's supply source. Fun fun fun. They can try to break out, but I can cut them off with puny attacks like this, which feels cheesy, like an exploit of sorts, but meh, it beats losing. All in all I'd say the AI's shortcomings are around even, Italy can't beat me back the way it should, I have to do this alone while the USA and UK play patty cake in Manchukuo.

I keep getting remarkably even losses even when the Italians have huge stacks, sometimes they lose far more than Canada.



Shhhhh! Don't tell me, I'll get it eventually!

For all that, my guys are already starting to look pretty raggedy.



But, since my provinces all connect up, I am in a position to rotate defenders.

My trouble will come if I run out of divisions able to attack to cut off the Italian attacks on Civitavecchia. I have one now, though. I attack Rome, cutting off the attacks out of Rome. I won Civitavecchia 28-175 with another minor attack on the 185,000 Italians in Rome. Troops, I mean. I'm guessing there's a few more Italians there.

I add a wargoal of Installing Democracy in Italy (I wonder how long that's good for?).

I send one division of Mountain Troops across a river and into what now lists as 188,000 enemy troops, and we're over 50%!



Okay, I'll bite. If one guy is 57%, what will a few more get me?



The Progress number in Rome started going down, which makes sense, but then the Axis brought in reinforcements (arrowed).



I worried I was going to burn up my guys on attack (burninated!), leaving myself vulnerable (sworded!). That's what I want the Axis to do! So I called off the attack.

I'm at negative twenty Manpower now. I don't mind not building new units, it is very late, but I'd like reinforcements for all my units.

The Russians, meanwhile, are approaching France from the east, and there's not much left of Germany.



The Axis try to break out of Rome again, and another one bites the dust!

[PvtPrivate]

Nice work on rome.

[sprites]

The germans won't last long now ...

[Dewirix]

I think you'll need to hold Rome or some of the northern cities to ensure that Italy surrenders to you and not the Soviets. With that in mind, is it possible to infrastructure bomb Rome to cut supplies to the garrison there? I'm not sure if it'll work given the huge stockpile the capital will have, but it's worth a shot.

[Hearth]

Still amazing.
Can you change the division called "1st Arty Division"? Irritates me xD

[InnocentIII]

Nice work on rome.

Thanks!

The germans won't last long now ...

Yeah, there's not much out there on the Axis side right now.

I think you'll need to hold Rome or some of the northern cities to ensure that Italy surrenders to you and not the Soviets. With that in mind, is it possible to infrastructure bomb Rome to cut supplies to the garrison there? I'm not sure if it'll work given the huge stockpile the capital will have, but it's worth a shot.

I wish I had built them, but I do not believe I have Infra-capable aircraft. I looked for that, I'll check again. In my USA game three units of B-17s were amazing, of course, I bombed a spot I needed a week later...

Still amazing.
Can you change the division called "1st Arty Division"? Irritates me xD

Thank you, and I'll see what I can do

[InnocentIII]

Canada has Rome surrounded, but we seem to spend more effort defending from attacks out of Rome than threatening to actually take the Italian capitol. Plus, we have to hold an actual Front for the first time ever. Previously, all our fronts were temporary, fluid. We engaged in battles of movement rather than trench warfare. Even without German Heavy armor banging away at us for the moment, we were not very happy having to hold the line as well as try to defeat a defensive force larger than our entire army.

Still, attacking 186,000 enemy soldiers with 6,000 Canadians was enough to get them to call off their attacks. Again.



Well, we lost 325 men and killed 1350. This again impressed me as a great ratio given we were badly outnumbered. Not that Canada wins a war of attrition here, but something was up if Italy was taking far more losses than we were. We lost none and killed 6 on our Raid on Rome. Hmmm.

We were attacked almost immediately out of Rome again, but finally we got recognition for all Canada's fighting.



Veteran army? We've been veterans for ages!

We attack Rome yet again, and stop the attack from there yet again. Losses were 470 in Civitavecchia, with 1350 enemy killed. Then we looked at our Rome attack progress.



One unit against twenty-seven units and we're at 91% progress? Hmmm.

This means something.

I add a unit attacking across the river from the northeast, and progress drops to 85. So I withdraw that unit from the battle. I lose 100 soldiers to three air attacks, which will pester me this entire chapter. Then, probably due to a blow to the head I cannot recall, I try to pre-empt the enemy to the north.



To paraphrase Iron Man, hey, this isn't the dumbest thing you've seen me do. I call off the attack before long, losing 470 and killing 270. The enemy launches a stupider attack on Civitavecchia from the northwest. I start thinking this: if I keep pressure on Rome forever then they cannot attack from there, or won't, anyways. I see off the attack from the north losing 150 and killing nearly 1000 attackers, but enemy losses outside Rome mean nothing.



I develop a plan to rotate attackers. If one guy can keep 27 pinned down, well, I've got plenty who can fight, then rest up. Then, as though the AI knows this is a hockey-themed war, it tries to take the Folignos away from me!



I try to cut off the attacks from two of the three provinces, but it doesn't work. But ...in Rome it always works! Hmmm.

This means something!

I call off one counter-attack on Peruglia, but immediately send in another unit.



Meanwhile, I am making actual progress in wearing down the Roman defenders.



Yes, I always find the right man for the job! I give up in Perglia, and I'm very near to losing in Foligno, but another defender will arrive soon.

Then I lose in Foligno, luckily before the new defender arrived, so those men will start a new defensive battle soon. Odd mechanism, that. Had the men arrived sooner, they'd have fled, too. I call off the counter-attack in the north.

In Rome, it looks like 27 defending divisions is now ... 26?



You don't think? Could it be? The 84% stacking penalty is hurting the defenders? Hmm, if Roman troops count as 15% strength, that's only like <carry the nine> under 30,000 defenders, in effect. Wow. I can beat 30,000 guys! Plus, they're encircled and bombarded. NOTE - the arrow is not to the correct commander, but I drew it to show which side suffers from those modifiers, not which guy.

Then it begins, 25, 24, 23 and now 22 defending divisions.



If this is like Messina in reverse, sort of, then the hard part may come when the stacking penalty vanishes and the few remaining defenders fight at full strength. But if that happens, I think I can beat them. At 22 divisions the penalty is still >75%.

I rotate my attackers, and I have plenty of other units who are rested and who can swing around to the two provinces I can attack from without a river crossing, but do I have the time?

[PvtPrivate]

Damn, that fascist may be on their last leg but now you have the commies to deal with. Red or black, they both threaten the free world.

[Hearth]

going to be a interesting continuation against the Reds.

[Xenophon13]

The poor future NATO members will be so lonely...