Chapter Seventy - The End
All good things must end - three score and ten is the allotted space for man - and apparently all my AARs must end with a massive screw-up!
Oh, yeah: Spoiler Alert!
Italy is the last of the three Axis powers not yet conquered, and she owns only Genoa (7VPs), Milan (7VP capitol) and Bologna (5VPs). I'm trying to take Genoa and Milan faster than the Rooskies take Bologna, although as has been noted, I've got enough Italian VPs in hand that only Canada can conquer the country.
I've grabbed troops from my front line to help in the race to Milan. I don't care anymore about losing Civitavecchia, and that's highly unlikely anyway.
The Axis bugged out of Genoa, which is convenient, so far as it goes, but they moved into my way!
just playing through
I bring my reinforcements up and advance around Genoa, toward Milan from two directions.
This won't take long
I think I'll beat the Russians to Milan without difficulty, unless the defenders line up all wrong (or the USSR brought armor).
We take Genoa quickly, which you'd expect since the defenders left, and we race to Milan.
Path of least resistance it is!
Hmm, what are the odds we'll have more naval combat. It's like the Marianas Turkey Shoot, a chance to pile up some numbers for our post-war stats!
I was wrong to think that National Unity was affected by having cities taken by the enemy.
What was I thinking?
So whoever takes the next city, wins! We call dibs.
I check out the supply situation and suffice it to say that there are no issues. Canada's supply will last longer than Italy's Italy.
All we catch at sea are three transports, and in a purely humanitarian move, none are sunk. In a move which is not the massive screw-up I promised, I apparently changed course with my marines to chase off an HQ unit, thus using up the attack of that unit for way too long.
So, undefended capitol, didly I can do about it for now. Not the exciting chase I was hoping for at all. Let's face it, Götterdämmerung is not an Italian bedtime story.
Then the screen updates.
That's more like it. We line up a few guys and see what there is to be seen.
We sank a destroyer flotilla that missed the memo about the war at sea being over. Adm. Guido shot at us first!
On land, the enemy knows what's what, and runs for Switzerland.
Let's hope we don't have to take Chiavenna
Then I remember I still have this air force thingy.
We kill 40 guys from the air, which is redundant, I know, but I paid for this stuff and I want to get my money's worth.
Australia offers me a trade agreement! Thanks, guys, I forgot where you were for a bit, there.
We kill another 90 guys with bombings, and so long as we're engaging in random acts of warfare
Why not?
To add some last moment drama, I get no victory message in Milan, but enemy soldiers are incoming!
Then, at 3pm March 8th 1944, we took the last Italian city needed to knock the last of the Axis Big Three out of the war!
So the enemy, of course, launched an attack on Foligno! Thanks for the hockey reference, guys.
I win, right?
Not as such. Apparently, Paradox works from an Iran-Turkey-Egypt view of Democracy.
Democracy sucks!
Italy gets her land back, and stays in the Axis! [Ed - the USSR would have had Venice anyway. Me - never talk to me again!]
To give thanks for the wonderful war: VOTE AXIS!
So, Hitler's wargoal was "Enforce Democrcy" in 1943 when the Italians surrendered?
This insanity costs Canada the Italian 57 VPs we had and pushes us way down the league tables.
We ought to be just shy of France, upper 70s, and the USSR would have 7VPs in Venice and a bit of land. Ah, well, it was my own fault, there was no game reason to add Enforce Democracy as a goal, it just seemed like what an Allied country would do. Obviously, the rule is don't Enforce Democracy right away, or the people, grateful for the opportunity to fight and die alongside the Nazis, will simply keep their Axis Overlords in power.
I'll wrap things up in a final chapter. This will take a bit as it's the last substantive chapter and I don't want to rush, so next Monday at the earliest. I won't be giving much advice to other players as the main thing I learned is that I'm not really in a position to give detailed advice. General advice, sure, and some specifics for Canada, but not the "build six X, reasearch this and not that" advice I'd hoped to do when I started. Canada needs a specific rotation of research well thought out in advance. As the USA and even when I played as Italy all I ever did was mash all the buttons. I didn't do much better as Canada.
I will say a couple things now, though. I'm absolutely certain I killed/captured way more guys than we have in our army! And Canada conquered more than I expected when I started. I'll have to stop by Ethiopia sometime, we're having it painted and then renting it out to the Italian Axis so they can reminisce.