We, the People -- A USA Interactive FTM AAR

[KILLER BOB]

Mr. President,

Apologies for my lapse in communication, however matters at the front necessitated a brief absence from my communiques back to Washington. However, I have returned and am fully up to date. ((It's my graduation weekend, so I was rather caught up in everything))

I approve the updated version of Buckler whereby our fleets would be largely remain ported in our Pacific bases. However, this is with the stipulation that they should strike against Japanese fleets in the event of an invasion or a juicy opportunity.

I also approve the current construction run and research, as well as the continued temporary assignment of the 1st Marine Corps to the Atlantic Theater. They are currently able to put them to far greater use than we are.

I must now return to the War Department Mr. President, but I stand ready to serve at your pleasure.

Regards,

General Omar N. Bradley

C-in-C Pacific Theater

[Greek HOI3]

I vote for collaboration goverment

Senator John Sarigis (I leader-SC)

[Avindian]

Poll

Italian government

Collaboration: 3
Military: 4

((Congrats, KILLER BOB! ))

[mrfinns]

I vote Military

Senator Randall McGeehan Jr.

[loki100]

Please note that, in the interest of clarity we have slightly revised the rules for interactive AARs. It is in your interests to read the revision here. In particular note that in future in addition to the usual forum penalties for breach of the rules we may consider banning individuals from a particular thread (this would most likely be instead of closing the thread)

[Avindian]

Poll:

Government in Italy

Collaboration: 3
Military: 5

As a reminder, polls close on Tuesday at 10 PM (-6 GMT).

[TankOfMidgets]

Mr. President,

The attack on North Africa should proceed immediately; the time needed to transfer our anti-aircraft battalions outweighs their potential utility.

Also, once Fourth Army lands in Libya, I would like the Marine Corps to invade El Iskanderiya, with Second Army landing there once the city has been secured, rather than in Tripoli; our planners have discovered that the Italians are likely to arrive with reinforcements unless we can take the west bank of the Suez Canal, and we have had issues negotiating with the British to supply an invasion force from Libya. ((Add El Iskanderiya, El Qahira, El Suweis, Ismail'ya, and Bur Sa'id to the objectives list for AI control. Avindian - this invasion trumps the Malta/Sardinia invasions I had planned, you can leave those until after we have a foothold in Egypt.))

- General Douglas MacArthur, C-in-C Atlantic

((So, after playtesting, I found that we can't invade Egypt from Libya; once we enter UK territory, the UK tries to supply our units... and fails because it doesn't have any ports in Egypt, leaving our units stuck on the border. I'm going to try and circumvent this issue by taking a port; hopefully the AI has enough convoys to run supplies to us, and enough sense to actually assign them.))

I vote that we install a military government. The Italians joined this war of their own accord, despite the long history of cordial relations between our two nations; in light of this treachery, we must ensure that order is enforced among the populace.

- Sen. Stephen McCarthy (D-TX)

[Avindian]

Mr. President,

The attack on North Africa should proceed immediately; the time needed to transfer our anti-aircraft battalions outweighs their potential utility.

Also, once Fourth Army lands in Libya, I would like the Marine Corps to invade El Iskanderiya, with Second Army landing there once the city has been secured, rather than in Tripoli; our planners have discovered that the Italians are likely to arrive with reinforcements unless we can take the west bank of the Suez Canal, and we have had issues negotiating with the British to supply an invasion force from Libya. ((Add El Iskanderiya, El Qahira, El Suweis, Ismail'ya, and Bur Sa'id to the objectives list for AI control. Avindian - this invasion trumps the Malta/Sardinia invasions I had planned, you can leave those until after we have a foothold in Egypt.))

- General Douglas MacArthur, C-in-C Atlantic

((So, after playtesting, I found that we can't invade Egypt from Libya; once we enter UK territory, the UK tries to supply our units... and fails because it doesn't have any ports in Egypt, leaving our units stuck on the border. I'm going to try and circumvent this issue by taking a port; hopefully the AI has enough convoys to run supplies to us, and enough sense to actually assign them.))

I vote that we install a military government. The Italians joined this war of their own accord, despite the long history of cordial relations between our two nations; in light of this treachery, we must ensure that order is enforced among the populace.

- Sen. Stephen McCarthy (D-TX)

((Can you send me a PM with everything in as clean a language as possible? I really like the Timetable you sent before; include that and the forces you'd like me to use and we'll be good to go. I get, intellectually, what you want to do, but as they say, the devil is in the details. ))

Government
Collaboration: 3
Military: 6

[CSS Hunley]

I must vote military government although our relations with Italy over the centuries has been good they allowed their nation to fall to tyranny and align with the Axis powers, we must make sure they understand that we are in charge now.

Senator Peter Dawson, D-MD

[Avindian]

Government for Italy
Collaboration: 3
Military: 7

I'll close the polls now. Military government will be installed in those provinces we capture from Italy. I probably won't get a chance to play until this weekend; maybe sooner.

[Avindian]

April 1 briefing

Senators,

I have excellent news to report. March 1942 was, on the whole, a very kind month to our boys in uniform. As you all know, all operations in the Pacific were suspended for March, pending repairs to our fleets in the area. We do have a lot to discuss about Europe, however.

Elements of the Fourth Army began landing in Tripoli on March 3. General Patton was given orders to pursue a policy of strict military control of all Italian assets, per the bill passed a few days before.



A day later, the 2nd Armored Division engaged German forces in Rodberg, Norway. While initial reports suggested a quick victory, due to the lack of German supplies, American tanks got bogged down at the Numedalslågen River. The result was a defeat, but not before inflicting damage on German positions.







A similar loss incurred in Hjerjkinn; however, total casualties to American forces were five soldiers, most of whom were injured. On March 8, a second battle at Rodberg provided much better results.



Our victory there put us within striking distance of Oslo. Farther north, at Driva, German forces attempted a counterattack on our positions. They were successful, but lacked either the means or the conviction to press their advantage any farther.





By March 10, American forces were knocking on the doors of Oslo; only a single garrison division stood between the US and possession of the capital city of Norway.



A day later, with the Norwegian situation looking very bright indeed, Patton's Fourth Army began advancing on Italian positions in North Africa; not a single Italian soldier tried to stop American forces in the entire month of March.



The US Marine Corps began its own assault on Alexandria, Egypt; the Italian garrison division there proved little resistance.



After seizing Alexandria, orders were sent to the Second Army to begin sailing towards Alexandria; by today's briefing, roughly half the army had already arrived. Oslo fell on March 21, a matter of hours after Alexandria's fall. ((Once again, the game did not pause or give me battle details for Oslo or Alexandria; the battles could have ended much earlier and I wouldn't have known.)) The Germans had not yet given up on Norway, winning another victory at Drina and Hjerjkinn, seizing Drina for the Third Reich.



An American victory at Laksfors marked the last battle in the month of March; Germany received 87 casualties while we received only 65.

Here are your regular situation maps, including Norway, Africa, and China.







As always, please contact me with any questions.

Techs learned: Arctic Warfare Equipment, Fighter Targeting Focus 4, Anti-Aircraft Barrel and Ammunition 4
Units built: 1 x IC (Cleveland, OH)
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General Bradley, repairs have completed on all US ships in the Pacific Theater; however, we are short on screening elements at the moment. I believe General MacArthur is finished with the Marines, if you choose to act directly against Japanese holdings, we could resume naval patrols, or wait. I leave this to your discretion.

General MacArthur, both Tinderbox and Fortitude are going splendidly; the new winter uniforms should only improve American performance, I'm told. If you wish to make any changes, please let me know.

There is nothing currently on the docket that demands the attention of the Senate; as always, you may introduce bills.

Upon receipt of updated plans, if any, from Generals Bradley and MacArthur, I will resume operations. Let's set a deadline of Tuesday at 10 PM (-6 GMT). If you're finished earlier, I'll play and update earlier.

[son of liberty]

((Your HQ's are out of range. The red dashed lines show you that, you may want to either create a couple of new ones or reorganize the existing ones.))

[Sethanon]

((Good progress into Norway. Dropping of this post to say I'm still alive. There is just little to comment on atm ))

[Saithis]

"As a reminder to General Bradley, a considerable number of screening vessels (both destroyers and cruisers) are in America's shipyards this year, but it may be some months before new vessels are shaken down and ready for operations. Still, the fleets may be ready for new operations and with any luck we'll fare better than in previous engagements."

~Admiral William H. Standley, Chief of Naval Staff

[Avindian]

((Your HQ's are out of range. The red dashed lines show you that, you may want to either create a couple of new ones or reorganize the existing ones.))

((I haven't found a really good place to put MacArthur [Tom, care to comment?]. Second Army's HQs are still in Gibraltar; they'll be in Alexandria at the beginning of April. As for the rest? Blame the AI, which advances faster than it moves the HQs. It tends to keep them where they're landed.))

[TankOfMidgets]

((I haven't found a really good place to put MacArthur [Tom, care to comment?]. Second Army's HQs are still in Gibraltar; they'll be in Alexandria at the beginning of April. As for the rest? Blame the AI, which advances faster than it moves the HQs. It tends to keep them where they're landed.))

((You can put MacArthur in London; it should be close enough to move Army Group HQs to keep them both in range.

Also, can you give the Italians ownership of Egypt/the Middle East so that the AI will work properly? My playtests have shown that the AI will just sit in Alexandria (regardless of stance) and leave units to starve on the Egyptian border due to lack of supplies. It doesn't have a problem with GiE nations (since it occupies the territory), but the AI just seems to stall whenever it's on allied territory. Maybe we could hand Southern Command to the UK as an expeditionary force, but I'm worried that the AI will just suicide our units if we go that route.))

[Avindian]

((You can put MacArthur in London; it should be close enough to move Army Group HQs to keep them both in range.

Also, can you give the Italians ownership of Egypt/the Middle East so that the AI will work properly? My playtests have shown that the AI will just sit in Alexandria (regardless of stance) and leave units to starve on the Egyptian border due to lack of supplies. It doesn't have a problem with GiE nations (since it occupies the territory), but the AI just seems to stall whenever it's on allied territory. Maybe we could hand Southern Command to the UK as an expeditionary force, but I'm worried that the AI will just suicide our units if we go that route.))

((That would probably require editing the save; if that's really necessary, I suppose I could do that. I haven't updated to the 3.06 beta -- I've heard there are some problems -- but do you think that might fix things? I really would prefer to avoid editing the save if I can.))

[TankOfMidgets]

((That would probably require editing the save; if that's really necessary, I suppose I could do that. I haven't updated to the 3.06 beta -- I've heard there are some problems -- but do you think that might fix things? I really would prefer to avoid editing the save if I can.))

((Hmm. If you want to stick to the AI-control rules, you can give Southern Command to the UK as an expeditionary force and hope the AI tries to defend its own territory; the US combat AI seems to think "this is UK territory, it's friendly and I shouldn't be here" and grinds to a halt, but maybe the UK combat AI will actually use the forces we give it.))

[Avindian]

((Hmm. If you want to stick to the AI-control rules, you can give Southern Command to the UK as an expeditionary force and hope the AI tries to defend its own territory; the US combat AI seems to think "this is UK territory, it's friendly and I shouldn't be here" and grinds to a halt, but maybe the UK combat AI will actually use the forces we give it.))

((I want to make sure I understand the problem 100%. The AI will not move into, or within, allied territory once liberated, or it won't move at all? I can always try it myself, but I want to see exactly where we're going wrong so I can duplicate it.))

[TankOfMidgets]

((I want to make sure I understand the problem 100%. The AI will not move into, or within, allied territory once liberated, or it won't move at all? I can always try it myself, but I want to see exactly where we're going wrong so I can duplicate it.))

((The AI won't move into Italian-occupied allied territory, regardless of stance, objectives, or presence/absence of enemy forces in visible territory. It also won't move within liberated allied territory, again regardless of stance/objectives/enemies. However, it's not a supply issue - I checked, and supplies are definitely flowing into Alexandria at a rate high enough to sustain our units there. Playtesting showed that handing Second Army to the British seemed to work - I had to switch to the UK and force acceptance, but once I did, the UK AI immediately started attacking.

I've sent you a PM with more precise orders, but we can basically just hand Second Army to the British and let them do the rest.))