Rank and File: A clerk's war Germany 1936 (Semper Fi)

[Uriah]

Rank and File
A Clerk’s War​

Wednesday 1st to Tuesday 7th August 1940

Somehow it seems a long time since I have picked up a pen to bring my journal of events up to date, yet it is only a week since the end of July. Perhaps it was the excitement of the last few days of July contrasted to the fairly routine events of the past week.

Last Wednesday started with a strange message from the Foreign Ministry. An agent at Westminster has sent a copy of an address by the Prime Minister to the House of Commons. He informed the House that the Government was disappointed with the performance of the Royal Navy at the recent unsuccessful Battle of the Straits of Otranto. Obviously our Italian allies have dealt the British a blow (at least to their esteem). Strange that Mussolini has not been crowing about it, particularly as his Army of Libia is incapable of brushing aside a few hundred British tanks backed by a few thousand Iraqi infantry.

To further emphasise the British domination in Libia, their War Office released this photograph of a Matilda II infantry tank flying a captured Italian flag. When is the Regio Esercito going to do something?​

I must admit that I gave a sigh of relief when General Böhm reported that La Coruña was safe, that the Spanish infantrymen were slowly pulling back, house by house. There was no real danger that the Fallschirmjägers would be dislodged, but it was good to have even the slight chance removed. 59 paratroopers died, but 13/7a lost 263 men. The only bad news from Galicia during the morning was that we had lost Lugo to the Republicans. Well, that was not really the bad news: with only two divisions in the area we could not expect to hold every province. The bad news was that the impetuous General von Boehm-Bezing, having won the battle for Villalba at a cost of 40 men, has taken 3.Infanterie south to reclaim Lugo! Has the man no sense at all? With his escape route finally secure thanks to the Luftwaffe and its parachute division, he decides to abandon his supply lines and risk his unit’s survival for a Spanish province of no strategic or economic value?

Lose Lugo

Battle of Lugo​

While nearly everyone in the wondering about OKH’s response to von Boehm-Bezing, General de Angelis informed Sud-Frankreich Army headquarters that he has quashed the attempt by Sarabia’s headquarters troops to escape La Carolina. 107 of the 150 attackers were killed, at no cost to 16.Infanterie (mot). The remaining Spanish have presumably disappeared into the countryside.

No-one was surprised to hear that von Boehm-Bezing has abandoned his attempt to recapture Lugo. Even though it was held by a single cavalry regiment (“Lusitania”), after losing 4 men 3.infanterie has pulled back. The Spanish lost one man. It seems clear that somebody has sent a message to the reckless general, perhaps warning him that a recall to Berlin was being considered. On the other hand, General Rommel has been known to point out errors to junior officers, sometimes in some detail. He may have arranged a radio hook-up to pull von Boehm-Bezing into line.

Spanish cavalry ride through the woods of Lugo, now vacated by our infantry​

With Galicia under control (if not settled), Rommel has been able to concentrate on the south. General Blaskowitz was ordered to clear out the last pocket of resistance north of the Guadina. The woods and forests of Agudo are sheltering Hubert’s Belgians and the remnants of the Comandancia de Baleares, more than 11,000 men. Sperrle’s 1st Kamppfliegerkorps has been given the task of assisting 29.Infanterie (mot) and Leutnantgeneral Sperrle promised we should soon see the position rendered untenable.

Battle of Agudo​

General Nehring was the next to report that his division was under attack from desperate headquarters troops, this time from 2nd Army. Nearly 3,000 men made frantic efforts to disrupt the efforts of 1st Panzer Division which was in hot pursuit of an infantry division escaping across the River Guadalquivir. Again support was promised and received: this time from Kesselring’s 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps. Kesselring stuck by his promise, even though the RAF was active over the battlefield, intercepting his aircraft no less than 4 times during the day. 14 Stukas were shot down, but our pilots (more accurately the rear gunners) claim to have destroyed five British fighters. At the end of the day it was immaterial as the attack was called off, the Spanish infantry having made it safely to Montoro. Nehring’s men were unharmed, having killed 107 of their attackers. (Unfortunately for the 2nd Army HQ, as they pulled back they were hit by 71.Infanterie advancing from Cuidad Real: caught off guard another 82 men were killed)

Battle of Andújar

Final Air Battle of Villanueva de Córdoba: 5PM 2nd August​

The British were not neglected: Rommel has made it clear that he wants as few men to get to back to Gibraltar as possible. General Curtz and 20.Infanterie must cross the River Guadina in to Belalcázar to get to grips with Giffard’s 18.Infanterie (mot), but this should not be too hard as the British are low on ammunition and supplies, and even lower on morale.

Battle of Belalcázar​

The reconquest of Catalonia is going well, and 2nd Marine-Sturm-Division has shown what it can do: 415 dead or captured Spanish in Candasnos for the loss of one man. General Jahn is to be congratulated on the performance of his troops.

On the 3rd, the day started with more news from Agudo. Having failed to deter Kesselring’s Stukas, Air Marshall Sholto-Douglas took No.221 RAF Fighter Group to Agudo to take on Sperrle’s 1st Kampffliegerkorps. Facing the fighters of “Donner” geschwader, No.211 found the job beyond them, and after one clash returned to base.

Air Battle of Agudo: 1AM 3rd August​

The sight of their fighter cover retreating was enough for the combined Belgian-Spanish force: they started to retreat. While the woods gave good cover against Blaskowitz’s motorised infantry, saturation bombing by the Junkers 88s was particularly lethal in the forests, with each bomb spraying hundreds of potentially lethal wood fragments.

Following the success of the untried marines in Candasnos, von Sponeck has taken his still novice panzertruppen into far more dangerous terrain: the confined streets and alleys of Tarragona. Possibly not a good match of troops with the task at hand, but General von Kayser of the Iberian Army will want to finish off the Catalan uprising as fast as possible. Only 6,000 men are in the city, so although it will not be easy, our firepower alone (the Sturmpanzer brigade particularly) should be enough to ensure victory. We have found the most effective method of city fighting is to simply rubble every strongpoint with artillery or bombing.

Battle of Tarragona​

The day ended with another brief but mysterious note from the Foreign Ministry: the French Government is enacting a series of Anti-Terrorist Measures. I am unaware of any of our agents undertaking any activities other than information gathering. Maybe it is the Italians.

Saturday started badly, but it did serve to remind us that it not just the members of the Wehrmacht who risk their lives. A cargo ship on the way from La Coruña to Lorient was sunk, whether by a submarine, a surface ship or an aircraft we do not know. There were no survivors. We often overlook those brave men who drive trucks or crew boats taking supplies to the front, but they are just as much targets of the enemy as any soldier or sailor.

The rest of Saturday was quiet and peaceful. There was mention of another attack by the 2nd Army Group HQ on de Angelis’s motorised infantry, but nothing to worry about. General Batet Mestre has lost 25% of his men in just two days and his remaining 2,400 are no threat to the 9,600 men of 16.Infanterie (mot).

Battle of Montoro​

When I re-entered my office on Monday morning, it was clear that Sunday had not been much more interesting. The campaign in Spain seems to be settling down to a remorseless push to Gibraltar, as resistance gets weaker and weaker and the speed of our advance increases. Good for the troops on the ground, but lacking the drama of a spirited resistance from a resourceful enemy.

Abernetty’s transport aircraft have been called back into action. With the loss of the cargo vessel last week it has been decided that the Bay of Biscay is too dangerous for sea supply to La Coruña. Nobody asks the obvious question: what if it was aircraft which sunk our ship? I suppose it is believed that fighters cannot reach the north coast of Spain and that only long range naval bombers could operate in the area. Let us hope so.

Dortmund was hit twice by Newalls’ strategic bombers, but I don’t think they will be back for a third visit. Both times they were met by Bogatsch leading 6 geschwader of interceptors, many of them the new Bf 109F Messerchmitts. For the loss of three aircraft we destroyed at least 46 bombers. Even though Dortmund was hit, damage was slight. Overall, a resounding victory achieved by the Luftwaffe.

Air Battle of Dortmund: 9AM 5th August

Flying low in an attempt to evade our fighters, an Avro Manchester heads home.​

Model’s tanks ran over the headquarters of 1a División de Cabelleros without a pause. Álvarez Alegriá tried to hold onto Argellón but his handful of men was simply overwhelmed: Model not only had his own 5th Panzer Division but also 20.Infanterie. Our 21,991 men suffered not a scratch: Alegriá lost 89 of his 2,101 men.

Battle of Argellón​

De Angelis won his “battle” in Montoro, assisted by General Hell’s move into Villanueva de Córdoba. Caught in a cross fire, the already shaky morale of Mestre’s men collapsed. 124 Spanish eliminated, again at no cost. If we could stop the RAF bombing, Spain would be a walk in the park.

Speaking of the RAF, we are still losing aircraft over the Channel. My brother’s unit is now just over half strength, though to read his very brief notes you would think he was immortal. Although the general agreement is that our new aircraft are superior, the huge number of planes the RAF can commit to each battle is sufficient to wear us down. I know the Messerschmitt factories are working around the clock, but additional fighters are desperately needed.

Air Battle of Dover: 11PM 5th August​

So, not much missed on Sunday. As it turned out, Monday was just as routine, in terms of military activity.

The Foreign Ministry is starting to get into habit of sending little notes around the other government departments. Today’s message was that Canada has received an economic boost. While I am impressed that we have agents who keep us up to date on everything happening in the world, is it really necessary to tell everyone in Berlin?

Much more vital to the progress of the war is the news that the infrastructure projects in Bayonne, Orthez and St Pierre-Pied-de-Port have been completed. Within days the improved roads and railway facilities will allow increased amounts of supplies through to Spain. The construction gangs have not finished though. Ministers Bayerlein and Schacht had quietly extended the contracts to continue improving the French provinces. With supply less of an issue Spain and south-west France, Kitzinger has been ordered to rebase 3rd Kampffliegerkorps from Romania to Bordeaux. “Zebra”, “Holzhammer” and “Legion Condor” have been attached to Kampffgruppe Galicia. They will be useful if General Hansen can ever get his men into contact with the enemy.

Typical of the conditions our road construction gangs face in south-west France, this “road” is the tenuous lifeline to Spain​

A few more battles over the Channel saw light losses to both “Richthofen” and “Schlageter” and the return of the apparently untouchable RN Fleet Air Arm. We just do not seem to be able to hit these annoying aircraft. What attracted more interest was the RAF attempts to break our patrols over the Bay of Biscay. Losses here were also light, but Abernetty’s air transport lifeline to La Coruña was untouched.

Tuesday only one short lived battle broke the monotony. Jodl took about 6 hours to destroy the Seville Headquarters of Cómo Muato. Down to just 599 men, the Spanish took 45 casualties before they could get away from 14.Infanterie (mot). Jodl did mention one interesting fact: his men came under attack from dive bombers! The aircraft have been tentatively identified as Blackburn Skuas of No1 RAF Dive Bomber Group. Luckily they only carry a single 500lb bomb and are not all that accurate so losses were not serious.

Battle of Campillos

A flight of the dive bombers that attacked our men in Antequara: Blackburn Skuas​

Other than that, just the never-ending clashed over the Channel. We don’t seem to be hurting the Fleet Air Arm at all, but the RAF is bleeding steadily. Our losses have stabilised since the introduction of the “Friedrichs”, but are still far too high.

Battle of Western English Channel: 10PM 7th August​

A week that here in Berlin we found a bit of a disappointment after the excitement of last week. I am sure the soldiers on the ground in Spain had a completely different view. Apart from deaths from bombing, only a handful of men were killed in active combat. Could the end be in sight?

Bombing Summary

Luftwaffe

Lugo: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 274
Villanueva de Córdoba: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B): 121, 189, 115
Agudo: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 246, 287, 211, 109, 269
Belalcázar: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 103, 310, 260, 98

RAF/RN Fleet Air Arm

Guadiana: Dowding with 5th and 1st RAF Tactical Groups: 290
Puertollano: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th CAG: 32
Longrosán: Cunningham with 6th CAG: 56
Guadiana: Baldwin with Middle East Group: 9, 82, 95
Longrosán: Dowding with 5th and 1st RAF Tactical Groups: 91, 261, 171, 106, 134
Longrosán: Dowding with 5th, 1st and ME RAF Tactical Groups: 236, 183, 146, 329
Antequera: Leigh-Mallory with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber Group: 37
Antequera: Dowding with 5th and 1st RAF Tactical Groups: 184


Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

Coast of Porto: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Calcutta: Aßmann with 2nd U-flotte
Coat of Cádiz: 1 escort (Canadian): Halifax – Cádiz: Wold with 4th U-flotte
Western Charcot Seamount: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Nicobar Islands: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Channel Approaches: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Belmopan: von Nordeck with II U-flotte
East Azores: 1 transport (UK): Singapore – Dover: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 1 transport (Greek): Athina – Halifax: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Western Charcot Summit: 1 escort (UK): Dover – Ed: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte

Axis Military Position Maps

Greece: the Greek Army is heading for the Isthmus of Corinth to defend Athina, while the it appears the Regia Marina rules the Adriatic

Libia: some movement, but little action

North-East China: stalemate

IndoChina: have the Guangxi commanders had enough? Now the Japanese garrison divisions are on the move

Unternehmen Stierkampf on 7th August: only one battle taking place, but the Spanish have their backs to the wall​

 

[Virus_Qc]

That was indeed a strange attack by von Boehm-Bezing, but I found it funny that Rommel would want to call him to chasten him when he managed to get his whole army cut off from supplies by 2 Spanish divisions

On a side note, The Italians are still hopeless in Lybia, it would seem...

Any news on the reason behind the near invincibility of the RN Air Arm ? Is it a bug in the game or are they just that incredible ?

 

[Uriah]

Spain can be conquered, but Galicia and Catalonia shall not surrender!

Unfortunately nobody wants to surrender. No worry, it won't be long now.

How many airborne units do you have Uriah? I would have sent at least two, if I had that, to Coruna. Your updates are, as always, great reading.

I have two divisions, both three brigades. The other one is in Yugoslavia and I didn't think it would be necessary. If Kampfgruppe Galicia would get its A into G then the La Coruña pocket would be releived in a few days.

Thanks for the kind words

Ai, nice. Two updates!

Well, those Fallschirmjagers came just in time. A close run indeed. But they surely kick ass, the finest warriors in the entire Wehrmacht, thats for sure.

And those pesky Belgians, perhaps they can be pursuaded to join the Reich, like Waffen-SS Wallonien, Langemarck and Flandern. There were actually quite a few Belgians in the German Army and they were pretty good fighters.

And how did you see those early plans for Barbarossa?? That is TOP ULTRA SECRET. Not meant for clerk's eyes I think.

Anyway keep up the fine writing Uriah!

EDIT: I just took a look at the index of all chapters on page 1. So much has happened already in this AAR, I sometimes forget. And your pledge to follow historical lines didnt really come true. But a great, great story it is.

For the price the Fallschirmjagers had better be good! I always hold my breath when I do an airdrop: I really don't want to lose one.

Those Belgians are fixed in their ways and will have to be crushed. I am still trying to work out how they got there. They were either trapped in Vichy France and moved to Spain or they were evacuated to the UK and landed in Spain. Anyway, we are recruiting back in their home country.

Every time I look at that first page I get shocked at how big this AAR has got. I did warn it was a lot of reading. As for the attempt to mirror history, it was an intention. I am pretty sure I qualified it. I have never been able to stick to a plan - things always get away from me.

And thankyou for the praise - always gratefully received.

For a brief moment, it looked like you were going to overrun the BEF.

Can I help it if they retreat so fast? Even if they get back to Gibraltar, they won't have long to recover.

That southern front is getting smaller every day!

I am a fan of using the AI at Army level but there are some forces I retain under higher (my) command. These forces are usually specialists such as paratroopers or marines (and sometimes SS). This helps counter limitations in the AI, as I have limited forces I can send to do missions that the AI struggles with. Sending an air mobile division to defend a key province is a good example but sometimes the AI doesn't do a good job of clean up operations behind the main line. In Russia, you might consider having a resrve corps under each Army Group HQ, which you control directly, to efficiently remove pockets.

As noted earlier, I am a fan of the AI but you can't ignore its worst faults and sometimes you need to clean up its mistakes. If these Spanish lessons occur in Russia, the Reich might not survive.

In my own mind, I justify this approach with the view that some forces are retained by higher HQ or are seen as strategic resources, not to be sqandered by allowing mere armies to control them.

I never put PARAs under AI, and usually I keep the marines under manual. They are only under AI at the moment because they were available to put down the Catalan resistance.

When Barbarossa starts I will probably have two Kampfgruppes as well as the PARAs and marines that I will keep under manual control. I still intend to let the AI do the heavy lifting, but I will have maybe a dozen divisions available for emergencies. Think of it as OKW retaining direct control of a few units, rather then letting OKH run everything.

too bad I was right.. if only for a little while..

Good job on recapturing La Coruña

The assault on Gibraltar becomes easy if you use bombers to break the enemy's organisation. With the amount of troops Rommel has under his yoke it shouldn't be anything near a problem.

Good job with Bulgaria How's Finland doing?

I really want to see how a full AI will handle Barbarossa .. :eager:

I'm getting used to these double updates, hehe

Hopefully my bombers will be able to break the British - my subs have revealed most of the troops in Gibraltar are garrison. Bulgaria fell in my lap: Finland will have to wait a bit. I can't afford the leadership to influence them - research is the priority. Still influencing the USA but they are getting closer and closer to the Allies.

Hope you didn't get too attached to the double updates.

I really must object the inclusion of Bulgaria in the Axis. It's military is insignificant for the future German operations, it's resources could be better used if it was a province of the Reich and it's occupation would only require up to two Garrison divisions. The prospect of adding more talented people to the German pool alone would be reason enough to push the country over while we now have an ally which might easily as much a burden as the Italians. This treaty with Bulgaria also endangers the relations with Turkey with her important control over the only sea access to the Black Sea. If the Turks chose to join the Allies, this would not only open a relieve route for Soviet Russia, it would also threaten our south eastern sphere of interest.

Your points re Bulgaria are valid (especially the one about Turkey - but see below), and if I had thought more I may have rejected them. I took the view that:

1. I am letting the AI have its head and I don't think the AI would reject an offer to join the Axis.

2. While I could probably crush Bulgaria in a week or two, I really want to finish off Spain and start to build up my MP with six months of peace before Barbarossa.

3. Turkey is very close to me and getting closer - there is no danger of it becoming either Allied or Communist for a long time

Uriah, we havent heard from you for a while, everything alright I hope? Your readAAR's are awaiting another update....

All was expelined in my brief note: now back in the saddle (though plenty of IKEA work to be done).

I hear the FührAAr is getting quietly prefering the diary of the clerk instead of the rather unbalanced reports his ministers are giving him. And you don't want to keep the FührAAR waiting, do you? DO YOU?!

The Fuhrer must never know of the existence of the clerk's journal, or it would be the end the AAR.

No, no absolutely not. I apologize most sincerly. The FuhrAAR must never wait.....

It is the lack of supplies in my games. AI Italy, like AI Japan and AI Germany, doesn't build enough convoys, if any, to make up for its losses in the hands of the RN.

I have checked: plenty of supply in North Africa, even for the huge army. (If you remember I adjusted a lot of the TPs to compensate for massive convoy losses under one patch). My bet is leadership: after a few losses the Italians are breaking off the attack.

HOI3 necessitated a special heat abatement setup on my sys after several BSODs when I first played the game. I have the case opened with a desk fan blowing onto my GPU ever since. It's not pretty, but it brought my temp down by about 10 celsius. Good luck with it.

PS - Hope your Dad is OK.

Dad is fine: and it was a heat problem iwth my computer. I had cleaned out the air intakes, but the graphics card itself was covered in crap. As far as I can determine, no lasting damage.

Hearing lots of people having heat problems lately, myself including, I recently update my nvidia drivers for my 285 and updated Vista too.

See above: still kicking myself - 10 years ago I would have immediately thought hardware, now I think software.

+1.

Tired of the hot weather ?
You should see the snow here.

No, I love hot weather, just not working in it. When I look at cold weather in Europe or North America I wonder why anyone would live there. Anything below 20C is too cold for me. As for snow - horrible cold wet stuff. Looks pretty, but looks aren't everything.

A big to do list I see. Well, take your time to sort things out. And I hope your dad will be allright.

All under control. Dad is fine. Considering that a few months ago he was released from hospital the day after having a pacemaker fitted I should have known a burst blood vessel wouldn't slow him down.

I hope your dad is ok!

and I 'd gladly trade our -7 (and snow) for your hot summer weather (even without airco)

Dad OK and no way will I trade my weather. Though you might want to think about the aircon: try sleeping after four or five days of 40+C days and 30+C nights.

No thanks, I hate hot weather. It could snow all summer, and I would be happy. I keep my AC at 65f all summer long. Uriah, I hope your Father has a quick recovery, and Perth gets 10 ft of snow.

When I was inthe USA lots of people said they loved winter and looked forward to it -unbelievable. It has never snowed in Perth and I hope it never will. I can only remember once or twice when the temperature got below freezing and that was only for an hour or so just before dawn.

Hope your Dad's alright Uriah, I would trade your hot weather for my pouring rain.

Unfortunately for you Morell8 it has kept raining in the Eastern States: not a drop here where we could use it. Another summer of water restrictions.

Computer problems, eh? Well, that's what you get for dabbling with The Dark Side. Come to the light -- we have fruit, barely nibbled...*

Personally I think Uriah is concocting another rip-snorting page-turner in the story arc; my own HOI games have never been as riveting as this.

And this is just the Spanish warm-up -- imagine what it's going to be like with the three-legged Army AI turned loose on the Eastern Front. "This directive says go to Moscow -- it says nothing at all here about Leningrad, look."

*Although sometimes I have been able to fry strips of bacon on the top edge of my desktop when I push it too hard.

Not everyone is so fixated on Apples that they only play one or two computer games, and then only when they are 2 years old. One day you too will contribute to the Microsoft coffers. And the AI is learning: it gets confused easily and is even more easily distracted: in other words it plays just like me.

Man, if it isn't one thing it's another. Hope things are getting better for you. I have been having COTDs with HOI3 ever since I got it, now I have SF and it is doing the same.

I have a gaming computer that is only a year old and supposedly meets all hardware requirements. Oh, well. I just restart and pick up from the last save/auto-save. I like SF's weekly auto-saves. Lot less ground to re-cover. Are you having to reboot, or just restart HOI?

I am impressed with SF, I invaded Pol in Mar 39, Italy and Nat Sp joined, they invaded France. I am up to Aug and Pol, Neth, Bel & Fr have fallen. The Italians are trying to surround Alexandria and the BEF was bagged in Spain after Gibraltar fell. Definitely different.

All has been worked out now. As for SF, I am really looking forward to hwo it handles the Red Army: I suspect if I don't have a good first year I may be ground down.

top flight AAR ! !


i also hope your dad is ok !

Thanks GhostWriter: and he is OK

Hey, I've been away for a while.
Sorry for your dad, hope everything is fine there now.

All fine - good to see you back

Hello there Uriah, long time lurkAAR, first time postAAR here ! ('Tis my first post, and it's the 2000th of the thread, I feel special )

First of all, I'd like to say I hope your father is alright. But then, seeing how he produced some mighty fine offspring (that would be you, heh), I'd say he will be alright. After all, since you Aussies live in a Godforsaken country with a ton of monstrous beasts, you must all have an iron constitution.

Second, I wanted to tell you that this is the best AAR I've ever read so far, and it even pushed me to start my own HOI3 game after being spooked by my first go with it, where I started a game as Germany and managed to get invaded by France and Poland and lose in 1939

Your story is top-notch, your pictures fantastic and always relevant, and your strategic and gaming talent is infinitely superior to mine (this comment is kind of undermined by my own FAIL gaming skills, but still.)

I've also started to discover something that really sucks : having to wait for updates I didn't feel this while I read the whole thread in about one week, but now I guess I'll have to wait a bit... It'll only be better when it comes out.

Hope your dad will be alright (again) and that your heat problems get better (here in Quebec the summers are too hot and the winters too cold, it's currently -10 degrees Celsius here)

Farewells from Quebec !!

Virus

EDIT: Is there a way to "subscribe" to this thread so I get some kind of notification when something new is posted ?

Thanks Virus_Qc

Dad is OK, and he was a quantity as well as quality father : nine kids. I was going to remonstrate about your slur on our wildlife but this morning my wife found large female redback spider with eggs in our garden. The redback (look it up on Wiki) usually won't kill an adult, but is bad news for kids and the elderly. I've been bitten once and did not like it. So we do have some nasty beasts.

I am glad my AAR encouraged you to try HOI3 again - one of my reasons for starting it was to show how interesting the game is.

And sorry for the delays.

I really should write more clearly: I have nothing against the heat. I love hot weather. What I dislike is having to do anything (especially work) in the heat. I haven't been to Quebec but lived in Toronto for a few years as a child and was in Montreal a few years ago: I loved Canada but seriously: cities with all the malls underground because it is too horrible on the surface!

To subscribe, I think if you look under the "Forum tools" link at the top of the page you'll find it.

That was indeed a strange attack by von Boehm-Bezing, but I found it funny that Rommel would want to call him to chasten him when he managed to get his whole army cut off from supplies by 2 Spanish divisions

On a side note, The Italians are still hopeless in Lybia, it would seem...

Any news on the reason behind the near invincibility of the RN Air Arm ? Is it a bug in the game or are they just that incredible ?

Rommel is a "Do as I say, not as I do" general. I really don't know why my fighters can't harm the Brtish CAGs. My AA on ships tears them to pieces, as does AA brigades attached to land units. But my interceptors struggle to reduce them by .1. May be a bug: it seems to have happened since the last patch.

 

[unmerged(56084)]

I really don't know why my fighters can't harm the Brtish CAGs. My AA on ships tears them to pieces, as does AA brigades attached to land units. But my interceptors struggle to reduce them by .1. May be a bug: it seems to have happened since the last patch.

I have not encountered that. However, I do grp my int in sets of 3-4. I have noticed that you like to use 2 alot.

 

[weissbrot]

Good to have you back Uriah, and with all the distractions sorted I'm looking forward to a fast end to the Stierkampf. I'd say the bull has less then two weeks to live, more likely about a week. And then it's onward to the Rock to prove it is, in fact, not 'Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti'.

I see you are not planning to begin Barbarossa before the end of the next winter, (as if the weather could ever decide a war...,) so do you at least consider letting Rommel show those Italians where the forward gears in these panzers are? It would be a waste not to use the experience he gained in Spain...

 

[unmerged(166917)]

I'm relieved the situation in Spain seems to be under control now and Athens should fall soon in Italian Lands.

 

[Enewald]

Ha. The only thing the British AI can do properly is harassment in Northern France and above Channel by the RAF.
Royal Navy sails the seven seas and the army does nothing.

 

[NERFGEN]

grreat .. my favourite Aar is back. Glad to know your dad's all fine

Looking forward to more action . And you need to devise a plan to make those dastardly carriers disappear

My italian hear is woeing.. I wonder if i should ask for a save so I can rectify the Lybian situation.. they have neough divisions there to reach Siam...

 

[Virus_Qc]

This spider is one ugly customer. I guess that is one of the benefits of winter : we don't get many nightmarish insects like this one, since they all die because of the cold But then I guess that would mean that they all hide in our houses during the frigid days

Happy to hear your dad is alright (I knew he would be, now he can go back to alligator wrestling or whatever it is that Aussie grandparents do these days )

 

[unmerged(236784)]

New Reader

A very enjoyable AAR. Reading it (that took over a week!) really helped me decide
to try HOI again. Keep up the good work. Your attention to game detail is a key reason
for my continuing to follow the clerk's story.

 

[unmerged(34917)]

Nice update Uriah. The Iraqis seem to be doing a good job in Libya holding the Italians off.

The nightmare in Spain is finally coming to an end, thankfully. Thats is good otherwise you might have gotten into problems with the timetable for Barbarossa.

 

[unmerged(24320)]

Uriah: ...Those Belgians are fixed in their ways and will have to be crushed. I am still trying to work out how they got there...

would they have been "expelled" (to Spain) at the fall of France ? ?

if so, then the non-Spanish troops in Spain would be expelled to Gibraltar ! !

those units really should be surrendered ! !

Uriah: ...Unternehmen Stierkampf on 7th August: only one battle taking place, but the Spanish have their backs to the wall

and a short wall that is ! !

as always, magnificent updates ! !

 

[Uriah]

Rank and File
A Clerk’s War​

Wednesday 8th to Tuesday 14th August 1940

We had an alarm early on Wednesday as Leutnantgeneral Christiansen intercepted a carrier air group off Cape Peñas, a region traversed by our air transports on their way to La Coruña. Luckily the 150 interceptors of 4th Jagdfliegerkorps were enough to prevent Collishaw’s single group reaching the Arados, but it was too close for comfort.

Air Battle of Cape Peñas: 5AM 8th August​

On the 9th, there was more news of the “long march” of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie. Lister Forján has reached Coria and has been met in every village and town by crowds of cheering residents. (Our information comes from a group of local former Nationalists who luckily had access to a fast car). At some point Rommel must do something about this unit which is now dangerously near our rear command areas.

Lose Coria​

General Keppler had a minor clash with Giffard’s 18th Infantry Mountain Division in Constantina, during which the British lost 49 men. It was hardly a test for 1st Panzer: Keppler was assisted by 1st leichte Panzer and 29.Infanterie (mot) giving him more than 31,000 troops compared to 7,800 demoralised and hungry Englishmen. What sparked interest in this otherwise lacklustre contest was a report from an Aufklärungsabteilung of 1st leichte. They identified Irish soldiers in Lora del Río, the province to which Giffard’s men were trying to retreat. We must now defeat the Spanish, Belgians, British and Irish to conquer Spain.

Battle of Constantina​

As if in response to this upsetting news, that afternoon General Ott moved into Lora del Río, introducing 3rd Irish Infantry Division to the realities of combat. Even with the support of the Spanish 3a Divisíon de Infanterie (whose leader, General Herrera Linares, has taken command of the combined force) the Irish look to start their war with a defeat: 3.Infanterie has replaced all but a few hundred of its losses and is in peak condition. The only drawback is the stormy weather, which will probably cause Ott’s vehicles to become bogged on the unpaved roads. (The weather in Spain this year has been appalling: every few days another huge storm sweeps across the country, grounding our aircraft and slowing our advance).

Battle of Lora del Río​

Good news from Catalonia: von Sponeck has cleared the last Spanish from Tarragona. The street fighting cost him 70 men and a few vehicles, but the Spanish left 568 bodies behind. What is left of 2a Divisíon de Infanterie is fleeing in disorder to Barcelona, the last city to be captured. Surely this means the end of the Catalan threat?

If the reaction of the FARE is any indication, we can expect more resistance. 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps was bombing Spanish retreating from Tarragona when hit by Castaneau’s 1 Grupo and Grupo n.1 Caza FARE. Only a few Stukas were lost, but the Spanish made their point: they were not yet going to accept that they were beaten.

The rocky plain of central Spain is the resting place of one of Löhr’s Stukas that did not make it back to base: even an I-16 can down a Ju 87. When the interceptor and fighter geschwaders have been upgraded, the dive bomber units will start to receive the new Henschel Hs 129, a far more rugged aircraft. ​

If they are not beaten, they cannot be far from it. General Petersen and 22.Infanterie are once again leading the attack, forcing their way into La Puebla de Cazalla. To the best of our knowledge, his only opposition is the headquarters unit for the Seville region (which must have fled the city before it fell). General Monato may be gifted leader, but he has only 544 men. Petersen reports stubborn resistance, but that the enemy lack any heavy weapons or support.

Battle of Puebla de Cazalla​

The clouds of carried based fighters that have drained our interceptor patrols over the Channel have finally become too much to bear. With the Kriegsmarine still licking its wounds, the Luftwaffe has decided to try to cure the problem itself. Both 1st and 2nd Seefliegerkorps have been ordered to search the Western English Channel for enemy ships. The hope is that they will locate a Royal Navy fleet and severely damage one or more of the aircraft carriers. (Sinking one would be tremendous, but the planners are trying to be realistic). Minister Göring is to be kept informed of developments at all times. It would not be an improvement to lose our naval bombers in addition to the steady attrition of our interceptors.

A Dornier crew pose for a photo before leaving their improvised airbase outside Nantes to search the Channel for enemy aircraft carriers​

The rain and lack of air support did not impact General Ott as much as expected. He has given the Irish a sharp lesson and both they and 3a Divisíon de Infanterie are on the move south, after taking 219 casualties in a day. 3.Infanterie (mot) lost a further 36 men but will now have a few day’s rest, so they should receive some reinforcements.

I find this hard to believe, but someone in the Foreign Ministry approved the continuation of a trade deal with Chile. No-one is quite sure how long our cargo ships have been crossing the Atlantic to pick up steel ingots from Santiago and carry them back to Bayonne, but it must have some months. It only became public when a ship was lost on the return, carrying a substantial amount of payment. Needless to say the contract has been terminated, but I suspect that identifying the culprit on the International Trade desk will be impossible. Those people operate with more secrecy than the Gestapo, and are all experts at shifting blame. Any enquiry will be a waste of time.

General Monato certainly inspired his men in La Puebla de Cazalla, but it did them no good – in fact it probably cost a lot of them their lives. 266 of the 544 men of the Seville HQ were killed in their attempt to block 22.Infanterie (mot). And for what? They did not kill one of our soldiers, and they barely slowed Petersen’s advance. Bravery is all well and good, but it must be for a purpose. But that was not the end of the fighting in La Puebla de Cazalla: the Irish general McKenna, fleeing Lora del Rio, ran straight into von Manstein leading three divisions. It was foregone conclusion, 3rd Irish Infantry losing another 63 men before it could escape.

2nd Battle of La Puebla de Cazalla​

True bravery is being shown by our fighter pilots above the Channel. We must have lost hundreds of aircraft in the past few months, but every day the Jagdgeschwaders take off from their airbases across northern France and head towards England. The past few days have seen several clashes in the Western English Channel, but today Fisser led the 400 aircraft of “Benelux”, “Ruoff”, “Richthofen” and “Schlageter” geschwader to challenge the RAF over their own airbases at Portsmouth. When I say 400 aircraft, of course that is the paper strength. In reality, the number for each geschwader was 56, 96, 78 and 42. In other words, our frontline interceptor units are at less than three-quarter strength. They are crippling the RAF, but the Fleet Air Arm is still as strong as ever.

Air Battle of Portsmouth: 1PM 11th August​

The end of the week was signalled by the loss of Cáceres to the triumphant men of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie. Things are now getting ridiculous. Our agents tell of women hanging garlands of flowers around the necks of the marching soldiers and young men grabbing rifles and joining the ranks as Lister Forjan encouraged them to rise up against us. We must take action against this man and his band of malcontents. It would only take a few thousand men to stop them in their tracks and show the peasantry what a real army looks like.

General Lister Forján and some of his troops: to my mind the Republican Army lacks discipline and pride in its appearance. This “we are equals” may go down well with the villagers, but how can you tell the officers from the men?

Lose Cáceres​

Monday morning saw Curtze’s 20.Infanterie (mot) on the outskirts of Seville, the new capital of Republican Spain. The heavy casualties of the last six months are finally evident, as General Asensio Torrado has only 3,000 men with which to defend the city. The ever-present rain doesn’t help, but progress is steady. When we capture this city, the only Spanish centre of any significance will be Huevea. When that falls, surely the Spanish must see that further fighting is pointless.

Battle of Seville​

I did look through a summary of Sunday’s news (or lack of it). The only document that I did more than glance at was that our naval bombers did locate a large British fleet. With two carriers (“Victorious” and “Illustrious”) it was a perfect target and our bombers launched a determined attack. Our old foe, the battleship “Royal Sovereign” backed up by the cruisers “Achilles” and “Dragon”, provided anti-aircraft defence. Details are sketchy, but it is clear we lost about 20 aircraft. Some damage was inflicted on the ships, but nothing more could be verified. The rest of the reports told of the interminable fighting between the Luftwaffe and the Fleet Air Arm: nothing significant occurred.

Bombing mission in the Western Eastern Channel: 10PM 12th August

Not helpless: as our Dorniers attack, HMS “Illustrious” launches Swordfish aircraft to aid in the defence​

All Monday the Luftwaffe tried a new tactic. Units were rotated over the airbase and naval facilities of Portsmouth. I have to say that having looked at the debriefings and effective aircraft reports that little was achieved other than spreading the losses over a wider number of geschwader. The bombing of the carriers did not seem to have prevented the Fleet Air Arm from keeping hundreds of fighter s in the air.

Air Battle of Portsmouth: 7PM 13th August​

It was while I was at home on Monday evening that I heard of the fall of Seville: my programme on the radio was interrupted by martial music and an announcer told of the glorious capture of the last major Spanish city. He went on and on about “stalwart sons” and “indomitable will” but in all the rubbish there were a few nuggets of fact. Losses on both sides were very low (7 and 44 respectively) and the Spanish defenders seem to have made good their escape.

The defenders of Seville were enthusiastic but no match for well-equipped regular troops​

The loss of Badajoz signalled the arrival of Forján’s footsloggers. They are now adjacent to the headquarters of Heinrici’s X Armeekorps, and our information is that they are changing direction in order to bring pressure on our administrative troops.

Loss of Badajoz​

I think many of our troops could learn from the dedication of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie. After tramping through heat and dust, then rain and mud, for hundreds of kilometres, they have capped it by marching through the night to attack Heinrici’s camp in Dom Benito. Luckily for the men of X Armeekorps, Forján has less than 6,000 men remaining and the darkness at midnight served to blunt the effectiveness of the surprise midnight attack. On the other hand, there are no combat units for some distance, and the closest are committed to the advance. Heinrici may have to handle this himself. He is not quite alone: thanks to our policy of giving all frontline HQs a support unit, he has a regiment of 3.7cm anti-aircraft guns available.

Battle of Dom Benito​

As if that were not enough bad news in the rear zones, we have heard of a uprising of Laval, in north-west France. At midnight thousands of disgruntled citizens of the province started looting and pillaging in some sort of protest. Obviously this behaviour cannot be tolerated in a region directly under the control of the Reich, and General von Grieff has already been ordered by 1st Frankreich Sicherungskorps to move 213-Sicherungs-Division from Nantes to put down the insurrection. In case the rabble moves out of the province, 79 and 57.Infanterie are also moving to the area. It appears that there will be no need for direct intervention by OKH: Frankreich Army has prepared for just such an eventuality.

Laval: the uprising must be put down​

Keppler is not worried about the Spanish attack in the rear. He is focussed on the few remaining Spanish in the south, and his tanks are crossing the Guadalquivir River into Alcalá. Spanish resistance is minimal, a far cry to the bitter opposition we experienced in previous river crossings. Although numbers are about equal, the Spanish are not expected to last more than a few hours.

Battle of Alcalá​

Perhaps I spoke too soon about the marching ability of the modern Wehrmacht soldier. At least our garrison units know what boots are for: 213 Sicherungs-Division has reached Laval and a flurry of shots was all it needed for the rabble to transform into a crowd of civilians hurrying home as fast as possible. Even the antiquated equipment of our security divisions is enough to control a group of townsmen armed with shotguns and a few hunting rifles.

Overall a good week: in Berlin bets are already being laid on the day of the Spanish surrender.

Bombing Summary

RAF/Fleet Air Arm

Azuaga: Dowding with No1 and No.5 RAF Tactical Groups: 215
Azuaga: Dowding with No1 and No.5 RAF Tactical and No.1 RAF Dive Bomber Groups: 207P
alma del Rio: Dowding with No1 and No.5 RAF Tactical Groups: 131,206, 169
Azuaga: Leigh-Mallory with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber Group: 48
Azuaga: Baldwin with Middle East Group: 128
Azuaga: Leigh-Mallory with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber and Middle East Group: 182, 124
Lora del Rio: Leigh-Mallory with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber Group: 51
Lora del Rio: Dowding with No1 and No.5 RAF Tactical Groups: 224
Lora del Rio: Dowding with No1 and No.5 RAF Tactical and No.1 RAF Dive Bomber Groups: 220


Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

South East Azores Fracture Zone: 2 transports (Australian): Geraldton – Dover: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Horseshoe Seamount: 1 transport (Greek): Athina – Halifax: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Eastern Azores: 2 transports (UK): Singapore – Dover: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
Horseshoe Seamount: 2 transports (Greek): Athina – Boston: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Western Biscay Plain: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – St John’s: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 1 transport (Canadian): Halifax – Cádiz: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Western Charcot Seamount: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Ed: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Eastern Biscay Plain: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Ascension Island: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Eastern Charcot Seamount: 2 transports (UK): Singapore – Dover: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Iberian Plain: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Trincomalee: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
South-East Porcupine Plain: 1 transport (Irish): Dublin – Québec: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Coast of Porto: 1 transport (UK): Portsmouth – Mauritius: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
Eastern Charcot Seamount: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Grand Bahama: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Eastern Biscay Plain: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Fiji: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Horseshoe Seamount: 1 transport (Greek): Athina – Halifax: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
South-Eastern Azores Fracture Zone: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Diego Garcia: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
South-Eastern Azores Fracture Zone: 1 escort (Canadian): Halifax – Cádiz: Wolf with 4th U-flotte

Axis Military Situation Maps

Greece: the communiqués put out by the Italians about their progress in Greece are getting quite extravagant, but it is undeniable that the Greek Army is on the run.

Libia: how many men does General de Stefanis require before he is confident enough to advance?

Western China: our military liaison officers in Tokyo have not reported much on the situation in Western China. Although the troop density is much lower than in the East of the country, there is still activity and the Japanese are pushing forward.

Eastern China: although Minister von Blomberg has personally advised the Japanese government that the ports of Qingdao and Shanghai must be priorities in their military planning, progress is very slow as the Chinese are determined to hold the Yellow River line.

IndoChina: the Guangxi forces have rallied and stopped (for now at least) the northward surge of the IJA



Unternehmen Stierkampf

Spain: the overall situation

Southern Spain: the last stand of the Republican Army​

 

[weissbrot]

I hope the 14. Infanterie can block the retreating forces path to Gibraltar, that would make the final siege much easier.

Overall good advancement this week, however attacking the Royal Navy still seems to be futile...

 

[Enewald]

Gibraltar is teutsch!

 

[unmerged(166917)]

Gibraltar and Athens will fall in Axis hand soon...finally !

 

[Uriah]

I have not encountered that. However, I do grp my int in sets of 3-4. I have noticed that you like to use 2 alot.

I do use two, but that is because of my bad planning (or rather that the change in RAF power introduced in SF caught me by surprise). I am trying to build enough to bring my 6 Jagdfliegerkorps up to three geschwader each. I thought of amalagamating (from 6 x 2 to 4 x 3) but decided that 4 units would notr be enough.

I am hoping that grouped in threes I can reduce the RAF + RN Fleet Air Arm to a distraction.

Good to have you back Uriah, and with all the distractions sorted I'm looking forward to a fast end to the Stierkampf. I'd say the bull has less then two weeks to live, more likely about a week. And then it's onward to the Rock to prove it is, in fact, not 'Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti'.

I see you are not planning to begin Barbarossa before the end of the next winter, (as if the weather could ever decide a war...,) so do you at least consider letting Rommel show those Italians where the forward gears in these panzers are? It would be a waste not to use the experience he gained in Spain...

Well, Spain lasted another week, but you may be right. (I have only played up to end of 17th August). Gibraltar has quite few Brits, but mainly garrisons.

I really don't have enough armour to send some of to Afrika. Getting it there, fighting and getting it back is just too hard. I have no transports in the Med as yet, I have no idea how strong the RN is there etc etc. I will play it safe by reducing my losses to about "Nil" for 6 months to allow full builds and upgrades. The experience won't be wasted.

I'm relieved the situation in Spain seems to be under control now and Athens should fall soon in Italian Lands.

I neve doubted Rommel would triumph! As for the Italians: I have no idea what they are doing.

Ha. The only thing the British AI can do properly is harassment in Northern France and above Channel by the RAF.
Royal Navy sails the seven seas and the army does nothing.

You forget the 10s of thousands of my troops killed by their bombers in Spain and the embarrasing defeat of the Italians in Libia. But otherw2ise I think they are too weak on land to do anything but garrsion their ports around the world. If it were not for the RN and the RAF I might be tempted for a mini-Seelowe. (Not really - not until I see what the Red Army is like).

grreat .. my favourite Aar is back. Glad to know your dad's all fine

Looking forward to more action . And you need to devise a plan to make those dastardly carriers disappear

My italian hear is woeing.. I wonder if i should ask for a save so I can rectify the Lybian situation.. they have neough divisions there to reach Siam...

I am now trying my NAVS but I am not too hopeful.

I would reply to your last comment but I am a little lost: "My Italian hear is woeing" has got me confused.

This spider is one ugly customer. I guess that is one of the benefits of winter : we don't get many nightmarish insects like this one, since they all die because of the cold But then I guess that would mean that they all hide in our houses during the frigid days

Happy to hear your dad is alright (I knew he would be, now he can go back to alligator wrestling or whatever it is that Aussie grandparents do these days )

In the olden days the redback spiders used to live in the outside toilets so many houses had: you can imagine the injuries when they were disturbed!

But my father is not wrestling alligators type: at 77 years of age he has started to sort out every photograph he has ever taken, put them in chronological order, scan them and prepare a photobiography for each of his remaining 8 children. He is already wondering what to do when he finishes that.

A very enjoyable AAR. Reading it (that took over a week!) really helped me decide
to try HOI again. Keep up the good work. Your attention to game detail is a key reason
for my continuing to follow the clerk's story.

Thaks bugwar: glad that my enjoyment of the game has spread to someone else, and even more glad that my obsession with detail has not scared you off.

Nice update Uriah. The Iraqis seem to be doing a good job in Libya holding the Italians off.

The nightmare in Spain is finally coming to an end, thankfully. Thats is good otherwise you might have gotten into problems with the timetable for Barbarossa.

As I have said before, I think that if you stand your ground against the Italians they will break because of leadership problems. But yes, the Iraqis must be pretty good to be hit by such enormous odds (even allowing for frontage limitations).

Spain is speeding up luckily: I was starting to get a bit concerned: I don't want to be there in October.

Uriah: ...Those Belgians are fixed in their ways and will have to be crushed. I am still trying to work out how they got there...

would they have been "expelled" (to Spain) at the fall of France ? ?

if so, then the non-Spanish troops in Spain would be expelled to Gibraltar ! !

those units really should be surrendered ! !

Uriah: ...Unternehmen Stierkampf on 7th August: only one battle taking place, but the Spanish have their backs to the wall

and a short wall that is ! !

as always, magnificent updates ! !

I hope the 14. Infanterie can block the retreating forces path to Gibraltar, that would make the final siege much easier.

Overall good advancement this week, however attacking the Royal Navy still seems to be futile...

The Belgians were fighting in France when Belgium collapsed: they did not surrender. I suppose that they just kept going. So far I think only Denmark has actully surrendered, everyone else had vowed to keep fighting.

I am pretty sure that not much will make it to Gibraltar. As I said above, trying NAVS onthe RN (I have 4 groups) but not hopeful - tech is not too good.

Gibraltar is teutsch!

I think that means Gibraltar is German - if so it will be very soon (I hope).

Gibraltar and Athens will fall in Axis hand soon...finally !

I hope Gibraltar will be mine first - the Italians have a bad habit of just stopping for a few days to have a rest.

 

[unmerged(34917)]

Gibraltar looms... A well deserved victory for the brave soldiers of the Reich. These dastardly Spaniards even send out their womanfolk to fight. That is one thing the Fuhrer will never allow to happen.

 

[NERFGEN]

ehm... first of all I must apologise for not being able to spell.. of course I meant my italian hearT...

secondly I now only wish for an epic struggle to capture Gibraltar (I hope the Brits will put up a good fight if only for enabling you to put up your usual great updates )

And as for italians, they usually stop every now and again for a pizza and glass of wine so I think you'll have Vladivostok before they'll get to Suez... if they dont get too drunk before that.

P.S. it's a bold decision to send NAVs against escorted carriers... I usually keep them for convoy raiding. and killing disorganized fleets (mop up) or port strike. But after all .. I kinda asked you to show them carriers

 

[Warlordtheft]

Been a while since there has been an update on your overall tech. Are you persuing V1 tech? What level infantry tech do you have? Are jet's on the horizon?