2 Rocket Interceptor techs + Advanced and Turbojet Aircraft techs (TAC, CAS, STR, INT, NAV, ESC) would be required to have a fully Jet propelled air force, I would presume.
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TheExecuter, WhisperingDeath I'm afraid the thesis competition was based on the mistaken assumption that recognition of the bridge of sighs implied residence in Cambridge and I kind of assumed "Computer Laboratory" meant upstairs in the tower above the library (public accessible) containing my thesis. Still kind of difficult but there you go. Let that be the end of it (unless you all really want to know)
DNG You are correct, the US is clearly launching amphibious attacks from the continental USA (probably New York)
4th Dimension, Medi Medi is correct. It just goes to show if I'm too busy then someone else answers.
DNG You are correct, the US is clearly launching amphibious attacks from the continental USA (probably New York)
4th Dimension, Medi Medi is correct. It just goes to show if I'm too busy then someone else answers.
06:00 August 12th 1941
A surprise drop by the sixth Fallschirmjäger division (you were wondering where they were weren’t you) captures key buildings in Kabul and prompts the Afghan government to surrender. Annexing Afghanistan gives us control of Kandahar which causes the panzer army to advance a little quicker towards the next important operation.
We capture an interesting collection of vehicles. Who can identify this odd one (no, not the SU 76)
06:00 August 12th 1941 b
With Russian forces dispersing and collapsing I am finally able to launch an all out attack on the Siberian pocket and get it closed down as quickly as possible. The bag is looking disappointingly small but I suspect this is more to do with the depredations of the Luftwaffe than anything clever on the enemy’s part.
16:00 August 12th 1941
The last two weeks have yielded the grand total of zero additional IC which is hardly thrilling. TC status is at an all time nadir and looking like we may actually reach 100% overload. There are substantial forces in redeployment since the entire Urals army group is redeploying to new fronts. Upgrade costs have gone back down now that air transports upgrades are mostly complete.
03:00 August 14th 1941
This is the big one, the battle of Karachi as a German panzer group comes crashing down out of Afghanistan whilst 4 divisions of (rather inferior) German marines coming ashore in a complementary amphibious landing. More to the point the navy is providing massive shore bombardment support with one CV task force and the surface gunfire task force committed to this operation.
Surprisingly the battle only lasts four hours but this is long enough for our best commander to become an even more clear-cut best commander.
This battle is a potential disaster for the allies, as the fall of Karachi will result in around 100 divisions being cut off in eastern Persia.
Apart from being defeated the enemy is starting to look pretty good with a complete set of 1941 infantry divisions up against me. I guess this more or less ends my technological advantage in infantry forces. This is disappointing more for the speed change than the 17% firepower advantage.
13:00 August 14th 1941
Here we have another attempted US landing in Cork which they manage to sustain for a day and a half before it fails. Unfortunately 3 divisions landing against one on the shore really isn’t sufficient unless they provide some decent gunfire support. I do have other advantages since they are using zero rated leadership but at least my changes to leadership capacities have made sure they aren’t over command.
22:00 August 14th 1941
The Australians have blundered into the worlds biggest amphibious operation and paid the price. This is actually a more spectacular than the invasion of the UK and not a happy place for such a small group of Australian reefs (ships)
07:00 August 15th 1941
The US has a strange insistence on trying to fly aircraft out of Iceland to other locations and this bomber group tries twice but I only seem to be able to shoot down about 35 aircraft on each interception. After two goes they either give up or sneak past (can’t tell which). It is always nice to shoot down a few of these bombers though.
22:00 August 15th 1941
The Siberian front has now developed into a mass exploitation race as German units rush about occupying territory and chasing the limited number of Russian units available for combat. We are close to reaching the point where Russian units are going to be eliminated by the Luftwaffe before the army can do more than make contact.
01:00 August 16th 1941
I’m almost immediately proved wrong by a German mixed mobile group being cut off. This is no real threat to them but the interruption of supplies and fuel will have an effect in slowing down the campaign. That will teach me to make sure at least a single division is left behind to deal with Russian stragglers.
06:00 August 16th 1941
In central Africa I am launching a limited attack to provide a practice target for the heavy bombers. They have quite a long range and are flying across from Kenya to attack single enemy divisions. Their ground attack capability is quite limited but the real objective is to provide them with a little experience although eliminating one or two enemy divisions would also be nice. The Belgian Congo is pretty much safe from me beyond this province since it is all Jungle and my forces are singularly unsuitable.
06:00 August 16th 1941 b
Just for a change the US has launched an invasion of Northern Ireland but according to previous calculations this scale of attack cannot succeed without the use of significant gunfire support of which there is none. This lack of naval support for landings appears to be a major AI weakness. I have seen the AI use shore bombardment so I suspect that the problem is that the availability of fleet support is not properly linked to executing landings.
04:00 August 17th 1941
The landings in Karachi have now made it to shore (just) but seem to have drawn out a genuine reaction from the IPN with their commitment of a major carrier task force. Unfortunately for them they are pitting 5 CVs against my 14 CVs so they shouldn’t come out of it too well. Their ideal strategy would be to close in to gunfire range and use their gunfire advantage.
A good suggestion for the naval AI would be to follow the rules below for determining optimum range.
1) Select the range of your longest ranged unit
2) Discount all units on both sides that are now in range
3) If amongst the remaining units the longest range belongs to friendly units then close to that range
4) Repeat 2-3 until the next range includes enemy ships.
For even more sophistication it could calculate the relative firepower of both sides as a ratio and keep closing the range as long as the ratio increases. This would result in AI mixed CV / BB forces typically closing to BB range when encountering an enemy pure CV fleet and would make the above battle scary for me. As it is I know the AI won’t close and therefore they will tend to lose despite having significant firepower that could defeat my fleet.
The AI recognises they are going to lose the battle and breaks off after 4 hours. This suggests it does some firepower analysis, it’s just a pity it doesn’t do a bit more.
What are the new territorial objects for the Russian campaign? Does taking Afganistan place us dangerously close to the Petal Throne armies? Have you done any recon regarding said Petal Throne armies?
It's the improved model of Disston tractor tank, made in USA, 1934.Kanitatlan said:
WhisperingDeath I believe all the answers are in the next few posts except for objectives in Siberia. The only explicit objective was to take western Siberia including all high IC provinces but currently I am aiming to take Irkutsk before the winter and associated major policy changes.
Wolfhound I guess it is time to give up on pretending that any competition is difficult but I will continue with them anyway.
Wolfhound I guess it is time to give up on pretending that any competition is difficult but I will continue with them anyway.
09:00 August 17th 1941
With one IPN battle fleet retreating but still lurking about very dangerously another one pops up and attacks the cruiser task force. This is more worrying as they can easily win this battle and there is little I can do since fleeing leaves the transport fleet exposed. It is now quite clear that the IPN hasn’t been uninterested in these Indian waters but has been waiting for the ideal opportunity to engage at the most inopportune moment.
10:00 August 17th 1941
Amazingly may cruiser rush in to close the range and engage the enemy more closely*. This has the amazing effect of actually winning the battle and bagging them a CV. I must say this is a bit of a surprise as I was expecting to come away with a selection of severely damaged ships and nothing to show for it. Mind you it is possible that the 400 bombers providing air support were of some significant assistance.
I have now won two battles against the IPN but have several ships with significant damage and an exposed transport fleet.
* double competition, two associations for the phrase, please answer without doing a web search since otherwise it is far too easy
23:00 August 18th 1941
In the evening the cruiser fleet has moved out into the open sea leaving the transport fleet a little exposed and my CV task force has been engaged by one of those swarms of Brazilian ships. This results in a few Brazilian losses. It is always concerning that these destroyer fleets have transports and I always wonder where exactly they are going.
Oddly this is the end of unfortunate naval happenings and soon all my fleets escape to base, including the transports, reorganise and release the damaged ones.
10:00 August 19th 1941
Back in Siberia the general pursuit is spreading so that almost all provinces adjacent to German forces is under attack. This may promise good things for the future but we still have an isolated force that really needs some supplies. I am almost tempted to send some air transports to help them but I know the level of supplies will be pitiful. They will be rescued soon and then the pursuit will be unspoilt by this blemish.
00:00 August 20th 1941
The isolation has ended just in time and I am left with a rather low org panzer division advancing into the mountains in bad weather but against militia. This is relatively important since Rubcovsk, for who knows what reason, is the current Russian capital. I cannot imagine why the capital doesn’t simply hop to Vladivostok base don the idea of using the friendly province with the highest VP score and IC.
02:00 August 20th 1941
Enemy forces are beginning to accumulate around Karachi and the only sound response is to drive some of them away by attacking them. This is doubly useful in that it prevents them taking part in an attack against me and also makes them vulnerable to the ubiquitous air attack. The attack on Chah Bahar is nice and easy but my position in Kandahar remains insanely weak. There is no way to keep this pocket secure, let alone reduce it, until major forces arrive.
05:00 August 20th 1941
The US seems to have very much retained to the attack Ireland approach despite its abject failure in the past. Significant numbers of US divisions keep attacking and I keep sinking their ships. It seems to make little impression on their overall force strength and I have to keep worrying if they will land somewhere competently or somewhere undefended.
03:00 August 21st 1941
A second attack is launched to clear Birjand as well as Char Bahar quickly creating complete safety on the inside flank of the pocket. In addition any successful advance into these provinces will provide a buffer against attempted rescues even if I am immediately driven back again.
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05:00 August 21st 1941
U-boats have now been assigned for anti-convoy work to deal with supplies being shipped to the Persian pocket. Cutting them off will not in itself put them out of supply and I am sure the British still have many convoys left to waste on supplying them. We have instantly encountered a mixed South American force commanded by Brazil. There is the interesting discovery that apparently type IV U-boats have longer range than type I destroyers. I guess this is rather bad news for the Brazilians although they manage to escape before anything really unpleasant happens and my u-boats continue northwards to sit astride the convoy lanes.
This situation reveals an example of an unfortunate weakness of the convoy AI. It will tend to pick the closest port as the source for supplies and thereby limit possible convoy paths so I have little difficulty placing my u-boats where I know the convoys must go. If the convoy AI considered running the convoys from different ports then it could work around my u-boats but as far as I can tell this never happens. This is a serious handicap for short convoy routes but totally irrelevant for long ones.
04:00 August 22nd 1941
In Siberia (or more accurately central Asia) I have actually progressed to the task of trying to clear out the Chinese border. As things stand the Petal Throne and Russia hate each other and I can freely obliterate Russian forces against the Chinese border. For some reason the AI doesn’t seem to ever attack provinces it doesn’t want to move into and therefore it seems that I am safe from all Allied forces as long as I stay in territory officially belonging to Russia (Comintern). I know from experience as Russia that any attack by the Allied powers into Russian territory will cause any captured province to return to Russian ownership and, assuming the allies do not have a military access treaty, any allied forces are displaced back to their capitals. When faced with this situation in the past I have still launched attacks which were cancelled prior to any forces actually arriving in the target province. The allies do not appear to do this so I can exploit their complete passivity to round up any stray Russians.
(By the way, the certainty about this issue is based on having played sufficiently far ahead to prove that there is definitely no cross border reaction. My play for the next few weeks game time may not fully reflect this certainty)
07:00 August 23rd 1941
The US has turned up again invading Denmark with almost prescient timing since they arrive just as the coastal defence division is marching from Kiel to Kolding. This doesn’t look like to much of a problem and the reserve fleet even get in on the act attacking the enemy landing fleet. However, not everything works out for what turns out to be obvious reasons …
11:00 August 23rd 1941
The German forces at the southern tip of the Belgian Congo launch their attack on the last non-jungle province. I don’t mind attacking forests with mobile forces but I draw the line at Jungle. This gives me a bit more manoeuvre space between my forces and South Africa and another division for the heavy bombers to have a go at. Sometime soon I’m going to have to face up to the nasty idea of carpet-bombing jungle which will probably result in my allocating the bombers to something else.
19:00 August 23rd 1941
Defeating the US fleet has caused an unpleasant congregation of US troops. All of a sudden the issue is no longer a matter of destroying a US landing but changes to the issue of defending Kiel. This looks bad and I am immediately faced with assigning all available air power and possibly some redeployments to the rear of front line air units further west.
21:00 August 25th 1941
A routine interception of US heavy bombers (actually I always cover enemy heavy bombers) gives us some insight into the defences of Iceland. The US seems to have devoted a significant garrison to its defence so we won’t be taking this island back in the near future. Hopefully this is a build up location and these forces will be deployed forward to landings in Europe.
Or on the other hand hopefully they won’t. Denmark is looking a little fragile just at the moment.
12:00 August 26th 1941
The main Siberian pocket is finally yielding its stock of Russian divisions. It looks like all my efforts have yielded a relatively small bag of Russian divisions. Once these are eliminated I can concentrate on clearing out the frontier and releasing forces for other duties. The only long-term front against Russia is around Irkutsk and only a minority of the current active forces are assigned there.
20:00 August 27th 1941 a
A terrain view is rather difficult to interpret but does illustrate that my forces are becoming somewhat inappropriate for the terrain (see below for political version). The Irkutsk front is currently dominated by forest but moves on into mixed forest and mountain terrain. Along the Chinese border much of the terrain is mountainous and my mobile troops are only appropriate because they are already there.
20:00 August 27th 1941 b
This is a political version of the previous display and is far better at illustrating the spread of German controlled territory.
It is worth noting that the mountain “peninsula” (Rubcovsk) is actually the Russian capital and I am also aware of a major force concentration in Tannu Tuva (mountain province with the unique political colour).
I guess the Danish Resistance got on the horn and called up some Allied reinforcements. Things are looking grim on the border of the Fatherland! 
Are there any infantry or militia units in the pipeline that will help staunch the defense of Germany proper? Where are the nearest mobile units? Staying tuned...
Are there any infantry or militia units in the pipeline that will help staunch the defense of Germany proper? Where are the nearest mobile units? Staying tuned...
Bring some bombers back to Germany. You can probably spare some from Russia as its falling fast and your CAS isn't too well suited to the long ranges needed there. Even if they attack Kiel they would be dead before they got any further. Unless they land even more troops of course
Nice...you defeated the transports and forced them to disgorge their troops! Oops...
I only hope that the AI pours in reinforcements...with the majority of your fleets in the Indian Ocean this is an opportunity! Crosses fingers and hopes the asses in the Navy Department take my advice (not likely though...sigh.).
By the way: Nice work with the cruiser squadron against the IJN. I did not expect that kind of result at all...
TheExecuter
I only hope that the AI pours in reinforcements...with the majority of your fleets in the Indian Ocean this is an opportunity! Crosses fingers and hopes the asses in the Navy Department take my advice (not likely though...sigh.).
By the way: Nice work with the cruiser squadron against the IJN. I did not expect that kind of result at all...
TheExecuter
My old brain is only remembering one - Nelson's written orders just before Trafalger:Kanitatlan said:
...and should the enemy close, I have no fears as to the result...
I had it quoted in a rousing presentation for my teenaged "troops" right before Back to School shopping season descended upon us a couple of years ago...
Edit: scratch that - Now I remember, it was the signal Nelson flew during the Battle of Copenhagen, in direct disobedience to his "superior's" signal.
Very impressive work by the cruiser SAG. Do they have a CVL with them?
I am eagerly awaiting the appearance of the Soviet troop towers that your ill-gotten (espionage) reconaissance promised... Hopefully they'll be there soon!
Also, it looks as if our American allies have potentially made a beach head... Hopefully this can be exploited.
On a tachnical note, presumably since you have graciously provided a significant amount of off-map IC to allied nations, more than a few of them should have 4 or 5 tech teams by this point. Based on that, and the ability to share technologies shouldn't the rest of the world eventually "out-tech" you as time passes?
Also, it looks as if our American allies have potentially made a beach head... Hopefully this can be exploited.
On a tachnical note, presumably since you have graciously provided a significant amount of off-map IC to allied nations, more than a few of them should have 4 or 5 tech teams by this point. Based on that, and the ability to share technologies shouldn't the rest of the world eventually "out-tech" you as time passes?
Now all we need is 200 U.S divisions in Denmark to give you a proper headache.
Sadly I doubt this is in the offering.
Sadly I doubt this is in the offering.
WhisperingDeath Amazingly enough I'm not worried about additional ground forces for Denmark. The proposed garrison is all on its way to Kiel (I'm wasn't foolish enough to strategic move into Denmark) and I'm hoping it will be adequate (actually I know cos I've finished the rest of the summer campaign and now only need to post it.) Militia builds come a bit later but will be explained shortly.
Remble All bombers will be locally sourced which isn't a big problem since there are CAS positioned for bombing the channel
Brad1 Luck, Luck ! Who needs luck
TheExecuter Well put, the thought going through my head at the moment was oops
Juan_de_Marco Only fair to say nice back to you
noobermenschen Closest the first time, it was Nelson's second signal at the battle of Trafalgar leading directly to his strategy. I am very much a Trafalgar tactics fan for that period of naval warfare so in such games "Engage the enemy more closely" is my motton.
However, does anyone know the second (much more recent) use of this phrase (in which it is of course obviously stolen from the first use) - please do not use any search tools since the second meaning is an instant multiple hit.
Bafflegab I think you are going to be disappointed with the Russians. I suspect that I have managed to defeat them by parts and they are now collapsing into panic building. Recently written but not yet posted material seems to indicate this.
The technology issue is interesting as you are probably right that the allies should build up nicely into a massive blueprint exchange but many of the newly upgraded countries are well behind in tech and hence not much use. Brazil is probably a good example of this.
Von Uber I think 199 divisions is closer to the US response (well it is less than 200 and therefore closer to ...).
Remble All bombers will be locally sourced which isn't a big problem since there are CAS positioned for bombing the channel
Brad1 Luck, Luck ! Who needs luck
TheExecuter Well put, the thought going through my head at the moment was oops
Juan_de_Marco Only fair to say nice back to you
noobermenschen Closest the first time, it was Nelson's second signal at the battle of Trafalgar leading directly to his strategy. I am very much a Trafalgar tactics fan for that period of naval warfare so in such games "Engage the enemy more closely" is my motton.
However, does anyone know the second (much more recent) use of this phrase (in which it is of course obviously stolen from the first use) - please do not use any search tools since the second meaning is an instant multiple hit.
Bafflegab I think you are going to be disappointed with the Russians. I suspect that I have managed to defeat them by parts and they are now collapsing into panic building. Recently written but not yet posted material seems to indicate this.
The technology issue is interesting as you are probably right that the allies should build up nicely into a massive blueprint exchange but many of the newly upgraded countries are well behind in tech and hence not much use. Brazil is probably a good example of this.
Von Uber I think 199 divisions is closer to the US response (well it is less than 200 and therefore closer to ...).
14:00 August 28th 1941
After a long silence we have more activity in West Africa. The allied forces that pushed me back out of Abidjan have foolishly advanced there leaving Monrovia poorly defended. I cannot resist this opportunity and have launched a major attack on Monrovia. Manstein rapidly shows his excellence and ambushes the enemy to great effect during the night. German forces have taken heavy organisation loss but victory is assured and capturing Monrovia has major rewards since annexing Liberia takes them permanently out of the picture.
This front is now equipped with some air support including both interceptors and tactical bombers. These have already made a significant difference and should swing the balance in my favour. With this support and a little luck we may be able to roll up the coastal strip and destroy some enemy forces. The most important thing to do, however, is to avoid pushing the enemy units into a big stack.
12:00 August 29th 1941
I am starting to feel a little more secure about this pocket and I am pleased to provide this lovely illustration of the total forces I have cut off – viz 107 allied divisions. Not a fantastic bag for this game but a pretty good show for 12 panzer divisions with support from all our special forces.
By the way, the Marines have clearly come of age and we are currently lack an Inspektor Of Marines.
02:00 August 30th 1941
This is anew one on me, the first attack on mainland Britain and it is on the east coast against Sheffield. (slightly dodgy Geography). The landing is an automatic failure since the UK provided me with significant coastal defences, which will clearly swing the odds massively in my favour. (also rain and night and not ideal conditions)
03:00 August 30th 1941
Back in the Indian Ocean naval operations have returned to normal with only minor enemy task forces being encountered. Recent CV builds mean that both CV task forces can continue to operate at full strength whilst damaged ships are repaired.
06:00 August 30th 1941
Around Karachi I have been forced to launch a spoiling attack on Multan to prevent enemy forces building up there. This is only partly to protect Karachi and partially to protect Kabul which is currently very poorly defended. I would prefer to retain Kabul as it is an excellent defensive position as the northern hinge to any future advance into India.
18:00 August 30th 1941
Naval bombers have taken over the task of dealing with the Sheffield invasion force and I guess they will now be subject to the usual long retreat under a hail of bombs.
Several u-boat fleets have put to sea to disrupt supply convoys to Denmark but have yet to achieve any effect. It may be that their original landing supplies are not yet exhausted.
US forces have spread all across Denmark and I only retain Copenhagen. They have 7 divisions to my 3 but I have total air superiority and with some of their divisions moving I can inflict significant casualties. It remains a bit of a puzzle exactly how I am going to winkle out the rest of them. I am worried that 5 divisions may be sufficient to defeat the defences of Kiel if air support cannot interfere adequately quickly.
00:00 September 1st 1941
This is the first mention (I think) of Advanced Infantry Division for some time but I have now researched it. This will result in massive upgrade spending and significant strength increases for some German units.
Against Infantry our Garrison divisions will gain 33% in firepower and –10% casualties due to increased hardness. They gain even more firepower against armour giving an over all major improvement as coastal defence units.
Our Infantry gain 14% in firepower with other improvements yielding minor further improvement.
In addition 1943 Militia is activated and I am immediately going to raise substantial numbers of these divisions. 1943 Militia is a highly effective unit and can fulfil many second line roles releasing full infantry divisions for other duties. These militia are a major reason for researching this technology early and I will be resisting researching other 1943 ground unit techs until next year.
In this AAR you are currently still in 1941 (August, as of this post) meaning that you have rushed the 1943 Inf starting probably fairly close to 2 years in advance of the tech's normal availability. Is it typical in your games to tech rush the later infantry techs (1943 and on)? I have noted in this AAR and also the Soviet counterpart (Edge of Darkness), one of the keys was to get 1941 Inf ASAP.