I. On the brink… 1936-39
In 1936, Australia stood as a recently federated nation on the brink of it’s second world war. In addition to the mainland, the nation had to defend a number of its administered territories in the South Pacific. Historical ties with the British Empire also obligated Australia to come to their aid in the event of war, and this is how I chose to conduct myself in the game.
From 1936 - 1939 my priority was to boost the IC output of my small economy as well as invest most of my limited leadership into research. I chose to channel my efforts into upgrading the equipment of my infantry and the two brigades of cavalry under my initial command. I also built a division of armoured cars and light tanks to send to Europe or North Africa… or perhaps to fight back against an invasion of the mainland. After committing to about a year and a half research into Destroyer tech (bringing weaponry and armour to 1936 standard), I ordered the production of an additional destroyer flotilla for my fleet (supplementing the hopelessly obsolete Scrap Iron Flotilla). Over these three years I progressively increased my officer ratio and by the outbreak of hostilities in Sept ’39, it was at 100%. I also joined the Allies when asked by Great Britain.
II. Early engagements… 1939-40
War broke out in early September with the Germans smashing through Poland and by the end of the month it was all over for them. Denmark followed suite soon after. What happened next can only be described as the most incredible stalemate. Huge armies of French troops began to mass on the border with Germany, the occasional squabble resulted in a province changing hands but no inroads by either side.
Elsewhere things where only marginally more interesting. In February 1940 I was notified of Portugal’s decision to allow military access to Germany. This was particularly worrying as Portugal controlled the small island of Timor just to the north of Darwin. As the highest threat to my national security so far, I decided to act. Sending a destroyer flotilla to recon the island found that it was empty of troops however it was evident they were there at some stage as the western half of the island owned by the Netherlands had fallen to the Portuguese. I boarded a small force and proceeded to invade and take the island without incident. My declaration of war triggered the British to mount a full assault on the Portuguese mainland and by mid 1940, they were defeated and I received my first puppet nation.
July 1940 and the Germans had still not attacked the Maginot line, the Russians were happily annexing minor nations such as Latvia and Lithuania whilst more and more nations joined the Axis including Italy, Hungary and Romania. In Asia, the Japanese had contented themselves with seizing the northern half of Nationalist China and decided on an armistice.
III. Success in North Africa… 1940
Shortly after Italy joined the Axis I decided it was time to send the 1st Armoured Division supported by an infantry division to Egypt in anticipation of Italian attacks across the Libyan border. My British counterparts did not seem to have the same worry as they hadn’t stationed any troops there. My divisions arrived in late July 1940 and proceeded to sit around for several months before the Italians decided to enter the fray. At dawn on the morning of the 7th October, Italian infantry attacked my infantry on the border. It was a balanced battle until the 1st Armoured Div. moved in and the Italians were quickly put on the defensive. I decided to push hard with my armoured division and within two weeks, all the Italian divisions in Eastern Libya had either retreated to Tobruk or had been routed. Consolidating my forces around Tobruk, I assaulted the stronghold and it capitulated easily. Mindful of losing momentum, I spend minimal time re-organising in Tobruk before continuing my advance toward Benghazi. During the advance, my armour rapidly out-paced both my infantry and retreating Italian HQ’s, which I ignored in order to strike Benghazi before Italian reinforcements could arrive. The strategy worked a charm and Benghazi was mine (or more accurately British) without struggle. Inspired by my success I decided to push on and take Tripoli. Setting out from Benghazi, I began to out run my supply lines and by December, my offensive had ground to a halt several hundred kilometres from Tripoli. When supply issues were resolved, the march resumed and I was able to easily take the city just before the new year.
Meanwhile at sea I decided to commit my light cruisers HMAS Perth, HMAS Sydney and the Scrap Iron Flotilla (destroyers) to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to support British/French naval operations there. Overall operations for the Allies during this period were very successful, with the German U-boats and Italian navy taking a heavy beating. Notable losses included the cruiser Graf Spree and battleship Tirpitz, both sunk by the Norwegian cruiser KNM Eidsvold, the Bismarck was sunk by French battleship Paris. Australian ships exacted a toll upon enemy convoys and suffered no losses.
IV. First defeats… 1941
In early January 1941, the Germans finally attacked along the French and Belgian borders but were met by stiff resistance everywhere they attacked. Eventually they managed a breakthrough at the northern portion of the Maginot line but the march toward Paris was slow and not very Blitzkrieg-y at all. A dominating factor in the battle was the impunity in which the Luftwaffe operated. My impulse to help out in the air by rebasing a group of Australian-built Hawker Demon fighters turned out to be disastrous. After just one intercept mission my Demons were in a total state of disorganisation and at 65% strength so I immediately brought them back home.
By the 2nd February, the Fall of France was complete and a Vichy government installed. This presented an opportunity for my divisions back in Tripoli to push into Vichy Tunisia and Algeria. Once again my armour advanced with impunity, seizing the capitals Tunis and Algiers for the British, prompting the capitulation of the Vichy government and the restoration of their territories to France. During 1941, a number of interesting developments in the Mediterranean region began to unfold. The British landed marines in Corsica and Sardinia with great success, only to be driven out by Italian counter-invasions a few weeks later. The island of Rodi was taken by the British and a garrison stationed. In a completely unexpected move, German Panzer II tanks operated by Italian divisions landed in Alexandria and proceeded in two directions to smash all British units in the region, advancing on Tobruk to the east and seizing control of the Suez canal and conquering Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria to the west. At the same time, German infantry divisions began to land along French Algeria’s western coast. At this point in the war I made my first major blunder. I decided to send my divisions currently stationed in Algiers back to Egypt to take back the Suez canal rather than counter-attack the German infantry, who had no tank support and were in my immediate operational area. The 1st Armoured Div. engaged the enemy outside Benghazi in early June ’41 (Tobruk had fallen by the time I had re-deployed) and my plan proved to be an impossible fantasy as my Carden-Loyd tankettes and armoured cars were no match for the superior German panzers. As my armour retreated to Benghazi, my infantry was still catching up and was in Tripoli with a garrison brigade I had stationed there. I ordered a halt and merged the force to defend the capital. Meanwhile I loaded the 1st Armoured Div. (who had reached Benghazi) onto a transport flotilla and re-deployed this experienced division to Lisbon, Portugal to deal with an invasion by a single German infantry division.
If there is interest in this, I will keep going and tell the tales of the July ’41 defence of Tripoli up to the present moment in the game July ’43. I did not start taking screenshots until Jul ’43 (yes I was writing this all down!!) so I will try keep it less text-y until then.
