AAR

TK Box Game: Totaler Krieg!
HFC Report # TK01
 
Scenario: Standard Campaign Game
Game Type: FTF
Player #1 (Axis): Andreas Ludwig (HFC), AREA ID# AL008
Player #2 (Allies): Denny Koch (HFC), AREA ID# DK003
Reporter: Denny Koch (HFC)
Game Start: July 12th, 2003
Game End: July 19th, 2003
Game Length: 18 hours
AREA rated: No (unfinished)

Optional Rules Set:

Card hand: free
Optional Rules:
* Bomber Range
* Strategic Bombing
* Shore Bombardment
* Big Ticket Item
* Desert Mud
* Additional Overrun Rules
* Limited Supply Lines
* SS-Restrictions
* Elite
* US Strategic Impact
* Faster US Mobilization
* Red Star/White Star

Setup

Soviet Setup:
The Soviets prepare for Border Wars. Stalin decides to play an offensive game and to rush for his piece of polish cake. Hopefully Germany will play the historic "West First"-Campaign, turning against Great Britain and France. Soviet units gather around Leningrad (Finnish Border War), Odessa (Bessarabia Border War), Minsk and Kiew. The soviet convoy crosses the Baltic Sea in Troop Mode.
Pending Option card: Polish Border Dispute.

Western Allied Setup:
Not much to do for the british forces. Three units in home country ports, some units fortifying Gibraltar, Malta, Basra, Suez, Alexandria. France fortifies the Maginot line, secures Brest and surrounds Paris. With the high mobilization roll the French manage to build up 2 Maginot fortresses (one of them in Metz) and the HQ to full strength.
Pending Option card: British Mobilization.

German Setup:
Strong forces along the polish border. Seems that Germany will open the Game by "solving the Polish question". German units gather at Breslau and in Eastern Prussia. Few forces left to secure the Western Border in Ruhr and Frankfurt. One convoy in the North Sea in Troop Mode.

August/September 1939
Seasonal Phase: Autumn

Seasonal Victory Point Check: 0 = Allied Crusade 1

Axis Turn

Option Card: Hitler reveals his sinister plans: Ultimatum! Case White.

Hitler declares War on Poland - a Western Allied Minor Country! So he follows the historical layout: West First. In declaring War on Poland, he is declaring War on Great Britain and France, too. Winston Churchill is not amused.
Poland mobilizes her forces. Highly motivated the Polish get a mobilization die roll of 5. Hitler growls.

The german Luftwaffe lifts off towards Warsaw. Uncontested it can be placed between the Polish capital and Krakow. During the Operational Movement Phase Hitlers armies enter Poland and press towards Posen and Krakow. Fortunately, Krakow is protected by a polish defense ring.

Germany annouces the first Blitz combat: Attack on Posen. With an odds ratio of 6:1 there is nothing the Polish can do to prevent Posen's downfall. The german troops exploit into Posen and deeper into Polish territory.
The second Blitz combat threatens Warsaw. Despite the low odds ratio of 3:1 Hitler orders an attack: Dr1 1/1. The Polish 2-step-unit in Warsaw decides to retreat and leaves the city. While Germany takes her tank step loss, the now remaining Polish corps hopes to fortify Krakow in the oncoming Western Allied turn.
Hitler orders a third Blitz attack: On a cavallery unit west of Krakow. With a devastating 8:1 odds ratio the german army gets a Dr1 0/2 result. The cavalry unit is forced to retreat into another corps. Together they die and allow a german advance near Krakow: The defense parameter is now open.
A fourth Blitz combat threatens a 2-step-unit of the Krakow defense ring. With a 4:1 odds ratio and a Dr2 result the polish unit is forced to retreat into Krakow. There it decides to stop the retreat and to take a step loss instead.

Hitler seems to be quite satisfied with the Blitz combat segment. In the Regular Combat Segment he orders the attack on Krakow under air support cover. With a final odds ratio of 4:1 Germany gets an Dr1 0/1 result. The defender decides to take step losses. Result: 1 Infantry corps holds Krakow.
Now Germany commences an attack on Danzig. With overwhelming attack power, Danzig falls and is open to further german exploitation.

After all combat is done, the German troops reserve deeper into polish territory, where they fortify their positions.

Germany failed in conquering Poland during the first turn. Hitler declines to declare war on any target country.

Western Allied Turn

Winston Churchill declares war on Germany and reveals his plan for this season: British Mobilization (yes, we NOW know that it couldn't have been chosen by the british player before setup and we also forgot to read the first round special rule that all option cards had to be revealed at once.... mistakes happen ;-)

A british army and a valuable air support unit go into the Delay Box. Polish Reinforcements support Krakow and one colonial french corps is ordered to secure the border between French North Africa and Libya, an Italian dependent. Italy is a neutral country, but you can never be sure...
Churchill selects "Coalition" as the pending option card. During Limited War the Allied Card hand is limited, too.
During the Organization segment Poland builds up her troops in Krakow.
The Infantry corps which left Warsaw after the german attack, moves into Krakow, too. France decides to protect her eastern borders to Germany, for the Western Allies guess that France will be next when Hitler finished his business in Poland.
Knowing the strategic importance of Gibraltar, the British ship one Infantry step to the Gibraltar fortress to fortify this position. The BEF Infantry unit has orders to form the Anglo-Allied Army with the french allies and sails off to Le Havre.
The Western Allied government declines to fight the german troops at the Westfront.
They reserve one Armor-Corps from Southhampton to Le Havre to support the threatened french border and capital with one offensive unit.
Because Hitler ended Appeasement, the british receive one Infantry step in Edinburgh as an conditional event.

Soviet Turn

The Soviet Union reveals her Option card: Polish Border Dispute.

Hitler grabbed West Poland, well, Stalin decides that Russia should claim the Eastern part. Hitler and Stalin are allies - the Nazi-Soviet-Pact is in effect and Stalin thinks it to be a good idea to settle some minor border disputes with his uncooperative neighbours while watching Hitler's crusade in the West.
An early Barbarossa seems very unlikely, so Stalin choses the Finnish Border to be his pending next option.

Stalin sends some cavalry support into Leningrad und Minsk. With 10 attack factors (including 2 panzer corps) the Soviets enter Eastern Poland to settle the border war and integrate this region into the russian motherland. In preparation for the finnish border war next season, Stalin sends more reinforcements into Karelia and Leningrad. Depending on the german troop movement after conquering Western Poland, Stalin considers the option of invading Bessarabia, too, and carefully moves some units south.

Then it's time to settle the Polish Border dispute. With two step losses the Soviet Union settle the dispute and re-integrate Eastern Poland into the Soviet Union. The Soviets now share a land border with Greater Germany. Stalin is very pleased.
Finally, Stalin orders more reserve troops to Leningrad.

Delay
August-September 1940 means long delay times for the british and french units. Soviet units return immediately, while German units take a few months.

September-October 1939
Weather: Mud

Axis Turn

Hitler decides to turn his current option card face down. No more Case White this season!
The germans continue to surround Krakow and attack it despite the muddy weather. The attack is successful, Krakow falls into german hands. The Wehrmacht advances into the deserted city. This means that Poland is now conquered.
Leaving only few troops to garrison the polish cities, the german troops reserve back to the Westfront. Churchill was right: France will be next.
Hitler declines to declare war on any target country. The conditional event confirms: Poland is now a Conquered Western Allied Minor Country. Western Poland, at least.

Western Allies Turn

During the Organization Phase, Great Britain builds up her Gibraltar Fortress. France builds up the 6th Army in Calais. Due to Limited War Restrictions, the Wallies are prevented from building 3-step-units. The Optional Rule of Limited Supply Lines slows down the german 3-step-armies, but this isn't of any comfort (note: we did get this optional rule wrong in our first game, this is the reason why we eventually broke off this game. We didn't realize the distinction between rails and roads and thought the limited supply to be in effect everywhere on the map).

In preparation for the coming season and a very likely Case Yellow in Summer, France draws back the mobilized 3-step-HQ east of Metz to protect the Maginot line and the Belgian border. The BEF meets a french infantry corps near Paris in preparation to build up the Anglo-Allied-Army in a future turn.
Despite of the rare and valuable british infantry step, Churchill decides to support France in the oncoming german invasion and sends one Infantry corps from Edinburgh to Calais. The british Armor, which went to Le Havre, moves on to the Ardennes.
Finally, the Western Allies reserve their troops to the Belgium-Holland border and into the Ardennes. If Germany wants to prepare a Case Yellow, the Western Allies will be prepared, too.
The Conditional Events sends one british Mobilization step to London.

Soviet Turn

Stalin is still satisfied with his new polish territory. His troops are prepared for further border wars and in position. No russian movement, no combat, no reserve. Stalin sits and waits for the next season.

Delay
The german fighter suffers from a heavy delay die roll of 5.

November-December 1939
Seasonal Phase: Winter
Weather: Snow

Seasonal Victory Point Check: 0 = Allied Crusade 1

Axis Turn

Hitler reveals his winter plans: German Mobilization!

He discards one Production Directive card and receives a HQ, strong armies and more good stuff in the Delay Box. The german mobilization definitely outruns the british mobilization.
With growing scepsis the Western Allies watch the massive german troop movement towards Belgium-Holland and Maginot. Hitler's units gather at Ruhr and in the Eifel region.
In preparation for a coming attack on France Germany declines to engange in combat. They prefer to move on westwards.
Surprisingly, Hitler does not declare war in his conditional event segment. He receives his conditional mobilization replacements and seems to be quite satisfied with the situation. After conquering Poland he only left one mountain corps in Warsaw to protect the capital from Polish uprising and otherwise emptied Poland and Eastern Germany. For the Nazi-Soviet-Pact is still in effect, there is no need to worry about Russian intervention in the east and Hitler decided to concentrate his powers on the new Westfront.

Western Allies Turn

Struggling with their political affairs, Churchill reveals Coalition and choses as a pending option card for the coming 1940 another Coalition - well knowing that France cannot withstand the overwhelming german attack forces and planning to play the Dyle Plan in summer. The Western Allies receive few french and british seasonal replacements and roll on the Allied Guarantee Table: Conflicting Plans, no result.
In preparation for the invasion the british BEF and french corps form the AA army west of Paris. The french corps in Brest form a strong 443 2-step-army. Handicapped by the snow the Western Allies move more troops to the Westfront to secure the borders. All units leave South- and West-France to secure a defensive parameter around Paris and to fortify the Belgium-Holland border and the Maginot line. They are totally outnumbered by the german forces, but the only have to survive the oncoming season to prevent Case Yellow - the collapse of France. Even if that means that they must sacrifice their valuable steps - the survival of Paris is the prime directive and even Churchill sends more troops from London to Le Havre. It's a risky gambit to empty Great Britain, but as long as Germany gathers at the Westfront and doesn't move into Belgium or attacking Maginot, the protection of France has priority over protecting against a potential sealion. Even if Germany tried to invade Great Britain while attacking France, this would split her forces and help Paris. The collapse of Great Britain is very unlikely because Germany would have to play Ultimatum - Operation Sealion.

Soviet Turn

Stalin decides to have some talk with his neighbors, the Finns: He announces the Finnish Border Dispute. Because Germany emptied Poland and the whole eastern region, he decides that an early Barbarossa is very unlikely and uses the time to grab a third ceded Border Marker: his pending option card is the Rumanian Border Dispute.
Russia receives few replacement steps, one in Sevastopol, to build up the Sev fortress and one Shock corps in Odessa. After doing the Sevastopol fortress conversion, Stalin orders his units into finnish territory. To his surprise, the odds and attack factors are not overwhelming - and the Soviet union suffers from a severe lack of tank steps. Determined to crush the Finns, Stalin orders attack and despite heavy losses - 2 steps - he manages to get the finnish border region and to integrate it into the Soviet territory. The second ceded border marker is on the map.
After solving the Finnish border dispute, the soviet units reserve back to Leningrad. 4 2-step-armies start on their long march to the North. Preparing for a possible german attack on Norway the next season, Stalin decides to bring his troops in position to win the run for Narvik, if Germany should declare war on Denmark-Norway. For Germany seems to be struggling with the Westfront, Stalin is in no hurry to move the units north. He doesn't break them into faster one-step-units, but sends them up full strength. But the Soviets know that they should use the time to secure their new border with Germany. To distract Hitler, Stalin orders to move at the Eastern Prussia doorstep and to gather in Eastern Poland, all along the border line with Germany. If, even by accident, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet-Pact, Russia would be in a strong defensive position far west, threatening the strategic hexes in Germany.

Delay
Germany is not very lucky with the air support units: A long delay of 4. But the delay hits their armies even worse: with die rolls of 6, 5, 4, 5, 6,3 and 4 Hitler will chop off some heads.
The Soviets are lucky - the Ba-HQ enters the game immediately in the next turn.

January-February 1940
Weather: Snow

Axis Turn

The Axis builds up their forces in Hamburg.
Massive troop movements to the Belgian border convice Churchill that Hitler is planning Case Yellow and an attack on Belgian-Holland. Now every german unit - except the mountain corps in Warsaw - is in position at the Westfront. The question is not: will Hitler attack, the question is: when will he attack? The answer is easy: next summer, using the long, dry months for a major invasion. Germany's attack power is so overwhelming that Hitler could even have ordered the attack in snow or mud to beat up the Belgians or French.
As expected, Hitler doesn't order an attack this winter. He continues to draw his forces together at the Belgian border. He doesn't declare war on Belgium and Holland during the War & Peace Segment, but receives tons of conditional mobilization replacement steps.

Western Allies Turn

Churchill fears for his minor french allies. In concentrating their attack power in the west and leaving Poland and Germany empty, the germans highly outnumber the french and british defense forces. It is doubtful if they can withstand the Case Yellow offensive and attack on Paris for 3 turns during the summer.
Churchill uses his political influence and rolls on the Allied Conference Table. The result: Military Aid, so one french step is sent to Paris. In preparation for a hard battle for Paris the french build up every unit to 2-step-strength. The british corps in Calais form a 2-step-army, too. The plan is to surround Paris with strong defense positions to offer Germany no space for choking the city. This is dangerous plan because units could be forced to retreat into their neighbour units, but it is vital that Paris survives and to play for time, even if that means that steps must be sacrificed. More troops fortify the Belgian border while replacements and the HQ is brought into position west of Paris to replace step losses.
Now Paris is fortified with 12 defense factors. Germany must crash 8 steps to occupy the city after breaking through the defense ring.
The Western Allies send their reserve troops to the border, too. Now they sent all they got - these forces must slow down the german invasion - or die.

Soviet Turn

In preparation for the Rumanian border dispute this spring, Stalin orders more units to the Bessarabia border. This time there will be enough russian attack forces to simply crush the border region. The 4 Leningrad armies continue their way up north while most troops continue to secure the polish border.

March-April 1940
Seasonal Phase: Spring

Seasonal Victory Point Check: 0 = Allies Crusade 1

Axis Turn

Hitler reveals his plans for this season. Not very surprisingly he plays Ultimatum: Operation Weserübung and selects Belgium-Holland as his target country. He declares War on Belgium-Holland - a now Western Allied Minor country. The Belgians mobilize both armies and secure Brussels and Rotterdam.
Hitler orders organization and builds up massive multi-step units in Hamburg and Frankfurt. Then the Germans start to invade Holland. Following the historical outline, they avoid the Maginot line by violating Holland's neutrality. The german forces surround Brussels and Rotterdam and start their Blitz attacks.
Blitz attack 1 crushes Brussels with overwhelming odds of 9:1. The result - a Dr2 1/3 - seals the belgian fate and Brussels falls into german hands. The loss of a german armor step doesn't hurt the germans and they advance into the belgian capital. With the second Blitz attack, germany attacks Rotterdam. With final odds of 6:1 and a Dr2 1/1 Rotterdam doesn't stand a chance and falls into german hands, too. This is the end of Belgium-Holland.
After occupying both cities, Germany starts regular combat from Brussels and the Eifel on the french border defense line. They attack 2 french corps and the AA army with 3:1 odds and force them back near Paris. Rapidly, the germans fill the now vacated space and punch a hole through the first defensive line at the Westfront.
After finishing their combat, Germany reserves into Belgium-Holland. This country now is a Conquered Western Allied minor country.

Western Allies Turn

Churchill reveals another coalition card and confuses Hitler, who cannot judge the power or meaning of those cards, suspecting they hide some secret, powerful surprises. Churchill refers to his strong interest in diplomatic affairs and explains Hitler that coalition cards are really really great.

As planned before, Churchill selects the Dyle Plan as pending option card to squeeze some replacement steps when France collapses - not very trustful in his french allies and their will to withstand the german occupation.
The Western Allies receive few replacement steps, one british infantry in London and 2 french steps bound for Paris.
The Allies Conference Table shows that the Allies support Nationalist. Lacking Partisan support or Axis Minor countries, this result has no effect.
The french allies organize Paris and draw the replacement troops behind the river Saine, out of german reach, to be prepared for replacing step losses in the capital. The french HQ goes north to protect the capital and the defense ring. The army in Brest starts to move towards Paris and the infantry from London sails to Brest. The Western Allies are prepared.

Soviet Turn

Stalin declares trouble with his rumanian neighbors and announces that he is planning to integrate Bessarabia into the Soviet Union. Hitler is suspicious, but can be convinced that his Russian friend is solving private problems over there and that his attacks have nothing to do with Germany.
After drawing some replacements in Kiew und Minsk and building up a HQ in Minsk to protect the polish border, the soviet forces enter Bessarabia. With overwhelming 13 Attack factors and tanks they grab the third ceded border marker with only one step loss. Losing the tank step hurts, because Russia is still lacking armor steps.
After settling this dispute, Russia begins to move her troops to strategic positions such as road intersections, the borders, the Baltic and in Poland.

Delay
The desperatley needed Paris fortress enters the Western allied force pool in six turns - this will be too late to be of any use. The russian HQ suffers from heavy delay, too.

April-May 1940
Weather: Mud

Axis Turn

Hitler decides to turn his option card face down.
He orders to break down one 3-step-army because of the (misinterpreted) Supply-Restrictions Optional Rule to enable it to enter France. But to his own surprise this would cause an overstacking in the hex, because he forgot to build up the HQ in the same hex.
Despite the muddy weather more units enter France and take course for Paris, where they meet the Paris defense ring at Le Havre and Reims. Hitler orders attack - his armies are so strong that he can risk an attack even in a muddy season. First the german armies attack the british 233-Army and manage to get a 6:1 odds. The Army is forced to retreat into Le Havre and to take the French 7th army with it to Le Mans. The Germans advance through the hole and reach Paris.
Finally, they reserve into Brussels and Northern France.

Western Allies Turn

Churchill rolls on his Coalition card. Conflicting Plans, no result.
During the operational movement phase he decides that british steps are far too valuable to be completely sacrificed in an attempt to slow down the mighty german Wehrmacht. He sends the british infantry from Brest to Gibraltar, to check out the situation in the Med and sends the retreated british infantry from Le Mans to Brest. The French 7th army returns to Le Havre to stuff the punched hole. The French decide that the Maginot line is of no use anymore and send the 10th army from a Maginot fortress to the Paris HQ to protect it with its strong defense values.

Soviet Turn

The Soviets continue to march towards the arctic sea to line up at the finnish northern border, ready for a run on Narvik. They also continue to secure their western borders. In preparation for future german invasions or a possible attack on the turkish border, the russian Shock corps is transferred to Rostov to hold this important hex.

May-June 1940
Seasonal Phase: Summer

Seasonal Victory Point Check: +1 Axis = Allied Crusade 0

The Axis receives big toys from the Turn Record track: 2 fighters, armies, HQs. This means that the Axis has air superiority over the allies.

Axis Turn

As suspected, Hitler announces Case Yellow - the Fall of France. The german Führer spends a long time musing over his pending option card and finally makes a decision.
The germans reinforce Frankfurt und Berlin. Poland is still emtpy. The german Wehrmacht rolls through Belgium and Northern France. Germany sends the Axis-D class convoy into the North Sea, together with the German Convoy. Both are in Troop mode. Germany attempts to place an air support unit into the North Sea, too. The first air support unit is contested by the french fleet, which will be of no use once France has collapsed. Three more german air support units reach the North Sea uncontested. Great Britain decides to accept this to get the german air support units out of the support units available box, which is now empty.

Churchill informs Hitler diplomatically that the germans cannot build beachheads with air support units without troops in northern Denmark and Copenhagen. Hitler is stunned - he obviously planned a small invasion on Norway while struggling for Paris. Churchill explains him why the beachhead creation at the norwegian border is not allowed. Germany didn't realize that beachheads created from air support units have a limited range (the german player didn't build any beachheads so far and wasn't aware of the mechanics). Because he used up his air support units, he has to improvise and switches over to a spontaneous Operation Sealion. Great Britain was emptied completely, so the island is in fact a tempting target. Because of his use of Case Yellow Hitler could not collapse Great Britain, but at least he could try to occupy all cities to cut off the british replacement hexes. This is a very risky plan because Hitler has to split his forces and to send a great amount over to England - forces he could use to crush Paris. He decides to invade Great Britain anyway with the vision to occupy all cities, to hold them over years and to play Sealion in the far future, when the US joined the war, to kick off all british units from the map and leave the US troops alone. Before beginning with the invasion, Hitler builds up his HQ in Ruhr and some armies in Berlin and Frankfurt. This time he manages to break down the three-step-army in Calais.
As expected, Germany creates three Beachheads in the Channel: a spontaneous, improvised Operation Sealion. Churchill recognizes that it was a risky gambit to empty the island. After building the beachheads, troops from Rotterdam, Antwerpen, Calais and even Bremen (via Naval transport) step on the beachheads. Simulateously, the now reduced german troops continue to push through Belgium into France.
Germany makes a Blitz attack on Le Havre and forces the French army to take step losses. Then the germans attack the 6th French army in front of Paris and eliminate it.
After finishing the Blitz attacks, Germany makes an unopposed beachhead landing on Englands southern coast. This event triggers "Their Finest Hour", perfect to squeeze even more steps out of the coming Dyle Plan.
In the reserve Movement Phase Germany tries to occupy all british cities, but is shocked to recognize that they have to leave Edinburgh empty. Hitler announces that the scottish city will be no problem and dealt with in the near future and that there will be no threat by placing british reinforcements there. Thinking of the poor british replacement rate, he obviously has no idea how many steps the british can mobilize as their home defense...

Western Allies Turn

Glad to have picked the right card at the right time, Churchill reveals the Dyle Plan. As a pending option card he choses the Commonwealth Mobilization. These reinforcement steps don't need british home cities and the card allows for future US Land Lease. The conditional event is linked to the French Collapse, so Churchill thinks that this pending card is the right decision for the coming season.
A desparately needed british air support unit, HQ and Gar go into the delay box. France receives one additional step in Bordeaux.
The Royal Air Force protects Edinburgh to prevent Germany from attacking the city. Germany has used up all her Air Support units in her amphibious invasion and cannot contest the placement.
To save the island Churchill calls back the Infantry from Gibraltar to Belfast, which is a british home country port and was overlooked by the germans. The infantry in Brest returns to Edinburgh. The british armor unit in Paris retreats and rolls to Brest while the french infantry unit in Bordeaux fills up the space in Paris, even maximizing the defense value of Paris. The french colonial corps in Northern Africa continues to walk towards the Libyan border. If Italy is activated as an Axis Minor, there could be a possible run for strategic positions in Africa.Two more infantry units from the Maginot Line hurry to fortify Paris and block the germans, who cannot use enough attack strength because of the traffic jam in the Paris defense circle.
Finally, the British reserve the armor from Brest to Belfast, too. Because "Their finest hour" has been triggered with the german invasion in Great Britain, Churchill receives 1 home defense step in Edinburgh. The city is filled up with 3 steps and one air support unit right now. Hitler growls. He didn't believe that the UK could mobilize so many units in one turn. Because France still is an Wallied Minor Country and Appeasement has ended, the French receive one infantry step in Bordeaux, too, which will rush to Paris in the near future. Suddenly Hitler begins to sweat and to count the time - he recognizes that he will face serious problems in conquering Paris before the season is over. If he fails to fullfill Case Yellow, he won't get the Italians, there will be no Vichy creation and he will have to garrison each city in France and French North Africa to prevent the french from popping up. And this will seriously hinder Operation Barbarossa and give Stalin enough time to build up the big, red giant. Maybe it was a mistake to split the german forces and to invade Great Britain? Churchill is struggling, too, and Great Britain nearly choked with only one city left, but the Brits are accustomed to poor conditions in the beginning of the war, whereas Germany desperately needs all forces to conquer as much of Europe before the US arrive.

Soviet Turn

Stalin tweaks Germany by announcing Mobilization. As a pending option card, Stalin choses another Mobilization. He declines to engage in another border war with Turkey and to build up strong soviet forces to shock Hitler, who definetely is facing serious problems in the west. Time to do some funny things in the East.
Russia receives troops in the Force Pool and more reinforcements on the Map. He builds up the Shock in Rostov to a strong 2-step-Shock Army. The northern troops almost reached the artic sea and are in position, but now it has become very unlikely that Germany will invade Norway - they simply have no troops left, their own troops are trapped in Great Britain and they are facing trouble to clear Paris. But maybe, when Total War broke out, Churchill could declare war on Norway or Finnland and Stalin could grab these countries and hexes before Germany knows what is happening?
Stalin continues to push his border westwards and to secure it with all his troops. All strategic positions are safe; if the Germans wanted to invade Russia (although they don't have the forces to do that right now), they will be facing serious trouble.

Delay
The german fighters face heavy delay, as well as the french fleet.

June-July 1941

Axis Turn

Hitler sends a Supply Convoy into the North Sea to supply the troops in Great Britain. The 3 air support units which formed the beachheads go into the Delay Box.
Germany builds up her Panzer armies in front of Paris and starts to count if they should attack Paris this turn or wait for better odds in the next turn. Shocked Hitler recognizes that it will be hard to conquer Paris even if he started to attack it right now - he has to eliminate 8 steps and in the next Wallies Turn Paris will be reinforced to full strength. He gets the first idea of what it means if he fails to solve Case Yellow and orders an immediate attack on Paris.
Before attacking, Germany moves her troops and tries to bring as much units to Paris as possible, but the defense ring is tight. To prevent the Belfast troops from crossing the strait over to the scottish highlands, Germany pushes one infantry to block the position and to surround Edinburgh.
Then Hitler orders the attack on Paris with 30 attack factors vs. 12 defense factors and shifts for the french defenders and sends the airborne into the city. The final odds are 3:1 and the result is a Dr1 0/1. The Anglo-Allied Army, which secured Paris, loses its french step and becomes the BEF. Another french infantry corps is lost, too.
Hitler is not satisfied and orders a second attack in the regular combat. The odds now are 3:2 and the result is a Dr1 - which means that the BEF is eliminated, because the defender changes the retreat result into a step loss.
Desperated the Germans attack two french reinforcement-corps in Troyes to prevent them from rushing into Paris in the coming Turn, but France has enough forces to bring Paris back to her full strength. With odds of 3:2 Germany gets a poor result and loses one step - an army goes into the Delay box.
After all combat is done, Germany reserves into Brussels to push more troops to Paris. In the next turn there will be the last chance to fulfill Case Yellow.

Western Allies Turn

The two infantry steps in Edinburgh organize and build an british 2-step-army. The french forces reinforce Paris and send in the 10th army and another Infantry Corps to replace the step losses. The infantry in Bordeax rushes near Paris and the colonial corps has reached the libyan border.
Churchill now orders a Blitz attack on the infantry corps between the Edinburgh and Belfast troops. With a 3:1 result the Brits get an Exchange and take 1 Army step in Belfast. The German infantry cannot retreat and is eliminated. The Belfast Infantry advances into the Scottish Highlands. Now the occupied city of Glasgow is cut off and isolated.
The french troops cannot reserve, they are in melee with the german troops.
Because of the Dyle Plan, the Western Allies receive conditional reinforcements: One home defense infantry to Edinburgh and one french infantry to Bordeaux.

Soviet Turn

The Soviets are consolidating and filling last gaps in their defense parameters.

Delay
Long delay for all air support units.

July-August 1940

Game End:

The Axis fails to conquer Paris, but eventually activated Italy with a Treaty card in the next season. This is where we quit the game because we realized major rule misinterpretations. The wrong concept of limited supply had heavy impact on our strategic planning and was severely slowing the gameplay down. Germany would have played a totally different game (for example: no british invasion) if the player was aware of the correct implications of the Limited Supply rule. So our strategies were crushed and we decided to quit and start anew - this time with correct interpretations of this optional rule.

It was an interesting game full of tension, though!

(c) 2004 by Denny Koch, HFC

HFC Homefront Wargame Center, http://www.homefrontcenter.de


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