After Action Reports

Thanks for the suggestion.  I hear ya, we may play to 12 victory cities, (or 13 or 14 etc etc) but it depends on what kind of game  you like.  Come to think of it, it may have been only 11 cities that one side got to on our 1st game.  I personally prefer longer games with more decisive outcomes, and I feel like 15 cities victory condition offers that longer game with a “high-technology, big victory” feel.

The lower the victory cities the more likely one side will pursue a rambunctious strategy to get the 12 (or even 11) cities at the cost of all else, kind of like a “rush”.   If that is your thing, and you want to finish the game in 5 hours, then that’s totally cool - it’s your table.   I don’t care if the game is 10 hours split between two days, it’s more about playing a great game and getting a chance to re-write history in the process.  But whatever floats your boat.

Title: 41’ Free for All
Date: 12/28/08
Special rules: NOs+techs
Victor: Axis Victory. Japanese conquered Moscow and Italy took India
Game length: around 8 rounds
Bias: Germany & Italy (experience player), Japan (Rookie), Russia (experienced), and USA & UK (a few games in the past).
Description: The Germans and Russians traded territories.  The US split its forces and had it’s entire fleet wiped out off the Hawaiian Islands in round 3.  The UK pressured Germany by invading France. The Italians were able to take it back each turn (they played a much larger part in the game then I expected).  Italy used it warships and transports to amphibious assualt India, taking the UK player completely by surprise. Winning that industrial complex freed Japan to crush all of Asian under the rising sun.  Italy also took all of Africa after eliminating Egypt and South African INF.  Techs played only a small roll in the game, although every country except for Italy had atleast 1.  Germany survived by the skin of her teeth, luckily Italy and Japan closed in on the Russians.  Fun new game. Can’t wait to play again over New Years.  Adding that 6th player really adds a new dimension to the game. I used the sweet die with all the country emblems. It really helped the players to identify with their countries.  Only change, Italy needs to be a different color, they look too much like Russia.

Title: How many tanks are you attacking with?

Date: December 27 2008

Special rules: Used both NO and Tech.

Victor: Axis by concession at the end of G3.

Game length: 5 hours.

Bias: Slight Axis.  It was the first game for my friend and I both veterans of Classic since the 80s.  My friend is better at picking up new games than I am, but we both seemed to have an equal share of luck and mistakes.

Description:

Axis went more heavily after national objectives and denying mine while I tried to gain time and make him lose some.  His strategy was more realized than mine which is why he won.  Here’s a breakdown of the action.

G1: Destroyed half of the English navy, (my units off the coasts of spain and east canada survived the rest went to the bottom.  He also took Baltic and East Poland very convincingly (zero defensive his) though his naval assault on Karelia failed, though he did escape with 1 tank and his air force.  He also took Gibraltar to help Italy with its NO.

Not sure taking Gibraltar was a good move since once Egypt falls Trans-Jordan cannot stand.

R1: I calculated my odds of retaking my lost territories but since Karelia was weakened the odds would have favored my opponent.  So I just built some tanks and men and attacked a German sub which submerged after I missed the first time.

J1: Japan bought a trannie and two tech rolls and got long range aircraft (believe me this is a nightmare).  In addition to destroying my battleship at Pearl and the fleet in Philippines he was also able to reach the fleet in India and destroyed all those navies.  Curiously he seemed to play light on the mainland only attacking Kwangtung which held rather miraculously.  He was very aggressive in his island conquests leaving some transports undefended.  He took both East Indies and Borneo/Celebes but Pearl Harbor survived with a plane intact.

I thought Japan should have at least taken out the Chinese plane.

UK1: I built a navy of 2 cruisers, a destroyer and a transport.  My surviving navy along with my air force destroyed the two subs he used to take out my battleship.  This was a mistake, I left his navy in the baltic unmolested and it would come back to bite me later.  My tank in East Canada landed in Algeria via an amphibious assault and I reinforced Egypt with the guys in Trans-Jordan.  UK also used its Ausie navy to destroy a lone Japanese transport as well as taking back East Indies.  I also marched my troops from India to Burma to make Japan pay some attention to the mainland.

I1: Built two tanks.  Takes Algeria back for Germany.  Moves a tank to Ukraine. Moves two defenders into France.

A1: I built some subs and other navy on the west coast and a transport on the east coast.  I also took took Algeria.  In the pacific I picked off two more transports thanks to my bomber and my fighter in Pearl.  China took out his two Infantry defending Kiangsu and built 4 infantry.

I think America’s build was a mistake.  In Classic A&A you can simply delay a turn before you have a constant stream of people coming in from the Atlantic.  A&A50 is far to fast paced for that and it takes boats even longer.  Compared to classic you need either double the navy or choose not to land on Europe every other turn.   Next game its gonna be all bombers for America at least as far as commitment against Germany is concerned.

G2: Buys tanks only.  Takes Karelia, Belorusia and Eastern Ukraine.  He’s now in range to blitz Moscow with all the tanks he started with as well as his tanks built during G1.  Germany also attacks Egypt in an attempt to soften it up for Italy but ends up taking it with few losses.

R2: Buy two tanks and the rest men.  I fill two empty spaces with one INF so Germany cannot blitz into Moscow and re-take Archangelsk and Ukraine (essentially I have a anti-blitz zone of one or two INF in each space between Germany and my remaining two complexes.    In the East, I want Japan to attack Russia instead of China so I only leave 3 infantry in Buryatin along with the American bomber that had to land their after picking off the transport in Japan.

J2: Builds more transports and men.  Takes pearl harbor but instead of moving towards Australia and/or taking back East Indies he uses all of his navy to be able to take out Buryatin as well as the two Chinese Inf in Kiangsu.

UK2: I buy men, tanks and a transport.  I attack Burma with 3 men and an Artillery vs. his two guys and don’t get a single hit.  I withdraw with only my artillery remaining.  Feeling a need to put some pressure on Germany’s west front with how Russia is looking, I attack France with 3 Cruiser shouts, a bomber, two planes, two men a tank and an arty vs. his AA gun 6 INF a tank and an arty.  Luckily the AA misses but I get shredded killing getting two hits on the first turn to his 4 hits.  I pull back with only my air force remaining.   INF before he kills everything except for my air force.

I2: I forget what he buys, I think tanks and infantry.  He starts conquering Africa.  Uses his fighter to destroy the American transport in sea zone 12.

A2: My navy in west USA still isn’t strong enough to attack the Japanese at Pearl, so I build more navy and some air force.  At this point I was ready to concede but I wanted to see how things looked at the end of G3.

G3: Germany attacks the UK’s navy of 1 sub, 2 destroyer and 3 cruisers with 1 sub, 1 cruiser and three planes and wins with minimal losses.  At this point I officially conceded.  In the East front Germany would have taken Belorusia with 13 or 14 tanks and some infantry.  I couldn’t have attacked it and even will all my units in Moscow, I still would have fallen to those tanks on G4.

seems to be a lot more axis wins these days

Moses, have you worked out which setup seems to be more balanced? as in ‘41 with NO and Tech, or 41’ without NO and Tech, or 41’ with NO but no Tech, etc

General Turgidson, I noticed two parts that seem to be contrary to the rules?

G1: (…)though his naval assault on Karelia failed, though he did escape with 1 tank and his air force.

Escape, as in retreat? How can a tank retreat from an amphibious assault?

R1: (…) attacked a German sub which submerged after I missed the first time.

I reckon the only thing you could’ve used to attack it with was your own sub, so the defending sub could have submerged right away…right?

Title:  poor italy
Date:  30th of December
Special Rules:  NO’s and Tech were both used. 1941 scenario
Victor:  allied victory, by concession
Game Length:  around 6 hours
Bias:  i was on allied again, although had a nebie on my side as USA

Description: Germany did its usual push into Russia, but foolishly didn’t attempt to sink any UK shipping. also focused a little too much on defence

Russia (myself) spread out my defences, and built mainly infantry each turn, with a couple of attacks as well. sent 2 infantry down to india over 2 turns, and only lost Karelia once (re-took it on next turn)

Japan took the undefended islands, then focused on pushing into Russia via the north. attacked and defeated the US fleet a few turns in, but retreated to defend Japan as it was apparent that the US would rebuild its fleet quickly and continuously

UK (myself) assaulted Algeria on round 1 with the canadian tank and an infantry and artillery from UK island. took it and held it. the amassed UK fleet then sunk the Italian fleet on round 3, and continued to take and hold Africa. a factory was built on India, as Japan hadn’t positioned herself to assault India well enough (and had the added protection of 2 Russian inf and the UK fighter from Egypt). tank pushed from this factory into Asia. also consistantly built and moved fighters to help defend Russa (put them on the front lines generally)

Italy took Egypt, but lost it soon after, then lost its fleet and was forced onto the defensive. Allied SBR’s on her factory also helped crush her options

US mainly built fleets and pushed at Japan. re-took philippines round 3 as well. forces from Western US helped defend Algeria, then took Libya

China survived the first Japanese attacks, then took back all of their territories (with UK help) and held them

Observations/Recommendations: i felt i did quite well with UK and Russia this game (again). Russia defended itself quite well, and pushed back earlier, forcing Germany to spread out her forces. USA did it’s job of holding Japans attention. Japan should have pushed into China and India straight away, but this stall sealed their fate. Germany should’ve attacked shipping, and not focused so much on defending its shores straight away

Title: Bye-Bye Italy
Date: 1/1/09
Special rules: NOs+techs, 1942 Scenerio
Victor: Allied Victory. Berlin and Tokyo taken in the same round.
Game length: around 9 rounds (8 hrs)
Bias: Germany & Italy (novice player), Japan (novice player), Russia & USA (experienced), and  UK (rookie).
Description: On B1 the entire Italian fleet was sunk. This pretty much ended Italy’s usefullness for the rest of the game.  Germany made a great push into Russia, but too much focus on air power cost them valuable tanks for the battles around the Caucasas.  The US took over Morocco in US2 and started shipping guys that way. Japan focused too much on bombers and fighters.  India held out and was able to push into French Indo-China. Australia did fall to Japan in J3, but that put his carrier/battleship fleet out of position.  Near the end of the game both Russian and USA got Heavy Bombers. This sealed the fate of the Axis.  Biggest turning point was the allied destruction of the italian fleet. Once Italy was no threat in the Med Sea, the Allies coud set up bases and use the “soft underbelly of Europe” to hammer Germany.  Next game, as the Germans, I would destroy the British fleet surround Italy on G1, in order to have a valauable ally atleast for 1 turn.

Title:  Italian Fleet Looks Great… at the bottom of the Med
Date: 30th of December
Special Rules: NO’s and NO Tech. 1942 scenario.
Victor: ALLIED victory, by concession
Game Length: around 2 hours
Bias: Pretty Even

Description: Germany didn’t attempt to sink enough UK shipping. Italian fleet sunk on UK1. Japan failed to kill Chinese FTR. It kind of went downhill from there. Agreed to surrender and re-roll a 1941 game.

Observations/Recommendations: Protecting the Italian fleet is key. sz12 is a must clear on G1, or at least leave the German DD there to block the UK fleet.

Title:  Italian Fleet Looks Great… at the bottom of the Med (take TWO)
Date: 30th of December
Special Rules: NO’s and Tech were both used. 1941 scenario
Victor: AXIS victory, by concession
Game Length: around 10 hours
Bias: Pretty Even

Description: Germany didn’t learn from the 1942 game and left enough UK shipping that the bomber from UK and the FTR from Egpyt sank the Italian fleet AGAIN UK1. This kept Italy as a land force for the entire game. Turned out to be very effective as a can opener. Snuck in with German troops and opened up East Ukraine for a German tank drive to Moscow on G3. Only thing that kept the axis in the game. UK was HUGE. USSR retook Moscow, but the Allies never got the tempo back up and finally surrendered.

Germany built a bomber per turn and that kept the Atlantic empty of any UK fleet for many turns. When they weren’t killing UK fleet they were sent to the front. Very effective toys until the Luftwaffe FTR force was taken down.

Japan had China down to 1 territory, but US snuck in with a bomber and sunk it’s AP fleet. Japan was hamstrung and never recovered. It was marginalized on it’s island for the rest of the game. Once Germany and Italy broke Moscow’s back and headed to the Far East Japan would’ve made a come back.

UK built the Indian factory and was able to push the Japanese off the mainland with help from USSR. US snuck in 2 loaded APs into Fukien and hooked up with UK. Japan found itself fighting 4 tempos between US, Chinese hordes, UK, and USSR. It held a factory in Manchuria for as long as possible with some interesting tactics, however it was finally ovewhelmed.

Observations/Recommendations: Protecting the Italian fleet is key – but it turns out not as bad as it looks.

Title:  Hang On Russia……Russia Hang On…
Date: Jan 2nd, 2008
Special Rules: NO’s and NO Tech. 1942 scenario.
Victor: Axis Victory by Concession
Game Length: 7 turns
Bias: Axis slightly

Description: Japan succeeded in sinking full US fleet near Midway.  Germany succeeded in sinking large UK fleet off UK coast.  From that point, a serious landing of Western Europe was very difficult and Japan could run wild in Pacific and even threatened West US Coast.  Italy took Africa.  Japan builds IC in Manchura and eventually Russia was threatened on both sides by Japan and Germany.  US takes Norway and builds IC.  After UK rebuilds smaller fleet it has a failed attack on France and then with the defeat of the main Russian army near Ukraine the game was clearly over.  Germany could not be invaded successfully anymore, and Japan was a powerhouse.  Game over.

Observations: Axis had a very skilled player.  Allies were disorganized and unwisely placed their big fleets/armies and were thus defeated in a few decisive battles by Axis.

Title: Allied Navy victories bring home the bacon
Date: Jan 1, 2009
Special Rules: NO and Tech
Victor: Allies by concession
Bias: Even, 2 Allied players against 1 (me)axis player
Description: G1 went pretty much to plan sinking UK battleship, in SZ 2 and Destroyer in SZ 5(I think) and taking
Ukraine, E.Polan, Baltic states and Egypt leaving 1 tank in africa. Russia went totally defensive, moving all possible units up to Leningrad and by the end of R1 had 11 inf, 1 art and 1 tank.  J1 went perfect only losing 2 inf the whole first round.  UK1 took over France. I1 was where the Axis made first mistake, deciding to go for Stalingrad on G2 instead of Leningrad, because only 8 inf were defending Stalingrad, so italy tried to soften it up with a landing which only resulted in 1 russian inf loss.  G2 went for Stalingard and lost battle horribly retreating with only 5 tanks left after losing 4 inf and 1 art.  Germany retook France, only to lose it again on UK 2.

Germany slowly built up a navy where by end of turn 5 had AC w/ 2 fit, 2 crus, 2 des, 4 subs, 3 trans, in a effort to threaten UK.  Germany finally took over Leningrad on G 3 or 4.  UK attacked Germany navy on UK 5 and sunk the whole thing leaving the UK with a carrier, fighter and bomber.

Germany and UK cont to trade France every single round, while Germany was making somewhat of a push in Russia.  Meanwhile Japan and taken all of China after J3, took India on J2 and by turn 5 had IC in both India and East Indies.  America went for Japan and lost its whole navy after taking over Iwo Jima.  America rebuilt navy and moved it South on A4 to protect Australia and to threaten E. Indies IC.

It was a close game until around round 7 when the axis suffered two major defeats.  The first was an attempt to sink UK navy which consisted of AC w/ 2 fighter, and battleship with 4 trans.  Germany attacked with 4 fighters and 2 bombers.  Germany lost that battle leaving UK battleship and 4 trans and destroying German airforce.  Second battle was a pacific encounter where America sunk Japanese fleet of the coast of the Phillippens, leaving Japan with only 1 AC and 1 Crusier off coast of E. Indies.  The germany push to Russia had been stalled and the Red army was about to unleash its hoards from moscow.

Since it had been over 5 hours of game time and our wives were complaining Axis conceided to an ally victory.

Observation: This game could have easily gone the other way if Germany would have won that second naval battle with the UK.  Germany had just gotten mechanized infantry on the turn before and was starting to rebuilt a major army, but needed to take pressure off its western front, since every turn UK had invaded France and so every turn Germany had to send men to retake it.  Had they sunk that navy, britian would have been out of action for at least 3 turns in order to rebuild (only making around 20 IPC) this would have given Germany enough time to put some serious hurt on Russia given the Mech Inf tech.  Japan had just lost its navy, but was still bringing in 70 IPC a round and could have quickly rebuilt.  Italy did not really do anything all game.  I blame that on the I1 attack of Stalingrad instead of sending units into africa to get established there.

Overall very enjoyable game and the allies are 2-0 in the 1941 set up with our group, but the axis could have very easily won this on if a couple of battles had gone differently.

Title:  asian octopuss
Date:  6th of January
Special Rules:  NO’s and Tech were both used. 1941 scenario
Victor:  axis victory, by concession
Game Length:  around 9 hours
Bias:  me (being the strongest player) was Japan, the second strongest was USA, and then the remaining equally skilled players were Russia, UK, and Germany + Italy

Description: Germany pushed into Russia, but neglected to attack any UK navies. Russia pretty much did the defensive, with a few counter-attacks. Japan swallowed everything it touched. UK split its attention between the two theatres, but focused on Europe and invading Germany after they were booted out of the Pacific. Italy englufed Africa. USA traded a fleet with Japan, before also focusing mainly on Europe

Observations/Recommendations: i’d been looking forward to playing as Japan, and it was definitely worth the wait. i decimated China in my first couple of turns, whilst simultaniously taking all of the Islands that were worth any money or gave me NO’s. UK built an IC on India, but i captured that on J3 (after throwing many fighters at it J2 to weaken it considerably). USA tried to out-build me in navy strength, but soon enough Japan was pulling in too much income to compete with. so the entire Pacific eventually fell to Japan, before i started landing units in Alaska to distract the US from d-day style invasions

the European conflict turned into a 50/50 though, with Germany losing its push for Moscow (had less units than the Russians and was hoping for descent rolls). UK would capture Berlin and its income on its turn, then Italy would liberate, then US would counter-attack and weaken Italy, then Germany collected income, and then the whole cycle started again. it eventually stopped when Japan built a mass of fighters and flew them to Berlin over a few turns. The game was called around this point, as it was apparent that Japan was unstoppable, and Germany would regain the offensive with Japans help

Title:  Allies, make up your mind! 41
Date:  10/01/2009
Special Rules:  Tech (Only Japan unlocked 1, Super subs) + NO
Victor:  Axis, by concession (debated heavily by the allies, but they really didnt stood a chance anymore)
Game Length:  4,5 hours, 4 rounds.
Bias:  We all 4 are experienced A&A players, but the german and brit/rus player usually are not that good, me (Japan) being the only one who knew AA50 in & out, and USA being the mastermind of our play group, but also, unfamiliar with AA50.
Description: 
G1 was pretty conservative. Egypt was taken, Karelia wasn’t, SZ2 was cleared, SZ12 was not.
Rus did it’s retaliation thing (not much), J1 did what it should do, but England didn’t see the advantage it had over Italy, and took France. Bad mistake. Fleet was cleared right after. It’s purchase was even worse. An IC in both India and S-Africa. 
USA tried to battle the pacific, but was too indecisive, splitting forces in the pacific and europe theater.
The 3 turns following, it was Germany slowly pushing to Russia, Japan growing in strentgh and money, UK fiddling around, doing nothing in particular, except defending 3 IC’s…USA never made it to any main theatre.
The game ended because someone had to go, but at that time both Germany and Japan were making around the 60’s, Italy (Taken Brazil :) ) around 30, not an allied ship in the water, Russia surrounded by italiands, germans and japanese.
Sure, UK had 2 stacked IC’s (London was defended damn poorly, and Germany would take it the next turn, as it was bombed to -8 aswell), but all the units were way too far from the front.

Observations/Recommendations:  I think, in the 41’ sceanrio, the Allies shouldnt even try to take on Japan. They cant make it…and if they don’t…what difference does it make? Japan will still be too strong.
And the allies will have lost a lot of resources.

I think, that the best way for the allies is to go for operation Torch asap, and just perform a KIGF. Every other option just loses focus on the main theatre.
Russia can hold out pretty damn fine for a round or 4 by itself. If there’s no allied landing force ready to take on Germany by then…Russia is screwed.

Title: Allies swarm 41
Date:12-28-08
Special Rules: none,no v.c.
Victor:Allies by concession I was allies,brother was Axies,were both decent players,but i have the advantage because he hasnt played the newer games and dont have all the new rules down.Plus i have acess to all the stratigies that are posted on this site.
Game Length: about 2 hrs.2rounds
G1 germany took out have of UK,s navy,took ukraine,e. poland,baltic states failed.
Italy non factor,he didnt know what to do with them.
R1 russia fell back to lenn.,mos.,caus.,stacked everything i could in bury. bought 5 inf,3 tanks.
Japan took new guinea,borneo,killed all bought 2 chinese.killed most of us navy,left me the carrier and plane cant remember what the japs bought.
UK1 bought a bomber anIC,carrier.ic placed in india,consilidated navy in sz 8
USA1 bought all navy+bomber,left the pacific,took atlantic navy and put with the uk navy.
turn 2UK and USA bought all navy+bombers,uk did put troops india to ,russia had atleast seven tanks,a plane mabe and 3 stacks of inf.USA moved into africa.

Observations/Recommendations:Sense the axis didnt really know what to do with itlay and know how agressive to be with japan he was really overwhelmed.I went with kgf.

Germany dont have the airforce it needs and without italy helping they cant stop UK,USA.
We played a 2nd game a few days later and i tried to split the USA income half to the pacific half to the atlantic,that didnt work to well but the allies still won in 5 rounds.

Title:  Unstoppable Axis
Date:  9th of January
Special Rules:  NO’s and Tech were both used. 1941 scenario
Victor:   axis victory, by concession
Game Length:  4 turns, around 6 hours + 1 hour initial setup & rules explanation
Bias:  2 players both 1st time play, me (being more “experience” with strategies learned from axisandallies.org) was Axis

Description:
1st turn - Germany swarmed into Baltic States, E Poland & Ukraine easily, destroyed most of UK fleets but lost badly in Egypt, built mostly tanks & infantry.
Russia consolidated position towards Germany to mainly to defend. Built all infantry.
Japan destroyed UK fleet in sz 35 & US fleet in sz 56,53,50, losing the battleship in the process but captured Phillipines though, captured Burma & 3 Chinese states.
UK retaliate in Egypt & captured Libya (mistake), built mostly ships & transports.
Italy recapture Libya & weakened UK present in Egypt, support Germany in defence of France.
US totally ignore tha Pacific & concentrate on Atlantic front, building planes at E. US.
China lost its fighter, just concentrated on defence.

2nd turn - Germany captured Karelia with ground units & killed of UK fleet that was building up to at sz 7 with planes and cruiser, moved tanks forward to secure eastern front and continued to build tanks. Russia recaptured Karelia & further strengthened defence by stacking infantry, moved infantry from eastern side towards Moscow. Japan captured India & more Pacific island, no threat from US. UK with the complete lose of its fleet decide to build lots of fighters & bombers.
Italy captured Egypt & continued to assist Germany in defence, its fleet wasnt threathened at all. US started moving planes to UK, continue to build fleet at Atlantic front.

3rd turn - Germany retake Karelia & continued moving tank east, built bombers & tanks & SBR UK. Russia concentrated on defence & built all fighter this round. Japan built a India IC, started to build-up units in India to advance to Russia, capture Wake Is. and prepare for an assault at US the next turn. UK attacked France with planes killing all Axis units but cant capture due to no land units, continue to stack bomber.Italy capture Trans-Jordan, assist in France & Ukrain’s defence. US move CV to Atlantic & build land units to be shipped to Europe next turn.

4th turn - Germany fortified France & captured Caucasus, continue to move east, launch air attack on London to kill of its bombers built-up, & SBR Russia. Russia counter attack Caucasus with fighter & infantry but lost, leaving defence Moscow weakened. Japan launched attack on W. US & captured it. Italy move more units to Caucasus to support attack on Moscow. US disorientated after losing W US. Allied surrendered as it was clear that Axis is dominating + it was almost 4am.

Observations/Recommendations: 1st time play for both of us,  movements not coordinated properly & spent long time strategising moves thus 1st 2 turns took us almost 2 hours per turn to complete. Ignoring the significant of early SBR especially Allied player. N.O. favours the Axis player. Me as Axis has the advantage of knowing the rules & strategies well compared to Allied. Japan became unstoppable if left unchecked. We research on Tech but wasnt effective as we dont get the 1s we wanted & VERY hard to hit the “6” even with 2 tokens.
Now, looking forward for next game & with 2 more players.