USSR launch major attack that just fails to dislodge Japanese and are now open to a counterattack. However this is now a sideshow as the US and the CW are now at war with Japan.
1941 – S/O 41 JAPAN DOW – USA DOW
Japan declined the option to surrender Manchuria to Russia, continuing the Japanese-Sino conflict – Intelligence sources strongly suggest that Berlin wants the Japanese to ‘fight on’ as this conflict in the Far East is tying up valuable Russian units that could be on the German front. Builds and reinforcements placed, including the first Japanese Oil facility! The initiative was uncontested as the Russian rolled a 1, Axis win and take the initiative, weather a moderate 5, Rain in the Arctic and N Monsoon. Amusing note about the initiative was J/A roll the Italian rolled a 10 winning another uncontested initiative – as Axis are in the +2 box on the track.
The turn opened with the Japanese DOW against the CW and its minor ally the NEI - surprising both the British and the US, this DOW driven by the need for oil, awoke the US Senate as two chits were drawn, the Japanese rolling a 9, saved adding a 3rd. Taking a combined. two fleets Japanese fleets sail, ‘Strike’ to the Bay of Bengal and ‘Kido Butai’ (Mobile Force) to the South China Sea. Searches in the S China sea find the 2 Convs which are promptly dispatched but the 4 convs in the Bay of Bengal escape detection – Singapore is now Isolated. Two Jap Divs invade Borneo capturing the two valuable oil fields, the Japanese expended 3 O-Points to conduct the 2nd invasion. The Japanese attempt to GS the Russian ‘Big Stack’ outside Harbin, they fail the GS but win in the air as the defending air battle saw one Russian Ftr destroyed for no Japanese loss – the Russian pilot bailed out to safety. In the West, GERM takes a combined and the Italian a Naval. In a first for a long time for the Italian submariners, they roll a 1 in their search for Convs in the N Atlantic, and the CW helps them immensely by rolling an 8, 1 – 8 split, 3 convs sunk and 3 damaged, with 6 aborted. Pushing their luck, the Italian is found but in a soft split is only damaged returning back to France, damaged but victorious. In the Gulf of Guinea the Atlantis is again successful in finding the 5 convs in the Gulf but a soft roll and the presence of HMS Resolution on Conv escort duty just sees the convs aborted and the sea area cleared. The German U-Boats typically fail their searches as do the opposing RN escorts – apparently nothing to be seen here. The Italian continue their successfully hunting by finding and sinking the Greek Navy, the G Averof which fails its 2 x D results, pity the CW had looked forward to her joining the Med fleet. German and Italian acft fly denial operations in the W Med. German land units start the long journey along the N African coast heading West and the first ARM unit arrives in Romania from its victorious Operation Marita, (Unternehmen Marita) in Greece, starting the build-up, yet again for the delayed Operation Barbarossa.
Allied response to the Japanese DOW was to return the favour and successfully DOW on Japan, 3 rolled , 5 needed, with 2 chits moved to tension. This surprised the ‘other’ Allies who had previously agreed the first Japanese DOW attempt to would be J/F 42 – but the US entry chances had been bumped up significant with the US drawing a 4 and 5, effectively 14 points, resulting in a two-column shift on the DOW table – so he went for it, all the way USA! The CW took a naval action, the US a Comb. The US first action was a surprise Port attack against a Jap Tpt in Truk, even in rain the surprise shifts resulted in a sunk Jap Tpt as the Jap did not save. The US sailed a lone CA from the Philippines into the China Sea and found the Japanese convoys, sinking 3, and Dam 3 despite the best efforts of the long-range Mavis NAV to defend her charges, it took 4 x search attempts before the US found its prey with a sufficient split. Interestingly the Japanese did not elect to abort the sea area – why they stayed on a surprise impulse is questionable. The final act for the US was a Div successfully invading and capturing the Japanese atoll port of Kwajalein denying its use as a forward operating base to the Japanese navy, especially its submarines. Russia GS the Japanese salient outside Vladivostok hopping to invert the two Manchurian Corps, however only managed to invert 1, emboldened by the US entry, Russia declared a +8.9 attack and rolled a soft 9 for a -/1 loss of a Manchuria MIL. Japan was relatively happy with the result as all of the Russian attackers were inverted – leaving Vladivostok with 3 inverted units and a possible counter attack option (+9), and the mountain hex still in Japanese hand, the Russia did manage to upgrade to GBA status one of its Cav units. Russia has started moving units toward Iraq as the British had to abort their Iraq campaign due to supply issues whilst Russia is only at war with Japan – rules clarification – mid-game, the British units railed back to Murmansk for the winter.
Axis 2nd imp and extreme weather is rolled with a 10!, curbing operations in most AO’s – Storm in the Arctic and temp with rain everywhere else. The GERM took a combined and sailed the pride of the fleet Bismarck and the pocket battleships Graff Spee and Admiral Scheer into the North Sea hunting the British CA HMS Shropshire, now that its aircover was stuck at their base – no finds in the bad weather, but the GERM now has presence in the N Sea if the weather continues to be poor. Another GERM ARM arrives in Rumania as well as three Stukas – the build up continues. Japan takes a Naval and sails Convs and escorts into the China Sea to re-establish its convoys and redeployed several more acft North to support an attack against Vladivostok next impulse – weather permitting, its 50/50 chance but there is a +2 on the next die roll. Next session, Allied 2nd impulse with both the CW and US will take Naval actions and Russia a land, in part so that they can spend O-Points to reinvent their HQ and then the defenders of Vladivostok.
Graff Spee - consort to the Bismarck - challenging the RN in the N Sea
Norway safe - the German Kreigsmarine contest the North Sea
W Med the British set up an invasion - Portugal or Vichy Morocco
Italian E med
Saudi Arabia - the red tpt is British (Nor)
The Russian Front - the build up restarts
A Russian failed attack - and Vladivostok under threat
The Japanese Land War
Kwajalein Island - now a US Fwd operating Base
A very empty Pacific - both the US and Japan not ready for an early pacific War!
The Marines invade Kwajalein Island on the surprise impulse l - now a US Fwd operating Base
Kwajalein Isl - now a US Fwd operating Base
The USA looks East and West - a big naval move coming up
Minor losses - mostly convoys
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