AUSGAME 2024 NEW GAME Part 3

AUSGAME1 2024 – The Weather Pain Continues, Could it get any worse YES IT CAN AND DID!

MAR/APR 1940

The US now with Senate approval lends 4 oil to the CW (to be stored in Canada), France lends 1 x BP to Britain and a resource to China. Germany wins the initiative roll with an 8, just as the Allies rolled an 8 as well, but with a +1 they get to go first. The Allies wait for the weather roll and the resumption of hostile actions by Germany – they should not have been concerned.

Axis 1st Impulse. Weather – Germany rolls the important weather roll, anything above a 3 for fine in the Temp. Germany’s curse continues with him rolling a 1! – STORM again!, That is now 4 times in a row rolling a storm and with it any chance of Germany recovering lost ground. Germany, Italy and Japan take Naval actions. Germany sends out its U-boats and CX and three subs attack the 10 Convoys that are unescorted in the Faroes Gap – and rolls a 10!, he then rolls 3 other search attempts all above 7 – the dice Gods are looking after the British Convs – again. Italy sails into the E and W Med with loaded Tpts and a DIV, a 3 Arty arrives in Port Said. A search by the long Rng NAV in the Red Sea find the British Z Force, but again the Brits roll a low number matching the German 2 and a polite air battle ensues with both acft aborting – with guaranteed fine next impulse and little reason to stay, Force Z aborts the Red Sea giving the Italians at least a morale and a PR win.

Allied 1st Impulse CW takes a Naval and sends out massed escorts to the Faroes Gap and cover their convoys. The German fails his search again with another 8, luckily the RN escorts also fail to find as well. France takes a Comb sending 2 x CA’s to the top box of Cape St Vincent and adjusting his front line and importantly dispersing his Ftrs to cover the French front line. Russia prepares for operations against Iran/Persia. China noting that it is a guaranteed fine weather for the next impulse takes a land and abandons Sian, leaving a single MIL as a rear guard and establishes a double stacked line in the mountains.

Axis 2nd Impulse Now with a +2 to the weather roll (auto fine in the Temp) the German rolls a 9 (11) for weather -FINE - and take a very late DOW on Belgium, the US Senate are disturbed by this and gain a chit. All three Axis nations take land actions, German flies their best Stuka (5) factor to invert the defenders of Warsaw and rolls high 8’s and 9s against all defenders, no inversions – at +11 he declines an attack, and Warsaw survives its first fine weather of 1940. GS against French triple stacks, and the German bad luck continues – on ‘evens’ his best 6 factor Ftr is shot down and pilot captured, the French AA abort 3 ground attack factors and the rest of the Luftwaffe end up inverting single French units in three targeted stacks – probably not enough to stop the French crossing the border and forming another defensive line in Belgium. German units assaults Brussels taking the capital but in another piece of bad luck against Antwerp he rolls a 4 on a +17 attack and is half inverted – Nothing is going well for the German. The Amph and Tpt in the Baltic reinvert the Stuka to be readied to fly against Warsaw again – weather permitting!

Italy, on the other hand stomps across the desert to Cairo and assaults the capital on a +12.5, rolling 13 for a TOTT result taking it with little effort, Egypt falls to the Italian’s – Mussolini sends a telex to Hitler sharing the joy. Japan assaults the lone defender of Sian and takes the city, but again undisciplined troops and foreign reporters find the US Senate disturbed and the US gain another chit. This has meant the US has gained four chits out of four for the last four Axis triggers – helping the Allied/US War effort immensely. Strat bombing by Japan continues to be a waste of oil as they roll another 1. EOT advances 1.

Next session, Allies 2nd impulse for M/A will see France and probably CW take land actions to occupy the buffer zone gaining a valuable full hex line in Belgium, on the French border. Russia may DOW v Iran but not in a hurry, may defer another turn. BUT the big roll will be Germany’s 3rd impulse roll and an above 3 is needed to keep this game alive, another 1 (Storm) will certainly drive another nail in a game which has seen the worst weather ever for Germany in our WIF recorded history or our living memory. The stats tell the sad story – an average of only 3 impulses each turn, 15 weather rolls; 3 x Fine, 1 x rain, 5 x Snow, 2 x Blizzard and 4 x Storm.

We will look forward to next week's game with more than a degree of trepidation – well the Axis players will, the Allies could potentially celebrate having been delivered another win by the dice of the Weather Gods.

· Acft – Aircraft

· Conv – Convoys

· EOT – End of Turn

· NCC – No Cost Combined action – no oil used

· OOS – Out of Supply

· Rng - Range

· TOTT – Top of the table a 23 or more

USE – US entry rolls/chits

The European Front little movement - atrocious weather will do that.

France, Belgium conquered in the first fine weather impulse in 13 turns!

French and British impulse next session will see them take up the defensive line in Belgium - imposing delay on the already time poor German plans.

Italy - on the up, with Wavel and the rest of the British Army in France, Italian seize the opportunity. liberating Cairo and freeing Egypt from Colonial rule - cough, cough.

German Paras - sick to death of no flying time in the storms and blizzards of northern Europe 

are railed South for the warmer weather.

The Italians now own the Red Sea 

and gate way to the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean

 - the CW is nervous.

China - slow but solid progress - Sian falls +1 resource for Japan -1 resource for China double bonus AND no Chinese partisans.

Casualties - Luftwaffe supremacy challenged by the elite French Airforce.

USE - getting fat and happy - they have received 5 chits in the last two turns. The Axis have failed their last 4 rolls in a row. Rosevelt is smiling in the White House and Churchill welcomes an approving US Senate.