======================================================================== Turn: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Axis POC: +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 Allied POC: -2 -3 -3 -6 -6 -2 -2 -5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Net POC: +2 +1 +0 -3 -4 +1 +1 -2 Cumulative POC: +2 +3 +3 +0 -4 -3 -2 -4 ========================================================================
Allies open with standard Barents on 1 strategy. N. Atlantic has 3 443s, N. Sea has 5 444s and 2 CVs, S. Atlantic has Eagle, both 553s, and 2 443s. Allies send Hood, 2 336s, and all 8 CAs to Barents, but one 336 fails speed roll and all German surface ships go to Barents. Axis also sends 3 U-boats to N. Atlantic, breaking control but having one sunk. Allied LBA sinks one Italian cruiser. Axis LBA disables 2 remaining battlecruisers and 1 CA in Barents, while Ark Royal disables one 357. Remaining Allied fleet of 7 CAs is clobbered, with 5 sunk, and doesn't score a single hit in return. Axis has Barents and Mediterranean, Allies have N. Sea and S. Atlantic, no flag in Baltic or N. Atlantic. Axis up +2 at end of Turn 1.
With Barents controlled by Axis, Allies deploy heavily in 3 sea
areas:
Barents: 027/3, 027/2, 447, 456x2, 336x2, 117x3
North Sea: 016/2x2, 553x2, 444x3
N. Atlantic: 444x2, 443x3
S. Atlantic: 124/1, 443x2
Only Renown fails speed roll to Barents. Axis responds by sending all 9 German ships to Barents, U-boats to Baltic, and Italians to Mediterranean. Giant Barents battle begins with LBA damaging Prince of Wales for -4. Allied carriers can only wound Bismarck for -3, and LBA in Mediterranean misses completely. Allied first round barrage disables both Gniesenau and Scharnhorst with -2, sinks Lutzow, and damages Graf Spee and Blucher for -1 each. Axis return fire sinks Hood, Repulse, and Exeter, disabling Prince of Wales, and disabling King George V with -4.
At this point things look grim for Allies, who have just 2 CAs to protect fleeing Ark Royal and Formidable. Axis can chase only with Prinz Eugen and Admiral Hipper due to previous damaged and disabled results. In first round, both sides miss completely. In 2nd round of pursuit Allies get very lucky as single shot from each cruiser hits magazines and blows up Prinz Eugen and Admiral Hipper, while dodging return fire.
Axis again controls Barents and Mediterranean for +4 and Allies have North Sea, N. Atlantic, and S. Atlantic for +3. POC at end of Turn 2 is Axis +3. After 2 turns Allies have lost a lot of fast ships (6 CAs, Hood, Repulse), and 2 others (King George V and Prince of Wales) are slowed with -4 damage.
Turn 3 finds both Allies and Axis with problems. Allies have taken so many losses, most of them in the fast ships, that they don't have enough vessels to protect 4 areas adequately. On the other hand, the Axis fleet is banged up; 5 of 7 German ships have damage that makes speed rolls iffy.
No Russians sail, but Allies decide to try to cover all 4 areas
anyway:
Barents - 027/3, 027/2, 456, 336, 444x5, 117x2
North Sea - 016/2x2, 443x3, 412x2
North Atlantic - 133, 027/2, 553x2
South Atlantic - 124/1, 443x2
Allied luck on speed rolls to Barents is average, with 456, 336, and 444x2 making them. Axis sees opportunities but must pass most of them up to repair German fleet. 3 remaining Italian cruisers and 4 U-boats attack S. Atlantic. Luftwaffe sinks Ark Royal in Barents; Allied LBA hits Gniesenau while repairing in Germany for -3. Allies have the luck in S. Atlantic; 5 ASW disables 2 and sinks 1 U-boat; remaining U-boat misses. Eagle airstrike fails, but ensuing gunnery battle results in all 3 Italian CAs sunk, with return fire only managing to disable Eagle. Overall POC does not change at +3 Axis as Allies control Barents, North Sea, and N. Atlantic; Axis has Baltic and Mediterranean; no flag in S. Atlantic.
Allied string of good luck continues with 4 US ships sailing on first turn of availability - Washington, New York, and 2 cruisers. With blockade now in force, Allies can afford to put almost all ships in Barents and N. Sea. No Russians sail.
Barents - 133, 027/2, 456, 444x5, 336, 117x2
North Sea - 016/2x2, 553x2, 443x5, 456
North Atlantic - 133, 027/2, 554, 443, 117x2
South Atlantic - 124/1, 412x2
Axis still needs to refit Gniesenau & Graf Spee in Germany. All other German surface ships go to Baltic; 5 U-boats go to S. Atlantic. Luftwaffe in Barents sinks yet another carrier, the Victorious this time, but Convoy escapes and lands at Murmansk. British air raids on German drydocks are ineffective. Allied ASW in S. Atlantic disables only 1 U-boat. 4 remaining U-boats disable Eagle yet again and finish off the heavily damaged King George V. Allies get +6 POC with convoy, Barents, North Sea, and N. Atlantic; Axis has Barents and Mediterranean for +3; no flag in S. Atlantic. Allied margin of +3 POC brings game total back to dead even.
Another American CA sails, giving the Allies all US ships except the Texas, but no Russians have yet left Leningrad. With the blockade established and all Italian CAs sunk, Allies opt for heavy deployment in Barents and North Sea and light in the Atlantics, even though Axis has all 7 U-boats.
Barents - 133, 027/2, 456x2, 336, 444x5, 117x2
North Sea - 027/2, 016/2x2, 553x2, 456, 443x5
N. Atlantic - 554, 443, 117x3
S. Atlantic - 124/1, 412 (heavily damaged Prince of Wales)
The one Allied 456 with a speed roll into the Barents passes it. Axis sends every German ship afloat to the Barents, all of which are now at full strength: 128/2, 496x2, 357x2, 225x2, 127. Axis has 20 bonus shots and 5 airstrikes, while Allies have 33 shots and 2 airstrikes. It looks to be a pretty even battle. Axis also places 7 U-boats in S. Atlantic.
In S. Atlantic, Allied ASW is ineffective, but Eagle does an amazing job of dodging torpedoes from 6 U-boats - not even a scratch! Other U-boat misses the Prince of Wales as well. In the Barents, Illustrious airstrikes miss the 2 giant battlewagons, and Axis airstrikes in return miss convoy but disable Illustrious and cruiserize Warspite with -4 damage.
Allied initial surface volley yields below average results; Bismarck and Tirpitz are damaged for -4, Scharnhorst is disabled with -4 damage, Graf Zeppelin is disabled, and Admiral Scheer is sunk. Axis return fire is even less effective; 20 bonus shots manage only to sink Barham and Devonshire, disable Malaya, and disable Queen Elizabeth with -4 damage.
Allied 2nd round, however, is devastating, sinking Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Blucher, damaging Gniesenau for -5, and hitting Graf Spee for -1. In contrast, Axis return fire is again well below average, disabling Valiant and Renown and nicking Duke of York for -2. After 2 rounds, Axis have only Gniesenau, crippled at 102, and wounded Graf Spee at 214 left in Barents, while Allies still have undamaged Howe (456), Convoy (133), and Dorsetshire (117) with damaged Duke of York (434) and Warspite (101).
Axis ships flee separately. Duke of York pursues Gniesenau and sinks her; Gniesenau return fire misses. Howe and Dorsetshire chase Graf Spee, adding another point of damage and disabling her; again, Axis return fire is off the mark.
Overall, a big turn for Allies. They land the convoy and control Barents, North Sea, and N. Atlantic for +6; Axis controls only Mediterranean at +2. No flags in Baltic and S. Atlantic. Allied margin of +4 this turn makes game total +4, Allies.
On Turn 6, the Russians still do not sail, nor does the lone U.S. ship, Texas, not yet at sea. With blockade still in force, Allies again concentrate almost all ships in Barents and North seas.
Russia - Queen Elizabeth and Warspite repair +1 damage each.
Barents - 027/2, 434, 456x2, 336, 444x2
North Sea - 016/2x2, 553x2, 443x5
North Atlantic - 133, 027/2, 554, 443, 117x4
South Atlantic - 124/1, 412
Lone Allied speed roll into Barents is successful. Axis responds by repairing Scharnhorst and Graf Spee in Germany, Graf Zeppelin patrols Baltic, Italians in Mediterranean, 2 U-boats in S. Atlantic, and 5 U-boats in North Atlantic. Allied LBA misses repairing Germans, while Axis LBA registers 2 more bomb hits on Duke of York and disables Renown in Barents. ASW in South Atlantic sinks 1 U-boat and the remaining one misses. ASW in N. Atlantic kills 1 U-boat and disables 2; the 2 survivors don't score any damage.
Allies maintain blockade but get only 2 POC - Barents and North seas. Axis have Baltic and Mediterranean for 3 POC; no flags in North or South Atlantic. Axis goes up +1 POC this turn and overall score drops to +3 POC for Allies.
On turn 7, Okt. Revolutia finally sails into Baltic, while Texas is still stuck in drydock.
Baltic - 333
Barents - 133, 027/2, 456x2, 412, 336, 444x2, 411x2
North Sea - 027/2, 124/1, 553x2, 443x5
North Atlantic - 554, 443, 412, 117x3
South Atlantic - 016/2x2, 117
Axis places LBA in Barents, sends 3 remaining Germans, 128/2, 357, 225 to Baltic to dispatch Russian threat, splits 6 U-boats evenly between North and South Atlantic, and places all Italians in Mediterranean. LBA disables convoy back to USA, meaning that it's too late for that convoy to get to Russia and 3 POC. Graf Zeppelin's planes cannot find Okt. Revolutia, but surface guns quickly sink that ship, which cannot manage any hits on Germans. ASW in South Atlantic gets 1 kill and 1 disabled; survivor misses. ASW in North Atlantic gets another kill; 2 left miss.
Axis once again break control in both Atlantics, but can't dent the blockade. Allies have Barents and North seas, Axis have Baltic and Mediterranean, no flags in North or South Atlantic. Axis have 3-2 POC margin this turn, yielding +2 Allies overall.
Last US ship, Texas, sails, but Marat fails to sail again and never leaves Leningrad the entire game. Allies still have blockade and pile up battleships and battlecruisers in Barents and North Sea, ASW in North Atlantic to protect last convoy.
Barents - 027/2x2, 412, 444x2, 411x2, 336, 456x2
North Sea - 016/2, 124/1, 553x2, 443x5
North Atlantic - 133, 016/2, 554, 443x2, 117x4
South Atlantic - 412
Axis puts all Italians in Mediterranean, Graf Spee in Baltic, LBA, Scharnhorst and Graf Zeppelin in Barents, 1 U-boat in South Atlantic, 4 U-boats in North Atlantic. Allied ASW is deadly, disabling lone U-boat in South Atlantic (with a single shot) and killing 2 and disabling 2 U-boats in North Atlantic.
In Barents, Allied airstrikes miss and 5 Axis airstrikes can only disable Queen Elizabeth (411). Allied gunnery sinks both German ships on first volley. Allies therefore control Barents, North Sea, North Atlantic, and South Atlantic and land convoy in England for +5 POC. Axis have Baltic and Mediterranean for +3. Turn 8 has Allied +2 POC; game ends with Allied +4 POC.
After Turn 1, the luck was all with the Allies, but the Axis battled crisply to the end.