USA, Text only AAR

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Aragos
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USA, Text only AAR

Post by Aragos »

Ok, this is about my 15th USA game (I keep restarting to try different options) and this one only goes to early 1945.
Military setting Very Hard, Very High Volitility. No Diplomatic Merchants, UN relations and civil effects both set to low. No random events.

1936. The USA has a serious energy issue. I start researching improved power grid, along with some key military techs. My goal is to have a fleet of 10-15 Yorktown Class CVs, 5-10 Iowa Class BBs, 30-50 Salmon or Gato class SS, and 50 Fletcher Class DDs by mid-1942. Main aircraft will be the B-17 Fortress, F4F Wildcat, SBD-1 Dauntless, P-40C Warhawk and one of the cargo aircraft capable of dropping elite Ranger units.

Since war with the USA is set by event, I know I have until Dec 1941 before anyone will attack me. I decide on several things.

1) Main priority (until Power Grid is discovered around Sept 1938) is building Coal Plants. I scrap all medium sized mil goods (MG), Ind goods (IG) and consumer goods (CG) factories to get the IGs back. I raise Electric prices to max for citizens, and the same with CGs--this ensures I have max amounts of IGs available to build with. I mobilize only one part of my army--engineers. They enable me to speed up building; I can usually get a full cluster of 6 Coal Power plants in about two weeks. By early 1938, I'm producing enough Electric to supply all my factories.

2) Military. I scrap all Infantry units and sell off pretty much everything else to the USSR, Japan (bear with me...there is a reason...), Germany, France, Italy and the UK. I keep all my ships, however. Even an old DD will stop a major invasion.

3) Tech trading. I trade heavily with the USSR, UK and Germany. This puts me in first place for tech by 1939, and enables my "upgrading" of the US military. As a benefit, it also makes Peace much easier later (see below). I buy 6x4 truck and T-35 tank tech from the USSR, and the 231 recon from Germany. I start producing these for export--mainly to the USSR, Germany and Japan.

4) Production. As noted above, Electric first. Then Industrial Goods, and Military Goods. My IG goal is 20,000 a day and MG goods (by 1943) at 3000 a day. This will provide me with enough to do anything that I want for the USA while providing ample amounts for export.

The Grand Strategy....

...is basically to let everyone wipe each other out and only intervene when I can gain territory WITHOUT partisan issues.

--I arm Japan and the USSR well. They start fighting by early 1937; Japan attacks China later that year. Since I love peace so much, I deny China any aid. Why? Easy....I'm going to let Japan conquer them first, then when I fight Japan, I can liberate the territory--no partisans, since they only erupt when you are the country that annexes the territory initially (e.g., since the USA didnt conquer China, any territory the USA ends up with won't have partisans...).

--By 1 Jan 1939,
Air: 50 F4F Wildcat squadrons, 30 SBD-1 squadrons, 50 P-40Cs and 20 B-17s, 30 PBY Catalina recons, plus 20 transports.
Naval: All starting US ships plus 10 Yorktown CVs, and just got the tech 41 Ship Designs. The first Iowas will come out of the ports in 1941. I also built 20 troop transports and 20 tankers for refueling. 30 Salmon class Subs are in a picket line in the North Atlantic and off Midway and Wake Islands in the Pacific. First of the Fletcher DDs coming off the line.
Land: 100 M3 Halftrack battalions, 50 203mm guns, 40 Rangers, 60 Marines, 50 cargo trucks, 30 90mm AA guns. The first Quad 50 AA guns will come in 1941. I want to focus on Inf and Arty until 1942, when I should get the first M4A1 Shermans. This will cause a problem later as I don't have any tanks or AT and get involved in Europe faster than I planned.
Other: Sea Ports at Midway and Wake Island. Air Bases at Wake and Midway. New 10x Land Fabs, 5 new Naval and 5 new Air by 1939. Unless I'm using them to build something, all are turned off to save resources. CVs are in reserve on US east and west coasts, Subs are either in Hawaii or in Norfolk in reserve, along with all other ships. PBYs in reserve at Midway, Wake and US east coast.

By 1939, the Japanese have taken about 1/2 of China, and a goodly chunk of the Soviet Far East. The USSR has overrun Finland but became bogged down in a war with Poland. On 1 Sept 39, the war starts; Poland falls in about a week. The French invasion of Germany goes well at start, reaching the Ruhr industrial areas. The German counter-attack hits them hard and by 1 Jan 1940, France surrenders. The UK is only kept alive by my selling them 30 of my oldest DDs, which appear in London and begin to thrash the German transports trying to land.

1940: Germany overruns the Low Countries, UK occupies Iceland. Norway is never invaded. Japan gets Indochina, which immediately declares war on Siam. Japan has split China but can't seem to push farther. Germany is losing dozens of units to the UK, while UK and Norwegian troops continually harass the western European coasts with landings. German tech is just now building PzIIC tanks.

1941: Italy invades Egypt, Greece and Yugoslavia. Egypt manages to hold out (thanks to my selling T-35 tanks to them at a discount, along with supply trucks). Main US artillery piece is now the 203mm 8" howitzer--23 soft attack and a great range. US gets 41 Ship Tech and the first Iowas are produced in Nov 1941. I decide not to build the Essex Class CV but instead use the Yorktowns until I can build the Midway Class CVs (43 Ship Tech). My nuclear research is progressing well and I expect to have the first A-Bomb by early 1944 at the latest.

7 Dec 41: Japan DoW's USA, and Germany/Italy a few days later. I have a strong picket force around Wake and Midway (their Sea Ports will draw enemy ships like flies to honey). PBYs sight Japanese warships and transports before they reach the islands; Japan loses dozens of ships over the next few months to no US losses. I decide to go against Germany first, so when Japan offers peace in June 1942, I take them up on the offer. The US still has the Philippines and all other pre-war possesions.

War in Europe (1942-44): The USSR falls to the Axis before US entry. This slightly modifies my strategy, as they now have a substantially larger resource base. I play it more like World War I USA than WWII USA. No alliances except with the UK. Move a strong task force of 3 BBs, 20 DDs, plus CLs and CAs and Subs to cover London. I use a transport to move 20+ Wildcat and Warhawk squadrons to the UK. A second Task Force, consisting of 5 BBs and about 20 other ships moves to close Gibraltar and stop any Italian attempts to land in the USA. I get treaties with Spain and begin moving in US troops. I attack in early 1943 on two major routes--German occupied France at Bordeaux and Vichy France. The fighting is very tough--my lack of modern tanks (my first Shermans had not reached Spain yet) made it a rough fight but by Oct 1943, US troops (along with my new allies UK, Norway, Spain...and Switzerland ;)) reached the Rhine River and Vichy France had fallen. US and UK troops occupied northern Italy and Italy falls (and is annexed) by early 1944. In July 1944, a strong US force breaks out of the Rhine and attacks toward Berlin, which falls in August.

I make peace with Germany (new capital is in Leningrad) after the fall of Berlin--my forces were exhausted and I wanted to rebuild them. However, I used the period between the German peace offer and expiration to gain some strategic rivercrossings, etc. This allows me to assist the UK without being at war myself. By 1945, the UK (thanks to their American troops) have reduced Germany to a small rump consisting of ex-Finland, Leningrad, and some of the surrounding area.

1945:
USA owns all of France, Belgium, half of Italy and most of Germany (west of the Elbe River)--without partisans except for a bit of trouble in Italy. The UK is continuing the fight while I field new aircraft (P51s, P38s, P47s and other newer aircraft). The US Navy is now shifting back to the Pacific, and now includes very modern warships, such as the Worchester Class light cruisers, the first Midway class carriers, and 1947-48 era submarines. At last count, I think it consists of about 300 warships, not counting transports. US amphib forces consist of LSTs, LSVs and mechanized marine units. The first B-29s are staging to their bases in the Philippines and advanced subs are taking up positions off Taiwan, Hainan Island, and Indochina. The bulk of the US fleet is moving to Manila but a heavy screen of second line BBs and DDs are covering Hawaii, the West Coast, Midway and Wake.

PLAN 1946:
--US declares war on Japan. Landings in Taiwan, Hainan Island and Indochina. US will annex Taiwan and Indochina upon liberation and will keep recovered Chinese territory, primarily because of the massive boost in population from those areas. At least 100 half tracks, 100 supply trucks, 100 artillery (including the M1 8" guns...26 damage...) and a wave of M1A1 Sherman and M26 Pershing heavy tanks will hit southern Japan. Airborne Ranger units will seize airfields and ports. Marine forces will land and take Iwo Jima and the large island south of Korea. US naval forces will engage and destroy the Imperial Navy; US naval aircraft are now Hellcats, Helldivers and Avenger torpedo planes (the old ones are in reserve).

--Japan is soundly defeated but not totally wiped out. To prevent the expected massive uprising in Japan, I allow a rump government to exist in their Sakalin Island isolation. US forces, before the peace, invade and annex Korea and liberate the former Soviet Far East. This provides an excellent jumping off point for later. China is still in the fight but the US-Japan peace (and the US occupation of former Japanese conquests in China) mean only western China is acutally Chinese.
davidclaywood
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Re: USA, Text only AAR

Post by davidclaywood »

Very well played and written. Thank You
SGTscuba
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Joined: Dec 08 2007
Location: Tipton, UK

Re: USA, Text only AAR

Post by SGTscuba »

davidclaywood wrote:Very well played and written. Thank You
^this

I am still wondering how you would even meet the 20k IG and 3k MG targets, struggling to get 3k IG and 250 MG as France myself.
My SR:U Model Project, get the latest and post suggestions here:

http://www.bgforums.com/forums/viewtopi ... 79&t=28040
Aragos
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Joined: Jan 13 2005
Location: Washington, DC

Re: USA, Text only AAR

Post by Aragos »

I start by solving the energy problem first. I set at least two Land Fabs to producing mobile engineers, and take the 10 or so the US starts with and use them to speed up building. I can usually get a cluster of coal power plants up in about two weeks. Rinse and repeat until I have enough electric to run things at full.

Hints (all as USA but may apply to other big countries too)

1) Set IG to NO exports. Import when you can.
2) Set CG to 100% Demand and don't sign agreements to trade them. Raise the price to citizens to max. This will cut back on demand and require less IGs to make CGs.
3) Scrap all smaller IG, CG and MG factories other than the largest ones. That will give you a lot of IGs to use to build with.
4) Set Electric to max civilian price to reduce demand.
5) Research Improved Power Grid from the start. I usually get it by Oct 1938 or so. This will effectively 4x your Electric.
6) Once you get Improved Power, lower civilan price (if a democracy) to 0% profit to make the people happy. Export 100% of excess.

Once I get Improved Power, I start building IG clusters (6x factories) at a time. By 1941, I can usually get close to the 17k-18k range. Once war starts, I start building MG clusters instead. By 1944-45, I can get IG up to 21-23k and MG up to 2.2-2.5k a day. I try to start exporting then as most wars stop due to a lack of MGs, and the AI won't build or repair without IGs being available.
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