Sept/Oct 1939: The Germans attack Poland, encircling Warsaw and Lodz and taking both cities without loss. A minor oversight nearly causes a disaster as unchecked Polish forces in the south nearly go on a rampage, but the crisis is averted. The remaining Poles in the north do kill a German Inf DIV, so the campaign is not without loss. The French, in an unusual show of bravado, find a seam in the German lines and send a CAV corps to Munich, where they destroy the factory before then managing to scamper back to France. A French strategic bombing campaign fails to do any damage. Italy stays mysteriously quiet, maintaining peace in the Mediterranean. Japan is not so peaceful landing, additional troops in China. They seize Chengchow and cannot control their forces, resulting in a media disaster as Japanese troops participate in the “Rape of Chengchow,” angering the US public. The Japanese keep a heavy presence in Manchuria as well. The early demise of the Poles allows the Germans to redeploy forces southward. The CW shuffled troops around in the Med and lands an expeditionary force in France. The Soviets demand Bessarabia and the Germans force the Rumanians to cede the territory. Germany then supports the Hungarian and Bulgarian demands as well. Both Hungary and Bulgaria are activated as Axis allies. Germany manages to fail almost every US entry roll, which pushes US entry forward. The US pick “E.R. Murrow Reports” and start resources to China.

Nov/Dec 1939: The weather starts typical, but then the Allied pain begins, as the Axis enjoy what will become 4 consecutive clear weather impulses, 3 of them in N/D. In the second Axis impulse, Germany DOWs both the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. This rash move is handsomely rewarded with all of the extra clear weather, and Germany conquers both nations without loss. The bucky Brits, however, do manage to land a supporting force into Rotterdam. More French bombing, no effect. The Italians continue to see the virtue of peace. The Soviets demands the Finnish borderlands, and the Germans allow the just request. Japan masses it forces in southern China and attacks inland from Canton, but the attack is not successful, killing one Chinese corps for the loss of 2 Japanese DIVs. The turn ends with the US occupying Greenland and Iceland and the Chinese starting aircraft production.

Jan/Feb 1940: The new year starts under a bright Axis sun, as unseasonably clear weather grips the world. The Germans take advantage and attack Belgium  They manage to clear Liege and Brussels, but take two casualties in the assault on the capital. The attack gives the Allies a chance to support the beleaguered minor, and French and British troops move into Belgium to defend what is rest of the nation. In that same turn the Germans unleash “Aryan Preparedness” – codename for using offensive points to take a land and a naval in the same turn. The resulting naval battle was disappointing, with no surface sightings and German subs being forced to rebase home without damage on either side. The weather at turns end finally worsens, and the front stabilized in the West. Finland is activated as a German minor ally. The Japanese kill a partisan in China and continue to maneuver. More Japanese troops push towards the Soviet border. No explanation is given for this aggressive posturing. The French attack German factories for a third time and fail again.

Mar/Apr 1940: The long streak of winter clear weather finally breaks, giving the Allies a small bit of relief. The Germans reorganize their line in the West, reinforce Poland, and prepare for better weather. The Italians remain quiet and peace-loving, although there are rumblings of war. Japan activates Siam and the US seems not to care. Japan does that 2 BPs from China, but otherwise the turn is relatively quiet amidst constant storming. The US embargos oil and starts lend lease to China.

May/June 1940: “The Happy Time” for the Axis, who see basically nothing go wrong. 9 attacks are made, some as low as +5, and exactly none of them fail (the highest odds the Germans had was +11, with six of the attacks ranging between +5 and +9). Turn starts clear and stays clear, even for the Japanese in the North Monsoon zone, allowing them to break the Chinese lines and advance all along the southern frontier. As a result the Japanese take the two southern resource points and nearly surround Chang-Sha. The Chinese retreat, reeling from the offensive, but manage to stop the Japanese just short of Kwei-Yang. Meanwhile, the Italians finally succumb to pressure and declare war on France and the Commonwealth. They damage the Warspite and CA Devonshire in Malta, but fail to find the CW navy in the Med. The British strike back and sink an Italian CONV, but the Italian fleet escapes unharmed. As the turn went long, the WDF advanced into Libya, and cleared Benghazi, taking a DIV loss in the process. The Italians conquer Tunisia.
  But the real story is Germany, who focuses exclusively on the French in the West and batters forward throughout the turn. Although the Brits hold three hexes in the north, the Germans concentrate their armor and hit the French lines. Despite stout resistance the Germans perform well, breaking the strong first line with two relatively low odds attacks that were stunningly successful. The German push into France, continuing to kill French units until they exploit into Lille and cut off the Maginot Line from the main French army. The Germans lost only a TAC shot down and a single ARM DIV. The CW units in the north are untouched, however, leaving the German flank long and potentially exposed.
  The Russians reorient their forces as more German units appear on their border in Poland. The German concentration on building HQs and ARM makes it look like a confrontation with the Russian Bear might be coming.

Jul/Aug 1940:  The Axis again win initiative and the turn starts ominously for the Allies. The Germans send a NAV into the North Sea and block supply to the BEF in Belgium. Three German TAC then swarm in, flipping more than half of the British defenders, including all six counters in Antwerp (three planes and three land units!). The Germans then proceed to eliminate Antwerp on a +14 assault. Next impulse, the Germans clear the hex south, resulting in total of 30 BPs of loss for the Commonwealth. To add insult to injury, the CW on the succeeding impulse port strike a lone Italian TRS in Homs – and fail to find the port (1 vs. 10 on search roll!). A similar port strike against the undefended German navy in Kiel sees the Germans get a ridiculous AA roll of 9, 9, 7, which essentially gutted the strike that could have been painful. Later in the turn the British overrun the Italian TRS, but it survives the overrun roll, then evades the British fleet, making it safely to Tripoli. Meanwhile, The Germans rolls in France as well, killing another stack of French units west of Lille (rolls a ’16’ on a +12 blitz – the 11th consecutive successful attack by the Germans….), but then finally the French decide to show up and fight. In the center of the line the Germans take a hex, but 1/2 flip – the first partial failure of the Western front (7 rolled on +10 blitz). This starts a cascade of mediocrity from the Germans, who are clearly tiring. A +6 blitz is partially successful, taking the hex without loss but flipping. A +7 assault on Metz is the first outright failure, costing the Germans a GAR and GAR Div for one French loss. The Allies try passing but fail, and the German continue to push forward. At the end of the turn the German have one hex adjacent to Paris, have eliminated all but one hex of the BEF (they are holed up in Rotterdam), and have nearly cleared the Maginot. The British, however, are being pesky. Alexander and an ARM land in Bordeaux and look to be setting up shop.
  Italy reinforces Libya and manages to save its TRS from death, but loses the Sardinian res point to a sneaky British invasion when the island is put out of supply. Not much else happens in the Med.
  Japan builds up in both China and on the Soviet Siberian border. Two new corps head to Siberia and a MECH and IHQ head to China for what appears to be a renewed offensive in the making. No attacks are made this turn, but the Japanese reorganize their line and significantly beef up the corps on the front. The US enacts a complete embargo on Japan for their aggressiveness, which impacts the Japanese economy. US entry seems high although tension is low (there is not a single chit in the Japanese tension pool!). Tensions are on the rise!

Sept/Oct 1940: The Axis win initiative yet again, but the weather at the start of the turn turns sour – rain soaks the fields of France (rolled ‘8’). This does not stop the German war machine. They take Rouen on a +8 assault (but take one loss) and blitz a hex on the southern wing in France as well. As the turn continues the rain does not abate but German fortunes finally do. The Germans assault a completely surrounded Metz but fail (1/1). The French finally claim an outright victory of their own, shooting down a Stuke with their vaunted D510s. The turns ends with the Germans two hexes closer on the wings, but still only having a single hex on Paris. The Brits evacuate Rotterdam completely, but the troops come back to France in the new redoubt around Bordeaux.
  Italy runs another HQ into Tripoli despite the British naval presence and then strikes out to remove the invaders from Libya. After a fortuitous groundstrike, Wavell is disorganized in Homs and the Italians attack. The Italians lose a MECH but bash the Brits back to England.
  The turns ends with only three Axis impulses because of the bad weather. The US sends resources to the USSR and relocates the fleet to Pearl Harbor – sending shivers of concern up the spine of the Japanese player. US entry is unusually advanced.

Nov/Dec 1940: The Allies finally win initiative. The weather, however, stays abysmally bad. Rain storms and even blizzards plague Europe. The CW completes the conquest of Sardinia and reinforces its holdings in Tunisia (after being expelled from central Libya. The Brits try to attack Italian units conveying supply to Libya, but fail to find anything. More troops are relocated to Bordeaux.
  Germany presses forward in storms, taking a second hex adjacent to Paris on a +4 blitz that is absurdly successful (no loss, half flipped). The French make them pay, however, as a +5 assault on Metz fails, costing another German unit. The Germans seek to clear a third hex before Paris, but fail in a bloody assault (2/2). The French are weakening, but still more or less hold a line.
  The Japanese see the weather clear in the North Monsoon for a single impulse and take advantage seizing Chang-Sha on a +12 assault that succeeds without loss. The Americans do not seem to care. At the turn’s end the US refutes naval war zones, finally building tension for the first time against the Japanese.

Jan/Feb 1941: The streak of bad weather continues, much to the lament of the Axis. The Axis win initiative and go first, but the blizzard sets in, preventing the Germans from doing much of anything. In the second Axis impulse the Germans again try to clear that 3rd hex on Paris, but finally have a bad roll (‘4’) which costs them a MECH and they fail to take the hex. Metz holds strong, so much so that Germans finally let a turn go by without assaulting it.
  The CW forces in Tunisia continue to build and the reinforced Brits start pushing southward towards Libya, seeking to attack Tripoli from the west. More naval combat is sought but again there is no combat as the forces miss one another. The French send a TRS to pick up the new Senegalese MIL, but fearing the worst the troops are diverted to Gabon.
  Japan reinforces China yet more, but the oil embargo is clearly having an impact as the Japanese have slowed their aggressive plans considerably. The US feeds those fear, gearing up at the end of the turn. The turn ends quite early after only two impulses for each side.

March/April 1941: The weather starts bad and the turn is short, but the Axis make the most of their opportunities. In the first stormy impulse the Germans realign their front, kill a French partisan. Then the weather clears and the Germans blitz their way into a third hex on Paris without taking a loss. The last of the French airplanes gets shot down, leaving the skies filled with only Axis aircraft. The final impulse sees the weather turn stormy again, but the Germans use it to position all of their best troops for an assault on Paris. German planes are start strategically bombing London, taking 2 BPs from the CW.
  Italy and the British (with help from the French) play cat and mouse in the Med, but no one can manage to find anything despite repeated attempts. The CW appears to have a naval advantage, but they repeatedly miss good opportunities, including a few chances at catching Italian TRS movements.
  Japan starts to realign its forces in China, moving units towards the coast. The rapid progression of the US appears to be forcing the Japanese to prepare for a wider war sooner rather than later. At turn’s end no attacks are made, and the US selects the Truman Doctrine and aid to CW ships.

May/June 1941: The Allies had a slim hope of staving off defeat in France, but the Axis win initiative. Germany uses a land chit to overwhelm the French defenders, taking Paris without loss in the first impulse (+14 assault). Next impulse the Germans clear Metz, again without loss. Two more attacks are made to ‘clean up’ the lines, all of which result in French bodies and German successes. By mid-turn the Germans start railing units to the Eastern Front. The Soviets have clearly taken an aggressive posture, moving all of their units towards the border with Germany. Was between the land juggernauts seems increasingly likely. German bombers again find London and take 1BP. A single British bomber tries to bomb Essen, but misses its target.
  Italy manages to find some British and French convoys not once, but twice. The Allies cover the losses but 8 total CPs were lost (3 of them French). Mid-turn the British use their massive navy to assault Tripoli from the Tunisian side, taking the city without loss (+12 assault, 17 rolled). The Italians do manage to regroup and preserve the other six corps in Libya, but the territory falls to the CW at turn’s end nonetheless. In desperation, the Italian 1-4 Libyan TER is commanded to assault Algeirs (defended by a 1-1 CW GAR DIV). They surprisingly do well despite the low-odds attack and both units are killed. Italy conquers French Somaliland.
  Japan continues to maneuver around, but the news continues to be grim as the Americans pass the War Appropriations act. Since the American navy is already in Pearl, they have all of the bonuses possible for a declaration of war. It just remains to see what the tension and entry levels are.
  At the end of the turn the Germans install a Vichy government.
Mor, Algeria, Syria, Indochina, Madagascar, Asian territories, and ‘others’ go Vichy. West Africa, Equatorial Africa, and the Pacific territories stay Free French. A TRS and a few CONV plus the Senegalese MIL prepare to fight for the freedom of France from afar. Gabon is made the new home country of Free France.

July/August 1941: A long turn. The Allies win initiative even after the Axis ask for a re-roll. The CW starts by posting a large fleet off the coast of Italy, loaded with AMPH and TRS filled with troops. The Italians seek to destroy the fleet and, as will become the theme for the turn, find fortune. Despite being outgunned in the naval-air battle, the Italians manage to shoot down or abort the British FTRs and then damage the best AMPH, sending the 8-4 Aussies home. In separate battles the CA Sheffield and Fiji are damaged and 5 CONV are lost. Despite several opportunities at advantage, the British navy cannot seem to locate the Italian navy. Next impulse the CW forces land anyway, just south of Leghorn. The Axis, caught slightly off guard, respond but the mountains of Italy make the response slow. The Germans start sending actual aid to the Italians and reinforce Rome. The following impulse the Brits manage an impressive +7 assault on Rome itself, but perform badly (2/1 and fail to take the city). At the end of the turn the Brits do manage to liberate Tunisia and kill a stack of Italians in Libya, but their beachhead is weakened and major Axis forces are streaming southward.
  Meanwhile in the Pacific, the Japanese declare occupation of Indochina and royally irritate the Americans, where public opinion finds that this is the last straw for Axis aggression. The Japanese are clearly preparing for war that seems to be coming earlier rather than later.
  The Soviets are massing their army on the Polish border. The Germans, not to be outdone, are doing the same. But the German units are better and they have an airforce whereas the Soviets have only a small one. The garrison ratio is near on equal, which likely means that war will come in early 1942.
  The turn finally ends after 9 impulses. The US selects the option allowing the CW to reinforce the Pacific and British troops immediately rebase into Singapore and Rabaul. Japanese morale audibly drops at the news.

Sept/Oct 1941: The Allies again win initiative, again after a failed Axis demand for a re-roll. With public opinion roiling about Japanese transgressions, Congress votes to send the USA to war against the Japanese! (Needed 7, rolled 5 for DOW). The British and Free French follow suit. We near global war.
  The CW and FF also DOW Vichy, taking Syria and pushing into Algeria to liberate the oppressed territories. The CW eliminate all but a single corps of Italians in Libya in several separate attacks. The Germans reinforce Italy, sending corps and aircraft, which quickly enables the Italians to completely eliminate the Allied beachhead in Italy. The painfully clear weather aids the Axis in their endeavor. By turn’s end the invasion of Italy is over, but the Italians have lost their African presence. Germany and the USSR continue their ‘border buildup’ and stare each other down.
  In the surprise impulse the Americans send fast cruiser forces to raid the Japanese convoy lines and find surprising success, ravaging the lines. 10 CONV are sunk and many others aborted. The Japanese respond, sinking the CA Vincennes, a sub, and damaging the CA Tuscaloosa. The Japanese also damage the FF TRS that landed reinforcements into Batavia. The Japanese do manage to take the oil fields at Balipapan and Tarakan – a vital move to keep the Imperial Japanese war efforts alive.
  The turn goes ridiculously long (11 impulses!). Near the end the Germans activate Rumania, signaling the impending war with the USSR. The turn ends with Germans troops railing into Rumania and the Soviets scrambling to cover the new extended border.

Shocking addition: During Peace Phase the CW and Italy announce a peace treaty. Libya and Sardinia are returned to Italy and the CW agrees to send resources and oil to Italy starting immediately, with escalating trade over the years. The CW gets guarantees about Italian troop movements, the A-E Sudan is returned, and… that seems to be about it. The aim seems to be anti-Soviet and anti-Japanese, since the the CW fleet immediately starts relocating to the Pacific and Italian troops and aircraft head to the Soviet border.

Nov/Dec 1941: The Allies win initiative but have the Axis move first. Despite the bad weather the turns runs long again (favoring the Axis, 8 impulses!). The Germans and Italians position on the Eastern front. A reinforcement or two head to France, where the British and Americans are building up around Bordeaux (the Germans never reduced that pocket after the fall of France). American forces are now starting to accumulate, and the Germans pre-empt the surprise for the US by declaring war with Italy on the USA at the turn’s end. The Germans take a BP from Glasgow, but CW bombing is again ineffective, mainly because there are no/few strategic bombers in play. The German navy sails and is caught by two small cruiser forces, resulting in the CA Sheffield and Glasgow being damaged, the BB Terror being sunk, and the allied CAs Java and an unnamed Danish ship also being sunk. The Germans have the Bismarck and Gneisenau both damaged.
  In the Pacific the Japanese show that they have spirit, placing the US navy out of supply in Rabaul and effectively preventing the US from doing any offensive operations for the turn. In the skirmishes for supply, however, the Japanese lose the CAs Kumano and Maya with the Chokai damaged. The Japanese reorganize their lines in China and keep a strong hold on the oil on Borneo.

Jan/Feb 1942: The turning point comes. Despite a disadvantage, Axis fortune holds and the Axis get initiative. Germany and Italy immediately declare war on the USSR after breaking the pact. But the weather is miserable and the front line basically does not shift at all. As the turn advances the Soviets try a thrust into Rumania, but superior Axis airforces maul the Soviet airforce, shooting down the best two Soviet FTRs to no loss (and while flying at disadvantage!). The Soviets manage to take one hex but it cost the loss of a quality MOT. The turn ends in the East with virtually no change on the front anywhere.
  In the Pacific the Japanese continue to be crafty, putting the newly arrived British fleet in Singapore out of supply and again putting the US fleet in Rabaul out of supply after knocking out the supply line (damaged the CA Astoria) in poor weather. The Brits respond, catching the CA Aoba loaded with a MAR Div off the coast of Ceylon, ending a potential thrust in the area.

Mar/April 1942: The Allies want initiative, and win it after a reroll. The weather is then surprisingly clear (roll of modified 10). The Soviets use the weather to sneak a 5-3 INF corps into Hungary and seize Budapest deep behind Axis lines! In the same initial impulse the Soviets launch an attack in northern Finland and take Petsamo on a daring +4 attack (rolling a 20!). The war gods favor the Soviets, who also manage a successful blitz attack to punch a hole in the German lines near Bucharest. That advance gives the Soviets a key corner for additional attacks, and throughout the turn the Soviets slowly push the Axis lines back a hex each impulse. By the end of the turn despite a worsening of the weather, the Soviets push to adjacent to the Poesti oil fields and Bucharest. Meanwhile, on the rest of the Eastern front the bad weather slows things considerably. The Germans make one (successful) attack and push the Soviets back a hex in Poland, but the line is otherwise a big ‘sitzkrieg.’ The Germans do take a BP from the Soviets in strategic bombing. The bad weather prevents a German counterattack in Hungary, and as a result the Hungarians wisely decide to surrender to the Soviets and exit the war.
  The CW and Americans also take advantage of the one impulse of initial clear weather to launch a surprise invasion in Normandy. A stack of CW troops takes St. Malo in the first impulse and waves of CW troops follow on, securing Brittany (including Brest). The Germans hastily cobble together a defense line, but they are clearly troop poor in France. The CW and US still hold the Bordeaux area, which has since been significantly built up with land and aircraft units.
  In the Pacific, the Chinese also take advantage. At the end of the previous turn, a 5-3 Nationalist slipped on the coast next to Canton. With the double move, the 5-3 corps entered an undefended Canton, sinking the Suzuya, the Kako, the BB Yamashiro, and AMPH and capturing a TRS and AMPH. A much larger fleet was present in port but escaped (fleet was disorganized). Japanese morale plummets with the loss, so they take revenge by launching two assaults to clear the southern coast. They do so, killing 3 Chinese units without loss, including retaking Canton.
  The US activates Brazil as an ally.

May/June 1942: The summer starts with the Allies winning initiative (after a reroll), but the weather is middling (R in the Arctic, clear elsewhere). The Soviet front remains static in the north and centre, but the Soviets use the clear southern weather to launch a daring attack on the Ploesti oil fields. The attack is a success, killing both defending German corps with a roll of 19 on a +8 blitz (modified 27). The attack breaks the Axis line, and by the end of the turn Rumania is conquered, Bulgaria is conquered, and the line extends into eastern Yugoslavia. Italian reinforcements rush forward and try to hold back the Soviet onslaught. The Germans do manage to retake Budapest, but the Hungarians are not flocking to the cause.
  In western Europe the CW lands forces in La Rochelle and in the Netherlands, threatening a stab to the German heartland. The Germans react quickly and manage to blitz the beachhead in Holland into the sea, but the joint US-CW forces in France push forward, linking the Normandy landings with those of Aquitaine. By the end of the turn the Allied forces are starting to pressure the Germans from Bayonne to St. Malo. German reinforcements are arriving, but oddly no Italians are helping in France. Most of the Italian army is now in Yugoslavia and Poland.
  The Japanese are curiously quiet, conserving oil. They kill a partisan in China and reorganize their lines, but little else is done. The Allies attack the convoy lines again, sinking the CA Nachi and 3 CONV, but otherwise the Pacific is quiet. The US shuttles more CVPs forward and the US fleet is starting to look beefy. The Japanese are tenaciously holding on to 2 oil points in the NEI – their sole source of oil and critical to the war effort.
  The Allies end the turn, shifting initiative towards the Axis. Mexico is brought into the war as a US minor ally.

July/August 1942: The Axis win initiative, but it takes a reroll to get it.  The Germans start the turn by reorganizing the defenses in France and pulling back to a defensible river line (the Seine). The Germans by the end of the turn establish a firm defense line at the Seine. The Allies eliminate a pocket of resistance and push up to the front. The CW invades Denmark, liberating the country at the end of the turn and the Americans rebase units into Tunisia threatening the Italians in Libya.
  The Soviets press forward the southern flank, slowing chewing up a hex and there with low and medium odds attacks (including one key advance under Marshall McErathnik in Poland). Near the end of the turn the Soviets make a daring double-pincer move – that succeeds. With the help of Red Paratroopers the northern assault breaks through and the southern armored attack near Belgrade blitzes through despite a heavy German and Italian commitment of forces (needed a ’21’ on a +5 blitz, rolled 16 to get it!). As a result Guderian is killed and three hexes of the Carpathian mountains filled with quality German units (and some Italians) is pocketed. The result also blows a huge hole in the Axis line. The Axis quickly repair it, but have to cede Belgrade to the Soviets, who liberate the nation at the end of the turn. The Soviets also bomb two German cities, taking 2 BP and 2 oil.
  In the Pacific the first turn is surprising clear, so the US takes advantage and launches a quick invasion of Truk. The attack takes one loss but succeeds, giving the US a forward major port. The turn runs long, giving the Allies time to reorganize and push forward.

Sept/Oct 1942: The Allies win initiative despite an Axis call for a reroll. The weather turns muddy across the globe immediately. The US posts naval fleets to try and hit Japanese convoys, but they find nothing. On the Japanese first impulse, however, the Imperial Fleet sails to establish convoys and supply. The US finds the Japanese navy three consecutive times and basically eviscerates the Japanese. The Zuikaku, Akagi, Hiryu, Shokaku are all sunk, along with the CVLs Shinyo, Ryuho, Shoho, and Zuiho. The BB Hiei is also sunk, and many ships were damaged as well, including the Nagato, the Hyuga, the Ise, the Mutsu, and the CVs Hiyo and Soryu. Japanese morale, which had been low, plummeted further. In the battles the Allies lost four cruisers (2 CW and 2 US), the CW had two BBs damaged, and the US had three cruisers damaged. 

Game called: Allied major victory S/O 1943.