Sept/Oct 1939: The Germans commit heavily to the invasion of Poland, taking Lodz and Warsaw early in the turn with minimal losses (but it was the ENG DIV). The weather at the start of the turn stays clear, and the Germans take Denmark easily. Mid-turn the long clear September allows them to declare war on Yugoslavia (activating Hungary), and they seize Belgrade without loss. The turn ends before they can conquer Yugoslavia, but the rapid advances spook the Soviets, who make a deal with Germany to secure Bessarabia by conceding resources. The CW takes 2 BPs from an early strategic bombing raid on Berlin, but otherwise the west is quiet. The CW reinforce Egypt heavily and in one naval skirmish lose the CAs Effingham and Cumberland but take no CONV loss. The Germans have the CA Blucher damaged.
  The Japanese assault and take Chengchow without loss, but otherwise China and the Pacific seem quiet. Troops move to China from Japan, but no other combat takes place. Italy moves troops to Egypt, but remains neutral.

Nov/Dec 1939: The Allies win initiative, but try to seize some initiative and have the Axis move first. The weather starts blissfully clear and the Germans use the good weather to finish off Yugoslavia and invade the Netherlands. Amsterdam and Zagreb both fall to high odds assaults. The Japanese also use the clear weather to some advantage, attacking Mao in Si-An. They kill Mao and take the city, but lose two units in the attack and fail the “Rape” rule, provoking the United States. Hungary and Bulgaria have their claims on Rumania recognized, but the German occupation of Belgrade will pull Rumania into the German sphere early anyway. The weather then turns sour. The Germans spend the turn relocating westward and the Japanese shift their lines after the Chinese fall back to close the gap created by the Si-An attack. The turn ends without much ado. Italy remains neutral.

Jan/Feb 1940: The foul weather from the previous turn actually gets worse. It is “Sitzkrieg” in the west! Bulgaria and then Rumania are activated as German allies (without prompting a reaction from the US). The Japanese do manage to assault and take Chang-sha without loss or political ruffling. The world seems mostly quiet – the calm before a storm?

Mar/April 1940: Axis win initiative, but the weather continues to be stormy. Germany decides it cannot wait and on the second impulse declares war on Belgium anyway. In a bold stroke, the Germans take Brussels on a +8 assault (rolling a natural ’20’) and eliminate one corps in Liege in an automatic attack. The French respond by occupying western Belgium and shortening their defensive line while the British cower behind the French troops with their expeditionary corps, which is a paltry two corps on the north flank. Meanwhile the British continue to build up in Egypt and posture in the Med. Finally the Commonwealth pulls the trigger, declaring war on Italy without any provocation. The Royal Navy strikes the Italians, sinking a TRS. They also invade Sardinia, landing an INF DIV, which proceeds to take the resource point. In China the Japanese continue to aggressively attack, taking a +6 assault across a river south of Kwei-yang, clearing the hex with the loss of their ENG div. Another resource falls to the Japanese as they continue to advance and shrink the Chinese lines.
  Later in the turn the weather remains bad, but the impatient Germans decide to test the mettle of their troops. After ground strikes and piling up troops, the Germans take a +8 assault and show their worth – taking the city without loss and clearing the way forward (rolled a natural 20 on the attack).  The Italians are unable to reinforce the island, but the turns ends before the CW can claim the entire island, leaving Olbia still in Italian hands.

May/Jun 1940: Axis start the turn with initative and the Germans push into Belgium and northern France. An early attack in Belgium fails, but the Germans reorganize and press forward as the French retreat into city redoubts and huddle around Paris. The Germans spend a few impulses clearing hexes around Paris and late turn make two +10 assaults against Lille and Paris. Both surprisingly fail, costing the German a PARA and some minor troops on the poorly executed attacks. Italy conquers Tunisia but has trouble with supply in the Med, also losing a NAV with a BB, a TRS, and 2 CAs damaged in naval combat. Finally squeezing the Italians out of supply, the CW attacks Tobruk, but the attack fails, costing them a MECH. They do advance into the city and still retain a combat advantage in the desert campaign. Italy does reclaim the most of Sardinia, including the resource point, but the Brits reinforce Cagliari.
  The war in China slows down considerably as the Japanese reorganize their lines and pull additional troops back to suppress partisans. No attacks are made.

July/Aug 1940: In the vital summer of 1940 the Axis retain initiative and the Germans immediately move to attack, launching a +10 attack on Lille and a +11 attack on Paris. Once again poor coordination thwarts the Axis, who fail to take Paris (1/1 result) or Lille (-/1). They reorganize the army with the HQs, but there is a definite morale hit. Two impulses later, however, the Germans try again and on another +10 assault succeed and take the city. At turn’s end, a Vichy government is installed as the French sue for peace. The mid-turn victory allows the Germans to finally pay attention to Britain, and they raid some convoys, sinking an old Danish CL and damaging another. In the Med the Italians continue to struggle to keep Libya in supply. In a large naval battle the Italians suffer, losing the BB Littorio and the CA Pola with the CA Abruzzi damaged. The Japanese continue to reorganize the Chinese theatre, but no attacks are made.
  Vichy Results: Morocco, Algeria, West Africa, Indo-China, Madagascar, Asian territories go Vichy. The rest, including Syria, Equatorial Africa, and the Pacific map remain free French. The new home country for France is Gabon.

Sept/Oct 1940: The axis initially lose initiative but demand a re-roll and seize it, electing to go first. The weather starts clear (one impulse) but then turns sour and the turn is quite short, only 5 total impulses. The Germans spend most of their time shifting forces eastward, but they do manage to sink the Dutch ship Java at the expense of having the BB Gneisenau damaged. Thus far the Germans have not been able to affect the convoy lines, however. Lots of naval positioning in the Med produces no major naval battles, although the CW are heavily reinforcing Egypt and Libya, sending HQs, corps, and plenty of planes.The Italians try to reset the balance, taking a +4 attack on Bardia, but the attack fails (1/-). The turn ends early, however, so that the British are unable to capitalize.
  Meanwhile the Japanese occupy Indo-China and make a good-odds attack on Kwei-Yang…that promptly goes badly (+9 assault fails on the natural roll of a ‘2’). Not much happens besides in the short turn, although the initiative marker shifts against the Axis.

Nov/Dec 1940: The Allies win initiative and go first. The Soviets demands the Finnish borderlands and the Germans allow the claims. No Winter War this time. The Germans continue to stream eastward and slowly a grey wall is forming on the Soviet border. Most of the excitement happens in the Med, where the British seek to cut off the Italians in Libya. At first the CW succeeds, then launching a +10 assault on the center of the Italian line in Libya, which is a smashing success (*/2S) and CW morale soars. The Italian Arm HQ is bashed back to Italy. The Italians manage to sneak a ship out to the Med and re-establish supply. They use the opportunity to take a risky counter-attack, which succeeds at +4 resulting in the loss of a CW INF corps. Immediately after the attack the turn ends, depriving the CW of exploiting the situation since the Italian attackers were all face-down despite the win (-/1). In the Western Med the Italians elect to try and strike at the smaller British fleet, and the combat goes two rounds. The CW loses the CAs Kent, Cornwall, and Canberra sunk and the BB Renown damaged, while the Italians suffer 4 damaged cruisers. In a separate battle the CW sinks the CA E. d’Savoia. The Italian line is nonetheless split, with two corps out of supply in the desert.  

Jan/Feb 1941: The Allies win initiative again and go first. The British act like they are going to exploit the advantage of going first in Libya, but then choose to not pull the trigger on an attack. Instead, the Italians use the lull to sneak a German 7-3 INF into Tobruk to reinforce the city and hopefully stabilize the lines. The Japanese in their turn assault Nanning (at +7) and take the city without loss. The Chinese, however, have plenty of reserve troops, but the Japanese are still advancing. Japanese commanders manage to keep their troops under control and there are no reports of misconduct by the successful Japanese troops. Germany activates Finland after the Soviets demands territorial concessions. Late in the turn the CW finds the Italian TRS, sinking it and the CA San Giorgio in the Eastern Med. The turns ends with horrific weather (modified ’12’).

Mar/Apr 1941: The weather clears at first, but promptly turns bad again. The Axis move first and Germany uses the turn to mostly move units eastward towards the USSR. Two nominal attempts to hit CW convoys both fail but the CA Gloucester is sunk in convoy duty. The CW, however, is more fortunate in the Med, hitting the center of the Italian line in Libya, severing the Axis front there without loss. They also manage to damage the BB Conti di Cavour. More positioning is done in China, but no attacks are attempted.

May/June 1941: Everyone expects a German attack on the Soviet Union, but the Axis lose initiative after a re-roll is demanded and then the weather is terrible. The Germans instead move to hit the CW convoys and manage to sink 4 CNVs and damage the CA Sumatra, but the fleet is then aborted out and the Brits repair their lines without trouble. The CW exacts revenge and strike the German fleet in Brest twice during the turn, damaging both the Bismarck and the Scharnhorst successively. The lone weak German FTR is also shot down, leaving the Axis without any air cover in western France. 2nd impulse the weather clears and the Germans decide to end the pretense. War is declared by Germany and Italy on the USSR. The Germans spend a chit and take a super-combined. The air strikes are generally successful and the Germans unhinge the Soviet line in the north, clearing all the way into Estonia with the exception of pockets in Kaunas and around Minsk. In the south they trudge forward, eliminating several hexes of units but not managing to clear the Dvina. The weather promptly turns bad again (poor weather luck for the Germans…) which grinds the advance to a halt. To add insult to injury, when the weather clears the Allies end the turn on their impulse, allowing the Germans only a single impulse of clear weather in the invasion turn. All the units reflip and the Soviet line looks re-energized.
  In China the Japanese continue to alter their lines, this time pulling DIVs and some INF out of the front line. Lan-Chow is strategically bombed and the Chinese lose a BP and the saved BP there with a good bombing run. Not much else seems to be pressing in the Pacific. At the end of the turn the US finally starts picking options, freezing Japanese assets and opening up resource lending to the Western Allies.

July/Aug 1941: After the debacle of the previous turn, the Germans get off to an excellent start in July. The Axis wins initiative and the Germans punch another hole in the northern Soviet line, basically shattering the defenses there. They blitz into Minsk and eliminate the Kaunas pocket first impulse. In the south they continue to grind away reducing Soviet stacks, and the Soviet line is starting to thin. By the end of the turn, the Germans advance past Smolensk in the north and close in near Kiev, pushing south of it towards the Dneiper.
  The CW port strike both Brest and La Spezia, inflicting major naval losses on the Axis. The CA Duc d’Aosta is sunk with the CA Trento and BB Vittorio Veneto damaged, while the Germans lose the Graf Spee and have the Schleswig-Holstein damaged. The Germans seem unconcerned with the losses, despite worried looks from the Italians, who see increased CW naval presence in the Med. The British push in Libya, killing most of the Italian army there, including the HQI Balbo. The path to Tripoli and the last remaining Axis units in Africa is clear.
  Japan activates Siam as an ally, and finally the US takes notice. There is some maneuvering in China, but nothing else.

Sept/Oct 1941: The Allies win initiative and elect to go first. The turn goes fairly long, which is good for the CW but not so good for the increasingly strapped Russian. The CW race across the desert and take Tripoli, clearing Africa of Axis troops. More port strikes come against the German fleet in Brest – still essentially undefended – and the CA Deutschland is sunk with the CA Blucher damaged. The Italians manage to draw blood in the Med, however, sinking a CW AMPH, the CVL Eagle, and the CA Belfast, and damaging a TRS and the CA Berwick and the Queens. Nonetheless, Allied progress in the Med theatre is significant.
  The Germans balance the situation with excellent progress in the Soviet Union. In the south the German clear the Crimea, surround and take Kiev, and even manage to clear Kursk (although they take 2 losses in the assault). The southern Soviet front now looks dangerously thin. The Germans slowly advance towards Moscow in the north, clearing Gomel. Repeated attempts to remove a small pocket of Soviet troops south of Minsk fail as German aircraft cannot manage to disorganize the units.
  The Japanese seem to be preparing for something as troop movement to coasts and other islands accelerates. Indeed, the Japanese declare war on Persia and seize the oil fields there without much struggle. Additional naval and land forces rebase to the area, including Italian Somalialand. The additional oil for Japan makes itself felt immediately.

Nov/Dec 1941: The Allies win initiative again and again go first, despite the initiative being at Axis +2. The first impulse is quiet, but then the Japanes declare war on the CW and Free France! A NAV port strikes a British fleet in Aden, sinking the CV Glorious and damaging the CA Sheffield. Several convoy attacks are made during the turn, and the line from Australia to Canada is ravaged, but the British manage to save most of the line from India around Cape Horn. The Japanese invade and take Rabaul, Malaya, Ceylon, and a few small islands (including Suva). More significantly, the Japanese invade Egypt from the Red Sea! The invasion succeeds and reinforcements are sent in. The Japanese manage to take Cairo (1/2S on a +6 assault) and conquer the possession, closing the Suez Canal. The Americans are incensed. Not to play favorites, the Japanese also attack Kwei-Yang, taking the city in an assault without loss (and no US entry). The only failure was a risky invasion by the Japanese of Majunga (Madagascar). The attempt fails, killing the Japanese MAR corps.
  Back in Europe, the Germans continue to grind away despite the poor weather, taking Dneproptevsk without loss and clearing the way to Stalino. Germans units try to eliminate the pocket south of Minsk, but fail and fail again to disorganize the resilient Soviet units.
  The Italians are hopeful that the Japanese intrusion into Egypt will bring relief, but the British continue to press the Italians, threatening invasion. Sardinia (which was conquered last turn by the CW) becomes a CW airbase with significant land forces as well. The British also liberate Tunisia.
  The US finally seems to notice that there is a world war on, and gear up production. American sentiment still seems strongly isolationist….

Jan/Feb 1942: All the world waits for the next escalation, but the Japanese continue to plague the British with no apparent interest in the United States. The Axis win initiative and go first, but the turn is short and filled with bad weather. The Japanese consolidate a bit in Egypt as the CW rushes corps and aircraft to the area. At turn’s end 4 CW corps and some DIVs square off across the canal against several Japanese corps and 2 DIVs.
  The Germans continue their relentless advance in the snow, taking Stalino and Kharkov in stormy weather without loss. The pocket south of Minsk is finally reduced by reinforcements that walked east from Germany, although with a single loss to the Germans. The path east from Stalino now looks fairly clear and a lone German MECH sneaks behind the lines to sieze the first of the Soviet oil.
  The CW try to posture in the Med with its navy, but most of the naval searches yield nothing. Despite a massive air advantage in the eastern Med a combined force of Italian, German, and Japanese planes only manage to find and sink the CA Edinburgh. Ridiculously lucky British search rolls and then aircraft rolls averts disaster for a small British fleet and keeps the Egyptian Allied forces in supply. The CW continue to pound the oblivious German Kriegsmarine, however, damaging the Adm. Hipper in Brest – removing the last combat ship the Germans have from the board (but next turn the Bismarck comes in as a reinforcement). The German naval presence is essentially zero.
  At this point it is hard to tell how the game is going. The CW look strong and threatening, the Italians are on their heels. But the Germans have done well in the USSR and the Japanese are pressing the CW in the Indian ocean area. The wildcard is the US – will they move to help the beleaguered Soviets who need serious help, or will they move to focus on the Japanese? The US does relocate the fleet to Pearl, so US entry is finally advancing.

Mar/Apr 1942: The initiative again returns to the Allies, who have had the advantage thus far (game long) in initiative. First impulse the British send out the navy in clear weather and an invasion fleet appears in the Bay of Biscay! Significant naval and air forces also appear across the Med. The turn quickly turns sour, however, with storms in the temperate zone. No invasions this turn. The Axis again mount some serious NAV power in the Med, but poor search rolls plague the Axis and no naval combat occurs the entire turn. The CW launch their first strategic bombing run, hitting Paris and taking 1 BP from the Germans. The US also elects to send 1 BP to the USSR to aid the cause of their ally.
  The Germans, now freed of active resistance in the Dnieper basin, turn north and east. They assault and take Tula without loss and advance more troops and planes towards Moscow, which is the center of the main Soviet resistance (clustered around the capital). Lead elements snake their way towards Stalingrad and more oil is taken in the northern Caucasus. The turn ends fairly early and shifts against the Allies. The US embargoes the Japanese.

May/June 1942:  The Axis win initiative, but it takes a reroll to do it. The weather is pooe (‘3’ on the roll) and the arctic zone is muddy. In the opening impulse the Italians port strike the British TRS in Sardinia, but the poor luck continues and they only manage to damage the TRS. Germany surrounds and assaults Stalingrad, taking it without loss. The CW respond with a major naval spread, including an invasion fleet in the North Sea. 

Final game day – played to Jan/Feb 1943 — Allies capitulate. Axis major victory.