Tales from the Man Cave: The Relief of Wake Island

As a lifelong wargamer and hobbyist, I’ve always yearned for ample space to spread out, and it hasn’t been until the purchase of my current house that I’ve actually had it. Wargamers know that one of the critical requirements of any session is space; it’s always a pain to begin a game knowing that there’s a ticking clock involved, that in two or three hours you’re going to have to pick up the pieces and put it all away. Longer, campaign-length scenarios become a practical impossibility, and even shorter battles often have to be truncated due to unforeseen, extra-game events. Such as dinner. Or children.

But now that I have a basement, a chair, and a large (if improvised) table, I’ve now begun to dive into some of the larger, strategic-level games I’ve owned for years but never had the opportunity to try out.

The game I’ve been going through for the last few weeks has been Pacific War, a division-level reenactment of World War II’s Pacific theater of operations from Pearl Harbor in 1941 to 1945. The game is immense, with over 1,200 counters depicting the ground, air, and naval forces of Japan, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth Nations, and the Netherlands. There are two giant maps that cover India, Japan, and the Aleutians to Northern Australia, the Hawaii Islands, and the innumerable islands between.

Being a naval-dominated theater of operations, special attention has been given to the naval counters, and like many naval warfare games, the capital ships have their own counters, while the rest represent groups of similarly-classed vessels. Not so here, and for an amateur historian, it’s rather cool to learn history as you go.
I’ve never been a fan of task force-oriented counters, but the system in Pacific War works well, even for solitaire play. [For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it’s the practice of one counter, marked with a star for the US/Allies and a rising sun for the Japanese, representing however many ships are moving together. It keeps the board from getting cluttered, adds to the potential ‘fog of war,’ and is consistent with the actual practice of task forces.]

Another concept the game gets right is searching for the enemy—you can only attack what you can spot, and a lot of battles turn on who saw whom first, or at all. The Pacific Ocean is a huge place, and with cloud cover and weather often playing a factor, some odd occurrences often crop up, as they did historically. And if you are playing against another player, make sure you take notes once your searches give you real intelligence, because you are not allowed to inspect the composition of enemy task forces otherwise. Conversely, recombine and mix up your task forces often, for obvious counterintel reasons.

Upon first opening the box, you may feel a little overwhelmed at the sheer scale of the game. Victory Games, however, has done the novice a great service by issuing a scenario booklet with a series of what they call ‘engagement scenarios’ that are solitaire, 10-15 minute games that focus on one small aspect of the game. For example, the Pearl Harbor scenario introduces the player to naval air combat, the First Invasion of Wake Island focuses on amphibious assault, and ground combat is covered in the invasion of India. Each scenario is lopsided and wouldn’t be suitable for two players, but is highly instructive in a compartmentalized way.

I've just finished my first battle scenario, "The Relief of Wake Island." This was an aborted relief effort that took place in December 1941 shortly after the bombing at Pearl. Wake had already fended off one feeble invasion attempt by the Japanese (the only amphibious invasion of the Pacific war to fail), and now they were back with significantly increased numbers. The US had three carriers in the area, but the Saratoga lolly-gagged its way to the battle, basically ruining any chance for a reasonable defense. Although the Marines fought valiantly, it can be argued that the Navy was right to abandon Wake, because a victory at Wake would probably have drawn in major Japanese attention (4 additional carriers were in cruising range)while not achieving much strategically. Even if they had retained ?Wake, it would have been difficult to hold. Nevertheless, it was the low point of the US in the war, with the Marines, seeing no relief was forthcoming, surrendering the remainder of their forces on Christmas Day.

But what if Vice-Admiral Pye had decided the risk the entire Pacific Fleet anyway? This is where I enter.

Cycle 1: The Allied and Japanese forces move into position with either failed or unsuccessful searches.

Cycle 2: 2-engined bombers from Kwajalein attack the CV New Orleans, but are repulsed by AA. Meanwhile, airstrikes from the CV's Soryu and Hiryu catch the remaining Marine Wildcats on the ground. Elsewhere, a Benson-class destroyer is instrumental in the sinking of Fubuki-class destroyers (right). On the Japanese side, the Furutaka and Aoba-class cruisers cripple the CV Saratoga, which is forced to slowly withdraw towards Pearl, while the remaining pilots transfer to the CV Lexington. Yuburi-class cruisers bombard the fortifications on Wake, whose naval guns score a hit on the Mutsuki APD's carrying the 144th Infantry Rgt.

Cycle 3: The remaining fortifications on Wake are taken out by Japanese aircraft, and the 1st Marine Battalion is bombarded and broken. US aircraft inflict heavy damage on the Soryu, but waste a golden opportunity to nail the Hiryu, missing it completely. The 144th has no problem occupying Wake (the actual battle for Wake was much costlier for the Japanese).

Cycle 4: The Japanese sink the Lexington. Its fighters simultaneously cripple the Soryu (a bit of revenge, as it and the Hiryu were 2 of the carriers that carried out the Pearl Harbor attacks two weeks earlier). But don't cry for the Lexington, because it would be sunk later on in the Battle of the Coral Sea, anyway.

Cycle 5: During the night, American fighters inflict heavy damage on the Hiryu, and as the Japanese have accomplished the requirements for victory [occupation of Wake and the destruction of more capital ships--the Lexington--than have been lost], there is no reason to hang around. It's also approaching the point in the game where if ships are going to make it back to friendly ports, they need to start heading out. Any capital ships still at sea by the end of the game will be counted as destroyed for victory purposes. The US, still hopeful of forcing a draw (they need only occupy Wake or destroy more capital ships than they lose), commit to pursuit with their destroyers and cruisers while sending the carriers back.

Cycle 6: The US, for a second turn wins the advantage, but it turns out to be to disadvantageous. They go all in with their remaining ships, but the Japanese refuse battle and withdraw. This, coupled with the movement in their own turn, give them the breathing space they need to reach their port at Ominato.

Cycles 7-14: As the US has no troops or transports to mount an invasion of their own, it's impossible in this game to wipe out defenders with only air power, and they cannot catch up to the Japanese fleet, the game is effectively over with a victory that was too close for the Japanese commander, but a victory regardless. Some better dice rolls by the US, and history could have been rewritten.

You'd think that the losses in this battle would outpace those of the historical non-battle, and you'd be correct. Losses among ground troops were similar, but losses in aircraft were twelve times those in the actual battle. At sea, during the historical battle, the Japanese lost 2 destroyers, 2 patrol boats, and had 1 light cruiser heavily damaged. There were, of course, no US naval losses.

In my reenactment, the US inflicted heavy damage on two Japanese carriers, and sank 6 destroyers and 2 patrol boats. The Japanese heavily damaged 1 carrier, sank another, and sank a Northampton-class cruiser.

I'll be taking a brief hiatus from Pacific War to try out Falkland Showdown, the 1982 conflict between the British and the Argentinians.

Bad Week for Civilization

Check it out. The Science Museum in London has some disturbing information:



BTW here's a 17th century action figure from the Science Museum, fully articulated. Wish I would have had my Boba Fett along. He would have appreciated that, I think.

Micbeth

My son, Kynon, is 7 years old and is reading a simplified version of Macbeth for his English curriculum. He's already memorized the "Tomorrow" speech, and liked Patrick Stewart's recitation of it. It's fair to say that he's intrigued by a good story. So here I have a couple of interpretations by the little guy from the Bard's play. The first was dictated to his mother; the second are written by him.



In the beginning there was a war. The sergeant is bleeding from being whacked by a sword. The Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. He joined the Norway team. Macbeth is walking someplace and the witches are in their way doing a spell. "Speak," says Macbeth. The [witches] say hi to Macbeth. Then they continue with their spell. They tell him he is going to be Thane of Cawdor and king.

Micbett lies about thinking about the whiches. Micbeth has a visit from the king. Micbeth leaves the table because hes worried Micbeth sees his bagger [dagger] in the air.

What can I say? I'm proud of my boy.

The Natural History Museum, 16 July 2011

The terrific facade of the British Museum of Natural History. If you look closely, you can see monkeys and other animals on the columns. I didn't think I'd enjoy this expedition, but I'm glad I went. It's within a stone's throw of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. Also extremely nearby are the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Geographic Society. A few streets down? Harrods and Harvey Nicks.



Go in the museum, and this fellah greets you.


Ever wonder about how sex works? I mean, really wonder how it works? Have you ever thought that maybe you'd understand it better if there was an incredibly explicit latex cutaway model you could look at along with your kids, in a crowded museum? Well, your dreams can be realized at the British Museum of Natural History.


The rock collection at the British Museum of Natural History. Dang, it was a lot of rocks. But I will say that the gems at the end of the hall were pretty cool.


Of course, there's a big statue of Charles Darwin here, or as some would say...THE ANTICHRIST MWA HA HA.


The Great Hunter, Captain Whatshisface. Emblematic of the British Colonial spirit in Deepest Darkest Africa.



A great shot of me and a coelecanth. You should check out how the coelecanth figures into the climax of Ghosty: This Fenceless World. Go google it now. And then purchase it, repeatedly.

II December 1940: Germany Marginal Victory

The weather abruptly clears for the last turn, and this meant that air strength for the first time in two months would not be halved. The Germans sent out 18 separate missions, going after airbases and destroyers in port, sinking 2 destroyers and destroying 3 air units on the ground out of 13 missions. They also did daylight terror bombing raids on East London and Bristol, hoping to draw the RAF away from protecting their airbases.

The Germans played fast and loose with their air units this turn, no longer having to worry about future group reductions. The British, on the other hand, having one final turn, did not have that luxury. As a result, the Germans piled up 9 VP's in their turn alone, and 10 more as a result of RAF group reductions.


Nevertheless, the British still had a chance to pull out a draw. They sent 6 sorties against German shipping at Bergen, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, but were placing their main hopes on sinking the heavily damaged Hipper and Schlesien at Cuxhaven, North Germany. A sinking of either would have cut the gap. The sinking of both would have secured the draw.

The Whitley 5's couldn't get the job done, blowing the rolls.

The game ends with Germany with 276 VP's and UK 132, a 2:1 marginal victory.

So what are the results of this battle? The Royal Navy had been extremely damaged, its ability to protect shipping perhaps critically impaired. The Royal Air Force held its own against the Luftwaffe, but did not deliver the crushing blow they had accomplished in real life.



Destruction of the Royal Navy and RAF were a requirement of any invasion, so a spring attempt seems unlikely, given the ability of Britain to reequip during these months. So the Isles would be safe.

But what about the U-Boat wolfpacks? With a strained Navy, protecting shipping lanes and supplying Operation Compass in Egypt would be way difficult. Does Beda Fomm happen if the English are out of supply? And even if it had, the Afrika Korps would have loved to have taken their "armored reconnaissance" against such a foe. Tobruk would have surely fallen at the least, and with the supply line intact, the road to Cairo would have been a lot easier and quicker.

I December 1940

British destoyers flee to Belfast.

With the invasion scrapped, the remainder of the game will be a scrounging for victory points. The weather continues crappy, both navies have sought refuge in safe harbours, air power is halved, and the British desperately want to force a draw.

For the Germans, the objectives will be to bomb UK destroyers in port and to conduct raids on RAF airbases. Every destroyer sunk will net 2 VP's, while every RAF group reduction (4 like squadrons destroyed over friendly territory, 3 over enemy-controlled) results in 5 VP's per.

Meanwhile, the Brits will attempt to inflict as many air losses on the Luftwaffe as they can (for the enemy group reduction bonus), and to sink as much German shipping as possible. This is complicated by the fact that, anticipating this plan, the Germans have rebased a majority of their shipping to Bergen, Norway, along with their torpedo boats. As a result, all such bombing raids will be at 1/3 strength due to the extended range. A small amount of shipping is still available for targeting at Rotterdam, but because the city is so heavily protected by anti-aircraft (coincidentally AA units to be transported to Bergen), the raids are extremely dangerous.

The turn started out well for the UK, what with a 10 VP German group reduction bonus left over from II November. It would be the only points the British would earn for the turn. The Germans sunk two destroyers in raids, one at Great Yarmouth and one at Harwich.


German shipping flees to Bergen.

Not a good 2 weeks for the RAF. Despite registering 6 aborts on German air units, they suffered 5 aborts and 6 kills at the hands of the Luftwaffe and a stiffening air defense over Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

The good news? If the game ended now, the Germans would have 257 points v. 131 for the British. This would be a draw, and considering how the Germans were flirting with a decisive victory early on...not bad!

The bad news? There's one more turn left, and the Germans can take big risks with their air units, as they won't have to worry about any further group reductions. The British, however, have to be careful...they do.

II November 1940: Bluedes Wetter!

All hopes of invasion are dead. After six weeks of rotten weather, the weather got rottener. Storms and rough seas force ships at sea to engage at secondary range, allowing the weight of Royal Navy destroyers to become a factor in the battle.

Check out that awesome home-built dice tower!

In the air, the Germans were successful, pounding British destroyers in the North Sea to the tune of 6 sunken ships. At sea, the British, unable to contend with the heavier German ships, were still able to make hay by attacking the German destroyers, torpedo boats, and the light cruiser Eugen--32 VP's in all. The loss of the remaining German destroyers is a critical blow to the Kriegsmarine, and although the British lost over 3 times as many, in a familiar refrain--they can afford it.

Air attacks on air bases continued, with the Luftwaffe registering 6 aborts and 4 kills, while the RAF in turn forced 8 aborts and 2 kills. At one point of the British turn, the once-impressive German VP ratio had dwindled to a draw (220:12), but a late sinking of the HMS Renown, trying to escape to the safety of Iceland brought the total back to a marginal victory.

Still, there is a very real possibility the good guys might live to fight another day.

15 July 2011: This Wooden O

On my third trip to the Globe, I visited the Globe Museum. What fun it was! It was packed with props and goodies from prior performances. For instance, here we have the three boxes from The Merchant of Venice. Here's a hint: take the lead one.



Avenge me, Hamlet! Will do, pop, but only if you lend me that kick-ass armor of yours.


Outside the theater there are stones inscribed with the names of some fairly famous donors. These two are to be found right outside the entrance. Close by you can also find a stone inscribed with "The Dark Lady," someone clearly having some fun by referencing the famed Dark Lady of the sonnets.


The gift shop is also pretty flipping cool. I bought a "Doctor Faustus" t-shirt, but I would have loved to snag the following hoodie, which quotes Henry VIII:


My wife would have loved to have the following tee celebrating Macbeth. Out, out, damn spot! Maybe if you soak it in selzer water and then wash it in cold water.



I bought a DVD of a Globe performance of Romeo and Juliet. Seriously, I wanted pretty much everything in the gift shop, being such an Anglophile/English Geek/Fan of the Bard.



Thanks, Globe Theater, for helping me to laugh at love again!

I November 1940: Invasion Averted

Thanks to six straight weeks of crappy weather, the invasion scare has seemed to have abated.



Having learned their lesson from earlier in the year, the Royal Navy refused to throw away their destroyers in an attempt to close with the Germans. But a second task force entered Deadly Sea Zone 13 in the North Sea, sinking both the cruisers Nurnberg and the Scharnhorst (thanks to the sacrifice of the last of the British coastal subs), racking up 18 victory points in a half-turn. The UK lost the Hood and Resolution, also losing 18 victory points, despite the fact they were both battleships. The disparity is owed to the fact that the Royal Navy is far more able to suffer losses than the Kriegsmarine. The third sea battle between the two forces was technically a draw (or possibly a marginal RN victory), with the Germans withdrawing.



In the air, the Germans tried a different tack, seeking to terror-bomb cities outside the protection of the UK air shield. The net result was a meager 3 victory points, hardly worth the cost of aircraft. It didn't help that the poor weather halved air power, forcing the Germans to send twice the number of craft to achieve the same effects they got in August.

Far more effective was the Luftwaffe's attack on air units at their bases. Each hit on an inoperative unit results in a kill, which could ultimately lead to a group reduction penalty of 5 victory points, given enough hits.

In the UK turn, the RAF continued to throw bombers at the shipping in the Netherlands, gaining 3 VP, but at a heavy cost: 2 x Wellington 1C bomber squadrons lost, 1 x Hampden bomber squadron aborted, and two more bomber squadrons turned back by both AA and the new German night fighters.

Less successful was Britain's ambition cross-channel attacks on German airbases. Hoping to give the Jerries a taste of their own medicine. 2 x Messerschmidt 109E's were destroyed and another was aborted, but at the cost of a Spitfire-1 squadron eliminated and four more fighter squadrons aborted.

The end result of the turn? 26 VP's for the UK and 26 for the Germans. A draw, but enough to reduce the Germans' victory level from a major victory to a marginal one. Basically the difference between the German victory over France and the German victory over Norway.

II October 1940: North Sea Battle II

The Germans and British duke it out again at sea, this time in the mine-laden seas close to Hamburg. Despite the rough seas forcing the two sides to engage at intermediate range instead of primary, it was immediately apparent that a majorly damaged battlecruiser would not be sufficient to give their destroyers cover. The encounter was cut off after two rounds, and despite sinking the Scheer, another German naval victory was assured at the cost of the HMS Repulse, the HMS Southampton, and two more destroyers.

Another crappy two weeks of weather seems to have closed the window on a German invasion, however. There was a 50% chance of decent enough weather for the two October turns, but in November the chances of seas calm enough to unload forces onto British beaches drops to 33%, and in December, 17%. Had the Germans started invasion planning after their first meetings about it in late May, there would have been a full month more of prep time.

Another factor working against the Germans was the lack of shipping available to mount and maintain an invasion. Some of it was sunk during the Norwegian invasion and the disastrous naval actions at the River Platte. As it stood, the Germans couldn't assemble enough to mount a realistic effort until late September, with the weather turning the very next turn.

The already-damaged HMS Rodney was sunk in the Channel this turn by Junkers 88A and Dornier 17Z bombers, while two destroyers were trying to sneak through the Dover straits by the coastal artillery at Calais.

In the British turn, the Germans sink an additional two ships, the HMS Cardiff and the HMS Coventry, but British subs sink 5 German destroyers and 2 torpedo boats, losses the Kriegsmarine can scarcely endure. This was done at the cost of a mere 3 British subs. This scuffle occurred in the Dover Straits; perhaps the Germans were feeling a bit invincible after their previous successes. It has since prompted the Germans to move their shipping from Calais to the Netherlands, indicating that they have abandoned the idea of a two-coast invasion (Kent and East Anglia). If the Germans deactivate their Junkers-52's in Paris in favor of additional bombers or fighters, it will be a strong indication that Operation Sea Lion has been canned permanently.

In the air, the British sought to rack up some points by terror bombing the Ruhr. In a word, ineffective. 2 victory points ineffective.


All in all, the British had their best turn to date, scoring a hefty 30 victory points, but the Germans notched 59. This brings their totals to 48 and 162, respectively, a 3:1 margin for the Germans, which would constitute a major victory.

What would be the historical ramifications of a major German victory in the Battle of Britain? The best the Germans could appear to hope for, barring invasion, would be to force Britain to sign an armistice, but it seems unlikely the British would have ever pursued this option, no matter how bad things got.

Still, the incredible losses the Royal Navy has suffered would have a disastrous effect on their already-strained ability to protect merchant shipping in the Atlantic. Bear in mind that the Germans were no longer bottled up in the North Sea thanks to victories over Norway and France.

The Americans, already declaring a national emergency in June 1940 to protect Western shipping, and aggressively pushing Lend Lease measures to the tune of 50 overage destroyers in September, could hardly be expected to stand by while the British slowly starved to death in isolation. Could Roosevelt push his country even harder toward war with the Germans? Or would the political resistance be too strong?

Chips and Football

Brilliant. Or smashing. Whichever BritAdjective you fancy.

I October 1940

The weather started getting rough; the tiny ship was tossed...

What the Royal Navy and RAF seemed to be unable to prevent, the weather gods took up. Air strength in rough weather is halved, and just in time. This turn, the Luftwaffe sank the HMS Manchester, and the coastal guns of Calais sent the HMS Newcastle to the bottom of the Dover straits.

The Germans, due to a lack of targets more than anything else, took to terror bombing London in earnest, padding their victory point total, which is currently inching toward a decisive victory. (119:26)

The UK has recalled the HMS Resolution and three destroyers to pad their depleted naval ranks, and a second confrontation at sea in the mine-filled waters near Emden and Hamburg seems inevitable.

With five turns remaining and victory seemingly out of reach for the British, a strange strategy seems to be presenting itself to the good guys: allow the Germans to mount an invasion in order to successfully repulse it. The defeat of the invasion would net the UK 70 points, enough to force a draw.


But would the Germans take the bait? The difficulty of sustaining an overseas supply line is a prohibitive factor, and could lead to the marooning of German divisions without significantly impacting the victory point total. Right now, the Germans have battered the British to the point where they can pretty much coast to victory, barring stupid mistakes.

Strategically, an invasion of the Isles could be unwise. Even a successful invasion might be disastrous in the long run; American entry into the war might result in control of the sea zones around the islands, effectively stranding the forces there.

Still, an invasion would be cool...



On the other hand, the Italians have sent 4 air squadrons, so you know it's pretty much over, right?

II September 1940: Invasion Imminent?

In the worst naval defeat since Cartagena de las Indias in 1741, sixteen ships including the HMS Sheffield are sunk by the Kriegsmarine in the North Sea between East Anglia and the Netherlands.



How did this happen? A combination of German air supremacy and extraordinarily bad decision-making by the British.

Operating without battleship cover (their battleships had been hit hard in recent turns by the Luftwaffe), the British flotilla interposed itself to thwart an invasion, hoping to get inside the gunnery range of the Scheer, Schlesig-Holstein and Schlesien. This did not happen, and the Sheffield was sunk before they could close.



In real life, Churchill admitted that England would have sacrificed its navy to thwart an invasion attempt, but this bordered on the Charge of the Light Brigade. The disaster has forced the UK to recall several battleships from the Atlantic and Gibraltar in order to protect the home country, and it's interesting to speculate how this would affect the war.



The good news is that the German navy has to resupply to escort the invasion force, and in order to do that, they must sail back to Germany, go to port, and return. This means that an invasion will begin no earlier than late October or even November, and there is a good chance that by that time, the weather will make an invasion attempt prohibitive. The Royal Navy will be able to reassemble some sort of counterforce by this time (the beastly coastal guns of Calais notwithstanding), and the RAF bombing of German shipping will continue.

If the battle ended right now, it would be somewhere between a major and decisive German victory.

Here and There in London

Nothing extraordinary here today, just a few shots of random London.


It was fun to gain an expertise taking the Underground. You will read about how polite Londoners are on the Tube, but be careful around rush hour, because people will often not move down into the train, or push to get onto an already-full car. Count on it, in fact. Glad I experienced it, but I wonder what it would have been like to have acquired a bicycle for the summer.


I got really excited when I saw Harvey Wallbanger in a Can in a convenience store. I mean, here's my favorite drink, and it's in a can, so perfect, right?

It was rancid. Avoid it at all costs.



Saw this silver cow creamer in Mayfair. 100 pounds. I sneered at it, a la Jeeves and Wooster.



Finally, a McLaren was on sale in Kensington for only 192,000 pounds. Can you take a test drive? No. Can you enter the showroom and get a closer look? Not without an appointment. The Ferrari shop across the street was the same.

Sometimes in life you just can't catch a break.

I September 1940

As September rolls in, the panic gripping the British may have begun to subside. The Germans, unable to knock out the British radar network, had switched to a campaign to drive the Royal Navy from the seas.

The problem? They were successful.


A shot of the war room.

Realizing that their ports may be safer than the open seas, the Royal Navy left the Luftwaffe scrounging around for coastal subs to sink. They managed to sink just one.

Worse, despite notching 4 aircraft kills and 2 aborts vs. only 2 aircraft aborts by the RAF, the Luftwaffe is increasingly frustrated by their inability to force the RAF into a decisive air battle. The turn itself was a draw with both the UK and Germany picking up 7 points each, but one can't help but to feel that the Germans may be losing the initiative.

The RAF managed to repair a number of their inoperative squadrons and received a very timely 6 squadrons of reinforcements, as well as pulling some units off factory duty in the north. Their strategy of avoiding battle with the Luftwaffe seems to have bought them some time.



Another worrisome development is that with the British not having to worry about spending equipment points on repairing factories and radar stations, they can divert them to re-equipping brigades depleted by the Dunkirk evacuation. The 2 infantry divisions sitting in Kent are a major concern to any potential invasion, especially as the Germans will only have enough shipping to send over a maximum of 6 unsupported divisions per turn in ideal conditions.

The British continue to send their night bombers after German shipping and port capacity, but increased German anti-aircraft makes this a low-return and sometimes hazardous venture at this point in the war. A possible change in strategy might be to send out smaller, but more numerous sorties.

The Germans may switch to strikes against the Royal Navy ships in port, which surely the RAF cannot ignore. Strikes against factories, given the decreased protection in the air, remain a possibility, but the Royal Navy remains a priority should the Germans commit to an invasion.

This raises the question of whether the Germans need to invade at all to achieve victory. True, England may look like a shell waiting to be cracked, with relatively weak ground forces in opposition, but the Germans lose 50 points per repulsed invasion attempt, so the strategy is high-risk, high-reward.

12 July 2011, Portmeirion

"Who are you?"
"I am the new number two."
"Who is Number One?"
"You are Number Six."
"I am not a number! I am a free man!"



If you're going to Portmeirion hoping to see Prisoner stuff, you will be disappointed. I was rarely disappointed by anything I saw in the UK, but this was one of those times. The Prisoner Shop is not in Number Six's quarters, as the guidebooks claim, and if it weren't for this modest place, you'd never know a cult TV program had been filmed there.



This is a good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. Based on its own merits, it's an attractive enough attraction, but I wouldn't make the trek unless you were a huge fan of Italianate architecture or had a Prisoner convention to attend.



If you want to go to Wales, go to Snowdonia, or some of the castles there, or the ruins of Tintern Abbey if you want to see something remote and not crowded by tourists.

II August 1940

Rather a chancy time for the Brits. Despite recovering somewhat from a disastrous first turn, the RAF and Royal Navy are stretched way thin as German forces assemble for a possible invasion. Can Old Blighty hang on?


The mounting number of inoperative UK air units is severely hindering the defense.

Germany continues its assault on the radar stations, but bad luck plagues the Luftwaffe, registering only 2 hits in 8 missions involving over 28 bomber groups and 14 escorts. So little damage was done that the RAF was able not only to repair the damage done this turn, but all damage done to date. The problem is that the stations are far easier to repair than to destroy, which prompted the real-life Luftwaffe to move on to airfields (and at about this time in history), which is something the German player is considering doing at this point.

Although the German losses in the air mounted during the last half of August 1940, so did the English. In total, UK losses were 1 kill and 10 aborts, while German losses were 6 aborts and 3 kills. The increase in German losses was due to a change in British strategy brought on by necessity; the widening disparity in numbers forced the UK to only contest a limited number of missions, and by doing so, achieving local superiority in some quadrants.


Here a number of Parachute regiments in Paris look over the English Channel to Kent.

Really, the only successful air mission over England was the first terror bombing of London, a nighttime mission that overwhelmed the pair of night fighters the UK threw up.

Germany's greatest success so far has come at sea. During these 2 weeks, the Luftwaffe scored major damage on the battleship HMS Nelson, and sunk both the battleship HMS Barham and the heavy cruiser USS Sussex. If it weren't for uncannily magnificent AA defense, the HMS Renown might have been lost as well.


11 Infantry Divisions stare over the North Sea at a possible invasion site.

The Royal Navy, which to this point has interposed itself between the Netherlands and East Anglia to oppose a possible invasion, will likely have to move to a different sea zone, or take to port as the German Navy has done. They've already vacated the Channel due to unrelenting attacks from Ju88A and Ju87R bombers, and the RAF is hard-pressed to escort the flotillas in addition to patrolling the skies over England.


Both the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine avoid Deadly Sea Zone 13!

On the bright side, the British have committed to bombing the shipping and ports in Netherlands to kill an invasion in its infancy. They were able to destroy 4% of German shipping and a third of Amsterdam's port capacity. While this doesn't sound critical, it will force the Luftwaffe to transfer some of the Me109E's from Calais for protection, and perhaps alleviating some of the pressure on the homeland.


Sunk in the North Sea.

Right now, the Germans have 31 victory points while the UK has only 6, making this a German decisive victory...if the game ended now. Add 11 more for the damage to the HMS Repulse, HMS Nelson, HMS Southampton, and the HMS Renown.

Dark times, indeed.