The Supreme Commander – Session 2

Game day 2 of our Supreme Commander - starting at Apr/May 1940 - with the Allied and German armies continuing their engagement at the BEF Line - with little gains on both sides. The Red Army sits idly out of the war.

Soviet in the Baltic States

When international attention was focused on the German invasion of France on Apr/May 1940, Soviet troops raided border posts in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Consequent to the successful raid and ultimate occupation, state administrations of the 3 countries were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres.

June/July 1940

Beginning of May/Jun 1940, combined Allied forces fought bravely at the borders of Belgium and Netherlands – dealing blow after blow towards the German forces. “Fortress Rotterdam” – dubbed so – held out the German attacks during the entire year 1940 with continuous reinforcement from the British and its local forces. Come Jun/Jul 1940, both side lost approximately 4 corps each.

Attributing to its lack of aerial powers and losses at the Western Front, Germany pressed on and ignores its deficit spending to rebuild its Luftwaffe – proved to be a success during the fall of 1940.

Jun/Jul 1940 Western Front with Fortress Rotterdam holding on

On the other hand, France at its best effort basis raised and marched its army towards the Western Front to prevent the German ambition. British on the meanwhile besides reinforcing the Netherlands, persist on in bringing other minor powers towards the Allied side to combat the German power.

Red Army occupies Bessarabia

By Aug/Sep 1940, the Red Army initiated its ultimatum demanding Bessarabia. With other major powers still engaging among themselves, the Soviets occupied Northern Bukovina from Romania.

Come winter of 1940, with the creation of the 2^nd and 3^rd Panzer Army, Germany initiated its conquest of Fortress Rotterdam and its surrounding area in Belgium and the Netherland. The resulting winter engagement of 1940 saw the major destruction of Allied forces.  The Allied lost 8 corps – consisting of 3 Belgian corps, 1 Dutch corps, 2 French corps and 2 British corps. In return, Germany lost 1 tank corps and 2 infantry corps.

By December 1940, Belgian and Dutch army effectively ceases to exist.

Session 2 ended on Nov/Dec 1940

The Supreme Commander – Session 1

Couple of weeks ago, the 3 of us (YS Oon, Dave and me) kick started a board game, Supreme Commander – World War 2 in Europe, 1939 – 1945. At a random draw, YS Oon controls the German faction along with its Nazi friendly factions including Italy. Dave assumed command of the Allied major powers consisting of France, British and American forces along with other Allied friendly minor nations when activated. Yours truly handles the red army.

For this game, we played the long campaign – starting at Aug/Sept 1939 – whereby the British and French were at war with Germany while the Russian faction was yet to be involved. American composition will enter battle at a later stage. Italy on the other hand were yet to drawn into war on the Axis side.

Beginning of Aug/Sept 1939, Germany declared war on Poland and swiftly sent its 1^st Panzer Army towards Warsaw. Attributing to this war declaration, Poland became an Allied friend nation controlled by Dave.

Over at the Western Front, combined British – French forces begin to amass around the BEF Line with the German forces at its borders. Over the period of time, British forces begin to fortified the Western Front coupled with its success in controlling the North Sea.

1st Polish Corp occupying Konningsburg

As the war rages on at Poland, German forces faced a tough battle against Poland as casualties mounted despite having numerical advantage. At a twist of event, 1^st Polish Corp managed to take control Konningsburg, further throwing the German forces away from Warsaw.

Victorious Russian Army in the Winter War

By end of year 1939, the German army was not able to breakthrough to Warsaw and was forced to withdraw to its own borders. Attributing to that, Russian army continued its march and claimed the Nazi-Soviet Pact Line at East Poland. At the same period, Russia was victorious in the Winter War against Finland – effectively propelling Finland towards the Nazi friendly nation.

December 1939 Western Front‏

By Jan-Feb 1940, with the loss in Poland, German focused its effort towards the Western Front and summarily declared war on Dutch, Belgium and Denmark – an attempt to blitz through the Western Front. The following month, Germany was able to bring Hungary towards the Axis faction. A hilarious flanking maneuver saw the Dutch army marched its way an occupied Hamburg – drawing away valuable German forces from further mustering its forces in the BEF Line.

Dutch Army occupying Hamburg

Between the period of game play, Russia found itself ineffective as they were not drawn into the war with Germany. Besides that, Russia was not able to muster its forces due to low supply and limitations prior to declaration of war with Germany.

Session ended in turn 5 – Mar/Apr 19410.