1 August, 1944
We're back! The format this time is a little bit less hour-by-hour, because that's really hard to take good notes for while still actually getting to play the game. Also, see the end of the post for a major decision point.
2 August, 1944
With the aim of moving on Koenigsberg, the VVS launches a series of airstrikes at the infrastructure in Ostprussia and the Warsaw region.
4 August, 1944
The German attacks on Siauliau and Kowel are driven off with light losses on our side.
5 August, 1944
The Red Army attacks Bialystok, the first move in an offensive toward the southwestern flank of Koenigsberg.
6 August, 1944
In the south, an attack on Stryj begins, as a prelude toward removing Romania from the war.
9 August, 1944
Research begins into the Yak-15 turbojet interceptor.
13 August, 1944
Bialystok is a victory.
16 August, 1944
Zhukov's corps and some others attack Stryj from Beltsy.
17 August, 1944
The attack on Suwalki begins. This will herald the start of our attack on Koenigsberg, and on top of that, Suwalki is the first originally-German territory we'll take.
18 August, 1944
General Bogdanov dies in Stryj, another major loss. In happier news, the Red Army launches an attack on Alytus, to prevent reinforcements from reaching Suwalki.
22 August, 1944
In the worst news since the last American landing, the Americans make another landing, this time an island off the coast of Kamchatka.
27 August, 1944
The attack on Koenigsberg begins. The forces in Jelgava launch a pinning attack on Mazirbe, too.
29 August, 1944
Victory in Stryj comes at a high cost.
30 August, 1944
Victory in Alytus is similarly bloody.
7 September, 1944
The Americans continue to land on Komanderskiy Island. The attacks on Koenigsberg are going well, at least.
14 September, 1944
The Red Army attacks Iasi, the first Romanian territory we'll have taken (not by diplomacy, as in that event way back in the '30s).
18 September, 1944
Koenigsberg falls to the Soviets.
25 September, 1944
Iasi falls to the Soviets.
1 October, 1944
The front as it stands now, in the west and east:
And the losses chart:
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And now for the big decision. If you remember the war in Turkey from 1942, you might recall that I accidentally accepted a peace offer and then declared war again. That sent my belligerence score through the roof, but I left it alone because I didn't think it would cause any problems. Unfortunately, it happened to cause a problem called 'America'-- if it weren't for my artificially high belligerence, the Americans would never have attacked in the first place.
On top of that, the game does a very poor job of modeling war weariness. In this instance, there was no Pearl Harbor to launch the US into the war, and all they've done is launch dozens of pointless attacks on deeply-entrenched Soviet positions, which have served to drain them entirely of manpower. If the real WW2-era US had managed to get into a war over something that happened over in Turkey, I seriously doubt there would be any way for the government to press onward after a full year of horrendous losses and no progress.
So, for those reasons, and unless there's a really serious outcry against it, I'm going to cheat and force the US to accept a white peace. We'll get them the next time around.