Battle in Normandy AAR

[Rob Gjessing]

As to where the 2 armored is, I have forgotten, but here is a shot of one of them.



As you can see they will be refueled next turn and back into the action. The marker on the fuel guage indicates where the reserve will be next turn and the gold indicator means that it is being fueled at an accelerated rate.

The action this turn is around Caen where all hell has broken loose. The situation at the end of turn is



Or without the units in the way ...



There is a mix of partisans, air interdiction and a bundle of ship artillery all to make any Axis movement a bit of a problem. It has meant that the soccer pitch is a bit of a mess at the moment and the game has been postponed due to enemy action anyway. The Axis forces have a couple of one step units in there and Rob will have to decide whether to stay and fight or run for the hills (city).

The West this turn was relatively quiet and a couple of retreats took place but little else changed.

[Rob Gjessing]

Turn 16..

There are alot of British forces around Caen now.. which has pretty much put a stop to my fun. I did launch an attack or two as I retreated back into the safe zone of the city itself.. but there wasnt much to talk about. Although I am now unsure if Roger has massed troops as a means of deterring attacks from me there, or if he is going to launch his own assault?

The 2SS that arrives next turn in the area may convince him that he doesnt want to get too bold.



The area that is providing me with the most concern though is right at the other end of the battle.. the extreme left..



A few turns ago I though I was ok here.. but that was until a heap of my units got stranded and removed from play! Roger has followed this up by conducting some fairly heavy assaults in the area too which has left some units very very weak. IF there is going to be a break through (for Roger) - its going to be here..

[Rob Gjessing]

Well, this is the time when I don't think I would like to be Rob when he opens his turn. Here are the die rolls for the turn.



It should be noted that the average is only 3.50 but the sixes this time did a lot of damage.


The West is now facing the full force of the US army. it is hard to count the number of artillery units behind the lines, themselves stacked four deep with high quality troops.



There are a couple of high class German divisions dug in but they are not going to be enough to stop the weight being applied. I have pushed troops through without adequate retreat paths, but with the German problems I don't think it will be a problem.

In the East the British have attacked.



The Axis forces here are under a lot of pressure but I doubt that they will crack. The reinforcements are going to have to get into the line and that will mean that they are tied up and are not rushing West, where I expect a breakthrough to occur.

This turn I will have to admit I have been lucky. Even British moral is high.

[Rob Gjessing]

Ouch! That hurts - the shock waves have been felt all through my line as I make a mad scramble to move units to plug holes!

The situation is the most dire in the west - where I predicted it was going to be.. I have had to conduct a massive withdrawl.. leaving valuable assets behind (3 shift assault rockets and supply trucks). The retreat means I have had to withdraw elsewhere to reduce my line.



You can see how much I have had to reduce my line.. I would have withdraw further but some units were not up to it and it would have meant leaving them even more vulnerable then they are now. I am not looking forward to Roger's next turn and I expect him to punch more holes in my line.

Interestingly, look at the combat odds I am still able to obtain in the right of that image above. Shame I can afford to place my units into a position where they can assault!

At Caen, Roger is starting his assault. I am still able to conduct some major attacks which will cause the Allies considerable losses as they attack the city from the open terrain.





It will only be a matter of time though until Caen falls.. the 2SS is now in a defensive position to the north east of Caen - but they too have their own issues to deal with.. once Roger breaches the river I will be in real strife..

[Rob Gjessing]

German units fell back all across the Western Front, leaving few targets except for a very good artillery unit and a supply truck that failed to keep up.



The target objectives for the Allies in this sector are Coutances and St Lo. The artillery that the US has at its disposal is awesome. I have taken to using my barraging artillery to take out stong points (failed this turn).

On the Eastern front the German forces made some attacks around Villers Bocage so the British have shifted their focus there in a counter attack. There is also mud next turn to take into account.



There are few points for the Allies in this sector but any attack on Caen should be proceeded by securing this area so that flanking maneuvers can succeed. The German forces in this sector can amount a substantial counter attack so there are no easy moves. The chaps around Caen have once again dug in, having seen a great deal of armor in front of them.

[Rob Gjessing]

Things look very grim indeed. It is clear that I have too many of my 'good units' around Caen.. which whilst it is enabling me to still be able to conduct strong attacks on the Brits;



It also means that I am very weak in other areas. That other area is the western area of the battlefield.

Here I have no choice but to pull right back. Whilst Roger did have alot of luck last turn - and the amount of my bad luck is directly proportional to the level of his good luck Notwithstanding any luck - he has the numbers and the firepower here to pretty much do as he pleases. I do have some recent reinforcements on the way to the area but I think it will be the case of me putting my finger in the dam to hold back the torrent of Allied units..



Roger's control in the west really does dictate what I can and cant do elsewhere on the battlefield. There are some holes in Roger's line.. but without a strong reserve I am unable to really exploit it.



Look here, this unit and the others around them really could punch quite deep into Roger's line.. but I dont have enough units to both hold the current line and exploit into the hole with.

[Rob Gjessing]

Mud ... not a lot of combat opportunities. It has even been hard to keep up with the retreating German front line. The whole front is ...



I have convinced the German units to stay on their side of the river around Caen but Rob is very strong here so there is no real hope of gaining a foothold in Caen. I have strengthened my assault on Villiers Bocage and it will be hard for the units there to remain in supply. Unlike KP supply in BIN has no carry over effect. Supply is judged each turn so mud can really put a stop on any advance.

Gaps in the line are not a worry as any units that charge through can plan on staying in an Allied POW camp. The supply trucks are well guarded so that my supply is secure to deal with any incursion.

3rd Armor are now refueling in the West, waiting for a couple of turns before joining the assault. In the attacks this turn I killed a couple of units that could not keep up with the retreat but otherwise just moved up. There are no more engineer units holding the front line so I will just have to fight my through.

[Rob Gjessing]

Over in the west, the weather has helped me out as I escape under the rain and mud, Roger has been unable to advance as quickly as me. The units that were able to keep up have been the more mobile ones - the weaker two step units.

So I took to them.. causing two of them to retreat back from my lines.. he was lucky, I only inflicted single step losses on each of them.



Although he has a flood of units reach to assault me! Remember that dam? Well its only just holding.. I have two INF divisions on the way to reinforce the line, but they are a couple of turns away still..

Looking towards the centre, around Villers Bocage.. I attacked another of Roger's 2 step units, this one was at the end of the line next to 'that' corridor I mentioned last turn..



Destroying it outright, I took minor losses, but I think it was a fair trade. I then decided to send my AT unit on a suicide run Roger mentioned last turn he wasnt too worried about units rushing any holes in his lines, this one could be a good opportunity though, it involves bad weather and a village where cross roads meet. Taking it may just cause Roger some supply problems. I expect him to dispense with my unit next turn.. but lets see what happens..



Over at Caen, I am still able to launch attacks out of Caen and then retreat back to the safe zone of the city limits - which of course I do.



I notice its only now that Roger has decided to take back that village (whats it called?) thats just to the north east of Caen. I think this is an important village, as it represents a safe zone for either the Allies or Germans to launch assaults out of.

[Rob Gjessing]

Anyone who thinks that the Germans have no ability to strike back in this scenario are in for a very rude shock. The Allies have to commit to major objectives and the line in places is going to be weak. The German forces are numerous and very capable of launching a stinging counter offensive.

Careful advancing now has the Allied forces outside Coutances. An assault this turn caused losses but no retreats.



The British are still cautious around Caen and are pushing inland along the whole line, very slowly.

Everyone is awaiting the breakout in the West..... but the Germans keep retreating and disrupting the plans.

[Rob Gjessing]

First off all let me say that whilst I think I am on the ropes - with Roger really advancing quite quickly now, I still have taking the opportunity to take pot shots at him and I think I had a fairly successful turn.

Although in the West, Roger's interdiction has caused me to pull back again and this time I have given him the first on his most recent objective list.. Coutances! I gave it up without much (any) sort of fight as I am severly out numbered.



Rather, I chose to flee over the river and into the hills. Just north of the town I was able to conduct a minor assault which saw the retreat of a few of Roger's over eager units..

Also shown in this image, I have pulled my line in front of St Lo back which has enabled me to put Panzer Lehr into a reserve position. This hopefully will work to my advantage because the last few turns I have had some good attack opportunities but no real fire power to conduct it with.

Also.. a fresh infantry division has made it into the western front's line.

Looking towards the East there has been some action..



First of all around Caen I again conducted two assaults out of the city, one directly to its north where Roger took medium losses, and one to the south west of the city where a two step commando unit got off lightly.

But the real fun (?) was had around Villers Bocage. Roger did the exact same thing I did a few turns ago.. and I guess it was more of an oversight then it was a strategy (same was with me); he had an AT unit sitting all alone in the line by itself.

Needless to say it was like a magnet for me Panzers Whilst AT units have very strong anti shock values and are quite powerful in defense - this is only such if they work in support with other units. Alone they defend as support units.. which makes them easy targets.

Dispersing with this unit, it then opened up the line so I could conduct a rogue attack on one of Roger's supply trucks.. and then the ART and AA units which you can see in the image above were also presented to me. Whilst I could reach them, I chose not to. Rather, I moved units up to support my advancing units and prepare for a counter attack.

Roger is reminded that I now have the Lehr in reserve and I would be more then happy to move them to Villers Bocage if he puts in the request

Whilst Roger is very strong (and I am quite weak) in the West, Im still feeling quite good about the East. You can also see in the above image that I have the 10ss also now sitting behind Caen ready to be deployed.

[Rob Gjessing]

In this scenario it is not possible for the Axis player to defend and hope for the best, it is essential to attack and there are plenty of units around to conduct an offensive.

In early games I have seen a number of over adventurous Allied commanders get cut off and eliminated. With practice, most of those disasters can be avoided but it is not easy for either side.

I have decided to attack at Caen as Rob has moved forces out to have some fun down South. This has resulted in the British taking up residence in one hex of Caen and deciding to have a go at the rest of it.



9SS arrives this turn but another couple of British divisions have arrived as well. With a bit of luck on my side I may be able to get out of the clear terrain. If not then it's back to the defensive lines again ...

In the West the next big objective is St Lo. It is very hard to stop the US forces advancing across the map but luck is required to dig the units out of the bocage. I keep thinking that, with the force I have available I should be able to slice through the Axis line but it is just not going to happen.



One important point in this scenario is the fact that the two airbourne divisions can't take replacements. They have timed replacements but once they are gone then they live with what they have. This makes them a prime Axis target. Also, catching Allied units in bad terrain, like Marsh, can see a 4 step regiment eliminated with a double die roll. Initially there is not a lot of Axis Artillery around but this quickly changes and it is relatively easy to get 10-1 odds.

The points are in the Allied favor at the moment but this has more to do with my expertise with this scenario than anything else. In our test games we have seen a good number of Allied disasters, such as German Armor advancing up from Sword and Juno towards Omaha. Games generally stop around this point.

[Rob Gjessing]

Caen; Roger is now close enough that I dont really need to move out of the city limits to conduct attacks. This is dangerous for both of us. It is dangerous for Roger as many of his men are sitting in the clear and that allows me to get excellent odds and inflict alot of damage. In most instances attacks against units in the clear will result in the defending falling back and retreating.

Roger has managed to take one of the urban hexes of Caen though - which means his men are in the city. I could have attacked it this turn with good odds which may have resulted in his men retreating.. but rather I chose to attack his units next to the city in the clear. I want to inflict as many casualties on his men as I can before we commence street to street fighting. So for this turn, he continues to hold a part of the city.



Whats dangerous about that for me of course if that I am not at risk of a direct attack and also of retreating further to the south east of the city. What I dont want to happen is to be forced over the river.. once that happens the tide will have turned at Caen.

The next few turns will be interesting around this area now. Given that Roger has units in the city, he is now committed to continuing the attack, failing to do so will mean those men will come under heavy for from me until he forces me over the river.

In addition to this, the 9th SS Panzer has arrived and moves into position to conduct attacks around Caen from next turn. At the moment Im still happy with the situation at Caen.

Looking at Villers Bocage.. I dont really like the shape of my line. It means that I have to use more men to hold it.. which means that Im rather thin in places. Im holding it like that though, because I am trying to defend behind the river.. the Left flank of Villers Bocage though is dangerous for me and if broken it will isolate my men to the north of the village.. (just in case Roger didnt spot it.. )

Although it looks like he is trying to push directly south to the south west of the village with his Canadians and some pommie INF. That would give me an even bigger headache is he acheived that!



Looking towards St Lo and the Western end of the battlefield... things still look rather bad for me.

My line is very very weak.. many of my units are down to 2 or 1 step and really are about to open up like a knife through butter. All I can do is try and hang on the best I can..



I have moved Panzer Lehr back into the line in the west - so much for my mobile reserve.. and I have the 276 Inf arriving shortly.. until then I expect the worst..

In terms of how the game is progressing here is the progress chart for the last 10 turns..



This last turn you can see that I clawed back 121 points (woo hoo!)

Score wise, there is a predicted win for the Allies. At the moment, Roger has a decisive victory.

[Rob Gjessing]

This turn is an example of how exasperating the Allied turns can be. I had 8 combats and scored 2 one's, 2 two's, 3 three's and 1 four. I accounted for a couple of Axis steps and no advantage was gained.

I was hoping for at least one good result that I could take advantage of but it was not to be.



St Lo is still just out of reach and all attempts to convince the line to retreat was ignored.




Around Villers Bocage I had a chance to take out a couple of German units and force the line back .... but didn't. The troops around Caen, seeing that throwing the Die today was a waste of effort, dug in and are preparing to face up to the armor pouring into Caen.

Back to you ... Rob

[Rob Gjessing]

Replaying Roger's turn back I can sympathise with him.. his attacks really didnt go his way.. but thats how it is attacking in the bocage. Even at high odds there is still a reasonable chance that the attack will either amount to nothing or cause losses to the attacker.. whilst the loses were not great.. Roger did take some minor loses as a result of his attacks.. which of course pleased me

More importantly Roger's turn meant that he didnt advance.. and whilst that may not seem like much.. it really has helped me (to what degree I am unsure)... but it has meant that for the first turn in quite a few I now have a supply truck proper positioned in the west and my units were able to dig in and take replacements.. infact I was able to hand out 3 INF replacements in the west.. also, many of my units in the west are sitting on 1 and 2 turn auto replacements, which means they are now one turn closer to being stronger.. so Roger's poor turn has paid me huge dividends.. again.. whether it helps me in the long run I dont know.

With my line being static for the turn, it also meant that I could reposition units in the west and form better lines, with dig ins.

In the east... there was more fun to be had.. I had hoped that I would be able to get more attacks then I did in.. but this turn I tried to maximise my odds when I did attack..

My first attack, between Caen and Villers Bocage, could not have been much better.



Attacking at 10-1 odds, with +2 for shock.. I inflicted a 3 step loss on a Brit units of Roger's - taking minor loses myself.. Im happy.

Further along, at Caen, (Yes Im going to attack every turn that I can here.. the terrain favours me.. ) The image below is the result of the 2nd attack on the same units. My first attack causes losses and a retreat. I then followed it up with my very mobile recon units.. they were able to skirt forward, throw in the assault and then retreat back..



The Recon units also allow me to have a good look behind Roger's line around Caen.. and its not that deep is it?

Although I do note that he is able to replace any losses I cause quite quickly, thats why I am now going after weak units, or attacking them twice in the same turn to cause multiple losses, that way be cant bring them back up to full strength.. esp if they are dead

So from now on, if he doesnt move his damaged units back I will try and pick them out.. well at least around Caen where I feel I am more powerful them him. Mind you, he still have some very strong Brit Infantry and he still holds one of the Urban hexes..

The 265 and 276 INF Divisions both arrived this turn and are on their way to the west.. things do look a little better for me.. but Roger still has the lead and I need to kill more of his units and stop his advance if I have any hope of pulling a win out of the bag.

[Rob Gjessing]

This turn was better than the last one. There is no way that you can attack and, at the same time, guard against the actions at Caen. The good thing is that more quality units are arriving all the time. This from the US arsenal .



Adds three shifts in combat, can take out a strongpoint at 11 hexes with a 5 or a 6 and can apply interdiction to any enemy hex. Now, to get it to the front line.



A 3rd Armor unit has now advanced closer to St Lo causing attrition to units in the area and causing retreats. Interdiction extends to all roads that are leading into St Lo for quite a distance so supply to the front line must be causing some headaches.

Around Villers Bocage I have chosen a slightly less risky advance on Caen from the South.



Units have advanced across the river and will draw forces from Caen at the very least. Units around Caen have pulled back to a more defensible position while looking for any weakening in the German position there.

Crossing the river put me next to a stack of three German artillery units but no ability to do anything about it.

Back to you Rob...

[Rob Gjessing]

There is no stopping the Allies! Look at that Big Bertha of an ART unit.. I need some dive bombers to take that out!

I am still having fun at Caen; launching two assaults this turn. The first one;



Involving my Panzers out of Caen took upon some British INF and ARM units sitting in the clear. Again - with luck on my side, I inflicted horrific casaulties to Roger's men. 5 Steps lost all up to my 1 - and I sent them scurrying..

The second assault out of Caen was some street to street fighting..



Again I got lucky.. inflicting a 2 step loss on his men, but more importantly I forced a retreat. You can see that the combat results were a 6 and a 1 on the die (two die were used due to the size of the forces involved). Any retreat results are only based upon the results of the first die, so in this instances I was lucky that it came up 6 and then 1 and not 1 and then 6. So I have dislodged Roger from Caen and I now hold all of the city again.

Elsewhere, I dealt with Roger's incursion around Villers Bocage (you can see it slighly on the image above. I was able to force him back over the river - without losses, and then fill the whole in the line.

Over in the west, its still not looking good.. St Lo is now under serious threat and the fresh 265 INF division has been ordered up into that direction. The other recently arrived 276 INF is in a supporting position of Panzer Lehr.

Back to Roger..

[Rob Gjessing]

Well, just to show that luck can go my way as well, this is the first US attempt to drive on St Lo.



Which left me with a 10-1+ attempt on the city itself... that's an excess of artillery talking. A good 50% chance of driving the Germans from the city and capturing it.



Ah, well, back the the drawing boards.



Attacks right along the Western line have produced a lot of problems for the Germans. I suspect that it is only a matter of time before St Lo falls.



Being driven back across the river has not detered the British and they have now advanced two units across the river to the South of Caen. Detachments and interdiction is the order of the day to stop the Armor from having to good a time of it. There are plenty of replacements available so the army is in good order. I doubt that there will be a major Armor push out of Caen as any armor caught in the open would be punished severely. I have also been careful to cross the river in good defensive terrain. Those lessons from ATD where crossing the river into clear terrain will not be forgotten in a hurry.

[Rob Gjessing]

Roger is making a move around the West of Caen - and this has caused me to pull a division away from Caen to try and top it.



Things are not looking good at St Lo either.. I have pulled back slightly and the town is now under direct assault from Roger's allies.. Whilst I have a fresh Inf division on its way to the area - I expect it will fall in the next turn or two..

[Rob Gjessing]

This turn the push to the South of Caen is going to cause Rob real problems. The terrain is very difficult which is good for me as counter-attacks are harder to mount. It is hard to believe the effect a couple of D2's can have on you. I launched a 1.5 - 1 attack to have a 50% chance of getting across the river to the North but failed. I figure that it is worth trying to create a Northern bulge to spread the German line out even further.



Around St Lo it is hard going, basically launching about 6 attacks a turn and hoping for some good rolls to exploit. The line has been pushed back in a couple of places but is still very solid.



Also, I program the AI to be flexible. In any given turn it will basically do the same thing, so I can replay turns where it has completed some stupid act and ask the units why they do it. Sometimes the answers are surprising as the logic is often very good, and just needs a bit of tweaking.

I am very happy with the new bombard/invasion routines as they seem to be able to do as well as I could in those crucial early landings. It is playing well at the moment and should be finished very soon so that others can pass judgement on the game.

[Rob Gjessing]

Rogers salient to the west of Caen is causes me major problems! Last turn he managed to break through my lines and took out some of my ART units.. not good.

This turn has seen me pulling my line right back to try and contain him.. Although you will notice that I was unable to get two units back as far as I would have liked.. and are now quite vulnerable.. I expect them to come under heavy fire from Roger next turn.



The above image shows all of the British sector.. you can also see that I have had to pull back around Villers Bocage as I shortened my line there so I could redirect some units further east..

There is a real risk that Caen may end up in a pocket - as you can see.. which is what Roger is hopeful of.. and just alook at all of that Allied Interdiction.. and yes, it hurts.

Looking at the US sector..



I have also pulled back quite a bit as Roger's attacks start to weaken my line.. I expect Roger to exploit to the East of St Lo and maybe to its West also.. in an attempt to pocket it. Having said that he will probably conduct a direct assault on the town and force a retreat

But it wasnt all doom and gloom this turn. I am still conducting assaults out of Caen.. the first one saw some Brits go scurrying (they got off lightly damage wise but were smart enough to retreat) away from the bridges to the north of the City.

And to the West of the city I saw some major success..



This assault saw Roger take 5 step losses! This again shows you how difficult it is to assault Caen. The town is surrounded by clear terrain and getting too close invites counter attacks from a strong German opponent. This is why Roger is seeking to come around from the South West..

All up, this is what the battlefield looks like..