Anzio 1944 Allied PO

[Telumar]

At the same time at the Mossolini Canal. One word: Trouble. KG Ens (yet off-screen) will have to help out. That's the way to be. In previous versions the PO often seemed to be stuck in front of the Canal. Now we no more can use everything except the Hermann Göring Division against the Brits. I am pretty sure this sector will eat up more and more reinforcements...

[ogar]

Here's a different look at that new beta version 2.2...
Some differences from Telumar's game :
1) PO chose the air drop option, so 504th PIR started just outside Aprilia.

2) German player not as good as Telumar.

And one thing's the same -- I did not opt for the short game. Turns out that may be the only smart move I made.

Here's a shot as of turn 3 -- afternoon of the first day.

[ogar]

So,,,,

the Allies started about where that khaki British HQ unit is on the highway to the left. They are knocking on the door of the key VP hexes Osteraccia, Station Campoleone and Campoleone itself. Oh, and they already snagged a bunch of VPs just by the drop zone.

In the bottom right hand corner, you can see that American forces have crossed the Canal -- actually, a recon troop was across the Canal by turn 2, and there was a Sherman company sitting on the only bridge I did not blow. Hey -- I can only move on turn 2 and I woulda destroyed it if only... that Sherman company wasnt sitting on it. Since then, it's just gotten worse as more Americans stream across. This is going to be a very very tough game -- although maybe short.

Given what's happened I decided to load up at the Theatre Options Buffet : "I'll have the Cfant Special Supreme, Extra Hot Sauce, Hold the Onion Rings."
I will need all these units and more -- but that remaining FJ regiment is too weak to waste VPs on at this point. I may opt for them later.

EDIT
One other change that is noticeable is that the PO now has some air set on interdiction. Right now, it's annoying, but I can deal with it. It makes me 'practice good move discipline' and not get all PO sloppy; still having a unit sent into Retreated status is not pleasant, but it is much more historical.

[ogar]

Turn 5 -- dawn of Day 2 after I've been smacked around a bunch.

You can see how much difference that drop of paratroopers makes in this game - comparing with Telumar's shots. At this stage, there's very little artillery for the Germans, and about the only good news is that the action is out of the range of most of the Allied fleet.

That hex with the double purple/violet/whatever underline is the Osteraccia VP hex. The single underline is the Station VP hex. It's been a rough night on the Via Anzate.

That green circled hex on the left is a bridge, destroyed on turn 2, that Elmer has already rebuilt. And that's a big change from version 2 -- Elmer is rebuilding some bridges quickly. I was thinking of shifting the II/71 PGR over to Osteraccia, but with the commandos at the bluff of Ardea -- not just yet.

[ogar]

And on the other side of the screen, beginning of turn 5, it is even uglier. Elmer has blown through what screen I had in front of that hex. And he's rebuilding bridges. And for some reason, the PO is actually attacking into the Littoria sector (far left hand corner of the map).

I have not seen that action by the PO in this version, nor in Anzio 2 KM (I think).
Is Elmer lonely for the II/276 GR, Telumar ?

[ogar]

Well, I am having trouble getting the wrong jpeg unattached, so let's try attaching the correct jpeg for the Cisterna sector on turn 5.

Now that I look at the correct jpeg, I wonder why I bothered -- it's a mess. I do not have much right in front of Cisterna, and I do not want to waste all those units -- if I can hold a line, I can buy time to rebuild them, and they will be useful in a dozen turns or so. Still my reinforcements are just off screen, and they have to be in two places at once -- down in front of Cisterna, and over in front of Osteraccia.

I circled in blue that infamous unblown bridge hex that is the cause of all these problems.
The green circle is yet another rebuilt bridge. And that messy green arrow is the route Elmer took to push my units from the hex labelled "Fosso" just above the green circle all the way across the river, and then reversing his course to attack in the Littoria sector.

I have had no airfield attacks these game -- and that's remarkable. Even playing as the human Allied player, I would get these sitreps of the air units -- on their own -- blasting an airfield or two when they were set on rest or AS.

The fleet has been less evident this game -- partly because the action is out of range for most of the destroyers, and partly because they are not providing defensive support during night turns to the Allies.

Recon is tougher -- often I can see the fleet as they engage in support, but in this game, it's been rare for me to spot more than a couple ships. And so far, I've been playing by house rules of 'don't disrupt the Allied Navy's slumber' -- of course, the PO does not do house rules, so there has been supporting fire from the Navy during the night as well as during the day.

I get some armor in this Cisterna sector around turn 8 or 9, but that's a long ways away -- this scenario may be all over by then.

[ogar]

An update as I start turn 9 (pre-dawn ).

All I can say is "what an embarrasin' , revoltin' development this is ".

While I still hold Cisterna - a key VP hex, it has cost heavily in units. As is evident, I've thrown everything I have in this sector into holding some sort of line, but the attacks have just been brutal.

The fleet continues to support attacks during night, which does not help. Of course, if I had strength to attack, then the lack of fleet support for defensive fire would be nice, but I'm too weak right now for more then disprupting artillery and/or quick breakout tries.

[ogar]

And on the other hand,
about as bad.

Again, I still hold the key hex - Osteraccia - that flak zug has been pounded for 4 turns by all the BR artillery and those 9-high stacks around it. Every turn I rotate in fresh units, dig in, get the fresh units bounced, have the TRs join in, and some of them bounce as well -- but that flak zug is still there. It arrived and dug in, and got to E status before any of the attacks began, so I think that's its key to success -- although it is not long for this game.

And, yes ,the commandos broke through at Ardea -- I did not send enough reinforcements over there, and until I get some of my turn 9 arrivals down there, it will be hell. Luckily the commandos go away after turn 10; of course, that means engineers and American paratroopers, but I'll deal with that when I can. The coast is dangerous, but it's tough to make an end-around work over there.
AND maybe Elmer will move his fleet up a couple of hexes in support, maybe bringing them into range of my other coastal battery. I can hope.

I do wonder which idiot suggested setting some of the Allied air to interdiction, as that is a major pain, now.

Oh, and the PO chose to use the optional air units of XII ASC (about 15 squadrons of fighter bombers). AND it chose to use the 12 (?) or 14 (?) optional squadrons of the MATBF -- B26s B25s. Combat support has been rough. Still, those options only last for a couple of daylight turns (sort of). Then they need renewal, and there's only a few times they can be used.

The sort of comes about because in my turn 8, I tried a bridge attack, thinking that I only had about 30 Beaufighters to deal with at night-time. Wrong again. No Beaus; a squadron of Spitfires and about 2 squadrons of P-40s -- from XII ASC. That combined with air shock down to 25% meant early turn end.

EDIT:
For clarity, the big air attacks (195 P-40s etc.) happen during daylight turns. And the surprise I got from seeing Spits and P-40s doing air defense is likely because those Allied air units went into re-org earlier, and while they are supposed to be garrisonned (TO only lasts for 4 turns), coming out of re-org they remain in their last state -- likely AS in this case.
Finally, this is version Beta 2.2 -- so air shock at night or during storms is 5% - not 25%. No wonder my bridge attack failed.

Oh well, in all my previous tries, I've found that about turn 10, balance slightly shifts to the German player for a few turns, and then back to Allied, and then back to... So, we'll push on.

[Telumar]

I've uploaded a preliminary draft of the scenario notes to my blog: http://thetoawbeachhead.files.wordpress ... ied-po.pdf

I think the scenario has now reached a state you could call 'release candidat'. There is time for comments, suggestions etc. still. I'm currently playing the latest version as a 'last playtest' and I think Ogar, too is still playing the previous version, though the differences are merely cosmetic.
Still there are issues and minor quirks, however most of them are attributed to engine and Elmer issues. 3.5 will provide solutions to some of them, which means, that after the public 3.4 release, the scenario will see further updates only under 3.5. Except for bug fixes, certainly.

[ogar]

I'm still on beta 2.2, but except for the static trucks in the leg infantry units, I do not think there's any big changes between that and the latest version.

I still say the flak units were weakened too much. (You're allowed to quote Silvanski's Law back at me.)

I have not stumbled across anything to prevent your going forward to release. Book 'em, Dano.

[Telumar]

ORIGINAL: ogar

I'm still on beta 2.2, but except for the static trucks in the leg infantry units, I do not think there's any big changes between that and the latest version.

I still say the flak units were weakened too much. (You're allowed to quote Silvanski's Law back at me.)

I have not stumbled across anything to prevent your going forward to release. Book 'em, Dano.

The changes since the last version, BETA 2.2, are just:

- temporary motorization of some units
- Short Game TO now available on turn 2 instead of turn 1 so that players can better evaluate the situation (Elmer having used the airdrop or not)
- Flak units now have 65% FSDE [8D]

[Telumar]

Finally the first public version is available. It should be available at Rugged Defense/The Strategist in a few days, too. There are only minor differences from the latest beta version, plus i worked on a comprehensive briefing.

tm.asp?m=2850176&mpage=6&key=

Direct download link