The Allies vs. Germany
The German Army is probably (still) the best army in the game. However, it is critically short of units in the theatres the Allies are operating in. Perhaps its most crucial shortage is a shortage of fighter aircraft with which to give battle against the flying armadas the Allies can muster.
The Allies have the following timeline for operations against Germany.
May/June 1944
- The Allies will take a little bit of time before invading France: deploy their fleets, fly their bombers
en masse to attempt to disorganize the German forces in theatre, and put pressure in the Italian sector to split German reinforcements.
- The Allies will invade in the north and, unless the French partisans are all destroyed, debark onto them in the south, preferably simultaneously to stretch the German defenders past the breaking point.
- The current plan of attack is for the CW to land in St-Malo, on the Channel coast, and for the US to land in St-Nazaire, on the Atlantic coast.
- These landing forces will be able to spread out so as to get a 3-4 hex attack on HQ von Rundstet in the nearby forest, possibly secure Nantes if the Axis could not reinforce it in time, and capture Brest as well. With Brest, Lorient, and St-Nazaire in Allied hands, further reinforcements from the US will be able to be shuttled straight into France.
- Both the US and CW have their marine engineers in theatre: these units may be able to get up to shenanigans to bypass Axis defensive lines.
- HQs Montgomery and one of Bradley or Eisenhower will debark as soon as possible after the invasion, along with the Allied armoured fists.
July/August 1944
- The US and CW each begin the scenario with 1 offensive chit; this turn is the one they aim to use them, ideally to crack open the German defensive lines.
- The US and CW forces expect to drive the Germans across France to the Seine river line, bust their way across, then liberate Paris (probably granting the honour to the Free French army).
- Elsewhere, the Allies aim to advance to and crack the mountain line in Italy, and to liberate Marseilles.
Fall/Winter 1944
- Through the next two turns of 1944, the bad weather will likely slow down the Allied advance.
- During this time Allied sealift, except for some minimal required amount, will transfer to the Pacific theatre.
- The Allies will work to liberate Belgium and the Netherlands.
- They will also attempt to conquer Milan and liberate Athens as well.
Winter/Spring 1945
- The only peripheral sector the Allies expect to act in this turn is in Norway & Denmark. Assuming the Soviet Union has conquered Finland, if the Allies can cut supply to Norway they can overcome the strong defence of Oslo with relative ease.
- Otherwise, the Allies will attempt to cross the Rhine into Germany in force, if they have met the above time-table, or work to catch up to it if not.
Summer 1945
- Any remaining German forces can expect to be swiftly defeated in a storm of land units, airpower, and offensive chits.
The Strategic War against Germany
- The Allies are set up to cooperate (figuratively, not game-mechanically) with the USSR to raid the Baltic, disrupting German production in this way.
- Capturing resources and factories in France, Italy, and the Low Countries will also serve as very effective strategic warfare.
- Finally, once the army has landed in France and is securely "ready to go", the strong Allied bombers will resume the Combined Bomber offensive - this time, as we shall soon see, with B-29s in tow.
- It is quite possible that Berlin, rather than Hiroshima, will be the first target of the American atomic bomb. Other options include Kiel and Tokyo (if it still harbours the Japanese Navy).
This map shows the planned beachheads for Operation Neptune: St-Malo, on the Channel coast, for the Commonwealth, and St-Nazaire, on the Atlantic coast, for the United States.
