Adventures in Italy

[larryfulkerson]

Ian has mentioned in the Diplomatic Pouch about the landings at Toulon in the French
Alps region and so I guess since OPSEC about it has expired I can reveal the situation
over there. I could only float part of the division at a time so I split up the regiments
into pairs and shipped that and whatever was left over of the sea cap floated the HQ and
an AT gun and I don't remember what else, maybe some arty. Maybe a recon element. But
this turn I landed the other two regiments but the trip from Naples left them no MP's left
at Toulon and so they are in R&R mode right now. I forgot that I own the rails up to where
my recon element is and moved two of the regiments by foot instead of railing them. That
little detail bought the Axis some time and real estate that I'll have to fight for now.

[larryfulkerson]

I moved a Spitfire group to Nice just to see if it could work out in that spot and it
seems that the 65 hex range covers the west coast pretty well to a limited degree but
that it would work out just fine as a point defense CAP kind of mission. I'm going to
put some early model P-38's over there with their range of 90 they can cover just about
everything important.

[larryfulkerson]

I've got 64 early model P-38's but there's no unit that flies them any longer and
I can't even turn them into trainers or something. At any rate I flew a late model
P-38 group with their range of 238 that I trimmed back to 150 and from Nice they can
cover the current battlefield as well as northern Italy so I'm thinking this will
work out nicely. I was going to save all the longer-ranged fighters down near Rome
but I thought that one long-ranged one might save somebody's bacon soon.

I see from the air losses meter that I have an AS of 29 and the Axis is measured as 0
so I've got way too many AS missions being flown. I'm going to review all the planes
and see if I can't convert some of those AS missions to CS to get more utility out of
them. Or maybe better yet, reassign them as INT missions.

[larryfulkerson]

I've been moving units and this is right after the first combat round and as you can
see the fighting has defeated a lot of the Germans and there's just a leftover arty
unit that will soon surrender. I've thrust a unit forward to capture the next bridge
and other units will soon follow and I have no idea what is still between here and Rome.
I'm going to see if I can't find a way to get behind the Gustov Line defenders somehow.

[devoncop]

11th June 1944

This turn was the worst so far from murderous interdiction. My Air Summary shows the Allied plane losses at over 100 but I doubt this is accurate.

Both units heading for the French border and those trying to get to the Rome area were hit repeatedly whether they were travelling by road or rail.

The German Panzer Grenadiers racing to Nice on the train after reports of a US invasion from France was connfronted with advance recon elements advancing on the city and had to hurriedly disembark !

In the East there was major punishment handed out to the HQ and artillery and engineering assets of the Free French Moroccans and Senegalese by Axis artillery causing over 50% losses but in the grand scheme of things it is but a scratch to the Allies.

The remainder of the front was stable but with remnants of the line South East of Rome now cleared the juggernaut will soon hit the sparse defenders of the capital.

The furious air attacks have now made me reconsider the forward defence which has served me well to date. I am not sure sending troops down from northern Italy only to have them arrive at less than half strength is going to be sustainable so a graduated concentration on a much more compact and northern based defence seems inevitable.

[larryfulkerson]

This is right before I pull the trigger on the first combat resolution. I'm
pretty confident that the German arty unit will evaporate and the next major issue
is to get the engineers to the next bridge and fix it. I've got two separate
engineers adjacent to the bridge hex ready next turn to try their hand at it. I'm
directing two infantry divisions to this area as I'm eventually going to need a lot
more troops in this area. Plus I want to send some division to Toulon to give them
a hand.

[devoncop]

14th June 1944

I was lucky this turn as apart from the predictable overrun of the surrounded artillery in the West and an unsuccessful attack on the Gustav Line in the centre Larry was prevented from doing anything else thanks to a failed proficiency check.

This made no effect on the efficiency of the interdiction but fortunately reinforcements have finally reached Rome and Kampfgruppe Baumann which arrived boasts a reasonable number of Tiger II 's and Panthers so hopefully there is something to resist the Allied Armour.

I have an issue with the potential outflanking of the central stretch of the Gustav Line forces once the line at Littorio is breached so I have done what I can to strengthen the line.

On the French Front there was an attempt to outflank the Panzer Grenadiers who retreated successfully from Nice but the mountain passes North East from Nice are now blocked.

More units are arriving to assist the Forces pulling back from Nice so I am hopeful the attack from France can be delayed long enough with relatively few troops to avoid impacting greatly the eventual result.....we shall see.

[hingram]

Did the Italian unit ever show up in the Italian heel near Taranto? For some reason, I thought it was activated by going into the heel but I may have imagined that.

The Axis player has done a marvelous job but it points out something about TOAW. You have to play this game for quite a long time to figure out the strategies. I was previously playing FPS games but I turn 60 this year. I read an article that stated that brains begin to atrophy at 60 as people begin to "retire" from exercising their brains. I needed something that was more complex than flinging grenades down a stairwell for 20 minutes.

Sardinia and Corsica should defend themselves with blue security units after they are taken by the Allies, much like Sicily. Toulon will require engineers which are in short supply. More rail units will show up soon but is it too late? Stay tuned.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines before I have moved anybody and my plans for the front lines.
I've decided to get organized and establish some zones in which the predominate nationality
shall be as depicted in the image with the Americans at the south with the British in
the middle and the Free French on the east coast. I'm thinking that will place the
correct nationality for the stretch of terrain they are in and put the Free French in a
relatively quiet section of the front. The British are still resting because of the low
supply situation but I intend to get them to push and shove and the Americans are streaming
for Rome with a couple of armor divisions and two infantry divisions headed that way even
now.

I've got several divisions that are going to withdraw between now and T105 and I've got to
keep track of who is disappearing and who is stable. Two American, two British, and one
Free French divisions are being withdrawn so that's going to stretch those left here.

The aircraft are all green and the P-38 group at Nice is missing 7 of it's planes and I'm
wondering if that's the group that got into a furball and evaporated an Axis unit last
turn.

I'm trying to scrape together another division to ship to Toulon to extend the fighting to
the environs up there.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: hingram
Did the Italian unit ever show up in the Italian heel near Taranto? For some reason, I thought it was activated by going into the heel but I may have imagined that.

I'm not aware of any Italian units spawning anywhere, especially lately. Although, I suspect there
are going to be some now that I have units in France. I plan to have some low-cost throw-away units
run around that area converting the roads and rails and places that an Axis unit might spawn.

ORIGINAL: hingram
The Axis player has done a marvelous job but it points out something about TOAW. You have to play this game for quite a long time to figure out the strategies. I was previously playing FPS games but I turn 60 this year. I read an article that stated that brains begin to atrophy at 60 as people begin to "retire" from exercising their brains. I needed something that was more complex than flinging grenades down a stairwell for 20 minutes.

Thank you for your kind words. You're too kind by half. I hear you about wanting to exercise your brain because that's one of the good things about playing these kinds of games, they tend to keep your brain exercised and innovative.

ORIGINAL: hingram
Sardinia and Corsica should defend themselves with blue security units after they are taken by the Allies, much like Sicily. Toulon will require engineers which are in short supply. More rail units will show up soon but is it too late? Stay tuned.

I've already captured Sardinia, Corsica, and Elba and have made a stab at converting all their interior hexes and I plan to garrison something at the ports for security although I figure the risk is probably minimul for invasions by the Axis. I don't have any plans for developing the islands and I don't have any units on any of the islands besides some aircraft units, that I remember. I'm more interested in getting Rome because it's the transportation hub of Italy for the most part, and I'd like to see what I can develop in France. Maybe fight my way to Grenoble.

And I've shipped some engineers to Toulon to repair the broken bridges there may be on the way to the west coast of Italy. I'm not sure how many engineer units I'll need but so far it's working out.

[devoncop]

ORIGINAL: hingram

Did the Italian unit ever show up in the Italian heel near Taranto? For some reason, I thought it was activated by going into the heel but I may have imagined that.

The Axis player has done a marvelous job but it points out something about TOAW. You have to play this game for quite a long time to figure out the strategies. I was previously playing FPS games but I turn 60 this year. I read an article that stated that brains begin to atrophy at 60 as people begin to "retire" from exercising their brains. I needed something that was more complex than flinging grenades down a stairwell for 20 minutes.

Sardinia and Corsica should defend themselves with blue security units after they are taken by the Allies, much like Sicily. Toulon will require engineers which are in short supply. More rail units will show up soon but is it too late? Stay tuned.

Hi Hingram

Thanks for your comments...always interesting to read feedback. Not sure about brains starting to slow down after 60.....I was lucky enough to be able to retire from the Police at 50 and am coming up to 53 now and this game is certainly giving me some head scratching moments ....maybe mine started decaying early 😨

The only unit that spawned in the heel of Italy to my knowledge of any note was an FJ Regiment which performed admirably in the defence of Taranto.

You are definitely right about needing to play this game longer than I have to understand all its nuances. This is only my third campaign since I jumped in and bought it, never having played the previous iterations so I am definitely a novice ...Larry is teaching me a lot which I will hopefully be able to put into practice when we switch sides !

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the supply situation right now. I've got one RR engineer dedicated to the
rail line from Naples to Terracina on the way to Rome, and one RR engineer dedicated
to the rail line leading to the middle passing near Cassino and there's one that I
have decided to ship to Nice to repair the rail up there. So far it's been working.
There's not a lot of rail leading to the east coast so supply is low in the NE corner
and pretty good near the breakthrough.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's some of the withdrawls that are scheduled soon. Whole formations are going
to disappear. I've started replacing some of them on the front lines so that there
won't be any gaps appear. I'm losing about half of the force I think. The character
of the game is going to change rapidly about that time. I may have to pull back.

[larryfulkerson]

I just now discovered that the 9th Free French Colonial Division is going to be
withdrawn on T110 so I have between now and then to replace them. I can't replace
them with Free French units because all the FF stuff is being withdrawn. It'll
have to be a British or American unit. I don't think I can rail a whole formation
to the NE corner by T110. I'm not sure I have a formation to spare. This could
get interesting.

[larryfulkerson]

I thought it might be a good idea to connect the rails between Foggia and Naples
which is across the country. I don't want to have to take the scenic route ( via
Reggio ) to get from one to the other side of the peninsula for whatever reason.
So I've got a bridge-fixing type engineer repairing the rail for the stretch depicted
in red and he only get's a successful repair done after about 8 attempts so it's
going to take a while. It's a low priority right now so it's just him but if I
find I need this rail then I'll send help.

[larryfulkerson]

I dropped a bridge in Rome itself and moved the west side units up to the next
river crossing and it looks like we're starting to run into the more stout Axis
units. This may turn into a big fight. I may need more troops yet.

[devoncop]

18th June 1944

News of the rumoured withdrawals of Allied troops boosts morale in Rome, as does the arrival of Kampfgruppe Baumers Panzers and some rare artillery support transferred from the East. A number of Infantry battalions have also entered Rome itself to complement the SS garrison.

There was a concerted attack by British and Indian troops in the centre this turn which pushed back but did not break the German defenders but pressure is certainly growing along the line.

In France the Allies are advancing rapidly along the coast road and they are now East of Monaco. As a result the defence line may need to be formed further East than originally intended.

Word has also reached OB West of promised significant reinforcements over the next month that when combined with any Allied withdrawals gives renewed hope.....

This turn artillery again did reasonable damage, this time to infantry of the the US 35th and 38th Divisions around Cassino. After a few days in the air, what is left of the Luftwaffe skulks back under a stone

[larryfulkerson]

Unless I'm badly mistaken I'm expecting some reinforments that spawn inside Rome's
city limits. Another reason to own the hex. The problem is going to be getting
past all the defenders to grab the hex. I'll bet Ian is going to blow all those
Roman bridges if he ever has to leave Rome behind.

[devoncop]

Blowing all the bridges in the Eternal City....as if we would [:)]and

Any bridges that aren't there will be the result of wayward Allied bombs....

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: devoncop
...Any bridges that aren't there will be the result of wayward Allied bombs....

Um.....I remember striking hex 110,142 and I remember the bridge coming down. But
this turn I check it and the bridge is good again. So either you fixed it or the
game engine did. I don't know what value Ian's auto rail repeir cap. is but mine
is 1 which means that the game engine will repair one hex of broken rail automatically
somewhere at random I guess, or maybe concentrating around where the RR engineers are
physically, on the map. I'm guessing that Ian's engineers got busy and repaired it
really quickly. That's possible.

Which reminds me....I saw some of your engineers parked in a broken bridge hex minding
their own business and I gave them an airstrike to see what was in the hex exactly and
sank all 10 of their trucks. They still have horse teams, I don't remember how many,
and this attack was about 4 turns ago and I can't call up the battle report for you.