Adventures in Italy

[MikeJ19]

Ian,

Good luck, hopefully you can hold on. You have fought Larry so hard.

[devoncop]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

Ian,

Good luck, hopefully you can hold on. You have fought Larry so hard.

Thanks Mike....after so many turns to have it go down to the wire is amazing....I am doing lots of "shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic" with my Panzer KG in particular to try and hang on...I try and pull them out of the front line whenever they find themselves there after moving in as a Tactical Reserve each turn and put them back on Tactical Reserve duties...it has managed to save them from being hit too hard unless there are multiple attack rounds by Allied Armour.

I have two reasonably strong Panzer KG left and whether I make it through will very much hinge on how they do.

[MikeJ19]

Ian,

I like using the tactical reserve option in a similar fashion. I agree, defending can feel like "shuffling ... " a lot

[devoncop]

18th April 1945

As expected the heavy lifting for the Allies is done by the armoured formations with the very strong British 26th Armoured Brigade pushing aside infantry along the north east fork before being stopped by KG Baumers Tigers and some supporting StuGs from 94th Infantry Division still 25Km from Bressanone.

On the eastern fork the 21st British Tank Brigade of the 8th Army made more progress north east capturing Merano from 2 small security battalions of the Etna Division.

German artillery inflict 20% losses on an infantry brigade of the US 34th Division and interdiction remains heavy...

[larryfulkerson]

I got an email from Ian saying he's going to be out of pocket for a while due to a
visit from his parents so this game may slow down a bit and the new game we're
going to play ( the mirror game ) may not start for a period of time. But this is
what the front lines look like before I have moved anybody and I'm hopeful that I
can break through the German lines on the east side. There's only a handful of turns
left to play.

[devoncop]

Hi Larry

Just to be clear I am fine until the 9th May so this one should get wrapped up very soon

[devoncop]

22nd April 1944

British 21st Tank Brigade, now looking a bit weary races west through Merano on the western fork and hits KG Binz and stops as Larry's turn is cut short. Unfortunately for the German defenders scouts report a fresh full strength CCR armoured unit from 1st US Armoured Division following behind so another bridge is blown.

On the Eastern fork KG Baumer again stops 26th British Armoured Brigade and this front may be the more stable.

Two German units were evaporated from interdiction strikes this turn which gives an idea of how weak many now are......

[larryfulkerson]

I just now loaded the moves I got from Ian and with four moves left this is what
it looks like. I don't think it's possible to get to Brenner's Pass on time but
this has been a fabulous game.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a zoom down to see the details of what it looks like before I've started
moving units. In the west I think it might be possible to make a little progress
because of the weak German units that remain after their parent organizations got
chewed up last turn.

In the east it's a different story in that the defenders are a bit more stout and it's
going to take some teamwork to move forward here. The planes are in the green and
ready. I guess I should tell the engineers to start making smoke. Then pump my fist
up and down a couple of times.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what it looks like after two combat rounds and just before I ended the turn.
I made some progress in the west but the east is still stopped up really well.

[700851McCall]

Where are your mountain troops? I'd be trying to outflank him with them. Or have they been withdrawn?

[devoncop]

25th April 1945

The efforts of KG Baumunk and 504th Heavy Tank Regt have come at a huge cost in the Eastern Pass. KG Baumer for example now has only 7 of its original 42 Tiger I's and 32 out of 42 (possibly ahistorical) Tiger II's and is struggling but both have successfully stopped the US advance down the Eastern (more direct route) to Brenner Pass.

In the Western more winding route the remnants of KG Binz are in an even worse shape with less than half a dozen serviceable tanks but the clock will now run out in time to save me from a bigger loss I think.

I will do a wind up collection of thoughts at the end of this AAR but the defensive qualities of the area north of Trento is considerable and something any Allied player I suspect will have problems with in the end game.

[larryfulkerson]

There were several battles and two or three combat rounds and I gained a hex and
some little progress was made. About 3 turns left.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall
Where are your mountain troops? I'd be trying to outflank him with them. Or have they been withdrawn?

Ummm....I started disbanding troops about five or six turns ago, getting rid of about 10 of them each turn thinking I was through with them, wouldn't need them again for anything, and they were clogging up my OOB, so I disbanded them and the turns started going faster. Anyway, I think I got rid of all the Free French troops. And the Brazillians, their proficiency was in the high 40's and attacking with them would just get them killed, these are Germans after all. I remember seeing a Greek unit. I wish I had held onto those mountain troops now. I would still lose the game probably but it would have been a litte bit better game.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's some of the losses so far

[devoncop]

29th April 1945

The Soviets are reportedly fighting in the suburbs of Berlin and Hitler will shoot himself in his bunker in the next 24 hours. It is little consolation to Field Marshal Kesselring but at least the Reich was not penetrated via the Brenner Pass.

The fronts are largely stable and as we enter the last couple of turns the three lucky Divisions dug in between Bressanone and Brenner Pass itself as a last ditch defence have escaped the slaughter of their compatriots further south.

Artillery throws its last remaining shells in the direction of some very unlucky US infantry from 38th Division who perish within days of VE Day.

[devoncop]

3rd May 1945

Bressanone will hold until the end of the war. Larry hasn't eased off and multiple infantry casualties again but 40 plus aircraft were shot down and more artillery losses doled out as the fronts seem to have become fixed as troops hope for the ceasefire !

One turn to go !

[larryfulkerson]

I just now received some moves from Ian and I clicked past the playback and the review
of the battles ( they were all Axis bombardments ) and this screen popped up and the
line at the bottom says something about the game ending. I guess we're done.

[MikeJ19]

Great AAR! Kudos to both of you and thanks for taking the time to share.

[countrboy]

Just finished reading this excellent AAR. Well played to both players, it makes me want to give this scenario a go. That final screen the game gives you (game ends?!) is a bit of a let down though! Who won? What were the total casualties? No marching band and exploding fireworks? It's amazing how many wargames end with a whimper instead of a bang.