Dreaming of France
Since the speed of updates is going to slow a bit, you'll have to wait a little while to find out what happened on T32.
As promised earlier, some thoughts on France.
Few general issues.
I like to land 2 armies (2 Br, 1 US) with a single corps controlling 8 divisions each. This naturally gives you a 2*2 landing zone, optimises CV and minimises command problems.
The quicker you can get an Army HQ ashore, the quicker you can shift SU in/out.
Mulberries act as a permanent #4 port, you get 2, but they can be destroyed (by bad weather). The good thing is they don't need a TF to protect (but if they are lost to weather then a TF will preserve the normal landing port).
Ideally you don't want to leave a TF next to an occupied port (you pick up a lot of attrition).
Ideally you want to have to use as few TF as possible to keep your temporary ports in existence – they can move around in the turn but need to be back at the end of the turn.
Divisional paradrops add a lot of interdiction and seriously weaken any on-beach defenders. But they are vulnerable so best to have a retreat slot for them to fall back to.
Level 1/2 ports auto-repair if a TF is in (or next to), so while you want the big ones in the end, in the short term taking these can give you some supply quicker.
Other planning factors.
Some FB are very short ranged (the Hurricanes), but all gain from a short trip base/target as they can then fly more missions.
Some places have natural choke points for the flow of supply to the Germans – Normandy is best for this as you can interdict all the likely entry points.
The Seine. A second phase issue but this can be hard to breach as its a major river. In the end you can, but trying to offset it can be useful.
The Brittany ports. These can make a real difference to your supply but if you land east of the Seine will mean diverting troops for most of the summer/autumn to clear them.
Or in other words, the Seine issue is finely balanced with pros and cons either way.
In the end, its having Antwerp and Marseilles that will ease your supply problems.
So 4 options, I've used heavy lines to block off what I think are the main option in each area – but there are lots of small variants.
If I recall, Q-Ball used this to effect in one AAR.
See note [1]
There is a lot to be said for the historical landing sites – not least its almost the only place you can put all 4 landings together – this really eases shuffling units and HQs.
Any landing here is almost bound to be a bit broken up, but it does give you access to Paris. One problem is it is relatively far from the UK.
The 'win big or die horribly' option
Bigger picture.
Central France won't be defended, but you need to be cautious. A fast moving German mech brigade can emerge from the FoW and really upset your supply lines and air bases.
Few other bits. For interdiction, use either rockets or 250lb bombs, its the volume of activity that counts. For unit and GS missions, if you can then use at least 500lb bombs, 1,000 lb are good (& favoured by US FB, as an aside the P-38 becomes a first rate ground attack aircraft), 4,000lb are fun (unless its been dropped on you).
For the first 3-4 weeks after an invasion, the entire bomber force should be over France. Bombed railyards don't just hamper the flow of supply, they reduce the effectiveness of the linked depot. Rail interdiction can really increase the costs of moving supply.
After a while you can start to release strategic bombers back to the Reich – but remember the bombing multiplier drops again in mid-44.
edits:
[1] - the real problem here is it is outside the range of most allied FB, unless you first take the Channel Islands. That of course indicates exactly what you have planned and also releases the garrison requirement for NW France.
This was quite a popular option for 1943 invasions when the game first came out.
