Fall Grau 2.13 Jeremy vs. Ben

[golden delicious]

Turn 19:
Bingo. Jeremy pushed something up to Monroe, Louisiana. Turns out to be SS Hitler Jugend. I pull out of my positions south of here on the Mississippi, whilst throwing four armoured divisions in to attempt to destroy this unit. He also has spearheads moving towards San Antonio but I have no choice but to ignore these for now.

Jeremy's also advancing more vigorously than I'd hoped in the east. He's not attacked my positions on the Tennessee just yet, but he's working his way forward and will eventually find a hole. Of course what this also means is that his lead units are horribly exposed. It's trivial for me to isolate 25. Panzergrenadier and some Italian motorised division, and attack them with my armour.

Toronto's still in supply, and what's more I now have a string of fortified units keeping it that way; Jeremy will have to bleed to take it one way or another. I pull a US armoured division out of here which, together with the two split divisions mentioned last turn, move to join the force in Virginia, bringing this back up to seven armoured divisions. Actually on reflection one of these goes to the Applachians where a breach by a single division is more likely.

25. Panzergrenadier survives as a 3-3 stub, but the Italian divisions folded on the first round and Hitler Jugend after two rounds of hard fighting. Unfortunately I don't get a third round to put my affairs in order out west, a fact which I expect to pay for, but it was nice to kill one of Jeremy's best units before it had even been seriously committed.

After last turn's frantic rearrangements, a much simpler turn in many ways, and a satisfying one, but ultimately I must come toe to toe with Jeremy's infantry in the East. Well, next turn I get another National Guard army, which together with various other bits may allow me to string something together completing my line from the Mississippi to the sea. On the other hand he may break through my line on the Tennessee and throw all of that into disarray. I'm also concerned that my positions in front of Detroit are really not at all ready for prime time; I'll want some more brigades and bits here before this matter is settled. Perhaps I should have tried to hold him at London Ontario another turn? It certainly would have been possible I think.

As always, turns 20-30 are going to be crucial. Jeremy will get Charlotte, Toronto and San Antonio for certain. Norfolk and Houston are likely to go as well. That puts me on 56% and then a dangerous 45% replacements, or 68% on turn 30. The idea is that my army will remain intact through all of this, and the battle will only be seriously mobile west of the Mississippi, where I'll retain a force of 8-12 armoured divisions to keep the advance to the pace of the infantry. If I can get him to channel his remaining reinforcements into that front then I may be able to hold him somewhat in place everywhere else. The idea is then between turns 30 and 40 he gets maybe Dallas and one other city, getting me back up to a healthy 82% for turn 40.

Local counterattacks on the southern edge of Virginia serve to keep the Axis advance in check- for now

[golden delicious]

Turn 20:
Jeremy went for broke in the west, putting my committed armour and the whole of this part of the line out of supply with the use of paratroops. Since I have three more armoured divisions still in reserve, I hope to be able to cash in here. Actually, the more pieces I move the more screwed I realise I am. He's going to bag this whole force- including the four armoured divisions- and I might kill, if I'm lucky, two airborne brigades. In the meantime, he overruns all of Texas. The only positive is that I did want him focussing his offensive efforts in this direction, but I had hoped it wouldn't develop quite this dramatically. Well, I will do what I can for now whilst sending some units to prevent an easy crossing of the Arkansas.

This includes the whole of 3rd National Guard Army, which was supposed to go to Appalachia. I'm hoping that the combination of a bit of time to prepare and some decent terrain will allow them to hold for a time here, forcing Jeremy as far West as possible. Besides that, I have two other National Guard divisions and four regular brigades, plus two brigades of engineers to dig the position in.

Jeremy's also starting to put pressure on me in the Appalachians, trying to push into eastern Kentucky. If this continues I'll be pulling out of the Tennessee bend, which is now quite a deep salient, which should theoretically release a few divisions to reinforce here. He's also fighting a mobile battle with me in Virginia, where I aim to kill half a panzer division and maybe more.

Up in Niagara, Jeremy sliced through two hexes of my three on the Buffalo position; however this leaves him badly exposed and I hope to kill a panzer division at the tip of the advance, whilst deepening my position in the process. Over at Detroit, Jeremy's made contact with the first line but not attacked it, the second line still really isn't ready so this could be bad news.

My counterattacks are all very satisfying: 11. Panzer and half of Grossdeutschland die in Niagara, 5. Panzer is mauled in Virginia and half of 7. Panzer destroyed. I'm able to do very little in the west, however. This area is one hell of a mess and Jeremy will have to do a lot of slogging to hold me in the pocket, but my fear is that the three armoured divisions I sent to relieve this are going to get caught up in the mess, as there's nothing to stop the main body of the SS Panzer Army swinging around the flank here. It's a good thing I have 2,200 Shermans in replacements. It looks like I'm about to need just about all of them to reconstitute this force.

Well, this latest eruption is the last of the first wave panzer corps. With Jeremy's low force supply, I can at least hope that hereafter, his mechanised forces are going to become progressively more anaemic, as it will take him at least six or seven turns to rest them up to fighting condition. They've borne the brunt of the fighting since the earliest turns and those units which I see come into action again after their first flush look in very rough shape.

[Ref. turn 7. I still (sort of) have Toronto and San Antonio, so apparently "things are going very well"]

US Armored divisions find themselves thoroughly outmanoeuvred as the Axis airborne landings (in yellow) slam the trap shut with almost a dozen divisions trapped

[golden delicious]

Turn 21:
More or less what I expected from Jeremy in the west; he's swamped my relieving forces and is ploughing up the road further west. Yet I think I can get them out as there's little between me and freedom besides airborne brigades. I'll aim to cut my way through two of them back to the line, retrieving 3-5 armoured divisions. I'll also counterattack further north, where Jeremy has pushed over the Mississippi near Memphis, hoping to drive him back here and possibly kill some infantry.

Over in the East, Jeremy is piling the pressure on my Appalachian line. I toy with the possibility of pulling out of the Tennessee bend this turn, but at this point it just wouldn't save me that many pieces. What I do need to do is disengage in Virginia, where I'm being badly swamped by the advancing German infantry. This comes off pretty cleanly; three armoured divisions remain in Virginia just north of Richmond, whilst the rest move west into Appalachia. Despite the crisis in the west, I'm obliged to send all the reinforcements I can find to this front. I risk taking a few brigades off the second line in the northeast to send down here.

Up at Niagara, Jeremy has shoved forward again. I don't think I've the strength to cut off his lead unit this time, so I will limit myself to shoving it back. Jeremy's weak and exhausted here so this should go easy. I also take a gamble here and pull the two Canadian armoured divisions out from reserve at Detroit; these will smash the three Italian mobile divisions which have appeared, exhausted, at Fort William. I also dispatch a battered regiment to reconvert some of the hexes they've taken along the road, to ensure Jeremy gains nothing from this march.

All in all, better than expected. I destroyed three airborne brigades and routed two others, I should be able to rescue five of the seven armoured divisions (albeit two of them in totally unbattleworthy condition) and shoved back Jeremy's foray over the Mississippi at Memphis. His lead SS division is out of supply, and dealing with what I still have in the pocket should prevent him following up too closely. If I get a turn's supply, the battered divisions will fill up with tanks again; I have 2,300 in replacements.

The attention now shifts somewhat to Appalachia; here, I was unable to shove back Jeremy and I think next turn will see a general rearrangement of my forces, including most likely a withdrawal from the Tennessee salient; these positions have served me well but the salient will be getting deeper from next turn. Fortunately I have a large number of full-division reconstitutes coming in next turn which can stretch this line further up toward Baltimore. I may also pull a couple of divisions out here from the west, where I may have overreacted initially. Also need to remember next turn that I still have at least one division from 3rd National Guard army undeployed where it wasn't on a rail line.

Bloody fighting. Jeremy's doing what he can to defeat me decisively in the field. These major battles are exactly what I've been trying to avoid since turn one, and from next turn I'll be trying to rapidly disengage in the west. Elsewhere, though, I've run as far as I'm prepared to run. I need to cobble together sufficient forces to block Jeremy's progress into the northeast or else this match is over. I may have to gamble on denuding the front in Massachusetts and New York, I may have to let Jeremy run amok in the west, but he can't be allowed to cross the Ohio-Potomac line.

German troops isolate Toronto and begin looking for weaknesses in the routes out from Niagara

[golden delicious]

Turn 22:
Nothing especially egregious from Jeremy this turn, rather a series of minor insults. I open by moving my units against Jeremy's long range offensive toward Fort William. My regiment reaches the road- to find Jeremy has been moving German infantry along it. This is well and good as it justifies my offensive here; eventually German infantry at Duluth will be a bit of a bummer, so the more I can delay this the better. Ideally, they'll arrive in strength around turn 50, when the tide has turned and I can decisively counterattack them.

Niagara is a bit hairy. I find that the armoured division I left in an advance position near Buffalo has retreated INTO the pocket, and I'm obliged to counterattack to get it out. The Detroit side is better; Jeremy attacked but failed to shift a hex of my first line. Behind that is a further hexrow of fortified units, and I have a new line forming behind THAT, though it will take at least two turns to be ready. After that I hope to have my armour back from Fort William.

My line in the Appalachians is in pieces, so as planned I pull back from the Tennessee this turn. This allows me to build a line along the spine of the Appalachians and extended down the Cumberland to join the existing positions in western Kentucky, and a modest armoured reserve is starting to collect behind it. I still have a gap of eleven hexes to the sea which I'm not certain how to close; for now this is the responsibility of the five armoured divisions I have in Northern Virginia, which this turn will directly counterattack one of Jeremy's panzergrenadier divisions. This is a bit of a desperate move, but I need him to slow down here.

The Southwest

In the west, my estimate of five divisions rescued has been scaled back to 2-4. Two are actually out, and another two look emminently saveable, but the fifth has been pushed back down into the depths and won't see light again. What's more, to save one of the other two I have to commit quite a large part of my force. The good news is a lot of Jeremy's units down here are already looking battered. The bad news is the lodgement he has just southwest of Memphis is increasingly powerful; it's only three hexes, but each of the three has a panzer division.

Further west things are better; I've kept Jeremy somewhat occupied with a few odd regiments playing games with ZOCs, and he's contented himself with cutting off Houston. If he knew I had NOTHING out here he might be tempted to send everything roaring off toward the Canadian border. I'm happy to cede him Dallas on turn 30 and Oklahoma City on turn 40 if that's all I have to give out here.

This turn I start a process I mean to continue. I have two battered reconstituted armoured divisions this turn, both of which head (via one turn's delay) to the Pacific. In their place I get a spotless, full strength armoured division which had been watching part of the coast. As long as Jeremy doesn't choose turn 23 to land with the Japanese this will work swimmingly.

ANOTHER triumph. Jeremy had used one of his remaining airborne brigades to hold one side of the pocket- so I vigorously counterattacked it with the survivors. It evaporated. Altogether that's four in this venture, plus the one I got on the first turn means half of their strength remains. This in addition to my utter routing of the Italians from the gates of Fort William. Sadly I couldn't evaporate anything, but these forces are in utter disarray.

A turn that felt good for my minor counterattacks, but the real fight now is in the Appalachians. I managed to scrape together a few brigades to send here from various places, and I've got a few spare from the Tennessee line as well, but Jeremy is much stronger. I can't hold out for ever- but I can give him one humungous repair bill.

The remnants of the US 5th and 6th Armies scramble to get to the relative safety of the north bank of the Arkansas

[golden delicious]

Turn 23:
So, uh, turns out Jeremy DID choose turn 23 to land on the Pacific coast. Well, he's not ashore. He assaulted the coast defenders at Vancouver and hoped I wouldn't notice that one of the units on the end of the line is a mountain division and capable of getting ashore without an anchorage. One of my battered armoured divisions from reserve rail into this hex, which I hope will at least make it difficult for him to walk into the hex. I also bring up a fully-armed and operational armoured division which had been watching the California coast.

Another pressing concern for me this turn is that Jeremy's made his way through the last fortified hex of my position at Buffalo. I'm able to fortify the hexrow behind, but that won't stop him. As such, I use the two fresh armoured divisions I have here to shove back at Jeremy's battered and bruised attackers. Detroit for its part is fine, Jeremy attacked again but didn't advance one hex.

The Appalachians are OK. Jeremy's getting forward but not at a fantastic rate; I aim to have a solid fortified line to just south of Lexington next turn, then I can focus my efforts further east. Here the gap in front of Washington is closing fast but still extant; as it narrows though it becomes easier to defend with my armoured reserve. I need to lock this down sooner rather than later as matters in the West are progressing rapidly.

There I'm in real disarray. I hope to continue to counterattack Jeremy's breach over the Mississippi- aiming to cut off and destroy 2. Panzer- whilst holding the SS off from capitalising on the crossing of the Arkansas which they made this turn. Unfortunately the armoured division in reorganisation south of the river which I committed so much to save last turn is STILL in reorg this turn, so it'll die. Actually once I pulled stuff together here and concentrated most of it in the little space between Little Rock and Memphis, things actually look pretty good. Ideally, Jeremy will bloody his nose here and it'll be that much later when these guys swing way out around to the west where I have only a handful of brigades.

I of course make the obligatory air attacks against Jeremy's embarked units; this takes up the two most powerful units from each of my air forces, which does weaken my counterattacks. These are mostly disappointing this turn; I fail to even isolate much less destroy 2. Panzer, I make no progress at Buffalo and suffer serious losses when pushing back in Virginia. Moreover the effect on the Japanese isn't all that severe, with their units mostly still in a reasonable condition to attack next turn, including the critical mountain infantry division. About the only attack that goes well is the one in western Ontario, where I continue to rout the Italians, destroying one division and spotting a division Jeremy had moved off to the north to outflank me, hopefully in time to stop it, well, flanking. This though I think will need to be called off next turn as these units need to come down to deal with the situation at Buffalo- and will need a couple of turns to rest.

1st, 3rd, 4th and 8th Armor due to come back to me in the next four turns. This brings my stockpile of Shermans down to a paltry 1200. I will run out eventually. I'm hoping to have more losses amongst my National Guard, which Jeremy has largely avoided fighting so far, to take some of the pressure off the regular army. Replacements are OK at 69% for now, but San Antonio will be gone next turn, and Houston and Toronto in the next few turns. That puts me at 50%.

Japanese troops try and fail to seize Vancouver from the sea. Note that house rules permit Japanese mountain troops to disembark directly in non-anchorage hexes if they begin their turn in an adjacent hex

[golden delicious]

Turn 24:
I feel lucky this turn- Jeremy failed to get ashore in the Pacific. He didn't flank me in western Ontario or overwhelm me in the west, and his attacks seem to have come to a halt at Buffalo whilst continuing (without success) at Detroit. The crisis front remains in the southeast, so this is where I open the turn. First I build up my fortified positions in western Kentucky, which are now looking strong and should stop Jeremy's light forces in their tracks. The real problem is that Jeremy is pushing forward hard in Virginia, where I still have the gap. He's put two good infantry divisions out of supply, and it's up to my armour to undo this while I put together a position. The reinforcements here aren't coming in anything like as fast as I need them, but if I can close the gap then the armour will give me the time I need to get the position ready.

It's a similar story in the west, where I aim to push back 2. Panzer (having given up on isolating it) whilst a line takes shape here. Some of Jeremy's armour is already moving west, but the bulk of it is deployed here. I shift two of my remaining three armoured divisions west to respond, where they're joined by various fragments; the bulk of my strength remains on the lower Arkansas to keep Memphis viable as long as possible. Further west still, Jeremy's tentatively advancing on Dallas, where I put his lead division out of supply. I have the idea he's not here in a great deal of strength, but my weak response ought to make it clear I'm here in no strength whatsoever.

Fun and games in Mexico. I've been continuously feeding guerrilla brigades into the centre of the country as they arrive, and the last two were positioned either side of Jeremy's mixed force here last turn. He duly advanced- and I split the brigades, putting the whole lot out of supply. The guerrillas this turn are joined by an irregular division [these units aren't included in the current version] out of Chihuahua. To the south, another such division wipes out two South American regiments, lifting the siege of Oaxaca. As a footnote, for my money Jeremy still has a staggering number of good pieces in Mexico, including at least one German mechanised division. All this should have come out 5-10 turns ago.

I destroy a single Japanese division left off the coast with RCAF bombers, both of my counterattacks in east and west are successful, and the Canadian armour in western Ontario (which I decided could carry on its job a few more turns) destroys the Centaro armoured division.

I've been wringing my hands for the last several turns about how the loss penalty is worse for the Allies than it was in the last match Jeremy and I played. Well this turn it's 83-178 in Jeremy's favour, whereas turn 24 last time around it was 84-177. A symbolic victory.

A good turn all round. I'm probably going to regret saying this- but I see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Jeremy did take all three isolated cities this turn, and Norfolk and Dallas are indefensible. Yet I feel like the unstoppable war machine is starting to wind down. Without the constant influx of fresh panzertruppen, Jeremy's plays are starting to become more predictable, and his offensives bloodier. 3. Panzergrenadier, which I counterattacked in Virginia this turn, is down to a 5-3. 2. Panzer on the other side is a 7-5. His units across the map are battered and they don't recover. Mine, by and large, are bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked. On turn 27, 4th National Guard army will join the line in the East. If things are still intact by then, I have a reasonable degree of confidence that I can bring his offensive out here, if not to a complete standstill, at least down to a crawl. I'll then shift some of the armour from here, Buffalo and western Ontario out to the west, together with the four reconstituted divisions (or their substitutes), and seek to fight a vicious mobile battle against Jeremy's exhausted panzers.

The fight isn't over. I still have plenty of chances to screw up and lose the match. But I also have a chance to win it. Though ironically this turn my victory level fell to "marginal victory"...

German troops at the extreme limit of their supply line make contact with the new US positions in Kentucky, as the situation stabilises in Arkansas

[golden delicious]

Turn 25:
Kapow! Jeremy got through two hexes of the Detroit line. This is a bit of a surprise, and I sort of wish I had a reserve ready to counterattack here as he's seriously exposed. I will rearrange matters so he can't break out immediately, and bring over three armoured divisions from Buffalo, where he's apparently given up for the time being. There's one hex of the line Jeremy's facing which is held by a 3-3 entrenched regiment, so he's definitely through here if I don't counterattack.

I'm also counterattacking in Appalachia. The pressure is intense here but Jeremy's grinding his army out of existence. I make a local counterattack to shorten the line in the centre, whilst in Virginia I toy with the idea of a bolder attack to cut off a lead division, but this is too much of a risk. Instead I go with the usual armoured blow directly on the snout, whilst the infantry starts building up a double line. All my substantial reinforcements head to this front as usual; the arrival of the first substantial reconstituted armour in California allows me to bring the fresh armoured division out from there this turn.

In the west, Jeremy does seem to have given up on the direct approach against my strong line between Little Rock and Memphis, with the SS having largely shifted further west. I respond by shifting some of my weight- three National Guard divisions- in that direction, whilst keeping various scraps free to cut supply should he lunge too far too fast. He actually pulled too much out by Memphis in fact, leaving a division easily isolated by RBC. Here I'll counterattack and hope to destroy it.

Like at Dallas. There, Jeremy responded to my supply-cutting move by bringing up three more divisions. I respond to THAT by cutting off all of them, plus the lead division which was already isolated this turn.

The door begins to close in Northern Virginia

[golden delicious]

Turn 26:
Phew. I was practically having nightmares about the prospect of Jeremy breaking through at Detroit: he pulled his armour out leaving two shattered brigades. Christ knows why, but I'm safe here, for now. I open the turn with two RBCs which clears these units out, destroying one of them. Next on the agenda is bringing back the fighters from the Pacific, which I forgot about last turn.

Next, Appalachia. My line's leaking in a number of places, but Jeremy's exhausted everywhere and my armour's ready to answer. I get an RBC in the centre of the line which cuts 21. Panzer off, ready for destruction. Another RBC two hexes over deals with another breach, which is then sealed with an infantry division brought up last turn. Both RBCs were against full divisions.

Out West, various tiny regiments put three German mechanised divisions and four other divisions out of supply (though Dallas is out of supply too), whilst I refuse my flank to Tulsa. I think my prediction above holds; if I put the new National Guard army into Appalachia, this will allow me to bring most of this armour out over the next several turns. For now, this front receives two of the three armoured divisions that are not needed at Detroit.

This turn I start filling out the line along the exposed stretch of Mississippi between the mouth of the Ohio and Memphis. I also send several units to Fort William to relieve the two Canadian armoured divisions which are no longer adding much value up here. These plus one division from the Pacific (replaced by reconstitutes) will go to the West to join the two from Detroit in the coming turns.

My attacks are bloody. Countering in the mountains isn't great fun, and a couple of my armoured divisions look significantly worse for wear as a result. Yet every hex I retake is one Jeremy must assault again, and my units recover far faster than his (my force supply is 31, his cannot be above 20, and his rail head is still in Georgia). Still, with my Sherman replacements rapidly racing to zero, I had better watch how I use my armour, and get the National Guard to take some of the heat.

Jeremy's fixated on how low my replacement rate is- 50% since the loss of three cities last turn (and 45% shortly when I lose Norfolk). I'm concerned about how his army is a wreck. In four turns, he'll receive the last new German infantry corps, but even though these are still coming, I think the high-water mark of his strength was some time ago. The one problem I really have is in the air, where I'm getting walloped every turn. If I wasn't getting at least one new fighter unit every turn for the next ten turns I think I would be dropping out of the air war fairly shortly.

Scratch Allied forces continue to delay the Axis advance attempting to push into Oklahoma, but ultimately serious forces will be needed here to bring this to a halt

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

At this stage in the game I am still feeling reasonably good about things. So far everything has gone according to plan but has cost me significantly more then I had expected and I am worried that I might have lost enough Divisions to make it so I don't have as much of an advantage as I had hoped for. So if we look at the turn 25 screen shot it should be noted the there is very little in the way of Panzertruppen here. They are already withdrawing toward the West. The infantry will keep making futile attacks for awhile primarily because I desperately want to hold Ben in place here for as long as possible.

This is what, I suspect, has happened to the Panzers at Detroit I suspect. I don't think I can take the city and I have excess Sea Transport at this point so I am likely looking to transfer them to the West - though I am not 100% on that. Not mentioned at all so far in this scenario likely as Ben does not quite realize how much I am banking on it but I have been moving west through the Canadian Wilderness repairing a rail line as fast as I can - the Panzers might be supporting that though I don't really think so as that operation is supposed to be primarily done by Axis minors.

In fact what I am about to really start panicking about is the supply situation. One of the reasons I went with this plan was I really wanted to test out using high Sea Transport TO's. Ben almost never chooses more then 1 and I generally choose 2 but neither of us had ever taken 3 or more in the 25KM version of the scenario. Here I get a concrete reason why. while -5 supply is pretty survivable if not great, -10 means my Panzer Divisions take something like 6-7 turns to resupply even with an HQ on a rail line. This is a much bigger deal for me then the actual losses at this stage. Ben's hard fighting counter attacks means that he is taking heavy damage as well and with his replacement rate falling and the loss rate at a very acceptable roughly 100 points in my favour I feel I am in a good position for the decisive battle in the West... if only I can resupply my Panzers!

One of the changes this scenario brings about is we reduce the range of the TOs by a fifth so instead of +5,0000 sea transport for -5 supply it becomes +4,000 sea transport for -4 supply. Instead of -20% and -40% replacements it becomes -16% and -32% replacements. These options seem more reasonable within the confines of the scenario.

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: Jeremy Mac Donald

At this stage in the game I am still feeling reasonably good about things.

Indeed. It comes up next turn that I realise that you're serious about coming down from Fort William, but I don't think the full scope of this was clear to me- yet. It should have dawned on me a bit earlier that all those Panzers you landed at Quebec in the first part of the map must be somewhere- I didn't kill all of them.

One of the changes this scenario brings about is we reduce the range of the TOs by a fifth so instead of +5,0000 sea transport for -5 supply it becomes +4,000 sea transport for -4 supply. Instead of -20% and -40% replacements it becomes -16% and -32% replacements. These options seem more reasonable within the confines of the scenario.

Exactly what I was thinking of readings your comments. We found that the high end options were never chosen. These more limited options give the Axis player more flexibility within the bounds of what he might actually want to do.

[golden delicious]

Turn 27:
No outrages this turn. Actually the most ominous thing is that Jeremy is clearly heavily reinforcing in western Ontario; I see a number of divisions both on and behind the line here, including a panzer division, with more troops moving up. He's fixed the rail as far as Timmins, which means in due course he'll be able to make a real fight of this. The thing is to build a double line at the bottleneck between Lakes Superior and Nipigon, whilst keeping a mobile reserve behind the line to react to an attempt to go north of the lake- there's a rail line but no road up there. All without overcommitting here, as I need to be building up a force in the west.

In the east, Jeremy's advance is grinding to a halt; he only advanced in two hexes last turn and I should be able to shut this line down shortly as planned. I go ahead and extract an armoured division from here for the West this turn, whilst making some local counterattacks. I also start pulling out the more battered brigades which will swap out with second liners from the Northeast.

Jeremy probed the Mississippi north of Memphis this turn. Luckily I'd JUST railed a unit into position here. I'm able to RBC his engineers a couple of times (eventually destroying it) and bring more units in to seal this off completely.

The west is fine for now; more fun with ZOC blocking Jeremy's supply lines (in Mexico, three guerrilla brigades and an irregular division finish annihilating about three divisions of Axis minors in this way). I now have five fresh and two tired armoured divisions up on this flank; I expect Jeremy to swing something into the void between Tulsa and Oklahoma City shortly. I think, like Charlotte, I'll let him think he's compromised my position before counterattack.

All in all, a very quiet turn. I didn't have enough rail lift to move quite everything and as such have three reconstituted armoured divisions sitting around in odd places. These and the new division that I didn't move last turn will in due course go off respectively to reserves for the northeast fronts and the new army I'm building in the west.

Both sides begin to reinforce western Ontario as the Axis begin their attempt to push around the Allied flank at Lake Superior

[golden delicious]

Turn 28:
Jeremy made a real go of it in Virginia this turn, cutting off one hex of the line. I'm sure I can put things back together, but I won't be withdrawing substantial force from this front for a while. I bring up an additional armoured division from Kentucky, which has gone quiet. By shortening the line down there, I hope to pull out a number of good units in the coming turns.

He also made a start on cracking my position in western Ontario, with an attack by two panzer divisions supported by Italians, whilst- something- creeps around the northern short of Lake Nipigon. This is a real effort and I'll need to reinforce here. I'm able to send a Canadian brigade here this turn and will have others on their way in coming turns.

The west is interesting. Jeremy's continuing to spread slowly west towards Oklahoma City, yet at the same time he's breached my line back in Arkansas. I dispatch the Commonwealth armour to counterattack the latter, hoping that Jeremy will take this as a cue to overreach himself out to the west. There, I will still have four US armoured divisions, plus about six brigades that were extracted from second and third line positions in the northeast this turn.

My minor attacks in the East all come off as planned, but the real corker is Arkansas. Here, I smash Jeremy's attack- and just keep going. This should serve as notice to Jeremy that I have real offensive power available. I'm sure he'll counterattack my counterattack, but he needs to be gaining ground, not just keeping me in check. If he thinks this is it for my reserves in the west, then I should get another nice win next turn.

Painfully low replacements (45%) as Norfolk's loss was felt this turn. Still, only two turns to the next boost, which with the loss of Dallas still leaves me at a more acceptable 61%, which I should be able to largely sustain as far as turn 40.

Commonwealth armour pushes German and Finnish forces back to the Arkansas east of Fort Smith, while the threat to Oklahoma City begins to develop further west

[golden delicious]

Turn 29:
More wanton aggression from Jeremy in Virginia. Actually this is worse than I was expecting; he's not exactly broken out but this has more or less gone mobile and I may need to pull more stuff in here. He's also kept pushing in Kentucky where I thought he was done. I set up counterattacks in both places- at least Jeremy is visibly shattered here. I'm able to send a couple of small units to reinforce here and I think that will do for now.

Out west, Jeremy declined to counterattack the Commonwealth armour, so this force moves back out to reserve, to be replaced by second line troops. In turn, the fresher US armour sweeps down to Oklahoma City to devour a Finnish division which approached there this turn, and to push the Germans back from the gates of Tulsa. It's becoming increasingly clear, though, that Jeremy's main effort remains in the East; here he's got non-German troops and a few exhausted panzer divisions. Nevertheless, I continue my buildup here (three more divisions arriving this turn) with a view to delivering a decisive defeat to Jeremy in the next ten turns.

In the far north, Jeremy's lunged forward with two great stacks. This presents me an opportunity; I have good troops here and if I can rout the lead stack, most of the units will have nowhere to go as the hex behind fills up. I decide to shoot for this. This is more or less a success, with one Italian and one German division evaporated- though I did have to give up the fortified status of one unit to do this.

My attacks come off across the front; the Finnish division dies and I put Jeremy back in the box in Kentucky. In Virginia I also advance and shatter two of the lead German divisions, but I'm worryingly disjointed here, with my armour upfront and committed, and in offensive deployments. Jeremy has been bringing his fresh infantry in here so undoubtedly he will shove back again, leaving me in a poor state for further counterattacks. Perhaps next turn I'll need to send some more troops here; I generally get at least 3-4 good brigades a turn out of the Northeast at the moment, replaced with battered reconstitutes.

Generally, though, the good times continue to roll. I can't see Jeremy inflicting any serious blows on me in the near future- and next turn my replacements go back up. Even my air force is looking a lot more chipper at the moment, managing more than 1:3 against the Axis, as opposed to 1:4 or 1:5 in recent turns. When the US and Canadian National Guard double [these large formations come in at regular intervals but here there are two in a row] comes on turns 32-33, I look ready to rest them carefully to use as a major offensive force, rather than just having to throw them into the next crisis.

A mix of fresh and exhausted German infantry reach the Maryland state line, holding much US armor in place on this front
[N.B. the US airborne units visible here (11th and 17th divisions) can't be airdropped as the Allies have no airlift, so they serve as light infantry]

[golden delicious]

Turn 30:
Ooh. Jeremy went for bust in Oklahoma, committing his paratroops and the Axis minor mobile corps to encircle the force I committed there last turn. Unfortunately, Jeremy, that was not my entire force. I aim to bag these paratroops in the coming action. The two armoured divisions at Tulsa smash through the Axis positions here to reach the north flank of the encirclement, whilst divisions in reserve further west breach the ring with an RBC and poise to fatally trap and destroy all or most of the paratroops. The Commonwealth armour moves over and relieves some US divisions from holding the line.

Virginia is rough but will have to look after itself for now. My armour here is in better condition than I had expected so should be able to fight on for a few more turns, but nevertheless I add a few units from the northeast that were not on the rail line but can reach this front in one turn's movement.

Jeremy has continued to push on both side of Lake Nipigon, but his supply situation here is terrible (still 13 hexes from the railhead) and I'm happy to fight a mobile battle under these conditions. It turns out he is still overstacked and more units evaporate- including a panzer division. I'm still outnumbered however and eventually that will tell north of the Lake; Commonwealth troops released from the northeast continue to flow here at a rate of about one brigade a turn.

Not quite totaller sieg- but close to it. I killed three Italian and one German airborne brigades and routed one more of each, together with some incidental troops. Looking back, this does mean there is at least one more airborne division uncommitted- and checking Jeremy's rear areas I find a division and a half lurking at bases in Louisiana. Still; I've halved his airborne strength. My forces in Oklahoma are in good condition and well positioned to face any renewed offensive here, which Jeremy must make if he wants to stay in the game. I'm content to stay on the defensive here for the next 5-10 turns while my strength continues to build.

The biggest worry I have is that Jeremy's latest probe in the Appalachians, just on the West Virginia side of the border with Kentucky, stubbornly resisted all my attempts to budge it this turn, and as such part of the front line is being held by rather sketchy looking National Guard units in mobile deployment. It'll be difficult for Jeremy to exploit here, but he'll try. Fortunately, I have a few units spare here to respond next turn. Up in Virginia proper, he's creeping forward in a few hexes each turn. I always push him back, but never to his start lines. However I suspect this effect is reliant on his receiving fresh German infantry every turn. That cupboard is now bare.

Increasingly, it looks like I've weathered the storm. Replacements rose to 68% this turn, which will be 61% once Jeremy gets around to taking Dallas. It's conceivable he could take one more city in the West, and if he had a care to he could take Sault St. Marie (but he won't), but that still puts me at a healthy 74% replacements on turn 40. The Japanese have yet to be used, but I don't think they can save him.

Axis airdrop and US counterattack in Oklahoma
[blue on tan and green on tan units are Spanish and Turkish respectively]

[golden delicious]

Turn 31:
Jeremy failed to exploit in the East, merely repeating last turn's gains in Virginia whilst consolidating his position in the Appalachians. I continue my counterattack on the latter position, whilst consolidating my own lines in Virginia. I have a double line from Cumberland to Chesapeake Bay, and all my armour is now pulled off the line- 7 divisions. If Jeremy doesn't explode here next turn I'll pull a couple of these out to the West.

In Oklahoma, Jeremy's bulled forward somewhat, but hasn't done anything dramatic. I'll shove back his more outrageous advances whilst building a line. I swap out a battered armoured division for one of the ones on the Pacific coast, now rested- though this is expensive in terms of rail lift.

Down in Mexico, I still have guerrillas raising hell just south of the Rio Grande. This turn, Jeremy brought the entire Argentine army to play against this force. This is more than I can handle, I think, but I'll give it a go. I send as many units as I can out onto the far flank with the hope that he engages me closely in the centre. If I can put this entire force out of supply for even one turn, it'll be another minor triumph for these guys; but even the fact that he has a total of nine divisions deployed in this sector of Mexico is impressive.

My attacks come off to my satisfaction; Jeremy's protrusion in the Appalachians is pushed back and I push his lead units back around Oklahoma City, destroying a Finnish division and routing some of the Axis minor mechanised troops. Jeremy has brought up one of the last German infantry corps here so I can expect some stiff fighting over the next few turns, and I'm short of good infantry, but I think I can fight him to a standstill here. The idea is to do so, then to pull together my armour and make a major offensive against his Western flank sometime in the late 30s. This turn's one worry is Ontario, where Jeremy suddenly has a whole corps of fresh German infantry. Still, better here than somewhere useful.

My loss penalty fell by one point this turn. [This might seem like an odd remark, but apart from the number of Industrial Cities captured, the other benchmark for Axis progress is the Allied loss penalty; the higher it gets, the weaker the Allied armies. If it's falling, that means the Allies are recovering]

Axis forces continue their attempt to break through the bottleneck north of Lake Superior [N.B. green on red units are Hungarian]

[golden delicious]

Turn 32:
A nice, peaceful turn from Jeremy. The most notable thing is that he's sending out units onto the far flank in Oklahoma. This is fine as it fits in with my plan to engage him on this front. A little probing reveals the Hungarian armoured divison here, which I will do my best to destroy this turn, using the two fresh armoured divisions I have in reserve here, plus some bits. I'm also able to extend the line out slightly beyond Oklahoma City. I fully expect Jeremy to hit the middle of my line next turn- he's got good infantry plus SS Wiking here- but I'm quite ready to counterattack in force.

Another area of significant activity is Ontario. Here, Jeremy's main force has arrived; I count six German divisions in good condition, in addition to the scrap he's been fighting with until now. I build a double line in response; he should be able to advance, but he'll burn through his supply fast, and this is good defensive terrain, so his losses should be substantial. I have a new armoured division arrived at Fort William this turn, which makes three total here, plus two and a half of infantry. This should be enough unless Jeremy reinforces here.

Jeremy seems to have given up in Virginia. He's still pushing in the Appalachians but I don't feel threatened here any longer and as such I start pulling stuff out of Virginia this turn, beginning with three fresh armoured divisions, to which I add a fourth from the Pacific (replaced by a battered one which had been on its way from reconstituting on the East Coast when turn 30's crisis happened).

A quiet turn- which is good- but neither of my attacks came off. I'm content for Jeremy to hold his little salient in Appalachia, but the survival of the Hungarian armoured division does mean my good armour is rather exposed down here. Still, I doubt there's much Jeremy can do here that I can't undo with the major forces I have in reserve in this area.

My loss penalty fell another four points; unfortunately Jeremy's fell too. I'm hoping that once I get enough bits redeployed following the end of the battle in the east, I'll be able to seriously step up operations in the West. I'm struggling for rail lift at the moment; moving four armoured divisions that way this turn used up all of it, so I've left the new 5th National Guard Army to sit and build supply in their arrival areas; I'll probably bring them down to the West next turn or the turn after; the Canadian equivalents will most likely go join the regulars in Ontario to close that front down. Still waiting for the Japanese to arrive; I have an inkling Jeremy plans to get Panama (which he may be able to do in the next 10-15 turns) and ship them round. By then I will have won the game.

Axis offensive action (in yellow) moves to the periphery as Allied strength grows

[golden delicious]

Turn 33:
Oh Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. Don't you ever learn?

He basically repeated his action from turn 30, using a combined mechanised and airborne attack to isolate the units I had used to cut off the Hungarian armoured division last turn. Unfortunately for him, I have four fresh armoured divisions just one hex north of this trap. Perhaps more concerning, he blitzed forward with mechanised troops either side of Oklahoma City, putting it out of supply in a salient, but I intend to deal with that too, immediately counterattacking the very weak lead division on the eastern pincer, with a view to proceeding to the main force further west later in the turn.

Ontario is also quite active. I'm content to make a fighting withdrawal here for the time being as I have room to give and the ground is good defensively; when the Canadian National Guard is ready they can come along and resolve the situation. For now, this front receives two regiments of infantry to stop the advance from north of lake Nipigon growing out of control.

The east is beautifully peaceful. I fortify the final hexes of my line in Virginia and start pulling stuff out by the trainload. Another three fresh armoured divisions head west this turn, plus four of infantry. I still have a reserve of three divisions here which I don't have rail lift for; probably next turn the rail will be used by up the National Guard from Idaho, who should be good to go to the West by then.

Finally, my prediction from last turn about Panama proves true, but Jeremy decided to accelerate his schedule; he's got Japanese units offshore here this turn. There's actually nothing I can do about this as it's out of range of all my remaining bases, but I'm actually quite comfortable. I can also point out to Jeremy that he's not allowed to land his mountain infantry outside of an anchorage hex except on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada.

I destroyed two of Jeremy's remaining German airborne brigades, mauled two others as well as two fresh mechanised divisions. In the final round, the entire USAAF hit SS Das Reich, reducing it from the pride of the SS to a quivering wreck.

Jeremy will have more for me next turn I'm sure- in particular, I have a rather alarming gap between my main force at Oklahoma City and the engagement that started last turn around Altus. However, I think I'm actually able to put as much power into this fight as Jeremy is, and intend to continue it unless he either takes Oklahoma City or makes it untenable.

I do need to pull in my western flank, though. Needs to move north about five hexes or it's liable to get cut off. There's also a nagging point about a hex in Arkansas where I inadvertently removed a fortified brigade last turn, which is now guarded by two National Guard brigades on "defending" status. Jeremy did notice this.

US Armor continues to engage the Axis heavily in Oklahoma

[golden delicious]

Turn 34:
Jeremy's offensive continues. Well, he actually cut off Oklahoma City pretty thoroughly this turn, as well as isolating two infantry divisions to the northeast of the city.

This is actually pretty nasty. Jeremy's a good deal stronger here than I'd given him credit for, and in particular he's brought up a lot of good infantry. Clearly I can't relieve Oklahoma City and as such I will pull back this whole wing of my position. From here it's a considerable distance to the next objective of note; for the time being I will withdraw to a line running in the general direction of Wichita, however ultimately if Jeremy continues to put pressure on me to this extent I may abandon the Memphis salient, pulling back to the line St. Louis - Kansas City. I'll retain a mobile force in the west to protect Denver and Albuquerque.

First, I pull back my exposed west wing, where I destroyed the two airborne brigades last turn. Unfortunately, two armoured divisions are in reorganisation, but the remaining three are able to escape more or less safely, and only two minor units join them in oblivion. Next, I must deal with the hole I left in my line in Arkansas. As expected, Jeremy attacked and pushed me back here. I'm able to ring the outbreak without too serious a commitment, but will need more if I'm to shut this down- essential if I want to keep the Memphis salient.

Next, I start putting together what will be a somewhat temporary line to connect my reasonably solid position around Tulsa with the withdrawing units on the west end of the line. This I do but the line is not as strong as I would have liked. I pull three of my fresh armoured divisions out to the Arkansas problem (one of them from the Pacific), the remainder of my armour sitting on the western flank of the line, ready to respond to any serious lunge from Jeremy. I expect Jeremy will be able to reach and compromise the line I have in place on his next turn, but I want doing so to expose him to a sharp counterattack, and in any case I intend to pull back further the following turn.

Jeremy's also continuing his advance in Western Ontario; the two sides of this have now joined up past Lake Nipigon, but his lead units are exhausted and I decide to make the most of my ample Canadian airpower with a counterattack against these units. With the escalation of this campaign, I'm reasonably confident that Jeremy has no intention of ever again assaulting my line in the northeast, and several more brigades get pulled out of the line here to redeploy.

It's a good thing I decided not to make a massive, full-blooded counterattack, as I get early turn ending after one round.

With the Axis now present in Oklahoma in overwhelming force, the Allied line is pulled back to safety

[golden delicious]

Turn 35:
Jeremy followed up in the West but didn't smash my new line. However I think at this point holding on to the Memphis salient is pure hubris. I'll pull back everything to behind the Mississippi-Missouri starting immediately. For the time being, I remain in my strong positions in the centre of my line, between Pea Ridge and Tulsa, to cover the long withdrawal back to the Missouri.

On the far western end of the line, I gamble with a heavy counterattack on Jeremy's lead mechanised units, with the aim of inflicting disproportionate losses on these troops. The rest pulls back in an arc just south of Wichita, such that the bulk of the Axis infantry won't be able to engage with it next turn, and Jeremy's losses must fall amongst his best troops. From next turn, the majority of the troops on this front will be National Guard (of which I railed up some 8 divisions this turn), which will enable me to fight a forward defence with expendable troops, whilst preparing a solid line with the regulars.

This is expected; what isn't is the significant progress Jeremy's made in Ontario, putting all of my armour out of supply and reducing two of the three divisions to junk. Next turn I'll rail the three intact Commonwealth armoured divisions from Kansas up here; for now all I can release are two Canadian units which were on the Mississippi and a further two from the northeast front. If I can, I'll disengage here next turn and fight further back. For now, I resort to sending the RCAF to bomb concentrations of German troops up here; this is quite successful, Jeremy has no fighter presence and in three attacks I'm able to kill about a division worth of troops.

My attack on the western flank is good, destroying a Panzergrenadier division and routing a Spanish motorised division, still leaving me enough time to pull back, refusing this flank. Jeremy will probably follow up, but I have more fresh armour (4 divisions) behind the line should he be too keen, in addition to all the National Guard and a few other bits. Got to rest some armour at some point, though. I have a LOT of units in the orange. Being on reduced supply sucks.

Strategic Overview

Things are not quite as rosy as they looked a few turns back. I am however retaking the initiative. If I can put Jeremy back in the box in Ontario and continue to withdraw cleanly in the west while bleeding him, things will be quite alright; this is his last gasp to beat me in the field. The one possibility that really worries me is that this western offensive might be a sort of gigantic feint, to be followed around turn 40 with a renewed offensive in an East stripped of reserves. But if this offensive is all he has and if everything will be funnelled into it- I think I can win (though we are now officially at a draw since Jeremy took Panama).

Losing Oklahoma City plus Memphis (both due in the next few turns since Memphis isn't on full supply) takes me to 50% replacements. That'll only be for a few turns, then I'm back up to 75% at turn 40. I'm happy with that level and as such the rate isn't the issue; and with that in mind I may be inclined to let Jeremy have his way with Denver and Albuquerque in the interests of keeping my army together to hold the centre of the map. Presumably it's his strategic intent to connect his two advances, trapping my army in the east and giving him 30-40 turns to digest the entire west while I watch helplessly, [emphasis added- as noted by Jeremy this was his plan] but at the moment they're eighty hexes apart. I can't see him achieving this before my army builds up to the point where I can just smash one pincer or the other.

Canadian troops caught offguard as sizeable Panzer forces join the action in western Ontario

[golden delicious]

Turn 36:
So, turns out Jeremy STILL has more fresh mechanised divisions to throw in. He swung them around my western flank this turn, putting three armoured divisions out of supply. He's not actually put the rest of my line under significant pressure and he doesn't have to, as it's already compromised by this flanking move. Worse, my fresh armour isn't really in range to respond to it as thoroughly as I would like.

So this turn's plan is to continue to pull back towards the Mississippi-Missouri, whilst again counterattacking Jeremy right on the snout to take the punch out of his best divisions. At the moment I'm not pulling back all the way, temporarily taking a forward position along the Osage river, then through Wichita. Again this puts my army well out of reach of Jeremy's infantry. I then position five National Guard divisions at a 90 degree angle to this front off the west flank, which will either interfere with Jeremy's next flanking move or, if he persists in his current line of advance, serve as my own flanking attack. Finally, I send three fresh cavalry regiments raiding into Jeremy's deep flank. He'll have to commit disproportionate force to remove these, and in the meantime I seized several airfields, disrupting his fighter presence over the flank.

Western Ontario is a bit more stable this turn, and the infusion of fresh Canadian troops allows me to rebuild my line. However I will need more power to stop Jeremy here. Fortunately, the Canadian Guard are ready to join the action. They're joined by the majority of the Commonwealth armour currently sat at Wichita. As I still have the airfield at Fort William, I continue my direct air attacks on Jeremy's concentrations, as well as making some airfield attacks on his unprotected bombers.

My counterattack mauls Jeremy's three lead divisions. It also exposes a weak section of line between this armoured force and my main body: my hope is Jeremy will lunge for this- not realising I'm still in contact with the National Guard I have positioned on the extreme flank until he's already committed.

The really great news is that my supply is back up this turn- 31 instead of 21, whilst Jeremy must be drawing about two for his lead units in the west. My armour badly needs to rest; I can pull another 3-4 fresh divisions out of the other fronts in exchange for exhausted units here but after that I am going to be running on fumes (and a few more turns of this and I'll actually be running low on Sherman replacements). As long as I keep withdrawing steadily back to the Missouri I should be able to keep Jeremy from taking my army to pieces; both of us are bleeding about equally at the moment but my strength is growing all the while; turn 38 gives me another National Guard Army.

The Allied army continues its fighting retreat towards the Mississippi-Missouri