Nirosi vs Boldairade(Nirosi welcome)

[boldairade]

Oh.

UK has been negative for months.

US MM has been taking up the slack. But even with that help we are now close to not having enough MM.

[redrum68]

Ah ok. I gotcha now. I'm guessing you aren't sending much L&L to the USSR then?

[boldairade]

Sending the maximum from both US and UK. Have been doing so consistently. That’s why Russian strength is pretty high I think.

[boldairade]

June 19, 1943

An oddly uneventful turn-

BOA-Uboats in the N Atlantic sink 2 MM, but take a step hit. Heavy uboat activity is expected soon. Allies fear that the Germans are upgrading their boats.

US Bomber Command-Probing raids hit Dusseldorf within range of US escort fighters. Again, the Jagdkorps do not contest the skies. In an attempt to conserve our bombers, we again pound Dresden and Prague. All three of the cities we hit are now rubble. In the Med, US heavy bombers are given a much needed break. A fresh US heavy bomber formation lands in Worthing. There are now 6 strategic bombers in range of the German heartland.

Med/Africa-Germans land Sardinia. Both Italian subs and German Fleigerkorps lurk over our port. US reinforcements waiting in Gibraltar do not dare land. The marines will probably have to be withdrawn. No action on the African front.

The Italian fleet pulls out of Malta as expected, and rebases all the way in NW Italy in Genoa. S France is off limits for the time being-strong Axis assets are guarding it. We have no REAL plans there, so this is ok.

East Front-Not a shot is fired. We continue to look for places where even minor ops could be conducted, but there is absolutely nothing. Nirosi has locked up the Eastern Front tight. All heavy tank corps now are fully upgraded.

[boldairade]

K-19 slips back under the waves in the Baltic.

[boldairade]

Well folks...I know last turn was boring, but I think this'll make up for it.

[boldairade]

July 2, 1943

BOA-Uboats return, sinking 6 MM, mostly in the Arctic lanes. There's a reason they are massed there. We hit back, though, inflicting 5 step hits on the untersea boats.

Norway-We are absolutely shocked here. Germany is NOT on the defensive on this front, as we thought. A full scale invasion of the port of Stravanger, vital to our supply, is launched, complete with two paradrops, air support, and the full weight of the surface power of the Kriegsmarine. They easily destroy the division holding the city, with minimal losses, and overrun our tac bomber there.

This leaves the entire UK presence in Norway severely compromised. We already were experiencing supply issues, and this halves our supply. The first move we make is to move I Corps adjacent to Trondheim to the north. Capturing this city could help alleviate the supply shortfall. We find a full corps entrenched in garrison mode here. It would take at least another corps to displace them-but to do so would leave us dangerously exposed to being cut off-the Germans can simply support way more troops in Norway than we can.

Without obvious responses on land, we attempt to counter the German fleet. We move our surface fleet at Scapa Flow within range of the German ships and launch a carrier strike. Results are disappointing-one step hit on a DD group. Our carrier strike was intercepted by ground based air and chopped up.

This leaves us in a dangerous position. The US Ranger has minimal support, with one BB and and one DD for protection. To try and add protection, we sail two DD groups and the BB Texas from southern England to rendezvous(they had been in Gibralter for the Sardina op, but were headed home). This results in a shocking combat I did not expect-the German intercept us, they hit Texas and sink BOTH DD groups, causing our fleet to retreat-leaving Texas alone, and the Ranger still with only light support. The German fleet takes some damage as well, with Scharnhorst group taking 4 hits, and a DD group taking two hits.

This leaves me absolutely stunned. I just do not understand naval combat enough to avoid these intermittent disasters. The ramifications here are huge. We are already losing the BOA, and losing two DD groups is a disaster. And who knows what could happen next turn? Will the Kriegsmarine sink Texas? Or the CV Ranger? Where will that leave us? If there is no surface fleet in the Atlantic to counter the German surface ships, things will be disastrous in the BOA. Which means we will need to withdraw surface ships from the Med-which we cannot do. We need ALL the naval power in the Med to support Athens and maintain naval superiority vs the Regia Marina. Not to mention the now potentially disastrous situation in Norway will be immeasurably more difficulty without naval support.

Losing the tac bomber in Stravanger hurt. We could have used it to hit back at the German ships. Our best anti ship weapon-the carrier strike, did very little due to land based air. We have only one asset remaining-the US strategic bombers. They are woeful vs naval targets-an attack value of 1. And using them will wear them out, giving German industry a chance to recover, not to mention German interceptors. It is a bad gamble to attack with them, but the truth is, the Allies find themselves in a disastrous situation. We use what few supply trucks are left to patch up the heavy bombers and send them north.

The first strike is picked up by the jagdkorps, chopped up and sent back without finding the German fleet. The next seven strikes either fail to find the fleet or do find it and do no damage while taking heavy damage themselves. I seriously consider cancelling the remaining strikes. We just need ONE hit to sink Scharnhorst, however, and perhaps salvage something. The eight strike finds Deutschland CA group and does 4 step hits, taking one hit in return. This is good and encourages us. Strike nine finds the 1st CL/DD group, does one hit and sinks it. Again, encouraging. Strike 10 takes two hits, but finds and sinks Scharnhorst! A final strike also takes a hit, but sinks Deutshland CA group.

Again, this seems semi miraculous after the failure of the first 7 strikes. Even with this 'miracle' our situation is dire in Norway, and of course Bismark is untouched. US heavy bombers take a staggering 15 step hits. Still, we have to be thankful something went right. English infantry are withdrawn to protect Bergen(German forces are already moving north).

[boldairade]

July 2, 1943

Africa-We have been planning a major op here, but competing needs for possible amphibious ops in Greece have postponed it, leaving us making only haphazard and poorly executed attacks inland in the desert. We had hoped to add additional assets before attacking, but driven by the failures elsewhere, as well as our inability to supply what we DO have, we launch our op.

US V and IV corps make amphibious landing north of the German line. A massive fleet composed of CVs, BBs and CAs move in to bombard the German defenders, the well entrenched, elite VII Corps entrenched in the hills. Joining the US amphibious troops is the US IX Corps and the South Midland UK Corps. The initial assault is incredibly bloody, with 13 step losses on both sides. Two follow up attacks cost the Allied forces 7 more steps, but the Germans lose 14. We cannot destroy the formation, but we do force it to retreat.

South of the line, inland, US VII Corps and the Anzac/NZ Corps launch a costly frontal assault vs the new Italian Armor Corps, Scipio. Back to back assaults cost us 14 steps while inflicting only 7 hits. Learning lessons from our previous failures, we rotate out the infantry and replace them with US 3rd Armor and WDF-both relatively fresh and with anti armor specialty. We are confident but get a very disappointing result-we suffer 4 hits but inflict only one. Allied planners are sickened by this result, we expected an overrun. We strike again, better results, inflicting 3 hits suffering none. But still not the kill shot we expected. Our third attack produces an overrrun, however. This is good, but leaves us without the necessary OPs to truly exploit the breakthrough.

After a massively bloody turn, Africa looks like this-



We NEED to take Tripoli. Our supply next turn is likely to be horrific, with all these extra units. I honestly don't know if this attack is a success or not. Perhaps it is too early to tell.

[boldairade]

US destroyer William D Porter goes down after taking shell hits from both Bismark and Scharnhorst. Brave fellow destoyers attempt to save the sailors. One of many US destroyers that went down in the massive naval battle off the southern coast of Norway.

[boldairade]

After swatting aside US DD like flies with the help of her sister ship Bismark, Scharnhorst takes a massive salvo from US BB Texas. She is later sunk as she attempted to limp home by endless waves of US B-17s, pressed into service as naval hunters.

[boldairade]

While the sinking of German surface ships is big news in Allied papers, the US does not release the number of B-17s lost to German interceptors and naval AA. The Fortress pilots were pressed into an unfamiliar role, and paid the price for it.

[boldairade]

July 2, 1943

Sardinia-Unable to reinforce without unacceptable risk, the plan here was for the US Marines to hold for another turn, perhaps repel an assault, then withdraw. Allied calculations fail to take into account how superior Axis formations are. One attack from 8th Pz Grenadier destroys the marines. It is somewhat disheartening to consider Nirosi had a Pz Grenadier corps just laying about he could devote to this threat.

In fairness, we assumed the German formation was infantry, and a second line garrison formation at that. That assumption costs us an excellent unit. Sardinia is closed off-again.

In Greece, the Italian alpine division is withdrawn and replaced by a German one. This may signal an attack being imminent in Athens. Allied calculations indicate that we would likely lose vs an all out attack now, even though we are dug in and still have strong naval support.

East Front

The silent summer of '43 continues. Stalin's assertion that Russia could not survive a without a second front has been stood on its head. Now, it appears the West may not hold if Russia cannot generate some type of friction for Germany on the Eastern front.

There is only one place the Soviet armies can attack while not encountering a river obstacle. It is West of Rzhev, the land bridge between the Lovat and Dnieper Rivers. It was here we expected a massive Axis assault, for precisely this reason. Now, Stavka is attempting to rail in its best formations, along with the bulk of the Red Air Force, in an attempt sledgehammer its way forward. Hence the name of this operation-кувалда(Sledgehammer).





In the Baltic, Russian subs sink another MM, but are hit by Axis air. They are withdrawn, but replaced by all Russian surface groups. With the losses to the Kriegsmarine, its possible Russia might contest naval superiority in the Baltic. Considering Stavka expected to lose Leningrad and its port by now, this is a welcome surprise.

[John B.]

Boy, you were not fooling. Lot's of action. It is nice to see that the German fleet has some mortal units after all! Who knew that B-17s were the secret weapon. As for N. Africa, you have so many units there that the Germans look like they're in a precarious position. And, given that it's not early July in Russia, I wonder if even if your offensive does not work, it's too late in the season for the Germans to make strategic gains against you even if they smack you back. At this point, continuous pressure may be your best hope.

[boldairade]

July 16,1943


BOA-German subs head for the African Coast, sinking 5 MM and 1 escort, even though 10 escorts were waiting for them. This is a difficult result. If fully escorted convoys take these kinds of losses, it is hard to imagine how the Allies can continue. Overall, even with new MM added this turn, we are now 6 MM short in global convoys.

Norway-The bloodletting is not over here. 3 German subs attack the BB Texas, which was unsupported and score 2 hits, taking no damage themselves. It takes only two more air strikes to sent Big T to the bottom. In Norway, the German invasion forces march north towards Bergen, supported by armor. Any assault on Trondheim would seemingly be cut off by Axis advances to the south. Success could only be achieved by amphibious landing, but Trondheim is adjacent to no beaches. All in all, it would be time consuming and expensive, and would offer no real guarantee of success, and if successful might not alter this front. UK troops are instead withdrawn towards Bergen. The port must be held at all costs. If it is lost, EVERY remaining formation in Norway will perish.

[boldairade]

July 16 1943

US Bomber Command-Raids over Hanover draw German fighters into the sky. Subsequent raids are made on the oil fields near Cologne to draw the Luftwaffe into battles with US P-38 interceptors. Losses are high on both sides. With the fighters engaged, US bombers again hammer Dresden and Prague to take advantage of their lighter AA defenses. In the Med, Bomber command is rethinking targets. With the Axis clearly on the defensive, Ploesti is no longer a primary target. Unless the Axis starts moving A LOT more mechanized formations, they will never run low on oil. Naval usage will also be considerably lower with half of their fleet at the bottom of the Atlantic. US bombers instead launch raids vs Naples, doing heavy damage.

Greece-No attack develops on Athens this turn. That could likely be due to rainy weather. A heavy surface presence remains to support the defenders, and tac bombers are on station to help as well.

Africa-In a somewhat surprising move, Axis forces abandon Tripoli, heading NW. The US marshals all three of its armor formations to try and destroy the lagging Italian XX Corps, but despite good odds we do little damage. This leaves us open to counter attack by the well preserved German armor, if they choose. Gaining Tripoli should help our supply situation and is a VP hex. It should feel like a major victory, but oddly it does not. More and more, it feels like the wins we score are fairly minor-willing concessions by Nirosi. Perhaps it is merely me being pessimistic. We get a rude surprise when we move the fleet into Tripoli harbor-Axis bombers attack the fleet. Luckily they miss.

[boldairade]

July 16, 1943

East Front-North/Baltic Despite the Russian fleet being in raider mode, German bombers easily find them, and score two hits on BB Marat. The German fleet then also finds them, scoring a hit on CA Kirov. If we had not suffered losses, I would be tempted to slug it out with the German surface ships. However, already damaged, and being at the mercy of the Luftwaffe naval squadrons, we reluctantly withdraw to the relative safety of Kronstadt harbor which has AA guns and fighter cover. Prior to withdrawal, however, the Russian ships sink 5 MM.

Center-SLEDGEHAMMER: After prepping by ground strikes, the Russian offensive kicks off over its narrow frontage. The very best of the Red army are thrown at the German III Corps. 5th Guards Tank, 1st Shock Army, 1st Guards Tank, 3rd Guards Tank, 1st Siberian Army, 35th Army, 2nd Siberian Army, 6th Guards Tank, 1st Ukranian Army and 3rd Ukranian Army all participate in the assault, supported by multiple air armies and fighter groups. Odds are poor, ranging from 1-1 up to 4-1 in all attacks. Losses run about 3-1 in favor of the German formations, even when we achieve decent odds, we cannot seem to score any damaging attacks. Ultimately, German III Corps IS displaced, and we push 1st Siberian into the German line. This formation will be easily repulsed next turn by the Germans however. Nirosi, seeing the Soviet build up, had already moved additional formations here. Likely after retaking the hex, he will occupy it with either an armor or mech formation, which means further attacks will be even more costly.

We are caught in a double negative here. This offensive is obviously foolish. However we cannot afford NOT to attack and occupy the Germans in some way. Still, their losses are so trivial, it is hard to justify even attempting to continue. The one area Germany takes some losses is surprisingly in the air, where the Red Air Force takes heavy losses, but does some damage of its own.






South-This front right now has been reduced to a sideshow. However, SLEDGEHAMMER has drawn off many of the reserve formations from this area. Mech units have been upgraded here, as they now compose the primary mobile reserve. Still, this front could be vulnerable.

[boldairade]

Last photo of USS Texas before her sinking off the southern coast of Norway

[boldairade]

T34s destroyed en masse by German gunners in the opening phases of SLEDGEHAMMER.

This Russian summer offensive will likely be even less effective than the bumbling, disastrous Broler.

[John B.]

Congrats on taking Tripoli! As for Russia, do their losses even matter at some point? It's better than doing no damage at all to the Germans and if you're tying down the luftwaffe and doing damage without the risk of a Russian collapse it's all to the good I would think.

[boldairade]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Congrats on taking Tripoli! As for Russia, do their losses even matter at some point? It's better than doing no damage at all to the Germans and if you're tying down the luftwaffe and doing damage without the risk of a Russian collapse it's all to the good I would think.

It's like you are my morale officer!

You are right somewhat about the E Front. But if it takes 8 or 9 formations, air support, and supply trucks to attrit ONE german infantry formation, then obviously it isn't much of an effect on any other fronts. Furthermore, obviously the Red Army cannot sustain that level of effort for long without dangerously exposing itself to counter attack.