Fall Grau 2.27 Ben (Axis) versus Jeremy

[golden delicious]

Turn 21:
Allied reserves show up, bringing the total of Commonwealth armoured divisions in Illinois to 3, and destroying at least one panzergrenadier division, but overall this response looks anemic: I'm very strong here compared to the Allies and I'm quite happy to engage in a prolonged mobile battle over open terrain. In fact, that's exactly what I signed up for. I'm swimming in fresh German infantry and the biggest problem is getting enough frontage beyond the rivers to fully deploy it: another battered panzergrenadier division is this turn withdrawn to rest to make room for the new guys.

I'm still sitting on my hands in the northeast. There's at least three good divisions in reserve behind the line here, and the line itself is very strong, with good divisions in every hex west of Lake Champlain. I'd say Jeremy has just as much strength here as I do (about twenty divisions each) and until that changes I'm content to just hold him here- though I'm toying with the idea of moving the two airborne divisions here out of the theatre.

With unit congestion a bit of a problem in the centre of the map, I don't feel the pressure to rapidly add forces here, and this frees up sealift for subsidiary operations. I'm behind on my Line of Communication troops protecting the rail from the guerrilla effect so I had five divisions for this. Three more divisions go to Central America, and I start building a new force: 9 Italian divisions, of which three are motorised, which will move on Monterrey in the coming turns. I expect to find most of the Mexican army here.

Out to the west, I continue to advance, marking the Missouri river crossings from St. Louis to Kansas City. I've no intention of doing more and will probably halt the northward move after this turn, at least for now, while I reduce the Allied garrisons at Tulsa and Wichita. I do begin shifting west, in part to facilitate that move on Monterrey but also because I spot a small Allied force (I see two brigades) building up at Amarillo, and I'd like to see if Jeremy can be tempted to engage with me here or if he will just bug out.

Trudging rather than leaping ahead here, but over the wreckage of Allied divisions. Two are cut off and destroyed against the Mississippi, while one armoured division is destroyed at Evansville and another put out of supply in Illinois. I can't afford a second turn with the reinforcements tap shut off so next turn is going to be heavily focused on bringing in more panzer divisions for this front: I have loads of infantry but my mechanised divisions burn out fast, and my divisions on the railhead won't be ready to go back into action until at least turn 23- that's if my rail line stays fixed: this turn, Jeremy contented himself with blowing the (not very important) road bridge from Missouri into Illinois. The front also expanded a lot this turn and I don't think congestion is going to continue to be a problem here. I do need to keep an eye on the Allied replacement rate: 58% becomes 87% on turn 30 and I don't like the sound of that: if I bag St. Louis, Indianapolis and Monterrey that's 63%; I think that's achievable.

The central front begins to open up

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[golden delicious]

Maybe more importantly is, up to this point Ben is really only threatening me in a meaningful way at a single point on the map.

In general I would agree that the Axis player should always keep multiple threats developing at any one time, as this serves to keep the Allied player continuously off balance and unable to concentrate their reserves at one location. However as you note (and as I identified in my preamble) this area of the map is so critical that the Axis player can put everything else to one side. I am keeping other things up my sleeves- the small striking force in Canada (at this point you have more divisions at Toronto than I do) and the budding Italian expedition to Mexico- but my whole strategy is predicated on this one decisive battle that is unfolding in this phase of the scenario.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 21
Could be worse – of course it could have been better. Ben breaches the line in a number of places, cutting off and destroying an Armoured Division and about 2 Infantry Divisions. I swing a counterattack that cuts off and destroys one of his Panzer Divisions and I cut off but fail to destroy a 2nd Panzer Division primarily due to a failed proficiency check.

That failed check is bad though I am a bit proud of myself here because it could have been a lot worse. On the downside much of the line never tried to dig in as I expected another round. However, at least I was careful on my turn and made sure not to risk using units that would leave a gap in my line during my turn just in case something like this where to take place.

From what little that is looking good in this critical fight it feels like Ben is running short on Panzer Divisions. On the downside he says he has 30 supply and his supply lines are right up near the front so he can probably refit very quickly.
There are a lot of German Infantry here and some Panzers which should allow him to continue the fight until they are back in action as well. Ben has also simply expanded the front. Nothing dramatic but I am going backward and this turn he is finally solidly across the Ohio near Evansville.

I do finally get 7 National Guard Divisions into the area and scratch up another Armoured Division as well as a couple more big artillery units but this is pretty close to the bottom of the barrel. Worse yet if Ben ever figures out how weak my western flank on the Missouri River is I’ll be in real trouble – assuming he can find the units to exploit it.

Speaking of units Ben decides that this is the turn for Axis minors. He floods the map with them. Not sure his plan – he might even just need a bunch for rail guard duty. A solid handful land in Guatemala – which pretty much has my Mexicans outnumbered here. I don’t even bother attacking and am busy trying to cover my flanks and rear.

A campaign in Guatemala is something I have never seen. Ben's landing Finns and they will be the best troops in the area by a significant margin.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 22:
A fair show of counterattack from the Allies again: there are now at least nine armoured divisions on this short stretch of front between St. Louis and just east of Evansville, and as I sort of expected they managed to destroy one of mine, but in general the position remains positive as the condition of the Allied divisions is overall much worse than mine and I still have fresh infantry flooding in, so I press on with my broad front attacks, relying more and more on my infantry as my numbers of mobile divisions in good enough condition to fight remain fairly low- one fresh panzer division arrives at the front next turn, and quite a few (mostly panzergrenadiers) will be resupplied by next turn. I think I'll definitely need more armour here to keep getting ahead so this turn I embark three panzer divisions- almost my whole sea lift- for New Orleans.

The balance is only enough for one Italian division to add to my Monterrey force, which otherwise progresses towards the notional assembly point at Laredo. I'm advancing my western screen gradually to support this, which stretches up to north Texas, but there's no sign of the force that I spotted at Amarillo last turn. Otherwise the map is quiet, as I still see big Allied reserves in the northeast, and I run into two divisions blocking the direct approach to Sault Ste. Marie. In Central America, the line looks pretty stable and I'm content with this; I just want these Mexican troops tied up and to retain the option to open this front later if need be.

I had been feeling like I was getting nowhere, just bashing back and forth each turn. However, this turn I was able to push the Allies into a sort of salient either side of the Wabash river, culminating in an attack on the tip of said salient, with packed hexes behind, destroying two armoured divisions and a number of other units. Over on the other flank, I believe I also have another armoured division out of supply. This does raise the spirits, and in general the condition of Jeremy's units is appalling: two US armored divisions are reduced to 4-3s

Axis rear areas are choked with fresh units moving up and battle-worn divisions moving back to rest

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 22
In the main battle, on the face of it, things look much as they did at the end of last turn. Ben drives me back. Kills a few units due to overstack, I believe, sticks his neck out with a Panzer Division which I destroy along with my counter attacks.
I thought that when I deployed the National Guard my line would look a lot more robust but there always seem to be some weak points. Of course, I don’t think Ben necessarily knows where those are so maybe he finds them and maybe he does not.

Of more concern is the reinforcements hitting the front this turn. One Canadian Division arrives and a Brigade of Heavy Tanks. Basically, that is it. I am out. I’ll keep scrounging but Ben is now in a position to pour more forces into the battle then I am and that will continue for quite some time to come. This has me extremely concerned – my front line can’t completely collapse, or I am screwed and yet it is unclear if I can hold it together. Ben’s got his supply lines right up to the front and we are in a pretty heavy back and forth. He looks as if he is tiring as fast as I am but I know he can not only bring up more reinforcements but also revive the more battered divisions fairly quickly. Really Ben has put a lot of eggs into one basket. Break me in the centre. The Next dozen turns will. I think be very critical in that if he pulls that off I am pretty much doomed but if I hold it together then I think I have a pretty good shot. However, a dozen turns is a really long time and it’s not like I can really see some rational battle backward. As the front expands Ben will be in a position to just start breaking it up.

I send one National Guard Division on a (suicidal) adventure on my turn as I realize that Ben has a weak link in his line, and I have a shot at cutting a whole wing of his army off. Sadly, it comes down to which direction an Engineer he has at Evansville retreating and Ben escapes being actually cut off when the dice don’t go my way (I think I do reduce the supplies getting to the wing significantly but am not certain). Ben will kill the unit on his turn but it is kind of in the way and anyway the risk is worth it with National Guard Divisions. The unit will come back 4 turns after dying (less some support equipment admittedly).

Memphis: 57%

The Allied line in Illinois

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[golden delicious]

Turn 23:
The back and forth continues, but the Allied line looks like an increasingly desperate defence. He gobbled up another panzer division, but this leaves my main line largely intact and ready to shove forward across the board: in the first round, I set up attacks on nine hexes. A National Guard division suicided its way into western Kentucky- I think Jeremy thought he might cut my supply this way- and will be destroyed.

I continue the advance in the west. In the north, I reach Amarillo but Jeremy has wisely pulled out. The Italian expedition reaches the Mexican border at Laredo and I scout a little ahead with cavalry to convert the road ahead of my infantry. After last turn's panzer binge, this one is a bit more measured for reinforcements; four German infantry and SS Wiking for the main front and two Italian divisions for Mexico (one of them cavalry). This is still only twelve divisions overall and I'm not sure how much Jeremy has at Monterrey with much of the Mexican army in Central America: there, I try an attack with two Finnish divisions, with the intention of pinning this force here. This comes off fairly well, with one Mexican division wrecked and my Finnish division penetrating the enemy line.

The attacks come off pretty well, and another vast breach is created in the centre of the Allied line in Illinois, sadly too late in the turn for serious exploitation. With a smaller breach over in western Indiana, this is starting to look like a possible double envelopment of the dozen or so divisions Jeremy has in between. For now, though, I only have one division cut off, holding the line of the Ohio west of Louisville. This is promising enough that I shove some not-quite-ready mechanised divisions forward into Illinois to try to exploit next turn: I have three more or less fresh at the spearhead, then two more in southern Illinois, two at Evansville and then the three panzer divisions landed last turn coming up through Tennessee. That makes for ten mechanised divisions in fair condition hitting Jeremy's line next turn. I'll also look to drop my one Italian airborne division in the vicinity of Terre Haute, if things still look promising. Really, Jeremy needs to Not Be Here Any More. There's a range of hills southwest of Indianapolis which could make the start of a good defensive position, but then a nasty open space between there and Peoria.

Italian cavalry become the first Axis troops to enter Mexican territory as they probe over the Rio Grande near Laredo

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 23
Ben pummels the snot out of me on the main front and even forces a kind of cleared corridor forward. It is everything I can do just to assemble a full line this turn. The problem is not a lack of units the problem is so many of my units are in reorganization after the pummeling. This is really what it has come down to. Much of my front is defended by units reorganizing while I’m generally pulling anything that is still mobile out to block Ben’s breakout. That said once I go through a series of counterattacks I manage to push Ben back again. However, not to his start line. He’s doing at least twice as many attacks a turn as me. That said the front only expands slightly this round which I think I can handle although we are in a similar situation as last round. Sizable chunks of this front are pretty weak. Ben is likely to break my line and then push forward. I am hoping that he is not able to do that in some manner that really wrecks me, which I don’t really think he will. Even breakthroughs generally have solid shoulders somewhere, it is not like the line is thin everywhere – it just has weak points.

I’m able to scrounge together significantly more reinforcements this turn with a fresh Armoured Division and Commonwealth Infantry Division arriving as well as a much less fresh National Guard Division but also a lot of elements of Divisions are pulled back and depending on if some of their bits come out or reorganization next round I should be able to assemble between 3 and 5 Divisions (mostly National Guard as the Divisions used to cover my retreat on turn 19 have now reformed). That is a pretty good reaction force especially since I don’t think Ben goes full breakout next turn. I think most of his mobile forces near the front are battered though I know he is bringing fresh ones up and resupplying others so full breakout attempt coming soon.

St. Louis gets special mention because I’ve resigned myself to its inevitable fall. Basically the Mississippi River makes it to easy for Ben to pin my units out of supply so I am essentially unwilling to risk to many units with my back to it. Ben should be able to just chop his way to the city. I’m just hoping it takes him some time.

I am getting a little more confident this turn. This one huge battle Ben has gone with is a gamble on his part. He is banking on shattering me quickly enough that it does not matter that he is being slow in going for other Industrial cities because I’ll have no army and then he just gobbles them all up… but this kind of near static battle really lets me deploy the stupid amounts of Allied artillery effectively. For the last three turns our loss rates have climbed but the spread seems to be holding. I’m beginning to think maybe I can survive this.

Meanwhile in Guatemala Ben has begun his offensive and I am just slowly pulling the Mexicans back to keep the line together.

This is the rather inadequate defense I have in Mexico. Other Western Cities like Albuquerque and Denver have nothing and there is a mere screen of Cavalry Regiments for Omaha. The Mexican army is actually mostly on the West Coast releasing American forces for Illinois.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 24:
Another good shove back from Jeremy. In fact his line doesn't look as pathetic as it did even at the start of last turn so no airdrop just now. He messed up my lead mechanised units in Illinois but I have so much power coming up behind the front I remain confident of getting ahead. I continue with the principle of shoving forward on a main axis in Illinois with a subsidiary thrust over in Indiana to threaten the centre here, and another pushing toward St. Louis.

It feels like Jeremy finally stripped Canada: there are at least two divisions in reserve here, but I'm seeing more and more Commonwealth units in Illinois and I think one of these is a reconstitute or newly formed unit replacing a fresh one, and one of the units on the Niagara line is not at full supply. As such, I hit it with my northeast reserve of four divisions (two mechanised) as well as making moves to bring two more divisions over here.

My probes in Central America have the desired result, as I note at least one more Mexican division arriving by rail, while the Allied line here is drawn back a bit but remains vulnerable. To the north, my Italian cavalry scouts as far as the outer defences of Monterrey: a fortified Mexican division two hexes from the city itself. It's hard to know how strong Jeremy is here so I will need to show a degree of caution, but I suspect I could smash a hole in this line if I needed to. Perhaps a swing to the southeast to trap some troops against the Gulf of Mexico while leaving the city itself unmolested [as we see from Jeremy's screenshot my caution is almost comically excessive here]? We'll see if Jeremy is content to sit in his fortified positions. Whatever the case, I feel like Mexico is promising enough to merit a little reinforcement: two Argentine divisions for Guatemala and three Italian divisions for Monterrey.

It's actually the western push (towards St Louis) which pays off most immediately: I break through a weak spot in the line and suddenly I'm enveloping a huge batch of Allied troops: at least seven divisions go out of supply here in a couple of pockets, though they will mostly escape (I was able to destroy a couple of National Guard divisions through overstacking). The east doesn't disappoint either, as I'm able to cut off two divisions (including a non-reconstituting Commonwealth armoured division). To my immense irritation, however, the engineer brigade stacked with this group causes the whole lot to flee towards my rear into a super river hex. I'm able to sort this out by the end of the turn but I could have done without it.

Turns out I was wrong about Canada. I get through the first line in Niagara only two find two more divisions fortified behind. Well- this is good in a way. Why are these guys not in Illinois? He could really do with a couple more fresh divisions here right now. Oh well- I content myself with roughing up a couple of divisions now that their flanks are exposed.

Staggering losses for the Allies. The loss penalty is still below where I would expect it to be at this point in the scenario because there have been no big encirclements, but what was a few turns ago a narrow bridgehead over the Ohio is now a sprawling front where I'm applying heavy pressure every turn- and now my rail line is only a few hexes behind the front and, thanks to my converging offensive strategy, is extremely challenging to sever as it doesn't depend on any single supply route. I think this turn the Allies are spread too thin to recover, with five divisions destroyed and many others wrecked. He may respond to my feeble offensive in Niagara by actually withdrawing forces from there for Illinois: certainly he needs to. So what if he did lose Toronto? There's another fine defensive position further back. Perhaps he thinks my offensive will be slow enough that he can keep rebuilding his army? Actually it's accelerating- even though I keep pulling troops back to rest when the line is overstacked.

Huge quantities of Axis units pour into the combat zone. I count almost fifty German divisions on the line between St. Louis and Louisville, with a further twenty in the rear either resupplying or moving up; there are barely fifty German divisions on the rest of the map put together

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 24
My rising confidence level, of course, gets shaken this turn as Ben roars forward in the main battle, cutting off a significant number of units and even surrounding and destroying a small stack. I patch the line back together but my combat phase is disappointing. I don’t even fail a proficiency check but run myself out of rounds in a mere 2 phases. Much of this is because my units need to redeploy to make the counter attacks in most cases. Ben is in a pretty good position to do more of the same to me next round. I am able to scrape together 6 Divisions in reserve so I, hopefully can recover, and I have another 3-4 Divisions that might be put back together if their regiment that is reorganizing can be moved next turn. Still the situation is on the verge of getting out of hand – the line is thin pretty much across the board now and Ben is even better positioned this round to chop it up and destroy it. Also this is the first turn where I can’t find a nice new Armoured Division for the front. Reserves are Infantry Divisions, mostly National Guard which means I am not nearly as able to cut Ben off if he really does break out. However, he does not know that and he has not been taking a lot of risks recently. I think he might of hit his quota of how many Panzer Divisions he is willing to lose. That just might help me here.

Ben also kicks off his offensive toward Toronto – but I saw his units piled behind the line many turns ago and the line here is fortified Infantry Divisions on the front with an Armoured Division and Brigades fortified behind. Ben does not get far here before I counterattack. He looks like he might be stripping down the line facing the St. Lawrence. If he does, I will follow suite.

Ben’s attacks in Guatemala nets him a hex. I can see how he will eventually leverage me out of my position, so I’ll have to make a tactical retreat before that happens, but I am just falling back 5 or 6 hexes to a new defensive line – still in Guatemala.

I got 10 Divisions of Mexican Irregulars this turn and am at something of a loss as what to do with them. I consider using them like I am using most of the Regular Mexican Divisions – to free up the West Coast Beach Garrisons but they are woefully weak. It feels like that is just inviting the Japanese ashore even if they are Fortified. Ben probed Monterrey with an Italian Cavalry Division so he might be considering an attack that way. I have a Mexican Corp here already, but I send 3 of these Irregulars this way.

As desperate as I am for units in the main battle these just won’t do. They are just too weak. I eventually send them to the vicinity of Omaha. I see two possibilities. One is to push south from here and threaten to surround Ben’s forces in front of Kansas City. I won’t actually manage to cut him off or anything, but I might delay his attack on Kansas City if he has to deal with these guys and divert Axis minors to screen the area. The other option will be if Ben does really break forward in the main battle. I could use them to try and cross the Mississippi behind his breakout forcing him to guard his flank and rear. Of note I don’t want to be too passive with these guys. They reconstitute using Irregular Squads which are just piling up in the stockpile. I don’t fear losing them – I need to make Ben deal with them and hope I can do so in a way that inconveniences him.

Finally, I have begun to lose some of my air units. Attrition just causing the weak ones to slowly start evaporating. Pulling them out to rest is always a possibility but the Allies get so many planes (arguably both sides do) that I never really thought this was strictly worth it. They are dying because they are weak and I think I would rather sacrifice them hoping they will cause some damage. If you hide them to gather strength they are not effecting the battlefield at all. They are taking up room that will eventually be needed for better later war planes and I always find that even if I rest them up they basically become garbage after one round of being in the fray again anyway. If three of their planes die to take down an Axis plane – well at least they took down an Axis plane.

Axis Loss Rate = 77 / Allied Loss Rate =152 / Spread = 75

The Defense of Toronto

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turns out I was wrong about Canada. I get through the first line in Niagara only two find two more divisions fortified behind. Well- this is good in a way. Why are these guys not in Illinois? He could really do with a couple more fresh divisions here right now. Oh well- I content myself with roughing up a couple of divisions now that their flanks are exposed.

You would just follow up and I would then have to defend Buffalo & Detroit. Detroit would have to be defended heavily because I can't lose Detroit. I get very little if I have to defend two ways you might attack and you can just screen one and concentrate on the other and it is not like I can ever just screen Detroit.

Your stripping the line actually does free up units that do get sent to Illinois (mostly). Arguably your best move was to just sit there. That is what actually keeps the largest number of my forces in the area.

[golden delicious]

You would just follow up and I would then have to defend Buffalo & Detroit. Detroit would have to be defended heavily because I can't lose Detroit. I get very little if I have to defend two ways you might attack and you can just screen one and concentrate on the other and it is not like I can ever just screen Detroit.

Thing is you are fighting doggedly for this position when you could stage a fighting retreat, making me lever you out of multiple positions, which would be more favourable to you in terms of losses and would see me arrive at the bottleneck east of Detroit after fifteen turns or something. Then you're back where you were- but it's fifteen turns later.

Of course as it happens the New York supply point being bugged meant that the Detroit-Buffalo rail via Niagara is an absolutely critical part of the map- but I didn't know this at the time.

[golden delicious]

Turn 25:
The battered wreckage of the Allied armies drags itself together for another round of counterattacks. So much of Jeremy's line in the centre is made up of scraps that I'm confident of a full collapse very soon: I immediately get an RBC on a critical hex behind the stack that was cut off last turn. My frontline is packed with troops in good condition with many more coming up behind, and I'm able to withdraw multiple tired divisions to the rail line (only a few hexes behind the front). My two rails have now joined in southern Illinois, and so I rail one engineer unit out to develop the line to Monterrey, joining one present, with a third due from Quebec. My biggest problem here is airfields, as there are very few on this part of the map and my bases south of the Ohio are increasingly distant, limiting my air cover over the front. However there are two at St Louis and a third on the line further east which I hope to secure.

Jeremy counterattacked at Toronto, presumably determined to solidify his second line before I can get ahead. Well, this is ideal for me as it presents his armour in a vulnerable position so we can go back and forth as long as he likes. I'm bringing up a couple more divisions from other parts of the northeast so this is adequate without serious reinforcement. I shove forward on the remaining two hexes of the original front line; we'll see if Jeremy fancies carrying on with this or contents himself with digging in. If the latter I can always shove forward another hex row in three or four turns when my supply is back up.

My Italian troops shift southwards and next turn will go for the swing towards the Gulf as planned, deleting the eastern flank of the Mexican force at Monterrey. With Illinois so choked with troops, I opt to send SS Hitler Jugend and Horst Wessel to Houston to act as heavy hitters for this offensive: they should be able to easily RBC Mexican divisions in the open which my Italians won't manage.

It's not been worth mentioning for fifteen turns or so- but I've been engaged in an air war over Washington state since the Japanese arrived. This turn, two of the remaining four Allied fighter units here evaporated, so it looks like this is helping things along.

I smash through the western flank in Illinois, pocketing four armoured and three infantry divisions and destroying most of them. On the face of it this looks like Jeremy is totally beaten here, but it's starting to look like he's been preparing a second line running exactly along the axis I mentioned on turn 23, taking advantage of the range of hills southwest of Indianapolis. However, what I can see of this line is hopelessly weak, held in one place by two regiments. I don't think I'll even need to pause for breath before assaulting these positions when I come up to them, as my force is overall in pretty good condition- and this turn I captured St. Louis, which gives me a supply boost on my western flank. I park five mechanised divisions from my reserve here to get a full dump of supply next turn and then push directly north. The main point will be to collide with Jeremy's new line west of Springfield (assuming it exists) but there's also the question of whether he intends to continue holding the north bank of the Missouri, which has now had its eastern flank torn open. If he abandons this area then I'll be more or less free to move on Omaha; I still have eight German infantry divisions in Kansas for this purpose.

The red line indicates where I'm expecting to find the Allied reserve position, based on three units in line with the row of hills in southern Indiana. However as is clear from Jeremy's AAR these units are just rebuilding in the rear and there is no line here

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 25
Well, that was definitely a tough turn. Ben tears the line apart. Only my large reserves allow me to patch it back up. I feel like, despite the setback I am in a pretty solid position to counter attack, primarily because most of my artillery does not have to move and I see a way to maybe cut off and destroy his two lead Panzer Divisions which would be, more or less suitable recompense for what he did to me.

However, while I reduce one Panzer Division to a cut off regiment the other holds on and two of my brigades surrounding it evaporate. Now I am pretty concerned about what Ben’s counter-counter move will be. My other attacks are often very costly as well even with heavy artillery support. I think I take more losses this turn, on my turn, then I dish out which is a first and not a good sign as my divisions across the front are clearly wearing out badly.

If I had managed to flood in reinforcements this would be slightly less concerning, but it was everything I could do to get two infantry divisions and two fresh infantry brigades here. I could, hypothetically assemble up to six more divisions but only if regiments come out of reorg and that seems to not happen nearly as often as I would like.

My hopes that taking St. Louis would happen slowly have not panned out. Ben Storms it this turn.

Ben's assault in the north does not really go too far though my counter attacks here are not exactly impressive either.
Given that Ben has advanced so quickly I send most of those Irregulars I received to try and sneak in behind Ben’s line in the main attack. If they can cause some Chaos and delay things at all it will be worth it as I desperately need to slow Ben’s momentum here.

Only Guatemala is quite this turn.

Turn 25 Overview from the Allied perspective.

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[Curtis Lemay]

Do the Axis have any garrison requirements? Do the Americans have any partisans?

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Do the Axis have any garrison requirements? Do the Americans have any partisans?

There are random minor guerrilla events scattered throughout the Scenario - there are a lot of them but they have only a 40% or some such chance of actually occurring and they happen on substantial turn spreads so very random feeling. These are events that convert hexs back to Allied control.

Three times over the course of the scenario - on big timers to give them a randomized feel there are "Speech Events" that come with the opening line meant to sound like some kind of inspirational speech a US President might say. These are much more substantial multi turn guerrilla events.

Finally Mexico - and only Mexico gets, beyond the regular army it is quickly building (presumably with lots of US help), a parallel para military force that comes into existence on turn 24. When killed these guys reappear in the Mexican outback so they can operate as Guerilla's.

Should it come to pass that actual chunks of Mexico are being grabbed then real Mexican Guerillas will start to show up and plague the invaders. Due to their descent but not great replacement rate it is possible to stamp down these Mexican Guerrillas if you can catch and murderize their units often enough.

The guerilla events mean the Axis player really needs to guard the rail lines that they are frantically building to get supplies forward. Otherwise the events may convert the rail hexs back to Allied control cutting the supply line. A guerilla even can't, however, convert a hex with a unit in it or one that is beside a unit so if you spread units along the rail line you can protect them.

The "correct" units to do this are not instantly available. Early in the Scenario all you have is Germans so they may end up guarding the rail lines. Italians show up not to long in and they quickly take up that role. Eventually Bulgarians and Croatians and the like show up and they are really what you want to be using for this role so they tend to take over from the Italians. If the game goes long and the Axis really get the rail line expanded out you can very much run out of the weaker Axis minors and may have to pull some Italians units off the line to guard the supply lines. South American Divisions are also often used as rail guards. Not uncommon for a German Division that has been broken up and only has 2 remaining regiments to fulfill the role as Axis units (mostly) don't reconstitute. That third regiment is never coming back.

[golden delicious]

Turn 26:
More furious counterattacks from the Allies. He's reduced one of my panzer divisions to a regiment but in truth this is exactly what I want: for him to continue with this desperate battle where I am stronger for every turn. I effortless blast through to the isolated divisions with my panzer reserve brought up to St. Louis last turn.

I take a double hit to my supply level this turn, with a timed submarine event and the expiry of the last force supply boost (from Mobile). This leaves my force supply quite low at 23 and so I'm going to favour keeping troops in combat more than I have done- this'll make me weaker in five turns time but stronger now.

I find Jeremy's line in front of Monterrey held by unprepared irregulars and cavalry. This is exceptional news. I hit him on a front of three hexes with strong Italian forces (sounds like an oxymoron but never mind); the SS are close behind. Conversely the situation in Central America appears pretty stable with the rough terrain and constricted front. As such, I send two Argentinian and six Italian infantry divisions to support the Monterrey offensive. The balance of sealift (three German infantry divisions and SS Totenkopf) will reinforce Illinois. Jeremy largely contented himself with digging in at Toronto so I'll do the same and contemplate hitting another hexrow once my supply is recovered.

To my considerable annoyance, the Mexican line to the Gulf which I imagined I was going to cut off turns out not to exist: after destroying four divisions on the eastern flank of Monterrey I find nothing else here. This changes things. Well, I've troubled to bring two SS divisions and the bulk of the mobile strength of the Italian army here, and so I might as well use it. I'll leave Monterrey (now hopelessly compromised with an Italian division immediately to the south of the city) to the tender mercies of the Italian infantry (or some of it anyway) while the mobile troops push south (through an entrained Mexican division which immediately explodes) towards Tampico. This is a supply point and it's within striking distance of Mexico City, making it an extremely attractive target. It's only twelve hexes away from my lead division so I should be able to reach it in two turns: far too soon for Jeremy to respond.

A lot of really bloody fighting and much of my German infantry is starting to look really tired from it, but by the end of the turn the Allied line is a total wreck. Two strong divisions were cut off and destroyed. Two more, plus three heavy armoured brigades, are out of supply at Springfield, IL. Another three are out of supply near Bloomington, IN. The front is expanding outside of Jeremy's control and with this advance I come up to the point where I thought this second line was but there's nothing there, just empty space. Almost as many hexes on my front are empty as are held by Allied troops. Jeremy needs to find some way out of this situation as if he engages me closely again next turn with the force he has in this theatre then he'll have nothing left. I'd say now would be the time to 1) strip the northeast, pulling half a dozen first-class divisions down here immediately 2) quit acting like I'm able to cross the Missouri and strip the strong forces which are currently sat idle north of Kansas City. Between these two he would put enough strength in front of me to prevent a complete collapse, at least for a few more turns.

The Mexican screen in front of Monterrey disintegrates, opening the road to Tampico

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[golden delicious]

The guerilla events mean the Axis player really needs to guard the rail lines that they are frantically building to get supplies forward. Otherwise the events may convert the rail hexs back to Allied control cutting the supply line. A guerilla even can't, however, convert a hex with a unit in it or one that is beside a unit so if you spread units along the rail line you can protect them.

This has become "standard" play for us to the extent that I refer to it in the briefing. It's easy to get blindsided by the guerrilla effect, and it happens to me earlier in this AAR, sharply cutting supply for a couple of turns.

In earlier versions of the scenario, guerrilla units both sides of the Rio Grande were much more prominent, but at this scale these were felt to be disproportionate. The guerrilla effect works pretty well; 1) as already noted the Axis are obliged to provide LOC troops which by mid-game can require dozens of divisions 2) areas which are not actually being sat on by Axis units will generally revert to Allied control and so much of the Axis rear will be Allied by mid-game, making moving through such areas significantly slower for the Axis unless an effort is made to clear them and 3) it acts as a slight balance mechanism, as if the Axis are less successful, or are forced to retreat, these LOC units can be recombined and used on the line instead.

[Curtis Lemay]

Again, what about my garrison question? Cities in the South may not have warranted it at that time. But, suppose the Axis captured New York, Boston, Chicago, or Los Angeles? Shouldn't they require garrisons? Shouldn't St. Louis?

[golden delicious]

Again, what about my garrison question? Cities in the South may not have warranted it at that time. But, suppose the Axis captured New York, Boston, Chicago, or Los Angeles? Shouldn't they require garrisons? Shouldn't St. Louis?

There's no such house rule. Note that the Germans don't receive rear area units except for a small number of locally raised security troops, as such any units involved in population control rather than LOC protection are abstracted. In most cases the Axis will want to protect these locations anyway as all the cities on your list contain supply points for one or both forces.

Moreover the scenario is not designed from a point of view of realism. I've actually developed an alternative scenario which looks at a German invasion of the United States from a perspective of what perhaps could have been done had the US been so far isolated from the world as to let them obtain bases in the Americas- if you're interested I can open another thread about it.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 26
My hopes and dreams are coming crashing down at this point. I was in a bad way last turn and really needed to catch something of a break… I so did not catch a break. Ben launches a grand total of 53 land attacks this turn. I’m not sure I have ever seen that many attacks in a single turn.

[Edit: Turns out 53 attacks is very solid but not actually spectacular. The German Army is very good in this scenario]

I’m actually surprised after watching this disaster play out that I have anything at all to put a line together with. My units are reorging all over the place – I mean they have been doing that constantly but here it is just about everyone.

I had hope to pull off something with the Irregulars I railed to the flank this turn but Ben seems to have sort of the same idea sending a flanking force to try and get in behind my line. I’m able to cut the unit off, Ben should not have real trouble relieving the Mechanized Unit but, the reality is Ben’s flank is not exposed as I hoped and I am so desperate for units here that I find myself using some of these Irregulars to cover the flanks of the line.

Other parts of the line are being held by Regiments that are supposed to be pulled back waiting for their 3rd Regiment to come out of reorg and reform.

Maybe most concerning is both the 1st National Guard and 2nd National Guard HQ are in reorg and ripe for being cut off. I am not at all sure they will come back if they die and that will be disastrous as National Guard Units are viable only when well supplied. I mean they are hardly shock troops then, but they are usable.

Meanwhile, Ben has gone looking for more Industrial Cities and settled on Monterrey in Mexico. Here an Italian Army emerges out of the scrub land and proceeds to obliterate my defensive line here. I had thought I had a reasonable defense force but apparently not so much. I’m going to lose this city quickly as I see Ben has attached a couple of Powerful Axis Mechanized units to the attack and I have nothing worthwhile to even try and counter him with. I cut a few Italians off here but have resigned myself to the loss of the city. I’ll fall back to somewhere in front of Mexico City when it falls. I don’t even seriously think about reinforcing it.

The main line is collapsing – when it does (unless that – somehow takes a long time) the game will be substantially over. I send practically everything I can dig up there this turn (6 National Guard Divisions of the newly arrived 4th National Guard Corp). That said This won’t truly be enough. This is the last really sizable amount of reinforcements I get until turn 33. It is too long. I’m scrapping away with almost any reserves I can still gather but, outside of a few units still swapping with the Commonwealth units I just don’t really have anything. I mean I’ll find a few extra Divisions but that is it beyond the very inadequate amount I am getting back with replacements.

In fact, even the damn swapping suffered a setback – I had to order two American Divisions that where on their way to swap out to instead race south and plug parts of the line. Not what I want at all as I don’t have excess replacements for these units, and they are still low on supplies.

This is the first turn where I am so weak on the main front that I don’t counterattack – that is a really bad sign. Just sitting there taking Ben’s endless blows is certain defeat.

The only place I am on the offensive is near Toronto. In all honesty I want Ben to make a move here more than he has. I have a full strength Armoured Divisions I would love to rail to the main battle but Ben can easily cut my whole line with two Paratroop Divisions – and I can see them this turn sitting on their airfield. The German one, in particular, is very strong. Powerful Armoured Division is my only chance to insure that if they drop they die and my line is only cut off for a single turn. I actually wonder if he is holding off because he knows I have a Powerful Armoured unit in deep reserve? I mean this unit is pretty far off but maybe he has seen it? I usually don’t see that much behind Ben’s line though and I would think it is generally the same for him.

Finally, Guatemala is mostly quite this turn. I think Ben might have decided to cancel the offensive here because the defenses are too strong?

St. Louis: 52%

The Allies real under constant Axis pressure in Illinois.

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