Fall Grau 2.28 Jeremy (Axis) vs. Ben (Allies)

[Curtis Lemay]

Does the scenario take into account availability of natural resources? (I'm assuming the naval situation prevents imports).

The US is a poor source of Tin, Nickel, Manganese, Chrome, and Rubber. Oil would also be an issue since Jeremy has overrun Texas. Ben still has S. California and Pennslyvania, but there's also the issue of refineries - not movable.

[golden delicious]

Does the scenario take into account availability of natural resources? (I'm assuming the naval situation prevents imports).

Not really. As I think we discussed before, it's not really a heavy realism type-scenario. If we're on realism, how did the Axis get here? How can they come ashore in Quebec to begin with? Why on earth is Italy somehow able to support sixty divisions or so on the other side of the Atlantic when they never had more than a fraction of that active in Europe and North Africa? Etc. etc. etc.

On the other hand, Germany was short of all sorts of supposedly critical stuff- and still geared up to produce more and more war material right up to the point where the country was physically overrun, even as the blockade got worse (Spain wasn't quite so cheery about sending stuff to Germany in 1944 as in 1941, for example) and ever more bombs were falling on German cities. I think the USA would manage.

Finally, with regard to oil specifically, I think it's important to bear in mind that the United States produced almost two thirds of the world's oil in 1940, and almost thirty times as much as Europe excluding the USSR. Any of the major oil producing regions in the USA would have been sufficient in the event of a Total War effort with no need to transport everything halfway round the world- and if the Axis have taken Texas, Los Angeles and western Pennsylvania I would say the Allies are going to lose anyway.

[Curtis Lemay]

Does the scenario take into account availability of natural resources? (I'm assuming the naval situation prevents imports).

Not really. As I think we discussed before, it's not really a heavy realism type-scenario. If we're on realism, how did the Axis get here? How can they come ashore in Quebec to begin with? Why on earth is Italy somehow able to support sixty divisions or so on the other side of the Atlantic when they never had more than a fraction of that active in Europe and North Africa? Etc. etc. etc.

On the other hand, Germany was short of all sorts of supposedly critical stuff- and still geared up to produce more and more war material right up to the point where the country was physically overrun, even as the blockade got worse (Spain wasn't quite so cheery about sending stuff to Germany in 1944 as in 1941, for example) and ever more bombs were falling on German cities. I think the USA would manage.

Finally, with regard to oil specifically, I think it's important to bear in mind that the United States produced almost two thirds of the world's oil in 1940, and almost thirty times as much as Europe excluding the USSR. Any of the major oil producing regions in the USA would have been sufficient in the event of a Total War effort with no need to transport everything halfway round the world- and if the Axis have taken Texas, Los Angeles and western Pennsylvania I would say the Allies are going to lose anyway.

Fair enough - though such resources might be interesting as VPs.

I forgot to mention bauxite. The US has it, but the deposits are all in the CSA, with most of it in Central Arkansas. I think Jeremy's got it all under his thumb.

[golden delicious]

Fair enough - though such resources might be interesting as VPs.

Well, there are 60 VPs in southern California, 39 VPs in Texas and 10 in western Pennsylvania. There's another 19 in the oil producing parts of Mexico (which produced more oil than Romania as of 1940). That makes more than one in eight VPs on the map tied to oil producing areas.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Does the scenario take into account availability of natural resources? (I'm assuming the naval situation prevents imports).

The US is a poor source of Tin, Nickel, Manganese, Chrome, and Rubber. Oil would also be an issue since Jeremy has overrun Texas. Ben still has S. California and Pennslyvania, but there's also the issue of refineries - not movable.

There is an Industrial City Mechanic where the Allies lose replacements as Industrial Cities are overrun (though they also gain production capacity over time). These Industrial Cities are concentrated on the major industrial areas of the map but there are a reasonable number placed in important resource areas of the map as well. Texas has more then its fair share of such cities and Calgary (probably the most rarely taken Industrial City on the map) is also included to represent the value of the oil of Alberta. Albuquerque is another example of a place that is an Industrial City more to represent the value of the resources on this part of the map as compared to number of factories. I did look at a resource map when I first decided where the Industrial Cities where and added ones in some of the key concentrations of such resources.

However the whole scenario is only a year and a half long and North America is pretty resource rich with mines etc. scattered over the the continent. TOAW does not really give us tools to truly explore what the effect of what something specific like the loss of Bauxite might ultimately entail but I suspect that such losses would not be dramatic during the time line of the scenario itself. As we saw with Germany cludges are reasonably effective at least in the short term especially given that there are likely loads of such resources still floating around even if say the Bauxite Mines have been taken. In America in particular you could probably recycle something like Aluminum for the war effort for some significant chunk of time.

Bottom line is there is a nod in the scenario toward resources being important. I don't think they would be a deciding factor in the time scale of the scenario and suspect that the VPs reasonably reflect the overall situation of whether or not - after this campaign is over - one side or the other is likely to take control of the Continent. The exception being a draw which really is just an admission that the future of North America is foggy and it would be in a follow on campaign that the results would be decided.

I originally made the scenario much longer but scaled it back to 90 turns and one element of that choice is because things really do start to get foggy beyond this point. Macroeconomics and demographics might well become more important and we don't have a mechanics to truly reflect that in TOAW.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 74
Just as I begin to formulate a plan to maybe play for a draw Ben starts to make that much more difficult and much less likely with an offensive that takes Minneapolis back and then keeps pushing forward. As I note last turn, I actually saw this coming and am better prepared for it then I might have been. I was concerned that Ben might hit me where I had not managed to throw together something of a double line but that is not the case. Nonetheless Ben just blasts forward, opening up a large gap in the line. With reserves already arriving in the area and by stripping brigades from other parts of this front I am able to close the gap but its not particularly solid. The real loss here is Minneapolis which is a reasonably large VP swing and I kind of doubt I ever retake it since it has strong natural defences. I don’t see my forces ever being in a position to overcome those defences for a city that is no longer an Industrial City – it will always make more sense for me to try and take similar cities that are Industrial ones unless the defences here where to get very weak and I doubt that comes to pass.

Meanwhile in the South West the situation is not to terrible as I manage to kill a few units. My forces here are pretty burnt out but more reinforcements have arrived and I hope to transfer the burnt out forces north for refit and to commit to the North West Front while bringing fresh units here to keep trying to kill Mexicans and retake Albuquerque (this is an example of light defences making it reasonable to try and take back an already captured Industrial City – there are 19 VPs in the immediate area and mainly just Mexicans and a few National Guard Divisions defending).

In the North West I begin to kick off something of a larger offencive as the Spanish and Turks have resupplied. They even manage something of a breakthrough. The Hungarian Mobile Corps is moving up to the northern flank as well so this fight is becoming ever more mobile. Ben has been threatening the southern flank here and to shore it up I am stripping Italians from the northern line which is nothing but a weak screen at this point which is concerning but I can’t be strong everywhere.

On that note even as I look to strip yet more forces from the long quite front that stretches from Virginia all the way to Kentucky I notice that Ben has begun to gather some extra forces in this area. I need to strip some Divisions out of this line to go and capture the Caribbean Islands but that might not be a thing if Ben starts offensive operations in the area.

Finally, I once again drive hard for Hartford while making some advances toward Albany. There is a battle here where the reformed SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen looses about 100 Panthers to the US 34th Armor. In shock I realize that the 34th Armor is made up of bloody Pershings. I really can’t afford Panther losses like that. In this one battle alone I lose 3 turns worth of Panther replacements. It is just brutal. Even my powerful New Panzer Divisions are being attritioned at a far faster rate then I can keep up with.

The Allied line in the Northwest begins to crack

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[golden delicious]

Turn 74:
Lots going on. First, the Germans finally manage to push past Hartford, making an immediate relief more difficult as I need to clear at least one, probably two other hexes first before I can even attack the city. I'd also like to be withdrawing good armour from this front now for my offensive in the Carolinas due to start next turn though this may be a risk. There's something going on everywhere on the map so withdrawing troops from anywhere is a tall order, but I build up this offensive to fifteen divisions plus ten HQs for artillery. A number of these units aren't fully rested so this isn't as good as I'd hoped, and there's too little armour, but I need this to happen now or there's not time enough left in the match to reap the rewards.

Jeremy also isn't done in Wyoming, where he hit the centre of my line with the Spanish mechanised corps, but this isn't fatal and his lead unit is exposed. I pull in both flanks to concentrate on a counterattack here, with the aim of cutting off and destroying the lead division without totally compromising the rest of the line. I also bring the two full-strength armoured divisions I had up on the Montana border to join in here, leaving just four understrength armoured regiments screening this sector

In Minnesota, there's a furious scurrying of German infantry to react to my offensive, and I'm basically attacking everything as almost all my troops are fresh and for now I'm in a superior position, and I need this to look like my big push to stop Jeremy freaking out too much about the Carolinas.

New Mexico looks good, as five new National Guard divisions showing up is enough to immediately stabilise the collapsing Mexican army here. I rout two Argentine cavalry regiments, destroying one of them, and otherwise consolidate.

A bit of a disappointing turn. I do destroy about two division in Minnesota, but I'm left wondering what would have happened if I'd committed all the troops for the Carolinas here instead. A serious advance here could force Jeremy out of all of Iowa, cutting off sections of the front as I go and releasing various units due in this area- but the die is cast now. My counterattack in Wyoming is also disappointing as the division I needed to cut through refuses to budge and I'm forced to push back the salient from its tip. I do however get Hartford again without much difficulty, and in enough time to get the better armoured divisions back off the line, giving me some flexibility for next turn.

As it's a National Guard turn it's time to track my strength again:
Squads:
Irregular: 2.4 / 1.9
Mounted Rifle: 6.8 / 7.7
Motorcycle: 1.5 / 1.8
Light Rifle: 28.5 / 28.1
Light Rifle AT-: 10.1 / 11.7
Rifle: 21.6 / 20.9
Rifle AT-: 17.1 / 16.7
Heavy Rifle: 4.6 / 5.3
Engineer: 4.6 / 4.4
Total Combat Squads: 97.2k / 98.5k

Some big drops there reflecting the big trap which Jeremy sprung in Wyoming, the losses I've taken so far in New Mexico, and the Canadian army finally running out of replacement squads. Conversely the big influx of National Guard divisions combined with their being generally further from the action has seen those numbers bounce back. Still- with my replacements at 138% I really should be posting better numbers than this, trouble is the Axis just keep chewing through my squads with those big stacks of artillery.

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[golden delicious]

Updates a bit slower from my side to the end of the match as my wife delivered twin boys late Tuesday morning.

[secadegas]

Wow!!
As a father of 4 I wish you all the best! See you in 20 years time...

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Updates a bit slower from my side to the end of the match as my wife delivered twin boys late Tuesday morning.

Congratulations Ben!

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 75 Compare.jpg (372.95 KiB) Viewed 793 times

The Infantry is down a bit even though the Germans and Japanese see some rise. Both of those are going to be primarily reinforcements but I also suspect that the Japanese in particular have been less active & the Germans have avoided major disasters. The real downturn is from the Finns and Swedes which have been drawn back into the fighting with Ben shortening the front in the North East.

Armour climbs significantly this turn actually surpassing how much I had on turn 45. That said while the Germans have seen an influx a lot of this is crappy Japanese Tanks.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 75
Crisis are multiplying all over the map. This made more interesting to me because I know that I am just about ready to once more try and drive toward Los Angeles with the Japanese. Not sure how far this gets but I now have some Japanese Armoured Divisions – though they are crammed full of absolutely worthless tanks. Still the front here has been quite and Ben has stripped it down and I believe he is going to have a tough time finding more for this front – even just forcing him to do so might materially impact the other fronts. Still no attacks here until next turn.

In the Southwest it is a moderately good turn as I cut off and destroy a Mexican Cavalry Division and surround but fail to destroy a National Guard Division. I’ve brought up several more Panzergrenadier Divisions but have been unable to manage to extract the burnt out ones I have on this front in large part because Ben seems to have reinforced the area with more National Guard Divisions. I just can’t seem to manage without the extra units in the area which is fast becoming a problem. This was not supposed to be a really long drawn out campaign and yet it is becoming one.

The Northwest has me ecstatic but I’ve been here before and it has gone badly so I should not get my hopes up to much. The gist is the 2nd Axis Corp (Spanish and Turks) broke out somewhat last turn. Ben went to cut off and destroy the spear head but the 1st Spanish Mechanized Infantry held him off. This turn the Hungarian Fast Corp swept around the northern flank and a plethora of resupplied Panzergrenadiers and Panzers cut their way through a line of National Guard units and swept around Ben’s army from the south. With the help of the Italians there is even a smaller cut off force of Allies in the southern part of the line. At this moment 17 Allied Divisions, including 3 Armoured Divisions, 2 HQs and an Engineer are cut off and there appears to be only 1 somewhat weak (it was entrained until it got attacked on my turn) Allied Armoured Division nearby to try and help save these guys. Maybe there are more reserves immediately available, but I don’t think there are.

Worth noting that this was in some significant ways a ‘Ben’ Offensive. I have been watching how Ben tends to conduct his attacks and defences and it tends to be in echelon. Sure, fairly powerful forces initiate the attacks but there are strong units that move up behind them to continue to persecute the offencive. Here I was able to do that and it worked exactly as I had seen Ben do it to me. The units at the point of impact are driven backward and then the follow on forces just start to RBC them all over the place and often they simply die. Soon the whole front line simply falls apart. The best counter to this is a double line, especially one backed up with either Fortified Divisions in the second row or Armoured Divisions which are hard to shift. Here – partly because the Spanish had held firm Ben did not have any kind of double line and once the National Guard were thrown back they essentially disintegrated and the Panzers broke free.

Meanwhile south of Minneapolis Ben’s Allies drive south but I was able, last turn, to put together enough of a double line that it is not completely catastrophic. Here I am desperately trying a combination of bringing up reserves, either new reinforcements, Brigades culled from the other parts of this line or actions to shorten the line to put together a double line. I’ve mostly done it once again but I have little faith in some of these burnt out Brigades I have trying to hold this together. We will see what the crisis looks like here next turn.

Illinois is almost the only front not really going into crisis. Ben and I are basically trading a couple of hexes of no value back and forth. It says something that I have pulled 3 of the HQs normally assigned to this front off the line and onto the rail net to transport them somewhere else. There simply is not enough strength on this front to justify this many HQs anymore.

Starting last turn but I was sure of it this turn – Ben is transferring large numbers of forces to the South East. This is a front that has been very quite for a long time and defences down here have been stripped (by both of us) time and time again until the line is pretty much Regiments or Mountain Infantry Brigades. Of course, that makes it vulnerable to a major attack. However, I was in the process of using two Divisions in the area too strip it further plus some Engineers had arrived to speed up that process so I actually have some reserves here of my own – and I just got XIII Panzer Corp back so I land the HQ, a Panzer Division, a Heavy Tank Brigade and a Panzergrenadier Division to reinforce. If Ben abandons the attack I could rail these guys out myself, albeit not that quickly – but its been many turns since I used any significant amount of my rail transport. If he presses it I think I have the forces in the area to shore up my forces.

And of course there is the endless, brutal fighting in the Northeast. Last turn I noted I got mauled by Pershings. Well this turn I am surprised when the Panthers turn the tables and the American 32nd Armored Division, full of Pershings, explodes when hit by SS Panzer Hitler Jugend and SS Panzer Wiking. The Axis offencive is desperate and I am feeling like I am at the end of my rope here but the Allies are looking weaker than ever in the area and I managed to push a little further this round. I am also getting pretty close to Albany. I think that, maybe, I might hold Hartford this time. If not, well I have some extra Panzer Divisions that just showed up. Two more deployed here just might be enough to finally tip the balance especially because I have four Panzer Divisions off the line resting up.

All in all I am in a better mood then I was last turn. Victory is very likely out of reach as there are only 15 turns left in the match but a draw is coming back into sight as a possibility. That said to pull that off I need to find 6 Divisions to clear the Caribbean and somehow take some Industrial Cities as on turn 80 Ben’s replacement rate is going to go into the stratosphere.

The Axis break out in the North West for a second time.

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[Curtis Lemay]

Updates a bit slower from my side to the end of the match as my wife delivered twin boys late Tuesday morning.

Way to go, Ben!!

[golden delicious]

Turn 75:
OK so Jeremy WAS able to put everything out of supply in the northwest- everything. This isn't a complete bag like last time but it's pretty serious and I need to be extremely careful with this to avoid losing a huge number of pieces. I do what I can- but this doesn't look good as there are multiple pincers closing from different directions and my force is a mess- I have about three divisions NOT out of supply. Some of these, plus two of my armoured regiments off on the north flank come up and help form a ring around the wicked, vile, panzer division which is responsible for the worst of the situation, and I'll attack it with one of my good divisions though I don't expect much of a result. I rail three armoured divisions from the Pacific to this front immediately, I'm reluctant to weaken my ongoing offensives for this but three armoured divisions really is a drop in the ocean here. Ultimately I reluctantly add another two divisions here from Minnesota, the maximum possible after moving all my new and reconstituted units.

This whole thing takes some of the shine off it- but I'm kicking off my Carolinas offensive as planned this turn, hitting a total of five hexes in considerable strength. I need this to be a big result as some of these troops have been drawn away from the west where they could have prevented the unfolding disaster. This front receives essentially no reinforcements this turn due to the pressure on my rail lift, only one or two broken down units which will relieve better ones from the line. Well alright I drive three divisions in this direction from Illinois, where things are winding down again. The offensive also has to do without bomber support as the majority of them are flying over Wyoming, with most of the balance in New England.

There, the battle for Hartford continues though I feel like this may be the end as I keep on starting further and further from my objective each turn and without reinforcements my counterattackers wear down. Albany is vaguely threatened too but this is second priority as long as Hartford is on the line, particularly since past Hartford is New York City, now only five hexes from the front. I add a newly formed armoured division which arrived within driving distance which should help a little. This turn, I just barely crawl in on the last move of the turn. I think after this is the end for Hartford but we'll see.

For what it's worth, I also launch my Mexico offensive this turn. This consists of seven divisions out of Central America, plus I'll be moving two or three guerrilla brigades down from northern Mexico. My best bet here is if I can somehow get the seven divisions over to my main rail net, as otherwise they'll be fighting overextended and few of these units have the proficiency to do that for long. There are at least six Axis divisions in Mexico so this is mainly a matter of keeping Jeremy from withdrawing any of them, though if I can get my hands on any of the territory around Mexico City there are a number of backed up reinforcements here which could make this messy for him.

Well that was... nerve-wracking. The first round just consisted of pretty much every single attack bouncing off with heavy losses. The everything comes together in the second round. The offending Panzer division evaporates in Wyoming, and the whole German front in the Carolinas simply dissolves. The turn culminates with (a rather battered) 7th Infantry division triumphantly entering Charlotte, routing the embarked engineers that had been hastily railed up behind the line. This is a pretty big force honestly and while it's not exactly in top shape after cracking the fortified line, it's not bad. If things look as open next turn as they do now I'll aim my spearhead for Norfolk: if I can reach this point, the whole northern section of the Axis line goes out of supply- that's about nine divisions. I already eliminated all five of the German units which were actually on the line at the start of the turn. On the other hand, I can probably expect to meet some fresh German mechanised units here as it's so close to the coast. Anyway I also want, well, everything. I have enough little guys here to fan out and occupy anything that isn't directly blocked.

Of course Wyoming still looks pretty bad and Jeremy will certainly gobble up half a dozen divisions which were in reorganisation at the start of the turn and maybe more besides, and the rest of the force really needs a holiday. The five divisions I railed up won't be enough to stabilise the situation and as such toward the end of the turn I moved a number of Commonwealth units off the line with a view to adding them here next turn, which would largely end the Minnesota offensive (which has anyway served its purpose) and leave my line in Illinois pretty thin. At the same time I'm conscious Jeremy is planning a new offensive in southern California as he has at least four divisions and four HQs sat behind the line here, though I still have two strong armoured divisions in the most vulnerable points and two Mexican divisions in reserve behind the line.

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[golden delicious]

Worth noting that this was in some significant ways a ‘Ben’ Offensive. I have been watching how Ben tends to conduct his attacks and defences and it tends to be in echelon. Sure, fairly powerful forces initiate the attacks but there are strong units that move up behind them to continue to persecute the offencive. Here I was able to do that and it worked exactly as I had seen Ben do it to me. The units at the point of impact are driven backward and then the follow on forces just start to RBC them all over the place and often they simply die. Soon the whole front line simply falls apart.

I tend to hit the weaker parts of the line (two or three hexes along a frontage of four or five) to isolate strongpoints, then target units which have already retreated for followups- these units seldom hold their ground unless there's some new unit or extra artillery to back them up. At this point Axis infantry is in such a bad state that by then they are normally ready to RBC, allowing me to lap around the rear of any strong units from the original line which can then be destroyed, leaving a void across the whole original frontage as you note. In terms of attack in echelon, this isn't deliberate I think so much as a matter of often doing things off-the-cuff and having different units arriving at different times. Where possible, I believe in concentration of force in time as well as space for maximum initial impact value, but often there are reasons to go off before everyone is ready.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 76
Well, this is just a mess. I was thinking Ben might call off his attack in the south east considering the situation developing in the north west but that is most certainly not the case. Both of us, when pressed, always seem to be able to find a way to dig just a bit deeper and find some more emergency reserves. The gist is Ben has a built up a large force in the Carolinas and he aims to use it though he drags troops from all over the map (including reinforcements and reconstitutes) to reinforce the fighting in Wyoming.

The fighting continues in the North East and Hartford once again falls but I notice that this turn Ben has not managed to otherwise really throw me back to the Connecticut River and I throw in some nearly fully recovered Panzer Divisions to make another very hard push making it so Ben has to capture multiple hexes to retake Hartford. I really hope this works because, with the Carolinas going into crisis I can’t afford to reinforce the North East and I just don’t have any fresh reserves left now. Almost all the Panzer Divisions are glowing red. I desperately need to stop and refit. I am not sure I can really push again if Ben manages to take Hartford back.

The Carolinas start off looking OK as the fortified German Regiments hold off the first round of attacks and more or less weather the second round but the third round throws them backwards and they simply disintegrate under the Allied Armor without Fortification. Ben drives all the way to Charlotte and even throws an Engineer I had in the space out (might have been entrained). There is now a massive gap in the line and a real danger that Ben will drive to the Atlantic and split my forces. I bring in reinforcements, by rail and by sea committing more of the returning XIII Panzer Corp and even start driving a Panzer Division from the Illinois front. I am also stripping the Illinois front down so that more can be sent by rail next turn nonetheless the flanks both in the north and south are hanging on air.

Illinois itself is basically quiet. Ben’s offences are minor and get nowhere and I have given up here for the moment as I desperately need forces for the Carolina’s and all my Panzers here are burnt out in any case.

Ben’s offencive in Minnesota continues to push toward Iowa but nothing really breaks this turn. I remain quite concerned however because, while I can put together a second line here the Brigades are often woefully weak. I am really hoping Ben somehow runs out of steam here so that my forces can rest. It would be a fine line with halfway functional Brigades dug in with a second line (though I would probably start stripping out the second line) but I need respite.

The North East in Wyoming is not perfect. I can’t catch all those 17 odd Divisions I surrounded and Ben does manage to surround and destroy my 14th Panzer Division but I do catch a lot of them, killing around 10 Divisions out here this turn. Ben’s reinforcing like crazy and the fight is completely mobile at this point so we will see how this develops. I expect Ben to pretty much fall back to a new line of defence but maybe he instead goes for a counter attack.

The south west front near Albuquerque remains sort of a positive location where I kill a few Allied units a turn but also where I have committed much more powerful forces against primarily Mexicans with some National Guard stiffening.

Finally, this turn I kick off the Japanese attack toward Los Angeles once more. The inclusion of the small Japanese Armoured Divisions does seem to be a boon here and help force the American Armor to shift. Not exactly a break out but the line has been cracked and the advance begun. If nothing else this should add one more thing Ben has to worry about in terms of balancing who is getting reinforcements.

Finally, desperate for Germans in the Carolinas I have to scrap using this area of the front to find the forces to take over the Caribbean so I start looking to the Finns who are mostly watching over a quite part of the front. I could thin them out and maybe come up with 6 Divisions to assault the Caribbean.

Loss Rate: Axis: 436 / Allies: 377 / Spread: -59

Sensing a slackening of Allied resitance on this front the Axis throw everything they have in to take Hartford. This had better work - The Panzers are burnt out and no new reinforcements are coming for this front.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 76:
As predicted, Jeremy kicked off an offensive toward Los Angeles. This was fairly successful, knocking me back on the coast and creating a bit of a gap further inland. I have a division reconstituted in the city which is pretty helpful, and otherwise I strip the coast and the quiet part of the line to patch things up, while sending my one operational armoured division onto the counterattack. This is OK for now but I'll need to reinforce here shortly. I was thinking of abandoning Albuquerque to release a few divisions for this effort but the main formation here (a National Guard corps) is in reorganisation, so I can't pull the whole line back, but I do extract one Mexican division plus two HQs- not much but it's a start. I pull a second division back to the rail in western Mexico to move up next turn. More substantively, I rail down two armoured divisions from Northern California where the Japanese are quieter, and a third goes back to the rail here, too. I find the rest of the troops I need in the form of the Canadians, which I had tentatively earmarked for Wyoming. Two divisions can just about make it to Southern California in one turn, and more may follow next turn.

Wyoming is bad but could be a whole lot worse. There's a tempting target of one of Jeremy's pincers which looks vulnerable to attack by my reinforcements, but I think in practice this is something of a trap move. With almost my whole force mobile I decide to pull it all out right now. I'm now pretty convinced that Jeremy's strategy is to put pressure on me in the west and ultimately take Los Angeles. This 50VP objective is the one thing which could potentially see him eek over the line into a draw before the end of the match. As such, I will pull this army further west confident that Jeremy will follow, and not (as I've been fearing until now) lunge north and force mt east-west rail link over the border into Canada. That line is going to have to rely on odd regiments for its protection; the fragments head north but the real divisions head west. Unfortunately, this is now just five divisions and most of them look pretty sad, though I have another two mobile to the south which are also able to get back. I settle on a new line on the Green River, with forces blocking all the viable routes through the fairly fiendish terrain here. If Jeremy wants to pursue immediately, he's going to be getting pretty far from his supply sources, and will need to attack me head-on. My fresh troops railed up last turn sit aside the main westerly route which Jeremy will have to take if he wants Salt Lake City and the rail junction connecting me with Los Angeles.

It's game over for Hartford as the city now sits two hexes behind the line, but what's alarming is that Jeremy also smashed most of my backstop line of fortified divisions sitting beyond the city- this means I can't fully refocus my attention on Albany as he's now threatening New York City- not to mention the prospect of my units evaporating when pressed against the Hudson super river. I'm going to need to keep up the back-and-forth here for the rest of the scenario or this is another 50VP location Jeremy could use to tip the scales. For now, I pull two first-class infantry divisions off the line to the north which has finally solidified following my withdrawal several turns previously. I also add two "Allied" divisions backed by five HQs worth of artillery, to support the Canadians at Albany.

The Carolinas are pretty chaotic. Jeremy evidently landed a full turn of panzer troops here on turn 75 and did it again this turn, as I see four mechanised divisions here, as well as some fair Germans which must have just railed up (I think from Illinois where he stopped attacking), and some useless trash that were previously garrisoning the rail. He's formed sort of a perimeter around Charlotte but I have enough units to mark him and make some local attacks south and east while, as planned, my main force moves northeast towards Norfolk, with one thrust near the breach at Greensboro, NC and a second closer to the sea towards Raleigh (held by a fresh panzer division). I think if I press on fearlessly I can swamp these few powerful units and really wreck the Axis army here. Despite all my rail lift being earmarked elsewhere I'm able to add four divisions here by road. I also thin out my line a bit to the north to concentrate two divisions, the minimum to attempt to crack a hole in the Axis line north of Norfolk. I give this a go, it doesn't achieve much other than to give Jeremy an idea of my intention.

Otherwise this goes well enough. I totally cream one panzergrenadier division at Greensboro, destroying one brigade and leaving the other ruined and out of supply, leaving the road open to slip in immediately to the rear of Jeremy's main line, leaving his panzer division at Raleigh hopelessly isolated. To the south and east, I'm engaging more lightly, smashing up odd bits but not fighting his panzers, and here I expect to be counterattacked although Jeremy MUST do something to prevent a catastrophe in the north- I'm not sure what. I'm also keeping up my offensive for now in Minnesota, which serves several purposes but mainly I want this one hex on the front line which comes with an extra National Guard division; at this point these backlogged reinforcements are my best bet to give me an immediate boost on the battlefield just as the scenario is going into full meltdown.

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 77
A very mixed bag this turn. The Japanese continue advancing, more or less breaking out. Los Angeles is now only a handful of hexes away. I would dearly love to take it but Ben should be able to stop me – he just needs to commit enough resources to doing that. The interesting and tricky part for him will be finding the right balance of enough to actually stop me without over committing when there is so much excitement on other fronts.

Really Ben? Mexico too? We have like 6 places in north America that are a crazy mess and you want to add Mexico to the list? Ben grabbed Acayucan and Oaxaca in southern Mexico as well as advancing from the north with some irregulars and guerrillas. I respond to the northern advance and the attack on Acayucan but ignore Oaxaca for the moment. The reality is I don’t have all that many forces left in Mexico and can’t really afford to send more so I need to try and deal with these problems in turn assuming that can be done.

One place Ben will probably start looking to get some reinforcements from is near Albuquerque as I take the city this turn and I suspect that ends any real reason for Ben to stay in the area. He might try and contest the city with me but I sort of doubt it. His units here where enough to tie up some very solid units of mine but not enough to beat me. I suspect he starts to pull back this turn. If he does I am going to have a hard choice as I would like to chase him but these units really need to stop and refit.

Further north Ben does scramble away with anything he can while I spend my turn gobbling up the remnants that could not get away and continuing to charge after him on a wide front. At this point my goal is to flow around the flanks of any defence East of Salt Lake City which I think is now very much within reach and Salt Lake City would not only be a prize in its own right but it is possible that the defenders of Salt Lake City could be cut off and finally just south of the city is the last rail link to the south. Cutting that makes reinforcing Los Angeles a nightmare and it makes the supply point just north of Los Angeles a critical hex because without it Allied supply to Los Angeles will be much lower.

Meanwhile south of Minneapolis Ben continues his attacks but this is much more clearly a tertiary offencive at this point. Good thing for me this is the case because what I can put up to resist Ben’s advance is pretty damn mediocre. Lots of Brigades with defence strengths of 3 and 4. Could not resist a full blooded offencive but if Ben more or less shuts this down these units might recover enough to start being of real use. I do expect Ben to shut this down fairly soon simply because there are not many more VPs here and while taking the pressure off me will eventually allow me to shift reserves out he will be able to shift forces out immediately while I sit around trying to get my units back up to enough snuff to be worthwhile.

All quite in Illinois as I thin my second line down to just brigades to find forces I can send to the Carolina's. Speaking of the Carolina's – that remains something of a disaster for me this turn and I am not certain I am making the right moves here. Ben shatters the northern part of this front destroying a brand spanking new Panzergenadier Division in the process. I am now leaving the northern line in place basically just to force Ben to find a way to cut it off and then dig out the Fortified Regiments. I don’t believe they could successfully withdraw and the most they can contribute now is to force Ben to deal with them. At Norfolk I have deployed a new Panzer Division and Panzergrenadier Division in Brigades. I wish I had more so that I could better protect this supply point. To the south my line of broken down Panzers and Panzer Grenadiers now extends almost to the coast and more forces are arriving. The plan is to fill in the line and start recombining these forces for a counter attack toward the north while Ben is still trying to digest what he has grabbed and is being forced to prioritize other fronts.

Finally, in the North East I have finally managed to capture Hartford. My army is an absolute burnt out wreck, however. I pull everything back as much as possible to try and gorge on the supplies from Hartford. Does Ben take the opportunity to try and push me back behind the Connecticut River? Does he strip this front of forces for other more critical fronts. I guess we shall see. [Edit: It dawns on me later that he can’t strip this front… New York City is way to close.]

I landed the rest of XIII Panzer Corp this turn and the last Japanese Armoured Division. I am not sure but that might be the last of my reinforcements for the scenario.
[Edit: outside of a few air units it is indeed the last of my reinforcements]

Hartford: 121%

The Japanese start breaking out!

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[golden delicious]

Turn 77 part 1:
Lots going on. Perhaps the most dangerous situation is at Los Angeles, where the Japanese blitzed forward with both pincers, threatening much but not completing the attack inside the turn. This gives me time to deploy my reserves off the rail, with the Canadians blocking the breach Jeremy made in the north while my US armour hits him on the coast where I must push back or risk the same kind of grinding battle for LA as I've just lost at Hartford. These forces are unfortunately very much insufficient for the task so I'll be looking to reinforce here. I add two more Mexican divisions, one of which comes from Albuquerque where the really quite significant panzer force Jeremy has here has finally overwhelmed my defences and forces me to withdraw in disarray- possibly catastrophe. I release another three Canadian divisions from Minnesota and Illinois and another armoured division from Northern California

Jeremy is aggressively following up in Wyoming; his force here is really substantial and this gives him the liberty to try all routes of advance at once. It's not going to be sufficient to simply block a position with a couple of divisions as he'll be around those divisions on the next turn. The only response to this is to concentrate my own forces, moving back and forth between threatened points but aiming to be superior to the Axis at one point at a time. for this turn, that'll be in the centre where I have my fresh troops and Jeremy has set up in front of me where I can smash him. I attack the weak points in the hope of threatening a panzergrenadier divisions between them. On the other fronts I pull back and let Jeremy come forward to be attacked next turn. I add a total of seven fresh or newly formed divisions here this turn from the east, but I'm short on artillery and armour which will need to be added later

On a more pleasant topic, in the southeast Jeremy has reacted to my threat to Norfolk by pulling his panzer troops (two divisions) into a tight ring around Norfolk. This may make it more difficult for me to get the city (with its 10VPs) but it doesn't do much to protect his line, as I can simply cut it further inland. I draw a loose net at a distance around the rear of the German line here while setting up a blocking position outside Norfolk itself. To the south, I walk into Wilmington. Getting Charleston will be more of a challenge as a second panzer force is drawing a line to the sea in this direction, but I'm able to mass six divisions which will aim to get between the two panzer divisions I can see and the coast. I realise a little later that these troops (XIII Panzerkorps) are the very last reinforcements Jeremy receives in the scenario, and with no reconstitution for Axis ground units, his strength can only go in one direction from here on, while I intend for mine to keep growing.

The liberation of North Carolina

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[golden delicious]

Turn 77 part 2

The big surprise for me this turn is that Jeremy halted his offensive in the northeast. For me, this was deadly serious as another fourteen turns of this could have put the Axis in New York City but evidently he considers the fall of Hartford to be the end of the matter up here. While I do sort of need all these units to be somewhere else, it'll take a huge amount of time to move all this heavy armour out, and I'm sure Jeremy will only resume operations once they're gone. As such, while I do rail out a few pieces, I take the opportunity of the pause to launch some more targeted attacks, especially using the big stack o'artillery that I dropped at Albany last turn. This starts well, with one of the two hexes I'm hitting here simply RBCing, which opens up the likely prospect of cutting off another hex containing two Axis divisions.

Some bad patches- but overall an excellent turn. My move in New England was largely successful, with the pocket completed and one division destroyed. I was able to breach the line northwest of Norfolk which came within an inch of putting this whole German position out of supply. I expect Jeremy will try to extract some or all of it this turn but almost all of the units are adjacent to Reserve divisions which happen to have very high recon ratings. He may make this messy for me but I think I'm going to need to find space for a lot more prisoners shortly. To the south, my push towards Charlotte was successful, routing the most easterly of the three panzer divisions here, while an unexpected breach at Spartanburg threatens to put the other two into a pocket. I'm stretched thin- but another two backlogged divisions will join me this turn, making the main challenge the supply condition of my units, which are fighting continuously and now well past my rail net. For what it's worth I'm also still attacking in Minnesota, and there's some action in Mexico.

Results in the west, where Jeremy is strong, were more mixed. I wasn't able to get a decisive result in Wyoming but I did badly damage three Axis mechanised divisions while having enough time to get my best divisions back off the line in case I need to shift my weight next turn. The biggest disappointment of the turn was my failure to shift the Japanese division closest to Los Angeles- only three hexes from the city- despite reducing it to rubble, but further inland my Canadians were able to smash the second spearhead and even (with some Mexican assistance) put one division into a pocket. This is still a serious situation but this turn's reinforcements should allow me to stabilise and then reverse the situation, the problem then will be that the German army of New Mexico could be banging on the back door here in another five turns. I really need to put a force into central Arizona to block the bad terrain here and hold Jeremy off long enough that he doesn't have time to effect this pincer movement.

Looking at the map and backlogged reinforcements, once I have Charleston, Columbia and Savannah the reinforcements for this front dry up and if Jeremy is able to extend a good line to the sea I may stop on the Savannah river. This gives some scope for the really quite large forces I have here to be withdrawn and give one last fight before the end of the scenario- question would be where. In the nearer term, I notice that if I cut the rail at Charleston then supply for everything east of the Mississippi is going to be coming over one bridge at Memphis. Food for thought.

The defence of Los Angeles

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