Expanded Allied Air HQ

[kentkroeckel]

To begin with, rain is impacting attacks. Next is logistics. Still three weeks away from establishing proper network. Finally, terrain. It will take another week for positioning.

First picture is of whole Italian front.
8 hexes were attacked with failed results. they have tank symbol and quantity of attacks on them.
9 hexes were withdraw by Germany. They have a green line around them.
3 hexes were attacked and won by Allies but not occupied. Mountains are brutal. they have black around them.
1 hex was attacked and occupied by Allies. It is traced in red.

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Next picture demonstrates losses even when victorious. Below is picture of a hex that was attacked, and won by Allies. Yet Allies were not able to occupy it. Needed all units to be victorious yet a unit uses its movement up when trekking across mountain range. Mountain units and rangers are exempt and a pass allows units to move better. Losses for this one attack was 1051 for Allies and 214 for Germany. Is this success?

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Next picture is of sea interdiction along European Channel. With rain and being only first turn I feel good with the results. Only disappointment was that British Channel Islands were not isolated but Allies feel confident it will happen next turn.

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Final picture is of ground interdiction. A closeup. This is going well and the full force has not kicked in yet. Clear weather and then all hexes will be 6-9 interdiction. This is the goal. Make it costly for Axis to defend beach hexes and within three hexes of them. Right now even the British Channel Islands are interdicted; at 2 and 5. Next turn they will be isolated and interdicted at greater than 6.

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[kentkroeckel]

I wanted to talk about the Allied air preparation for D-Day. Weather for May 6, 1945 was rain for both Europe and Italy. Next week predictions indicate the same too. This is why Allies started air missions over Europe this turn. If weather was to be clear next week, then no; worth waiting for clear skies over Europe. But a few weeks are nessecary for proper preparation so, even under rain it must start.

Many air units were still being moved on turn 45 but that too had to be ignored. Allied air dominance needed to be established or else Luftwaffe would have an easy time with interference. for it will take two weeks to track down where active Luftwaffe air bases are. If they 15 hexes away, then okay. Not really a priority. If five or less, they will be pounded. This range a squadron can launch many missions in a day and it may be at seven days a week. That can equate to a lot of missions. Morale and experience are not a priority for Allies right now. Aircraft flying is the objective. Allies will also be using more air ground support for this phase rather than just ground attack. Air artillery so to speak.

My mistake that I referenced last turn was this. I had set some of my aircraft for rest but intended to use them. In addition, many ground attack aircraft were not given a new hex to attack since I thought they were resting in Italy. They simply attacked friendly hexes. No, not really. I have (No) on attacking friendly hexes since Allies are usually taking hexes. They fly over and wave to friendlies. Ha. A piece of advise though, do not divide your turn into three separate sittings. Bad things can happen. Especially when you add an AAR with that.

So, to rap this up, from the Allies perspective, knowing how Metalist plays a bit; Allies felt three weeks of preparation are nessecary given all current conditions of challenge.

[kentkroeckel]

There comes a time in game play where disbanding air wings is practical. this applies to both sided too. For example, as the Allied player, I have disbanded a few squadrons these last few weeks. The category is reconnaissance and the nationality is British. Well, along with a couple other nationalities that fall under that group. For many nationalities are under the United Kingdom. These additional nationalities are limited in replacements so have one that is near 16 strength is better than having two at near 8. Or worse, one at 3 and the other at 6. Priority can be switched on air wings but this does not change hard limits to smaller nationality replacements. Reconnaissance will never be a priority to Allies so even British reconnaissance air wings will be sacrificed for combat role aircraft. I am just talking a few involved so not a major shift. Germany though, does end up with many air wings / squadrons being down to just a few aircraft. So when I play as the German side, I disband many, as the game progresses.

Final thought: The goal for each side is to use all aircraft frames and pilots during the game. There are no victory points given for accommodated pools of each so make use of them. Germany in particular should utilize them, making the skies in France filled with Luftwaffe. Aces are made in the clouds there but Axis aircraft may fall like raindrops. Allies too though help to make a rainstorm of falling aircraft. Ha.

[kentkroeckel]

May 13, 1944

Weather in Europe is not good. What a surprise! Ha.
Air: Rain.
Ground: Light mud. Water level is 4. This is for UK and France. I decided to include picture of this because I think the generation of weather in WitW is inaccurate. Way too much bad weather.

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Mediterranean air weather: Clear.
Italian ground: Dry.

WitW allows players to see the following week in weather; and a change is coming. Over Europe it will dry in the sky. I would assume though that there will still be light mud on ground with a water level of 2 or 3. But because of clear skies, Allies will be conducting an amphibious invasion of the British Channel Islands this turn. Which means, launch this turn but landing after logistics phase next turn, March 20, 1944. (Turn-47). Units will just have to deal with the light mud. However, I do believe the Islands will have been isolated and have heavy interdiction upon them. Units will also have ground support assisting them.


Next issue is victory points. Germany did well this turn, -8. Game total 330. Allies lost 12 from (other losses). In fact many categories were in the negative. Vengeance weapons double in losses starting on D-Day. Game sort of forces the invasion to be in France so no secret revealed by that information. Below is current chart.

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Amphibious pool is 149. Allies lost three last turn so not building up well. Germany knows this small number could suffocate D-Day so Axis resources will be concentrated on this deficiency. Already the Channel is becoming contested.

Air losses: Germany lost 121 while Allies lost 52. These numbers need to be looked at closer. Over Italy Germany used transports to supply contact line. 25 transports were lost. This constant loss will eventually impact resupply. 21 Level bombers, a torpedo bomber, and patrol aircraft were lost. These categories will also rise once D-Day gets underway. However, not much Axis need for these aircraft after Allies are established. On level bombers I am talking about (naval only). Below is breakdown.

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Following picture shows air engagement over English Chanel. This gives an indication of what is to come.

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[kentkroeckel]

I wanted to talk about merging or disbanding ground units. Seems appropriate since air units was recently discussed. There are times in which a unit being merged with another is okay to do. Let us say an armor division is on verge of breakthrough but is really low on reinforcements. A small brigade can help out. Same units but all are isolated. Can make the armor division last another turn. Often when Allies are fighting beyond supply, and during hard winter, armor brigades become depleted. It could take 10 weeks to get back in the fight but combining two armor brigades puts one in the fight right away. So far in the game a few armor brigades have been merged by Allies. In 1944-1945 Germany in particular has many units that are under strengthened. To keep a line solid a German player may sacrifice a few units to keep a solid line along French border.

During the game Allies receive a ridiculous amount of flak. More than can ever be used. They use resources so why not disband many of them. That is what I do when I am confident there is no longer a use for them.

[kentkroeckel]

I had a problem with WitW system this turn so I will start with what I have.

Air phase losses: Axis 490. Allies 879. Luftwaffe advantage of 389. First picture is of engagement over Italian contact line.

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Second picture shows how engagement is now over all of Italy. Sorties for this turn were 11,000 for axis and 37,000 for Allies.

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Next picture shows contact line in Italy and this is where problem arose. After air phase an error message appeared and said error in reading, then it was gone. Air phase was sent but something had hiccuped. When I proceeded to attack no symbol was made, recording action. All other functions seemed normal. Attacks still happened, with results; but once I clicked off the hex, no more. I hope this error will go away when turn finishes.

This picture shows hexes taken without attack symbols. They are outlined in red and total 7. In the pink hex there is a British airborne division that landed successfully. Allies trying to keep pressure on Rome line.

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Final picture is of Europe. The invasion has begun. British Channel Islands are being attacked; which will occur next turn after logistics. The first Island, furthermost north, is Guernsey. Its port is Saint Peter but it is of no use now since Island is isolated. Ground interdiction is 5.

Next Channel Island is Jersey, near France. Its port is Saint Helier and it is still functioning. Ground interdiction is 4. Both are being attacked with an American infantry division and armor company. All have support units.

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One final update to the Channel attack, I forgot to switch units from refit to ready. Usually when you move a unit on the ground it will automatically do this. However, I forgot to do this before sending them by sea. I have since changed all units on United Kingdom to ready so this will not happen again. I would think once they start their attack a unit is automatically flipped to ready. Point being, no amphibious unit can support or attack in refit mode. Not the first time this has happened to me.

One more thought about this turn. The Channel Island invasion will raise German administrative points from 5 to now 10 per turn. Garrisons are not modified by this action. Only landing on Europe itself causes that.

[kentkroeckel]

I did not receive a new turn this morning so wanted to write about trucks. an important part to logistics. Metalist has a thread going on about the subject, which I recommend for all to read. Very insightful and it has input from other players.

synopsis: Metalist is concerned that units arriving from Eastern Front are not at full TOE. Not even close. My thought is that they are not like a new unit, which are fresh. Rather, these units are being pulled off front line to head west, regardless of condition.

Metalist references the First SS Armor Division as the example. His complaint is that even on a national supply source, A unit is not filling its truck needs. I would like to think Allies are causing this due to a superb strategic bombing campaign but that is not the case. Ha. My (opinion) is that at this stage of the war German production of trucks is limited. And yes, Allies are bombing these sources. but still, I believe the overall production is lessening in this category. All things related to logistics only. Because historically Germany was still producing established amounts of armor and such during this time period. In late 1944 is when Axis production started a terminal collapse.

One item in our challenge that I do believe is not historical is air losses. Both sides have lost more aircraft and pilots than historical I believe. I would also say more than in a typical challenge too. Allied production can absorb this but Germany will have a difficult time compensating for this.

Back to truck issue. Red lines make a difference. Meaning, the red line in logistics is for truck use and as the Allied player I minimize it. Ports, rail, then trucks. Depots are required to make this spider web of lines work well.

An advantage for Germany is that since it is usually defending it is able to move a unit to the front by rail. this keeps its combat value intact. Ground movement reduces it a bit. Allies experience this during ground movement too but combat value bounces back well. In addition, air supply can compensate some for this. Germany not so much. However, once in position, German air supply can keep a hex at full combat potential. This is what Metalist is doing in Italy.

During D-Day Germany will start off with great combat value but once units start to move around they loose much. The goal for Axis is to have a unit that does not need to move. Hence, not use trucks. A smart Allied player will destroy the logistic network around invasion area. Allies should also make heavy ground interdiction. This destroys logistics and combat value of units in or moving through, for whatever reason.

Summary: All of American fighter are trained as bomber fighter. All British fighters are trained as bomber fighter. This is how much I value ground support and interdiction. Other nationalities secure air superiority. Night fighters protect strategic bombers.

[kentkroeckel]

Turn 47
May 20, 1944

I do apologize for marking the previous post with wrong week. It has since been corrected. I will start each report with current turn and date, even if it is a multiple report for a week.

I removed the log portion of saved game in the hopes of not having the (Error in Reading) message appear after air phase and then not having ground battles be recorded on events log along with symbols. Results were still applied and kept though.

There is much to show this turn. To start with, Germany did not conduct ground attacks this turn.

There was two amphibious invasions conducted during Axis phase. The Channel Island of Guernsey failed despite being isolated and weather clear. This is the northern island. The Island of Jersey, which is near France, was successfully invaded. Below is picture of the invasion results. Red outlined hex is the successful invasion.

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In Italy Germany withdrew from 4 hexes and they are traced in green. The British airborne division is colored in Pink. Axis have added units to isolate it so there will be heavy Allied attacks for connection.

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Next picture shows air engagement over Italian front. Germany lost 10 transports during turn.

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This was actually one the heaviest losses for Luftwaffe in a while during its phase. 214 while Allies lost 71. Below is the breakdown.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 47
May 20, 1944

This post is the second part of Preliminary post for turn 47. Conducting the amphibious operation on the British Channel islands was costly. 9 amphibious craft were lost. The benefit is that the island near France is now under Allies' control so its port naval affect is gone. In addition, there is now a 2 size airbase near France. Of course Allies would have liked to get both but between the two, it is best to have this Jersey one. Below is picture of production chart and I have highlighted in yellow the amphibious pool along with cargo ship pool.

Amphibious pool: 131. Concerning to Allies.
Cargo ship pool: 1953. Acceptable to Allies.

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To conclude, I have a picture of victory points for this turn. It was expected to be brutal due to invasions. -19 for turn and game total is 311. I have highlighted (US Loses) and (Other Losses). Both were -13.

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Weather for next week in Europe is projected to be clear. Could mean D-Day since clear skies are a rarity in WitW.

[kentkroeckel]

I wanted to share some commentary between Mentalist and myself over the British Channel Islands. This is part of our E-Mails on the subject.


Portion of E-Mail from Kent to Metalist.

You are correct Metalist. Only one ground engagement shows up on log / picture but many more were conducted. Look at the hexes taken. I hope all will fix itself now that I have removed the logs from my computer. Game play does not need them. By the way, I noticed you had 9 administration points. Please tell me that did not occur in one turn. Otherwise, Germany has been getting 10 a turn before garrison region invasion. If that occurred, maybe Rome triggered it. I do look forward to that question being answered.



E-Mail response from Metalist to Kent:

I receive 5 APs a turn. I try to save them to mobilize coastal divisions when D-Day hits.

I lost many fighters for those islands. Some stuff seems to be hard coded no matter what I do. I mean war over the skies of the Reich was a relatively light burden for the Luftwaffe so its fighters were in a good shape. But once they face a serious opposition they just evaporate.

I hope we will no longer face any issue.
Have fun!



Second E-Mail response from Kent to Metalist:

Hello Metalist. I think your protection of the Channel Islands paid off. Only one was taken. I was expecting both. I believe your fighters along with naval presence made a difference. Also, take a look at how much naval presence is created by ports. Along French coast it is substantial. Invading a port with fortification level 4-5 is impossible. Moreover, invading next to a major port at that level is impossible because its effect are devastating, even to an adjacent hex. I think you have put Germany in a good manageable situation facing D-Day.

I had finished the air movement late last night so went to bed. Rather be fresh for the rest of turn. I have not run it either. Just adjusting air missions. Did a major shift again to compensate for Luftwaffe presence on the map. In June I hope to utilize the new setup to counter Axis air moves. Just what you want to hear, right Metalist. Ha.

Best wishes,
Kent Kroeckel

[kentkroeckel]

Turn 47
May 20, 1944

I am about to conduct air phase but wanted to first show pictures of what was done to maintain it. First picture is of new setup for strategic bombing over Europe. Yet I will not reveal which days it is happening at this point. Nazi spies are everywhere. Ha.

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Next picture is of tactical missions on Europe. This represents Allied preparation for D-Day. Yet Allies are not able to reveal which part of France this is because it is classified. Ha. Yes It is Normandy. Game sort of forces it.

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Next picture is tactical air missions on Italy. This is not classified becasue nobody cares about Italy now. Ha.

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Final picture is of reconnaissance missions over Italy. Pretty much the same over Europe.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 47
May 20,1944

Following are the air results. They are positive and weather is clear so I believe D-Day is on. Though air action was costly. For turn, Axis lost 627 aircraft and Allies lost 1,157. Luftwaffe advantage of 530. Sorties were 10,000 for Axis and 33,000 for Allies. First picture shows naval and ground interdiction of Europe.

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Next picture shows reconnaissance of D-Day region.

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Picture below shows naval interdiction of Italy. Notice how Allied resources have been placed so that naval interdiction of Italy has moved up Italian land mass.

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Final picture is of ground interdiction over Italian contact line. Not overwhelming but needed to lower days of tactical ground attack.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 47
May 20, 1944

As I said before, victories are costly. And one anonymous quote summarizes it well.

'How many of these victories can we afford?'

Below is a picture of this. In the highlighted hex, (Red) Allies took it. Five attacks and the solider losses for Axis were 2439. Allies lost 4153. This is just a normal hex along contact line in Italy.

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Results for Italian line are as follows.
4 German withdraws drawn in green.
1 Hex won and occupied drawn in Red, shown before in previous picture.
2 hexes won but not able to be occupied. They are in black.
I did not highlight the British airborne unit in pink but it is still isolated; no success to connect but almost. I think Germany is going to abandon current line and fall back a couple hexes.

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Next picture is of D-Day. Something odd happened during it too. Airborne units assigned to an amphibious invasion are locked, along with their needed transports. Then they launch next turn after Axis logistic phase. However, since there was a Task Force close to the invasion site, along with Allied units on the Channel Island Jersey; system treated the airborne action like a ferry crossing. Meaning, airborne launched and landed in same turn. Both American units were successful. Both hexes were empty too and that was not a coincidence. I had been observing which hexes seemed empty in invasion site. Hoped to get one but both were empty so that convinced me to invade this turn. Following is picture of airborne action. Five transports were lost in this hex and the other lost 4. Hex referenced in airborne action is circled in pink.

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Next picture is of landing sites. There are five outlined in blue. I have the two airborne hexes circled in pink. Since they dropped this turn I was able to provide supply to them vie air transport.

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[kentkroeckel]

A topic I wanted to discuss today was the D-Day invasion. Allies used Five Task Forces. Why not eight?

Metalist has been reducing Allied amphibious pool rather effectively with Level bombers along, torpedo bombers, and finally patrol aircraft. Yet at this stage of the war the last two categories are not numerous. Taking it a step further, level bombers can be broken down into two subcategories. Naval only level bombers (NLB) and normal level bombers (LB). This last category for Axis, (LB) does not have much value because strategic bombing by Germany would be ineffective at this stage of the war. They could, and are, sometimes used in tactical bombing but by far the most value from what I have seen is their use alongside naval air assets of Germany.

Putting the above mentioned in context, Metalist has effectively, and I would add intelligently, used Axis air navel assets in the best possible way to impede Allies. Amphibious pool has cut from a traditional D-Day start of (307) to 138. Even the start pool for a 1943-1945 campaign game (257) is more than what it is now. Before American units get established on France, there is a good chance the pool may reach 100. This is magnificent for Germany and a clear display of strategic success for Metalist.

So back to the original question. The answer is obvious and simple. Not enough capacity to launch all invasions. The two Channel Islands were assaulted first so no capacity would be taken from main invasion. Moreover, not activating Germany response before main invasion. There is still one Task Force not used. Why? Capacity again. Notice how no followup units are not present. Answer is obvious. Now for a clarification. Better to have five landings than two with followup units. Can always bring in more units if hexes are captured. Key to success is Allies taking as many hexes on initial invasion. this was why airborne landings were so important.

Criticism from Metalist:
In previous game Metalist felt it was wasteful having British armor fighting in Italy. Better in France where terrain is ripe for breakout. Italy just offers mountains. Accurate but I would argue that if lack of naval capacity would delay British armor divisions by three months, then better to have them fighting somewhere. I am now referencing our current challenge. I feel British armor has benefited the Allied Italian campaign around Rome and its clear plain. Furthermore, I think September 1944 would be the soonest British armor could be utilized in France.

A final thought:
Having much of British resources in Mediterranean allows for a major invasion of France or even northern Italy. This action could really impact Axis resources, stretching them to the breaking point. This is why Allies will use Mulberry ports sparingly.

[Metalist]

Criticism from Metalist:
In previous game Metalist felt it was wasteful having British armor fighting in Italy. Better in France where terrain is ripe for breakout. Italy just offers mountains. Accurate but I would argue that if lack of naval capacity would delay British armor divisions by three months, then better to have them fighting somewhere. I am now referencing our current challenge. I feel British armor has benefited the Allied Italian campaign around Rome and its clear plain. Furthermore, I think September 1944 would be the soonest British armor could be utilized in France.

Since I have never played as Allies, I do not really know their capacities. If it is gonna take until September, using British armor in Italy seems to make sense. They do keep considerable amount of Axis mechanized units occupied.

Considering the fact that Kent picked the exact same location for the D-Day with our previous game, it is clear that I should have done better. I was especially keen on stopping its airborne units establishing immediate contact with invading ones but I moved one of my units to a meaningless spot, but of course that's just hindsight. Choosing Normandy as the invasion site means foregoing any quick breakout due to difficult terrain. But also it means the Germans won't be able to send them back to the sea for the same reason. As Allied interdiction levels will hurt more and more, it is just a matter of time Allies will be on their way to Paris. That said, I noticed that last 4 turns did hurt Allied air force: Number of combat ready aircraft decreases considerably. Luftwaffe seems to be replacing what it loses but in fact it is getting weakened due to lose of experienced pilots.

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Here I also put two screenshots from invasions of Italy, to show how it was on the other side of the hill.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 48
May 27, 1944

Weather is good in the sky and on ground for all theaters.

Amphibious pool is at 131.

Victory points for turn were -17 and game total is 294. first picture is of victory points.

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Next picture is of Axis air phase. Luftwaffe lost 216 while Allies lost 55. Take a look at picture below and you will see Germany lost 44 level bombers this turn. In this specific category the Axis tally loss is 2,524. It is highlighted in yellow. Starting in the summer of 1944 Axis production of level bombers drops off significantly.

Highlighted in blue is the total losses for Germany (15,388) and Allies (25,542).

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Next picture shows reserves of ready aircraft for German and Allies. It is highlighted in yellow but make note that is only ready aircraft. Allies (11,011) and Germany (2,568). Damaged but repairable aircraft are the following, which will be ultimately added. Axis 500 and Allies 800. The ratio of Allied workable aircraft is four to one against Axis.

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[kentkroeckel]

turn 48
May 27, 1944

Germany sent many aircraft for naval control and ground attack. Allies kept most of the sea hexes under control but close to shore the Luftwaffe created open sea hexes. even if they are not controlled by one side they are still costly for units to traverse or tracing supply through.

Germany was successful in creating ground interdiction on some beach hexes. One in particular was hammered. Allies had 9 but Axis had 7. There is no record of the attack but Germany was successful.

Germany took one amphibious hex. It is highlighted in purple.
Germany defeated amphibious invasion of Channel Island Guernsey. It is highlighted in purple.
Allies took the Channel Island Jersey. It is highlighted in blue.
Allies still control four amphibious hexes. They are highlighted in blue.
One amphibious invasion hex still remains.

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In Italy Germany withdrew from three hexes. I believe vigorous Allied attacks contributed to this. They are highlighted in green.

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Final picture shows the interdiction of sea and ground over French invasion site. Each hex in region is being suppressed by one or both sides.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 48
May 27, 1944

Total air losses for Axis were 597 while Allies were 1051. This is an advantage for Luftwaffe of 454. Sorties for Allied air phase were, Axis 6,833 and Allies 28,362 Metrics for air gives a little bit different figure. Metalist gave a figure for air before Allied replacements so that is why the German and Allies figures are different between his levels in graph and mine. Moreover, Gestapo helps in German charts so really cannot trust them. Ha.

First picture shows Allied air phase nearing 98% completion.

Auto naval has been highlighted in yellow. Notice that Germany is at zero in this category while Allies have 1092. Sorties have been highlighted in blue.

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Next picture shows results of Allied air phase. Notice the hexes in orange. those are Axis hexes that are isolated. Two of them are empty so will be occupied without fight. No air ground interdiction was place on them. This is using air well. One hex that will be invaded this turn is outlined in blue.

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Final picture is of Italy. Not so great interdiction but workable, given resources and terrain. vacated hexes are outlined in green. One hex in pink is airborne.

[kentkroeckel]

Turn 48
May 27, 1944

Allies are solidifying beach landing, taking Peninsula of Cherbourg. It is fortified at level 4 so will take time to reduce, even being isolated. Units and hexes around though have been liberated. First picture shows one hex attacked just once and captured. Look at how many planes were destroyed along with lost soldiers.

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Next picture shows combat results of hex that was attacked twice. A unit surrendered and still many aircraft lost. Even in ground phase many aircraft can be destroyed.

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In Italy there were many attacks. Below is chart and picture.
3 hexes Germany withdrew from. Hexes in green.
3 hexes attacked and occupied. Hexes in red.
3 hexes attacked but unable to occupy. Hexes in black.
1 hex of airborne. Hex is pink and brought into supply.

Picture shows red hex along west coast first (south) taken in combat. One attack shows German unit routed but also look at air losses, twenty. I looked at updated air losses and it shows nearly a hundred more German aircraft lost. This category goes unnoticed and only shows up in tally for total game aircraft losses.

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Final picture shows unit losses for turn 48. This reflects Allies merging armor brigades and Germany loosing flak and regiment units.

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[kentkroeckel]

Turn 49
June 3, 1944

The Allied Rome invasion was forced, since Allies had to obtain 10 hexes in Italy before February 1944. Otherwise, a -400 victory point penalty would have been inflicted. Same holds true for Northern France by July 1944. But this penalty is even larger -1,000 points. Very limiting for Allies.

Adding one more detail to this is the limiting production of amphibious points throughout game. 4 per turn. However, when the AI is Allied player it gets 6 amphibious points from 1944 on. I wish the human player for Allies could get this. It would help with game play balance.

All this being said, Allies are now forced to choose a path with the least amount of victory point loss. Axis (vengeance weapons) victory points are now doubled due to D-Day. About 5-10 per week. But this total is smaller compared to Allies being pushed off the coast of France, which is a distinct possibility. To compensate for this threat, Allied Command has decided to dedicate strategic bombing to ground assault. In fact all air assets are now being committed to that single goal despite game play wanting some strategic bombing being conducted.

First picture is of air engagements over D-Day.

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Next picture is of air engagements over Italy.

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Air losses were substantial for German air phase and combat. 311 for Axis and Allies lost 74. Below is chart.

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Weather is good over total campaign.

victory points for turn were -24 and game total is 270. American losses and others were accounting for most.

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