Fall Grau 2.29 Jeremy (Axis) vs. Chris (Allies)

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 14
The East is a brutal back and forth with the Allies pushing hard toward Mobile and Axis forces counter attacking to retrieve things. It is all roughly the original start lines when the turn ends with a lot of dead for both of us. I am still out ahead in terms of the spread, but it is minimal and I think it’s mainly driven by Allied air losses.

Chris is a huge fan of Interdiction, and I don’t think it is great in this scenario. I am not a fan of it for the Germans, but it is technically usable if used with care. The problem with the Germans is it is easy to get nearly helpless German bombers out beyond Axis air cover so you have to do this thing where you roughly align how far German bomber ranges are with the mostly short range German fighter coverage.

I think the situation is even worse for the Allies. Their fighters have been brutally slaughtered, now interdiction is basically flying without Allied fighter support, and the bombers are presumably being massacred. The air superiority numbers always really favour the Axis but it feels like its extreme this game. So I think a part of the spread is just the Allies are really having their Airforce dismantled.

Out in the West the Allies keep pulling back though I primarily stuck around Oklahoma resupplying with the newly captured supply point. A lot of the Panzer Grenadiers reformed back into full divisions this turn and raced west toward California. I’ll have to pull up soon this way as well but I think I can seize El Paso and Albuquerque first and then wait for the supply line to catch up.

With the westward push now well under way I land the Venezuelans just to take over rail coverage duty.

A full Corp. of Italians arrived at Vera Cruz which has fallen. I can’t really go to many places with them because the supply lines down here only go so far and I am waiting for Mexico to be fully cut off in any case. It is likely just going to be chasing around Guerilla’s for the foreseeable future. I realize I have a lot more Germans here then is really at all useful. Maybe it is time to get them to a port with an HQ and wait for them to resupply and get up to 100% readiness before transferring them back to the main front? Somehow when I was planning this campaign I thought I would need this contingent in the battle for Mexico but it really feels like the Italians are more than adequate. This will back up an already very backed up landing schedule however.

Kind of the same story in Central America. I am about to take the last City before the Panama Canal and yet I am not at all sure I can take the Panama Canal with the supply situation so abysmal. We allowed non port naval landings in this scenario so if that is the case then I will land a bunch of German Divisions near the Panama Canal and storm it while this whole army will be transported out via the canal to the main front.

Oklahoma = 57%

Axis forces resupply on captured supplies from Oklahoma

Jeraxisturn14.jpg (2.1 MiB) Viewed 530 times

[golden delicious]

I realize I have a lot more Germans here then is really at all useful. Maybe it is time to get them to a port with an HQ and wait for them to resupply and get up to 100% readiness before transferring them back to the main front? Somehow when I was planning this campaign I thought I would need this contingent in the battle for Mexico but it really feels like the Italians are more than adequate. This will back up an already very backed up landing schedule however.

They can walk. They'll get to your western rail line eventually and long before you run out of things to move by sea. Then they can take the train to wherever the railhead is by then

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

I realize I have a lot more Germans here then is really at all useful. Maybe it is time to get them to a port with an HQ and wait for them to resupply and get up to 100% readiness before transferring them back to the main front? Somehow when I was planning this campaign I thought I would need this contingent in the battle for Mexico but it really feels like the Italians are more than adequate. This will back up an already very backed up landing schedule however.

They can walk. They'll get to your western rail line eventually and long before you run out of things to move by sea. Then they can take the train to wherever the railhead is by then

Rail is really where the cap is found. Especially in a match where I decide that I am going to be extra focused on getting to the Far West.

Sea Transport is pretty abundant. Even with transporting all of these guys back and some other stuff as well that is coming up later it is hard to imagine that I fall behind by much more then a turn just because 24,000 is such a large number when we are primarily talking about Infantry.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 15
It is extreme out there. The Allies don’t attack even once this turn. The counterattack in the East is at least on pause. If I had to guess it is to preserve forces. Losses were jumping and the Allied replacement Rate has fallen pretty low. There could well be a plan to try and preserve the army. Losses have been heavy and it’s only turn 15.

As it stands my own offencive makes ground but at the cost of burning out Divisions rapidly. I am going to have to set up some kind of Division swapping scenario in the East where the burnt-out glowing red Divisions are pulled off the line and allowed to recuperate.

In the west my advance north remains on hold until Oklahoma’s supply has run out. A lot of the fast-moving units here are sent to the west since there is now new action there as I have found an Allied line of resistance from roughly Albuquerque south to around El Paso. I do not love this fight as it is at the very end of my supply line though at least here the supply line is growing closer.

Fighting south of the Mexican border is pretty much nonexistent at this point. A few minor clashes with the odd guerrilla unit or the mostly collapsing forces of some minor town. I am beginning to pull some of the German units back toward ports.

For the first time, since the beginning of the scenario, the spread does not move in my favour. It is zeroed out so while the losses went up for both of us the spread did not change. Not an issue if this is just an anomaly but I need to see numbers significantly in my favour for a good bit longer if I want to win this.

Strategic situation on turn 15

Jer Axis Turn STR 15.jpg (875.39 KiB) Viewed 487 times

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 16
It is turn 16 and there goes the National Guard Corp. There will be a little of this and a little of that for the Allies going forward but the west should be basically empty at this stage.

Heavy Allied counter attacks in the east disrupt my own attacks. I see something of an opening for the Fallchijager’s and do an airdrop that mostly works as far as it can but I think I maybe got to impatient here. I don’t have anything available to exploit this and it would not be that tough to deal me a reverse here of some kind. In retrospect I should have waited for a chance when I could follow up. My Go West strategy combined with the lack of engagement with the Allies has got me nervous and I jumped the gun here as I can’t find Allies I am really in a position to destroy.

Oklahoma is no longer a supply point and I can push forward a little bit further but not all that fair before my supply peters out. I do have one of the eastern rail repair units headed this way to pick up the pace a bit.

Mexico continues to be cleared. I’ll shut down sending Italians after the next corp. I don’t think I need any more in Mexico and don’t have much of a plan for them anywhere else at the moment.

Last city before the Panama Canal falls so its on to that attack.

Axis = 35 Allies = 110 Spread = 75

Axis attempt to exploit a break in the line east of the Mississippi

Jeraxisturn16.jpg (1.73 MiB) Viewed 430 times

[golden delicious]

Heavy Allied counter attacks in the east disrupt my own attacks. I see something of an opening for the Fallchijager’s and do an airdrop that mostly works as far as it can but I think I maybe got to impatient here. I don’t have anything available to exploit this and it would not be that tough to deal me a reverse here of some kind. In retrospect I should have waited for a chance when I could follow up. My Go West strategy combined with the lack of engagement with the Allies has got me nervous and I jumped the gun here as I can’t find Allies I am really in a position to destroy.

Mm. I think you're going to really want those paratroops to break into California- or even as a rapid reaction force moving between friendly airfields later on.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 17
I am punished for the weakness of my airdrop with one of the Italian and one German paratroop Divisions destroyed. I am able to counter attack and surround and destroy some Allied units here as well and when everything is said and done the spread is back to moving in my favour.

Nonetheless my forces in the East are surprisingly weak with units being pulled off the front I can barely find a Division per hex. With things mostly quiet west of the Mississippi I keep meaning to add more reinforcements here but it keeps not happening except for a Panzer Division. Last turn and this turn it was mainly the landing of SS Panzergrenadier’s which are slated to drive to the Pacific that use up all the sea transport. Though this turn there is also the movement of the first wave of 100% resupplied and full readiness Divisions back out of Mexico that is gobbling up yet more sea Transport.

The Allies appear to have used bombers to knock out a bridge in the West. It really curtails supplies but not to the point where any unit in the West is actually overextended. I should probably actually thank Chris for this as he reminds me to do more to defend the vulnerable supply line during a period when I am already too stretched to be doing much in the way of fighting. This could have been a whole lot worse. As it stands a shuffle around air units to try and get things better defended. I also make sure to have an Engineer on hand. I was also really lucky in that those SS Panzergrenadier Divisions I was landing – they have truly exceptional inherent rail repair capabilities. SS Panzer Grenadier Nord simply fixes the blow bridge, so supply should be back up next turn.

El Paso falls as do a number of places deep in Mexico though I am straining to conquer Chihuahua and have been forced to fight my way out of a trap in front of Guadalajara.

I think I am seeing the attrition on my units trying to get to the Panama Canal. It is starting to look iffy in terms of these units being able to take the Canal Zone.

An Allied counter attack closes the gap killing multiple Axis airborne divisions.

Jeraxisturn17.jpg (1.55 MiB) Viewed 381 times

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 18
I find myself back reading my turn 2 post to figure out what was the plan and how much it has gone fubar. It technically hasn’t – I should have gotten my rail line into El Paso this turn and I am about three turns before that happens but the plan gave a ton of leeway for some delays in extending the rail line west and this is not meaningfully behind schedule.

Really the problem is that Chris has massed massive numbers of Allies East of the Mississippi – I noticed a few hexes with 4 Divisions in them. With the Allies massed in this tight area there is no real chance of the Axis advancing which would be fine if it simply made it easier to strike at the Allies vitals else ware. The problem is I have one rail repair unit slowly working its way north to Oklahoma. My fast advance beyond El Paso toward Yuma does not really carry the same level of threat.

OK so I think maybe it is not quite as bad as all that but it is not great. I hit some kind of a line of resistance this turn extending north from the Arkansas River. Not sure if Chris will hold here or pull back again. He has made a point of withdrawing away from conflict in the West which is a problem for me given that my plan does not really have me pushing forward this way during this part of the match – ergo I’m not in conflict with the Allies and destroying their army nor am I grabbing all their wonderful Industrial cities if they refuse to fight.

Still some things can be somewhat mollified. I already pulled one rail repair unit from East of the Mississippi. It is currently spending the next three turns near Houston making a secondary rail route so that two bridges need to go down to cut the supplies but after that it can head up toward Oklahoma and speed up this rail repair.

In about four turns I’ll add another rail repair unit to the vicinity of Oklahoma and points beyond. This one comes from the one I still have East of the Mississippi which is repairing the last hex I can see that could be fixed for any of my back and forth offencives. Given that I don’t see me advancing very far for some time to come here I can afford to stop rail repair in this area. This one won’t be in the vicinity of Oklahoma for four turns as well but once that does happen I have 3 rail repair expanding the line. I was going to turn west and go through Tulsa but if I make a small modification and instead push the supply line north to Wichita I get well within range of Omaha and its rail repair unit and that would give us 4 rail repair units to push toward St. Louis and Chicago with. With that Chris will be forced to fight with me or start losing valuable real estate.

I mention air defences above and this is really about making sure that the Allies can’t cut the rail line down near Houston and send the entire west into over extended supply. Along with some reinforcements in air defence into the area I actually think the supply lines are going to be better defended than average. A lot of that has to do with the interdiction campaign Chris has been running. I strongly suspect that it has resulted in the bombers getting particularly mauled because they often end up fighting without fighter support. It is already pretty tough to knock out a bridge with a fully supplied full strength Bomber never mind with ones that have been thoroughly worked over.

I also pushed that a bit this turn with a series of airfield attacks meant to put even more pressure on Allied air power on the only airfields that might be able to provide some kind of fighter cover to the bombers (though I really don’t think there are any Allied fighters outside of the Lightnings that could cover the bombers in these bridge attacks).

OK so looking this over and I think this still works even if there is this period of taking pressure off the Allies that I really don’t like. I am developing a threat up around Oklahoma that will eventually manifest itself. Also, as I get toward El Paso my supplies up toward Albuquerque are improving. I am already turning the southern flank as I push toward the West but will eventually be able to start really pushing on Albuquerque itself. I can also transport a division and a half of Infantry out this way a turn freeing up the Mechanized Infantry. Plus, I am about to blitz and cut Mexico off and eventually I threaten San Diego and Los Angeles. I hate how long this is taking and do wonder if I should have shifted the rail repair out of the East 3 or 4 turns ago, but I will at least be able to start developing threats in the not too distant future.

In other news the area East of the Mississippi still not getting much in the way of reinforcements, partly because German units keep flowing out of Mexico but the real story here is 6 German Infantry Divisions and 2 German HQs are slated for a landing near the Panama Canal.

I looked at the forces that fought their way south in Central America and the overextend on the supply line on forces that have already used up about half their supplies makes me think there is no chance I can succeed in taking the Canal Zone. I do think fully supplied German Infantry should be able to do it. I brought down two of the really long range German fighters because I can only cover 1 hex of the landing with the Chilean Fleet and the German troops on the coast are super vulnerable. I am just hoping that the distance is so great to the Canal Zone from the USA that any bombers that can make it all the way down here don’t really have much of an opportunity to bomb these transports.

The Allied defence along the Arkansas River

Jeraxisturn18.jpg (1.45 MiB) Viewed 331 times

[golden delicious]

Really the problem is that Chris has massed massive numbers of Allies East of the Mississippi – I noticed a few hexes with 4 Divisions in them.

Thinking about it, if the Allies can be kept concentrated here and with the west wide open, it's very likely that any troops that need to transfer out of here will need 2 turns of rail lift to get to California. The Allies have a lot of rail lift but there is a limit and if they suddenly find they need everything to be on the Pacific it's going to be a slow process to move it all over.

This is the high water mark of Allied strength for the early game, with all their starting troops and early reinforcements on the line, so it's not a surprise that Jeremy is feeling a bit at a loss. With the cities Jeremy has taken, Allied replacements are at a medium-low but that will change on turn 20, starting the clock for the Axis to make more progress. Albuquerque alone won't be enough to stop Allied industry recovering, and it will take far longer to get to Los Angeles. Jeremy will have to find some near-term wins somehow, either by slugging it out with the Allies in the southeast (probably a good move this early in the game) or pushing for other cities in the centre like St. Louis or Denver.