1943-1945 Campaign

[kentkroeckel]

Thank you for your comment Mr. Liquid Sky. My bad for not stating clearly on what each category is. WitW is of a scale such that very little of it ever gets near tactical in production. I suppose aircraft would be the nearest though. Any way, when I sometimes write armor division, I am including it as in the broad term. Such as "mechanized", not intending to break down the type of units attacking. Mechanized, motorized, and armor I use interchangeable. For example I will often refer to an armored attack that has mechanized infantry or motorized units in it. Special ground units can be for airborne, commando, or mountain.

For Allies as well as Germany, special ground units have higher morale. Another category, special only to Germany is SS units. They too have elevated Morale. But here too there is an exception. Non elite SS units. Those not fully black.

Right now I do not think Mr. Bimmler has any issue in Northern Italy. Plenty of hexes left to slowly withdraw from. I think Germany will be fine when the snow returns to Italy.

Best wishes from Kent to all of you.
PS: Thank You for you comments; it enriches thread with your wonderful insights. I truly believe it helps the gaming community of WitW too.

[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

The game is getting close to a potential crescendo; The Allied invasion of Europe. I would prefer that, rather than a catastrophe. Ha.

Victory points for turn were 3 and game total is 246.

Rain is over whole map with light mud everywhere. Water level is 3-5.

Germany did no attacks in Italy but withdrew a few hexes. I have red zones where contact line hexes have been vacated. Green shows where line is stagnate.

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First picture is of Malta air headquarters. Their fighter bombers are made of support nationalities. They are trained as bombers but still, have suffered great morale reduction so I am going to rest them this turn, and probibly until D-Day. The Italian contact line has moved back so not much advantage to attack anyway this turn. Morale levels are from 19 - 34.

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Next picture is the same story but for Tactical headquarters (Air). Levels are 19 - 22.

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Final picture is of Tactical headquarters but for their specific tactical fighter bombers. 19 - 24 level.

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Another detail is that I have converted ten American fighter wings from fighter to bomber since the air campaign that Mr. Bimmler is conducting with Germany is not that aggressive. Of course this could change when D-Day happens but I am assuming this will not be the case.

Weather for the next turn is predicted to be dry in the sky over the whole map so I am going to rest the entire air campaign. Level bombers and their escorts were in okay shape but why not rest them on a rain week so as to have them perfect for the clear weather next week, when it could count. D-Day may happen then.

[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

Wanted to show how the ground phase went in Italy. pretty good really. Allies took the empty hexes but also was able to capture additional hexes. Following is new contact line. green is static while red areas are advancement.

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First hex I want to show was surrounded by empty hexes. Taking it helped advance the contact line. The hex took seven attacks to secure and I want to show all of them. This gives a good display into how fierce the fighting is. Below is first attack. And as usual, Allies lost the most.

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Second attack; with moderate losses.

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Third attack; with minimal losses. Notice how the odds have been bad for the Allies up to this point.

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

Attack four: Minimal losses.

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Attack five: On this attack Allies lost substantially.

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Attack six: Down to minimal losses despite odds being continually challenging.

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Attack seven: Victory over the hex and it was also occupied. Germany lost a bit on this too; six hundred soldiers. This is the first time odds were in favor of Allies.

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

I forgot to show on the contact line where a unit had surrendered. It was an Italian SS regiment.

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It took two attacks to force capitulation. It had been on a mountain hex (Yellow arrow) but moved away from front and onto a rough hex.

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First attack was a minimal one.

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Second attack forced a complete collapse of unit.

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

I want to balance out what I am showing because it looks like Allies are winning all the time. This is not the case and only about one out of five attacks are victorious. Meaning, defeating a hex. Below is a hex the Allies attacked four times. But here is the important part. The hex was not defeated yet many soldiers and much equipment was lost.

Attack one:

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Attack two:

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Attack three:

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Attack four:

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

Following is an attack that took only one time to take the hex. Germany lost a lot in this too. In yellow I circled the 14 artillery points and 20 engineer points.

What is really interesting about this attack is the breakdown of odds. Because of all these special units, the odds went up for the Allied attack. From 193 to 457. (Underlined in blue) That is not common. Usually, the point base gets reduced. For example, look what happened to Axis force. It went from 109 to 71; which is the normal way things progress. The 90 Panzer Grenadier routed.

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My next picture is a hex that was attacked many times. Please take a look at how the odds were dramatically changed due to fort reduction and special units. 22 artillery, 15 engineers, and finally 59 infantry special points. Losses on both sides were huge.

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Second attack was still a massive conflict. Again, look at the odds and modifications. Armored vehicles were heavily destroyed.

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In the third attack much was reduced, as if the battle was over, but it was not. By the way, this was the main concentration of Allied attacks this turn.

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

The Allied hope is that with this hex taken, this sector of the Italian contact line will be broken. This will also remove the final remaining adjoining mountain hexes.

Attack four: A pickup in losses for both sides.

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Attack five: Minimal engagement.

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Attack six: Increased losses.

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Attack seven: Allies look to be done in attacks. Odds are also bad for Allies.

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[kentkroeckel]

May 20, 1944.

Attack eight: Allies are still going after it.

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Attack nine: Heavy losses in attack for both sides. Notice how Allies have artillery again (35). The odds are now in favor of the Allies too.

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Attack ten: Losses for both sides. What is interesting is the odds. Allies have bad odds but German division has lost so much that it still looses. I think the depletion also contributed to it being routed too.

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Final picture is of Italian map without any units. I have lettered mountain hexes with a yellow M. Green represents Allied avenues of attack. They are almost past the Italian mountains of northern Italy. Just patches now that are in the process of being isolated. Getting past this difficult terrain will help the Allied advance and present options.

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