War in the West Campaign 43 Allied AAR

[marion61]

Turn 93 North

The heavy rains have not let up for several turns. I've moved my armor into positions to exploit any openings the infantry make. The area of the front I want to break thru is where I have my armored units stacked just behind the lines. If the rains don't let up by next turn I will start my attack anyway. I've fallen behind in my time table from all the rain in March and April.

[marion61]

Turn 93 South

II Corps pushes an armored division to just outside of Venice, cutting off those axis divisions on the east coast south of II Corps. The weather was clear in the area and although I had closed the pocket during the mud turns, this turn made sure those units in the Carpi Pocket didn't escape. One good push on my northern flank would stop the entire drive for 6th AG, since I have very few units protecting my supply lines. Most of my goals in Italy are complete except for mopping up and taking Venice.

[marion61]

Turn 94 North

I decided not to wait another turn for the rains to let up. Most of my infantry assaults routed the axis defenders. 21st BAG armor poured thru the breach, with 9th Army taking Bremen, 1st Canadian Army and 2nd British Army almost taking Hannover and cutting rail lines behind the lines. I've flow all the freight missions to those lead units as possible so I can keep the pressure on.

2nd British Army and 3rd Army push thru the Ruhr and cut the rails all the way to Paderborn. I'm hoping with the flown in supply they are getting that they can finish encircling those units caught in the Dortmund Pocket.

[marion61]

Turn 94 South

Axis units around Venice did manage to counter-attack my armored division outside the city and caused them to rout. It did have very high fatigue, but it accomplished it's mission by isolating those axis units south of Venice. This turn I had sufficient supply to make sure those units isolated now stay that way. I may just turn Italy into a POW camp since there is no way to make them all surrender before the game ends. As thin as my lines are, pushing much further is pointless.

[marion61]

Turn 95 North

9th Army liberated their first allied POW camp and out of a camp of over 3000 men, only one wasn't a paratrooper! I've lost several divisions of paratroopers this game to risky operations.

My closest unit to the Berlin victory hex is still 16 hexes. I'm not meeting a lot of resistance, but the light mud has slowed my armor. If I get a clear turn I may still be able to beat the Russian's who are 11 hexes from the victory hex. Closed the large pocket around Dortmund, but those are good units inside the city with depots.

1st Army isn't shown on this map, but they are cutting in behind Frankfurt and thru Fulda. 3rd Army has finally finished mopping up around Aachen.

[marion61]

Turn 95 South

Not a lot of action in this theater, mainly mopping up before the final surrender. I would like to isolate those units SW of Trento. The clear weather down here sealed up Italy. I wish I hadn't committed so many forces to Italy, and when I did realize it it was too late to see that it had cost me an early victory in Germany. If I'd had the extra armored divisions from 5th Army I would have made better progress. I was trying to knock Italy out quick, but that didn't happen and I should have committed them elsewhere. Live and learn.

[Banquet]

Very interesting AAR - thanks for posting. I'm still reading through it but one question that springs to mind is what are the rules about moving air units and how quickly they become functional again? Do air units moved from one base to another become fully function on the next turn, or is there a delay? Is the delay greater if they are moved onto a airbase 'liberated' from enemy control, and are air ops affected by airfield damage?

[marion61]

ORIGINAL: Banquet

Very interesting AAR - thanks for posting. I'm still reading through it but one question that springs to mind is what are the rules about moving air units and how quickly they become functional again? Do air units moved from one base to another become fully function on the next turn, or is there a delay? Is the delay greater if they are moved onto a airbase 'liberated' from enemy control, and are air ops affected by airfield damage?

Moving air units to friendly bases depends on the range of the aircraft and if they have flown that turn yet or not. The turn they move into an airbase they may not have the supply or support to continue operations for a turn or so depending on the supply to the air base and what you set their supply priority to, with 4 sending what that base or those bases with a 4 priority need that turn. So when you move aircraft you will see some delay before all the groups become operational again. I will add that if you move them in the start of the air phase that they have the supply/ammo/support from the base they are leaving and will conduct operations that turn so long as it has the range after moving.

There is no delay due to just being liberated, the delay will come from how much supply/ammo/support the base needs. Airfield damage does affect operations and of course a base that is 100% damaged cannot conduct operations until repaired.

[marion61]

Turn 96 North Germany

I'm trying to squeeze all the supply I can from the system, but I can't get my depots closer until the rail yards get repaired, except where a port is near. I did capture Wilhemshaven and crossed the Elbe river north of Hamburg this turn. My infantry is making more ground than my armored units. The light mud is tough on movement and they are running low on supplies to conduct any huge operations this turn. The Russian's didn't move forward this turn and I think I only gained about a hex to Berlin this turn. Weather has been rain since the 1st week of March.

[marion61]

Turn 96 South Germany

Unless something significant happens in Italy my pictures will show Germany until the game ends.

I did create as many depots as I could this turn. I should have pulled a RR unit out of Italy to help in France/Germany for I could use another one now. I decided that capturing Frankfort was not a priority for XV Corps so I stopped their advance and moved them to cover 3rd Armies flank towards Berlin. 7th Army made a few small gains down further south.

[marion61]

Start of turn 97 ground loses.

[marion61]

Turn 97 air loses.

[marion61]

Turn 97 Germany

If I could get just one clear turn in Germany I would be in Berlin in two turns. No matter how it ends now it's a draw against the AI this time.

[marion61]

Turn 98 Germany

The Western Allies decided that since the French were not allowed to take Paris, that they could take Berlin and end the war! My lead French Mech. Division is 3 hexes from the objective. Hopefully this turn will be clear again. The weather kept me from making progress for almost two months.

Italy is being cleared slowly and I have no further offensive actions planned there.

Most of my strategic bombing destroyed so many fuel/oil resources that even though the Axis still had planes, they couldn't get off the ground due to no fuel. This started consistently about 10 turns ago although the sorties they were putting up were each turn was less and less before this. Now they aren't flying any ground support missions.

[marion61]

End Game Victory Screen.

[marion61]

End game ground losses.

[marion61]

End Game OOB.

[marion61]

Turn 99 End Game

I pushed my units to take as many cities and to cause as many surrenders as possible before I moved the French into Berlin. The streets no longer run with blood, as thousands of french troops are Qui, Quing in Berlin now!

The weather for almost two months caused me delays which cost me the time penalty. I could have pushed during the mud, but most of my units had been in constant combat since they had landed and they needed the supplies and fatigue to catch up. It's no cake walk for the Allies to win, like it was when I started this beta. The AI improvements are great and there are so many invasion strategies to be made that the playability is there too. I honestly have only played the Axis once, but I found it easier to learn from the Allied side first. Then I played as fast as possible most games so that the engine could be tested.

I did make one large strategic blunder and that was not taking 5th Army (or 8th Army) out of Italy a lot sooner to help with taking France and Germany. This was the 1st game I've played that I didn't move them to France, because I wanted to see how far I could go this game into Italy. If I had taken them out of Italy sooner, I would have had a better chance to get a minor victory.

I've enjoyed doing this AAR and this beta. I'm glad I can contribute to a game I've waited for since I was 12 and got my first Avalon Hill board game! Thanks for the game!

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks Meklore61, great AAR!

[SigUp]

Must say the VP conditions look good. Surprised to see you being very close to a German minor victory. Thought it was going to be an Allied victory for sure with the way you were running the Germans off the map. Also a good change from WITE where it was solely terrain driven (and in the original 1941-45 campaign - not the 260 one - it was a major Soviet victory when the Soviet player managed to capture Berlin around the historical date).