Ultradave(WA) vs scout1(Ger), '44 D-Day Start, Turn 33 -Jan 9th, 45

[ultradave]

Advances continue with the beach head expanding inland from Amsterdam. The US 17th Abn Division drops just to the west of Arnhem but can't take the city. The British push northeast to attempt to link up with the beachhead in Holland. The French 1FF Corps takes Bordeaux finally. Tough defenders there. Pictures of the Italian front and the Western Front.

[ultradave]

Western Front:

[scout1]

Aren't we having fun with our Airborne units ....... ? Don't these guys need to go rest for months on end before next operations ?
We all know they aren't terribly bright .... [:D]

[ultradave]

They did. They've been lounging around the English countryside since being withdrawn from France around August? or so. Wanted them recovered for exactly this reason. Late in the war now with fleets of transport aircraft, using them like this just about doubled the size of the turn 1 invasion force. And saved the 17th for a little adventure to expand the invasion a bit. I did lose one regiment of the 101st on the drop, but other than that it went well.

I will give you that you do have to be a bit off to combat jump for a living. After I left the Army I had no desire to ever do it again. After all they paid me extra to risk my life. After that I wasn't going to pay someone else for that privilege. That and doing it for work, with 100lbs of equipment takes some (all) of the fun out of jumping.

[ultradave]

Good progress expanding the "beachhead" in Holland. Rotterdam falls to the Allies, and the now US 15th Army (3 US Corps with the 1FF Corps attached) pushes south and east. Slow going due to tough winter weather.

The British 2d Army liberates Brussels, and progress is made all along the front, especially by Patton's armored divisions in the center of the front. Again, slow going because of winter weather. The 1FF Army goes about the business of liberating the south of France, slowly but surely.

[ultradave]

Meanwhile, in Italy, where it is at least not snowing, except in the high mountains in the center, both the Americans on the west coast and British on the east coast continue to push up the coasts.

[chaos45]

The German western front is looking pretty battered and shaky what turn are you guys on?

[ultradave]

It's turn 36, D-Day start scenario, It's January 30th, 1945.

I've been steadily battering it and looking for openings. Moving the armored divisions/corps around to make a breakthrough or at least make Scott run around plugging the holes. With the winter weather, I've punched holes but not had the remaining movement points to really exploit the gaps I made. I think when the snow stops thing will be easier.

I feel pretty good that my Holland invasion went well and I was able to bring ashore a full army in his rear (although its not so much in his rear now as they are almost able to link up with the British 2d Army.

[scout1]

shaky is an understatement

[ultradave]

February 6th now and the Allies have been pushing hard through the winter. British 2d Army links up with US 15th Army invasion forces in Holland and liberates Antwerp along the way.

Antwerp Rotterdam and Amsterdam all in Allied hands now. The US 17th Abn takes Arnhem and forces push inland.

Not much happened in Italy. A couple of hexes won.

[ultradave]

Quite a bit of progress made in the northern part of the front - Holland and the British 2d Army sector, which are now linked up. The US 15th Army with the addition of a FF Corps push east, along with doing some reorg. (Had to free up a US Corps HQ and send it to Holland to even out the command structure). Slow going in Holland but the help of the British 2d Army from the south is breaking the dam (so to speak). There is a large pocket of routed German units east of the 15th Army and northeast of the British 2d Army.

The remainder of the Free French go about their business liberating the south of France. Supply and railroad repair are working pretty well now, with major lines repaired right to the front.

First picture shows the Western Front from Holland to the Swiss border, and also shows "The Russians are Coming!"

Second shows a closer view of the northern part of the front. I'm very pleased with how the amphibious/airborne invasion of Holland went. I was able to very quickly bring ashore a lot of reinforcements and push out from the beaches and ports.

[ultradave]

Western Front

[ultradave]

Just a little taunt in good fun to remind Scott who he's dealing with

[ultradave]

Steady progress and a nice breakthrough by the 3rd Army. The winter weather makes it tough to exploit much though. The 15th Army in Holland pushes east while the British 2d Army pusher north and east. Didn't take a picture in Italy. Made some progress there but it was really because Scott appears to be falling back to a new defensive line to the north.

[scout1]

There's some serious BUTT WHOOP'IN about to occur and I think it's mine .......

[ultradave]

Yes. The Allies have been pushing all winter and this turn caused some major carnage in the north. The US 15th Army, the 1st Allied Abn Army and the British 2d Army (the British 21st Army Group) liberate the rest of Holland rout the entire northern part of the German front and break through in the north hooking around to the industrial cities of Germany. A little farther south, the 1st Cdn Army and the US 3rd Army find the progress a little tougher to come by but still make good progress. Patton's 3rd Army is split into a more manageable 3rd Army heavy on armor and the new US 9th Army. Should have done this sooner. Both are under Bradley's 12th Army Group. First picture shows the rout of German forces in Holland and northern Germany.


[edited picture to show the re-run turn. Windows crash just as I was finishing the turn. This pretty much looks the same. Slight differences in position. Not quite as many routed units because I shattered a few more than the first time. This one looked like it uploaded just fine]

[ultradave]

The southern half of the front to almost the Swiss border This picture pretty much buts up to the previous one north to south.

[ultradave]

And last but not least the Italian Front, where the Allies are making steady progress, partly due to the Germans making a fighting retreat, leaving some sacrificial units out front to slow me down. I have not committed as many forces to the Mediterranian region as probably was done in real life - just enough to make slow and steady progress. Some units were removed from Italy early and sent to England to prepare for the Holland invasion. I wanted to come ashore in Holland with plenty of strength and a steady stream of reinforcements to push hard into Germany.

[ultradave]

Well, it looks like I may have to do this turn over. My Windows has gone bezerk and is nothing but a black screen and a cursor jumping around. I don't think the file got uploaded and I had to restart Windows. So back to redo everything. Damn I hate Windows.

[Q-Ball]

It's a mistake, IMO, to be defending that far south in Italy. Italy is a sideshow once Rome falls, as the Germans I think you are better off pulling back to the Gothic Line, using mountains to hold the line, and diverting as much as possible to where it really matters....France and Germany.

By 1945, there is no reason to not be pulling back to the Austrian border, particularly with Germany under threat. The Austrian border is really tough terrain, and can be held cheaply, allowing German to send a whole army to the Ruhr area.