Operation Sledgehammer ’43

[TankBushido]

Turn 55:
The Germans in Marseilles finally surrender. The flood into the Po Valley looks imminent. I’ve probably been too methodical here, but I don’t really have a good supply situation. Over the last several turns I shipped a rail repair unit from Central Italy so that I can repair a rail line to the valley.

[TankBushido]

In the Belfort area, infantry arrives and I move adjacent to the Rhein River. My artillery can now fire into Germany. I make sure to secure a lodgement on the eastern side of the Moselle River.

[TankBushido]

But the big news is in NE France where a blow a 20 mile wide gap in the German line and Allied armor motors deep into the German rear areas, taking Arras and threatening to surround the entire north side of the German front. The Germans really have no reserves; there are just HQ units behind the main front line.

[John B.]

You have to ask yourself. If you could choose between drinking looted wine in central Italy or fighting a losing war high up in the Alps, which would you choose?

[TankBushido]

Turn 56:
Allied troops march into Turin unopposed, next stop Milan. German forces around Imperia on the south coast are surrounded. No fighting at all this turn in the south; this is all just maneuver.

[TankBushido]

In France, the Germans pulled back to a line running from the Belgium border SE to Lorraine. I take Dieppe and generally just advance east into open space.

[TankBushido]

Turn 57:
In France, I attempt to attack the line in the north on the run. My infantry moved up and attacked the line, but the Germans had several mobile divisions in reserve so it was not a quick breakthrough. I was only able to clear and occupy two hexes east near Brussels. I’m not helped by some rain and mud which the forecast predicts will persist next week as well.

[TankBushido]

In Northern Italy, German reinforcements are spotted in the Po Valley so I pull back into a more defensible perimeter until I can bring up the main body of my forces who have surrounded a pocket of Germans around the port of Imperia, which I take to isolate them.

[TankBushido]

The Germans also shift their defensive line in Southern Italy. So I advance into the mountains around Cassino and surround an elite Airborne division in parked in a port on the Adriatic coast.

[TankBushido]

Turn 58:
I push in Belgium again trying to make a breakout, but am only able to advance two hexes again and can’t make a deeper breakthrough. I’m struggling with what to do with all those ports on the north coast which I want to clear, but are dispersing my strength. The Germans are dropping one or more infantry division in every port. I can easily reduce one a turn which I have done up to this point (with Le Harve being the only exception), but that’s at the cost of the main focus of my advance. At the same time, they are racking up city points which has my city VP rising every turn and they have the added benefit of providing supply points very close to the front . I’m not sure if I’ve made the right balance of forces in dealing with them; the cost/benefit isn’t totally clear.

[TankBushido]

Further south, I begin a push in the northeasterly direction towards Metz, but am only able to take one hex near Verdun. Again, I don’t have enough movement points for a full breakout. The light mud isn’t helping matters. These late July rains are hampering my progress and I feel like I’ve lost a lot of momentum.

[TankBushido]

In Northern Italy, the Imperia pocket is almost reduced. Once that’s clear next turn, I will resume my general advance in the Po Valley and continue to push eastwards. There has been a force of Germans still hanging out in the Alps and I deploy forces to screen them away for Turin. Their rail line is now cut so hopefully they will exfiltrate out of the mountains on their own in a few turns.

[TankBushido]

In Central Italy, I am able to force a surrender of the 3rd Fsjr division on the Adriatic coast. There is another Fsjr regiment in another port on the west coast, but my forces bypass it and push up the Liri Valley towards Rome.

[TankBushido]

Turn 59:
I’ve been reorganizing sectors on the fly and have been methodically reorganizing my front lin. For sectors that I’m not actively trying to push forward, I have the front covered by regiments and brigades from broken down divisions with a full division in reserve behind the front line. This equates to 4 divisions per corp, which maxes out the 11 admin points per corps HQ unit. This has allowed me to concentrate more forces on my two main axis’ of attack in northern Europe, which roughly matches the historical advance paths: one through Belgium with an aim to cross the Rhine north of the Ruhr and the second in the Metz area aimed northeast toward the Saar region of Germany.

Generally, the AI has been inert and hasn’t been attacking, but has attacked in a few places and I’ve been able to hole wherever he attacks.

In Belgium and northern France, I am able to make a deeper break through south of Brussels. Also, I’m able to clear the port of Dunkirk.

[TankBushido]

In the southern sector of France, I create a break through east of Nancy and push north adjacent to Metz. Another small hole in the line in created south of Verdun.

[TankBushido]

In northern Italy, I force a surrender of the troops surrounded near Imperia on the coast. The rail line has been repaired up to Turin and with the corps on the coast now freed up, I’m ready for a big push east for the next two turns.

[TankBushido]

In central Italy, I march into Rome and march through the mountains. I suspect the German blocking troops will be fully pulling back to northern Italy soon.

[TankBushido]

Turn 60:
As a result of my recent gains, I’ve reached a tipping point for victory points. Part of this is just that I’ve been accumulating a lot of city points such as my recent capture of Rome and my ever accumulation of ports on France’s western coast (which I have a corps methodically port busting to capture them all). Another aspect is that I’ve been overrunning V-weapon launch sites. Regardless, the turn-by-turn VP situation is looking pretty good with still four months left until the VP divisors change.

[TankBushido]

Here’s German defenses at the start of the turn. The Germans have defended the bulge south of Brussels, but have a few regiments being annoyingly blocking full access to the bulge. In the south, two divisions are ripe for encirclement at Nancy.

[TankBushido]

I expand the bulge and get a bridgehead across one of the rivers, but still need to get across the Albert Canal. This advance is looking very much like Market Garden, only without the airborne drops. I starting to shift more infantry into the bulge, so I think I’ll be able to break out next turn.