Expanded Allied Air HQ

[kentkroeckel]

Mixed results. Total losses for turn are: 334 for Germany and 569 for Allies. Luftwaffe advantage of 235.

Workable but the hex interdiction went way down and that is most critical. I do not have an answer. Perhaps planes attacked ground units instead of creating interdiction.

I thought there would be a withdraw of German units from Boot of Italy but not the case. Following are reconnaissance pictures.

Sicily.

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Boot of Italy.

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Invasion area.

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Interdiction level.

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Allied Command is feeling uncomfortable, as the whole invasion site has been surrounded.

[kentkroeckel]

Wow, is all I have got to say. In the invasion area Allies did many attacks but most failed. However, there were important ones that resulted in the beachhead being linked up except for one location. It is a start at least.

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Biggest surprise came down south, on Sicily. I had hoped for a weakened port garrison of Reggio, which connects to Messina. Since three of my Task Forces have no purpose, Two from taking a port city and one failing to take Civitavecchia, I was able to use them for ferry duty. Odds looked close but Allies are desperate.

First attack. Route and failure.

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Second attack. Success.

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Final picture is of Allied units taking up position on Italian Toe.

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I found this turn mentally draining. Metalist is not giving a hex of Italy without engagement.

[kentkroeckel]

After last week I have decided to change format of amphibious ship status. The pool level is all that matters so for now on I will just give that number unless there is a dramatic weekly losses due to combat.

Initial campaign level is 250 (rounded) so that is Allied goal to maintain. 200 is workable but 150 amphibious level impacts Allies substantially. Just going down to 215 this last turn impacted Allies. Sea movement was maxed well before planned movement was accomplished.

I did not display sortie totals for last turn so here they are. Axis were around 3,000 and Allies around 22,000. Notably, Germany did not perform much air see naval activity during Allied phase.

Turn was so intense I forgot to look at what the weather was to be for next week. However, WitW has a generic system so I think I know what it will be. Lacks variety. Often, many weeks go by with same weather. I would equate it to seasonal weather rather than weekly variations.

[kentkroeckel]

January 29, 1943

Decided to call this a German phase since it deals with Germany.

Victory points. Turn was -3 and game total is 490. Below is picture showing breakdown.

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European weather: Snow in air and on ground. Ha.
Mediterranean weather: Rain in air and light mud on ground. Water level is 4.

Amphibious ship pool: 214

Air losses for Axis phase are: 198 Luftwaffe and 74 Allies. Below is Axis air engagement.

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Next picture shows interdiction of land and sea.

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Germany did one ground attack, which was successful. This solidified northern line of invasion site for Axis. A full armored division and brigade participated in it. There is 18 combat value in this hex. However, this gained hex will not have a fortification it. Clear terrain also. Allies want to counter attack it. Below is picture of it.

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[kentkroeckel]

It took some time to do just the air phase because each mission needs to be analyzed. That means bomb load out, fuel, and target. For example, air superiority aircraft that are stationed on invasion beach do not need extra fuel. Some hexes that are being ground attacked near Sicily are just two hexes away. Heavy bomb load. This is why all ground attack aircraft are set for 25 sorties a day. After this post I will run Allied air phase.

First picture is of reconnaissance setup.

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Next picture is of ground attack in Mediterranean. Switched many level bombers to ground attack instead of rail and depot / supply destruction. Meaning of sequence, unit then ground interdiction.

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Final picture is of European ground attack by level bombers. In this case all are set for rail and depot / supply destruction.

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[kentkroeckel]

Dismal results. Air interdiction on invasion area is minimal. The one isolated landing beach is good though. Italian Toe had reasonable ground interdiction. First picture shows this.

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Next picture shows how Germany has not retreated at all in southern Italy.

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Final picture is of beach and below.

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Air results: Axis lost a total of 281 and Allies lost 565. Luftwaffe advantage of 284.

Level bombing ground attack at this range, altitude, and rain is having little effect.

[kentkroeckel]

Allies are progressing exactly how Germany (Metalist) wants them too in Invasion zone. Four hexes were given to Allies and one was taken, though in a predictable location. Below is picture of results.

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Next picture shows German locations that were attacked. All but one failed. Yet there was considerable reduction to the defending Axis units. Most are division level too.

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Air engagement during Allied phase is next.

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Italian Toe: Germany has significant forces there to contain Allies until enough units transfer over to Mainland.

Air Assault: Reconnaissance did not show German unit at neck of toe so an attempt was made to cut off Axis units. Of course there was a unit there, which resulted in destruction of airborne unit. Damn. Ha. Final picture shows number of air engagements on Toe.

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[kentkroeckel]

February 5, 1944.

Victory Points: Turn was -24 and game total is 466. This week was difficult for Allies. I have included picture of it.

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Next picture is of air losses. Axis losses 128 and Allies 50. Axis were able to isolate northern beach by sea despite weather. Impressive!

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I wanted to show ground attack by German. It routed Allied unit.

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Final picture is of lost units by both sides on this turn.

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Amphibious pool has stabilized, with 216. Reinforcements are equal to losses. However, pool is not growing.

[kentkroeckel]

Air weather for Europe is heavy rain so all missions are on rest.

Morale and fatigue is a problem for ground missions so they too are on rest. This includes Italy. Reconnaissance, transport, naval, and air superiority are active.

total air losses are: 134 for Axis and 103 for Allies.

German sea control of isolated landing has been restored. below is picture.

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Next picture shows Toe and the lack of Axis air presence, except for Axis transport supply.

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[kentkroeckel]

Many ground attacks but no success. German units were reduced but they will be built up next week. First picture is of landing beach.

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Next is attack results.

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Picture of Italian Toe.

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Results of attacks.

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This turn summarized for Allies, unproductive.

Terrain, weather, and strong Axis units. However, just as Allies had to get ashore by February, 1944 to prevent 400 point penalty; Germany needs to meet garrison enlargement on March 1, 1944. Meanwhile, withdraws are still happening too for Germany.

[kentkroeckel]

February 12, 1944

Axis air phase: Luftwaffe lost 166 while Allies lost 66. Below is engagement picture.

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Victory points: Turn was -15 while game total is 451. Each turn now is probability going to be negative. Meaning, in favor of Germany. Below is chart.

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Germany attacked once. Very successful too. The isolated landing zone is withering under supply issues and Task Force bombardment. this is how Metalist destroys Allied naval capacity. Yet at this point I am not going to give it up because this thorn (landing site) is consuming Axis resources that could otherwise being sent to main invasion site. Below is picture of engagement hex.

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Next turn or maybe the one after, Germany will probability defeat it. But there is more to this story which will be revealed in next post.

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[kentkroeckel]

Amphibious pool is 213.

European weather is heavy rain. No air missions.

Mediterranean weather is mostly rain in air.
Mediterranean ground is light mud. Water level is 4.

The isolated landing zone was almost cut off from supply, with only one hex left to trace supply. Surrounding hexes are occupied so no reinforcement. In addition, due to contour, no units can leave or enter. Difficult indeed for Allies. Below is picture of sea bottleneck along with beach bottleneck.

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Next picture gives hope to Allies. Germany has withdrawn units from Italian Toe. At least that is what it looks like. In addition, there is a patch of area with no rain. Below is picture.

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Final picture shows an area that has no rain in Mediterranean. Above and on both sides there is rain but not here.

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[kentkroeckel]

Combined air losses: Axis at 277 and Allies at 341. Close enough ratio but Allies did not do level bombing. Massive reshuffling of air too.

First picture is of Beach landing engagement. No hexes were taken by combat but one were abandoned by Germany.

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Next picture shows air engagement over beach landing.

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Next picture is of Italian Boot engagement. Only hexes abandoned were taken.

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Final picture shows air engagement over Boot.

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[kentkroeckel]

Allies have three Task Forces that pulled away from main landing. They have been building for more invasions.

Air mission frequency has been changed due to losses, reinforcements, current needs, and upcoming European invasion.

Due to weather and shifting contact line on Italian Boot, there will be little benefit of air ground attack. Allies also made a mistake in resting air units for the following turn. At least morale should be returning.

I have a mission chart which, I change often. Therefore, Metalist should not benefit too mush by me showing this. Moreover, just looking at Axis mission engagements would reveal this information. I have included it below.

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[kentkroeckel]

February 19, 1943

Victory points: Turn was -6 and game total is 445. Pretty much always going to be negative for rest of game.

Germany attacked one hex, beach on its own; Now isolated. Allies forgot to wake up naval support so area was at mercy of Axis air attack. Picture below shows this.

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Next two pictures show results of attack. First one.

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Second attack on same hex.

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Final picture shows engagement hex.

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[kentkroeckel]

Wanted to show how air war is going. Axis phase Luftwaffe lost 128 aircraft and Allies 0. Sometimes flukes work out with a bit of positive. Of course in Allied phase they will be the ones loosing majority. Below is picture of tally in air losses. Main take away is that Germany has lost 10,000 while Allies have lost 17,0000.

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Another picture that I wanted to post on last report but ran out of room was that of victory points. Below is picture of breakdown on how this is changing in favor of Germany.

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Next picture shows air engagement over beach area. Remember, this is during Axis phase.

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Amphibious pool is at 211. I doubt to ever get near 250 before European D-Day.

European air: Cold.
European ground: Light snow. Water level 8, and snow level at 2. This does impact bases on United Kingdom.

Mediterranean air: Rain. This seems perpetual.
Mediterranean ground: Light mud. Water level is 4.

[kentkroeckel]

total losses for turn: Germany 420 and Allies 769. This is 349 advantage for Luftwaffe. Weather did hamper activities, as the northern beach is still isolated.

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Next picture shows hex engagement and quantity in each.

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Final picture shows end of air phase on day 7. Final tally of sorties for Germany were 9,000 and Allies were 26,000.

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[kentkroeckel]

Much happened this turn so am breaking it up. This report deals with Italian Boot. 2 hexes were taken by combat. First picture is of region and the two hexes.

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Next picture shows combat results. Just in east hex. It was mountainous too so happy to go around it now.

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Next battle is of west hex. It too was one battle.

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I believe tactical air bombardment contributed with success. Axis armor is in middle and was attacked but did not yield. It was reduced yet caused many causalities. I do not want to give impression that Allies had few losses. They did!

[kentkroeckel]

Things went well despite rain, terrain, and concentration of Axis heavy divisions. First set of pictures shows where Allies found weakness in line. French mountaineers led attack since in mountains. Their bonus made a difference. they were supported / followed by Polish army. First picture shows the one hex which broke everything open. It was actually a rail mountain pass.

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Next picture shows the attack results.

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The town of Frosinone is now occupied by Polish armor. This may seem trivial but it is tactically huge. Only one rail line is left to southern Italy. I have included larger picture to show that not many hexes are left, crossing from west to east Italy.

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In the above picture you can see where Allies also took the hex just west of Rome. this too has opened up a vast area between the two holes. Metalist will need to pull units out of this potential pocket, I would think. Next picture shows the combat results of this hex. Again, there are many hexes that were not taken in which Allies lost thousands.

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[kentkroeckel]

Wanted to show air engagements over mainland invasion site. Very intense.

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Next I wanted to show how many attacks happened at beach by Allies that were not successful in taking a hex.

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In an attempt to keep pressure on Axis, I have attempted two harassment invasions. Either one could cause a problem for Germany, as resources will be difficult to contain all.

First invasion site is just up neck of Italian Boot.

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Next is further up and along eastern coast of Italy. this could cut southern Italy off. If nothing else, Axis units may be forced to retreat using middle of Italy, difficult terrain. But I am sure Metalist will reconstitute a contact line north of Rome.

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