INVADE? Need advice....

[KenchiSulla]

The problem is the distance between 8th Army and your invasion. If you can't expand it, then what? Weather will go bad on you...
Good luck!

[Baelfiin]

There was talk in another thread about immersion...

The tension of trying to decide to invade or not made me feel like Ike before Normandy, pacing my command bunker, staring at my one page guides that I have laminated and hung up on my walls. Asking my 8 year old daughter if I should attack or not. Her response commenting on how pretty the colors were wasn't necessarily helpful to making a decision, but I appreciated that she was engaged in a conversation with me about a wargame instead of some minecraft thing on YouTube.

The sense of dread mounts as I wait for the first reports from the beaches . . . . .

[HMSWarspite]

That landing north of Anzio looks really lonely... I set up my 3 div invasion as centred on your southern beach, with one 1 hx north and then one to the east of Anzio. Anzio fell without a fight and with a intact port (AI error there I feel), and Lido di Roma was evacuated when 2 Armd divs went east and west of Rome. The Axis pulled back 3 hexes to the hills north of Civitavecchia. I would have been very nervous vs a player though.

[Baelfiin]

Well I made it ashore and might have a couple hexes to move around. Rain is starting to pick up though . . .

[marion61]

Hit naval interdiction hard so you don't get isolated. Put more than one naval patrol box up over them and air superiority.

[Q-Ball]

Really interesting, thanks for posting!

It does bring up an interesting question on where the best spots are in Italy for round 2 landings. After taking Sardinia and Corsica, not a ton of great options on the west coast of Italy. Landing on the heel is a spot with favorable terrain, nearby ports, and nice airbases, but problem is it's pretty far from aircover.

[Jajusha]

Recepie: 30k Casualty Canadian cheese

INGREDIENTS:
2 Panzer divisions
4 PanzerGrenadier
1 SS Panzer Grenadier
2 Canadian divisions
1 isolated landingsite

Method:
On next turn, Lure the canadians 1 hex away of the landing sites, while 2 more divisions land
Turn 2: Pound the Canadians with a Medium-Heavy Attack from the Panzer and Panzergrenadiers, taking advantage of the flat terrain. Add ground support while the enemy fighters are busy looking at sea hexes and fishes. Defeated units will try to retreat to a hex that already has 2 units in it, automatically routing 1 of them. Pound the landing site next, and flavour the routs.
Set the Panzers aside and let it them rest for 7 days.

On a serious note now. The hilly Terrain at Salerno isn't there to be used only by Axis. It gives very defensible terrain once you move 1 hex from the landing site and great chances to block anything the Axis can throw at you in hilly terrain (4CV infantry...). In Rome however, you might be facing the full fury of Panzer and Panzergren divisions in flat terrain. From my experience, by October if no invasion forced their hand, they are normally rested at 15CV for the 2 PzDiv, 15 CV for the SS, and 10ish Cv each PzGren. That Canadian landing site would be ripe...

Anyway, goodluck!

[Baelfiin]

After watching my cardinals lose I figured I should try to hold on to my beaches.
My prediction is I am going to have a lot of guys visiting Ireland soon.

[Baelfiin]

Start of the turn, I am still around. AWG is saying interdiction is causing him problems.

[whoofe]

did this relieve some of the pressure down the southern part of Italy?

[JWW]

ORIGINAL: Baelfiin

There was talk in another thread about immersion...

The tension of trying to decide to invade or not made me feel like Ike before Normandy, pacing my command bunker, staring at my one page guides that I have laminated and hung up on my walls. Asking my 8 year old daughter if I should attack or not. Her response commenting on how pretty the colors were wasn't necessarily helpful to making a decision, but I appreciated that she was engaged in a conversation with me about a wargame instead of some minecraft thing on YouTube.

The sense of dread mounts as I wait for the first reports from the beaches . . . . .

I just had this moment last night while playing the 43-44 Med scenario, my first scenario other than running Husky several times. Planned and finally carried out an Anzio landing. Kept waiting for the weather to break, but it never did. Finally launched it at the end of January 44 when the weather broke over Italy up to just south of the Anzio landing zone. I figured my main forces advancing up Italy at least would have better weather to work with. The very first report, my first airborne unit to drop -- I forget which one -- was destroyed. I had an Oh hell moment. But the rest of the landings went off smoothly. I got my forces ashore. They were immediately bottled up, but the Germans pulled back some south of Anzio, and I was able to punch a hole and link up. I attacked all along the front and encircled three Germany units along the coast between Anzio forces breaking south and allied forces moving north. I then forced a hole in the north and am on the outskirts of Rome along the coast. I am susceptible to counterattack but don't know if the AI will do it. I know I am doing a bad job of managing things, but against the AI at a normal setting for this particular game, I am grinding things out while learning how to play. The victory points are basically even right now, though I can see I am steadily gaining points and will end up I think winning some kind of point victory.

The amphibious landings create a really great moment of suspense that is missing from many games.

[Baelfiin]

ORIGINAL: whoofe

did this relieve some of the pressure down the southern part of Italy?

Southern Italy is running away as fast as it can, but my fighter-bombers are having a field day with interdiction.

[Baelfiin]

Air machinations for turn 18, not shown strat bombing over Germany.
It seems to do a better job to bring escorts on your naval patrol missions, I seem to be having better luck.

[marion61]

ORIGINAL: Baelfiin

It seems to do a better job to bring escorts on your naval patrol missions, I seem to be having better luck.

Was that an awe**** moment? I had one of those recently thanks in no small part to your esteemed opponent [;)]
.

[Baelfiin]

End of my ground phase, I am going to get pounded in the German turn.
Enemy interdiction caught me twice trying to land on the Canadian beaches so no new troops arrived there to replace some guys that were sliding north.
I pounded the crap out of 12ss in the air phase, but had no idea GD or 16th panzer were close. Only one rail line supplying southern Italy now.

[Baelfiin]

Germans starting to pound the beaches with Luftwaffe and counterattacking the flanks of the beaches. SPOON is cut off from the rest of the beachhead.
What should I do now?

[Numdydar]

I feel like I am watching a WWII newsreel feed, although the non-censored version [:D]. Please keep this up as I find this fascinating to watch [:)]

[Zenra]

+1

Following this is really helping me on the learning curve!

[marion61]

You had four beaches, you can survive on two. If you lose another beach, evacuate. Are you flying them in supply each turn? Use airborne troops to cut off his northern flank, he looks weak there. Or punch thru the 12thss and 1/90th PzG and cut off his rail net to Rome. You have more than enough movement, it appears, to smash 3rd SS Pz also. Do ALOT of RECON, and make sure there's not a pz corps sitting up there waiting for you [;)]. Maintain your naval patrols so you continue to get supplies. The Canadian's may die, but he'll have to work for it, so I wouldn't evacuate them. Every turn your on the beach, you get stronger so long as you have supplies coming in. That's what I'd try. Not knowing the disposition of your forces and how much air you have in corsica yet, that is my best guestimation. I don't think your opponent realizes the peril his units south of Rome are in. He's fortunate you landed so late and it's light mud.

[Baelfiin]

Thanks for the kind words, I am glad you are enjoying.

Air plan for Turn 19
late model p51's and p47's now arriving in air force, plus I think my bomb wings got bigger.