Seminole v S2Tanker - Vol I

[Seminole]

Turn 12

Bad weather is brewing in the Artic, but nothing influencing operations in N Europe or the Med.



The Americans withdraw from the Salerno beachhead, and the Luftwaffe is able to make them pay.





The recent carnage has been good for the Axis VP total



Continued bombing of Allied airfields in The Toe and success in N Europe. The Luftwaffe is being ground down, but its influence is being felt.



In addition to abandoning the Salerno efforts the Allies have made a timid advance on the eastern side of The Toe. This we intend to punish.

[Seminole]

With the withdrawal from Salerno the 6th BR Armored Div and the Polish paras finally accept the reality of their situation.



I pull the panzers out of the mountains on the front line and push the British infantry back onto the south side of the river. Breaking out of The Toe is not going to be easy.



Med Theater overview:

[Seminole]

Turn 13

Rain reaches from N Europe down to Rome, but our ground interdiction efforts in The Toe have clear skies.



With Goering's boys wreaking havoc from the skies 15th Army gears up for a counter offensive. The Allied supply situation is still poor because of the distances, terrain and interdiction, as well as the number of units they're trying to support from Crotone.







With Schmalz Pzr Bde pulled for duty on the Eastern Front the Feldherrnhalle Pzr Div takes up their position in Cosenza.



Fighting forward effectively has its rewards:

[whoofe]

wowza. this is painful to read. looks like he got too ambitious with his Italy invasions, going for the knockout blow in the first round and got knocked down himself instead

I spose allies has nothing to lose at this point, might as well try something spectacular in the northern Europe invasion, its his only chance now

[Seminole]

I spose allies has nothing to lose at this point, might as well try something spectacular in the northern Europe invasion, its his only chance now

S2Tanker's air game still needs some work. A big part of sharing this AAR is to reinforce for Allied players what to be aware of with respect to German capabilities.
I knew from Pelton's AAR against S2Tanker that there would be more invasions to come...

Unlike Pelton, I don't give away Sardinia, Corsica, or southern Italy. I think I can get more points (and certainly have more fun!) bleeding the Allies, and keeping their airbases farther away as long as possible, by fighting in the south rather than by over garrisoning N. Europe.

[Seminole]

Turn 14

Rain from Rome north again, so the Allied bombers take the week off.
The Allies move back up to the south side of the river, but don't try to force a crossing.



Luftwaffe gets over 120 aircraft on the ground in The Toe, and also puts up some nice interdiction values in the Valley of Death.



The Allies fail in their bid to seize Cosenza, while 15th Army counterattacks again, with happy results.




After the counter attacks 15th Army pulls back into the hills. Hopefully the Allies will again enter the Valley of Death and we can drive them across the river for additional losses.

[KWG]

Nice ! over a 160,000 Allied POWs.

The animation made me think i had broken the internet, till i realized what was going on.


How was your Garrison, saw the -1, and who were you using?

[Seminole]

How was your Garrison, saw the -1, and who were you using?

I don't really have the units IDed that I left for garrison. But you can look at the unit names for what I brought down to S. Italy.
I ran the garrisons real close in this game because I was doing so much fighting, so only -11 points to date from that.

90th PzG Div was left in Sardinia (I don't do this anymore, hard for them to get replacements and you can't airlift them out), and they were joined by security units from France and 2nd FJ Div to capture the Italian garrisons.
Corsica is covered by security units and a few oddballs - 135th Fortress Bde, 16th SS Sturm Bde (I wouldn't use this unit again because they upgrade to a division, and you can't airlift them), and the SS Landsturm Nederland Rgt for the same reason.

If the Allies want those islands for airbases to make landings further up the boot or in S. France they're going to have to devote the resources - which means those resources can't be devoted elsewhere. I've found the trade off to be worthwhile.

[KWG]

Your brave to defend those islands, no quick way off.

I worded my Garrison question wrong, not the exact units, but your strategy.
Keeping it at just 100% in every region?
Lots of small CV units or , less large CV units?
pulling units off the eastern front?

Meeting the garrison units is my biggest problem with VPs.

[freeboy]

KVG.. re garrison.. try using a hq near them and changing the supply state to 3 or 4... Then set the unit in the city to be garrisoned to refet...
I almost said update
This works in the regions as well.. I also if Im too close to 100% put some units near the four corners on NE SW france etc... good luck
HAving a larger number in the cities than 10 generates points for the German FYI.

[KWG]

"HAving a larger number in the cities than 10 generates points for the German FYI. "


will the number show more than 10? Brussels:10-S
So having a strong garrison city will benefit the overall region more?

"...near the four corners..." yep!

[freeboy]

no.. the highest it shows is 10, but if you put in a 10 and refit near a hq with a high supply state that 10 cv on the unit becomes a 12 or larger .. but to answer the question on the LIST it still shows as 10..

one telling sign for me that I am generating points is the partison value, thats like an absttraction that translates into points.. if the number is NEGATIVE it means I generate negative points.. at least thats what appears to be happening... its all a bit unclear but I can definately tell you I am generating points from this on the victory point screan.... .

[Joel Billings]

Yes, if the partisan value is below 10, than you have the chance of scoring negative points (which is good for the Germans).

[freeboy]

Joel I see sometimes a negative value.. Its an interesting desing decision and I like it but its unique for most of us never seeing a plus or minus scaling .. maybe a note to players as this is a common element in witw..
again great game!!!
just starting to look for a human to oppose me ..

[Joel Billings]

Yes, it can go negative. All I can say is the number system came from Gary's mind, and makes sense to him in some way. IIRC, the biggest benefit you can get in a region is if the value gets to -10.

[Seminole]

Your brave to defend those islands, no quick way off.

It's about what units you use. Security units can be moved very easily with air transport. The Italian transport squadrons you start with are great for this.
So by pulling the extra (beyond what is needed for city responsibilities) security regiments I can cover the turncoat Italian units on each island. I like to ship in airborne, but they can also be flown in if, like NOSB, the Allied player makes a concerted effort to destroy port capacity.
As they get worn down the security units are simple to fly out, and an airborne regiment that gets worn down to around 30% strength costs only ~200 air transport to move. So I can cycle them out to Milan to refit and then send them back in for the next round at Corsica if I want to...
Security units and paras just sitting in defense don't chew a lot of supplies. Cycling them over airbases to resupply by air in the event you couldn't get much supplies in before ports are shut down keeps them in good fighting shape.
Also, the rough terrain defensive advantages are unaffected by artillery and engineers.
NOSB thought he was going to show me how easy the islands are to 'blitz'. But we're only8 turns into the game and he hasn't sent back a turn in nearly a month. I tried to email him, and am hopeful it is just real life interfering and he can resume soon, but the reality is I haven't had opponent go the distance in this campaign (or WitE for that matter - main reason I quit playing it).
A key part of my Axis strategy is to keep throwing sand in the gears of the Allied time tables. Sardinia and Corsica are a big part of that because with just 3 or so division equivalents I can require a much larger Allied force to dislodge them. It also requires an Allied air commitment, which pulls them away from other missions.

I worded my Garrison question wrong, not the exact units, but your strategy.
Keeping it at just 100% in every region?

I've posted the garrison status page a few times, so you can see the situation. I tend to break my divisions up for digging purposes, and I move them around to keep digging and flummox recon. I like to bring most of the armor and mech down to Italy so I can fight. Winning fights raises morale, and you want your armor over 80 morale so they can make the most headway in enemy territory.
I had one game where my opponent chose to not fight in Italy. He took the tip of The Toe to meet VP requirements, but didn't even try to advance farther. I think we got into '44 still fighting over Sardinia and he quit.

Lots of small CV units or , less large CV units?
pulling units off the eastern front?

Meeting the garrison units is my biggest problem with VPs.

No EF box in this game, but for the rematch (underway now) we have it on. I think it makes things too easy for the Germans (e.g. pulling mountain divisions from Balkan security detail to fight in Italy), but it will be interesting to see how the patches have changed it.
You do have to keep an eye on which units will be pulled to the EF if you have that automated, as it can hurt you bad if you're not ready.

I kind of wish the garrison detail was changed to work as it does after Italian surrender and the invasion of France. Make territory 'flip' if not under the effective range of garrison units. Might have to step up the value of security units (which already has a bonus on range relative to combat units), but it would be less abstract than the current system and I think perhaps better represent the nature of OCCUPIED territory.

[KWG]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

Yes, it can go negative. All I can say is the number system came from Gary's mind, and makes sense to him in some way. IIRC, the biggest benefit you can get in a region is if the value gets to -10.

Maybe from people 'turning in' the Resistance and/or more fraternization.

[KWG]

Seminole

thanks. some interesting things to ponder.




"I kind of wish the garrison detail was changed to work as it does after Italian surrender and the invasion of France. Make territory 'flip' if not under the effective range of garrison units. Might have to step up the value of security units (which already has a bonus on range relative to combat units), but it would be less abstract than the current system and I think perhaps better represent the nature of OCCUPIED territory."

ive thought that. loss of resources, rail, factories, ect. it would be more devastating than just VPs.

[Seminole]

Turn 15.

Overview of the Italian Theater:



Heavy recon for interdiction as well as trying to spot what the units in Sicily are up to.



Goering's twin engine fighters again generate good interdiction values in the Valley of Death. No plans to let the Allies start digging in just yet.







Is this another Gallipoli?

[Seminole]

Turn 16

Weather is typical for the fall.



Allied casualties are mounting.





Staring contest ensues over the no man's land of the Crati valley.