Yet Another Sicily t BP Ian Allies me Axis

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what it looks like currently. Ian is making his way painfully northward and the game is almost halfway done.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what it looked like just before I ended my turn.

[devoncop]

17th June 1944

Feverish activity from the rail and bridge engineers but precious little else is possible other than the agonisingly slow inch north. Supply is bad so Larry's run for the hills tactic has bought him a lot of time to prepare as the Allies catch up to speed.

The rail line is doing better on the west than the east due to increased engineering resources but I am only getting a maximum of 20 Km a turn repaired.I am now having to consider looking at only repairing the line on one coast...not ideal.....to speed up supply improvements ready to co-ordinate with the second front in France...

[devoncop]

25th June 1944

I only recently checked to find the US 3rd Divn is withdrawing soon along with the British 5th which is a bit of a nuisance. As a last hurrah the 3rd's Tank Destroyer battalion with considerable air support storms Bologna forcing out the HQ of OB West. Other Divisions are advancing slowly to take up the slack.

The Gustav fighters suffered badly again in trying to protect Bologna and we now seem to be at a stage where the appearance of German planes in the air leads to a massacre (how well I remember it !)

More rail and bridge repairs take place and progress is speeding up in the west on the supply front.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's my entire air force. One Me-109G and some bombers left over. Great. Every time I assign them missions and turn them on they get creamed so they are on rest most of the time. They are a liability rather than an asset.

[hingram]

Do the planes suffer less if you put them on Sea Interdiction?

[larryfulkerson]

Here's most of my losses so far. Heavy losses for the most part.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: hingram
Do the planes suffer less if you put them on Sea Interdiction?

Hey there Hank dude, good to hear from you. The problem with the planes is that the Allies have aerial superiority and anything that flies that's German get's slaughtered and so nothing German can fly without consequences and repercussions. I'm saving them for the end of the game period.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the north part of the map showing what's left of the battlefield.

[devoncop]

28th June 1944

To cheer Larry up further I decide to keep hitting what is left of the Luftwaffe with airfield strikes and decimate the fighters and JU88's. I really need to do this to keep my troopships safe should (as if[:)]) the Allies decide to open up the route from France in a month or so after Op. Anvil.

Little other action except the slow trudge of Divisions north and the hammering of engineers repairs to bridges and rails.

[devoncop]

5th July 1944

The 1st British Armoured have almost reached the front as have the Italian Republican Division, New Zealand Mechanized and the 1st Canadian whilst three fresh US Divisions are also on their way. The main force for France is ready to board ships as soon as the go-ahead is given.

In addition liaison is underway with Italian partisans that have begun operating behind German lines.

The effective destruction of the Luftwaffe means the Allied air force can change its tactics now it is fully rested.

Intelligence reports large numbers of German troops making their way away from Torino and the border with France towards the Brenner Pass. The defences there are likely to be extremely formidable....

[larryfulkerson]

Back in T100 or so Ian dropped some paratroopers somewhere in my backfield and I couldn't pinpoint it to save my life and now, this turn, I've discovered an area that has enemy hexes in it and it used to be clear so I think I've found the paratroopers and it looks like they are trying to find a way across the river. I might ought to dispaptch somebody to neutralize him before he causes some mayhem somewhere.

[devoncop]

8th July 1944

The paratroops dropped north of Modena and moved around a couple of turns before Larry spotted them so were able to rip up a few rails. Allied troops moving from Modena and Bologna area now try to relieve them before Larry's clear up forces (largely engineers and spare anti tank units) can finish the paras off.

For the first time in the game having knocked most of the Luftwaffe out I decided I would put every single bomber squadron plus a few fighter bombers on interdiction missions and the playback showed a riot of interceptions as Larry continued to relocate troops to the north. I doubt they did much damage to land troops but there were two Axis furballs of Luftwaffe assets and Larry sent me a message indicating he had only 2 planes left airworthy. If so I am happy[:)]

The Forward elements of the Canadian 1st Corps and Indian 4th Division are now at the top of the Italian peninsular where the coast road swings around west towards the south of France. If these units can help in taking a port like Genova so much the better.......

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: devoncop
8th July 1944

The paratroops dropped north of Modena and moved around a couple of turns before Larry spotted them so were able to rip up a few rails. Allied troops moving from Modena and Bologna area now try to relieve them before Larry's clear up forces (largely engineers and spare anti tank units) can finish the paras off.

For the first time in the game having knocked most of the Luftwaffe out I decided I would put every single bomber squadron plus a few fighter bombers on interdiction missions and the playback showed a riot of interceptions as Larry continued to relocate troops to the north. I doubt they did much damage to land troops but there were two Axis furballs of Luftwaffe assets and Larry sent me a message indicating he had only 2 planes left airworthy. If so I am happy[:)]

The Forward elements of the Canadian 1st Corps and Indian 4th Division are now at the top of the Italian peninsular where the coast road swings around west towards the south of France. If these units can help in taking a port like Genova so much the better.......

Hey Ian: Good synopsis. Um...that message about 2 planes...I meant to say that I had 2 aircraft units left, each of which has approx. 17 planes. One is a bomber and the other is an Italian fighter. I've got them on rest now. The bomber needs to refit anyway. And if the bomber isn't flying there's no pressing need to fly the fighter so it's on rest too.

If you're really up to the corner where Italy joins France then I need to pull some people back pretty quickly before they get cut off. They are just over there to blow the bridges leading to Toulon when the exclusion zone is lifted. I have no idea when that will happen. Seems like it happened earlier in our previous game when I was the Allies. And I don't remember what trigger it was that released it. Maybe some hex on one of the smaller islands, Corsica or Sardinia or someplace.

[devoncop]

Hi Larry

Sorry I meant I was at the top of the boot of Italy before it swings north west towards France. I am certainly not at the French Italian border sadly

As for th opening up of Toulon I am a bit confused as the briefing only mentions it being timed to coincide with Operation Anvil (15th August 1944) yet looking back on our AAR before you were operating in southern France in early July 1944 ..admitedly that was an earlier version so maybe the timings have been corrected.

Thats a shame about the Luftwaffe strength....I could cope with 2 planes [:D]

[larryfulkerson]

Here's an element of the 10th Inf Div who are making their way to the rear, to the chow hall because they were just released from their mission which was to do a patrol of the no-man's-land between the front lines which are about 500 yards apart straight-line. So far they have just been staring at each other through the binoculars but the Germans have been hearing noises of tanks or trucks or both. Something is going on and it's going to become a real drama here pretty soon.

[devoncop]

14th July 1944

The Paratroops are surrounded and destroyed by tanks from the 26th Panzer Division north of Modena itself who then confront the Cremon Combat Division at the tow. Fortunately Polish 2nd Corps is almost with them to support. Unclear if this is a determined push back by German forces.

There was a lot of german movement again this turn though I have turned interdiction up another notch and hopefully will be causing problems as lots of strikes were recorded.

The Canadian Armoured and US 91st are now only about 80Km from Genova and I think it is likely a major battle may develop there soon. If I can catch it between troops coming from Toulon and those from Italy it could work out well.

There were heavy targetted strikes on large concentrations of troops spotted partially entrained just south of Brenner Pass and these caused satisfactory damage.

An isolated artillery battery covering the coast road towards Genova was destroyed by Polish troops on their way north.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's where wa are currently and we're entering an interesting phase of the game where we're about to have some meeting engagements and some drama.

[devoncop]

19th July 1944

The Allies get to within 40KM of Genova and come across an infantry line and bombardments from sea and air begin causing about 35% cumulative casualties on the front line. It is likely there will be artillery and other support that still needs clearing. The US 91st Division has almost arrived at the front now and should assist in clearing this nuisance.


The 26th Panzer elements and KG Hudel are now facing off against the Cremona Combat Group of Republican Italians at Modena and the reinforcements from the Polish II Corps and Canadian troops should be able to relieve this advance guard this turn.

Unfortuantely I lose another couple of Divisions next turn and so grabbing a port like Genova would be very handy to get the reinforcement Divisions up to the sharp end of things quickly.

[larryfulkerson]

Ian has advanced into northern Italy and the drama will start shortly.