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9-24-43

The quiet before the storm in Italy.

10-8-43

The Allies conduct multiple landings and the Italian morale is hanging on a very thin threat. The collapse of the entire front seems imminent.

German defenders don't know if they should withdraw while they still can or hold out and defend. If Italy surrenders the German troops are suddenly left alone in southern Italy against the Allies with extremely vulnerable supply lines.

10-8-43

A Soviet offensive towards Smolensk is successful and penetrates weak German lines. Germany has to withdraw from Rzhev in order to maintain a cohesive front.

10-22-43

More Allied landings at the middle of the Italian boot. Italian morale is at a low point and Italian surrender close. The Allies clearly want to force this issue now. The situation is getting out of hand for the Axis in this theater.

10-22-43

Given the situation in Italy and the coming winter, the Axis starts a slow disengagement process at the East Front. Retreating towards Germany will shorten the front and free up the units soon needed to shore up the southern front.

10-22-43

The same is of course true for the southern portion of the East Front.

11-5-43

Italy surrenders and a good sized German contingent is trapped in central Italy. All they can do now is to defend to the last man.

I have of course offered the Axis surrender but we decided to play a bit further to explore the end game.

11-5-43

The East Front continues to fall back to shorten the line. We still hope to put some stop gap units into the Alps before the Allies enter Germany from the south.

11-19-43

The remaining German defenders in central Italy are getting decimated. At least they will buy us a few weeks of time.

11-19-43

The first German mobile troops arrive in northern Italy - just in time to save Milan from Allied hands. One division of Allied reinforcements is sunk by the Luftwaffe during disembarking in La Spezia.

11-19-43

At the East Front German units still fall back to free up reinforcements for Italy. Our first fall back line is roughly intended to be Riga - Minsk - Mogilev - Kiev - Odessa. We are not quite there yet and let's see if we can hold the line in the face of emboldened Soviets attacks.

12-3-43

There are still some Germans holding out in central Italy. But they are now low on supply and I fear this is the last we will see of them.

12-3-43

In northern Italy the Germans manage to pull together a scratch defense from units taken out of the East Front.

12-3-43

The Axis almost overlooked the landing of Canadian forces in Yugoslavia (the Canadians have a camouflage color scheme in the game that blends easily with the terrain.) The port is small and was unguarded. The Allies really try to stretch our defenses thin - and are successful in it.

12-3-43

The Axis has still to move a few more units behind its new defensive line. Otherwise there is not much new. The Russians follow cautiously.

12-17-42

The German defense in northern Italy is stiffening up and even able to counterattack the Allies successfully. We take the hex north of La Spezia.

12-17-43

The Allies seem to become more serious about Yugoslavia and land further troops there. The harbors are not ideal for them there and we limit ourselves to just cordon them off at a distance for now.

12-17-43

At the East Front we have almost reached our intended fall back position now. The question is if we have the strength to actually hold this line. Also, if we need more troops in the West we have to fall back further in order to free them up. But the defense of the Balkans against the Soviets becomes awkward if we withdraw all the way back into Poland.

But surprisingly the German economy is still in good shape and new units are being produced.

12-31-43

The Axis defenders can take yet another hex near La Spezia from the Allies. So far the Axis seems to be able to hold its own in northern Italy.

12-31-43

The Allies landings in Yugoslavia continue and they have now a sizable force assembled there. The British navy is busy dumping supplies at the beaches (we assume) given the small size of the local harbors. Hence we make the British ships the priority for the Luftwaffe.

12-31-43

German troops occupy their new and prepared defensive fall-back positions. But the units intended to guard the Pripjat marches are behind in their time plan and are still far away in the western part of the march area.