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The US gets CV Lexington II as a reinforcement, probably the main thing reinforcements wise, sa they have so few in the pipeline and they lost Enterprise. So Japan is down one net CV.

Also Germany put down Model in Munich. Italy doesn't yet have a commander, it is gonna be him now Italy surrendered.

USSR sees... significant reinforcement, too.

Germany gets the usual extra stack of armour destined for the eastern front in Munich, a regular thing. 20 factors, and one LND-2 in Konigsberg.

SU put down 19 factors in Novgorod, just in case the Germans do make a push through there. And another armoured stack by Zhukov at Ryazan, and another at Stalingrad, 3 IL-2s and a SU-2M, so their airforce just doubled in bombers.

Here's what's coming up next turn, I do it this way around (ie, in advance) as I'm lazy. [;)]

Sep/Oct 1943, impulse 1
Allies have the initiative.

US air, everybody else land.

Some moderately effective bombing (ish) with the American 4 engine bombers in Italy which disorganisesa few units, and then there's a general rebasing nearer the front, while Commonwealth units surge forward quick as they can. Rome is taken with a +21 attack.

American naval air patrols are set up in the Pacific, and the Russians move their reinforcements to the line, and smear their airforce across the front too.

Impulse #3, Japan takes a naval, the rest land.

Japan moves various cruisers to cover convoy routes fairly thinly, re-establishes supply with Truk (!). A MIL gets loaded into a TRN bound for China. Japan arranges a quick invasion of Guam as well with SNLF on Truk just so the US can't do anything sneaky with that potentially. But the US is closing in around Truk as can be seen.

Japan needs another easy turn and then the whole fleet can be refuelled and rearmed. Currently the fleet in Bismarck Sea / Truk is 3 CVLs + Hiryu + Kaga with air groups. Ryujo and Soryu are at Canton. Akagi is taking on aircraft at Tokyo.

A submarine raids the Marshalls from the 4 box, but doesn't find or be found.

Germany clears out some partisans in Poland, Model inches closer to Italy. Italian cavalry recapture some rail lines which flipped, preventing Model from just railing in (last turn anyway). They'll have to endure another impulse out of supply largely.

On the Eastern Front there aren't any particularly enticing attacks, but the Germans rearrange in the rain. I put the engineers on top of the stack so you can see where the engineers are ready with armour to cross the Dnieper if the chance presents itself, there's also armour semi-massed between Rostov/Voronezh with the hope of resuming offensives if the weather clears up.

Allied impulse #5, good weather everywhere.

!

The good weather casues a slight change in plan. Air action from the US again, and an air action, after some thought, from the SU. The alternative was a land O chit from the SU but with the river and all and being slightly weaker it didn't seem like good odds to me, even with the O chit. On the otehr hand, they have plenty of Il=2s in position now.

The air action from the US enables some more heavy bombing of Italy, and the first carpet bombing of the war.

Major air battles break out on the Eastern Front as a result...

Air combat casualties are quite light, one Pe-3 shot down. Several bombers are aborted, but a lot of bomb hits right across the European theatre.

The ones in Italy especially relevant as the Axis are out of supply for this impulse and probably this impulse only.

After being softened up by almost the entire US Air Force the defenders of Ancona sell their lives dearly as the Commonwealth battles forward...

Italy in dire need of Otto Skorzeny...

Germany/Japan takes a land action (for it is fine weather in the Philippines as well). Italy takes a combined to try and disrupt Allied supply in the Italian Coast with their fleet. Plenty of Allied naval bombers able to intercept in range though.



After many, many death rides, the Italian Navy finally pulls it out of the bag after Italy's official surrender!

Finally they do well...

The old US battleships fend off the fleet while the CW cruisers get chewed up protecting the transport... which gets hit anyway thanks to surprise, but not quite destroyed...

The Italians are not without loss either...

Seems like the last gasp.

It's really an 'unleash hell' sort of impulse from both sides, as the Germans see some opportunities to do likewise to the Russians especially in the northern end of the front, where their troops were largely protected by forests. The Russian airforce puts up a fight adn is vastly superior in this round of engagements but the old Russian luck returns and they lose a twin engine fighter on a bad roll for no kills. Clearly they need some more fighters... still.

And then get blown up. A lot.

Even the IJA's airforce does something with their toy planes...

Model rails in to Italy, which after that successful naval action is looking like a different ball game. Catastrophe averted, at least for this turn?

Took long enough but Manila finally falls after a very, very long siege.

That was a lot of forces tied up waiting for a break in the weather. I guess you don't want to try invading the Philippines in the summer?

The Germans attack Tula as well, it was surprisingly good odds. The hex next to it has been 100% disorged so it was fairly safe from counterattack and if it went well could unhinge thnigs in the north for the Russians.

But it's quite a bloody struggle and the Germans get bogged. That defending Il-2 that the Luftwaffe could not keep away turned out to make quite a difference.

(and Guam was captured for the price of a disorged div).

italian navy get surprise on 9-1 split... make sense after all they surrendered!