Adventures in Italy

[larryfulkerson]

It's in the manual and I've learned through experience that the ceiling on the supply
a unit can have on board is 150 so one of the things I do so that my arty won't go
over 150 and thereby waste supply, I usually bombard some enemy unit or structure.
Within range is this stout German unit that needs to be softened up a lot before the
attack will have a fighting chance to succeed in defeating him. Ian could build a
stack there any turn now and make it impossible to assault...before I see that happen
I'd rather try to push him over right now. While it's still in the realm of possibility.

[larryfulkerson]

Okie dokie, you Allied fans, I've got good news: The rail has been repaired almost
up to the German lines on the northern route so now the RR engineers can be moved to
the southern route and finish it too. I think maybe I'll be able to keep up with the
front if only one route is used but I'm not convinced I can update two routes. Maybe.

[larryfulkerson]

So I've moved everybody and I'm just about to pull the trigger for the resolution
of the battles and this is the "before" picture.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in France right now. I've done a cut and paste of the ID's
of the target hex occupants and it seems there's evidence that elements from three
separate organizations may be lurking nearby, on their way, almost here. I may
need to form a front line fairly soon and these assets are all that there are so
far. I've got units sitting in a Sardinia port waiting for some sea lift. They
may be stuck there for quite a while.

[devoncop]

This is shaping up to be a worrying turn for the Axis given the thoroughness of the planning and the weak links Larry has identified...

Thanks for the reminder re the diggiong in Larry...I normally do entrench the units...my problem is remembering to do it at the beginning of a turn before i move and then failing a proficiency check before it gets done.

Just a note about the non dug in units in the Gustav Line you have highlighted...The 12-14 , 11-14 and 14-8 units are sadly beyond my ability to dig in as they are fixed units out of my control even now [&:]

It may be I have a crisis to deal with soon

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: devoncop
This is shaping up to be a worrying turn for the Axis given the thoroughness of the planning and the weak links Larry has identified...

Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I just went through the first combat round of the turn and the
weak links I attacked: One gave way and the other didn't, yet. I'm setting up the second wave,
the afternoon wave even as we speak. I'm rotating the tired ones and replacing them with relatively
fresh ones, hopefully in such a way that it leaves at least half it's MP's left. I like to try for
three time dots for the first round, maybe five time dots for the second round, and the rest of the turn for
whatever attacks are left. One time playing FITE years ago, I got 6 rounds of combat.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
Thanks for the reminder re the diggiong in Larry...I normally do entrench the units...my problem is remembering to do it at the beginning of a turn before i move and then failing a proficiency check before it gets done.

That same thing happens to me. My procedure for a turn is to first check the aircraft to ensure the
right missions are being flown from the spots they are needed in, move them if needed; the ground
troops are counting on some support. Trim the ranges of the planes as necessary, especially after
you move one to someplace else. Then if there are any separate arty that need to be prepositioned
to support properly, move them, supporting units other than the arty is moved after the main guns
of the unit, usually the regiments of Infantry or Tanks....they get moved and or dug in and then
all the supporting units of the formation including the HQ is moved last. And if there is no more
movement for that element then I usually dig it in, front line or not, to support the supply system
with whatever trucks the element has. Diggin in causes the game engine to use those extra trucks
to deliver the goods. "Force transist assist sharing" I think it's called.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
Just a note about the non dug in units in the Gustav Line you have highlighted...The 12-14 , 11-14 and 14-8 units are sadly beyond my ability to dig in as they are fixed units out of my control even now [&:]

I hate when that happens. As it happens I'd rather not attack them while they are so stout. I have
plans to um......outflank them. I was going to, before you said anything about them being static so
don't get heartburn about it. I've already got units in motion on that narrow path alongside the
mountains just south of the northern rail line. I need a picture to show you what I mean sorry. So
far I've rounded up a regiment of infantry, 2 recon units, an AT unit and an arty unit with tired
tubes, I'll have to let him rest. They haven't arrived at their staging area yet so you have fair
warning.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
It may be I have a crisis to deal with soon

Nah, it'll be fine. I guarentee it 100% Foolproof, believe me. I'm going to build a huge wall along
the Gustav Line and I'm going to make the French pay for it.

[larryfulkerson]

I pulled the trigger and the combats were resolved and then I failed a proficiency
check and the turn was over. I put a lot of verbage in the Diplomatic Pouch but
that bad boy likes to truncate the lines so I thought I'd play it safe and publish
it here so that Ian can see it one way or another. You guys can read it too if you'd
like to be kept in the loop.

[hingram]

You should have more supply on the east coast. Are all your rails up?

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in France. Ian has driven some units westward and they have
almost arrived at the scene of the crime and if he's got three organizations on his
side I might just be outnumbered so I'm going to try to form a simple front line on
the west side of this creek and just see what develops. I've got a single division
and some AA units at the airfields and that's about it in all of France. I'm thinking
they need some help. Those people at Sardinia can be shipped here easily. I'll
send them an email. Give them some prior notice. Give them an impossible delivery
date and watch the fun.

[devoncop]

25th June 1944

First things first...everything thats needs to be dug in....and is possible to dig in....is dug in [:)]

Now it has to be said the troops around Cassino and Arpino holding the Gustav Line in the centre are performing better than I have the right to expect. I do try whenever possible to have infantry units on 3 dots in the front line with either artillery capable HQ's or ideally specialist artillery dug in behind them and if available Armour units with Tactical Reserve orders as well or instead of in the event of insufficient artillery.
In this scenario the Germans are VERY short of dedicated artillery so rely almost exclusively on the HQ's for support.

When I saw the combat reports for that sector my heart sank....In 3 combats in that sector my losses were 47%,13% and 29%....Larry's were 8%,4% and 2% respectively....but it does not tell the whole story. On drilling down into the combats The total number of Infantry/Infantry+BAR and Engineer squads destroyed amounted to 88 for the Axis and over 150 for the Allies. Given the assaults were not all against fully entrenched or full strength units I am happy with that.



Having said all of the above the attrition levels on the troops in this area are not sustainable so I do need to try and find some fresh troops to reinforce them. The Jager Division with the exception of its HQ which was bombed off its Train north of Verona has either arrived and is dug in in Central Rome or will arrive within a turn or so. This could at a pinch reinforce the centre but I am loath to use this unit as it has nicely bolstered a second line of defence around Rome itself.

The other option is to await the somewhat weaker "Rosa" Division arriving in a couple of turns....I will have to think on this. The withdrawal of large number of Allied troops will hopefully give me some breathing space and in any case the supply levels in the centre are pretty poor for both sides so any breakout will not be rapid.

In France I am happy the situation is contained around Savona as more units arrive which takes the pressure off somewhat.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: hingram
You should have more supply on the east coast. Are all your rails up?

Um....there's a short section of the rails on the east side north of where the rail
connects to the road...I didn't think I needed to repair that so I didn't. Other than
that all the bridges are repaired and it's down to local traffic only and that's about
all she wrote. Nothing further can be done. That's about all she's got to give.

[larryfulkerson]

Received some moves from Ian so I'm checking the aircraft and the 17th BG flying
B-25's want's to drop a bridge somewhere and I need to find a good target for them.
And right now I'm leaning toward the two river crossings east of Rome...the places
were supply could be flowing to the south, Tivoli and Valmontone. I have no idea
how difficult it will be to drop the bridges there but I think it's worth the effort
if it will stiffle supply to the folks in the south in the middle.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a list of the units that were withdrawn this turn and as you can see a full
division and some tank Bn's have met their DEROS and they are gone. There's
going to be more leaving next turn I believe.

Also, the dialog for recent reinforcements can be moved in the game and in this
graphics program as well.

[larryfulkerson]

The only way I can possibly win now with only 90 turns left is to ship everybody
to France and fight NE from there. Leave a skeleton staff down south, keep the
threat real to Rome, but transfer the main theater action to France.

[larryfulkerson]

I moved all the troops and then found that there were no fights so I'm going to start a program of dropping bridges to keep the south guys in the south and the north guys in the north and keep them that way if possible. I'll have to drop most of the bridges on the map across the width of Italy somewhere and keep them dropped.

[hingram]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

The only way I can possibly win now with only 90 turns left is to ship everybody
to France and fight NE from there. Leave a skeleton staff down south, keep the
threat real to Rome, but transfer the main theater action to France.

That's going to be tricky with the limited sea transport but it makes it more interesting. .

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: hingram

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
The only way I can possibly win now with only 90 turns left is to ship everybody
to France and fight NE from there. Leave a skeleton staff down south, keep the
threat real to Rome, but transfer the main theater action to France.

That's going to be tricky with the limited sea transport but it makes it more interesting. .

I can ship about 2500 tons per turn. That means I'll have to break them down into pieces
and ship the pieces which is unhandy but I think maybe doable. I hope to be able to ship
each turn without any aerial interference.

Lemme give this some more thought and I'll give you a full report.

[larryfulkerson]

Fortunately, I'm not going to lose the 91st Inf Div to DEROS ( date estimated
for return from overseas ) but it's not the finest formation I have I don't think.
It might be able to fight it's way out of a paper bag with some arty support. This
is my Task Force in total with the mission to hold back the hordes until I can get a
lot more people into France. They have advanced too far NE, again, and the supply is
too low for operations so they will stay parked where they are until something developes
where they need to do something else.

[devoncop]

28th June 1944

In the unequal struggle between my harassed engineers and massed Allied bridge bombers it was another round to the bombers with the Engineers managing to repair 2 bridges whilst Larry as we have seen dropped 4.

Given this the deployment of the Engineers has been reviewed so the even spread of them will need to change and only the most vital routes will be able to be maintained. A weakness as well as a strength for the Axis in this regard is the large number of rail routes running across northern Italy. I am just about managing to transport troops by rail from the North ....if by odd routes...but this means hundreds of bridges...

A welcome rest from ground assaults this turn and only skirmishing artillery fire from my positions . In a couple of turns more reinforcements....possibly destined for the French Front will arrive...

[larryfulkerson]

Some of the bombers are getting tired of bombing all the time. Here's a unit from
the 12th BG and it's got all the planes it's assigned it's just low on supply which
makes it yellow so it's resting now. It'll be ready next turn, probably, because it's
parked in a high supply spot. I need to park one of the Corps HQ's adjacent to the
planes for the supply boost it gives them. The division HQ's have some good arty
and they are needed for the support they lend to the units in attacks but the Corps
HQ's, specifically the Polish II Corps HQ has only SPAAG and AT guns organically so
there's no arty support to be had from that unit. It's supply boost is it's best weapon.