Matrix Games Forums

Turn 25
Really feeling that tick tock of the clock though there does appear to be at least some progress.

In the North Ben does not really give ground and counter attacks a bit but does not push me back to my start lines. I airdrop up here to try and help secure the area between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa Rivers. I do expect counter attacks here again this turn but increasingly this is keeping some chunk of Ben’s forces from holding up my attack to the east of Montreal. That attack only advances slightly this turn and the powerful units involved are already beginning to look worn out. I kill a Canadian Infantry Division in overstack but it uses up the whole turn. The situation here feels like it might be hanging in the balance but I managed to secure the line I want east of here so maybe I can withdraw some of the most worn out units and replace them with slightly fresher ones.

The Finns get their second HQ and with it they are able to storm Portland giving me a supply point in the area and offering the potential to open up a more dangerous advance.

In Virginia the advance continues despite the arrival of the National Guard. Lynchburg is taken and it is looking as if the road to Richmond might be achievable. I decide against Panzers for this front but will send some heavy Armour Battalions of which the first has just arrived.

The supply line in the south is repaired by the auto repair so the supply line springs forward again. I airdrop a bit onto the front line south of Paducah just because I am gathering Infantry here to defend as the rest of my forces in the area move to try and resupply. Even the Infantry should get something as the supply line is not far from them.

Ben did mostly withdraw on the west side of the Mississippi leaving minor delaying forces which I partially push back but here even the Italians are mostly just trying to resupply with a small screen of a mixed Italian/German force pushing forward none to quickly.

In the West I engage with Ben’s line near Omaha and try and set up a move to cut off and destroy one of his Armored Divisions… and I just bounce off even with 5 Panzer Divisions of my own I can’t shift the American 8th Armored Division. It’s friggen artillery – none of mine could reach the front and as I have repeatedly noticed artillery is phenomenally important. Fortunately, I have a bunch about to hit the front but I will have to start making the West the priority for artillery again. In particular while I have gathered most of the units I need to attack Kansas City I have no artillery and I won’t even try a gambit to take it until I get some into the area. It’s a good thing artillery is light and the rail line gets close to the front here.

Finally, I see Ben building up forces on my western flank. In particular the Mexican Irregulars massed in the area. Ben might just be preparing defences for Denver and Albuquerque, but I doubt it. I think he will play for the flank. I have about 3 German Infantry Divisions in reserve in the area to respond but might need some more forces out here.

Turn 25:
Haha, Jeremy's paratroops drop again- into the unoccupied space between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. He must be quite disgruntled to find that this doesn't actually get him anywhere, but what it does do is expose these pieces to counterattack; if I can smash one hex with a panzergrenadier and an Italian division, it will trap 4. Fallschirmjaeger which can then be destroyed. Portland did fall, but the frontage here is so confined that I can keep layering more troops behind and the Axis only get forward gradually. Of course, it's possible he'll drop three panzer divisions in here next turn. That would change things a little.

In Virginia, Jeremy continues to push, so the National Guard takes its traditional post combat holiday and makes the whole position precarious. I'm forced to swing two divisions all the way around the salient here to stop him outflanking my old line on the Roanoke. Abandoning this isn't in the cards yet- this would expose Norfolk and I want to make Jeremy bleed for this difficult ground.

The big event of the turn, though, is that the main German body on the plains swung right around and hit my Nebraska armoured force in the flank, hitting it near the centre in an attempt to chop one division off. This is quite a fearsome force, with nine mechanised divisions and three infantry that I can see, against my five armoured divisions. Obviously option A is to go away but I'm so heavily engaged here that this route doesn't look good. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to be drawn into another battle on Jeremy's terms out in the open plain here while he potentially develops a threat to the Missouri line. I find myself wishing my 2nd armoured reserve (the three divisions near Kansas City) had been positioned nearer here so that the two forces could co-operate, but this is at the extreme limit of one turn's move. To make matters worse, two of the three National Guard divisions I have at Omaha are- you guessed it- in reorganisation. Whatever happens, I can't have this force still in this trap at the end of the turn or the whole thing will be gone. As before, I need to know more, so my cavalry runs all the way over from southern Colorado to peek at the west flank again, revealing two more mechanised divisions but not much in the way of weaknesses here.

I think I just have to not be here any more. I could try to fight out with the most exposed division, but an early turn ending would doom the whole force, unless I pull half of the Missouri line back over the river for this battle, which I'm not inclined to do. The most exposed division fails its disengagement check, despite my taking the trouble to put my one available National Guard division into the trap to try to rescue it, so it has to be disbanded. I'm not prepared to just give up the plains to Jeremy and retire behind the Missouri, so I settle on a plan here; I pull back to a tight line around Omaha, leaving my flank open JUST enough for Jeremy to slip his panzers around it and try the same thing again. However, I'll have half of my armour sat just behind the Missouri ready to come around HIS flank. Well he might do something completely different, of course, but it's nice to give him the option of putting his head into a trap. Three additional armoured divisions rail in from various sources and the Kansas City reserve moves up, one division to cover the gap between this line and my last bridge over the Missouri and the remainder to sit just east of Omaha, so as to be able to join in or strike south again if Jeremy has a second force aimed at the Missouri crossings. Another armoured division drives up to Hannibal, MO where it can also help protect the river line. Of course evacuating Nebraska at this critical moment is particularly annoying, as the Axis has just grabbed the arrival locations of half of the National Guard divisions which are due to arrive next turn. I could really have done with those pieces.

One part of my plan for the west is to knock out Jeremy's bridges in Texas. I have one airbase (Tampico) in range but it would be swell to have four, so I shift my mobile reserve at Monterrey over to the eastern side of the position. Next turn, I'll lunge for the three airbases around Brownsville, drop my long range fighters in them, and attempt to hit the critical bridges- right in the middle of Jeremy trying to fight a battle in Nebraska.

Furious movement all over the place- but very little actual fighting. I destroy 4. Fallschirmjaeger as planned and smash up a couple of German mechanised divisions, but that's about it. I expect Jeremy to take Montreal and to hit my armour in turn, but otherwise I think the Germans [in the northeast] will need another long rest before they can resume serious operations- short of a major reinforcement.

Surprise party preparations outside Omaha, Nebraska

Turn 26
Some positives here but it feels like a turn of missed opportunities. Slightly to my surprise Ben gives up on Montreal abandoning the city which is stormed. My ‘diversion’ of units between the Ottawa and St. Lawrence River pays a price as one of the Falchijager Divisions is cut off and destroyed by Ben’s powerful Commonwealth Armoured reserve. The Axis push south a hex or two more as well but it is brutally slow going against extremely heavy defences. I could keep advancing even while withdrawing the most burnt-out units as there are fresh ones that can be fed into the small front but such an advance would be limited to a few hexs a turn at best. I’m inclined to try for another hex row while setting up to see Ben’s defences on the other side of the Ottawa River. The problem is I basically already know those defences are great. Ben does not have Commonwealth forces anywhere else but here.

Meanwhile over in Portland the Finns continue to push forward albeit with heavy losses and none to quickly.

In Virginia the advance continues but slowly though Richmond is at least coming into view.

South of Paducah it is a quite turn for me with just the cleaning up of a few regiments Ben left behind while most of my forces resupply. Ben transfers a chunk of his forces out of the area.

I bash in on Ben’s line at Omaha but here more then anywhere else it feels like I am just coming up a little short. Ben’s line appears reasonably compromised but I don’t really get anything more out of this. I come close to cutting off a bunch of armour but close does not count. Ben might go for some fancy footwork of his own here – but so far this match that has not really been his style. He is more then capable of such plays but mostly he has been content to slip out of any traps I have been trying to pull and just keep up the defence. That makes a certain amount of sense given that if Ben made a play for one of my Panzer Divisions he would likely be vulnerable to me making a play for his forces on my next turn.

Finally, Ben’s irregulars strike at my western flank. They cut a bunch of units off but make no attacks. I am racing forces into the area and the plan is to turn this diversion attack by Ben into my actual assault toward Denver. I’m looking to do air landings here and a couple of Panzers as well as some solid German Infantry are headed into the area. My hope is Ben won’t realize that this is actually a gathering for a Denver strike force and instead decide that I am just way over committing to his diversion attack until it is to late to really get the defences of Denver together.

Turn 26:
Jeremy's worn units keep pushing in the northeast, but this turn they actually shift one hex of my final line, opening a gap on the New York border. I do have plenty of Commonwealth units up here, but I need to shut this down- tragically, my two armoured divisions in reserve go into reorganisation so the response will be a little less potent than I would like, as I have to swing two armoured divisions around from Ottawa instead. Over at Portland, the exhausted Finns continue to push. Here, I bring up my US armour for a counterattack while the infantry digs in multiple layers of defence.

As planned, the Mexican army lunges forward into southern Texas. I take the airfields unopposed, but Jeremy's loose line of Italians further back is enough to stop me making this an operational success as well as a strategic one, and I'm nervous that I'll be on the losing end of this battle. Still- I have my forward bases and now seven fighter units are in range of the key bridges- with my B-17s in top condition and ready to go. I make four strikes- all of them unsuccessful. Oh well. At least the Mexican irregulars interfering with the plains flank do well; I dance away from the most dangerous German units, putting even more out of supply, and actually destroy a German mountain brigade that was cut off last turn.

Jeremy went for it at Omaha- well sorta. He's around my flank but didn't try to go into my rear. This'll do. I throw my armour around the flank where I'll aim to cut off the most exposed division. At the same time, my main body outside Omaha hits him in the centre. If- IF- I get a couple of rounds this could play out nicely. The newly formed National Guard plus the cavalry from out west screen the far western parts of Jeremy's flank: these units all have high recon ratings so this should serve to pin several divisions in place while I hammer his armour. I have a total of ten armoured divisions here, with three more joining from elsewhere this turn.

Not totaller sieg- but not bad. 19. Panzer is cut off and eliminated. A number of other panzer divisions are reduced to junk (I think I see one retreat as a 4-4). On top of this, I REALLY hammer Jeremy outside Portland, Maine, pushing the Finns back into the port as a shattered mess. The fly in the ointment here is I left one hex covered with just an HQ so he'll walk back into that again- but this buys me a lot of time to dig in. Finally, with the National Guard back online I hammer Jeremy's protrusion in Virginia, smashing multiple divisions and leaving his spearhead north of Lynchburg out of supply- this division is already a mess so this ought to be really ugly next turn. At Omaha, the tactical situation is reasonable, with ten of my thirteen armoured divisions back from the line. Whatever Jeremy unleashes on me next turn, I should be well-placed for another counterattack. His railhead- sadly intact- is still back at Wichita so this could be a chance for me to hammer him like I did at Oklahoma.

Axis loss penalty is already at 93 (mine is 116) and he's bleeding across the map. On the other hand I am now officially out of Rifle AT- Squads, so my regular infantry divisions are going to stop coming back when I lose them- that's really bad news. As Montreal's gone, Omaha is the last industrial city which I think the Axis can threaten before turn 30, so that should give me 94% replacements on that turn. That'll help.

¡Arriba Mejico!

Turn 27
In the north I once again blast my way south a few hexs but I can’t keep this up. Having withdrawn the most worn out units and feeding in fresher reserves allowed this advance but there are five armoured divisions, loads of artillery and even Infantry Divisions here and I pretty much burn my army out just making these advances. Ben could pretty easily push me back and he might.

The Finns are the same story. I push two hexs forward but over heaps of bodies and my units are burning out quickly. Here again I suspect I’ll have to shut down at least for a bit to let these Divisions recover.

In Virginia Ben counter attacks and I spend my turn mostly just recovering the situation.

South of Paducah things remain quite as I continue to resupply an army I had absolutely burnt out taking Mepmphis. They won’t be moving next turn – maybe turn after that, maybe.

Omaha – Ben does go for the Fancy Footwork counter attacking hard and cutting off and destroying A Panzer Division. On my turn I cut off and destroy 2 Cavalry Divisions and an Infantry Division but we are still locked in fighting here.

Ben’s irregulars on the flank go to cut of some more of my forces. Here I airdrop to help surround some of these guys and send in some reinforcements. I realize I am not far from Albuquerque and the Hungarians are landing. The Hungarians where always supposed to lead the charge against Albuquerque so I will probably try and advance against both Denver and Albuquerque.

Ben struck at the Italians along the Mexican border. His goal was to capture an airfield and cut my supply line but I have been careful about my supply lines and they are covered by quite a bit of air so here at least Ben fails. Now the Italians are in a swirling mobile battle with the Mexicans. I actually broke out to far with an Italian Armoured Division and it will cut itself off but I cut off the wing of the Mexican Army in turn. I’ve been transferring Italians from out of the south East so there is a sizable pile of Italians now headed this way and it seems about time to push against Monterrey. On a side note here the Italian airforce went head to head with Ben’s Mustangs and got slaughtered.

Pretty much things are stalled in the north and moving far to slowly everywhere else.

Montreal: 64%

Turn 27:
Continued pressure in the northeast. Jeremy is concentrating his whole strength against the Commonwealth, and is squeezing his way down between the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain. However, my armour is available this turn and his troops are in appalling condition, so I hit back while digging in further back- although I'm starting to feel stretched here. As expected, the Finns press forward again at Portland, but I have a huge number of units here, to the point where I can take time out from blocking this move to start swapping new infantry divisions for old on the line- the old ones still have their artillery so these are needed for counterattacks. I shove the Finns back more elegantly this time, and one division is destroyed

The Axis continue to slowly wear away at me in Virginia, stretching the line while I make anemic counterattacks. This really calls for reinforcement, and I find three more divisions for this front, one regular, one national guard and one armoured.

My biggest fear in Omaha was that Jeremy would just dig in and deprive me of an opportunity to counterattack. Well he didn't, but it looks like he ate a few of my divisions on the flanks. His position looks fairly strong as he wisely didn't lunge forward in any one place but attacked across the board or where I was exposed already, but I have so much power here and his troops are so battered that I'm content to attack where I can.

A furious response from Jeremy's Italians on the Rio Grande, with a number of Mexican divisions wrecked, out of supply, or both. I do, however, see some opportunity here, as I have quite a few units uncommitted. I pull out of the eastern extent of the line here, concentrating as much power as possible around the Littorio division, which is in my rear and in very bad condition. If I can destroy this, my position looks a lot better, and I can perhaps get the rest of the force back to Monterrey in good order. I don't think Jeremy is actually all that much stronger than me here- if at all- but he has more Italian troops moving in this direction and I need to be ready. I do get my payoff here this turn, as my heavy bombers finally crack the key bridge in southern Texas, cutting supply to the Axis armies in the west, including the Italians. Elsewhere, my Mexican irregulars pull back from their contact with the Axis in the open western flank, with six of these ten divisions intact. Not much direct damage was done here but I'm sure this drew off considerable German infantry from the battle in Nebraska (I count 6 and a half divisions plus two of paratroops), as well as draining irreplaceable supply from these units so I can face them down outside Albuquerque and Denver- if I can find the units to do so. [I see from Jeremy's AAR that these units were going to come this way anyway, oh well]

A hugely successful turn. I smash through the centre of the Axis force in Nebraska, wrecking multiple panzer divisions and actually destroying one panzergrenadier. All these units are on 1% supply and, thanks to the efforts of the Mexican army and the combined Allied air forces, they'll now be overextended on the Axis turn and will suffer desertion effects, so a good half of the German divisions here will be worthless. I'm unsure what Jeremy has coming up, but unless it's a lot I'm just going to keep rolling. The Axis are in sort of a dangerous salient between Lincoln, Nebraska and the Missouri, and a swing east here could be lethal- especially as I still have a lot of troops in Iowa which could cross from the other side.

Turn 28
The situation is becoming increasingly concerning though a few overall circumstances do change in my favour. Basically, I really don’t get anywhere much this turn and in some ways the situation has gotten worse. Ben counter attacked hard near Omaha with a great concentration of armour and now the city is looking like it will be out of reach for quite a few turns. This is particularly true as Ben managed to bomb the rail link near Galveston and no supplies are getting up near the front and a lot of my own Panzer forces here are pretty much burned out. It is something of a similar story on every front.

In the North I simply take one hex near Montreal and dig in. I don’t see the point of really advancing here. I’m looking to make a flanking move but Ben is so strong up here I am not at all clear this could even work and it will take turns to set up.

Out near Portland I make some advances but so deplete some forces holding the base that I actually think Ben could slice his way straight to the supply point and cut most of my forces off if he sees it. Even if I avoid this, the units I have here are so burnt out that it makes no sense to keep advancing. I need to stop and rest up. Ben’s defences, which include 3 Armoured Divisions in the area are just too strong for the Finns and some conglomeration of other units to handle.

In Virginia I have something going on but it is unclear if it is good or bad yet. I pretty much broke out with Heavy Panzer Brigades. But Heavy Panzer Brigades alone are pretty weak and now they are somewhat vulnerable. I see that Ben has sent another three Divisions this way as I just rolled up beside their entrained stack. What this looks like is going to depend on how this develops.

In the department of things that take too long is the area south of Paducah where I will get an attack force to the staging positions next turn and finally launch another offencive starting turn 30.

A large Italian force is also in this area and while I wish they where out with the other Italians near Monterrey or on the flank I don’t think it makes sense to transport them there now. Eventually I will have my two southern rail links hooked up and then it might well make sense to start shifting these Italians. For the moment they will screen the Germans & also make a play for St. Louis. Normally I would not think Axis minors would have much of a chance at St. Louis but there are a lot of Italian HQs here so maybe it works.

The attack on Kansas City is looking somewhat stillborn as the advance against Omaha needs resources and so many of the Panzertruppen there need to be relieved and sent into refit. Maybe I try this with less Panzers. The whole situation is made more problematic because Ben killed an HQ on the Omaha front on his turn and I am already short of HQs on this front. I think I will send two to Kansas City from the front south of Paducah as I have 8 HQs there and I could get by pretty well with 6.

[Edit: Not sure I cover this in the AAR but I recall I sent these HQs out only to call them back around turn 30]

The far western front is frustrating as I can’t really catch these damn Irregulars but I am, at least drawing closer to Denver and Albuquerque.

The Mexican front is just about the only place where things really seem to work out this turn as I breach the eastern flank and then cut the supply from Ben’s air units. Ben is sending more Mexicans this way but I have a fairly large force of Italians pouring into the area as well so Monterrey should be within reach unless Ben has significantly better forces here then I expect.

Finally, the elements of good news are that the submarine campaign is over and my supply is up to around 23%. Replacements should rise a bit shortly as well and Ben has run out of excess supply so his supply level should drop to around 20% for a bit.

Loss Rate: Axis: 95 / Allies: 131 / Spread: 36

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 8:57 pm Finally, the elements of good news are that the submarine campaign is over and my supply is up to around 23%. Replacements should rise a bit shortly as well and Ben has run out of excess supply so his supply level should drop to around 20% for a bit.

We'll see the effects of these things in the AAR shortly. For the last fifteen turns or so the Axis have often been fighting at the end of a long supply line with bad force supply against well supplied Allied forces flush with replacements. Now the Axis supply line is catching up in some key places, force supply is up for the Axis and down for the Allies, and those replacements are running out.

Previously in Fall Grau for Jeremy's Axis to be in this position on turn 28 would be really bad news but that last point- the expiration of the early replacement pool- is a major change and so it means Jeremy can afford to be behind his timetable at this point and still make up the ground later on.

Turn 28:
A replay of last turn in the northeast, with exhausted German troops trying to force their way down the shore of Lake Champlain, and increasingly shattered Finns doing the same outside Portland. The latter are a little more successful, finding a hex in my rear which actually doesn't have an entrenched unit in it, but apart from this hex the whole perimeter is fortified again and I am able to put a fairly good division into the gap.

Virginia is sort of nasty, with Jeremy's tigers breaking through almost to Staunton. Fortunately, this is JUST where I have my three fresh divisions coming into the fray, so I open the turn with two RBCs on the lead brigade, and then set up a series of attacks against the rather worn-looking German troops in this area.

Jeremy's not quite done in Nebraska, and I'm subjected to a serious counterattack, but a frontal one which just shoves back my armour rather than wrecking it. He tried to flank me to the west, but ran into my wall of National Guard, which is actually looking stronger than the flanking force, so I go over to the offensive here, while shifting to a more balanced posture in the centre where my divisions are not really in top condition any longer- though Jeremy's are worse, and the bridge in Texas didn't get fixed, so that makes two turns of no supply for him.

Out in New Mexico, Jeremy has evidently lost his patience as I now see a panzer division here. This is nice, although it does mean Albuquerque looks pretty vulnerable and I have nothing for it- not now at least, and my reinforcements are starting to look anaemic now the great pile o' squads has been exhausted. On reflection I rail a worn armoured division here, which if nothing else will at least look good if Jeremy sees it, and besides this I have a National Guard division which was passing through that I leave in place. To the south, the Italians are floundering as they attempt to cross the Rio Grande, and their supply situation is so bad that I counterattack with the fresh Mexicans, while manoeuvring to put one of the better cavalry divisions out of supply.

An attritional turn more than anything. I'm counterattacking Jeremy everywhere that he's on the offensive, and doing a fair bit of damage, but nothing really dramatic. The highlight was the National Guard cutting off 2. Fallschirmjaeger which for some reason is deployed out on the flank in Nebraska, but although I hit it I wasn't actually able to destroy the division. All this fighting puts the Axis loss penalty at an impressive 105, with German infantry divisions looking in the kind of state one normally finds them after fifty turns rather than thirty. It's too bad my supply fell back to 20 this turn as this means I won't be able to sustain quite the intensity of action that I have been, especially with replacements running dry as they have. I'm on a high right now but I'm living off the stockpile which is now gone, and I think the next 15-20 turns will either see Axis power peter out, or my army disintegrate under the sustained pressure. Already by assigned Rifle AT- squad strength is slipping away, from a high of 17,149 on turn 26 down to 16,854 this turn despite some trickling in via reconstitutes. Still, when replacements go up in 2 turns the level should become pretty stable.

The Virginia bulge

Turn 29
Much the same as last turn and the frustration and concern rises. On turn 30 Ben’s replacement rate will rise to 95%. Far to high to be allowed to stay that way for long. While I am within reach of a lot of Industrial cities I am not about to capture any of them.

In the north there is a minor back and forth over a hex west of Lake Champlain. The balance of my forces here are resupplying. I am probing the Ottawa River and do find that the defences here are lighter then I would have expected. Where are the rest of the Canadians. Surely this is not all of them?

The Finns trying to breakout near Portland where not truly punished on Ben’s turn as I had feared. Ben’s attacks did not seem to go all that well. My suspicion is the Finns are pretty solid defencive troops. Quality wise they are as good as the Germans but their Divisions are just masses of Infantry with a tiny amount of obsolete support equipment. Whenever I try and attack they die by the hundreds of Squads. I just don’t seem to be able to push forward with them.

In Virginia Ben drove my Heavy Tank Brigades back to their start lines and he has dispatched even more tanks this way. On my turn this is actually possibly my most successful front as I finally clear the road to Richmond but I can’t Imagine that Ben won’t counter attack. All I can hope for is that I retain some of my gains and am closer next turn.

South of Paducah the army is finally resupplied and stacks of units have moved to a jump off points. On the upside here the army is bigger then I had realized even after pulling all the Italians out. I think I will be in a position to just keep feeding in fresh units for some time to come. Here is hoping Ben’s reserves are not to extensive and I can start a major push forward.

The Italians resupply a little slower than Germans but they are also beginning to gather on what will be an attempt to take St. Louis.

Last turn I was thinking of shutting down my operation against Kansas City, this turn I revive it. Omaha is not going to be taken shortly and Kansas City is the only Industrial City on the front lines. Even here it is several turns before I can gather the forces but they are either here or heading here.

[Edit: Kansas City is not an Industrial City - I am mistaken, it used to be in older versions of the scenario]

Omaha was a sizable problem with the supply line still cut this turn. I had railed a rail repair unit back to fix the supply line but it turns out that this won’t work as rail repair units can’t fixed bombed bridges only ones that have gone down from demolition. I rail up an engineer this turn (could not have done so last turn even if I had wanted – I had to move one onto the rail line last turn).

Ben pushes me back hard and with no supplies getting anywhere close to here my army is going to pieces. I make a play to try and cut off and destroy some of Ben’s units in the area. That being the real problem with the campaign so far. I never cut Ben off – I just push his units around – but it fails as Ben is well backstopped against this. I want to try and keep Ben here as much as possible as the last thing I need is for Ben to just transfer this whole Armoured force to the area around Paducah now that I am assaulting there again but some of my forces just have to head back for a refit. A number of my Panzers have been reduced to mere shells. The plan here is pretty straight forward. The rail line should be fixed next turn and there are still loads of German Infantry landing. They primarily go here to keep the fight going.

On the far western flank I am able to kill or cut off most of the Irregulars I can see this turn so this is progressing, whether fast enough is something else. Ben sends an Armoured Division to Albuquerque this turn and it will presumably become a major part of the defence of that city. The Hungarians are on their way to this area but they are a number of turns out.

Finally, the Mexican front is reasonable. More Italians arrive to continue to put pressure on the area and while Ben was able to rail out a number of cut off American air units a couple must have been in reorganization because they are still cut off down here.

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 8:06 pmWhere are the rest of the Canadians. Surely this is not all of them?

There are only ten mobile Canadian divisions on the map, with another two backed up because you took the hexes already. Then there are nine European divisions, two of which are on the Pacific still.

I had railed a rail repair unit back to fix the supply line but it turns out that this won’t work as rail repair units can’t fixed bombed bridges only ones that have gone down from demolition.

Rail Repair units can fix broken rails. If there is a "bridge destroyed" flag on the hex as well as the broken rail then that flag is also cleared, but if there is no broken rail in the hex then the rail repair does nothing.

Turn 29:
Jeremy tests my flank in the northeast by throwing a brigade over the Ottawa river. I did have troops here some time ago but they've long ago been moved off and so I'm lucky that this is an afterthought and not a major push or he would already be in my rear. As it is, I'm able to bring down one of my armoured divisions from Malartic, though this is just a little too far to come in one turn, and also send a division back across the tenuous connection I have at the source of the St. Lawrence, plus a second armoured division by rail from New York state. Jeremy has been creeping forward toward Malartic and with this position down to one division I pull back as I expect him to pounce here at any moment with enough troops to trap this unit; for now I'll hold about halfway between here and Timmins. Otherwise it's more of the same and the back and forth continues, though I give my poor battered US armored divisions a rest this turn.

I decide enough is enough in Virginia; my positions south of Richmond are starting to look like a dangerous salient, so I'm going to pull back largely behind the James river, with a protrusion in the east to force Jeremy to work to get Norfolk. I'm able to recombine a couple of first class infantry divisions, making the Norfolk force reasonably strong, the centre of the line isn't so impressive but I'm also counterattacking Jeremy's advanced positions, which should buy me some time. I add three full-strength infantry divisions from various sources to toughen this up further. Looking ahead, I move two regiments up to cover the Chesapeake shore (I'm pretty sure that's a Netflix Original by the way) for when Jeremy clears Hampton Roads.

Interestingly, Jeremy still doesn't have his rail line fixed in Texas. What's going on down here? His units don't seem to be fading away as I would expect given that they have zero supply and are overextended, but with this condition persisting I feel like I need to keep up the tempo here, although my force is quite disrupted and there's not the obvious targets I've had in previous turns, on top of which I do feel I ought to be shifting something to the west to stop the significant Axis push on Albuquerque, which is similarly unsupplied. It's also not irrelevant that Jeremy's presence here eliminates the last north/south rail line east of California, significantly complicating my redeployment of troops. In the end, it's the rail lift that decides matters, as I get a fair number of reinforcements this turn; I rail one armoured division from the Pacific to Albuquerque intending to replace it out of Nebraska, only to find I don't have enough lift. Oh well- as long as the Japanese don't invade on turn 30 (last time I said that, they did).

The Italians continue to pour gradually over the Rio Grande like treacle. I don't think I can stand against them with a static defence as Jeremy has too many pieces so for now I keep up the mobile battle- again, my trump card here is that while my supply is low, theirs is non-existent, and I hope to target one division at a time, smash it, and leave the Italian army an array of shell divisions incapable of advance. This goes swimmingly, with one division shattered and then another put out of supply as my cavalry pushes through the gap.

Still grinding away. Nothing in itself really impressive at the moment, but pretty much every single German division in Nebraska is in bad condition, with the panzers generally wrecked. Something similar could be said in Virginia, and of the poor Finns in Maine. However, my own forces are slowly wearing down and I can't maintain this intensity of operations with 22 force supply.

Turn 30
Well a mixed turn though more bad then good. At this point this match is really beginning to slide away from me. I can still recover but the clock is seriously ticking. The Allied replacement rate just jumped to 95% and that is way to high to be allowed to stay for very long. I need to do something about the situation and I have only a limited amount of time to do it before Allied strength grows to much to handle.

The turn starts off bad as well as I place my engineer on the cut rail line near Galveston and the Engineer fails to repair the bridge. Desperate I send an SS PanzerGrenadier and then a half dozen Infantry Divisions to all try and fix the bridge. In general they have only a 12% chance to actually do so but that is better then nothing and the cut supply line is killing me in the West. Nothing works. It had better work next turn or things are going to be really bad. As it stands every offencive I have in the west is operating beyond effective supply level.

In the North things take an interesting turn as my probe across the Ottawa River has Ben bringing up some Armoured Divisions for what appears to be a counter attack but I send some units across, including a Panzer Division anyway. I also push forward south of Ottawa and threaten to cross at a number of other locations. I am a little confused here as I expected to find more Canadians and Commonwealth forces. I really don’t think I can account for them all here but the line does not seem as well defended as I would have expected. I guess we will see how Ben reacts – at the moment it is a toss up in my mind on whether he counter attacks or instead decides the line has to many gaps and starts withdrawing back toward Toronto.

Portland gets a bunch more Finnish Divisions as reinforcements and does the usual push forward taking to many losses in the process but I am still not getting much of anywhere here.

Virginia, on the other hand is a significant change. Last turns offensive convinced Ben to retreat back behind the James River and my advance brings up to almost on top of Norfolk. I am pretty sure it no longer makes sense to try and flank the city. Not with the rush I am in and I start advancing and preparing to see if I can just take the city by storm.

My massive offencive south of Paducah starts off much less effectively then I had hoped. Most of the way through the turn I had thought I had at least cut the supplies to some of Ben’s forces, albeit leaving 2nd Panzer in a bit of a lurch and then the 9th National Guard retreated south east for no apparent reason. That is away from Ben’s supply points and there is no reason I can see that it should not have retreated north but here we are – and it reestablished the supply line. Still Ben does not appear to have much here unless it is in deeper reserves. Perhaps we can pick up the pace next turn.

Just north of here I probe with the Italians across the Mississippi into Illinois and don’t find much resistance. I actually have the Italians with a small bridgehead over the River. We will see how Ben reacts to that.

Kansas City! How you disappoint me! I just realized that this city is not an Industrial City at all. All these plans to take it are not worth the effort. I’ll quickly start shifting most of these forces over toward Omaha.

The Omaha front is really beginning to fall apart from the lack of supplies and this turn I fell back purely onto the defencive while stripping units that are mere shells out of the line. At this length of the supply line it does not appear as if my units actually lose equipment but I am pretty sure they don’t get any either. I desperately need that supply line repaired.

On the far western flank near Albuquerque and Denver I kill a few more Irregulars but the supply situation out here is actually worse then even Omaha and Ben just shoved another Armoured Division into the area around Albuquerque. I have more forces heading for both these cities but I need a functional supply line to fight campaigns out this way.

The Italians are pushing forward reasonably well toward Monterrey though here as well the supply lines are stretched and I am running short on reinforcements.

The Loss rate turns badly against me this turn falling by 11 points in Ben’s favour. This is a very bad sign and I have to turn this around fast if I am to have any chance in this match.

Allied Production Boost: 95%

Turn 30:
The front develops in Canada, as Jeremy attacks south of Ottawa as well as pressing the river to the west, this time seriously with SS Totenkopf in the van. This puts two panzer divisions in my rear and means falling back, but I don't yet want to give up on the east-west route through central Ontario so I won't be falling back to the neck of the Ontario peninsula just yet; in fact for now I don't fall back much at all, as I have a division in reorganisation at Kingston. For now, I block the westernmost push while bringing my two fresh armoured divisions into action against the centre. Fresh Finnish troops landed in Maine so the bloodbath there can continue, with my armoured divisions looking less miserable after a turn's rest.

In Virginia my withdrawal largely stabilised the situation, with the three fresh divisions added doing the rest. I hope that this will be a loan rather than a deposit as I really need some of these pieces out for the west, but I do expect some pressure on Norfolk in due course. I get some of my armour off the line for reserve and, if things do solidify, redeployment.

The main event, I suppose, this turn is Jeremy reopened the central front, surging north toward Paducah with his panzers, while a fairly anaemic Italian push tests the Mississippi further upriver, where my river line is pretty porous and he can just sneak through gaps. I close these by borrowing a couple of pieces from still further north; at Paducah it's obvious that I can't be here any more, but the situation is complicated by 2. Panzer which is somehow trapped fully in my rear. I beggar several units from the central Tennessee line (which I will shortly need but never mind) to put a firm ring around the unit, then I hit it with everything, including every available bomber.

With his supply shot to hell and his attention refocused on the centre, it looks like Jeremy has ended his operations in Nebraska for the time being, with the exception of testing my west flank. Here I have a cavalry division reforming which can outflank the outflankers. Otherwise I'm content for my own forces to dig in and rest here as my supplies are fairly exhausted. I can't be in this position indefinitely as Jeremy will stretch and stretch the line, and already I have five hexes held by armoured divisions which ought to be back in reserve. I think if this continues to be static I will wait until everyone has resupplied and Jeremy perhaps poised to strike, then fold back the line behind the Missouri to release this force.

In Mexico, at a glance the situation looks precarious, with the Italians lapping around both flanks, but with no supply for the fourth turn in a row I sense weakness here and commit my last reserve of fresh infantry divisions from the old Monterrey line, counterattacking both flanks with everything I have. I add the reconstituting irregulars here rather than send them to Albuquerque; there, I'm building up a fair armoured force, helped by the much delayed reconstitution of 12th Armor which was disbanded many, many turns ago. I have to divert something to Denver, too, as Jeremy is within six hexes, assigning two not-ready divisions and three cavalry regiments. Albuquerque will be the main event and if I can get enough strength in place here I'll swing up toward Colorado in due time. For now, the limited forces I have here go on a perhaps overambitious romp through the Chilean troops to my southwest, routing one regiment destroying a second and cutting off a third, in the hopes that this will draw in Jeremy's main force which I can then smash with my follow on forces just railing up- 12th Armor and a first class National Guard division, plus artillery.

A bit of a blunder in Canada as I realise I've left Totenkopf unmarked, and SS Das Reich spotted crossing the Ottawa river here makes three panzer divisions in my rear. I bring the last armoured reserve down out of the north and a brigade across from upstate New York, but if Jeremy chooses this turn to drop his remaining airborne divisions between my position and Toronto I might be in trouble. 2. Panzer dies as planned, but this comes off late enough in the turn that I can't extract anything from these vulnerable positions, exposed as they are to 24 German divisions which are in fair to excellent condition and with their backs against the Ohio-Tennessee. I'd rather not lose these seven divisions; I need them to fall back in good order to block the Axis attempt to cross over into Illinois. The Mexicans, for their part, continue to impress, smashing multiple Italian divisions and reopening the faltering flanks here. Overall, the Axis armies are continuing to bleed, while mine hold together... just barely. The hard-pressed divisions which have been in back-and-forth action for multiple turns are starting to run down towards two thirds strength.

Panzers poised to move into the Allied rear in Ontario

Turn 31
OK well maybe I am not dead yet? This might be the best turn I have had since turn 5. I really need turns like this (assuming Ben can’t reverse this on me – he might be able to) as I have to make some serious waves and I have very little time left to change the trajectory of the match with the replacement rate so high. I finally manage to fix the broken supply line in the West so hopefully things will improve in the West.

The excitement starts off in the north where SS Panzer Totenkopf sweeps south, brushes aside a Commenwealth HQ and reaches Lake Ontario cutting a very large number of Canadian and Commonwealth forces from supply. Dangerous as Totenkopf is all alone out there but this is the kind of move that might finally break things open in the north. I’ll want to see if I can use an airdrop next turn to cut Ben off again because he will race forward with whatever reserves he has in the area – so hopefully I can catch them as well.

The Finns advance well but nothing spectacular however they are facing quite a bit of American Armor and HQs so while I wish they would perform better at this moment in the match they are at least tying a solid chunk of Ben’s best equipment down.

Virginia continues from last turn. I launch an attack along the old line of advance mainly hoping to hold Ben in place but just about everything is racing to the line around Norfolk. I really don’t think Norfolk is actually tenable from this position and I hope to take it shortly by storm.

The offencive toward Paducah starts poorly with 2nd Panzer dying but Ben has to really weaken the line to pull that off and does not seem to have much in the way of reserves in the area so I sweep around a small stack of Divisions and cut a bunch of other ones off. I’m even threatening to sweep over the Tennessee and get in behind Ben’s line to the south. I would not be at all surprised if Ben starts a mass withdrawal of his current positions behind the Tennessee to shift his line to the north. It is either that or he is going to have to find reserves to stop me from cutting in behind him.

This same force also seems destined to take Paducah and charge into Illinois. The Italians to the north, backed by large numbers of HQs (the all powerful independent artillery) have straight out fought their way over the Mississippi into Illinois itself along a wide enough Bridgehead that I am doubtful that the line can be defended south of Mount Vernon unless Ben just happens to have a lot of powerful reserves here to counter attack with and I doubt that.

Meanwhile south of Omaha things are quite as Ben shuts his offencive down but my supply line out of the East has now gotten close enough that my units on the front line are getting replacements again. Powerful reserves are swarming into the area as well and I should be able to look to restart this offencive in the next turn or two. Maybe just as Ben pulls his reserves out of here? One can only hope. That said my offencive in this front is being hampered as I have had to pull a lot of units off the line for refit and they are only going to really start doing that next turn. Furthermore, there are a lot more units I would like to pull off the line, the Infantry is arriving to do that but given that I also want to start an offensive here it might be a bit before many of these units get relieved.

Meanwhile I am finally advancing toward Denver. If Ben has a real defence here then I won’t be able to do much but I am not sure that he has. I never saw him set it up.

Albuquerque is the scene of a mobile battle as Ben counter attacks kicking around some Chilian Regiments, but my own forces grab the supply point in the area and are arrayed to the north of him while Hungarian reinforcements race forward toward his southern flank. I don’t think I actually catch Ben here but I do think he will be scrambling back to Albuquerque. Ben has two quality Armored Divisions here but I don’t see enough quality Infantry to support them. I’ve dispatched not just the Hungarians this way but three more full strength German Infantry are sent toward this front this turn. The hope is that with the front going into crisis everywhere Ben just won’t have what he needs to keep me out of Albuquerque.

Finally in Mexico, the Mexicans shoved me back but on my turn I manage to cut a chunk of their flank from supply. Once again it is a dangerous move where the Italians that have done so are vulnerable to a counter move. Here too three German Infantry Divisions have been dispatched to give the assault toward Monterrey some punch.

Basically, the situation suddenly looks significantly less bleak… but I am still turns away from reducing the very high Allied Replacement Rate. I need pretty much all these operations to work out without too many hitches if I want to get back into this match. Still this is a start in that direction finally.

Turn 31 (there are a lot of words here so I'm splitting into two posts):
A big turn from Jeremy, lots of nasty developments and lots of units out of supply. He didn't make the airdrop, but the SS are in my rear anyway, cutting supply to about six divisions. I'm able to throw a fair ring around SS Totenkopf and will attempt to destroy it, but this needs to occur rapidly for me to rescue the situation, and really I need loads of fresh troops pouring in here right now- but from where? Well, the final solidification of the Canadian line west of Lake Champlain releases one armoured division from there this turn, and possibly more later- on reflection I send a second as far as it can go (Buffalo). Also troubling is that the hard-pressed Finns shifted one of my fortified divisions on the New England coast. The position is still strong- but I was hoping this was locked down. I'm able to shift my weight in the threatened direction and if he wants to keep pushing along the coast he'll be very vulnerable- but I'm in no position for a coherent counterattack here this turn.

Severe pressure continues from Jeremy in the centre. As feared, he smashes through the positions south of Paducah, putting almost this entire force out of supply and most of it into a pocket. There's an opportunity for a counterattack here again which would put his lead unit in trouble, but the hopes are fairly slim. I activate my long-planned withdrawal from southern Tennessee, which comes off fairly well although the new line is not exactly 100% perfect, and this allows me to put two fresh National Guard divisions right in the path of the most threatening German schwerepunkt- three panzer divisions pointed at Bowling Green. Further north, Jeremy's Italians continue their push into Illinois, although these units are very weak and I RBC a couple of lead divisions and plan follow up attacks, but after the first comes off I realise the one good division I have here has to move over to block the upper Tennessee crossings. I drop three more fresh infantry divisions here culled from further upstream on the Missouri, but they're not able to engage this turn.

Trouble, too, in Mexico, where Jeremy's Italians continue around my eastern flank putting three divisions out of supply. I still have some pieces to play with here, however, so I encircle the offending division and will hit it from all directions. I strip two divisions from the west and centre and this is enough to otherwise restore the situation- at least for the moment. This front continues to receive the reconstituting irregulars which will keep it propped up as long as I don't suddenly start seeing SS Panzer divisions down here- a consistent worry of mine is that there's still no sign of 1. SS Panzer Army, the last formation of panzer troops the Axis receive. Until this shows its ugly face, I have to expect it everywhere. Anyway, the attacks down here come off nicely, with the trapped division destroyed and my line restored, and another division out of supply on the west flank. The Italian army here is a wreck.

A dangerous situation in Ontario

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:02 pm Basically, the situation suddenly looks significantly less bleak… but I am still turns away from reducing the very high Allied Replacement Rate.

Thing is conventional wisdom says that an Allied replacement rate in the 90s for any length of time means game over for the Axis, but in this version my squad replacements at 95% are the equivalent of what they would have been at 57% in the previous version. This means the Allied armies are still brittle even in this situation, and the Axis can sweat out these high replacement rates as long as they're doing damage on the battlefield- which you are.

Turn 31 Con't:
In New Mexico, Jeremy declined to send his whole strength after my demonstration last turn, instead lunging west in a formation guaranteed not to have its supply cut except- ho ho ho- his units are so weak that I RBC one and put the whole bunch (3.5 divisions) in the bag. Up at Denver he's snaking forward in a similar fashion but I'm not here in anything like as much strength so after scouting out I fall back and will try to hit him next turn.

I debate withdrawing from Nebraska. Here I have at least five good infantry divisions sat on the rail which could rapidly be shipped off to needy fronts, however I'm conscious that as long as I'm here Jeremy is stalled until his supply situation recovers- the rail is only just now fixed and none of his units are battle ready- and that I have 6th National Guard army due in South Dakota on turn 38. I'm loathe to make operational decisions on the basis of things like this but for now I will hold here and keep Jeremy stuck. Next turn, I get 5th National Guard Army, and that will help close some gaps. I do however have three armoured divisions behind the line which can immediately be railed to southern Illinois and act as a striking force to respond to Jeremy's next move here. The front is also stabilising in Virginia, where Jeremy only made one local attack; I immediately pull out one National Guard division from here for the centre, and have multiple good divisions back behind the line to withdraw in turn.

The centre is so critical that I have to send everything there; it's a sign of my desperate situation that I rail a regiment of European infantry over from the Pacific for Ontario; it will have to wait until next turn until it can be joined by the other two. To make matters worse, SS Totenkopf is a shell- but still on the board. This makes my whole position in Ontario impossible. The centre remains critical at turn's end, too, as my furious counterattack, backed by the entire USAAF just falls short of success. This would have put those three most dangerous panzer divisions out of supply, perhaps leaving them too weak to press through the National Guard screen hastily thrown in their path. As it is, I don't feel like the panzertruppen here are really that worn from their exertions, and I fully expect I heavy assault to land again next turn. The position at Paducah is already outflanked by the Italians further north, so the broken bridge here is held only by a weak National Guard regiment which will be RBC'd out of the way. I'll have to make my stand further north; I have a succession of feeble units on the road north from here and I'm hoping one of them holds this turn so that the ten good divisions which were brought into this sector this turn can come into action. Actually the main hope is that the trapped units in western Tennessee can slow down the Axis enough that they can't really exploit until the following turn.

Harrowing. I have a huge number of divisions coming on stream in the next two turns- 22 if I count right- and although these guys will take a while to get into gear with the current low supply level, I'll be counting on this for my salvation. If I assemble 5th National Guard Army in South Dakota I can fall back on those positions, extracting the good troops from Nebraska to stop the Axis in the centre. I'll probably have to let Jeremy into Denver which is really indefensible without superior numbers, but that's OK. I can lose Toronto, too, as Buffalo and Detroit are both strong positions, though this is less of a clear choice- and for the moment I'll keep defending Albuquerque. I'll need the 1st Canadian Guard Army for Sault Ste. Marie. I think that covers all the immediate problems.

Turn 32
Dang nabbit! I blow a proficiency check early in the turn. It is still a pretty good turn but I think it was on the verge of being maybe a game changing turn and I am loosing – I need game changing turns and I need them now!

[Edit: Ben's clearly desperately straining to hold this togetehr without something breaking somewhere - which highlights just how much I lose out when I get early turn ending at this critical juncture. I need big victories or a lot of small ones and I am not quite getting either.]

Starting in Canada and Totenkopf is just barely alive as Ben pulls back and surrounds it but is not quite able to destroy it. On my turn I jump and the Paratroopers come down followed by Das Reich sweeping into Ben’s rear. This is a pretty solid cut off that manages to catch some good units of Ben’s that swept into the area to try and retrieve the initial supply cut. How good this is will depend somewhat on how much Ben still has outside of the pocket. I manage to clear Ottawa though it sucks up the whole turn for all these units. Still pretty much everything I have here is about to go racing south and hopefully massacring all the Canadians and Commonwealth forces in the area before grabbing Toronto. We’ll see.

The Finns start off OK but the early turn ending makes things bad here as I am vulnerable to Ben counter attacking and destroying both HQs.

In Virginia my offencive towards Norfolk gains a bit of ground but here the turn ending means the advance really does not go far.

Over near Paducah the situation is similar. I destroy some cut off units and start pushing forward trying to get over the Tennessee in several places and also get the bulk of my forces into Illinois both of which looked very achievable but the turn cuts out.

The Italians continue to do pretty well actually breaking out and cutting off some of Ben’s odds and sods in Southern Illinois. I doubt I would have accomplished much more here. The Italians are likely going to suddenly start doing far less well on Ben’s turn as I saw very solid armor heavy reinforcements being sent this way and they will just crumble against that kind of a counter attack – especially as they tend to not be dug in.

My plan is to send the last two German Infantry Corps up to Illinois. Hopefully I replace the Italians here as this is not the front for them – this is Illinois. By the time that is taking place I should be able to pull them back to my now fully connected rail line and send them somewhere in the west by rail.

Omaha is extra special annoying as I was just beginning to get the kind of breaches that really mess up the defender. Something I have failed to do so often in this match when I really need that sort of battle but once again I fail with this stupid turn ending.

Denver now coming under threat. Ben has a handful of units here. I don’t have much more but I have a bunch of Romanians and 3 fresh German Infantry as well as a SS Panzer grenadier coming up. Hopefully I can close the deal here fairly quickly.

Albuquerque is an absolute whirling battle of manuever mess. Ben does not pull back but instead manages to cut a bunch of my units out of supply so I counter by cutting most of his units off – so now we see what he will do on his turn. My 22nd Panzer is really out on a limb here but my own reinforcements are just arriving on the scene, including another SS Panzergrenadier Division I divert this way.

Mexico is a bit of a missed opportunity as Ben did make me pay a bit for cutting his flank off last turn but it left the flank very weak and I was pushing that. Unfortunately that has come to an abrupt halt and I might be vulnerable to Ben cutting my wing off this turn though he would not be able to destroy it I don’t think.

Loss rate starts to swing back in my favour but I need a lot more turns like this before I will start to think that maybe I can win this thing.

Loss Rate: Axis: 113 / Allies: 148 / Spread: 28

golden delicious wrote: Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:16 pm

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:02 pm Basically, the situation suddenly looks significantly less bleak… but I am still turns away from reducing the very high Allied Replacement Rate.

Thing is conventional wisdom says that an Allied replacement rate in the 90s for any length of time means game over for the Axis, but in this version my squad replacements at 95% are the equivalent of what they would have been at 57% in the previous version. This means the Allied armies are still brittle even in this situation, and the Axis can sweat out these high replacement rates as long as they're doing damage on the battlefield- which you are.

There is still all the other equipment - especially tanks and planes. The real story here is the spread is only 28. Even at close to the height of Axis strength I am taking about as much as I am dishing out and if I can't change that ratio things get harder and harder the deeper into America the Axis drive and the further afield the Axis have to look to find ways of keeping America from recovering.