Kobiyashi Maru - 1943 GC rematch: kentkroeckel (Allies) vs Seminole (Axis)

[Seminole]

The Toe is the most critical beachhead because if they can expand this beachhead we can’t hold them under 10 hexes for two months.
General Hube will continue to defend this area.
2/29th and 3/29th PzG Div move to south side of Toehold
1/3rd and 3/3rd PzG Rgt move to north side of Toehold
1/29th PzG Rgt in reserve, 1/325th Sec Rgt in reserve covering Hube’s XIV Panzer Corps HQ
FJs from the departing 2nd Division will be brought down here to fight.

Catanzaro Beachhead
2/3rd PzG Rgt stays here on western edge.
2/15th and 3/15th PzG Rgts move to south coast perimeter
1/15th PzG Rgt takes northwestern edge
3/26th Pzr Rgt takes the northern edge.
1/2nd FJ Rgt to Crotone
Mistakenly move 2/10th SS Pzr Rgt to Crotone, but move them back after FJ Rgt arrives.
Cosenza depot - 56th Sec Rgt joined by 3/2nd FJ Rgt, still on railcars
LXXVI Pzr Corps HQ reports to 15th Army

[Seminole]

Ankle Beach
1/26th Pzr Rgt takes up southside beach
3/17th LW Fld Rgt moves into south Mtn
3/90th PzG Rgt takes up 17th FZ forts between mountains
2/17th LW Fld Rgt moves into north Mtn
2/90th PzG Rgt takes up 15th FZ forts with 1/17th LW Fld Div
1/4th FJ Rgt rails to northside beach, joined by 3/16th SS PzG Div
3/4th FJ Rgt on railcars next to northside beachhead.
LVIII Pzr Corps takes command of this beach, reporting to 15th Army

Achilles Beach
Schmalz Bde and 2/1st FJ Rgt to Foggia.
2/2nd FJ Rgt to Rome
71st Inf Div from Rome to Bari.
12th SS Pzr Div on railcars in Barletta.
10th Army takes control of this beach, with the I and II SS Pzr Corps along with infantry corps will try to handle this sector and potentially set a breakout trap for Allied forces.

CV and beginning of turn:

[Seminole]

Army Group orders that positions be taken to provide Achilles Beach some room to expand.
Infantry regiments will present a weak screen to the west in hopes of inducing an Allied move this way before capturing the ports to the east.

Ankle Beach will be hemmed up using the rough and mountainous terrain overlooking the beaches.
No attacks under the protection of naval gunfire will be attempted. We'll let the Allies decide which of these beaches to try and reinforce.
I want to make Achilles appear the most inviting so we can potentially setup a panzer trap on the plains.

[Seminole]

Naval Patrols were setup to interdict supplies to the beachheads, with a plan to cut the Straits of Otranto during the Allied phase.



The Luftwaffe again catch the Allied air forces off guard, and are able to interdict some sea lanes, interrupting supplies to the new beachheads:

[Seminole]

General Blaskowitz's 1st Army will dig in 10 miles from the coast.



General Student's XI LW Flieger Corps, reporting to 1st Army, is taking the lead on central Italy's coastal defenses facing the expected invasion from Corsica.



15th Army take's responsibility in the next phase for the defenses in The Toe.



Hube's XIV Pzr Corps had been reporting Army Group C, but now are under 15th Army's chain of command.



Generalleutnant Herr's LXXVI Pzr Corps, also reporting to 15th Army, is responsible for containing the Catanzaro beachhead and the southside of Ankle Beach.

[Seminole]

General von Vietinghoff's 10th Army is coming south and will take command of efforts around Achilles beach.



General von Schweppenburg's LVIII Pzr Corps will take the lead on commanding the mechanized forces responsible for the counter attack opportunity we're trying to setup.

[Seminole]

14th Army Commander's Report.
This Army is currently managing N. Italian garrison forces. These reserves will be committed south as soon as they're refit.




1st Army Commander's Report.
This Army is constructing fortifications on the western Italians coast.



10th Army Commander's Report.
This Army will manage Achilles beach and be responsible for the exploiting counter attack opportunties.



15th Army Commander's Report.
This Army manages the southernmost defenses.
Holding the tip of The Toe will be hard with the crossing having been made.
Holding strongly here may help press the Allies to feel they must take what they can get and to try to exploit Achilles beach instead of feed units over the ferry.

[Seminole]

Afraid to bring down more aircraft this turn. Not enough replacements left in the pool.
Will wait to see if our ground crews show up next week.

Army Group C will to pursue the beachhead objective with our available forces.
We look at the Allies’ separated beachheads, and consider none of them effectively mutually supporting.
It also requires the Allies to spread their naval patrol, leaving openings for the remaining Luftwaffe to target specific beaches with focused (and free to shift) force.
Lacking natural ports, these sites will require maintaining TFs onsite to protect lines of supply and prevent isolation.
This prevents them being utilized to prepare for the next wave of invasions.
Each beachhead thus represents a Lilliputian restraint on the Allied Gulliver. When one unravels the rest will be more threatened.

Secondarily, I believe we can pin the other beaches effectively while presenting weakness in the Achilles beach area. Enticing the Allies forward onto the plains and out from under the umbrella of their naval guns and shade of their fighters and tactical bombers, we should be able to inflict some morale sapping victories. Both on the field units and Allied command.

[Seminole]

Turn 24
Dec 11, 1943

Weather report:



Allies expand the Achilles beachhead by one hex. Kesselring agrees to the plan posed by Vietinghoff (10th Army) to bait the Americans westward and then cut them off and reduce the beachhead again in early January.
Allies have 9th US Inf in the vanguard, with VI US Corps ashore supporting 4th BR Inf Div and 2nd Moroccan FF Inf Div.
Two Allied units (FF and Italian) but no TF visible after Axis air phase.

The Ankle beachhead is also expanded and troops are piling up offshore.
All naval patrols are concentrated on the Achilles supporting TF this week, with three again dedicated to cutting the Straits of Otranto at a place slightly farther south.

[Seminole]

Air losses at beginning of turn:



NF intercept still seems woeful, I just don't know what to do.
Their losses are from flak and OPS (likely due to high tempo).



P-38s wipe the floor with more German FBs.



Even when there are just a few P-38s they own the skies.



Air losses after Axis air phase:

[Seminole]

The TF at Catanzaro roughs up two regiments of the 15th PzG and they pull back to the depot.
TF still tied to this port to prevent isolation possibility.
Reduces Allied ability to threaten elsewhere though. Not sure if the TFs are suffering attrition damage just sitting out here.
Pull 1/29th PzG Rgt in reserve helping defend the Toe to shore up the Catanzaro beachhead.
Toe defense will have to hang in there for now, no relief available.
May swap units around next week if they get low from attacks on the west side. If he doesn’t bring TFs to bear I’m hopeful this holds.

This week we also bring some twin engine and single engine fighters down to try and disrupt enemy naval patrols around Bari and Brindisi.



10th Army prepares the trap.
9th, 10th and 12 SS Pzr Div are joined by 16th and 17th SS PzG Div and the 90th PzG Div. Schmalz PzG Bde is back in reserve.
With a handful of FJ and Inf Rgts the 10th Army hopes to bait a westward movement and attack that will permit the isolation and capture of some Allied forces.
Mechanized forces are hidden for the most part in cities or rough terrain to avoid recon. A tight line of infantry and FJ regiments appear to be defending the nearby cities.

Will likely focus next week's naval patrols against TF holding the Ankle Beach temporary port and see if another knockout blow can be delivered.
Put all the LB, patrol and TB aircraft on rest. Need to repair damaged airframes to have any effectiveness next week.
Waiting to see how the Allies choose to respond.

VP situation:



Built a fort in Nantes after destroying one in the Alps to free up some manpower. Cost all 5 AP.
Next five (or six) turns to finish these cities:
Antwerp, Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Den Helder ports all need forts ASAP to have time to build out.

271st Inf Div (new unit) pulled from Cherbourg to Milan for refit and to reinforce any new beachhead containment efforts.
May be able to pull the Schmalz Bde back to N Italy for garrison value and bring the H. Goering or Pzr Lehr Div's into the fight at Achilles as well.
Still want to keep more reserves for an additional beachhead.

Garrison situation:

[Seminole]

Turn 25
Dec 18, 1943

Starting in the Toe, the Allies succeed in pushing the security regiments off the mountain and move the 7th BR Arm Div onto the mountain to secure it.

No attacks at the Catanzaro beachhead. 15th PzG regiments didn’t really repair at the depot so we need to consider a pull back here to refit in Milan.

Allies also push the 3/17th LW Rgt off their mountaintop at Ankle Beach.
Fortunately they held the first attack and so the Allies had no movement left to exploit the gain.
We will recover the peak before any other moves to prevent Allied rout into the hex from happening if we launch any attacks.

The Allies make a new beachhead, dubbed Arch Beach, TF 86 landing the 46th BR Inf Div on the coast southwest of Taranto.
90th PzG is available with other units to contain this beachhead from joining Achilles Beach.
Will rotate FJ to hold the hills and give one more turn for him to feel good and exploit west, then we snap the trap shut on what we can get while pulling back to Death Valley if we can’t hold the Toe as expected.

Naval patrol will concentrate on the Ankle Beach TF.
LB force Total - 504, Ready 394, Damaged 110

[Seminole]

End of turn Unit Names



End of turn CV:

[Seminole]

Losses ground turn 25:



Shipping loss estimates based on ground loss intel:

[Seminole]

Small aside, the Allies had a massive airlift to send in some more men to the Achilles Beachhead.
Several of them fell to flak and hundreds of lives were lost:

[Seminole]

Cut off Ankle Beach port, but the TF is still there, albeit under air interdiction and Axis sea control.
Also cut off Straits at a point farther south from Toe to Greece.

Developments in The Toe make holding the Allies <10 hexes by February impracticable to continue attempting.
2/325th Sec Rgt falls back to rough terrain on the east coast of The Toe to cover the withdrawal of 29th PzG Div from the tip of the Toe to covering the southwest sides of Catanzaro Beach.
1/325th holds a position on the spine.
1/3rd and 3/3rd PzG Rgt are wounded, and can only fall back a little bit.
3/325th (routed last week) is still depleted. They’re marched to the airstrip at Vibo Valentia for extraction next week by TGr 30’s He 111H-20/R2 relocated to Brindisi. Send four more Ju 52/3m Gruppes to airfields near Lecce as well in case we have the opportunity or need to lift the whole group.

The Toe
Allied Units:
XIII BR Corps
7th BR Arm Div
5th BR Inf Div
15th BR Inf Div
56th BR Inf Div
3rd BR Inf Div

Catanzaro Beach the 1/2nd FJ Rgt cycles over from Crotone to cover for the 3/26th Pzr Rgt taking shore duty on north of Crotone. The 56th Sec Rgt moves from here to Crotone.
15th PzG Div moves north of Death Valley and will rail to N. Italy for refit next week.
2/3rd PzG Rgt, with 1/29th and 2/29th PzG Rgt form the rest of the containment.
Next week these positions will fold back some more. I expect to allow the Allies to link with Catanzaro by January.
3rd and 29th PzG Div will move to N Italy for refit and redeploy to next landing site.

Cantazaro Beach
Allied Units:
I BR Corps
43rd BR Inf Div
78th BR Inf Div
TF 81

Ankle Beach the 3/2nd FJ Rgt takes up the southern shoreline position. It will withdraw in two weeks.
The 3/17th LW Inf Rgt, retakes the unoccupied mountaintop while the other two regiments of the division are mobilized and take up fortifications on the northern side of Death Valley.
1/4th FJ slides into fortifications on this line between the 17th LW Inf Div and the 26th Pzr Div’s pulls back in reserve on the rough terrain marking the south side of Death Valley. This division will stay in the region to provide the north side of this defensive position into early ‘44 for reserve activation and counterattack options.
The other regiments of the 4th FJ take the northern side of the beachhead and the 542nd Inf Div takes the mountain between their positions.
14th Army has arrived to begin taking command from the 15th Army over the Toe to Ankle Beach forces. 15th Army will take over Naples garrison and picket duty on Arch Beach.

Ankle Beach
Allied Units:
XXX BR Corps
1st US Inf Div
36th US Inf Div
51st BR Inf Div
59th BR Inf Div
TF 545 (A)

Achilles Beach
Allies push cautiously and narrowly forward. A few more units join those ashore and we can see a FF Mtn unit offshore with the TF.
Paras are sent from Bari to help reinforce the hills west of Taranto.
Hopefully the Allies try to force a link up behind the hills with Arch Beach and next week 10th Army can drop the hammer. Unlikely to wait any longer just to avoid potential fortification build up and to coordinate better with the withdrawal in The Toe.

Achilles Beach
Allied Units:
VI US Corps
9th US Inf Div
4th BR Inf Div
52nd BR Air Portable Div
1st AI Mot Grp
201st North African FF Pioneer Rgt
3rd Algerian FF Inf Div
2nd Moroccan FF Inf Div

188th Mtn Div sent from N Italy to Ankle Beach, still on trains, will take over mountain defensive lines. 271st Inf Div railed from Milan to Naples. 5th Mtn Div arrives from EF and is railed to Vienna to go to N Italy next week and then further south.
Two new security regiments arrive and they’re sent to Antwerp and Rotterdam to start building fortifications.

[Seminole]

Turn 26
December 25, 1943

The Allies make efforts to widen their various northern beachheads, with mixed results:

[Seminole]

It's time for the 10th Army to launch their Xmas offensive.
Allies have expanded the northern flank of their Achilles Beachhead with Italian and Free French units.



Attacks will be launched from Bari and Taranto to cut off the Allied forces that have advanced west from the beaches.
Follow up attacks will press the pocket and try to force back the advance from Arch Beach, potentially routing the crowded defenders.

[Seminole]

Von Schweppenburg's first assault falls upon the Italians, and they whither as the German command expects:



Dietrich's I SS Pzr Corps then surprises the 4th BR Inf Div with a hasty attack from the south just as they receive reports that the Italians to their north have melted under fire, and the French holding their lines of communication to the beaches have stopped responding on their radios.
Confusion reigns at US VI Corps HQ.

[Seminole]

The fourth attack, a joint effort by formations under both panzer corps, but directed by von Schweppenburg, forces the BR 52nd Air Portable Div to retreat back to the pocket held by the US 9th Inf Div and US VI Corps HQ.



With the trap sprung von Schweppenburg commits the reserve formations to hit the vanguard from Arch Beach.
The Germans successfully rout the BR 46th Inf Div from the sector.