BGI - Seminole vs. livipajo

[Seminole]

Accepted some server games recently as my ongoing games die on the vine.

This is Battleground Italy, which I've now got some experience with.

First off we check the weather, which is excellent:



For the air war I'm going to focus my strategic assets on just the railyards this time. Last time I split targets with ports to try and slow supply that way, but I want more results over railyards this time to try and limit his strategic movement in response to my invasion.





On the ground in Sicily I'm going to try and go with as few reinforcements as possible. My goal is to get 5th Army prepped and invading The Heel as soon as August arrives. I could invade even sooner, but I want all the surrender checks in operation when I make my invasion of the Italian mainland.
7th Army will pull from Sicily as soon as the western airbases and Palermo are secured. 7th Army will be responsible for the armor on the Mainland. 8th Army will be responsible for holding German attention in Sicily, and then mopping up.

The Americans and British concentrate their forces on battering the Italians, hoping to shatter and route as many units as possible to prevent any forward defense in the hills. Patton's 2nd Armored Division is successful in getting around the Axis flank while 8th Army clears everything in the east south of Catania.



Lastly I relocate some Spitfire (and Kittyhawk) squadrons to start fleshing out the Sicilian airbases. This game I learned some more about the Air Support replacement flow, and hope to share what I've gathered.



First: I'm going to try and make most of the air bases on Sicily USA owned so that they can draw from the superior American manpower pool. I made a mistake in putting the airbases at 99% Max TOE, because as Helpless explained in my war room thread the way the replacement code functions for specified Max TOE is it pulls enough to meet the need, or it pulls NOTHING. The manual suggests a setting of '55', but without explaining the 'all or nothing' nature of the replacement function you're left guessing why that matters. By just putting in a squadron or two you should be able to make a successful pull on the manpower pool, but beware trying to fill too many airbases at once, even if you are trying to take it in small doses. Even with huge amounts in the manpower pool and Air Support pool I had airbases later on get nothing. I think I may have been hitting a replacement threshold for that area??? Not really sure, just trying to find out what works, and why.

[Seminole]

Three of the airbases out of five got Air Support this turn:




This is an overview of the Sicilian Theater before Allied moves. 5th Army is gathered and prepping for the coming invasion of The Heel.
The Germans have pulled back to avoid 2nd Armored flanking threat:




I continue with the same railyard targets, and two weeks of bombing have born fruit:






Curiously, the Axis have focused on ground interdiction over the 7th and 8th Army. I'm not too concerned about this because I know the Luftwaffe will be withdrawn soon, and we'll be off these beaches anyway.




23rd British Armored Brigade is dispatched to Termi and bisects Sicily by getting to the coast unopposed.
2nd Armored pushes west and TF 86 takes position off of Sciacca to repair the damaged port ASAP.
8th Army crosses the river and forces back German armor in the plains NW of Catania.




Recon indicates that the Germans have reinforced the Sicilian defenders. They plan to fight down here, and that's exactly what we want...

We shuffle some more squadrons around. I should have switched those British airbases to MaxTOE Auto and not put in a fighter squadron last week so they'd convert nationality, but I screwed up. So this turn I do empty them and set them to MaxTOE Auto.



Lastly, we start getting 5th Army loaded on ships and ready for the invasion:

X BR Corps to Valletta on ships
56th BR Inf Div
7th BR Arm Div
V BR Corps to Mahdia on ships
1st BR Inf Div
6th BR Arm Div
VI US Corps to Sfax on ships
34th US Inf Div
36th US Inf Div

[Seminole]

Turn 3

Weather is still good to us, so the railyard campaign continues some adjustment of ADs to start hitting the Adriatic coastal region:
Recon over the toe is to try and spot additional reinforcements.




The Italian railnet is suffering. Hopefully Axis supplies are suffering as well.




Monty continues trying to batter his way around Catania. 8th Army would prefer to trap the defenders inside. Ike doesn't share with Monty that he is in fact relying on his typical snail's pace to transfix the Germans. If Ike really wanted 8th Army to get into Messina he's assign some TFs to crack Catania with the necessary support units and a sufficient commitment of divisions. Monty's doing what he can with what he has, but it's not enough to get quick and decisive results. The decisive move will be made 250 miles north of Catania.
While Monty struggles Patton romps. With TF support the defenders of Palermo are ejected and western half of the island is all but secure.




TF 85 moves adjacent to Trapani in order to repair the port there.
Overall Ike is pleased. 7th Army has secured its objectives and can begin to embark next week. 8th Army isn't making the progress hoped, but this is not unexpected given the German reinforcement, and if it invites more reinforcement so much the better.




Losses:

[Seminole]

Turn 4

The Germans hand 8th Army a setback, making a mutli-division attack that forces the 5th BR Inf Div and two supporting armored brigades to retreat.
At AFHQ outside of Tunis Ike can barely contain his grin on hearing the news. He's not pleased with the loss of life, or territory, but instead the reports that over 400 German tanks took part in the assault.
The Germans actually entered the battle with a 3-1 advantage in men and guns, and almost 2-1 in AFVs.




The British again force the Germans back into the hills, but AFHQ offers 8th Army no reinforcements, in fact the withdrawal from Sicily is already underway:




More aircraft are brought over to the island:

[Seminole]

Turn 5

August is here, and with it comes some rain from the west. The planned landing zones are themselves still out of the weather.




Monty continues his slap fight with the Axis in Sicily, knocking back an Italian unit screening Mt Etna.
With the smaller ports on Sicily fully repaired the decision is made to abandon the temporary port on the south coast.
TF 85 & 86 take up positions to block escape by sea from Messina or Catania. It's possible we could bag a unit that tries to flee on ships if they don't realize the TFs are out there.




Ike takes one last look at the weather projections and orders Operation Stiletto to commence. More favorable circumstances are unlikely to come with any more waiting.




Supply situation - 5th Army is packed to the gills and ready to go:

[Seminole]

Gods be praised, all the threatening weather systems from last week have evaporated.




Supply situation:




Landings come ashore unopposed. The negotiations with the Italian government have been a success and the Italians have quit the field.
Only hitch in the operation is that only a single airborne regiment could be sent. In the future I'll have to plan to have the transports in Sicily I guess. It looked like the range circles were good, but they're not to be trusted on the diagonals.

German reinforcements are on the scene:




Patton orders 23rd BR Arm Bde to scout the German positions. When they report the German right flank if hanging in the air Patton immediately orders 7th BR Arm Div to exploit the gap.
In doing so they find Taranto is undefended...




Patton then orders 6th BR Arm Div to follow them and seize the air base behind the Germans.




Ike insists the paratroopers be ferried into position around Taranto to help contain the German response to the invasion. They are placed under 7th Army.




7th Army now has a firm grip on Taranto and the critical hills nearby. Initial plan was to seize Brindisi on week 1, but the initial strength of the German defenders made that a poor choice. The failure of the Germans to break down their divisions in order to cover critical terrain will be fatal to their plans to defend southern Italy.




Operation Stiletto after week 1:




In Corsica the Italians are reinforced by the arrival of XXX BR Corps and a brigade of BR 1st Airborne Div. They have to hurry, as XXX Corps is scheduled for withdrawal shortly.




CV comparison of the situation in Sicily:




Units remaining under 8th Army:

[Seminole]

Turn 7

Supply situation:




No weather problems to report, so here are the ADs
Recon is trying to find any German defenders.




Ground Attack directives have some limited success. Problems with getting Air Support in place is mothballing my planes, but at least I learned some things.




The Germans try to dislodge the airborne from the hills north of Taranto in order to escape, but they fail.




Patton sends the paratroopers forward to make contact with the enemy and also help guide their retreat.




The Free French mountain troops are brought forward to engage the 16th SS Sturm Bde (mot) and they compel a withdrawal.




US 2nd Arm Div moves through the gap and finds the port of Bari is also undefended. Patton can hardly believe his luck.




A giddy general Patton orders his remaining armored formations to pour across the plains. They find another German armored formation, but avoid giving battle instead seizing as much terrain as possible.




Bradley's II US Corps is given command of the breakout forces while 7th Army retains control of the paratrooper reserves.
5th Army moves up to engage the Germans next week.




On Corsica XXX Corps attempts to storm the port before TF support arrives without success. It will take one more week to secure the island.




On Sicily 8th Army continues moving up slowly as the Germans are finally withdrawing.
TF 85 and 86 are repositioned to choke off supplies coming over the ferry route from the toe.

[Speedysteve]

Great AAR. Really interesting strategy

[Seminole]

Great AAR. Really interesting strategy

I was disappointed with how slow I was able to evacuate Sicily in my last BGI game once I invaded The Heel, this time I was more prepared early on to evacuate the armor. Getting through the Italians quickly helped.
Then it was just a case of 'get there first with the most', and the WA have better strategic movement options than the Axis, especially once Italy surrenders. If you can trip an Italy surrender when the Germans have units in Sicily they're going to take a while to extricate - if they even can.

[Seminole]

Turn 8

TF support ensures that the Germans in Corsica surrender. In Sicily we begin evacuating more units. The Canadian infantry divisions head for the port, they will serve as the landing force for the British TFs next invasion.

With the breakout from The Heel fully underway mop up operations against the overrun Germans continue.
We continue some railyard bombing around Naples (haven't checked the reinforcement schedule, but he should be getting some), as well as points farther north. We're also working over the port at Messina for good measure at this point.
Recon to try and locate the enemy as well as some ground attack runs over the approaches to Naples.




British 6th Arm Div encounters some Italian partisans who have secured the bridges and cleared the way for 30 miles beyond the river, which will give us jump on our way to Naples.
British 4th Arm Bde heads southwest to sever the rail net to the toe and encounters additional Germans trying to get back north and create a defensive line.




First things first, we need to finish the mop up:








That should knock the smile off Albert's face...
Now for the real fun - how far can Patton's panzers push?

With recon showing an enemy unit on the route to Naples 6th Arm Div had to make a selection on which pass to take. Ultimately it was decided the best hope came from skirting south of the known enemy position. What I didn't initially consider was that route allowed us to take advantage of the mountain pass, and thereby we still had the MP to break down the division, seize Naples, cut off Salerno and secure several airfields. This allowed us to ferry more airborne to help secure the new front lines.
7th Arm Div was sent southwest to reinforce 4th Arm Bde and sever the toe. They were also reinforced with British paras ferried into the captured airfields.
Lastly, US 2nd Arm Div zooms northwest, actually encountering no enemies aside from the fuel gauge they liberate the port at Termoli.




TF's are positioned to cut off supplies across the Messina ferry route, or coming over sea into Reggio Calabria, Salerno, Crotone, with one more positioned to repair the port at Termoli.
With supplies thus cut the toe flips to the Allies on the next logistics phase.




Things are getting uglier for Albert...

[Seminole]

Turn 9

15 Army Group had sailed to Palermo last week as 7th and 5th Army were starting to get near the end of their command tether. This week they'll sail into Naples.
Still several German divisions on the island, but at this point I suppose they can't get anywhere.




8th Army is able to push American infantry around the western slopes of Mt Etna.




More mopping up of Germans in the toe and east of Naples. Patton keeps pushing the armor forward, and several more ports are seized. Plans are for two new landing sites farther up the penisula to aid with supplies. We have both the rail repair units on the mainland, but they can't keep pace with Patton. Without rail lines you can't build level 1 depots, so we're trucking everything to the front lines from ports as fast as we can capture and repair them. Where possible I've kept my HQs on or adjacent to a depot to ease pressure on the motor pool.

[Seminole]

Turn 10

No weather to speak of and the supply situation really isn't too bad, all things considered. I've managed for the most part to keep my units in support range of their HQs. Even without making enemy contact the armored units are getting worn out from week after week of running to the limit.




Mop up continues on the mainland, and the Big Red One keeps up pressure in Sicily.
US II Corps under Bradley charges up the Adriatic coast with 2nd Armored Div while Patton's 7th Army HQ bivouacs 10 miles SE of Rome with 6th BR Arm Div. Once again we load up paras to ferry them closer to the front and provide some security to the ranging armored divisions.




TFs are moved to fix some more low level ports and continue prepping for the next invasion sites. 2nd Armored was actually diverted west by Bradley after taking unoccupied Ancona so as to not interfere with the planned landing sites and get too far away from support. This will also allow them to link up with 6th Armored Div and isolate another large chunk of the mainland south of Florence.




Other info that may be of interest:














And finally, the part that keeps Hitler up at night:

[Ostwindflak]

How did you lose XXX Corps HQ?

[Seminole]

How did you lose XXX Corps HQ?

Scheduled withdrawal, not actually destroyed. In fact, I'll be losing several divisions over the next few weeks to the same thing.

[ultradave]

Where did all the Germans go?

[Nico165b165]

Impressive. This is a textbook example of how to keep the initiative.

ORIGINAL: ultradave

Where did all the Germans go?

Part of them destroyed (see his last screenshot).

Part of them surrounded in Sicily.

This doesn't left enough germans to cover the front, plus they are constantly kept off balance by the armored advance.

Remember this is Battleground Italy, not the campaign where the germans can find some reserves elsewhere. They only have what they historically had. Such a massive blow from the start is veru hard to recover from.

[Seminole]

Where did all the Germans go?

Remember this is Battleground Italy, not the campaign where the germans can find some reserves elsewhere. They only have what they historically had. Such a massive blow from the start is veru hard to recover from.

Turned into a nice illustration of over committing by the Axis in Sicily. Now I think people can understand why Pelton evacs south of Naples. When the Italians surrender and you lose rail to partisan revolt it can get real dicey.
Sicily is worth defending to stop the Italian Surrender check, but once that has been triggered its past time to bug out. In this scenario he's getting points each turn for holding Messina, but nothing compared to what he's losing while the war rages north.
Would be interesting to see how this played out in a grand campaign, as with the losses suffered so far he would most likely invite garrison penalties to try and drain northern Europe so he can get a line in place.

[Speedysteve]

Wow....just wow. Textbook stuff Seminole

[Seminole]

Turn 11

Keep up recon trying to find the enemy and some railyard bombing for good measure. With no units to be found this is probably not worth the lost airframes considering the pace of advance.




On Sicily the grind by 8th Army continues. A British corps is coming down the toe in order to take Reggio from behind.




Landings are ordered to create new supply sources and the armor continues racing under Patton's direction. An enemy brigade is threatened with encirclement near Rome while the overrun security regiment is interned.

[Seminole]

Air recon continues trying to find the enemy front lines.




Additional landings proceed as planned to help move forward the logistics tail.




Slow but steady Monty continues pressing in on the Germans trapped around Messina.