Battleground Italy: Maie v Seminole

[Seminole]

Took another crack at the Western Allied side, my first since the changes to airbase air support replenishment and naval patrol.

Air losses on the first turn are promising.



German efforts to create naval interdiction come to naught. Because this is the BGI scenario the landing forces are already ashore, but there is only one temporary port. TF 86 is assigned to maintain the temporary port while TF 85 moves adjacent to Gela to repair the port.
The four remaining Task Forces return to ports and begin prepping for the follow on invasion of the mainland. Para drops to link the landing zones are set as well. These are at the edge of the available airbases in Africa, so I plan to move the air transports to Sicily ASAP and launch from there.



Patton smashes the Italian opposition in front of him and 2nd Armored Division establishes a 20 mile bridgehead across the Platani and threaten the German right flank.
Montgomery's 8th Army rout the Italians facing them and reach the Simeta river across from Catania.

[Seminole]

Turn 2

Allied air directives remain the same. The strategic bombing emphasis are Axis railyards. With the patch that provides a chance (equal to railyard damage) of dividing supply by 10 I'm hoping to generate a supply crisis south of Rome.



The four B-25 groups are used to maintain naval interdiction over the captured ports.



The Germans have pulled back to the Etna line.



The Italians holding the western end of the island are carelessly emplaced. 3/2nd Armored Division is is able to skirt enemy positions and march unopposed into Palermo.



With naval gunfire in support the 1/82nd Airborne clear Italian defenders from the banks of the Platani and open the road to Sciacca.



Patton requests support from the Canadians in securing Sciacca against counter attack while the remaining elements of 2nd Armored continue the advance.
Montgomery agrees, while using his remaining armor to locate the extent of the German defensive positions.



In exchange for the armored support Patton send Bradley's II Corps east with two infantry divisions to force a bridgehead against the Italians.



Not to be outshone Montgomery orders his own crossing, and is able to force back the H. Goering Panzer Division and gets the 5th BR Infantry Division over the river.



5th Army was moved to ports in Africa last week. This week we begin the process of boarding ships in preparation for the mainland invasion to be launched in August, as soon as the Italian surrender rules go into effect.

[Seminole]

Turn 3

Forecast shows rain in the Med, but Allied spirits are not dampened even with the German counterattacks. The 5th BR Inf Div is forced back across the river to Montgomery's chagrin, but overall Ike is pleased with the progress that Op. Husky is having.



The Germans also launch a spoiling attack on the northern coast, but it accomplishes little more than burning precious supplies, fuel, and ammo.



The Italians make a move to cut off elements of 2nd Armored Division, but with the port of Palermo in Allied hands there is no concern.



Patton again summons naval gunfire to assist the 1/82nd Airborne in clearing out the Italians who attempted to cut off Palermo. The overwhelming application of firepower ensure that not a single American life is lost.



With the assistance of two infantry divisions in US II Corps Montgomery orders BR XXX Corps to again cross the river.



Patton launches a flurry of attacks in the west, and clears out the remaining Italian opposition.



Ike begins shipping airborne formations across to Sicily to position them for their planned landings in The Heel while TF 85 is assigned to repair the port at Trapani.
In an abundance of caution Montgomery pulls the 5th BR Inf Div from the front line and breaks them down to array them on the south side of the Simeto river and preclude any German adventurism.

[Seminole]

Turn 4

The rains clear and the Germans are eager for combat, making two fruitless attacks on the northern end of 8th Army's front.




The Fallschirmjaeger, threatened with being cut off my Montgomery's advance, are pulled from Catania and the city is taken without a fight.
Ike informs Montgomery that 8th Army will continue the advance on Messina, but without any armored support. Bradley's II Corps is reinforced with the 36th US Inf Division and officially assigned to 8th Army.
Patton and 7th Army are already headed for the ports, and all armor will be re-assigned to 7th Army for the breakout from The Heel.



TF 85 and TF 86 move to try and block the flow of supplies into Messina while more airborne troops are shipped to Sicily and 7th Army begins loading on boats.
Monty moves the 5th BR Inf Div north to assume the blocking positions vacated by British armor.

[Seminole]

Turn 5

The Germans continue their habit of attacking the line to no avail.




Ike orders the invasion of The Heel to proceed. I could have launched this invasion last week, but being unsure when specifically the invasion would take place (July 31st, or August 7th?) and not wanting to lose the extra Italian surrender opportunity it was held for an additional week.



Free French forces will make the initial landings, with 5th and 7th Army coming ashore immediately behind them.
Ike is unwilling to risk the available task forces by placing them in the Straits of Messina, instead they take up positions along the coast of the toe in order to block the flow of supplies into Reggio Calabria, and to force the Axis supply path trace for isolation effects to traverse the mountains.
In a hit to Monty's ego Eisenhower decides to send Bradley's II Corps to The Heel as well. It's expected the Germans will flee when they recognize the danger the invasion of the mainland presents and it makes no sense to leave so much combat power in Sicily. 45th US Inf Division and the 4th Tabor Goums FF Mtn Rgt are left Sicily as reserves.

[Seminole]

A note on the new airbase replenishment rules. Still had some problems getting air support in Sicily, and consequently didn't have all the troop transport aircraft ready that I could have. I believe this has to do with the BGI scenario's 20% limit on Allied production that had the Americans scraping the bottom of the barrel for manpower. I suspect in the full campaign this will be less of an issue, especially after the airbases in England are re-organized to free up personnel.

In light of these limits the air drops to support the invasion were scaled back and new air drops were targeted to support the planned breakout from The Heel.

[Seminole]

Turn 6

The Germans flee Sicily as expected, and Montgomery chases them with what he has. Incidentally, the Germans enjoyed some naval bombardment when their avenue of retreat leaves them adjacent to an American task force (already relocated by the time this picture was taken, see above).



The Italians surrender and fighting between them and the German garrisons on Sardinia and Corsica ensue.
Surprisingly a German FJ division is reportedly in Sassari, and the 90th PzG Div had not been withdrawn from the island either.
Ike orders the American TFs to block supplies to the German held ports of Tortoli and Olbia.
Two brigades of the British 1st Airborne Division are flown into Sardinia to coordinate with the Italians.



German defenders remain in Corsica as well, but the Italians are liberating the island.



In The Heel the invasion is a complete success. Both 5th and 7th Army are ashore, Brindisi is captured and the Germans are detected trying to create a line north of Taranto.

[Seminole]

Turn 7

5th BR Inf Div, which had been transported back to African ports last week, is sent to aid the liberation of Sardinia. With isolation enforced by the American task forces the port of Tortoli is liberated without a fight. The remaining brigade of the 1st BR Airborne Division joins its sister units on the island, and additional support from the Free French is also shipped in. The Free French Corps (unloaded at Oristano) is given command of the Western Allied units on the island.



Inexplicably the Germans have elected to reinforce Corsica at this time. Fine by me. In the BGI scenario the Germans don't have the resources to try something like this.



In The Heel German counterattacks have forced back the screen of armored brigades that Patton had pushed forward.



Taranto will not be directly attacked, instead the Allies will focus their efforts on the clear terrain to the north, where naval gunfire can help tip the balance and terrain offers the defenders no advantages.
Patton peels open the German line and rushes the port of Bari with the Desert Rats of the 7th BR Armored Division. Once cleared the 1/82nd Airborne is airlifted into the city to secure it from German counterattack.



Patton requests that 2/82nd now make their planned drop in support of the break out. The allied fighter cover is provided by the air support starved squadrons that were transferred to The Heel after the initial invasion.



The paras miss their drop zone, but still manage to get linked up with the Desert Rats while additional armored brigades exploit the breakthrough.



In the south 8th Army utilizes TF 86 in order to cross the Straits of Messina and take an undefended Reggio Calabria.
A British TF is pulled from the temporary port in the Gulf of Taranto to take over support duties for the temporary port adjacent to Brindisi. The landing site on the Gulf of Taranto isn't connected to rail, and so supply stockpiles generated there can't be easily moved inland.
TF 81, which had initially supported the temporary port near Brindisi, is relocated SW of Taranto. This location, in combination with the flanking move of 7th BR Armored Division, will isolate the German defenders on the Taranto line.

[loki100]

that is quite a devastating opening set of turns for your opponent, they are going to lose a fair bit of their Pz/PzGr formations very early on so will struggle to defend much south of Rome due to a fear of further landings?

[Seminole]

Because of how I've used my TFs to block supplies and support The Heel landing zone I did not at this juncture have another landing site in prep.
Since this is the BGI scenario the Germans have limited troops on hand. His commitment to a forward defense has played into my strategy of effecting the most rapid advance I can support. His aggressive combat on Sicily and the forced march from Messina to Taranto will also have worked in my favor to fatigue and attrit the German mechanized formations.
The historical limits on the Luftwaffe, and absence of the bevy of security units from France, make German efforts to hold at the outer limits untenable in this scenario.

[whoofe]

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Because of how I've used my TFs to block supplies and support The Heel landing zone I did not at this juncture have another landing site in prep.
Since this is the BGI scenario the Germans have limited troops on hand. His commitment to a forward defense has played into my strategy of effecting the most rapid advance I can support. His aggressive combat on Sicily and the forced march from Messina to Taranto will also have worked in my favor to fatigue and attrit the German mechanized formations.
The historical limits on the Luftwaffe, and absence of the bevy of security units from France, make German efforts to hold at the outer limits untenable in this scenario.

I made the same mistakes when I tried to play the Axis side for the first time in BGI. I kept thinking "when are my reinforcements coming" and then realized I wasn't playing the GC

[Seminole]

Turn 8

Strategic bombing campaign against the rail yards continues. Recon ADs are established to support interdiction in the path of the intended breakout. Forgot to grab a screenshot that includes those ground attack directives.



Quite happy with the results. Plenty of interdiction to secure the cargo transit from unnecessary attrition as well as good interdiction levels in the planned breakout area. I don't plan to push the Germans into this zone, but the interdiction will help thwart any counter attacks the Germans may want to launch against the break out.
The Germans cannot ignore their supply isolation, and they are forced to abandon the level 4 fortifications in Taranto without a fight.



The Germans do make several attacks during their turn. 3 separate divisions launch attacks against the 2/82nd Airborne before finally forcing them to fall back with elements of the 7th BR Armored Div.



23rd BR Armored Bde holds against an attack by the 26th Pzr Div, attempting to clear the retreat path.



4th BR Armored Bde, the unit out alone in the vanguard of 7th Army's advance, is cut off, battered, and routed.




These small setbacks are of no concern to Patton. He intends not to push through the Germans, but to run circles around them. Their decision to fight on these plains is exactly what he hoped for when he proposed The Heel invasion to Ike.



While Patton's armor race behind the German line the infantry of 5th Army, under the newly assumed command of General Ridgeway, make a direct assault on the panzers, herding two divisions into a pocket. The Canadians seize Foggia while the US 2nd Armored Division overrun the depot at Potenza and threaten the supply lines to Salerno. 6th BR Armored Division loops behind the German line and establish a position in their line of retreat, supported by 7th BR Armored Division.
4th FF Mtn Div is broken down and motorized, along with two British infantry brigades, in order to provide an additional screen in the breakout against counter attack.
9th US Infantry Division, with the aid of all 6 TFs, rout Schmalz exhausted Pzr Bde.

Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham orders two of the American task forces to take up positions where they can bombard the railways that carry supplies to the German front line. Caught between the vice of 7th Army and the Mediterranean Fleet German supplies to the front line must traverse several mountains.



The port at Crotone is blockaded as 8th Army continues to advance north.



Corsica is evacuated by the Germans as the noose tightens in Sardinia.



Between Sardinia and the breakout 9 German divisions and 2 brigades are threatened with being cut off and captured.

[Seminole]

Well, so far I've had exactly 1 opponent play me to the end - and he won.
Harrybanana, your AAR is next!

[Devonport]

I noticed that you have a huge number of recon directives. Do you do one for each individual target, or set wider areas with more aircraft?

[Seminole]

I noticed that you have a huge number of recon directives. Do you do one for each individual target, or set wider areas with more aircraft?

I spread my recon squadrons around under the available commands so I can use typically 1 squadron per AD.
The large ones you see are strategic recon looking at rail yards to support the strategic bombing campaign against his logistics tail.
The city bombing was focused on rail yards, but I created wide area directives hoping the AI would then pursue the least damaged/most important available targets in that zone.
I usually assigned a pair of American bomber groups (e.g. 2 B-17s, or 2 B-26s, etc) with one escort group and sent them 3 days a week (fighter and flak cover is light enough it didn't create a morale issue - I don't have campaign game experience with the bomber campaign over N Europe). Because the British squadrons are smaller I tend to bomb with them in just one or two ADs.
I didn't want to create too narrow a focus and have them repeatedly hit a target that was already scrapped, and they seemed to concentrate efforts on the higher value rail yards in Rome and Naples when those were in their purview.

The smaller directives near the front line were unit/interdiction (both targeted) recon missions by Mosquitoes and Spitfires to support the ground interdiction.
For my ground interdiction missions I made a number of 1 hex radius (not zero) overlapping directives to ensure thorough coverage.

Having played over a dozen Axis campaigns I still see a lot of bombing (both strategic and interdiction) by the Allies that isn't supported by recon and the results seem disappointing.