View Full Version : Road to Rimini: JLBETIN Versus Lapalice
This AAR is a chapter of a more global AAR that begins at this address http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3380
Have fun
INTRODUCTION
Road to Rimini German Side.
At the head of the 10th Army, more exactly the 76th AK, I had to defend the Eastern part of the front in Italy, when the British decided to launch a powerful offensive to take, and liberate as they said, Rimini. We were in August 44 when the game started. And with two lines of defense, a first weak one (71st and 278th IDs) and a strong second one (5th Mountain ID and 1st FjDiv) behind a river, I had to slow down and contain the enemy advance. I really had the impression that the five first turns, until the coming of the first reinforcement, were crucial, and the second line should be hold at any cost. When the 26 PzD and two other IDs would be there, the things would become easier.
The German Point of View
The two lines of defense seemed relatively strong, but they didn’t have any depth, and a breakthrough would quickly become very dangerous. And when the first 278th ID’s battalions holding the East broke after a good resistance, the Canadians, the Poles and the British tanks stepped into the breaches, surrounding the other positions and overrunning the artillery units in the rear. At the end of his first turn Jean Luc had destroyed quasi all the left wing of my first line. And it was not the rare battalions still alive which would give difficulties to the 8th Army in this zone for the next turns. The situation wasn’t so alarming to the West. Certainly because the British decided to concentrate their attacks to the East. I remember that I didn’t really know what to do during long minutes. With no reserves and no depth in my defense I had the impression that the only thing to do was to wait. The reserve problem should be resolved, precisely. So I took 2 measures. First I split one or two FJ battalions in the left wing, where the super river could give a good defense to small units. Secondly I reorganized the right wing, where a good part of the first line was still standing. To gain units in this sector I installed a strong first line to the South, where the front was the shorter with the excluded zone. I made two counterattacks there, one on a surrounded stack, eliminated at the end of the fight. And then I had some 5th Mountain ID battalions in reserve, ready to go on any breakthrough or for next counterattacks. At the end of this turn I didn’t know where Jean Luc would push his main effort(s), if he would try to attack stronger to the North East. In fact he had the possibility to attack in a lot of direction. I must speak about the interdiction too, very strong, with many strikes. But if the number was high, the effects seemed relatively weak, at least on the material and the entrechments.
The Allies Point of View
This is the first of the two games I played as UK against German.
First I need to move my rec btn to highlight the the strengh of the German units which are in front of me.
2nd part, following my strategical choices described in the main thread, I took all my engineer btn to either facilitate the river crossing or rebuilding broken bridges.
That made, I took my units and drove them to the assault of the 1st line of defense. It took two rounds before some crack occurs in the defense wall. Then I launch my rec and armored btn to made some Retreat without combat here under called RWC. This help me to clean some Arty units.
On the western part of the front, the Indian and ghurkas seems to be on hold, as this part of the front is more rough with woods and hills. Remeber too that coming from river hxes the valued of attack is halved by 0.7.
In center part of the front some armored units took contact with Gothic line
German Point of View
Turn 2.
With a completely demolished defensive line to the East before them, the British had no problem to run to the Foglia river, just before the Fj positions. The rare 278th ID units still alive were overunned and destroyed for the most part. The others, which waited an assault before evaporating, weren’t able to block the way to the second line. And while some infantries surrounded the two or three last pockets, several armored columns reached the Foglia river, the British and the Canadian pointing at the Fj right wing where the super river ended (center of the map), and the Poles attacking Pesaro at the Eastern extremity of the Fj line, along the Adriatic. I had the impression to know where Jean Luc wanted to concentrate his efforts at this moment, but I didn’t know what he wanted to do along the super river, not being able to detect where his engineer units were. And I really thought that he would not try to cross the super river hexes. That was a mistake. At the end of this turn two or three 278th units were still there, but their presence was trivial. Like in the first turn the situation was better to the west, and the new defensive line built to shorten the front resisted to the two or three Indian attempts to break it. A funny event was the raid to my rear launched by a Gurkha battalion which ended his run isolated in my line. A suculent target !
The first move were to surround the foolhardy Gurkhas with the available units in the sector. In fact, only two or three units were able to attack there, the other being in reorganization or in rout. But it was enough and the Gurkhas paid dearly for their rashness. Another attack drive back other Indians in the South, at the end of the right wing. The stack was more or less isolated from the rest of the British line, and some movements allowing my assault to gain the flank attack. And this time I closed the right wing. I didn’t want other intruders in my back. Otherwise some rare adjustments permitted to prepare better the line for the next British and Polish assaults. Contrary to the first turn where the destruction of my left first line gave me the impression that Jean Luc would be able to launch a blitzkrieg toward Rimini, I was more confident now, notably because of the good resistance of the right wing and the fact that I had some units in reserve. I hoped that the super river would give many problems to the enemy, and would eat a big part of his time, at least until the turn 5. And this turn 2 the interdiction was quasi absent despite the fact that the air briefing indicated 50 %. Certainly because a good part of the British and force was reorganizing.
The Allies Point of View
Stupid RWC I push, fun ,I push fun, I push, oops, I'm too far, want to return back ? too late !!! no more points, stupid as a newbie (may be I'm still a newbie):D. At the end the Ghurka btn is lost.
Poles are moving along the shore line, Pesaro is under fire.
Brits and canadian hold their time target. Lot of German units destroyed or surrounded. At this stage the victory is still reachable.
Western front is realy pain in the as*. German units are well entrenched. many assault make them weaker, but no retreats.
German point of View
The first replay events quickly showed me that the 8th Army leader had decided to send his engineer units across the super river hexes. Several Polish units were then able to cover the line before my FJs. The Canadians did the same thing to the right of the Poles. Then two concentrations of forces, one around the South of Pesaro (Poles) and one around an advanced FJ position facing a meander of the Foglia river (Canadians), indicated where Jean Luc thought that he could break my line. But the first attacks occurred on my right wing, where British and Indians units stumbled over my battalion without results. The bad news came first from the East, where the FJs in Pesaro weren’t able to hold the city which fell after the first attack. The “meander defense” rapidly broke too, and the Canadians had a foot on the other side of the river. And while the Western defense resisted to the assault without quasi no retreat, the FJ defense wasn’t able to contain the enemy attacks on three hexes at least, one on each wing of the division, and another at its center.
So the situation began to be alarming to the East, where the FJs didn’t seem able to resist to the Polish and Canadian pressure. A big reorganization of the front was necessary. The FJ line had to be shortened to gain units which would fill up the dangerous holes in my Eastern defense. After a quick look to the Air Briefing which show that the interdiction was apparently very weak this turn, I decided to reorganize my defense. Because the West held against the enemy attacks and because the main Jean-Luc’s goals seemed to be my left wing I had to put Gerbigs battalions in reserve in the Western rear to the line between the FJs and the right wing, where the front made a bend and ran there from the North to the South before going again to the West. After that FJ units were redirected to the East, to build there a better defense and to relieve exhausted units there. I still had a good line of defense at the end of the turn. But without many reserve in the rear now, I was a little afraid about what could wait me for the next turn. If Jean Luc would be able to break my line as he did it this turn, I was not sure to be able to contain it on the road to Rimini, even with the reinforcement. At the end of this turn I had lost two objective hexes on the North side of the Foglia river. And it was easy to understand that Jean Luc will continue his main efforts on the shortest road to Rimini, e.g. on the FJ defenses.
The Allies point of View
Pesaro is fallen, but Poles units have difficult to break the line. Surprise came from center part of the front, the Brits and canadian break the the line, my map analysis was correct.
The Fact that Canadian broke the gothic line will help me to enlarge the hole, remember that with COW 1.04 units at 120° enhance the attack of all units in this case the German entrenched units have less chances to resist than the one attacked by poles coming from two consecutives hexes.
Western Front is still blocked, Indian troops there are not enough to do something there, I need to reinforce them
German point of View
It was a good turn for me, as the replay showed it rapidly. First, with only 80 events, I knew that my opponent hadn’t certainly been able to obtain good advances into my lines. And the replay actually confirmed that. The Canadians, with some British tanks took one hexes in the center, but the 8Th Army didn’t obtain anything else. The Poles failed to gain other hexes along the Adriatic, and I have there two defensive lines. And if the Anglo-Canadians obtained an hex, another attack didn’t give anything. That was a very good thing because I hadn’t quasi no reserve at the start of this turn, with only a battalion to the West guarding the objective hexes of the right wing, and some cpies to the East. If Jean Luc had been more lucky, this turn could have been decisive for him. But now I was able to wait the 26th PzD calmly. I did more or less the same thing than the precedent turn, reorganizing my front.
The South West wing remained strong and able to resist to the next assaults. So I had the possibility to send one or two units to the East, particularly to the center where the British and Canadian tanks knocked out my FJs and drove away them. With new troops in the center I was able to use some FJs on my left wing, to counter another breakthrough between the FJ right wing and the Adriatic. And with no Polish attack to the East, I was able to get back one or two battalions.
This turn the interdiction was weak another time, and the Jabos stroke only at the end of the turn, not while my units moved to their new positions. At the moment I was confident in my capability to stop the 8th Army. I hold the biggest part of the Gothic line and its objective hexes. I even thought that with good counterattacks I would take again some ground to Jean Luc. Sadly this wasn’t right…
The Allies point of View
Push push pushhhhhit, Reorganization again for some of my armored poles. I realy not have luck in this game. In center front brits and canadian break the lines hourrahhhhhshit, what are doing those GebirgJäger here ??. They are supposed to be on the western front !!!
My line breaking assult in center front is stopped there. Hopefully a FallschirmJäger Btn is nearly completly surrounded, its death is annouced for next turn :devil:
I try to push on the bulge but assault after assaults my units became weaker and weaker. Initial value for most of them were 4/7 and now it is more near 2/3. That' true for most of the Infantry btn in contact with front lines, some poles are in worst state !!!!
TO RESUME LOT OF ASSAULTS NO MAJOR RESULT MERDE MERDE ET MERDE ( I don't translate :D)
My offensive took path. And German reinforcements will appear soon.
German point of View
If the 26th PzD was announced around Rimini, the first reports of the turn showed that many British battalions came from the South and crossed the Cesana river, apparently in the direction of my right wing. In fact it’s was not easy to say if they went to my right or to my center where Jean Luc obtained good results in the previous turns. Then the assaults began, and this time my opponent wanted to settle his left wing problem. If my line resisted the two first assaults, some positions quickly collapsed, letting big holes behind them, where the enemy rushed to take my others units by the flanks. And when I thought that my right wing was able to hold the Gothic Line until the end of the war, the beginning of my turn gave me a completely disorganized line, with the majority of the units routed. I really didn’t know how I would build another defense in this sector. I lost a hex in the North-South part of my line too, another hole with nothing behind… But this time the FJs didn’t give away, and no position was lost in their sector, even if some of them retreated, exhausted by the great number of Canadian and Polish assaults.
So what would I do this turn ? I had two tasks. The first was to reorganize, if it was possible, my right wing, the other was to decide how to employ the 26th PzD. Concerning the West, I had to secure the artillery units first, and I put them more to the North. I didn’t want that another raid rout them. They are precious, maybe the more precious units. On the first line, with no reserve in the West now, I didn’t really now what to install in front of the British. It was obvious that I would lost many hexes there the next turn. I retreated the units able to move and place them more in the North. More to the center I used already exhausted units to relieve two battalions holding the North-South line. They were still fresh, and very important for the defense of the next turn. These moves and evacuations were not easy with the strong interdiction ready to strike everything. But finally, with the help of the FJs, I built a defense able to withdraw slowly until the coming of new reinforcement the next turns.
The main task of this turn was still the mission I had to give to the 26th PzD. When I saw in the previous turns that the Gothic line held its ground and that the 8th Army didn’t breakthrough my line, I thought to launch a big counterattack, to repulse the British and their allies at least to the South of the Foglia river. But for that it was necessary to have a plan, or I would stuck my panzers in the enemy line without obtain any strategic result. The problem was that it was more easy to maintain a defense, even to try some little counterattacks, than to organize a great counteroffensive. So, instead of losing my time facing my screen with no idea on what to do, I decided that the best thing to do was to wait. Anyway, when the 26th PzD units went down to the front, they suffered many air strikes, quasi on each hex after the town of Riccione. With such a treatment I quickly understood that they would need rest, and that I would be able to use them in local counterattacks only. I decided to stop them around Cattallolca.
At least, I was now well armed to block and drive away any breakthrough in my line. The next reinforcement would be used to make another line in the West, more to the North of course than the current routed one.
The Allies point of View
THE GOTHIC LINE SEAMS BEGIN TO SPLIT,
South Front,
lot of push permit me to destroy some German units, you can see the remnant of a geman unit under the AA btn 21/1 at the corner of the bulge, just a hole :confused:
Ok, I fall on a second line of defense but I moved north, next turn I'll probably make a breaktrough there. Allies reinforcements are arriving too. Infantry btn ! direction center front to help extend the braekthrough.
Center Front
Brits and cannucks :D enlarge the hole to help the next attack to have a large seat, as I told in the previous turn the 5/5 FallschirmJäger btn diseaper ( bye bye). If you look more precisly to the map you'll see a motorized antitank btn with a defense value of 1, I will crack it on next turn and run as hell !!!
Eastern Front
I got only one hex !!! but again some units are under reorganisation sh.. . The initial german btn is now a company, the mashing machine is working. And there, with such a weak unit, I will cut the line and move to Rimini ( Am'I dreaming)
My initial plan is still credible, even if some unattended german troops blocked me.
German point of View
This turn the 8th Army’s attacks caused heavy damages in my lines from the East to the West. Besides, my opponent’s turn was a series of assaults after a little number of preliminary moves at the start. And this time the losses were heavy, apparently for the two side even if I paid the high price here, with three destroyed battalions at least. Jean Luc’s propaganda became reality this turn. And those fights were only the beginning ! Then, While his reinforcement went up to my right wing and to the center, he launched two raids through a hole between some FJs units in the East, and then organized a little artillery hunting in my rear. Another time two of his units became isolated. He should maybe have used them to surround and eliminate FJs units in the first line. By the way at the end of his turn, after another series of attacks, Jean “Monty” Luc had the biggest part of the Gothic line in his hands, at least the Eastern part. And that was a question of time concerning the South West objectives still on my side.
The situation wasn’t very good at the beginning of my turn 6. It was really alarming now, with big holes everywhere in the frontline, and a good part of the first line troops routed. So first I tried to recover the units which could move and fight at least another turn. With the little tips permitting to rally retreated units, I re-formed some battalions here and there and put them into the line. And I had four units in reorganization too, but with the possibility to dig in them yet. I was then able to rebuild something which could look like to a defense from a distance. But the things weren’t hopeless, far from that. I would say that at this moment of our game, the Gothic Line had won enough time to block the road to Rimini and the objectives hexes which would otherwise have given a victory to Jean-Luc. Because now, after the 26th PzD, came the 298th ID and the 262nd Turk ID from the North, ready to build other defensive positions before the 8th Army. The descent toward the front was a way of the cross for my battalions, forced to make their way to the South under the RAF’s air strikes like the panzers the previous turn. And this turn 6 was maybe the turn where the interdiction was the stronger. At the end they were still able to build a first defense, in fact a step before going more to the South the next turn, except of course if Jean Luc wouldn’t let them the time to do that. So the 298th went to the West, and the 262nd to the East. In this Eastern part of the battlefield there were those two polish and Canadian units a little too advanced in my positions. Thanks God, the panzers were there to drive them away to their lines. After three attacks the task was carried out, but with a lot of pain, the shermans fighting fiercely there, helped by those damn interdiction and air support.
At least, at the end of the turn, even if now the Gothic line was lost for the most part, I had a new defense line on the road of Rimini. The next enemy assaults would say where this defensive line should be exactly built.
The Allies point of View
Look at the Fornt line zone by zone
Western Front:
The initial line which was hold so fiercly by Germans, has finaly colapsed.
Most of germans units retreats, badly exhaused, but my units are on the same level of lossses. Hopefully, reinforcements like tanks arty and infantry are arriving to help my tired forces.
There is no more continuous line of defence in the south as ghurkas broke the line. In the same time a rec bat move northward to cut supplys lines of remants units. The central bulge is slowly reduced.
Problem most of VP are still german owned.
Central Front:
Brits push westward with some results, but the Canadian push is more promising. Most of VP of the Central gothis line are mine. Some FallschrimJäger btn are surrounded or nearby. Armored untis move north trying to find their way to the Conca river following in that the original planning.
Eastern Front:
At least the poles open the road and begin to push north. A rec unit took contact with Catolica. Is hope rising in the UK hearts, halas no, German reinforcement are arriving, they will block me or drove me back on my main line of fight. No hopes for reaching Rimini, now it is a race to the the VP location to get the higher victory level value an assure at least a draw.
German Point of View
So now the front was really cut off in two distinct parts. To the west my right wing was now quasi completely destroyed, and Jean Luc moved many units toward the North, with no opposition in front of them. Fortunately the terrain was difficult, and despite a big number of MPs his units didn’t reach an area where I wasn’t able to build another defensive line more in the North. And I could see an entire armored division (a brigade in fact) coming from the South and sent by JL Monty to my right, with maybe the wish to get Rimini by the South West in the last turns. Another series of assaults finished to disorganize the rest of the Gothic line to the East, and I lost a lot of FJs there. But, thanks God, with the reinforcement I had the capability to install another defense and hold the objectives to the North. At least I could see some British units evaporated while they assaulted my positions, particularly in an attack against a Pz battalion. Each hexes cost a high price.
Another time the beginning of my turn was a reorganization of a first line having as much holes as a flag in the middle of the last square. The new defense would now run from the edge of the wooded hills in the West to the 2 VPs hill just to the South of the Conca river in the center, and then directly to the sea, two hexes to the South of Cattollca. But I still had some strongpoint before this line, ready to slow the next British advances. The 98 ID had to hold the right wing and the 262nd the left wing for the most part. I tried to keep the 26th Pz D units in reserve just behind the front, ready to counterattack. After driving away to its line another British unit, I finished the turn with a good defense to the East, but with a weak line to the West, even if there was still a strong abscess in the 8th Army’s left wing there. Apparently the 98th ID had some difficulties to advance to its position, and I had to employ some 262nd’s units to help it. Another time the interdiction was strong this turn, even if it wasn’t as virulent as the previous turn.
The Allies Point of View
I will be vey schematic here as there not a lot to say.
On western Front I try to move Brits and NZ armored north to outflank remant of German troops and try to move north to the conca river.
On Center and east I made a breakthrough but I'm stopped by the 1st German reinforcements units, the dream to reach Rimini is over !!!
I've just to get some VP more, but on draw I am and on Draw I'll stay
German Point of View
It seemed that the British really desired to break the German line, because other reinforcement appeared in the South, going to the front rapidly. This time the enemy assaults didn’t give good results, and my defense hold well their position, even if I lost three units at least to the West, in the gap advancing in the British line and not yet reduced. But the most dangerous event for me was this reco unit bypassing my far right to the West? I had no troops between it and Rimini. And there were other units behind it which waited their turn. But this turn was lucky for me, because my opponent apparently lost his turn early, and wasn’t able to attack and develop his raid on my right flank. In the center I had a surrounded FJ battalion. It had resisted to the British assault, but it was too exhausted and it wasn’t necessary to attempt a rescue attack to help it. Otherwise the main part of my defense had well resisted against the enemy assault. And now, except this raid bypassing my right, I was confident and thought that I would hold the last objectives in my hand until the end of the game. But I couldn’t have any better than a draw, because any big counterattack to take again the lost objective hexes was impossible. Like in the previous turn, the counterattacks would only be able to take again one or two hexes still adjacent to my main defenses.
Except the never-ending reorganization of my first line after the latest fights, my main actions in this turn was first the redeployment of the 26th PzD just behind the VPs Hill in the center which was adjacent to the enemy unit. Like that, they would be ready if this position fell in the Jean Luc’s hands in the next turn. The other action was to repulse this reco unit in the North West, bypassing my right wing. An attack drove it away, and then I had enough units to block the way now, even if my defenses didn’t reach the West end of the map. Because of the terrain the British would need a lot of MPs to reach another time this opening. As a precaution I moved an infantry more to the North, standing back just behind the line. Its presence and its ZoC were enough to stop any other raid in my rear.
The Allies Point of View
On west front the outflanking movement seems to work but Lapalice had establish a good defence line. Near the coast my spearhead units are destroyed or obliged to move back. Poles and Brits are more or less stopped too.
To get revenge I'll try to cut and destroy all south western German units
Turn 9 and 10
German Point of View
For the last two turns, I hoped to hold the VPs still in my hands to the South of the Conca river. I was confident concerning Cattollca. But there was the VPs Hill on the front line. With troops adjacent to it, Jean Luc was able to launch several assault and then repulse my units to the North, avoiding any possible counterattack. So it was a priority sector, in the center. I didn’t think that even if I lost it, the game result would change, but it was a matter of prestige. I had lost enough ground like that. On the picture, it is the hex just above “Gothic”, occupied by a 1-1(f) battalion. The defense in the hex wasn’t very strong, even if it could resist to strong assaults. The purpose here was more in the preparation of a counterattack if the position fell, with the biggest part of the 26th PzD just behind, ready to repulse any assailants during my turn. My memory is not clear here, but I don’t think that the British (and the Canadians) launched an attack turn 9. In fact in this turn Jean Luc was decided to reduce the western bulge definitively. And after hard fights in the light woods, he had took quasi all the hexes, even if I still held a VP hex (simply a question of time). By the way my turn 9 was short, and except some move along the front line to fill in again the holes in my defense, I did nothing. Well, quasi nothing because, just facing my extreme right flank, there was a British reco unit, isolated from the rest of the 8th Army’s forces. I had the possibility to move an infantry battalion on its rear, but wasn’t able to completely surround it. The unit was then only drive away instead of being eliminated. And everything was ready for turn 10.
At the start of this turn the last units in the South West bulge were completely isolated by overruns. But I had prepared another defensive line just behind with units from quasi all the divisions. The attacks occurred all along the front. And the isolated pocket in the light wood in the South were eliminated, while to the East Jean Luc took some hexes, pushing a Polish armored battalion just in front of Cattollca. But it was too late and the town remained German. It was the same thing with the VP Hill, where an assault failed, even if some British succeeded in capturing an adjacent hex. So when my turn 10 started, I had nothing to do but waiting the end of the game. To do something (who know ?) I decided to lead the new reinforcement to the South, the , which suffer big air strikes until they reached their new emplacement just to the North of the Conca river. The event of this turn was this little cpie I launched in a raid to an objective hex in the far South West of the map. The good old Jean Luc tactic, with no possibility for him to retaliate.
And then the game ended. Now it was too late for the 8th Army. New attempts could be made later, but without me. Maybe with Jean Luc, he was the only one able to answer here. Well, I stopped the offensive, but at the same time that was the only possible thing to do. The counterattacks could only be local, and I didn’t re-take any lost VP hex. The enemy was too strong. The first turn was very hard when I watched Jean-Luc’s replay, with at least 80 % of the first line completely wiped out after his assaults. At this moment I didn’t know what I could have done. But after building a new line between the two defensive ones, I had shortened the front, and I had some reserve. And after that my opponent fell to break the Gothic Line before the coming of my reinforcement. I had largely enough unit to reconstitute any line and to try local counterattacks when it was necessary. I have the impression that the British had to attack in front of him, but it’s across a super river and against the FJs. A difficult task. Trying to bypass the Germans by the West is quasi impossible because of the terrain.
Well, a good game and a good scenario, Jean Luc knew his job and I am pleased to have stopped him in his race to Rimini.
The Allies point of View
Once again there is few to say. My claw movement against the south western bulge had worked well lots German untis were 1st trapped then eliminated. But Lapalice create new defence lines on north which don't permit me any hope to move easily northward.
If you look to all my untis, most of them are exhausted; many of them have lost 3/4 of their potential, as the motorized Btn near the word Gothic line in center of the map; it is only 1 in attack 2 in defence, it was 4/6 when it enter the fight. Same for one of the Poles btn in the north near Catolica.
The massive destruction of German units in the last turn will explain the Jump of the German Loss rate to 18 but it is a pale consolation in front of the failure to reach Rimini !!!
If the 5 first turns have seen my initial planning working as expected, hte German defensive strategy well mananged has stopped my move to Rimini. Really Lapalice did it well.
I invite you now to return back to the Comparative AAR to have a look on the trend and turns analysis
http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3380
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