West Front 44 v. 2.63 Heldenkaiser vs. Nemo

[Menschenfresser]

The scenario only allows one Northern France landing. It does give the Allied player the opportunity to do Dragoon or cancel it.

One other negative for Brittany I thought of yesterday will be that the supply lines are much longer when you move toward Germany.

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 22 / 25th July 1944

It turns out Ike got really pissed off this turn by the lack of progress in Britanny and ordered his commanders to break the deadlock at all cost, period. This was the heaviest fighting in the campaign so far. In a series of IL combats in the final round losses exceeded 20% for both sides and reached 100% for the German side at least twice. The actual amount of real estate gained was minimal, but the German army in France must be bled white by now. Losses for us are a nightmare too though: the penalty is now 114 to 27.

In Italy too we are on the move. US II Cps has relieved IV Cps in the line and has moved one crucial hex closer to Livorno ... :shy:

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 23 / 29th July 1944

Both sides tried new tricks this turn. For the first time I saw Marc use his airforce to attack my fleets and my Mulberry harbour. The attacking wings did little damage though and were evaporated in the attack. For my part, I had reactivated the heavy bombers with a heavy heart as a final bid at breaking the deadlock in Britanny. (While we were at it, they also blew some important bridges behind the German front--Le Mans, Angers, Laval--and eliminated some artillery tubes.)

It worked, or maybe the Germans were already at the breaking point anyway. For the first time in what, a month?, the front moved forward. In fact I believe I won four (!) hexes in a single turn (notice how humble we've become during this trench war :shy although one fell so late my units could not advance to occupy it and in another one of those dreaded StuGs still holds out.

Now if I can keep up this pace, I should be in Paris by summer 1945.

In Italy, I feel even more triumphant, because the crack 4th Indian Infantry Division quite unexpectedly finally took Rimini. Allied II Cps has repelled a German counterattack and is one hex closer to Livorno. To its right, French II Cps is returning to the frontline to exert more pressure on the Germans.

Loss penalty 137 to 29. :shock:

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Vacation

Also your faithful war correspondent begs to report that he be on vacation until 3 October and will continue this report after his return.

 

[Veers]

Re: Vacation

Also your faithful war correspondent begs to report that he be on vacation until 3 October and will continue this report after his return.

Bummer! Thouroughly enjoying the AAR.

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 24 / 1st August 1944

Breakthrough in Italy! US 1st AB Bde lands behind German lines on the Arno and French I and US II Cps advance to meet them, pulverizing the German lines on a front of 75 km. On the Adriatic, British V and US VI Cps likewise push past Rimini and will reach the open plains in the next days, or so we hope.

Again assisted by the despised strategic bombers, British and Americans also finally start pushing back the stubborn Germans in Britanny. The fresh British XXX Cps relieves I Cps in the line on the right, pushing on to St. Nazaire with the 50th Division. US troops also gain several hexes, and US 5th Armor evaporates a battalion of 45 Tigers I and II. Maybe the German defences are finally crumbling?

Loss penalty 128 to 30.

 

[Veers]

AHA! Glad to have you back and congratz on the progress!!

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 25 / 5th August 1944

On the Arno, the German front is completely torn open and the fresh Free French divisions are storming over the river in strength and pushing the Germans before them. Unfortunately, this is sort of a dead end, since the mountains are still ahead of us here. On the Adriatic, where the terrain would be open all the way to the Alps, the German are a bit more tenacious. Still, there is some progress here too. In the center, the British 1st Division enters Firenze unopposed.

Tougher going in France (actually this is no longer Britanny now, but Normandy or something else, as we're over the river), but the Brits are one hex closer to St. Nazaire (turns out the division that's sitting on the coast can't attack into the city, there seems an obstacle in between), and US V Cps has finally (!!) taken Mont St. Michel (but will they hold it?). One or two hexes gained elsewhere too, but the German bulge SW of Fougeres remains a thorn in our side. Generally though there is hope; the front is moving, and Marc is apparently running out of fresh units to shift into the frontlines. In fact, we have observed a rearward movement that seems to indicate the building of a fallback position maybe on the Loire? :shy:

Loss penalty 122 : 31.

 

[Veers]

Re: Allied Turn 25 / 5th August 1944

turns out the division that's sitting on the coast can't attack into the city, there seems an obstacle in between)

The river running throuh the city is a supr river and the road into the city comes from the north. THerefore the US ID (which has no bridging engineers) has no road to use to get over the river and into the hex.

 

[Menschenfresser]

Keep going guys. Great AAR and it's just about to get really interesting in France if great retreat is about to occur.

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Re: Allied Turn 25 / 5th August 1944

The river running throuh the city is a supr river and the road into the city comes from the north. THerefore the US ID (which has no bridging engineers) has no road to use to get over the river and into the hex.

Indeed. Thanks! I was too lazy to figure that out, I just realized I had to go around whatever there was on that hexside. :shy:

Now I suppose the Loire estuary would be quite wide. I've seen the mouth of the Seine 15 years ago near Le Havre when they were just in the process of building a bridge a few miles upstream of the bay. It was huge! :surprise:

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 26 / 8th August 1944

Speaking of being lazy, it also took me a turn to realize how the handful of rather disorganized 2-1, 1-2 etc. German units still left on the Arno managed to resist the whole Free French army and even inflict higher losses on them. Some sort of fortified line along that river. I should pay more attention to the map graphics it seems ... :shy:
Anyway, French armour is beyond Pisa, and it is just a matter of time before these remnants of the German army evaporate before the Allied onslaught. In a few turns, I'll throw in rested reserves and than on to the Po!

In France, the war is really on the move now. The Americans gained several hexes, made it into Chateaubriand and pierced the German center three hexes deep. The British are still stuck in front of Saint-Nazaire, but those Germans will soon by outflanked by the American advance, on whose deep flank I intend to use the fresh corps waiting in the rear for an envelopment towards the Atlantic coast. A nice Kessel maybe?

In any case, Marc is definitely falling back. This turn's replay was 2,300 moves compared to a usual 300 to 500. He is apparently withdrawing troops to the Reich; I have not yet identified his fallback position. We shall see.

Here is the big picture btw. We are still nibbling at the edges ... but that might change soon, at least in France.

Loss penalty 120 to 31.

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Allied Turn 27 / 12th August 1944

Is this the turn that wins the campaign? I know, I shouldn't get too excited, but it's hard to avoid, seeing how the front lines have moved more in this one turn than in all the previous ones combined. Marc is definitely falling back, the German front lines are collapsing both in France and in Italy, and Allied troops are pouring through all the gaps.

In France, it's hard to find words for the extent of the Allied lightning advance within a mere half week. But just note that St. Nazaire has fallen (will increase my supply level), the Big Red One is racing to Cherbourg (will increase my supply level) and special forces have airdropped into the key crossroad city of Le Mans, effectively splitting the German front in half. The Canadian army has been inserted into the front in the centre, and together with US XV Cps it has covered more ground in this one turn than any corps from the initial landing to last turn. Or just note that the German pocket at Fougeres in the American sector denotes the German front as of last turn.
A large number of German units has also been evaporated. I realize they'll be back (soon), but for the moment they're out of the way.

In Italy, British V Cps and US VI Cps have pushed through the German frontlines north of Rimini and out onto the open plain. Ravenna is within reach, and then the Po.

Loss penalty is 107 to 32. As you may notice, the ratio has been constant during the last turns, or even improving. :yummy:

 

[Veers]

WOW. Just...wow...

 

[Olorin4]

WOW. Just...wow...

Ditto!

Could this sudden breakthrough be due to the germans falling back to another line? What does your intelligence tell you?

 

[Heldenkaiser]

Ditto!

Could this sudden breakthrough be due to the germans falling back to another line? What does your intelligence tell you?

Yes, Marc is definitely falling back. All the way to the Reich it seems ... at least with some troops, probably his last operational reserves in France. What he left behind was mostly the debris of the frontline troops, but these guys were all deep in the red and no longer able to resist. So I think with or without a German withdrawal this line would have collapsed this turn or the next. Afterall we've been hammering it with everything we got for what, 15 turns? At some point the Allied materiel superiority was bound to tell ...

The good thing is that finally I can use all those troops that were waiting behind the lines for gaps in which to deploy. My guess is I have enough troops to sustain a front line three time the length of that across the neck of the Britanny peninsula and still have local superiority almost everywhere. The bad thing is of course I am losing the supply boost for stationary units and lengthening my supply lines, and what with not being able to repair railroads ... but doesn't really matter, that had to come sooner or later. And those ports will fall and raise the supply level again. Cherbourg should be good.

 

[Menschenfresser]

This is the part of the game I'm most worried about. How the Germans fall back and whether they can rebuild a line. And how the supply situation hampers the Allies.

 

[Noxious]

There is quite a bit of error on the distance between St-Nazaire and Nantes (sorry, my dad's birthplace et al.) : it's at slightly over 75 km on this map, while in reality, it's around 51 km as the crow flies. It should be moved at least one hex NW, I'd say.

Fascinating AAR otherwise, and if I understand correctly (Menschenfresser), much props for modding that scenario
It's helping spur me in playing some WWII scenarios, not only in TOAW (only played modern or pre-WWII scens so far) but in other games as well...
Actually, to be truthful, playing Raid On St-Nazaire has helped tremendously rekindle my interest in WWII, as well as reading De Gaulle's War Memoirs.
Cheers !!

 

[meatshield]

It would seem to me the prudent thing to do would be withdraw before the German forces in France reach critical mass. An orderly withdrawal to the Seine would be much preferred to holding on for 3-4 more turns then losing all of France in one swift stroke. That's one of the most important decisions the Axis player will have to make in this scenario.

 

[Menschenfresser]

I've done the grunt work, but it was really a long list of people contributing ideas and inspiration to keep plugging away.

On map issues: the basic map hasn't changed much from the original scenario. I've added some overlay, but haven't changed the fundamentals. Several people, familiar with specific parts of the map, have said things are out of whack. I've said I'll get to it eventually. But probably the whole map needs reworking. If you move something one way, it ends up being too far the other.