D-Day to the Ruhr

[hingram]

I found the ships were not very effective at bombardment. They seemed to do a little better at Combat Support.

[sPzAbt653]

Turn 3 - All of the original Air Units have withdrawn and are replaced by new ones. They arrive in Rest mode, so take a few minutes and assign them missions.

[sPzAbt653]

Some other units also arrive, so check the Reinforcement Schedule to see where they are.

And don't forget to drop the Airborne Reinforcements like I did [:(]

[sPzAbt653]

These three divisions [center inset] will be released this turn [could of done it last turn but forgot, the perils of doing an AAR!].
As you can see by the top inset, each division brought in as a reinforcement reduces the Allies Supply Level. The bottom inset shows the current Supply Level.
The 'DDbriefA' document contains a list of the historical timetable for units arrivals in France. It is not mandatory by any means, just a reference for anyone interested.

[sPzAbt653]

End of Turn 3 in the US Zone. The beach head looks secured, movement will now be outward to expand it. The main objective is the major port of Brest off to the west, but we must also head south to cut off the peninsula from reinforcement.

[sPzAbt653]

Remember the Scenario Supply State Rule! Therefore, two of the British Armoured Brigades could not move or attack this turn, and the Canadians on the far right could move but could not attack.
The 1st SSB carried on and captured that island, and enough enemy coast guns were eliminated to allow follow up units to get to the beaches unmolested. This is very important for obvious reasons, but also because the Germans have six or seven Panzer Divisions in France and they are all veteran formations [or at least have veteran cadres] and we can expect some or all of them to show up at any time. By choosing this location for the invasion I hope that they will not arrive for a few turns.

[MikeJ19]

Steve,

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to enjoy watching your battle unfold.

All the best,

[nelmsm1]

Looking forward to this

[sPzAbt653]

Thanks guys.

Turn 4 - The Mulberries have arrived, so let's look at the supply situation. In the top half of this shot, we see the Allied Supply Points and their value as a percentage of the overall supply level [the inset shows that level, and note that it has dropped since last turn when it was 50, due to the units that were released by Theater Option]. Note that the best Supply Point [45, in the top hex row] is having no effect as it is not connected to anything [the road over the water is broken]. The bottom part of this shot shows the actual supply delivery, before other considerations. It is bad, but that is ok because this is only representing the supplies that the assault units could bring with them. The Mulberries have arrived and next we will see what to do with them, and we'll see their effect next turn.

[sPzAbt653]

The two Mulberries are in England, load them onto ships and ...

[sPzAbt653]

... move them to the broken sea-road locations and park them there. These represent the Allies' construction of artificial ports.

[sPzAbt653]

Back to the action, looks like trouble is approaching on the east flank.

[sPzAbt653]

End of Turn 4.

[sPzAbt653]

Let's have a look at one on the unique design features of DDtR. See the 'DDbriefA' document part 3 [also 7, 16 and 17] for further explanation.

On the left side of this screen is a typical unit at the start of the scenario. Most units have similar very limited transport assets. On the right is a unit after several turns of movement and/or combat. It has lost its transport assets and now can only move 1. Replacements for transport assets arrive only after a major port has been captured. Don't fret too much, thiw won't happen to all units, so it won't reduce your entire force to a movement of 1. Usually it will only affect one or two units at a time.
If this leaves a bad taste in your mouth and causes you to rebel against playing this scenario, see #19 in the document.

Also in this shot we can see that this unit has a 'double icon', in this case those of an Infantry and a Marine unit. This represents a unit that had Amphibious Training and therefore does not suffer the Water Obstacle Penalty [75% attack value when attacking from a sea or river hex].

[sPzAbt653]

With the Mulberries placed last turn on the broken sea roads, this turn we can see the improvement in supply. This supply effect works if the Mulberry units are embarked or disembarked. Leave the Mulberry units on the broken sea roads, and don't ever repair the broken sea roads.

[sPzAbt653]

In the US zone, the German 3.FJ Div and elements of 1.SS Pz Div have been identified.

The SS Runes appear as blocks in this earlier version of the scenario. In later versions they will show as S's.

[sPzAbt653]

In the Br/Can zone the Panzers have cut across the main north/south road thru Rennes to the base of the peninsula. This is a little disappointing as I would have preferred that I had got to Rennes first.

[sPzAbt653]

The island that the 1st SSB captured isn't a port or airfield, so the only way to get it off is to disband it, otherwise leave it there for the duration. If I remember correctly, Special Forces are one of the units that don't reconstitute, so disbanding it isn't entirely bad as its squads will be used as replacements for other similar units.

[sPzAbt653]

On the western flank there is a good distance to go to get to Brest [Green circle]. There are three minor ports, two along the way [Stars] and a third slightly out of the way [Red circle]. The minor ports don't get me much but will be a little relief to the strain put on the supply level by bringing in more units. Several more divisions are needed to be able to get to Brest.

[sPzAbt653]

In the center, the US 2nd Armored Division has landed. Maybe it should be sent west toward Brest, but I think I'd rather send it south to the Vannes area to cut off the peninsula. A few follow up divisions will be needed. Actually, I guess I should act like I'm smart and not try to get Brest and Vannes at the same time, better to concentrate on one.