Sicily to Brenner's Pass ( Brian and larry )

[larryfulkerson]

Unless I've missed something, Brian and I are going to start a game of this scenario.
He, Brian, issued the challenge and I accepted it and now I'm waiting for his first moves.
It's 18:37 local Tucson time 2/12/2018. Let's see how long it takes.

EDIT: 10 minutes later: I just got an email from Brian saying he hoped I didn't mind
being the Germans and he was going to try to get a turn out tonight. What a trooper.

[larryfulkerson]

Does 23 minutes from challenge to first turn combat replay set any records? I think maybe.

[larryfulkerson]

I noticed that one of Brian's attacks was an airstrike on one of my ground units and
he lost some aircraft ( to my AA because none of my planes flew ) and I had no losses
of any kind. Is the AA slider too bloody for the scenario?

[larryfulkerson]

So I watched the combat replay and now I'm moving my units. I mean I will now move
my units since I really haven't moved anything yet. The first units to move are a
formation of aircraft and here's a Ju-88 with a range of 157 which is a lot more than
I need unless I move further up the boot. So I reduced it's effective range to 45 to
limit it to the beaches where the Allies landed so as to avoid the INT attacks that
would invariably happen on the islands where the Allies have parked a lot of fighters
and bombers. I'll bet Brian is in a hurry to move his planes closer to the action
as soon as he can. I thought about doing some air strikes but Brian commands the air
at this point and it'll be all I can do to hold my own in the air for a little while.

[larryfulkerson]

The Allies landed in at least three places on the southern coast and have been woking
their way north. I've mobilized the Italians on the north coast, railing them to the
south and into the middle of the island. I'm hoping can stop up the roads and rails
and delay their advance a little bit.

[larryfulkerson]

I didn't do any attacks this turn but I did manage to move all the Italian formations
out west to the middle of the island so as to be available to who needs it first.
I already have knowledge of this scenario since I've played it before as the Allies
and I know the goal for the Allies is Messina and the port there. Thense to the toe
of the boot to get rid of the Italians that will be withdrawn when the toe is occupied
by the Allies. The rest of the German equipment will be withdrawn eventually and it'll
be just the Italians facing the Allies. That's just before the end of ccurse. Long
tine away. But I ramble.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines before I have moved anybody in T2.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T4 front lines after everybody has been moved for the turn.

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing your battle with us.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing your battle with us.

You're welcome. The idea is to delay the Allies as long as is practical without
losing a lot of people and then when the lines are stabilized, see if I can't
evacuate a lot of that German equipment onto the Italian mainland. But so far
my sea cap is zero so nobody is leaving the island yet. The scenario briefing
said something about the sea cap arriving after a few turns. I'm counding on it
to get some units off the island.

Sicily is just the start point, Brian has to roll up the boot to the north edge
yet. This is like, 187 turns long I think. I played this scenario as the Allies
against the PO and know a little bit about it already so I have a tiny advantage
maybe. I'm not aware of how familiar Brian is with the scenario but he picked it
out as the one we play. I think he likes it.

Brian is experiencing some health issues but manages most of the time to get a turn
out most days. He's a trooper.

[MikeJ19]

I hope Brian's health improves. Keep up the good fight.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the front lines in T5 and Brian is moving his tanks so as to split my lines
in thirds to outflank and destroy them. I weakened my line moving units to block.

[devoncop]

hi Larry

As a much more experience player than me it is interesting you are defending so much more further forward than I have chosen to do. I almost immediately in my game v Warspite pulled back to what is your 2nd MLR across from just South of Catania across to Nicosia in the centre and around St Stefano in the north to reduce the width of the defence.This allows the 15th Panzer Gren and HG Panzer Div to back up what Italian forces can be saved from the Coastal Divs and forces on the West coast that i railed out.

Axis forces have to wait quite a while for any reinforcements and they do not seem to be of any sort of quality at all. It will be interesting to see the viability of a more forward defence.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: devoncop
hi Larry

As a much more experienced player than me it is interesting you are defending so much
more further forward than I have chosen to do. I almost immediately in my game v Warspite
pulled back to what is your 2nd MLR across from just South of Catania across to Nicosia
in the centre and around St Stefano in the north to reduce the width of the defense.
This allows the 15th Panzer Gren and HG Panzer Div to back up what Italian forces can be
saved from the Coastal Divs and forces on the West coast that i railed out.

Axis forces have to wait quite a while for any reinforcements and they do not seem to be
of any sort of quality at all. It will be interesting to see the viability of a more
forward defence.

Hey there devoncop dude. Thanks for posting Um...I'm beginning to think that you had
the better idea. Defending so far forward is part of my plan to force the Allies back into
the sea. It's not working out that way. I'm afraid he's there for the duration.

He's got good units to fight with and I have the Italians, which aren't particularly good
fighters. The units are small and it takes a stack of them to attack or defend and i
consider them throw-away units. I'm particularly fond of my German units and I'm going to try
to save them if I can. I'd really like to see them safely on the mainland.

Brian is flying his aircraft to Sicily and he's going to get some reinforcements sometime soon
and he'll be able to wrap this Sicilian adventure fairly quickly. But I want to delay him for
as long as the units will last. I figure I have another turn of defense from the Italians
but they are already giving way and I'll have to pull back the entire front line.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a close up of the east part of the lines, the part of the lines that is in
the process of folding up and crumbling. The British are fighting their way through
my units without much problem. I'm going to have to pull back the entire front line
and shift everybody to the east into the Messina corner. I'll give Brian the western
part of the island and maybe he'll waste some time exploring that.

[devoncop]

Hi Larry

You may well prove to have the better long term strategy (this is a monster of a long scenario)as I am using German troops to defend the MLR I described earlier. They are causing a lot of British casualties in particular but I think I will have problems extricating them once I get sea capacity.

The passes each side of Mount Etna seem ideal for a second MLR but this will depend on getting a dribble of Italian reinforcements to get digging !

I just love the options available for both sides in both this scenario and the CFNA which myself and Warspite are also scrapping over !

[larryfulkerson]

I did five attacks, four of which were too many, and one which went fairly well.
I gained a hex from Brian but I weakened my lines in a couplle of spots so Brian
will probably have a good turn when he gets these moves. I've already sent the
moves and they are on their way and I'm posting this afterward so we should have
some Brian moves in about an hour or so.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: devoncop
Hi Larry

You may well prove to have the better long term strategy (this is a monster of a long
scenario) as I am using German troops to defend the MLR I described earlier.

Can you post a screengrab of that bad boy? I'd like to compare yours with this one.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
They are causing a lot of British casualties in particular but I think I will have problems extricating them once I get sea capacity.

I agree. Unless you're in a port when you embark....I think there's no disengagement battle
for the last unit you move. I could be wrong.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
The passes each side of Mount Etna seem ideal for a second MLR but this will depend on getting a dribble of Italian reinforcements to get digging !

I like this idea a lot. I'm going to move my guys.

ORIGINAL: devoncop
I just love the options available for both sides in both this scenario and the CFNA which myself and Warspite are also scrapping over !

Wow, that's a great idea....I haven't checked out the options yet. I gotta do that.

[devoncop]

I am a dunce when it comes to IT Larry so I can't give a screenshot but Warspite is doing an AAR and his always includes excellent screenshots so if you check out his WAR you should get a decent idea of the MLR (especially on the South East flank)

I actually meant strategic options in game rather than scenario specific theatre options but the theatre options are interesting too.

I would highly recommend the Etna Pass option....it really cuts the amount of territory needed to be covered.

Thanks for the info 're disengagement ..... Kesselring managed it expertly....I am no Kesselring !

[larryfulkerson]

Thanks for the info 're disengagement ..... Kesselring managed it expertly....I am no Kesselring !

I'm starting to feel "funny" about the last unit leaving the hex embarked on the rail. I'm feeling like it DOES
get shot at. We'll have to run a test to find out.