Panzers, rückwärts! Gunnulf (GHC) vs QBall (WA)

[Gunnulf]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Looks like he has fallen into your trap! Seriously, Kudos to you for hanging in there even when it's so grim.

Grim is the word. My pixeltruppen are following me now only out of a morbid sense of curiosity...

[Gunnulf]

Turn 93 - 7 Apr 45

So, its kinda like breaking both your legs each turn, getting them set in a cast, trying to walk a few steps and them both snapping again next turn... With the Allies now 20 miles from Berlin its about time the Fuhrer seriously thinks about topping himself. Also our colleagues on the East Front don't seem to be much help as the allies sneak in via the back door they remain focused on the Red horde. Probably just as well, I think I'd rather QBall take as much territory as possible for the sake of future Germany...
Anyway, otherwise not too much to report here, I'll cobble together some solution with sticking plaster and elastic bands and next turn you can see that nothing worked in the slightest Ironically there is heavy mud right where I need to retreat to avoid encirclement and only light mud where QBall has an opportune avenue of advance. Von Murphys law!

[Gunnulf]

Turn 94 - 14 Apr 45

Slightly less rampant advance, maybe QBall outran his supplies a bit, or maybe he is just running out of places to go. Feels like he is maybe rationalising exactly the minimum he needs to do before the end as some cities I thought he would assault remain unassaulted. Its going to be all about getting as much firepower to Berlin I think, with a minor excursion to Hamburg of course. Berlin will (should...) be a tough nut to crack I hope. 11th Army has pulled together a garrison, the C2C is ok with decent commanders and it should still function if surrounded, and he should need a pretty big force to break them down. Famous last words... At a guess I'd say every allied 4E bomber will be on unit bombing runs before long.

[John B.]

New goal. If you hold Berlin longer than the Germans held it historically you win.

[Gunnulf]

Yep, last goal wins rule. I like it. Unless the Allies mess up a landing or the Axis manage somehow to lock down the advance in France its pretty clear I think that the odds are the Germans will lose against a decent Allied player. Its pretty brutal once the Allies are on a role for the Axis player to keep motivated while heading towards inevitable defeat, but the only way to keep going I think is to keep picking yourself little goals to hold such and such place for so long. You don't necessarily get points for it, only taking a little satisfaction here and there. Doing that has made it a painful but interesting game for sure. QBall bit busy at the moment I think and not seen a turn for ten days but sure we'll bring this to a satisfactory conclusion soon.

[John B.]

It does seem tough to be the Germans (good in historical perspective bad for the game) and you don't seem to see any type of chance for a real counter attack as at the Bulge or in the battles in Normandy. Even if you know you're doomed, it's always nice to have the other guy on the run for a few turns.

[Gunnulf]

Yep absolutely, real sustained counterattacks are tough to a) justify in resources b) organise while under often extreme pressure everywhere, especially as the Allies here never seemed to slow up much due to logistics or weather (or maybe it just seemed like that to a beleagured C-in-C here... But even if I had managed to get a wacht am rhein together the battle of the bulge really only lasted a handful of turns. A drop in the ocean and likely to burn out precious resources unless can really catch the Allies on the hop and throw them off balance. I never really had that window except in Italy maybe.

Turn 94 - 21 Apr 45

The Allies advance continues but it does feel like for the moment they lack decisive offensive power at the key points its going to matter at the end game. The 3 sectors that might give him enough points to convert a minor victory to a major one are Amsterdam, Hamburg and Berlin. The former is pretty well locked down with a large pocket that QBall is not attempting to reduce. Hamburg has a strong garrison now with a FJ and Inf Div with a corp HQ and should be tough to crack unless fully surrounded, but its not an impossible task. Berlin is about as fully fortified as we could hope at this point, 2 of the city hexes over 100 defensive CV, and the 3rd 80+, with the corps & army HQ well commanded with good attached SUs. I think its out of scope for QBall to take in the time he has remaining and with troops that look far from fresh. Its possible of course that he is marshalling a fresh assault force out of our view but I suspect not. In the final turns I guess we'll see how much gas he has left in the tank...

[John B.]

Make em grind Germany into dust, that's the spirit! [:)] Do you still hold any of Italy? I agree that any counter attack is a waste of resources but, just the chance turn the tide is enough to give you something to look forward to rather than a game where you're only option is to lose more slowly than real life. Not a lot of games where you have to play Custer's forces at Little Big Horn.

[Chuske]

Did this epic ever get finished?

[Gunnulf]

Unfortunately QBall was having dramas with the file from the next turn. I can't remember the details but we tried for a while but had to call it a day sadly. Only a couple of weeks left obviously anyway. Under cricket rules I'd call it a draw obviously