Fall Grau 2.27 Ben (Axis) versus Jeremy

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

The Duluth Move can indeed punch a big hole in the American lines. What's the strength of the cut-off units?

Err - not sure what you are saying here? Duluth is an American city on the eastern tip of Lake Superior. It is darn rare that it is a big part of the match. I must be missing something here?

Because this is week long turns cut off units can be in real trouble very quickly. TOAW treats them as having been cut off for 7 days.

I meant Decatur, not Duluth, my mistake.

Ahh - I see a little more clearly what you mean.

[golden delicious]

Turn 13:
Yeah- this works. Jeremy is still very much in Arkansas. He fixed the bridge in his rear, but this is tenuous and can be dealt with: the Herman Goering division swings around into the Allied rear, evaporates the Allied engineers, demolishes the bridge and then slams into the rear of the brigade which Jeremy had positioned to stop me getting here from the east. This is a goodly force out of supply- perhaps five divisions in the main pocket south of the Arkansas river. I feel good enough about this that two infantry divisions simply ignore the pocket and press on towards Missouri. This turn, I'll leave the pocket mostly unmolested until it drops out of supply, contenting myself to breaking it into two, more easily digestible parts while also hitting the vulnerable HQs that Jeremy has sought fit to leave on the line. In addition to this, I also trap 2nd Armor, which got greedy and killed an isolated Alpini division. It may escape as it's not fully surrounded, but it'll have a rough turn. This was, however, enough to put me off my immediate charge toward Oklahoma City.

I toy with an airdrop in Tennessee but only one division is ready- next it'll be three. Then when I move I promptly RBC an armoured division leaving a huge Allied force in a vulnerable salient which would have been out of supply if I'd dropped that one division. Oh well. I'll try to make the Allied situation even more difficult, then if he doesn't bug out the airdrop will go ahead.

I DO make my airdrop in Canada, two divisions landing in the rear of the Ottawa position, which should put three armoured divisions plus artillery out of supply IF I can bash through one British division. This all looks like a bit of a mess as I'm not able to make the ring solid, just temporarily block supply, and all I may have achieved here (besides killing a bunch of my own troops) is keeping the good Allied units in place here a little longer.

The Allied guerrilla effect hits this turn, cutting my rail line in Texas and forcing me to ship in a number of Axis minor units earlier than planned: 4 for the southwest, 3 for the southeast and 2 for Canada. This means for the first time since turn 1 I'm leaving good German infantry on the dockside, but they'll come over next turn anyway.

Canada is a mess but the rest is good. I destroy a division I cut off last turn north of the Arkansas, making sure there's no relief for Jeremy's trapped army here and freeing my forces here for further operations. I blast a great big hole in the Allied line in Tennessee, essentially destroying his eastern flank here and exposing the western half to disaster if not withdrawn immediately. In Virginia, US regulars refuse to budge, but my Italians simply knock on the door at Norfolk and walk right in. Admittedly the unit in the hex is pretty pathetic (a 2-2) and Jeremy may push back, but sooner or later I'll have this city. I close the turn by scrambling all my most unbloodied fighter units and making a string of airfield attacks as the Allied air forces look like they're on the ropes. I may step this up in the coming turns as if I can keep Allied fighters suppressed that means my bombers are safe and his are dead. FW-190 (late) in particular I have coming out of my ears. In fact I have a lot of things coming out of my ears because my replacement rate is very high. 5,000 German squads in the "on hand" pool, for example.

Axis airdrop compromises the defences of Ottawa

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 13
Well now everything is a mess. Ben airdrops behind my line near Ottawa. Here I hum and haw a bit. I could throw my last reserves at this, but it would mean stripping my defenses building the next line to try and hold onto a line I am considering abandoning and it is hardly certain that this would work. I instead decide to start the retreat to the new line north of Toronto. My armour just flee’s past the airbourne though I am not sure if we are out of reach on Ben's turn.

In Virginia I retake Norfolk and stick a good division into the city. We will see how this plays out.

Huntsville remains the scene of a strong Axis advance with Allied armoured counter attacks to try and limit the pace of the advance.

The West is a bit of a disaster for me with my original Western Army cut off this turn. I’m throwing in my reinforcements fresh off the train to see if I can save them, and technically they are not cut off at the end of my turn but I think Ben will extract a pound of flesh from me next turn. On the upside I essentially break the spear point in Illinois with heavy armoured counter attacks.

Things will keep heating up for a bit as reinforcements, including the National Guard swarm into the area.

Allied forces race to destroy the Axis spearhead before Allied lines to the south collapse.

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[comte]

Hey guys where do you get this scenario?

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Hey guys where do you get this scenario?

You can find it in the list of new scenarios (maybe down a page or so) - but I'd actually hold off as a number of issues popped up in this match and Ben has a Fall Grau version 2.28.

[golden delicious]

Hey guys where do you get this scenario?

I posted 2.28 (as mentioned by Jeremy) in the scenario thread here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 5&t=362190

There are a couple of things I had meant to polish in terms of news event descriptions but only cosmetics. The scenario should play just fine.

[golden delicious]

Turn 14:
OK, first question, are conditions still right for an airdrop in Tennessee? I'd say signs point to yes: a couple of hexes taken and he'll be out of supply with this whole force, at least five divisions and ample artillery. My own forces are not in the best condition, with my armour in reorganisation, but I can make do. The first division I try to drop, though, gets knocked back by fighters. The second inexplicably evaporates when trying to land in a hex occupied only by Allied aircraft. No fun. As a result, I call off the operation. As I move up my forces a bit more, it really is clear what a tragedy this is: Jeremy has built a line screening Memphis, so there are a good couple of extra divisions and plenty of armour which would go in the bag here. On the other hand the top of the trap is failing as my forces in Illinois took a hammering from the Allies, destroying half of it and putting the remainder out of supply. At least Jeremy's armour here looks like it's a wreck too.

A surprisingly effective break out attempt in Arkansas, with fresh troops coming in from the west to put the Herman Goering division in trouble and cut a hole in to the pocket from the west, but I don't think this is enough. First, I throw 2nd Armor back into the trap, brushing aside a Mexican division which had come to its aid. This time, I complete a full encirclement and will destroy the division. Next, I slice through the battered Allied troops to again take the river crossing at Fort Smith, while the Goering division pushes through some of the encircling troops to reverse the situation. Finally, 29. Panzergrenadier slides through the gap cut in the main encirclement, leaving the remains of about three divisions in a two hex pocket which I can destroy this turn.

As predicted, Jeremy pushed back at Norfolk, and now a fresh regular infantry division is sat in the city. I hit the adjacent hex to get a flank bonus, then try again: the Allied unit retreats, but I don't advance. This could go on a while. I do need to find a couple more pieces to mop up Mobile and New Orleans: from this turn, they should be out of supply, and taking them both sooner rather than later would be nice.

To my surprise, Jeremy declined to devour my two airborne divisions in Canada, preferring instead to fall back toward Niagara. I'm in a poor state to pursue here, with few mechanised divisions all in bad condition, and most of my infantry will spend the turn clearing Ottawa, now sitting awkwardly on my flank. I drip a couple more infantry divisions in here on the basis that I want to keep the Niagara front mobile, and also I've a vague fear of Jeremy raiding my supply lines via the open front in southern Maine. My largest reinforcements (one panzer and three infantry divisions) continue to flow to Texas, as the fighting on the Plains is sucking in more and more troops, and it would be nice to get some infantry up before my lunge into Illinois is completely reversed.

Fair results in the west. After destroying 2nd Armored, my own panzertruppen are able to put a further 2 1/2 Allied divisions out of supply south of Muskogee. I'm actually unable to completely eliminate the original pocket, or complete the further trap planned by the Herman Goering division (which is now going to die), but there are plenty of Allied units for me to destroy here next turn. Early turn ending (again) stops this turning into a real classic. Allied loss penalty is finally climbing, but then so is mine (80 - 39). Jeremy is doing a good job at picking isolated Axis units and destroying them, which could be a problem for me as none of my ground units reconstitute. As regards the original plan, I didn't expect Jeremy to stick to his defence in Tennessee. I'm still only six hexes ahead of Huntsville, which I reached eight turns ago. That's not a fantastic rate of advance. However, getting ahead here continues to take second place to giving the Allies a beating in the west.

A complex situation in the west as both sides pour in reinforcements

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 14
Things start off this turn well with Ben trying an air drop that goes wrong. Apparently if the airfield has planes then the Axis unit Evaps, or that is what seems to have happened here. In the north I continue my withdrawal to the Toronto line. Down at Norfolk Ben bludgeons me out of the city but does not take it again. I re-occupy it again but I don’t have much to do it with this turn so I think it might fall.

At Huntsville it is the usual round of attacks followed by counter attacks, Ben makes a bit of ground but we are not in a crisis here yet though Ben is keeping the area ‘in play’. It dawns on me that life might get much harder here when I run out of reinforcements from the West – we will see.

The area between the Tennessee and Memphis comes under attack starting this turn which could be worse as I finally clear Ben out of the areas east of the Mississippi to the north. The tip of Ben’s Spearhead heading west out of Paducah has been destroyed and odds and sods rushed south but it is hardly a real line so we will see how well it holds up.

My offensive in the north to pin Ben to the Mississippi is finally beginning to develop and as it does it really appears as if Ben has almost nothing to spare up here. Meanwhile there is a swirling battle is taking place south of Oklahoma with Ben and I cutting each off all over, even as we both pour in reinforcements and the line starts to solidify. Albeit I have not really been able to extract my cut off army and it’s been going his way more than mine for the moment.

I think the fight looks this way to a large extent because of Ben’s low sea transport choices. I would be a lot more reluctant to engage on a wide front, especially in the West (I don’t think I have that much of an option in the East or North) if he was not stretched so thin. I wonder just how screwed I would be if his spearhead had a bunch more divisions supporting it.

As it stands Ben has returned, this turn, to every front getting a little in terms of reinforcements. Meanwhile, even as I continue to engage in this meeting engagement in the West and plan to press it to restabilize the situation and, in particular, push the threat to Paducah back I have to figure out how I plan to get out of it because the balance here will eventually switch away again.

North of the Arkansas things are going well for the Allies - South of it things are going poorly for the Allies.

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[golden delicious]

It's interesting to read this back in the light of Jeremy's last post- clearly he's not that confident but on this one turn he comes close to breaking my morale entirely. N.B. post edited from the original as I think it may have broken the forum profanity filter otherwise

Turn 15:
Well bugger. Jeremy has scads of units arriving new on the front in the west and now I'm completely screwed. He even broke back into his little pocket which refused to die last turn. I guess I can put this back together- let's see. Yes, everything is buggered. All my units are in the wrong places, or divided, or out of supply, or in reorganisation- or some combination of the above. I set up some attacks with a view to cutting off and destroying some Allied units within the turn and desperately hope not to get ANOTHER early turn ending so that I can do some real damage to the Allied position here before I get another thumping. The situation in Missouri is even worse: the Allies have pushed me back over the super river, wiping out the whole force I had in southern Illinois. The west is totally critical and everything else is Sort Of Fine, so this gets everything this turn: two infantry divisions (the maximum for my rail lift), two panzer divisions and two South American divisions.

In Tennessee, I take a second shot at that airdrop which failed last turn. Jeremy is very much forewarned of this so it may be a mistake, but with all of his reinforcements flooding west I think I may have a shot at something here. Then I realise that, of course, the whole force I'm supposed to trap here is drawing supply from the WEST now, thanks to my being forced out of Illinois, but I may be able to cut that too. This works out and at least eight Allied divisions go out of supply, however most of these are in good condition so one turn cut off won't do it, and next turn I expect the Allies to cut back through from north and west.

In Quebec, Jeremy is furiously digging in on his shorter line three hexes ahead of Toronto. Thing to do is hit this really hard right now, but of course I'm in no position to do so. Next turn, yes, but that may be too late.

A difficult turn, but I AM able to destroy a couple of Allied divisions in the west, one of them armoured, and put a couple more out of supply. I'm also able to dump two German infantry divisions in Norfolk, backed by artillery, so if Jeremy wants to keep it he'll have to bleed to do so. My main consolation is that the 1st National Guard army- the mainstay of the Allied strength in the west which is now short a couple of divisions- generally represents the last major reinforcement the Allies are able to deploy in the opening phase of the scenario. After this, it's reconstitutes and whatever can be stripped from quiet fronts (i.e. the northeast where I think I have failed to adequately pin the Allies down). In the meantime attrition is ramping up: 10 points more loss penalty for the Allies this turn. If I can keep the Allies engaged in Oklahoma and Tennessee then I can do a lot of damage as my own strength will continue to build for another 20-30 turns.

The battle of Nashville. Note the last fragment of 2. Panzer, with 12 operational tanks, just barely keeps this Allied force out of supply this turn

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 15
Ben really does a number on me on his turn with an airbourne drop at Nashville that manages to cut off a large number of my forces here. I got a little unlucky with RBCs last turn and some remnants of the German force that had crossed the Mississippi manage to help cut me off. I kill one of his airbourne units and their HQ and manage to put the line back together, but it is not exactly looking hale at the moment.

Edit: Here I make a significant tactical mistake - I had to get out of the western flank near Nashville as I am getting pinned to the Tennessee Super River. I'm holding on in part because if I retreat here then I have to retreat away from Memphis and that screws up my plan to pin Ben to the Mississippi, but for a second time this match I'm the one about to get pinned to a super river even while I try and pin Ben to one. The correct move would have been to retreat to the north. After this I start to be significantly more careful about the ways Ben can pin me to the terrain features but it is a lesson I should have learned earlier.

The line between the Tennessee River and Memphis holds on which at least limits the number of crises I am going through.

The West is a real mixed bag with things appearing to go pretty much my way north of the Red River and Ben's way south of it. Ben basically just reinforces this front this turn sending two Panzer Divisions which is going to be the bulk of his sea transport. I’m slightly more mixed feeling as if I have to reinforce Huntsville before the line really starts to come apart. I do send forces into the West as well but here it feels kind of inadequate. Next turn will be the last of my substantial reinforcements as well. After that I am going to have to figure out at what point I give up on the counter attack start a larger withdrawal. The map says I’ll have to withdraw even on the east side of the Mississippi.
Only in the north are things comparatively quiet.

Allied view of the Strategic Situation on turn 15

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[golden delicious]

Turn 16:
A considerably less drastic situation in the west this turn, however Jeremy brought in reinforcements to southern Missouri and here is overwhelming the light screen I have in place. I have very few units that I can bring in here so it's a matter of avoiding losing 2-3 infantry divisions by carefully positioning of what I've got, without throwing good troops after bad. This is mostly a success but I'm still very vulnerable due to the battered Allied troops coming over from Illinois. Over to the west, Jeremy has largely pulled back to a more continuous line, but now I scent blood: I have good troops up in quantity and he's in the open without prepared positions, so I simply attack across the line wherever I'm strongest, with the goal of wrecking this whole front. I'm confident enough here that the two Panzer divisions landed last turn drive direct to Little Rock for a counterblow here next turn. As with last turn everything ships to Texas: two infantry and two panzer divisions plus four Italian divisions.

Naturally there was an Allied counterattack in Tennessee, devouring one of my airborne divisions, but the line here is a wreck. I prod it west of Nashville and RBC forward two hexes. I'll throw most of my strength here in north of the city in an attempt to repeat the trap (albeit some units are already clear). This becomes interesting. Jeremy has good infantry backstopping the rear of Nashville which makes cutting the city off unlikely, but on the north end of the front is a weak regiment. Folgore throws itself forward (dooming the division), RBCing the regiment and putting 5 divisions and various support units out of supply. Another division is fully isolated in a separate pocket.

Up in Canada, I try the Allied line with my infantry as it comes up but they bounce off and it becomes apparent that this line is backed by masses of artillery and armour in reserve. The more battered divisions go back to the railhead, the rest may move on Sault Ste. Marie; I expect it to be defended but the position here is less favourable to the defensive.

My broad front approach in the west pays off, as the western end of the Allied line disintegrates as the turn goes on, letting me ease my panzertruppen around the flank of the remainder, putting another four divisions and supports out of supply. This should keep Allied losses climbing upwards- loss penalty hits 100 this turn.

The sprawling western front. Both sides are making encircling moves but this turn the whole Allied army in Oklahoma is in trouble.

[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 16
Well things are starting to get out of control. Ben manages to do a real number on the western flank near Nashville again this turn including knocking a bunch of my units out of supply. I manage to get things restored here and even kill an airbourne Division but the line is a frayed mess.

It is a similar situation West of the Mississippi with Ben cutting off and killing more units south of the Arkansas River. I do some damage north of the River and cut some units off but the loss rate is really jumping in Ben’s favour. I think this is the last turn I can afford the battle we are fighting. This is particularly true because I can’t actually just pull back on the whole front. Some places are deeper in the hole then others and I’m going to have to try and pull back to a straighter line first before then trying to cross over the Mississippi and Missouri.

Last of my reinforcements arrive, mostly in the west, this turn. Plan to try and use them to help extricate my armies. Probably as solid divisions for counter attacks against the forces Ben chases me with. I expect him to be vigorous in his pursuit.

I’ve also begun to transfer some burnt out American units to the north where I can slowly swap them out with the Commonwealth forces. I’m tapped out of American Replacements this turn. The Armoured Divisions are burnt out where they are not destroyed and meanwhile the Commonwealth is doing great with lots of replacements. I need to get them more into the fight and take some pressure off my American forces if I can.

Ben lands pretty much everything in the west again this turn including yet another 2 Panzer Divisions. Definitely going for a smaller elite force at this stage in the game.

Norfolk: 58%

Axis Loss Rate = 56 / Allied Loss Rate =101 / Spread = 45

Allied losses are mounting fast and the integrity of the line is falling apart. It is time to start trying to retreat.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 17:
Not too bad from Jeremy this turn. He did as expected kill Folgore, but I think it was worth it to further dislocate the Allied position in Tennessee. He's really holding the line with odd scraps here and if I keep hammering it they ought to fall to pieces: there's scope I think to break through again and trap more troops against the Tennessee and its upper tributaries. With the immediate crisis over in the west, I direct some more units to this front this turn: a whole infantry corps and a panzer division.

The west is good. Jeremy did cut off a couple of divisions but otherwise just attempted to hammer the exposed bits of my position. My fresh panzers at Little Rock will collide with the rough and ready force he has here; I add a third division and this may see me pushing back into southern Illinois next turn as I think the Allies are quite weak here. Over in Oklahoma, again the Allied line is held with scraps which I should be able to push aside easily, creating multiple small pockets which can easily be digested.

Down in Central America, the Mexican army has showed up to stop my maurauding Salvadoreans. I realise this a bit belatedly in the turn but I'm able to send a brigade of Chileans troops to support this turn.

Things are starting to come back together after the awful situation I was in a few turns ago. Allied loss penalty continues to climb whereas mine is stabilising. Allied positions are disintegrating in Oklahoma, Missouri and Kentucky, opening up the centre of the map for me to execute my main strategy of bringing together the southeastern and southwestern forces in southern Illinois. Mobile falls this turn increasing pressure on the Allied replacement rate (down to a measly 52%). I should be able to clear New Orleans next turn for 47% and then 71% on turn 20. I should be able to get Oklahoma City and Memphis in the early 20s, then I expect to fight a decisive battle around the confluence of rivers which will delay things a bit before I'm able to grab anything further. Ideally, a big chunk of what Jeremy currently has in western Tennessee (at least eight divisions) won't be able to escape the linkup to their north.

The pincers begin to come together

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 17
OK that was not too terrible. Ben certainly continues to punish me this turn, but I pull back without too much difficulty. Having substantially lost a battle in the West I am concerned about facing a situation where Ben then just blows over the Mississippi or Ohio or Missouri Rivers. Definitely this remains a concern, but I think I still have pretty much a brigade for river defence pretty much all along the rivers. My biggest issue might well be that the Armoured Divisions are really depleted.

I’m now implementing swap outs to try and get a reserve of Commonwealth units down here. They are powerful full-strength units that should be capable of heavy counter attacks. We will see how things develop but I expect Ben to follow up aggressively and for his initial attempt to get over the river barriers to be essentially one very powerful spearhead. Probably south of St. Louis (though maybe at St. Louis itself). My best chance to get through these trying times is going to be to counterattack hard with fresh units to limit Ben’s advance.

The line to the east near Knoxville continues to hold on but just barely and only with constant withdrawals. This is not that huge an issue, but any turn Ben could manage to break through more clearly and cause the line to fall apart. Here I am desperately trying to find enough infantry to pull the armour out of the line as even a small armoured reserve would limit that problem and maybe even allow me to stabilize the situation. Technically I’ve sent the Infantry meant to do that this turn but every time I send these forces, I find that I instead need to use them to plug up the frontline.

Finally, while the withdrawals went well, I remain engaged with Ben south of St. Louis and here my turn was frustrating as he has some units substantially cut off but I could not quite get them fully cut off and all I did was chase them back to Axis lines. They are badly beaten up but will recover with rest.

Next turn I will continue my retreat from even this part of the line and await developments while frantically trying to get my house in order. I think the situation is such that Ben can’t do anything to egregious on his next turn… I hope.

Allied forces begin to retreat.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 18:
And just like that... Jeremy is gone from Tennessee, western Kentucky, and largely from Oklahoma. This is the right move for him as I was hammering him here and he needs his strength to hold the river lines. He's also pulled back to (insufficient) defensive positions in southern Missouri, but I'm not sure I can get through here fast enough, especially as I'm clumsy with my initial moves. I think this turn I'll break this line, and next turn he'll be behind the Mississippi, where I can't get him so easily. Still, turn 19 will be when the Allies are weakest here, and so that'll be when I strike. I have enough engineers in the vicinity to make this move immediately with significant if hardly overwhelming forces. With the Allies gone from Oklahoma, I transfer a fresh panzer division from there directly to Missouri, making four altogether in this sector, with three more mechanised divisions in rather worse condition following on behind. I have no intention of lunging out into the Plains knowing that Jeremy will have some sort of mobile reserve in play there. The Italians in the area converge on Oklahoma City which they'll assault immediately, while South Americans go to guard the rail and the Germans push forward with some caution.

Canada is fairly moribund. Moving west, I encounter the Commonwealth armoured division which had been eating my mountain regiments out here one by one, which I will engage although I only have about three divisions in action here. Already I see Jeremy pulling out his first class divisions from the line outside Toronto in favour of battered reconstitutes, so I can expect some of these good units to hit the line in the centre of the map just as I'm attacking there.
In Central America, the Mexican army is enveloping one of my divisions at Guatemala City in considerable strength and I don't think I can escape this trap, but I'm also not ready to give up this diversion yet, so I ship another two and a half Chilean divisions down here, though this may be too late to save the Salvadorean capital.

Better than expected. Despite some mistakes, 8. Panzer blasts its way through to seize the intact bridge over the Mississippi just above the mouth of the Ohio. There's a National Guard division on the far bank- but I can apply a lot of pressure here on turn 19 and I don't think this will stop me. As per my original strategy, I'll be attacking simultaneously from the southeast, though I'm a little wary of being trapped in the bottom three hexes of Illinois, as this is quite a tight space if I can't get north from here, and my forces in Kentucky, while numerous, are in seriously bad shape. I get New Orleans as planned this turn, Oklahoma City will fall next turn and Memphis perhaps turn 20. New Orleans is also a good spot to land troops which have to go north via road as it's considerably closer to southern Illinois than Galveston. We'll see how this next offensive phase plays out. I've no idea how much strength the Allies really have here; attacking over a super river against determined opposition is not much fun.

Chilean troops rush to the relief of El Salvador as a Mexican task force threatens

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 18
OK again not to bad. I break contact with Ben everywhere in the west, pulling back behind the Missouri and Ohio. East of the Mississippi I am behind the Ohio except to the east where the line stretches down to the Vicinity of Knoxville. I briefly consider withdrawing this, but it really does not free up much and abandons a lot of very good defensive terrain. Ben does not really push hard on this eastern line this turn. He has been up to this point but here it barely moves. I’m not sure if this is just an anomaly or if he will soon strip his own line down to free up infantry to try and cross the Ohio. If I were to guess, I would guess that he won’t push much more because attacking this way does not really get you anywhere and Ben will really want to get into Illinois in a big way. Though his constant pushing here has forced me to send a constant trickle of reinforcements to the area to keep the line from falling. Nonetheless the light turn means if finally manage to pull most of the Armour off the line (though one Armoured Division has decided to reorganize here today and can’t withdraw).

My line behind the rivers is hardly perfect but it is fairly strong where I think Ben could reasonably reach next turn and the armour swap out with the Commonwealth is proceeding very well. The Infantry not so much as I basically need all the Brigades I have on hand – still the idea was originally more about sending the newly arrived reinforcements to swap out and that should proceed.

Looking back my plan to pin Ben to the Mississippi from the west never quite came off. I got caught in fighting around Oklahoma that I should not have, made a misstep that cost me a sizable handful of Divisions and then found that Ben was gobbling up my units around Oklahoma just as fast as they could arrive. I should have obviously not got my ‘Western Army’ trapped against the Arkansas River but also should probably have never fought Ben around Oklahoma. Still, most of the losses around Oklahoma where National Guard which come back so it is not quite as bad as it could be and I did extract a good pound of flesh off Ben north of the Arkansas River. I blundered here but it was not completely one sided.
Still my losses from this campaign have not yet even completely ended as the retreat left about two Divisions behind as they were reorganizing and Ben caught another. My loss rate jumps significantly this turn but here it is mostly illusionary as I disbanded a bunch of Independent Artillery units while covering the retreat though the big reason to do this is I have lost 4 Corp HQs and I really want them back as all their units are only recovering half the supply until they return. The Independent Artillery Units are loaded with the key piece of equipment (40mm Truck SPAAGs) needed to get them back. I disbanded several other units covering the retreat and lost a bunch of very heavy Bombers this turn. Everything but the Bombers should pretty quickly return.

The bombers went down in one of only two real operations this turn. I found I an airfield I still controlled near Houston and took out a key bridge supplying everything west of the Mississippi – Ben’s getting no supplies until he fixes this bridge. I also targeted other important bridges and took one near Oklahoma down but the cost to Bomber Command was high.

The other operation was, of all places, Guatemala. Here I have sent two corps of Mexicans to clean up, primarily so Ben does not disrupt the crappy but useful Divisions that will mobilize down here. I have engaged the badly outnumbered El Salvadorian Army and, much to my surprise, Ben has ordered Chili’s Army into the area. Seems almost unfathomable but we might have some kind of a campaign evolve down here.

Mobile: 52%

The line in the north. Near Toronto new or burnt out American forces are releasing Commonwealth forces badly needed for the coming battle in Illinois

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[golden delicious]

Turn 19:
Further retrenchment from the Allies this turn, as the remainder of the line in southern Missouri is pulled back to block the super river line. However I don't think this position is yet solidified so it's time to hit it with everything, starting with the still-intact bridge over the Mississippi, but also further north where I'm able to get engineers over the river immediately and where the defence is less formidable. The fly in the ointment here is that Jeremy decided to start hitting my bridges, and I've little supply in Missouri, but I can live with this for the time being and I can get engineers down here fairly quickly. I'll double up the most vulnerable stretch of the line as soon as possible to make this more difficult.

The rail line up into Tennessee is clear still, but here I have no bridge, and Jeremy has engineers sitting on the river which have to be cleared first before I can cross, but I DO have a lot of strength here so provided I get a couple of rounds (haha) I should get over here, too.

The Mexicans continue to work their way forward in Central America; my Chileans are getting into position now but I need to make sure these guys stay here rather than mopping up and that'll take a bigger force, I'm able to add an Italian division this turn.

A fine turn. I smash through both sides of the southern Illinois salient, getting a firm lodgement in the state and putting four Allied divisions in a deep pocket. I also storm Evansville, Indiana, though the bridge here is out and I can't advance beyond it this turn. There are definitely Allied reserves behind the line- but several armoured units are caught in my first lunge and hammered, and many of the US Armored divisions have had no time to rest after the hammering they received in the previous phase of the battle. There are some Commonwealth units starting to filter in to this front, though, and these at least will be fresh, which most of my own units are not. We'll see what they can achieve: this is now the critical phase of the scenario and I believe that if I can push 4-5 hexes further north, where the Allies will be fighting in wide open territory in front of their great cities, then my victory will just be a matter of time.

The panzers break into Illinois

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 19
Wow… I mean I knew Ben was extremely aggressive, but I did not expect a coordinated assault on the line this turn. Further I thought I had provided enough defense behind the line in the area to avoid a real disaster but Ben hits the area north of Paducah from all sides and cuts off another sizable force in the area. Losses I really can’t afford.

While this is bad it could be worse. I have sizable, armoured reserves finally scrounged back together in the area and they go on the counterattack. Sadly, the counterattack is only of limited success, not enough to free up my trapped units and only pushes Ben back a few hexes.

Meanwhile, if anything the line on the Missouri is actually worse this turn as many of the remaining Divisions actually worth anything are quickly sent in the direction of the fighting. That said I can’t really see defending this line adequately. Ben only lightly screens wherever he is not attacking so if I am heavily defending all my forces are not where they need to be for the battle to come. I really only want to screen my line as well, except for a few key parts, and maybe try and set up a few Divisions in reserve to counterattack if he makes a push. Now I don’t even have a reserve. Hopefully at some point I will have something to spare and can make one.

I’ve run out rail transport this turn despite having 40,000 rail transport and I’m unable to send several Infantry Divisions I would have sent to the fighting but I do manage to pull together another three (two full strength), Armoured Divisions to throw into the line next turn. Nonetheless this turn will be a bit of a nail biter as my line is solid but not backstopped enough. Ben could get a sizable breakthrough here and I’m not sure I win in the fully mobile battle that would follow. I’m not sure I would lose either though as Axis forces are currently not doing so well in terms of supplies. The bridge is still down near Houston and so he is not getting supplies from the West and the eastern side is still a little back and then has to cross a super river via an engineer. Basically, I need to keep this together long enough to exhaust Ben’s attack.
Ben’s pretty all in on this attack and if I can blunt it enough, I can maybe start recovering after turn 30… maybe…

Meanwhile Guatemala Ben sends some Italians. I continue to advance but if Ben sends anything more, I am pretty sure to be checked. I won’t reinforce this area anytime soon as I can use my Mexican reinforcements to free up Americans from coast guard duties and right now that is more important.

New Orleans: 47%

A view of the Allied defensive line on the Missouri. This is actually pretty much its high point at this stage. It pretty quickly evolves to Brigades where Ben is beside me and Regiments everywhere else. The fighting in Illinois draws in Allied forces like a magnet.

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[golden delicious]

Turn 20:
Definitely counterattacks from Jeremy- but it doesn't look too bad. Looks like I lost a panzer division to overstacking when the Allies retook Evansville, but otherwise we're still all set to keep pushing. There, I note that the troops immediately behind the city are very weak, and so will try to slip armour into the rear and trap the armored division in the city itself between them and the Ohio and Wabash rivers. In the meantime, I continue to shove north in Illinois itself. I'm so swamped with troops in western Kentucky that I actually pull back two panzergrenadier divisions to rest on the railhead (two others are resting in Arkansas)

Otherwise, I continue to sweep up through the plains with a screen of German infantry, dense enough that I can deal with any counterattacks (though I don't expect to meet any significant Allied force this side of the Missouri at this stage). In Canada, I finish destroying a Commonwealth armoured division and will resume probing west with three divisions while the majority of my force sits behind the Toronto line, ready to strike if there's any sign that this area has been denuded: there are already at least two Commonwealth armoured divisions in Illinois, plus HQs, which must have been stripped from here.

A fine turn [really bad news for Jeremy when I say this two turns in a row]. I break clean through the Allied centre in Illinois, putting several divisions on the western flank out of supply. Some of my panzer troops are looking extremely battered, and I actually withdraw 15. Panzer part way through the turn to resupply at the railhead in Tennessee (the rail is fixed in the west, but I can't count on it staying that way), making for a total of five mechanised divisions resupplying, while three fresh ones will reach the front next turn. I still didn't get Memphis, but it's at its limit of endurance and should fall next turn, putting Allied replacements at 58%. The way things are going St. Louis will shortly become untenable, and as I continue to push north more and more open ground and more and more targets will open up. Jeremy urgently needs to find reinforcements- these will come from the forces I think he has on the Missouri and from the northeast but, there, I'm ready to respond.

Axis forces advance steadily across Kansas and Missouri- almost every mobile unit has already been shifted to the Illinois offensive

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[Jeremy Mac Donald]

Turn 20
My fears are, sort of, realized this turn as my brittle line caves under Ben’s assault but the follow on breakout is concerning but not devastating and I essentially bottle it up and push Ben back somewhat on my turn. I even make a go at cutting off and destroying two Panzergrenadier Divisions but only one actually dies.

My counter attacks work in a limited manner, but I don’t push Ben back to his start line and really the turn ends with me feeling basically the same as I did last turn. I have a line – but its brittle and has weak points. If Ben’s attack is perfect and goes off without a hitch, I can see all sorts of very concerning things he might do to me.

That said in some ways I am slightly more confident this turn as more reinforcements pour into the area (and I actually run out of rail transport yet again). While Ben is super aggressive here his Panzers are beginning to go shiny red. I help that along again this turn sending every American Bomber in range to take out the only functional bridge across the Mississippi/Ohio Rivers and it works, though with high losses. This means that for the third turn in a row supply to the shwerpunkt of his offensive is going to be but a trickle.

[Edit: I think I am probably under estimating how much supply Ben is actually getting. Supplies can carry pretty far from the last point they are at full].

Already most of his Panzer Divisions are glowing red and I can see him pulling a few off the line. I need to be cognizant that Ben lands a new one every turn so there will always be (for the foreseeable future) a fresh Panzer Division but my supply situation is currently excellent as I am in the stage of the game where the Allies are sending in all the supplies that were backed up early on when the rail lines where a mess. My units are gorging on supplies.

Maybe more importantly is, up to this point Ben is really only threatening me in a meaningful way at a single point on the map. My forces are inadequate to fight for the Missouri at the moment but, so far, Ben is not forcing that, and his supply lines indicate that it’s going to be Illinois as the major offensive point for the foreseeable future. Admittedly if he can break out into the open and get the line long enough then, for a bit, he won’t need to develop more offensives – and if he manages to totally break me in this battle he’ll have won. Still with most of his powerful mobile Divisions beginning to seriously run out of steam I can see a way forward here.

Ben’s assault against the eastern flank in Kentucky/Tennessee appears to have stopped – at least he made no attack at all this turn in the area. I pull my one Armoured Division out of the fighting and move it so it can either counterattack on this front next turn or be fed into the main battle in Illinois.

Meanwhile I can see that Ben has gathered a significant force up in the north for an attack on the Toronto line. Not too concerned here as I have a lot in the region – way to much as I am heavily involved in trying to transfer out Commonwealth forces and even more of the American Armour. The plan is to backstop the line with Infantry Brigades and keep two Armoured Divisions in deep reserve. However, that means that the line is currently very flush. An attack will disrupt my ability to transfer units as quickly to the main battle and that is a problem, but I think I can put a stop to this fairly quickly.

Finally, yet more Italians land in Guatemala. My Mexicans are attacking this turn, but they don’t do a very good job and I would not be surprised if I am forced onto the defensive shortly. I have no reinforcements for this front any time soon. Arriving Mexican Divisions are being sent to garrison the West Coast and free up more American Brigades.

Allied Production Boost: 71%

Oklahoma: 64%

Axis Loss Rate = 62 / Allied Loss Rate =128 / Spread = 66

Allied Overview as of Turn 20.

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