Month: June 2000 (Page 3 of 3)

S, M, M, M, C & R & R

Axis Player Turn

A bundle of WK Garrisons are called out for service and form up a hastily constructed line from Chemnitz – Leipzig – Magdeburg – Hanover. Elsewhere troops pull into hedgehogs or man defences at the Ems River. The Sudenten mountains are defended and a sharp counterattack on British units east of Bayreuth pushes them back, giving a little bit more breathing space to the defenders. Nurnburg is declared a Festung and the loyal suicide troops swear undying loyalty to the Fuhrer.

In Norway the troops dig in confident the foul weather will stop the Allies.

Allied Player Turn

Around Leer several US attacks grind their way forwards with overwhelming odds but weather and fortifications around Onsabruck blunts the tip of the spear with an AS result. At Koblenz a multinational force led by the Brazilians inflict a DH result on the city’s defenders – the collaborator Belgian troops escape destruction and use the time to plan the post war European Union Bureaucracy. Gottingen falls to a DR while at Nordhausen, Bernburg, Halle, Altenburg and Chemnitz a mix of AS, DE and EX results are rolled. An attempt by the New Zealanders, Poles and French to break into Czechoslovakia is stalled in the rough terrain while Polish and Czech tank units, attempting to beat up an SS Training Brigade and Reserve XX are forced into an undignified retreat. Just to rub it in, a US attack south east of Linz results in an AE. At the Ljubjana Gap, the Americans attempt to push into Slovenia and force the defenders back 16 miles to a series of forts placed to defend the gap.

In the exploitation phase the Guards Corp pushes into Dessau, 32 miles from the German capital while American units overrun a training brigade in Bremen. The pincers are closing!

(Mud in Zone A, clear and calm elsewhere….)

Axis Player Turn

Massive reinforcements appear when most need for the Germans. This is seen as divine intervention and proof of the durability of the 1000 year Reich, etc etc.

A line is thrown up running from the Donau – Fredrich Ludwig Cannal -Rhine. the British thrust at Nurnburg is hit hard to slow them down but the attack has no effect (AS). A battlegroup forms around Linz/Steyer to block the approach from Salzburg and Munich to Vienna.

At Wesel the US units look up into the sky to see the heavans blacken with aircraft – is it the USAAF? Is it the RAF? No, its the Strategic LW Reserve, called out one last time for 1944 to aid the desperate attack by the Germans. The US units are bundled back across the Rhine in tatters (HX) and the Rhine defence is restored.

In Norway, the northern ports are abandoned and troops fall back onto Narvik and Trondheim. A stand is made in the mountains south of the Allied positions. From Stavanger, the KM sets sail for the North Sea.

The Battle of the Shetlands.

Cruising up and down looking for the Royal Navy, the KM is intercepted by ENTF 1 and 2 on patrol off Forde. In the first engagement KM-1 is hit once while KM-2 suffers 3 hits. This is balanced by 3 hits to ENTF-1 and one to ENTF-2. In the second round both fleets engage and KM-2 is sunk, ENTF-1 and KM-1 is hit twice and ENTF-2 escapes damage. The third and final round sees KM-1 suffer 4 hits and ENTF a further 2 hits. The KM chooses to disengage and slinks away back to Kiel to lick its wounds. The Royal Navy adds another battle honour to its list.

The German turn ends with Norway alight, its fleet unusable, the Strategic LW unable to be used, its theatre aircraft in a smouldering heap and painfully being rebuilt well away from the frontline and a thin line of defence running from Holland to Linz. The RSI holds only Trieste with Mussolini’s empire consisting of half a dozen hexes around the city and Venice. The Alps have been breached, Vienna and Prague lay within the Allied grasp and replacements very hard to come by. Could this be the opening score for Das Gotterdammerung?

Allied Player Turn

In Italy, the Americans attack Trieste, spearheaded by OSS Commando teams who successfully infiltrate the city’s defences and capture Mussolini mid-speech in a balcony. The cities defenders collapse in and EX result and the RSI is no more.

Massive attacks occur again over the front. Between Regensburg and Frankfurt, the French and British are particularly active and it is here the heart of the German line is ripped open. Regensburg falls to the Poles, Czechs and British while at Weisbaden, Wurzburg, Bad Kreuznach are the scene of battles that detroy or seriously harm the German defenders. Berlin’s last hope in the region, a corp based on the 2nd Das Reich Pz and 90th PzG XXs are surrounded by four corps of Canadians and British armour and utterly destroyed. Only Nurnburg holds out against Kiwi and Springbok attacks.

South East of Linz a battlegroup of German Infantry and Anti-tank gunners hold off the thrusting Americans. In the north Rotterdam falls to a 8:1 attack while the Rhine is crossed again at Seigburg where US Armour assaults across from Bonn. West of Arnhem the Americans bludgeon into submission some Luftwaffe ground units for an EX result while in the city itself a single 4-6-6 Infantry XX tries to hold back a complete US Infantry Corp. The results are as expected and the town falls to the Americans. East of Nijmegen a German 8-6 XX with Tiger tank support is pushed back and Berlin is in rapture over the success in the unit surviving.

In Norway the Allied strength gathers itself and forces the defenders back and the approaches of the Forsested Valley leading to Oslo beckon closers and closer…..

Exploitation

The US Army bursts across the Rhine into NE Holland, seizing Groningen and reach the mouth of the Ems River. At Siegburg the bridgehead is cautiously expanded into Hagen and Siegen while further south Canadian and British forces rush through the gap in the German line to consolidate at Erfurt – Jena – Plaven, just before the heavans open up and deluge the front with heavy rain.

(special turn skipped becasue the axis needed all the help they could get)
C, C

Axis Player Turn

Replacements and reinforcements are sent to Arnhem and the Westwall. A withdrawal is made to the Rhine in the Netherlands. Munich is garrisoned by Viennese Hitler Jugend and LW criminals with Artillery support. Cossacks and SS units form the Bavarian reserve to seal any Allied breach.

In Norway, bicyclists, Panzer Grenadiers and LW AA units head to Forde to throw the Allies into the North Sea. The KM in Hamburg rebase to Stavanger under the umbrella of lots of AA.

Allies Player Turn

A troop convoy bound for Forde sets off from Scotland. Despite intensive searching and sorties by the KM Battlefleet, it slips its cargo ashore safely to the curses of Berlin. A bitter battle inn the mountains results in a HX but this allows the RMAS and 36 Armoured X to advance to Galdhopigg Mountain.

In Germany, the front is alight with battles. The Allies have a worried eye on the long range meteorological tables and fear poor weather conditions may slow the advance. In a desperate attempt to blow open the front or at least mortally wound the Nazi war machine all available units are thrown into battle.

In the hills north east of Trieste the defenders are forced back while in the Mountain approaches to Klagenfurt an EX is made on some low level Reserve units. At Innsbruck the repositioned and strengthened Allies get a HX on the city’s defenders. Munich falls to an EX result, but the city’s AA aborts 2/3rds of the Allied Ground Support – not pretty. NE of Augsburg the Germans suffer a DH while at Esslingen and Hedenheim DRs occur. Stuttgart falls to a 5:1 Canadian attack thanks to the RE funnies while a joint Candian-French attack clears another hex of the Westwall.

East of Maastricht two US Corps attack the Westwall. Again the LW is foolish enough to try to intercept and the RAF destroys all 250 intercepts (killed). South east of Aachen another Westwall fort falls to the US while an unguarded narrow strait from Roosendaal to outside Rotterdam is crossed by angineer and artillery units to the surprise of the local commander. He is hauled away to Berlin and chastised for this blatant breach. No Iron Cross for him!

In the exploitation phase, the US push across the Rhine and seize Wesel while in Austria the US 1st Armored, fresh from victory at Innsbruck, races to Salzburg while other units push towards Leoben in the Alps. British units head towards Nurnburg and seixe Regensburg and the Sudentenland is entered. Various units “ooze” their way through the gaps in the German lines.

C, C

Axis Player Turn

The Luftwaffe melts away leaving few servicable units to contest the skies. WK VI, VII and XVIII and the Netherlands Garrison are called out. A withdrawal is made to behind the Albert Canal. A strengthening of the Westwall in the north is made, the mountain passes over the Alps are blocked and a withdrawal made to Tieste and the Ljubjana Gap. Another hasty line of defences is thrown up running from Stuttgart to Augsburg.

Allies Player Turn

Mopping up occurs in Italy of stragglers while at Innsbruck the Allies are beaten off by Rserves and Training units. Attacks towards Augsburg drive the defenders back towards the city while at Esslingen a battlegroup based on the Das Reich XX hold off the Guards and Canadian Armoured Corps. Metz falls to the Brazilians and Portuguese in a sneaky conga-line attack.

In Belgium, an attack across the Albert Canal makes a breach courtesy of the RAF maintaining air dominance. The new Tempest aircraft murdered the LW heavy fighters (a sight that was a terrible beauty to behold – successive snake eyes rolled to the anguish of the LW commander) and the Allied GS pushed the odds up high enough to destroy the enemy. Antwerp is also seized, unfortunately the port is destroyed by the retreating Luftwaffe and Eastern Troops.

Elsewhere disbanding of several Polish and British units occurs to try and get some extra RPs.

Forde, in Norway. The 6th Airborne XX, Belgian and French SAS parachute into the town from their bases in the islands off Scotland. Surprise is total and the area secured without loss. The war has come to Scandanavia at last! Berlin threatens to unleash a wave of super weapons on the impudent Allies! King Haakon promises the restoration of democracy to Oslo via radio from London.

In the exploitation phase, there is some shuffling about Innsbruck and Augsburg is entered. Ominously for the defenders of Stuttgart, the 79th Armoured XX funnies arrive outside the city. Nijmegen is entered by US Motorised forces.

C, C

Axis Player Turn

Italy – a retreat is made to behind the prepared forts of the Piave River and into the mountains around Trento, but several units are unable to make the safety of the defences and are left behind to face the Allied juggernaut.

France – all available units are sent to the Westwall, German High Command is facing a crisis with only a few units available for manning the forts between Strasburg and Luxembourg. Wehrkreis V and XII are called to arms and sent into the Westwall positions. A new line is set up in Belgium with all C/M units in the area making it safely to the positions but many units are left dotted in the landscape of MR 1, 2 and 6. Paris and Lille are declared Festungs by Berlin and orders are issued for every man to fight to the last and turn the cities into deathtraps for the Allies. To threaten the British advance a Pz/PzG group gathers just outside Luxembourg.

Allied Player Turn

Massive waves of Allied fighter and bomber support swarm across northern France. The US Army flexes it muscle and attack Brussels, Gent, St Niklaas, Dunkirk, Lille and mop up numerous units in MR 1 and 2. Brussels holds but most other units are destroyed by the Americans. The numerous losses of US dog-faces is ignored by Churchill who merely swigs more brandy and points at his US RP pool. British units drive on Amien and link hands with the advancing US forces. In Paris Canadians and British forces supported by the funnies of 79th Armoured XX seize two hexes of the French capital, accidentally shelling the Eiffel tower into oblivion in the massive artillery bombardment. Sacre bleu! A large gap has developed between the seperate arms of the British advance from Paris to Nancy and several units struggle to find good defensive positions in case of a German counter-attack. The British abandon Luxembourg and swing south to cover the Franco-British Assault on Baden-Baden and Colmar. The Canadian Armoured Corp arrives in Nancy to provide a mobile reserve and exploitation force.

Crossing the Rhine

The French attack over the river relying on long range fighter and bomber support. Luckily the weak German Reserve and Training units are no match for the Goums of Algeria and the town is seized for some minor French losses (HX). At Colmar the British are repulsed by storng defences for minimal losses but in conjunction with another French Corp, the British 7th Armoured XX crosses the Rhine into Mulhouse after destroying some weak German units armed with pea shooters and hope. The Rhine and Westwall are breached beyond repair.

In Italy, the US Army mops up the rearguards and takes Vicenzia and Treviso. Units are shuffled about and the thin crust of forces around Trento are eyed speculatively. Indian and Polish mountain troops announce they are up to the task of attacking into Austria…..

Exploitation Phase

The gap yawning between Nancy and Paris is partially filled and a lose net thrown across the front line, the main hope is that the Germans are more concerned with defending what they hold that any death or glory charge by the remaining C/M units in Belgium. The French Armoured Corp goes slightly crazy and overruns their way into Karlsrue and Mannheim, catching a bomber fleet on the ground and destroying it. The Canadians, British and Indians expand the bridgehead further while at Mulhouse the Czechs, Tank Brigades and AA IIIs slip over the river into the Black Forset, where they are promptly lost and need to follow a trail of breadcrumbs.