Allied Turn

There is no weather roll with clear weather until October. The Allies land the reinforcements from the US at the ports of Quimper, Lorient, and Vannes in Brittany. The US rebuilds its 4th, 8th, and 29th Inf XX’s. The US repair 6 air groups, the British replace 2 and repair 3, and the French repair 1.

Before making any ground attacks the Allies attack the 21x German air groups based in Paris. They kill 2 German air groups and abort 9 and the cost of 3 of their own killed.

The first Allied attack is against the port fort in Brest. At 6:1 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Germans eliminate the port fort and a Police III. The Allies occupied a destroyed port and liberate MR 10. The next attack is against a Static XX left behind. At 8:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for a DH. The Static XX is eliminated. The third attack behind the Allied line is against an Inf XX left behind. At 5:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘1’ for an EX. The German Inf XX is eliminated, and the British reduce their 53rd Inf XX.

The fourth Allied attack is against a 21-pt stack 4 hexes southwest of Le Havre by the US 1st Arm XX, the Polish 1st Arm XX, the US 82nd Abn XX, the US 8th Inf XX, and the French 9th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 10 air groups. German AA aborts 1 and returns 3. At 5:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for a DR. The Allies advance the US 8th Inf XX into the hex.

The fifth attack is against a 21-pt stack 3 hexes southwest of Le Havre by the British 7th Arm XX, the Canadian 5th Arm XX, the US 2nd, 5th, and 45th Inf XX’s, and the British 78th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups. German AA aborts 1. At 6:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE. The Germans reduce the HG Arm XX and eliminate the 90th PzG cadre. The Allies advance the US 5th Inf XX into the hex.

The sixth attack is against a 23-pt stack just east of Chartres by the British 1st Arm XX, the Canadian 4th Arm XX, the US 3rd and 88th Inf XX’s, and the British 5th and 51st Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups. German AA returns 1. At 6:1 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Germans reduce their 1st Para-Inf XX, and eliminate the FH PzG cadre. The Allies advance the US 3rd Inf XX into the hex.

The seventh attack is against a 23-pt stack 2 hexes west of Paris by the British 6th and 11th Arm XX’s, the US 9th and 36th Inf XX’s, the British 3rd Inf XX, and the Canadian 3rd Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups. German AA returns 1. At 5:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for an HX. The Germans reduce their 1st Pz XX and an Inf XX. The US reduce the 36th Inf XX and eliminate a Mot AA X. The Allies advance the US 9th Inf XX into the hex.

The eighth attack is against a 21-pt stack 3 hexes southwest of Paris by the US 2nd and 3rd Arm XX’s, the British 6th Abn XX, and the US 34th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 14 air groups. German AA aborts 3 and returns 1. At 5:1 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DE. The Germans reduce the 29th PzG XX and an Inf XX. The Allies advance the US 34th Inf XX into the hex.

The ninth attack is against a 21-pt stack just southwest of the town of Sens by the British Guards Arm XX, the US 30th Inf XX, and the Canadian 1st Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 18 air groups. German AA abort 1 and returns 5. At 4:1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for an HX. The Germans reduce 2x Inf XX’s and eliminate the rest of their stack. The US eliminate a Mech X, a Mot AA X, and 2x Eng XX’s. The Allies advance the Canadian 1st Inf XX into the hex.

The tenth attack is against a 19-pt stack just west of Sens by the US 4th Arm XX, the NZ Mech XX, and the British 15th and 50th Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 14 air groups. German AA aborts 2 and returns 2. At 4:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for an HX. With no divisions included, the Germans eliminate their entire stack. The Allies reduce the British 15th Inf XX, and eliminate a US Mot AA X. The Allies advance the British 50th Inf XX into the hex.

The eleventh attack is against a 19-pt stack just southwest of Auxerre by the US 6th Arm XX, the French 1st Arm XX, the US 29th Inf XX, the British 43rd Inf XX, and the French 9th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 12 air groups. German AA aborts 1 and returns 1. At 6:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DR. The Allies advance the US 29th Inf XX into the hex.

The final attack is against a 17-pt stack 2 hexes northwest of Dijon by the US 5th Arm XX, the French 2nd Arm XX, the US 1st, 4th, and 91st Inf XX, and the Canadian 2nd Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 20 bomber groups. German AA aborts 3 and returns 2. At 8:1 the Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE. The Germans reduce 2x Inf XX’s and eliminate the rest of the stack. The Allies advance the US 4th Inf XX into the hex.

During exploitation the Allies can not find any second line stack they could overrun.

Axis Turn

The Germans receive 3x Pz XX’s. They replace 2x PzG XX’s, 3x PzG X’s, 2x Inf XX’s and a Sec XX. They rebuild a Res Pz XX. The Germans replace 2x air groups, and repair 10. They disband a Res Mtn XX. Studying the Allied dispositions the Axis player finds the Allied player had moved the broken down components of the US 28th Inf XX, 2x Eng X’s, and 2x Amph Aslt Eng II’s to Dover on top of LC’s and escorting CL’s and DD’s. He did the same thing in the medium port of Folkestone with 1x Aslt Eng Tank X, 2x British Inf X’s, an Eng X, and 2x Marine Cmdo II’s complete with LC’s and escorts. The minor port of Hasting now had 3x Marine Cmdo X’s. The Axis player also finds the Allied player had moved the components of the US 101st Para-Inf XX to Le Mans keeping them out of enemy ZOC’s for the whole turn, and did the same thing with the British 1st Abn XX and the Polish 1st Para X at Orleans. Unnoticed the Allies had transferred 18x transports groups and 8x glider groups to southern France.

The threat made very real, the Axis player populates his Channel coast forts with 12x XX’s and 9x cadres. Knowing the Allied player liked to drop 2 stacks of para and glider units behind the second line and use his most powerful GS air groups to blast a hole in the second line and advance enough para units into the hex so the survivors of an attack on the first line can not retreat, the Axis player now creates a third line strong enough to defend the drop zones from airborne overruns.

The main defense line starts in Le Havre, goes southwest for 2 hexes using bocage hexes, and then goes southeast in a straight line for 13 hexes. The defense line runs only 1 hex west of Paris. This section has 6x Pz XX’s, 5x PzG XX, 2x Pz cadres, 5x PzG cadres and X’s, and 1x Inf XX unable to retreat to the second line. German c/m units can retreat thru enemy ZOC’s making them impossible to eliminate by ZOC’s. A couple hexes west of the town of Chaumont the defense line goes southwest for a hex to include 2x Inf XX’s that could not retreat far enough then southeast for 1 hex. After that the Axis defense line goes southwest for 1 hex and then southeast for 6 hexes to the Swiss border. By the end of the turn the Axis defense line remains 24 hexes long, but the average defense strength has fallen to 15.6 pts.