Allied Turn
The US receive an Arm XX, an Abn XX, and 2x Inf XX’s, the French receive another Arm XX, and the Polish upgrade their XX’s. The US rebuild the 35th and 91st Inf XX’s, and replace an AA X. The British replace an Arm X. The US repaired 13 air groups. The British replace an air group and repair 3 more.
The first Allied attack is against a 13-pt stack in a canal hex across the Rhine 2 hexes south of Utrecht by the US 1st Arm XX, the Polish 1st Arm XX, the SA 6th Arm XX, the US 17th Abn XX, and the US 2nd, 5th, 35th, and 45th Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups. German AA returns 2. At 7:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘1’ for an HX. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies reduce the US 45th Inf XX. The Allies advance 3x Arm XX’s and 3x Arm X’s into the hex.
The next attack is against a left behind 9-pt stack just southwest of Eindhoven by the British 50th and 78th Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 3 air groups. There is no AA. At 6:1 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The third attack is against a 15-pt stack across the Rhine in the town of Wesel by the US 3rd and 4th Arm XX’s, the British 7th and 11th Arm XX’s, the Canadian 5th Arm XX, and the French 2nd Arm XX. The Allies had flown in a CAP of 10 fighter groups, and in the combat phase fly in a GS mission of 14 air groups. The German intercept with 8 fighter groups based in the Ruhr. The Allies send their 8 best fighter groups from the CAP to escort the GS mission. The German interceptors all bypass. The Allied escorts kill 1, abort 1, and return 4 of the German interceptors. The surviving interceptors abort 1 and return 1 of the GS air groups. The Germans then fly in a DAS mission of 8 air groups. The remaining 2 fighter groups in the Allied CAP plus 3 fighter groups within range on the ground intercept. The Allied interceptors kill 3 and abort 1. German AA returns 2. Allied AA aborts 1. At 4:1, +3 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for a DE. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies advance an 82-pt c/m stack across the Rhine.
The fourth attack is against a left behind 9-pt stack just southeast of Louven by assorted Allied X’s and II’s. At 6:1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for a DR. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The fifth attack is against a left behind 11-pt stack in the woods behind a loop in the Maas River just southeast of Namur by the US 8th and 79th Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 6 bomber groups. There is no AA. At 7:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for a DR. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The sixth attack is against a left behind 9-pt stack in the woods 2 hexes south of Namur by the US 9th Arm XX, and the US 9th, 26th, 85th, and 95th Inf XX’s. At 8:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DE. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The seventh attack is against a left behind 7-pt stack in the woods 2 hexes southeast of Namur by the US 7th Arm XX. At 6:1, +2 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The eighth attack is against a left behind 9-pt stack in wooded rough just northwest of Bastogne by the US 82nd Abn XX and the US 1st, 4th, 88th, and 94th Inf XX’s. At 8:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘1’ for a DR. The Germans eliminate this isolated stack.
The ninth attack is against a 9-pt stack across the Rhine from Bonn by the US 2nd, British Guards, and Canadian 4th Arm XX’s. The Allies had flown in a CAP of 6 fighter groups, and then fly in a GS mission of 16 air groups. German AA returns 5. At 9:1, +3 the Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE. The Germans reduce an Inf XX, and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies advance an 80-pt c/m stack across the Rhine.
The tenth attack is against a left behind 5-pt unit in a Westwall hex in the town of Saarlautern by the British 6th Abn XX, the US 104th Inf XX, and the Canadian 3rd Inf XX. At 9:1, -2 the Allies roll a 3 for a DH. The Germans eliminate this isolated unit.
The eleventh attack is against an 11-pt stack across the Rhine just northeast of Mannheim by the US 6th Arm XX, the British 1st and 6th Arm XX’s, The US 3rd and 30th Inf XX’s, and the Canadian 2nd Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 12 air groups. German AA misses. At 8:1, +1 roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies advance a 66-pt c/m stack across the Rhine.
The twelfth attack is against a 15-pt stack across the Rhine in the Westwall hex at Karlsruhe by the British 3rd, 5th, and 43rd Inf XX’s and the French 1st Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 14 air groups. The German intercept with 4 fighter groups. The Allies CAP escorts the GS mission. The Germans all bypass. The Allied CAP aborts 1. The surviving German interceptors abort 1 and return 2. The Germans then fly in a DAS mission of 6 air groups. German AA aborts 1. Allied AA kills 1, aborts 1, and returns 1. At 5:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for an HX. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The German Inf cadre does not have to retreat from this Westwall hex. The British reduce an Art [xx].
The thirteenth attack is against a 9-pt stack across the Rhine in a Westwall hex just southeast of Strasburg by the US 5th Arm XX, the US 34th and 80th Inf XX’s, the British 15th Inf XX, and the Canadian 1st Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 14 air groups. There is no AA. At 9:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DE. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The cadre does have to retreat from this Westwall hex. The Allies advance a stack across the Rhine.
The final attack is against a 15-pt stack in wooded rough just east of Freiburg by the French 1st Arm XX, the NZ Mech XX, the US 29th Inf XX, and the British 4th, 46th, and 51st Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 16 air groups. There is no AA. At 9:1, -3 the Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE. The Germans reduce a Res Pz XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies advance a stack farther east into the Black Forest.
During exploitation the Allied stack across the Rhine south of Utrecht overruns an Inf cadre and advances the Polish 1st Arm XX into the hex southeast of Utrecht and the US 1st Arm XX into the hex southeast of Amsterdam cutting off all German units in the northern half of the Netherlands.
The Allied stack across the Rhine at Wesel overruns an Inf cadre and the US 3rd Arm XX exploits to just southwest of Enschede, the US 4th Arm XX remains 2 hexes west of Munster, the Canadian 5th Arm exploits into the northern suburbs of the Ruhr, and the British 11th Arm XX occupies Dortmund. Exploiting from across the Rhine east of Bonn the US 2nd Arm XX reaches just east of Hagen meeting up with the British 11th Arm. The Canadian 4th Arm reaches just southeast of Hagen, completing an encirclement of the Ruhr. The British Guards Arm XX and other c/m units exploit southeast from the crossing at Bonn, overrunning an Inf cadre and pinning the German Inf XX’s northeast and east of Koblenz against the Rhine.
The Allied stack across the Rhine just northeast of Mannheim overruns a mostly Italian stack in the woods just east of Mannheim with the US 6th Arm advancing into that hex. The Allied stacks across the Rhine south of Mannheim were unable to exploit any farther, blocked by the Axis 2nd line.
Axis Turn
Italian losses have reached 75 RE’s, and on a roll of ‘3’ Italy surrenders. A Para-Inf III and 2x CCNN X’s remain loyal to the Axis. The Germans disarm Italian units for a total of 16.8 Inf RP’s. Italians units within 3 hexes of more Allied RE’s than German RE’s become Allied units. All the Italian units along the French-Italian border go over to the Allies. More problematic for the Germans are Italian units in the second line behind the Rhine River that become Allied units. These include 2x Alpine XX’s in the mountain hexes of the Black Forest, a Mot Inf XX along with a pair of ants in Heidelberg, and 3x Arm XX’s now adjacent to Allied stacks that had broken thru the German front line, in effect widening those breaks.
Due to Allied units in WK IX the Germans activate the Garrison of WK IV except for 4 RE’s of training and replacement units. The Germans receive 4x Inf XX and 4x Pz X’s, and stop the transfer of 2x Cav XX’s, 11x Inf XX’s, and 3x Pz X’s to the east. The Germans replace 2x PzG XX’s, 5x PzG X’s, and 2x Inf XX’s. The Germans disband assorted Arm and Aslt Gun units for 17x Arm RP’s and 2x Cav XX’s and 2x Art X’s for 21x Inf RP’s. The Germans replace 5 air groups and repair 4.
In the Netherlands the Germans retreat north of the Lek River to defend the Dutch cities of Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Amsterdam. The rest of the Germans units in the Netherlands retreat to the east bank of the Ijssel River, forming a line of 3 stacks to block the Allied advance. The main German front line starts just northwest of the town of Zwolle and runs southeast to the medium city of Bielefeld. The Germans units in the Ruhr, now U-1, remain trapped in 5 major city hexes. From Bielefeld the front runs southeast thru a woods hex and 3 wooded rough hexes. The front jogs southeast for a hex, then southwest into wooded rough, before going southeast thru Frankfurt. A line of units still cling to the east bank of the Rhine to keep the Allies off the main front north of Frankfurt. South of Frankfurt the front runs southwest to the minor city of Heilbronn, then on the west bank of the Neckar River thru 2 woods hexes, and then southwest thru 3 wooded rough hexes of the Black Forest. Cut off is a stack in Mannheim and 4 stacks along the Rhine River just north of the Swiss border. By the end of the turn the main front line is 30 hexes long and has an average defense strength of 10.3 pts.
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