Europa Games and Military History

Tag: baby grand (Page 2 of 5)

Nov I 1944

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

Axis Player Turn

A call to arms results in a mass of timely reinforcements for the German High Command. Added to this is the call out of WK III and its mass of units. The Nazi Party chiefs release their special bodygurad units to help defend Berlin. In a special deal with the Allies, the 7th Parachute XX is flown out of Amsterdam to Berlin in return for the surrender of Haarlem, The Hauge and Walchern Island. (Seemed like a good idea at the time!) A bundle of 30+ units are disbanded – mainly training and reserve forces while a new line is formed on the banks of the Elbe River. The US units in Bremen are blocked off and units in the Ruhr are stripped out of the line and sent eastwards to help defend the capital. Naturally most are strung out with little rail capacity or continuous rail lines available for rapid transit. Austria and Czechoslovakia are stengthened.

Allied Player Turn

Le Harve and Dieppe fall to portuguese troops with US engineer support. Most French ports are now Allied and operational. An attempt is made on Ljubjana but is beaten off by the weather and terrain.

SE of Linz the defenders are finally crushed by the American tanks and infantry while some ground is taken pushing towards Pisek and Pilsen. Leipzig falls to a 4:1 DR ZoC scam and kassel is subjected to a 9:1 DE attack. Various operations mop up the defenders around the Rhine Valley and in Holland while the route to Bremen is secured and strengthened by the Americans.

The Guards Corp assaults across the Elbe from Dessau into Wittenburg and seizes the town. To follow up this attack it exploits into Brandenburg – a narrow waist of three hexes links the north and southern fronts for Germany.

Oct II 1944

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!

Oct I 1944

(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.

Sep II 1944

(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.

Sep I 1944

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.

Aug II 1944

C, C

Axis Player Turn

The Piave line is reshuffled with RSI Units taking over from SS Mountain units who are sent north to the fatherland to join the Battle for Mannheim where PzG units attack the French cadres holding the city. A massive air battle occurs as the Luftwaffe attempts to gain air superiority. The Allied air command is soundly thrashed and numerous LW bombers attack the city. French AA is totally ineffective in holding off the GS Aircraft and the Germans confidently launch their attack at 5:1. An AS is rolled when -4 ATEC is accounted for. Rats.

Units are pulled back to the Meuse River defence line and into the Westwall with an all out effort made to seal the breach over the Rhine. In the exploitation phase C/M units are able to block in the bridgehead, but with only limited defence strength.

At Roosendaal the probing Americans are soundly defeated by a quick German counterthrust and all are destroyed to the satisfaction of the German High Command. Their backs may be against the wall, but their sting is strong.

Allied Player Turn

The Americans smash into the Piave line, casulties are horrendous but Churchill willingly fills up the breaches with dead cardboard, a trick he learnt from Stalin on a visit to Moscow. Two breaks are made to the groans of dismay from Berlin…. At Trento, the Poles, Indians, Springboks and Kiwis assault the mountain fortress with the help of massed USAAF ground support. The criticality of this sector cannot be understated as behind trento there are no troops until Innsbruck, so the Luftwaffe again sacrifices itself in air combat. At 4:1 odds, an EX is the result and the poles graciously take the losses to allow motorised units to press into the mountains and onto the outskirts of Innsbruck. The Alps a barrier? Only if defended!

On the Westwall, the remaining training and reserve units south of Baden are cleared away by the Allies, only a lonely looking 21st SS Mtn cadre is left.

At Pforzheim an Anglo-French attack gets an exchange on the defenders. The German High Command can only pray for more of these results to slow the British down…… At Montmerdy British Armour eats up a SS/Heer Corp while the last pockets of resistance in Paris and northern France are mopped up. Osteende is cleared while US Army starts to clear Belgium. Fighting is fierce right across the frontline with the Germans generally coming off second best. DH result occur east of Charleroi and in Brussels itself where the Belgian capital is taken thanks to combat engineers – again more than 50% of Aircraft were aborted or killed by defensive AA! At Roosendaal an attack goes off poorly planned and half the assaulting forces are massacred to the chagrin of SHAEF.

In the exploitation phase, the Czechs race down the Swiss border to be 32 miles short of Augsburg while British Armoured and recon units race to Ulm. The bulk of the British Mechanised/Motorised units cross the Rhine while at Montmerdy the survivors of the earlier battle are overrun and the British units push north into the Ardennes to just south of Liege.

Aug I 1944

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.

July II 1944

C, C

Axis Player Turn

In Italy all surviving units are now “secure” behind the Po and Adige Rivers. Despite this, more forts are constructed behind the Piave River. Hitler declares there will forever be a part of Italy that is German! But then he was a nutter. Cossack cavalry enters the Vosges region of France accompanied by SS Mountain and OKW light units. Around the Flanders beachhead units are shuffled to try and maintain the line while some are slipped off to man the Seine and Marne lines. Two hexes are abandoned to avoid three stack US attacks. The beachhead grows…..

Allied Player Turn

“The Breakout”

In Italy the allies make an effort to break the Po Line. the Luftwaffe is slaughtered trying to prevent the massive allied air offensive. Flooding of the canal intensive hexes fails miserably, obviously due to the height of summer being upon the region (rolled unsuccessfully for all hexes). South east of Rovgio a US attack goes in and despite rolling a DR, the thoughtful positioning of SS Political Police just behind the trenches turns the battle into a blood bath and wipes out the defenders for the cost of a few thousand easily replaced US infantry. North east of Ferrara defensive AA aborts 5 out of 6 GS aircraft and causes the attack to fail (AS). At Legnago the Poles are crippled in a brutal EX roll which cadres two German C/M units.

The line holds, but it is battered and smoking, with a nasty gap near Rovigo.

In France around Dijon, the British advance has sucked most of the German motorised and mechanised units towards it. Three British Corps attack the 9th Pz XX and cripple it with a DH result. North and South of Dijon, French and British units attack two SS corps in concentric attacks with lots of GS flown overhead. Both stacks are surrounded and destroyed for HX results. Berlin explodes in fury and spins about on the bunker floor and blames the bolshevik-jewish alliance for providing loaded dice. The 1st SSF slides through the gaps to enter the mountains north of Besancon. West of Beavais, Canadian and British infantry polish off a weak Corp again courtesy of SS Political Police turning a DR into an EX. Hitler orders that all Political Police be round and shot. They spend the next few weeks arresting one another before Goering intervenes and stop the silliness. in the Bordeuax region, the Portuguese and Guards Corp finish off an isolated German Corp in Areachon.

Around the beachhead, the US Army gets serious and batters the defenders. North east of Lille two US Corps attack some paratroopers, infantry and a Panzer cadre rolling a DH on them. At Arras, despite AA beating off a third of the GS aircraft, the defenders are bounced out for a HX result while west of the town the Germans are pushed back with a DR to the Somme (despite two thirds of GS aircraft being beaten off – a curse on AA!). A 32 mile gap is blown in the line and the US Tank crews start salivating at the thought of the upcoming exploitation phase…..

Exploitation: “The Charge”

In Italy the 2nd Armored, 34th Motorised Infantry and an AA regiment overrun a cadre of Croatians and push into Padova, breaching the second line of the Po network. Millions of Reichmarks of fortifications are made redundant.

In France, French and British Motorised and Mechanised units sprint into Nancy while a British Corp pushes in to liberate Luxembourg. Out of the beachhead the US Army pushes into Valenciennes and onto the outskirts of Brussels.

The German line is in tatters and suddenly the units around Paris and the Seine are looking isolated from the rest of the Fatherland. The borders of Germany lie open from Luxembourg to Strasburg and those units that could make a difference are caught behind the spreading tentacles of the US Army in Flanders.

Time to call out the Hitler Youth……..

Jul I 1944

C, C

Axis Player Turn

In Italy the withdrawal to the Po continues, Bologna is abandoned and Light, Mountain and cavalry units are sent over the Alps towards France.

The Seine line is strengthened and the defences around the US units in Flanders are shuffled about to try and spare some units for the south. Paris is declared a Festung and reinforced by more units while a screen is thrown up across the Marne river to prevent a rapid British breakthrough to the beachhead.

Allied Player Turn

32 Transports and Gliders gather in the UK, along with a bundle of special forces and paratroopers. The German High Command spits and dares them to land in Berlin. The Guards Armoured Corp is rebuilt in Spain and starts marching to rejoin the main battle line. The French endeavour to crush the Avignon pocket and courtesy of surrounded ZoCs are successful in destroying the Germans. A joint Canadian-British attack near Rouen over the Seine is able to push over the river but at heavy losses to themselves (HX rolled) while south of here another attack is blocked by the fortified defenders (AS). Elsewhere the British have a slight pause while it deals with rogue German XXs running about in their rear and wait while the slower moving support units snake their way up to the front line. Paris remains untouched, to the mortal indignation of De Gaulle who demands the city be liberated toot sweet! Churchill ignores him and swigs another brandy.

The US Army begins its delayed breakout by slamming into an SS Corp defending Abbeville and forces them out of the town for heavy US losses (EX) while at Bethune a corp of SS and Heer are forced out of the town (DR – despite 8:1 odds!!). The defence holds, but cracks are beginning to appear……….

In Italy, Brescia falls to an overwhelming allied attack while US units try and seize Ferrara but are repulsed by some SS police armed with truncheons. The big victory of the turn is the surrounding and capture of various units fleeing Bologna by US forces. AT Verona a British, SA, NZ, Polish attack fails to budge the defenders despite massive GS from the USAAF thunderbolts. In a rare show of defiance the LW actually try to intercept but are generally ineffective.

Jun II 1944

C, C

Axis Player Turn

In Italy 35 REs worth of units arrive from the South East. The Allied commander groans and curses his recklessness the turn before. The reinforcements are mainly SS Mountain, Lt Infantry, Cavalry, engineers and artillery. The forts along the Po are manned and Florence abandoned. Troops in the west scuttle to Torino and a shield is thrown around Bologna. RSI Static units are positioned as speed bumps in the way of the Allies.

In France a Westwall Emergency is declared (British in Dijon) and a general retreat is begun from the Loire, Brittany, Normandy to the prepared line of fortifications along the Seine River. C/M units (assorted SS and Heer riff raf) head to Dijon while a temporary stop line is set up around Orleans to slow the British advance. Overhead the remnants of the LW rebase into Germany while positional AA takes up posts in the Westwall itself, ready to provide cover for the planned defenders.

Allied Player Turn

The US begins to lurch out of the beachhead (rapidly in danger of becoming a beached whale) by forcing the defenders of St Omer back and seizing the town. The Orleans stop line is shattered as some cadres are destroyed by advancing British units who now have Paris in their eyes. At Dijon a joint Canadian/British attack pushes the SS defenders back but fails to make a significant breakthrough. Every where British units push ahead to catch the retreating Germans but are delayed by blown bridges and carefully placed rear guards.

In Italy Turin falls to a British Corp while a fratricidal battle occurs between RSI Static troops and Allied Italians (supported by the Poles) and a nasty EX results. Elsewhere a German Infantry stack is eaten up by a polygot force of Poles, NZ, SA, British, Indians and US west of Mantova. This attack allows a turning of the Po River line and traps the German 2nd Pz XX in Brescia. In the exploitation phase, US units seize Modena, trapping units in Bologna and breaking the heart of the German commander.

In France, the exploiting British overrun units in the southern part of the Seine line (not fortified) and wheel north to arrive just outside the city of Paris.

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