Historical – everyone dozed

The Axis batten down the hatches anticipating imminent Italian surrender. Nothing to be seen moving except the air forces. It isn’t too much of an ask for the Brits to muscle into Bastia – very heavy top cover keeps the DAS away, and its 6:1 (-3) so Corsica falls, though port capacity will be a problem for the next couple of turns. Finally, the Americans administer the coup de grâce on the Lipari island defenders and Sicily is conquered.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if Derek-dice had coerced the Italians to stay, but they do the decent thing and decide to opt out of this war. We spend an age calculating the resultant German gains and my new garrison requirements, and the armies use that as a reason to rest, refit and have a Christmas holiday. Apart from gratuitous Derek vandalism, things are very quiet on the Southern Front.