Allied Turn

The British upgrade their 11th Arm XX, but can not upgrade their 7th Arm XX due to enemy ZOC’s. The US finally converts their 3rd Inf XX to its SF strength. The British rebuild their 51st Inf XX. The US repair 2 air groups. The British replace 3 air groups and repair 4 more. The Allies spend 12 resource pts to build up the former Vichy rail cap from 15 to 18 RE’s.

In GB the Allies try to maintain a plausible invasion threat with 4x Inf XX’s, including the US 29th, 2x Arm XX’s, 4x Marine RE’s, 2x Arm X’s, and a growing airborne threat. Understanding that the main battle is in southern France, the Allies load up the 46th Inf XX, the 15th and 53rd Mixed XX’s, an Art [xx], and 3x Arm X’s for arrival there next turn. The large mixed XX’s being especially useful for the Allied tactic of attacking the German c/m XX’s at less than 1/2 AECA. So far the Allies have eliminated 1 Pz XX and reduced 3 others to cadres. The Allies use 4x C-47’s to transport 4x French Mtn III’s from North Africa into Cannes.

The first Allied attack is against an Italian stack in a mountain hex. The Allies use the 1st, 9th, and 45th US Inf XX’s, the Canadian 2nd Inf XX, the British 52nd Mtn XX, and the French 3rd Mtn XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 6 fighter groups, and in the Combat Phase a GS mission of just 4 bomber groups, which the CAP then escorts. The Italians stay on the ground. At 6:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for an EX. The 2 Italian XX’s are eliminated and the Allies reduce the US 45th Inf XX.

The next attack is against the 15th PzG XX 2 hexes northwest of Montpellier by 2x Arm XX’s and 5x Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a CAP of 8 fighter groups, and then a GS mission of 10 air groups, which half the CAP escorts. The German fly in a DAS mission of 7 air groups, including 5x Fw190 attack bombers, escorted by just 2 fighter groups. The remaining 4 CAP fighters, plus 2 more within range on the ground, intercept. The combat between the fighters engaging and the escorts does nothing. The 4 Allied intercepting fighters manage to return 2 of the DAS groups. AA aborts a DAS group, leaving the odds 10:1, -2. The Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE, and the 15th PzG XX is reduced to yet another c/m cadre.

The last combat is against the major port of Sete using 4x British Arm XX’s. The Allies fly in 6 fighters on CAP, even though there are no enemy fighters within range to intercept. In the Combat Phase the Allies decide against flying in a GS mission, and left the odds 6:1, + 2. The Allies rolled a ‘2’ for a DE. The German 44th Inf XX is reduced and a PzG X eliminated along with an AA ant. The Allies advance into a destroyed port.

By the end of exploitation the Allied perimeter is 24 hexes long, including 11 mountain hexes, and has an average defense strength of 18.9 pts.

Axis Turn

The Germans receive the 24th Pz XX and an Inf XX. They manage to reorganize 4x Inf XX’s and 3x Static XX’s, but every other division that qualifies is in enemy ZOC’s. With the flood of ARP’s the Germans were able to empty the killed and aborted boxes of all their fighters, the problem now being the lack of airbases in southern France.

The Italians fall back slightly, clogging up the few routes thru the Maritime Alps. The Italian share of the Axis defense line ends with their northernmost stack defending Grenoble. The Germans takeover from that point, defending the mountain hex northwest of Grenoble with an 11-pt stack. They then have a 19-pt stack and a 25-pt stack defending the north side of the Isere River 2 hexes south of Lyon. On the west bank of the Rhone they have a 21-pt stack. For the first time the Germans form a second line as they are determined to block any advance by the Allies up the Rhone River valley, the shortest route into Germany.

The Germans hold 4 of the 5 mountain hexes along the southern edge of the Massif Central, and have strong stacks blocking the 1 mountain hex the Allies do hold. However, the rest of the German line, 6 hexes from the town of Millau down to the sea, where the Allies made 2 of their 3 attacks the previous turn, is weakly held. Even though this line includes the 16th Pz XX and the 29th PzG XX along with 3 c/m cadres it has an average defense strength of just 11.7 pts. The Germans have decided they would rather have the Allies attack westward into southwest France than in any other direction.