Allied Turn

With clear weather until October, there is no weather roll. Arriving from the US is the 82nd Abn XX, a mot AA X, an AA III, and 2x Mortar II’s. The British convert the 3rd Mixed XX back into an Inf XX and a Tank X, but most of the conversions the Allies should have made could not be completed due to the units being in enemy ZOC’s. In GB however, the Canadian 5th became a 13-10 Arm XX and the US 29th became a 9-8 Inf XX. The Allies completed 3 airfield upgrades pushing their airbase capacity up to 60 in southern France. The US repair 3 air groups, the British repair 2.

Arriving from GB were the supported components of the 52nd Mtn XX, and arriving from Alger a couple steps later were the 4th Indian XX, a mot AA X, an Inf X, and the 44th Inf HQ.

In southern France almost every Allied unit is involved in an attack. The first attack is against a 10-pt Italian stack in the mountains with the Allies using 3x British XX’s, including the Scottish Lowland Mtn XX, 3x US Inf XX’s, and a Canadian Inf XX. Neither side fly in air support. With odds of 4:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DR, but because the Allies exert ZOC’s into both hexes it can retreat into the Italian stack with 6 RE’s is eliminated. The Scottish advance into the Maritime Alps.

The second attack is against the newly created HG Pz XX sitting on the east bank of the Rhone. Here the Allies use 2x US Arm XX’s, a British Mixed XX, 2x British Inf XX’s, and the other Canadian Inf XX. The Allies had flown in a CAP of 10 fighters, they now fly in 9 air groups on GS, which the CAP escorts. The German AA of 3 aborts 2 and returns 1. At odds of 8:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘6’ for a DE. The HG XX is reduced to a cadre and an AA II eliminated. The Allies advance 2x British XX’s and an Art [xx] north along the east bank of the Rhone River. During exploitation they are joined by a US Arm XX along with AA and c/m ants to make this a 47-pt stack.

The third attack is against a German 5-6 Inf XX, a 3-10 mot III, and an AA II. Neither side fly in any air support. Here the British use 3x Arm XX’s and 2x Arm X’s. At odds of 6:1, + 2 the British roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Inf XX is reduced and the other units eliminated. The British advance all 3 Arm XX’s into the hex. During exploitation they overrun the cadre just created and exploit behind the German line to completely surround a German 13-pt c/m stack.

The final Allied attack is against the 7th Pz XX. Here the British use 3x Arm XX’s, 3x Inf XX’s, and the Guards Inf X to bring AECA below 50%. The Allies had flown in 10 fighters on CAP, and now fly in 15 air groups for GS, which the CAP escorts. The German air groups, low on ARP’s, remain on the ground. German AA of 5 aborts 3 and returns 3. At 5:1, -2 odds the British roll a ‘2’ for an EX. The Germans reduce the 7th Pz XX and eliminate an AA III. Because of the large amount of Inf RP’s the British have accumulated they reduce the 56th and 78th Inf XX’s and eliminate their Guards Inf X. During exploitation these British Arm XX’s solidify the Allied defense line facing northwest against the 26th Pz XX and 7th Pz cadre. These attacks have opened up the northern side of the German perimeter, that can only be filled by railing down units from their Channel defense in northern France.

Axis Turn

Completely out of Arm RP’s, the Germans replace only the 5-6 Inf XX just eliminated. The Italians replace all their units just eliminated.

The Italians take over a mountain hex the Germans had been defending, and now defend a line 9 hexes long thru mountain hexes with an average defense strength of 8.1 pts. That line ends in a rough hex on the coast where the Italians had built up a 38-pt stack of mostly artillery units to threaten the major city of Nice. They have deferred attacking it because they can not afford to take any casualties. The Germans defend the east bank of the Rhone with a 9-pt stack in rough terrain and the 10th Pz XX in clear terrain.

On the west side of the Rhone the Germans manage to rail down 3x Inf XX’s from the Channel coast, which with the 7th Pz XX and some c/m ants try to free their trapped stack by attacking the British 7th Arm XX. Staging in from all over France and northern Italy the Germans fly in a CAP of 9 fighter groups. The Allies reply with a CAP of 23 fighter groups. The Germans take every bomber off naval patrol and fly in a GS mission of 20 assorted air groups. The Allies drop 20 fighter groups out of CAP to intercept. Out of their GS mission the Germans have 5 killed, 6 aborted, and 3 returned. Of their fighter groups the Allies have 1 killed and 3 aborted. The Allies then fly in a DAS mission of 14 air groups, which their last 3 CAP fighter groups then escort. The Germans intercept with their CAP who all bypass the escort. The 3 Allied fighters manage to return 2 of the interceptors. Against the DAS the Germans kill 2, abort 1, and return 3, while having 1 of their own killed and 2 aborted. Allied AA of 5 aborts 2 of the GS mission. German AA of 1 accomplishes nothing, but the Allies can only use 4 of their DAS air groups due to the RE limitation. At 3:1, -2 the Germans rolled a ‘4’ for an EX. The British 7th Arm XX is eliminated, because its cadre retreats into a ZOC, along with a mot AA X, and a US c/m ant. The Germans reduce 2x Inf XX’s and eliminate a Para III. The trapped German stack advances into the vacated hex, from where they exploit back into a reformed Axis perimeter that is now 21 hexes long, 11 held by Germans, and 10 by Italians.