Allied Turn

Arriving this turn are the US 3rd Arm XX and 101st Abn XX. The US now has 3x Arm XX’s, 2x Abn XX’s, and 7x Inf XX’s in southern France. The British have 6x Arm XX’s, 3x Mixed XX’s, 1x Abn XX, 1x Mtn XX, and 9x Inf XX’s in southern France. The Canadians have 2x Arm XX’s and 2x Inf XX’s in southern France. The French have a Mtn XX and the Indians an Inf XX in southern France for a grand total of 38x Allied XX’s. Arriving from Britain are a Czech Arm X, a Belgium Mot Inf X, and a Dutch Mot Inf X. Remaining in Britain are 2x Arm XX’s, 4x Inf XX’s, and 4x Marine Cmdo X’s to maintain an amphibious threat. The US repair an air group, the British repair 4x air groups, and the French replace an air group.

The Allies hardly move a unit and make no attacks east of the Rhone. Their first attack is against a 7-pt stack sitting on a lone mountain hex in the Massif Central by the US 82nd and 101st Abn XX’s, the US 3rd Inf XX, and the British 5th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 8 fighter groups, and in the combat phase 16 assorted air groups on GS, which half the CAP escort. The Germans intercept with 4x Fw190’s, which try to bypass. The escort kills 1 and returns 2 of the German fighter groups. The Germans fly in 2x Fw190F’s attack groups on DAS. The remaining CAP intercepts and kills 1 in exchange for one of its own killed. At 5:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for a HX. The Germans eliminate 2x cadres. The Allies eliminate 2x Mot AA X’s and advance the US 101st Abn XX and the British 5th Inf XX into the hex.

The second attack is against an adjacent 14-pt stack by the US 3rd Arm XX, the Canadian 5th Arm XX, and the British 6th and 11th Arm XX’s. The Allies fly 6 fighter groups on CAP, and then a GS mission of 6 bomber groups. The Germans do not react. The German AA of 2 returns 2x bomber groups. At 7:1, + 2 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for a DE. Cut off by the first attack this entire German stack of an Inf XX and 2x Inf cadres is eliminated.

The third attack is against a 10-pt stack in the town of Cahors across the Lot River by the British 53rd Mixed XX, the 1st Abn XX, and the 56th Inf XX, along with no less than 4x Art [xx]’s. The Allies fly in a CAP of 4 fighter groups, and then a GS mission of 10 bomber groups, which half the CAP escorts. The Germans intercept with a Fw190, which tries to bypass. The escort returns the German interceptor without any damage to itself. The Germans fly in 4 air groups on DAS, which the remaining CAP intercepts without success. The Allied AA of 7 misses, and the German AA of 2 returns a bomber group. At 6:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DE. The entire stack of 2x PzG X’s and a Mot Art III are eliminated.

The fourth attack is against a Res Pz XX and 2x PzG cadres 5 hexes southeast of Bordeaux by the US 1st and 2nd Arm XX’s and 5th and 9th Inf XX, the British 15th Mixed XX, and the Indian 8th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 8 fighter groups, and then 10 assorted air groups on GS, which 2 of the CAP escort. The Germans choose not to react. The German AA of 1 misses. At 7:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for a DE. The Res Pz XX is reduced and the 2x PzG cadres are eliminated.

The last 2 attacks are to clean up the lone German Inf XX adjacent to Toulouse and the 2x Inf cadres in the Pyrenees foothills. All these isolated German Inf units are eliminated.

During exploitation the Allies manage to make 2 penetrations of the German defense line. The first starts just east of the town of Rodez and allows the British 11th Arm XX to curve behind the German defense line and the US 3rd Arm XX to reach the town of Aurillac. The other starts in the town of Cahors, and penetrates across the Dordogne River, along which the next German defense line would be based.

Axis Turn

Having hoarded their Arm RP’s the Germans are finally able to replace 1 of the 5 c/m XX’s in their replacement pool. They replace the 16th Pz XX, which immediately converts to a 16-10 Pz XX. The Germans also retain the 389th Inf XX from transferring east from the West Theater, and replace 5 of 7 Inf XX’s in their replacement pool. The Germans also replace 3 air groups.

The Italians continue thinning out their defenses in Sicily and southern Italy. They maintain a strong defense along the coast in front of Roma up to Civitavecchia. They also have a strong coastal defense at Livorno and from La Spezia up to Genova. However, the Italians maintain their strongest defense thru the mountain hexes of the Maritime Alps.

With the help of an Italian Alpine XX the Germans defend the hex northeast of Grenoble with a 15-pt stack. They then have stacks of 17, 21, and 23 pts behind the Isere River. They maintain a 21-pt stack on the west bank of the Rhone. They hold 3 mountain hexes in the Massif Central, and another mountain hex just east of the town of Aurillac. The Germans tried concentrating their available c/m units against the Allied bridgehead across the Dordogne River, but didn’t like the 4:1, -2 odds before the intervention of Allied airpower. Instead they tried to box in that bridgehead as they held the rest of the north bank of the Dordogne down to the Gironde. Knowing the Allies would not get any VP’s in this VP Check, the Germans abandoned Bordeaux. From the Atlantic to the west bank of the Rhone the German defense line was 20 hexes long with an average defense strength of 12.7 pts.

 

Sep II VP Check

Former Axis Major Cities: Tunis = 3
Former Axis Medium Cities: Tripoli, Grenoble, Toulouse = 3
Former Axis Naval Bases: Tripoli, Tunis, Bizerte, Sete = 4
Net Ground Losses: 0
Net Air Losses: 0
Net Naval Losses: 0
Previous Total: 2.5 VP’s
New Total: 12.5 VP’s