Allied Turn

The weather roll is a ‘5’ for continued winter. Another US Inf XX arrives, as does the Polish 3rd Mtn XX after a 3-turn trip the long way around Africa from the Near East. A French Inf XX becomes full at Alger. An Indian Inf XX and a British Art [xx] become full at Tripoli. They will arrive in south France by the next turn. The British upgrade their 6th Arm XX and 1st Abn XX. The Allies ship the US 29th Inf XX and the Canadian 3rd Inf XX from Britain. The US repair 3 air groups, the British replace 1 and repair 2 air groups, and the French repair 1 air group.

The Allied front facing the Italians remains unchanged. The first Allied attack is against a 19-pt stack just west of the minor city of Roanne by the US 4th Inf XX, the Canadian 1st and 2nd Inf XX’s, the British 43rd and 50th Inf XX, and the French 9th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 6 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 20 air groups, which 4 of the Allied CAP fighter groups escort. The Germans intercept with 4 fighter groups. The escorts kill 1 and return 1 of the interceptors, which all bypass. The surviving interceptors kill 1 and abort 1 of the GS air groups. The Germans then fly in a DAS mission of 4 air groups, which the last 2 Allied CAP fighter along with 2 fighter groups at Clermont intercept. Allied interceptors miss. German AA aborts 1 and returns 1, Allied AA misses. At 5:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘2’ for an EX. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack. The Allies reduce the US 4th and British 50th Inf XX’s. The Canadian 1st Inf XX and US/Canadian SSF Mtn X advance into the hex.

The next Allied attack is against a 17-pt stack just east of Vichy by the British Guards and 11th Arm XX’s, the NZ 2nd Mech XX, the British 1st Abn XX, and the British 15th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 4 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 10 air groups, which half the CAP escorts. German AA misses. At 6:1, – 1 the Allies roll a ‘1’ for an EX. The Germans reduce an Inf XX, and eliminate the rest of their stack. The British eliminate their 15th Inf XX and a Eng X’s, and the US eliminate a Mech Cav X

The third Allied attack is against a 15-pt stack just southwest of Bourges by the US 2nd Arm XX and 5x British and Canadian Arm X’s. The Allies fly in a CAP of 4 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 10 air groups, which all the CAP escorts. German AA returns 4 of the GS air groups. At 5:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘1’ for another EX. The Germans eliminate their entire stack. The Allies reduce the US 2nd Arm XX.

The fourth attack is against an 11-pt stack just west of the town of Vierzon by the US 3rd Arm XX, 101st Abn XX, and 9th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 4 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups, which all the CAP escorts. German AA returns 1 GS air groups. At 6:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for a DR.

The fifth attack is against a 13-pt stack by the Canadian 4th Arm XX, the British 6th Arm XX and the Polish 1st Arm XX. The Allies fly in a CAP of 4 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a CAP of 6 fighter groups. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 8 air groups, which half the CAP escorts. The Germans intercept with 3 fighter groups. The Allied escorts abort 1 and return 1. The surviving interceptor returns a P-47. The German then fly in a DAS mission of 3 air groups, which the remaining CAP intercepts. The CAP misses, and a Me110 heavy fighter kills a P-51 with return fire. Allied AA of 10 misses, while German AA of 7 aborts 3 and returns 2 of the GS air groups. At 4:1, – 1 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for an HX. The Germans eliminate their entire stack, including a just produced cadre which could not retreat due to Allied ZOC’s. The British reduce their 6th Arm XX.

The sixth Allied attack is against the 15th PzG XX by the US 1st and 4th Arm XX’s, the US 8th and 88th Inf XX’s, and the British 3rd Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 4 air groups. German AA misses. At 6:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DH. The 15th PzG XX is reduced and retreats thru Allied ZOC’s.

The seventh Allied attack is against the 9th PzG XX by the British 7th Arm XX, the US 3rd Inf XX, and the British 1st and 5th Inf XX’s. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 6 air groups. German AA returns 1. At 5:1, -2 the Allies roll a ‘3’ for an HX. The 9th PzG XX is reduced. The Allies eliminates a US Inf III and 2x Arm II’s.

The eighth Allied attack is against a 15-pt stack 2 hexes southwest of the town of Saumur by the Canadian 5th Arm XX, the US 82nd Abn XX, the US 5th and 34th Inf XX, and the British 78th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 6 air groups. German AA aborts 2. At 7:1, -1 the Allies roll a ‘5’ for a DE. The Germans reduce an Inf XX and eliminate the rest of their stack.

The final attack is against the 14th Pz XX by the US 2nd and 85th Inf XX’s, the British 53rd and 56th Inf XX, and the Indian 8th Inf XX. The Allies fly in a GS mission of 6 air groups. German AA misses. At 4:1, – 2 the Allies roll a ‘4’ for another HX. The Germans reduce the 14th Pz XX and eliminate an ant. The Allies reduce the US 85th Inf XX.

During exploitation the British Guards XX pushes 2 hexes due east from Vichy getting behind the newly built German fort line. The US 3rd Arm XX and Czech 1st Arm X overrun Bourges, and the Canadian 4th Arm XX exploits 1 hex northeast of that city. In the north the Canadian 5th Arm XX exploits behind the German line into the hex due east of the town of Cholet.

Axis Turn

The Germans receive no less than 7x Inf XX’s this turn, and then replace 3 more. The Germans also replace the HG Pz XX. The Germans disband 2x Aslt Gun X’s, an Art X, a Mot Rkt X, and a Panther II for a total of 8 Inf RP’s and 13 Arm RP’s. The Germans replace 3 air groups and repair 1.

The Germans give up trying to hold Lyon until the next VP Check, it is elongating their defense line too much. Retreating north into France with the Germans are 2x Italian Arm XX’s, 1x Mot Inf XX, 2x Alp XX’s, an Alp X, a Bicycle III, 3x Art III, an AA III, and 3x AA II’s. The remaining Italians along the French border fall back to the eastern edge of the Maritime Alps.

Retreating from St.Etienne the German non-c/m units form a narrow salient caused by the penetration of the British Guards Arm XX due east from Vichy. The Germans look at a counterattack against the Guards but can barely get to 3:2, -2 odds, and cancel the attack. For 9 hexes from just east of Roanne to northeast of Nevers the German defense line hugs the east bank of the Loire River. From there the defense line then heads northwest for 3 hexes, then due west to angle around the medium city of Tours 1 hex out before heading northwest again. A hex southwest of the minor city of Angers their line turns due west to take advantage of some bocage terrain before reaching the Atlantic. By the end of the turn the Axis defense line from the Swiss border to the Atlantic is 32 hexes long and has an average defense strength of 16.3 pts.