S, S, S, S, M, R, R

Axis Player Turn

With the Russians closing in from the east, withdrawals hurt OK West heavily. The Luftwaffe blue is the most noticable colour on the map from Berlins perspective, Goering sits chuckling in his corner of the bunker drinking schnapps – the main defensive power around Berlin are his fanatical paratroopers, the foolish Allied decision to allow the 7th FS XX to fly out of Holland is coming back to haunt them! Hanover is declared a Festung and Harburg is abandoned with troops falling back to join the sailors and Hitler Youth in Hamburg. A rough line is pulled back from Magdeburg to Wittenburge and around Berlin. The remaining elite C/M units guard forward positions to slow the US advance on the Capital. Prague is reinforced by SS mountain troops and a thin line is set up on the road from Linz to Vienna. Over the German capital the newly arrived Jet and Rocket fighters fly in formation, inspiring the cities defenders that the hour of redemption is at hand!

Allied Player Turn

The operations of the Allied air forces are slightly hampered by the appearance of new German aircraft from the Strategic reserve throughout this period. Despite this, the USAAF and Commonwealth airforces more than adequately hold their own and support the frontline offensives.

Ljubjana and Klagenfurt are subjected to heavy US attacks, but both hold out valiently in their fortresses. At Linz, the remaining Germans are destroyed by a mix of Indian armour (finally available after training for so long), US infantry and APC-mounted British infantry. Budweiss falls to Czechs, Indians and Poles who loot the brewery. Disheartened by the news that all local beer supplies are cut off, a German stack south of Prague is surrounded and destroyed easily by French, Poles and the British.

At Luneburg, the Americans attack across the Elbe into two Infantry divisions who are shattered and forced to retreat into Lubeck. The LSSAH Pz XX and attached units fight to the death against surrounding US forces and cause an EX result before surrendering when no escape route is available for the LSSAH cadre.

Magdeburg is attacked by a joint US/French attack but the American engineers pay the ultimate price in the result (-5 die modifiers in this battle – scary) and the city holds on. Hanover falls to a text book use of Seige Artillery and Engineers.

The Third Reich burns……

At Kottbus the British retake the town and in the exploitation phase push into the wooded lake area SE of Berlin cutting off all land contact with the southern front (or what remains of it). Along the danube, American armor rushes along the south bank towards Vienna while Indian armour and mechanised infantry drive along the north bank