AlbertN
Posts: 3693
Joined: 10/5/2010 From: Italy Status: offline
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Jul / Aug 1943 - Hitler's Counterattack The W.Allies landed, reinforced their beachead and even tried to push in; at the cost of German panzertruppen for them to be halted. The Fuhrer was thundering at his subordinates, about them being incompetent and whatnot. Meanwhile that happened the CW brought into Bay of Biscay quality fighters - which at the end of May / Jun turn returned to base into France, pooling a grandtotal of 4 FTRs and 1 LND there, ontop of 2* Stacks of 3 units each. The last impulse of May / June was Axis, rainy, a Combined one for Germany which was used to bring forth more planes and secure the perimeter around the beachead. When the turn ended (With an Italian 2-2 partisan appearing in Chile!) the W.Allies elected to leave in the sea only the Queens, under a measly carrier escort (With a FTR with 4 and another with 2 of Air to Air factor). In the 3 box. Then an amount of cruisers for added AA factor. That revealed for the W.Allies to be a fatal mistake. Initiative wise, the track was at +1 for the Axis, and as the Allied side started the previous turn, Axis wins also the ties. Luckily for the Axis, they were able to go first in Jul / Aug. (They evened out 8, with Axis rolling 7 and Allies 8). (With that Initiative risk, and it being so important he should have either stocked up on Initiative bonus during the winter, or simply left more ships to supply the beachead, even at the cost of having less shipping later on in the turn). The naval mistake of the Allies came now into play. Il Duce elects Air impulse, and attempts to claim his moment of glory. 4 Italian NAVs + 1 German Condor (reacting) escorted by 2 fighters (at 7 and 6 of air factor) reach en mass the 2 box, and a Gabbiano is sent at the 4 box as sacrificial lamb to try to keep the combat up in case the main group does not find. The W.Allies realize now that not a single land based fighter can get to the 3 box, which means their excellent Spitfires and Thunderbolts simply lack the range to get there. Only a P40 go into the 2 box. (2nd mistake here - To much dismay the W.Allies find the Axis instead. That is where the first big mistake is done. The W.Allies can find the Gabbiano (with 2 surprise points) or the main Axis air battlegroup with 4 Surprise points. In my eyes the choice was extremely simple, in the given situation. There is only -1- unit of the W.Allies giving supply. Pick the option that gives you the 4 surprise points, and elect "Avoid Combat". Play safe. Instead a 2nd mistake is done - the Gabbiano should die, my opponent tells me on skype. And his Fulmar, the P40 and the CVP with only 2 of Air Factor go attack the Gabbiano! Which is only aborted. The W.Allied planes all return to their carriers safely, but that choice enabled another roll of search. Sure, it's a 30% risk to get found, a calculated one - but affordable? Another hard choice - all the UK fighters in France could have flown in Bay of Biscay as reaction (It meant they'd go at the 1 box, but they'd be safe from overruns in case the **** hits the fan. On the other hand by doing so it means the ground units would be entirely exposed to Axis bombers). The choice was to keep them on the ground and ready to intercept bombers (A choice I agree here with though). And then Il Duce's naval air storm finds the Brits. A nice roll of 1, harvesting a total of 4 surprise point in the end. But the Fulmar can do little against the superior Italian Saggitario leading the assault, and is gunned down. The US CVP promptly elects to abort (would be fighting at +6 / -6) and land on the US carrier, that is anyhow targettable! The AA is weak, highest of 2 - lowered by surprise to 2 lowest of 5, a total of 3 is scored. The Italians have 5 planes for a total of 15 Naval Factors. The last surprise points are used to get back the column to where it is. It's 3X 1D and 2A! The Queens are bombed and sink to the bottom of the seas. A not very relevant US cruiser follows suit. Then it's the time of the USN Ranger (with its embarked plane); another cruiser is damaged, and the W.Allies pack their things and go home - making the aborts not very relevant. That left their beachead entirely vulnerable, and Out of Supply. Needless to say the Euro-Axis submerges the two hexes with bombers. Italy provides 2 Piaggios, 2 Sparviero and 1 Fighter that is loaded with bombs (Having a nice 3 factor). Germany litterally does the same, using 3 of its air actions to bring forth their strategic bombers, and a FW190 F3 in bomber role. The W.Allies stand little chances, of the ground units only an INF in the woods south of Bordeaux escapes its grim fate; their planes not relevant as they're OOS. Only the HQs could have mattered due to their ability to perform Emergency Supply, but they're both bombed. From Spain, Guderian, the conqueror of Leningrad, leads his gebirgsjager in what shall be known as Alpenblitz style of warfare, a mixed used of panzers and alpine units; meanwhile the bulk of the Axis armoured forces struck south of Bordeaux. Guderian spends itself in HQ support, to be on the safe side, and some more bombers are sent - Bayonne is a +15 attack, and the forest hex a +12.5. (Due to OOS and Disrupted in box hexes the Allies have 10 combat factors only). The W.Allies which could send bombers in, without escort though, seeing the wall of Luftwaffe fighters ready to intercept - an amount of them of 8 and 7 quality, politely decline the chance offered (To save their troops or to add planes to their graveyeard to come). The Axis are victorious, with no losses. Hitler summons to his headquarter in Berlin the very subordinates he reprimanded two months ago, for promotions; and Il Duce invites his aerial commanders as well for celebrations over this astonishing, unexpected victory. In the while the W.Allies commands mourn the losses and are in despair (Further talks of closing the match - where me and my friend alas have very opposing views; but we started in parallel another match where I am the Allies; playing it PBEM. Turns at the start are much quicker and less requiring in terms of reactions and such).
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