RE: D-Day to the Ruhr

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/24/2018 8:38:03 AM

sPzAbt653

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Here is the supply situation. Rarely is seen anything this bad in any TOAW Scenario. This is what happens when a major invasion force lands without the immediate benefit of a Major Port. I have to get Brest yet do not have the resources to do it.
Yet somehow I've got to find a way. Am I being too dramatic ? I'm telling you this is giving me a headache, but it can be done, I swear. The Germans have to be held off on the east flank while the maximum abilities of what is available are squeezed out for the capture of Brest.
I think the newly arrived US 3rd AD should move to take the only other minor port available at Roscoff [upper left]. It will raise me one more supply at the least. Then one more Inf Div can be brought in [lowering supply] and that will give me a small force to take a large target [Brest].

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/24/2018 8:39:18 AM

sPzAbt653

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Speaking of available assets. Here is the Bradley HQ. This unit doesn't actually represent the General sitting in his jeep with his ADC!
This unit represents the focus of the 1st Army. If it does not move, it adds to the overall supply level thru 'asset sharing'. This is a minor addition to the supply level, but as we have seen, an increase of 1-3 is important. This unit also increases supply to adjacent cooperative units, and while a little increase to a low level may not look impressive, every little bit counts.
So far this unit has been sitting near the critical part of the US defense line in front of its port, but now that the defense in that area seems to be in hand [and the port has been ruined by the recent storm], this HQ will move west to support the attack on Brest.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 2:24:11 AM

sPzAbt653

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Elmer continues his attacks on the northeast flank. He has made some headway but has taken heavy casualties. It looks like the line can be held, but there is nothing to counter attack him with. The Br 7th AD is moving to this area to rest and gain some supply.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 2:24:55 AM

sPzAbt653

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The 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions have shown up at Vannes, and just north of Vannes the Pz Lehr Div continues to attack to the west in an effort to re-establish a link with the German forces trapped in the peninsula.
The Br 43rd Inf Div has arrived to take over part of the line, which allows the US 30th Inf Div to begin its move south to help fend off the Panzers.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 2:26:01 AM

sPzAbt653

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In preparation for the capture of Brest, the US 3rd AD will move to the position of its header. This should prevent the Germans from sending reinforcements to Brest. One more Br Inf Div will be brought in to take over more of the US line so that a US Inf Div can move to the Brest area. I've looked thru the briefing for any help I can get as far as supply, but it won't get any better until Brest is captured. There is an upcoming Theater Option for a Carpet Bombing Attack. This is available starting July 1, so I plan to assault Brest with one Inf Div and Heavy Bombers.

It's a pretty weak plan.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:47:52 AM

sPzAbt653

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The crisis period in the 'Vannes Corridor' has passed, but the Germans still have plenty of dangerous units in the area. The Br 59th ID has arrived and taken the place of the US 79th ID in the line. The 79th will move off to the north where I was going to use it for the assault on Brest, but the division is wore out and needs rest. So I think I'm going to take a risk and use it to replace the US 2nd ID, which has been holding the line in the quiet center of the US sector and hasn't suffered much. Sticking the 79th in its place might cause Elmer to attack it, though.
It is July 1st and the Heavy Bombers are now available to be called in. The Br 1st AB Div is also available to drop, but I don't see how it can help in taking Brest, so I will leave it in reserve for now.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:48:53 AM

sPzAbt653

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Another Minor Port is repaired. The Supply Level in the Brest area is terrible, and I could move the Mulberry from the Br sector to the US sector to improve it a little, but Elmer keeps strongly attacking that eastern flank so I dare not reduce the supply there. The last Minor Port captured [Roscoff] will also be repaired soon, so maybe that will raise supply in this area from 2 to 3, which is of little help. Over the next few turns I will be moving the US 2nd ID towards Brest, along with the US 1st Army HQ unit which will provide a slight boost to supply. The idea is that the 2nd ID will arrive at Brest in good enough supply to be able to make enough attacks to take Brest before going out of the Green Supply State, with the assistance of the Heavy Bombers. If this doesn't work my backup plan is to bring in another ID and try again with the second carpet bombing option and two Inf Div's.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:49:43 AM

sPzAbt653

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The Rennes area has been quite lately, and if Elmer continues to leave his line like this, I've half a mind to attack him at the Green Circled area and use the Br 11th AD [highlighted, in reserve and recovering] to take Rennes and link up with the Br 7th AD west of the St. Jacques airfield, thus putting a fair number of German units in the bag. I'll see how it looks once the 11th AD is back up to 100%.
I've currently got five units scattered around that have a movement allowance of 1. No big concern, just thought I would mention it.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:50:46 AM

sPzAbt653

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I was using some naval units to soften up the defenses around Brest. I noticed that my ships bombarding the enemy units caused only light casualties, 1-2% each bombardment which is expected, but if I moved my ships close enough for Coast Batteries to hit them, most of time the Coast Batteries evaporated. Not sure if that is normal or a fluke in the combat calculations but I'll take it. However, I noticed something that seemed very wrong when I moved my ships next to Brest. The three German units that were the Garrison there all evaporated. I've never seen anything like that. I investigated the units in the Editor and see that they all have a Secondary Coast Battery Icon so that they can fire on ships. I think that is ok, but I don't think they would suffer such casualties in such a situation. Maybe I've got a setting wrong somewhere.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:52:17 AM

sPzAbt653

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I have closed up on the outer defenses of Brest. One regiment of the US 2nd ID is only at 12% Supply, so he can support but can't attack directly. The other two regiments are at 74% and 79%. With a base supply level of 2 and the 50% HQ Bonus, I would guess these units will gain 3 supply per turn, but they are actually only getting 2. That means a twelve day wait for two of the regiments to get to 100%. Thirty-eight days to get to 150%. I don't know how many attacks I can get in before they hit the Yellow Supply State and can't attack, but waiting even twelve days doesn't make me happy.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:53:40 AM

sPzAbt653

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I can't wait, I've got to try and see what happens so I took the 1st Carpet Bombing Theater Option and a bunch of B-17's, Lancasters and Halifax's are available for use. I'll hit the target hex with the bombers first for two rounds. Then I will attack with everything, bombers, ships, artillery and two regiments infantry on Limit Losses. Ignore Losses might be better, I'm not sure.

The two rounds of bombers caused 13% casualties and knocked the defender out of entrenchment. Then the actual full attack caused another 13% casualties and retreated the defender back into the town center, but burned the turn

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:54:37 AM

sPzAbt653

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The heavy bombers have gone back to their strategic targets, so I am left with artillery and naval support to try and take the town center. The second regiment moved into the hex so it won't attack directly because it would suck up more rounds than necessary. Instead, it is in 'T' Mode and will support the attack.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:56:05 AM

sPzAbt653

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Success, the defender retreated ! Now the only supply the Germans get is from the coast battery hex, and that is minimal. With a Major Port now captured, supply will improve. But first the port has to be repaired because the Germans would have destroyed it. From the Briefing Document:
17. Supply Dynamics
There are four Major Ports - Antwerp, Brest, Cherbourg and LeHavre. For Brest, Cherbourg and LeHavre, thirty days after capture they will become operational and their capacity will increase over the following thirty days. Approximately sixty days after capture, a supply point will be placed at the location (80% for Cherbourg and LeHavre, 70% for Brest). Note that to follow historical accuracy, these rules will apply only to the first of the three to be captured (after the first major port capture, capture of the other two major ports will result in no benefit to the Allies).
15. Rail Repair
The initial Allied Rail Repair rate is zero. Twelve turns after a Major Port is captured Rail Repair will begin at 1 possible hex per turn. This will increase by 1 every six turns until Rail Repairs reach a rate of 6 possible per turn.

Due to the capture of a Major Port, I get a Supply Unit and a Rail Repair Unit, and Brest gets a 25% Supply Point.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 8:56:52 AM

sPzAbt653

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The Supply Unit will help out a bit. It raises supply within a Supply Radius of itself [8 hexes] a couple of points, and provides a larger bonus to adjacent units.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 11:54:14 AM

sPzAbt653

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Forgot to mention: 3. Allied Restrictions - Seven days after a Major Port is captured (and every seven days after that for eighteen occurrences), the Allies will receive Transport Assets in the Replacement pool which will automatically go to units and eventually improve Movement Allowances to normal levels.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 9:15:05 PM

sPzAbt653

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While waiting for Brest to be repaired, we concentrate on cleaning up the area behind the main front line so that when the breakout offensive happens we will have all units available as opposed to leaving some behind to watch over enemy pockets. Elmer is still making 20-30 attacks/bombardments per turn and I have to some juggling each turn to maximize my defensive line.
We can also start planning the breakout. Seen below is the front line, the Germans are very strong on the flanks, but fairly weak in the middle, especially west of St. Jacques airfield were Elmer has left a gap in his line for some time but I've had no units available to exploit it.
I won't put any plans in writing at this moment as I don't know how many divisions I will have nor what the front line will look like when the offensive starts, but its good to have an overview of the map to ponder possibilities. There will be another Carpet Bombing action available, so that will help whatever plan is undertaken.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/25/2018 11:26:35 PM

sPzAbt653

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Highlighted Red at the top is a news item. Any unit that is withdrawn or disbanded will have a News String to let you know ahead of time. There are corresponding explanations in the Briefing.

Now lets take a look at Rail Repair. These units are the same as the 'Bautrupps' used in Directive 21, so if you are familiar with that scenario you should be good here. These units cannot move normally, they can be moved by rail or sea. They repair automatically, so you place them where you want repair priority. That doesn't mean that repairs will always take place where you want them because it is random while being influenced by where the Rail Repair unit(s) are. A few players have voiced frustration over not having complete control over where these repairs take place, but please understand that is the entire point of doing it this way [plus there is the bonus that it is easier and saves time]. Grasp this and you won't even think about it during the scenario.
The real issue with Rail Repair in DDtR is where to do it. There are so many rail lines and the front is so large that you need to focus on which line(s) to concentrate on in order to get supply where you want it. This is something that the WAllies also had to deal with. The situation will change and you will have to adapt to it. In the situation I am in in this current game, I want to get the rail repaired from Brest to the front line, and I will pick a line that runs to about the middle of the front so that the flanks get roughly equal supply. That seems like a good idea, I might change my mind later.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/26/2018 12:50:18 AM

MikeJ19

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Steve,

This is very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing. I'm enjoying your analysis.

Good luck!

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/26/2018 11:24:02 PM

lubecknj

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I don't like to interrupt an AAR but I haven't seen a lot of discussions on this scenario...I landed on Brest quickly cleared that peninsula and had multiple units spread out clearing France. Some trigger I don't know removed Bradley as the 1st AG commander and replaced him with 1/3/9th AG commanders. And my supply scenario went from nearly every frontline unit being good to everyone dying.

This is my favorite scenario, but the supply issues in trying to implement what the Allies dealt with is breaking it bad.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:23:26 PM

sPzAbt653

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Thanks Mike!

I don't like to interrupt an AAR
You are welcome to, it's a large complicated scenario and I pat anyone on the back that plays it. Its an answer to the large east front scenarios, so not everyone is into to it, understandably.

I landed on Brest
ON Brest? or at the beaches I did? I don't think you can really land on Brest and be successful, maybe I'm wrong.

Some trigger I don't know removed Bradley as the 1st AG commander
When the historic breakout occurred, Bradley was promoted to command US 12th Army Group while Hodges took his place. This scenario monitors what is taking place on the map and reacts to a breakout taking place.

my supply scenario went from nearly every frontline unit being good to everyone dying.
Supply Dynamics are taken mostly from 'The Logistical Support of the Armies' by Roland G. Ruppenthal. It's all historical, and very different from any other scenario. I adapted Ruppenthal and other sources to TOAW, and while it was done several years ago, even I have to keep the briefing doc open at all times for reference. That's not something I would want to do in my casual game playing, but I appreciate it in this scenario and I think some others might also.
If you like the scenario I hope you stick with it, because for what it is it is a lot of aggravating fun.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:25:14 PM

sPzAbt653

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Halle-f'n-llujah !
I don't know how many turns its been since the north-south eastern line formed, but its been many turns of defensive shuffling and line patching while Elmer hits and hits every turn. Now that Brest is partially repaired the supply will increase but as you see it still isn't close to being good. Even at the rail head [green circle] its still only at acceptable levels for defense.
I still haven't decided on any plans for a breakout offensive. The cleanup behind the front lines is almost complete and that frees up five Inf Div's and one Armored Div. That's a sizable force but for now I am going to wait as supply continues to increase and then bring in some more divisions. One of the issues with a breakout is that the front expands quite a bit with the addition of the Normandy area, as several divisions will have to be sent north to clear that area and take Cherbourg. For now I am going to use the 'take what Elmer gives me' approach and see what develops.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:26:02 PM

sPzAbt653

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The reward you get for capturing a U-Boat Base is the B-17 unit that has been bombing it. There is one other U-Boat base at St. Nazaire, and capturing that one will get you another B-17 unit.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:27:16 PM

sPzAbt653

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A unit named the '59th Disband' has arrived [top part]. Further explanation in the briefing, but take a look at one of the Br Inf units [middle part]. We can see that it is down to less than 50% of its squads, and this isn't the only unit like this. Looking at the I&R [bottom part] we can see that the replacement rate can't keep up with the casualty rate. Therefore, I will Disband the '59th Disband' unit, which will in turn disband all three brigades of the 59th Inf Div thus returning all of its equipment to the force pool in order to provide replacements for other units. In return I will get the 59th AGRA artillery unit.
This and other similar events are a choice for the player. If you feel that you need to disband these units you may, if not you don't have to. And um, make sure you have units to replace your disbanded ones if they are currently in the front line

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:27:57 PM

sPzAbt653

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Ever wonder why the Options are in the View Drop down and the View is in the Options Drop Down ?

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 7:30:09 PM

sPzAbt653

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Elmer's vicious attacks in the center and north have finally petered out and now is only bombarding me each turn. My supply won't greatly improve until Sept. 15th when Brest goes to 80% capacity, so I'm not going to try any great breakout offensive. Instead I have a plan to capture St. Nazaire and eliminate the Germans in the area thus straightening my line. In the Red Circle the Germans are chock full of nine high stacks, so I will leave that alone. At the Orange Circle the Br will continue to take what they get from ELmer while moving in on Rennes [an important rail junction]. The Blue Circle is where the main effort will fall, as the Br continue to put pressure, several US Div's will move in behind them and force open a gap thru which the US 2nd and 3rd AD's will move south. There will be a link up with Para's dropped into the Gold Circles. The Para's don't happen until seven turns after the TO is taken for them, so I will click that now. I also have the other Carpet Bombing TO, so I will take that at the same time that the para's drop and use the Heavies to hit those nine stacks on the south flank.
That's the plan, we'll see what happens.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/27/2018 11:40:23 PM

sPzAbt653

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Port Capacity increases a little more, so I will bring in two more divisions. There are several to choose from, I'll send in the US 4th AD to join the 2nd and 3rd AD's in the move to link up with the Airborne troops when they drop, and the Br 53rd ID will come in to help the BR push on the German lines. Remember that each division brought in reduces the Supply Capacity. Note also the Supply Enhancement due to Force Transport Asset Sharing, which is attributed mostly to the one Supply Unit and two Army HQ's not moving. The TO Release list changes frequently, as more units are brought in, more take their place on the list.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/28/2018 10:13:42 AM

lubecknj

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At the beaches northeast. Had the Americans clear west and south to clear Brest and then moved on to Lorient. British moved east to hold off any German reinforcements and cleared out to St Malo. Had the big battle around Rennes and was able to break out and encircle the main German army, since then it's been a bit of a mop up as I moved east at a measured pace to not break my supply.

Brest was fully repaired and my supply situation was fine, then the moment when the breakout event triggered and Bradley was promoted where I had once had consistent supply to all my frontline units the frontlines no longer even had any supply and even a lot of the rear areas are hurting. I've got two rail repair units but don't have the rail transport capacity to move more than one a turn so one is always left not doing anything. And even if neither is being transported the 12th Army and 2nd Army Supply Depot units weigh too much to move by rail. I can't even really advance anymore at this point because if I do I lose supply on the unit and it recuperates at such a low amount by the time I get to Germany or Antwerp at the least they'll be combat ineffective.

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/28/2018 1:05:48 PM

MikeJ19

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Steve,

This is awesome. I really like the impact of bringing new units into theatre has on supply. Hats off to the scenario designers.

All the best,

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Mike

Retired Gunner

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/28/2018 3:48:25 PM

sPzAbt653

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quote:

the frontlines no longer even had any supply ...

I am approaching that period myself and will see what happens. If you save games every turn or have auto-save on, there are probably saves for every turn, so you might send me a before and an after save file to be investigated, but that isn't necessary right now as I want to see what happens in my game. This one has been playtested extensively by three players, so the scenario is pretty tight. Thanks for the details, and:

Rail Transport increases 24 turns after the breakout [#14 in the doc].
Depots can't move by rail [#10 in the doc].

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RE: D-Day to the Ruhr - 6/28/2018 3:52:12 PM

sPzAbt653

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Airdrops are possible, the Heavy Bombers are available [only two are pictured but eleven in total], and the US 17th Airborne Div has arrived. The Supply Level drops by 5 due to the shifting of transport from supply missions to para transport missions.