RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (Full Version)

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MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/17/2018 11:07:52 AM)

Time to look at the next Operation for the 1st Canadian Army. Things are going well in the Breskens Pocket, but it will be a couple more days before the Germans are completely destroyed.

The 1st Cdn will be getting the 3rd Cdn Div shortly. It has been fighting to the South clearing the Channel Ports, so they are not coming in fresh.

Currently, the Army has four divisions in the AO - 2nd (Cdn), 4th (Cdn) Armd, 52nd (BR) Inf and the 1st (Pol) Div. All of these units have been engaged in combat over the last week. Their supply situation is better than a lot of the units in the 2 Br Army.

Depending on the progress in clearing the remaining Germans along the coast goes, I will have to leave at least a brigade South of the Scheldt.

There is a lot of swampy ground in the lead up to and on the islands North of the Scheldt. This is going to slow down my attack.

I’m looking at swinging two divisions (likely the 3rd (Cdn) and 4th (Cdn) Armd) onto the Walcheren Islands. The 2nd (Cdn) and the 52nd (Br) will advance inland to clear the area to the West of XII Corps. The 1st (Pol) Div will be the Army reserve.

If the 101st is available, I will use them on the western Walcheren island to secure the supply source.

I’m thinking right now of the operation starting between 5-7 Oct.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/3A39BA386F8F4E66B50371BE56680765.jpg[/image]



Nicholas Bell -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/17/2018 10:01:07 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

I forgot to mention that one of my units got a little mixed up and decided to blow up a bridge!!!


They were attempting to disarm charges placed by the retreating Germans and the process went awry.

Enjoying your reporting as always. Lack of comment does not reflect lack of interest.



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/17/2018 11:41:35 PM)

Nicholas,

Damn, so that is what happened. They should have left it to the experts.

I'm glad you are enjoying the AAR.

Have a good day!



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/17/2018 11:42:10 PM)

Here is some information on the battles on the last turn.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/41BE975DA77E4B3081EDACB5A6723502.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/17/2018 11:43:40 PM)

Here is the situation on the morning of the 28th. Three full days before launching my next major Operation.

Things continue to go well for the Allies. My overall supply has dropped by 5%, but that is not stopping our progress. The 1st Canadian Army continues to mop up the remnants of the German defence near Breskens. The Germans left now are all along the coast. They will be mopped up over the next few days. The Poles have cleared a lot of the Germans North of Antwerp. The 2nd and 4th Cdn divs are going to rest and recover for a couple of days, preparing for their attack on the Walcheren Islands.

To the East, I continue to move units around a little to get them into location for Operation Greenhouse. The 7th (US) Armd Div has arrived and will move North today. D-day for the Op remains 1 Oct.

The 101st is heading quickly to the coast, well those units with a movement allowance above 1.

The Germans had a very quiet and quick day. They did send more units into the Hellmond area and launched one attack – as outlined in the previous post.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/6AC5F7AD76334422BDD17368B65F28C9.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/18/2018 9:56:31 AM)

Here is a look on the morning of 1 Oct.


[image]local://upfiles/47551/2E22003BAF864EFDB09CA879550A5098.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/18/2018 9:58:02 AM)

Here is a look at the Corp plans for GREENHOUSE. XXX Corps had to make some last minute adjustments as I had failed to move 49th Div far enough forward over the last two days. So, they will be the follow on force.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/38B9A01119D34F368CD9AF0D1F9599F2.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/18/2018 11:51:04 PM)

Well that was fun. Operation GREENHOUSE started with the 82nd AB Div dropping in between the Maas and Waal rivers and were able to capture bridges over both rivers. At little to the West, and the lead elements of XII Corps have found little German presence near their initial objective, they may capture the bridge today.

The Germans have reinforced West and South of Hellmond.

The battle to finish off the Germans along the South shore of the Scheldt is progressing slowly and with more casualties than I would like to the 52nd.

Yesterday, the lead elements of the 3rd Cdn Div arrived . Today, the rest of the division arrives along with the lead elements of the 51st Div. The 51st arrives near the SW corner and will likely be used to attack towards Venlo along the South side of the Maas River.

It should be a fun day!

[image]local://upfiles/47551/C3286DCA17374FCFBBD5357F0FF059B9.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 12:11:01 AM)

Here is a look at the XII and XXX Corps.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/E44BD3ADC5F64444B15B0D7174384046.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 12:34:02 AM)

VIII Corps

The Germans have reinforced this area significantly over the last few days. They have also been aggressive, trying to push the Brits back in the three areas highlighted on the map.

VIII Corps was supposed to launch today, but I have decided to postpone this by 24 hours. Like I have done elsewhere, I forgot to move the divisions forward, actually I was thinking that they would be launching on 03 Oct. No big deal, 3 Oct is a going to work.

11th Armd and 7th (US) Armd will move into position to attack tomorrow. 11th will attack North with the Canal on their left flank. The Americans will head towards Venray before turning North.

The 50th and 3rd Divs will hold their current positions, partly flank protection and partly to get stronger (fully supplied).

The newly arrived 51st will attack along the South bank of the Maas River heading towards Venlo.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/2410E90EC49E4D5DBF23EC3F31F6E37A.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 11:58:14 AM)

Morning has arrived on a rainy day in Holland.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/1C30055DC14B40A9A58C1B8B5D01C35E.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 11:59:30 AM)

Supply has been my main enemy and preoccupation throughout this scenario. It has slowed down my attacks and limited my progress. I think that now, it has stopped my forces completely.

Taking a look below, the supply line stops, for the most part on the road from Tilburg to St. Hertogenbosch. North of that point and most of my units are receiving no new supplies. I’ve looked at the manual (really) to clarify the implications.

The scenario sets the overextended level at 0. The manual states that this means that in this scenario, no units will qualify for being overextended – whew! So, I will not face desertions – this also explains why the German units that have been cutoff for over a week are not slowing shrinking from desertions.

However, it still means that my forces are not getting supplies.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/F5EA33DE15A84BB8A33DE51B661F04DA.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 12:00:05 PM)

Here is a look at where the units are...

[image]local://upfiles/47551/839A73AFBBA143B9B74EFB32A9CD10BF.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 12:19:09 PM)

Here is the plan for VIII Corps. They are going ahead with an attack.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/100F06FCFFC14F95A849DE808CA8B20F.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 12:35:49 PM)

The main effort is going to switch to the liberation of the Walcheren islands in the hope that an available Antwerp will help with the supply situation.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/BA821CB7A66A4B85B5D05C8AA9538D28.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 3:49:07 PM)

Here is some information after my last round of combat, before handing over to the Germans.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/ACCC6375BC4942349BB8BA5822650A11.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 5:55:21 PM)

It is another cloudy and wet day in Holland.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/FC3627E0089B4E43A6F2371B5D524899.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 6:28:58 PM)

Near the end of my moves, the battle in the SE corner.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/124C0B6EFDD34615810D25B91867EEAC.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 7:58:31 PM)

Here is the situation on the morning of the 5th.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/5AD467C8DB9A437DAEE834101C84D5F9.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 9:52:13 PM)

Another day passes...

[image]local://upfiles/47551/AF164414C0E64C3B8A60C92B76AD4E2A.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/19/2018 11:03:06 PM)

Here we are three days later...

[image]local://upfiles/47551/3B1BDB812E9C4701A9C067078540CA0D.jpg[/image]



sapper32 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 9:53:48 AM)

Still enjoying your AAR MikeJ19 it looks like your doing well, How are your infantry squad levels doing ? I see in the breifing doc it says that the Commonwealth are short of infantry replacements has there been any noticable shortages so far,

Cheers

Ian



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 10:52:39 AM)

Ian,

Thanks for the support. I found the initial stages lots of fun. Right now it feels like a slow slugfest. Hopefully, I can clear the Islands and get back to advancing. The supply challenge in this scenario is something that I have never really had to deal with, which makes it interesting.

My units have not taken too many losses and I usually do not check the Inventory and Replacements log that often. Thanks for the prompt. As you can see below, I have lost around 16% of my rifle AT squads and it will take about 16 turns - without any more losses - to replace them.

I scrolled through the losses and the biggest surprise to me was my losses of airplanes. I have lost almost half my Spitfires and Typhoons. They are being replaced, but slowly.

Now, I'm not sure what the impact of this is. Most of my units are orange or yellow at the moment due to the very low supply situation and this has stopped most of the action.

Thanks for the question.

Have a good day,

[image]local://upfiles/47551/1C88B99948074A30A5335A78E67D6003.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 10:54:04 AM)

On the morning of 11 Oct, it is once again cloudy, but no rain is in the forecast.

The focus of the last couple of days is the continued push into the Walcheren Islands and the mopping up of the pockets of Germans in the SE.

I have managed to get a couple of brigades into the region South of Rotterdam. I’m not going to push farther until the supply situation improves. Which means that I need to finish off the Germans in the Walcheren Islands. This is going to take time as the coastal artillery units are so far much more difficult to destroy. I sent in the 101st to assist by taking out the supply source on the SW island. One of the coastal units is only reachable by artillery fire and airstrikes. So, that one will take a long time to destroy..

I’m going to pull a couple of divisions back from the front to a place with higher supply in the hopes that they can recharge and then I can launch them when the supply situation improves.

Int sources tell me that the Germans have just lost the 9th SS Pz Div – which is awesome news.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/38765E659EF344DFABD29DAC332B7745.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 12:18:44 PM)

In the last week not much has happened except on the two flanks. The Canadians, with the help of the 101st, have cleared most of the islands. I’m guessing not all of the Walcheren Islands as I got no notice that Antwerp would be open in two weeks. So, I‘m moving them North to clear the last island of Germans.

On the other flank, I have killed off all the German units that were in the SE corner.

Otherwise, all my units have not moved. There has been no German reaction to the two bridgeheads South of Rotterdam. The Germans continue to move a lot of units, but conduct almost no attacks.

Hopefully, my supply situation will improve in a couple of weeks, once Antwerp opens up. If it does not, I’m not sure what to do...

[image]local://upfiles/47551/BFE174504EFF4E70BB30785CB0F3DE35.jpg[/image]



ChuckBerger -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 2:56:44 PM)

There's no such thing as "Walcheren Islands"... Walcheren Island is the westernmost island, the smaller island close to it is North Beveland, and the peninsula to the south is South Beveland. Looks like it's mislabeled in the scenario, so hardly your fault!

It's all correctly labelled here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Scheldt#/media/File:Map_-_Battle_of_the_Scheldt_(Oct-Nov_44).jpg

Nice AAR by the way, enjoying it!



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 3:35:41 PM)

Chuckberger,

Thanks for the info and the link!

I'm glad you are enjoying the AAR.

Have a good day,



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 3:37:26 PM)

Although the scenario notes says that Antwerp opens two weeks after the Islands are captured, I got a note today saying that the port is up and running! Whew, it has helped my supply situation right away, although not as much as I was hoping...

Now I can get on with liberating the rest of Holland.

[image]local://upfiles/47551/656BCC5645A9458A949580CDA41CE7C8.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 4:51:57 PM)

The supply situation has eased, but is still not great. But such is life. Planning resumes in the Army HQs on next steps.



[image]local://upfiles/47551/3CB0DB835919494F919E308C60B2A8A9.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: West Wall - Holland 44 (5/20/2018 8:10:34 PM)

Time to head North!

[image]local://upfiles/47551/3BC584023C07461A9A70836609B40E15.jpg[/image]



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