ultradave
Posts: 1355
Joined: 8/20/2013 Status: offline
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Lessons learned: First the good: 1. Had a plan and pretty much stuck to it. 2. The massive invasion of Holland seemed to completely break the German resistance in the north once I broke out of the beach head. I went big hoping for just that. 2 Corps ashore on the beaches, and airborne drop by 5 airborne divisions and a follow on drop by one more to take Arnhem during the breakout. Overall invaded Holland with 2 entire armies once they were all ashore. Way too much strength to effectively counter. 3. I did a pretty effective job with using tactical air - ground attack, superiority and support. I kept the German front and the area behind the front under continuous attack from the invasion on. 4. Manual naval patrols to cover the Channel and the southern North Sea to protect my supply lines seemed to be effective. The bad: 1. I need to pay more attention to strategic bombing. Lost victory points on V-weapons and U-boats. 2. My error in not knowing how to use the manual RR repair units probably cost me the chance to pocket and bag large numbers of Germans prior to that final push in the north/central part of the front 3. Too many Allied casualties - lost points there too. I'm guessing it's a balancing act in the winter months to determine whether to keep attacking or hold and regroup and re-arm. I chose the attack route, as it seemed like the Germans were weak. I didn't want to give them the same opportunity to regain strength and figured I had the strength and airpower to keep the push on. It did cost me in Allied casualties. Other comments: 1. No second invasion of Italy to force the Germans back. 2. No invasion of southern France I purposely passed on these in favor of sending those units to England and staging a very large invasion of Holland, while keeping just enough strength in Italy to keep the pressure on. I purposely did not post pictures showing what was going on in the very south of France or showing England so as not to tip Scott off to what I was doing. The 1FF Corp, along with a couple of US divisions from the 1st Army, headed south from the Loire and St. Nazaire to take Marseilles and at the finish had surrounded Toulon. So while I didn't have those ports for supply, I also didn't have an army in the south to maintain. 3. The large airborne invasion in winter in Holland along with the seaborne invasion was very successful. By then, the Allies have gathered enough transports to make such an drop possible. I had to wait to drop the 17th, but changed it's drop to take Arnhem and cross the Rhine at the right time. These divisions are strong and recover quickly. I'd love to hear any other comments or observations that anyone might have, most importantly from Scott since I'm only seeing my side. It's easy to miss something with the large scope and the amount of detail there is.
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---------------- Dave A. "When the Boogeyman goes to sleep he checks his closet for paratroopers"
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