Killing ground impressions:

I finish my "The Killing ground" AAR here due to big mistakes in the replay. Anyway its a great great game, and I really think it’s not so difficult as I initially thought.

As I don’t realy know how to play, I’m sure there had been a lot of mistakes, not talking about rules this time but strategy. For example german must use wisely his support points. Not necessary to support every german corp every turn, if you do so, German quickly run out sp’s.  i think Germna must  only think about the places where a counterattack will be usufull (or even necessary).

Regarding  rules  I was worry about who pays anytime sp’s (corp HQ, army HQ, etc…) but it’s quite easy.  Combat is very interesting, no drm at all, and  as there is no pattern in the dr as in CRT (combat result table) use to be in most wargames. Here every column you earn to your side rises the percentage of a favorable result. It means that if you hit for ex.  “Dr=6” in a 2vs1 ratio it may be  a good result for you, but the same dice could bring you a bad result in the most favorable to the attacker ”3vs1” row.

The super mistake I did (I’m sure there more things wrong  I  didn’t see) is that you have to check who MUST attack who every time. If the front line doesn’t change  it’s affordable but it’s complicated every time there are moves along the line. AND it affects also the adajacent hexes too, if you attack sometime in some terrains you MUST also attack all hexes in your  ZOC 

Red german attack IS NOT LEGAL, as british stack (under construction marker) is adjacent and must be or attacked too or "sticked to ground" by another not attacking adjacent german unit.

A great game!!! want to learn more in order to play with "overlord"  the hole enchilada    (...dreaming is free!!)  

TURN 2 (GERMAN PHASE)

TURN 2 (7 of July 1944) German phase

A couple of pictures to show the situation before german move.

In red, the gap opened by the 30th american division. Priority for VII geman army to close this turn.

German front line in the British area. Inside the cercle, the road between Villiers-Bocage and Noyers (where  30th corps launched operation), the front line is still closed, but Panzer Lehr division suffered heavy losses.

 <<<<<<< I noticed now an ilegal move, british units in N3943 couldn’t stand there without attacking anemy units in ZOc (As it’s an open terrain hex). So as I didn’t attack retreat them to N3942.>>>>>>>

D German player turn:

1-      OPERATION PHASE. Operational marker 2+2=4sp’s, next turn an operation would be posible.

VII army 10-1=9 sp’s                    V pz army 11-1=10      

2-      ARMY SUPPORT AND REPLACEMENT

German player gets 12sp’s each turn but minus “allied air interdiction”. This turn 8sp’s (¡!!!!!) are lost due to allied air interdiction. So 4sp’s are received 7-july-44. 2sp’s for each army.

VII army 9+2= 11 sp’s                    V pz army 10+2= 12sp’s

No replacement this turn for germans, but as VII army had 6steps banked, it let them roll in the variable german replacement to get 1RE. Dr=5, I choose it as an mec. Inf. To replace the 4th pz grenadieren (2ssDR), it gains a regroup marker too.

3-      Allied general air interdiction. No allied player rolls this turn, as no air units were assigned to this duty 7th of july.

4-      German movement phase. Germans haven’t to do a mandatory attack this turn, but must reinforce the area of british 30 corps and closet he gap of the american 30th divsion.

Movements of VII army:

2ssDR were attached to the weak 25th corps, so they move from Vire to help 2P division to close the gap made by american attacks.

243 inf div went to the front at Sainteny to release 17SS div. Due to the terrain  restrictions and  Zoc, they (17SS) only arrive until  5 miles west of Lozon. Next day they will be attacking along the road to counteraatack american 30th div. 25th corps elements rearrange their postion near Point –Herber waiting for the help of the fresh 2SS Pz div (Das Reich).

Movements of V Pz army:

First of all, reallocate Pz Lehr near 47 corp Hq in order to get artillery support.

74 inf div were “regrouping” now afer turn1 attack “disorg” mode, but at the end of this german pahse they will become “normal” status. Pz Lehr is closer to their crops HQ, Next turn german player gets a variable replacement point (RE) depending on the type get it could be used to reinforce the unit. No attacks in this area this turn. In the vicinity of german 2SS corps situation is better as all british tropos after the offensive are disorganized 

(now same picture with counters in)

1-      

                              Combat phase.

N4239 attack. (red attack). Hedgerow hex. Defending 147 inf reg. (49div/30corps) A2=6 disorganized. Attacking 20 pz. Gren (9ss/2ss corp) A2=5 and 2/9 tigers battalion, strength=2.

So defending 6/2=3 (disorg) attacking 5+2=7

Combat sequence:

1-      Attacker declares suppported attack so V pz army pays his 1 sp from the reserve.  12-1=11 sp’s

2-      German now declares  support from the 102 art regiment (rockets) and british will use 5AGRA, 52HV and 54 Hv. Actually they were spent last allied phase but they can give defensive support anyway.  

German=7   USA units=3, 2vs1 in hedgerow hex

3-      Column shifts:

a.       Divisional integrity for both so no modifier.

b.      No air support available for allies. Important lesson for this turn, Keep unspent airpoints for defense!!

c.       German art dr =5 +1bocage (1 column shift in col=4) (3vs1). Allied art rolls  is 5 column of the table dr=1 is 1 column right shift, so again (2vs1).

d.      2 combined arms bonus let by hexrow, in this case just one stack so 1 col. Shift right. 3vs1.

e.      ASV, german have 3 white dots and british one black, as hexrow lets full ASV it means 1 col. Shift to the right. 4vs1.

Rolling two dice in 4vs1 “hexrow”= 10. 1D/2>1

German must loose 1step (991 inf reg.) passing to cadre and get a disorg mode . British regiment is destroyed, but germans inspite of being allowed to advance will not do it due to:

a)      “disorg” units doens’t exert a ZOC and will not affect the other ‘s combat retreat.

b)      WIll be in a very exposed situation for next turn.

N4339 attack. (black attack).

Hedgerow hex. Defending the whole 11Ar div, A2=12+cadre=13 (disorg). Attacking hex 4439: A2=10(pz gren)+1tigers plus  hex 4438: 5 (three batllions, tigers, pack and recon).

So defending 13/2=6,5 (disorg) attacking 11+5=16          2vs1 hedgerow

Combat sequence:

4-      Attacker declares suppported attack so V pz army pays his 1 sp from the reserve.  11-1=10 sp’s

5-      No side has artillery support this time

6-      Column shifts:

a.       Divisional integrity for both so no modifier.

b.      No air support available for allies.

c.       Hilltop bonus for german  (1 column shift right) (3vs1).

d.      1 shift due to  combined arms for germans. German West stack doesn’t as no infantry regiment there, brit’s defendin either as they are disorg. (4vs1)

e.      ASV, german have 4 white dots and british have three dots (just 156 full ASV, 29th cadre ASV). Difference is one dot, so 1 col. Shift to the right. 5vs1.

f.        Heavy tank attacking 6vs1

Rolling two dice in 6vs1 “hexrow”=7 (2+5). 1/1>1

German must loose 1step (19 pz gren.).Britishh 156 loosses one setp and the whole division retreats one hex. 19 pz grenadieren and 1/9 Pz batallion advance in order to defende the flank of the rest of the division.

 6. - Enginereeng phase:  Every corp uses it’s free construction (N4340 lost due to disorg mode): HQ. 86 corp N3851, 1SS N3844 (tench), 2SS N4339, 74 corp N4533; 47 corp: N4429; 2P 4226; 84 corp N3312.

7.- Disorg and regroup phase. Return to normal status all german “regroup” units and to regroup all allied units (basically british 30 corp).  Return air units to cup and reset naval support to zero.

END OF TURN 2

THE KILLING GROUND TURN 2 (7th-July-1944)

TURN 2 (7 of July 1944)

No need to post a picture of the “new” situation as I only did three attacks in turn 1. Two  americans and German, they  meant attackers retreat execept the american attack in St. Jean-de-Daye, it gained one hex (the town).

A  Weather:

 Weather is always known for allied player the turn before. In this case the weather continues the same. light overcast like. No rain, sea condition “calm”. Rolling next turn weather:

Dr= 3 with a drm of +1 (turn before 19-july) = 3 it means: scattered(…it’s getting better!)

Sea condition dr=2 (drm=-1) calm. No rain “dr” for next turn

Allied air segment

Allied player rolls in a table for the air support this day (turn), it depends on the  weather 

Dr=6, It gives the allied player “9” air points with light overcast no rain.

Now these 9 air points must be allocate between moviment interdiction, ground support and supply interdiction. I will set  5 points ground support, four in suplly interdiction and zero in mov. Interdiction.

B Mutual support and supply  stage.

First, form the army reserve allied player allocates support  points to keep corps HQ supported.

USA 1st army spends again no  s.p. for supporting all of his corps (as all 4 corps are at less than 12 hexes from supply source) 1st american army reserve=11sp’s. The same happens to British 2nd army, no sp’s is wasted and at the moment has 16 at the reserve.

Now armies may give sp’s to reach the maxim (now it’s just 1) to each corp reserve. American 7thn and 8th corp were at 0sp’s due the supported attacks they did. Now they arise to “1” getting down by 2sp’s the army reserve (1st am. Army reserve =9).  Now each army can resupply for free a number of artillery units equal to the artillery support level (in both armies is 2). British can’t resupply anything as no art. unit is flipped. But amercian flips  as free unit  190 and 187, and 288, 406 and 174 art reg. paying 3sp’s from army reserve (6 sp’s) 

German supports for free one HQ and one artillery for each army.

V Pz army have 5 corps 86ht, 1SS, 2SS, 47th and 74th, so it expends 4sp’s (15-4=11 sp’s left ). VII army have 2P, 25th and 84th corps so it expends 2sp’s (13-2=11 sp’s left).

Army artillery at 115th (25/VII army)  and  130 (47/VPz) both resupplied for free. 8NW and for 1sp’s from 

VII army (10 sp’s left)

Supply segment  All units are in supply, excepting German flack ¿¿??.

Units attachment:  I want to begin an operation with british 2nd army so must  reattach divisions to try to to use better operation opportunities. Americans cannot begin an operation as they don’t have 12sp’s in the army reserve. On the british side don’t want to choose 2can corp as 2 can di vis arriving this turn (need some tiem to deploy), 1st corp is weak, need time to replace and rest it’s troops. 8th divisions are worst, so 30th is choosen to be the spearhead.

German: V pz army: 86 corp: 711, 346, 16lft and 716. A corps may attach 3 div. Plus one more if any is assigned as a corp div… such as 711 or 346. So no sp expended for 86 corp

1SS corp: 12SS, 1SS, 271 and 21st Pz div- (3+1 div attached no sp cost) /2SS corp: 9SS, 10SS                          47 corp: 2Pz, PzLehr / 74 corp: 276, 277

 German: VII army:  / 2 parachute corps: 3Fsjg, 352 /25 corp: 265, 275, 2SSDR (2SS DR will be attached to 25 corp, actually in “reserve” at Vire) /84 corp: 91, 243, 17SS, 2Fsjg (no sp cost).

USA 1st army attchment:  /8th corp: 79, 90, 82Abn / 7th corp: 4, 83, 30, 9th (comming from Cherbourg) / 19th corp:  29, 3Arm  /  5th corp: 1, 2 , 2Arm

British 2nd army: 1 corp: 51, 6Abn, 3, 4Arm /2 can corp: 3can, 2Tank / 8 corp: 43, 15/12 corp:  53, 59 / 30 corp: 49, 50, 7 Arm, 11Ar,Gds arm (11Ar and Gds arm passes to 30 corp to be the armor reserve for the attack)

Roll (DR=5) to see if “daily corp support level” is arised (should be now just a “2” with two dice)

C    ALLIED PLAYER TURN

1-      Operation phase.  British 30 corp declares an operation. 5sp’s passes  from the 2nd army reserve (15-5=10) to the corp reserve (1 +6=7). No german opertional initiative this time.

• 2-      ARMY SUPPORT AND REPLACEMENT: No new army is activated this turn. Rolling how many sp are received this turn, it depends on the weather and the sea condition. USA dr=6-1 (USA support drm for 7-july)+1 Cherbourg.+1 daily=7   it is 7sp’s for 1st USA army. So now at the reserve there are 13 sp’s.  British dr=4 +1=5 (daily no table drm for brits), it means 6 sp’s, now Brit reserve=6+10=16

A Replacement segment: This turn 2/1/1 Re are received so now USA has 5 RE points and Brit have 2RE’s and Canadian just one.

• USA 358 and 357 from (90div), 26 (1st div). Brit 158 (53div)
  Now banked: Usa=2, Brit=1, Can=1 RE points
  B Reinforcements are added this step, this turn: American 9th inf div at Cherbourg+899TD batallion. 2nd div of 2 can corp brit depot and two german regiments at 12 area.
  
  
  3.- MOVEMENT PHASE
  No major changes in american 8th corp front area. (west of Cotentin Pennisula)
  
  
  
  In american 7th corp area we can see the approach of 9th división just disembarched at Cherbourg   (it came so fast due to the trucks)
  
  If with the americans I can save enough sp’s to get an operation for next turn it will be launched with 7th corp, as it has two elite full strength divisions (A3 counters) 9th div and 30th div. 7th corp Hq is at Carentan.
  In next picture we see american 5th and 19th corps area. German 2P div is covering St. Lo. We see too the boundery line between american and british sectors.
  
  
  
  British movement phase: Two regiments from 53div (12th corp) retreats from front to rest and 3 can div uses start move to reach 2can HQ, no other major changes in british front area 7th of july…except for 30th corp operation…
  49 and 50  div attack elements of Panzer Lehr. In reserve 11 armored and Guards división. If any of the attacks get a hole, tanks in reserve will enter to get another attack.
  
  N4236 attack:
  Combat secuence:
  1-      Attacker declares suppported attack so 30 corp pays 1 sp from the corp reserve (so 6-1 =5 sp’s).
  2-      Brit now declares one air support and support from the 5 AGRA regiment.
  3-      German can’t declare artillery support as they are far away from 47corps artillery.
  4-      Chits drawn  for every regiment (new in combat)
  231 reg (A3=11);151 inf (A2=10) both from 50 inf division. 131 mech. Inf (A2=9)+2 cadre. Total=32. German KG=9(already tested)+tank batallion=10.
  5-      Brit units=32, German=10 
  6-      32/10 is a 3vs1 attack on bocage row. But now before rolling dice  the ratio may change due to:
  a.       Divisional integrity: one column right as all 50th div is adjacent (4vs1)
  b.      Air support, an air chit is drawn (available air points now is 4) 2 shifts in favor of attacker (1 less due to bogage terrain hex.) (5vs1)
  c.       British artillery support, rolling in 12 column of the table (+2 for bocage  -1 for hilltop) dr=5 is 2 col shift (7vs1).
  d.      No combined arm bonus here as defender has  infantry and armor
  e.      ASV attackers have one White dot, defenders 3 (black+White) so defender gets a one shift left (6vs1)
  f.        Infantry defending in bocage gets a 1 col shift (5vs1)
  Rolling two dice in 5vs1 “bocage”= 7.   1<1/1  It means 1 casualty and one hex retreat for attacker and one step loose  for the defender.
  N4238 attack:
  Combat secuence:
  1-      Attacker declares suppported attack so 30 corp pays 1 sp from the corp reserve (so 5-1 =4 sp’s).
  2-      British now declares one air support and support from the 55Hv regiment.
  3-      German can’t declare artillery support as they are far away from 47corps artillery.
  4-      Chits drawn  for every regiment , giving (new in combat)  Brit units=16, German=10 
  5-      16/10 is a 2vs1 attack on bocage row. But now before rolling dice  the ratio may change due to:
  a.       Divisional integrity: one column right as all 49th div is adjacent (3vs1)
  b.      Air support, an air chit is drawn (available air points now is 4) 2 shifts in favor of attacker (1 less due to bogage terrain hex.) (4vs1)
  c.       British artillery support, rolling in 5 column of the table (+2 TEM)  dr=5 is 1 col shift (5vs1).
  d.      No combined arm bonus here as defender has  infantry and armor
  e.      ASV attackers have three White dots, defenders 2 (black+White) so attackers r gets a one shift left (6vs1)
  f.        Infantry defending in bocage gets a 1 col shift (5vs1)
  Rolling two dice in 5vs1 “bocage”= 4.   D/1>2  It means Disorganized for 3 attackers (2 remaining units +1 stillZoc).Defenders losses 1 step (inf reg.) and retreats two hexes along the road to Villiers-Bocage.  
  American 7th corp attack N3723.  Failed attack resulting attackers retreat with one step loss for german 897 inf reg.
  
  
  5.- RESERVE MOVEMENT:
  
  Situation after reserve movement in 30th corp operation area. In red retreat after combat phase. 50 inf div retreats after failing the attack against Panzer Lehr elements. 5 miles east, in spite of being “disorg” 49th british div.  forced to retreat back  902 panzer grenadieren. Then in reserve move mode 11 armored and Guards armored moved through the gap (blue) in order to try to make the breach bigger (black).
  
  
  Reserve attacks. N4236. Guards armor div attack elements of Panzer Lehr.  901 pz gren. were destroyed Stug III batallion retreats back, and 11 armored division advanced. In N4339, 11 armored div were incredible lucky in a suicidal attack against 19 inf reg supported by panthers and achieved an incredible “retreat result”.
  
  
  6.- Engineering phase Each Ip began last turn is finished now. Each  corp Hq may begin again an Ip for free, in brit sector corps 8th and 12th. In amercian area all corps did it.
  
  
  7 Disorganization/Regroup phase. Regroup allied units return to normal, and german “disorg” units passes to “regroup”.
  
  
  End of allied phase. Soon german phase of turn 7th of july 1944 
  
  

           LEARNING THE KILLING GROUND

Killing ground “battle for the hedgerows (scenario 22.5)”

The basic idea of doing this is learning, learning how to play, slowly, looking all the time the rulesbook  in order to  get me ready for teaching what I think is a supergame  to my gaming buddies. And then, in a foreseeable future, see it over the table in our club (now we have  WiF again).

I have played it just twice a couple of turns. So actually i DON’T KNOW HOW TO PLAY IT, if you know how to play tKG  sure you will find lots of strategic mistakes.  But I don’t care, i just want to learn how it works, anyway  feedback is welcome of course. Please show me everything  you can see it’s wrong.

I will use VASSAL as I think it will be slow to play 5 or 6 turns and I can’t be with KG  set up on the table for several weeks (…what a pity!).

                                                 Pieces set up before the campaign begins

                                       American west area

American east area

                                                                 British east area 

N44, 14th June

Overcast again in Normandy.

Utah.

German is bringing 17th Pz SS into place to cover the avenues towards Valognes and prepares a counterattack against American paratroopers. The final defense for this day will be decided after seeing the result of the attack and redistributing the good quality units of the 3FJ.

Omaha

After the big mistake on the precedent turn, German tries to recover the position by attacking American infantry units at St-Jean-De-Daye. His goal is to force Americans to get losses by being forced to retreat through flooded hexes. But it failed and American resisted in the village.

Caen

A big turnover at the outskirts of Carpiquet airport. German attacked British units with the force of the 12SS Pz Div and the valuable support of units of the 21st Pz and the 101 Tiger Battalion. With the quality shift, Tiger, armor and artillery support the attack moves quickly to 5-1. And German got a net '6'. This means that British needed to retreat 4 hexes, got two step losses and German got reserve status.

Now, German had the full 12 SS Div into reserve, being able to penetrate deep into British lines to hit the already heavily decimated 50 inf Div.

Again with Tiger support plus the Werfer Artillery support, German got two 4-1 attacks against Allied stacks with reduced infantry units. At the limit of already 5 cadres, British needs to save both attacks to survive this turn. But he fails. Completely destroying his tigers, German got his sixth cadre and as British had only one replacement, Automatic Victory is for German. We have finished the turn but there is no sense to report American movements.

Conclusion:
For the first game of N44 we had made a few mistakes in the rules that could outcome the final result.
First of all, we completely forgot about Allied IPs that could be useful for British. Also we have missed that replacements in storm turns can be either Brits or Canadians. We had assigned to British. A mistake.
More subtle mistakes were made when applying ZOC Bonds, DCBs or applying retreat. When possible we have corrected the  errors.
Strategically, British did not realize his delicate position until that it was too late. He needed to be more cautious.
German had also many errors, some of the quite evident.
American, as usual, played perfectly :-))
A great first game. We have now a good understanding of the rules and we are planning to play again the campaign.
We truly believe that this is an excellent game that deserves to play with. We are anxiously waiting to jump into Ardennes 44. Our only regret is that N44 is now out of stock as well as Ukraine 43 that, under a similar system, we would like to try.
Our deepest thanks for this wonderful game to Mark Simonitch and the people at GMT.

N44, 13th June

Again Overcast-2 at Normandy.

Utah Beach:

German spent his turn trying to put a defensive line into place around Valognes. Note that we have made some mistakes with the rules as the units from Cherbourg can not be released.  17 Pz SS is arriving to the area west of Merderet River. American attacks along the coast to destroy German fortifications. He succeeded but German kept the terrain and no Allied advances this day.

 

Omaha Beach:

German is building improved positions to stop the American advance. But he makes a severe mistake and let alone 84 HQ believing that American can not attack across the flooded hex. Many Allied attacks. Of course, German HQ was destroyed and Americans entered into St-Jean-de-Daye. The other two attacks inflicted several losses into the defender but Axis player was able to stand and did not retreat.

 

CW Beaches:

Only area where Germans has made some attacks. As before, 50 Inf Div was attacked from Tilly and were routed but without losses. At Epron 51st Inf Div was also defeated, losing 1 step and retreating. Dangerously approaching the Cadre limit, British player just played to reinforce his front line and no offensive this turn.

 

Map:

N44, 12th June

A sunny day in Normandy, Weather is clear 6, so plenty of air and naval support for the Allies.
In turn, the Germans get useful reinforcements with the arrival of the 17th Pz SS Div and elements of the 3FJ Div. The good weather allow a full control of the skies for the Allies and the mechanized German units have its movement allowance reduced by two. In fact this means that German will not be able to deploy 17th Pz SS this turn.

German has made a cautious turn, with no attacks to avoid the column shift of the Jabos and trying to reinforce his positions. I realize that we have been playing the IP rule in a wrong way forcing German to spend IP points for beginning the building and for finishing, thus reducing his capability for trenches almost to a half. We will modify our mistake next turn.
Utah Beach:

American made three strong attacks in Utah area with the Air and Naval support. In the coast line, a combination of paratroopers and infantry regiments of 1st and 2nd Division exchanged losses with the disrupted defenders of the fortification. At Valognes, paratroopers of the 8nd and 101st Div tried to take the city before the arrival of the SS units. German resisted with determined defense and inflicted two losses in the attacking stack. At St Mere- Eglise the 91st Inf Div was attacked by the remaining of the 82nd AB Div with support of 4th Div. Germans lost the town and were forced to retreat, taking more losses in their retreat towards Pont-l'Abbé. Finally on 12th June Americans were able to cross (again) the Merderet.

Omaha Beach

Here, both the American and the German are consolidating positions. American did not perform any offensive operation as all the artillery support was devoted to the attack at Utah Beach. More armored reinforcements are arriving to the beach and probably next turn we will see a new allied offensive.

CW Beaches:

British Command has decided to use the Canadians units to protect Bayeux area. Probably he believe that putting Canadians close to American will lead to a better understanding at the Army Boundary Line.

At Caen, two main attacks were performed. 50th Inf Division attacked the 12th SS Regiment close to Tilly-sur-seulles and forced them to retreat towards the bocage. Meanwhile, 49th Inf Div attempted to take Carpiquet airport. However the determined defense of the 21st Pz Div was efficient and inflicted step losses into the attacking formation.

The last British attack was a frontal assault against the hill that guards Cabourg. Fighting from a flooded terrain and against a higher position, Germans easily rejected the attack and British exchanged losses, now approaching the risky amount of 4 cadres.

The map:

WWII: BtB, Turn 15, Fall 44

No Orders from the Fuhrer this turn while Stalin has asked his generals to continue with the offensive .
With the time running out and the Allies more and more stronger, Axis begun the turn playing an event for getting one more Victory point.

Following the orders of Stalin, Russian generals launched an attack in the Ukrainian Front. Six Mechanized Fronts moved into combat against German positions at Cherkassi and Kirovograd. But, well prepared the experienced German Armies repelled the frontal assault and inflicted heavy losses at Russians (9 steps). Immediately, German activated more reserves to the area and reinforced Cherkassi with Armies from Konotop.

Soviets rapidly understood the weak position at Konotop and shifted their offensive there, hitting with the new version of his main tank T-34 (+1 drm). But Germans had a surprise in his hand and played Panzerfaust that forced Russians to take a step loss, reducing the force of the attack. Again the German resistance was stiff but they could not stop the Soviet advance and retreated to Chernigov. German was obliged to bring more units to fill the gap at Chernigov, this time with a combination of German and Romanian Armies and exhausting all his strategic reserve.

	At this point, Allied attention shifted completely to the Western Front and the combined force of British and American Armies attacked the West Wall Trench at Saar that was defended by German Armies.   Allied won the battle but German resisted at the fort by losing one extra step.
Axis redeployed his units at the Western Front to better defend the Rhin but they make a fatal mistake by placing two weak corps to defend Holland. Allied did not miss the opportunity and attacked Holland with the British units from Antwerp and the reinforcement of the British 2nd Army brought from Belfort. Germans were crushed and Holland was liberated. Situation is critical for the Axis that looked for replacements.
	The Allied Mechanized units rapidly penetrated into the hole and the British 1st Army reached Hamburg and menaces Berlin. In the meantime American 3rd Army, leaded by Patton attacked the fort at Ruhr. First attack was successful but German was able to maintain the position. But Patton allows the 3rd Army to make another attack and they hit Ruhr again. And the heroic defense made by the Germans allowed them to survive at the fort with just  1 step left.

But in the last action of the turn, Germans surrendered after American First Army entered Berlin.
This is the final map

Step losses this turn:
Ge: 34 steps, It: 3 steps.
Ru: 17 steps, Br: 6 steps.
Losses really reflects the heavy combats in this last turn.
A great game played Alberto Molina (Axis) and Alberto Pomar (Allied) from March 9th, 2013 to May 27th, 2013.

WWII:BtB, Turn 14, Summer 44

 

More and more voices are claiming in Russia for a total offensive and Stavka gave orders at the beginning of the summer 44 to attack.

German begun cautiously, by reinforcing his Force Pool with Mechanized Corps and preparing replacements.

In turn, Soviet Commanders brought into the battlefield several Shock and Mechanized Armies from the reserve and initiated the expected offensive in the first week of summer.

First, to give more moral to his population, Stalin attack the trenched German positions at Kaluga, in front of Moscow and Tula, to relief the pressure onto his capital.		At the same time, Mechanized Fronts attacked from the flanks the German Armies at Ukraine to cross the Dnieper river.
The attack was completely successful and the Germans were defeated and routed from his trenches with heavy losses.		In Dnepropetrovsk, Soviet destroyed the weak Italian Army and advanced into the city. A great attack was also seen in Nikopol with German retreating towards Kirovograd. Soviet is now firmly established beyond the river.

 

Hearing his officers, Hitler decided to abandon the exposed position and Orel and retreated his infantry units towards the forests. Russian did not miss the opportunity and have taken Orel (VP=6) while continuing the pursuit of the Germans in Ukraine. But, well trained, 1st Pz Army have resisted at Kirovograd.

German mobilized more of his units from the Army Group Center and the 3rd PZ Army joined the front at Kirovograd.  Axis minors defend Kremenchug while the valuable German Infantry Armies are forming a thin line between Cherkassi-Poltava- Konotop. But Soviet had another surprise in his hands and transformed the standard Infantry Fronts at Melitopol into fear Mechanized Fronts. Looking for any weakness in the Axis line, Soviets did not search a combat against the Pz Armies and instead moved to attack Kremenchug and Poltava. Germans were defeated in both spaces but Russian did not advance.

 

Axis played for more replacements while Russian was still pushing the attack to the very end. Relocating his forces he occupied Kremenchug with a strong force of three Mechanized Fronts and attacked Kirovograd with another three. Germans resisted and two of the Russian Mechanized Fronts were severely damaged. This halted Russian offensive for the summer and they have played for replacements.

 

In France  the only noticeable movement was an attack of the American forces against the trenches at Saar. Difficult to be a success, this was part of the attrition war that Allied are employing to force Axis to divide his replacements.

Map at the end of summer:

A very bloody turn. Losses were

German: 25 steps, IT: 6, Romanian: 4

Russian: 27 steps, US. 4 steps.

VP= +6 (Orel shifted to Allied).

N44, 11th June

More than three weeks later, finally i will report on our progress in N44. Probably the only ones reading this journal are  the American players but nevertheless, i have the task of completing it and i will do my duty.

Weather: Overcast 2.

Only one day of clear weather and Allied Airplanes can not give support to the land forces.

Utah Beach:

After the fall of Crisbecq strongpoint and with most of his units routed/disrupted in this area, German has quickly moved any available reserves to make a front line at Montebourg. But the line is thin and a few units have the difficult task of guarding Merderet river.
Probably still overconfident from the success of the last turn, American has launched a complete series of attacks to break the front before German can get more reinforcements. Most of the attacks finished with Germans forced to retreat but the Axis gave clear orders to make determined defenses. But all of them failed and American gained a lot of room for maneuvering in this turn.

 

Omaha Beach:

At Omaha, German has decided to retreat behind Naval Bombardment line. The arriving units of the 77th Infantry Div will help to stop the advance of the Americans. Panzer Lehr units were redeployed to better fill the gaps.
American tried to open the position around Isigny-sur-Mer looking for connecting Omaha Beach with Utah beach. The poor Germans abandoned at the flooded hex were easily eliminated by the 2nd Armored Division. However at Isigny-sur-Mer, the attack leaded by the Rangers has failed.

 

CW Beaches.

Firmly placed at Tilly-sur-Seulles, 12th SS Pz Div launched and counterattack against the already weakened units of the 50th British Inf Div with the goal of making at least a cadre unit. But the attack failed and British quietly retreated from the first line of battle.
British attacked at the proximity of Caen trying to enter into the City. Up to three different attacks has been reported in this day. All of them were performed at low odds but with the valuable help of the Naval Bombardment.
At Buron, German rolled a nice '1' to fail his Determined Defense and retreat into Caen, letting the British to enter into the town. Feeling that the line will be impossible to maintain, German decided not to defend Epron and retreat also there.

In overall a good turn for the Allied. With bad weather, overcast 2, they have made good progress at Utah and Caen.

 

After writing this report, I believe that we have made some mistakes in the rules. I will note them and at the end of the game i will try to summarize the easy-to-forget /misunderstood rules.