Blood, toil, tears and sweat - The war is over!

[zechi]

Turn 70 - Red Army breaks through and liberates Brest Litowsk, Operation Sealion reverse begins, Gustav line nearly breached

On the Eastern front there is finally some movement in the south as I make a breakthrough and liberate Brest-Litowsk:



Ploesti is also down to 0 production. Hopefully this will soon hurt the Axis oil capacity.

In the north there are only some small skirmishes:



The Allies launch Operation Sealion reverse and the invasion fleet reaches south-west Britain and is ready to land:





If Britain falls easily, I will sent my reinforcement to France to secure a port. This will allow me to reinforce France in the winter with units from Britain.

The Gustav line is nearly breached, but Mech survives again with 1 step. I fear it will be replaced by a new 10 step unit.

[zechi]

Turn 71 - Major Soviet offensive continues, Gustav line holds out, Britain invaded

The Red Army continues their offensive and now concentrate on the area near Odessa and make another breakthrough. The Axis line becomes thinner, but my offensive potential is also diminishing:



Since the German reserve forces which retook Brest Litowsk were coming from the northern front, I also begin an all out attack there:



In Italy business as usual:



Fresh INF survives with 3 steps.

In Britain the invasion begins and I take Plymouth with my badly damaged MECH:



There is an ARM in Britain. I did not expect that! All my reinforcements are going for Britain to overhelm the German defense.

North of Britain the High Sea Fleet is engaged by an US SUB and STR:

[massina_nz]

Gosh getting Plymouth was pretty crucial, although you did have 3 hexes to attack from.

[zechi]

Gosh getting Plymouth was pretty crucial, although you did have 3 hexes to attack from.

Two attacks could have been enough. The 10 step MECH had as predicted results 6:3 and the INF as second attacker 5:1.

[zechi]

Turn 72 - Monte Cassino falls! Chisinau taken by Red Army! Invasion of Britain continues!

Finally the Gustav line is breached as the new 10 step INF is destroyed after heavy air bombardments and ground attacks:



In Britain I land more units, but the Axis forces are also reinforced and it seems that they intend to fight for Britain:



This will make the invasion a lot more harder, especially because there are even German ARM and MECH in Britain. However, it also costs Plaid a lot of ressources, which would otherwise by used at the eastern front.

In the Eastern front the Red Army takes Chisinau:



The Axis line begins to crumble, but my offensive potential is also diminished. I will need to reinforce the Red Army soon with MECH and INF.

In the north the Axis line becomes also thinner and thinner:



Hopefully all this action hurts the Axis manpower and oil.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think you should just keep up the momentum on all front even if you receive some bad results. Your main goal is to inflict so much damage upon the Axis each turn so they become weaker and weaker. When you force them to respond to your attacks you drain their oil reserves.

It will be a good idea to bombard all the Axis oilfields (Ploesti from Russia, Nagykanitsa from Italy and finally Scholven and Leuna when you get Britain).

You might consider landing some Allied units in western France (like Brest) just to spread the Axis forces thinner. Create as many threats as you can and they will crumble.

In Italy will be be a good idea to land units from amph landings just north of the main line. That will give you one extra attack upon the Axis front line units and you soon regain supply. Repeat the Salerno and Anzio type of attacks to prevent the Axis from replacing their losses. One particularly nasty idea is to land units both on the west and east coast (Adriatic) and try to make them link up, thus cutting rail supply to the area near the Gustav line. That will make the line crumble so much faster. The Germans will be forced to send forces to the rear Italian cities to reopen the supply and that means even more Axis units engaged in battles. You might end up with a stale-mate, but it means units sent to this stalemate instead of to Russia, Britain or stopping landings in France.

You still have time to win this game if you keep up the pressure. High losses is expected and should not discourage you.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think landing in Northern Ireland is a good idea. Just get Belfast so you can land more units like air units there. That means you can get air superiority over England and the air units can't be attacked by German ground units. You need something to wear down the German armor and mech in order to make progress.

[zechi]

Turn 73 + 74 - Battle of attrition continues, Allies land in France!

I was travelling and forgot to take screenshots for turn 73, but nothing really impressive happened. On turn 74 the Allies make a raid near Cherbourg:



I also bring in more reinforcements and destroy an ARM and the HSF.

In northern Britain the first Soviet convoy will most likely make it through:



In Italy its the same procedure as ever, the German INF in the next hex of the Gustav line survives with 1 step and will be replaced I fear.



In Russia nothing really interesting happens. I destroydamage some more Axis units, but no breakthrough is achieved.

[zechi]

Turn 75 - Cherbourg falls! Gustav line disintegrates!

In Western Europe I bring in reinforcements and my raid in France is at least a little bit succesful, because I manage to take Cherbourg. Shore bombardment reduced the GAR in Cherbourg down to 4 steps!



In Italy Plaid did not exchange the badly damaged INF and the Gustav line is finally breached:



2 German commanders went for R&R! The Soviet convoy was attacked again, but my counterstrike with 2 STR inflicted heavy losses on a German SUB.

In the east the front is rather quite, some skirmishes occur in the south:



Bucharest is not so far away anymore!

[zechi]

Turn 76 - Offensive on all fronts continues

On the eastern front I attack the Axis frontline again with mixed results and nothing impressive happens. In Italy I'm a lot more successful:



I hope that Rome will fall soon after I have cleared the last remnants of the Gustav line.

In Britain I also destroy another German INF and my advance continues. However, my raid in France is not succesfull as my small invasion force was nearly destroyed. However, I'm able to retake Cherbourg this turn:



I also try to land with reinforcements south of Cardiff, but the weather must stay fair next turn!

[zechi]

Turn 77 - Remnants of the Gustav line finally destroyed! Soviet offensive continues! Axis out of oil?

Muddy weather in central Europe, which means my reinforcements can't land near Cardiff:



I will wait for the next turn, but there is only a 25 % chance that the weather will be fair. The US Inf in Cherbourg survives with 1 step, but will most likely be destroyed next turn.

In Italy I destroy two German INF and will be able to attack Rome next turn:



My STR in Albania beging bombarding Hungarian oil field.

In Russia I achieve a minor breakthrough in the south:



It was fair weather in Russia and the German Airforce remained grounded everywhere. No Luftwaffe attacking my bombers at all. It seems that the Axis are out of oil!

The first Soviet convoy made it through!

[schwerpunkt]

I thought you said that it was MUD in central europe? Thats the likely reason that his FTRs are on sentry....

[zechi]

I thought you said that it was MUD in central europe? Thats the likely reason that his FTRs are on sentry....

You are right, I totally forgot that the Eastern Front is already in central Europe. Nevertheless, I hope that the Axis oil is going down quickly.

[joerock22]

Nice move pocketing that German tank in Romania! Now you must do everything you can to keep it pocketed.

[zechi]

Turn 78 - Rome liberated! More Allied landings in Britain! Soviet offensive continues!

This turn the weather is fair in Central Europe, which allows my offensive in northern Italy to continue and the Allies take Rome:



In Britain the fair weather allows me finally to land near Cardiff and my offensive continues as Axis forces are pushed back:



I also flew in two STR near Aberdeen which will give at least some air support.

On the Eastern front I'm not so succesful as the Luftwaffe devastated my Spearhead units. Nevertheless, some attacks are succesful in the North and South:

[zechi]

Turn 79 - Cardiff cut off as Allies advance! Battles on all other fronts!
Two big convoys for the British and the Soviets made it this turn. The Kriegsmarins is crippled and only some SUBs remain, but seem to be inactive.

In Britain my offensive continues and I destroy a MECH and cut off Cardiff:



Luftwaffe seems to have left Britain. My goal is to liberate south Britain before Summer 1944 and then launch immediately a D-Day Invasion, which will be supported by landings in Vichy France.

In Italy I destroy only a GAR as I repair and refit my units. Hopefully next turn I will be able to destroy some more units and break soon through this second Gustav line. I also have to withdraw my STR from Albania as Plaid moved several FTR to Bulgaria.

In the east skirmisches occur in the north an a German INF is destroyed:



In the south I destroy another German INF and the Bulge in the south is expanded:



I also upgrade my FTR as I gained Dog Fight level 5 this turn.

[zechi]

Turn 80 - Massive Axis retreat!

Unfortunately I forgot to take screenshots, but Plaid retreated from the northern part of the Eastern front and in Italy. Because of winter weather pursuit is slow, but some skirmishes occur. In Britain Cardiff is cut off again. Luftwaffe seems to be grounded everywhere.

[zechi]

Turn 81 - Mud slows down the Allies

Its mud in central Europe which slows down the allies nearly everywhere. In Britain my Army advances slowly towards London:



In Italy the Allies prepare for Operation Dragoon as they take Ancona:



I hope that I will quickly overhelm Marseille and Nice before Axis reinforcement will reach this theater. This will also give me the Free French Forces. My SUBs already move towards Vichy ports to attack the Vichy BBs.

In Russia nothing interesting happens:

[zechi]

Turn 82 - Southampton falls! Strategic bombing of German oil plants begins! Romanian navy scuttled in port!

Its Mud again, butiIn Britain my advance continues as I take Southampton:



I also strategically bomb the synthetic oil plant in German and hope that there is not much oil left for the Axis.

In the Med everything is ready for Operation Dragoon:



Hopefully next turn there is fair weather!

In the northern sector of the Eastern front I manage to destroy a German INF:



In the southern sector Soviet FTRs attack Luftwaffe TACs as Luftwaffe FTR are grounded:



I also take a Bulgarian city and scuttle the Romanian DD in the port.

[joerock22]

Why are you invading Vichy France? You will give your opponent free PPs. You already have a strong southern front in Italy, so I don't really see the need to bring Vichy France into the war. I would simply take your army in the south and drive through the Alps between Yugoslavia and Switzerland. You can burst into the heart of Germany from the south at the same time the Russians are pushing from the east and the Allies are landing in France. I feel an invasion of Vichy France will help your opponent more than it will hurt him.