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

[zechi]

Turn 83 - Advance on London continues! Allies take Florence!

Not much happened this turn as it is still muddy. In Britain I lose the MECH with Patton, but I take Birmingham and Glasgow. I also advance towards London and will strike at the Capital next turn if the weather is fair.



In Italy the Axis further retreat and I take Florence without a fight:



On the Eastern front not much is happening. I destroy a GAR near Bucharest and damage other units. Axis losses in Infantry are now higher then the Soviet ones:

[zechi]

Why are you invading Vichy France? You will give your opponent free PPs.

I know that it will give Plaid some free PPs, but I will also have some advantages from it. Firstly, I should be able to get Marseille in 1 turn and have a beachhead in France, which will be useful when the real D-Day begins, as I can push on from both fronts. Secondly, Plaid will either have to bring in reinforcements to southern France or I wiill be able to quickly conquer southern France and get the PPs there. These Axis reinforcments will then be missing on D-Day in northern France or on the Eastern front. Thirdly, I gain the Free French Forces, and their ground forces are worth 150 PPs alone (OK their tech level is lower I think, but they will still be useful).

Last but not least I fear that the Germans will form a defense line between Switzerland and Yugoslavia and defend the Alps. This could stop my advance from Italy significantly. Nevertheless, I full intend to use the forces in Italy to strike through the Alps. The troops in souther France will perhaps even help with this strike, but this depends on Plaids reaction to this invasion.

[zechi]

Turn 84 - London liberated! Romania surrenders! War declared on Vichy France!

Its March and fair weather in central Europe! Allies attack nearly everywhere. In Britain London is finally liberated:



Ruhr is strategically bombed.

In Italy the Germans form a frontline, but I destroy a German INF. Vichy France is also attacked an Marseille falls as expected:



Allied SUB torpedoed the Vichy navy in its port as the Free French join the Allies:



In the east I attack mostly in the southern front as in the north it is still winter:



I will make a push through Romania towards Hungary and hopefull cut off the Axis frontline.

In the north only some skirmishes occur:



The Germans retreated further and I liberate the Baltics.

[zechi]

Turn 85 - Red Army advances! Allies take more cities in southern France!

On the eastern front the Axis retreat further and I follow them. In the north I cannot do much damage as it is still winter weather:



But in the south I manage to advance faster:



In Italy and southern France my offensive continues and I take Nice and Toulouse:



In Britain Liverpool and Belfast will fall next turn and I can finally buy and place units in Britain as London is controlled by the Allies.



D-Day should start in May.

[zechi]

Turn 86 - Venice taken! Red Army advances towards Poland! Belfast and Liverpool liberated!


In Italy the high-tech German Panzer Corps inflict heavy losses on the Allies. I lose two MECH, but my counterattack destroys two German INF and I take Venice:



Nevertheless, the two German ARM are a real problem. My ground units cannot really damage them and I will have bring them slowly down with my air force. The good thing is, that my airforce is now better then the Luftwaffe and I even destory an airbase in Munich.

On the Eastern front my advance continues as the Axis retreat:





I destroy some Axis units in the south and I wonder where will Plaid stay and defend?

[zechi]

Turn 87 - D-Day begins! German Panzer Corps destroyed in Italy! Red Army offensive continues!

I launch the first wave of transports going for western Europe:



More will follow soon.

In Italy I need nearly all my units to destroy ine German Panzer Corps:



These Panzers are really a tough nut to crack. The good thing is, that Plaid should have oil problems and won't be able to use many of them offensively.

On the Eastern front the Axis seem to stay and defend Poland and Hungary:




In Hungary Plaid even uses the Luftwaffe for defending the frontline and my Soviet INF does only a meager 1 step of damage.
I repaired my Soviet TACs and next turn a major offensive will be launched to test the German line.

[zechi]

Turn 88 - Red Army launches major offensive! Cherbourgh and Milan taken by western Allies!

Red Army launches attacks on the whole Eastern front. Some sort of breakthrough is achieved near Warsaw:





In Italy and southerrn France the Free French arrive and the Allies take Milan:



In northern France the Allies are succesful in taking Cherbourg, but the landings near The Hague fail and the transport leave for other landing spots:

[zechi]

Turn 89 and 90 - Paris liberated! Allies advance from the west and east! Italian front still waits for reinforcements!

I forgot to take screenshots for turn 89, but nothing really impressive happened. On turn 90 the offensive continues on most fronts and the Allies liberate Paris, Lyon and Genua:



On the Eastern front the Red Army attacks through the center near Warsaw and isolates two German Panzer Corps:



Nearly no offensive actions from the Axis side, which seems to mean that they do not have any oil left.

[zechi]

Turn 91 - Warsaw liberated! Allied offensive continues on all fronts!

The Red Army takes Warsaw this turn and encircles the two German Panzer Corps again:



Near Budapest its more a stand off and no real battle occurs:



In Italy I resume my offensive and a German MECH is attacked by the Free French supported by air attacks:



In western Europe several cities are liberated as the Allied spearhead units reach the German frontline and damage an INF:



I also prepared several transports for landings in Denmark, the Netherlands and northern German. Some are GAR and some are MECH/INFs which I gave numbers for disguise. We will see how Plaid reacts to this invasion.

[trulster]

Tight game! It seems the Allies have reached manpower problems?

[zechi]

Turn 92 - Allied offensive continues on all fronts!

This turn the Allied offensive continues on all fronts. Several Axis units and air bases are destroyed. Allied units which were cut off are freed through the renewed offensive. In the east the Red Army pushes through the gap near Warsaw:



In Italy a German MECH takes heavy losses:



More reinforcements are brought to this theater to engage the remaining Axis units. If necessary they can be quickly railed towards other fronts.

In western Europe the Allies push on and reach the Siegfried line:



The Allied naval landings in the back of the Axis front will try to get a German city as fast as possible.

[zechi]

Turn 93 - Axis frontline begins to disintegrate!

The Allied offensive is nearly everywhere succesful and the Axis frontlines begins to disintegrate. In the east the Axis retreat towards the Ostwall fortifications as the Red Army makes a breakthrough. Rundstedt is killed during the retreat:



In Hungary the Soviets are not as succesful but nevertheless continue their advance:



In Italy the last Italian city is liberated and the Allies encircle the German ARM:



In western Europe the Allies attack through the Netherlands and try to avoid the Siegfried line:



The Hague is liberated and Allied units even attack Wilhelmshaven. However, one Allied MECH runs into a SUB.

[zechi]

Turn 94 - Race to Berlin begins!

The Germans retreat on nearly all fronts. Hungary is left on its own and even the Siegfried line is abandoned. Many German units are stranded in the east without oil and other supplies. They will be mopped up by Soviet penal Battaillons:



Soviet spearhead ARM is only 1 hex away of Berlin.



Hungary will most likely fall next turn and the western Allies will advance through the Alps from Italy towards Munich.

[zechi]

Turn 95 - The end of the Third Reich is near!

The Allies launch a final push into Germany before bad weather will come to Europe:



More cities are liberated and German units destroyed. Hungary surrenders at the end of the turn.

[zechi]

Turn 96 - Strike into the heart of Germany

Luck is on my side and its fair weather in November. The Allied offensive continues everywhere and strikes the heart of Germany:



Berlin is now threatened from both sides.

[zechi]

Turn 97 - Allies reach outskirts of Berlin!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a screenshot, but as you can imagine I destroyed more Axis units on the way to Berlin. One MECH and INF could make contact with Berlin. Hamburg also holds out.

[zechi]

Turn 98 - Attack on Berlin begins! Hamburg falls!

Hamburg falls after heavy Allied attacks form alls sides. Berlin will be next as it is already doen to 5 steps:



In 1-2 turns it should be over.

[zechi]

Turn 99 - The beast is down!

The war is over as Berlin is taken by the British Army:



Its a major Allied victory:



And the stats:



However, after the victory screen and a look at the stats the game stopped. I could not finish the last move. Only option was to quit the game.

I think Plaid played very good and gave me a very hard time. It is also very likely that he would have won, if I was not extremely lucky with the conquest of Taranto and the fall of Italy. This would have most likely given him the few more turns he needed to win.

[massina_nz]

I think Plaid played very good and gave me a very hard time. It is also very likely that he would have won, if I was not extremely lucky with the conquest of Taranto and the fall of Italy. This would have most likely given him the few more turns he needed to win.

I think that's a very perceptive observation, thanks for the AAR, very enjoyable.

[ncali]

Good job with the AAR and in the game for both of you! It was interesting watching the twists and turns of this one.