This weeks battle plan (Wed June 30th)

Some notes regarding strategy for this week.
Strategic map moves will take place first this week, before battles, so no formal plan can be developed until we see where everything ends up. Keep an eye out for areas where we can cut off supply, or open up routes for ourselves.
1500 points is still the standard.

Good Luck!

Allies consolidate holdings in south, Grave Bridge lives up to its name for Allies!

Two battles took place this week as the Allies won both initiative rolls and attacked the Albert Canal Bridge again and the Grave Bridge. In both cases the allied generals could count on their armor superiority to outnumber the defending Germans. This was especially true at the Albert Canal where, despite previous failed attempts, the Allies were finally able to over come the Luftwaffe bridge defenders with alarming ease.
At the head of the armored vanguard a brutal battle costing many lives was fought over the Grave Bridge as the German defenders fought bravely to keep the bridge open long enough to withdraw the bulk of their forces to the other side and maintain control of the far bank.This they succeeded in valiantly and in the end, the incensed Allies were forced to call it a day and yield the battleground, withdrawing to the Vokel Road to reorganize their forces.

Strategic moves did not take place as the Grave Bridge battle raged on until 11pm. We will do those this coming week.

Final battle report in for turn 3-1

Now back to business after that silly post by the propaganda minister regarding flying tanks! He has been sacked. We will also look into who allowed the PM onto the blog and rest assured, they will also be sacked, and perhaps pillaged. We now resume our regular blog postings already in progress...

The battles resulted in 1 Axis win, 1 Axis Draw and 2 Axis losses. The map sections held by the Allies are all indicated on this map, which also shows the battle moves and the resulting movement of troops. At the Albert Canal a powerful Allied armored thrust was stopped with neither side having a clear victory. No ground was lost but it is now littered with Allied tanks and the regrettable loss of some of our good soldiers. Does the emphasis now shift further north?

Axis commanders, look the map over well, for we have our work cut out for us. If you have a battle plan to share, please post a comment.

Promised secret weapon arrives at front!

The Allies will quail in fear when this "treadless" Panzer makes its appearance. Our scientists and engineers have made a quantum leap ahead with this latest Panzer, designated Panzer Mark XIII "Sabretooth Tiger". Rumors that its wheel-less propulsion and "electro plasma" cannon are the result of a technical treaty between our Fuhrer and visitors from Outer Space are strictly unwarranted and any discussion of this baseless rumor are forbidden. Despite that, the increased reports of disc shaped craft seen landing at the Wolfsschanze and at the Nazi party parade grounds in Berlin, continue to feed conspiracy theorists lies. Whatever the truth behind the genious of this new "Wunderwaffen" , it will surely lead our warriors to drive the enemy back to the sea!

Disclaimer- Picture taken from Vulture's Wargaming Blog and is of a 15mm tank made by Critical Mass Games
...I could not help myself, it just looks too cool! I am building a force for use in either Future War Commander  (makers of Blitzkrieg Commander) or Stargrunt II (free here)

The boys of Summer 2010 re-fighting the battles of Fall 1944.

The Aufklarungs: On the move since 1940, they have never had the chance to paint their vehicles the regulation yellow.

Rick, about to toss another pair of 1's at a crucial moment in the game. He is our secret weapon!

Steve, moving so fast it is hard for the camera to focus. I think we just tossed our tin of dice at him for making yet ANOTHER infantry save! I am surprised this shot turned out as good as it did with all the smoke on our side of the table!

Dug in, Ricks infantry wait nervously as they hear the clatter of approaching SdKfz 250's.

Steve Jr, opening a Can O half-tracked Whoop ass while Rick concentrates on...Standing. Perfectly. Still.  ....in the hopes that somehow we miss him....

Tim, our winningest Axis commander. Here, he uses an old Australian method of intimidation; staring down the enemy. Judging by how quick the battle went, it is apparent Tim has to work on this method a bit more as Keiths artillery commander (seen in the foreground) was not impressed!

Keith, and his Irish Guard. The undefeated bringer of death and destroyer of the foolish dreams of FOW upstarts. He might as well dress up in a rubber Godzilla suit and stomp on our armies while we roll cameras...I think we will call his army "Rolling Thunder".

EINDHOVEN REDUCED TO RUBBLE BY ALLIES!

Turn 3. Week 1.
Of 4 Initiative rolls, only 1 Axis battle arrow placed. This time, at Weert road. There our Aufklarung company, part of Graebner's men, make their move and capture the Allied road. Though faced by the overly large and cumbersome US platoons, the dashing of our mechanized warriors was too much for the sons of democracy who found themselves unable to escape the superior firepower of our half track mounted MG42's.

Elsewhere, the Allies look to force an alternate route for supplies to reach the spearhead nearing Nijhmagen and Arnhem. To do this, simultaneous attacks at the Son Bridge by US parachute and Glider forces from the North and ruthless shelling of Eindhoven by Irish Guards from the south succeed in linking up and forcing out the beleaguered Axis defenders. Once a beautiful Medieval city, Eindhoven was not spared the Allied heavy guns and now the glowing embers and smashed brick serve as a graveyard for some of our German Security forces who could not escape the bombardment as they valiantly held the road open long enough for unarmed women and children to escape the shelling.

Finally, after some considerable delay, which it would seem is common place amongst the inferior Allied commanders as they bicker over tea about who will get the shiny trinkets they "liberate" at gunpoint from the Dutch citizenry, an attack was made on the Albert Road canal. Reports as to their success are not known, however, a motorcycle messenger from the area was said to have seen the the Allied tanks burning as they bogged down in the polders and it is hoped that the Germans defending the bridge may have held them off.

Halfway! Prepare for a tough slog ahead.

Turn 3. Half way. The outcome of this week and next week will set the tone for the homeward stretch of turns 4 and 5. At this point last week I really thought we had an uphill battle ahead but after Tims momentous battle, we stand better positioned to really make the Allies regret having listened to Monty. Still, everything is likely to change at a moments notice. One bad dice roll, one ill-conceived battle plan, or even a missing commander or two, and the whole thing could swing either way!

To Business:
Battle Plan. Turn 3-1. As before, these are some of the suggested moves. Some of them are only necessary if the Allies win too many initiative rolls and are attacking in such a way as to potentially cut off some of our key troops. Remember, we MUST be able to trace supply back along a road to one of the German supply depot arrows.

1500 points army lists for this turn.

Commanders. Get those 1500 point lists made up! We are advancing to the next level of points effective this coming Wednesday. Firestorm troops will not be as decisive like they were at 1000 points, but they will still be very helpful.

I would suggest making a few different lists to choose from but to be fair, have the list you are going to use pointed up and ready before you and your opponent roll the initiative die.

<<  See! Even now the Allied General Keith plans our demise while Axis line Commander Steve Jr scrutinizes with a wary eye!

The Process of Battle

For those who want a visual of how the last turn went, check out the "For the Greater Good" posting for the battle plan and then refer to the two maps here for how it played out. "Miracle at Eindhoven" is the map as it currently stands.

This is the a view of the battle arrows placement. Along with other notes.

On this map is the resulting moves from the battle results and the exploit moves. Following this, both Generals received their reinforcements\reserves which are predesignated to come in at specific times in this scenario (Market Garden)

The Germans are due to receive the 107th Panzerbrigade (Panthers) and KG Hummel (Konigstiger !!) at the Rhur and Kleve supply ports respectively.

Not all of the exploitation moves are shown, but you get the idea. The Germans elected not to exploit and instead chose to keep all units available for movement in the Strategic Phase.

MIRACLE AT EINDHOVEN!

Combat briefing. Market Garden Campaign. Game time: Turn 2, Week 2.

Orders were given to continue the pressure on the American paratroopers in the Groesbeek heights area and other drop zones, to hold the lines and defend the bridges everywhere else and to attempt a nearly suicidal delay action against the armored columns in the Eindhoven and Helmond Bridge areas.

As they say, a good plan only lasts until contact with the enemy. The Allies took the initiative and attacked the Son Bridge and Venray Road, while in plains south of the Groesbeek hills our German commander continued his plunder of the Allied drop zones looking for Spam, Lucky Strikes and toilet paper.

Three battles between the Axis and Allied generals resulted in two losses for the Axis but one, incredible, against all odds win for the Axis at Eindhoven. The Allies attacked the Son Bridge reinforced by a Sherman troop and Typhoon support. On the German side, the Luftwaffe bridge defenders were there to assist the ground troops and even made a good accounting for themselves by destroying allied armor. Several Stugs were lost when they attempted to crush American GI’s but were later avenged by Fallschirmjagers. In the end, the Allies failed to capture the bridge and broke and ran from the field of battle, with the Germans hot on their heels and not stopping until Eindhoven was back in Axis hands. An incredible turn of luck that fulfilled one of the major but seemingly impossible orders for the turn.


At Venray road, another Allied attack caught some dug in Pioneers by surprise without their anti-tank magnetic mines and wiped them out to a man without so much as a scratch. Hiding behind them in the wooded marshes were some Pak40’s who could not seem to stop the tanks either until they were within spitting distance or bogged down at the woods edge. Even as Allied artillery soared overhead to strike the empty polder beyond, the AT gunners zeroed in and finally found their marks! Victory seemed near after that especially when the supporting American GI’s broke and ran. It was all for naught though, as the whole time another platoon of US Paratroopers were skirting around the Germans lines and popped up behind them to capture the objective making the positions the Axis held untenable forcing them to retreat to Mass Bridge and await reinforcements.

Reports are sketchy regarding the situation on the plains south of Groesbeek. Retreating survivors report an Allied terror unit, which appear to be a force of Irish Guardsmen, has taken back the Drop Zone designated as “N” by the Allies. The madmen charge Axis lines screaming and firing madly even as their own shells fall among their victims. In the confusion of the defeat, some of our heavy 8.8cm guns were routed. Interrogation by the Gestapo of our terrified men is under way to try and determine what sort of terror weapon these Guardsmen are using that makes them so unstoppable and the rumor of belt-fed rapid-fire artillery has risen its ugly head again.

Strategically, the Allies landed some more paratroopers; among these were the Polish at LZ-S northwest of Arnhem. Supplies were also dropped. Where was the Luftwaffe FW190’s to shoot down those lumbering transports? Apparently, fuel or ammo shortages kept them grounded as they were nowhere to be seen. In the South, having cleared Venray road the Allied armor raced up the road to link up with the US 101st Airborne unit sent to hold the Gemert Road after their scout reported it was temporarily clear of Axis troops. This tenuous link was enough to allow the first of the Allied armor to race up to the Vokel road and even now they threaten the Grave Bridge area. Meanwhile, the Germans have rushed whatever reinforcements they could to Eindhoven to hold this unexpected prize. Elsewhere, stretched to the point of breaking, hard decisions have been made in order to give our fighting men the strength they need to have a positive effect on the coming battles while still holding vital areas.

For the Greater good

Axis Commanders. Email me or post a comment and I'll send a map of the latest battle plan. This is a crucial turn for us and I believe we will need to make some sacrifices to pull off a good outcome for turn 2.

Edit: Updated with the map I sent to the Axis players prior to battle. Note that the map was slightly inaccurate but did not effect the games.

Tim has updated the main campaign page. Check it out here! If anyone has a question about the map or notices an error, please let me know as I have agreed to take on map making duties for the campaign.

Here is a map of the situation to the best of my knowledge. Tim, the campaign organizer, has confirmed and corrected the location of the units. The light green areas are Allied controlled. Please refer to Tims blog for official campaign updates.

Soldiers of the Reich! The defense of the Bridges into the heart of the Ruhr valley continues! Eindhoven and Helmond Bridge were lost due to overhwelming Allied superiority in material which means the Allies are but one area away from linking up with the first of their Airborne troops if they take the Son Bridge. Take heart though, an attack on the drop zone code named DZ-N south of Groesbeek Heights was a stunning success and threatens to disrupt further supply of the isolated Allied troops. Further North, a delay action fought by our brave security forces in Arnhem West was nearly a draw but we were forced to yeild the Western outskirts of the town to the enemy.
With each passing hour more of our valiant soldiers arrive which strengthens our resistance and weakens the Allies. Very soon, orders for the next round of battle will be issued so keep your radios on this frequency. 

Some of you may be wondering why the Axis broadcast in the clear.. Well, read up on the Allied Code breakers and the Enigma machine and you will understand the futility of secrecy. Most of our orders will be hand delivered via messenger on the day of battle.      

New Orders!

The uptade to Tims site is in. In addition, I have added the map shown here with general strategy guidelines for the upcoming battle. Note that I have added Green bridge icons to the map to better show where we can count on the extra support from the bridge defense units (88mm and 2 20mm AA guns)

Supply primer (based on limited intel)

To be in supply, you must be able to draw a complete line by road back to a supply depot arrow. For the Germans there are six of them in grey around the sides and top of the map. For the allies there are three across the bottom of the map. Areas adjacent to roads are also in supply but you cannot trace supply back through anything but roads.
For airborne, they must be able to draw a line back to an LZ/DZ until they are connected by road to the Allied supply arrows.
It goes without saying that being out of supply can have drastic meaning for the battles. Avoid causing a situation in which we end up being surrounded. Mainly, do not create a pocket into which once you go you have no line of supply. Conversly, if we can sever the road links repeatedly the Allied spearheads will be in trouble..