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!