Normandy '44 AAR

[CountryBoy]

Turn 78. 18:00 13 June 1944.

Visibility is one hex. Highlighted units are disrupted units.

Been a while since the last update. The game has slowed down a fair bit since the action moved to the bocage. It's very much a slugfest now.

Starting as usual with the area to the east of Caen, and as per previous updates there is not much change in this area. The 346th Infantry division is holding off British airborne troops but they are not pushing too hard here.



Further west and we're looking at Caen itself and the area west of Caen. Again, not much change here. The Allies are content to make only minor moves here, despite the terrain being unfavourable for the defenders. A good thing I guess.



Further west again, and we are now south of Bayeux. The big change here is the appearance of the UK 7th Armored Division - the famed Desert Rats! They are making a fairly big push straight into dug in elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division. I'm reluctant to commit my tanks to this battle, the main concern being Allied artillery power. Fortunately Allies airpower is grounded, which might perhaps let me mount a little counterattack. Further along the line though I have pulled back (where the yellow arrows point to gaps between the two forces). This is consistent with my strategy of slowly giving ground while preserving my forces as much as I can.



Again, further west and now we are north of St Lo. The big change here is that the US 2nd Armored Division has pulled back, hopefully scared off by armor from Panzer Lehr which I had rushed to the area. However, I have had to pull back the front line in places anyway due to infantry attacks by US forces.



The next shot is a zoomed out look at the Cherbourg Peninsula. The strategy here to pull back my units to my new defensive line is working well. It is helped by the fact that the Allies have been very slow to push up, giving me plenty of time to withdraw my units in good order.



Next is the entire battlefield map and you can see the development of a reasonably straight defensive line running roughly west to east. The only risk is the units in the Cherbourg Peninsula making their way south, but as already mentioned they are doing so in good order. 2nd Panzer Division will be taking up position to the west of 17th SS Pzgr.



The jump map shows a similar look at the situation.



And finally a look at the victory point situation. Without any detailed analysis it seems like the difference in losses is remaining reasonably steady.



Overall I think things are going according to plan. Most of the army is in good shape, defensive lines are extensive and in depth. At this stage my biggest worry is boring my opponent into quitting!