Normandy '44 AAR

[ComradeP]

It might be new unit art, or airborne forces might be a different "nation" than the regular US/British forces. Like how the Luftwaffe is a different "nation" than the other German troops.

[wildb]

Based on the NATO symbols: British Airborne units and US Army Ranger units.

[CountryBoy]

Next update: Turn 28, 18:00 8 June 1944

Skipped a few turns again, as not too much action. Due to poor weather, visibility is down to one hex, which is gratefully received by the German army, as all Allied planes are grounded.

In the Caen area, there is very little action. Despite the ground being quite open, the Allies are not making much of a push here. I would be willing to give up Caen, but there has been no need as a result of the lack of Allied pressure. The 21st Panzer and the 12th SS (in grey) continue to hold this region reasonably comfortably.




In the Bayeux area, the Panzer Lehr (red units) is taking up position on the left flank of the 12th SS, helping to stiffen the line here. The Panzer Lehr is the best German division on the field at the moment, all A Morale and with a fair few tanks. The only downside is that the HQ of the division has been delayed by nearly 24 hours. In fact, it's actually even worse for the 12th SS, whose HQ unit was meant to arrive over 36 hours ago but is still delayed.



South of Omaha, the elements of the Panzer Lehr have arrived to bolster the defensive line. This is just in time as the 352nd Infantry Division was too thinly stretched to provide much resistance to the US V Corps. My only concern is that Panzer Lehr has quite a large area to cover.



At Carentan, you can't see the US units in the image below, however they have crossed the La Douve in force and have captured Carentan and pushed the German defenders back towards Hill 30. You can see that bridge two hexes north of Carentan that is still intact - a big error on my part!



On the Cherbourg Peninsula, the 82nd and 101st continue to chew up the German defenders. The Allies main thrust here is definitely straight up along the coast, as opposed to trying to cut the peninsula in half by pushing westwards. My only option here is to delay, delay, delay, but ultimately I cannot stop the Allies here.



Here is the jump map, giving the bigger picture. You can see the German reinforcements heading north as quickly as they can.




And finally, the VP situation. Allied infantry losses are around 4,500 more than German at this stage.




Summary: Reinforcements over the past few turns have allowed me to strengthen my defensive lines, especially with the arrival of the Panzer Lehr. Everything east of Omaha beach is pretty much ok, the only areas I am really in trouble in are around Carentan and the Cherbourg Peninsula. Poor weather over the last few turns has been great, grounding Allied air support, although that will not last forever.

[CountryBoy]

12:00pm, 9 June 1944. Turn 35.

Jumped ahead a few turns again, as there has not been too many changes. Due to storms visibility is limited, which explains why few Allied troops are visible,

In the Caen area, it has been very quiet. British units (including Canadian infantry) have moved up to German positions but make no attempt to attack. As most of the ground here is open, I am surprised but grateful. The 21st Panzer and 12th SS are in a good position here and are spending most of their time digging trenches.



South of Bayeux, there is also not much change, the main difference being the Panzer Lehr division taking up position on the left flank of the 12th SS. This area of the map is well in hand, covered by two strong divisions.




Further west and we are south of Omaha Beach. Here the Allies have pressed forwards in force and German units have given up considerable ground. That said, elements of the Panzer Lehr division have just begun to take up position here, which will help slow the Allied advance. The main issue here is the vast area that Panzer Lehr has to cover, which will stretch them thin.



The main issue for the Germans is around Carentan. You can't see the Allied units here, however they are in Carentan in force. German units are trying to fortify around Hill 30 but are will be under pressure once conditions improve.



Further to the west, and the paras of the 82nd and 101st continue to push up the eastern side of the Cherbourg Peninsula. It is slow going for the Allies here but they are unstoppable. Once they have made contact with German units, Allied artillery and naval guns are called into action and soon disrupt the German defenders. An assault pushes the defenders out, then rinse and repeat.



The jump map gives the big picture. German defences are strongest from Caen west to south of Omaha Beach. There is a worrying thin line of defenders to the west of this, which includes Carentan. You can see the reinforcements I am rushing to this are on the jump map.



And finally, the VP situation after 35 turns: 3,000 odd more Allied casualties than German, although German gun and vehicle losses have been higher.

[Mr Grumpy]

Great AAR, keep it coming! 

[Plain Ian]

Apologies to CountryBoy but I couldn't resist adding in some charts and graphs to this great AAR. I realize this will send 99% of people to sleep but I find it useful when following a battle to analyse the losses....zzzzz.

So here are the losses for both sides and the net variances. No surprises I think. Allied losses in men is narrowing and German losses in guns and vehicles is widening. German Vehicles losses have plateaued from Turn 28. Of course vehicle losses might not mean tanks or assault guns.



Assuming that Turn 14 kind of represents the point where the invasion stage finishes and we are now on the part where the front lines are forming then I thought I'd use T14 as a base and show losses from this point. German losses in men have clearly doubled in the last 21 turns whilst allied loss rate has slowed slightly. German vehicle losses now stand out. 60 up to Turn 14 and then a further 129 from T14 to T35. No big deal though if these are all small A/T vehicle/guns. 



And finally the graphs....zzzzz. Sometimes its easier to see things in graphs rather than boring figures.
I've added a trend line to the losses in men to show that although losses are clearly rising the trend is flattening. I think CountryBoy has hinted that the battle has slowed down a bit. 

The graph showing losses in guns clearly is flattening around about Turn 22. Vehicles shows a slight flattening about Turn 28. 



Anyway that's enough of that. Back to enjoying Christmas folks!

[CountryBoy]

Thanks Plain Ian, that is some great analysis. As your numbers show, Allied losses were particularly high in the invasion stage and have levelled off since then. The general decline in losses in the past few turns was due to storms which impacted Allied air interdiction and my opponent also mentioned that he was having supply issues. From memory weather conditions on the 8th of June and for a few more days were pretty terrible? I'm sure Antony Beevor described it as one of the worst storms to hit the Channel in years?

[CountryBoy]

Turn 41. 02:00 10 June 1944.

Jumping ahead a little bit to the very early morning on the 10th of June. As usual, starting the Caen area, which is still very quiet. I still think this is surprising as the terrain in this area would suit an attacking force. That said, I have built up some solid defences in this area, in some cases three or four hexes deep. I still have the 21st Panzer (to Caen's east and north) and the 12th SS (to the west of Caen) in position here.




Moving further west to the area around Bayeux, and again there has not been much action here. The Panzer Lehr division has taken up position here, bolstering the 352nd Infantry Division and the Schnelle Brigade of 84th Corps. Both of these units are very weak so the Panzer Lehr arrived just in time.



Further west again, and looking at the area south of Omaha Beach (although the beach is quite far away now). This area is also the responsibility of the Panzer Lehr division, which is a little worrying as they are stretched a little thin. The brown units in travel mode at the bottom of the image are elements of the 77th Infantry Division, which was one of the first reinforcement to arrive at the front, although they are mostly on foot so it took an age to get them to the front. It's not the best unit, being mostly C morale and many units took a beating from Allied air interdiction on the trip to the front. Most units lost up to 20% of their men on the trip.



Further west again, and I have a zoomed out shot of Carentan and the area to the west. This is to show my plans for this region. I have moved the recently arrived 17th SS Division here (the blue units). I have them forming the basis of a defensive line which runs roughly due west from Carentan straight across the Cherbourg Peninsula. My reasoning here is that at some point I am going to lose the peninsula and would like to extract as many men as possible before that happens. This defensive line will be the area I will withdraw to, forming a (somewhat) straight defensive line. The 17th SS is a pretty good unit, although nothing better than B morale.



In terms, of Cherbourg itself, the 82nd and 101st airborne troopers are grinding their way north along the coast. I have plenty of men here but they are low quality and can't stand up to the paratroopers. This has prompted my decision to give up the peninsula and try and withdraw my men in order - fortunately I don't have to deal with a mad dictator telling me to hold Cherbourg at all costs!



The jump map shows the big picture. You can see my defensive line across the peninsula taking shape.



And finally, losses and VPs. Without the benefit of Plain Ian's more precise analysis, it seems to me that Allied losses have started climbing again. I think this is most likely losses in the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions, which have been taking heavy losses as they push up the coast, mostly where they stack on beach hexes and my artillery is much more effective.

[CountryBoy]

Turn 44. 10:00 10 June 1944.

A few hours later on the 10th of June, and poor weather conditions are keeping Allied planes grounded and restricting visibility to just one hex. Again Allied activity is limited, with most of the action still being in the Cherbourg peninsula, which I will show later on.

In the Caen area, units from the 346th Infantry Division managed to spot units from the 1st British Special Services Brigade trying to sneak across the La Dives river. These units can cross in T mode without needing a bridge. I had left this area relatively undefended, using the rivers to secure Caen's right flank, but I can see that this is not going to work. I am particularly worried about the area north east of Troarn, where I have no units and no visibility over the map. I am going to have to move some men from the 346th there in a hurry and see what they find.



West of Caen, heading towards Bayeux, and I have gone for a zoomed out shot showing the general disposition of German defenders here. Due to the weather there has been little change in positions here, with the Allied presumably waiting for better weather before attacking. With the scenario being 750 turns long, there is no time pressure on the Allies. Three strong units, the Panzer Lehr, 12th SS and 21st Panzer hold the line here, supported by a few low quality infantry units.



Further to the west and taking in the Carentan area, I have another zoomed out look at German defences. This is the defensive line I am building in anticipation of an evacuation of the Cherbourg peninsula. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier division will form the backbone of this defensive position, supported by the 709th and 243rd Infantry divisions, however both of these formations are in poor shape and can't be expected to hold out for long against the Allied airborne infantry.



The only real area of any action has been the ongoing push by the 82nd and 101st along the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsula. You can see the progress they have made since Turn 41, capturing Aumeville. It has been costly however, with my artillery being quite effective against over-stacked beach hexes. In the screenshot I have highlighted the beach hex north east of Aumeville. You can see that the Allies have 7 units in this hex, which is a beach hex, although it is an entrenched position. The German defenders in the adjacent bunker will last a turn or two before being disrupted, allowing my artillery to pound the vulnerable airborne troops. That said, this shot does also show how many of the German units in the area are disrupted (red highlighted units are disrupted units). I suspect I won't be able to hold the Allies for more than 4 or 5 turns here before they break through.




A quick look at the jump map, and not much change, although I am solidifying my defensive line cutting across the Cherbourg peninsula and moving units into position. A snail trail of reinforcements are heading north from the bottom of the map, making the most of the poor weather and lack of Allied air interdiction.



Finally, the VP situation. Allied infantry losses are now nearly 5,000 more than German losses, again probably due to the losses inflicted on the airborne troops pushing north from Utah Beach.

[CountryBoy]

Turn 45. 12:00 10 June 1944

A very quick update - in the last post I mentioned my concerns that British commandos might be trying to sneak across the La Dives river to the east of Caen. As shown below, I rushed two companies from the 346th Infantry Division to the area (one infantry, one pioneers) and what did they find?




Three battalions (or companies) from the 6th Airborne Division and another from the 1st Special Services Brigade getting into position adjacent to the river, which would allow the commandos to cross unhindered. it was a cunning plan by my opponent, taking advantage of the poor weather and low visibility and it was just luck that I found out before they could get across.