Normandy '44 AAR

[CountryBoy]

Just a quick update on casualties.





and for those that prefer graphs...I know there is one somewhere...



Ok back to following this excellent AAR.

Thanks Plain Ian, some great tables and charts.

If I can make some observations:
- I suspect Allied men losses has picked up a little as Allied offensive activity has increased quite a bit the past few turns. Also, Axis defensive positions are probably a little bit better too, with better reinforcements in place too.
- The big increase in German gun losses is probably due to the evacuation of the Cherbourg peninsula, where I had to leave behind a large number of fixed guns. That said, I have also been guilty of leaving some anti-tank guns in the front line, primarily to deter Allied armor. Invariably they get disrupted eventually and overrun.

[Plain Ian]

Just a quick update on casualties.





and for those that prefer graphs...I know there is one somewhere...



Ok back to following this excellent AAR.

Thanks Plain Ian, some great tables and charts.

If I can make some observations:
- I suspect Allied men losses has picked up a little as Allied offensive activity has increased quite a bit the past few turns. Also, Axis defensive positions are probably a little bit better too, with better reinforcements in place too.
- The big increase in German gun losses is probably due to the evacuation of the Cherbourg peninsula, where I had to leave behind a large number of fixed guns. That said, I have also been guilty of leaving some anti-tank guns in the front line, primarily to deter Allied armor. Invariably they get disrupted eventually and overrun.

Yep that's what I see as well. 700 turns to go though. 

[CountryBoy]

Turn 66. 14:00 12 June 1944. Visibility is 3kms. Highlighted units are disrupted units.

So moving on again a few hours, to the early afternoon of the 12th of June.

Starting in the far eastern edge of the map as usual, looking at the are east of Caen. The only action here is still around the village of Troan, where Axis and Allies continue to hammer each other. German troops are both inferior and outnumbered, but fortunately there is no major Allied effort here.



Moving a little bit to the west, and looking at the area around Caen itself. It seems like the Canadians and the Brits have gone to sleep here, with no pressure whatsoever besides artillery. The 21st Panzer (east of the 12th SS) and 12th SS are on holiday duty here.



Moving further west again, and looking at the area south of Bayeux. Again, very little change here, despite a good number of Allied troops. The terrain is not great for defence, being mainly fields, so I am happy that the Allies are not making an effort here.



Moving further west again, and the situation is not looking too good here. Three US divisions are pushing hard here in the fields south of Omaha Beach. The problem from a German perspective is the low quality defenders: a few paratroopers and the 77th and 352nd Infantry Divisions, whom are both morale C and worse. I had moved a few armored units of Panzer Lehr here a while ago, which appears to have scared off the US tanks for a while, but that may not last. Apologies for the misspelling of 'fallschirmjager'.



Again, moving further west and this is the critical sector, south of Carentan. As I had feared, the Allies are pushing due west and south-west very strongly and I don't have much to stop them. They have taken Hill 30 and many of my units are disrupted. An option was to shift 17th SS Pzgr Division south-east in order to cover this area, however I have decided to go beyond that and retreat further down the Cherbourg peninsula in order to straighten my lines and negate the Allied push across the base of the peninsula. This will be clear in the screenshot after this one.



So looking at a zoomed out shot of the Cherbourg peninsula and you can see the new plan. Reluctantly, I have given up the defensive line I was building north of la Haye du Puits and have decided to focus on a new defensive line further south, with its left flank anchored on the village of Lessay and running due east to St Jean De Daye.

Although I am giving up some good defensive territory, I think this is my only option to avoid being cut off on the peninsula. My main goal is to keep the army intact as long as possible and this area is probably where I am most vulnerable (as in real life), so I need to do what I can. It will be tricky to conduct another long distance withdrawal down the peninsula, but hopefully I can get everyone out unscathed.

The green lines show my intended line of withdrawal to the new (second) line of defence.



A look at the jump map and you can see the movement on the Cherbourg peninsula. I have also highlighted the 2nd Panzer Division in the green circle, which are recent reinforcements. At this stage I'm still undecided about where to deploy them and am staging them around St Lo. I'm leaning to moving them to the far western side of my new defensive line on the Cherbourg peninsula as I think I can't rely on the 17th SS Pzgr Division to keep such a large area under control.



And finally, as usual, the VP situation. Still around a 6,000 differential in men losses between Allies and Axis.



Overall, I think things are going ok. I have given up some ground but I am focused on avoiding the destruction of any units and any type of Operation Cobra outbreak. I may run out of hexes to retreat from before we run out of turns however! As an aside, it has occurred to me that this scenario would really benefit from timed objectives, where Germany could be rewarded for holding certain areas for a certain amount of time. Likewise the Allies can be rewarded for aggressive action to capture certain areas. I understand the next WDS update may allow this but I guess the scenario will also have to be reworked to include this.

[NikolaiB]

I recently joined and read this all in one day. Great work, please keep it up!

[CountryBoy]

An update coming tonight! Stay tuned!

[CountryBoy]

Turn 69. 20:00 12 June 1944. 

Visibility two hexes. Highlighted units are disrupted units.

Starting as usual in the far eastern edge of the map and looking at the area east of Caen. The only item of interest here continues to be the action around the village of Troarn. The 346th Infantry Division, backed by significant artillery assets from 1st SS Corps, is holding the line and trying to take Troarn from the Allies. I haven't highlighted it in the screenshot, but see those SS armoured units in travel mode just south of Grentheville? That is SS Panzer Battalion 101 with a certain Wittmann in company. He leads a 4 vehicle VIe Tiger unit which has a hard attack value of 64/2! I'll be keeping the unit in reserve as they are too valuable to waste this early on.



Moving to the west, to the area west of Caen and there is no change here to speak of. The 12th SS and 21st Panzer Divisions are taking it easy here.



Further west again and we are now south of Bayeux. There is a push here by units of the British 79th Armoured and 50th Infantry Divisions. This is a little serious as there are large numbers of Allied tanks involved. I have some AT guns in place but I dare not direct fire with them as it brings down a terrible artillery barrage. I may move a few tank units from 12th SS here, just to encourage the Allied tanks to hang back.



Further west again, and we are now just north of St Lo. US forces are still pushing hard here and as the terrain is not great for defence, I am steadily giving up ground. I have brought most of Panzer Lehr's armour here as a deterrent (which is why they are not near Bayeux). German infantry in this area is pretty poor though, mostly the 77th and 352nd Infantry Divisions and a few paratroopers. I am building defence lines in depth however.



Further west again and this time I have opted for a zoomed out shot of the Cherbourg peninsula. This shows the progress of my withdrawal to a new defensive line further south, brought about by the push by the 101st and 82nd south west from Carentan. There are a lot of moving units and I'm hopeful I can pull everyone back before the Allies breakout west of Hill 30.

You may recall from the start of this AAR that I was worried that I hadn't blown that last bridge over the La Vire just north of Carentan and it has proven to be a major mistake. In terms of units, there are a few beaten up infantry divisions here, but the bulk of the work will be done by the 17th SS Pzgr and 2nd Panzer divisions. At the moment 2nd Panzer is on the right flank of the 17th SS Pzgr, however I want to eventually move them to the left flank of 17th SS.



Now a look at the jump map. I have put a yellow line directly across the map which represents my intended defensive lines. They're not dead straight of course, but I will try and keep it reasonably straight by withdrawing along the entire line if I am pushed back in an particular area. This will allow me to keep my front as short as possible. In most cases I am aiming for a defensive line 4 or 5 hexes deep. There is about 95 hexes from the front line to the bottom of the map, so I have to hold each hex for about 6 turns before retreating!



And finally the Victory points, reasonably steady in terms of the differences in losses of men.

[NikolaiB]

What makes the Allied advance from Hill 30 dangerous? Is the quality of the German units they are facing or is the terrain unfavorable? Thanks!

[CountryBoy]

What makes the Allied advance from Hill 30 dangerous? Is the quality of the German units they are facing or is the terrain unfavorable? Thanks!

It's basically the very high quality of the 82nd and 101st Airborne units. That, coupled with Allied artillery, means that I cannot stop them and it would only be a matter of time before they cut across the base of the Cherbourg peninsula, thereby trapping any German units north of a line running roughly south-west from Hill 30. So rather than let that happen, I've pulled back to my new defensive line. That said, it is also more favourable terrain further south, where the bocage starts. Around Carentan and Hill 30 was mostly fields, which is not great for defence.

[lezgo killemall]

How do the allies not have any naval losses but are down 69 pts?

[CountryBoy]

How do the allies not have any naval losses but are down 69 pts?

Good question. I know I did hit some of their naval support with land based artillery which damaged one of their ships. So I guess it should be showing some form of a loss to represent the hit (I think ships have 'turrets' which are their version of men/vehicles).