Unconditional Surrender - Italian Campaign July 1943 to September 1944

 Time to tackle the big one, the Italian Campaign which runs from July 1943 until September 1944. One of the more ambitious Unconditional Surrender scenarios, but hopefully this will be a bit more manageable than AHGCs 'Anzio' which used to take an age to play.

There are two main scenario options here, to start in July 1943 with Italy still in the war or start in August, with Italy out of the war. I went with the July option as I just thought it would look nice to have the map packed with Italian units! The geography and extensive use of naval operations makes this one of the most complicated scenarios.

The victory conditions are stiff, the Allies have to reduce the Axis to holding four cities or less by September 1944, which given that north of Bologna there are no less than five cities as well as two in Sardinia and Corsica, it is a tall order. If they use an amphibious invasion after June 1944, the requirement is three cities! Historically the Allies didn't breach the Gothic Line until 1945. If the Germans keep the Allies entirely out of Italy by September 1943, they immediately win, so the Allies have to attack soon.

The initial setup has US 5th Army in Tunis and 9th Airforce, the British have 8th Army and the RAF in the Central med. Both armies are armoured. The British also have three garrison armies, and both the USAAF and RAF have a couple of sorties on them. I realised later that the various British 'garrison armies' are actually supposed to represent the various allied contingent Corps (Poles, French etc) and combined with the two British tank unit attachments are actually quite powerful when reinforced albeit without the staying power of a full army. 

The Italians have around ten ground units around Italy including two in the mobilisation box, and a rather battered air unit on Catania in Sicily. The Germans main units are 8th and 10th Armies in Rome and Taranto respectively, plus a couple of garrison units in the north with another in the mobilisation box. A rather battered Luftwaffe unit is based in Naples, in range of Sicily, Taranto etc.

There are lots of restrictions on where naval invasions can take place on this map, which are listed separately with diagrams. The Allies can't simply sail from Tunis to Venice! The approach needs to be more step by step. The biggest restriction is that on the western coast of Italy they can only land around Genoa or Naples as otherwise the Axis garrison requirements would be enormous.

There is an awful lot of stuff going on with events, reinforcements etc. Both the Germans and Italians have 'tanks' events (there arent any German panzer armies) although the German tanks are withdrawn later on. A special rule is that destroyed German units go straight into the mobilisation box so they can be reactivated the same turn. The Germans get another field army later in 1943 (the 4th).

The Allies start with two invasions, a paradrop, tanks plus Ultra and Free Forces events. The British invasion is single use whereas the US one comes back after four turns. There is another US invasion on the reinforcement track, plus 7th US Army and 12th Army Air Force. The provision of all the invasion counters mean the Allies can continuously threaten amphibious landings.

From June 1944, resources available to both sides drop markedly as resources are devoted to the D Day invasion. Both the British and Germans get limited production per turn thereafter, and the Germans lose their 'tanks' event.

I spent some time thinking about attack options for the Allies (and re reading the rules on amphibious invasions). While it was tempting to go for Taranto, it is essential to knock out Italy on the first turn which requires taking two Italian cities. Sicily was the obvious choice as it is air range of both the British and US. I'm using the fixed historical weather as it is so crucial to the course of the campaign, which mean July, August and September 1943 are clear weather.

The operation started with the USAAF and RAF attacking the German and Italian airfields. The RAF had mixed success but the US did very well. After repeated strikes both Axis air units were rendered inoperable.

8th Army then landed west of Catania, with air support they assaulted the German garrison unit and eliminated it. The various bonuses made this a fairly likely result.

Eagle eyed readers may notice that a German unit has arrived at Salerno. It moved down there in the strategic movement phase which happens for both sides before the operations phase.

US 5th Army did much the same thing at Palermo, although this time the US were fighting Italians. Both Allies committed their air forces to ground support to increase the combat differential. I didn't use the paras as I had other ideas for them.

With Palermo and Catania captured, Italy surrendered and all the Italian units were removed. I'd forgotten to use the Italian tanks in the battle for Palermo, but their intervention wouldn't have changed the result. 

In a bold move the Allied paras dropped into Caglieri  on Sardinia. They siezed control of the port and the British shipped in 9th Army who could clear Corsica and Sardinia, while providing a handy airbase for operations against Northern Italy.

In the production phase the Germans rebuilt their destroyed garrison units in Northern Italy, they will have to figure out how to defend the entire peninsular with five units next turn!

The Allies couldnt invade in August (the next 'surprise attack' event is in September) so the Germans sent 10th Army to block easy access to the toe of Italy and sent three garrison armies to defend Genoa, Trieste and Venice. These are all pretty safe as they are out of Allied air range, whereas the Luftwaffe moved north of Rome to give them air cover. 8th Army and a garrison defended Naples and Monte Cassino. I'll worry about defending Salerno next turn when the invasion threat reopens.

The Allies kept two units on Malta to threaten invasions in the Adriatic and south coast while rebuilding their airforces. British 9th 'Army' completed the occupation of Sardinia and Corsica, ending up on a port to threaten Genoa. Otherwise August was quite quiet.

September was the last turn of good summer weather and the Germans concentrated on the defence of the Bay of Naples with two field and one garrison army. Taranto and Bari were abandoned (but still Axis controlled).

The British simply occupied the ports on the southern coast and sea transported a garrison unit in as well. The US pushed up by land as far as Salerno but didn't have the MP left to attack. The Allies also moved another unit by sea into Catania but kept a 'floating reserve' in Malta.

In October the weather turned to 'poor', reducing the effect of armour and air and restricting units to assault combat only. The Germans occupied the Gustav Line along the Rapido and Sangro rivers with 8th and 10th Armies, but left a garrison unit in Naples.

The Allies used their 'surprise attack' to amphibiously assault Naples, supported by all the adjacent Allied units to get extra combat bonuses. Now what I SHOULD have done was use the surprise attack for a land assault, as it gives you a +2 combat modifier, but in all the excitement I completely forget...

The Allied attack failed by a very fine margin and Naples held out. The Allies have now got their air units based on mainland Italy, but still too far south to be able to support attacks at the top of the Med. They do keep hammering the Luftwaffe however, and generally the Allies have air superiority now.

November had a brief gasp of good weather and the US conducted a ground assault against Naples. The Germans threw in their tanks and  the attack was defeated. Naples continued to hold out. 8th Army occupied eastern Italy as far north as the Sangro, Allied air could relocate to Foggia in future turns.

The weather in December was 'severe' so both sides contented themselves with rebuilding their air forces and shuffling units around a bit. In the main it was stalemate on the Gustav Line. Another German field army (4th) had arrived, so with the Allies getting closer, it was sent to garrison Venice.

In January 1944 however, the weather cleared a bit and 8th Army conducted an amphibious assault on Trieste! The USAAF suppressed the Luftwaffe and the RAF supported the attack. Once again the Germans threw in their armour and once again the invasion failed. Dear me!

February was more ineffective slogging on the Gustav Line in poor weather. Naples continued to hold out against assault.

March saw the arrival of more US aircraft as another airforce marker turned up. They sea transported to Corsica where they could cover northern Italy. The allies now outnumbered the German 3:1 in the air.

The Allies conducted another assault on Naples which failed once again. It was starting to look fairly hopeless for the Allies at this point.

However the British conducted another amphibious assault in the Adriatic, aimed at Venice. The Luftwaffe was completely crippled by the USAAF so unable to intervene whereas as the British threw in the RAF, tanks and an Ultra Intelligence event. As before German armour raced to intervene.

But this time It wasn't enough and the Allies got ashore. Well, that is a turn up.

In April the weather was still poor but German 4th Army moved out from Trieste and conducted a counterattack supported by the Luftwaffe, German armour and support (assault) attacks by the two adjacent garrison armies. The Allies threw in everything they had, including those very useful British tank events. The German attack failed.

The Allies responded ferociously. The US assaulted Naples (again) but this time overran the garrison and captured the city. 8th Army assaulted the Sangro sector of the Gustav Line and pushed German 8th Army back. The icing on the cake was that the last Allied floating reserve assaulted and took Trieste, incidentally isolating German 4th Army who were now completely cut off.

The isolated Germans dropped to 'low supply'.

Time marches on. Heaps of casualties in the eliminated boxes and lots of events to come on the time track. 

The weather cleared in May and would remain fair until September. The trapped 4th Army tried to break out west via Venice and once more both sides threw in every support element they could muster. This was the last turn the Germans could use their 'tanks' event as in June they would lose it as Normandy attracted Hitlers attention.

The Allies broke through the Gustav Line decisively now. The US advanced to the gates of Rome while 8th Army pursued (German) 8th Army up the Adriatic coast where it halted south of Bologna. The Axis now held only five cities, if they were reduced to four they would lose, so were forced to fight for Rome. The newly arrived US 7th Army (armoured) was sea transported into Venice, along with a US air wing. 

In the logistics phase, the trapped German 4th Army remained unsupplied and was removed. The Allies now controlled the entire stretch of land from Venice to Trieste. A reorganised German garrison unit occupied Zagreb to keep the supply route from Germany open.

In June the Germans reorganised their defences as best as they could, the real risk was that with its flank hanging open, Rome could be isolated (with a hefty negative combat modifier). The partially rebuilt 4th Army appeared west of Milan, a garrison unit moved down to support the LOC of the Rome garrison (you can see it in the next photo) and German 8th Army garrisoned Bologna.

It was all too little too late however, as British 8th Army launched a fairly speculative attack against Bologna to isolate it from the south - if it failed 7th US Army would attack it. In the event 8th Army rolled 6:2 and with all the various force modifiers, it was enough to push the Germans out and Bologna fell.

Only holding Axis four cities in June 1944 was an immediate Allied win, and I didn't need to play the July - September turns. Well that was a turn up, just like the North Africa game, the Axis held out for months then collapsed in the last few turns. I really enjoyed that and I appreciated the subtlety of the scenario design after playing a few turns, even if it was weighed down the many, many special rules to cover the peculiarities of the campaign. Yes I made some mistakes with the rules (again) and operational decisions (again) but it was still and enjoyable and challenging game. Another scenario with lots of replay value.

tbh the level of abstraction is so high with this game system it does often feel as if you are playing the system rather than a strategic game, but it does give a flavour of strategic decision making and I now completely appreciate how important the capture of airbases was to further an advance and what a huge advantage command of the sea was for the Allies.  I'm just kicking myself that I didn't use one of the 'surprise attack' events ot mount a 1000 bomber raid on the Gustav Line to break the deadlock there! Maybe next time.

Operation Market - Groesbeek 18th September 1944

 Second in my little Arnhem/Operation Market trilogy is the 82nd Airborne at Nijmegen, specifically the Groesbeek Heights on 18th September. I've run this before using NATO Brigade Commander, but this time I'll do it with One Hour WW2. The original scenario is from the Command Decision 'Market Garden' scenario book.

Briefly, Gavins division landed without much incident on the 17th but had to capture six bridges as well as the Groesbeek Heights. All the important objectives were captured including the major bridge at Grave, but the 82nd didnt have the strength to overcome the defenders at Nijmegen. The latter were reinforced by the 9th SS recce battalion on the the night of the 17th which (astonishingly) had driven over Arnhem bridge just before Frosts battalion got there.

On the 18th further reinforcements were due to be flown in, as well as Brownings entire 1st Allied Airborne Army HQ. The Germans meanwhile had got their act together and organised a major counterattack against the landing zones east of Nijmegen.

Battlefield from the south. The Groesbeek Heights are the wooded rise to the left with the small village of Groesbeek in the centre. Kranenberg is to the north and Mook to the south. The waterway is the Maas-Waal canal, and the Reichswald and German border is off to the right. There is a flooded area in the top right, otherwise the area id dotted with fields but little else. The drop zones are marked with gliders, one in the top left and one just east of Groesbeek.

The Germans win if they capture Mook, Kranenburg and both DZs (but not Groesbeek, although it is certainly critical ground).

On Groesbeek itself we just have A and B companies of 1/505th PIR. They are spread out in two detachments to cover more ground. Each detachment only has three hits and 1 combat dice, but if they combine back into a full unit, they become Veteran with seven hits and 2D6.

They have excellent artillery observation from up here though. Jerry commanded these.

In Kranenburg we have C and weapons companies of 1/508th PIR. These are veteran heavy infantry. I actually made a mistake in the briefing and they should be dug in at either A4 or B3, as they cant actually see anything from the town due to the fields! I gave the US the option of moving them. John commanded these.

Closer view of Groesbeek.

In reserve we have two batteries of 75mm pack howitzers with four fire missions each. It is less than 24 hours since the drop, so supply isn't an issue for them yet. The defence will rely heavily on these...

We also have the other two companies of 1/508th, a veteran leg infantry unit, plus the only divisional reserve available to Gavin, the 307th Para Engineer battalion. Another leg infantry unit with a bonus at close range. The reinforcements will turn up on turns 3 and 4 from the west, hopefully in the nick of time.

Finally we have two jeep supply columns, one no doubt driven by James Caan. As with the artillery, plenty of supplies for now, and no real opportunity for the Germans to interdict it yet. Terry is overall CO, and gets to run the artillery, logistics and the 307th.

Rolling on from the east, we have the mighty 'Korps Feldt', a roughly divisional size formation hastily cobbled together from fortress and training units in the area. Like KG von Tettau west of Arnhem, the Corps HQ would become the command centre for all the random junk units thrown into this sector. Operational command devolved to Colonel Rasch, playing by John B in this game.

This is the edge of the Reichswald and the German border and Westwall are not far behind, as is the arms depot at Kleves. The forest provided excellent cover for the assembly of troops and largely protected their supply lines. Allied intelligence originally misplaced II SS Panzer Korps at Kleves - which was of course the original German plan, 9th SS was largely ready to move to refit there on the 17th, the perils of Ultra intercepts. They remained concerned about a heavy armoured attack from this direction for some time.

In the north we have KG Hermann, comprising Heer NCO Schule Julich (an NCO training school) and Landschutzen 254, a home defence battalion. The NCO trainees are a regular leg infantry unit and the Landschutzen are a poor light infantry unit with only five hits and reduced firepower at long range as they have few/no heavy weapons. Mark commands KG Stagard.   

In the centre we have KG von Furstenburg with Landschutzen II/6, yet another home defence battalion but reinforced with a few armoured vehicles irl some armoured cars and armed halftracks. I could have modelled this as two units but instead did it as a poor quality heavy infantry unit. This is commanded directly by the CO, John, and can conduct a flank march around the marsh. A typical rotten German trick.

There is also KG Greschick, with Luftwaffe Fortress Battalion 17 and the infamous Stomach and Ear battalion, comprising veterans with stomach wounds or hearing wounds - many of the latter being almost completely deaf, which made hearing orders hard. I rated both of these as poor light infantry, and the Stomach and Ear battalion needs a 3+ to move each turn. These will be commanded by Tim on Wednesday, but on Tuesday are split between Mark and Jim. 

Finally we have KG Hermann with NCO School Wehrkreis VI and Ersatz Bn 39. As with KG Stargard, I made the NCOs regular leg infantry and the 39th Div training battalion poor light infantry. Jim commanded these.

There is also the 'Corps' support elements, a pair of horse drawn wagons. Due to the cover of the forest and proximity of heavy Flak concentrations, there isn't any interdiction of these. The only motorised element in the entire formation is Johns HQ with a small staff car. 

There isn't any artillery support, although a battalion of Soviet 152mm howitzers arrived on the 19th, and later in the battle, 10th SS Panzer Artillery Regiment was in range of Nijmegen after moving across the Rhine.

Korps Feldt opens with KG Stargard and Herman busily marching along the roads to Kranenburg and Mook respectively. Still too far away for the US to see them.

Next turn the Germans continue to advance and KG Greschick enters the fray. Oberst Rasch has seemingly directed them on a southerly axis.

In the north, KG Stargard continue to advance down the road but spread out into the fields east of Kranenburg as dug in US Paras are spotted.

In the south Jerry consolidates his scattered companies into one unit, and brings down artillery fire on the road approaching Mook, which delays the Germans even if it doesn't inflict many losses.

KG Herman deploys and advances out of the barrage. KG Greschick also shakes out into combat formation. So far the Stomach and Ear battalion have been behaving admirably.

Things are looking a bit hairy in the north. KG Stargard infiltrates around the US flank and takes Kranenburg, while KG von Furstenburg makes an appearance. The US shell the road and shoot up Lanschutzen 254 in Kranenburg, inflicting two hits.

US reinforcements enter the fray, the other two companies of the 508th and they make it to the ridgeline overlooking Kranenburg. The US are very fortunate and manage to eliminate the Germans in Kranenburg (the Paras three two 5s and a 6!) while shelling KG von Furstenburg. Things are looking slightly better for the US here now, although Kranenburg is still German controlled.

In the south waves of Germans threaten to swamp Jerry. Mook is captured and the LZ overrun. The Germans make use of their ample logistics to reorganise one of the battered infantry units while the US continue to fire at everything in sight.

In the north the Germans opt to focus on Johns entrenched battalion rather than reoccupying Kranenburg, and combined fire manage to inflict a couple of hits.

But in the south the 307th Para Engineers arrive in the nick of time. The road to Mook is covered by fire, so instead they march along the tracks in the woods and take up position northwest of Mook. The German units in the open are suffering from US artillery and small arms fire, and one becomes disorganised. The Stomach and Ear battalion chooses this moment to stop moving.

A/B/508th move into Kranenburg, retaking the village.

The Germans go for broke and NCO School Julich assault C/W/508th. The Germans inflict enough losses to disorganise the paras but the assault is repulsed and the NCOs fall back. The assault will prevent the US reorganising next turn, but against elite entrenched troops, you really need to be in a position to conduct multiple assaults over a few turns.

In the south things settle into a familiar pattern of firing and units reorganising, neither side gaining the upper hand. Luftwaffe Fortress Bn 17 actually manages to push up onto the heights, outflanking Jerrys paras. The Stomach and Ear battalion still steadfastly refuses to move though.

This persists for a couple of turns, although the Ear battalion finally manages to move west of Mook. So far the Germans are unable to capitalise on outflanking the paras as they can't get enough fire superiority to make an assault worthwhile. The US keep disrupting their units with artillery strikes.

A rather battered KG von Furstenburg seems to be heading south though.

In the far north the US have fortified Kranenburg, this obviously keeps the village safe, but it effectively ties up a US unit doing nothing as it cant see anything from there.

To keep the pressure up, KG von Furstenburg moves onto the landing zones while one of Jims units reorganises. The rest keep up relatively ineffective fire against the US.

The US smash von Furstenburg with massed artillery fire. This however leaves three good order German units in contact with Jerry's paras - will they be able to capitalise on it? With that cliffhanger at the end of turn 8, we broke for the night. Tim will be joining us for tomorrow, taking over KG Greschick, which amazingly is relatively unscathed.

Overnight the John issued new orders to the Germans to hold onto their gains now they were in a winning position. In practice this basically involved them sitting there and shooting at the US, while the US shot back. The US artillery advantage was now becoming more apparent and two German units became disorganised. 

The Germans rallied the disorganised units and shot up the Americans - who also had a unit go disorganised. Naturally they just reorganised it. I suggested the Germans might want to assault it to prevent it reorganising but they seemed rather reluctant.

Much the same thing happened in the north as Mark and John duelled across the fields. The Germans in the open fields being at something of a disadvantage to the dug in elite US paras!

This tit for tat exchange continued for some time, the US had a cunning plan up their sleeve however.

In the north the 1/508th began to counterattack eastwards, with superior quality, numbers and artillery support, the remains of KG Stargard were soon looking distinctly shaky. They were reduced to one hit and disorganised.

In the south however the Germans finally made a concerted effort to shift the US away from the LZ objective. KG Herman managed to disorganise Jerrys paras, and Tims Luftwaffe Fortress battalion charged them! I suspect the last time the hastily armed Luftwaffe ground crews had fixed bayonets was in basic training...

However with the combat bonus for assaulting a disorganised enemy AND double attack for a flank attack, they rolled just enough hits to overrun the Paras. Jerrys men dispersed into the woods and the Germans overran their foxholes.

Terry was having none of this. All the US artillery landed on the unfortunate Luftwaffe men (woods don't provide cover against artillery) and the 307th counterattacked them behind the barrage.

The Lyftwaffe proved no match for the veteran parachute engineers and they were soon all heading back towards the Reichswald. The Americans reoccupied Jerrys vacated position, nicely positioned to simply march straight on the LZ, which Jim had unaccountably declined to defend.

In the north Mark didnt have much option but to reteat. The barrage slowed him up but by moving down the road he managed to break contact. The 1/508th followed up as fast as it could. Just two turns remaining, would the Americans take the road exit?

Mark fell back down the road the objective, planning to sell his life dearly. The Fuhrer would be most displeased if the Americans crossed the border into the fatherland.

With the American line shrinking, the Stomach and Ear battalion infiltrated into the woods, threatening the US HQ which fell back towards Kranenburg. If only the Germans had done that a turn earlier as they had numerosu opportunites to move up into the woods.

KG Herman still hunkered down around Mook.

In the north half of the 1/508th continued the pursuit of KG Stargard.

While the other half wheeled south, linked up with the Para Engineers and re-occupied the LZ covered by a heavy artillery barrage! KG Herman seemed rather stunned by this development.

The Stomach and Ear Battalion made its activation roll but only had enough movement to reach the outskirts of Kranenburg. It still counted as controlled by the US.

Despite being supported by the entire US artillery, the assault on KG Stargard failed (they had been resupplied the previous turn) and the Paras bounced back disorganised.

But in the south, KG Hermans attempt to retake the landing zone failed in bloody chaos. 1/508 was left disorganised on the LZ, but the attacking Germans were scattered to the four winds. With three objectives in American hands, it was a win for the 82nd Airborne.

Well, that was an exciting end to the battle. Things suddenly opened up again after the mid-game slogging match, and the outcome broadly reflected real life where the Germans did overrun the LZs but were eventually sent packing with heavy losses by US counterattacks. The US had been biding their time to counterattack at a favourable moment, and had meticulously managed their artillery and logistic resources to keep the guns firing as much as possible.

Jim noted rather sheepishly that he hadn't even noticed there was another objective next to his troops at Mook. Real life fog of war! Stars of the day have to be the Stomach and Ear Battalion though, who despite their disadvantages, managed to advance the furthest of all the German units and with the least casualties. 

That was great fun to run, and the players seemed to enjoy themselves. Everyone likes an Arnhem game don't they? I've got one more in this trilogy covering the 101st, and then another planned trilogy for Operation Garden, the ground component. All in good time though, more ACW games to go and we still haven't finished with Gazala yet.