A Harvest Of Sorrow - USA '44 AAR

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The Duchy of Luxembourg is reborn just before midnight of April 29th:



Its government duly joins the United Nations, and declares war on the Soviet Union and her allies.

Hooray! One by one, the nations of Europe close ranks with the US. And at the same time, the Soviet's Comintern puppets in Europe are falling apart. I hope Thälmann and Ulbricht have their plane tickets to Moscow!! The Americans are racing towards Berlin...

 

[unmerged(10416)]

Ooooh... April 30th already... well, reaching Berlin on time to spoil Stalin's May Day parade is probably not going to happen. o

But will the French get an opportunity to celebrate their national holiday (July 14th) in Paris? And where will Eisenhower and SHAFE celebrate the fourth of July?

 

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rich-love: ...German infantry is pushed out of Kiel, and chased up the peninsula

excellent updates, excellent results! !

 

[Vann the Red]

Finally caught back up, Rich, and I continue to be amazed at your success. I tend to play cautiously, so I agree with your current pace. Academically, I appreciate Kan's argument, but I don't know that I could throw the dice like that.

Vann

 

[rich-love]

Thanks for reading, everyone!

GrimReaper: Don't discount Luxembourg. I'm sure that when they finally get around to cranking out an infantry division, it'll come in handy garrisoning some airfield in the Ukraine.

Karl Martell: wait and see. Updates to follow today.

Ghostwriter: Thanks!

Vann the Red: Thank you! I'm surprised by my progress, actually. I was re-reading the thread and found one of my posts saying that it'd be nice to recapture Britain by the end of '45...

Updates to follow today!

 

[rich-love]

General Hodge pursues fleeing German and Soviet troops into Denmark:



Carrier support proves sufficient, and Hodge pushes through, headed north.

 

[rich-love]

General Ridgeway is ordered to drop into Grenoble, closing the bag on approximately 25 divisions along the Rhone:



Soviet forces retreating through the province mount an immediate attack.

 

[rich-love]

SHAFE orders an all-out assault on the Soviet pocket, hoping to relieve the pressure on Ridgeway's hard-pressed paratroopers:

 

[rich-love]

American attacks against Besançon and Lyon succeed, but not before the Soviets shatter Ridgeway's paratroopers:



The defeated Soviets flee to Geneva and Marseille. 3 mechanized divisions from Bern are sent to plug the gap in Grenoble.

 

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how much divs does the ussr have now? they probably made more divs but still...how much?

 

[stnylan]

Good good. As for the paratroopers ... necessary sacrifice.

 

[rich-love]

USSR has something like 615 or so divisions left.

 

[rich-love]

American forces press northward into Denmark and along the Baltic coast of Germany:



A mechanized thrust to Berlin is stopped in Potsdam as the Germans rally to their capital. Soviet and German forces are seen forming rough defensive lines along the Berlin - Friedrichshaven axis.

 

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do you have any other plans for scandinavia other than raiding? or have you switched to occupying territory?

 

[rich-love]

It depends on what the AI does. If it doesn't bite, my raids may turn into an occupation by default. Most likely that's what'll happen.

 

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Have you considered (i.e. formulated a plan based on) Kan's suggestion of creating a pocket from central Germany down to the Adriatic? It would be an awfully bold move (even for an "apparant" god of war ). BTW: What are your long term Euro-theater strategic plans? I am assuming that they have evolved as the battlefield situation changes.

 

[rich-love]

Bedell-Smith arrives in Grenoble at midnight of May 7th, sealing the pocket around Geneva:



9 Soviet divisions are cut off.

2 hours later, Decker arrives in Toulon, trapping 13 enemy divisons in Marseille:

 

[unmerged(47162)]

and after thats done you can free the ic rich provs of north italy!

 

[rich-love]

Zhukov attempts to escape from Marseille just before dawn:



Zhukov comes close to breaking out, and the American and Canadian troops are ordered to counterattack:



The doomed Soviets fight skillfully, but are overwhelmed by dawn of the next day. 14 divisions are destroyed.

 

[unmerged(10416)]

Ayyy... and the last holdout in France collapses...

You know what would be immensely cool? If you could take the savegame at this point, and turn it into a multiplayer game. You, the USA, versus a skilled USSR player. He could straighten out the redeployment of the USSR armies, reorganize a line along the Elbe (or rather, Oder/Sudeten/Danube/Adriatic Sea) and THEN you can have the clash of the century, his 600 divisions fully organized and deployed against your European armies, full of bloodlust and victorious throughout western Europe.