The Invasion So Far…

The US Army successfully took Carentan and linked the Omaha and Utah beaches. More infantry will be needed as the front continues to expand deeper into the boccage. The British Army has landed more tanks and expanded their front line. Joining as reinforcements are the 11^th Armoured Division and the rest of the 4^th Armoured Brigade to help make up for losses sustained by the 7^th Armoured Division, 8^th Armoured Brigade and 27^th Armoured Brigade. They were added to the front lines to complement the Canadian 2^nd Armoured Brigade and the Guards Armoured Division.

June 16^th

The weather is clear blue skies and Allied aircraft restrict German movements and replacements.

Over to the west side of Normandy, VII Corps directs three different attacks. The first is Pont de l’Abbé (this one isn’t in the picture, it’s just one hexrow south CCA / 2^nd Armored, forgive this faux pas) by the 101^st Airborne supported by a tank battalion from 2^nd Armored. They evict a regiment from the 243^rd and take the town. The second is the assault on Vaolgnes by the paratroopers from the 101^st and the 9^th Infantry division. Provided with artillery, air, and naval support plus their own modifiers for troop quality and sheer strength, the defenders were overwhelmed and routed. The third attack was along the coast and eliminated another regiment of the 709^th Division. This one was spearheaded by CCB / 2^nd Armored with infantry support from the 9^th Infantry.

The US Army continues the grind forward by taking two more towns. St. Claire sur l’Elle across the Elle River and Balleroy. The former had a lot of strength that had to overcome improved defenses and a small river crossing. The US 29^th Infantry and 3^rd Armored stormed the location and chewed up the regiment from the 77^th Division. The attack on Ballroy was a multi-division effort by the US 1^st and 2^nd Infantry Divisions plus the 4^th Cavalry regiment (which despite the name is really a tank formation). The 17^th SS Panzergrenadiers couldn’t’ hold on despite determined defense and had to fall back.

The running theme in Normandy ’44 is attrition, attrition, attrition. The Allies have to keep punching and at some point, the line will give way. You won’t necessarily get immediate results but doing nothing doesn’t help. For example the 3^rd Canadian Infantry and the British 51^st Infantry bash their heads repeatedly against the 12^th SS Panzer division. While they were no more successful they did manage to inflict a loss on some flak 88’s. To the west the 4^th Armoured (supported by the 11^th Armoured and elements of the 50^th Infantry division) pushed a regiment from the 2^nd Panzer division.

More interesting was the situation on the east where the Guards Armoured in combination with the British 3^rd Infantry massed an attack across Ranville to inflict severe losses on the 711^th Division. The combat result gave the Allied player the opportunity to either advance after combat or put units in reserve (with a marker that is like a cross with four arrows as points, seen above in the picture). This is another mechanic that allows a player to put units in reserve for a second movement and attack phase, and very successful attacks allow you to put the attacking units in reserve immediately. Normally you would have to put units in reserve during the regular movement phase. It’s really the only way to attack the same space twice or have units exploit a hole or gap created in the regular combat phase.

I used this opportunity to only move one brigade into the empty hex and put the others into reserve so they could use the next phase to shift over and strike at the 346^th Division southwest of Ranville. That attack wasn’t as successful, but we’ll see if the Germans can exploit the situation.

June 17^th

The weather continues to be nice and clear which favors the Allies. We are more than halfway through this campaign and the Americans really need to focus on taking the peninsula. The 2^nd Armored, 9^th Infantry, and 101^st Airborne divisions cooperate to eliminate resistance from the 243^rd and 709^th Infantry divisions. CCB / 2 and the 9^th Infantry force their way north to the Saire River. Meanwhile, the paratroopers backed up by CCA / 2 punch a hole and take St. Sauvier-le-Vicomte on the highway south of Valognes. The German line is completely unhinged. All they can hope now is to conduct a fighting withdrawal while they hole up in Cherbourg and form a new line along the Douve River

Notice that the 30^th Infantry division is taking a position on the line west of Carentan. I withdraw the 82^nd Airborne due to heavy losses: one regiment eliminated and two more reduced to cadres. The new division will attack west but I will need to land more infantry to both reduce Cherbourg and push south to Coutances and St. Lo.

The 29^th Infantry spent time receiving replacements along with CCA / 3. Meanwhile the other combat command (CCB) from 3^rd Armored clears the forest along with 2^nd Infantry. The line stretches hex by hex. It’s taut but doesn’t break. The 1^st Infantry tries to gain against the panzergrenadiers south of Balleroy but a determined defense inflicted losses on them for no gain.

The Germans attempted a counter attack against Guards Armoured with the 21^st Panzer Division. In the ensuing tank duel both sides suffered losses in an exchange. As usual, the Allies can usually make good their losses (via either replacements or just landing more tank battalions). The Germans rarely make up losses for their armored vechicles.

June 18^th

The weather is overcast which brings the Axis armies some (but not much) respite from air attack. The Allies are barely slowing down as the Germans set up ZOC bonds to create strong points along the front lines.

The Peninsula defense is crumbling and the Cotenttin army is conducting a fighting withdrawal trying to use their ZOCs to slow down the US Army. Otherwise they are generally content to retreat and preserve what they can but the US 9^th Infantry and 2^nd Armored are simply blasting into pieces the remaining battalions. 275^th Infantry is shifting in this direction to stop the Americans from simply overrunning the 91^st Division.

The US Army added some replacements but still engaged with the powerful 3^rd Armored division against the panzergrenadiers who were forced back despite holding high ground. It’s just a matter of time before St. Lo is threatened. The Germans need to delay until the arrival of more powerful divisions can stabilize the line and perhaps counter-attack.

The British have landed so many forces the lines are up to the brim with troops yet 51^st Division and 3^rd Canadian are quite understrength, so 15^th Division has taken up the slack in attacking 21^st Panzer Division along with the recently landed 31^st Armoured Brigade. Guards Armoured and 3^rd Infantry drive to the coast beyond Ranville. Somewhere the Axis line will break since German defense can’t be everywhere.

Summary

The Big US shift is to cut the Peninsula. It’s the reason the heavily depleted 82^nd Airborne was withdrawn (and free up some cadres) while 30^th Infantry took its place in the front line. The Terrain just south of Carentan is very marshy with just two roads and the German paratroopers are dug in. Because of the victory conditions, it’s imperative for the Americans to take all the towns and cities on their side of the June 27^th Line and that means feeding in more forces to take all of the Peninsula. The British still want to take Caen for the Auto-victory conditions but taking cities south and east of their perimeter is just as good too. Stretch the German line and somewhere it will give in.

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