Friday 7 September 2012

AAR - FAB: Sicily (VASSAL) Part 2

Continuation of our first VASSAL game with FAB: Sicily. For Part 1 click here.




Session #3 (4/9/12) - Turns Three and Four

By the end of Turn #4 the Allies had removed one of the German HG Armoured units in Niscemi (G) and all of the Italian units around that area except a single Napoli unit who escaped by moving North (I). This earned the Allies a further VP. Elsewhere (H) two US 2nd Armoured Units repaired the blown bridges at Licata and pushed into Canicatti (H) through Palma Di Montechiaro earning one further VP by destroying a Livorno motorised unit there. As the Axis, I was scrambling a little here having failed to recover most of my isolated units in the shrinking out-of-supply pocket (G). My unit there and the additional VP for holding Niscemi and it's airfield would be gone by Turn #5.

End of Turn #4
 All was not lost for the Axis as they maintained a strong defensive line in good hilly terrain from Caltanissetta through Enna right to the coast at Catania (through J to I line on map).

The VP marker stands at Axis 4VPs (-2VP across turns 3 & 4) An Axis sudden-death victory at the end of Turn #4 was 8VPs.

Session #4 (5/9/12) - Turns Five and Six

In Turn #5 the breakaway Allied armour unit moved from point (H) above to take point (K) below. In other advances the British Elite 51st Infantry took control of Ramacca (O), preparing for the hilly Adrano point (I) above. The most crucial part of the Allied turn though was the capturing of the airfield and German unit at Niscemi (P), worth 2VPs.

End of Turn #5

In response, possibly desperation, I moved my German armoured units south into Agrigento (L) to cut the Allied supply lines. A battle in Canicatti saw the Italian Aosta Infantry defeat the US 1st Infantry gaining a (much needed) VP for me. These advances had to be taken from my centre and despite a reshuffle around line (N) and area (M) I was beginning to look a little weak there.

In Turn #6 the Allied forces advanced creating conflicts in Enna (Q) and Regalbuto (R). At Enna, two US 45th Elite Infantry engaged two Italian units, the Assietta and Livorno. I used a lot of assets to support the Italians and caused significant damage to the advancing us forces, but the area would remain contested moving into Turn #7. The British faired better in Regalbuto, forcing two Napoli infantry units to literally run for the hills. I was retreating my Axis lines for good defensive terrain.

End of Turn #6
My advancing German armour (S) forced the US to retreat back into a supplied area across the Salso River into Licata. I deployed a re-enforcing armoured unit, fresh from Messina, into the hills around Nicosea (T). This terrain would hopefully be a good position from which to hold-up any Allied advances over the last three turns. 

The VP marker stands at Axis 3VPs (-1VP across turns 5 & 6) An Axis sudden-death victory at the end of Turn #6 was 6VPs.

Scoring so far... (Axis began with 8VPs)


1 comment:

  1. TURN 3 - 4
    In hindsight I believe these were the best two turns of my game but also were I started making mistakes. I had isolated the Germans at Niscemi and it would only a matter of time before they fell and this was a three point VP swing towards the Allies. I had also taken the VP location at Val de Catania and had the Italian forces in retreat there. I probably let a little complacency creep in to my strategy here, and with experience I should have continued to push the Axis back relentlessly. I felt I needed to consolidate my victories and gather my assets for another big push.

    So instead of pushing on towards Messina I decided to continue my flanking manoeuvre with the US 4th Armour division in the west hoping to draw the German’s out of the centre of the line to stop the threat to Palermo. The 4th Armour smashed through Agrigento (42) and earned a exploitation marker. The red mist must have descended as I moved one of the 4th into the empty Cattolica Eraclea (52) leaving one unit behind to maintain a line of supply. This spread my forces dangerously thin along the coast but served the purpose of getting Axis attention as GaryG surged his elite Panzergrenadiers through the US 1st veteran infantry that I had moved forward to Canicatti (40) precisely to stop said surge and attacked my isolated armour unit in Agrigento. I retreated my armour here back to Palma di Montechiaro (41) leaving the rest of the 4th Armour behind and out of supply in Cattolica Eraclea (52). Double mistake here as I should not have split the units and I should have put a roadblock in with the 1st to hold back the Germans. To compound this error I fluffed my retreat and lost the valuable 1st Airborne unit and handed GaryG an easy VP.

    The faint was a success though and did pull the German15th and 29th PG out of the main line of attack but I delayed the push with the US 45th and the British 50th Highlanders and lost valuable turns. I didnt see this at the time though and still thought I had a winning edge at this point.

    ReplyDelete