Scenario: 0710_01a: The 4th Livorno Div. Turns West
19 Turns
Briefing: Operation Husky, JOSS Beach, in the early morning hours of July 10th 1943: The easiest of all the landings occurred at Licata, where Truscott's JOSS Force encountered feeble resistance from the Italian 207th Coastal Division. By the evening of the 12th of July, the force beachhead extended from Palma di Montechiaro, inland to Canicatti, and northeast to Riesa. In this alternative scenario, you will see what effect the Italian 1st Livorno Division, the best Italian division in Sicily, may have had if it had moved on the weaker JOSS beach rather than moving on Gela. [Size small]
Spoiler Alert!!! This AAR is detailed. Play it first then read it if you wish to play it blind.
Introduction: The general consensus on this scenario is that it is impossible to win as the allies in a pbem game. For this reason I thought it would make for a good solo match and good material to write up as an AAR! I also thought this would be a nice way to introduce The Panzer Campaigns to newbies who happen across the 2nd Infantry's home page.
0200 July 10th 1943 Turn 1: The night is dark as the LCI's chug their way across the waters on this moonless night. In an effort to capitalize on surprise the Navy has forgone the usual opening bombardment. Elements of the 3rd Infantry Division hit the shore with little resistance! 7th IR is on the left, 15th IR is up the middle supported by 3rd Ranger Btln while elements of the 15th & 30 IR Land to the right.
My intention is to take the 30th IR and seize the victory objective on the far right down Route 115. I will use the 15th IR to seize Licata then North with the 7th on the left to seize Stn. San Olivo. From there I will weigh my options.
1000 July 10th Turn 4: The regular army units are landing disrupted and movement is slow in Sicily, but I feel I am doing well so far. I have received several reinforcements that I have combined into battalion strength units. A lucky air strike unfortunately disrupted 3rd Ranger HQ but it is an A quality unit and should recover shortly. I have decided to try to take Licata with just my Rangers if I can to free up the rest of the units to head north.
On the right a motorcycle unit attached to the 4th Livorno Dv. assaulted 1/30 Infantry Btln and pushed them off the beach. Miraculously they are not disrupted and unflinchingly open fire with direct fire causing disruption to the motorcycle unit!
1200 July 10th Turn 5: 3rd Rangers take Licata!
2000 July 10th 1943 Turn 9: I have had contact with high quality German units as of turn 6 but they have done little at this point. 7th IR is about to surround Stn. San Olivo!
15th IR is moving up the middle now and will hopefully serve as a blocking force so that 7th IR does not get cut off.
30th IR is making steady progress down Route 115 on the right.
2200 July 10th Turn 10: In my attempt to cut off Stn. San Olivo I run into 2 strong elements of the 15th Sizilien Pz Gren Div.! My assault failed to take the town! If I don't take it in the next turn I will never dig the Germans out!
0200 July 11th Turn 11: Well, the AI pulled back the 15th Sizilien allowing me to surround Stn. San Olivo!
Just south the 15 IR has successfully deployed against, and disrupted another element of 15th Sizilien.
The 7th has started pushing east toward Palma Di Montechiaro.
On the far right the 30th IR has taken the objective.
0800 July 11th turn 13: Stn. San Olivo is captured but the 2 German Units turn of up south of the town.
2000 July 11th 1943 Turn 19: Allied Major Victory! On the map of the final dispositions you can see the purple on brown units. This is the Livorno Division. The AI NEVER even got them in the fight. The superior strength of the Germans was wasted attacking piecemeal here and there. They acted more like a harassing force, never assaulting the victory objectives once I owned them, and never properly defending them in the first place. Finally, the AI's annoying habit of breaking off it's attack and pulling back allowed me to move right into critical ground virtually unopposed.
Final Thoughts: This scenario is an interesting affair. On the one hand it is next to impossible for the allies in pbem and it is almost impossible not to win as the allies against the AI. I am considering re-balancing the scenario for pbem and maybe for solo play. Panzer Campaigns really soars against a living opponent but the AI can sometimes leave a lot to be desired. Even so, with the deck stacked against the allied player in pbem it is a great challenge to see how much ground you can take before succumbing to the inevitable!