The Battle For Normandy Finish - June 15

The Normandy campaign came to a sudden halt after the Allies broke out from the German lines.  June 15 was an optional sudden death victory check date, so we decided to apply the rule as the Allies had amassed enough victory locations to bring an end to the game.  We would have liked to play it out farther, but time issues over the next few weeks and the impending holidays pushed us in favor of wrapping it up.

Normandy: Evening of June 15, 1944

The Americans conducted a breakout from the Vire River line near Saint-Jean-de-Daye with the 2nd Armored Division spearheading a race to seal off the peninsula at Lessay and driving deep south to Coutances. In the north the American 90th Infantry Division assaulted the defenses of Cherbourg and pushed through to the coast at Carteret.  This double envelopment pocketed the remaining German defenders on the Cotentin.  The Allies ended the day with 37 points of geographic objectives.

American Breakout: June 13-15, 1944

Some post game stats:
Play length: July 8 - November 11, 2014
Play time: 17 sessions averaging 4.15 hours
Total play time: 70 hours
Total Campaign Game Dates: June 6 - August 11 = 67 days (201 turns)
Completed Campaign Game Dates: June 6 - June 15 = 10 days (30 turns)

The Battle For Normandy Update - June 11

Normandy: June 11, 1944

Our Normandy campaign continues as we are on the sixth day of the invasion, with nearly two and a half months of real time logged.  The weather has held up for the most part, giving the Allies time to make some significant gains in select sectors.  German resistance grows along the bocage line.

British and Canadian Front

The British thrust lead by the Desert Rats push through Bayeux toward Caumont. The Canadians and British 3rd Infantry screen Caen, waiting for their opportunity.

American Zone: Omaha 

The Big Red One finishes off a large pocket of the German 352nd who held out at Trevieres for seven days.  U.S. 28th Infantry push on toward St. Lo, but have not linked up with Utah yet.  Strong German lines hold the Douve and Taute Rivers.

American Zone: Utah

The U.S. Airborne forces have remained static against strong German defenses while the 90th Infantry have pushed through on the coast to the north in a mad dash to reach Cherbourg.

The Battle For Normandy - The Night of June 6

The great invasion has finally begun.  Tuesday night saw my Allies take on Dan K.'s Germans as we started the standard campaign game.  We spent some time finalizing setup and reviewing various rules which left us with just enough time to complete the initial June 6 night airdrop phase.  We realized too late that we had already made on error in the drop procedure rolling for scatter direction for each individual company. However, we decided to let it stand and move on.  It will just take me a little longer to reform the battalions from the slightly farther afield companies.

The British 6th AB landed consistently south of the Bois de Bavent in a fairly tight pattern with minimal losses.  The Ox and Bucks took Pegasus Bridge.

The British Airdrop

The US took slightly higher losses than historical,  losing 17 of 54 (31%) airborne infantry companies plus the 101st HQ compared to the 22% historical loss rate.

The American Airdrop 

 Next week we hit the beaches...

The Battle For Normandy

The next big project with Dan K. is to be GMT's The Battle For Normandy.  We are going right into the campaign game as soon as I finish clipping 100,000 counters.

Is this how armies are made?