Ukraine'43 First Edition - Turns Nine and Ten

The Axis retreat!  Back to the Dnepr!  Run away!

 This is the Soviet exploitation combat phase.

Even with mixed results they are pushing forward.

One coup was racing a tank brigade forward to capture an unoccupied VP location 

(middle right and side of image).

 The Axis pull back.

Note the human touch top left corner.

Wouldn't happen if I'd been playing using Vassal.

 The Soviets keep up the pressure.

Eight attacks.

 A further four attacks in the exploitation phase.

The Axis are now mostly back behind the Dnepr.

They look a bit short on troops to hold the lines.

Their only hope is that Soviet supply constraints will allow them time to build up and fortify the line.

EDIT

Forget to say that the overcast weather on Turn 9 saw the whole Luftwaffe grounded.  In comparison it only affected 20% of the Soviet airforce.  Hopeless die rolling.

Grenz

Another batch completed.  Could be anyone of a number of regiments I hope.  I just liked the mix of colours, but when I showed them to the family they all said they are brown!  No one picked up on the pink facings, the light blue pants with the yellow stripe...

The moustaches have come out well.

Hi mum!

France'40 - Take Two - The End

And here's me thinking there were six turns to go...

Turn 9

The Germans catch up with the Allied defenders of Valenciennes in the north.

 In the south the French are being roughly handled.

 Hitler says Halt!

WTF!

As it turns out this was the last turn (Turn 10),
even without the halt,

 the panzers would never have made it across the map.

The focus is on taking Valenciennes

 In the south the French are pushed aside, 

but the panzers seem to have run out of the will to race forward.

 Allied counter attacks on the last turn.

That is Rommel under that 2-1 counter. 
Monty is attacking. 
Monty fails so its a morale boosting Rommel tactical victory amidst a strategic fail.

Most of the big picture 

(there are still more hex rows beyond those at the top of the image).

The Allies had 10 VPs as their line to the north was not cut.  The Germans had 3 VPs (from the occupied entry hexes (middle of the right hands side of the image).

There is an option to play on a further four turns.  That would have seen a major pocket formed round Lille and the panzers reaching the coast.

World in Flames 34

The war drags on.

 It took them a while, but the Nazis have finally captured the oil city that sits just outside the protective mountain range (hidden under the oil marker in the above image).

In the Urals the Nazis were able to breakthrough,

capturing an important resource hex (top of the image).

The weather has generally been rain and that impacts both sides,

any move by the Soviets to reinforce their front line will see units flipped,

increasing their vulnerability to subsequent Axis attacks.

In China, while a naval air battle rages inconclusively in the Solomon Sea,

the Japanese have encroached further on Kunming.

Other things of not is the Chinese cavalry attempting to liberate Mongolia

and the long march of a Chinese nationalist garrison unit back to the front lines.

Austrian Dragoon Regiment No. 6. Riesch

I must confess I don't pay much attention to which regiment I paint, going more on what colours I have to paint with.  There is a light blue I'm fond of so this unit ended up with that colour facings.  At least I checked that there was a regiment that had light blue facings.

 At rest, for the moment.

 Flags are paper, printed from the Warflags site.

 The horses are a range of browns with a black wash.

 A long march column, headed to the front one day soon, maybe.

Matching or rather getting best fit of rider to horse was a bit of an effort.

Painting moustaches was a bit hit and miss.

Not sure why half of the command are in campaign dress (and not resting).

I couldn't decide if chin straps were gold or black, so command got gold and other ranks black.

Ukraine'43 First Edition - Turns Seven and Eight

The Axis frontline can only hold for so long.  With the coming of the overcast weather in September, maybe it is time to stage a withdrawal?

 The Soviets launch attacks all along the front line.

This image has missed the first two attacks (lower left hand corner)

but the results can be seen in the disrupted retreats.

 Follow up Soviet attacks in their exploitation phase.

At lower odds, but deadly this time.

 The two Panzer Corps strike back,

while the rest of the army struggles to reform a line.

 There is even a follow up German attack to retake a victory village.

 Turn 8 sees another set of attacks by the Soviets along the whole front.

These produce a lot of exchanges which results in many holes appearing in the Axis defences.

 Stalino has fallen (worth 2 VPs) and the Soviets can start to relax 

confident that they will be able to maintain VP parity (essential to avoid sudden death).

Follow up attacks widen the holes that are now evident in the German front lines.

The Germans retreat.

The Soviet Central Front has extended well down the northern flank,

causing the Germans to allocate troops to cover this area.

The challenge is to extricate enough troops to create a new line anchored on the Don.

France'40 - Take Two - Part Two

Playing three GMT WW2 games at once is not necessarily a good idea, as although they all use the same system, there are differences and these can play with your head!

But on with the campaign (I'm the Wehrmacht, Richard is the Allies).  Our previous session (20 March) had resulted in three pockets by the end of Turn 4.

 The pocket at Namur is ignored as it is sure to get bigger.

 On the southern flank, one pocket is liquidated, while the noose around the other is strengthened.

A simple decision process as one pocket was weak and the other strong.

 The strong pocket attempts to breakout, but the panzers hold firm.

 In Namur the French fight through to link up with the other defenders.

Work now goes into reducing the Namur pocket.

while the panzers, lead by Rommel, push onto Charleroi. 

 The farthest advance on Turn 6.

8th Panzer in the lead.

 Total annihilation of the southern pocket.

 More French units are surrounded to the west of Namur,

 but they are trying to get free.  

Not going to happen.

 German attacks on the Namur and Charleroi pockets.

While destructive, it ties down a number of panzer divisions that should be heading west.

This could cost the Germans victory.

 In action again, 8th Panzer leads the dash westward.

Note De Gaulle in the top left hand corner of the image.

 The Germans attempt to secure the southern flank,

but even at maximum odds it is hard work.

 Turn 8 

Are the Germans getting bogged down trying to take Namur
and clear the Charleroi corridor?

 Their push west looks a bit thin,

but interestingly has a number of infantry divisions to the fore,
along with 8th Panzer.

 The 1st Panzer attacks De Gaulle at St Quentin.

 The French counterattack against the German southern flank.

The big picture.

The Germans have captured the important road junctions of Cambrai and St Quentin.

More importantly their panzers are now free to move forward through Maubeuge.

The defenders of Namur are on their last legs.

At this stage the game is turning into something of a race.