What a great week it has been!  Battles have been raging all over the front this week.  Earlier Axis advances in the south appear to have been blunted and the battle lines stabilized but it seemed that no matter what mission I joined there was a lot of action to be had.  We also have two new Commanders in Chief – Joker007 for the allied forces and Fiambre for the axis forces.  Both appear to have survived their first week and are doing their level best to lead their sides to victory.

FROM THE DESK OF THE ALLIED COMMANDER IN CHIEF:

WAR!

Welcome back to Campaign 51 and some of the most interesting fighting in Tier 0 in recent memory.

The Allies ruled the roost on Day 1 and part of Day 2.  The Allied Navy, Air and Ground forces start Campaign 51 with an attack on the vaunted Axis KreigsMarine in the northern flank and Zeeland Islands. 

Rapidly taking all designated targets up to D-DAY+3, the Allies found themselves according to plan:  very strong in the far north, and weak in the south, holding the in center with a pre-designated “gap” at Namur.  The Axis noticed this gap, and began to move through…all was as planned.  However, seeing certain moves in the south, and following Allied moves away from the north flank, the pressure on the Axis to stretch their lines across the entire front was relieved….leaving the Axis suddenly free to attack the temporarily exhausted allied troops around the Haybes sector. 

This was a crucial weak point in the allied lines and the Axis exploited it well, breaking out into the rear lines in the southern sector of Free France.  Total chaos ensued for 24 hours as the Axis made it all the way to the strategic factory town of Amiens.   Was WW II reality being repeated?  No.  Allied forces regrouped.  With the strong map leadership of PATTI and SALADOR (former Allied CinC with 3 map wins), Allied forces redeployed and counter-attacked the Axis invaders, pushing them back to St Quentin and surrounding their break-out forces.  The southern bleeding was stopped, but the wounds of invasion remain with Axis invaders trying to hold the Allies with a long stretch of their lines from the center to the west. 

On D-Day+6, the Axis counter-stroke consisted of massive gains in the Zeeland’s, including the capture of the important Air and Naval Bases of VLISSIGEN and BRESKINS.  The Allies reply was initiated by SALADOR, PATTI and the entire ANZAC squad by attacking straight north to cut-off the Axis supply to the entire northern Axis forces.  This was as amazing a realignment of forces as Patton turning the 3rd Army 90 degrees to Bastogne.  A full map wide movement of divisions was required with hard fighting on defense and attack.  Extraordinary effort indeed!

Colonel Oneupu2 sent this report in from one of a series of Herculean defenses – Sedan:

“The entire West side had fallen, the East side Axis had a spawnable depot and we were under constant Luftwaffe attack. I stayed in the Bunker to defend against a sneak attack while co-coordinating a FB assault. Albatroz volunteered to fly a BTZ Para mission while we gradually secured the eastern CPs. The paras dropped and went for the AB, then moved out further, recapturing the west and flooding the bunker. A huge sigh of relief went up when we finally captured the AB and we thought the pressure would ease. Sedan was liberated, Hoorah!!

We then went after the Boullion FB. Unfortunately minutes after taking it down, it was Axis again. I set up another MSP to take it down however my sappers were gunned down and there were no more sappers left! I heard the call “Spawn down Sedan!”, so again a rally call went out and in flooded the Allied reserve. We quickly took the depot back after a fierce fight and held the town. Great fight lasting over 3 hours; one of the best defenses I’ve seen. Guys, pat yourselves on the back!!"

As the Axis bulldozed their way into France, our resolve solidified and our strength returned, holding them off on the outskirts of Amiens. Our magnificent defense held firm, as Col. Oneupu2 again reported from the rubble of Cerfontaine:

 "We had lost the South AB along with all the CPs including the Axis spawnable. We only held North AB and I thought it was almost pointless as we were getting overrun. With the remaining AB guarded I captured the nearest CP, guarding it for the remainder of the battle. Out forces started moving south, fighting for the CPs and guarding them once captured. One by one each CP - including the Axis spawnable - was recaptured. I lost count on how many times I sent encouragement to the troops and we retook the South AB and liberated the town. We then busted the FBs, however the Chimay FB was almost immediately taken back by AXIS, but again was taken down and defended this time! As EWS went from double to single then to nothing, we relaxed. Then Axis withdrew the AO, WOOT we did it, Cerfontaine was saved and AXIS denied - again, sorry Axis, not on my shift!” 

Brig. Gen. Thechort backed up the intensity of fighting:

“Overall I must say it was a blast, plenty of Axis to be killed and that supply from came in at JUST the right time to smash their faces in!”

The rapid Axis advance south left them vulnerable and we attempted to swing down and cut them off. We didn’t manage the cut off but we did force them to withdraw. And soon we were on the offence, pressing hard at Catillon, under the direction of Major Szyporyn: 

 “Last night I had a lot of fun as we organized the attack on Catillon - it was AWESOME. We rallied 2 Armor columns - one on East and one on West side of river - along with that we had MSPs with ATGs organized. The organization and patience of the guys was simply OUTSTANDING, the 3 main groups were perfectly organized and teamwork was the agenda! As we hit town we had a tough, tough fight but over time we attrited the Axis in town and made some progress. We did the whole attack without the FB, still holding ground outside town and the west CP for quite some time. I checked around after the battle and our guys got LOADS of kills, and even though we did not capture the town I did not hear one sore remark - only people being happy about being a part of something large and organized, and people being happy about a lot of kills!”

Allied Officer of the Week:
This reports Officer of the Week is easy:  PATTI has handled the map for hours as low pop and this AHC officer certainly deserves more attention.  He certainly has the Axis’ attention.  Well-done PATTI, and thank you.

Allied Players of the Week: 
SZYPORYN for organizing ParaTroop drops during the Allied defense and counter-attack in the south; and OZSHEILA for fighting anywhere she was needed during Low-Pop to recap depots and drive MSPs and blow the Axis’ firebases.

-Joker007, Allied CinC

FROM THE DESK OF THE AXIS COMMANDER IN CHIEF:

S!  Axis forces!
What an awesome campaign start!

Axis forces showed an impressive determination to give allies few rest. Initial setup left three battlefronts on the map, and both sides were cautious on their strategic moves.

Then, on Sunday, after some talks and plans on the Axis High Command, Kamiman led the initial push taking a chance on the open towns at Haybes.

Two divisions where shifted initially leaving some weak points for the effort, and Allied forces reacted sending one of theirs from the south.  Several hours later, the Axis breakthrough was a thin red streak of one town wide, surrounded by Allied flags. Haybes, Couvin, Rocroi, Chimay… all towns were breakpoints for Allies and a deadly trap  for our troops.

But Axis soldiers fought HARD, fought LONG and fought as ONE TEAM, widening the gap and sending 2nd Panzer Division towards Laon, closing the trap for two French divisions. Tmanusa, Mrtoad, Kj… officers where passing the command off to each other as the hours ticked by.

Intense and deadly fights raged for more than 36 hours.

With this spirit and this team we are going to achieve glorious victories, Axis Forces! Thank you!

Officer of the Week

KJ: He has been leading troops, since his first steps on the OKW on Sept 08. He dared to take the highest and complex role of this game, full of responsibility and hard hours: Lead the map and decide effective tactics for making Axis a successful team. Good Job KJ, Congrats!

Player of the Week 

I would like to offer this award to ALL AXIS SQUAD COMMANDERS.

They do a lot of work organizing and leading their troops. They are excellent and respected players. They provide trained, motivated and dedicated teams to the battles. If there is a squad around, an attack is an AN ATTACK.  Thank you very much gentlemen for making this Game so AWESOME!

- Fiambre, Axis CinC