FROM THE DESK OF THE AXIS  COMMANDER IN CHIEF:

!S Axis  Forces.  Another great week for our side. Maubeuge is now Axis and operational.  The Zeelands are fully in our hands.  The Axis war machine is moving full steam ahead and pushing hard for the finish line.  There is still a lot of work to be done.  Keep the focus on the finish line and work together.  This war is ours to win.

HC Recruitment:

We have plenty of trainers in each time zone waiting to train the next members of okw. Will it be you? Join us for a fun ride in the OKW and see another side of the game that maybe you have been looking for.  Apply at http://www.axishq.wwiionline.com/axisplaynow/axis_ocs_application.php

AAR OF THE WEEK:

Logged in at around 11:50pm CDT on the 30th and there was no Map OIC so I took it on.

Attacks: Cerfontaine, Buzancy, Gravenpolder, Merbes, Lokeren, Gent
Defenses: St. Niklaas, Charleroi, Aalst, Lokeren, Halle, Philipville

ATTACKS:

Cerfontaine: This attack was dead from the get go and it was obvious it needed to be retired for a new attack. Pretty much nothing happened from the time I took map to the time it was pulled.

Buzancy: This attack had apparently been going well up until around the time when I logged in as both of the FBs to town were Allied. We had heavy EWS going off in town, but the Allies were defending the FBs very well and we couldn't blow them Axis. The players were saying the FB attacks were just a waste of supply and so once we found a new target this AO was pulled as well.

Gravenpolder: This was the one attack that was showing promise when I logged in. Similarly to Krabbendijke the day before, it was a naval town that we had an army brigade against that could use the spawnable. Boruta was sailing tirelessly to get MSPs set up and we had paras doing their best to take the town. It should have been an easy town to take, but like Krabbendijke Part 1 yesterday, we couldn't get enough players to commit to the attack and so it eventually died and had to be pulled.

Merbes Part 1: Looking around the map it appeared that Merbes would be a great target. We had 2 links, one of which required no FB, and a great supply advantage. It would secure the area around Charleroi and unbuffer Maubeuge. Of course, this also meant that the Allies had assured air superiority. I asked for officers to set up the attack and kking03 volunteered. I made announcements on 10/Ops and did a .axis for him, but only a couple guys responded. The players there managed to capture the Charleroi spawnable, but just as the Allies destroyed the FB. At about this time the AO limit dropped to 2 and kking03 recommended giving it the axe due to no response to get the FB back.

Lokeren: Looking for places to put our 3rd AO, Lokeren proved a promising target. We had a good supply advantage and the ability to get 2 links to it. Attack this town would also take the pressure off of our defenders in St. Niklaas. Once again Dinker and 3PzG organized to get the Dendermonde FB Axis and then backdoor the St. Niklaas FB. Eventually both of the FBs were Axis and a late Allied response meant that both spawnables were captured quickly. Players drove tanks to town and infantry secured the bunker. The Allies fought hard to regain control, but it was too late and soon the AB was captured and their brigades were kicked. Our players then secured the remaining CPs and the town was ours.

Merbes Part 2: With Lokeren freshly Axis and our players energized, I decided to re-new the AO on Merbes. It was still a good target and we didn't use any supply from the previous attempt since no one really spawned in that time. As Lokeren was falling I went and destroyed the FB from Charleroi with the help of another player. The attack started out very strongly with 4 MSPs rolling to town, guns being towed in and tanks rolling out. The Allies responded in force and a great battle was had. The Allied air force was especially thick, as was predicted, but our Axis flyboys managed to do a pretty good at keeping them in check. We also had a large flak trap up at our FB where many Allied aircraft met their fate. This battle was ongoing by the time I had to log.

Gent: Gravenpolder by this time had not developed and it was pulled so we could use the AO elsewhere. I was looking for targets and Wetteren or Buzancy looked good, but we didn't have the FBs to either. As our players worked on them, I decided I may as well place a mole AO on Gent to frustrate the Allies and split their forces. It was to be pulled once we could get a legitimate AO going, but it would serve its purpose for the time being. Players moled the town pretty well and certainly got the Allies the respond, but not enough to help out in Merbes. At one point the EAB was Axis, as well as a number of depots, but we never had much of a chance of taking it. The AO was still up by the time I logged.


DEFENSES:

St. Niklaas: This defense was up when I logged in. The clear Allied P1 for quite a while, it was in a precarious position. We had supply parity in the area, but no way to reinforce if things started going south. 3.2 and 3HQ were in Antwerp, but they were at 50% and so tactically worthless. Despite the heavy Allied attack our defenders did an excellent job and kept the town safe. When the FB was blown for our Lokeren attack, that's when the attack finally died and the Allies pulled the AO.

Charleroi: This attack was also up when I logged in. For most of the night it was quiet, but around the time Merbes Part 1 had failed and the Allies has an FB to town, things started to pick up some. A sluggish response meant that the town was contested for quite a while. I called out on 10/Ops for defenders and asked if anyone was in the bunkers. Worryingly I received no response that either bunker was defended. The Allies had simulcapped both bunkers twice in the past three days due to slow response on our part and so there was certainly risk of this happening again. Dinker seeing my calls and seeing no response helped out by checking out the SAB bunker. Thank God he did that, because he killed an EI who was capping the bunker just at that moment. Lord knows he was at 99% too... Eventually our response picked up, though, and we were able to liberate the town.

Aalst: The 3rd attack that was up when I logged in, it was the Allied P2. We were spread thin and so our defending forces were small. Fortunately, even though there was heavy EWS, the Allies never made a coordinated effort to take the town. They captured the spawnable a number of times, but no one spawned in so we were able to retake them pretty quickly. Eventually the Allies pulled the attack as it was really going nowhere.

Lokeren: Almost immediately after we'd taken this town, the Allies placed a counterattack AO on it. I still can't say I know why they did, but our best guess was that they really didn't want us to have a link on Gent. The Allies came hard for Lokeren, but we stood our ground and they did not take it.

Halle: Now this DO was quite funny. You see, when I logged in we had 3 AOs. When the Allies' standing attacks started to fail, the EWS started building Halle and it seemed apparent that this is where the next AO would be. We figured they'd pull one of their AOs and place. It was a very smart AO and a really annoying town to defend due to the spawnable way out West. I called for defenders and so did other players. They pulled their Aalst AO and we were certain we'd soon see, "Units in Halle called to defense!" Luck was with us this morning as just then the AO limit dropped to 2! That had to be upsetting for the Allies as you know they were yelling for an AO so they could commence their assault.

Shortly thereafter we had started our Lokeren attack and the Allies pulled St. Niklaas. Now, we thought, surely the Allies would place an AO on Halle and the battle would begin, but silence! We took Lokeren and that's when the Allies placed their counterattack AO. Then we thought the Allies would for sure pull Charleroi for Halle, but this didn't happen. In the interim between Lokeren falling and the new AO going up on Merbes Part 2, the Allies were commencing their mole of Charleroi. Once we libbed the town, though, that's when the Allies finally got their AO on Halle. Of course, by this time we had, had plenty of time to get defense up and kill the Allied defenders while they were waiting for their AO. I'm sure many Allies logged in frustration, as well, having to wait so long for their AO. So by the time the attack finally started, the EWS went light and they all moved to Lokeren.

Philipville: I don't remember if it was Halle or Lokeren that was pulled, but the Allies eventually placed an AO on Philipville. We lost 2 spawnables early and I made calls for defense. I asked about defenders and we only had a couple in town. Worried we might lose this critical town to a mole op I spawned in and helped to re-secure. We had just enough to do so. I ran to the spawnable near the SAB and interdicted EI who spawned in. I was alone at first and so had no chance to capture it, but eventually another player came by and I had him cap while I ran around outside killing EI as they tried to make it to the CP. 15 kills and 1 minute later the depot was ours again.  We liberated and then I had to log.
Towns taken: Lokeren
Towns lost: None!

Overall I'd say it was a somewhat slow night, but there were good battles. Our boys did well on defense and did great taking Lokeren. We put up a good showing in Merbes Part 2, as well.
Oo6oo7

New Officers:

Krauze
Stsluz
Xaos
Mactavish7

Officer Promotions:

LW
Flixen Promoted to 2. Fliegerkorps XO
Foolsdie promoted to kampfgeschwader 53 “Legion Condor” CO
Galoobs Promoted to kampfgeschwader 53 “Legion Condor” XO 

Heer
Clprio promoted to 16.1 CO
Slipk250 promoted to 16.1 XO
Dario Promoted to 4 AK XXO
Devil505 promoted to 3 PD CO
Gman13 promoted to 3 PD XO
Hi2 promoted to 6 Armee XO
Tbone252 promoted to 27 AK CO
Itsbrad Promoted to 27 AK XO

Awards:

LW OBC Award

Grimes
Covey01

Frontal Attack

 
Westwild
Akask1

LW OIC

 
Foolsdie

AXIS OFFICER OF THE WEEK:
Ltlcloud for helping take all of the zeelands this week.

AXIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
kbuzz101. with every attack he has done whats needed. it usually ends up being the boring but necessary msp. when established he is in boots full force for the p1 target. he knows how the game works and can stay alive and see key objectives through. he is a great overall unit and i'm proud to serve with him.
 

!S
Imarock, Axis CinC