Strategy In 'Bitter Victory'
Scenario One: 'Operation Husky'
Part 2: The Link-Up
By Doug McNair
December 2006

The invasion of Sicily continues in today’s installment of our Bitter Victory replay. As Turn 2 begins, the British have smashed the Italian lines opposite the beaches south of Syracuse. They’ve moved a few hexes inland and will be in a position to break out into the Sicilian heartland — if, that is, they can get the jump on the Italians before they move in reinforcements.

As for the Americans, they are still stuck in their beachhead east of Licata — their attempt to break the flanks of the Axis line there only pushed it back one hex. If Patton is going to race Monty to Messina, he’ll have to send in an airdrop or amphibious invasion behind the Axis the line to outflank it and open up a breach.

The game continues . . .

Turn 2: July 12 – 14

Initial Segment: The Allied airpower commitment increases to three points for Turn 2, but Allied ground forces haven’t captured the three airfields necessary to increase it to four points. German airpower remains at one point, and the weather turns cloudy, which brings Allied air points back down to two for the turn (3/2, rounded up).

The Axis player doesn’t have any reduced-strength units on the board so he doesn’t bother rolling for replacements. But the Allied player does roll and receives one British infantry replacement, which he uses to flip the British 69th Infantry Brigade back to its full-strength side (it lost a step due to landing disruption).

The British land two supply point markers on their LSTs in the coastal road hexes adjacent to Avola, and the Americans land three SPs of their own on the LSTs east of Licata.

Players then bring in reinforcements scheduled to arrive this turn. The German 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment arrives by plane at an airbase three hexes west of the northern British advance near Lentini.

The Americans receive the 70th Tank Battalion, but they keep it in the Allied Units Available box for now so it can be used in a future amphibious invasion.

The British move one LST from the beaches south of Pachino north to Syracuse (the port facilities there will allow for greater intake of supply points and reinforcements). Then the Americans flip their LST at the minor port of Licata to its Port side, upgrading the facilities there to allow greater intake.

All Allied units are automatically supplied on Turn 2, so no supply point markers need be spent yet. The Allied player then plans two airdrops and one amphibious landing, using his units in the Allied Units Available box. The British 2nd Airborne Brigade will drop on Turn 3 at hex 1123, which is hopefully right behind where the Axis defensive line will be by then. The 504th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division will drop into road hex 0821 behind Axis lines north of the American beachhead. From there it will be in a position to threaten the Italian XVI Corps HQ and block the retreat of the Hermann Göring division.

Finally, the Allied player removes one LST from the beaches east of Pachino and schedules it to participate in an amphibious invasion on Turn 4, landing an American infantry regiment plus two tank battalions in hex 1108, on the beaches east of Palermo on Sicily’s northwest coast. Taking Palermo will immediately degrade Italian morale, and with the American Provisional HQ becoming available on Turn 4 they can land it at Palermo to establish a supply base for a second American drive up Sicily’s north coast to Messina.

Both players put both their on-board HQs’ chits in the cup, and the turn proceeds with . . .

Italian XVI Corps: Once again the Axis get the jump on the east end of the island, and all available units move to block the British breakout. The Italians pull back from the American eastward advance at Vittoria and establish a central strongpoint at the hill town of Vizzini. More units come down from the north to fortify Lentini against the north flank of the British advance, and then the Axis goes on the attack against the American beachhead. The Italian 4th Motorized Division, two regiments of the Herman Göring Divison, the German 115th Mechanized Infantry Regiment and 504th Heavy Tank Battalion plus extra recon and infantry support attack the 505th Airborne Regiment plus two commando battalions in the center of the American line.

All the Italians make their morale rolls, and the base attack odds of 4:1 increase to 7:1 due to tanks and infantry stacked together, heavy tanks attacking, and an air point spent. But the Axis player only rolls a 2, meaning the Americans take two hits while the Axis take none. The 505th flips and the stack retreats one hex south, and the attackers use the Mechanized Movement Phase to disperse and re-establish the Axis line.

British XIII Corps: Said line comes under immediate attack from the east as the British and Canadians advance. They attack at Lentini on the coast, Vizzini in the hills, and Ragusa to the south. The attack odds on Lentini go up from 4-1 to 6-1 due to the arrival of the 23rd Tank Brigade plus XIII Corps HQ spending an extra supply point on the attack. The Italian 58th Bersaglieri Regiment supporting the Fallschirmjägers at Lentini is too high-quality to fail morale, and the Allies only roll a 2. The Brits take one step loss while the 58th dies bravely (–2 VPs) and the Fallschirmjägers retreat north to the river’s edge. The allies advance and occupy Lentini.

The 5-1 attack on the hill town of Vizzini negates its –4 column modifier by spending supply and air points plus getting bonuses from the British HQ and tanks. The Allies roll a 3 and once again take a hit while the Axis take two. A German infantry support battalion dies (–3 VPs) and the two recon units in Vizzini retreat northwest to the river road.

The Italian 206th Coastal Defense Division in Ragusa just barely holds morale, and the defensive qualities of the terrain keep the Canadian attack down to 5-1 odds. The Canadians roll a 4 and get the same old 1/2 result, but that’s enough to wipe out the Italian division (–1 VP) and let the Canadians take Ragusa.

The British tank brigades don’t want to advance unsupported, so there’s no British mechanized movement.

Italian XII Corps: The general commanding XII Corps HQ moves out of Corleone (after paying his respects) and sends most of his units east, leaving a few coastal defense and infantry regiments to guard the ports of Palermo and Trapani. Using strategic and mechanized movement, several more units fill in the Axis lines, including the 104th and 129th regiments of the German 15th Panzer Grenadier Division, who join the 115th Regiment in Canicatti. Fifteenth Panzer Grenadier now has all its regiments together, so the divisional integrity bonus gives it a combat strength of 28. With the Italian 4th Motorized and German 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions massing in the hills, Patton had better do something right now if he doesn’t want to get pushed into the sea.

U.S. II Corps: The British advance exposed Caltagirone as a weak spot in the Axis line, and the Hermann Göring division just to Caltagirone’s west has not yet received its third regiment, so it doesn’t have divisional integrity yet. Three Axis divisions with divisional integrity will seal Patton’s doom, so he hits Göring’s division and Caltagirone hard. He sends an infantry regiment and a commando battalion east to deal with the Italian 18th Coastal Defense Division, and pulls in his western flank so the 2nd Armored Division can concentrate on taking out Hermann’s buddies. This is a very aggressive move on Patton’s part — his left flank is weak relative to the Axis 4th and 15th divisions — but if he can blow a hole in the middle of the Axis line, 2nd Armored will be in a position to overrun the Italian XVI Corps HQ before the turn is over.

Italian morale holds, but the 18th Coastal Defense Division crumbles (–1 VP) and the Americans capture the airfield northeast of Vittoria. Then three American infantry regiments, an airborne regiment and two commando battalions attack Caltagirone at a modified odds of 3:1 and score two hits to one, killing an Italian recon regiment (–2 VPs) and forcing an Italian mechanized regiment plus the German 504th Heavy Tank Battalion to retreat northwest across the river. The Americans take Caltagirone.

Then 2nd Armored attacks the Hermann Göring Division at only 2:1 due to hilly terrain. They roll a 4, and each side takes one hit. Göring’s men retreat north to Piazza Armerina with no damage, while the Americans take one step loss and pursue them.

Patton’s massive breakout came to very little, with the Axis retreating one hex north and the American left flank badly exposed. But the Allies have eliminated enough enemy units to bring the Axis VP total down to –13, and the Americans and the British have now linked up and are in possession of the southeastern sixth of the island. They’ve spent all but one of their supply points supporting attacks, so they’ll need to land many more next turn.

That may be tough for the Americans since they’ll need to move out their Port and LST counters at Licata to get them out of the danger zone. But while the American left flank is weak, so is the German left south of Catania. If Monty’s two tank brigades can cross the river there, they’ll be in a position to cut behind Axis lines. That will let the British infantry roll up the Germans and Italians while the Americans keep the pressure on them from the south.

Can Monty do it? Will Sonny really let Carly marry Jax? Tune in next time and find out!

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