Strategy In 'Bitter Victory'
Scenario One: 'Operation Husky'
Part 5: Bitter . . . ?
By Doug McNair
December 2006

Sicily’s fate is decided in this, the final episode of my Bitter Victory replay.

As Turn 4 drew to a close, Axis hopes for pushing the Americans back into the sea were dashed on the beaches at Licata. The Italian 207th Coastal Defense Division and 29th Infantry Regiment both surrendered just as the Italian 4th Motorized Division was about to attack three cut-off and desperate American infantry regiments.

The capitulation of the Axis right flank allowed the Americans to escape west down the Sicilian coast and pick up a supply line from the newly-landed U.S. Provisional HQ on the northwest coast near Palermo. With the Palermo invaders and the escaped American infantry loose in their rear, the Axis forces had no choice but to pull their right flank back from the beaches and north into the central hills. Their only hope now is to bleed the Allies dry as they fight their way north hill by hill toward the Axis supply base of Messina.

The battle for Sicily draws to a close . . .

Turn 5: July 21 – 23

The weather clouds up and reduces Allied airpower. The U.S. gets an infantry replacement point, which goes to the Palermo invaders. One LST at Syracuse gets withdrawn from the game per scenario instructions, but the Allies roll a 6 and receive the 325th Glider Regiment of the 82nd Airborne as an optional reinforcement. The Allies plan an airdrop for Turn 6 into hex 1120, across the river and right next to the Hermann Göring Division to Patton’s north.

U.S. Provisional HQ activates first, wipes out the defenders of Palermo (–2 VPs) and takes the city. Italian morale drops a notch. British XXX Corps wipes out an Italian infantry regiment on Patton’s left (–2 VPs) and drives the other two Axis regiments north. British XIII Corps drives the Fallschirmjägers out of the airfield two hexes southwest of Catania.

Then the Allies experience Operational Halt, so Patton can’t activate this turn. This is a very lucky break for Italian XII Corps, which takes the opportunity to smash British XXX Corps on the southwest flank of the Allied advance. The 15th Panzergrenadier Division and the Italian 4th Motorized Division wipe out a British infantry brigade (+3 VPs) and then pull back northwest to block the roads on the northern coast and through the central hills. Then Italian XVI Corps pulls back and establishes a river defense line south of Troina, Adrano and Paterno, and the turn ends with the VP score at –33.

Turn 6: July 24 – 26

The weather stays cloudy and continues to dampen Allied airpower. But 82nd Airborne gets a replacement point and so does Italian 4th Motorized (a good thing for the Axis, since it’s way out on the point of the Axis defense line in the central hills).

More Axis reinforcements arrive in Messina, but the Allied player rolls a 5 and the American 34th Infantry Division arrives in the Units Available Box as an optional reinforcement (+7 VPs). The extra commitment of U.S. infantry is to be expected, since after their desperate defense of Patton’s left flank, U.S. 3rd and 45th Infantry Divisions aren’t good for anything but mopping up.

But even with the German VP gain, this is a huge boon to the Palermo invasion force, which can bring in the 34th quickly once they’ve got a Port counter at Palermo. To that end they move an LST counter out of Gela on the south coast to Palermo (it brings a supply point counter with it), and then flip it to its Port side. The French 4th Mountain Battalion joins the Yanks at Palermo from the Units Available box, landing on the LST on the beaches to the east.

British XIII Corps pushes three Italian regiments north across the river to Paterno, but fails to kill any of them. British XXX Corps attacks across the river northeast of Enna but does no damage.

Then the U.S. Provisional HQ sends the Palermo invasion forces to mop up the Italians guarding the western end of the island. At Alcamo, the 208th Coastal Defense Division surrenders to the 16th U.S. Infantry Regiment (–1 VP), and Italian morale drops a notch. That hastens the surrender of 202nd Coastal Defense Division to the American 70th and 753rd Tank Battalions (–1 VP), which then head back north to guard the Palermo beachhead.

Then Patton activates and finds that he’s been left behind, with the Brits holding all the prime jumping-off points to his north. Hitting Hermann Göring Division head-on across the river isn’t an option, and he can’t make it to Italian 4th Motorized Division’s position up in the hills to the west.

But Monty’s holding a couple of bridges to his northeast, an open door to Misterbianco. Once again he tells the infantry to swing out left and guard his flank while he and 2nd Armored Division (plus a regiment from 82nd Airborne) charge northeast to the attack.
The two American regiments that accepted the Italian surrender on the beaches march west and wipe out the German 1st Kriegsmarine Battalion just east of Ribera (–4 VPs). Then Patton charges right through Monty’s position and over the bridges to hit the Italians the Brits just chased into Paterno.

The Axis player rolls for Italian morale . . . and gets a 6+4 = 10! The Italian 30th Infantry Regiment and 177B Motorized Infantry Regiment both surrender to the great General Patton (–4 VPs), leaving him to attack the sole recon regiment that didn’t surrender at 10-1 odds. He scores three hits, eliminating the recon unit (–2 VPs) and advancing northwest up the road to Adrano, cutting Italian XVI Corps HQ and Hermann Göring Division off from behind. Patton has executed another brilliant right hook, and he’s now loose in the Axis rear!

Once again, the airdrop is last to arrive, and 325th Glider drops on-target into hex 1120, completely encircling Italian XVI Corps HQ and Hermann Göring Division. Said HQ activates, and the Italian units on the east coast go Out of Supply since Patton has cut them off from their HQ.

The Fallschirmjägers fall back past Catania to the eastern slope of Mt. Aetna, and Italian 135th Armored Division (its speed cut in half due to being OOS) drives north and halfway around Mt. Aetna, just barely making it to junction hex 1522 so that its ZOC will block Patton from charging north to Messina. That establishes a mountain defense line for the eastern half of Sicily’s northern tip. Then Hermann Göring Division attacks the 82nd’s glider regiment to the west. The Americans take all the Nazis they can with them (scoring one hit on the Germans), but they die (+4 VPs) and the Germans move one hex west and break out of Patton’s trap . . . at least for now.

With nothing left to lose, Italian XII Corps unleashes 15th Panzergrenadier Division against the Palermo beachhead, while 4th Motorized moves northeast to oppose Patton, and the remaining mechanized units of the line slowly extract themselves over a river and through hills. More Italian reinforcements from Messina pile into Catania while the German 71st Panzergrenadier Regiment drives south to join the Fallschirmjägers on the east slope of Aetna.

Then 15th Panzergrenadier attacks the Palermo beachhead. The three battalions defending the beachhead have fire support from a U.S. destroyer, plus the tank and infantry combined arms bonus, but they don’t have the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment, which went out to mop up Italian coastal divisions. The Germans attack at 5-1 odds and score two unanswered hits, wiping out the French 4th Mountain Battalion and the U.S. 70th Tank Battalion (+6 VPs).

Then the Germans go for an overrun attack. They enter the LST hex and attack 753rd Tank Battalion at 5-1 odds, destroying both the tank unit and the LST (+8 VPs). 15th Panzergrenadier only takes one hit in return, so it has divisional integrity and can keep overrunning. It enters Palermo and attacks U.S. Provisional HQ, which is all alone with the Port counter. Even after the terrain modifier the attack is at 10-1, and it wipes-out the HQ and the Port counter (+13 VPs, and a major boost to Italian morale). Having wiped out the entire Palermo beachhead and invasion force, 15th Panzergrenadier heads back east, leaving the few American infantry units in the area to fend for themselves.

It’s been a turn of stunning maneuver warfare on both sides, and as the dust settles the VP score stands at –7 (26 points up from last turn).

Turn 7: July 27 – 29

The weather clears, giving the Allies their full allotment of air points, which they’ll need now that their entire north-coast flanking force has been wiped out. They also get a U.S. infantry replacement, which goes to the units on Patton’s left.

The Axis player does not roll a 6, so the German 26th Armored Division does not arrive at Messina (heavy sigh from the Allies . . . ). The Allies bring in all three regiments of U.S. 34th Infantry Division at Syracuse (after being diverted from Palermo . . . ). With Patton behind enemy lines and the Palermo HQ wiped out, all American units west of Adrano are Out of Supply, but so is the 15th Panzergrenadier Division (it stopped in Palermo to pillage some wine . . . ).

Monty sends his condolences to Patton and then takes British XIII Corps north to smash Catania. The Italians do not surrender; the recapture of Palermo is setting the church bells ringing. But the bells are quickly drowned out by shellfire from the Royal Navy battleship just offshore, and then the British and Canadians attack at 9-1 odds. They do three hits, destroying the 213th Coastal Defense Division (–1 VP) , taking Catania (church bells stop ringing) and sending the other units two hexes north to Aciriate while the British pursue.

British XXX Corps then hits Hermann Göring Division on the road between the rivers two hexes southwest of Patton. They push the Germans up against Patton’s ZOC and surround him with their own so there’s no retreat possible. But, the attack is only at 1-1 odds, and the British take a hit with none given. They’re starting to get dangerously weak now. . . .

So Patton steps in to save them. He can’t have Nazis to his rear, so he moves west of Adrano and attacks southwest across the river. His tired infantry come up from the south and attack as well, while the just-landed 34th Infantry Division uses strategic movement along the highways to join him all the way from Syracuse. The rest of the scattered U.S. infantry rally to Patton or consolidate for protection against the rampaging German 15th Panzergrenadier. Göring’s men are still very tough, so the attack is only at 2-1 odds. It scores one hit per side, flipping a U.S. infantry unit and doing the same to a Panzergrenadier unit.

Italian XVI Corps HQ is with Göring’s men and can do nothing but try to fight its way out of the closing Allied vise. All options look equally bad, so they make a desperation move and try to break out southeast against the U.S. 30th Infantry Regiment coming up from the south. It’s away from their supply line, but they’ve got no other chance. They attack at 3-1 odds, and score only one hit. The infantry takes the hit and holds the line, and the trap remains shut.

Italian XII Corps activates and sets up an almost impenetrable mountain defense line:

• 15th Panzergrenadier Division in mountain hex 1720 near the northwest coast. It still has divisional integrity so its strength is doubled, and since it’s in a mountain hex it’s doubled again on defense. Total strength: 56
• 29th Panzergrenadier Division in mountain hex 1521, along with Italian recon regiment MG G. Total strength: 44
• Italian 135th Armored Division and the Fallschirmjägers in hex 1423 on the east slope of Mt. Aetna. Total strength: 36.

They also have Italian 4th Motorized Division, an Italian paratrooper regiment and the German 382nd Infantry Battalion in reserve to the north. The Allies will either break the line or be broken. There is no other choice.

The VP total is now –9 (the Allies get a point for controlling Catania this turn).

Turn 8: July 30 – August 1

The weather stays clear and Allied airbase captures raise their air point total to 5. More U.S. infantry replacements arrive (the British are starting to feel shortchanged) and go right back into the 30th Regiment (which took a hit to keep Göring’s men trapped last turn).

The Fallschirmjägers get a replacement too, adding a point to the defense of Aetna’s eastern slope. U.S. Provisional HQ comes back as a reinforcement, but there are no other reinforcements coming for it to land with, so Patton keeps it in the Units Available box. Italian XVI HQ and Göring’s men are Isolated now, so all they can hope to do is die well for the Führer.

Patton activates and obliges them. His commandos and west-flank infantry move northeast and establish a line in the mountains, and then he hits Göring’s men from four sides. He attacks at 8-1 odds and scores three unanswered hits, wiping out two Panzergrenadier regiments and half a tank regiment (–6 VPs) and leaving Göring’s men with just one reduced-strength tank regiment. He leaves the infantry to finish the job, and moves north to block any raids out of the mountains by the Axis.

British XXX Corps finishes off Göring’s men and XVI Corps HQ with no hits taken (–6 VPs). The Axis holds the line (sending an Italian paratrooper unit down to oppose Patton), and then Monty hits Italian 135th Armored Division and the Fallschirmjägers on the eastern slope of Aetna. He leapfrogs the Canadians through his tank units and has his commandos climb all the way up to Aetna’s caldera, thus hitting the Axis from four sides. Even with full commitment of XIII Corps, airpower and supplies the odds are only 3-2, and the attack does no damage while taking one hit.

The turn ends with the VP total at –22.

Turn 9: August 2 – 4

Clear weather brings Allied airpower up to 6, and Patton gets another infantry replacement. He activates first and the Americans swarm through the mountains to hit 29th Panzergrenadier Division and supporting units. The Axis defense strength is 48 . . . and so is the American attack strength. Combined arms, airpower and combat supplies raise the odds to 3-1, with no chance of Italian morale failure, and each side scores one hit. The Axis units can’t pull back — they’d be leaving a hole for the Americans to pour through northeastward — so they lose the Italian paratrooper unit (–2 VPs) and the Americans flip an infantry unit.

British XXX Corps moves northwest to cut the northern coastal road and keep German 15th Panzergrenadier from committing any more mischief. Then Italian XII Corps activates and sends the reserves down to the eastern slope of Aetna to keep Monty from leapfrogging up the coastal road. Italian 135th Armored and the Fallschirmjägers destroy the British commandos in Aetna’s caldera, (+3 VPs), but the British knock off a Fallschirmjäger step even though they’re being hit at 10-1.

Monty activates and sends in fresh units to hit the Italian 4th Motorized that just moved in to block his progress up the coastal road. The Royal Navy and the RAF assist, and the attack goes in at 4-1 odds. It scores two hits to one, and the Italians have to retreat up Aetna’s northeastern slope. One half-strength Canadian brigade probes up the coastal road, and the VP score stays the same at –22.

Turn 10: August 5 – 7

British XXX Corps gets a Canadian tank replacement, and the Axis get a German tank replacement they can’t use (all German tank units have been destroyed). Italian XVI Corps HQ returns to Messina as a reinforcement, and Monty charges up the coastal road, leapfrogging over the Canadians. He’s attacking up Aetna so it’s only 2-1 odds, but he rolls a 5 and scores one unanswered hit. If the Italians retreat the British will move west and cut the supply lines of the rest of the Aetna defenders, so 34th Motorized Infantry Regiment dies (–2 VPs) and 33rd holds.

Getting word of Monty’s breakthrough, British XXX Corps sends her two tank brigades east to reinforce him, and sends two infantry brigades west to retake Palermo. Patton then activates and brings in more infantry to press home his attack. A few regiments scramble up to Aetna’s caldera, and the rest swarm the 29th Panzergrenadier. He gets an attack of 57 to 44 and then raises it to 3-1 odds, and the attack scores another unanswered hit. The Italian recon unit with 29th dies (–2 VPs), and the Germans hold.

Italian XVI Corps sends the last reserves — the German 382nd Infantry Regiment and 2nd Kriegsmarine Battalion — south from Messina to the river just north of the advancing Brits. Italian XII Corps pulls Italian 135th Armored Divison to the north slope of Aetna (the last regiment of 4th Motorized was holding the door open), and leave the Fallschirmjägers behind as a rearguard.

The turn ends with a score of –27.

Turn 11: August 8 – 10

The weather turns cloudy and Allied air points drop to 3, but the Canadians get an infantry replacement that goes straight to the point of the northward coastal drive.

Italian XII Corps activates first, but there’s nothing it can do except hold the line. British XXX Corps retakes Palermo (taking Italian morale back down again), and then Monty attacks the Fallschirmjägers on Aetna’s eastern slope. The addition of XXX Corps’ two tank brigades gives three of the four stacks a +1 combined-arms modifier, and the attack goes up the mountain at 9-1 odds. It scores three unanswered hits, and the Fallschirmjägers take a hit and leapfrog out of there, over the Italians to the north. The Brits and Canadians take Aetna’s eastern slope.

Then Patton activates and has one more go at the now unsupported 29th Panzergrenadier. It’s still 3-1 odds . . . but this time he rolls a 6, scoring two unanswered hits. The Fallschirmjägers have just shut the door to any American eastward advance, so the 29th takes one hit and retreats one hex north, letting Patton advance.

Italian XVI Corps has nobody to activate, so as the last turn of the game begins, the VP score is –28.

Turn 12: August 11 – 13

The weather stays cloudy, and Patton’s infantry get another replacement while the Axis get a German infantry replacement that replenishes the regiment Patton just damaged. Then Monty makes his final effort to reach Messina, leapfrogging everything he’s got over the point of his advance and up to the river line held by the two German infantry units.

The Canadian 1st Infantry and Tank Brigades plus the British 4th and 23rd Tank Brigades charge to the front and hit the Germans along with a Royal Navy battleship and the RAF. The 8-1 attack scores three unanswered hits, enough to drive the Germans two hexes north but not enough to break through to Messina.

British XXX Corps secures control of the rest of western Sicily, and then Patton gives it one more try at 3-1 odds while four of his infantry units go after the reduced Fallschirmjägers to his northeast. The attack on the Fallschirmjägers scores two hits to one, killing one of the German units and letting the other advance into the Axis rear (–3 VPs). Then Patton’s attack scores one hit on each side, and the Germans stand their ground. Patton’s advance ends on the western slopes of Mt. Aetna.

The Germans get the last shot and pound Patton’s infantry on Aetna, hoping to break out 135th Armored. The 4-1 attack only scores one hit per side, so nobody dies and the game ends with the Axis controlling 24 hexes of Sicily.

With this turn’s casualty and the bonus for Catania, the Allied score drops to –32. But then the Axis get +2 VPs per Sicilian hex controlled. That’s 24 x 2 = 48, so the Axis score rises to 16.

To win, the Axis needs . . . 10 points, so they hold the line and win! The Sons of Italy are victorious, Monty hurls his bonnet in the fire, and Patton starts writing his memoirs.

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