Campaign #165 is Underway. Get in game and fight!

Campaign #165 is officially underway and already the battles have been fierce. Get in-game as soon as you can and help fight for your side! Read further to hear a gripping story from the Allied front lines for the 10 hour battle to capture Frankfurt and for the #164 Campaign win!

Campaign #165

Today at 2:00 PM server time Campaign #165 was officially started with our Euro players leading on the battlefield. Since the campaign began the battles in game have been intense with each side looking to capture ground early for momentum. Be sure to join in when you can and fight hard for your team!

Lafleur remains Axis Commander in Chief and Augetout replaces the retiring Bondpaul as Allied Commander in Chief.

News from the Allied front lines: "THE ALLIED CAPTURE OF FRANKFURT!" by Augetout:

By late January of 1941, it was becoming clear to the axis forces that they had bitten off more than they could chew by invading France and the Low Countries. Initial gains had turned into significant losses in ground, men and material, and as in the Great War, the Allies’ efforts to starve Germany into submission were beginning to show themselves on the home front, and at the front.

Discipline was for the most part maintained, but cracks were becoming ever-more visible as the defeats mounted in intensity and frequency, with the search for someone to blame centering on (also as in the Great War) finding anyone other than Germany’s armed forces to hold responsible.

On the Allied side, despite the successes, stress was high, focusing on whether or not Allied forces should continue pushing, or call a pause to regroup offensive forces and allow for resupply efforts to bring forces back to 100% strength. These discussions culminated in a decision to push forward to Frankfurt, hoping to exploit German supply issues via a maximum offensive effort to end the war.



The forces arrayed did not lend themselves to a high level of confidence on the Allied side. Only 1 link existed to attack Frankfurt from, and it was vulnerable to counterattack by German forces. Additionally, at the onset of the battle, only 1 understrength brigade was available to match up against a Panzer brigade of unknown strength combined with both army and airborne garrisons. A General immediately moved another brigade into the town that served as the base of operations, (Koblenz), and began efforts to cobble together any forces he could gather, in case the battle did not go as planned.

In addition to the understrength brigade, the Allies too had an Army garrison, and had sent flash orders out to nearby Airborne units to stand by, with the goal of using the paratroopers to offset the manpower issues anticipated by Allied leaders. It was an ‘all in’ affair, quite different than the rest of the campaign which it should be noted was conducted in a methodical fashion for the most part.



The first indications to German units in the area around Frankfurt that an attack was imminent were signals from the EWS system, which showed Allied Infantry and Armor units closing on the town. Given the importance of Frankfurt, there was no need to worry that a ruse was afoot, and no expectation on the part of the Allies that a ruse would be of any use to their efforts. Communications went up the German chain of command and troops manned their positions, bent on repelling the Allied attack. Successfully repelling the Allied attack would put the Germans in a position where a huge counterattack would be possible.



On the Allied side, leading elements met with significant resistance, which was expected. Problems slowed any chance at a quick resolution to the battle, as the first wave of paratroopers took a long time to get organized, and were shot down before arriving to the drop zone(s). There had been no time to arrange for fighter escort, and the transports had thus flown with no escorts hoping to overcome a lack of firepower with guile. Subsequent waves of paratroopers met with mixed success in ground taken, but did contribute to the Allied effort via the attrition of German forces.

Initial gains by the Allies met with counterattacks that were partially successful. Meanwhile, the Germans went on the offensive while presumably preparing their forces to attack Koblenz directly. The Allies defended with a minimum of forces, as everyone was aware that victory in Frankfurt meant an end to the war. The Germans constantly attacked the 1 forward bases that made the attack on Frankfurt feasible, but the Allied defenders doggedly held onto the FB in attack after attack.



The battle lasted over 10 hours, (about 6 days in game-time with the current tier methodology) with frequent ebbs and flows. There were times when the Allies were within a couple of CPs in order to achieve total victory, and there were times when Allied leaders seriously considered calling the attack off, due to the extreme risks involved if the operation failed, as it frequently looked like it might. In the end, the Allies wore down their German opponents, as the battle turned from maneuver to attrition. Contrary to reports from Intel, the German defenders were neither lacking in supplies, nor in fighting spirit. They fought bitterly until the very end.



The Allies finally took Frankfurt, and the jokes that were only partially meant to be funny, (that Frankfurt was ‘Stalingrad of the west’) were replaced by shouts of joy as the guns fell silent once again in Europe.