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After trying out Chitin I, Mark and I decided to get back to the ZOC-bond system and do the short scenario for Italy ’43, “Crossing the Volturno”. This is a seven turn scenario (compared to the 32-turn full game), and effectively only uses about the bottom third of the map. It also leaves out the fortification building important in the main game.

I got the Germans, who aren’t doing too badly at the start of the game. Both sides have somewhat thin line as fighting moves onto the map. The main thing is the Allies have already taken Naples, and the 82nd Airborne is stuck garrisoning it until one regiment with released on turn 11, and the other two are removed on turn 19.

I moved to interdict the roads out of Naples, and reshuffled in the plains to make a 3:1 attack on the British armor starting in 2224, getting a DR2. The bulk of the British 46th division arrives in the second half of the turn, and moved up to hold the line near Naples while 56th Division attacked just past the line of the canal, only getting an AR1. The Americans attacked south of the pass in the center, and got an A1/D1, which forced me north of the pass.

The second turn’s weather was rain and mud; the German “reinforcements” for the turn are a pair of battalions of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division are released from a mid-map position, and went to help hold the area north of Naples. I didn’t do more than rearrange things a little. Meanwhile the Allies get their divisional artillery, and the bulk of the American 45th Infantry (one regiment starts on map). A regiment of the 3rd crossed over a mountain ridge to get around the pass I was holding, and got an A1/D1 against a recon unit holding the flank of the nearby valley.

The turn 3 weather roll went forward two columns, going to “B”. Clear weather with good Allied supply and support, but the next storm front was moving in fast. The Germans get a motorized regiment from the 3rd PG, but also remove two battalions, which hollowed out the center of the line a bit. Still, the terrain is good, and I took a replacement in there, letting me keep a line on the river west of Benevento, hoping the mountains would keep too much else from happening. The Allies get their corps artillery, and started driving north in more earnest; another hop across a ridge (we were using the 1/2 effectiveness rules, being used to them from earlier games) put the Americans in the rear of my east line, which suffered a DR2. In Benevento, the 34th Infantry tried to take Benevento, but only got part of it in a “partial” determined defense. The British got an exchange while trying to cross the canal in their sector, and the 82nd Airborne drove my blocking unit away from Naples with naval support (they can’t move out, but they can attack).

The weather held clear for turn 4, evening out the earlier skip. The Germans withdraw a recon unit—the one that is holding Benevento at the start of the game, and had just held on to it here. However, I had no ability to move a new unit in, and was busy trying to pull the 26 Pz out, with their recon circling around to hold a road junction on the east flank, while the motorized regiment from last turn moved to cover the center. The bulk of the American 34th Infantry Division arrives (most of a regiment of it is on map at start, with a final battalion of that arriving on turn 2), and took Benevento. The main American push was NW out of the central valley for an EX, and the British finally got over the canal with a DR2, and got an A1/D1 just north of Naples.

Turn 5 saw the weather advance two columns to cloudy “D”, grounding US air support. The Germans get a motorized battalion from the 3rd PG, which I forgot to move after concentrating on the south. With the initial lines broken, I had real problems, pulling back on the plains for a loose line, and down the Calore in the east. The 26’s recon had to go back to block the central pass, while the motorized regiment went west to help cover a couple units that couldn’t get very far with all the British in the way. Herman Goring did a counterattack to get two units loose after the British advances, and a A1/D1 got them safely behind the middle canal. The British get a brigade of the 56th Infantry Division in Naples, and the British pushed me off the west part of the plains with a DR2 and DR4. The Americans were stopped in the central pass with an A1 against my recon unit, but forced the east flank with an A1/D1.

The clouds continued on turn 6, keeping US air support grounded. It was time to largely pull back behind the Volturno, though I stayed south on the hills. The Allied advance nearly overwhelmed my line, and would have with better weather and slightly better luck. The British got a DS against my independent motorized battalion holding Capua, with a breakthrough across the Volturno getting an A1/DR2. I had to do a determined defense in the open, with only elite units and artillery as an advantage, and held the hex on a very good roll. Over in the hills, a DR2 took out my position in front of the next bridge, and breakthrough put the nebelwerfer unit into full retreat. All of this left the motorized regiment trapped south of the Volturno with no bridge access. The Americans got an A1/D1 near Limatola, but couldn’t advance over the bridge, and an attempt to clear that got an A1. The east flank got an A1/D1 to continue moving up the Calore.

Afterword

Turn 7 weather advanced two columns to be rain and mud. This pretty much halted the Allied advance for the last turn, as all the artillery supply had already been shot off, and the -1 column (and German artillery) kept there from being any good attacks. A series of ‘1’ die rolls only sealed the deal.

Now, I wasn’t in a great situation, as on turn 7 the entire 26th Pz Division pulls out, though some of them were in dire straights already. I did get a motorized battalion and the 3rd PG divisional artillery, which helped hold the inland side of things.

Mark had only gotten four victory points (Benevento, Caserta, Amorosi, and the inland bridge over the Volturno), so it was a convincing loss for the Allies (who need seven). However, if he had gotten across the Volturno on turn 6, and taken the Capua Airfield, the fighting north of there could have been fierce. Also, “mere” rain would have made turn 7 a lot easier. On average, it seems the weather should be going clear on turn 7, so we were running a little behind that.

Mark presumably needed to be a bit more aggressive in the middle, though I can’t point to any obvious places it was needed. Still, it was great fun like all the ZOC-bond games, and this scenario really carries forward the feeling of Salerno ’43. The fortifications of the longer game will make it feel different.