Patton

A new European game played in the wild East of Paris, next to the Nation's place.

Here is the 2nd GR, after Daniel's holidays in Japan, Jerome's business trips all over Europe, Olivier's new job constraints. We could finally find an evening to meet.

Screenplay by PatiF, WifCon 5, 1948

M/J 1948 J/A 1948 S/O 1948 N/D 1948 J/F 1949 M/A 1949 M/J 1949 J/A 1949 S/O 1949 N/D 1949

Starring: Daniel 'don't you think there are too many ships counters?' Nationalist CH/USA

Jerome 'I really can't see how the communist can lose this game' Comm. CH/ RU

Olivier 'Wazzaaaaaaaaa' IT/FR/CW

Some of you might be interested in noticing that Jerome already had quite a successful career as a WiF player in Seattle, WA. He's obviously more experienced than the allies but Daniel and Olivier are not beginner wargamers neither...

Rules: WiFFE deluxe + PatiF (everything but LiF, CiF, AfA). Options: almost everything, excluding intelligence, including 2 dice roll table (USA player: 'do you really think all these options are necessary?' RU and CW players:'Yes! Welcome to the hardcore wiffer club, Daniel!')

May/June 1948. USSR DESTROYS THE WHOLE ALLIES ARMY

Russia bets 35 points on Spain and moves it up to "Mobilization". Half of Spanish troops can leave the country. A knife in the back of Allied defense.

Russia declares war on West Allies and Turkey.

Super-combined impulse followed by massive advance in West Germany.

Tanks cross the Rhine in France. Invasion of Turkey fails. Turkey conquers Syria.

Chinese Communist liberate Peking and north of China.

July/August 1948

weather is fine and always will be. The Spanish army is immediately set up around poorly defended Gibraltar (only a single CW DIV there !). The rock is easily conquered : Franco has never been so popular in Spain even if some do not really understand his alliance with the Communists. The remaining Spanish troops step into France and take Toulouse, Bordeaux, Marseille. On the main front, Russian air strikes are not very successful. Amsterdam is attacked but the Netherlands army resists and 3 Russian stacks are turned down, including Rokossovsky and Ryde.

Russian try to breakthrough in France and once again they only kill half of a stack. Zhukov and Koniev reorganize the main corps on the western front, but forget to rebase aircrafts next to the troops.

The allies air fleet is now in order of battle and launches several successful ground strikes in Germany and in China. As the sky is strangely empty of communist aircrafts, the US president pushes the red button : a bomb is dropped above Saarbrucken and causes very severe damages (3 units!). The French calmly evacuate Strasbourg pocket. A continuous front exists now from Antwerp to the Jura mountains : American troops are in Belgium, French hold their country and in between a courageous Belgium militia hides in the Ardens. The Chinese nationalist destroy an out of supply avant-garde in the mountains. Turkey fails to take Beyrouth.

Communist progress slowly this impulse. The Czeck HQ reorganize some troops, airplanes are now correctly rebased, undefended Strasbourg fails, but no "real" attack. Spanish conquer Morocco. It looks like the communist offensive has come to an halt. In China, the Russian corps have almost reached the front.

Well, Allies are now planning to counter attack. Some Spanish corps can easily be put out of supply with an invasion next to Bayonne. Alexander lands in La Rochelle and American troops attack in the south... but cannot even reach the beaches. Spanish have learned tactical lessons from the war and they now how to stand against in invasion. Well, well, well, then, just got to wait for the next Russian attack... The French abandon Metz to reinforce their defense line.

Russian Great Head Quarters have come a decision : Yeremenko -the last available general on the map- is given special assignment to conquer France (ie : the second offensive chit is broken in a land impulse). Ground strikes give very good results. The exhausted French army faces a 6-1 fight and logically disappears under the Russian tanks. A big hole is made in the front. De Gaulle is astonished and cannot even order a tactical retreat.

Yeremenko will be leading the victory parade next month in Moscow.

Spanish take Vichy. Chinese communist try an attack on Wuhan, both sides lose 1 corps.

French try to reinforce Paris but moral is low. Eisenhower moves back to Dunkerque waiting for embarkation ships, while a sacrified Marines holds Brussels. Some reinforcements arrive in Brittany. Too late !

Russian are now cleaning up the remaining allied troops : de Gaulle is captured, Belgium militia is destroyed, an American Infantry is overrunned. And Russian still have some (good) planes available. Chinese attack in Chungking but are instead destroyed by raging nationalists.

French survivors liberate Vichy from a flipped, out of supply Spanish, but only to be smashed by the Russian army. It is now time to move to Paris.

Thanks to a recently rail moved Rumanian HQ, Russian corps are in supply (very nice tactical play, Jerome, we're really a lot with you !), and kick off the last French easily. The just landed American liberate Bordeaux from the Spanish thanks to massive shore bombardment. McArthur lands in Shanghai, which gives nationalists a better (vital) chance to hold the front.

Well, in France, all the factories but Nantes are conquered.

Eisenhower is isolated in Calais, surrounded by Russian corps but... but gosh they are not even frightened of defensive shore bombardment and they attack. The historically famous American leader is going to retire earlier than was planned : his army and another ARM are crushed by Russians claws (20 BP lost in this hex...). That was the "coup de grace".

September/October 1948 : FRANCE IS CONQUERED.

Communists ask for a reroll and keep the initiative. Yugoslavia mobilizes.

There's almost no Western unit left on the front but some valuable French corps have arrived. The weather is still fine. Zhukov takes its time and calmly overruns some retreating MOT west of Vichy. The Russian avant-garde reaches Britany where some US corps are still wandering around.

Amsterdam fails without casualties. Reinforcements are sent to Franco in Marseille.

In China, Russian corps have just reached the front line to realize there no way to breakthrough, and start rail moving back to Europe.

Democrats evacuate all they can from the continent to save some precious build points. Two US corps succeed in landing in Marocco, and soon liberate Rabat. One French ARM is saved from France and joins them. French FTRs rebase in Algeria. Montgomery leaves Kiel and is replaced by an American corp. Democrats spies manage to copy the enemy's top secret air display : a big hole is located in the Tyrolian mountains. Koniev has no air defense !

It's just time for some efficient A-bomb:an HQ and anf INF are destroyed. Jerome is upset. In China, Mc Arthur gets some reinforcements but no attack is launched.

October rains have now started. Troops are sent to Gibraltar.

Russians take position in the Alps where poor Italians try to hold 4 fronts (Yugoslavia, Austrian and French borders, as well as air operations). A successful paradrops above Milan destroys the remaining Italian air fleet. Italian's "Speciale" counter attacks and kills one the two invading corps.

More and more Russian corps are rail moved to East Turkey, which is almost conquered up to the Med. Turkish armies finally take Beyrouth and starts moving back to defend their country. They find and isolated Rumanian HQ on the border and (only) retreat it to the inner mountains. Bruxelles is still held by besieged, out of supply, American marines. The third ground strike flips the unit, which is at last attacked. All the Democrat airplanes fly to defend the position. Well, of course, Communists conquer the place, but the elite marines manage to kill 2 enemy corps in a 1-7 fight (Yes, Jerome, probability was 3%. Don't be upset : marines are just not allowed to die).

Conquest step : France, Belgium and the Netherlands are conquered by the Commies. Marocco and Lebanon by the Democrats.

Production : Dem : 80BP; Comm : 60BP. 6 BP and 3 oils are lend leased by the USSR to the Chinese.

No political struggle.

MOST SEVERE WINTER OF THE CENTURY

1948-1949 Winter will stay in men's memory as some kind of an unique meteorological event. From late November to the end of February, so many storms, blizzards and tempests have blown across the lands that going out to buy food was a risky adventure. This led the terrible WW3 to a kind of pause.

For those interested in game details, weather rolls gave 10 three times in a row. If you consider the modifiers, we even reached 13 in J/F=85

November/December 1948

Russian troops move through the Alps in France and Austria and are heavily pressuring the poorly garded borders. Some paratroops are still holding Milan and do not suffer from Italian artillery. Tito's troops face no opposition in the north of Venitia, just like Russians in Eastern Turkey. Both and progress slowly. No attacked is attempted.

Bradley is the first HQ moved from the US to Morocco. Some more transports patrol in the Cape St Vincent sea area-the two available minor ports being full- but cannot land because of the bad weather, and move back to England.

The Turkish army tries the only attack of the turn against an advanced infantry corps and loses its cavalry without damaging the Russians.

Hambourg population is saved from an atomic attack by Russian pilots.

As the storms start to freeze evrything, Russian reorganise their air fleet (air rebase are allowed whatever the weather).

Production : Democratics =3D 83 BP; Communists=3D69 BP

Russia gives 6 BP to China.

Democrats buy 3 search rolls.

January/February 1949

short turn because of this incredibly bad weather.

Democrats manage to get the initiative for the first time of the game.

Almost no movement on the map except for major US and English reinforcement in Morocco (Montgomery) and in China (Blamey). No attacked is attempted, no air missions are flown.

Production : Democratics =3D 82 BP; Communists=3D69BP

Russia gives 6 BP to China.

Democrats buy 4 search rolls. Democrats search level =3D 173;

Communists search level=3D78.

March/April 1949

Communists concentrate on Turkey, Israel and Italy.

Batavia is liberated by the local guerilla. Democrats reinforce Morocco, kill Mao with a nuke and take Chengchow. Communist partisan take Canton.

Major political struggle on India.

May/June 1949

Communist take Milan and but fail in Istanbul in spite of an OC. Syria and Lebanon are reconquered by the Russians.

Democrats use an OC in China and liberate all the right bank of the Yellow river. Chinese partisan take Kwei-Yang. Communist bet again on India, which changes side.

July/August 1949 : DEMOCRATS CONQUER ER RIF.

Russian continue to slowly progress in Italy under Benes and Rokossovsky command. They calmly surround the objective hexes (Venice, Genoa, Roma) but do not attack. Istanbul is attacked again -this time without any OC-and fails.

In Er Rif, a major Communist expeditionary force is deployed under Vatutin command but the line is weak. American and French attack next to Mellila and divide the Russian front in two. Vatutin is out of supply. Israeli attack and kill undefended Nasser in the Negev desert. Several A-bombs are launched without any success. In China, Nationalists succeed in the mountains north of Cheng Chu and reach the gates of Lan Chow.

Russian go on with various tactical moves in Italy and Turkey.

Chinese Communist make an unexpected attack to take Si-An but Chiang, demonstrate the quality of American military advisers : 3 Communist corps are destroyed and the mountains between Tai-Yuan and Si-An must be abandoned. Vietnamese regular corps enter China and move close to Chungking.

There are something like 4 Democrats HQ in Morocco waiting for a nuke to clear the way. It's been too long. Bradley decides to move forward and, thanks to an OC, takes Tangier. The whole Communist troops of Morocco are not out of supply. A French partisan fails an ambush against Unprotected Koniev. South Korean troops make their first move of the game and conquer Wensan. Yoke corps is taken out of the Chinese front to protect Chunking.

Russian continue moving on in Italy and Turkey without any attack.

Timoshenko is rail moved to China. Chinese Communist can't move, but the Vietnamese army occupies Kwei-Yang.

Democrats clear and secure in Morocco (Vatutin is easily killed).

Italian try a desesperate counter attack between Genoa and Florence : 2 corps are sacrified but a powerful artillery division is killed (not that unsuccessful).

Italian survivors manage to make a continuous line between Roma and Ancona.

In China, American corps push the Communist out of Tai-Yuan, which cuts the railroad between Lan-Chow and Peking.

Russian must know attack Roma because no more outflank movement is permitted. The operation, which had been prepared for months, is perfectly executed (dice roll:19) and the Italian capital falls.

Major political struggle on India, once again. Democrats spend 40 BP to keep India neutral.

Some discreet Russian physicists get the Red Army 5 gold stars medal in Moscow the day after the first A-bomb is tested in Siberia.

Russian save 12 BP.

September / October 1949 : DEMOCRATS CONQUER PEKING.

The weather is not very good. The Dems, who managed to get the initiative, perform a combined action to invade Canton, which is held by Communist partisan transformed into regular corps. Canadian and Australian units attack from Honk-Kong with support from US infantry and massive shore bombardment. Attack is risky but succeeds.

Russian go for an air impulse. Now that their beachhead in Morocco is about to disappear, some major air reinforcements are required to defend Gibraltar.

Moreover, the bad weather does not allow anything but air rebase.

Weather turns good and the Dems disband the remaining Communist corps of Africa. A bomb is launched in Paris and kills the Koniev HQ as well as a strategic bombing fleet.

In China, a new OC is broken on Nimitz to take Peking, a precious supply source for the Communists.

Russian carpet bombing and ground strikes finally manage to damage Genoa defense, which is then securely conquered. Russian progress around Ankara and are at the gates of Tarento.

American troops destroy the out of supply corps around Peking while the Nationalist launch an audacious attack north of Si-An, which conquers the hex, damaging again the Communist lines.

Democrats influence Pakistan to the Mobilization level.

Russians are saving 13 more BP.

November/December 1949 : COMMUNISTS CONQUER ITALY AND TURKEY.

Commies are eager to test their new atomic toy: they drop a bomb on Trieste and easily get rid of Italian defense (Jerome : "I now understand how good this thing is").

Italian fleet rebase in Tangier. An Air Cav flies to Algier and is soon joined by an INF corps carried by the Spanish TRS.

The Allied fleet searches the Med to sink this Spanish ship (and cut Communist supply) but never succeeds. Air fight occurs in China above Lan Chow : the population is saved from doom by heroic Chinese fighters; American even lose their strat. Alexander goes back to England. Another A bomb clears through Gibraltar without any casualties. Democrats make an audacious invasion in Vietnam north of Saigon.

Russian quietly terminate their conquest : Tarento is attacked from 4 hexes, ground strikes are successful, the city and the country are conquered. At the same time, the Turkish army group launches the final assault on Ankara. Israeli fighter is destroyed in a bloody battle. Batavia is reinforced against possible, future combined actions.

Politics : Sweden turns into a Communist associate, while Finland moves slowly in the Western direction.