Final result

VICTORY FOR THE AXIS!
The first phase of the Flames of War Campaign is now over - with an overwhelming victory to the axis in the Med, and stalemate in the east. It is now August 1943 and the aborted landings in Sicily and the loss of Malta have stabilised that front for the Axis. It will now be a fair while before either side can launch an assault on the other over the sea.

Meanwhile the front has barely moved in Russia. Kursk is still threatened and losses on both sides are high. Russian games will still be included in the campaign until the decisive Battle For Kursk , a multiplayer event I'm hoping to organise soon....

If there is interest I will happily run a new front in the west with another allied invasion sometime soon. Possibly with an early Normandy or another Med invasion - depending on the outcome of the Russian front.

And the overall "winner" of the Flames Of War campaign is the unbeaten JP rather unsurprisingly...

- Duncan

1st August

MALTA CAPTURED BY AXIS
After two weeks intensive fighting Malta has fallen into Axis hands as the last remaining pockets of resistance crumbled. This leaves the Allies in North Africa very exposed and the Axis high command immediately took advantage of this to launch a series of armoured raids in North Africa overnight. The German tanks and special forces tested the defences of the African continent but in the end were stopped by British infantry forces in the area.

RUSSIANS WEAKEN AT KURSK
German forces in the East have pushed on again after defeating the latest Soviet counter attack. Perhaps rallied by the recent demolishion of the Allied invasion of Sicily the Axis forces quickly gained ground in the Russian summer heat and are once again threatening Voronezh. Kursk is holding out - but barely.

14th July

12 July

MALTA INVADED!

In a surprise night time attack forces of the German and Italian armies have landed on Malta and driven inland after some fierce engagements. In the north of the Island the defending American Armoured division recently rescued from Sicily (Garth) were unable to stop the marauding German Panzergrenadiers (Ben and Paul) from cutting off the northern peninsular.

Meanwhile Italian armoured units (JP) managed to make headway against the British defenders (Craig) and are now within a mile of Valetta itself! The Allies are not giving up malta without a fight though and dented the hopes of a German quick win by halting the German advance into the island's interior (Bill vs. Paul L, Dan vs. Chris).

KURSK DEFENDERS RELIEVED

Some good news finally for the allies on the Russian front as the hard pressed Soviet defenders regain the initiative in the east after a major battle near Voronezh. The Russian 62nd army broke through the German cordon (Rykk vs. Craig) and was able to meet up with the surrounded Russian defenders in the Kursk Kessel. Is the tide about to turn against the Axis forces in the east?

6th June Player League table

Campaign Positions

30th June - Sicily

ALLIES ROUTED!

The 1943 allied invasion of Sicily is no doubt goung to go down in history as the greatest military disaster in history for the British and American armies. There is effectively nothing left of the British 8th and the American 7th armies. The operation to withdraw the remaining troops from the Island was thwarted when Italian and German armoured divisions quickly overran the British and American rearguards and cut the remnants of the invasion force off from the beaches. Over 100,000 allied troops were forced to surrender and all of the invasion force's equipment has been lost.

Worse still the British and American naval forces, while attempting to evacuate the troops from Sicily, have been badly mauled. The allies are firmly on the defensive in the Mediterannean now, and British assets in Egypt are once again in danger.
A statement from the allied high command is expected soon...

Allies 3-2-13 Axis

Allies 17%

Axis 72%

30th June - Kursk

RUSSIANS TRAPPED AT KURSK!
The beleagured Russian army has suffered yet another reverse in the recent Axis offensive against the Kursk Salient. Yesterday units of an Italian armoured division broke through Russian defenders at Starry Oskol and completed the encirclement of two Russian armies in the Kursk Kessel when they met up with German forces near Livny.
The Russians must breakout soon or the Kursk salient will fall with the loss of hundreds of thousands of Russian troops!
Russians 1-0-4 Axis

23rd June

KURSK OFFENSIVE GAINS MOMENTUM

Events on the eastern front have once again swung in favour of Nazi Germany after a successful breakthrough by the 3rd and 7th Panzer divisions around the town of Droskovo. The push has further narrowed the Kursk salient and left the Russians in a dangerously exposed position. The Russians now risk encirclement at Kursk if the position is not relieved. (hold the line Craig vs. Rykk - victory to Craig's Germans)

Game score Axis 3-0-1 Russians

23rd June (sicily)

SICILY INVASION TURNS INTO "DISASTER"

The allied invasion of Sicily, after establishing a foothold last week has turned this week into an unmittigated military disaster. In the last few days attacks by German and Italian forces have driven into the allied beachhead and are now within a few miles of Gela. It looks likely that the allied fleet will be dispatched to the Island to rescue the remaining allied troops.

Things started to go wrong for the allies when a combined Anglo-American attack on German positions met fierce resistance. Both sides took heavy casualties near Niscemi, but the German defenses were not breached and the allied forces were made to withdraw. (Duncan's Grenadiers vs. Garth and Matt Austen).

Meanwhile an italian armoured division (JP) broke through the Indian (Bill) defence lines around Vittoria and pushed up to the coast despite taking heavy casualties (many of which were due to German communications being intercepted by the British).

On the west flank of the allied territory things were no better as the 50th British infantry division (Dan A) was badly mauled by german panzer grenadiers and pushed back from Licata to Gela itself.

The allies now face a fighting withdrawl to rescue their remaining troops from the Island and to protect their recently won conquests in Africa!

Game score Allies 3-2-6 Axis