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RE: 8MP T43 - 9/4/2018 9:08:35 AM

leverkuhn

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Turn 43 Army Group South

As you may know I've been appointed interim South Commander while thedude357 enjoys a well-earned rest in Italy and prepares for Operation Treppenwitz. We want our best commanders as fit as humanly possible for the historic campaign ahead.

My duty this turn was basically to organize our forces both in Crimea and East Ukraine so that they are ready in case we see a sudden improve in weather conditions. This will assure our summer offensive preliminaries get underway at the earliest. In the Eastern Front, striking early means striking twice.

With that in mind, 11th Army is all but ready for a spring assault on fortress city (now mud city) Sevastopol. Model, Kuechler and Weichs have been granted ten full german infantry divisions plus an airlanding division for the imminent task. There is talk in the F�hrer's circle about Model being a genius of siege warfare and the other commanders can't wait to see him prove his reputation. The faster Sevastopol can be taken, the faster 11th Army can be sent to reinforce the front.

Regarding the rest of the southern area of Army Group A, it's also organisational duty. 1st Panzer Army is moved towards its start point for summer and airdropped tons of fuel. Some former 11th Army units are reassigned to 6th army, while 1st Rumanian Army near Rostov is shuffled so it stops being mixed with everyone else. Here and there, units are moved back to refit and gain full morale.

< Message edited by leverkuhn -- 9/9/2018 10:15:30 PM >

(in reply to beender)

Post #: 661

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/10/2018 11:34:34 AM

timmyab

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Turn 43 Army group North

Weiss continues to expand the Msta bridgehead. 10th pz div joins 6th pz and 60th mot for the attack after transfering from Finland.
Again the Soviet CV collapses in mud dispite Vatutin's leadership.

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< Message edited by timmyab -- 9/10/2018 11:35:03 AM >

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Post #: 662

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/12/2018 8:48:41 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 43 15-April-1942 Air

Just like last turn our reconnaisance finds their fighters and fighter bombers east of the Don are not providing any interceptor cover, so our bombers bomb them in daylight unescorted and unintercepted yet again. They are not flying even when they are not in swamps! (We have since been told by our opponents this was due to an interface misunderstanding in v1.11.02)

We have noticed for many turns how weak their interceptors have been near Gorky. So this turn we risk a direct attack on their airbase with spectacular results. With no Soviet fighters left willing to intercept us we have all the skies to ourselves

Although our level bomber force at the moment is almost exclusively Heinkels a few old Dorniers in withdrawing airgroups make an appearance.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/12/2018 8:58:46 PM >

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RE: 8MP T43 - 9/12/2018 9:05:09 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 43 15-April-1942 Economic

We have spent the winter occasionally topping up the damage levels on the industry at Rybinsk. With the start of an expanding T-70 factory at Gorky we have been choking its expansion. But now with winter finally easing up and much of the bomber force back from reserve and active it is time to start expanding the target list again. It is the start of the

1942 STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN

Now we are on v1.11.02 we are having to build up larger damage totals at the Gorky T70 factory to prevent its expansion. This turn we saw the factory had expanded - something it would not have been able to do until v1.11.01. But even without enemy interceptors to interrupt us it is slow work in the mud. However this turn we begin to bomb manpower centres as well

Similarly the short range Rumanian level bombers we have in the Crimea bombing the Caucasus are finding it slow work to build up damage levels.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/12/2018 9:06:10 PM >

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RE: 8MP T43 - 9/12/2018 9:34:30 PM

Telemecus

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Operation National Garden: The Reprise

"The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Clearly beender's modesty is why they are pretending to not love mud

It is cover for the truly amazing achievement of capturing a bridgehead over the Don again, this time in mud, having lost the first one in a bitterly fought snow campaign. But with ice levels now down to 8 there really never can never be another chance to do this again before summer.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/12/2018 9:38:26 PM >

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RE: 8MP T43 - 9/12/2018 9:47:03 PM

M60A3TTS

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
But with ice levels now down to 8 there really never can never be another chance to do this again before summer.

Never can never? Is that a double negative? Or were you thinking more like "never say never"

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Post #: 666

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/13/2018 1:40:37 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 43 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 43.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 10/8/2018 6:01:10 PM >

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Post #: 667

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/13/2018 1:44:54 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 43: Soviet civil war breaks out

quote:

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
It is in the Gulag.

Rumour has it 3 was put on a sealed train through Germany and sheparded to the Soviet Union to cause chaos there. However the government of Germany vehementaly denies any such train existed. Everybody on the train denies it too. And so does chaos.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Henceforth, the quantity of (one more than two) shall not be used, mentioned, or otherwise employed.
No more troikas, trios, or triumvirates. All planes with (one more than two) engines are grounded.

If only it had stayed there!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
All hail the victorious Red Army!
In other news, the number '3' has been rehabilitated in the Motherland's great hour of need and assigned to a punishment battalion.

Pandora's box has been opened.

We are told our opponents four man team has gone down to three - and a vigorous debate has opened up on whether to carry on as a three man team or with four. So we are asked to wait until it is resolved. The Fuhrer is not pleased - the Soviet Union is supposed to be fighting us and not each other!

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Post #: 668

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/13/2018 2:02:30 PM

EwaldvonKleist

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Heheh

quote:

This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations of turn 43

I have seen this repeatedly, what is the reason that it isn't uploaded immediately?

_____________________________

The Library of Gary Grigsby's War in the East resources.
Do you want total war? Guide for WitE players

(in reply to Telemecus)

Post #: 669

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/13/2018 2:11:38 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 43: Soviet civil war breaks out

quote:

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
It is in the Gulag.

Rumour has it 3 was put on a sealed train through Germany and sheparded to the Soviet Union to cause chaos there. However the government of Germany vehementaly denies any such train existed. Everybody on the train denies it too. And so does chaos.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Henceforth, the quantity of (one more than two) shall not be used, mentioned, or otherwise employed.
No more troikas, trios, or triumvirates. All planes with (one more than two) engines are grounded.

If only it had stayed there!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
All hail the victorious Red Army!
In other news, the number '3' has been rehabilitated in the Motherland's great hour of need and assigned to a punishment battalion.

Pandora's box has been opened.

We are told our opponents four man team has gone down to three - and a vigorous debate has opened up on whether to carry on as a three man team or with four. So we are asked to wait until it is resolved. The Fuhrer is not pleased - the Soviet Union is supposed to be fighting us and not each other!

Que 'Downfall' clip of your choice.

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RE: 8MP T43 - 9/13/2018 7:05:45 PM

Telemecus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist

Heheh

quote:

This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations

I have seen this repeatedly, what is the reason that it isn't uploaded immediately?

Originally as the AAR was too close to the turn we were playing - but that is no longer a problem.

Now more because it is a very boring document and only suitable for nerdy people who like to study matches - people like me for instance

So by inserting it later it does not interrupt the flow for the casual reader. It is only meant for those who want to read back on the details later.

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8MP T44 - 9/13/2018 7:58:13 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 44: Soviet civil war ends

It is official - the triumvaratists have won the brief Soviet civil war and the Quadriumvaratists have been banished. We know who is to blame however. Zorch!

Beyond being told the Soviet side will carry on as a three man team and that the separation between Supreme and ground commands will continue we are not told what is the new Soviet line up. So Axis ground commanders will no longer know who is the main commander in charge of the forces in front of them.

Now the Soviet team can finally get back to fighting the war with us - and eventually we get turn 44 back!

< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/13/2018 8:06:48 PM >

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/13/2018 9:28:04 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 44: Soviet civil war ends

It is official - the triumvaratists have won the brief Soviet civil war and the Quadriumvaratists have been banished. We know who is to blame however. Zorch!

Beyond being told the Soviet side will carry on as a three man team and that the separation between Supreme and ground commands will continue we are not told what is the new Soviet line up. So Axis ground commanders will no longer know who is the main commander in charge of the forces in front of them.

Now the Soviet team can finally get back to fighting the war with us - and eventually we get turn 44 back!

We understand that Zhukov's tanks steamrolled their way into the Kremlin to persuade Stalin of the necessity for a prompt decision. After which a {number of rats left the sinking ship} the Red Army punishment battalions were augmented.

(in reply to Telemecus)

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/16/2018 11:47:26 AM

beender

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Turn 44 Army Group Centre

Little is really worth reporting as mud goes on and on and on...We do have a weather forecast that in North Soviet it will be blizzard next turn, which is worse than mud

Anyway, this turn concludes my short experience as commander of Army Group Center

Now that we come to think of it, one of the reasons that the Soviet-German continued for four years was probably that the season suitable for fighting is so short in Soviet, only about three months. Otherwise the intensive fight would probably soon have exhausted both sides...

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< Message edited by beender -- 9/16/2018 11:48:33 AM >

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/17/2018 12:14:44 AM

leverkuhn

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Turn 44 Army Group South

Things still quiet down muddy South while organisational duty gets everything into place. No combat this week but another infantry division (for a total of 11 plus an Airborne Division plus a full 21 pioneer battalions) gets silently railed into Crimea for the imminent assault of fortress city by 11th Army, which should officially set the fireworks to get Treppenwitz under way.

Meanwhile, in a forest near Kursk we see a rare partisan attack at the dead end of a secondary railway that causes no inconvenience. The occupation must be a success if this is everything they can muster. In the muddy plains of Army Group A, Rumanian forces of 1st and 4th armies are once again rearranged so they stop overlapping with German units.

Oh, and thedude357 will be back next week from his well deserved rest in allied Italy.

< Message edited by leverkuhn -- 9/17/2018 10:34:29 AM >

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/17/2018 1:43:07 AM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: leverkuhn

Turn 44 Army Group South

Oh, and thedude357 will be back next week from his well deserved rest in allied Italy.

Will he get a spaghetti bonus when commanding Italian units?

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/17/2018 7:51:38 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 44 22-April-1942 Economic

With no red air force to oppose us we go into overdrive bombing industry along the Volga. The T70 factory at Gorky reaches damage levels in the 40s - and this last turn failed to expand. And closer to the front lines we are bombing more and more manpower

In the Caucasus Rumanian tac bombers join in on the raids by the Crimean based Rumanian level bombers on the heavy industry at Novorossiysk.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/17/2018 8:24:57 PM >

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/17/2018 7:55:54 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 44 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 44.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 10/8/2018 6:04:26 PM >

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8MP T45 - 9/17/2018 8:08:29 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 45: Team

It would take an advanced degree in linguistics and an eye for little gestures - but the casual reader might still have picked up that beender was not having fun with the mud turns.

And if it is not fun it is not worth doing. So from this turn beender stepped back from his role as centre commander. But he remains a very valued member of the team and a great friend of the game!

From this turn we welcome back Crackaces as our centre commander.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/17/2018 8:23:13 PM >

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/17/2018 8:14:45 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 44 23-April-1942 Soviet Turn

Disaster - Don bridgehead lost again!

We really should have taken more notice of those approaching Soviet Guards cavalry corps!

Having got a bridgehead in blizzard, lost it, then got another one in mud, now we have lost that one too. Turn 44 by normal weather patterns would be the last to see the river Don frozen - from now on it will not only have unfrozen but the floating ice will make it completely impossible to cross.

There are many ways to describe this, but none better than Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell:-

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/17/2018 8:16:31 PM >

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/17/2018 8:26:49 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 44 23-April-1942 Soviet Turn

Disaster - Don bridgehead lost again!

We really should have taken more notice of those approaching Soviet Guards cavalry corps!

Having got a bridgehead in blizzard, lost it, then got another one in mud, now we have lost that one too. Turn 44 by normal weather patterns would be the last to see the river Don frozen - from now on it will not only have unfrozen but the floating ice will make it completely impossible to cross.

There are many ways to describe this, but none better than Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell:-

Attachment (1)

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/17/2018 11:05:50 PM

Sammy5IsAlive

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IMHO by 1942 it is pretty difficult for the Axis to do much from a single hex bridgehead assuming the Soviet lines are not already disrupted and in retreat.

Once the weather clears do you think you have enough offensive power to bully/panzerball your way to Tambov without it turning into a Kursk 43 style slog? If you can get there the defences along the Don down to around Boguchar are outflanked and could become a bit of a trap for the Soviets. Plus once that line goes pretty much everything further south that is west of the Don is threatened with encirclement.

Also if you can get to that area around Tambov the Soviets will have to be defending against three different potential offensives from that 'base camp' - an attempt to clear out the Soviets south of the Oka which would give a secure northern flank and free up forces to strike south; an offensive aimed at encircling forces in the clear hexes west of Saransk/Penza/Saratov and the aforementioned offensive outflanking the line along the Don.

< Message edited by Sammy5IsAlive -- 9/17/2018 11:33:32 PM >

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/18/2018 3:17:12 PM

Telemecus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

IMHO by 1942 it is pretty difficult for the Axis to do much from a single hex bridgehead...

defences along the Don down to around Boguchar are outflanked and could become a bit of a trap for the Soviets. Plus once that line goes pretty much everything further south that is west of the Don is threatened with encirclement.

Also if you can get to that area around Tambov the Soviets will have to be defending against three different potential offensives from that 'base camp' - an attempt to clear out the Soviets south of the Oka..

An extremely good post and a lot to consider - indeed players of the game may well say prophetic as you have hit some of the themes of the next few turns which we have already played but yet to post in the AAR. So hold these thoughts as in future turns of this AAR we will be returning to them.

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/18/2018 3:34:40 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 45 29-April-1942 Centre

There have been 3 commanders for the centre. Stelteck, Crackaces, and beender. Crackaces returns to the centre this turn.

quote:

original:Crackaces
The strategic plan for the center since the start of the winter has been "not a step back." At least the Germans will have to be pushed back and the Center will not voluntarily give up hexes. The reason for adopting this strategy is rooted in three strategic principles unique to this particular game.
1. The Soviets start their winter offense with about 5.1M manpower in TO&E. The AAR's show much promise for manpower 6M and over, and debatable promise for manpower of 5M and under. More so, this is a harsh first winter but no +1 attacks. That means the Soviets have to concentrate more CV into locations they want to advance, and cannot rely on +1 to move German units. I believe very simply that the Soviets do not have enough manpower to conduct a threating blizzard offense.
2. Given #1 above, the Soviets will have to rely heavily on cavalry units. They have limited replacement. Matching up mountain units with the right support units will extract a heavy toll for any ground gained.
3. The Soviet air force is very weak. This will not affect the winter per se, but ground saved during the winter will quickly be advantageous to the Luftwaffe come first clear turns. There are multiple targets that if a staging base were placed in the right spot - the Soviets would be in a severe disadvantage.

The cost of this strategy is blood and treasure. The Soviets will grow in numbers and the disadvantage shown in guns to men ratios will eventually correct. The winter is particularly harsh to AFV's as damaged AFV's often become destroyed during the logistics phase. However, this particular situation demonstrates the benefits of a German Blizzard offense that outweighs the potential risks.

The strategy played out as Telemecus and beender previously posted for the center. The Soviet offense was met with counterattacks. The cost was high but the Germans held precious ground for the Spring 1942 offense. More so, the Luftwaffe is in range of multiple lucrative targets as the blizzard and mud will end soon.

Below are the plans suggested by Centre. Staff at OKH did ask what the difference was between some of them, but Centre assured us they were as different as night and day!

quote:

original:Crackaces
The picture below shows the decided effort. The armor will come out to play later. A series of attacks starting at the Oka southwards produces routs as well as moving Soviets rearwards. Two such battles are shown. One in the North is a rout (actually the one above is a rout too). The big battle in the center is a simple retreat 2.01:1 odds with equal losses on both sides.

The picture above also shows a healthy reserve. Deploying armor in a blizzard has a cost in damaged and destroyed AFV's. Enough armor is deployed to achieve a measured response to the Soviet position but not so much we take unnecessary AFV losses. The reserve is in position to react to the anticipated Soviet moves. Rather than retreat - we are moving forward in the blizzard.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/18/2018 3:44:48 PM >

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/18/2018 4:22:22 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 45 29-April-1942 Centre

Below are the plans suggested by Centre. Staff at OKH did ask what the difference was between some of them, but Centre assured us they were as different as night and day!

Someone get carried away with the arrow marker?

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RE: 8MP T44 - 9/20/2018 11:27:15 AM

leverkuhn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Will he get a spaghetti bonus when commanding Italian units?

In fact he has already asked for italian food and wine to be provided to the whole Army Group A for the summer campaign. He is expecting "immediate and tangible" morale improvements throughout the front.

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/21/2018 1:42:55 PM

Telemecus

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/21/2018 1:43:27 PM >

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RE: 8MP T45 - 9/25/2018 9:42:19 PM

Telemecus

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While the Soviet team reorganises, our troops take some time to relax.

Q: Buddy, do you have a light?
A: Will this flame thrower do?

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RE: 8MP T45 - 10/2/2018 4:16:08 PM

thedude357

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Turn 45 Army Group South

This turn sees a mixture of snow and mud in the South. Plenty of action forcing the bridgehead expension around Voronezh. Some serious attacks against guard units by 3rd Panzer Army. Tremendous amounts of German artillery and cold steel are used to ROUT guard units and RETREAT others. You can never ever have enough artillery. This time the bridgehead will hold, the panzers will ensure it.

In the far south in Crimea, 11th Army has staged and is ready to strike Sevastopol. Ground bombing attempts to soften the Soviet defenders up, but the infantry attack will have to wait until clear weather.