RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (Full Version)

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> The Operational Art of War IV >> After Action Reports



Message

larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/13/2018 8:30:31 PM)

quote:

House rule #3 comes with the scenario - later documentation confirms "invade" means sea landing - no sea-lifts for panzer divisions!!

I forgot all about that. I'll have to take it back. Evacuate the troops.



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/13/2018 11:29:18 PM)

Here's the Kiev area now. I'm trying to push the Soviet units out of the city and gain the river crossing so I can destroy the remnants before they can escape across the river. The units already on the east side of the river to the north of Kiev are approaching the Kiev crossing but progress is slow. I've got the rest of the crossings plugged up and I'm using engineers to get units positioned across from the Soviet units on the river hex just to frighten Ian. He's pretty good about plugging my attempts to cross the river. He's brought in some sizeable arty pieces and my losses are heavy. The mud season is right around the corner.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/3C7F5EC1E0B64C7C8A1FA6BFE44F6944.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/14/2018 5:48:58 AM)

Firstly....Thanks SMK for your input !

Larry and I are both getting old so we both forgot about the House Rule re Panzer landings [:D][:D]

Soviet Turn 31.....5th October 1941

The 2nd Panzer has been pulled back to the port on the Baltic and will no doubt be sailing off suitably chastised next turn (minus its Recce unit which I managed to destroy).

The Soviet lines hold against multiple attacks this turn.......likely to be the last before the ceasefire.....and Kiev is amazingly still in Soviet control even if in a very precarious state. Medals have been arranged for its garrison albeit most of them will be awarded posthumously !

The Soviet domination in the air war continues and the big hope is that after the ceasefire this can help out a lot.

The task during the ceasefire will be to gear up ready for the Soviet Winter offensive which gives me a short lived shock bonus and fully rest my very tired artillery and air units for the struggles ahead......




larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/14/2018 11:08:03 PM)

That sneaky Ian has driven some units across the river and has almost surrounded my units just as the mud season starts so that I can't fix the break. I'll just surround his units and wait. I think I have established an LOC with the flow of supply for the group so it's not an emergency yet. I expect to have to move only the RR engineers each mud turn so these turns should go fast.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/700BE6A73A3840F6BEB703956ACE12F0.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/15/2018 6:00:19 AM)

Soviet Turn 32...CEASEFIRE

The move to cross the Dnepr last turn is an attempt to force the Germans to extend and thin their lines as they are able at present to concentrate at the crossings and points of their choice. It would have been nice to surround the 3 Infantry Divisions trying to force the crossing SW of Poltava but I just couldnt manage it. Nonetheless the position is reinforced this turn....

With interdiction stopped due to the rain I am able to rail to the front the 1st Shock Army and the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies are ready to go next turn too. These being regular troops as opposed to the Militia I have largely been having to employ to date give me the chance of at least trying some offensive operations during the upcoming Winter Offensive.

Larry managed top push the Soviets out of the last city hex in Kiev apart from the Centre itself so Kiev will surely fall when the rains end but it has performed its task well and these next turns will allow the defences in the area to be reconfigured and strengthened safely.



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/17/2018 11:32:18 PM)

Mud turns are over now. The war is back on.

I have a confession to make. I was zooming through the mud season turns just repairing rail and hitting end-turn. I never took the time to look around and ensure that the front lines were copecidec. I had completely forgotten about Ian's latest lunge across the river that has almost surrounded several of my units. Now I've got to scrape together about 7 divisions worth of troops to contain this incursion. There are units nearby that can act as roadblocks but they won't hold for long. This may be the thing that wins the war for Ian.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/949763AD819D4B60A7626943224B3D0A.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/18/2018 4:02:33 AM)

So I've been moving units and I think I'm ready to pull the trigger and execute the combats. I've managed to build a light shell around the incursion and other units are headed this way. My units have built up a supply level of 150 and I'm pretty sure the Soviet units have too. My units are right now as strong as they will ever be for the rest of the game most likely. I've repositioned the aircraft to the best spots depending on their mission. The aircraft in this image are on INT missions because I want to stiffle any efforts by the Soviets to try to save their incursion group. I really don't know what Ian is going to do but I tend to lean toward him attempting a rescue of his units. All he needs is one or more engineers.

Edit: Yeah, I just now noticed that too.....Ian has already pre-positioned two engineers on the south end of his river crossing. It should be only a minor problem getting them back across the river. Assuming that he was going to retreat them. On the other hand he COULD try to reinforce them and make the bulge bigger. Which of these will he do? He's got most of his reinforcements at the front lines already, given so many mud season turns to move them. Another question is where are his main tank Divisions?

[image]local://upfiles/16287/3471CA179B5248DFB63828EC89ED8914.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/18/2018 4:43:55 AM)

Okie dokie I'm ready to execute the combats and I thought you might find it interesting to see that there's going to be at least 83 battles. A lot of those are my artillery bombarding Soviet stacks but there's lots of brute force pushing and shoving. This is the first attacks being executed since the beginning of the mud season and I expect lots of fireworks.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/2052781943BD45809B39640DF89B5D0C.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/18/2018 4:58:40 AM)

Here's what happened, and you can see that these attacks were expensive. Ian has huge concentrations of arty just behind the lines and they are cutting my troops to pieces. I'm going to have to review my policy reguarding the advance and whether or not to push at all. I'd hate to spend the rest of the war doing only arty duels every turn.

I took a good look at the front line and I see where I'm using Panzers to hold positions on the front line and I'd really rather use them as local reserves. So rather than continue beating my head against the wall I'll spend a few turns getting organized and look for ways to use the natural terrain better. Most of the progress is happening in the south so I'll keep pushing down there for a while.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/4CE915B220144E869E9889D5FC000BAA.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/18/2018 4:35:51 PM)

Soviet Turn 42....12th November 1941.

Notwithstanding Larrys's reports above the Germans launch ferocious assaults along the line putting the Soviets under severe pressure. Kiev is overrun by SS Divisions backed by huge numbers of artillery pieces concentrated behind them and Pskov falls as it's garrison is pushed out of the city but the Germans are unable to follow up so Soviet forces re-occupy it during my turn.

Narva, Genichesk,Shimsk and Zubstsov are all successfully defended and there are very heavy air losses on both sides with the Soviet fighters performing well.

I decide that although my Shock advantage won't kick in until the Soviet Winter event starts I will try and take advantage of German efforts which will have depleted them in some areas to try and launch some counter attacks of my own to relieve the pressure. The river crossing previously done just South of German held Kremecheg on the lower Dnepr is reinforced and an assault on Kremicheg itself is successful and the armoured engineers dug in there thrown out of the city securing the crossing.

Further North an offensive planned during the mud season is launched just South of Kiev as the entire 1st Shock Army supported by attached cavalry units sweeps across the Dnepr swinging North to make contact with the massed German artillery around Kiev....The turn ends early before they can be properly attacked but it will hopefully give German commanders pause for thought.

Finally a limited offensive is launched in southern Finland as the River Svir'r is crossed and the Finnish unit guarding the border the 1st Infantry Divn is confronted by Soviet infantry to their front and paratroop drops to their rear.....



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 5:38:36 AM)

I just received some new moves from Ian and it seems that he has used his engineers to leap across the river in an unprotected sector of the front lines and now he's in my backfield and I don't have a reserve. I'll have to turn off the advance and deal with this now. I've got troops nearby that I can use as roadblocks and strongpoints but this is going to take more troops than I have in this area. I'm going to have to rail in some more troops to contain this. Thankfully all the rails are repaired. If Ian had done this earlier I would have had a major crisis on my hands. But this I'm hoping I can contain. [size]

[image]local://upfiles/16287/41FB7469F354470898C7E3DD90474D9D.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 5:53:17 AM)

Here's a bird's eye-view and I underestimated the distance from my "nearby" troops and the breakthrough. It appears that the Soviets are going to have at least one more turn of free movement and that will no doubt balloon the size of the bulge and create more room for Soviet troops. This may be where the game turns around and Ian is in charge. At least this is different from beating my head against the Soviet wall. It's going to take me about three turns to get some troops down here in serious numbers. The troops are most likely going to have to come from the Crimea. I've got several German units in the Crimea that I can evacuate and turn the tasks in the Crimea over to the Rumanians. If I remember correctly the Italians are sitting on a rail already. I don't remember where the Hungarians and what they are doing but I could use them here too. [size]

[image]local://upfiles/16287/30A8F00D2FF34890ACBF99F81506BBBE.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 3:13:39 PM)

Open email to Ian:

[image]local://upfiles/16287/B769B60BEB564571B47F404B052B0F1C.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 7:21:48 PM)

My email back to Larry .......

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the comments....not sure it's quite as decisive a move as you think (or I would like) but we will see how things look when the turn comes back to me.....I thought I would try something that would maybe relieve the pressure around Kiev and give you something more than battering my lines to think about 😉
I was a bit lucky as last game you had quite a few reserves behind the front lines around Kiev and I ran straight into them when I tried something similar so was expecting the same as Fog of war is still an issue for me at this stage....I think you have maybe moved a lot of excess troops down South this game so hopefully it will take some time to ship them back.

Soviet Winter is not far off so I do want to keep some fresh troops but at least one more Shock Army may have to take a trip to see the sights around Kiev.....let's see 😁

Great game....great opponent !

Have fun

Ian



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 9:50:33 PM)

Soviet Turn 43....16th November 1943

A cold snap reduces German Shock levels to 100 from 120 and they now are only equal to that of the Soviets so a continuation and intensification of the Soviet counter attacks are ordered. Ist Shock Army supported by regular armoured Brigades push West through a screen of German Commandos and combat engineers South of Kiev and take a small rail intersection at Restov. A fight to retake Kiev city centre is now underway with no less than 3 Shock Armies in the area of operations.

Further South the Southern Front is ordered to also try and move into the offensive and Cherkassy and Zaporhozhe (sp?) are retaken with Soviet attackers also using pontoons to reach rear area artillery.

In the far North meanwhile 1st Finnish Division is cut off out of supply by paratroops to the North and Infantry arriving from the south and the assaults on the Division begin with some success.

The centre continues to hold against determined German attacks....with winter closing in will the Germans decide to hold or retreat....



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 10:28:27 PM)

It's late November and the SWO is approaching and the Axis shock went down to 100 same as the Soviets and Ian has made incursions across the river at several places. I was so outnumbered that I just concentrated on holding the crossings and didn't garrison the rest of the river assuming that the Soviets wouldn't want to cross the river because Ian's concentrating on defending. So without my knowledge, Ian brought up the engineers and used them to lunge deep into my backfield and the troops I'm railing into the AO to contain these incursions haven't arrived yet. I moved about four divisions last turn so I'm thinking I can rail about another four from somewhere. I've been stripping the front lines of units to rail leaving the bare minimum placeholders without backup or reserve. If I can get the incursions contained soon enough maybe I can replace some of the units I'm stripping off. This is the kind of thing that happens when you don't have a reserve.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/BCC815B368DE4169918040C3E5E67708.jpg[/image]



SMK-at-work -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/20/2018 10:42:23 PM)

Glad to help (albeit I haven't checked up since then!!) :)



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/21/2018 8:47:49 PM)

New moves from Ian and I see where he's made another breakthrough during his turn. That means I've almost got it contained. I've got another Division I haven't used yet so I think I can fix these holes and thus contain them. The next problem is: once I have contained them then what do I do? I think I'll strip off some of the smaller units and start building an MLR somewhere to the west, behind a river to the west. There's probably not enough time before the SWO to get all my units repositioned on the west side of the next river to the west and that will leave my units defending out in the open terrain, the worst kind to defend in. So I'll have to hit the ground running.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/096E7B73A4A04737A11DD71696E92FD4.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/21/2018 8:57:34 PM)

Soviet Turn 44...19th November 1941

3rd Shock Army arrives in the "Kiev Bulge" to find German troops have been rushed to the area and expansion for now is minimal.

In the centre East of German held Orsha the Germans pull back slightly but there is certainly no widespread withdrawal and In the South more German reserves have capped the extent of Soviet moves across the lower Dnepr.

Only in Finland are the Soviets starting to make progress. The greater part of the Finnish 1st Division is now cut off and out of supply on the border and further North efforts are being made to force the blocked route to the Murmansk Front and cut off the German formations in the area.

The air war continues to be very much in favour of the Soviets and more airfield attacks take out multiple Romanian bombers this turn and over 250 Axis planes are again lost after almost 800 last turn.

A lucky raid from US Dauntlesses operating off Leningrad manages to sink the German battleship in the area.The

I did try and counter attack in several places this turn but cunning positioning of German Panzer Divisions and artillery caused heavy losses so I may need to wait for the Winter Offensive and a more advantageous shock ratio which at present still favours the Germans...



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/22/2018 10:25:22 AM)

New set of moves from Ian and you can see where Ian has pushed his way through my lines and has broken a hole through which he no doubt is planning on moving his units through. Fortunately I have enough troops at hand to contain it. At least I think I do. I'm thinking of pulling all the units back to the west side of this river instead of leaving them out in the open like they are. German units aren't designed to retreat very well and leaving the Soviet zones of control is problematic at best. I'm bound to lose a lot of units trying to pull back. I'm going to have to pull back eventually anyway.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/430B004114E649A18E9C14C91AF2548D.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/22/2018 5:05:08 PM)

Soviet Turn 45

After deciding on the sensible strategy of waiting for the shock advantage of the Soviet Winter to kick in before trying to punch through strong German lines I completely ignored this and made several attempts to do so. These met largely with predictable failure at high cost. Memo to self.....listen to your own advice :-)

Two regiments from the broken up Finnish 1st Division were destroyed in southern Finland and there were a couple of small breakthroughs in the South but otherwise it was a quiet turn and more representative reinforcements were fed into the Kiev salient which is coming under some pressure.

A destroyed was sunk off Leningrad but the Kriegsmarine remains a nuisance bombarding Soviet lines in southern Finland. In better news troops on the River Narva have pushed West across the River to try and pressurised AGN.



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/22/2018 8:26:53 PM)

Soviet Turn 46......26th November 1941

A quiet turn from the Germans means I can rest my aircraft and concentrate on a couple of targeted advances.

A push by Soviet armour breaks through units of 9th Army south of Smolensk and the advance heads towards Orsha behind the main German line.

Another breakthrough across the Narva river destroys a full strength German infantry as Shock Army troops support armour and push west an attempt to cut off German forces facing the Soviet lines closer to the Baltic coast.

In the far north the offensive against the Finns is reinforced and almost the entire 1st Finnish Division is cut off from supply or destroyed.

I then end the turn to rest forces whilst awaiting the winter.........



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/22/2018 10:20:45 PM)

Ian and I are fighting in the open flat terrain west of the river that passes through Kiev and I'm losing. I'm going to have to back up my units pretty quickly now or Ian will make a hole I can't fix and roll up my lines. I'm counterattacking in certain spots, those spots I think I can win, and I'm pulling back in other spots. I'm repairing the rails to the west of this image to prepare for occupancy. I'm afraid to rail divisions down here because of the shape the rest of the front lines are in. There's many weak spots and places under great stress with no reserve handy. I'm outnumbered and the units are almost equal in strength now that they have had time to rest and refit. My units rested during the mud season until they were leaf green and stuffed with equipment and now just a couple of turns after the mud season, they are turning yellow and some of them are down to half strength already and it's only going to get worse. And Ian is pushing all up and down the lines. He's broken a hole up north and I'm having to back my units up and build a new MLR. I'm trying to hold onto the middle but the pressure is great to push my units backward. The Soviets have almost 4 times as much AS as I have and the air war is intense. Several of my Axis fighter squadrons have evaporated. Soviet planes are falling out of the sky. A lot of the places that Ian is pushing have tanks as their spearhead. I'm rushing my Panzer formations to the breakthroughs but they aren't there yet. It's so exciting I can't wait for the turn to come back.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/F74512D116E24AF29679A1D3C1D2A396.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/23/2018 3:35:19 PM)

Soviet Turn 47.30th November 1941

As the softening up of German lines with concentrated artillery fire continues in preparation for the Winter, Soviet supply increases by 10 to add a nice boost to replacements.

In the Narva area the breakout is expanded and 2nd Shock Army has re-occupied Kohtla-Jarve 40 Km west of Narva and the German SS Politzei Division and 4th Geb Div still facing the defenders of the city are almost cut off.

Down in the far south attacks on 3rd Romanian Army and 94th German Division in the lines on the eastern isthmus from Sevastapol Crimea are successful and the 3rd Crimean Motorised Div is only 40 Km from the rear of German lines at Melitopol...

More advances also take place in southern Finland though Finnish reinforcements can be seen arriving...



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/23/2018 11:45:00 PM)

New moves from Ian; Here's what it has developed into so far. I've started counterattacking and I was actually able to push some of the Soviet units backward. I'm planning on pulling everybody back to the west to the next river but I'm afraid to actually start moving the units that way. I'm not real good at the pullback maneuvour. Partisans are still a problem and they manage to cut my rails and drop my bridges and I've learned to garrison some spare units throughout the territory so I can respond faster and cut down on the damage done. A lot of my fighters are in reorg this turn so I'm wondering if I should ground the bombers for this turn or not. I'm pulling the engineers out of the front line replacing them with a leg infantry unit because I'm going to use the engineers to garrison some of the outlaying cities. I'm sort of waiting for the Soviet Winter Offensive because I'll be forced to back up then anyway, probably. My units are losing their strength slowly because of the fighting that's going on. I'm going to have to start rotating them to get the stronger fresher units at the front. I'm repairing the rails in the area that I anticipate that I'm going to occupy sometime in the future. Maybe if I back up the units starting at one of the ends. The retreat path is larger for the northern units because of the layout of the natural terrain. I'd have to pull them back to Pskov to find defensible terrain.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/6A058CE5AB47446E8EBC243A7A72BEAC.jpg[/image]



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/24/2018 8:13:46 AM)

Soviet Turn 48...3rd December 1941

The Germans reduce the western perimeter of a couple of the probes across the lower Dnepr and try and extricate the 4th Geb Division from the Narva line, leaving the SS Polizei Division to its fate.

Soviet Armour and 2nd Shock Army manage to punch through to the Baltic cutting off the SS and isolating several Infantry Regiments as the advance continues. A new German line is now encountered 100 km to the west.

As the snows are yet to arrive I decide to launch concentrated attacks early in any case in the central sector for the first time. North and South of Smolensk the German line is broken through in an attempt to isolate and surround the city.

The same situation is also developing at Gomel with 16th Mechanized Corps only 30Km from the city and at Cherginov where 3 Guards Armies are at the gates.

Further South the drive from the Sevastopol peninsular continues towards the Melitopol lines and more Soviet formations advance from the Crimea to help...

Finally, the advance in southern Finland has now encircled elements of the 19th Finnish Division as further paratroop drops cut off its retreat...




gliz2 -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/25/2018 10:22:40 AM)

Guys are you basing your planning on the known "unknowns"? I mean going for the X or waiting for X cause the pre-set events sounds lika kind of cheating to me.
I know you have already played this but I cannot remember ever lurking into the manual or expected reinforcements to see what's coming. This is an exploit of sorts isn't it?



devoncop -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/25/2018 10:40:09 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: gliz2

Guys are you basing your planning on the known "unknowns"? I mean going for the X or waiting for X cause the pre-set events sounds lika kind of cheating to me.
I know you have already played this but I cannot remember ever lurking into the manual or expected reinforcements to see what's coming. This is an exploit of sorts isn't it?



Hi Gliz

You raise an interesting point.

My view is that it was not a secret to anyone in 1941 that the Soviet Winter would severely impact the German advance which is realistically modelled and known by both players. Planning for that was possible in 1941 (although the Germans failed to do so properly re cold weather clothing) so it seems perfectly reasonable for Larry and I to take that into account.

As far as planned reinforcements are concerned I don't check personally to see where my replacements are arriving but do see what is likely to arrive on the next turn. This again I believe is reasonable. Soviet commanders were well aware of the Siberian reinforcements on their way to help them and also of the mass conscription undertaken.

What I do not do is to go into files to see what German reinforcements/replacements are due. Firstly it would be totally unrealistic for me to have that knowlege and secondly I am a technical ignoramus and haven't looked at game files in all my years of gaming (unless it is on Steam workshop I am unable to work out how to install Mods for example !!)

Hope that explains my view.

Larry may have a different perspective though.

Thanks for the input

Ian



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/25/2018 11:36:43 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: gliz2
Guys are you basing your planning on the known "unknowns"? I mean going for the X or waiting for X cause the pre-set events sounds lika kind of cheating to me.
I know you have already played this but I cannot remember ever lurking into the manual or expected reinforcements to see what's coming. This is an exploit of sorts isn't it?

I've been known to look up data using a sandbox copy of turn 1 from the enemy side. One time I was going to invade at Singapore and I needed to know the range of the CD guns there so I could stand off and bombard them. I looked up the range from the turn one enemy's side of the game. Because this is the kind of information that would be known or would be easy to find out. Recon could take a picture of the position and the picture could be blown up and the model of gun(s) there could be looked up in the database of known enemy gun models and thus the range could be figured out. But those things that the commander wouldn't know I don't look up. I try to do what is realistic. I know it's just a game but I like my games realistic. Ian and I are having a blast.



larryfulkerson -> RE: FITE v.5.0 try 2 same sides as before (11/25/2018 11:57:18 AM)

Ian has forced his way through my lines just north of Kiev and I'm going to have to evacuate all my units to the west side of the river and set up another defensive position. The problem is that Ian will just force his way over that river too. This could be a problem. I might ought to rail some more people to this area.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/CAB9E7F90C0C41C68338202D3787B72F.jpg[/image]



Page: <<   < prev  1 2 [3] 4 5   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI
1