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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Norm Koger's The Operational Art Of War III >> After Action Reports >> Pictures

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Pictures - 7/4/2006 4:44:08 AM

Captain Cruft

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BTW, if anyone is curious about how I do the really artistic graphics (lol), I just use Irfanview. This is a freeware graphic manipulation program. What I like about it is ease of use and it's not too complicated. Ideal for these AAR maps and stuff.

You can find it at http://www.irfanview.com

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Post #: 31

RE: Pictures - 7/4/2006 6:14:42 AM

Silvanski

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From: Belgium, residing in TX-USA
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IrfanView rocks

_____________________________

The TOAW Redux Dude

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Post #: 32

Turn 12 - 7/5/2006 3:53:35 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 12

Much the same. The battles around Tula and in the Vyazma area rage on ...

Soviet reinforcements are starting to arrive every turn now. I really like en-training them and moving them off towards the front. The rail movement was one of the things that sold me on this game. Easily pleased, I know ...

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Post #: 33

Turn 14 - 7/8/2006 2:50:12 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 14

See map below. The Germans are going flat out to get to Moscow, regardless of their supply state.

Tula still holds but is now cut-off. I tried to counter-attack this turn to relieve the town but it didn't work. Mostly due to the Luftwaffe I think.

On the plus side, the Voronezh Front has initiated a small counter-attack, which you can see towards the bottom right of the picture. There do not seem to be many Germans in this area ...

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 34

Turn 15 - 7/15/2006 2:28:28 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 15

There is no let up in the fighting. Vyazma and Kaluga fall easily to the tired Germans, but Tula still holds out! The town was surrounded when I opened the turn but my brave troops have counter-attacked and a corridor is now open again.

In the south-west, where you can see a clump of red and blue units in the last picture, I even managed to evaporate a German infantry unit with another attack.

MrBendy really is going hell for leather in his attempt to get to Moscow. Any hole in my lines is found and exploited. However, just about all of these far-flung German units are in red status. So ... we will have to see what happens

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Post #: 35

RE: Turn 15 - 7/16/2006 4:17:29 AM

mrbendy

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Sorry it has been a while since my last update.

Status as at16 November 1941.

This is the high point of the German offensive. Things are likely to get significantly worse from here on in. The Wehrmacht is exhausted, but finally last turn Tula fell, hopefully hitting Soviet supply hard, and certainly a morale tonic for the tired troops.

In the North Kluge took Vyazma some turns ago, and with Hoepner is now mopping up and about to turn east. Units had already been fed around the back of the Soviet 30th and 32 armies, and whatever happens I dont see any collapse for the forces here.

In the center a small force managed to penetrate through the largely undefended outer fortification ring, and get all the way to Alekxin. However this force is in very bad shape, and attacks have been minimal at best.

In the upper south Guderian's main thrust took Tula as reported. Some Panzer units had already bypassed the town, and cut the road and rail links further north at Serpukhov, but have now hit a real brick wall.

South of that is a big empty wilderness, with security forces holding key towns. I have a fear that some big force is being assembled there, and I will need to take that into account.

One really good point for me is the shape of the luftwaffe, which is generally green. However in taking Tula I committed all of my Ju-87 squadrons, and they paid a heavy price. The Heinkels, Dorniers and Ju-88s are not nearly so usefull in the combat support role, and interdiction is not really as usefull this close to Moscow.

The units generally are getting messy and unlinked. This turn I need to consolidate and reform, and start to deal with the possibility of going over to the defensive soon

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Post #: 36

Turn 17 - 7/16/2006 6:04:40 PM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 17

Yes I think we may have reached a turning point. The Germans were observed to be heading backwards in some areas this turn and Moscow looks to be totally out of reach for them.

Below is the current overview map. On it you can see part of the "big force" in the south which MrBendy alluded to. Portions of the 10th Army are approaching Kursk (worth 5 VPs).

As of now Moscow and Voronezh are the only objectives remaining in Soviet hands, and the score says "Draw". Force Penalties are about even and low in number. Therefore, it looks like I need to re-take at least a couple of towns to get a marginal victory. I think it's going to be tough ...

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/16/2006 6:06:04 PM >

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Post #: 37

Turn 18 - 7/18/2006 2:36:27 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 18

Things are definitely getting better for the Ruskies.

The single German infantry unit at Kursk is surrounded. You can see some frantic reinforcements coming down the road from the north-east but they didn't make it. I have also decided to take a look at Yelets, the other objective town in the southern region. As you can see ...

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/18/2006 2:39:54 AM >

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Post #: 38

RE: Turn 18 - 7/18/2006 4:34:27 AM

mrbendy

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Axis Turn 19 23/11/1941.

Grim faces at the staff briefing this morning. Not only has the advance around Tula slowed to a crawl, but the 338th Infantry regiment radio'd a huge mass of Soviet Tanks and Infantry (reported to be surrounding the town of Kursk. Added to this is the extreme cold settling over the front.

The southern sector is look bleak, the scratch units sent to relieve Kursk not getting there in time. Only one bright spot however - the Fuehrer had insisted Guderian rest a single 'firebrigade' division in the event of an unexpected counterattack. Fortunatly this unit is at Orel, just north of Kursk, and the unit also happens to be the fully rested, fully supplied SS Das Reich division. Will it be enough? An attack on the northwest sector combined with a breakout attempt is ordered.

Hitler instructs Guderian to switch to the defensive; units are to be rested and resuppliedif at all possible, particularly around Tula. Further north Kluge continues to roll up the Soviets around Gzhatks.

Results; the breakout at Kursk succeeded, but only by abondoning the town. And now with an angry 10th Army against the SS Das Reich (and some scratch infantry), the southern sector is going to be very intersting over the next few turns.

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Post #: 39

Turn 19 - 7/19/2006 2:19:58 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 19

Indeed, even with the just arrived Das Reich division the Sovs look to have an advantage in the southern sector.

As reported Kursk has returned to its rightful owners, and we have also despatched a SEC unit which had wandered into our path. This has not changed the verdict from "Draw" though. I think I will need to re-take one or more of the higher value objectives in the northern area. Which might be difficult, considering the numerous Germans can use the entrenchments we built earlier.

However, on the plus side it does appear that the Germans have finally given up any hopes of reaching Moscow. It looks like they will now attempt to form some sort of defensive line based on Tula and extending north-west from there.

Time to release the hounds methinks

Only 6 turns left now ...

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Post #: 40

Motorised Soviets - 7/19/2006 2:23:57 AM

Captain Cruft

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Vast Truck Wealth

One thing I have noticed, all the infantry reinforcements I have been getting are fully motorised, with many trucks. Whereas the initial armies were largely foot-bound. I don't know if that is historically accurate (somehow I doubt it) but in game terms what it means is that I can move very quickly on the offensive. Scenario balancing reasons perhaps?

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/19/2006 2:24:10 AM >

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Post #: 41

Turn 20 - 7/19/2006 11:02:52 PM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 20

Well as if to contradict what I just said, this turn I got an entire army of foot soldiers as reinforcements ...

You can see from the map that now the snow has come the cold-enured Russians are really going for it both north and south. I don't think I'll be able to push it very far due to the supply situation but it still feels good

The right-hand half of the red clump to the north-east of Tula is the 1st Shock Army, which is the "hounds" I referred to earlier. The few Germans in their path so far have not been able to put up much resistance.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/19/2006 11:08:00 PM >

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Turn 20 - 7/19/2006 11:37:01 PM

larryfulkerson

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Are the blacked out areas places where you have "censored" the picture or ....????

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Post #: 43

RE: Turn 20 - 7/20/2006 1:14:19 AM

Captain Cruft

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quote:

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Are the blacked out areas places where you have "censored" the picture or ....????

Yes exactly.

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/21/2006 2:45:07 AM >

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Post #: 44

Turn 21 - 7/21/2006 2:45:04 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 21

The tide has definitely turned.

Attachment (1)

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Turn 22 - 7/23/2006 4:01:32 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 22

The weather is taking its toll. The 1st Shock Army went into re-org this turn, which put the kibosh on the drive towards Tula.

Elsewhere we continue to advance where we can, and the 61st Army evaporated an entire German infantry division in the south

It was hard work though, those units will not be up to much for a couple of turns at least.

Time is the main problem now. Only 4 scheduled turns left. Can the Soviets re-take enough ground to win the game?

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/23/2006 4:03:28 AM >

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Post #: 46

Turn 23 - 7/24/2006 7:38:28 PM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 23

The Soviet Hordes advance on all fronts.

Well, we tried to, but failed a proficiency check and so only got one combat round off. Which was very annoying since I had carefully planned follow-up attacks and retreats were achieved on about 90% of the first round attacks. Oh well ...

As it's getting near the end of the game and the Germans are offensively bust I can't be bothered to censor the map anymore. So here it is in its entirety.

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 7/24/2006 7:39:05 PM >

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Post #: 47

Turn 24 - 7/25/2006 6:10:53 PM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 24

Another turn, another single round of combat

Still, we are not doing too badly.

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Post #: 48

Turn 25 - 7/26/2006 8:04:32 PM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 25

Kaluga falls!

Much to my surprise, Kaluga has been re-taken in a pure infantry battle. The score is now showing Marginal Victory to the Soviets

However, casualties everywhere have been horrendous, and my offensives are definitely running out of steam. There is only 1 turn remaining though so it's probably not a problem.

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Post #: 49

Turn 27: Game Over - 8/2/2006 2:43:30 AM

Captain Cruft

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Turn 27: Game Over

Soviet Marginal Victory

Well the game decided to give us an extra turn, but it made no difference to anything. The last two turns just comprised of bloody Soviet attacks which gained little ground. My counter-offensive was definitely running out of steam and you can see the new front-line starting to form on the map below.

I was extremely disappointed by the bland Victory screen, which is frankly not worth showing. It consists of a text string "Stavka Victory" in a blank box. Though I do understand that this is down to the scenario designer and not the game's fault ...

Anyway, a very enjoyable game and I thank MrBendy for playing it

I certainly learnt a lot, though in this particular scenario I don't really know what I would do differently another time. The Soviet player has very few choices until the last quarter of the game.

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Post #: 50

RE: Pictures - 8/28/2006 9:43:53 PM

briantopp

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Joined: 8/28/2006
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An excellent AAR thank you for sharing it. I'll see if I can generate a more satisfying victory box when i get around to updating this scenario. It's fascinating (and reassuring) that you basically ended up right on the historical result.

I draw your eye to another scenario I've posted, "Battle for Moscow". Same situation, but includes the front north of Moscow as well as the south. you can find it here:

http://ca.geocities.com/briantopp@rogers.com/

The scenario you've playtested here is a TOAW implementation of "The Gamers'" Guderian's Blitzkreig I. "Battle for Moscow" implements "Guderian's Blitzkreig II" a much more sweeping look at the same battle.

All the best,
Brian Topp

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Post #: 51