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RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/5/2018 10:00:06 AM

MikeJ19

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From: Ottawa, Canada
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I have reached an overwhelming victory score. Not sure I can hold it...

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Post #: 121

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/5/2018 5:29:06 PM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
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The situation across this sector of the front is very interesting. Both sides have some opportunities.

In the morning, I was able to cut off CCA, CCR and the recce Bn of the 5th Armd South of Liege. This is a big coup. If I can destroy them, I will remove one of the most powerful tools left in the Allied toolbox.

With the clearing of the pocket South of Verviers, I freed a lot of units. I have been sending a bunch of them West to help defend the Western edge of my advance. The rest have moved North, and I need to decide whether to pivot West, head for Maastricht, try to encircle the forces around Aachen, or all three.

I think that the Allies have tossed most of what they have left into this battle. So, I should try to stretch their lines and give them too many things to hold.

I�m going to try all three things. I should have enough to do them.

First, I will send some units North to support the encirclement of the the Americans in front of Aachen. I think I can get this in place this afternoon.

Second, I will push a Regiment towards Maastricht. They will not get there this afternoon, but this may extend the American defence, as they may respond to this threat.

Third, I will encircle the American forces North of Verviers. As I do this, I will bring bridging units into the area North of Wandre.

Finally, with 9 Pz reorganizing, I can not pull back my defence line here. I do not think I can recapture Huy any time soon, so pulling back is a good idea. But for now, I will funnel some more troops into the area and establish a better and more deep defence line. I want to keep the Allied forces occupied and engaged in this area.

Overall, I think this afternoon, my focus will be on manoeuvre and not on attacks.

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Mike

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Post #: 122

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/5/2018 8:00:02 PM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
Status: offline

A look at the results of one of my attacks

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Mike

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Post #: 123

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/6/2018 1:12:50 PM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
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I conducted a lot more attacks than I thought I would on the afternoon of Dec 28th. I had 29 attacks and the Allies followed up with 30. That being said, I did move a lot of units and am in a great position to seal this victory.

As you can see below, I captured three fuel dumps yesterday. Also, I have cut off supplies to the American forces at Aachen. The American response has been interesting, as they have advanced across the river North of Aachen. This move threatens the flank of both my forces in Aachen and in the North. Luckily, I do not think that the Americans have the forces to exploit it. I will have to tweak my defences to contain this push.

East of Aachen, I continue to slowly shrink the pocket and destroy more American forces.

As is shown on the map, I have started pushing towards Maastricht and am within 10K of the city. I just checked and I think that if I can grab the bridges in the city, the Allied units to the East of the river will all be cut off from supplies � so that is my aim this morning.

At the moment, the Allied response has involved moving artillery units to block my advance. I�m hoping that this means that the Allies are running out of divisions to plug the holes in their lines.

As planned, I�m going to put some bridges in just North of Wandre. This will give me the chance to dislocate the defence line and, hopefully, to start tearing it down over the next few days.

North of this map, the Brits continue to push slowly forward. This is not causing me too much angst yet.

Just South of this map, the battle has flowed back and forth with no real gains by either side. This suits me fine at the moment. It is definitely tying up a bunch of Allied units and I think that I have enough resources there to contain them.

Farther South, my defence line is holding fine. I was able to destroy a Regt from the 4th Armd Div South of Bastogne and should destroy a recce Bn this morning.

Near Luxembourg, I have continued a counter attack on the Americans units that pushed forward. I have destroyed a bunch of them and have opened a possible route to see the town of Luxembourg � which is an objective. I have to be careful not to over extend myself and give an easy target to the Americans.

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Mike

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Post #: 124

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/7/2018 12:47:05 PM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
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The situation as we hit the afternoon

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Post #: 125

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/8/2018 2:39:28 AM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
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The situation in the morning.

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Post #: 126

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/8/2018 9:00:59 PM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
Status: offline

I'm about to go away for over two weeks on a vacation. So, I have decided to end this one here.

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Mike

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Post #: 127

RE: Autumn Fog - Axis - 10/9/2018 10:25:24 AM

MikeJ19

Posts: 3696
Joined: 1/29/2014
From: Ottawa, Canada
Status: offline

Final thoughts

What did I do right

Flowed like a river.

Throughout this battle, I kept looking for weak points and then pushed my units through these gaps.

Manouevre warfare tenets � I followed them.

I was able to dislocate the Allied defences, surging through the weak points and then hitting the Allied forces from all sides.

I was able to disrupt the Allied defences, attacking into the rear and taking on the artillery, finding ways across water obstacles that allowed me to bypass the main defences. There were lots of times when the Allied units arrived piecemeal as they responded to growing threats across the front.

I was able to preempt the Allied plans by moving quicker and with more firepower than expected. I used this to seize crossing � especially along the Meuse river, but also around Wiltz.

Destroying the Allied units

This was likely the biggest reason that I won. I was able to get behind the Allies and then cut them off from their supplies. I was then able to destroy a number of divisions completely. This left large holes in the Allied defence, which I exploited.

What do I need to improve

Use of my Air Force

I did a terrible job with my air force. I need to spend some time and figure this out. As the Allied player, I found that the German air force was a factor throughout the game. This time, the Allied air force took mine out and I had no answer. I think I need to get much better in this aspect.

Artillery and supply

There were too many times that I let my artillery run low on supplies or get out of range. I like this scale with Artillery regiments and batteries being involved, but I need to do use my HQs better to keep these units at good supply levels.

Unit integrity

Most of my divisions are spread out across the area of operations. I quickly lost track of them and just sent units racing after objectives and or key places to put the Allies into trouble.

Last points

I enjoyed this scenario (thanks Steve). It has a lot of potential on both sides. Th options that exist for the German player are numerous and give interesting opportunities. The triggers put into the game for Allied reinforcements worked very well. As I broke through the Allied lines, it felt like I was seeing a real response � the arrival of the Brits in numbers really surprised me.

The problems I had with the scenario are more about how the AI handles pulling back. One of the hardest decisions that I have within the game is when to withdraw and move to a new defence line. In TOAW, I am finding that the AI has a real tough time making this decision and often does not. There were numerous times in this battle where as the Allied player I would have pulled back or tweaked my line, but the computer never did. This gave me many opportunities to surround and then destroy the Allied units.

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Mike

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(in reply to MikeJ19)

Post #: 128