Slaughter on the Dnepr. Herman ( Ger ) vs. Stef78 ( Rus ) No French Guys

[Hermann]

I don't do many AAR's As my games generally devolve into a bloodfest. Stef78 is a talented, veteran player and I don't fare well against vets as German or Russian due to my stubborn insistence on following a fairly historical campaign. I've started fairly conservatively In the North the Attack went as planned I didn't attack the Courland port and allowed the Russians to escape using sea transport. Too much trouble chasing em around - better to have em move towards the port and round up whatever doesn't get out. Turn 2 I sent the tanks north to Talinn to round em up - they wont get far. #th Panzergroup is spread out im hoping the Reds try to move up the middle but it's doubtful - my opponent is using the run like hell tactic and wont react turn 2. I intend to regroup the tanks at Pskov and attack in force turn 4. At Vitebsk the drive north of the Dnepr has made rapid progress and the southern wing of 3PzA is advancing towards Mogilev. As its my opininion the Landbridge will be heavily defended I intend to screen it with a few divisions and push forward on both sides of Smolensk. 2 Pza was stopped short well west of Gomel due to a lucky retreat but managed a Buildup. In the Marshes the cavalry division is advancing alone along the rail line. My southern grouping refused the cheap shot at Lvov and advanced east towards Kiev. 6 Army will continue in that direction while 1 PZA will rally at tarnopol turn 3 and advance on Vinnitsa turn 4. 17th Army is pushing hard along that axis . 11 army and the Romanians are still frozen. Ive 4 divisions moving up to support AGN if needed but they'll probably head up the middle to 2 army instead. Nothing Really extreme to report - I'm very exposed Hoping ive judged my opponents strategy correctly and not anticipating a counterstrike anywhere this turn next turn his reserves realease and ill pull my armor back to see how his line develops... Casualties are low 30k to 500k ground and 200 to 3000 air. Ground attack forces have 200 kills vs soft targets. 1

[Hermann]

Army Group North notice the gaping hole - Im betting that he's a runner.

[Hermann]

You can see he opened the Minsk area so itll take a turn to close im way too spread out in 3 Pza and 2 Pza was stopped cold

[Hermann]

AGS closed Lvov t2 my main drive will be on Vinnitsa.

[Hermann]

Casualties

[sillyflower]

Your approach may be noble, but makes it extremely difficult for you to have an adequate summer O ( ie good enough to have any chance of surviving for a long game) unless your opponent adopts a similar approach.

GL though and think of Agincourt rather than Verdun.

[Hermann]

Agincourt is very apt - I'm a student of the war. My title is based on what im expecting when I reach the river. I do anticipate a very long campaign. It's getting over that darn river with the Lvov forces dug in that's going to shape the campaign for me.

[chaos45]

Ya him escaping with most of the Lvov units will prove to make your life difficult if not impossible. Those extra units allow the Soviets to stiffen up the north/center alot more. Even if they dont move them north it means almost no reinforcements are needed for the south ever if the Soviet player doesnt make a big mistake going forward.

All hes has to do is leave the southern units there except for some high morale units moved north then funnel all reinforcements that arent CAV to north/center from here out.

[NotOneStepBack]

Getting over the Dnepr requires some planning, HQ build ups, and infantry support. Usually done T5 or T6. If you aren't over by T8 you may be in trouble.

[Hermann]

Ya it hurts pretty bad I usually climb over by turn 9. This games starting to look interesting casualties are Still pretty low despite breaking up most of the pockets. Some minor fuel issues in AGN left my panzers pretty far back but I got my buildups on both corps. Next turn I will focus on poking through his lines at multiple points to see if he retreats In AGN im going south of Pskov with both pz korps I cant advance further cus the inf is so far back. In AGM things are very interesting. I left him some bait north of Vitebsk lets see if he jumps me or falls back my inf is close enough to bail me out I was going to park for a turn anyhow. South of Vitebsk he left the river unguarded - didn't have the points to cross but he cant fort it by next turn so ill blast it and put 2 pz corps through there while the 3rd corps threatens Vitebsk from the north - this is simply a displacement tactic based on my opponents withdrawal strategy. If he has any bit I will find out next turn. 2nd pz is running 1 corps over the river next turn at Chernigov the other will make the attack. My screens will be very thin and the inf will concentrate at the breakthough points and expand the bridgeheads while my armor falls back to resupply. AGS is another VERY high risk gamble. He has an enormous advantage in units but his armor doesn't have the morale to move and attack and he is low on cav. I am bringing up my inf to hold the marked areas - He has 2 choices : fall back and abandon his retreating Lvov troops or move forward and try to defeat my armor. THe key is the tank group in the south - its built up with massive inf support to break the line and exploit behind anyone that moves up. Again im counting on my opponent falling back rapidly but that's a lot of units to give up without a fight. The red air force is on the map in force in the north and active in the other sectors.

[Hermann]

AGn

[Hermann]

AGM

[Hermann]

AGS

[Hermann]

Ok my opponent is back in the Ring: turn 4 went exactly as planned - my gamble worked to a degree - the units in ags attempting to hold the pocket were routed but recovered promptly. I didn't achieve my Objective in the south - I chose to hold the pocket rather than seize Vinnitsa so Im down a turn. Air power was decisive in breaking the river lines especially north of Mogilev where he had a lot of routed units in motion - they died in swarms including a front headquarters that suffered nearly 5000 casualties in 3 air strikes.

[Hermann]

AGN went as Planned the River South of Pskov was successfully breached. the opponent is showing signs of life but his air force is still gone. The key here is will he hit my bridgeheads and try to force me back or pull away. In the south he countered AND ran. Were going to find out next turn. I think hitting a panzer division fully supported by air with no air has a low chance of success so running will be the key and ive set lines of advance rather than objectives.

[Hermann]

In AGC things went very well except for a minor counterattack north of Vitebsk that cut off supply to my flanking pz corps. my infantry reached the front and got me over the river east of the town as well as breached the landbridge. North of Mogilev we crossed the river and established a solid bridgehead - here the Luftwaffe absolutely destroyed the Russian defenses and allowed a practically uncontested crossing.

[Hermann]

AGS things got a bit ugly the enemy counterattacked and routed A panzer division and an SS brigade. Revenge was swift and the units involved will be subject to extensive attitudal adjustment training upon their imminent capture I didn't accom-plish my mission of taking Vinnitsa but I pocketed 7 divisions so the trades fair, I don't think he will that close a second time and anticipate a rapid fallback. im capturing VERY few prisoners in this phase my opponent believes he can withdraw to a safe defensive line along the Dnepr river. Little does he know I've a slaughter planned for him. Next turn the tanks will pause to build up and the drive on a point south of Cherkassy will begin turn 6. The Romaninian Airforce has especially made their presence felt in this area - Ground attacks vs moving and pocketed units are great for morale.

[Hermann]

Casualties are still low the german air force has 350 losses to 3500 air and 1400 ground kills

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: Hermann

the units involved will be subject to extensive attitudal adjustment training

Well said [:D]

[Hermann]

Turn 5 went much better than expected in the far North the Finnish troops outflanked the stop point north of the lake In the Pskov area defense was far greater than anticipated north of Pskov but the advance south of lake Ilmen looks promising the swamps and hills were cleared and we built up the tank forces for a push eastwards south of the lake. Around Vitebsk the enemy fell back further than anticipated so the Northern wing of 3pza went across and is pushing for an encirclement of Smolensk. 2nd Pza got over the river at Gomel. In AGS the enemy counterattacked again so I pocketed again and exploited well past my anticipated line east of Vinnitsa. Further south the Romanians are advancing rapidly on Odessa. Losses are still at 10 to 1 70k German vs 800k Russian and in the air the same ratio 500 German losses to 5000 kills including 1200 ground attack.