Fall Weiss II - Barbarossa AAR

[Elessar2]

Whatever happened to Rommel?

[crispy131313]

Rommel is one of the commanders at Berlin. After linking up the DAK with our other forces in occupied Turkey the DAK retreated back to the Balkans with the remainder of Axis forces. The Middle East was essentially abandoned so that we can protect Germany.

[John B.]

Thanks for the update! Are the allies still strat bombing you?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Thanks for the update! Are the allies still strat bombing you?

Relentlessly

No supply source above 5 in Germany.

[FOARP]

Great AAR. Is that an uprising in Prague I see?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: FOARP

Great AAR. Is that an uprising in Prague I see?

Yep, the walls are caving in.

[crispy131313]

Hamburg has been occupied by the Western Allies, and dual Allied offensives against both of our defense lines are now in full force.

In the Balkans our ability to defend against the Soviets is now minimal, Germany now only has a pair of under strength Armies in region, one in Hungary and the other which has just retreated from Bucharest leaving the Romanians to their fate. In all likelihood the Allies will soon cut off the Balkans from Germany. Our supply lines between Germany and the Axis minors is already severed with no ability to operate units between the two due to Allied bombing.

It is now a race to Berlin. The Western Allies are nearer but face the more formidable of our defensive lines, it will be interesting to see which side makes it first.

[crispy131313]

The full collapse of the Balkans is upon us now. The German Army which has already retreated from Romania in Bulgari can only watches as the Red Army descends on Bucharest. From the West, the American Army has captured Croatia.

[crispy131313]

Romania has opted to switch sides and join the Allies, meanwhile uprisings continue all through the Balkans. Partisans have captured Albania, Yugoslavian and Greek partisans are having uprisings as well.

[crispy131313]

As Germany collapses, Finland continues it's fight against the Soviet Union. With so many national morale objectives within reach of the Soviets they could collapse at any moment.

[crispy131313]

It is now the battle for Berlin as the Western Allies have completely destroyed the extensions of our defensive line. Even worse our positions against the Red Army were near completely annihilated and the path to Berlin is nearly clear for the Soviets. Patton is surely urging for the Western Allies to take the city first but still face a number of German Tanks guarding the German capital's perimeter.

In the Balkans our defense is futile. Athens was also liberated this turn by partisans after being declared an open city post Italian surrender. American and Soviet forces have also crossed the Turkish straits, a rare glimpse of coordinated American/Soviet efforts.

[FOARP]

Really a nail-biter to see whether you can survive another turn in this one Crispy!

[crispy131313]

Well I nearly forgot to finish this (started playing FW2 WaW mod)

The noose is further tightened on Germany from all sides, pretty much the only remaining forces on the Axis side are trying to hold Berlin.

[crispy131313]

I forgot to screen cap the turn in between, but here is the end product. The Axis fought to literally the last man in the capital of Berlin. There was little hope of lasting another 11 months to achieve a minor victory (which I had already forfeited twice with game extensions) but I tried!

[crispy131313]

As you can see the Finnish never gave up! Syria also maintained their independence.

Lots of Axis' navy units left but not much left for them to do once the walls caved in.

[crispy131313]

Final screen and thoughts.

This was a great game vs the AI. It had a somber tone as I could feel I had messed up Barbarossa and would be in a tough position for 1942 and I was. I was a little all over the place with my diplomacy and spent a lot of MPP on events that didn't really make sense for my objectives (such as building a German Carrier). I also think I did not adequately protect my resources from the Western Allied bombers which really began to strain my MPP.

What is making this mod so unique from the vanilla version is that it can be fun to play on the defensive with the Axis because of the earlier end dates and victory objectives. There are still adjustments to be made and I'll probably transition back to PBEM play soon but I hope anyone who plays this enjoys it, even if it's against the souped up AI!

Thanks for reading.

[FOARP]

Many thanks for finishing this one Crispy! It's both rare and great to see someone fighting to the end against the AI like this!

Glad that Fall Weiss concentrates on making defensive play fun. I've always found it the funnest mode of play, since offensive play so often feels lacking in tension as you know that you are likely to win regardless of what is happening.

One question: with Soviets on one side and Western Allies on the other, who eventually took Berlin?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: FOARP

Many thanks for finishing this one Crispy! It's both rare and great to see someone fighting to the end against the AI like this!

Glad that Fall Weiss concentrates on making defensive play fun. I've always found it the funnest mode of play, since offensive play so often feels lacking in tension as you know that you are likely to win regardless of what is happening.

One question: with Soviets on one side and Western Allies on the other, who eventually took Berlin?

The Soviets raised the flag in the end.

[mdswift]

I really enjoyed this AAR Crispy! Thank you

[crispy131313]

Glad you enjoyed!