Boron vs Archduke GPWbyBoron

[TheArchduke]

HG Süd:

Things are definetly looking better in the south though.

[TheArchduke]

September 28th, 1941, Turn 15

The last guaranteed good weather week, soon things will get very messy.

[TheArchduke]

Even during Boron´s turn he suffers high losses. HG Nord´s Panzergruppe is nearly wiped out.

[TheArchduke]

HG Süd:

My progress is stopped at Stalino, but northeast of Odessa a majority of the troops are encircled.

[TheArchduke]

HG Zentrum:

The progress at Moscow is slow and sluggish. My northern spearhead just got cut off.

[TheArchduke]

October 5th, 1941, Turn 16

The good news first, the Soviet Union has capitulated. The bad news, this AAR is over. First of all the overview and summary of the decisive turn. Though Boron could hold out some more turns, I fear he is right in his assessment that the war is lost.

North:

Leningrad is slowly taken as without reinforcements the city couldn´t hold.

Center:

Although the tank divisons are nasty, my air superiority and my combined infantry forces of HG Center and parts of HG Nord (also pretty much all the reinforcements the OKW could muster) make the capture of Moscow a likely affair.

South:

After Kiev there was nothing to stop me from racing across the Ukraine, and a capture of Rostov is likely. Only Sevastopol will probably not fall in 41.

Romania:

After a bad start that Army Group is again alive and kicking. And there is a nasty encirclement going on near Odessa with several HQs trapped.

[TheArchduke]

The situation before Moscow. Although Boron´s tanks are numerous, my combined infantry/tank forces close in seemingly unstoppable.

[TheArchduke]

After heavy house to house fighting, Leningrad is only 1-2 turns away from being free of Soviet troops.

[TheArchduke]

And in the South, Stalino is taken by weak german forces. Resistance is slim as other fronts soaked up too much of the soviet reinforcements.

[TheArchduke]

I thank the audience for reading and I apologize if the AAR came to an abrupt end. Boron invest much time in his moves, so I understand if he doesn´t continue to play. Also both of the first October moves were mud-free making things impossible to hold.

I think the finishing move was the encirclement of the Southwest Front, the capture of Voronezh before the Siberians arrived and the airbattle above Moscow.

Stay tuned for the rematch!

[british exil]

Sad that the AAR is finished. I enjoyed the reading very much, every night a new chapter.
But now that it is over can you tell us what Boron did wrong? Or were you just so good? [;)] You mentioned that you were expecting him to oppose you at sometime, or was he waiting for the winter to come to his aid?

He nearly knocked AGS out with his counter attacks near Odessa. Thought you had lost the war there.

Mat

[TheArchduke]

He destroyed half of HG Romania when I retreated. This clear victory was offset by the quick success in Kiev enabling me to flank his forces near Odessa who being mostly unmotorized were easy pickings and were encircled as a whole. The war was won and lost in the south as after the encirclement was done, Boron had 1-2 units near Sevastopol, Stalingrad and Rostov each. Not much of a defense.

Boron basically gambled on creating a massive armored army near Moscow to strike my HG Zentrum and smash it. After loosing some tank divisons, I retreated and then slowly advanced, not giving him an opening to exploit with his tanks. Also a whole Panzergruppe and one army from HG Nord came as support, making Boron unable to defend all fronts. As Voronezh was lost, Moscow was beset on all fronts.

Also the air war didn´t work out as Boron wanted. I stayed on the defensive whenever encountering his airforce and only striked when I was sure I could win.

And concerning the northern front, I think giving up too much ground and ultimately Leningrad for an indecisive battle near Moscow was a mistake.

All in all, I think only considerable luck could have saved Boron and that´s why he gave up. I do hope our next game is longer.

[british exil]

Thanks for pointing out the tactical side of your victory and hie defeat. Looking forward to your naxt battle.

Mat