George vs. Seille - A Russia 1941 AAR over 60 turns

[seille]

I´m not interested in rewriting it myself Vic. It is too much work.
As it is now i need up to two hours for preparing a single turn.
If a guy from wargamer.com wants to rewrite and make a package from
for posting it there as a article i have no problems with, but i won´t do it myself.
 
And yes, that AAR is far away from beeing finished. The REAL action will start soon
(at least from my view). Many many turns to go and most of them very bloody.... 

[seille]

Russian turn 16

A very important turn for my russians.
With the fall of Leningrad a real desaster hit us. And the russian command thought
it was pretty safe after the preventive attacks to the finnish forces close to Leningrad.
Unfortunately we hit only the spearhead not the main forces behind....

And this is not the only problem. In the south (especially Kharkov area) we run
out of troops while the germans not only have Kharkov in their hands again they look much (MUCH)
stronger than our troops there. If our plan to cut them off fails we´ll have a hard time to stop their
run to Stalingrad during the summer (bonus) turns.

The center is actually the only stable front...but how long?

Our production:

[seille]

Situation and battles in the north and center:

[seille]

The south:
This is really critical. We had to send so many reenforcement to
stabilize Leningrad and the center that we had not enough left for
the south. We´ll have to change this soon or the germans will crush this front.
We simply hope to keep our few stronger units there (siberians mostly) in good shape
as long as possible. If not the front will collapse.
Unfortunately the damn germans have the full air superiority in the south.

Even with a production advantage i can´t have both, strong ground troops and a mighty
air force.....

[Westheim]

I agree with Vic - best PT AAR ever! Keep it up, guys. Considering there are "over 60 turns", you could easily be busy until christmas with it. [:D]

[george1972]

Turn 17 - May 8, 1942

The combat reports don't look too good. We suffer great losses to our units, mostly to the Finnish Army. Seille's annihilating air strike North of Vitebsk wipes out 2 good units in a single turn. The good news is, that his air force is still in the Center and hasn't moved North or South and that I get an R&D breakthrough. Now... where do I invest it?

Most of the reinforcements are sent to AG North, including 80 Rifle, 7 Fighter and 3 Artillery. The rest go to AG South and the Romanian AG. Despite the pressure the Romanians are under, I cannot really give them priority.

[george1972]

After the loss of Leningrad, the Finns are out of the war. Their forces are reduced to 20% of their strength and barely capable of defending Finland itself. Luckily for them, AG North is now in position to threaten Leningrad from the West, which will take the Russian attention off the Finns.

I launch a series of attacks mostly aimed at securing good positions for the Summer and trying to take out as much heavy equipment (especially artillery) as possible. The ground attacks are relatively successful but the air attack takes a lot of casualties in Fighters, despite a 2 : 1 advantage. It seems as though the Luftwaffe has lost its edge.

Nevertheless, I do manage to take out a big chunk of artillery and get my strong ground units into position. I estimate Leningrad should fall (again) in about 2 - 3 turns.

[george1972]

In the Ukraine, the situation is serious. From the North there is pressure from a strong Russian army group which includes the Shock Armies. From the South the Stalingrad Front is pushing the Romanians across the Dniepr. I hold Kharkov and the Russian lines towards the East are very thin, but I cannot be everywhere at once.

The Luftwaffe is thrown against the Northern threat, while part of AG South attacks South towards Dnepropetrovsk to relieve pressure on the Romanians. These attacks are relatively painless, but the pressure from the North seems to mount.

The bigger Russian unit count worries me. They can more easily perform concentric attacks or try to swarm my units and cut them off from supply. I have been thinking about splitting up some units, but the readiness hit they take would make them too vulnerable at this moment. I have no quiet "rear area" where I could perform this reorganization.

Despite these worries, I intend to hold the Northern line by using Kharkov and the fortifications West of it as a "pivot". My air force and artillery can strike at units that dare to come close to these lines. And, by now I know Seille a bit better, and his playing style is to execute well-planned and well-supported attacks. Entering into a mobile melee is something he has avoided so far, probably because his units consist mostly of infantry. So the threat of him infiltrating my lines is not very likely at this moment.

Some attacks from this turn:

[george1972]

The situation in the North is shown in the following screenshot. AG North looks to be a in good position, while AG Center remains dug in behind the Berezina river.

The R&D breakthrough I decide not to use right now, instead I will attempt to produce some more and try to get to Fighter III...

[george1972]

The Southern overview. On the Crimean front, everything has come to a standstill. Dnepropetrovsk is abandoned despite some successful attacks in that direction. Kharkov seems secure but the pressure on AG South is still strong.

[seille]

Russian turn 17.

Germany has the initiative in the north and south while it looks like a draw
in the center. Not good for me. I really have to be careful with my center planes
which are my only arm of the service i can use to hit the germans and which same
time is a effective protection for my own ground troops against the Luftwaffe.

Production:

[seille]

The situation in the north and the center at the end of my turn.

[seille]

The south:

[george1972]

Turn 18, May 28, 1942

This turn, the Russian will to attack seems to have subsided a bit. Losses were moderate and production finally manages to make good the infantry losses of the early Spring offensive.

The distribution:

AG North receives 8 Fighters, 3 Artillery and around 60 Rifle.
OKW receives 15 Engineers.
AG South receives 90 Rifle.
AG Romania receives 60 Rifle, 8 MG and 1 Artillery.

[george1972]

In the Leningrad area, an unforeseen opportunity arises...

[george1972]

In the Ukraine, the Stalingrad Front has moved its forces into close contact with mine, which opens up possibilities. Supported by air and artillery, troops from AG South punch into their Northern flank.

[george1972]

On the northern edge of AG South's front, I deploy the full force of the reinforced Luftwaffe with devastating effects. The German High Command later refers to this battle as "Death of a Shock Army". The Russians are not decisively defeated, but their offensive capabilities have been severely reduced.

[george1972]

In the North after my successful attack, I decide to try and keep Leningrad cut off from the rest of Russia. For this I position my strongest available unit on the airfield and the hex next to it. As my bonus turns are about to start, I'm counting on Seille withdrawing to escape the fury of my attacks.

In the North I'm also a bit low on unit count. I could probably be a bit more effective during the Summer turns if I had more units with a little less strength. In hindsight, I find that having less units on the board made it easier for Seille to contain and funnel my offensives into a particular direction. And especially in this wooded terrain, I would need all the combat bonuses I could get, especially from concentric attacks.

In the Center things stay mostly as they are, some artillery strikes are of course conducted as usual.

[george1972]

In the South, the situation is stabilized. My air forces have taken a heavy toll of the Red Army spearheads and their offensive power has been spent. With the large number of reinforcements heading into that theater, I expect some substantial gains to be made.

At the end of this year, Russia's 1943 production will come into play which will definitely mean my demise unless I can take a major center from them. Looking at the map, I lack the strength to push on to Murmansk, the terrain also favoring the defender there.

The road to Moscow is well defended. The only progress I could make there was if I were to turn AG South northwards and straight to Moscow. However, the troops from the Smolensk front would probably be pulled back to the city. This would mean AG Center could advance as well, but if the push failed, I would reap no rewards at all.

In the East however, there was the lure of easy-going terrain, a weak defense, and ripe pickings. If I could take Stalingrad, Maikop and Baku, then my production would be on par with the Russians and I could enter 1943 with confidence. Also, both AG South and AG Romania would have their "backs clear". But could it be done?

PS: I'm leaving on a holiday tomorrow for two weeks, so this AAR will be "on hold" for me for that time. As I return, the story will continue with the unleashing of "Case Blue". The "all-or-nothing" drive to subdue the Bolshevik Empire...

[TheArchduke]

Not going for Moscow or Murmansk in 1941 but foregoing those targets for "easy" pickings in the Baltic Area. This sounds too historic to me.