WAW6T- Axis GrumpyMel and Lunaticus

[GrumpyMel]

Finally you can see my losses and kills for the turn. One bit of action not pictured, a few turns ago we noticed the West built a forward airbase in Dover just across the Channel. It seems my opponent forgot just how narrow the Channel actualy is there. We moved in some artillery and decided to do some recon by 155 mm shell [;)] . Fortunately a few planes were home and we managed to kill 4 of them.

It seems the West has been investing in Fighter Tech as the planes we killed were Level 3. I guess my decision to keep building my air defenses in spite of a lack of activity might have been fortuitous.

In any event, the losses for the turn are not too bad given I had to breech the Mannerheim line against heavy opposition. Hopefully next turn the Soviets will give me an opportunity against some of thier less well protected troops. They are going to have to stop and fight sometime before Winter!

[Lunaticus_matrixforum]

Seems like the SU is trading space for time in the defense of Russia. Will be interesting to see how this works. Not blowing bridges is a mistake however I think.

In the far East Japan is doing final preparations to liberate the rest of China. There is a massive buildup of ground units on both sides of the border as the Chinese are also increasing their army tremendously. We will see who prevails.

[GrumpyMel]

May 9, 1941


The Russians do thier best to avoid contact everywhere except Lenningrad where they seem to have massed most of thier Army and Airforce. This is alright for me so far, as it allows me to advance at a good pace. Getting East quickly before Russian & Allied production starts adding up and before the Winter stalls me is of critical importance. Although I would have liked a better kill ratio against the Soviets so far. My opponent is doing a good job of avoiding contact where he is vulnerable and attacking where he has opportunity. He certainly appears to be a skilled commander....but I still believe he's making a mistake allowing me to advance with so little hinderance.

In the North, the majority of his airforce struck my Finn artillery support, doing heavy damage and taking out the Finn which tried to intercept. He did some artillery bombardment against my forward ground troops, doing some damage but did not attempt an attack against them. He did strike the Marine unit I landed along the Baltic Coast, throwing it back with heavy losses on both sides.

On my turn, I held off making any attacks with the Finnish Army...as I hadn't enough Artillery support to weaken any of the positions I wanted to strike. No other ground forces were in range to make attacks. Although the 1st and 7th Armies made good progress, taking Pskov and Vitebsk respectively. I am expecting the 1st will start seeing some heavy combat soon, since it is getting close to Lenningrad...where the Soviet main forces are massed. You can see a picture of my end of turn positions in this sector below.

[GrumpyMel]

May 9, 1941


In the center, the 2nd Army reaches and captures Kiev. A lone immobile flak being it's entire garrison. The Soviets did manage to blow both bridges over the Dnieper here. Thier one bit of demolition work in the war so far. This was a good move, but they really should have been doing more of this. My engineers will easly repair a bridge next turn so I can cross. No sign of Soviet ground troops in this sector yet. They'll need to put up a defense soon or I'll be in Moscow before Fall.

In the South, the Black Sea Fleet sortied taking out the Bulgarian Navy, at the cost of one of thier destroyers. No real great loss there. The Bulgarians don't have enough ships to threaten the Black Sea and mostly they end up sitting around doing nothing but eating up supplies. More importantly I was able to capture Dneipervotsk and both crossings across the Dnieper intact. 6th Army is making really good progress here. we've come into contact with a few Russian units holding the Crimea, but no major forces. The Soviets will have to make a stand and fight soon though...or I'll be in the Caucuses before he realizes it. You can see my final dispositions in this sector below.

No significant action in the Med, N. Africa or Western Europe.

[GrumpyMel]

June 6, 1941

Across most of Russia we continue to advance at a pace so fast that we already have run off the maps provided by our Intel officers by the time we recieve. We have captured huge amounts of territory with very little fighting. Unfortunately Soviet troops manage to retreat so swiftly that our ground forces are unable to make contact...save for the fortresses of Lenningrad and the Crimea which most be reduced by artillery before we can attempt an assault. Only the Luftwaffe's long range bombers are able to score some success against the Russians...even our fighters have difficulty keeping up with the advance enough to reach targets.

Northern Sector:

The Kreigsmarine got a bloody nose from Lenningrads shore batteries last turn. They were able to do much more damage then I anticipated. The entire Soviet airforce was able to do a strike on 1st Armies Panzer divisions...as I'm having difficulty keeping them in air cover range at the rate I have been advancing. We lost a couple light tanks...but not too bad considering. The Soviets seem to have withdrawn a large portion of thier forces from Lenningrad...taking up heavy defensive positions with armor and artillery behind the river line to the east of the city. This may be where they attempt to make a stand. Though they have thier entire airforce positioned here....strangely none of thier fighters were on intercept missions. This has allowed me to do a strike with the Luftwaffe's long range bombers against a Soviet Artillery unit position behind the river and out of Flak range from Lenningrad. We were finally able to do some serious damage with this.

The Soviets have withdrawn thier outer defenses from Lenningrad....and now only hold the city...although with several large infantry formations. This has allowed the Finns and 1st Army troops to capture the outer fortifications from the North and West. Lenningrad...with it's artillery withdrawn falls under bombardment from Finnish guns for the first time. Although they still have many forces garrisoning it..the city can't hope to hold if the enemy allows me to invest it...which we should achieve fully by next turn. It's simply a matter of bombardment, starvation and multi-sided assaults against weakened troops.

Meanwhile 1st Army moves to contact with Soviet defenders to the East. We bring strong Luftwaffe forces into range this turn. If the Soviets attempt to strike with thier air force again they'll be in for a rude surprise. We also are bringing up artillery and troops fresh from the factories to reinforce 1st Army here. The Soviets are going to be in for a heavy fight here if they try to make a stand...but they have little choice...they can't give too much more territory.

Further South, 7th Army reaches Smolensk unopposed. Soon we'll be within sight of Moscows defences. If the Soviets make a stand East of Lenningrad...as they seem to be doing with a large number of forces...we may be able to execute an enveloping move with some of 7th Army through the forests to the South and cut the Russians off from supply sources. We'll see if this opportunity presents itself.

[GrumpyMel]

Central Sector:

After repairing one of the bridges at Kiev, 2nd Army mobile troops poor over the river and achieve capture of both Kharkov and Kursk. Still the Russians retreat from us, avoiding all contact. We do, however, spot a small number of thier forces to the East blowing bridges...will they finally stand and fight? If not, how much further can they afford to retreat? We'll have to make a decision with 2nd Army next month....turn North toward Moscow, continue east to the Volga or perhaps even South toward Stalingrad? I can't say I'm displeased being this far into Russia and it's only June yet. So far, so good here....we'll see what happens when the Reds finally try to fight.

[GrumpyMel]

Southern Sector:

The Soviets retreat here as well, save for the Crimea. They have heavy infantry formations holding the Crimean forts. It's a bottleneck, so I won't waste troops on a frontal assault against the fortress until it has been reduced. We bring up Hungarian Infantry to prepare for the job while 6th Armies batteries hammer the fortifications. Meanwhile, the mobile elements of 6th Army continue eastward, capturing Rostov. Soon we will be close to the oilfields in the Caucas and to Stalingrad in the East. Our lead elements spot some Russian light armor to the East in the open. The enemies air force is elsewhere and their formation is just in range of the Regia Aeronautica's long range bombers who attack, scoring some good damage. So far in the campaign, it has been my few longe range bombers that have inflicted most of the casualties...as the enemy has retreated too swiftly to be in range of most other forces.

[Lunaticus_matrixforum]

June 1941:
While the world was looking at the German advance into the SU Japan used the opportunity to execute the long planned pre-emptive strike against China. As expected the Chinese has massed a great army on their border to us so progress is very slow. The Chinese seem to be even more numerous than our army but we seem to have artillery supperiority which we hope will help us.
Next turn once the dust settles a bit we hope to have some maps of the tactical situation.
All naval assets sent away for a secret mission.

[GrumpyMel]

July 4, 1941

Little activity from the Soviets, they seem content to avoid contact everywhere but the far north and the Crimea. Although this is allowing them the opportunity to build up thier forces with little losses. The territory I am gaining without cost to myself, should make it difficult for them to hold out until Winter.

Northen Sector:

Lenningrad is fully invested and we have begun bombardments of it. The Soviets hold the river line to the east with thier infantry, but have withdrawn most of thier armor, airforce and artillery. So little chance of them attempting to relieve Lenningrad. My artillery and airstrikes against this line were disappointing as the enemy was well-fortified in Novograd. Neverthless, my bombers managed to find one retreating Katyusha brigade to savage. Next turn, we'll start turning the full force of our guns against Lenningrad. That is a good way to reduce the city without horrible losses. We have a bit of time here...as once Lenningrad falls there is little left to do in the North and we are still only in mid summer.

Further South, 7th Army begins pushing into the hilles and forests South of the Russians defensive lines. This may provide an opportunity to outflank the defenders rather then force a crossing through a bloody frontal assault. I am reinforcing this move as best I can.

[GrumpyMel]

Central Sector:

Still no opposition here, 2nd Army proceeds as far as Vorenzah but lacks movement to make a crossing this turn. Meanwhile 7th Army is advancing towards Moscow. I expect that the Soviets will shift thier airforces here to attempt to slow these troops as they advance, given that I have effectively prevented such activities further North. I am attempting to provide as much cover for advancing forces with mobile flak as I can. We spot the first Soviet defenders South of Moscow. We may try to push for the capital soon...we'll see how that goes.

[GrumpyMel]

Southern Sector:

Big news from the South as we bridge the Don at Rostov and capture Maikop unopposed. I am uncertain that the Soviets will try to defend any of the Caucus oil-fields. If we can capture them unopposed that will be a major boon for us...as they provide us with good supplies....and unlike Russian factory cities they don't get moved East when captured. It will be a big loss of Supply production for Russia....I'm surprised that they haven't made any attempt to hold here....but I'm not complaining.

Only in the Crimea do they make a stand....but I'm content to bottle up Russian forces there and reduce the forts with artillery. Effectively they are neutralized at minimal cost to myself.

[GrumpyMel]

August 1, 1941

A significant turn for the Axis as the War in Europe starts to heat up. The West, long dormant, has landed in force along the Atlantic coast of France. In Russia, the Soviets finally start showing some stomache for a fight.


France:

Significant sized UK forces land around Bordeaux in France. Though the forces are sizeable, I have the feeling that this is more of a Dieppe style raid to draw pressure of Russia then a serious attempt at liberating Western Europe. The West cannot have built up enough forces by this point to truly challange the Wehrmacht for control of France. Nevertheless, I must respond to it or it will turn into a much larger problem. Fortunately, the situation in Russia is such that the diversion of sufficient forces to do this should be of little consequence to that campaign at the moment. In fact, I already had some mobile reserves with 3rd Army and at OKH earmarked for such a task if it became neccesary. Drawing a few more straight from OKH production should be sufficient unless the West is able to heavly reinforce.

The Landings themselves were well executed, with Allied bombers blowing the bridge North of Bordeaux to cover the beachead and prevent my reserves reaching the area. Though the small garriison of Bordeaux was heavly bombed and shelled, the landing parties strangely made no direct assault on the city even though they could have easly overwhelmed the small garrison, choosing instead to land outside the city. This delays them in gaining a port for a turn... which could prove important.

My reaction forces were unable to reach the beachead due to the blown bridge and the distance they needed to travel. So instead, I concentrate them near Orleans, along with engineers to repair the bridge, the Luftwaffe groups assigned to France and some new units drawn directly from OKH production. This should allow me to react in force to the Landing within a turn or two... and I don't think there is much danger in the delay as an attempt to expand out of the initial zone will quickly be contained by these forces. My response this turn is therefore limited to some bombardment by Luftwaffe long range bombers, who are once again prooving thier worth...and a single U-boat moving into the area in the hopes of catching a few reinforcments which might be shipped in via sea transfer next turn.

[GrumpyMel]

Russia - Northern Sector:

In the North, the Russians continue to hold the river line east of Leningrad and the city itself but make no real attempts at relief or reinforcment. This turn I place Leningrad under massive air and artillery strikes, although this costs me a few planes, it does decent damage to the defenders. More importantly, the city suffers enough structural damage that it should not fully recover next turn. A few turns of this will reduce the garrison and starve them of supply. In the meantime 7th Army advances, taking Mozhaisk and Moscow is within sight!

I also move elements of 1st & 7th Army into the woods between the capital and the Leningrad line, cutting the southern rail route and threatening to outflank the river line defenses. In conjunction with this move, I also drop some paratroopers to cut the northern rail line. I don't know if this will actualy cut supply to the river line defenders as they may be close enough to Moscow to trace supply cross-country, but it's worth a shot. At the very least it will make strategic transfers and reinforcments a little more difficult.

[GrumpyMel]

You can see here the results of my air attack on Leningrad. Though a few planes are lost, this is the way to really reduce the city defences.

[GrumpyMel]

Russia - Central Sector:

The Soviets actualy begin to show thier teeth here as they launch a small armored counter-attack against 2nd Armies northen flank, just south of Tula. The counter-attack is not very effective, as it gets stalled by the motorized infantry unit it encounters without doing much damage and then wiped out as my own panzers encircle and attack it. I half suspect this may be an attempt to draw my panzers out into the open and in range for an air strike by the Soviet air force which is likely waiting in Moscow. Neverthless, the opportunity is too good to pass up. My forces should be largely protected though, as they are well spread out and even moved some a little back after the battle. I've also brought some air cover up to protect them...and transfered in some 88's to provide flak. We'll see what happens, if the Soviet airforce decides to show up.

Meanwhile my engineers repair the bridge outside Vorenzah and we capture the city. I send a panzer element racing toward Saratov. If I can capture it, I'll have cut Southern Russia off from the rest of the country. I seem to be having some succes in carving up the country into bits. This should make it more difficult for the Soviets to mount an coherent defence.

[GrumpyMel]

You can see here the results of the Tank battle south of Tula, the first armored clash of the campaign. The poor Soviet armored unit really had no chance. Although it may merely have been a sacrifice by it's master to draw my panzers out for an air-strike.

[GrumpyMel]

Russia - Southern Sector:

It appears that my enemy is, indeed, making no attempt to defend the Caucusas oil-fields, as I have advanced to the outskirts of Grozny with no enemy in sight! (IMO) This may be the most significant mistake of the campaign. These oil-fields are a huge source of supply for the Soviets and thier position in the mountains means they can present a considerable effort to capture if adequitely defended. Unlike the factory cities, the Soviets don't get replacements for these in the Urals. This means the loss of them will present a significant reduction to the enemies production capacity, while presenting a good boost to mine. As long as you can tie them into your rail network, resource hexes really are as good as regular production cities...as you always need to be producing supplies for your troops...and if you have resources devoted to it, you can use your production cities for units.

In any event, I won't complain about this stroke of luck. Elsewhere I continue my bombardment of the Crimean forts. I want the fortifications gone before I risk an attack with infantry. You can also see pictured the total kills and losses for the turn. Not a bad turn for the Axis.

[GrumpyMel]

August 29, 1941

A major for the Axis as fighting intensifies all across Europe. Casualties are starting to increase but good progress continues to be made in many areas, and Allied casualties continue to outstrip ours. First to France, where the Dieppe style raid, if that indeed is what it is, starts to yield Dieppe style results [:)]

France:

During his turn, the West took out my sole U-boat with carrier air, although it more then payed for it's own loss doing significant supply disruption to the beachead as well as taking down an enemy plane that was sea transfered in to Bordeaux. The enemy captured Bordeaux quite easly with a naval bombardment followed up by a ground assault against the few defenders left. However, this left the port significantly damaged. I don't know what sort of reinforcments were brought in, although I did see one air group overfly France to land in the captured city. During his turn the West also staged some bombing raids in northwest France, knocking out one bridge and doing some minor damage to garrisons at the cost of 1 enemy aircraft.

Although, I'm still convinced this action is more a disruptive style raid to draw pressure off Russia rather then a full scale invasion, I must still respond to it. Fortunately, I don't think the West realized the strength of forces I left in France...particulary air assets. I used this to my full advantage this turn. Spotting a UK probing along the coast North of Bordeaux, I sent a recon plane out to determine the strength of the enemy air defences stationed at Bordeaux. I was able to determine that the West had only 5 (US) fighter III's flying cap...and that the British unit was a large infantry formation, heavy with mortars. A perfect situation, I sent the full strength of my Luftwaffe fighter force in the West to strafe the unit, and draw the Americans into a dogfight. I was more interested in the enemy air cover then the infantry but the air battle ended with good results on both, as you can see pictured below:

[GrumpyMel]

Following up on this success, I had my engineers bridge the river between Orleans and LaRochelle to allow my reaction forces access to the invasion zone. 1st Panzer Division managed enough AP's to reach and attack the British infantry that I had just straffed. My panzers nearly anhilited the happless Brits at very little loss to myself. I brought in some SS Panzergrenadiers to support this advance as well as some flak to cover the bridge...and my air assets in Orleans are still quite strong. Now we get to see if the West is serious about this operation or my suspicion about a raid is accurate. Pictured below are the before and after results for France.

[GrumpyMel]

Russia, Northen Sector:

My commitment of forces to France hasn't really even begun to put a dent in my operations in Russia. As the Summer wears on, I start to pick up the pace of the offensive as Winter will come all too soon. Leningrad is once again the subject of massive air and artillery strikes. Although the toll on the Luftwaffe from this operation is starting to mount (3 db's, 3 ftr's and 2 lb's this turn alone), Lenningrad is mostly in rubble and the massive garrison's readiness is starting to plummet. I believe next turn we may be ready for a ground assault.

Further south the Russians throw up a hasty defence in the forest to protect thier river lines southern flank from my advancing forces. I decide to push my luck against these troops before they regain readiness and infantry from 1st and 7th Armies drive back the hastily assembled Soviet defenders. In the dense woods my infantry has an advantage against thier medium tanks...I manage to kill one and most of the infantry of the unit holding the center of this position. Now we get to see if the Russians have fight enough to contain this breach or if they will retreat once again. I drop some para's to threaten thier rear again...If they can't deal with this threat...they run the risk of being encircled.

Further south, 7th Armies main forces advance to within sight of Moscow and shell it's outer fortifications.