"Dortmund!" Axis vs Soviet AI

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Being a WiTP AE veteran and having an AAR running there I thought I have to write one in WiTE as well!

After playing the smaller scenario's I thought I'd jump into the 41 Campaign as the Axis vs AI on normal level.....for now at least.

Once I've played this for a bit I'll probably start a PBEM as well as I always feel that's the way to go ultimately.

My aim in this campaign is to go as far as I can before winter and, most importantly, to capture as many Russian swines as I can. Ideally I'd like to take Leningrad as well but we'll see.

Dawn rises and the Luftwaffe is already in the air conducting a ruthless offensive to wipe out the Soviet airforce before they can react to our land advances!

Over 4000 enemy planes are reported destroyed for 150 friendlies......a decent start to the preceedings....

[Redmarkus5]

The best I've been able to achieve on Turn 1 is 3,600 Soviet aircraft destroyed. Can you list the steps you took to get to 4,000?

Also, what settings are you playing on?

[ComradeP]

Good luck Speedy.

Did you bomb the Soviet air bases in the greater Smolensk area too?

[Speedysteve]

Hi guys,

Redmarkus - Playing on normal level.  I went through a logical approach. Firstly lowered the percentage for aircraft to fly to 10%. I then reconned a LOT until every Soviet AF had at least Level 7 detection. I sytematically bombed the AF's from closest to the front to the rear focussing on AF's that had at least 40 operational planes and taking out the fighter fields first to minimise losses. This allowed me to target the rear AF's  (NE of Riga, east of Minsk, Kiev etc) with bombers only.

Rinse and repeat across the front until all of my bomber groups had at least 60-70%+ usage. I even used tacticals since I want to maximise the destruction.

Pieter -  Thanks. I didn't quite get that far. Bombers had heavy enough usage pummeling the areas around Minsk.

Time to start with AGN movements....now where do I start?[;)]

[Mike Solli]

Hey Speedy, will your PBEM be against faber?  I can't see you playing any other opponent. [:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi Major...We'll see. Faber has WiTE but has not had time to check it out yet.....I've told him he'll love it[;)] Are you playing WiTE?

AGN has completed it's movements for the first 4 days of the war. Nearing Riga and Kaunas has fallen. Must keep remembering the aim is to encirclement and capture as many of the blighters as possible.

In Courland the aim will be to take the 2 ports there before reducing the enemy to prevent their supply and evac.

[Redmarkus5]

Great guidance - thanks!

[Mike Solli]

Nope, I don't have it yet.  I probably won't buy it until Feb.  I'll be out of town pretty much the whole month of January without a computer I can put it on.  That means no AE turns either. [8|] I need to win the lottery so I can retire!

[Speedysteve]

Mike - Don't we all! I play the lottery more and mroe nowadays. Also won £1000 at the casino the other day [:)]

AGC launches off and bags a large pocket west of Minsk.

A smaller pocket is created north of Vilnius.

[Mike Solli]

Guess I'll just have to live vicariously through your AAR for a while, Speedy. [;)]
 
Question about those pockets:  Granted you have ZOCs pretty much everywhere, but those pockets look pretty fluid.  Can't the Soviets work their way out?  Also, does a unit negate the ZOC of the hex it's in?

[ComradeP]

The interesting thing, for me, about these AAR's from new players is all the different opening moves. My opening moves are normally more or less the same in the AGN and AGC areas, although the move in the AGC area depends on what I want to do with my Panzers. My opening moves in the AGS area are never the same, though.

Speedy, what's the plan for AGC?

I'm guessing AGN's on the rocky road to Leningrad so I'm not expecting too much in terms of variation for that area, but you might very well surprise me.

Question about those pockets: Granted you have ZOCs pretty much everywhere, but those pockets look pretty fluid. Can't the Soviets work their way out? Also, does a unit negate the ZOC of the hex it's in?

Whether they can be broken will, for the pocket north of Vilnius depend on how many MP's the Rifle division on the eastern side of the pocket gets and for the pocket in the AGC area on the MP's of the motorized/Rifle formations on both sides of the pocket.

A unit should feel enemy ZOC in its own hex too, IIRC.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Hey Speedy, will your PBEM be against faber?  I can't see you playing any other opponent. [:D]

Surely the blizzards of 1941 are bad enough. To then have to meet penguins in those climatic conditions without the benefit of orcas to assist, would skew the game too much in favour of the penuinistas. Why I can see them skating all the way to the Berlin Zoo in that first winter.[:)]

Alfred

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Good to see a little AE croud here too [:)]

Mike - true in theory the pockets could be broken but I'm taking a chance that with the disorganisation the Soviets will feel in the first 4 days of war will prevent a lot of movement from their rabble........

Pieter - for AGC I'd like to get near Moscow. My aim is not to take it in 1941. My aim is to capture as many Soviets as possible. I will move towards Moscow with 2 panzer thrusts through Mogilev and Vitebsk taking as many prisoners as possible.

For AGS - I actually don't have a goal here. There's so much real estate to take and many important Industrial cities as well as a lot of enemy troops! As you'll see from the below SS I'm trying to create a pocket around Lvov. There's so many Soviets down here I could probably walk from one to the other all the way to Kiev [;)]

Afred - what are you doing over here?!? [;)] Good to see you my friend! I experienced the 41' Blizzards in the Typhoon scenario....they're a lot of fun [;)]

[Speedysteve]

Losses for the first 4 days of the war.....another 200 enemy planes were caught on the ground and 20 units were destroyed.

So much to use AP's for as well! Would like to add dedicated Tk/Stug Bn's to Motorised Divisions and make sure Corps HQ's have Mixed Flak Bn's as well. First things though Hermann Black took charge of 47th Pz Corps replacing Lemelsen.

[Speedysteve]

Argh.....not a good start to turn 2. Hoth has been KIA apparently! [8|]

[ComradeP]

Leader casualties can hurt, a good reason to keep distance between HQ's and the frontline, even though the chance of making some rolls will then decrease.

[Speedysteve]

Hoth was in Kaunas though...hardly on the frontline. Maybe it was a civilian who assassinated him whilst sightseeing? [;)]

[Helpless]

Enemy hexes are just 2 hexes away from Kaunas, so it is a front line.

[Speedysteve]

Helpless I was joking [;)]

AGN continues it's drive forward into Latvia meeting virtually no opposition. 8th Panzer Division drives through an abandoned Riga on the 27th June stopping to refuel on the 28th. SS Totenkopf takes over and drives hard isolating the 22nd NKVD Division at Valmera.

Further to the east the Soviet 2nd Tank Division was obliterated at Utena by 36th Motorised Division....162 enemy tanks were captured.

[Helpless]

Helpless I was joking

Hande hoh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJwb1zVtCA