Fall Gelb, multiplayer, majors on hard - Axis AAR

[gwgardner]

May 24 '42

While operations in the Caucasus continue with great success - Tblisi soon to come under assault - the Wermacht has received its first bloodied nose northwest of Stalingrad.

In a masterful counterstroke, the Russians concentrated their armor well beyond German recon range, and then advanced quickly in good weather towards the overstretched and over-confident German recon thrusts north of Stalingrad.

The 44th Motorisierte Korps has been surrounded, and will probably be lost. Supporting forces, within range, are at risk of being cut off too, so have been ordered to withdraw from the raillines north of Stalingrad and regroup. There is a faint hope that we can rally soon enough to fight through to the rescue of the 44th, but it is doubtful.

As a result of this first Soviet counterattack, OKH has ordered the recon units southeast of Stalingrad to pull back also, leaving the rail lines there free for the Soviets to recapture and repair, thus re-opening supply lines south into the Trans-Caucasus.

So the Soviet thrust has had both tactical and strategic success ... temporarily ....

[gwgardner]

June 1 '42

The weather has cleared, and by rights this should be the beginning of the campaigning season in Russia. However, after the loss of the 44th Mot. Corps, OKH has been forced to rethink its failed plan for taking Stalingrad.

Before, it was thought that the Soviets were back on their heels, scraping the hinterland for bodies to throw into the front in a vain attempt to just delay the Wermacht. Stalingrad was close to being surrounded and the Caucasus was close to being cut off completely.

Now it is clear that the Soviets have at least 25 divisions of armor amassed between Stalingrad and Kursk. That is the thinnest part of the German lines. The only way to man those lines right now is with our own armor - no supporting infantry. This is a recipe for more disaster.

Therefore the new plan for the next two months is to finalize the conquest of the Caucasus, and move the forces there into the Ukraine. Meanwhile the forces in the Ukraine will pull back to shorter lines, regroup, reinforce, and hopefully pull the Soviets closer in. Hopefully by August 1, the Wermacht and Luftwaffe will be at full strength, with infantry support, and can then force a breakthrough and destroy Soviet forces in the region.

At this same time, it is clear that the Soviets are steadily improving their technology of war. What were 4-3 infantry corps are now 5-3, 6-3, and even the occasional 7-3 corps. Recon has shown 7-5 armored corps also.

'42 is the make or break season for the Wermacht. We either get it done this year, or we go on the defensive.

Here is the current situation from Kiev to Baku:

[gwgardner]

July 1 '42

In a surprise move, the British have launched a cross-Channel invasion of the Greater Reich!

From what we can gather through recon, the British pounded from air the strong defense force garrisoning Caen, then assaulted the port with a strong corps of Polish volunteers. After taking the port, they landed at least two corps of mechanized infantry. Probably three, but reports are iffy on that.

The Luftwaffe is moving fighter assets into the area, to contest the British control of the skies. But they do have land-based and carrier based air assets.

Wermacht armored and mechanized units that were in Poland, slated for refit after seeing duty on the Eastern Front, and two green mechanized corps fresh from training, have been rushed to the area.

The Italians have agreed to send fighter and bomber forces to the region, and have rushed a green mech corps to the area also.

The Kriegsmarine has sortied what remains of the high seas fleet to harass the concentration of British ships in the Channel.

[gwgardner]

July 9, '42

Allied air power is stunningly powerful. An entire German mech corps was shredded and pounded from the air, then three British corps destroyed it.

In response, the Luftwaffe and the Italian air force have positioned more fighter squadrons nearby for intercept missions.

Recon shows that the Allies have now landed US forces at Caen too.

[gwgardner]

late July '42

Field Marshall Rommel was given command of the response to the Allied landing in France. He had two goals: containment, and taking Caen. His ad hoc force has achieved both.

With the loss of Caen, the remaining British and US forces in France were withdrawn with great loss of equipment and personnel. Essentially the Allies ended up pulling a fraction of their force off some beaches, and leaving the rest to be captured.

On the Eastern Front, the entire Caucasus has been occupied, and the mouth of the Volga secured by Italian forces entering Astrakhan. 25 German armored and mechanized divisions have crossed the Volga south of Stalingrad,with the intention of rolling up the Soviet defenses and once again attempting to surround the city and take it.

Two German infantry corps have forced a crossing of the Kerch Strait, and will attempt to pacify the Crimea.

[gwgardner]

mid August '42

With a concentration of air, armored, and mechanized infantry - including a strong Italian air force contingent - the German assault on Stalingrad was a success. The Soviet fortress system guarding the city was made ineffective after the capture of Astrakhan. This allowed the Wermacht to ship supplies up the Volga and along the RR from the Black Sea, and to construct numerous bridges across the mighty river south of Stalingrad to take the city from the south and east.

In other action, the Bulgarian front from Kiev south was struck and shattered by over-strength Soviet infantry. The city was lost, but the Wermacht ordered mech infantry reinforcements to the area for a counter-attack. The city was retaken and the Soviet lines shattered in turn.

The Soviets again struck at the thin German lines northwest of Stalingrad, using their armor. This time 4 German mech corps were cut off and eventually destroyed, despite a thrust up from the newly captured Stalingrad by German armor.

On the high seas, the Italian Navy continues to harass shipping from the British colonies. The German sub force is now concentrating on the North Atlantic convoy lines from North America.

With only two months left of good campaigning weather for '42, it is at this point a matter of debate at OKW and OKH as to whether to continue the focus on the south, or to try and shift German armor to the long-static Center or North fronts.

Whatever the decision, it should be noted that the entire armored and mechanized force of the Wermacht is currently fighting at around 50% strength in terms of personnel and equipment. However, to rotate those forces back to Central Europe for refit and reinforcement will take the entire two months of good weather!

[gwgardner]

Further high level discussion continues about what will happen the winter of '42 and the campaigning season of '43.

Yes, the German economy is strong, and the Wermacht is slowly converting to a more mechanized force - at great expense. But it is feared that technological research is not keeping apace with that of the enemy.

The Russians already are approaching a par in terms of infantry tech. Given the six months of winter, their whole force is going to be upgraded.

And then what is the US going to do with its burgeoning strength?

It is a worry that Gibraltar is still in Allied hands, and essentially, with their great advantage in carriers, they can attack anywhere from Denmark to North Africa to Sicily to Turkey or Egypt or the Persian Gulf. They can also reinforce any landing in Africa or Turkey MUCH faster than the Axis can. Unless we can preposition enough of a force to push them off the beaches, the complete success of any such landing is guaranteed.

[gwgardner]

Neglected in these reports has been the continuous fight against Polish, Yugoslavian, Greek, Soviet, and French partisans. It is a constant, that the rail lines through the Pripets and those in Yugoslavia and Greece are successfully cut. There have been uprisings in several Yugoslavian cities and even once in Thessalonika. Without the Axis minor allies, it is guaranteed that Yugoslavia and Greece would have been lost to insurgency.

French partisans are most active near the coastal areas, both the Atlantic and Med, obviously with support of the British.

Other conveniently neglected news: the entire High Seas Fleet was destroyed in its sortie into the English Channel. It was understood that it was a suicide mission, given the incredible carrier and land-based air strength of the Allies, but all hands on deck was the battle cry. The navy was never supported like it should have been. The focus in Berlin has been completely on the army, air, and submarine forces. Morale in the High Seas Fleet was at an incredible low. Now it is non-existent.

[JLPOWELL]

Just curious was it land based air which 'actually' destroyed the High Seas Fleet in the channel? Or did surface and CV units cause significant damage. My experience so far is that land based air is MUCH more effective than a navy attacking a surface fleet. I chased a contingent of the RM (3 units) for 7 weeks with HUGE US and RN fleets (LOTS of CV and BB) and it took an enormous effort to finally destroy it.

And of course the question... Why sortie into the channel?

[gwgardner]

Just hate having those German ships with nothing to do with them. It was for local color in the AAR.

I suspect land-based air had a good hand in the destruction, although in my experience CVs are just as effective.

He had so much a superiority in the air that it was easy.

I have now brought in substantial German fighter assets and have at least driven his air units away from the coastal areas. I should have done that all along, but I was using my fighters as recon units in the East.

[gwgardner]

late October '42

The heavy rains of Fall '42 have arrived. Mud, then frozen steppes. It will be a brutal winter, with the fighting continuing.

The Wermacht senses the imminent collapse of the Red Army, so increased pressure all along the previously static front from the Pripets north to the Baltic is the standing order.

Upwards of a million Soviet soldiers have been trapped in a pocket south of Kursk and Voronezh. Karkhov has just been taken, shutting off a source of supplies for the nearby troops.

Farther east, German armor and mech forces are probing north and east. The front here is very fluid, despite the weather. The obvious main focus has to be the concentration of Soviet industry and resorces around Orel.

On the Western Front, intense air battles are underway. The Luftwaffe has benefited from increased production budgets and have added new fighter squadrons to the battle for air superiority over the Channel and Belgian and Dutch industrial centers.

On the sea, the US especially has been successful in ASW. The German sub force has been cut in half, and production of new subs is just now being increased.

[gwgardner]

Game over, and it was a lot of fun. It's always more fun to play the aggressor, I guess. I hope Chocolino enjoyed the game too.