Road to Leningrad. A newbee attempt to tackle GAIA

[xavutrecht]

I know, another beginner AAR with this scenario. I suggest to claim the blame along with Don Lazov, his tutorial was based on this scenario and he challenged us beginners at the very end of it.[;)]
BTW, Don [&o]

Any tips welcome. Feel free.

So, Road to Leningrad. Played on easy mode with FOW on.

First I need a plan, or the draft of it.
The big picture is to drive to Leningrad, ok, I got that one. So Panzer vorwärts richtung Osten!

I will first deal with turn 1 and adapt after that.

Turn1 Objectives: Riga, Kaunas, Daugava river.

[SparkleyTits]

Good luck!

[xavutrecht]

Terrain: clear / light woods.
Main problem is the Neman river, this will channel my units towards Kaunas and limit my freedom of movement.
Wooden areas west and south of Riga. No problem for the IDs, can be bypassed by the PzDs.

[xavutrecht]

After an initial air phase (some recon and mainly bombing 7 and 8 SAD ABs) the ground phase should be done in 3 steps.

1. Clear the front line with the infantry divisions (IDs).
2. Push the IDs forward. Try to encircle as many enemy units as possible, aim for the unit concentration east of the front line. Depending on enemy movements, push and trap units north of Liepaja (west of Riga).
3. Panzer Divisions (PzDs) will move east towards Riga and the Daugava river. Secure Daugavpils/Jekabpils crossings.

That's the plan. Let's see if this works for about one minute.

[xavutrecht]

Air phase.

That went well.
Some recon and airfield bombings.

[xavutrecht]

Losses are low (for the German side).

[xavutrecht]

Now the ground phase. Step 1!

I am very proud of the IDs.[;)]
The frontline is cleared, most of the enemy units were routed or shattered.


The IDs should be able to bag the SU units east of the start line.

The road to Leningrad is open!

[xavutrecht]

Losses are light.
6 SU units destroyed.

[xavutrecht]

Good luck!

Thanks, I will need it.[:)]

[xavutrecht]

IDs moved forward!

The idea is to move the 18th Army north and the 16th Army east.
Liepaja was cleared of enemy units but the infantry stopped short of town. A glance at the suburbs but nothing more, Visit of the city centre next turn...

[xavutrecht]

My circling maneuver didn't work as intended.
SU units were pushed back, either routed or destroyed. Can't complain too much. Mop-up ops will be easier.

Kaunas was taken by the II Corps. Town and east side secured.

[xavutrecht]

Losses are light but the grunts are a bit tired, that's a lot of walking/fighting already done.
4 more SU units eliminated, and a total of 10 units routed.

Railwork is in progress, that's gonna take a helluva time to repair it.

Time for an engine start and let's roll east.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: xavutrecht

Terrain: clear / light woods.
Main problem is the Neman river, this will channel my units towards Kaunas and limit my freedom of movement.
Wooden areas west and south of Riga. No problem for the IDs, can be bypassed by the PzDs.

Good luck!

Remember crossing rivers also costs extra to panzers - so there are actually better routes for panzers that go through woods but cross fewer rivers.

[xavutrecht]

Remember crossing rivers also costs extra to panzers - so there are actually better routes for panzers that go through woods but cross fewer rivers.

Will do. Thanks.

So, PzDs rushed north and east.
XXXXI Pz Corps took Riga.
I know maybe not the smartest move to attack a big town with panzers... But Riga is under German control.

LVI Pz Corps moved east towards the Daugava river.
They pushed some routed units, HQs, and 8th SAD AB north and east.
Crossing and the town of Pavinas were taken.
Totenkopf reached the Daugava river near the town of Daugavpils but encountered some bitter resistance from Airborne units. PzD had to stop short of the town.

All objectives were reached and most of them taken, not too bad, let's think positive.
Another great news. Quite a lot of supply and fuel were captured. That's the icing on the cake.[:D]



Losses are still light, I think.
2 extra SU units eliminated and 3 extra one routed.

Turn 2 now, more thinking to do.[:(]

[timmyab]

Your opening is vulnerable to a counterattack which would isolate your pz corps and make the going very hard for the infantry next week. Your mobile divisions would still have fuel next week so there's no danger of a disaster but it's not great either. Against the AI you may get away with it.

[xavutrecht]

Thanks.
Let's find out and press the end turn button.[;)]

[xavutrecht]

Turn2.

It looks like I got lucky, SU units didn't try to cut my lines of supply.
The only thing I saw was a unit moving near Plavinas.
Map looks a bit empty. Where did they go?

[xavutrecht]

First, let's find where those SU units went.
I found them!
It appears they didn't move much. The central pocket looked the same, units at the same place. Same for the north, I didn't notice any SU units escaping.

Bombing of the 7 SAD AB went well enough. It's not the blast of turn 1, but I was satisfied. Air losses were 2/62.

[xavutrecht]

Ground phase was not as exciting as turn 1 one.

The infantry moved forward, secured the lines, and chased some SU units in the process.
PZDs consolidated the bridgeheads and waited for the IDs to catch-up.

7 SAD AB had to relocate to Kardla (SW of Tallin).
8 SAD AB had to relocate to Pskov.
A pity I can't overrun an enemy AB, that would be fun!

6 units destroyed during this turn.
VPs count is still in the axis favor but I have to hurry, clock is ticking.

[xavutrecht]

Question:

Is it a good idea to move the air units forward?
I moved some fighters to Siauliai. This should provide more air cover, Me-109 range is not that great.