Fall Weiss II Western Theater - Axis AAR

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Fierce fighting continues in France, one of the British HQs was destroyed as the Axis captured Caen in Northern France. The bombing campaign is not letting up and is beginning to effect supply on the Western Front. Germany achieved Industrial Technology 5 this turn which should help keep MPP flowing at a high capacity.

In Iran the Soviet defense of Tehran continues, we managed to destroy the occupied of the capital but lacked the movement points to march into the city. This is the Soviet's last stand in the region.

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Fighting continues for a number of key objectives, Germany really only has a substantial fighting force near Moscow where we have fought for a breakthrough towards Gorky which will bypass a number of Soviet defenses.

It is taking some time to get a number of units out of the Caucasus region after mop up duties have been completed, notably the Italian Army that was once joined at the hip with the DAK will be railed to the Western Front once able.

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The Allies inflict significant losses again on the Western Front, this time destroying a Tank Corps, Tank Division and Mechanized Corps which were spearheading our attack westward along Northern French territory. With low supply west of Pairs (3-4 supply) some over our forward units will have to retreat to Paris and I will have to move a HQ closer to Paris, with hopes it will not be attacked by Bombers.

At the same time the British make ancillary landings all along the coast which are more distraction then anything, but the American Army is racing down the Atlantic coastline to outflank our the Vichy and Spanish defensive lines.

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Bad Weather offers some reprieve for the Axis on the Western front this turn. Any gaps you see in the Allied front lines are from destroyed units, German Tanks have proven particularly lethal despite operating in 4-5 supply. We wipe out most of the disastrous landings near Belgium, and form more defensive lines to protect the approach on Bordeaux.

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Massive front line losses for the Axis this turn west of Paris, losing a Tank Army in this region will especially hurt. More alarming is that the Allies are successfully flanking the strongly fortified defensive lines of Vichy and Spanish forces, between Tours and Orleans.

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On the Eastern Front Army Group Center closes in on Gorky after finishing protecting our flanks north of the Volga river where a number of Soviet Tank Corps had earlier attempted an offensive.

In the South a number of reinforcements arrived from the Caucasus region near Stalingrad where the Red Army has shown the fiercest resistance, aside from perhaps Saratov.

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With the Soviets held to key choke points on the map it has allowed me to fight the Western Allies for every inch of land in France like it was WWI. It does not feel like a fight I am winning especially given the Allies massive air superiority from mainland Britain. The Western Allies have also completely disrupted our supply lines into Southern France and Spain, the only town I can operate into in Vichy and Spain currently is Toulon, near Marseilles. I had thankfully sent one of the two Spanish HQ into Southern France last turn which should help in the defense of Bordeaux.

In the East the Axis capture the settlement town between Stalingrad and Astrakhan which should significantly dampen the Red Army's defense of this region. The Germans have pulled back from Saratov momentarily, despite 2 experienced Tank Armies we have not been able to capture Saratov without air support and I have lost several ancillary units trying to maintain our forward position.

Though not in the screen shot, the German Army has reached the Gates of Gorky. A German Tank Army was redirected to the Western Front this turn, and a Mechanized Corps and Infantry Army are set to next turn.

[John B.]

Very exciting AAR!

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ORIGINAL: John B.

Very exciting AAR!

Thanks the Allied AI continues to make a game of it and are relentless. 468 Soviet units destroyed so far!

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The Western Allies have successfully outflanked our defensive positions as they rolled down the Western coast of France, cutting off our supply and in doing so have opened up the bottleneck I so badly tried to contain after the Allied landings in France. Our southern defense is in shambles and Spain ill defended should the Allies capture Bordeaux. Our defensive lines near Paris continue to hold strong, with Anti-Aircraft concentrated here, and additional reinforcements were sent from Army Group Center to enhance our offensive capabilities.

I've also begun spending MPP to boost the anti-aircraft defensive capabilities of the primary targets of the Allied Bombers to help boost our supply which right now is in shambles.

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The Axis continue with two main offensives in Russia, Army Group Center continues to battle for Gorky which was slowed by Soviet Tanks which counter attacked destroying an Infantry Army last turn, and a second against Astrakhan which will significantly shorten the Eastern front once captured.

In Northern Russia we continue to just maintain our foothold east of Leningrad but Soviet bombers are causing considerable damage in this swampy terrain, we have lost 2 Finnish Infantry Divisions over the last few turns trying to hold our defensive line.

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German MPP has been steadily lowering, entirely from the bombing campaign and advance of the Western Allies in France. Most alarmingly is our national morale which is slowly slipping downward as the war drags on and with it will go Germany's morale bonus.

The Soviet Army has lost 468 units, which is of course inflated because of the ability to build divisions in addition to Corps and Armies in this mod. However it is still a staggering amount, and the Soviets have their backs against the wall right now and I have not taking the foot of the petal which would allow the seemingly endless Soviet conscripts to build any numerical superiority. Germany is also on the verge of losing 100 Ground units, which is higher than i'm sure most are used to seeing vs the AI!

[Elessar2]

Do you have partisans turned off? Many of your Russian cities have no garrisons at all-you should have oodles of partisans running amuck behind your lines by now.

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ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Do you have partisans turned off? Many of your Russian cities have no garrisons at all-you should have oodles of partisans running amuck behind your lines by now.

No not turned off, I've just covered the ones that pop up units. The supply partisans are causing some issues, which included trapping the Italian Army (that was with the DAK) in Iran for 3-4 turns of which I wanted to operate them out.

[John B.]

If you don't mind a minor question, what is the swept wing american air unit I see in France in post no. 170? It's a very cool graphic!

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ORIGINAL: John B.

If you don't mind a minor question, what is the swept wing american air unit I see in France in post no. 170? It's a very cool graphic!

It's a level 3 or 4 Medium Bomber (I think)

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Autumn is kicking in, this turn the Axis forces are forced to retreat to defensive positions behind the Loire River which runs North and South from Vichy. We find better success in Northern France where the Allied assault on Paris continues to mount escalating casualties for the Western Allies.

Where we have the least success is in the South where the Axis have been forced to retreat from Bordeaux as there was an inability to reinforce the region, and Spain is almost defenseless. Luckily the Italian Army has arrived from Iran this turn to defend Southern Italy.

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The Western Allies have captured Bordeaux and are approaching the Spanish border, where a large part of the Italian Army has been sent to assist in the defense of the peninsula while Spain regroups (rebuilds) its ground forces. The Allies have now extended a very large front in Western Europe.

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Army Group Center has captured Grozny. With the Western Allies still advancing in France I may have to consider sending some of the Luftwaffe and Tanks to the Western Front as part of a large counter offensive and perhaps slowing or halting Army Group Center.

[John B.]

Those Soviet losses are incredible! I wonder the the Western Allies can distract you enough to give the USSR time to rebuild its shattered forces. Given that they sat around for two years they may have quite a number of units to pound you with.