Nirosi vs Boldairade(Nirosi welcome)

[boldairade]

September 11, 1942

Gibraltar-The Axis are going for the throat here. If they can take Gibraltar they seal the Western Med, and likely secure Italy for at least two years, and possibly the rest of the conflict. My botched invasion of Western Africa, Paladin, has put them in position for this.

An entire German corps is landed east of The Rock, supported by the Regia Marina in its entirety, along with a massive wave of ground and naval bombing onto the under strength defenders-the 20 step Gibralter garrison. Axis aircraft take heavy losses in their attacks, losing 17 steps to AA guns and the UK fighter there. The Germans then attack, but make little headway, losing 8 steps while only destroying one.

I will admit I have no idea how to react to this. Should I pull out the fighter there? What about the 4 light fleets currently docked there? I do not see that they have helped at all. What are my chances of holding next turn? Should I try to ship in a fresh Infantry formation? The garrison unit is down to 79% readiness. BUT it is heavily entrenched.

Ultimately, we decide to roll the dice. We will leave the formation there, gambling that the Germans have lost more than we have. Still, they have the naval support. We will also leave the fighter. It's a huge risk, but we absolutely need to hold. The US and UK fleets head south from the Arctic(obviously this was a ruse to get our fleets away from Gibralter all along-well played, Nirosi)-but they won't get there for TWO more turns.

We COULD try to send the fleet from the Eastern Med...

[boldairade]

September 11, 1942-Eastern Med

But we don't.

After a long deliberation, allied admirals decide NOT to send the Eastern Med Fleet. For one thing, it is only recovered to about 65%, and would be lower once it arrived. But more importantly, the fleet would have to run the gauntlet of Axis bombers to get there. How many hits would it take?

But the fleet is not idle. With the Regia Marina occupied, we launch an amphibious invasion of Rhodes-a strategic island coveted by allied planners for several reasons. The Italian corps there has been prepped by heavy bombing and subs intercepting its supplies. The elite UK II Corps lands and, supported by tac bombers and the entire fleet, manages to force the Italians to surrender.

But...

It takes two attacks. This leaves us without an OP to take the port itself. Allied planners could not come up with a way to handle this possibility. Thus, the port remains in Axis hands, but unoccupied. IF they move a formation in there it will be the end of the UK II Corps. However, we leave the entire fleet there, with a sub for good measure. There's a good chance any troop ship that tries to land there will be sunk. It is a very difficult situation for both me and Nirosi. I hope when this is over, someone can tell me how this could have been avoided.

Allied forces continue to pursue Axis formations in Eastern Africa. They might try to make a stand at the small port of Misurata, but Allied brass doubts it. The defensive terrain is far better to the west, around the much bigger port of Tripoli. That is where we think they will make their stand. The supply lines, should we pursue that far, would be stretched to unreasonable lengths.

[boldairade]

September 11, 1942

East Front-North(Konev)

The Germans do not launch large scale attacks here, but just reposition. There is, however, an attack by strong German formations in the marshes east of the Lovat River, which displaces the weak Russian units here. We had hoped the poor terrain here would discourage Axis action, and thus had only low quality units here. We will continue to give ground, but must be mindful of not allowing an opportunity for encirclements.

There is also concern in Stavka that the Germans might attack the 27th Army directly south of Leningrad-but little can be done to discourage an action there.

[boldairade]

September 11, 1942

East Front-Center(Gerasimenko)

Vasily Gerasimenko is railed south. Formerly in charge of holding the Fins along the Volkhov, his responsibilities have grown considerably. Quite frankly, he isn't up to the job. But he is the best we have.

The Germans move up to embrace out new "line" along the northern Dnieper. They will almost certainly expel us from Smolensk next turn, as they move three impossibly fresh formations into position to take the city. This front won't last long, and the trick here will be to try and not lose any formations to encirclement. A withdrawal to the Rzhev River in the north, and the Besed River in the south-the last river lines before Moscow, is accepted. But a minor stand will be made here. German armor and mech units are in the north near Velikie Luki, so Stavka feels the threat of encirclement is low.

[boldairade]

September 11, 1942

East Front-South(Zhukov/Rokossovsky)

Repositioning of Hungarian forces indicates they will be tasked with holding defensively favorable areas in the SE Pripyet along the river line. They are backed, however, by a large number of German formations. Is this a set up for winter deployment, or a prelude to a last eastward lunge?

To the south, German formations array themselves for an assault into the city of Dnepropetrovsk, expelling the Soviet 9th Army from its position south of the city. The Soviet 2nd Army holds the city, but will be no match for the attacking Germans.

Soviet air assets are being repositioned eastward. Wherever possible, armor is pulled out of the line and replaced by infantry.

[boldairade]

Day and night, the defenders of Gibraltar scan the skies for Axis aircraft.

The entire balance of power in the Western Med has come down to this. The defenders of The Rock must fight or die.

[John B.]

Thanks for hanging in there as I'm really enjoying this AAR! And, at least your dishing out a little bit of pain now.

But, I share your bewilderment at the inability of the allies to ever find and hit Axis surface forces.

[boldairade]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Thanks for hanging in there as I'm really enjoying this AAR! And, at least your dishing out a little bit of pain now.

But, I share your bewilderment at the inability of the allies to ever find and hit Axis surface forces.

thank you!

I was concerned the AAR might lose it's luster as defeat became inevitable. But I am going to try tokeep writing it(and playing it) as though the issue is in doubt.

As my friend Jack Burton once said, 'You never can tell...'

[John B.]

I've never played the game but from an historical point of view you are way ahead of schedule.

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: boldairade

August 28, 1942

The Russian 18th army, with a full 36 steps, heavily entrenched and with air cover, retreats after ONE attack and 4 step losses.

Russian armies are not strong enough. Let me guess 30% experience?

[stjeand]

I believe you are in better shape than you think...
Ready for an invasion of Italy...or even Greece depending upon the garrison.
Not sure what it looks like but get your fleet ready and in April land...
The Germans will have to pull back from Russia some units to slow you.

The Russians have a LOT of armor and still have the major rivers. Yes you will give some more territory...
Hopefully you have a lot of MS in the production pool. Not sure if you do or what you are sending to the Russians.

You have taken enough in Norway to cut off his PP from Sweden...so just play a spoiler there and pull out any elite units.
You only need to hold one port to cut off 300 German PP over the winter.


From what I see...and I can not see it all...

The German lines are thin.

I know you don't see it but it really is. I suspect his manpower is getting low and that is dangerous.

[boldairade]

stjeand

how have i cut off sweden?

can't he just use the convoy route from there-across the sea?

I was more trying to cut off iron ore from Narvik, and I don't think I have accomplished that yet, looking at the convoy routes.

what are 'MS in production pool"?

[boldairade]

September 25, 1942

BOA-Axis subs withdraw to refit. Axis surface ships go to port in Danzig. Uncovered in this AAR has been the effort of Soviet surface vessels raiding the Baltic Sea with minor successes. Perhaps Germany will use her powerful surface ships to hunt the Red Fleet. German bombers manage to bottom the Russian BB Marat this turn, scoring a lucky hit that knocks off 4 steps in one shot. Russian planners prioritize its repair. Anything that might occupy German ships and give us a chance to recover in the Atlantic is worthwhile. Only one German wolfpack is operating off the coast of Africa. It sinks 1 MM and an escort. Disappointing, as it hit a route with heavy escorts and capital ship support. Still, a welcome reprieve.

US bombers use supply trucks, spool up and go to work. Major raids finish off Hamburg and level Hanover, dropping it from 10 industry to zero in one turn with multiple attacks. Our primary targets of Essen and Dusseldorf have been upped to 4 AA guns. We still hammer Dusseldorf with one raid, trying to keep its production down. US bombers lose 6 steps. Costly, but likely worth it.

Norway/Swordfish-Germany lands a tac bomber in Oslo. Along with its fresh armor, this gives the Germans considerable striking power. They also vacate Bergen with their security division and replace it with a full corps. Allied planners think long and hard about whether to destroy the division, which now has no entrenchment, or go for Bergen.

We decide the risk is too high to do anything but make a full effort to take the port. An American fleet supports the attack, along with US tac bombers. VIII Armor and I Corps(FFL) take the city in one attack. Likely I used too much force here, which matters because those ships were needed elsewhere. But the port is secured. English infantry corps are deployed in an attempt to entrap German formations. We will see if we can destroy them next turn.

US infantry arrives to be the front reserve.

[boldairade]

September 25, 1942-Gibraltar

Allied planners are optimistic here. Axis air attacks continue to pour in on the port and land defenders, and their ships support two efforts to displace our defenders. However, the Axis take 5 step losses to our 1. Supplies are rushed to both the defenders and air assets here. The English fleet is steaming full speed for Gibraltar from Scapa Flow.

Eastern Med-

Disaster here: Somehow, the Italians ship in a fresh corps right under the guns of 2 carrier groups, 4 BB groups, and 3 cruiser groups WITHOUT SUFFERING A SINGLE SCRATCH. I love WP, but these types of situations are extraordinarily frustrating. The idea that 14,000 men and their equipment could be shipped into a port being guarded by a fleet of this size and suffer zero losses is infuriating.

This absurd result leaves us in a brutal situation. England's best infantry corps, which essentially won this battle last turn but could not secure the port, is now cut off. It's worn down, so even though it is a better formation than the Italian defenders and has Naval and Air supremacy, it will now die on the beaches. Rhodes, which was the lynch pin of our strategy in the Eastern Med, is lost because WP does not allow for you to occupy an undefended port, and also because WP allows entire corps to be transported under the guns of entire fleets without sustaining a single casualty. If I sound irritated, that's because I am.

There is nothing I can do. There are no other beaches, so my only option is to let my formation die and then try again, and likely suffer a similar fate. This is a major flaw in the game.

Axis forces deploy east of Misurata. At first, Allied generals are glad to see this, and move up to engage. However, upon closer look, Stejand has figured out EXACTLY where my supply ends and deployed just outside my range. We are right back where we were in Tobruk-trying to carry offensive impetus while out of supply, on a very limited front. We could probably push back one formation, but I do not see how strategically that would unhinge the front. German forces appear remarkably well prepared for any attack, their retreat across the desert seems to have cost them little readiness.

In the back of my mind, I knew rushing headlong in pursuit would likely leave me in a poor situation. I just imagined it would be near Tunis. I have really no idea how to proceed.

[boldairade]

September 25, 1942

East Front-North(Konev)

As expected, the Germans attack and displace 27th Army south of Leningrad. Unfortunately, the force retreats 2 hexes into the Leningrad port instead of east toward the Volkov. Again, lousy luck. had it retreated to any of the 3 hexes to the east it would have been very useful. Now it is trapped in the port, and my only move would be to use it to replace the more powerful formation defending Leningrad. But, that would almost certainly leave Leningrad open to attack from the south and NW, and the German fleet would likely help. In short, I cannot do that.

In an effort to improve the situation, Stavka authorizes a counter attack by two armies and the 3rd Mech Corps. Despite good odds and support from naval guns, they cannot push back the battered German III Corps.


The front here is paper thin, and the Germans have 2-1 and 3-1 strength advantages everywhere. No attack is made in the marshes to the south vs our shattered forces there.

[boldairade]

September 25, 1942

East Front-Center(Gerasimenko)

Again, no surprises here. German forces attack the heavily entrenched 13th Army in Smolensk, driving it out in one attack, inflicting 7 step hits while losing only one. Russian forces, who specialized in urban defense, seem helpless to even slow the German attacks. To the north entrenched 18th Army and 2nd Mech corps are also easily displaced, taking heavy casualties while in each case only doing one step of damage to the German forces.

Just as in the north, all along the front, German forces show very little wear and tear from 5 months of campaigning. Not only has Nirosi taken huge swaths of land, inflicted ungodly casualties, taken many victory objectives and industrial centers, but he has managed to do so without losing a single unit, or even seeing any of his forces significantly eroded.

Historically, the first year of Barbarossa saw the Germans campaign into December, and reach the gates of Moscow. Nirosi, it appears, is not that ambitious, nor does he need to be. His ops now seem fairly minor, improving his defensive and logistical positions for the winter, taking major urban centers and rail junctions. He clearly feels no need to push hard, likely knowing a spring offensive will achieve these goals, and will allow him to take them without undue wear and tear on his formations.

[boldairade]

September 25, 1942

East Front-South(Zhukov/Rokossovsky)

Similar to the other fronts, German High Command launches operations to claim high value targets at very low costs to the Wehrmacht. Heavily entrenched Soviet 2nd Army is easily driven out of Dnepropetrovsk, with the Germans again suffering only 1 step casualty. This effectively eliminates any bridgehead we had over the Dnieper, eliminating the southern front as an option for any possible winter counter attack. German forces also attack across the river near Kiev and force a retreat of the entrenched 4th Mech Corps there. They do not follow up the attack, apparently just attacking to inflict casualties on the hapless Russian formation, which cannot hold the river line.

[boldairade]

It smiles and congratulations for a job well done on the Eastern Front for the Wehrmacht and her generals. Here, perhaps Germany's greatest tank commander, Heinz Guderian, receives well earned congratulations from one of his officers.

[boldairade]

On the other side of the conflict, there is far less to celebrate. Defeats, embarrassment, casualties and death are all that the Red Army have to show for the war in 1942. The only question is, how much more punishment does the Wehrmacht want to deal out this year? Or are they satisfied with their gains and instead choose to make their winter defenses impregnable?

There is no wrong choice for the Wehrmacht, and no correct one for the Red Army.

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: boldairade

Just as in the north, all along the front, German forces show very little wear and tear from 5 months of campaigning. Not only has Nirosi taken huge swaths of land, inflicted ungodly casualties, taken many victory objectives and industrial centers, but he has managed to do so without losing a single unit, or even seeing any of his forces significantly eroded.

Yeah I agree this is kind of sci-fi. The Germans are not taking enough casualties doing Barbarossa. As such, there are in a too good shape for the second year of fighting in the East.