Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
AG North
Heavy rain and mud hits the Leningrad region as The Volkhov Front puts up bitter resistance, 1st Tank, 2nd Guards, 37th and 51st Armies throw whatever troops they have into the line to try to slow our advance.
18th Armee makes some small gains around Nebolchi while Kempf's Armee pushes towards Kabozha and Pestovo,

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South of lake Llmen 16th, Kempf Detachment and AG Centre's 9th Armee push forward leaving a number of Red Army units cutoff as they move in force to encircle and isolate the loan enemy DIV at Torzhok.
The Valdai Hills are all but taken, and the Velikie Luki to Bologoe rail line almost cleared of enemy forces.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
AG Centre

With 9th Armee supporting AG North with its drive towards Kalinin, 3rd Pz Armee destroys the enemy trapped in pockets earlier and finds several gaps in the front line which they exploit, moving through these undefended areas, German mechanized forces capture Volokolamsk and threaten to trap a number of enemy units at Shakhovskaya.

Intel reports and aerial recon show The Soviets hastily preparing a defence line of fortifications in front of the Soviet capital in a effort to slow German momentum, German units are now only 70 miles from Moscow.

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While The Soviets defend grimly at Kalinin and Moscow against the German assaults, 3 Soviet Fronts, Bryansk, Voronezh and Central with a total of 7 Armies including 1st Guards, 6th Guards and 10th Guards battle against 2nd Pz Armee and 2nd Armee for the key cities of Orel and Kursk.
Thanks to the timely arrival of reinforcements, both German Armee's lines hold.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
AG South

A major battle ensues in the Kharkov area as The Southern Front ( 3rd Guards,27th , 59th Armies ) brings troops forward to break open the encirclement's to rescue there trapped comrades but the enemy attackers are thrown back in disarray with heavy losses.
General Gusztav Jany Commander of a now reinforced 2nd Hungarian Army launches a counteroffensive destroying the surrounded enemy troops and trapping another Tank Corps,

At Voroshilovgrad Southwestern Front ( 18th, 38th, 47th and 8th Guards Armies ) intensify there assaults against the city, Axis forces hold firm.

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Hungarian Forces on the move

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2nd Hungarian Army's counterattack begins

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In the Rostov region The Soviet advance has ground to a halt due to bad weather and the withdrawal of there forces to other sectors of the front, this allows our forces to stabilise our front line and build up a solid defence, with there dwindling forces unable to launch any breakthroughs, OHL Command is now confident that the 4th Supreme Command will keep control of Southern Russia and the occupied Territories in The Caucasus.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
Army Group A

Despite the bad weather 1st Pz Armee and 17th Armee destroy the remaining pocketed enemy troops,The North Caucasus Front's 39th and 46th Armies have taken a severe mauling, only the weather seems the only thing that can save them from complete destruction.

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Along The Black Sea Front both sides continue to maintain a defensive posture, for the enemy if they were to lose there last 3 ports the Black Sea Fleet would be forced to surrender or scuttle there ships.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
Stats report

Enemy Losses are high in both ground and air numbers

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The enemy OB is still strong but we are improving as the weeks go by.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 15th 1943 Turn 22
Stats reports 2

Production figures looking fairly good

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Supply is doing well to

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Weather will work in our favour even more once the entire Soviet Union goes into full mud season.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 20th 1943 Turn 24
Tripolitania Region

Axis rearguard units delay 8th Army's advance as long as possible allowing time for the armoured forces to reach Tunisia.

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Fighting at Hassan by Italian infantry further frustrates The Allies as they are briefly halted by determined resistance

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OHL Command authorises the evacuation of as many Axis Forces and equipment as possible, Field Marshal Kesselring flies to Tunisia to discuss the withdrawal.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 20th 1943 turn 24
Southern Tunisia

While the British get bogged down by Axis infantry at Hassan and Sirte Rommel's armour has reached the defence lines on the Libyan / Tunisia border, and have begun to dig in.

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And while things are quiet here on the ground the Allied Air forces keep themselves busy

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North Africa
Situation Report April 20th 1943 Turn 24
Northern Tunisia

While the Southern front remains relatively quiet heavy fighting continues here, The Allies mount several attacks to try to relieve there trapped comrades, however 1/ 504th Heavy Panzer Company leading the defence of 5th Pz Armee contains the attacks and then leads the counterattack forcing the US 3 / 1st infantry DIV to surrender.

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Tiger 131 leads The 504th Pz Company counterattack in Le Kef sector

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North Africa
Situation Report April 20th 1943 Turn 24
Northern Tunisia

At La Calle the Italian XXX Corps launches a major assault resulting in the British 25th Tank Brigade to retreat with heavy losses, fierce fighting continues throughout the North of the Country.

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Also South of the coastal town the US II Corps and BR IX Corps launch more attacks but the attackers are held up.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 20th 1943 Turn 24
Stats reports

Both sides take considerable ground losses.

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The Axis win the air battle despite being outnumbered.

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Axis supply improves with the shorter distance now for supplying PanzerArmee Afrika.

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North Africa
Turn 24 Anniversary trivia notes :

I have not played WITW for some time possibly 10 years but its been a lot of fun returning to North Africa.

During the course of the AAR I have been doing a lot of research on various historical events and actions.

For those who didn't catch the ( obvious ) Easter Egg from NA Turn 24 you may interested to know its the 80th Anniversary this year of The battle at point 174 (Gueriat el Atach)Tunisia.

And while I cant remember exactly what day I played Turn 24 its seems fitting that in this RL year on the turn week of the of 20th April with one of the most famous events from the North African theatre being celebrated the 504th Heavy Panzer Company was in action.

As a fan of the North African Campaign, dusting off WITW after all these years, deciding to do a combined Campaign out of the blue,doing some research for the Turn this week just gone,reading up on the history of Tigers in North Africa and by chance finding out about Tiger 131's history, checking my battle logs for Turn 24.

Seems all these events for me at least anyway all fell together nicely for the AAR, anyway it put a smile on my face and I certainly enjoyed doing the turn.

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Captured on the 24th April 1943

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Point 174

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Operational and still ready to fight 80 years later

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
AG North

Weather has turned even worse, not much movement by both sides around the Leningrad area,18th Armee has gone over on the defensive, pushing against the enemy in bad weather and tough terrain for the already depleted and exhausted troops of Army Group North could spell disaster.
The over stretched supply lines already hard pressed since the main supply routes still runs all the way from East Prussia via rail and road, and while The Baltic States are under Axis control, however Leningrad remains in Soviet control the land supply routes are always threatened by partisan activities.

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At the Kalinin sector some success despite the hard conditions, 16th Armee along with kempf's units destroy the trapped Soviet Mech Corps, the Soviets launch a few attacks trying to brake open the encirclement's, but these are easily contained as the weather works in our favour, Soviet offensive capabilities at the time seemingly have dissipated.

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Waiting for Summer weather, Inf on The Volkhov River line

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
AG Centre

Torrential rain continues across The Soviet Union as 3rd Pz Armee pushes forward against increasing resistance, the ground now a quagmire for Mechanized forces to move, despite the problems 2 Red Army Inf Corps are cutoff. with only sporadic counterattacks by the enemy the pockets should hold.

German forces inch ever so closer to The Oka River, 4th Armee which for the most part has been playing both a defensive and supporting roll now opens its own offensive operations, trapping a Inf Corps South of Kaluga, this assault forces enemy troops already under pressure on The Moscow Front to send preciously needed reserves to counter this threat.

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At Orel The Soviet assaults directed against the city seem to have finally ended at this time, 2nd Armee and 2nd Pz Armee have weathered the storm as the enemy goes over to the defensive. The enemies forces have been whittled down through direct combat, attrition and the need to redeploy to other areas of the front.

This will also give my forces time to rest and rebuild there strength as we have also suffered huge losses fighting to keep hold of the City. Some Panzer DIV's are down to less than 20 operational Panzer's.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
AG South

In the Kharkov sector the enemy makes an attempt to rescue the trapped Tank Corps surrounded by the Hungarians, but to know avail, the attack is contained and Axis forces destroy the encircled enemy unit.
2nd Hungarian Army establishes a solid defence line as more enemy troops move into the area in an effort to push our forces back.

At Voroshilovgrad, Southwestern Front halts there attack on our defenders and moves to break the line further North but The Romanian forces hold there ground.

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South of Voroshilovgrad fighting has virtually stopped as both 6th Armee and 4th Pz Armee continue to fortify there front lines in preparation for the coming Summer months.

Gen Otto Woehler Commander Army Group South from his HQ at Stalino receives Intel reports that large concentrations of Mech / Tank units are moving from Stalingrad heading South towards The DonBass ( Donets Basin ), this news is troubling as Axis forces are only just beginning to recover from the past 5 months of heavy fighting.
With an already strained front line another major Soviet offensive could spell disaster for Woehler's Command.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
Army Group A

With the battle turning now in favour of The Ostheer, Von Kleist ( Army Group A ) orders 1st Pz Armee to continue its drive against The North Caucasus Front ( Maslennikov ) , 6 Red Army Corps / DIVS (147th,161st,163rd,164th,4th Guards Tank Corps and 4th Div ) are cutoff, the Soviet 39th and 46th Armies are overwhelmed and the road to Grozny now appears open, with no reserves Maslennikov's Front seems shattered.
It seems only bad weather can stop Axis forces from reaching the Caspian Sea and the Baku oilfields.

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On the Black Sea Coast 17th Armee attacks with favourable results as the Soviet 20th and 83rd Mountain Div's are destroyed, this opens the road for the capture of the important airfields of Gagry and Gudauta.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
Stats Report

Losses in the air continue to be high for the Soviet Air force as there bomber force takes a beating in the skies, ground losses for both sides are low for this weeks fighting.

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Our OOB remains more or less the same as does The Soviet strength.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 22nd 1943 Turn 23
Stats Report 2

The mud season has well and truly hit the Soviet Union I expect a drastic slowdown in operations right across the country with the exception of The Caucasus region, while the slow down will give the enemy time to rebuild its forces for the summer it also benefits The Ostheer.

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Again supply is not looking to bad across the board as my rail units continue to replace rail tracks compatible to our needs and food, ammunition and equipment reaches the front line.

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Also our production quota's do not seem to be drastically behind,as we head towards the Summer period.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 27th 1943 Turn 25

The race continues through Tripolitania in Western Libya of both the Axis forces and there Allied pursuer's, Free French mechanized troops attempt a sweeping movement to out flank the retreating troops and capture Misurata, however The FF fail to capture the port city but do temporarily impede two Italian units avenues of escape.

The units are forced to abandon using the coast road to escape and move into the desert.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 27th 1943 Turn 25
Southern Tunisia

With all his Mechanized units now within the safety of the fortifications around Medenine, Rommel prepares a second defence line at Gabes as an added precaution in case 8th Army swings around the flank of defenders.

The situation is quiet in the Kasserine sector with only minor skirmishes.

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