Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

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Western Front
Situation Report Sept 25th 1943 Turn 13
Army Group B

The Allies continue there bombing campaign in Western Germany, from the North Sea to the major industrial regions of Hannover and Wesphhalia, a number of the raids having up to 500 Bombers involved. German air and ground forces countering as best they can.

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Luftflotte Reich launches a massive intercept action against US 8th Air Force

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RAF Bomber Command striking at targets

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The British inflict damage but suffer a heavy price

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Italian Front
Situation Report Sept 25th 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C

ITALY SURRENDERS !!!!

High Command was aware of the possibility that this event might take place however due to fact that The Allies had so far failed to take Sicily they believed an Italian surrender was some time away.
The speed of the former Axis partner's capitulation has taken OHL Command completely by surprise and now our forces in Sicily are threatened with being cut off and destroyed.

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A massive air assault by enemy aircraft on the City of Taranto as well as major attacks of airbases at Brindisi, Bari and Foggia signalled a possible prelude of the danger.

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However Local Air Commanders continued there usual routine of intercept patrols.

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Italian Front
Situation Report 25th Sept 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C


Sicily
Here to The Allies conducted there usual air operations to deceive us from there true intentions, this deception in the form of carpet bombing the tip of Southern Italy and Sicily attacking our lines of communications, rail infrastructure as well as our ground forces, while also interdicting our recon operations to blind us.

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This week we suffered heavy air losses as the Allies landed on the Italian mainland

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Italian Front
Situation Report 25th Sept 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C

II / JG 27 Operations

Like every other unit at the beginning of this week JG 27 began its patrol South of the city Foggia expecting to encounter enemy bombers conducting raids on port and airbase facilities, day 2 the unit along with 3 others intercepted a force of 72 bombers heading for the units home base the battle that ensued resulted in 19 enemy planes shot down for the losses of 2 friendlies included 1 from the squadron itself.

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Despite there losses the enemy was able to push on through to there target of San Severo airbase and destroyed 5 bombers on the ground, losing another of its own.

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Italian Front
situation Report 25th Sept 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C

Southern Italy

Under the cover of the usual air activity in the area Allied forces begin landing in The Gulf Of Taranto, Seaborne forces backed by Paratroop landings, the enemy lands on the beaches in the surrounding areas close to the city of Taranto, airborne troops land 20 miles inland on both flanks of the invasion force and Northwest of Taranto itself. The Italian forces do not resist and demobilise, right across the country throughout the week the entire Italian military throws down there arms.

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The situation is critical with virtually no troops to defend the beaches Allied forces land unopposed, fortunately the quick thinking Gen Erich Straube Commander of LXXIV ArmeeKorps ( 10 Armee ) orders his troops to make all haste to Taranto his 3 Divisions reaching the area just as the enemy begins to establish a beachhead, the 338th Inf takes control of the city denying the enemy a vital deep water Port and delaying any Allied breakout from there beachhead.

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The General's actions possibly buying some time to hopefully extricate 5th Pz Armee from Sicily.

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Italian Front
Situation Report 25th Sept 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C

Sicily
With news of the Allied landings at Taranto Gen Hans - Juergen Von Arnim Commander of 5th Pz Armee orders an immediate withdrawal from Sicily, the Armee begins a rapid retreat towards Messina, the 234th Inf crosses the strait and arrives at Calabria, the 3rd Pz Gren Div guarding the strait is rushed North to form a blocking force along the Crati River to keep open 5th Pz Armee's line of retreat in the Basilicala and Campania regions.

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The enemy launches number of attacks against our forces withdrawing but our rearguard units contain them.

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Italian Front
Situation Report 25th Sept 1943 Turn 13
Army Group C

Sardinia / Corsica

As news reaches OKW Headquarters of the new crisis on the Italian Front Rommel dispatches every available unit that can be spared from the Westheer including the 15th Panzer Division, some units being redeployed coming from as far away as Belgium and Holland, its now a race to stop the Allies from cutting off 5th Pz Armee.

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More reports come in that Italian forces on both Sardinia and Corsica have in fact changed sides and joined The Allies forcing all German Forces including the 90th Pz Gren Div to evacuate the islands.

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In further serious developments in the battle for control of The Aegean islands Italian forces also switched sides and have begun attacking our forces which are currently engaged in major battles with Western Allied forces.
Reinforcements are have already been detached to the islands and are landing now to support units all ready on the ground.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_oRtI ... WL&index=1


Notes on current state of play

Of course unlucky number 13 ( turn 13 ) I might of guessed this might have happened, should have expected it but I think I got overconfident thinking that I had held them up enough on Sicily, I also thought just maybe I had in fact achieved the almost impossible and they would stay Axis for the entire game or would stay loyal till Dec or the new year or that at least they would land on Sardinia and I could just make a uncontested withdraw up the Italian coast line and dig in along the beaches.
Still the good thing out of this will be the challenge to save a Armee and make the campaign interesting.

Those dam Airborne Div's sitting at the far end of Sicily.

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Maybe you are saving trucks or the turn isn't finished yet, but I think you can be far more aggressive on the Eastern Front. E.g. hit the artillery division in front of Moscow or encircle the tank corps against the Caspian Sea with your units. Continuous frontlines are not necessary in many places, and units in quiet sectors can advance to put extra pressure on the Soviets and deprive them of manpower centres. War is also the art of knowing where forces are not gainfully employed, so they can be used elsewhere.

Hi
I do have truck issues also despite my OB looking good a lot of units including Pz and Pz Gren units are run down and worn out they need to refit badly, not only that a lot my Army has not upgraded to current or at least the closest to the current models, I am so far behind in that area thanks to continuous Red Army offensives. Despite great efforts my Axis Allied troops are gutted, most of the Romanian units are just shells.

I did look at the two Artillery Divs and the Tank Corps facing 4th Armee with the hope of encircling them but decided against it, as for the Tank Corps facing 1st Pz Armee again its a option as there is still time down there weather wise, I will see how next week looks.

regards

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Eastern Front
Situation Report 30th Sept 1943 Turn 46
Army Group North

In the North the situation remains quiet with both 18th Armee and 8th Armee breaking contact with the trapped Soviet 51st Army, the enemy is isolated with no chance of escape, at Cherepovets 8th Armee's defence line blocks any breakthrough by the Soviet armour deployed in the area.
Two ArmeeKorps of 18th Armee remain in reserve.

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The 16th / 9th Armee front is again relatively quiet the enemy moving its troops back and avoiding contact with our forces for the most part, X ArmeeKorps launches an attack and 60th Rifle Corps finally surrenders.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Sept 30th 1943 Turn 46
Army Group Centre

Another week of only minor activity from both sides on the Moscow front, unconfirmed reports indicate Stalin remains holed up in the Soviet capital, for the most part the city has a 10 mile defence perimeter with the exception of the 131st Inf which is dug in along the North bank of The Moskva River.

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Elsewhere two ArmeeKorps of 3rd Pz Armee have moved South of the Oka River line and taken up defensive positions to support 4th Armee's defence of Ryazan, most Red Army Units have disengaged from the front line.


At Lipetsk the Soviet offensive has for now been broken with elements of 5 Soviet Armies cutoff, 2nd Armee reinforcing its line to contain any attempted breakout by the enemy, with more units from 3rd Pz Armee arriving it looks like another impending disaster for the enemy.
The enemy at Voronezh remains defiant also refusing to surrender.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Sept 30th 1943 Turn 46
Army Group South

On the Southern Front the Hungarians have completed there redeployment to the rear to refit and rest, no major battles in this sector but there was fighting with our forces routing 2 Tank Corps and destroying the 27th Tank Corps, and we also made some small territorial gains. The weather is making it increasingly difficult to push forward, heavy mud and lack of supplies also hampering our advance, the troops are also suffering from exhaustion and attrition, the constant battles are taking there toll a situation that has not gone unnoticed at Army Group South HQ.

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On 4th Pz Armee's front Schlemmer's XXXXVIII Pz Korps is once again in action supported by Hans Gollnick's XXXXII ArmeeKorps the units destroy 22nd Tank Corps, South of Tatsinskaya 20 000 men from the surrounded Soviet 25 Rifle Corps are forced to surrender after a hopeless fight against superior numbers, two Guards Corps remain trapped as more enemy units begin to arrive.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report 30th Sept 1943 Turn 46
Army Group A

The Caucasus is quiet for now as the enemy has once again shifted its forces to another sector and what Soviet forces remain can easily be dealt with, in the Stavropol region our forces advance and make small gains but for the most part the Army Group is digging in preparing for winter.

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Western Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group B

The Western Allies have again turned there attention to the German Capital, Berlin was hit but the damage was relatively light also hit were Bremen, Hamburg as well as our industrial facilities in the Hannover region, while damage to industry is growing in size so to is the level of the enemies numbers in fighter strength escorting the enemy bombers, our interceptors now having to engage with P - 38 Lightnings as well as P - 47 Thunderbolts while attempting attack there bomber fleets.

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Western Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group B

Despite major Allied operations on the Italian mainland the enemy maintains its bombing activities on our industries in The Ruhr and Cologne, a 500 bomber raid on Moenchen - Gladbach causing huge damage to all major factories within the city.

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Italian Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group C

As the Enemy consolidates in Southern Italy advancing in all directions under the cover of a huge air umbrella of protection our air units and airbases come under heavy attack from both bombers and Allied fighters sweeps. The scale of the Allied operation greater than that on Sicily at the opening of the Invasion.

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II / JG 27 Operations

This week the air unit did not engage in any air activities due to the fact that many aircraft where damaged due to heavy air action last week.

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We suffered heavy losses in our air units this week trying to contain enemy air activity supporting there invasion of southern Italy

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Italian Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group C

While The Allies main air attention is now further North we still come under heavy air assaults at both Messina and Calabria remain under our control, Messina receiving a total of 18 raids for the week as the enemy tries to interdict our forces withdrawing from Sicily.

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Italian Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group C

Southern Italy

More Allied troops land in the Gulf Of Taranto as most of Straube's troops are cutoff inside the city and surrounding area there only chance is to escape by sea, however holding the city is delaying the Allies and giving Von Arnim's men hope of escape.
Heavy attacks by The Allies fail to dislodge 338th Inf inside the city, the 243rd also resists all attacks.

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The 159th Res Inf Div which was covering the left flank initially contained Allied attacks but was eventually forced back to Potenza as more of LXXIV ArmeeKorps troops arrive in the area. More heartening news 15th Panzer division and the 90th Pz Gren Div along with the 51st Mountain ArmeeKorps are almost ready to be deployed.

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As Gen Vietinghoff's 10th Armee begins to form up news reaches his command Allied troops have reached The Ofanto River line and in some areas already crossed. The City of Foggia an important Port and supply base is threatened with capture, only the 356th inf stands in there way.

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Italian Front
Situation Report Oct 2nd 1943 Turn 14
Army Group C

Sicily

Von Arnim's Armee is all but across The Messina Strait with only the two Divisions of Balcks LXXXX ArmeeKorps acting as rearguards, The Brit XIII and XXX Corps launch an assault hoping to take the city but the 265th and 162nd Turkomen Div's contain the attack.

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While the fighting on Sicily is taking place 5th Pz Armee makes steady progress up the tip of Southern Italy, the first units linking up with 3rd Pz Gren Div and taking defensive positions at Lauria to create an escape corridor for the rest of the Armee.

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12th SS Pz Gren which was in the North of the country has also been redeployed South to boost numbers on the ground.

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Awesome AAR. I've read the whole lot in a week!

Quick question. What are you leaving Moscow alone for? A Corps with all the siege guns and INF divisions with 2 x pioneers and flamethrower tanks attached to each will chew through those hexes relentlessly.

Also, If you win in the east, you have to mod the WiTW save to allow you to move the OST Front armies and Luftwaffe west for a proper confrontation with the allies. That would be immense!

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Awesome AAR. I've read the whole lot in a week!

Quick question. What are you leaving Moscow alone for? A Corps with all the siege guns and INF divisions with 2 x pioneers and flamethrower tanks attached to each will chew through those hexes relentlessly.

Also, If you win in the east, you have to mod the WiTW save to allow you to move the OST Front armies and Luftwaffe west for a proper confrontation with the allies. That would be immense!

Firstly thank you for the kind words I am glad your enjoying it and I hope I can keep the interest going for all, this is going to be long war literally as it takes me about a week to write and post a turn from both theatres.
Since I have missed all of the Axis sudden death checks the war in the East will go down right to the very end, something I am looking forward to as it will show how the Axis are late war even against the AI.

The West will be even more interesting as I have not got this far to best of my knowledge in this Campaign version, its also not the historical version its a variant from a WITW expansion pack so its already MODDED more or less.

To your question on Moscow, to reasons I left it alone

1. There are huge numbers of troops in all 3 Fortresses, there defence values are at no less than 4 or even possibly 5, next time I get the game up I will check however I thought I did not have the firepower to smash them, I quite possibly did but I was not confident of success.
2. Also they had at the time huge stockpiles of supplies another reason I felt that waiting them out would be better also the weather hit pretty quick once the city was encircled, the ground was now " Heavy Mud " in hindsight maybe I should have, I think I had 1 possibly 2 weeks of summer weather, its a learning thing.

Modding East Front Forces to the West yes its crossed my mind and some others have also commented about it, as I mentioned its a official expansion variant and its considered PRO AXIS so that's in my favour when your playing against the AI, one of main reasons why I cant see it happening is the Truth is I have never MODDED a game in my life wouldn't know how to begin.

I began this AAR late in August 2022, that's 15 months ago !! now if I don't drive the community to sleep with boredom from a game against the poor AI I would say there is another 12 months to go to finish the AAR and I may just ask some of the folks that do MODDING how to do it and maybe we may yet get to see 1st Pz Armee ,4th Pz Armee and dare I say 6th Armee in the West

Again thanks for the kind words hope I can keep the enjoyment going for all.

Regards