Sixth Army's Strike - Soviet side

[StuccoFresco]

I think it's absurd that this game barely has any AAR published, so I made one. It's my first ever scenario after the tutorial so I've made mistakes and overlooked some mechanics here and there.

SETUP AND FIRST TURN PLANNING
The 62th Army is strewn across the landscape, with most of its infantry split up into battalions in vulnerable forward positions. While it’s true this disposition would force the enemy to stop his march and fight, it’s likely to lead to the destruction of a lot of infantry divisions, especially the exposed 192d and 184th. Same goes for the 147th and 181st in the southwest.

The enemy will probably strike in the Kletskaya-Zakharov gap in the north, but I can’t ignore the direct route from Frolov to Cherkasov in the south. Besides, keeping a strong force in the south may allow me to strike at the right flank of a German penetration in the middle of the battlefield. So, Army Corps Volkhin will guard the area around Savinski and Dobrinski, and I also assign several Bridging units to bring down the bridges across the small rivers in the area so I can further slow down an eventual enemy probing attack.

Army Corps Zhuravlev holds the Murovkin-Yerseyev area with the 192d and 184th divisions, supported by plenty of artillery and tank battalions. A forward group garrisons the village of Svechinovski, hoping to slow down the enemy.

The 33rd Guards Divisions has been assigned to a small forest south of Orekho and the village itself. The division is very exposed but just has to resist until the 21st Army moves in the area (see below). I have assigned a lot of antitank units from the Antitank Group of the 62th Army to buy as much time as I can. A lone Engineering unit and the Guards Division’s recon platoon have been deployed in a forward position to spot enemy units and hopefully buy some time, helped by the buildings of Kletskaya and Platonov.

My real hope of protecting the northern part of the map relies on the 21st Army under Christiakov, that starts over a river up north and has to drive across a single bridge to deploy. I assigned Move+ supply levels to the whole Army and ordered a hasty move across roads to occupy a defensive perimeter with the 33rd Guards Division. Due to congestion on the few available roads, it won’t arrive in time for the first turn.

Finally, I assign all my air assets: 5 fighter squadrons on Counter-Air and seven bomber squadrons on Interdiction. Slowing the Germans down is my main hope of survival. Spotter planes and Intelligence Estimates are concentrated on the assumed main vector of assault, but I send a spotter mission down south, and I also send a couple recon units to see if my southern flank is truly safe for now.

Some of the “blocking units” have been ordered to hold their ground no matter what.

starting positions

my deployment

first turn moves

SECOND TURN
The enemy pours out of its deploy zone and moves in great numbers toward the Kletskaya-Zakharov gap; at the forefront there’s the 160th Panzer Battalion, and a multitude of armored recon units. Plenty of artillery units follow the vanguards, and one (seemingly VERY powerful) unit shells Kletskaya, but my Engineers don’t suffer losses.

I briefly spotted an armored formation moving eastward toward Kamykov and Manyolin in the center, and several units in the deep south. I hope my engineers there can blow up the bridges in time; some have already been taken care of, but not all.

Both our air forces have concentrated their efforts on Interdiction, which means the Germans will suffer a -25% movement loss and I will suffer a -30%. Furthermore I’ve lost ALL additional supplies this turn, and I bet the Germans have lost their turn allotment as well since they’ve lost more than me. Without the scenario’s predetermined Axis Air Superiority of 4 I would have squarely won the air war, but alas…

I push the 21st Army forward, again using Move+ with some Division hoping to form a defensive line in time. I don’t have enough fuel to use it on all of them, so half of the army is still marching slowly while the 124th Rifle Division and the 9th Guards Division rush forward. At least now I am forming a continuous line north of the 33rd Guards Division.

I keep sending forward recon units.


TURN 3
The force passing through Kamykov and Manyolin is the 16th Panzer Division followed by the 113rd Infanterie Division… BUT the 13th Tank Korps has been activated, and maybe I can use it to strike at the 113rth Infanterie’s southern flank; I move forward, screened by recon units and bringing with me two Katyusha Regiments.

Up north I’ve identified the 3rd and 60th Motorized Divisions as the spearhead of the German advance. A massive combined arms assault supported by dozens of artillery pieces and an entire Stuka squadron annihilates my engineers in Kletskaya; bad news: I hoped they could hold at least a turn. In spite of this shameful display, the recon platoon in Platonov resisted two mass assaults from the 60th Motorized Division.

This doesn’t change my plans: I push the 21st Army forward and establish a defensive line, hoping I can dig in and pull forward my artillery in time. Some forward element will try to buy me some time.

In the deep south it seems it’s “just” the 297th Infanterie Division advancing toward my lines. I shuffle my units around, ready to reposition if the enemy gets too dangerous.

Once again I fail to stop enemy interdiction missions, so no supplies this turn as well.

[StuccoFresco]

TURN 4
The enemy pushes up north, but for now it’s cautious: the recon unit at Platonov is destroyed, but has inflicted enough casualties and held up 60th Motorized longer than expected. The 124th Rifle Division has reached the line of contact and absorbed a probing attack.

Now the 21st Army has positioned enough artillery behind my lines, giving me the possibility to set up defensive fire missions to stifle enemy attacks while my units frantically dig trenches.

The 16th Panzer Division is heading straight toward Verkne-Buzinovko, where the Zhuravlev Corps has established its HQ. The 184th and 192th Rifle Divisions are defending the river line just southwest of the city and it seems the enemy will straight up ignore them, so I have to shuffle my line northeast. The 644th and 645th Tank Battalions take up defensive positions in front of the enemy’s armored spearhead. I have plenty of artillery in the area and I assign it to defensive fire missions.

I have a Regiment of the Infantry Training School in the village of Sechinovski at the northern edge of the enemy assault vector; so far the enemy ignored them.

At Pervago-Maya the 113th Infanterie Division has diverted part of its forces southeast, chasing my recon elements and getting in range of the 13th Tank Corps. I also have brough artillery and Katyushas, maybe it’s time for a counterattack…

In the far south, the 197th Infanterie Division occupies Verkhnaya Osinovka and marches straight east, so I have to redeploy the 147th and 181st Rifle Divisions further south. Meanwhile I’m blowing up all bridges in the area.


TURN 5
My vanguards up north have been somehow pinned and instead of ceding ground they’ve been mauled in place: 369 losses on a Rifle Regiment. The enemy also tried to overrun a fortified position on the southern flank, but got pushed back losing 6 tanks. Recon elements of the 63rd Rifle Division have been attacked by the entire 60th Motorized Division, which has now placed itself squarely in front of a weak part of my front. Bad.

At Sechinovski a Panzer Company of the 16th Panzer Division tried to crush the Trainees, but was pushed back and lost 6 tanks. The rest of the Panzer Division has tried to break through the 184th Rifle Division but also thanks to my artillery support the first push has failed. 16 German tanks were knocked out together with 87 soldiers, at the cost of 48 Soviet soldiers.

The 113th Infanterie Division has seemingly aborted the drive east, rotating its front to face the 13th Tank Corps.

Again no air support whatsoever, so no supplies.


TURN 6
The front stays quiet: the Germans concentrate their units and don’t attack anywhere. In the south, though, the sneaky 197th Infanterie Division is trying to cross the river at the extreme southern point, so I have to move the 147th Rifle Division to stop them.

The 113rd Infanterie Division has suffered a small probing attack from my 13th Tank Corps and has stopped entirely.

The 16th Panzer Division is still wedged firmly against my lines at Verkne-Buzinkovo, and has left a couple artillery units behind it… I’m considering a flanking attack with an armored battalion and an infantry regiment.

In the north I shuffle around my units forming a continuous defensive line supported by artillery and anti-tank guns. The weakest point is still at the southern end, but I’m moving (slowly) the 278th and 76th Rifle Divisions southeast to cover that front.




TURN 7
The German assault arrives, and it hurts. In the north, despite my anti-tank guns, the enemy Panzers tear through my infantry and force several units to retreat. At the southern end, an Engineer battalion is entirely destroyed.

Fortunately the 16th Panzer Division’s assault in the center failed, with heavy losses. I order the 651st Tank Battalion and a Regiment of the 192nd Rifle Division to make a flanking move on the enemy Division, hoping to cut it off against the Infantry Training School’s unit that is still resisting enemy armored assaults at Sechinovski. The 3rd Group of the 62th Army will bomb enemy troops concentrated in front of Verkne-Buzinkovo.

At Pervago-Maya I decide to launch an armored counteroffensive against the 113th Infanterie Division, hoping to rout it and free the 13th Tank Corps so I can move it north.

Far south I’ll try to keep the river line.

[StuccoFresco]

TURN 8
The Germans just keep smashing through my lines like my units aren’t even there. I’m barely holding together and my reserve units have pathetic stats so I’m probably gonna lose the entire 21st Army here and there.

It goes way better at Verkne-Buzinkovo: my bombardment kills 106 enemy soldiers and 6 tanks, and probably contributes to making two enemy assaults on the town fail with high losses. The 184th Rifle Division holds courageously.

Another assault on Sechinovski fails, and now my flanking troops are behind the enemy formations.

Despite using a mass of air support formations, the enemy infantry assault on Pervago-Maya fails, and the following armored counterattack inflicts almost 200 casualties forcing the enemy formation to retreat.

In the deep south, enemy units found the ONE hex I’m not defending and slip past the impassable river, essentially making my two divisions there useless. I’ll probably try to roll their flank and pin them against the map border.


TURN 9
In the north the Germans carve into my lines like a hot knife into butter and nothing stops them. Since my AT units are useless, their tanks get their free 4 Shock Shifts and basic odds mean nothing. The 3rd Motorized Division has broken through the 9° Guards Division easily, and only dice fuckery stopped the march of the 60th Motorized Division in the southern flank of the 21st Army. A couple counterattacks managed to hurt the Germans a bit, but nothing serious.

Since I can’t resist, I’ll retreat and try to buy some time. Probably useless and I’m gonna get overrun and encircled, but eh.

It goes much better against the 16th Panzer Division, which again fails to dislodge the 184th Rifle Division from Verkne-Buzinkovo, suffering more than 300 casualties and losing 14 tanks and 4 guns. A lot of merit goes to my ample artillery support, especially the two Katyusha from the 4th and 5th Guards Mortar Regiments. The 192nd Rifle Division starts enveloping the German southern flank.

Meanwhile, Sechinovski holds and my flanking maneuver is almost complete. I decide to go all in and surround the German armored and artillery units in this area.

At Pervago-Maya the 113th Infanterie Division gets pushed back again, but I’m unable to inflict decisive casualties since the enemy keeps withdrawing against my armored units’ attacks. I’ll keep pushing, hoping for a bigger prize.

In the deep south I managed to shift south the 147th Rifle Division, stopping the enemy penetration near Mariknsky. Now they HAVE to push through by force.

This turn I decided to give Combat+ to the entire 21st Army and the 13th Tank Corps. I’ve used plenty of Command Orders in the last couple turns, usually with good success, but now they are almost over.


TURN 10
The 21st Army keeps being carved up by the Germans: now it’s basically split into three parts, although the Germans are a bit overextending now in my opinion. IF I can hold a bit I can maybe ambush some artillery units…

The encirclement at Sechinovski is completed, and the 16th Panzer Division is still going nowhere.

The 13th Tank Corps keeps hitting the 113th Infanterie Division, which keeps folding but not breaking.

In the south, my recce unit spots an entire Infanterie Division getting ready to enter the battle… extremely bad news.


TURN 11
Last one was a night turn, giving me respite from the incessant German airstrikes. Even with all my wings on Counter-Air, the German planes always pass, keeping my entire army from getting supplies and supporting the ground battles with unsurmountable shifts. At night, I have a slightly better chance. All my attacks have been successful, inflicting considerable casualties at an acceptable rate of my own losses.

The 21st Army keeps retreating, but this turn I think it will be overrun and crushed. I reorganized some formations but it’s a mess and most of my infantry is in tatters. However, the Panzerjaeger Battalion 521 has advanced through the ranks of the 33rd Guards Division and this gives me the opportunity to encircle it in small woods. Let’s see if it’s possible to carve a small victory from the demise of the 21st Army…

I’m also trying to eliminate the pocket of German armored and artillery units near Sechinovski, and I launch the 192nd Rifle Division’s flanking attack against the 16th Panzer Division. Since I hope this will be a decisive maneuver, I assign all the support I can to those attacks.

The same goes with the new attacks of the 13th Tank Corps against the 113th Infanterie Division, hoping I’ll get something out of this effort.

In the south there’s nothing to do but hope the new German division will enter the battlefield slowly. I use Intelligence Estimate to see if there are other units entering the battle in the middle of the map.

Far away east, FINALLY Moskalenko’s 1st Tank Army gets operational, and I immediately move it northwest with Move+ and Road Movement.

[StuccoFresco]

TURN 12
Complete disaster: the 1st Tank Army just doesn’t move. Basically at all. No idea why: Axis Interdiction only shaved off 15% of movement points. No clue, but I’m basically done.

21st Army is still cut in three pieces but the Germans don’t press the attack, failing to dislodge two weak AT Regiments stuck in the middle. A lone motorized regiment has driven off in the sunset, no clue where it’s going. What’s left of the 9° Guards Division and the 63rd Rifle Division is stuck against the northern river. In the south the 33rd Guards Division has surrounded the aforementioned Panzerjaeger Battalion 521 in the woods, I’ll try to finish it off.

The 16th Panzer Division attacked again, and this time it broke through. A Regiment of the 184 Rifle Division has been eliminated: 1095 losses at the meager cost of 65 soldiers, 1 gun and 1 tank. 3,6 odds, by the way. The 192nd Rifle Division’s flanking attack killed 135 enemy soldiers at the cost of 4 planes and no ground taken whatsoever. The only good news is the encirclement at Sechinovski, which all but eliminated the German units in the pocket.

It’s time for a big move: I order the 192nd Rifle Division to completely envelop the 16th Panzer Division. Go big or go home.

Absurdly bad news: unidentified enemy units are driving in the gap between the 13th Tank Corps and the 192 Rifle Division, heading straight toward Yevseyev, currently undefended. Yes, that’s where I planned to insert the 1st Tank Army that hasn’t moved at all. Great. I’ll emergency-move some units there hoping to still have time.

The 113th Infanterie and the 13th Tank Corps are engaged in a confusing battle, with the line of contact shifting and breaking my formation in two for no apparent reason. I’ll try to reform a coherent line and push back the damn krauts.

Deep south nothing moves, but there’s an entire enemy Division advancing. The 1st Tank Army, damned be its name, gets the order to move their asses, again.


TURN 13
This has been an AMAZING resolution phase: I managed to eliminate all the pockets and to use my Combat+ shifts to great effect. In a series of battles all over the map I’ve inflicted 1578 losses in manpower to the Germans, in addition to 30 destroyed tanks, 12 captured guns, and 6 downed planes. Losses have been low: 150 soldiers, 3 tanks and 6 guns.

The 21st Army is still alive, then, and I have to try and relieve my encircled units against the northern river. I try to shift them along the coast. The 3rd Motorized Division doesn’t seem interested in finishing the encircled units off: it’s advancing straight east.

The enemy has penetrated through the 21st Army, but it’s now lodged deep into it and clearly is having some coordination and supply issues. I’ll try to use the still-able 33rd Guards Division to further envelop the enemy spearheads and cripple their exposed artillery units. The 40th and 648th Tank Brigades will support the Guards. I still have to withdraw some units east.

The 16th Panzer Division is running out of space: it has lost thousands of soldiers and vehicles, and now I’m fully enveloping it. The 192nd Rifle Division leads the way, trying to reduce the pocket even more. The enemy units moving toward Yevseyev have been anticipated by the valiant 1259th AA Regiment, that has taken up defensive positions in the town. The 158th Tank Brigade is advancing slowly toward the town as well and should be able to secure it.

Further south the 113th Infanterie Division is finally collapsing under the attacks of the 13th Tank Corps: I’m trying to expedite the process by ordering new attacks even if my Readiness is falling. I can’t let them reorganize and dig in.

Deep south the first elements of the unknown enemy Division have taken positions behind the river, watching eerily at my poorly-manned lines behind the river itself.

The entire 4th Tank Army has finally activated, but it’s basically useless now. Most of the 1st Tank Army is still not moving, god knows why.


TURN 14
Many attacks haven’t gone too well, but nothing disastrous. The 16th Panzer Division has resisted the first attempt at crushing its rear, but it’s still enveloped.

The 21st Army just has to survive a little longer, and I take the chance of assaulting the vulnerable enemy artillery units that the advance of the motorized and panzer units have left behind. The spearheads themselves has been inactive for a while… They are cut off from supplies, probably?

The 16th Panzer Division, as I said, is now completely surrounded and I’ll launch several attacks in hope of collapsing the pocket. I have six artillery units supporting the attacks that will hit all sides of the pocket.

The 158th Tank Brigade has reached Yevseyev and I’m sending it straight against the advancing enemy units. The 13th Tank Corps has to abandon the project of overrunning the 113th Infanterie Division: enemy mechanized units of the newly identified 44th Infanterie Division have been spotted west of Pervago-Maya so I quickly shuffle my units to not leave the enemy an easy crossing of the small rivers. I still try to inflict more casualties on the enemy, but I don’t have time to completely crush the 113th.

In the deep south nothing moves.


END
The 16th Panzer Division holds against all odds, and more and more German units break through the gaps in the 21st Army’s beleaguered northern front. In the south the 33rd Guards hunts some artillery, but nothing truly decisive.

The enemy unit trying to cross the river west of Pervago-Maya is stopped by my troops. WIth the FOW now off I can see the entire 44th Infanterie Division and several support units racing for the gap in my lines, but the scenario is over.

The scenario is over: a DECISIVE VICTORY 90 to 45. I’ve lost 2000 more men than the enemy, but I have inflicted 5x in vehicle losses, destroyed twice as many guns and downed 4x the amount of planes. Quite a nice result.

[StuccoFresco]

FIRST THOUGHTS

It was a remarkably unexpected win, given the ease with which the Germans carved up the 21st Army in the first few attacks. The elite 3rd and 60th Motorized Divisions enjoyed a massive quality advantage and plenty of armor that could easily punch through my lines even with dug in AT units and artillery support.

However, the Germans just broke through my lines and sort of camped there, letting my units survive. They broke the 21st Army into three parts, but destroyed none of them. They could have at least crushed the pocket of units they encircled against the northern river. But they didn’t…

The 16th Panzer Division was similarily underwhelming: it butted its head against the defenses in the town of Verkne-Buzinkovo sacrificing its tanks under my artillery and in terrain that negated Shock. The decisive move was putting the Infantry Training School’s students at Svechinovskyi: an enemy armored battalion with artillery support wasted away trying to dislodge them, and left an enormous gap in which I was able to push the 192nd Rifle Division and the 651st Tank Battalion, that later led the maneuver that enveloped the entire division. Had the Luftwaffe not saved the day with dozens of sorties the last turn, I could have crushed a lot more units in the pocket.

The 113th Infanterie Division got intercepted by the 13th Tank Corps, and was eventually decimated by the end of the battle. I think the Germans here did fairly well, preventing me from sending the tanks north with a mix of defense and opportunistic attacks.

The southernmost part of the map was a borefest: I managed to close every approach and stayed behind the river all the way. The enemy never even tried to contest a crossing.

Honestly I don’t think there’s much point in having the 4th Tank Army there at all: it activates the last two turns and by then the battle is over. The German “second wave” also activated too late: the two new Divisions barely reached the front by the time the scenario was over.

I have no clue why the 1st Tank Army barely moved. It didn’t help at all and I even exhausted my Fuel reserves to make it move fast as soon as it activated… and it didn’t move at all. Frustrating. I tried moving only the armored unit first, thinking it was a congestion problem on the roads, but only recce and HQ units moved, and a single Armored unit. Then at the end of the scenario they all moved, infantry and armor alike.

Some strange thing: Pe-2 bombers that seemingly could only perform Counter-Air missions… Not ideal.

Axis +4 Air Superiority means the Soviets gets basically no supply throughout the scenario. Which, fair, probably just historical.

So much open terrain forced me to anchor my lines to the small rivers in the middle and south of the map, while in the north I had nothing but a small wood that helped greatly my 33rd Guards Division survive the initial onslaught and then counterattack. Putting infantry in small towns is obviously something that every smart player should do.


Maybe I could have formed my defensive lines further east in better terrain, but I thought I should give the 4th Tank Army some time and space to deploy, and I feared the Germans could just swing south and encircle my Divisions in the center of the map. Turns out the 4th Tank Army comes online way too late to do anything of note.

IMHO the scenario should last 2-3 turn more so the reinforcements actually have time to do something.