(OOC: What a pleasant surprise to rediscover this game after more than 10 years. Last time I played WIR was v1.0 or something “primitive”. I haven’t the time to properly commit to a good PBEM so I thought I’d try something different. I will play the German side but with several self-imposed constraints. Essentially I will assume the role of Field-Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, German Army commander-in-chief until his dismissal in Dec 1941. As such, I will have not have a free hand running the show in Russia, having to anticipate and deal with Hitler and even Goering’s meddling/interference.
For example, with the road to Moscow seemingly open, Der Fuhrer may decide to divert forces north and south (as he did historically). Where possible, I will try to factor in certain "Fuhrer traits" such as refusal to concede territory, chasing irrational objectives with inadequate forces etc.
I will also leave armaments production in the hands of the AI and will not rush to replace low rating generals e.g. Busch, Kuchler etc with more competent ones. Replacement of commanders will come "via Hitler". So until the Ostheer starts suffering defeats (most likely winter 1941-2), the original Barbarossa generals will stay.
The AI will play the Soviets, but to further increase my own handicap I will set the difficulty settings to max help Soviets. This AAR will therefore take the form of roleplay rather than try to win the whole shebang before the winter of 1941. I have no idea as to the final outcome, but it may well last a few years. That is the intention anyways...
Here we go. Please feel free to offer comments/feedback etc. For all intents and purposes I consider myself a newbie… )
June 22nd, 1941
Our preparations are complete. For months, we have been surreptitiously deploying our forces for this great blow to crush the Soviet Union and force the recalcitrant British to come to terms. Russian deliveries of raw materials continue to arrive punctually and there are no obvious signs that the Russian forces are mobilizing or have been placed on full alert. Our intelligence strongly suggests that strategic surprise is assured.
Coupled with surprise, it is our reasoned opinion that the Russians will collapse quickly. Their equipment is mostly antiquated or at best obsolescent, and judging by the Red Army's dismal performance against Finland, their troops will be so much fodder at the hands of our victory-conditioned Landser, to say nothing of our far superior military leadership at all levels. Consequently, the Wehrmacht is on the verge of another stunning victory.
I rarely agree with Der Fuhrer, but even I expect the entire campaign to be wrapped up within three, perhaps four months.
It is also reassuring to know that the forces we have assembled for Drang nach Osten are the largest ever fielded in the history of military operations. Three powerful Army Groups, supported by three Luftflotten (air fleets), stand ready to “kick in the door” (Fuhrer’s words) and collapse the whole “rotting edifice” that is Soviet Russia.
From east Prussia, our Army Group North (led by Leeb) will sweep through the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and in the northeasterly direction of Leningrad. From north to south, this army group consists of
Eighteenth Army (Kuchler – 7 infantry divisions)
Fourth Panzergruppe (Hoepner – 3 panzer and 3 motorized divisions, plus 2 infantry divisions on loan from Eighteenth Army)
Sixteenth Army (Busch – 11 infantry and 3 security divisions).
Army group reserve – 2 infantry divisions
Luftflotte I (Koller – 613 aircraft: 170 Bf-109F, 380 Ju-88A, 63 Ju-52).
In eastern Poland, von Bock’s Army Group Centre will capture the key cities of Minsk, Smolensk and move on Moscow. Great things are expected of the army group and its four powerful armies,
Ninth Army (Strauss – 8 infantry divisions),
Third Panzergruppe (Hoth - 4 panzer, 3 motorized, and 4 infantry divisions on loan from Ninth Army),
Fourth Army (Kluge – 12 infantry and 2 security divisions),
Second Panzergruppe (Guderian – 5 panzer, 4 motorized, 1 cavalry and 7 infantry divisions on loan from Fourth Army).
Army group reserve – 4 infantry divisions
Luftflotte II (Kesselring) - 1363 aircraft: 320 Bf-109F, 120 Ju-88A, 180 Bf-110C/D/E, 300 Ju-87B, 290 He-111H and 90 Do-17Z).
From southern Poland and Romania is Rundstedt’s Army Group South will secure the rich resources of the Ukraine, the Donets Basin and eventually the great oilfields of the Caucasus.
Sixth Army (Reichenau – 5 infantry and 1 security divisions)
First Panzergruppe (Kleist – 5 panzer, 4 motorized and 8 infantry divisions on loan from Sixth Army)
Seventeenth Army (Stulpnagel – 12 infantry, 2 mountain, 3 Jager and 2 security divisions)
Eleventh Army (Schobert – 7 infantry, 4 Rumanian and 3 Italian divisions)
Luftflotte IV (Lohr – 1030 aircraft : 340 Bf-109F, 210 Ju-88A, 240 Ju-52, 240 He-111H)
Our allies have also come forth to provide additional support in this great crusade against the Bolshevik menace.
Finland – 14 divisions, 324 aircraft
Rumania – 23 divisions (4 attached to our Eleventh Army, the others in Rumanian Third and Fourth Armies), 330 aircraft.
Hungary – 7 divisions, 150 aircraft.
Italy – 6 divisions (3 attached to our Eleventh Army), 168 aircraft.
Apart from the Finns however, it may be prudent to note that the divisions and air wings of our allies are generally not comparable in quality/training to our own. Nonetheless, they should be more than a match for the Russians.
Our other reserve formations are:
Second Army (Weichs – 9 infantry divisions)
OKH (Brauchitsch/me – 4 infantry, 2 panzer and 2 motorized divisions)
OKW (Hitler – 18 infantry, 2 panzer divisions). These two panzer divisions are still undergoing formation.
All these forces are based in the Reich/greater Germany
Other major forces:
In France and the Low Countries, we have 16 infantry divisions and 2 panzer brigades to deter any Churchillian ambitions of “liberation”.
Rommel’s Deutsches Afrika Korps (in North Africa) currently comprises 2 panzer divisions, to support the 8 Italian divisions there.
Our other air assets are distributed as follows:
France – 71 aircraft
Reich – 684 aircraft
Afrika – 299 aircraft
Permission to redeploy these land and air assets remains the prerogative of Der Fuhrer (Hitler) and Luftwaffe chief Goering respectively. My relations with Hitler are (for the moment) properly professional if rather cold, and relatively bad with Goering, and that’s putting it mildly.
AAR vs the AI with a difference
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
June 22 to 28
The Luftwaffe opened Operation Barbarossa with massive concerted strikes against Soviet aerodromes. In hundreds of unequal dogfights, our Bf-109Fs – flown by veterans of many successful campaigns dating back to the Spanish Civil War - proved incomparably superior to the Soviet fighters. General Kesselring, commanding Luftflotte II, described a terrible “massacre of the innocents”.
Preliminary reports of Soviet air-to-air losses indicate at least 410 fighters destroyed or damaged. Even allowing for Goering’s bombast and excessively optimistic estimates, this is a considerable achievement. Our bombers then proceeded to plaster the countless rows of neatly parked aircraft on the ground with tons of high explosive. Our triumphant pilots report over 4,600 enemy aircraft (!) smashed up in this manner. Our own air losses from all causes were fewer than 180 planes.
The Luftwaffe opened Operation Barbarossa with massive concerted strikes against Soviet aerodromes. In hundreds of unequal dogfights, our Bf-109Fs – flown by veterans of many successful campaigns dating back to the Spanish Civil War - proved incomparably superior to the Soviet fighters. General Kesselring, commanding Luftflotte II, described a terrible “massacre of the innocents”.
Preliminary reports of Soviet air-to-air losses indicate at least 410 fighters destroyed or damaged. Even allowing for Goering’s bombast and excessively optimistic estimates, this is a considerable achievement. Our bombers then proceeded to plaster the countless rows of neatly parked aircraft on the ground with tons of high explosive. Our triumphant pilots report over 4,600 enemy aircraft (!) smashed up in this manner. Our own air losses from all causes were fewer than 180 planes.
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
ORIGINAL: Rybeck My relations with Hitler are (for the moment) properly professional if rather cold, and relatively bad with Goering, and that’s putting it mildly.
No one likes Goering apart from Goering himself[:D]
The TOAW Redux Dude
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
ORIGINAL: Silvanski
ORIGINAL: Rybeck My relations with Hitler are (for the moment) properly professional if rather cold, and relatively bad with Goering, and that’s putting it mildly.
No one likes Goering apart from Goering himself[:D]
Hey Silvanski, so true
. Please check inbox, thanks. RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
June 22nd to 28th
Finland
Finland’s participation in Barbarossa is for the moment limited; the Finns appear reluctant to commit beyond regaining what they lost in the Winter War of 1939-40. This included the part of Karelia north of Leningrad, and included Finland’s second largest city Viipuri. The Finnish 2nd and 4th Korps (9 divisions in all) advanced 20 miles east, defeating the Soviet 19th Corps, thus far the only major formation identified in the Karelian Isthmus.
Fuhrer reinforces northern and central theaters
Hitler agrees to requests for additional troops by Leeb and Bock and releases certain forces in the OKH reserve – 2nd Panzer and 60th Motorized Divisions to Third Panzergruppe and 5th Panzer Division to Fourth Panzergruppe. He also directs the transfer of the 46th, 73rd and 93rd Infantry Divisions from Second Army to Army Group Centre reserve.
Army Group North
Fourth Panzergruppe’s spearheads routed Soviet opposition, XLI Panzer Korps taking Riga by storm while LVI Panzer Korps moved up to the Dvina river about 40 miles south of Riga, brushing aside several enemy corps along the way. Eighteenth Army advanced confidently into Latvia, while Sixteenth Army is on the outskirts of Kaunas.
Army Group Centre
Bock’s powerful forces thrust boldly into Belorussia, quickly breaching the weak Russian defenses along the Nieman and Bug rivers. The old Polish fortress of Brest-Litovsk fell to a combined infantry/panzer assault by Fourth Army and Guderian’s XXIV Panzer Korps. Fourth Army troops also secured Bialystok.
Hoth’s XXXIX Panzer Korps took Vilna while Second Panzergruppe’s advance elements are less than 40 miles from Minsk. Grievous damage was simultaneously inflicted on Pavlov’s Western Front. Three Soviet corps (9th Lit, 12th and 3rd) were encircled and forced to surrender. Estimated enemy casualties in the region of 112,400 men and 667 guns. Another enemy corps, the 21st was also cut off and should be reduced in short order.
XXIV Panzer Korps also succeeded in overrunning the Western Front HQ. Pavlov and his senior officers barely escaped.
Army Group South
Soviet strength is substantially greater in the south, especially in mechanized and armored formations. Nonetheless, these were unable to prevent Kleist’s panzers from badly roughing them up. XLVIII Panzer Korps delivered an attack so violent that the 15th Corps was completely shattered (enemy casualties 23,160 men and 168 guns), while the 8th Corps was trapped and surrendered to troops of Seventeenth Army (41,490 enemy casualties and 252 guns).
Tarnopol and Lvov were also secured despite fanatical resistance by Kirponos’ Southwestern Front. Widespread reports of NKVD units shooting many of their own men for “desertion” and “cowardice” in the face of the enemy.
Farther south, Schobert’s Eleventh Army and our Rumanian, Italian and Hungarian allies successfully secured crossings across the Prut river. Six enemy corps have so far been identified in the area.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 713/7294
Tanks 211/1251
Guns 30/2797
Planes 200/5750
Finland
Finland’s participation in Barbarossa is for the moment limited; the Finns appear reluctant to commit beyond regaining what they lost in the Winter War of 1939-40. This included the part of Karelia north of Leningrad, and included Finland’s second largest city Viipuri. The Finnish 2nd and 4th Korps (9 divisions in all) advanced 20 miles east, defeating the Soviet 19th Corps, thus far the only major formation identified in the Karelian Isthmus.
Fuhrer reinforces northern and central theaters
Hitler agrees to requests for additional troops by Leeb and Bock and releases certain forces in the OKH reserve – 2nd Panzer and 60th Motorized Divisions to Third Panzergruppe and 5th Panzer Division to Fourth Panzergruppe. He also directs the transfer of the 46th, 73rd and 93rd Infantry Divisions from Second Army to Army Group Centre reserve.
Army Group North
Fourth Panzergruppe’s spearheads routed Soviet opposition, XLI Panzer Korps taking Riga by storm while LVI Panzer Korps moved up to the Dvina river about 40 miles south of Riga, brushing aside several enemy corps along the way. Eighteenth Army advanced confidently into Latvia, while Sixteenth Army is on the outskirts of Kaunas.
Army Group Centre
Bock’s powerful forces thrust boldly into Belorussia, quickly breaching the weak Russian defenses along the Nieman and Bug rivers. The old Polish fortress of Brest-Litovsk fell to a combined infantry/panzer assault by Fourth Army and Guderian’s XXIV Panzer Korps. Fourth Army troops also secured Bialystok.
Hoth’s XXXIX Panzer Korps took Vilna while Second Panzergruppe’s advance elements are less than 40 miles from Minsk. Grievous damage was simultaneously inflicted on Pavlov’s Western Front. Three Soviet corps (9th Lit, 12th and 3rd) were encircled and forced to surrender. Estimated enemy casualties in the region of 112,400 men and 667 guns. Another enemy corps, the 21st was also cut off and should be reduced in short order.
XXIV Panzer Korps also succeeded in overrunning the Western Front HQ. Pavlov and his senior officers barely escaped.
Army Group South
Soviet strength is substantially greater in the south, especially in mechanized and armored formations. Nonetheless, these were unable to prevent Kleist’s panzers from badly roughing them up. XLVIII Panzer Korps delivered an attack so violent that the 15th Corps was completely shattered (enemy casualties 23,160 men and 168 guns), while the 8th Corps was trapped and surrendered to troops of Seventeenth Army (41,490 enemy casualties and 252 guns).
Tarnopol and Lvov were also secured despite fanatical resistance by Kirponos’ Southwestern Front. Widespread reports of NKVD units shooting many of their own men for “desertion” and “cowardice” in the face of the enemy.
Farther south, Schobert’s Eleventh Army and our Rumanian, Italian and Hungarian allies successfully secured crossings across the Prut river. Six enemy corps have so far been identified in the area.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 713/7294
Tanks 211/1251
Guns 30/2797
Planes 200/5750
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
I see no point in trying to behave like Hitler - he's lost the war, it's well known and there is no reason to try to play the same.
Personally speaking, the reason why I play games like WiR is that you can carry out battles just like you think it should have been done. 'What if' is the most interesting thing. Otherwise you have nothing but historic book/audio/movie.
Personally speaking, the reason why I play games like WiR is that you can carry out battles just like you think it should have been done. 'What if' is the most interesting thing. Otherwise you have nothing but historic book/audio/movie.
Me
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
ORIGINAL: Morphy
I see no point in trying to behave like Hitler - he's lost the war, it's well known and there is no reason to try to play the same.
Personally speaking, the reason why I play games like WiR is that you can carry out battles just like you think it should have been done. 'What if' is the most interesting thing. Otherwise you have nothing but historic book/audio/movie.
I agree, but I've no intention of doing EXACTLY what Hitler did. I'm just imposing my own "Fuhrer handicaps" to make things harder for myself. I am after all playing against the AI, and I'm in a roleplaying mood [:)]
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
June 29th July 5th
The stunned enemy was so bewildered by our smashing opening blows that he mounted no major land or air offensives at all, content to redeploy his badly battered border armies and mobilize reserves.
Further Luftwaffe strikes destroy still more enemy planes
Despite the severe aviation losses of the first week, the enemy stubbornly continues to field substantial air units near the frontiers. Luftwaffe strikes are ordered against enemy airfields, accounting for 196 fighters destroyed in air-to-air combat and 819 on the ground. Our own losses were a mere 47 aircraft.
Finland and North
2nd Finnish Corps managed to seize the important rail junction leading north, west to Helsinki and south to Viipuri and Leningrad, cutting off Soviet 19th Corps from its southern neighbor 10th Mech Corps.
Fourth Panzergruppe has advanced well beyond the Dvina river, and is nearing Estonia. XLI Panzer Korps is about 100 miles west of the historic city Pskov, shattering the Northwestern Front HQ along the way (enemy casualties 7,670 men, 23 guns and 186 tanks). West of Riga, Eighteenth Army forced the surrender of the isolated 11th Corps (22,880 men, 119 guns).
Centre
Hoth and Guderian’s armored scythes continued to sweep through Belorussia, taking Daugavpils and the capital Minsk. Western Front HQ was again shattered by Second Panzergruppe (enemy casualties 27,000 men, 172 guns, 651 tanks). Ninth Army infantry mopped up the 27th Corps (enemy casualties 40,150 men and 245 guns). With most of the Western Front forces destroyed and/or marching off to POW camps, the panzer spearheads seem to have a clear run to Vitebsk and Mogilev. Logistics and supply are proving more of a hindrance than enemy opposition!
South
In view of the stronger than expected enemy defenses along the Prut and Dniestr rivers, Hitler detached III Panzer Korps (9 Pz, 14 Pz, 25 Mot Divs) from the main body of First Panzergruppe to attack southeast of Tarnopol in the direction of Odessa to sever the enemy’s lines of communication in the far south. Meanwhile, First Panzergruppe continued to move east/southeast, shattering Southwestern Front HQ (enemy losses 44,840 men, 254 guns, 786 tanks), while XLVIII Panzer Korps moved within 50 miles of Zhitomir.
Trapped enemy pockets farther west were also reduced, with 27th Corps surrendering to our Sixth Army (enemy losses 30,690 men, 187 guns). German-Axis forces also succeeded in largely crumpling much of the Soviet defenses along the Prut, although relatively strong forces (an estimated 18-20 divisions) remain in the lightly manned area between German Seventeenth and Eleventh Armies.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 1125/11697
Tanks 393/3010
Guns 57/4780
Planes 236/6425
The stunned enemy was so bewildered by our smashing opening blows that he mounted no major land or air offensives at all, content to redeploy his badly battered border armies and mobilize reserves.
Further Luftwaffe strikes destroy still more enemy planes
Despite the severe aviation losses of the first week, the enemy stubbornly continues to field substantial air units near the frontiers. Luftwaffe strikes are ordered against enemy airfields, accounting for 196 fighters destroyed in air-to-air combat and 819 on the ground. Our own losses were a mere 47 aircraft.
Finland and North
2nd Finnish Corps managed to seize the important rail junction leading north, west to Helsinki and south to Viipuri and Leningrad, cutting off Soviet 19th Corps from its southern neighbor 10th Mech Corps.
Fourth Panzergruppe has advanced well beyond the Dvina river, and is nearing Estonia. XLI Panzer Korps is about 100 miles west of the historic city Pskov, shattering the Northwestern Front HQ along the way (enemy casualties 7,670 men, 23 guns and 186 tanks). West of Riga, Eighteenth Army forced the surrender of the isolated 11th Corps (22,880 men, 119 guns).
Centre
Hoth and Guderian’s armored scythes continued to sweep through Belorussia, taking Daugavpils and the capital Minsk. Western Front HQ was again shattered by Second Panzergruppe (enemy casualties 27,000 men, 172 guns, 651 tanks). Ninth Army infantry mopped up the 27th Corps (enemy casualties 40,150 men and 245 guns). With most of the Western Front forces destroyed and/or marching off to POW camps, the panzer spearheads seem to have a clear run to Vitebsk and Mogilev. Logistics and supply are proving more of a hindrance than enemy opposition!
South
In view of the stronger than expected enemy defenses along the Prut and Dniestr rivers, Hitler detached III Panzer Korps (9 Pz, 14 Pz, 25 Mot Divs) from the main body of First Panzergruppe to attack southeast of Tarnopol in the direction of Odessa to sever the enemy’s lines of communication in the far south. Meanwhile, First Panzergruppe continued to move east/southeast, shattering Southwestern Front HQ (enemy losses 44,840 men, 254 guns, 786 tanks), while XLVIII Panzer Korps moved within 50 miles of Zhitomir.
Trapped enemy pockets farther west were also reduced, with 27th Corps surrendering to our Sixth Army (enemy losses 30,690 men, 187 guns). German-Axis forces also succeeded in largely crumpling much of the Soviet defenses along the Prut, although relatively strong forces (an estimated 18-20 divisions) remain in the lightly manned area between German Seventeenth and Eleventh Armies.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 1125/11697
Tanks 393/3010
Guns 57/4780
Planes 236/6425
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
July 6th to 12th
New Soviet tank
We are aware of the Soviet heavy KV-1 tank, which the Soviets deployed against the Finns in 1939-40, but our panzer crews were disconcerted to encounter the Soviet T-34/76, a vehicle easily superior to our own Pz IIIh and Pz IVe. Personally, I am quite surprised (and worried!) that the Soviets are capable of manufacturing such an advanced machine. While I have boundless faith in the abilities of our designers and engineers to produce a tank to surpass the T-34, it will be at least a year or more before the new vehicle will be available for frontline use. In the meantime, our panzer crews will soldier under a distinct handicap. Fortunately, the T-34s have so far been encountered in “penny packets” and the Russians are handling them clumsily.
Finland and North
The Finns succeeded in forcing Soviet 10th Mech Corps to retreat from its positions immediately northwest of Viipuri but lost contact with Soviet 19th Corps to the north. Finland is fighting well, but the difficult terrain and narrow frontage in the Karelian Isthmus makes for relatively slow going.
Reinhardt’s XLI Panzer Korps swung north into Estonia, with the aim of isolating Tallinn, while Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps cleared the approaches to Pskov of enemy troops. Soviet 5th Airborne and 16th Corps are effectively trapped along the Dvina.
Centre
As the Soviets struggled to rebuild their forces west of the line Smolensk-Gomel, Hoth’s tanks sped east towards Vitebsk while Guderian struck towards Mogilev, shattering 2nd Corps along the way (enemy losses 18,470 men, 121 guns). By July 12th, XXIV Panzer Korps was less than 20 miles from Mogilev. The infantry divisions of Ninth and Fourth Armies also made good progress, consolidating the gains made by the rampaging panzers.
Impressed with von Bock’s success, Hitler ordered that Weichs’ Second Army (6 infantry divisions) be fully committed to Army Group Centre, but Weichs’ main units are still in Poland, so it will be some days before they can make their presence felt at the front.
More annoying was the stubborn resistance of Soviet 4th Airborne Corps in the northwest Pripet Marshes. It took almost a week for our 12th Korps to eject them from the marshy terrain. This enemy formation was certainly well led – shortly after being forced to retreat, it virtually disappeared eastwards into the swampy bog.
South
XLVIII Panzer Korps defeated Soviet 1st Airborne Corps in a short but sharp battle in Zhitomir, forcing the enemy to retreat in disarray.
Farther west, Sixth Army destroyed the weak 6th Cavalry Corps (enemy loss 18,070 men, 51 guns, 15 tanks) in the southwest Pripet Marshes.
Mackensen’s III Panzer Korps shattered Southern Front HQ (enemy losses 7,320 men, 56 guns and 160 tanks) before linking up with Eleventh Army troops northwest of the Black Sea port of Odessa, creating a giant Kessel of five enemy corps in the western Prut and Dniestr area. At one stroke, up to 20 enemy divisions have been rendered ineffective.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 1651/14301
Tanks 496/3344
Guns 103/5795
Planes 316/7032
New Soviet tank
We are aware of the Soviet heavy KV-1 tank, which the Soviets deployed against the Finns in 1939-40, but our panzer crews were disconcerted to encounter the Soviet T-34/76, a vehicle easily superior to our own Pz IIIh and Pz IVe. Personally, I am quite surprised (and worried!) that the Soviets are capable of manufacturing such an advanced machine. While I have boundless faith in the abilities of our designers and engineers to produce a tank to surpass the T-34, it will be at least a year or more before the new vehicle will be available for frontline use. In the meantime, our panzer crews will soldier under a distinct handicap. Fortunately, the T-34s have so far been encountered in “penny packets” and the Russians are handling them clumsily.
Finland and North
The Finns succeeded in forcing Soviet 10th Mech Corps to retreat from its positions immediately northwest of Viipuri but lost contact with Soviet 19th Corps to the north. Finland is fighting well, but the difficult terrain and narrow frontage in the Karelian Isthmus makes for relatively slow going.
Reinhardt’s XLI Panzer Korps swung north into Estonia, with the aim of isolating Tallinn, while Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps cleared the approaches to Pskov of enemy troops. Soviet 5th Airborne and 16th Corps are effectively trapped along the Dvina.
Centre
As the Soviets struggled to rebuild their forces west of the line Smolensk-Gomel, Hoth’s tanks sped east towards Vitebsk while Guderian struck towards Mogilev, shattering 2nd Corps along the way (enemy losses 18,470 men, 121 guns). By July 12th, XXIV Panzer Korps was less than 20 miles from Mogilev. The infantry divisions of Ninth and Fourth Armies also made good progress, consolidating the gains made by the rampaging panzers.
Impressed with von Bock’s success, Hitler ordered that Weichs’ Second Army (6 infantry divisions) be fully committed to Army Group Centre, but Weichs’ main units are still in Poland, so it will be some days before they can make their presence felt at the front.
More annoying was the stubborn resistance of Soviet 4th Airborne Corps in the northwest Pripet Marshes. It took almost a week for our 12th Korps to eject them from the marshy terrain. This enemy formation was certainly well led – shortly after being forced to retreat, it virtually disappeared eastwards into the swampy bog.
South
XLVIII Panzer Korps defeated Soviet 1st Airborne Corps in a short but sharp battle in Zhitomir, forcing the enemy to retreat in disarray.
Farther west, Sixth Army destroyed the weak 6th Cavalry Corps (enemy loss 18,070 men, 51 guns, 15 tanks) in the southwest Pripet Marshes.
Mackensen’s III Panzer Korps shattered Southern Front HQ (enemy losses 7,320 men, 56 guns and 160 tanks) before linking up with Eleventh Army troops northwest of the Black Sea port of Odessa, creating a giant Kessel of five enemy corps in the western Prut and Dniestr area. At one stroke, up to 20 enemy divisions have been rendered ineffective.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 1651/14301
Tanks 496/3344
Guns 103/5795
Planes 316/7032
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Thanks Silvanski, hopefully it'll get better if/when things get a bit tougher for the Germans [;)]
July 13-19
Change in Soviet organizational structure
The Russians have replaced the corps (as standard military formation) with the “army”, although the strength of the new formations seems little changed from the old.
Finland and North
Finnish intelligence underestimated the Russian strength in Viipuri itself. It appears the Soviet 2nd Army has up to 8 divisions and is well entrenched. Retaking Viipuri is a matter of national honor for Finland, and they will doubtlessly find a way to liberate it, at any cost.
XLI Panzer Korps overran the Estonian capital of Tallinn, cleared most of Estonia of Soviet forces and isolated their 13th Army. Only two weak Soviet armies, 82nd and 83rd remain west of the Narwa river. Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps took historic Pskov.
Our infantry also forced the surrender of the 5th Airborne Corps and 16th Corps along the Dvina (enemy losses 32,610 men, 215 guns and 26 tanks).
Centre
The wily enemy took full advantage of the Pripet terrain to attempt to disrupt our somewhat tenuous lines of communication. The rapid advances of the panzer forces left the marching infantry far behind. Soviet 47th Corps attempted to an ambitious maneuver to retake Minsk, only to be hit in flank by Kluge’s Fourth Army and forced to surrender (enemy losses 17,620 men and 41 guns).
Farther east, brilliantly coordinated attacks by Hoth and Guderian’s mobile troops gained us Vitebsk and Mogilev. XXIV Panzer and XLVII Panzer Korps are both across the northern Dniepr river, destroying the 51st Corps en route (enemy losses 24,170 men and 141 guns).
South
The various units isolated by Mackensen’s southward thrust were quickly eliminated. 6th Corps, 49th Corps, 2nd Cavalry Corps and 17th Corps were struck off the Soviet order of battle (enemy losses 92,050 men, 425 guns and 20 tanks).
Flushed with victory, III Panzer Korps now returned to the fray in the north, linking up with XIV Panzer Korps at Bila Tserkva, about 40 miles southwest of the great Ukrainian capital Kiev. This move surprised the Soviet defenders, shattered their 86th Army (enemy losses 20,070 men, 146 guns) and isolated 84th Army south of Zhitomir.
In the far south, elements of Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army moved up to the outskirts of Odessa, defended by the 59th Army and units of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Intelligence indicates that Stalin has decreed Odessa be defended to the end.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 2124/18535
Tanks 570/3560
Guns 157/7127
Planes 368/7309
July 13-19
Change in Soviet organizational structure
The Russians have replaced the corps (as standard military formation) with the “army”, although the strength of the new formations seems little changed from the old.
Finland and North
Finnish intelligence underestimated the Russian strength in Viipuri itself. It appears the Soviet 2nd Army has up to 8 divisions and is well entrenched. Retaking Viipuri is a matter of national honor for Finland, and they will doubtlessly find a way to liberate it, at any cost.
XLI Panzer Korps overran the Estonian capital of Tallinn, cleared most of Estonia of Soviet forces and isolated their 13th Army. Only two weak Soviet armies, 82nd and 83rd remain west of the Narwa river. Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps took historic Pskov.
Our infantry also forced the surrender of the 5th Airborne Corps and 16th Corps along the Dvina (enemy losses 32,610 men, 215 guns and 26 tanks).
Centre
The wily enemy took full advantage of the Pripet terrain to attempt to disrupt our somewhat tenuous lines of communication. The rapid advances of the panzer forces left the marching infantry far behind. Soviet 47th Corps attempted to an ambitious maneuver to retake Minsk, only to be hit in flank by Kluge’s Fourth Army and forced to surrender (enemy losses 17,620 men and 41 guns).
Farther east, brilliantly coordinated attacks by Hoth and Guderian’s mobile troops gained us Vitebsk and Mogilev. XXIV Panzer and XLVII Panzer Korps are both across the northern Dniepr river, destroying the 51st Corps en route (enemy losses 24,170 men and 141 guns).
South
The various units isolated by Mackensen’s southward thrust were quickly eliminated. 6th Corps, 49th Corps, 2nd Cavalry Corps and 17th Corps were struck off the Soviet order of battle (enemy losses 92,050 men, 425 guns and 20 tanks).
Flushed with victory, III Panzer Korps now returned to the fray in the north, linking up with XIV Panzer Korps at Bila Tserkva, about 40 miles southwest of the great Ukrainian capital Kiev. This move surprised the Soviet defenders, shattered their 86th Army (enemy losses 20,070 men, 146 guns) and isolated 84th Army south of Zhitomir.
In the far south, elements of Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army moved up to the outskirts of Odessa, defended by the 59th Army and units of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Intelligence indicates that Stalin has decreed Odessa be defended to the end.
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 2124/18535
Tanks 570/3560
Guns 157/7127
Planes 368/7309
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
ORIGINAL: Rybeck
Finland and North
Finnish intelligence underestimated the Russian strength in Viipuri itself. It appears the Soviet 2nd Army has up to 8 divisions and is well entrenched. Retaking Viipuri is a matter of national honor for Finland, and they will doubtlessly find a way to liberate it, at any cost.
Be carefull with the Finns since they will not be able to attack efficiently until the German Blitzkrieg ends, the problem being that rail control doesn't switch back to axis until the supply level is 8 in June/July and 6 in August while Finland supply never goes above 5!! [X(] Thus, readiness level will never be high enough (unless you resupply by air [&:])
Attacking in the Leningrad area before September is only a waste of ressource if you want my two kopeks, Kamerad! [:)]
P-Y Guinard
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Thanks for the tip pyguinard, I will notify my Finnish allies [:)]
July 20 to 26
Hitler intervenes…
diverting Schmidt’s XXXIX Panzer Korps from Third Panzergruppe to Army Group North’s front. Doubtless Der Fuhrer was prompted in view of recent intelligence reports showing no fewer than ten Soviet armies east and northeast of Pskov.
Hitler also authorized the formation of the new XL Panzer Korps to reinforce Hoepner’s Fourth Panzergruppe. This Korps will comprise the 2nd Panzer Division (from Third Panzergruppe reserve), 22nd Panzer and the Brandenburg Motorized Division, from OKW and OKH reserve respectively.
Two infantry divisions, 106th and 110th were also transferred from OKH reserve to Army Group Centre.
North
The Finns are experiencing serious logistical problems with keeping their forces in Karelia supplied, and have called a temporary halt until the situation can be rectified. Apparently the Finns are having even more difficulty than we are with converting Soviet railways for our own use. Certainly the difficult terrain in and around Karelia is not helping.
XXXIX Panzer Korps duly linked up with Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps at Novorzhev, about midway between Pskov and Velikiye Luki, wresting control of the important rail line between the two cities from the Soviets.
Our strong 15th Korps arrived in Pskov during the week, consolidating the ground won earlier by Manstein’s LVI Panzer. The rest of the army group’s infantry is either in Estonia (The Soviet 13th Army was destroyed near Tallinn by Eighteenth Army – enemy losses were 34,830 men and 204 guns)
or still moving up to the Pskov area. XLI Panzer Korps is temporarily out of position (still west of the Narwa river in Estonia) to assist the main drive against Leningrad from the southwest.
Centre
Guderian and Hoth’s tanks punched through the Soviet defenses around the key city of Smolensk, isolating the Soviet 29th Army (estimated 6 divisions). LVII Panzer Korps also decimated the weak 52nd Army north of Smolensk, inflicting 7,520 casualties and 21 guns.
The infantry divisions of Ninth, Second and Fourth Armies moved up to positions near Vitebsk and Mogilev, but 80-100 miles still separate them from the panzer spearheads near Smolensk.
Two Soviet armies, the 23rd (isolated in the north-central Pripet Marshes) and 48th, threaten our southern flank, and part of Second Army has been tasked with their eradication.
South
Gaining tactical surprise southeast of Kiev, Kleist’s panzers crossed the Dniepr river in strength and surrounded Soviet 44th Army in Kiev. Don Front HQ was shattered in this series of moves (enemy losses 2,610 men, 10 guns and 51 tanks).
Far behind the front, the once-strong 45th Army was forced to surrender (enemy losses 57,720 men, 331 guns and 110 tanks) by the Italian Expeditionary Korps. Army Group South also wiped out the Soviet 84th Army and 16th Armies in the Zhitomir area (enemy losses 24,630 men and 144 guns).
Schobert’s Eleventh Army has reached the suburbs of Uman and – along with the Rumanian divisions - has also surrounded Odessa (the city remains in tenuous naval supply via Sevastopol).
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 2393/21588
Tanks 629/3732
Guns 171/8055
Planes 401/7375
July 20 to 26
Hitler intervenes…
diverting Schmidt’s XXXIX Panzer Korps from Third Panzergruppe to Army Group North’s front. Doubtless Der Fuhrer was prompted in view of recent intelligence reports showing no fewer than ten Soviet armies east and northeast of Pskov.
Hitler also authorized the formation of the new XL Panzer Korps to reinforce Hoepner’s Fourth Panzergruppe. This Korps will comprise the 2nd Panzer Division (from Third Panzergruppe reserve), 22nd Panzer and the Brandenburg Motorized Division, from OKW and OKH reserve respectively.
Two infantry divisions, 106th and 110th were also transferred from OKH reserve to Army Group Centre.
North
The Finns are experiencing serious logistical problems with keeping their forces in Karelia supplied, and have called a temporary halt until the situation can be rectified. Apparently the Finns are having even more difficulty than we are with converting Soviet railways for our own use. Certainly the difficult terrain in and around Karelia is not helping.
XXXIX Panzer Korps duly linked up with Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps at Novorzhev, about midway between Pskov and Velikiye Luki, wresting control of the important rail line between the two cities from the Soviets.
Our strong 15th Korps arrived in Pskov during the week, consolidating the ground won earlier by Manstein’s LVI Panzer. The rest of the army group’s infantry is either in Estonia (The Soviet 13th Army was destroyed near Tallinn by Eighteenth Army – enemy losses were 34,830 men and 204 guns)
or still moving up to the Pskov area. XLI Panzer Korps is temporarily out of position (still west of the Narwa river in Estonia) to assist the main drive against Leningrad from the southwest.
Centre
Guderian and Hoth’s tanks punched through the Soviet defenses around the key city of Smolensk, isolating the Soviet 29th Army (estimated 6 divisions). LVII Panzer Korps also decimated the weak 52nd Army north of Smolensk, inflicting 7,520 casualties and 21 guns.
The infantry divisions of Ninth, Second and Fourth Armies moved up to positions near Vitebsk and Mogilev, but 80-100 miles still separate them from the panzer spearheads near Smolensk.
Two Soviet armies, the 23rd (isolated in the north-central Pripet Marshes) and 48th, threaten our southern flank, and part of Second Army has been tasked with their eradication.
South
Gaining tactical surprise southeast of Kiev, Kleist’s panzers crossed the Dniepr river in strength and surrounded Soviet 44th Army in Kiev. Don Front HQ was shattered in this series of moves (enemy losses 2,610 men, 10 guns and 51 tanks).
Far behind the front, the once-strong 45th Army was forced to surrender (enemy losses 57,720 men, 331 guns and 110 tanks) by the Italian Expeditionary Korps. Army Group South also wiped out the Soviet 84th Army and 16th Armies in the Zhitomir area (enemy losses 24,630 men and 144 guns).
Schobert’s Eleventh Army has reached the suburbs of Uman and – along with the Rumanian divisions - has also surrounded Odessa (the city remains in tenuous naval supply via Sevastopol).
Total casualties (Axis/Soviet) to-date
Infantry squads 2393/21588
Tanks 629/3732
Guns 171/8055
Planes 401/7375
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
ORIGINAL: pyguinard
Kamerad! [:)]
You meant 'comrade'?
Actually should be herr Rybeck since he plays the Germans.
Me
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
July 27 to Aug 2
(OOC: I didn’t realize blitzkrieg supply drops from 10 in June/July to SIX in August under Soviet max help instead of EIGHT *growls*)
Big logistics problem rears its ugly head
The OKW logistics planners had not foreseen how quickly our hard-charging divisions would run through the allocated supplies, nor had they made sufficient provision for our supply network to always get to all front-line units in time. The delays over converting the Soviet rail gauge to our own and the nascent but growing partisan menace behind the front proved particularly daunting.
Consequently, as August 1941 began, several of our hard-charging panzer and infantry formations found themselves compelled to halt. Stalin’s “scorched earth” policy only exacerbated matters. Whereas in France our troops could count on overrunning the occasional supply depot, this hardly happened in Russia. Fuel and ammunition had simply given out in some cases.
The conventional resupply methods therefore have to be temporarily supplemented by air transport. As most of the formations obliged to call a halt belonged to Army Group Centre in its aggressive bid for Smolensk, Luftflotte II would have to use some of its bomber groups as makeshift transports – its 91 Ju-52 transports were simply insufficient. Der Fuhrer also agreed to transfer KG-104 (with 148 Ju-52) from Luftflotte IV to Luftflotte II. Fortunately for us, Soviet airpower is still largely reeling from the Luftwaffe’s shattering opening blows that it should not be able to interfere significantly with our operations.
North
Disobeying the temporary halt order, the overzealous commander of Finnish 2nd Korps attacked Soviet 6th Army entrenched northeast of Viipuri. The Russians were eventually forced to retreat by well-delivered Finnish attacks, but here too the supply problem meant that 2nd Korps had to pull back to its original positions after winning a tactical victory.
From Novorzhev, Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps attached northwest, with the ultimate aim of reaching the important rail junction linking Leningrad and Estonia. The Soviets have at least three armies conducting a staunch defense west and immediately east of the Narwa river, and the aim is to isolate and destroy them. LVI Panzer Korps succeeded in shattering the 35th Army en route (enemy losses 17,130 men and 69 guns). Manstein was also given valuable infantry support from the 15th Korps.
Hoepner decided to bring XLI Panzer Korps down from Estonia to the Pskov area, and the newly formed XL Panzer Korps also arrived east of Pskov, with the immediate objective of dispersing the Soviet concentrations between Pskov and Demyansk.
Hitler also acceded to Busch’s request for reinforcement and moved 5th Division from Ninth Army to his Sixteenth Army.
Centre
The northern prong of Third Panzergruppe hustled the 58th Army out of Velikiye Luki, trapping two Soviet 41st and 84th Armies. Our precarious supply situation means that the encirclement is a rather weak one however, and the bulk of Ninth Army infantry is not in a suitable position to really exploit this loose envelopment. Near Zharkovskiy (between Velikiye Luki and Smolensk), Hoth’s southern prong (LVII Panzer Korps) decisively defeated the 35th Army (enemy losses 17,130 men and 69 guns).
Farther south, Guderian’s panzers secured Smolensk, forcing the surrender of the strong Soviet 29th Army (enemy losses 52,960 men, 277 guns and 117 tanks). Second Panzergruppe also thrust boldly east and southeast of Smolensk, coming within 20 miles of both Vyazma and Bryansk, before the logistical brakes brought a halt to further offensive operations.
Two other enemy formations – 49th Army and 23rd Army were also destroyed by our infantry (enemy losses 23,220 men and 26 guns). A surprise, near suicidal attack by the Soviet 48th Army (another formation operating from the Pripet) overran our Second Army HQ. Fortunately Generaloberst Weichs was visiting his troops at the front.
South
Eleventh Army and Fourth Rumanian Army troops took Odessa, taking the surrender of Soviet 59th Army (enemy loss 50,610 men, 265 guns and 11 tanks). A complete victory for Axis arms! The Soviet Black Sea fleet also took heavy losses in its bid to first supply then evacuate the 59th Army at Odessa.
Seventeenth Army infantry smashed the Soviet 61st Army near Uman (enemy loss 20,520 men and 146 guns). Uman itself is almost completely outflanked, yet three Soviet Armies persist in holding Uman and their positions east of the southern Bug river. A grave operational error in my opinion, considering that with Odessa in German hands, Eleventh Army will now be able to fully commit its strength against Uman.
At Kiev, the powerful Soviet 44th Army initially rebuffed our attempts to storm the city. The leadership of the defenders was certainly inspired, considering Kiev is all but surrounded. Across the Dniepr river, First Panzergruppe troops savaged the weak Soviet 70th Army (enemy loss 8,230 men and 49 guns).
Total casualties
infantry 3158/27465
tanks 766/3907
guns 256/9626
planes 476/7925
(OOC: I didn’t realize blitzkrieg supply drops from 10 in June/July to SIX in August under Soviet max help instead of EIGHT *growls*)
Big logistics problem rears its ugly head
The OKW logistics planners had not foreseen how quickly our hard-charging divisions would run through the allocated supplies, nor had they made sufficient provision for our supply network to always get to all front-line units in time. The delays over converting the Soviet rail gauge to our own and the nascent but growing partisan menace behind the front proved particularly daunting.
Consequently, as August 1941 began, several of our hard-charging panzer and infantry formations found themselves compelled to halt. Stalin’s “scorched earth” policy only exacerbated matters. Whereas in France our troops could count on overrunning the occasional supply depot, this hardly happened in Russia. Fuel and ammunition had simply given out in some cases.
The conventional resupply methods therefore have to be temporarily supplemented by air transport. As most of the formations obliged to call a halt belonged to Army Group Centre in its aggressive bid for Smolensk, Luftflotte II would have to use some of its bomber groups as makeshift transports – its 91 Ju-52 transports were simply insufficient. Der Fuhrer also agreed to transfer KG-104 (with 148 Ju-52) from Luftflotte IV to Luftflotte II. Fortunately for us, Soviet airpower is still largely reeling from the Luftwaffe’s shattering opening blows that it should not be able to interfere significantly with our operations.
North
Disobeying the temporary halt order, the overzealous commander of Finnish 2nd Korps attacked Soviet 6th Army entrenched northeast of Viipuri. The Russians were eventually forced to retreat by well-delivered Finnish attacks, but here too the supply problem meant that 2nd Korps had to pull back to its original positions after winning a tactical victory.
From Novorzhev, Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps attached northwest, with the ultimate aim of reaching the important rail junction linking Leningrad and Estonia. The Soviets have at least three armies conducting a staunch defense west and immediately east of the Narwa river, and the aim is to isolate and destroy them. LVI Panzer Korps succeeded in shattering the 35th Army en route (enemy losses 17,130 men and 69 guns). Manstein was also given valuable infantry support from the 15th Korps.
Hoepner decided to bring XLI Panzer Korps down from Estonia to the Pskov area, and the newly formed XL Panzer Korps also arrived east of Pskov, with the immediate objective of dispersing the Soviet concentrations between Pskov and Demyansk.
Hitler also acceded to Busch’s request for reinforcement and moved 5th Division from Ninth Army to his Sixteenth Army.
Centre
The northern prong of Third Panzergruppe hustled the 58th Army out of Velikiye Luki, trapping two Soviet 41st and 84th Armies. Our precarious supply situation means that the encirclement is a rather weak one however, and the bulk of Ninth Army infantry is not in a suitable position to really exploit this loose envelopment. Near Zharkovskiy (between Velikiye Luki and Smolensk), Hoth’s southern prong (LVII Panzer Korps) decisively defeated the 35th Army (enemy losses 17,130 men and 69 guns).
Farther south, Guderian’s panzers secured Smolensk, forcing the surrender of the strong Soviet 29th Army (enemy losses 52,960 men, 277 guns and 117 tanks). Second Panzergruppe also thrust boldly east and southeast of Smolensk, coming within 20 miles of both Vyazma and Bryansk, before the logistical brakes brought a halt to further offensive operations.
Two other enemy formations – 49th Army and 23rd Army were also destroyed by our infantry (enemy losses 23,220 men and 26 guns). A surprise, near suicidal attack by the Soviet 48th Army (another formation operating from the Pripet) overran our Second Army HQ. Fortunately Generaloberst Weichs was visiting his troops at the front.
South
Eleventh Army and Fourth Rumanian Army troops took Odessa, taking the surrender of Soviet 59th Army (enemy loss 50,610 men, 265 guns and 11 tanks). A complete victory for Axis arms! The Soviet Black Sea fleet also took heavy losses in its bid to first supply then evacuate the 59th Army at Odessa.
Seventeenth Army infantry smashed the Soviet 61st Army near Uman (enemy loss 20,520 men and 146 guns). Uman itself is almost completely outflanked, yet three Soviet Armies persist in holding Uman and their positions east of the southern Bug river. A grave operational error in my opinion, considering that with Odessa in German hands, Eleventh Army will now be able to fully commit its strength against Uman.
At Kiev, the powerful Soviet 44th Army initially rebuffed our attempts to storm the city. The leadership of the defenders was certainly inspired, considering Kiev is all but surrounded. Across the Dniepr river, First Panzergruppe troops savaged the weak Soviet 70th Army (enemy loss 8,230 men and 49 guns).
Total casualties
infantry 3158/27465
tanks 766/3907
guns 256/9626
planes 476/7925
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Aug 3 to 9
Goering reinforces Luftflotte II…
with KG-30 (119 Ju-88) and StG-5 (73 Ju-87B). The Reichsmarschall was contemplating to send the bombers and Stukas to North Africa, but I managed to convince him that Rommel had ample air support (with a thousand aircraft at his disposal – approximately 400 Luftwaffe planes and 600 from the Regia Aeronautica) and that the reinforcements would be better employed on Army Group Centre’s front.
Halder’s sense of foreboding…
Generaloberst Franz Halder, my Army Chief of Staff confided his apprehensions to me during the week. Despite the Soviets’ tremendous losses in men and materiel, the front remains unbroken, and there is absolutely no sign of an imminent collapse, whether military or political. Halder put it bluntly. “Whenever we destroy a dozen divisions, the Russians simply put up another dozen.” These divisions can't be compared to ours in terms of organization, overall equipment and tactical doctrine, but they were there.
Our losses were not light (tank losses are over 900, or about 30% of what the Ostheer possessed on June 22nd), and our supply situation, especially in the centre, was uneviable. Many of our leading panzer divisions were still getting only a trickle of what they needed.
North
Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps succeeded in severing the rail link between Leningrad and Estonia, but the Soviets are proving masters at improvisation, using the marshy and wooded terrain to keep their armies in the Narwa area supplied. Stalin seemed obsessed with holding the Narwa positions and sent an additional two tank divisions to the 82nd Army before the rail link was cut. These reinforcements arrived just in time for the Soviets, who put them to good use defending against our Eighteenth Army’s attack against the 82nd. It was only after severe fighting that our troops managed to overcome the resolute defense.
A sweeping envelopment by XLI Panzer and XL Panzer Korps (linking up west of Novgorod) corralled the Soviet 1st and 4th Armies (7-8 divisions strong) and smashed the 55th Army (enemy loss 8,240 men, 49 guns and 11 tanks), while our infantry destroyed the Soviet 38th and 34th Armies as effective fighting formations (enemy losses 32,110 men and 133 guns).
Centre
Halder was not given to undue pessimism, and Guderian’s panzers and part of Fourth Army continued to face tremendous logistic difficulty, due in no small part to sudden partisan activity around Smolensk and effective maneuvering by Soviet 37th and 51st Armies to the north and south of that ruined city. The enemy’s 48th Army, virtually unsupplied for over a week, also succeeded in menacing our supply lines near Mogilev.
Near Velikiye Luki, the news was considerably brighter, with Hoth’s panzers and Ninth Army bringing an end to Soviet 84th and 41st Armies (enemy losses 29,400 men and 110 guns). Ninth Army infantry also crushed the 79th Army near Novorzhev (enemy losses 24,770 men and 86 guns).
South
Despite fanatical resistance, Soviet 44th Army was unable to stave off the inevitable for long. Sixth Army troops declared Kiev secure on August 8th, inflicting 57,110 casualties, and destroying 317 guns and 12 tanks.
XLVIII Panzer Korps took Konotop, about 80 miles northeast of Kiev, while Seventeenth Army’s 52nd Korps captured Shpola, 80 miles southeast of Kiev.
The powerful 81st Army at Uman was also eliminated (enemy loss 49,650 men, 271 guns and 23 tanks). The fall of Uman also left the Soviet 66th Army hopelessly marooned, virtually surrounded by Rumanian Fourth Army troops.
Total casualties
Axis/Soviet
infantry 3834/32353
tanks 907/4268
guns 327/11127
planes 520/7989
Goering reinforces Luftflotte II…
with KG-30 (119 Ju-88) and StG-5 (73 Ju-87B). The Reichsmarschall was contemplating to send the bombers and Stukas to North Africa, but I managed to convince him that Rommel had ample air support (with a thousand aircraft at his disposal – approximately 400 Luftwaffe planes and 600 from the Regia Aeronautica) and that the reinforcements would be better employed on Army Group Centre’s front.
Halder’s sense of foreboding…
Generaloberst Franz Halder, my Army Chief of Staff confided his apprehensions to me during the week. Despite the Soviets’ tremendous losses in men and materiel, the front remains unbroken, and there is absolutely no sign of an imminent collapse, whether military or political. Halder put it bluntly. “Whenever we destroy a dozen divisions, the Russians simply put up another dozen.” These divisions can't be compared to ours in terms of organization, overall equipment and tactical doctrine, but they were there.
Our losses were not light (tank losses are over 900, or about 30% of what the Ostheer possessed on June 22nd), and our supply situation, especially in the centre, was uneviable. Many of our leading panzer divisions were still getting only a trickle of what they needed.
North
Manstein’s LVI Panzer Korps succeeded in severing the rail link between Leningrad and Estonia, but the Soviets are proving masters at improvisation, using the marshy and wooded terrain to keep their armies in the Narwa area supplied. Stalin seemed obsessed with holding the Narwa positions and sent an additional two tank divisions to the 82nd Army before the rail link was cut. These reinforcements arrived just in time for the Soviets, who put them to good use defending against our Eighteenth Army’s attack against the 82nd. It was only after severe fighting that our troops managed to overcome the resolute defense.
A sweeping envelopment by XLI Panzer and XL Panzer Korps (linking up west of Novgorod) corralled the Soviet 1st and 4th Armies (7-8 divisions strong) and smashed the 55th Army (enemy loss 8,240 men, 49 guns and 11 tanks), while our infantry destroyed the Soviet 38th and 34th Armies as effective fighting formations (enemy losses 32,110 men and 133 guns).
Centre
Halder was not given to undue pessimism, and Guderian’s panzers and part of Fourth Army continued to face tremendous logistic difficulty, due in no small part to sudden partisan activity around Smolensk and effective maneuvering by Soviet 37th and 51st Armies to the north and south of that ruined city. The enemy’s 48th Army, virtually unsupplied for over a week, also succeeded in menacing our supply lines near Mogilev.
Near Velikiye Luki, the news was considerably brighter, with Hoth’s panzers and Ninth Army bringing an end to Soviet 84th and 41st Armies (enemy losses 29,400 men and 110 guns). Ninth Army infantry also crushed the 79th Army near Novorzhev (enemy losses 24,770 men and 86 guns).
South
Despite fanatical resistance, Soviet 44th Army was unable to stave off the inevitable for long. Sixth Army troops declared Kiev secure on August 8th, inflicting 57,110 casualties, and destroying 317 guns and 12 tanks.
XLVIII Panzer Korps took Konotop, about 80 miles northeast of Kiev, while Seventeenth Army’s 52nd Korps captured Shpola, 80 miles southeast of Kiev.
The powerful 81st Army at Uman was also eliminated (enemy loss 49,650 men, 271 guns and 23 tanks). The fall of Uman also left the Soviet 66th Army hopelessly marooned, virtually surrounded by Rumanian Fourth Army troops.
Total casualties
Axis/Soviet
infantry 3834/32353
tanks 907/4268
guns 327/11127
planes 520/7989
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Aug 10 to 16
Stalin appoints new commander
With German forces on Leningrad’s doorstep, Stalin orders General Zhukov to oversee the defenses of that city and its environs. We know relatively little about Zhukov – we believe him to be instrumental in inflicting a defeat on Japanese forces in Mongolia before our Polish campaign, and also for being Stalin’s de facto chief strategist since the beginning of Barbarossa. Stalin obviously thinks highly of his abilities to send him to “save Leningrad”.
Red Air Force back in action…
in the north. While the rest of the front is effectively bereft of enemy air activity, the Soviets have committed strong aviation units to defend Leningrad. Red fighters are still no match for our Bf-109Fs but their heavily armored Il-2 Sturmoviks are more than a vague menace as a ground-attack aircraft. For one thing, they are extremely hard to shoot down.
North
The trapped Soviet 1st and 4th Armies were duly destroyed (enemy losses 60,030 men, 302 guns and 199 tanks). LVI Panzer Korps and Eighteenth Army troops linked up on the Baltic Sea coast southwest of Leningrad, finally isolating 33rd, 61st and 76th Armies in the Narwa area.
XL Panzer Korps battled north against increasingly stiff Soviet resistance to arrive at Kolpino, just 20 miles southeast of Leningrad. By this time however, our panzers were fatigued and losses had not been light. At Kolpino itself, the entrenched Soviet 24th Army fought well, despite valiant efforts, XL Panzer was unable to seize the important town. Our 2nd Panzer Division took particularly heavy losses, down to 67 tanks (not all of them operational) by August 17th.
Southwest of Leningrad, the fighting was equally fierce but XLI Panzer Korps and a Kampfgruppe of LVI Panzer Korps was able to close up to the city’s suburbs.
Centre
While LVII Panzer Korps brought an end to the annoying 37th Army (enemy loss 23,440 men and 92 guns) around Smolensk, Schmidt’s XXXIX Panzer Korps took Nelidovo, south of the Valdai Hills and 40 miles west of Rzhev.
Near Velikiye Luki, Ninth Army troops crushed the Soviet 83rd Army (enemy loss 23,480 men, 226 guns and 51 tanks) despite the arrival of a fresh enemy tank division.
Kluge’s infantry arrived at Smolensk in strength, while Guderian’s panzers finally got the chance for a spell of adequate refitting. Weichs’ Second Army units did well farther south, completely surrounding Gomel and the Soviet 87th Army (3-4 divisions).
Army Group Centre’s next objective will be securing the line Rzhev-Vyazma-Bryansk, the gateway to Moscow.
South
XLVIII Panzer Korps took Konotop, 100 miles northwest of the industrial city of Kharkov, while III Panzer Korps arrived at Poltava. The Soviet 82nd Army however was on full alert, and managed to resist the initial tank assault, but only just.
Our 17th Korps secured Kirovograd, 100 miles southeast of Kiev, and Eleventh Army infantry reached Kherson, northwest of the Crimea. Near Odessa, the weak Sovet 66th Army was finally wiped out by our Rumanian allies (enemy loss 14,810 men and 48 guns).
Total casualties
infantry 4369/35275
tanks 1067/4667
guns 373/12046
planes 529/8001
Stalin appoints new commander
With German forces on Leningrad’s doorstep, Stalin orders General Zhukov to oversee the defenses of that city and its environs. We know relatively little about Zhukov – we believe him to be instrumental in inflicting a defeat on Japanese forces in Mongolia before our Polish campaign, and also for being Stalin’s de facto chief strategist since the beginning of Barbarossa. Stalin obviously thinks highly of his abilities to send him to “save Leningrad”.
Red Air Force back in action…
in the north. While the rest of the front is effectively bereft of enemy air activity, the Soviets have committed strong aviation units to defend Leningrad. Red fighters are still no match for our Bf-109Fs but their heavily armored Il-2 Sturmoviks are more than a vague menace as a ground-attack aircraft. For one thing, they are extremely hard to shoot down.
North
The trapped Soviet 1st and 4th Armies were duly destroyed (enemy losses 60,030 men, 302 guns and 199 tanks). LVI Panzer Korps and Eighteenth Army troops linked up on the Baltic Sea coast southwest of Leningrad, finally isolating 33rd, 61st and 76th Armies in the Narwa area.
XL Panzer Korps battled north against increasingly stiff Soviet resistance to arrive at Kolpino, just 20 miles southeast of Leningrad. By this time however, our panzers were fatigued and losses had not been light. At Kolpino itself, the entrenched Soviet 24th Army fought well, despite valiant efforts, XL Panzer was unable to seize the important town. Our 2nd Panzer Division took particularly heavy losses, down to 67 tanks (not all of them operational) by August 17th.
Southwest of Leningrad, the fighting was equally fierce but XLI Panzer Korps and a Kampfgruppe of LVI Panzer Korps was able to close up to the city’s suburbs.
Centre
While LVII Panzer Korps brought an end to the annoying 37th Army (enemy loss 23,440 men and 92 guns) around Smolensk, Schmidt’s XXXIX Panzer Korps took Nelidovo, south of the Valdai Hills and 40 miles west of Rzhev.
Near Velikiye Luki, Ninth Army troops crushed the Soviet 83rd Army (enemy loss 23,480 men, 226 guns and 51 tanks) despite the arrival of a fresh enemy tank division.
Kluge’s infantry arrived at Smolensk in strength, while Guderian’s panzers finally got the chance for a spell of adequate refitting. Weichs’ Second Army units did well farther south, completely surrounding Gomel and the Soviet 87th Army (3-4 divisions).
Army Group Centre’s next objective will be securing the line Rzhev-Vyazma-Bryansk, the gateway to Moscow.
South
XLVIII Panzer Korps took Konotop, 100 miles northwest of the industrial city of Kharkov, while III Panzer Korps arrived at Poltava. The Soviet 82nd Army however was on full alert, and managed to resist the initial tank assault, but only just.
Our 17th Korps secured Kirovograd, 100 miles southeast of Kiev, and Eleventh Army infantry reached Kherson, northwest of the Crimea. Near Odessa, the weak Sovet 66th Army was finally wiped out by our Rumanian allies (enemy loss 14,810 men and 48 guns).
Total casualties
infantry 4369/35275
tanks 1067/4667
guns 373/12046
planes 529/8001
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Aug 17-23
Fuhrer decisions
Fretting about the exposed right (east) flank of Fourth Panzergruppe (not yet secured by Sixteenth Army), Hitler ordered XL Panzer Korps to abort its forthcoming offensive against Kolpino and swing south/southeast and take Novgorod.
While Hitler also agreed in principle that the offensive to take Moscow before the winter would take priority, he also wanted to clear up the flanks. Asserting that Strauss’ Ninth Army was not strong enough to assist in the Moscow offensive and effectively secure Army Group Centre’s left flank – he pointed out the presence of the two strong 8th and 77th Soviet Armies west of the Lovat river and the potential danger of a Soviet counterattack from the Valdai Hill region - he diverted XXXIX Panzer Korps north to attack and take Demyansk.
He did agree to Kluge’s request for additional infantry support, moving 88th, 205th and 211st Infantry Divisions from OKW reserve to Fourth Army.
North
Trapped and bypassed Soviet forces were methodically eliminated – 33rd, 76th, 36th and 70th Armies (enemy losses 43,160 men and 153 guns). Despite the arrival of LVI Panzer Korps, the attack on a narrow front against the powerful, entrenched 24th Army at Kolpino did not succeed.
The absence of XL Panzer Korps was sorely missed, and XL Panzer’s diversion to attack towards Novgorod did not reap dividends either – 26th Army’s fanatical resistance checked the panzers west of the Volkhov river. As if that was not enough, XL Panzer was then attacked by no fewer than three Soviet armies. The attacks were not well coordinated and the panzers defeated them in detail, but by end-week, the XL Panzer Korps was down to 113 battered tanks, many of them obsolete models like the Pz-IIf.
Hitler was furious at the lack of progress and disagreed with Hoepner’s request to pull XL Panzer out of the line for a brief spell of refit and reorganization. Instead, he insisted on renewed attacks against Novgorod now that Busch’s infantry had moved up.
Could Zhukov have done so much to improve the Leningrad defenses in so short a time?!
Centre
Consolidation moves by the army group saw the eradication of 48th, 50th and 40th Soviet Armies (enemy losses 54,010 men and 183 guns). Weichs’ infantry destroyed the trapped 87th Army at Gomel (enemy losses 31,710 men, 125 guns and 21 tanks) while XLVI Panzer Korps mauled the Soviet 45th Army (enemy losses 8,240 men, 49 guns and 11 tanks).
XXXIX Panzer Korps’ thrust against Demyansk from the south was checked by the Soviet 4th Army (7-8 divisions) in heavily wooded terrain. Second Panzergruppe also met staunch resistance from the 16th Army northeast of Vyazma in its move to envelop that city.
By August 23rd, there were still at least 15 Soviet armies deployed along the line Rzhev-Vyazma-Bryansk. Stalin had clearly not been idle since the fall of Smolensk. Initially our pre-Barbarossa wargames had reckoned on the Soviets fielding about 200 divisions, and mobilizing perhaps another 50-60 more. We have already destroyed or mauled more at least that many formations, and the enemy line still looms strong before us!
Privately I am starting to worry whether the campaign can be quickly concluded before year-end, never mind the 3-4 months initially allocated for the completion of ‘Barbarossa’.
South
The strength of the Soviet defenses in the northern and central parts of the front meant that they were somewhat weaker, more strung out in the south. Second and Sixth Army forces linked up across the Desna river southeast of Gomel.
Kleist’s tanks and Seventeenth Army troops secured Poltava, wiping out the Soviet 82nd Army (enemy loss 25,590 men and 107 guns). German tanks moved into the Donets Basin, XIV Panzer Korps ending the week fewer than 40 miles from Kharkov.
Farther west, our infantry divisions finished off the isolated Soviet 52nd and 68th Armies (enemy loss 46,230 men and 214 guns).
Total casualties
Infantry 4953/40158
Tanks 1196/4882
Guns 472/12971
Planes 567/8138
Fuhrer decisions
Fretting about the exposed right (east) flank of Fourth Panzergruppe (not yet secured by Sixteenth Army), Hitler ordered XL Panzer Korps to abort its forthcoming offensive against Kolpino and swing south/southeast and take Novgorod.
While Hitler also agreed in principle that the offensive to take Moscow before the winter would take priority, he also wanted to clear up the flanks. Asserting that Strauss’ Ninth Army was not strong enough to assist in the Moscow offensive and effectively secure Army Group Centre’s left flank – he pointed out the presence of the two strong 8th and 77th Soviet Armies west of the Lovat river and the potential danger of a Soviet counterattack from the Valdai Hill region - he diverted XXXIX Panzer Korps north to attack and take Demyansk.
He did agree to Kluge’s request for additional infantry support, moving 88th, 205th and 211st Infantry Divisions from OKW reserve to Fourth Army.
North
Trapped and bypassed Soviet forces were methodically eliminated – 33rd, 76th, 36th and 70th Armies (enemy losses 43,160 men and 153 guns). Despite the arrival of LVI Panzer Korps, the attack on a narrow front against the powerful, entrenched 24th Army at Kolpino did not succeed.
The absence of XL Panzer Korps was sorely missed, and XL Panzer’s diversion to attack towards Novgorod did not reap dividends either – 26th Army’s fanatical resistance checked the panzers west of the Volkhov river. As if that was not enough, XL Panzer was then attacked by no fewer than three Soviet armies. The attacks were not well coordinated and the panzers defeated them in detail, but by end-week, the XL Panzer Korps was down to 113 battered tanks, many of them obsolete models like the Pz-IIf.
Hitler was furious at the lack of progress and disagreed with Hoepner’s request to pull XL Panzer out of the line for a brief spell of refit and reorganization. Instead, he insisted on renewed attacks against Novgorod now that Busch’s infantry had moved up.
Could Zhukov have done so much to improve the Leningrad defenses in so short a time?!
Centre
Consolidation moves by the army group saw the eradication of 48th, 50th and 40th Soviet Armies (enemy losses 54,010 men and 183 guns). Weichs’ infantry destroyed the trapped 87th Army at Gomel (enemy losses 31,710 men, 125 guns and 21 tanks) while XLVI Panzer Korps mauled the Soviet 45th Army (enemy losses 8,240 men, 49 guns and 11 tanks).
XXXIX Panzer Korps’ thrust against Demyansk from the south was checked by the Soviet 4th Army (7-8 divisions) in heavily wooded terrain. Second Panzergruppe also met staunch resistance from the 16th Army northeast of Vyazma in its move to envelop that city.
By August 23rd, there were still at least 15 Soviet armies deployed along the line Rzhev-Vyazma-Bryansk. Stalin had clearly not been idle since the fall of Smolensk. Initially our pre-Barbarossa wargames had reckoned on the Soviets fielding about 200 divisions, and mobilizing perhaps another 50-60 more. We have already destroyed or mauled more at least that many formations, and the enemy line still looms strong before us!
Privately I am starting to worry whether the campaign can be quickly concluded before year-end, never mind the 3-4 months initially allocated for the completion of ‘Barbarossa’.
South
The strength of the Soviet defenses in the northern and central parts of the front meant that they were somewhat weaker, more strung out in the south. Second and Sixth Army forces linked up across the Desna river southeast of Gomel.
Kleist’s tanks and Seventeenth Army troops secured Poltava, wiping out the Soviet 82nd Army (enemy loss 25,590 men and 107 guns). German tanks moved into the Donets Basin, XIV Panzer Korps ending the week fewer than 40 miles from Kharkov.
Farther west, our infantry divisions finished off the isolated Soviet 52nd and 68th Armies (enemy loss 46,230 men and 214 guns).
Total casualties
Infantry 4953/40158
Tanks 1196/4882
Guns 472/12971
Planes 567/8138
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Rybeck,
Did I miss something or are you playing with a map different from the standard v. 3.3 one? It's just that You keep mentionning cities (such as Kolpino, Nelidovo, Tarnopol) that are not in the map I am used to play with!
Did I miss something or are you playing with a map different from the standard v. 3.3 one? It's just that You keep mentionning cities (such as Kolpino, Nelidovo, Tarnopol) that are not in the map I am used to play with!
P-Y Guinard
RE: AAR vs the AI with a difference
Tarnopol is on a regular 3.3 map.ORIGINAL: pyguinard
Rybeck,
Did I miss something or are you playing with a map different from the standard v. 3.3 one? It's just that You keep mentionning cities (such as Kolpino, Nelidovo, Tarnopol) that are not in the map I am used to play with!
Kolpino, Nelidovo - never heard of...
Me