A random blizzard AAR (no Traemyn please)

[olivier34]

Order of battle Turn 83

[Phenix]

I hope you have as much fun playing as i have reading your AAR , never give up !

[olivier34]

Good to see that you have fun reading my AAR and I have still a good time playing this game. The soviet is griding little by little my army now, the turns are interesting to play because I have to look at the all picture and try to understand were the future battles will occur. The game will be more fun when the soviet will be abble to launch his first major offensive with encirclement of some of my units. I will have to counter that ! but I am not sure that I will have the power to do this. My idea is to shorten the front during spring and put my panzers behind the front (three, four hexes away), hidden in the woods were I will have spoted a major threat...

[olivier34]

T84 blizzard
Time to withdraw and shorten the front. It will take two weeks for that. Some of my front (2nd panzer) is really weak, hope they won't be attacked. (We retreat 20 or 30 miles, that should be enough). The soviets will cross the river for sure (red circle)...we will see if I can push them back

[olivier34]

Here is the XX corps of the 9th army...some corps in the north are in this shape.[:(] I withdraw them, put them into the order of OKH and in refit...we will see if they can recover a bit.

[olivier34]

T85 blizzard
They crossed the river ! Alarm !
But now I will counter attack. Two corps of The 4th army (Three panzer div, maybe 300 tanks) will have this honor [:D]
I see that two soviet arty divisions did help in the attack of the 2nd guard army.

[olivier34]

I felt a little stressed when I did launch the attack . Glad to see that the soviets did not hold but had to retreat. But they retreated in a good order, losing only 180 guns !

[olivier34]

My new front line

[olivier34]

north

[olivier34]

T86 blizzard and only a few attacks...what does it mean ? Some supply problems ?
Another counter attack

[olivier34]

T87 blizzard
The 17th army has taken position around Cherkassi. The 2nd panzer is now a little south and the 1st panzer north of the second army where things get a little bad.

[olivier34]

One counter attack but the fact is that I have again to withdraw...[&:]. Things are getting worse and worse.

[olivier34]

Here is the south by mid february 1943

[olivier34]

Turn 88 Blizzard and a huge soviet offensive down south [X(] and the first surrounded axis troops !

[olivier34]

it looks bad ! Who will inform Hitler ??

[olivier34]

Here are the losses. I can't finish this turn this evening. I need some more time to decide what to do. Maybe I should ask for peace...

[asdicus]

Very much enjoying your excellent aar. Thank-you for taking the time to write it. Please do not give up the campaign now. Far too many of these games stop by 1942/43. As an undecided game purchaser I would really like to see how the germans fight the might of the red army in 1943-1945. Defending against heavy odds is a fun challenge - ask any early war allied or late war japanese player in war in the pacific. Also by fighting on you would be doing the developers a great service to see if there are any late game bugs yet to be discovered.

[olivier34]

Thanks Asdicus and you are right, most of the AARs did stop before the really end of the game. I have to check but it seems that I am the only AAR about an axis player who did not do a good 41 campaing and who did suffer a severe soviet winter counter attack. I know how this game will end...the soviets in Berlin in 44 (january or decembre ? [:D])...but I would like to see a huge tank battle during the summer 43! not near Koursk, probably west of it ! [;)] It seems that I have the manpower and the armements but the problem is the morale of most of my units. A stack of my best units could do a whole in the soviet front line but how to exploit it ? My forward motorised units will be for sure pushed back or even surrounded by my cleaver opponent.

[olivier34]

T88. After a good night of sleep, I decided that I would withdraw ![8D]
The 17th army has been hurt badly

[olivier34]

I don't have enough AP to fire all those incompetent general. Lucky they are