The Fourth Republic AAR

[desert]

Turn 24 - 2/9/40

The Invasion of Denmark, now Phase 1 of Operation Typhoon, begins. Kiel falls after a short but bloody assault. The DB Legion can now participate in the second phase.

During a routine attack by the Germans, the 15 Inf Corps inexplicably collapsed and surrendered.

[desert]

Turn 25 - 2/16/40

FRANCE: The invasion of Spain is coming along well, though a corps and artillery brigade were forced out of a mountain pass and those that did not surrender found themselves cut off from supply.
 
Here are my losses for the last 25 turns:
 

 
The stack SE of Hamburg is not to be released until the enemy is vulnerable - the two elite tank corps there could really accomplish a lot with RBCs.
 
The former defenders of Kiel had a total of 1400 squads before surrendering.

ALLIES: The Germans reacted very violently. They broke my flank east of Hannover and crippled a leading cavalry unit SE of Kiel. An unrelated Italian attack also sent ended in victory for the enemy.
 

[desert]

Turn 26 - 2/23/40

FRANCE: Reinforcements - 200 Tu-2 bombers
 
Several opportunities to outflank and cut off the Germans present themselves.
 
Heavy fighting in Spain.
 
Turn burn prevented me from capitalizing on any gains. My air force was very ineffective this turn.

ALLIES: The vanguard, 2nd Guards Tank Corps, was soundly defeated by the Germans. The corp HQ's staff have all been captured or KIA. It's been operationally neutralized for the remainder of the offensive.
 
Another cavalry corps and artillery brigade crippled. And two other German victories.
 

[desert]

Turn 27 - 3/2/40

FRANCE: Bad news - all colonial units (mostly reconstituted) have been withdrawn.
 
I have encircled Hannover and trapped three corps therein.
 
Catastrophic destruction of 8 Inf Corps in Spain, though roughly half the BEF has been eliminated.

ALLIES: The collaborationist gendarmeries between my two "armies" was roughly ejected from its position.
 
Relief forces have reached Hannover, though their own position is also precarious.
 
German breakthrough S of Cologne.
 
The 1st Guards Tank Corps was forced to break its siege of Hannover, leaving a motorized corps isolated deep behind enemy lines. There is some comfort in knowing that the Germans suffered massive losses, including an entire cavalry corps (division?).
 

 

[desert]

Turn 29 - 3/16/40

FRANCE: Reinforcements - 23 Inf Corps, 4th Army; definitely Spain.
 
I'm fairly certain that I've already fixed the majority of Germany's armed forces NW of Berlin and back near the border. So I'm going to siege Hannover for a little while and then hook around the main German line and attack Berlin from the south. So Operation Typhoon is effectively over, next is Operation Jena.

ALLIES: Wow, the Spanish forced the surrender of an infantry corps and artillery brigade (the same one they destroyed only a couple of months ago).

[desert]

Turn 30 - 3/23/40

FRANCE: Reinforcements - 3rd Guards Tank Corps, for Operation Jena.
 
Hannover captured.
 
Over the next few turns each of my 5 armies will receive their very own Gendarmerie brigades.

ALLIES: The Greek army has activated.

[desert]

OH FUUUUUUU-



I overwrote the save! And I'd just taken Berlin too...

Depressing.

[Panama]

Stuff happens. [:(]

[freddie]

The only reason the guy is depressed is because he has a liverpool F.C. t-shirt on [:D]

Good AAR though

[desert]

Take Two
 

 
 
I replayed the scenario back up to Turn 32, which is where it was when I overwrote it. There are some minor differences. Well, compare the screenshots (remember that the old inventory sheet up there is from Turn 25). I was actually doing well and keeping casualties fairly low, but in the space of a few turns the Spanish destroyed an elite infantry corps and a cavalry corps, and the Germans (on a single turn) an infantry corps, an artillery brigade, an a Guards motorized corps. All of these units were in good shape, most of them dug in - in several cases they outnumbered the attackers - but whatever.
 

 
 

 

[desert]

Turn 33 - 4/13/40

FRANCE: Reinforcements - 2. Armee Gendarmeries & reconstituted 2 Cav Corps

Invasion of Poland (begins May 10) -

• Imperial Guard advances to Danzig and swings south to effect the encirclement of Poznan and begin the siege of Warsaw
• DB Legion fixes Polish army west of Poznan
• 1. Armee fixes Polish army west of Breslau and Lodz
• 5. Armee occupies Czechoslovakia (from end of April) before occupying Krakow and Southern Poland and besieging Lodz and Warsaw from the south

2. Armee immediately advances to contact in the Austrian Alps and further orders are dependent on the strength of the reaction from the Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian armies.
 
I tried to sink the Polish and Danish fleets to facilitate the eventual amphibious landing in Copenhagen, but it ended in catastrophe.
 
ALLIES: The BEF recaptured Barcelona.
 

[desert]

Turn 35 - 4/27/40

My incursion into Spain has not been successful, so I'll withdraw to the border for now.

The Romanians and Hungarians have responded with what I estimate to be 1/4-1/3 of their combined force.

The Poles have crossed the German border in some places as a deterrent; they have not engaged me.

The Greeks have mobilized.

A Soviet army has entered Finland. I will set up a chokepoint in the marshes and forests NE of Helsinki (Disclaimer: The Finns haven't activated yet though, so there's a fair chance that the Reds will steamroller me).

[desert]

Turn 36 - 5/4/40

FRANCE: The 5. Armee has noted a major Romanian presence S of Prague. They will be unable to participate in the invasion of Poland.
 
To simulate the invasion commencing on May 10, I waited until all the attacks had been calculated to begin. Okay, so maybe I started a day or two ahead of schedule. If the Poles had been behind their borders like they were supposed to, it would have worked out more accurately.

ALLIES: The Hungarians lose a corps.
 

[desert]

Turn 37 - 5/11/40

FRANCE: As you can see, the entire Polish army is surrounded and cut off from supply. Next turn my armor will take Warsaw.

A bit of trouble in the Alps.

Finland is ready.

[desert]

Turn 39 - 5/25/40

FRANCE: Poland surrendered. Allied supply dropped by 3. I forgot to mention that the penalty for Germany's surrender was 10 supply points.

Now for the master plan. Most of my men will keep doing their thing, while the Imperial Guard and 1. Armee plunge into the undefended nations to the south. The DB Legion will guard my flank against the Romanians and, to a lesser extent, Hungarians. Once they have surrendered, I can basically just pummel Italy into submission. At the same time, 1. Armee and the IG will deal with Bulgaria and Greece.

Finally, I'll be able to eliminate those pesky Spaniards. The last action of the year will probably be the siege of Gibraltar. I might consider an attempt to retake my colonies, but my current Sea Transport just isn't up to it. I'll need everything I can spare to deal with the Turks and Soviets anyway. And Yugoslavia is looking a lot like a raised dagger ready to cut into me from behind.

Oh, and then there's Norway and Sweden. And the Danes, reduced to Copenhagen. Well, not much I can do about them at the moment.

Allies: Soviets begin attacking in Finland. Where's the rest of the Finnish army?!

[desert]

Turn 40 - 6/1/40

FRANCE: I attacked Budapest and won.
 
I've surrounded some Romanian cavalry and an army headquarters.

ALLIES: Soviets took Varhaus.

[desert]

Turn 41 - 6/8/40

FRANCE: Reinforcements - the rest of the Finnish army.
 
I've surrounded at least half of the Romanian ground forces.

ALLIES: 22 Inf Corps surrenders near Barcelona.

[desert]

Turn 42 - 6/15/40

FRANCE: Haha, Yugoslavia declared war on me! Ok - this just simplifies matters. Also, Albania is on my side (they're providing valuable moral support).

ALLIES: The Yugoslav army is HOLY CRAP GIGANTIC.
 
The Soviets just performed a 2-hex airborne landing.
 
Spanish infantry killed an entrenched Gendarmerie unit while taking minimal casualties. Really, Spain? Really?
 

[desert]

Turn 43 - 6/22/40

FRANCE: Vast German Legion raised, to be sent to Spain. It will take at least a month to prepare and assemble this force.
 
The Bulgarians set up a large roadblock to discourage me from advancing toward Bucharest.
 
New Germany navy attacks Danish navy, fails because of enemy air support.

ALLIES: The Bulgarian roadblock is their whole army.
 
The primitive Danish destroyers did a fine job sinking the German heavy cruisers and battlecruisers.
 
2 Cav Corps basically destroyed.
 

[desert]

Turn 45 - 7/6/40

FRANCE: The Bulgarian army is sizeable and is in danger of cutting off the units in Romania. My troops are all-around too tired and repairs on the German and Polish rail networks have not been going well.
 
Once those Romanians in Czech territory surrender, I'll take the 5. Armee and split the enemy force right down the middle, isolating the Italian peninsula.

ALLIES: Swedish 1st Army activates.
 
Bulgarian, Spanish, and Yugoslav victories.