Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

[EwaldvonKleist]

Looks good for Axis I would say, especially if you can rescue most of 6th army, and Ibthink youncan.

[tm1]

Looks good for Axis I would say, especially if you can rescue most of 6th army, and Ibthink youncan.

Thanks @EwaldvonKleist

Well I hope I can save the Armee, however the manpower drain is huge, the units are mere shadows of there former selves.
I am enjoying the game, though its just the AI and since I am not the most skilled player, the AI is putting up a really good fight, which is fun to play against.

regards

[tm1]

Eastern Front
Situation Report Dec 17th Turn 5
AG North

Made small gains in the Leningrad sector after launching several assaults against Red Army positions, but with 18th Armee's severe shortage of manpower, overstretched lines and half the Armee tied down to guard duty, this is going to be a very slow slog to make a dent in the huge enemy numbers.
My units just cant pack any good punches to really push them back big distances, my Div's are facing a lot of Corps level opponents. it doesn't help that by breaking down units it overloads my Korps and Armee admin numbers.

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The situation on 16th Armee's front is somewhat better, together with 9th Armee slowing squeezing the defenders at Velikie Luki, trapped a couple of enemy units, The Demyansk Pocket is no longer in any danger and is pushing forward hoping to link up with 9th Armee.
I count at least 5 enemy HQ's in this sector if I can encircle these troops I might have some luck capturing quite a big number of POW's, the destruction of these enemy forces would free up a lot desperately needed troops for other weakened areas of the front line.
Terrain in this area combined with the weather makes it hard for the attacker but great for defending, lots of forests and wooded areas for the Reds to dig in.

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[tm1]

Situation Report: The Rzhev Salient
Eastern Front Dec 17th Turn 5
AG Centre

As 9th Armee continues its push forward to link up and encircle enemy formations on the right flank, 3rd Pz Armee facing the Moscow defenders finally manages to encircle a big force South of Rzhev itself, this will be a test as the Soviets have huge numbers of troops including a lot of Guards, we may not be able to hold the pocket.
South of the pocket both 3rd Pz and 4th Armee battle to hold the line, this sector is thin on numbers and the Div's are low on manpower also, some of these enemy units have twice the strength.
Again a lot of Guards here, a bleak picture which will be even bleaker once the summer weather hits.

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Down on the 2Pz Armee/ 2nd Armee sector things are worse, open terrain, greater numbers in manpower and armour, had some luck finishing off those trapped units which helps but the enemy just keeps sending more reinforcements and there back to the numbers they had.
There getting closer to Orel every turn, if they can break through here Army Group Centre could be in real trouble, Some pockets I had have been broken, I did expect it since a lot of units here are at regiment size.
Not much you can do when your facing a enemy at Div / Corps level.

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[tm1]

Situation Report : Stalingrad
Eastern Front Dec 17th Turn 5
Army Groups B / Don

Despite the constant attacks along The Axis Allied lines, The Hungarians and Italian troops hold ( more or less ) however The Romanians not so, getting a lot of routes as both 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies continue to come under heavy attack even with German support, there is just not enough troops to mount a proper defence in this sector, as from the screen shot you can see the massive amounts of Tank and Mech Corps in the rear areas ready to move forward and strike.
Again with open terrain it looks bad.

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This is the Russian Turn where they opened the pocket at Stalingrad

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South of Stalingrad 6th Armee supported by 4th Pz Armee falls back at a steady pace despite the heavy attacks, it looks like I can get the Armee out as the enemy has failed to take advantage on the left flank, they seem slow off the mark to move.
6th Armee is still very vulnerable as I have no one to cover that flank.
The good news for now is I have managed to get the Armee out of the city without losing a major unit ( Div's ) and hopefully I can get to a position where I can form a line, dig in for the mud season and hopefully rotate units out for rest and refit for the summer.

Some of the Inf are in terrible shape and while I can pull the Panzer's back a safe distance quickly it would mean leaving shattered Inf units to be cut off again and then destroyed.
So I'm using a staggered withdrawal each turn with front line units falling back behind there comrades and digging in , this stops the enemy from encircling the Armee, then the next turn the same rotating procedure,its a slow process as some units can only move 1 hex at a time due to truck shortages.
The plan is to fall back behind The Don and Donets Rivers and hope the mud season hits.

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[tm1]

Situation Report
Eastern Front : DEC 17th 1942 Turn 5
Army Group A

In The Caucasus heavy fighting continues with both sides launching attack and counterattacks, I manage to trap 2 enemy units including a Guards DIV but 1st Pz Armee's position is not good, large concentration's of enemy troops are moving into the stavropol region unopposed.
They could threaten 1 of 2 of the rail supply links to my troops at Stalingrad, as well as cuff off Army Group A's land linked supply lines if they can push up towards Rostov, my only escape route would be through The Kerch Straits and back into The Crimea.
Serious questions need to be answered by The Fuhrer about his over complex and foolhardy operation to capture major objectives with limited forces and overstretched lines, that quite possibly could end in disaster for The Ostheer and The Wehrmacht as a whole !

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On The Black Sea Front are not much better though we did capture the Port of Gelendzhik and destroy a couple of infiltrating enemy units, at least here we can match there troop numbers more or less but the terrain certainly favours the defenders
If I can capture Tuapse quickly I could have a chance of taking more territory along the coastline and come behind the enemy attacking 1st Pz Armee, it could force them back or at least stop there drive and give my Panzer's some breathing space.

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[tm1]

Eastern Front Turn 5
Supply / Production and Leaders

Overall the ground forces supply situation for the entire theatre is good, however both 6th Armee and 4th Pz Armee are desperately in of supplies and its only going to get worse until they both Armee's extricate themselves from the Stalingrad area.
Once I get them into into some sought of defensive line and the mud season hits and forces the enemy to stop there attacks, the low supply situation should ease.

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The truck situation is not as bad as I thought we are still way under a 100 thousand in repairs, unit numbers are fine also,across the board its not to bad except for manpower numbers, this is where I'm hurting bad and also AFV's, my Panzer's are so under strength in this area.

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Well guess its some kind of news for us as reports of 3 enemy Army Commanders have been killed in action, not certain if there replacements are of quality time will tell.

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[tm1]

Eastern Front Turn 5
Losses and OB report

Well the Red Army took some big losses both in attack and defence this turn with over a 1000 AFV's destroyed, however we didn't get off that lightly either losing over 200 ourselves.
Manpower losses for sides also quite high.

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Air losses, this is the one area where did do very well against the Red Air Force, but they can sustain these numbers we cannot.

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Russian OB figures look daunting, 4 to 1 in AFV's , 2 to 1 in manpower numbers, 3 to 1 in Artillery figures, this is going to be a hard slog.

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[tm1]

Situation Report; Turn 7
North Africa Dec 22nd 1942
Libya

Captured during Allied Turn 6

Benghazi has fallen, unable to slip through to the safety at El Agheila, 1 of the Fortress Brigade retreated into the city hoping to hold out however they were overrun by units of The British 10th Corps and surrendered, almost all 1600 men of the unit were captured as well as 3 AA Battalions that failed to leave the city earlier.

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While the battle at Benghazi was taking place The British armour of 30th Corps launched an attack against the defenders at EL Agheila but were thrown back with heavy losses by Axis Paratroops and Inf from the Italian XXI Corps supported by Artillery and German 88 Flak / AT guns, which caused heavy losses to British armour.

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Troops from The 80th ' La Spezia ' Airlanding Division counterattacking British Armour

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[tm1]

Situation Report : Dec 22nd 1942 Turn 7
North Africa
Southern Tunisia

Not much happening in terms of combat, the trapped French DIV attempts to try to find a way to escape while the rest of The Allied Forces try to find a way to manoeuvre around my lines.
I cant really do much damage to The French sitting in Mountains, so the could a battle of attrition, just wait till its so weak then destroy it.Also my own forces are to well dug in that if the AI attacks it will suffer heavy losses, the country is ideal for defence, I have to pick the right place to get a effective outcome.

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Move and countermove are the order of the day for now.

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Italian Inf dug in around Gafsa and North of Tozeur ready to stop any Allied move to rescue the trapped French division

[tm1]

Situation Report : Turn 7
North Africa Dec 22nd 1942
Northern Tunisia

The situation is different here, both sides launch attacks and counterattacks as The Allies try to relieve there trapped comrades, all to no avail, General Nehring gives the order and units of 5th Pz Armee including 10th Pz Division attack, the trapped British Armoured unit " Blade Force " is overrun and surrenders, we capture the entire tank force and all but 300 men who manage to escape there units destruction.

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Despite the loss of 23 Panzer's this is a heartening victory for us and a crushing blow for Western Propaganda efforts in the war against The Fatherland

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10th Panzer Division advances into battle against British armour

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[tm1]

Situation Report Turn 7
North Africa Dec 22nd 1942

Losses

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Ground Losses apart from the 3 AA units and fortress Brigade ( only show on the end of Allied turn then disappear start of Axis air turn ) my losses where really light, of course lost 23 Panzer's that did hurt a bit.
Note the losses screen I have lost 4 Tiger's during the campaign so far, though that is not a lot, all things considered would rather not have lost them, there is no manufacturing industry here so its not like I can produce replacements in North Africa, also all the captured equipment means nothing as you don't get use the stuff against there former owners.

SALE SALE
Going cheap 107 British Tanks, make me a offer !!!!, must sell by the end of May 1943.


Again in the air the Allies are just to strong and I am not really doing much attacking at all and I am still losing more planes every week.

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This really hurt also losing these AA units

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[EwaldvonKleist]

Looks good for Axis I would say, especially if you can rescue most of 6th army, and Ibthink youncan.

Thanks @EwaldvonKleist

Well I hope I can save the Armee, however the manpower drain is huge, the units are mere shadows of there former selves.
I am enjoying the game, though its just the AI and since I am not the most skilled player, the AI is putting up a really good fight, which is fun to play against.

regards

Strong attacks too. You are aware this is StB, not StMoscow?

I like your idea of WitW+WitE2 play. Too bad there is no low-effort way to get cross-effects between the two games.

[tm1]

Eastern Front
Situation Report: Dec 24th 1942 Turn 6
AG North

A breakthrough at Leningrad, a Infantry assault forces back the defenders and we breach there defence and cross The Neva River, also attacks towards Volkhov yield more success for our forces.
Still can't be to overjoyed the 3 stack mini salient which includes a Guards Cav Corps is concerning not to mention the huge amount of enemy units defending the river looks daunting to take on.
Some attacks further South have mixed results for us, Intel reports and recon photos indicate more enemy formations moving up towards the front. this includes a number of Guard units, I was hoping to find one spare Panzer Division to send to 18th Armee but there are none to spare, all are needed desperately in other sectors of the front line.

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The fight for The Demyansk and Velikie Luki continues as both sides launch attacks,we are having some success as we have managed to destroy 4 enemy units and trapped a few more of the enemy, but I am low on supplies, manpower and ammunition, the enemy gets stronger every week. The forces arrayed against me in this sector are formidable in numbers, again more are beginning to arrive, this will be a battle of attrition.

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[tm1]

Eastern Front
Situation Report : Dec 24th 1942 Turn 6
AG Centre: The Rzhev Salient

9th Armee continues its slow grind forward hoping to link up with 16th Armee, Soviet resistance is ferocious as they launch repeated counterattacks, meanwhile 3rd Pz Armee and 4th Armee face a massive wave of attacks, 3rd Pz's pocket holds.
The Russians are throwing waves of Inf against my defenders hoping sheer weight of numbers will overwhelm our positions, so far the line is holding.Still there are many fresh enemy units waiting in reserve to attacks, I have scarce few.

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Bloody fighting in the Orel sector as both 2nd Pz and 2nd Armee's fight to hold onto the city, again a relentless wave of Infantry hit the lines followed by Armour, 2nd Armee is close to collapsing, 2nd Pz is not much better.

Here also I have virtually no reserves with my Panzer units low in Pz numbers facing as many as 3 to 1 in enemy Tank Units.
Out in the open terrain my Inf DIV's are being smashed to bits. Morale is very low and troops are exhausted.

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[tm1]

Note I messed up and forgot screenshots for Army Group A and losses, Production and the rest.

Eastern Front
Situation Report: Dec 24th 1942
Army Groups B / Don

Once again The Soviets ( like in the North and Centre ) launch mass attacks, the line holds just ! recon photo show large Tank and Mech formations waiting behind the lines, I guess the enemy is attacking with Infantry for now then when we are to weak to resist they will then send there armour in to encircle and destroy my division remnants,we are managing to hold along the river but its just a matter of time now.
The Italians just cant match the manpower there facing , The Hungarians have some German support.
The Russians opened a gap in the line between the 8th Italian Army and The Romanian Armies and I have no reserves to send at all at this time.
One German Korps very under strength is all that stands between a collapse and breakthrough.

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At Stalingrad the withdrawal continues slowly, the good news is the Mech Corps remains trapped despite repeated attacks and our right flank is still clear of enemy troops. But there not far away and I think next turn will I while see make a attempt to cut me off from my escape route.
There is a growing number of my officers both senior and junior openly questioning High Commands leadership for not speaking up and opposing the plan before the Stalingrad debacle happened that almost caused the destruction of a entire German Armee.
Many feel betrayed that a case was not put forward to The Führer exposing the dangers of his Caucasus campaign of splitting the Army Group in two and there by weakening both forces.
Many units are now feeling demoralised from the constant forced retreat wandering whether they will survive.

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[tm1]

Situation Report
North Africa Turn 8 Dec 29th 1942
Libya:
As the bulk of The British 8th Army's Armour consolidates its position along our defence line preparing for further attacks against PanzerArmee Afrika , the question is do I have enough troops to hold them ? The Italian forces are low in manpower and equipment as are my German troops.
There is also the question of how to deal with Commonwealth Troops here supporting The British Armour, Intelligence reports that this is The NZ Motorised Division under the Command of Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg. This unit fought against us at El Alamein and proved a formidable opponent and could prove a thorn in my side if Montgomery attacks on two fronts.
To this end most of the fortifications have been heavily defended but I have held back two units in reserve just in case, my biggest worry is we can still be flanked as the fortifications are only built up so far across the landscape which gives the enemy just that opportunity to make such a move, whats in our favour is if they attack directly against our forts any breakthrough will be channelled through narrow corridors thanks also to natural defences along the Coast line.
As long as I don't get flanked The Allies have to try smash down my forts and then try to move between impassable terrain, this should present easy targets to counterattack.

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[tm1]

Situation Report
North Africa Dec 29th 1942 Turn 8
Southern Tunisia:

Still rather quiet here The French seem content to hold up in the Mountainous terrain hoping for rescue, there seems to be still some confusion on the Allied side about what to do about extricating there comrades from this situation.
Our lines are solid and the enemy does not really have the numbers here to break our lines, I am not going to use my Panzers to attack the trapped troops with no Inf support while there sitting on a mountain, I will lose Panzers which I need to preserve when things really start to happen.
I have scarce numbers of Panzer's now and need to not lose any in futile attacks and Intel reports that French forces are moving across The Tebessa Mountain range towards Pichon and possibly to cut my supply line at Sbeitla or maybe to try to capture the airfields at Kairouan. This not good news however for us The Italian XXX Corps has just arrived and will be sent North to counter the French push.

[tm1]

Situation Report
North Africa Dec 29th 1942 Turn 8
Northern Tunisia:

After the destruction of the British Armoured Brigade most of The Allied Armour pulled back to Tbessa and Thala not wanting suffer the same fate as there comrades,however French Inf and one US Armoured CC pushed on forward in the hope of rescuing the surrounded men, this turned out to be a fatal mistake once again for The Allies as 5th Pz Armee attacked and overran the trapped men of the 1st brigade 78th Inf Division then moved quickly to encircle the US Armoured unit.
The French Inf unable to open a path of escape for the beleaguered comrades,This is another blow to the enemy as Axis superior tactics and battle doctrine once again outmanoeuvre the enemy despite there overwhelming numbers.

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[tm1]

Situation Report
North Africa Dec 1942 Turn 8
Stats Reports:

This week Allied air attacks were less though they still made a fair effort to bomb supply lines particularly The Tunisian Capital, however it was not as bad as other weeks possibly the bad weather was a contributing factor here.

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The supply situation is still not good but some of the North African commands supply situation did improve, even Rommel's troops in Libya got some much needed deliveries of food, fuel and ammunition.

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Our losses were low this week, not one Panzer lost, a welcome report as we face a stronger enemy, the enemy lost over 5500 men at arms a heartening figure to view and a morale booster for the troops.

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Despite the defeats we inflict on the enemy there overall manpower still greatly outnumbers us.

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