George vs. Seille - A Russia 1941 AAR over 60 turns

[george1972]

Germany, Turn 45, November 19, 1943

Winter is exceptionally late this year and this gives the more mobile German forces some unforeseen chances this turn to try and stem the Russian advance. It turned out to be one of the, if not THE bloodiest turn in this game.

[george1972]

In the North, a gap in the Russian lines just begged to be exploited and so it was... Small and mobile armored units consisting of several tanks, a good deal of mortars, some infantry and a few trucks were utilized in a raid penetrating deep into the Russian lines and on to the prime target: the huge Russian artillery stacks that were hammering away at AG Center's Northern edge.

[george1972]

On AG South's fronts a little step back had to be taken, since the Russians still possessed a favorable tactical position and could launch concentric attacks. The retreat was used to bag a strong Russian unit heading for the Sea of Azov. Meanwhile the Luftwaffe grappled in full strength with the Red Air Force over control of the sky in the Donetz basin.

[george1972]

In the Kalmyk Steppe, the soil is drenched red with Russian blood as the victorious Romanians continue their offensive against the unfortunate Baku Front. Still, despite the good news, many units are nearing exhaustion after endless fighting against an opponent who doesn't seem willing to admit defeat. And OKH still cannot send any replacements their way.

In the Crimea, attempts to take Sevastopol are abandoned. The troops are exhausted and intelligence is unable to provide any encouraging information. Little did we know they were close to collapse...

[82ndtrooper]

really nice AAR's i enjoy reading them.

[seille]

Ohh, the russian strength is growing ?
Huh, and what about the german strength ?
Growing MUCH faster than mine [;)]
 
Turn will follow later this day.

[george1972]

This particular turn, you're right Seille [:D], but then, I had some catching up to do, as you remember... I'll do another forces overview after Seille's turn is posted.

[seille]

Yes George, a forces overview would be nice.
Most of the time i lost 250+ infantry per turn, often more than 300.
Plus the forces i lost in own attacks.
When you look now at your own ability to still doing hard attacks
and the damage you inflicted you´ll agree that at least in the south your position
is more than stable actually.
You inflicted high damage in most of the turns while i did in only 20-30% or less of my turns.
If this wouldn´t be true i would already sit in Berlin [:)]

[seille]

Russian turn 45, again very hard to look at for me even the game is over.
I feel all the pain again....
I think the bloodiest losses on my side after the both initial turns.
But i also see some mistakes i did and i won´t do again [;)]

First the production:

[seille]

The North.

After Georges hard attacks against my artillery i had to consolidate my front again.
Attacked and threw back two german units.
I try to force Germany to send reenforcements also to the north and center.
Unfortunately it seems my advance is stopped and i can´t take Minsk before the winter comes.

[seille]

The south.

There is only one word to describe the situation. MASSACRE.
My Baku front was removed from the map completely (not the first time,
but this time to nearly 100%) and i have to rebuild.
Hopefully my new strategy to keep some distance between my and the german
forces will work together with some air attacks.

The germans can actually replace their losses and i´m not able to inflict enough damage while
my forces are under constant punishment.
I hope to change this in spring when my planes can start their work. I´ll break the german
air superiority or die while trying [:D]

[george1972]

Another Forces overview after turn 45.

German infantry strength has dropped once more, compared to 5 turns ago. Another 16 percent gone. Only the Luftwaffe and the Panzerwaffe managed to increase their strength, but those increases are rather small.

The good news is, that Russian strength has actually decreased over these last five turns. The loss of Baku and the subsequent drop in Russian production is making itself felt. Also the wasteful management of the fighting in the South has caused considerable casualties.

The Red Air Force managed to keep itself on par with the Luftwaffe, thanks to my big blunder a few turns ago, otherwise things would have looked very rosy indeed. Nevertheless, my counter-attacks in last few turns managed to severely damage the Russian Tank and Artillery arm.

Still, looking at men on the ground, the Russians still outnumber my infantry 2 : 1 and my upgraded mortars are doing most of the killing now. If I could manage such a performance for another 5 turns and recapture some production as well, a stalemate is definitely in the works...

[seille]

Where do you see a 2:1 advantage in infantry my Russia?
 
I hope you do not calculate with staff since that are no active combat troops
And when i look at these numbers i see (together with the huge amount of german mortars)
a advantage for germany even a small one. (One mortar has the attack power of about 5 rifle when i remember right)
 
Beside this i see a very big advantage for Germany now looking at the tanks and artillery
and a slight one in divebombers. Fighters about 1:1 which is worrying for me too, since i destroyed so many
german fighters on the ground some turns ago. Without these success i would have been outnumbered here, too.
That´s what i read out of these numbers [;)]
 

[seille]

My forces are in big trouble yet. This is a fact.
But i did my part for with my bad defense in the south that costed me way too many troops.
And i think i moved my planes too late down to the south. 3-4 turns earlier would have been better.

[82ndtrooper]

seille, where are your siberian troops ?  does this sceanario not have them ?

[seille]

ORIGINAL: 82ndtrooper

seille, where are your siberian troops ?  does this sceanario not have them ?

They are dead mostly. The survivors are around Kharkov.
The siberians i got late 1941 and now we move into 1944.
A wonder some of them survived that long [;)]

[george1972]

I miscalculated indeed. Your infantry advantage is now 3 : 2. Strange how the numbers do not at all match my feelings at the time. After losing my air force on the ground, I thought the war was utterly lost and all that could follow was a swift defeat. Strange how emotions, instead of hard facts, color your judgment of the situation...

[seille]

Overall i have less power, George.
I had some really bad turns in a row now.

[george1972]

Germany, Turn 46, December 9 1943

As the frost sets in and the first winter storms arrive, OKH reviews the situation with some optimism. Although losses in the North were severe, the recent riposte by AG North and Center has brought the Russian push to a standstill.

In the South the Russian drive across the Donetz has been repulsed as well and the Romanian offensive met with great success.

Despite all this, the production deficit is still worrying, as Russia still possesses a production advantage of 130k versus Germany's 100k, and when discounting 25k for supply production on each side, the capacity for raising troops becomes 105k vs 75k or a 40% advantage.

[george1972]

In the North, AG North, rebuilt after its defeats, executes some limited attacks to push the Russians back from the Bug river.