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

[george1972]

I must concur with Seille on writing AAR's. To give you guys the "full flavor" of this match we had to add lots of details and this really takes a lot of time. On some turns in mid-game I had to work over 2 hours to make the reports. But then again, either you do it well, or don't do it all [:D]

I hope future game designers take AAR-writers into consideration and add some more functionality that helps writing one. Per-turn statistics for both sides and such would be a great help and save a lot of work. But then again, Vic probably has better things to do [:'(]

[hatemf90]

I have to ask what program do you use for the colored arrows/graphics and the text?

looks great [:)]

[EDGY]

Yes, this AAR has been informational, educational and an absolute joy to read throughout these last months! Again thanks for sharing it.[&o]  
After seeing such a bloodbath may I make one small request before it's over. Can you please post the total forces lost for each side after you post the last turn? I assume the numbers must be astronomical.

[Joshuatree]

Well it's not quite over yet... but this sure has been an outstanding AAR. Thanks for the effort you guys have taken so far.
 
(I was so sure George would take Stalingrad *and* hold Baku....)

[george1972]

ORIGINAL: hatemf90

I have to ask what program do you use for the colored arrows/graphics and the text?

looks great [:)]

I think this has come up earlier in the AAR, but I use Adobe Photoshop for my screens, while Seille uses Paint Shop Pro. The "explosion" graphic is just a standard graphics that comes with the program where I added a little "stroke" effect with some opacity.

The text also has a "stroke" effect added to it to make it appear to "stand out" of the background.

The arrows I created with the standard line tool in Photoshop, with a fixed-size arrow head and again a small "stroke" added to create the colored borders around it. If interested, PM me for a copy of a PSD file with all the layers intact.

[george1972]

Germany, Turn 55, June 6 1944

Eastern Poland is in total chaos as Russian tanks roam the country side unchallenged and German troop movements get swallowed either by Russian units or huge columns of refugees heading West.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel in the West, every available man is sent East in order to restore the front-line to something that at least resembles a line.

And it is just at this moment that the Western Allies decide to launch the biggest amphibious operation in history. Wading through the surf towards the shoreline, sprayed by machinegun and mortar fire, the Allied soldiers manage to carve out a foothold in Normandy. The only thing they don't know yet, is that they only need to break through the paper-thin German defenses and the road will be open all the way to Berlin...

[george1972]

The maps speak for themselves...

[george1972]

AG South executes a 180 degree turn of its front. Still commanding almost a million men, this maneuver would end up in the history books as one of the most impressive operational re-deployments of the Second World War.

(Since there are no battles to talk about, German propaganda has to dig very deep to bring comforting news to the home front [:D])

[seille]

ORIGINAL: EDGY

Can you please post the total forces lost for each side after you post the last turn? I assume the numbers must be astronomical.

I can promise we´ll post detailled statistics after the AAR is finished.
We both like the statistics and we´ll present you the numbers.

[henri51]

ORIGINAL: george1972

I must concur with Seille on writing AAR's. To give you guys the "full flavor" of this match we had to add lots of details and this really takes a lot of time. On some turns in mid-game I had to work over 2 hours to make the reports. But then again, either you do it well, or don't do it all [:D]

For my part I could be satisfied with an AAR having fewer maps (not to denigrate this great effort). An all-text AAR with an occasional map to illustrate important points or for those who don't know where Smolensk or Veronezh is could be sufficient as far as I am concerned. After all, I and others used to write AARs on the internet newsgroups without any maps at all...

After all, the story is the important thing, and interesting biographies like those of Manstein, Guderian and Von Luck hardly have any maps at all, but it still interesting to read about the battles.

So by all means put in maps if you have the time, but if you don't have time, just the narrative is better than nothing at all. [:D]

Henri

[AZKGungHo]

I have to say that I disagree on the maps issue. The way you two have done the maps, putting text on them, arrows, etc. has been FANTASTIC!  It's really helped and many times all I did was read the maps and skim your text, the maps have it all!

HOpe to see more!

[EDGY]

Yes, I agree also, that the maps are as necessary as the narrative to telling the story. The statistics every 5 turns was an AWESOME idea! Truly, icing on the cake.
All this PLUS the epic battle!
I think this AAR has raised the bar considerably.
All "text only" AAR's will certainly pale by comparison.
 

[82ndtrooper]

this has been a real pleasure to read and follow.
 
I hope germany can regroup and hold on !!!

[Jeffrey H.]

One thing I continually have asked myself during this AAR is "how did they get 60+ turns out of this game". It's really amazing to me that even at this late stage, I'm still wondering how the game doesn't simply collapse each turn.

[seille]

Sorry for the delay guys.
Had a busy week and wasn´t able to post my new turn.
I´ll post the next tomorrow.
 
 

[seille]

Ok, here is finally my turn 55 starting with production.

[seille]

The northern fronts:

I´m on a good way to destroy both army groups.
The survivors of AG North are cutted off in Königsberg and will
be dead or prisoners very soon.
Warsaw is nearly helpless after i crushed the most of the defense line
behind the Bug. Now the way is free to roll south.

[seille]

The south.

A german front is not longer existing. Mostly they run away
faster than i can follow....
I´m on my way to recapture the crimea and also Kharkov.

Funny: After many attacks at Maikop it was a small partisan unit that captured
the city at the start of the german turn.

[seille]

As you see on the pics i have a very strong air force now.
And not to forget a nice artillery support especially in the north.
Now i enjoy these bonus the germans had for years....

[82ndtrooper]

This AAR thread really shows how good this game is.
 
just a few turns ago the germans where advancing with a strong army and now they are in full retreat.
 
well played by both sides.