The Fourth Republic AAR

[Fungwu]

Just for fun I rewrote your battle plans. The main difference is much less emphasis on the flanks, Leningrad and the Crimea are cut out for more emphasis on Moscow. The attack into turkey is reduced to taking the isthmus and then sending the balance to reinforce the invasion of Ukraine. The nature of the north and middle army groups' attacks put the maximum effort on fewer paths and makes the two groups more converging and less diverging.

What can I say? I like drawing arrows on maps.

[desert]

I already have numerical superiority, so the extra troops from Turkey are not needed. It'll take too long to extract and transfer them anyway. Taking Ankara would be much more useful, as hundreds of thousands of enemy troops would simply surrender. Leningrad is Finland's job. Crimea I guess I can skip, I'm pretty sure Sevastopol is heavily garrisoned anyway. There isn't as much divergence as you think, just a few corps here and there to hem in the Soviets and keep my supply line open. There should still be at least two full armies to take the fight to Stalin's doorstep, all things accounted for. For example, I have a sneaking suspicion that several Soviet armies will pop up by event at the most inopportune time, so I can't afford to have my flanks too vulnerable. Well, we'll see.

[desert]

Namely, the 5th and 9-13th Soviet armies. They're a very disturbing gap in the Allied OOB.
 
I've also forgotten to mention that the Soviets will begin to receive large numbers of Irregular, Mounted Rifle Early, and Light Rifle squads, 1600 a turn in total. Also, hundreds of Medium MGs, Ba-64s, T-34s, Sexton and Priest SPGs,
 
Typhoon replacements need to be fixed, it's T104-100 right now.

[desert]

Turn 116 - 11/15/40

The war begins, but the exclusion zone does not come down.

OH hell, and the Soviets just got their missing armies and 16 air units.

[desert]

Turn 117 - 11/22/40
 
FRANCE: France initiates a draft. Replacements go up 20%. The French 6. Armee is formed, becomes part of AGN. Every Puppet Legion gets at least one shell unit with literally no equipment. These will drain almost all of my replacements and slow down the offensive somewhat.
 
Operation Phillippe Auguste postponed by one week.
 
The Finns attack Leningrad but fail and suffer enormous losses.
 
Operation L'Orient begins. New French armor proves highly effective against Soviet-made tanks. Casualty figures are double those from the failed attack on Leningrad, but a third of the Turkish 1st Army has been destroyed.
 
ALLIES: Turkish counterattacks fail miserably.
 
Soviets do something.

[desert]

Turn 118 - 11/29/40

FRANCE: Americans help the Allies, who receive a 5% boost in replacements.

Turks leave Istanbul practically undefended. I capture it and advance tentatively into Asia. However, a Turkish army smashes the vanguard and forces the surrender of the Bulgarian 1 IC.

A Soviet army cut off in Leningrad by the Finns. The siege begins.

Last turn the Soviets and British instantly received 4 full stacks of backlogged reconstitutions.

Soviet 2nd & 7th Armies in Eastern Prussia.

Soviet 6th Army around Pinsk. It attacks 5 Mech Corps NE of Brest, leaving it in tatters (though it refused to budge).

In the Ukraine, the Soviets have mostly pulled back, leaving delaying forces in key locations, notably the exact axis of advance the Imperial Guard was going to take. I'm forced to assault their positions in Lasj.

ALLIES: 4 Mech Corps SE of Mogilev surrounded by an army.
 
 

[desert]

Turn 120 - 12/13/40

FRANCE: My original plan involved quickly penetrating enemy lines and then advancing all the way to Moscow with armor while infantry whittled down the Soviet armies. Now, there are enemy units all over the place and I'll have to slug through huge enemy concentrations and exploit gaps in-width. I'm losing more men a turn than I can replace in two though, and in the air it's parity at best.
 
The Turks are defending in-depth with fullstacks, but I'll push through no matter what the cost. If I have to sacrifice the entire Bulgarian and Italian allied force, so be it. [:'(] And there's a breakthrough!
 
Most of British 2nd Colonial Army destroyed. Well, sort of. They're putting up a tremendous fight and killing many men.
 
Soviet units are slipping past the undefended Polish border.
 
Pending Encirclements - Memel Pocket, Pinsk Pocket, Rovno Pocket, Mogilev-Chisinau Pocket

ALLIES: The British landed in Mersuh Matruh and counter-surrounded the 25 IC.
 
Turks nearly succeed in cutting off my bridgehead.
 
 
 

 

[desert]

Turn 122 - 12/27/41 (It's 1941, sorry) 

FRANCE: I've surrounded a good deal of enemy units - or it would be a good deal, at least, if I were fighting Germany. The problem is, I'm taking so long with the encirclements that my intentions are telegraphed right to Elmer. And so, he's pulling back everything to avoid losing whole armies.
 
The Bulgarian 1 IC reconstituted.
 
The Americans have joined the Allies. 10 Supply for them.
 
The first batch of jets, 300 in total, has arrived. So far it is impossible to make an accurate assessment of their efficaciousness.
 
Soviet troops are pouring into Finland. The Siege of Leningrad has been broken and the Finns do not have nearly enough troops to do anything about it. As things stand, I'm in danger of losing 3 corps and being completely overrun. It's a good thing the Scandinavians are mostly keeping to themselves.
 
2/3 of Soviet 7th Army in Northern Lithuania around Siauliai.
 
Odessa Pocket liquidated at high cost. Memel Pocket liquidated. Chisinau Pocket almost liquidated at high cost. Rovno Pocket on its way to liquidation, but initial losses higher than those of the enemy.
 
ALLIES: The Soviets cripple a Guards mot corps in their successful breakout attempt. It is reduced to 1/3 strength.
 
The 3 Finnish corps on the Russian side of Leningrad are at serious risk of being cut off.
 

 

 

[desert]

Turn 124 - 1/10/42

FRANCE: I got my long-range rockets last turn. They churn up enemy airfields fairly well.
 
Crazy situation in Egypt. For a couple of turns most of my men were out of supply, but things are under control now.
 
A lot of tanks coming up into Finland. Communiques from 3 IC, 7 IC, and 1 Cav Corps indicate that if they are unable to make it back to the border within two weeks they will surrender to the Soviet 4th Army.
 
10% of my jet fighters have been shot down in the last 3 weeks.
 
Soviet fullstack in Siauliai and British forces SE of Baranovitch cut off.
 
I just bagged a whole army's worth of Soviets in the Ukraine, something along the lines of 13 or 14 corps (including an armored corps). 5255 squads, 431 tanks in 2/3 of the pocket.
 
Pinsk-Rovno pocket cleared.
 
I've got a good foothold in Turkey now. Bilecek captured.
 
Soviets seem to be forming a new line behind the Dnieper.

ALLIES: Swedish army moving north.
 

 

 

 

 
 

[desert]

Turn 126 - 1/24/42

FRANCE: I do believe the Soviets have commited all their immediate reserves.
 
Due to Finland's dire situation, the Emperor has authorized the transfer of two infantry corps and a pioneer brigade to that theater.
 
There's a very deep salient around Baranovitch, gouging into Eastern Poland. The Soviet position is incredibly vulnerable to counterattack; however, so is mine. A strong thrust south from Vilnius could easily mean destruction for four corps.
 
The assault on Ankara itself begins. The Turks abandon it without much of a fight.

ALLIES: A motorized corps roughs up the 3rd Guards Tank Corps.

Successful breakout by a good chunk of the surrounded Soviets in Eastern Poland.
 
28 IC overrun SE of Vilnius.
 

 

 

 

[desert]

Turn 129 - 2/14/42

FRANCE: Reinforcements - Reconstituted 28 IC and Vlasov's Army; it's only two corps though.


[blockquote]
                    More than enough to defeat the Soviets[/blockquote]
El Alamein surrounded, the British 1st Colonial Army is trapped within. Once I've cleared it Egypt will be defenseless.

I have a real situation on my hands up in Finland.

ALLIES: Attack from Leningrad into the Karelian Isthmus was barely stopped. Nearly all the defenders were dislodged.

The Soviets have breached AGN's line in several places.

[Panama]

Nice AAR. Been following from the beginning. Both of them. Uhm...that is his hat, right?

[desert]

ORIGINAL:  Panama
Nice AAR. Been following from the beginning. Both of them. Uhm...that is his hat, right?

Both of them?

No, it's his Russfro. [;)]

Turn 132 - 3/7/42

FRANCE: I got another 20% replacements boost and 5 supply from Iraqi oil fields. American participation raises Allied supply by 15, marking the first time in more than a year-and-a-half that my supply was inferior to the enemy's.

The Soviets have been getting their new "big" tanks: SU-122 and SU-152 SPGs, IS-2s. There are only a few dozen at the moment, but it seems as if every Soviet unit has at least one.

Vilnius is surrounded. Minsk is close to being surrounded.

The Soviet 12th Army is giving me trouble in the Caucasus.

Finnish front has stabilized.

Batoumi captured.

ALLIES: USSR loses corps in terrible defeat in Finland.

My bridgehead over the Dvina was dislodged from its position. The Soviets achieved this at the expense of 2/3 of their local air support.

[desert]

Turn 135 - 3/28/42

FRANCE: My heavy armor investment has paid off. I received two slightly beefed-up tank corps and three AT brigades with 80 StuGes apiece. They're too large to rail in all at once, so I'll have them cool their heels around Bryansk for a few turns before I introduce them into the Battle of Moscow. I'll try to eliminate one of the surrounding garrisons so I can just pile armor into the breach and attack the VP hex itself.
Before that, though, I need to fully secure the Smolensk-Vitebsk Corridor to prevent flank trouble.
 
The Soviets got two fresh armies this turn; one of them is the 1st Guards Army.
 
The Siege of El Alamein ends in victory.
 
Dniepropetrovsk captured.

ALLIES: Oh, boy.
 
The British lost an air unit and several hundred planes in the only significant attack, a Soviet armored thrust.
 

 

 

[desert]

Turn 138 - 4/18/42

FRANCE: US volunteers and Lend-Lease raise Allied replacements by 25% and supply by 10 points. Their shipping increased too, but that's neither here nor there. The Soviets are just too strong in front of Moscow, so I have to try an indirect approach. AGN is by now meeting only weak resistance.
 
AGS units are close to linking up with AGC's southern flank.

ALLIES: Ugh.
 

 

 

[desert]

Turn 139 - 4/25/42

Voronezh Pocket formed.
 
Battle of Toula - this is the biggest armored battle of the war; it involves 3 armored corps, 3 infantry corps, an artillery brigade, and some long-range rockets against the Soviets' 4 armored divisions, motorized corps, and 3 mechanized corps; the refusal to participate by the allied Romanian and Spanish armor resulted in heavy French casualties (629 squads, 76 tanks, 37 armored cars, and 58 planes) and the commander called for a tactical withdrawal before the very last enemy bastions; Soviet losses were enormous - 2327 squads, 706 tanks (80 heavy/SPG), 187 armored cars, and 77 planes; all in all, 1836 French AFVs and 1121 Soviet AFVs were present at this battle; the enemy counterattack routed a heavy tank corps just as its constituents were reassembling after the aborted assault

[desert]

Turn 140 - 5/2/42
 
FRANCE: French women tapped as industrial workers, replacements go up again. I can't figure the exact percentage, but replacements are now nearly 200% of the original.
 
Soviets get 3 armies.
 
Alexandria falls.

[desert]

Turn 142 - 5/16/42 

Reinforcements - I've gotten another shipment of 300 jets
 
All British colonial forces surrender, so all Egyptian VPs are mine now. 3. Armee will immediately return to France for leave and then prepare for amphibious operations in Norway, Sweden, and eventually the British Isles.
 
Leningrad has finally been cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union.
 
I think I'll approach Moscow from the north and northwest now, which has the added bonus of blocking all the reconstituted units from reinforcing the defenders.
 
Battle of Rzhev - 515 squads, 33 aircraft, and 40 tanks (including 12 AMX-13s) lost, but the pocket of 877 squads and 400 tanks (including a dozen IS-2s) was liquidated
 
Tbilisi captured. Tambov captured.  
 

[1_Lzard]

Great read, Desert!

Get Some!

[desert]

ORIGINAL: 1_Lzard
 
Great read, Desert!

Get Some!

 
I appreciate the support! Too bad I stink at battles of maneuver, eh? 30 weeks into the war, and I'm still nowhere near surrounding Moscow.

 
Turn 145 - 6/6/42 

Battle of Leningrad - the city center is all that's left by now, though two Dutch-Belgian corps were lost in the process; 1709 squads, 79 tanks, and 45 bombers for 2746 squads and 57 tanks