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RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:49 pm
by 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.

RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:05 pm
by 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.
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:12 pm
by 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.
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:25 pm
by 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.
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 10:17 pm
by 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.
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:00 am
by 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.

RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:11 am
by 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.



RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:22 am
by 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.



RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:27 pm
by 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.




RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:37 am
by 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.




RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:30 pm
by 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.

RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:41 pm
by Panama
Nice AAR. Been following from the beginning. Both of them. Uhm...that is his hat, right?
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:32 pm
by 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.

RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:49 am
by 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.



RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 4:04 am
by 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.



RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 4:37 am
by 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
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:35 am
by 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.
RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:53 pm
by 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.

RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:07 am
by 1_Lzard
Great read, Desert!
Get Some!


RE: The Fourth Republic AAR
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:18 pm
by 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