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

[george1972]

The following map shows the disposition of "forces" on the German side (if you can still call them that).

[george1972]

Instead of withdrawing behind the Dniepr as ordered, the hot-headed Field-Marshal in command of AG South sees an opportunity to exact revenge and orders his forces to launch a full-scale assault towards Kharkov with the aim of utterly destroying the Russian forces opposing him.

He nearly managed to pull it off, but at least the picture taken of him before the great tractor works flying the German Flag will be a great collector's item after the war.

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, saved from a German concentration camp by advancing Russian troops in September 1944, would later make the infamous comment that "this operation made the Charge of Light Brigade look like a sensible military exercise".

[seille]

Russian turn 58.

First the production:

Increased the fighter output after the unexpected losses in the last turn.
I have to calculate with my disadvantage in fighter tech. As long as i can´t
engage the german fighters they remain a threat.

[seille]

The north.

A good place to be for the russian footsoldiers.
They are very successful. The complete german defense
was knocked out and Warsaw was captured.
The germans now feel what it means to fight with infantry
only against attack forces with massive air and artillery support.

[seille]

The south.

Near Kharkov i flew some successful air attacks
and rebuild my defense line.
If the germans decide to continue their attacks
they´ll become the nuts in my nutcracker since my
southern "jaw" (Stalingrad front) is already very close
and i have massive air assets in range.

My Baku front smashed thru the Kerch Straight destroying any
opposition in their way. But even they had a awesome
artillery and air support the attackers lost about 50% of the infantry
participating in the attack.
Now nothing can stop the Baku front. Sevastopol will be free soon.....

[george1972]

Germany, Turn 59, August 25, 1944

The front line is now deflating rapidly like a leaky balloon. All troops are now racing towards the South West in order to find refuge in Romania.

[george1972]

In the West, the retreating forces head South.

[george1972]

In the Ukraine they head West... some stragglers will undoubtedly be caught by the pursuing Russians, but the bulk of my forces have a good chances of escaping unscathed.

[seille]

Russian turn 59 or the end of the Wehrmacht....

First the production:

[seille]

The north and center:

After the end of the two german army groups i wasn´t able to march to Berlin
which would be the logical target for these forces
Had to go south to clear the map and meet with my southern forces.
No german opposition ready to fight me now.

[seille]

The south:

After reoccupying the Crimea and Sevastopol my Baku front is on their way to enter Romania.

Near Kharkov the situation becomes critical for the holding germans.
I´m close to cut their last supply line, so they have to go back or die.
My forces will simply press them out of russia supported by the red air force
which is now very close to the front for max support.

A not very spectacular end, but the Wehrmacht is really finished.

[george1972]

Germany, Turn 60, September 14, 1944

My final turn and an anticlimactic one as well. Facing ever growing numbers of Russians and ever decreasing production I cannot do anything but run away... If only this game used some kind of manpower limit, things might have turned out differently [:D]

[george1972]

The situation on the Western edge of the map.

[george1972]

The Dniepr front shows my last attacks of game, blunting the spearhead trying to get behind my front. If such an attack was launched in force from Smolensk with target Kiev ten turns ago, a spectacular victory might have been achieved by the Russians, but now it's too little, too late.

Still, my counter-attacking forces will probably be slaughtered by Seille's air force which is (too) close by.

[seille]

Russian turn 60 (last turn)

The germans can´t longer inflict any higher losses on my side.
While i enjoy now a huge production base (bigger than prior to the war)
And it is still damaged. Warsaw is to 50% destroyed, Konigsberg nearly completely.
Same for Kharkov and Sevastopol.
With all these production facilities repaired i could send unarmed mens and would
still win....

[seille]

A last big screen showing how the front is melted away or better said the german territory [:D]

My forces are not longer to stop by Germany.
All they can do is blowing up bridges and trying to defend
in mountains or behind rivers. But with my actual forces
concentrated in the south and the german production (what´s left from)
i could eliminate any resistance by air and artillery attacks only.

German AG South was able to evade the pocket i was ready to close behind them,
but it was only the 60 turn time-limit that saved them. And the lack of levelbombers
on my side to destroy the key bridge in time [;)]
2 or 3 more turns and they would have gone the way AG Center and AG North
has gone a few turns ago.
But for now George did the best out of the situation and saved the lives of many
of his heroic fighters.

[seille]

I still don´t think this game end should be a draw or marginal german victory.
These victory conditions are a joke since without the map end at Warsaw i would be in Berlin
YET. Much faster than Russia was in reality. In addition the Wehrmacht is not longer existing.
The few units would die very fast without enough reenforcements.

Probably the first game that was ever played over the full rounds, so the victory
conditions were never a problem. For me they are simply not well configured.
The early fall of Warsaw was not honored. Same for the fact the Wehrmacht is nearly destroyed.
I can still feel the frustration when the game ended in this situation simply cause i did not
sit in Bucharest.
The facts are the Wehrmacht is not longer existing and Berlin is fallen or close to with AG North and Center
completely gone. I feel definitely like the winner even for 80% of the game this was not the case [;)]

[Smirfy]

Great AAR for the best Advanced tactics scenario which is worth the price of the game on its own. Perhaps someone will redo this scenario to include Berlin? Or better still, about time we had Advanced Tactics sequel[:)]
 
 

[seille]

There are several little bugs in the scenario which need a fix.
The victory conditions are another problem.
I have a little list of things i found [;)]
 
The weather changes always happen in turn xx player 1, the german.
Need to be random (player 1 or 2). A imbalance wich favors Germany.
 
I could do the needed changes, but i don´t want to do a mod xx of this scenario.
When i do these changes which would definitely improve the scenario i want to replace
the original scenario with, but actually no bigger game update is planned where this
reworked scenario could be included.
Sad thing, since there are really some bugs in the game. Maybe later.
However, it is and will be my favorite scenario, too. With or without bugs [:)]

[george1972]

I'm pretty busy this weekend, but I will submit a few posts analyzing the game later on.