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Turn 43 Army Group South

As you may know I've been appointed interim South Commander while thedude357 enjoys a well-earned rest in Italy and prepares for Operation Treppenwitz. We want our best commanders as fit as humanly possible for the historic campaign ahead.

My duty this turn was basically to organize our forces both in Crimea and East Ukraine so that they are ready in case we see a sudden improve in weather conditions. This will assure our summer offensive preliminaries get underway at the earliest. In the Eastern Front, striking early means striking twice.

With that in mind, 11th Army is all but ready for a spring assault on fortress city (now mud city) Sevastopol. Model, Kuechler and Weichs have been granted ten full german infantry divisions plus an airlanding division for the imminent task. There is talk in the Führer's circle about Model being a genius of siege warfare and the other commanders can't wait to see him prove his reputation. The faster Sevastopol can be taken, the faster 11th Army can be sent to reinforce the front.



Regarding the rest of the southern area of Army Group A, it's also organisational duty. 1st Panzer Army is moved towards its start point for summer and airdropped tons of fuel. Some former 11th Army units are reassigned to 6th army, while 1st Rumanian Army near Rostov is shuffled so it stops being mixed with everyone else. Here and there, units are moved back to refit and gain full morale.

Turn 43 Army group North

Weiss continues to expand the Msta bridgehead. 10th pz div joins 6th pz and 60th mot for the attack after transfering from Finland.
Again the Soviet CV collapses in mud dispite Vatutin's leadership.

Turn 43 15-April-1942 Air



Just like last turn our reconnaisance finds their fighters and fighter bombers east of the Don are not providing any interceptor cover, so our bombers bomb them in daylight unescorted and unintercepted yet again. They are not flying even when they are not in swamps! (We have since been told by our opponents this was due to an interface misunderstanding in v1.11.02)



We have noticed for many turns how weak their interceptors have been near Gorky. So this turn we risk a direct attack on their airbase with spectacular results. With no Soviet fighters left willing to intercept us we have all the skies to ourselves



Although our level bomber force at the moment is almost exclusively Heinkels a few old Dorniers in withdrawing airgroups make an appearance.

Turn 43 15-April-1942 Economic

We have spent the winter occasionally topping up the damage levels on the industry at Rybinsk. With the start of an expanding T-70 factory at Gorky we have been choking its expansion. But now with winter finally easing up and much of the bomber force back from reserve and active it is time to start expanding the target list again. It is the start of the

[center]1942 STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN[/center]

Now we are on v1.11.02 we are having to build up larger damage totals at the Gorky T70 factory to prevent its expansion. This turn we saw the factory had expanded - something it would not have been able to do until v1.11.01. But even without enemy interceptors to interrupt us it is slow work in the mud. However this turn we begin to bomb manpower centres as well

[center][/center]

Similarly the short range Rumanian level bombers we have in the Crimea bombing the Caucasus are finding it slow work to build up damage levels.

Operation National Garden: The Reprise

"The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Clearly beender's modesty is why they are pretending to not love mud

[center][/center]

It is cover for the truly amazing achievement of capturing a bridgehead over the Don again, this time in mud, having lost the first one in a bitterly fought snow campaign. But with ice levels now down to 8 there really never can never be another chance to do this again before summer.

[center][/center]

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
But with ice levels now down to 8 there really never can never be another chance to do this again before summer.

Never can never? Is that a double negative? Or were you thinking more like "never say never" [;)]

Turn 43 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 43.

Turn 43: Soviet civil war breaks out

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
It is in the Gulag.

Rumour has it 3 was put on a sealed train through Germany and sheparded to the Soviet Union to cause chaos there. However the government of Germany vehementaly denies any such train existed. Everybody on the train denies it too. And so does chaos.

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Henceforth, the quantity of (one more than two) shall not be used, mentioned, or otherwise employed.
No more troikas, trios, or triumvirates. All planes with (one more than two) engines are grounded.

If only it had stayed there!

ORIGINAL: Zorch
All hail the victorious Red Army!
In other news, the number '3' has been rehabilitated in the Motherland's great hour of need and assigned to a punishment battalion.

Pandora's box has been opened.

We are told our opponents four man team has gone down to three - and a vigorous debate has opened up on whether to carry on as a three man team or with four. So we are asked to wait until it is resolved. The Fuhrer is not pleased - the Soviet Union is supposed to be fighting us and not each other!

Heheh

This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations of turn 43

I have seen this repeatedly, what is the reason that it isn't uploaded immediately?

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 43: Soviet civil war breaks out

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
It is in the Gulag.

Rumour has it 3 was put on a sealed train through Germany and sheparded to the Soviet Union to cause chaos there. However the government of Germany vehementaly denies any such train existed. Everybody on the train denies it too. And so does chaos.

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Henceforth, the quantity of (one more than two) shall not be used, mentioned, or otherwise employed.
No more troikas, trios, or triumvirates. All planes with (one more than two) engines are grounded.

If only it had stayed there!

ORIGINAL: Zorch
All hail the victorious Red Army!
In other news, the number '3' has been rehabilitated in the Motherland's great hour of need and assigned to a punishment battalion.

Pandora's box has been opened.

We are told our opponents four man team has gone down to three - and a vigorous debate has opened up on whether to carry on as a three man team or with four. So we are asked to wait until it is resolved. The Fuhrer is not pleased - the Soviet Union is supposed to be fighting us and not each other!

Que 'Downfall' clip of your choice.

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist

Heheh

This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations

I have seen this repeatedly, what is the reason that it isn't uploaded immediately?

Originally as the AAR was too close to the turn we were playing - but that is no longer a problem.

Now more because it is a very boring document and only suitable for nerdy people who like to study matches - people like me for instance [:D] So by inserting it later it does not interrupt the flow for the casual reader. It is only meant for those who want to read back on the details later.

Turn 44: Soviet civil war ends

It is official - the triumvaratists have won the brief Soviet civil war and the Quadriumvaratists have been banished. We know who is to blame however. Zorch! [:D]

Beyond being told the Soviet side will carry on as a three man team and that the separation between Supreme and ground commands will continue we are not told what is the new Soviet line up. So Axis ground commanders will no longer know who is the main commander in charge of the forces in front of them.

Now the Soviet team can finally get back to fighting the war with us - and eventually we get turn 44 back!

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 44: Soviet civil war ends

It is official - the triumvaratists have won the brief Soviet civil war and the Quadriumvaratists have been banished. We know who is to blame however. Zorch! [:D]

Beyond being told the Soviet side will carry on as a three man team and that the separation between Supreme and ground commands will continue we are not told what is the new Soviet line up. So Axis ground commanders will no longer know who is the main commander in charge of the forces in front of them.

Now the Soviet team can finally get back to fighting the war with us - and eventually we get turn 44 back!

We understand that Zhukov's tanks steamrolled their way into the Kremlin to persuade Stalin of the necessity for a prompt decision. After which a {number of rats left the sinking ship} the Red Army punishment battalions were augmented.

Turn 44 Army Group Centre

Little is really worth reporting as mud goes on and on and on...We do have a weather forecast that in North Soviet it will be blizzard next turn, which is worse than mud[&o] Anyway, this turn concludes my short experience as commander of Army Group Center[:D] Now that we come to think of it, one of the reasons that the Soviet-German continued for four years was probably that the season suitable for fighting is so short in Soviet, only about three months. Otherwise the intensive fight would probably soon have exhausted both sides...

Turn 44 Army Group South

Things still quiet down muddy South while organisational duty gets everything into place. No combat this week but another infantry division (for a total of 11 plus an Airborne Division plus a full 21 pioneer battalions) gets silently railed into Crimea for the imminent assault of fortress city by 11th Army, which should officially set the fireworks to get Treppenwitz under way.



Meanwhile, in a forest near Kursk we see a rare partisan attack at the dead end of a secondary railway that causes no inconvenience. The occupation must be a success if this is everything they can muster. In the muddy plains of Army Group A, Rumanian forces of 1st and 4th armies are once again rearranged so they stop overlapping with German units.



Oh, and thedude357 will be back next week from his well deserved rest in allied Italy.

ORIGINAL: leverkuhn

Turn 44 Army Group South

Oh, and thedude357 will be back next week from his well deserved rest in allied Italy.

Will he get a spaghetti bonus when commanding Italian units?

Turn 44 22-April-1942 Economic



With no red air force to oppose us we go into overdrive bombing industry along the Volga. The T70 factory at Gorky reaches damage levels in the 40s - and this last turn failed to expand. And closer to the front lines we are bombing more and more manpower

In the Caucasus Rumanian tac bombers join in on the raids by the Crimean based Rumanian level bombers on the heavy industry at Novorossiysk.

Turn 44 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 44.

Turn 45: Team

It would take an advanced degree in linguistics and an eye for little gestures - but the casual reader might still have picked up that beender was not having fun with the mud turns. [:D] And if it is not fun it is not worth doing. So from this turn beender stepped back from his role as centre commander. But he remains a very valued member of the team and a great friend of the game!

From this turn we welcome back Crackaces as our centre commander.

Turn 44 23-April-1942 Soviet Turn

Disaster - Don bridgehead lost again!



We really should have taken more notice of those approaching Soviet Guards cavalry corps!

Having got a bridgehead in blizzard, lost it, then got another one in mud, now we have lost that one too. Turn 44 by normal weather patterns would be the last to see the river Don frozen - from now on it will not only have unfrozen but the floating ice will make it completely impossible to cross.

There are many ways to describe this, but none better than Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell:-