Russia! Why not? (Morvael welcome)

[morvael]

Sorry, I always make this rookie mistake of looking for my supplies in the global pool. You're right, they are in cities and I have a lot of them.

At this point in game I had 5 breakthrough artillery divisions, 2 gun brigades (from 1st Polish Army) and 5 guards rocket launcher divisions. Not much, I know, somehow I was never focused on them, more on my mobile forces and support units.

[morvael]

ORIGINAL: loki100
your tank losses are truely scary .. even if the application of so much armour is clearly opening up the front for you

More on this later. A fun fact is that I had the highest AFV losses of the entire game during the last turn of the game. And a pretty computer number too - 2048 [:)]

[morvael]

Turn 170 (September 14th, 1944)

Having no other choice, the Germans make a counterattack with 6th Panzer Division and save some of their units from the "kessel" near Satu Mare. With help from newly arrived 9th Tank Army, the Red Army closes the ring again, this time cutting off 8 infantry divisions, 1 Luftwaffe field division and 1 security regiment. Of these only 3 have a chance to escape grim fate, provided the enemy will risk his precious mobile assets. 2nd Ukrainian Front joins the fray, after moving through the mountain passes into northern Hungary:

[morvael]

River San is crossed along its entire length. Unfortunately the whole area is well defended, with layer after layer of field fortifications manned by fanatic Germans. Taking Cracow will have to wait until winter:

[morvael]

Avalanche of meat, bone and steel from the East is unstoppable in central Poland. Sandomierz, Ostrowiec, Radom and Gora Kalwaria are taken, and the two bridgeheads are connected, to form one continous - albeit narrow - strip of land west of the Vistula. 1st Shock Army fords the river north of Warsaw, near Modlin, and is now threatening defenders of the Polish capital:

[morvael]

Plonsk and Mlawa are captured in northern Mazovia. Of Eastern Prussia only five cities remain in German hands, including Elbing, where a factory of SdKfz-234/3 Puma armored cars is located. Soon, the entire factory with machines, documents and engineers (if any will be left around) is going to be lifted and transported to Mother Russia. The experience gathered in 1941 is now coming in handy:

[morvael]

112th Rifle Division is renamed 197th Guards Rifle Division. Three rifle corps are formed.

Strength:
men: 11 067 681 vs 4 001 251
guns: 195 008 vs 40 227
AFVs: 13 196 vs 6 213
aircraft: 21 394 vs 1 607

Trucks:
in units: 289 014 / 289 015 (100.00%)
in the pool: 274 245 / 220 050 (124.63%)
in repair: 103 255

Losses:
killed: 38 950 vs 28 557
captured: 544 vs 236
disabled: 12 694 vs 10 775
guns: 887 vs 1 520
AFVs: 1 148 vs 297
aircraft: 265 vs 137

Including:
in combat: 124 vs 66
from AA: 73 vs 6
on the ground: 0 vs 22
operational: 68 vs 43

[morvael]

Turn 171 (September 21th, 1944)

After the destruction of surrounded enemy divisions, three tank armies quickly redeploy towards Hungarian-Yugoslavian border. Their goal is to strike north from Kiskunhalas, along the Danube, towards Budapest. Slower infantry and cavalry units head directly west, taking Kerceg:

[morvael]

Three German divisions, that had a slim chance of escape week ago, are abandoned by the O.K.H. Their commanding generals with a handful of men escape via a narrow corridor created by LVII Panzer Corps, while the rest gets some ammo and a box of Iron Crosses as a farewell gift, courtesy of the Luftwaffe. Nearly 800 thousand men of the 2nd Ukrainian Front surround them, thirsty for blood, after weeks of hardships during the crossing the Carpathian Mountains. Nyiregyhasa is taken without a fight, as the enemy flees towards Tisa river line:

[morvael]

Warsaw is abandoned by the Germans and captured! Members of the PCNL (PKWN) make themselves comfortable in the few buildings that still stand intact, mostly in the ex-German district. Smersh finds out that the building previously occupied by Gestapo is full of useful tools to deal with Polish resistance members, so there is no need to order any from Lubyanka in Moscow. Propaganda photos are taken of "happy" rank-and-file insurgents, and after that they are immediately dispatched to Deblin, in order to join 1st Polish Army. Meanwhile, their commanders are packed to Lend-Lease Dakotas and sent to Moscow, for "consultations" (from which they won't return). Anyway, after just 22 days of the uprising and a hasty German retreat, only some 100 thousand civilians were killed and just 15% of the city was completely destroyed. South of Warsaw, Grojec and Skarzysko-Kamienna are taken:

[morvael]

Dzialdowo and Plonsk are now in Soviet hands. In Eastern Prussia Osterode and Deutsch Eylau are put to the torch. Elbing will be next, already a lot of buildings in the city burn, after the god of war (artillery) speaks:

[morvael]

Six tank armies from central Poland are withdrawn to rest and refit near Wlodawa on the Bug. Tank numbers across the board (in tank, mechanized and cavalry corps) are catastrophically low after the summer campaign. It's crucial to rebuild the armored forces (almost from scratch), before the last jump to Berlin:

[morvael]

1st Belorussian Front commander, Mikhail Kirponos, is promoted to the rank of Marshal. 15th Air Army commander, Nikolai Papivin, is promoted to the rank of General-Polkovnik. STAVKA commander, Boris Shaposhnikov, improves his morale skill (8). 1st Guards Army commander, Kuzma Podlas, improves his infantry skill (6). 49th Army commander, Mikhail Sharokhin, is dismissed and replaced by Lev Dovator. 1st Airborne Brigade is renamed 2nd Guards Airborne Brigade. 1 rifle corps and 2 light SU brigades are formed.

Strength:
men: 11 091 170 vs 3 938 612
guns: 195 517 vs 39 145
AFVs: 12 956 vs 6 156
aircraft: 21 429 vs 1 560

Trucks:
in units: 288 589 / 288 590 (100.00%)
in the pool: 280 146 / 215 476 (130.01%)
in repair: 102 662

Losses:
killed: 20 077 vs 19 473
captured: 87 vs 48 074
disabled: 5 857 vs 2 533
guns: 542 vs 1 373
AFVs: 391 vs 100
aircraft: 377 vs 279

Including:
in combat: 208 vs 152
from AA: 98 vs 51
on the ground: 0 vs 34
operational: 71 vs 42

[morvael]

Turn 172 (September 28th, 1944)

Tank armies make a 40 mile-long advance, but the road to Budapest is closed by multiple defensive lines. Foot forces reach Tisa and reorganize for an assault:

[morvael]

2nd Ukrainian Front reaches Kassa, but any further advance across Slovakia will be very difficult. It seems the fate of victors from Kalach and Boguchar is to waste their final months of the war hauling heavy equipment across mountain ranges. In Subcarpathia, the Red Army enters Jaslo, Debica and Tarnow:

[morvael]

Four fronts push the enemy back in central Poland, but their advance is slowing down. The hardships of summer and withdrawal of armored support is taking its toll on their offensive capability:

[morvael]

Only two Prussian cities remain in German hands - Marienburg and Marienwerder - but no "Mary" will help them to escape their fate. However, it's clear for the officers in the staff of Leningrad, 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts, that it will be impossible to ford lower Vistula before autumn. Supply problems slowed them down during summer, and the opportunity was lost:

[morvael]

All front commanders visit Moscow for talks in the STAVKA, and are informed of the next steps to be taken in the war. Western Allies, for so long blocked in Normandy, made huge gains last month. They have liberated France and reached the Rhine. Luckily, their ill-planned Market-Garden airborne operation failed, so they have no bridgehead across this major river. If that plan would succeed, they could be in Berlin before the end of the year! Prestige of Mother Russia and Father Stalin requires that it will be the Red Army which takes Berlin first and slays the German beast. Therefore, the forces, which are now between Warsaw and Nowy Sacz in Poland, will have the utmost priority for replacements and supply from now on. All mechanized forces are to be moved there (after a period of rest & refit in the rear), and as many Guards, rail and artillery units as possible will join them. Their goal will be to advance through Schlesien and Wielkopolska, directly towards Berlin. All other parts of the front (mainly those in Hungary now) will be secondary, and the goal of forces present there will be to tie as many German units as possible and advance slowly on foot. It woould be good if they could capture Wien, with its multiple factories (having a weekly capacity of 55 Bf-109, 8 Panther, 1 Jagdtiger and 100 trucks), but it's of no consequence in the greater scope.

50th Army is renamed 9th Guards Army. 4th Tank Army commander, Aleksei Rodin, is promoted to the rank of General-Leytenant. 1st Ukrainian Front commander, Fyodor Kuznetsov, improves his mech skills (4). 37th Army commander, Filipp Golikov, improves his mech skills too (5). 3 breakthrough artillery divisions are formed. 15x P-47D Thunderbolt replace 9x P-40N per week in the Lend-Lease deliveries from next month.

Strength:
men: 11 122 716 vs 3 860 403
guns: 195 798 vs 38 624
AFVs: 13 517 vs 6 231
aircraft: 21 451 vs 1 428

Trucks:
in units: 291 720 / 291 720 (100.00%)
in the pool: 285 233 / 211 280 (135.00%)
in repair: 99 967

Losses:
killed: 29 814 vs 17 176
captured: 87 vs 18 636
disabled: 1 840 vs 2 875
guns: 513 vs 1 039
AFVs: 666 vs 199
aircraft: 198 vs 73

Including:
in combat: 83 vs 45
from AA: 52 vs 4
on the ground: 0 vs 10
operational: 63 vs 14

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: morvael

Six tank armies from central Poland are withdrawn to rest and refit near Wlodawa on the Bug. Tank numbers across the board (in tank, mechanized and cavalry corps) are catastrophically low after the summer campaign. It's crucial to rebuild the armored forces (almost from scratch), before the last jump to Berlin:

you really have ground down your tank forces over the Summer, but then the reward has been to really gain a lot of valuable terrain in SE Poland

[morvael]

Yeah, but it was strange to see all slots at 100%, with the exception of tanks. I blame low T-34/85 production and poor swap routines (it was still under 1.07), as 700 Shermans were happily sitting in the pool.