Struggling in the East - SigUp vs. loki

[SigUp]

[center]Struggling in the East - SigUp vs. loki100[/center]

[center][/center]

After completing two scenario games - Road to Smolensk and Moscow 41-42 - for testing purposes, loki and I decided to start a campaign game together. Once again I am taking the German side, while he defends the motherland from the fascist hordes.

The scenario is the 260 one with random weather and reduced blizzard. Logistics have been set to 90 for both sides and Soviet morale to 95. In addition we agreed on a couple of house rules:

- No bombing of HQs that are not stacked with combat units
- No more than two bombings of an airbase past the first turn
- No airdrops prior to November 1941, one drop per month until June 1942 (drops may be accumulated), no restrictions afterwards
- No amphibious landings prior to November 1941, no landings outside of the 1939 borders until December 1942, no landings west of the Crimea unless Sevastopol is Soviet-controlled and not cut-off
- No Lvov opener, Soviet units west of the line Kiev - Odessa are to stay south of the Pripyats

This game will be my first PBEM grand campaign, so one purpose of this AAR will be to get advice in order to improve my poor handicraft, as well as to discuss operational moves. Therefore feel free to comment. [:)]

[center]Table of contents[/center]

[center]Unternehmen Barbarossa
All you have to do is kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will crumble to the ground

Turn 1: 22nd June 1941 - 25th June 1941, Aftermath: 26th June 1941 - Morning

Turn 2: 26th June 1941 - 2nd July 1941; Aftermath: 3rd July 1941 - Morning

Turn 3: 3rd July 1941 - 9th July 1941; Aftermath: 10th July 1941 - Morning

Turn 4: 10th July 1941 - 16th July 1941; Aftermath: 17th July 1941 - Morning

Turn 5: 17th July 1941 - 23rd July 1941; Aftermath: 24th July 1941 - Morning

Turn 6: 24th July 1941 - 30th July 1941; Aftermath: 31st July 1941 - Morning

Turn 7: 31st July 1941 - 6th August 1941; Aftermath: 7th August 1941 - Morning

Barbarossa Derailed
Reaching the point of culmination

Turn 8: 7th August 1941 - 14th August 1941 - Morning

Turn 9: 14th August 1941 - 20th August 1941

Turn 10: 21st August 1941 - 27th August 1941

Turn 11: 28th August 1941 - 3rd September 1941; Monthly Report: August 1941

Typhoon over Russia
To the gates of Moscow

Turn 12: 4th September 1941 - 10th September 1941

Turn 13: 11th September 1941 - 17th September 1941

Turn 14: 18th September 1941 - 24th September 1941

Turn 15: 25th September 1941 - 1st October 1941; Monthly Report: September 1941

Turn 16: 2nd October 1941 - 8th October 1941

Turn 17: 9th October 1941 - 15th October 1941

Monthly Report: October 1941

Turn 21: 6th November 1941 - 12th November 1941

Turn 22: 13th November 1941 - 19th November 1941

Turn 23: 20th November 1941 - 26th November 1941

Monthly Report: November 1941

Frozen to Death
The Soviet Counteroffensive

Turn 25 - Turn 27: 4th December 1941 - 24th December 1941

Turn 28: 25th December 1941 - 31st December 1941

Monthly Report: December 1941

Yearly Review: 1941

Turn 29: 1st January 1942 - 7th January 1942

Turn 30: 8th January 1942 - 14th January 1942

Turn 31-32: 15th January 1942 - 28th January 1942

Turn 33: 29th January 1942 - 4th February 1942

Turn 34: 5th February 1942 - 11th February 1942

Turn 35-37: 12th February 1942 - 4th March 1942

Turn 38: 5th March 1942 - 11th March 1942

Turn 39: 12th March 1942 - 18th March 1942

Turn 40: 19th March 1942 - 25th March 1942

Winter Report 1941/1942

In the Search of a Decision
The Summer of 1942

The Road to Blau

Turn 54: 25th June 1942 - 1st July 1942

Turn 55: 2nd July 1942 - 8th July 1942

Turn 56-57: 9th July 1942 - 22nd July 1942

Turn 58: 23rd July 1942 - 29th July 1942

Turn 59-60: 30th July 1942 - 12th August 1942

Turn 61-62: 13th August 1942 - 26th August 1942

Turn 63-64: 27th August 1942 - 9th September 1942

Turn 65-66: 10th September 1942 - 23rd September 1942 [/center]

[swkuh]

Looking forward to your AAR. Your posts (& Loki's) are always interesting.

BTW, small point, always thought that Russians speak of the "Motherland" and the Germans of the "Fatherland."

[morvael]

Will you use the "mild first winter" optional rule?

[SigUp]

ORIGINAL: morvael

Will you use the "mild first winter" optional rule?

Yep, we are, forgot to add that in the first post. Have edited it. Should provide for an intersting game.

ORIGINAL: rrbill

Looking forward to your AAR. Your posts (& Loki's) are always interesting.

BTW, small point, always thought that Russians speak of the "Motherland" and the Germans of the "Fatherland."

Yeah, mistake on my part, also edited into the first post, thanks. [:D]

[Gabriel B.]

Without the LVOV opening I would strive to secure the land bridge between the ZBRUCH and GORYN fast .

[SigUp]

Turn 1: 22nd June 1941 - 25th June 1941

Army Group North



In the North I went with a very much standard opening in terms of direction. 18th Army was to blast open the front, with 4th Panzer Group exploiting the hole and pushing through to the Daugava. Compared to my previous games against the AI I altered the execution slightly. Instead of pocketing Northwest Front's units, I chose to prioritise speed. Thus I. AK pushed the Soviet forces into the space between Venta and Dubysa while routing all divisions along the latter river. XXXXI. AK (mot.) drove northeast to Riga, with 1st and 6th Panzer Divisions capturing the city in a hasty attack. In order to prevent the Soviet 28th Tank Division from converting hexes and hindering 18th Army's march to the Daugava 36th Motorized Division took a detour and shattered it. LVI. AK (mot.) did not face resistance and crossed river at Jekabpils and Livani, ignoring the airborne brigades at the crossing of Daugavpils.

Along the Venta XXVI. AK fanned out with 61st Infantry Division capturing the port of Liepaja, 217th (along with XXXXI. AK's 269th) Infantry Division crossing the river at Mazeikiai and 291st Infantry Division pushing to Kuldiga, in order to quickly get to Riga. SS Totenkopf took care of the port at Ventspils, ensuring German control of Courland.

Having opened up the Daugava on turn 1, I intend for Army Group North to head to Pskov - Ostrov as fast as possible. I hope that my decision to rout away Northwest Front won't come back to bite me, with all those divisions recovering from their rout and form hindrances for 4th Panzer Group's units.

Army Group Centre



The opening in the Centre was also following the usual procedures. In the North 9th Army's XXIII. AK opened up the border for 16th Army to push through and capture Kaunas, which was achieved quite handily. The only holdup occured at Alytus where 5th Tank Division withstood a deliberated assault by 251st Infantry Division, before being routed. XXXXII. AK pushed the Soviet 10th Army from the border along the Biebrza, mindful of not routing the brittle Soviet divisions. XX. AK swung south and blocked the path east at Grodno. Similarly to the situation at AGN I took up Gabriel B's suggestion made in the Smolensk AAR and went with routing away the forces blocking 9th Army's path towards Minsk and the landbridge. I figured with logistics reduced, getting infantry forward as quickly as possible was worth more than the men pocketed. But I sure hope these units won't recover fast enough to impede my advance significantly. VIII. AK took care of business at Varena, blasting away 184th Rifle Division.

21st Rifle Corps stationed around Lida was dealt with by 20th Panzer Division. This division was reassigned to LVII. AK (mot.) that closed the Bialystok pocket north of Minsk. The newly formed panzer divisions gained valuable experience, defeating the Soviet forces between Molodechno and Minsk. 19th and 20th Panzer Division's morale rose to 85. The fighting XXXIX. AK (mot.) had to do was much less than its counterpart at Minsk, with only 179th Rifle Division in the way.



In the Southern part of AGC XIII. and LIII. AK opened up the border around Minsk with IX. AK taking advantage and routing the garrison of Brest. XXXXIII. AK sent out 252nd Infantry Division to block the Soviets to the South, while XII. AK marched east.

Guderian had to make do with only two panzer corps, after I took away XXXXVI. AK (mot.) and sent it South. Both corps headed towards Slutsk, with Lemelsen's 29th Motorized Division taking a detour to clear the Soviet 209th Motorized Division. XXIV. AK (mot.) lost it's two infantry and one cavalry division to the Kovel operation.

In the next few weeks 3rd Panzer Group shall head towards Vitebsk and the landbridge. Depending on the situation I intend for one panzer corps to halt at Glubokoe or Borisov to do an HQ buildup, provided they are in range. XXXIX. AK (mot.) has two options, dependent on loki's approach. Either head directly towards the landbridge, or cross the Daugava and attack Vitebsk from the North. Guderian's troops are to drive towards Mogilev - Zhlobin, also perhaps taking a rest for an HQ buildup, unless there is a hole in the Dnepr defenses.

Army Group South



As mentioned in the first post I chose not to do the Lvov opener. Therefore my aim was to destroy or encircle as much as possible north of Tarnopol. XVII. AK with the support from three divisions of 17th Army's IV. AK took out the Soviet border defenses. IV. AK, however, needed the boost of LV. AK's 168th Infantry Division to rout that nasty division in that rough hex.

Meanwhile, after 167th Infantry Division blasted away the Soviet division at Malorita, the divisions taken from XXIV. AK (mot.) advanced north of Kovel, trapping 22nd Mechanized Corps there. XXXXVII. AK (mot.) advanced along a Northern axis and with the help of Großdeutschland sealed the Dubno group from the North. 10th Panzer Division, from XXXXVI. AK (mot.), aided by 57th and 75th Infantry Division had to do some heavy lifting in pushing back the 8th Mechanized Corps. The beneficiaries were III. AK (mot.) and Das Reich. The former drove north along the Goryn and encircled two Soviet corps at Dubno. Das Reich converted Tarnopol, but then pulled back one hex to prevent too many hexes from getting reconverted by the Soviets.

17th Army's remaining troops cleared the border east of Jaroslaw and worked their way to Lvov.

The next step will see the motorized units bundle their strength to break the Stalin line between the Goryn and Zbruch and then advance in the general direction Vinnitsa. I am toying with the idea of sending one panzer corps south into Rumania, to facilitate a drive towards Rybnitsa - Ladyzhin (or Pervomaysk).

Air War



In the air war I went with the usual approach of a massive strike against the Red Airforce. Initially fighers intercepted Soviet planes engaged in ground support of the battles along the border. Afterwards level bombers carried out strikes against targets on the ground, with advancing units displacing the airbases as a final step. A total number of 2832 Soviet planes were destroyed. I can't really say whether this is a good number of not. Most of them were I-series fighter bombers. Additionally 548 MiG-3, 77 Yak-1, 256 SB-2, 73 Ar-2 and 65 Pe-2 were hit.



I was never quite good in figuring out optimal air doctrine settings. So if somebody sees improvement potential, feel free to say so. Noticable is the deactivation of interdiction. I am not really fond of interdiction, as I never see or feel much of an effect. I'd rather have those brittle in-game Stukas shot down while supporting ground troops, then getting hit while targeting some retreating shells.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL: Gabriel B.

Without the LVOV opening I would strive to secure the land bridge between the ZBRUCH and GORYN fast .

Indeed. It would be a massive setback to get held up at the Stalin line for an extended time. But I wanted to seal the Dubno pocket tightly so the motorized forces have only pushed to Lanovtsy.

[Gabriel B.]

Set the stukas to fly night misions during the enemy turn . That way you can stil acumulate experience for fighters and bombers.

[SigUp]

So you mean activate interdiction, but set Stukas to night missions?

[Gabriel B.]

yes .

interdiction attack 50 percent
interdiction attack excort 200 percent

[SigUp]

Then a couple of fighter squadrons also have to be set on night missions. This will reduce interdiction losses from flak etc.?

[Gabriel B.]

The stukas would simply not fly during the enemy turn, there is no need for night excort.


yes the slower the aircraft the higher the losses to flak and fighters, in efect SPEED IS LIFE .
Your best interdiction aircraft is the JU-88 , is faster than most I-16 except the 24 and 29 series but even than by only 3 mph.

[SigUp]

Ah okay, thanks. So the planes I do not want to fly interdiction missions, just micro-manage a little and set them to night missions? Then I guess I'll set everything apart from the fast bomber Ju-88 to night missions.

[SigUp]

Aftermath: 26th June 1941 - Morning

All in all loki refused to engage in any attacks, only two recon missions were listed in the combat report. Along the entire front north of the Pripyats his battered units pulled back.



Before Army Group North (all screens after recon) lies a vast area devoid of any Soviet military presence. loki has brought a mechanized corps into position around Pskov, but unless my recon deserted me, there is a gap around Ostrov that can be exploited by LVI. AK (mot.).



In the centre area assigned to Panzer Group 3 the Soviets have positioned a couple of blocking detachments. The swamps north of the Dvina seem to be largely free of Red Army soldiers, but I am unwilling to pull apart Panzer Group 3. loki appears to have given up on an attempt to make life tough on me at the landbridge.



In front of Guderian's panzers, a couple of airborne brigades are blocking the Berezina. Additionally there is some presence west of the Drut, though I could not make out whether these were combat units, or routed / non-combat units. The recon units couldn't make out a coherent Dnepr defense, yet.



In the Bialystok pocket loki has fanned out his forces. The Pripyats are like always a hiding place for routed Soviet units.



Before 1st Panzer Group Southwestern Front has largely pulled back to the Sluch, abandoning most of the Stalin line north of the landbridge. The forces guarding the landbridge are not weak, but I doubt they are able to withstand the assault of two or even three panzer corps.



loki seems to have evacuated most of the rescuable units in the Lvov salient. Furthermore he has positioned units along the Seret, hindering an easy drive south to the Rumanian border. I am still unsure, but I guess I'll attempt the drive south in order to quickly deal with the Lvov salient.

In terms of losses the Wehrmacht has suffered 29.219 casualties in the first days, among them 11.857 dead. 139 AFVs were lost, as the strength of the panzer divisions dropped to 2835. Red Army losses amounted to 350.993, with 17.838 killed and 183.818 captured. Additionally 3114 AFVs were destroyed in the first three days.

[SigUp]

Turn 2: 26th June 1941 - 2nd July 1941

Army Group North



On turn 2 Army Group North's units continued their unhindered march towards Leningrad. Two security divisions with a little bit of support from 18th Army cleared the divisions encircled the last turn. 18th Army's XXXVIII. and XXVI. AK successfully made it past the Dvina at Riga, while I.and L. AK prepared for a crossing at Jekabpils. 16th Army's crossing was concentrated at Livani - Daugavpils. 4th Panzer Group's two infantry divisions were assigned to 18th Army.

4th Panzer Group itself drove quickly towards Pskov with little to no resistance. XXXXI. AK (mot.) took the northern route past Valmera - Valga - Petseri and ended up 10 miles west of Pskov. Manstein's LVI. AK (mot.), strengthened by SS Totenkopf, took the southern route through Rezekne - Abrene - Ostrov and pushed back the dug-in Soviet 163rd Motorized Division. Pskov itself was guarded by a tank division.

With that 4th Panzer Group's fuel reserves are practically spent. Next turn the divisions will probably need a rest, although if loki doesn't reinforce the divisions at Pskov an encirclement of the city becomes possible. 18th Army will send one of it's northern corps into Estonia, while the remaining three will move towards Pskov. 16th Army will approach Ostrov, then turn Northeast - East. The infantry divisions arriving as reinforcements this turn will all get shipped North to facilitate an assault on Leningrad.

Army Group Centre



In the northern part of Army Group Centre 9th Army used it's XXXXII. AK to reduce the Bialystok pocket, with assistance of XX. AK's 129th Infantry Division. All other corps, including 3rd Panzer Group's two infantry corps, headed east and VIII. AK took Minsk against a weak rearguard consisting of a single NKVD regiment.

After some deliberation I decided to take the opportunity and sent XXXIX. AK (mot.) over the Dvina. Luckily the intel proved to be correct. Aside from a severely understrength motorized division that was routed, there was no resistance. 20th Motorized Division took most of the tough terrain along the Polotsk - Velikie Luki rail line, opening the way to Velikie Luki for the infantry. 14th Motorized Division followed 20th Motorized over the river, but continued towards Vitebsk and managed to push the Soviets back east. 7th Panzer Division routed away a rifle division near Ushachi, then proceeded to capture Vitebsk. LVII. AK crossed the Berezina at Borisov, then fanned out to keep the two Soviet divisions in a pocket, while 20th Panzer Division rejoined XXXIX. AK (mot.). The HQ was left on the west bank of the Berezina and if I haven't calculated wrong it should be within 20 MPs of a railhead next turn.



Similarly to 9th Army in the North, 4th Army in the South also left units to quickly liquidate the Bialystok pocket. VII. and XIII. AK successfully carried out that order with support from two security divisions. 4th Army's remaining three corps and 2nd Panzer Group's infantry corps continued their march east, reaching Baranovichi.

Meanwhile Guderian set out to breach the Berezina line with his two panzer corps. XXXXVII. AK (mot.) advanced along a northern axis towards Berezino and crossed the Berezina with all units. 17th Panzer Division even managed to beat the last obstacle in front of the Dnepr by crossing the Drut. XXXXVII. AK (mot.)'s HQ was stacked together with LVII. AK (mot.)'s, so potentially two panzer corps can conduct an HQ buildup the next turn. At the same time XXIV. AK (mot.) pushed over the Berezina at Bobruisk.

Similarly to AGN's situation, AGC has also largely run out of fuel. Next turn the army group will consolidate their gains with the infantry trying to catch up to the panzers. As an outlook, when the panzers have refueled the next target will be breaching the Dnepr and head for Smolensk, while infantry units shall advance towards Velikie Luki.

Army Group South



While AGN and AGC more or less annihilated their direct opposition in the first three days of Barbarossa, AGS still had strong Soviet formations blocking it's way. In the northern part of AGS's front 255th and 267th Infantry Division eliminated the Kovel pocket, enabling XVII. AK to push towards Rovno, with two divisions crossing the Goryn. South of it XXIX. AK liquidated the Dubno group and pushed towards the former Polish-Soviet border. Further west IV. AK marched Southeast and retook Tarnopol, while opening the road towards Rumanian border. LII. AK and XXXXIX. GK made slow progress in pushing back the Soviet formations in the Lvov salient. Incensed by border violations of Soviet NKVD regiments, Admiral Horthy declared war on the Soviet Union and Hungarian border formations successfully repelled the Soviet invaders.

On turn 2 XIV. AK (mot.) was finally activated and no time was wasted in getting them to the front. The corps capitalized on IV. AK's success and expanded the spearhead in the direction of Rumania. The job was finished by XXXXVI. AK (mot.), with Das Reich reaching the Rumanian border. At the same time the two motorized division of 1st Panzer Group were activated and they participated in the operation to break the Stalin line. XXXXVII. and III. AK (mot.) did some heavy work and fought off multiple Soviet divisions. Unlike their counterparts in the North, 1st Panzer Group still faces one last (?) Soviet line of defense before getting into open terrain. In other news, 1st Cavalry Division was sent into the Pripyats to root out routed Soviet formations.

After conclusion of the border battles in the North and Centre 10 Soviet tank, 5 motorized, 17 rifle and 2 cavalry divisions were wiped out. Additionally 2 tank and 1 rifle division were shattered on turn 1 for a total 445.000 POWs.

[Gabriel B.]

ORIGINAL: SigUp

Army Group North

With that 4th Panzer Group's fuel reserves are practically spent

you had pushed the HQ to far foward . [:-] If your objective was to secure a bridgehead at Ostrov , there is no need to drive the tanks out of suplly. 3 motorised divisions suplied
by air is enough.


Turn 3 will see the infantry cros the Welikaya , but unable to suport further advance .With that in mind you should allready have a hq in place to do a HQBU at the start of turn 3.
In turn 4 with infantry across, you can really hurt the soviets.

[Gabriel B.]

Movement points at the start of turn 4 .

[SigUp]

Uh, indeed. I always have my struggles on turn 2 because I tend to drive the panzers as far as possible (and out of supply) when I see a huge hole. Well, live and learn. With that I guess a full panzer strike in the North will have to wait until turn 5. Having three panzer divisions with 46+ MPs with the rest sitting at 31+ on turn 4 would be quite helpful in crushing Leningrad's defenses...

[SigUp]

Aftermath: 3rd July 1941 - Morning

Monthly Report

Pools: In terms of pools, German manpower right now is at 27.844 men with 48.677 units of armaments at stock. Supplies and ammo in units are well over the need, while fuel is a little bit lacking by about 3.000. Vehicles in units is more or less the same with the need.

Losses: Through two turns the German forces have lost 47.909 men, among them 16.335 KIA and 370 MIA. Additionally 457 guns and 330 AFVs were destroyed. The Axis airforces suffered 166 lost planes over the skies of the Soviet Union. 47 fighter or fighter bomber, 6 tactical bomber, 87 level bomber, 16 reconaissance aircraft and 10 Ju-52s. The Red Army lost 693.865 men in June, with 29.887 KIA and 446.625 captured. 8.473 guns and 6.731 tanks were either captured or destroyed in the opening battles. After the massive airstrike on turn 1, the Red Airforce only lost a moderate amount of aircraft on turn 2. A total of 3.286 planes were destroyed.

Army Group North



Facing Army Group North loki apparently has evacuated the entire country of Estonia. Not even the landbridge at Narva seems to be guarded. In the vicinity of Pskov the Red Army only has a couple of divisions putting up a ZOC screen. The main line of resistance is being constructed at the Luga and south of Lake Ilmen behind the Polist river.

Army Group Centre



Likewise loki has retreated in front of AGC and evacuated the area between AGN and AGC. A solid line exists behind the Lovat at Velikie Luki, while a checkerboard holds the front west of Smolensk.



In front of 2nd Panzer Group loki maintains an alibi Dnepr defense. It prevents an all-too-easy crossing, but is not really deterring. All in all I have yet to spot a hard-nosed defensive line in the centre and am wondering where the units all are.

Army Group South



Here again the recurring theme. The Red Army has pulled out of the direct frontline. In this case the Sluch was abandoned, with Southwest Front's units establishing a defensive line from Zhitomir to Vinnitsa. Blocking detachments have been spotted near Proskurov.



As a negative side-effect of XXXXVI. AK (mot.)'s push to Rumania, Southern Front was activated one turn early. loki took the opportunity and pulled back his units behind the Dnestr. Therefore 11th Army will probably have few to none engagements this turn. Odessa seems to be largely free of a strong defensive force, which I hope will hold true. I'd rather have the Rumanians deal with Odessa by themselves, than dispatch a corps of 11th Army (which was reinforced by XXXIV. AK) to aid in the conquest. Also, a rifle division was spotted digging fortifications at the isthmus of Perekop.

[Gabriel B.]

The defense of the Dnestr is is wishfull thinking of your oponent .

You need to threaten those forces with encirclement by smahing trough at Proskurov, that would force them to fall back to the southern Bug ,and ease 11th army advance.
I would direct the rumanian Armored division to Bendery to remaind him what he risks by staying .

[SigUp]

That is similar to what I was thinking. My initial plan was to force a breakthrough north of Vinnitsa, but seeing the recon results I don't want to expose the panzers to possible counterattacks from the North. The thing I am pondering is whether to attack the gap between Mogilev-Podolsky and the Bug with all four panzer corps, or to reroute XXXXVI. Panzer Corps together with the Rumanian armoured division South, to attack towards Bendery.