My First AAR - Russia 41

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Well my first full AAR so this should be fun since its my 4th game with the new system so It could be a short lived game.

I will be commanding the Ostheer with the AI in charge of the Red Army
The AI will be more or less in charge of the Luftwaffe and the Theatre boxes.
Ill just change things here and there if need be.

Turn 1 AGN

Following some advice from players and other AAR's I decide to change my usual plan for the North and smash the line completely I usually just push enough troops aside and then encircle the remainder with infantry and let the Panzers move forward.
This new plane still achieves my objectives but with less in pockets.

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Turn 1 AGC
For the Center i still use my same tactics from WITE1 days and encircle the central Soviet forces and push to Minsk, the big difference I notice with the new game and the old is the distance travelled in the open moves dont think I ever captured Minsk or Riga on first turns and almost get to Smolensk.

Again from looking at other AAR's and advice try to push most of my Armee's forward and let 2nd Armee with some help destroy the pockets, seem to alway get bogged down trying to capture Smolensk or pushing past it.
The Pripyat marshes are a slow slog and The Desna and Dnepr River's are a pain to force across sometimes.

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Turn 1 AGS
After a lot of thought and decision I decided I will stick to my tried and true plan of destroying The Lvov pocket it means releasing The Soviets further South but I will deal with that in due course.

Kiev and Odessa are my main objectives but so is the destruction of the Soviet Armoured Forces centred around Lvov, the more troops and material I can capture the better.
6th Armee with help of some Panzer Grenadiers encircle more troops though there is a 1 hex gap they may slip through we will have to see what the AI does.

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Ground losses
As with any game wish they were higher on the Soviet side, lost 154 AFV on my side that is not good




Guess its time to let the AI have its turn.

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AGN turn 2

Kicked off this turn by eliminating the Soviet pockets and taking control of most of Lithuania, 4th PanzerArmee has pushed through and is in striking range of Pskov.

Need to get 18th Armee to clear the rest of the Baltic states ASAP, also 16th Armee to cover 4th Panzer's right flank quickly don't want the Russians cutting the 4th off.

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AGC turn 2

A surprise success 3rd Panzer unit punched through weak Russian lines and captured Smolensk in this turn my best effort yet, totally taken aback however I expect the units to be cut off, with a bit luck that is all that will happen and I can relieve them in turn 3.

2nd Panzer is moving steadily towards Mogilev and The Dnepr River, cleared most of the pockets but the Infantry Armee's are some way behind the Panzer's, need to get a move on and get through the Marshes, I really don't want to be bogged down early.
Over all it appears to be looking good (famous last words )been in this position the last 3 games and get tied up around Smolensk for to many turns.

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AGS turn 2

Another good start cleared the Lvov pocket but as predicted the Soviet forces along the Romanian border withdrew. 6th Armee and part of 1st Panzer pocket a few Divs on the drive to Kiev which is good, using elements of 4 Army's further south I create a big pocket against the Hungarian border, 35 Red Army units are cut off, it will take some time to clear them I will use the Axis Allied Army's for that as I want to keep my German Armee's pushing forward. Further South grabbed some smaller pockets while heading to Odessa.

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Turn 2 Losses
Always nice to see such high capture figures of Soviet troops as things will change very soon, but 555,000 is in the right direction I hope.
I feel my AFV losses are too high this early but I need to move as far and as fast as I can then prepare defence lines.

[RedJohn]

Wow, I'm surprised you got Smolensk on T2 - seems like a bit of a coup.

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ORIGINAL: RedJohn

Wow, I'm surprised you got Smolensk on T2 - seems like a bit of a coup.

I expect that to be one of those rare occasions that happens I'm far from a experienced player, its just a fluke knowing my luck now I get stuck in Smolensk for 5 turns.

cheers

[carlkay58]

The Smolensk capture depends on the AI defensive strategy. I have seen that happen about one out of every five or so games. It is possible that it could fall more frequently than that but the Axis players are just too timid.

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AGN Turn 3

18th Armee reaches the Latvian Border while 4th Panzer captures Pskov and advances towards Novgorod, lead elements of 16th Armee have linked up and are covering 4th Panzer's southern flank, the rest of the 18th is not far behind and is moving into position to push on the Valdai Hills.

Things are looking good at this moment I was still concerned that the Panzer's may get cut off when the Soviets had there turn but this did not happen.

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AGC Turn 3

Still didn't completely clear the Minsk pocket and the Infantry Armee's are still way behind The Panzer's, the units at Smolensk did in fact get cutoff when the Soviets had there turn but was easily reopened.

2nd Panzer crossed The Dnepr River en mass and two pockets were formed, one trapping a strong Tank Div.

I often make unorthodox moves hoping they pay off, I saw a opportunity to take Velikie Luki and had managed to get two 9th Armee Divs in position to support two PanzerGren Divs of 3rd Panzer and took the city also pushed a Panzer Div from the 2nd up there to support. this was either going to work or a complete failure losing both Panzegren Divs but it seems the AI decided to pull back its forces. which gives me some breathing space next turn to the infantry in place.

Starting to get 2nd Armee forming up to move in between 4th and 6th Armee's.

lots of Soviet troops encircled.

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AGS Turn 3

This turn started with 1st Panzer forming another encirclement of Soviet forces in 2 places adding to the big pocket around Stanislav which I only managed destroy about a third of the trapped units.

I have to commit the bulk of 17th Armee to destroy this pocket as well as half of 11th the help trap the these new forces, this will mean delays in moving forces further into the Ukraine and in particular the drive on Kiev by 1st Panzer.

A direct drive on Kiev may mean a narrow front push and I don't want my Panzer's cut off during the AI's turn so destroying as many units as I can will be the price for a wide front push.

The drive on Odessa is fine, 4th Rom Army and parts of 11th are within striking distance so that's good.
No counter attacks of any kind yet by the AI on any fronts and the weather for the first 3 turns has been kind, it is only early days though.

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AGN Turn 4

The Red Army falls back as 18th Armee moves to the Estonian border and cuts off a lone tank Div.
4th Panzer pushes the defenders back away from Pskov and drives towards Novgorod at the moment there are no units defending the city, the way looks open to capture it.

Further south 16th Armee is finally getting into position, a lot of units need rest an refit will have to pull some back but not yet.

The weather holds good along the entire front, need to get 16th Armee further north so as I can use the Panzer's to push hard without getting cut off when the AI has its turn, just don't seem to have enough infantry up there.

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AGC turn 4

Well the two PanzerGrens Divs were not cutoff the plan worked this time. Finally cleared the last units near Minsk and 2nd Panzer destroyed both pockets along The Dnepr River which gave me another chance to encircle another 15 Red Army units, it was to good a opportunity to miss.

The infantry is getting closer every turn, however both 4th and 2nd have the fun filled job of trudging through the Marshes to reach both Gomel and Chernigov while 9th will be facing the heavy woods of the kalinin region which will once again slow everyone down.

I was facing a dilemma as to what I should do about 3rd Panzer, I could push through and drive on Vyazma or even swing further North an head for Rszhev, I didn't have the fuel to actually take one or the other but I could would have been only two hexes away from either but this meant a narrow front push.

To the south of 3rd Panzer 2nd had a solid anchor which protected me here but to my north the were a number of Soviet units that were just a bit to close for comfort.

I had no supporting infantry to cover me so I chose more conservative tactic pushing them back but pushing part the way to Vyazma.
I'm now just 5 hexes from the city

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AGS Turn 4 / 5
Ok seems I forgot to save AGS turn 4 screen shot so this is that turns finished turn including the AI's movements.

Once again there were just to many Red Army units centred around Stanislav thanks partly to the Red Air force supplying the pocket including all those trapped by 1st Panzer however I destroyed all the rest but again had the chance to trap nother 20 plus and I took it.
There is now 33 trapped units but the even better I have a lot the Panzer units in good place to push on Kiev.

Odessa is almost isolated, the bad news as you can from the screen after the AI had its turn another wall of Russian divisions has been thrown up across the Ukraine.

It seems no matter how many you cutoff, isolate and or kill they just keep coming at you.

I have to rest troops but how many and when, if I stop moving forward the Russian lines will harden.

I estimate it will take me at least two weeks to clear out all trapped troops and another week to get everyone to the front, while still trying to take Kiev and Odessa.

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Losses Turn 4

I also missed getting a screen shot for turn 3, anyway here is how it looks after 4 rounds with the AI.

On another note the weather in the Leningrad / Moscow region is now rain and mud for turn 5 so that is going to slow things down.

The south is still clear which is good.

Well that's it for tonight I will do one or two turns tomorrow if I can.

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AGN5 Turn 5

As I mentioned in a previous post rain and mud have hit Northern Russia, 18th Armee continues to push into Estonia, the Russians have virtual abandoned the country sending there troops to face 4th Pz Armee.

I use the weather to consolidate the 4th's position and also move 16th Armee up to cover the southern flank with a lot of regt level units holding the line, will the AI attack in this situation.

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AGC Turn 5

In the centre 3rd Pz Armee is in a holding position though I do expand the perimeter around Smolensk and Durovo as 9th Armee gets there and takes over from the two PzGren Divs at Velikie and is starting to take up positions in the North.

South of the 3rd 2nd Pz is more or less static, I did destroy some of the trapped troops but there is still a lot.

4th Armee is almost up in position to support 2nd Pz with 2nd Armee still running last and still a long way from The Dnepr River.
It still has a lot of marshlands to cover to get there.