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This will be my first Soviet grand campaign. Any tips about unknown pitfalls (e.g. don't disband HQs destined to upgrade) are welcome. I'm getting this AAR started, but progress will be slow until we get about 10 or so turns ahead in the game.

Weather is very favorable for the Axis Air Force to open their treacherous campaign.



Air Losses:



Overall strategic picture.
Germans have cleared the ports in Courland and overrun Riga.
AGC's pocket looks solid, but there is potential to break the northern and southernmost pockets.



NKVD border security are able to find gaps in the German lines and they open the pocket on the Hungarian border.



In the north a Soviet tank division is able to restore friendly LOC and in turn isolates a German mech regiment.
Overall strategic picture at the end of the turn:



Destroyed units and ground losses in the first week:

Ok, so the Lvov pocket on t1 is doable.

WOW

The Germans managed to reach the Romanian border, I assume it was just on the first turn.


Tips!!

Surrender now

Sorry I don't play the Soviets, well I did once playing WITE1 , didn't go to well.

Good luck with the game anyway.

Tips!!

Surrender now

These are fascist tips!

Additional turn 1 housekeeping, we’ve begun constructing forts and depots in the Leningrad vicinity to help withstand the coming siege.

The Red Air Force, with the exception of recon and isolated squadrons, has been sent to the strategic reserve for massive re-org.

I played WitE for years essentially ignoring the air war. I really enjoyed the air engine updates in WitW, but I have some learning to do for WitE2.
I’ll be focusing a lot on this part of the game in this instance in a bid to buff those skills.

I need to wrap my head around the AOG logical grouping and how/why squadron assignments may be changed. Any benefits/costs to consider appreciated.

I’ll probably reintroduce the Red Air Force around turn 3 or 4 as I start to get a sense for the front line and Axis initial objectives.

subscribed!

motorized at Vantspils and super-lvov.... Q-ball seems being playiing with an Wite 1 playbook [;)]

As you opened the lvov I think it has played on your side, as you have been able to evacuate romanian border.

Little in the tips section... From my limited experience: the landbridge seems not worth trying ,but moscow defense start in smolensk, no open city there. And north is step by step from pskov, every hex is a trench.

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Tips!!

Surrender now

These are fascist tips!



Fair point [:)]

Being serious now , as I said had 1 game as Soviets back in WITE 1 disaster for me.

What I will say again in all seriousness come first winter if the Germans reach the gates of Moscow and fortify for winter you will have a tough time pushing them back.

What I will say from my current game ( playing as Axis ) was the South was a nightmare to hold ground as there is very little defensive terrain and the Romanians need to be stacked with German units, so if there not you can really hurt AGS.

The Axis do not have enough troops to cover the entire front meaning they will have to break down into regiments.

Supply supply supply, the Germans have it bad late in 1941 so exploit it.



Disclaimer

I'm playing against the AI so against a human will be much different, also every game has different situations and never identical.

And I'm far from a good player

cheers

Turn 2 June 29, 1941

Weather remains favorable to the fascist.



Turn summary:



Production info:




OoB:




Overall strategic map at the beginning of the turn:




AGN
36th Mot Div broken down is holding the left wing into the Baltics for AGN.
Another formation is about one week ahead of schedule on the road to Pskov, also threatening the lower Velikaya (below the Sorot) with Totenkopf SS Mot Div and 8th Pzr Div.

1st Pzr Div is isolated and 1/36th Mot Rgt is cut off too.
Totenkopf Mot Div is cut off by coordinated tank division thrusts on their flanks. An HQ, an unknown unit, and a motorized formation are caught in the maneuver.

AGC
3rd and 14th Mot Div operating around Daugavpils.
19th Pzr breaks down and crosses the Dvina at Polatsk.
Further east the 12th Pzr Div batters into Vitebsk.
20th Pzr Div is resting in the open plains west of Smolensk, inviting a counter attack.
7th Pzr Div puts a toe over the Dnepr river at the land bridge.
20th Mot Div reaches the Dnepr south of Orsha.
3rd Pzr Div reaches the Dnepr at Mogilev.
17th Pzr Div is still behind the Drut, 30 miles behind.
29th Mot Div has driven down to Bobruisk (west of Gomel).

19th Pzr Div is isolated by flanking moves from the Soviet rifle divisions.
Likewise, 20th Pzr Div, 7th Pzr Div, 18th Mot Div, an HQ and another unknown formation are isolated from supply.



AGS
16th Pzr Div breaks down and covers neck of German thrust with Viking SS Mot Div
4th Pzr Div and Das Reich SS Mot Div break down to pocket Vinnitsa
14th Pzr Div covers the west side of the Vinnitsa pocket
10th Mot Div covers Lvov pocket cordon’s west side.
10th Pzr Div breaks down to cover Lvov pocket center
11th Pzr Div completes loop around Lvov pocket.

2/16th and 3/16th Pzr Rgts are isolated.
1/4th Pzr Rgt is cut off, with 2nd/Das Reich Rgt and the 25th Mot Div

Air Losses:



Destroyed units:



Ground Losses:



Overall strategic map at the end of turn 2:

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Any tips about unknown pitfalls (e.g. don't disband HQs destined to upgrade) are welcome.

On that note, you might be being too aggressive with your tank divisions. If Germany isolates those and gets them to surrender, Germany can capture up to ~1000 trucks per division that you let get encircled. Since logistics are ultimately probably the main constraint on how far the Axis will advance, you don't want tank divisions to get isolated. Hopefully at this stage of the game they are not yet filled out with vehicles though. Also, if you wait for them to get supplied and get CPP up, they can get pretty decent CVs and usefully counterattack Panzer divisions and cause a lot of damage (if you attack en masse against overextended and poorly supplied Panzer divisions and ideally regiments).

It is of course good to cut off their divisions, but ideally that should be a job mostly for the NKVD and Airborne (and later cavalry), as well as tank/mech divisions that can do so without making too much risk to themselves.

ORIGINAL: Beethoven1

On that note, you might be being too aggressive with your tank divisions.

Aye, guilty as charged. My propensity is to attack, to a fault.
I’m trying to balance strategic goals with occasional opportunism, and damned if he didn’t bait me into cutting him off several times. [:D]

Qball has certainly captured a lot of trucks. I think I can check that next turn. He’s working turn 7 now and I’ll probably post again when the action is 10 or so turns ahead.

I think I can post here since we're several turns ahead and I see no intel here, but Seminole correct me if I am wrong...

I've captured 17,500 trucks. Not sure if that's alot or not for this period, but seems like more than usual. 22 Soviet Tank units are destroyed, and 11 Mech Units.

My flank security was no bueno early on, getting spearheads cut off was not good. I also focused on unit desruction, which sometimes means not taking up as much territory. But there, not sure I'm making objectives, as I have 1.2 mil POWs at this point (with another 200K or so in pockets)

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

I think I can post here since we're several turns ahead and I see no intel here, but Seminole correct me if I am wrong...

I've captured 17,500 trucks. Not sure if that's alot or not for this period, but seems like more than usual. 22 Soviet Tank units are destroyed, and 11 Mech Units.

My flank security was no bueno early on, getting spearheads cut off was not good. I also focused on unit desruction, which sometimes means not taking up as much territory. But there, not sure I'm making objectives, as I have 1.2 mil POWs at this point (with another 200K or so in pockets)

Your comments are welcome and encouraged! I intend to run the AAR sufficiently behind the action that I'm not too worried about intel advantage. Interested in your strategy and observations, as I haven't played the Axis '41 GC yet.

If want to contribute screenshots here, etc., feel free.

I have no idea if what I'm doing is right. This is my first '41 campaign. I started one against the AI, but only touch it when I don't have a turn pending online, so it's not as far as our game at this point. I would like to get it ahead to get a clue what events are coming.

I think unit destruction is critical to the Axis, because it's in no small part a game of ZOC. I like to think the game largely balances on those trade offs both sides are making regarding geographic progress (or lack thereof) and units taken off the map.

Winning a '44 GC (via resignation) imbued me with hope that maneuver can always win the day.

How the trucks will serve you in no small part hinges on your supply network and how you use it. No doubt I could have been much more conservative with my tank and mech formations in the opening weeks, but I know the trade off would have been bigger panzer leaps early on. I'm hoping I've stymied you at least somewhat for the trade off, but with infantry hitting the front line I'm forced to trade some space for time in the center and south.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

I think I can post here since we're several turns ahead and I see no intel here, but Seminole correct me if I am wrong...

I've captured 17,500 trucks. Not sure if that's alot or not for this period, but seems like more than usual. 22 Soviet Tank units are destroyed, and 11 Mech Units.

...

just for comparison by end T7 in my game with SpeedySteve I'd destroyed 26,000 Soviet trucks and captured 11,000. Now I made a big mistake in not prioritising unit destruction so thats the basic reason.

In my other game as Soviet, Germans have also captured about 11,000 trucks so far, and in that one I'm trying to preserve the Red Army...so I think in this game, at 17,500, I'm running ahead in terms of trucks, and overall doing OK in unit destruction. IIRC, 1.2 mil POWs so far through Turn 7 (and something like 15 divisions pocketed), which is roughly on course for close to 2 mil before winter.

I'm behind in some other respects, so readers here will see that as Seminole keeps posting

Turn 3 July 6, 1941

Low pressure systems are looming. Hopefully they converge and bring some heavy rains to Russia next week.



Turn summary:



Production:




Destroyed units:



Ground losses:





AGN

Germans try to consolidate their pockets. Motorized regiments make a thrust north toward the Gulf of Finland between Lake Pskov and Lake Vortsjarv.

We’re able to break pockets (163rd Mech loops from Velikaya defenses to slip behind 32nd ID and break the pocket around 3rd TD, who in turn reaches the northern pocket. 22nd NKVD tries to help, but they can’t get to the northern pocket to make an encirclement.
1st PzD, Totenkopf SS MD, 3rd MD, Unk PzD, 900th Lehr Bde, 8th PzD
32nd ID, 122nd ID, 123rd ID almost cut off in Latvia.

2&3/36th MD cut off in Estonia.
1st ID and 291st ID also cut off in Estonia.



AGC
19th PzD, broken down in regiments, crossed at Polotsk and has regained LOC, but is low on fuel as well. We spread a defense in this favorable terrain to protect the approaches to Velikie Luki.
I want to hold the area west and south of Velikie Luki to stretch his lines for now and maybe present areas for counter attack in the near term.
18th MD is sitting in Vitebsk.




7th PzD and 20th MD make separate upper Dnepr crossings. The Orel MD will pull back to favorable terrain and give up the clean terrain behind the rivers.
20th PzD is near Smolensk, and can be cut off. It is low on gas. 51st TD makes a run that cuts off 20th PzD, as well as 7th & 12th PzD.
18th PzD backs up 20th MD on the western banks of the Dnepr at Orsha.
158th RD cuts off the 3rd PzD in Mogilev.



29th MD regains LOC and is low on gas. 17th PzD has taken the vanguard toward Gomel, but is in turn cut off by the 52nd TD.



AGS

In the south several of the pockets are broken and the tables are largely turned on First Panzer Group.







LAH Bde is cut off after making attacks south of Kiev. The 13th PzD is also cut off.
19th TD links up with a pocket and cuts off Wiking SS MD, 2&3/4th PzD, 9th PzD, 10th PzD, 11th PzD with XXXXVIII and XIV Motorized Corps and an unk HQ in the pocket.
Farther west 1/16th PzD cut off and routed nearly 100 miles south, losing 23 of 55 tanks (half of those Pz III and IV models).



2&3/16th PzD cut off with 297th ID when the 1/60th MD retreated under a three Rifle Division attack led by Rokossovsky.



An attempt is made to rout LAH Mot Bde, but their combat power was twice what recon led us to believe, and our forces were insufficient even though we had isolated them from supply.



These pockets will cost us more units, but we have deemed the additional sacrifice worth the trade off in supplies to a large number of German mechanized forces during the third week, when many of the original surplus supplies should be largely spent.

We’re overall feeling good about the situation on the approach to Leningrad. Defenses are largely set, with just the need to feed in reinforcements and build the line out.

In the center we await the enemy’s next thrust. Taking Smolensk, or toward Bryansk? Velikie Luki? The Gomel effort appears to be a sideshow. I’m hoping we can slow it down and refuse an encirclement towards Mogilev or Kiev for a few more weeks.

Overall strategic map at and the end of turn 3:

Turn 4 - July 13, 1941

Weather - low pressure systems from Scandinavia and Murmansk converge on the Baltics, bringing some light mud.



Turn summary



Production stats





Overall strategic map at the beginning of the turn.



Attempt to re-supply some unit that are en route to the front lines.
Escort with MiGs in the off chance there are any Germany air superiority missions in effect.
I didn’t expect that there were, more just practicing organizing one of these missions in a relaxed environment.
Too relaxed! Look at the ops losses!



Lesson learned, don’t escort these type of missions, just conduct them where they are safe until the Russian fighter pilots aren’t complete muppets.

AGN counterattack against the 3/36th Mot Rgt forces retreat (was hoping for a rout, but couldn’t get any units adjacent to the retreat path).



Another counterattack, this time against the AGN bridgehead over the Velikaya and Sorot river junction.
This attack fails to pocket the German cordon by the barest of margins.
A failure to communicate intents to the pocketed rifle division resulted in it sitting out the battle, and it would likely have swung the result if it joined.



Tank Divisions rally south of Smolensk and push back the 2/18th Pzr Rgt, taking out 19 of their 54 tanks.
Half of these are type III and IV models.



In the mountains a few holdouts continue to occupy some Axis allies and security units.



Some additional harassment along the front and we isolate a few spearhead units in the south as well.

Here’s a close up view along the front line to show the named formations:

AGN theater of operations:



AGC theater of operations:



AGS theater of operations:



Crimean theater of operations:



Overall strategic map at the end of the turn 4:

ORIGINAL: Gam3r

Ok, so the Lvov pocket on t1 is doable.

Always been doable. But there are pro's and con's to it.

Notably, this week Stalin ordered the construction of fortifications in Moscow, even before the question of Smolensk has been settled.
The people's spirits are bolstered knowing that the state is in for the long haul, regardless of disasters to come.

Turn 5 - July 20, 1941

Weather is clear across Europe, with lows and rain creeping down from the Arctic circle.



Turn summary:



Overall strategic map at the beginning of turn 5:



AGN is splitting up and has splintered its northern spearhead.
With the Germans across the Velikaya last week the river fortifications had been abandoned by the rifle divisions.
The Germans attempted to clear the remaining bunkers and minefields with a security unit.
Zhukov’s intricate defensive belts result in several German squads lost and a realization by AGN that real infantry will need to be committed.



German 3rd Mot Div stumbles across a reserve deployment that results in a loss.



The Leningrad Front is reinforcing the Narva River line and trying to gain space for Tallinn to reinforce. Need to help the routed Mountain Div escape by sea, don’t want it captured.
Failed attack on German spearhead (3/36th Mot Rgt) hurts.
Should have committed air resources to this as well, but Pskov was prioritized.
We’re left scattering a screen in between Tallinn and the Germans.
Hopefully he uses next turn to consolidate and doesn’t lunge again.



Successful counterattacks at Pskov punk the 900th Lehr Mot Bde (attacked by 9 RDs) then cut off and rout the 3rd Mot Div that was on the eastern side of the lower Velikaya.




AGC

The German infantry have finally reached the front lines. The enemy mech formations have pulled back to ensure supplies and try to build up some combat effectiveness.
Worried about the springboard here the Orel M.D. (Bryansk Front) will need to pull back south of Smolensk and take up new lines.



AGS

The Germans have plowed across the Dnepr around either side of Cherkassy and pocketed several Soviet formations.
Even with all the encirclements he has plenty of units with enough gas to run circles around us.
They’ve exploited the seam between Southwestern and Southern Fronts.
We've traded any unit density down here to defend north of Smolensk.

The Southern Front launches immediate counter attacks, pushing back 1/60th Mot Rgt and routing 2/4th Pzr Rgt.
1/4th Pzr Rgt is isolated.



The Cherkassy pocket forces counterattack the Hungarians in their midst and force a retreat.



Odessa falls. We expected an overwhelming attack, and consequently didn’t commit heavily.
I’ve seen in other AARs that the Germans can bunch of pioneers and other fort busting SUs and make quick work of the low morale Soviets.



The reinforcements arriving this week in the south are moved forward to screen and hopefully provide something to counter attack and thin threaded panzer thrusts.
Several are assigned to armies that now report to North Caucasus M.D.

Air losses mainly stem mainly from ground attacks against the 900th Pzr Lehr and 3rd Mot Div.



Ground losses:



Destroyed units:



VP assessment:



Overall strategic map at the end of turn 5:




Red Army Status report:

96 Rifle Div 70+ TOE
35 Rifle Div 56-69% TOE
43 Rifle Div 0-55% TOE

4 Airb Bde 70+ TOE
3 Airb Bde 56-69% TOE
6 Airb Bde 0-55% TOE

1 Mot Rifle Bde 18% TOE

2 Mech Div 70+ TOE
3 Mech Div 56-69% TOE
12 Mech Div 0-55% TOE

5 Tank Div 70+ TOE
11 Tank Div 56-69% TOE
18 Tank Div 0-55% TOE

19 Cav Div 70+ TOE
4 Cav Div 56-69% TOE
1 Cav Div 0-55% TOE

4 AT Bde 0-55% TOE

4 Mtn Div 70+ TOE
1 Mtn Div 0-55% TOE