My opponent is very skilled, we had played before, I am posting an AAR on a recent game we played.
I had originally planned to include some comments on “advanced tactics,” hence one of my earlier annotated screenshot. But the game was engrossing, and I had little time, so I didn’t follow through. I also got sloppier with screenshots later on, but many of the more interesting actions did happen earlier in the game.
I purchased two King Tigers, one in the north sector, one in the middle sector. I assembled another mountaineer unit near Snowdin, for a total of two. Lastly I purchased two Jadgpanzers, many infantry, and some artillery in the form of StuGIV and a Wurfrahmen.
I captured Junction City immediately, and then put all of my forces in a defensive position. At first the Soviet assault came from the south, and my screening infantry/recon car spotted them. It was a massive push of at least 2 SU-100s and 2-T34s, along with infantry and artillery.
The southern front was very thinly held, and I had to rush defenses to the area. Jadgpanthers and their 6 moves are invaluable for this purpose. After two turns, I gathered enough units to counterattack and crush the Soviet forces, forcing them to pull back.
But then, an attack spearheaded by two JS2s assaulted the north, near Snowdin. My King Tiger held them off temporarily, but was forced to retreat to reinforce. Then 2 weakened SU-100s came into the forest/hills south of Snowdin, and I sent my infantry to destroy them. Yet this tactical victory left me open in the north, and Soviet forces simply marched in.
A German counterattack with a King Tiger, two artillery, and an infantry reduced a JS2 to 1 str, but Soviet reinforcements arrived to box in my forces. It seemed I might lose units to the Soviet army, but through skillful maneuver I pinpointed the weakness in the encirclement attempt. Unfortunately I don’t have a tactical map, but in essence I forced a regular to withdraw with artillery and my King Tiger, clearing its ZoC, then I pulled all my forces south of the forest. I thought that the Soviets will wait to bring in infantry before attacking, and I’ve bought myself some time. I believe it is critical to preserve the strength of the German army, since if I lose too many units the Soviets will accrue a massive advantage. Losses are hard to make good for the Germans, even infantry. It’s better to have an elastic defense than try to hold every inch of territory.
Even though it’s 4 to 3 VH, I have inflicted significant casualties on the Soviet forces, and my army in the South prepares to counterattack deep into Soviet territory. Through luck, I have complete naval superiority, and my ships may prove invaluable as artillery support in the southern sector. Since most of the powerful Soviet armor formations are concentrated in the north, I will direct my assault in the south, where all of my mobile units are concentrated and where I have naval support.
To my surprise, the Soviets pressed the assault in the north, moving JS2s into close terrain. I destroyed one with my infantry, but truth be told, once the Soviets start massing their artillery and infantry for another attack, I will be hard-pressed to halt the offensive. One of my infantry is even out of ammo, such is the desperate state of the fighting in the north.
But in the south, my forces continue their push, and the Soviet formations are forced to pull back. Many of their units are low on strength and out of supplies, and I’ve massed up all of my mobile formations in the area. This includes a panther, two panzer IVs, and 3 mobile artillery units (2 StuGIVs, a Wurfrahmen), and 4 infantry. This force should be enough to capture a VH, hopefully.
While I have lost many infantry thus far, my losses in mobile units are light, with no tanks destroyed, while I have devastated Soviet armor formations. Unfortunately for me, the Red Army is almost certainly readying more forces in the backlines, while using cheap infantry to delay my push in the front.
The Soviets continue to push their luck in the north. They appear desperate to encircle and destroy my forces I withdrew from Snowdin. It seems all the remaining Soviet armor is committed to this offensive. I should’ve taken before and after screenshots, but in summary, the Soviet offensive will succeed in taking another Snowy Village and killing two infantry and two mobile artillery, for the cost of a SU-100 and a SU-85, along with the JS2 I killed earlier. I managed to withdraw my King Tiger. Is the price worth it? If the gamble had succeeded in killing my Tiger II, it would definitely be worth it, but I’m not so sure. I’ve killed 4 tanks and 9 antitank units by now, with the lost of just a Jadgpanzer and a Jadgpanther. This was around halfway through the game.
In the South I’ve completely overrun the Soviet positions. They will have time to set up some new defenses near their VH, but unless they have armor reserves that I am unaware of, I should be able to capture another VH, possibly 2, while I hold off in the north for as long as possible. I have two King Tigers, an artillery, and several infantry, yet with mostly infantry, artillery, and the odd armor unit or two the Soviets continue to force me back.
However, The southern assault continues, and there is not much to be done to stop my attacks. The Soviets have an overwhelming advantage in units, while my two King Tigers hold the positions in the center. Desperate Soviet attacks to kill one of them fails. Still, the Soviets mass enough infantry and artillery to force me out of Junction City, despite the loss of most, if not all, of their armor. I capture a southeastern VH and split my forces three ways, one force to try to capture the harbor VH, and a second force to go up to the northeast to keep the Soviets honest, while the last force is sent to reinforce the middle and capture JC.
I was, with reinforcements, eventually able to recapture Junction City, although this took a while even with two King Tigers, artillery support, and reinforcing PzIV, Panther, and Jadgpanther. Then the Soviets started to retreat, for apparently they ran out of armor, and I started to buy panthers, for their mobility. This was around turn 20. I sent my attacks toward Snowdin, but waves of conscript and regulars interdicted my forces. Most hilarious of all was a Panther surrounded on every hex by regulars/conscripts, who attacked en masse with artillery support. They exhausted the ammo of the panther and brought it down to 2 str, despite heavy losses. Yet the Soviets can afford this type of losses without issue.
In the South, I was briefly able to capture the port city VH, but the Soviets had a surprising number of units they built up in the backfield, and pushed me back out, despite my two ships providing artillery support. They snuck a conscript into the southeastern VH I captured earlier, and it was back to 4 to 3. Fortunately I was able to retake it with a PzIV, an infantry, and a StuGIV, then I bought two King Tigers there to make sure I couldn’t lose. I did save up a lot of prestige at this point. Those King Tigers were very helpful in stopping a last ditch attack by 2 SU-100s.
In the north, I managed to approach, and on the last turn, even evict the defender, from Snowdin, while sending a secondary force to tie down Soviet infantry at their northeast VH. I was able to win MV, 4 to 3 VH. The Soviets suffered absolutely absurd losses. Against any other country, this would’ve been a crushing victory halfway through the game, but the Soviets have no issue with losses, and can hold out effectively with their cheap infantry. My opponent was trying a new, very aggressive strategy. Normally he would not put armor on close terrain without some sort of interdiction or artillery support. Very entertaining game.
Turn 6
Turn 6
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Turn 27
Turn 27
