World at War AAR-MrPlow vs. jjdenver (No jjdenver allowed)

[MrPlow]

September 5, 1942

Third Battle of Minsk

Unfortunately the enemy heavily counterattacked our units in, and surrounding, Minsk. Many Red Army infantry units were destroyed while others had to defy Stalin's "No retreat" order and withdraw to avoid encirclement. However, the Wehrmacht paid heavily for their advance as many of their corps were damaged or destroyed. Due to this intense attritional warfare around Minsk, Soviet High Command has noticed enemy corps being transferred from other areas of the the frontline to the Minsk battles, causing these positions to weaken. This further shows the strain the Wehrmacht is undergoing throughout the Eastern Front which the Red Army will attempt to exploit if the situation arises. Furthermore, it seems the Luftwaffe beginning a concentrated effort to destroy the Red Airforce. We will make sure this does not occur, glory to the Motherland!

Frontline


North Africa

Axis forces are making a concerted effort to capture the oil fields of Iraq, leading to the belief they may be running low on oil. The forces that arrived in Iraq are significant, but not enough to defend the oil fields indefinitely. As a result further forces are being sent to Iraq to aid in its defence. Throughout western area of the Mediterranean, Allied forces are preparing to invade Libya and then move East and liberate Egypt.

[MrPlow]

September 25, 1942

Eastern Front

Unfortunately Operation Iron Fist has stagnated into attritional warfare as both sides endure terrible casualties. The Red Army holds positions near Minsk that may not be tenable Depending on future combat, our glorious soldiers may have to do a strategic withdrawal. Glory to the Motherland!



North Africa

The more successful battles continue in North Africa as the Allies are about to liberate Libya.

[MrPlow]

October 15, 1942

Eastern Front

Attritional stagnation continues as the front becomes static on the outskirts of Minsk...

North Africa

Reinforcements are enroute to Iraq as Allied forces prepare to invade Libya...

[zzodr]

Glory to the Motherland! Not one step back!

[fiskog]

Have you considered taking Portugal? It falls easily to two good ground units, three BB's and available CV's. A TAC or two will make it quicker. Basing a STRAT in Lisbon can hit subs in the Atlantic. Once taken, you can take Spain in two or three turns tops with three ARM, three MECH and some air. This will stretch Fritz.

[MrPlow]

Glory to the Motherland! Not one step back!

Thanks for the support and for reading, Glory to the Motherland!

Have you considered taking Portugal? It falls easily to two good ground units, three BB's and available CV's. A TAC or two will make it quicker. Basing a STRAT in Lisbon can hit subs in the Atlantic. Once taken, you can take Spain in two or three turns tops with three ARM, three MECH and some air. This will stretch Fritz.

Interesting idea. It is true that it will stretch Fritz, but it will also stretch the Allies aswell. In addition, Germany would get the additonal PP from the cities before we capture them. However, Allied Command will keep this idea in mind as it might be an essential option depending on how the war progresses. Thanks for the idea!

[MrPlow]

November 4, 1942

Allied Intelligence picked up German transmissions regarding a "Wehrmacht AAR". OSS presumes it must dictate German strategies and tactics throughout this terrible war while gloating over their many successes that they managed even with "oil shortages" or "manpower issues" . As much as Allied Command would love to read it, it is protected by codes our Intelligence services have never seen before, meaning by the time we can actually read it, the war will most likely be over...

Eastern Front

Winter arrives as the frontline stagnates and the Red Army begins reinforcing, repairing, and upgrading it's battered forces. The arrival of winter signifies the end of Operation Iron Fist, which is considered a failure by Stavka as Soviet forces did not manage to take and hold their objectives. Although not a success, this offensive manage to attrit much Wehrmacht strength that will be hard for Germany to replace. Even though the Red Army has taken massive casualties aswell, it will be much easier for the Soviet Union to replace them due to large expendable manpower reserves. There is much hope that this offensive weakened the Wehrmacht enough to open the door to successful Red Army offensives in 1943 that will retake Soviet territory and punish the fascist invaders. Glory to the Motherland!

Frontline


North Africa and the Middle East

Allied forces invaded Sardinia and encountered little resistance after landing. Sardinia and Corsica, which has an invasion fleet offshore, are both expected to be under complete Allied control soon. These islands will assist Allied forces in securing the western Mediterranean and aid in the invasion of Italy when it occurs. Unfortunately in the east, Wehrmacht armoured spearheads are close to Iraqi oilfields where a small, but significant, Allied force is preparing to defend. This force will only buy time for a larger Allied force enroute to Iraq that will hopefully finally secure it. Allied command will do as much as possible to prevent this oil from falling into Axis hands...

[rkr1958]

Allied Intelligence picked up German transmissions regarding a "Wehrmacht AAR". OSS presumes it must dictate German strategies and tactics throughout this terrible war while gloating over their many successes that they managed even with "oil shortages" or "manpower issues" . As much as Allied Command would love to read it, it is protected by codes our Intelligence services have never seen before, meaning by the time we can actually read it, the war will most likely be over...

I thought your intelligence services had a device called Ultra?

[MrPlow]

I thought your intelligence services had a device called Ultra?

Haha me too, unfortunately it seems the word got out about Ultra, so the Germans switched to the Enigma machine 2.0.

[MrPlow]

November 24, 1942

Eastern Front

Besides some sporadic artillery and air attacks, the front is eerily quiet. The Soviet High Command continues to ship in fresh Red Army units and expand the airforce to meet the Nazi threat. The Red Army will continue to expand and upgrade in order to prepare for the upcoming Soviet Spring Offensive to liberate Minsk for the second time. Furthermore, using this relative "calm", Stavka has shipped in more reinforcements to the Finnish front in order to destroy the Fascist presence and "liberate" Helsinki. Glory to the Motherland!

North Africa and the Middle East

Allied advances continue in this theatre as Corsica is liberated while Sardinia will soon follow. Allied troops will continue repairing and upgrading in preparation for the overland invasion of Libya. Furthermore, Allied Command is already drafting plans for the invasion of Sicily and Italy, though these operations most likely wont occur for many months. The map below is a strategic overview of this theatre depicting our immediate offensive and defensive plans for the area.

Strategic Overview

[MrPlow]

December 14, 1942

Eastern Front

Static frontline as the Red Army rests, refits, and repairs...

North Africa and Iraq

Unanticipated stiff Italian resistance on Sardinia delays the Allies' conquest of the Island. In Iraq, it seems the Afrika Korps will reach the oil fields as they destroyed much of our defending forces...

[MrPlow]

January 3, 1943

Eastern Front

Static frontline as the Red Army rests, refits, and repairs...

North Africa and Iraq

1943 has not been good to the Allies in the Mediterranean and Middle East. German forces captured the Iraqi oil fields and now threaten Baghdad. Unfortunately Allied reinforcements are still quite a few days away....

[OzHawkeye2]

This has certainly been an entertaining AAR. Well done.

I cannot help but thing regardless of his success in Iraq, the German player is doomed on the Russian front, which in the end, is the only one that really matters.

[rkr1958]

1943 has not been good to the Allies in the Mediterranean and Middle East. German forces captured the Iraqi oil fields and now threaten Baghdad. Unfortunately Allied reinforcements are still quite a few days away....

Keep up the good fight! Whatever happens you're giving it you all.

[raffo80]

Why invading libia? it has no strategic value once you already have sardinia, corsica and tunis. I would rather invade italy or south france. Or eventually directly Suez.

[MrPlow]

This has certainly been an entertaining AAR. Well done.

I cannot help but thing regardless of his success in Iraq, the German player is doomed on the Russian front, which in the end, is the only one that really matters.

Thanks for the kind words, I really hope your right!

Keep up the good fight! Whatever happens you're giving it you all.

Thanks for the support aswell! Hopefully the Allies will be able to rid the world of Nazi tyranny in the next 2 and a half years!

Why invading libia? it has no strategic value once you already have sardinia, corsica and tunis. I would rather invade italy or south france. Or eventually directly Suez.

You do make a good point, the Allies have been getting bogged down in this area for the last few months. Allied Command will take your sound strategic ideas very seriously, though Sardinia is not quite "secure" yet and there is a large enemy air presence on Sicily harassing our troops.

[Diplomaticus]

This has certainly been an entertaining AAR. Well done.

I cannot help but thing regardless of his success in Iraq, the German player is doomed on the Russian front, which in the end, is the only one that really matters.

Hmmm.... Not sure that I agree. In the BJR mod, it's possible for Germany to hold out much longer than in the vanilla game. Here the Allies have made some serious missteps that may make it impossible to take Berlin & Rome by deadline.

Instead of going after relatively valueless Tripoli, why didn't the Allies head straight for Egypt? They could have perhaps caught the Germans between a rock and a hard place. Now Axis has got the oil and it's possibly too late.

The Russians have paid a terrible price for their first offensive. Now the German has had time to profit from his considerable production advantage. He'll probably be able to repel any Red Army offensive in 1943. That means the Allies will have only a year and a half to blast through somehow to Berlin and Rome. That's a tall order, looking at it from where I sit.

[MrPlow]

January 23, 1943

Eastern Front

1943 has been a little better in this theatre than in the Mediterranean. The deep winter continues to allow the Red Army to rest, repair, and upgrade for the coming offensives. Near the southern area of the front, Soviet partisans began to harass the enemy, though Stavka feels these surrounded units will be quickly destroyed by the Wehrmacht. The Red Army realizes their greatest weakness in in the air, so a fighter construction program has taken effect. We hope to at least achieve air parity with the Luftwaffe by Spring, though their aircraft are significantly more advanced than ours. In the North, Red Army troops are closing in on Helsinki which will hopefully be liberated soon. Soviet High Command wants to close this front quickly, so these troops can be transferred to more important fronts. We will prevail! Glory to the Motherland!

Frontline 1943


Mediterranean and Iraq

Allied Command still struggles to secure Sardinia as troops prepare to assault Tripoli. In addition, an Allied force is enroute to capture the Suez Canal, and should hopefully arrive by the time the weather allows for amphibious invasions. In Iraq, Baghdad is poised to be invaded by the Fascist menace, and allied reinforcements are still many days away. This theatre is most depressing, but the Allies will prevail!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Why invading libia? it has no strategic value once you already have sardinia, corsica and tunis. I would rather invade italy or south france. Or eventually directly Suez.

Taking the ports in Libya will reduce the number of Axis units in Africa that can move (Malta supply rule). Currently the Axis can support 9 points (2 for each of Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk and 1 for each of Alexandria, Port Said and Beirut). If Tripoli and Benghazi falls the Axis can only support 5 points. The excess units can't move or attack. This is very important for the Allied units landing near Kuwait that will try to hold Baghdad and recapture the oilfields.

Germany has 2 German armor units which cost 1.5 supply each. One German tac bomber at 1.5 supply, 2 German fighters at 1 supply each, 2 German infantry at 0.5 supply each and other units we can't see. Just from the units we can see the Axis will spend 7.5 supply points to use them. If they lose Tripoli and Benghazi then they must ground at least 2.5 points of these. That means e. g. 1 armor and 1 fighter must remain idle. That can swing the battle to the favour
of the Allies. When Tobruk falls the situation becomes even more critical.

Britain can land from the Red Sea threatening to liberate Alexandria and Port Said to make the supply situation even worse for the Axis.

The Axis is so strong in Africa now that unless the Allies capture some African ports then they might lose all of Iraq.

The mistake MrPlow did in 1942 in the Med was to send the first reinforcements from USA and Britain to Algeria and Sardinia instead of Kuwait. Now it seems the
reinforcements enroute might arrive a bit too late. One reason is that if they had arrived in time they could have railed from Kuwait to Beirut, Baghdad etc. and made life difficult for the Axis. The second wave of invaders could have gone after Algeria, Sardinia and Corsica is it was not critical so strike there so soon.

I think the Allies have a good chance of winning the game if they can kick the Axis out of Iraq again. Then Russia will do the job unless 1943 ends up the same as 1942 (Russia losing too many armor and air units). If Iraq collapses then I think the Axis player will win this game. The Germans can then just build for the defense and dig in to delay the Allies and Russians for as long as possible.

[raffo80]

This has certainly been an entertaining AAR. Well done.

I cannot help but thing regardless of his success in Iraq, the German player is doomed on the Russian front, which in the end, is the only one that really matters.

Hmmm.... Not sure that I agree. In the BJR mod, it's possible for Germany to hold out much longer than in the vanilla game. Here the Allies have made some serious missteps that may make it impossible to take Berlin & Rome by deadline.

Instead of going after relatively valueless Tripoli, why didn't the Allies head straight for Egypt? They could have perhaps caught the Germans between a rock and a hard place. Now Axis has got the oil and it's possibly too late.

The Russians have paid a terrible price for their first offensive. Now the German has had time to profit from his considerable production advantage. He'll probably be able to repel any Red Army offensive in 1943. That means the Allies will have only a year and a half to blast through somehow to Berlin and Rome. That's a tall order, looking at it from where I sit.

Well, russia is near poland border. I believe the eastern front is the best one for allies. if you look at the picture, germany has a single line of defence and armor on fronline. A well prepared offensive (with all armor and air) could crush the german single line of defence and then the advance would be fast.

Allies should hurry up though. if they don't take UK and invade italy in mid '43 i think axis wins. Expecially since germany has no oil problem now that they got iraq.