Slitherine

Just some words of encouragement- people do read your AAR and appreciate them! At least I do, so keep 'em coming!

EDIT: Yes, replays unfortunately are messed up and units end up doing weird stuff in them. Your screenshots showing deployment and your concentration of forces every few turns are quite enough though!

13obo wrote:Just some words of encouragement- people do read your AAR and appreciate them! At least I do, so keep 'em coming!

Right, it's always good to watch other players approaches on missions and core force compositions.
Still... playing the Germany Grand, I've forgotten how convenient official DLC content was: no bridges being constantly blown up, no endless repairs of enemy units, plenty of turns...

And a small tip: If you'd advance much slower in the southwest, let the British units just retreat to Dunkerque after Belgium's surrender, and fortified your position around "Izegem" against the advancing French, you can easily destroy them off there in the resulting pockets (and in the transport ships). This way you can finish the mission with virtually no losses to your core and save up most of the 25RP/turn and gain a lot of experience for your fighter planes shooting the transport ships (destroy the DDs with Stukas first, then block the exit with the speedboats).

13obo wrote:EDIT: Yes, replays unfortunately are messed up and units end up doing weird stuff in them. Your screenshots showing deployment and your concentration of forces every few turns are quite enough though!

The replay's mostly fine in the first half this time, gets messed up around Dunkerque later. But you should be able to see that on your own computer, too (?)

Oh, and I think it would be nice if you could include the names of the respective scenarios you're currently commenting somewhere in the posts, you know... for new players.

Alright, after being gone for a long long time, i finally have a chance to start writing these up again. Next up, France:

After the destruction of the English forces at Dunkirk, we resume our advance on Paris. Despite earlier predictions of a collapse of the remaining French units, the troops in the immediate region of the capital have reorganized and seem able to put up stiff resistance.



We have determined that the best plan of attack would be a drive along the coast, and to quickly seize the harbor at Le Havre. This will deny the English a chance to bring in extra reinforcements while we assault Paris from both the North and the West. The forces in the East will advance slightly to occupy excellent defensive positions and dig in there while we hit their left flank. It is with this strategy in mind that we have deployed our forces.

In the East:



And in the West:



In order to confuse the French as to where the hammer blow will strike, our first attack will come from the right flank as a diversionary tactic and to capture the supply depot at Reims.



Our attack along the coast strikes swiftly and much territory is gained in the assault. The French forces have clearly not recovered yet from the destruction our troops caused at Dunkirk. The blitzkrieg tactics that have been so effective in Poland and Belgium seem to have overwhelmed the French defenders here, due North of Paris as well. As our forces have nearly reached Dieppe, we encounter a first attempt at a counterattack. Armored forces have been spotted moving North.



Meanwhile the city of Reims, and its supply depot has fallen into our hands, the resources captured here will be put to good use in the future campaigns. The city will be turned into a defensive position to prevent the French forces from breaking through into our rear from the right.



Having defeated the French counterattack, our forces keep on the drive towards Le Havre. As we move deeper and deeper into French territory, less resistance is encountered. It seems as if their entire left flank has been melted away. Only sporadic pockets of resistance slow us down in this region as we close in on Rouen.



The success of our attack in the South has thrown the French forces into chaos. Without proper leadership to quickly take control of the situation and rally the troops around Paris it seems their entire front is falling down. Despite the troops in the center being nominally weak, they have been able to capitulate on the weakness of the French troops and launched their own attack to shorten the distance to the enemy capital.

It seems that the French will to resist has not died out just yet, and there are still forces in the area that can mount a counterattack. Bursting into our infantry positions, enemy tanks, including several of the Char B1 Heavy tank do much damage while we attempt to gain a hold on the situation.



News that the city of Rouen has fallen to our advancing forces however has reached the remaining French troops.



Afraid that they would soon be outflanked from the west, many of the enemy forces have seized their counteroffensives, and have retreated South. This has allowed us to stabilize the front in the Center and East.



Further capitulating on our lightning strikes, offensives all along the front are now in full swing. Not only in the West, where we are now almost within a days walk from Le Havre, but also in the Center have we resumed our offensives.





It seems that the French have no more answers for our overwhelming assault. Everywhere the French are in full retreat, and nothing seems to be able to stop us any longer. Capturing a local command post, we find the French to have abandoned the position several hours ago already, giving us further indication no will to fight is left.



Token resistance inside the city of Le Havre cannot stop our forces from seizing control of the city, and immediately swinging East with the bulk of our troops to drive upon Paris. A small garrison will be left to ensure the English won't land forces in our rear while we drive on the French capital.



Having laid mines while retreating, these obstacles, together with a few troops unwilling to give up the fight, are the only remaining things left in our path towards Paris. The enemy has even left much of their still usable equipment behind in order to escape faster from our approaching troops. This has allowed us to equip several troops with this captured materiel, and it will be put to excellent use in our future campaigns.





Within the next couple of days, most of the fighting has seized. Our troops continue to march and drive towards the city of Paris, which with every passing hour seems more and more within our reach. As we approach the city, we receive news from the Official French government. They have declared the Paris an open city, to prevent the city and its population from falling victim to the sufferings of war.







As we march into Paris, we have received word that the French government has requested a seize fire from all forces along whatever front they were still able to muster. With any further attacks being put on hold, we can call this battle an outstanding victory. France: our decade old enemy that brought Germany to its knees after defeat in the first world war has been defeated.





With France on its knees, we shifted our focus to Great Britain, a battle in the air to gain control over the skies of this great island has however cost us dearly. Unable to wrestle control of the air away from the English Royal Airforce we must find different means to take the fight to them.



With Greece pledging it's allegiance to the British cause, and an Allied coup in the Yugoslavian government shifting their allegiance to that of our enemies, we have a reason to head East and start dealing with this new threat. Our next objective will be the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade!

The replay.

After being transferred to the East, our troops have gotten a new objective. After signing the Tripartite pact, a coup d'etat has taken place in Yugoslavia by pro-Allied nationalists, putting the country in clear defiance against the Axis powers. The country must be put under Axis control to secure safety for Germany, and in the Balkans. As our ultimate objective is the capture of Greece, to prevent the British from keeping a foothold in mainland Europe, we must move swiftly through Yugoslavia first. The Italian forces in Albania are also under threat of being wiped out, with their failure to subdue Greece, we must now enter the fray.



The occupation of Yugoslavia will commence in 3 stages: First we must capture Skopje, close to Albania. From there, we must strike North to secure Nis. Once those cities are under German control, more reinforcements will start pouring in from the North, and Belgrade will be surrounded. The city will then be taken by storm to prevent this from becoming a long siege. If possible we should aim to strike swiftly and finish our objectives within 25 turns, this will allow us more time to rest and refit before the campaign in Greece will begin, allowing us to deploy more troops in that battle. If we can capture Prizren before the Italian forces in Albania are defeated, the Italian forces might potentially in the most fortunate of cases help us in the fight against Greece as well, although a rumor has it that the Italian army is exceptionally fond of remaining stationary. Last, if we can destroy the Belgrade Command Center, all communications with the forces in the field will be lost, giving us a definite tactical advantage during the battle.



Our initial deployment comes from the East, as our troops have moved through Romania to arrive at the front here. Our Corps now include an armored train, the same one we captured during our campaign in Poland.



Our initial assault has us strike simultaneously towards the North and South to both help out the Italian forces in Albania, but also move closer to Belgrade. Initially we encounter very little to absolutely no opposition. Clearly the few forces that the Yugoslavians have are tasked with guarding the key strategic locations.





Our quick strike towards the East allows us to break through the weak enemy defenses at Skopje.



With a little help of the Luftwaffe, the last remaining opposition around the city is subdued. Our forces in the South can now move towards Prizren and prevent the enemy forces from ousting our Italian Allies from Albania.

Our forces in the North have marched upon Nis, the second objective in this campaign. As expected, quite a number of enemy forces have dug in around the city. They will have to be blasted out of their entrenchments before we can seize the city and proceed to march upon Belgrade.



At this point our troops are fighting two different battles, one to save the Italian forces, the other to gain control of the city of Nis. Both tasks are equally challenging, and require serious effort to get the situation under control.





Despite fighting that took considerably longer than expected, the outcome was never in doubt. The Yugoslavian army is outnumbered and outclassed by our elites, it is only a matter of time.....



After relieving the Italians, and securing Nis, the march on Belgrade resumes.



Closer and closer we move towards the Yugoslavian capital, and the forces defending it are now in serious danger of being cut off. With additional reinforcements now moving in from the West, it seems the defenders now find themselves in an even more precarious situation.....

More and more troops keep pouring in from the West, the 46th panzer corps is now in the area in full force, ready to strike towards Belgrade.



Almost simultaneously additional reinforcements arrive from Romania, these troops coming in from the North-East, will strike the Yugoslavian capital from the North.





Unable to handle a battle from so many sides, the pressure by our troops is overwhelming, forcing the defenders back and back again towards the city.



In the South, the terrain is more rugged, and our forces have significantly more trouble moving though the forested regions South of Belgrade. Stiff resistance in that region is further reason for their delay, however finally Belgrade seems to be in sight.



The destruction of their command center by aerial bombing seems to have been the death blow for the Yugoslavian army. Without being able to keep contact with one another, their forces were unable to mount an organized defense of the city. All hope of holding out for very long collapsed.



Now that our troops are marching into the capital, and the Yugoslavian army has surrendered, the first step towards securing the Balkans is over. The Yugoslavian people are cheering as our forces parade through Belgrade on their way towards Greece.





While en route to Greece, we have received word that several units of the SS will be joining our ranks as well. These unit will be supporting our ground forces, but will act, receive support and reinforcements independently from our regular Wehrmacht troops.

The replay:

After the victory at Belgrade our forces redeployed to Greece. The Greek army has not only fought the Italians to a standstill, but the Greek government has also allowed English troops to enter its territory and the Royal Airforce to use Greek airbases.
We must invade the country to remove this final threat in mainland Europe. Word has gotten in that a massive operation is being planned against our ally the Soviet Union, and that we have gotten orders to make all due haste in this operation to start preparing for that massive undertaking.



Besides the destruction of the Greek army and the capture of the Greek capital Athens, we have gotten several secondary objectives in this campaign: We know the cowardly English will retreat at the earliest sight of our forces, but if we can destroy a significant portion of their troops here, it will greatly improve our strategical situation. These forces will not be able to deploy to the African theater, thus allowing us to allocate the resources that would otherwise be necessary to fight them there to our own war effort and the upcoming offensive against the USSR. We have also gotten word from the Italian government that they will be able to resume their offensive into Greece if we can cut off the Greek defenders on their border with Albania. Although i have my doubts about the ability of the Italians to do anything but remain static, it might be prudent to cut off the Greek troops there regardless, so we have an easier time eliminating them.

We have deployed our forces in Northern Greece in such a way that will allow us to penetrate swiftly their initial defenses and break through the difficult mountainous terrain.



It seems that during the initial stages of the assault, the British infantry is trying to hold the line against our forces so that the rest of the Greek infantry and British armored units can escape South, a swift strike against their defensive lines, backed up by heavy artillery shelling has the desired effect of breaking their front-line defenses though.



After defeating these troops, we divide our forces into two battle groups, one will be heading south-west to cut off the Greek forces on the Albanian border while the other battle group heads south, to destroy the English army and capture Athens.



The small strike force that headed to the west is intent on cutting the Greek army off at Ioannina, but the Greek rear guard is not just about to let that happen. A fierce fight ensues.

A few days into the battle is has become clear that the combined Greek and English armies are no match for our superior forces. Despite some local areas putting up some resistance, when looking at the big picture it's a pretty one sided battle.
Some form of defense was set up at Ioannina, but these defenders were quickly overrun by our small strike force, effectively cutting off the Greek troops on the Albanian border.



Despite promises by the Italian government that their armies would assist in the destruction of the Greek forces there, the reality is much different. It came as no surprise that the Italian forces did not move even a single inch from their defensive positions even after the Greek were cut off. Had the OKH not predicted this outcome, insufficient troops might have been allocated to this region to root out the Greek defenders there. Luckily it was anticipated and thus additional Luftwaffe and infantry support will be relocated to wipe out these enemy forces.

The troops moving South are also advancing so fast, that they overran several airfields where British fighters were still grounded, trying to refuel. The swiftness of our operation has prevented the enemy from destroying the supply stockpiles at these airbases, allowing us to put them to good use and deploy additional aircraft for the duration of this operation.



Moving further South, the opposition from the enemy has gotten less and less. The retreating English and Greek forces are now unable to prevent us from simply moving past the retreating forces and capture them. No serious fight is given while we do so, and morale amongst the enemy is at an all time low.



It then comes as no surprise that the capital of Greece: Athens has been captured without firing a single shot. No Greek or English troops were present to prevent us from taking the city.

https://image.ibb.co/jbyado/Athens_Captured.png

The only resistance left came from the Greek troops fighting on the Albanian border. To their credit, they defended the territory till the last man, even without supplies, and had to be systematically cleared out of their defensive positions. Ultimately their situation was hopeless however, being unable to receive support from anywhere.



Thus the Greek army was destroyed, the English ousted from mainland Europe, and Greece will be divided between Italy, Bulgaria and Germany. A follow up invasion of Crete has left us with no serious opposition left in Europe itself. We will now be redeployed to Poland, where we will prepare for a future campaign into the Soviet Union.

The replay:

After almost 2 months of preparation after our campaign in Greece, we have been given to order to march into the Soviet Union. Given the poor performance of its military in the war with Finland in 1939-1940 i have no doubt that this war will be over in a few months. With the Fall of the Soviet Union, surely Great Britain will sue for peace as well, and this bloody war will finally be over.



The German armies will move into Russia with three different Army Groups. All with different objectives. The Army Group that our forces are stationed in will lead the assault on Moscow: Army Group Center. The first objective to that ultimate prize, is Minsk. Our forces are divided into three groups which will converge when they get closer to their target. A somewhat smaller force in the North and South, that will cover the flanks of a strong center attack, will overwhelm the Soviet defensive lines and allow us to exploit our breakthrough.



In the North the first objective of our forces will be Augustov, after which they will fight their way towards Grodno, and ultimately Minsk.





In the center, our forces will move swiftly towards Bialystok and Slonim, after which Minsk will be the target. A very small force will guard the territory around the Brest Fortress, as it will be very difficult to breach the defenses there we deem it better to simply bypass it, and let it be taken by rear area forces.



While the Soviet Union is still surprised about this attack, we have the opportunity to destroy many enemy air forces while still on the ground. Because our forces are operating within the complex movements of the whole army on the Eastern front it is imperative that we time our movements well. To take the city of Slonim swiftly would have us act in perfect conjunction with the pincer movement of the 3rd Panzer Group that we strive to accomplish here. Moreover if we can take Minsk swiflty, we'll have more time to prepare for the next stage of the operation: the drive upon Smolensk.



To aid us in the destruction of the enemy air armada, large formations of Luftflotte 2 assist us at the beginning of the operation.



As our forces slip over the Soviet border in the middle of the night, we have caught it's forces completely by surprise. Many of the enemy forces were unprepared for combat operations, allowing us to overcome the first barrier of the enemy's defense with ease.

Joining us in the fight against Bolshevism are our European Allies in this conflict: Both Hungary and Slovakia have declared war against the Soviet union. We have confidential talks with the Rumanian authorities, and have good cause to believe that they will soon come to our aid as well.

Within the first few days of the battle, we have been able to destroy a significant portion of the enemy airforce while they were still stationed on the ground, in hangars or on the runways.



After the initial defenses, we have encountered little opposition to our advance through the center. It seems that bypassing the fortress at Brest-Litovsk was a good tactic that left the Soviet opposition in our rear without knowing what to do.



In the North, near Bialystok we face slightly more opposition, but here too the enemy is unable to react accordingly to our swift strikes, and left in the dust. Allowing our troops to focus on the assault towards Slonim and afterwards Minsk.



Now that its principal objective has been achieved, Luftflotte 2 is being recalled from the battlefield and redeployed.





Now that the initial Soviet defenses have been overcome, it has gotten clear how far the distances needed to cover in Russia really are. Despite facing little to no opposition, our forces barely make the timetable set by OKH in capturing Slonim. While the march was far, we did receive several message along the way: Not only have the Finnish joined us in the war to reclaim lost territory during the Winter War, but the forces from the Third Panzer Group have arrived to assist us in the assault on Minsk.





Unfortunately for the troops that just arrived, they ran straight into a Soviet counteroffensive near the city of Grodno. Because many of my troops were spearheading towards Minsk, only a minor element was left behind to assault the city here. The Counterattack making many casualties amongst the 3rd Panzer Groups reinforcements.



The Soviet forces had to be isolated and assaulted piece-meal in order to come out victorious. The stubborn resistance shown here was certainly difficult to overcome.



Though outnumbered the battle-hardened tactics of our superior forces however ultimately proved their worth, with us taking the city of Grodno and the forces finally being able to join the main drive upon Minsk.

From Slonim, the advance continues towards Baranovichy, Intelligence revealed that another counteroffensive was planned to strike against the flank of our forces. Poor camouflage by the Soviet forces detected this ruse however, allowing us to direct our forces towards their grouping.



The Soviet forces, suddenly finding themselves on the defensive, stood no chance. After their destruction the advance continues.



We have heard of a radio transmission by Stalin. The first since he has gone into hiding after our offensive has started. He speaks to his people, and promises them victory. But victory can not be gotten by words alone. And so our drive continues with Minsk now within sight....

[imghttps://image.ibb.co/gM4oDz/Stalin_Speaks.png][/img]

Nothing is left to stop our advance now, and the last kilometers are overcome quickly.



The garrison of the city not posing much of a threat, we quickly take control of the city.



The first step of our invasion has been a stunning success. As predicted, the Soviet armies collapsed quickly after the beginning of our invasion. Already huge territorial gains have been achieved, and hundreds of thousands of prisoners have been taken. From this blow, surely the Red Army must already be reeling. Let's hope the second blow will knock them out cold, when we drive upon our next objective: Smolensk.





Due to the large number of Soviet prisoners captured during the initial stages of operation Barbarossa, we have decided to put these men to good use, by letting them work, we free up more manpower to fight at the front, and we can ramp up the war economy to produce more supplies that are so desperately needed.

The replay:

With our first objective secured, we now set our sights on Smolensk. We can expect the Soviets to have recovered from their initial shock by now, but the massive number of prisoners we have taken in the last few weeks should have crippled the Soviet colossus. If we can achieve a victory here in the same fashion, surely the Russians can not recover from such a shock. They'll have no other option but to surrender. We stand ready for the next phase of operation Barbarossa, as some of our forces have already crossed the Dnieper, but some pockets of resistance still prevent us from advancing further, these will have to be eliminated first.



In the South and center we aim to make a straight push for Smolensk, after cutting off Soviet forces at Mogilev.



In the North however, we need to capture the strategically located city of Vitebsk before moving a large portion of these troops East as well. Resistance around Vitebsk is expected to be heavy however, so extra forces are allocated to this sector.



Once again OKH expects us to finish the mission swiftly, in order to be able to prepare longer for the upcoming offensive to take the Soviet capital: Moscow. Moreover, if we can crash into the enemies assembly areas far to the East of Smolensk and catch the Soviets there by surprise, we might be able to obtain some valuable equipment to aid us in future operations. Skepticism is present amongst the commanders in this operation about this objective however. Many have a feeling that even if the Soviets would abandon some of their equipment, the materiel would simply be shipped towards another theater of war. ( the objective is bugged )



Initial attacks are going well, all over the front our forces are advancing. In the South, the forces around Mogilev are encircled, many of the Soviet forces will be subscripted into forced labor.





In the North, Vitebsk is captured, but the fight is far from over, Soviet forces are on route to recapture the city and fight for every inch of ground.