Slitherine

Duedman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:36 am Thank you
It seems, that there are not many people left on this section of the forum
So I might just write a wrapup

Well, from my humble experience I would say that many people read a lot but only a few post some comments...

Very nice AAR hope you continue!

Ok then, lets try to finish this

Mid April 1943 Slow advance in northern Sector, Stalingrad about to fall, Middle Eastern threat neutralized, Grim outlook in Morocco

North East

The renegade T34/43 northwest of Moscow was still alive and kicking. Must have been resupplied by local population. But Moscow was secure.
Air reconnaissance spotted more troops northeast of Gorky. Due to the reassignment of Tank divisions to North Africa there was an unforeseen shortage of antitank-capability in this area which stalled the advance quite a bit.
Stalingrad

The City was about to fall. As feared there were more Soviet units coming from the eastern Steppes.
The Recon unit and the old hungarian Pz38(t) were mauled badly.
But OKW was confident, that due to the Axis advantage in numbers combined with Knispels division and the Stug, sooner or later victory was to be assured.
Caucasus

The southern route on the black sea coast was cleared and infantry was streaming towards Baku.
Unfortunately tanks were discovered.
It was quickly planned to lure them into rough terrain.

Middle East

This time, the Italian antitank just got hit. And did not run. RIP
The eastern Sherman III drove into the hills so infantry had reasonable shots while the southern Sherman was hit by 8.8 and finished off by Rommel.
Rommel then proceded to clear the other division in the hills.
Threat neutralized.
Tobruk

Fort Capuzzo fell to the Crusaders who in turn paid a heavy toll to Italian bombers.
The Gebirgsjägers let them enter Tobruk and trapped them there with no means of resupplying.
Morocco

The PanzerIV destroyed another enemy unit.
The rest of the force was taken back. Unfortunately the AA had no fuel for their trucks so could not get in covering range of the italian MobArty.
Strong enemy Air appeared.

End of May 1943 - British destroyers ambushed! Allies bombing German heartlands! Final Soviet defense parameter reached.

Coast of Norway
The Kriegsmarine had been laying in wait for more than a year now.
Many new Uboats had been finished during that time. But due to the huge numbers of Allied destroyers beeing present, they were hold back.

But the Germans had a trick up their sleeves.
A few months ago Konrad Zuse had finished his investigation of the Enigma Coding device and found a flaw, which made it possible to decrypt its messages.
That explained the successful ambushes which had happened earlier.

With that knowledge it was possible to send a fake distress call from a German destroyer squadron clearing mines.
A sizeable British contingent reacted promptly and the trap sprung!

Germany

Meanwhile the Germany itself was enduring heavy Air raids.
The country was riddled with anti air but especially the enemy bombers proved to be extremely sturdy.
Enemy fighters were on par with best German machines present but could not cover the whole distance due to lack of fuel.

Still, during all that mess, an Aircraft Carrier was build. It was barely operational and would consume a lot of ressources to finish.
Headquarters decided not to allocate fund into this for now.
North East

The Volga was crossed in the South. Resistance was still stiff in Ulyanovsk area

Stalingrad[/b

Situation under control. Astrakhan was in sight.

Tunisia

Situation is rapidly deteriorating. The Kasserine contingent has been outflanked and Tunis fell into enemy hands!
The enemy takes heavy hits but there seem to be way to many of them.
Bf109 squadron got surprised by american capture of their base. The northern vichy french airfield will be in enemy hands any moment. They will most likely be lost with the rest of the defenders.

August 1943 - Soviet Union Surrenders! Middle East Captured! Tunisia lost - Allied Landings in Italy and Southern France!

The East

Finally the Russian Bear lies dead!
All but the units in the Baku region surrendered! (High Command suspects British influence in Baku).
Middle East

Finally the last British defenders were destroyed. Rommel -true to his nature- was already racing towards the Nile.

Italy and Southern France

With Tunisia lost the Allies staged a huge landing in Sicily and the whole soutern coasts of Italy and France. High Command was scrambling troops including a new super heavy tank destroyer prototype.
Allied Air was strong and naval bombardment was heavy.
Coast of Norway

Five Enemy destroyer squadrons were wiped out without the loss of a single German vessel.
However, due to the British coast beeing heavily mined, German destroyers would be needed at full strength.
With only 3 Squadrons at hand, this would need some time.
Also, the lack of fuel severely limited the options of the Kriegsmarine.

Christmas Day 1943 - Scapa Flow under Attack! Axis Forces closing in on Desert Oil fields! Italian front stable!

German intelligence had reports about U.S. development of a super bomb that would decide the war.
It was estimated that it would be ready in mid 1945.
The was only one way to have this thing not dropping on Germany - a decisive Victory.
High command identified 4 objectives necessary

1. Capture British oilfields in Arabia
2. Throw allied forces off the European mainland.
3. Crush Allied holdings in North Africa

and finally

4. Capture the British Isles

The Attack on Scapa Flow
Due to the aforementioned time constraints it was decided not to wait for the end of the fuel shortages and to launch an attack.
The big ships of the Kriegsmarine had not enough fuel to return to their Norwegian ports. It was Scapa Flow or bust!

Arabia

With the Africa Korps arriving from the west and the Heeresgruppe Süd pouring down from the Caucasus victory would only be a matter of time
Italy

The Elephant TD was lost in an ambush but a secure frontline was established.
High Command thought, that Sicily should be back in German hands by mid 1944.
Sadly, due to insane fuel consumption, the Tiger tank division could barely move.

North Africa

A makeshift force was assembled to recapture Tunisia. It was hoped, that they could outmaneuver enemy troops left around Tunis. Apart from a Recon unit still at sea no further reinforcements would be available until Sicily could be recaptured. High command was worried about naval harassment but the enemy seemed to concentrate its main fleet around Italy. France

For some period High Command was hopeful, to make a dent in troop concentrations in southern England with amassing long range artillery.

February 1943 - Britsh Home Fleet beaten! Nose tightens around Arabian Oil fields!

Scapa Flow

Stripped of their Destroyer escorts the British battleships were hunted by German Uboats.
The carrier Graf Zeppelin -though barely seaworthy- was vital in refueling the fighter escorts.
Still High Command feared Allied air power when the weather would improve.
Arabia

British defenders making their last stand.
Unfortunately German tanks from Heeresgruppe Süd had no filters for desert warfare and thus were very slow.

End of March 1944 - Scapa Flow captured! Vesuvius erupted! Fortifying France!

Scapa Flow

What World War I admiralty could not have imagined in their wildest dreams has happened: Scapa Flow in German Hands!!
Sadly, with clearing weather the enemy airforce took a heavy toll on inexperienced German fighters and subsequently on the Kriegsmarine.
Italy

The Vesuvius erupted and made flight around it hazardous. German air reconaissance spotted Allied troops in Southern Italy.
France

With the capture of Scapa Flow and sinking of a sizable part of the British Homefleet High Command deemed it unlikely, that an invasion across the channel would occure.
Still, leaving nothing to chance, France was heavily reinforced.

An invasion via Scapa Flow... very nice!

May 1944 Landing in Scotland! Slow advance on other fronts.

Scotland

A Landing was made with heavy Tiger tanks! Supported by one of the most useful divisions from the Ostfront - a StuG Mobile Artillery.
This meant, German forces would be able to quickly advance through Scottish hills with artillery support.
A division of Panther Tanks was also en route and a division of Crack mountain Skijägers were ready to disembark.
What worried High Command the most, was the lack of an AA unit. During the preparation of the makeshift invasion fleet all AA in Germany were constantly busy.
British Headquarters would surely redirect its air power, once threatened on their home soil. Then the AA in Germany would be useless.
Normandy

German Intelligence insisted on the Allies still attempting a landing in France.
The long range Artillery was drawn from the coast. The attempt had been a total failure. Most of the time there were no targets visible.
Also, even 5 batteries could do nothing more than to supress an infantry division. Casualties among the enemy were minimal.
Arabia

The curtain was finally closing for the British.
High Command was already thinking about transfering troops back to other fronts. With the nearest railroad beeing in Baku, this would become a tedious affair.

Libya

Fighting began. Luckily the Recon unit survived its misstep.
Italy

The Churchill IV tanks were extremely hard to knock out due to their very high close defense values.
Also, Allied troops were constantly landing on the "heel of the Italian boot" and coastal bombardment continued.

July 1944 - Huge Allied landing in Normandy! Air hell over Scotland! Introducing: The Light Brigade!

Normandy

The landing in France finally came. The scale was intimidating. Still High Command was confident, that it could be contained.
Scotland

As feared the Allied airforce attacked in numbers as soon as the weather cleared. 3 German fighter squadrons were shot down, the rest could barely escape to Norway. Many ships were sunk including Graf Zeppelin. Scharnhorst was awaiting its Coup de Grace. Scapa Flow was levelbombed.
Army Group Scotland was in good shape but without bomber support progress would be very slow.

An assessment of the situation came to the conclusion, that air superiority had to be number one priority. Sadly no prestigeous industry capacity was available since large parts of German industry was still producing synthetic fuels. It was hoped, that the huge Baku Oilfields would finally contribute their part. That would lift the fuel shortages AND free German industry capacity.
Arabia

With Basra still beeing in British hands, High Command began relocating Troops. 2 tank divisions, including Knispel were send to Baku railroad. An infantry division and the Fallschirmjägers were flown out.
Last but not least, the only unit not hampered by desert terrain and constant refuelling was sent "on foot" towards Tunisia. Who knew if "The Light Brigade" would become important later...

August 1944 Heavy Fighting on all fronts!

Scotland

Heeresgruppe Scotland was making reasonable progress. High Command still suspects some kind of a trap, since the Allies didnt use the formidable defensive terrain to their advantage.
The Kriegsmarine had all but sacrificed itself so secure safe passage.
A Hungarian Hussar Regiment was nearly sunk but managed to get Scapa Flow up and running again. Luckily, the local hungarian horseriding minority could be drafted to compensate the losses.
The Task at hand looked impossible to achieve until the U.S. would have their super weapon ready.
Normandy

Fighting was fierce. With massive artillery support many enemy units were supressed and then captured.
The quantity of material provided even a small boost to German available ressources.
Still the enemy showed no signs of weakening and any German troops entering the coastal areas were heavily bombed by the Allied warships.

Italy

Like in Normandy naval bombardment was ever present.
High Command realized, that it had been a huge mistake to not let the enemy come further north.
What was planned as a breakthrough to Sicily until mid 1944 had seriously bogged down.
German troops tried to knock out enemy artillery support but in the process an artillery regiment and a unit of PanzerIVs were lost.
It became increasingly evident what would become the next target for the Fallschirmjägers enroute from the Middle East
North Africa

Enemy armor was knocked out.
With no artillery support the remaining forces would not prove much of a threat.
Morocco / Tunisia

The Recon unit outflanked the fighting and was gathering valuable intelligence.

Romania

Long range bombing runs on the Romanian Oil facilities were attempted but intercepted.