Vokt (axis) vs Plaid (allies) 3.10 AAR

[Vokt]

Turn 49. April 18, 1942.

I will start this turn with the Med. In last Allies turn, attack to Tobruk commenced. Brits have brought 2 tacs units to the Med, that alone, halved an Italian garrison with bombings. Corps defending Tobruk was bombed either for much less damage:



Eastern front. Only Finnish remain active, attacking some Soviet units.

All Kriegsmarine surface units are already in France.

[Vokt]

Turn 50. May 8, 1942.

Eastern front. Summer offensive for this year will occur west of Novgorod aimed to link with the Finnish that will be pushing from the north. This way, Luftwaffe tacs were finally redeployed to air bases near Pskov to support the operations. Strats in Chernigov could provide some additional air support. Offensive officially hasn't started this turn in which only a Soviet units were attacked near Petrozavodsk. In the south, Crimea operation will be carried out:




Libya. No major changes here.

[Vokt]

Turn 51. May 28, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn. Soviets rushed units to close the gap between Svir river and Kalinin and attacked a German corps near Svir river:



Eastern front Axis turn. German offensive started west of Kalinin where 3 Soviet corps were destroyed. Luftwaffe widely supported the operation. In Karelia, Finnish did their part and killed a Soviet garrison close to Ladoga lake. In Crimea, Axis offensive started:

Northern front


Crimea


Med last Allies turn. Brits increased the attacks over Tobruk leaving defending Badoglio corps much weakened:



Med Axis turn. A counterattack was launched with the aim of relieving a bit Allied pressure on Tobruk. Indian corps unit ended destroyed after being heavily attacked. Attack counted with air support:



Western front last Allies turn. Ruhr resource is being heavily bombed by both RAF and USAF but that is coming at a price. German defending fighters in Berlin are causing severe losses to Allied strats:

[Cybvep]

Nice counterattack in Africa! Your opponent is in a vulnerable position there, but his heavy air support may turn the tide.

There are few Soviet leaders in the North, so his elite mechs probably don't get the efficiency bonus. You may turn this to your advantage. I'm surprised that you didn't decide to take Leningrad. It would be rather easy and it's hard for the Soviets to retake the city in most games. If you decide to take it, you should bomb the city with STRATs first in order to reduce the supply level there.

[duncanr]

you have a good chance to really hurt the Russian offensive ability by smashing this northern units

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I'm not sure counter attacking in Libya is actually helping the Axis. Now the Italian armor is doomed. If both sides lose 1 unit each per turn then the Axis will run out of units faster than the Allies. That means the Allies can sprint towards Tripoli and later Tunis.

The main goal of the Axis is to delay the Allied advance on Tunis for as long as possible. Each turn they can remain in North Africa means delay of the invasion of Sicily and Sardinia. Torch will probably start soon.

The UK should have the economy to replace the air losses and keep the initiative in Libya. The Axis could be forced to reinforce the Med with more units.

It looks like the game will be decided in Russia. So every extra resources the Germans can spend in the east in the 1942 offensive will increase his chances to win the game. Crushing the 4 Russian shock armies will be a serious blow to the Russians. Once the northern front collapses the Germans can rush towards Omsk while also grabbing Moscow. Having the oil to be offensive all the way is another matter. Without the Russian oil from Maikop and Grozny it will be hard.

That is another reason escalating the Med could be bad for the Axis. The Allies want to create activity elsewhere when the Russians are under serious threat. The Germans need to succeed with their goal in Russia in 1942 to have a chance at victory. That means taking Leningrad, Petrozavodsk and decimating the Russians north of Moscow. Taking Moscow would help a lot.

[Vokt]

Turn 52. June 17, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn. Red Army attacked and destoryed 2 German corps. Wide VVS air support for the operations:



Eastern front Axis turn. Germans regained the so far bitterly fought hex 2xNW of Kalinin. Around Rzhev there was some action either and so a Soviet corps became Guards. There were also attacks to a Guards mech and to a corps unit that ended both depleted. An airborne operation targeted a Soviet fighter, forcing it to retreat. In Crimea, Wehrmacht finally made a breakthrough in Soviets defenses killing Kirponos corps:



MTO last Allies turn. British destroyed Italian armoured and left very damaged an Italian corps that it was forced to retreat. Attacks counted again with intense air support, air combats scoring a 4:4. Italian sub was attacked and ended halved:



MTO Axis turn. The Axis went on the attack again on the deserts of Libya. 2 British units ended battered as a consequence of the attacks that counted with air support. Positions reached are sort of dangerous for the British armoured that could end unsupplied. At sea, Reggia Marina attacked British fleet with unconclusive results. Also, an Italian DD bumped into RN sub:



Atlantic. In last turn, a Central convoy(68) was spotted. which was promptly escorted by Allied DD's:



Kriegsmarine plans to attack to escorting Allied fleet using both surface and sub units. In this Axis turn, a German sub attacked escorted convoy but virtually all Kriegsmarine forces have been mobilized to the area. With luck, we will get here a feast:

[Vokt]

Turn 53. July 7, 1942.

Eastern front last allies turn. Red Army attacked German paratrooper unit and retreated north of Kalinin. VVS is having a hard time when providing air support to Red Army attacks:



Eastern front Axis turn. Wehrmacht kept on pushing hard north of Kalinin destroying couple of Soviet corps and damaging another one. Near Rzhev, recently formed Guards unit was destroyed aswell:



Med last Allies turn. Before the attack on Tobruk, British have decided to first deal with the Axis attacking forces in their SW flank. From now on they will have the upper hand since this turn they killed Graziani's mech and much weakened DAK (German mech). At sea, no chance for the Italian navy, 2 Italian BB's were sunk and Italian DD ended rather battered:



An Italian sub has spotted this incoming Allied fleet in Western Mediterranean:



Med Axis turn. The Axis failed both at land and at sea to inflict some losses on the Allies. At land, weakened British mech survived the attack of and Italian corps (German mech was repaired) and at sea no Allied naval unit was sunk by the remaining Reggia Marina units. To make things worse, Axis air forces in Africa are sustaining high losses due to the last turns intense operations:



Atlantic. In last Allies turn, RN DD escorting Central convoy attacked German sub for a 2:2. American DD's positioned defensively around British DD:



Atlantic Axis turn. This was the chance for the German BB's to come into action. With the support of other Kriegsmarine units, BB's sunk 1 US DD and considerably damaged RN DD, whilst the rest of German subs got rid of the rest of the Central convoy:

[trulster]

Allies have to be careful now, lest the Tobruk inf put their Med forces out of supply.

[Vokt]

Turn 54. July 27, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn. German paratrooper was killed. Also, a German inf corps was heavily attacked and barely survived. Intense air combats:



Eastern front Axis turn. Germans could well have wiped out couple of Soviet Guards mechs north of Kalinin but failed to do so. Both Soviet units survived at low strength. In Crimea thngs are going as expected:

Kalinin front


Crimean front


Med last Allies turn. RN sunk Italian BB and DD, thus largely winning naval battle at Tobruk. Again, no attacks on Tobruk itself. Only an Italian garrison NW of Tobruk was destroyed. In the rest, some attacks here and there:



Apparently Western naval force does not have Tunis but Sicily as objective. American BB's started to shore bombing an Italian garrison in preparation for the landings:



Med Axis turn. Italians began to mobilize to oppose a possible landing in Sicily. They railed a corps to Reggio. In Africa, only repairs of the battered Axis units. Axis air units were rebased to Europe.

In the Atlantic, Kriegsmarine surface fleet moved back to French ports without problems.

[Vokt]

Allies have to be careful now, lest the Tobruk inf put their Med forces out of supply.

Supply is vital in this scenario.

[trulster]

Yeah I like this strategy. Wonder what one German mech in Africa more would have accomplished, could have gotten really ugly for the Allies. Potentially relatively more value than the negative from one less in Russia.

[Vokt]

Turn 55. August 16, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn. Red Army launched a powerful counteroffensive north of Kalinin that saw success. Not only they killed SS mech unit but they left unsupplied 2 german corps NW of Cherepovets. Furthermore, depleted German corps in the marshes was finished off by air strikes:



Eastern front Axis turn. For now, Germans have restored supply of the couple of corps units NW of Cherepovets. They destroyed a Soviet corps to do so. Activity near Rzhev resumed, killing a corps 2xNE, thus removing an existent salient on the front line. Another Soviet corps close to that city was damaged. In Moscow front, a third Soviet corps unit was destroyed and another one (Guards) was left depleted:



Med last Allies turn. Sicily wasn't the objective of the US Navy fleet or there was a change of plans. Landings will occur in Libya instead. Both US and UK fleets joined forces and further damaged the already depleted remaining Italian air forces in Africa. At land, Brits made only an isolated attack and they mostly repaired units:



Med Axis turn. Regia Aeronautica was withdrawn from Libya. Repairing of units:

[Vokt]

Turn 56. September 5, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn. Soviets destroyed German corps thus cutting supply again to corps NW of Cherepovets. One of those unsupplied German corps might end soon destroyed after being attacked this turn aswell. In Moscow front, Red Army launched a failed counterattack against a German corps:



Eastern front Axis turn. German success in Moscow front destroying 2 corps one of them Guards. North of Kalinin again, Soviet units surviving at low strength German attacks. In Karelia, Finnish linked with the rest of the Axis forces in the East after killing a Soviet garrison with the help of the Luftwaffe and a nearby Wehrmacht unit:



Med last Allies turn. Brits resumed their attacks killing an Italian corps and a garrison. Americans landed south of Bengazhi and near El Agheila:



Med axis turn. German mech along with an Italian corps launched acounterattack on American beachhead near El Agheila. US mech suffered high losses:



A Northern convoy(57) was attacked by 3 German subs largely depleting it.

[Vokt]

Turn 57. September 25, 1942.

Eastern front last allies turn. Red Army made no attacks but only repairs all along the front. Black Sea fleet attacked again Romanian navy:




Eastern front axis turn. Germans broke through Soviet lines and reached Moscow, destroying a corps unit in the process. A garrison was severely damaged either. NW of Cherepovets recently formed Soviet Guards unit was killed being finished by unsupplied German corps that after exploitation movement linked again with Axis forces (the other unsupplied German corps unit was destroyed). Finnish army made a heavy attack Petrozavodsk which was about corps defending the city becoming Guards:



Med last Allies turn. In Libya, British moved W and SW and linked with US landed troops. Italian corps south of Bengazhi was destroyed. DAK was attacked either and left again halved in strength. was left with 4 steps. Another 2 italian units were attacked but Tobruk corps wasn't. There were attacks E of Bengazhi:



Med Axis turn. Defensive preparations in Sicily.

[Vokt]

Turn 58. October 15, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn (fair weather). Red Army counterattack west of Cherepovets killed both German mech and battered corps:



Eastern front Axis turn. Mud weather in Eastern Europe didn't stop German offensive in Moscow. A 4-hexes exposed Soviet corps was heavily attacked and left depleted. Meanwhile, battle for Petrozavodsk continues:



Med last Allies turn. German mech was destroyed, this completely removing the already scarce chances of evacuation to Sicily or mainland Italy. Weakened Italian units E of Bengazhi were attacked and it won't be long till the city itself falls. Tobruk, for several turns, remains untouched.

[Vokt]

Turn 59. November 4, 1942.

Eastern front. Nothing happening in last Allies turn (mud weather). This turn weather changed to Winter. Finnish army entered Petrozavodsk after a long siege. There were some attacks in Moscow front, Germans finally removing Soviet unit which occupied a salient in the front line. In Crimea, after a long campaign, Sevastopol was taken:



Med last Allies turn. It won't be long till Allies get rid of all of those Italian units in and around Bengazhi:

[Vokt]

Turn 60. November 24, 1942.

Eastern front last Allies turn (winter weather). Red army made approaches in Central and Southern fronts but made no counterattacks in Moscow or Kalinin:




Eastern front Axis turn. Mud weather. Kerch also fell into German hands:

Med last Allies turn. Bengazhi and Tobruk were heavily attacked whilst Allied units entered Tripolitania:



Casualties screen

[Cybvep]

IMO by using so many Italian and Romanian units to cover the southern front in the East you are asking for trouble. The Soviets will tear them apart.

[richardsd]

assuming he doesn't retreat - although I think I would have been more agressive in the north (left the crimea and taken leningrad instead) I think the Germans are in ok shape and I would give ground in the south rather than have the minors fight the Russians in winter