Slitherine

Important: Please use the link at the bottom of this first post to vote on where this AAR will be going scenario wise or on some furture effects! Every vote counts and the poll will be updated frequently.

Greetings! In this AAR I'm going to be playing through a Generalissimus campaign starting at Poland. In this play through I'm going to impose several strict limits that will make this run hopefully a serious challenge but not to the point I can't complete missions. I am not the best player but feel seasoned that with the following setup I can provide an interesting AAR that is a little different than the others currently on this forum. My following rules are as such
1. The Karl Gerat and Gustav Railgun are banned - I feel like these guns really reduce the strategy needed for every scenario they are played in so I won't be using them this run
2. No heroes - Something a lot of AAR are doing to provide a bigger challenge that I will be doing here
3. I'm going for a historical route - This means I won't be going to America and will instead fight until Berlin. Although that doesn't mean I won't try to meet the conditions to go on to win the war (maybe that will be a bonus add on but no promises)
4. Playing fair - I won't be trying to do stuff like encircle every single enemy unit that comes anywhere near me. I'm gonna most scenarios in a more standard manner outside of if I end up doing Kiev which historically had a big encirclement. Do note that encirclements and surrenders will be something I use but they will be more restrained so I am not drowning in prestige through out the campaign.
5. I will be running this trait set up - this is going to represent all the downsides of Germany such as horrible supply, lack of troops, and a lack of equipment. The upsides will be nice but none of them are able to be break scenarios (at least without a ton of set up)


Beyond that I'm going to let this forum choose where I go! You fellow commanders will act as my High Command and choose where my forces engage the enemy. I will post an option and give it a day and will then play through and post the results of that command.

Without further ado:

August 25th, 1939 - German Poland Border
German forces have gathered in preparation for Operation Fall Weiss, the invasion of Poland. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact has laid out how the German Reich and Soviet Union will carve up Poland and the time is growing close for action. The Wehrmacht, rebuilt after being dismantled after the Great War is ready to show the world it's back in a big way! There are 2 main fronts that will be dealt with one in the north and a second in the south.
The northern army will thrust through the Danzig corridor and envelop Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Meanwhile the Southern army will thrust directly to the capital and take it as quickly as possible to collapse enemy resistance.
Albercht Lange, a veteran of the Great War, has been picked to lead an army in the upcoming campaign but now the choice is yours OKW.
Will Lange encircle Warsaw through the northern route or will he be the one to raise the German Flag over Warsaw through the southern route?

EDIT: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MOiyR7 ... yNt0o/edit This poll will be useful for people to vote without needing to leave a comment

I filled out and submitted the poll , so don't count my vote twice.

I voted to go south. Why ? Two reasons , both purely aesthetic ;

1 . --- the terrain of the southern approach . In the first leg of the southern operation , It's generally open , flat , and uncluttered. Lots of room for maneuver .

Like war conducted on a soccer field , or on a golf green . The war is unlikely to present many occasions where things are so simple and uncomplicated.

On the second leg of the southern operation .... well , things aren't so simple and easy. You have only one army , but two primary objectives , in opposite directions.

You will likely encounter a contested river crossing , a thick forest , and finally the entrenchments and fortifications of Warsaw. The thick forest isn't tank - friendly.

The entrenchments and fortifications of Warsaw are not tank - friendly. Neither infantry , nor tanks , are going to like the river crossing. This is one place where Polish cavalry and armored cars , otherwise pathetic , could do our German arms some significant hurt.

But , generally , this isn't likely to amount to climbing Mount Everest. These obstacles are more likely to be challenging and interesting , rather than agonizing and frustrating.

2 . --- Unless you go with a custom army , and if I remember correctly , if you go north you don't get the Sturmpanzer , if you go south you do get the Sturmpanzer.

So if you go south you get one cool , different , unusual , lovable piece of equipment that you don't otherwise get.

Honestly , in an ideal world , I would rather have a team of half - track drawn 15 cm howitzers.

Honestly , except for the cool factor , I see nothing to recommend the Sturmpanzer.

To give yourself a piece of equipment like this , would be like giving yourself an Italian Breda Ba. 65 in preference to a Junkers Ju 87 , simply because you prefer the LOOKS of the Breda.

But , in this particular case , you can blame your choice of equipment on somebody else. And the Sturmpanzer is lovable and cool .

Poland South all the way and good luck!!

OKW has decided that Albercht Lange would be best used to command the advance towards and capture of Warsaw. So we're going to Poland South!

Poland September 1st, 1939
The order had been given for Operation Fall Weiss to commence and Albercht Lange was assigned commander of the 10th Army and ordered to advance directly towards the capital of Poland, Warsaw. However before Warsaw could be captured there is need to secure several towns and river crossings on the way. Due to the importance of capturing Warsaw, Lange has been allowed equip the 10th army with the latest and best equipment the the Wehrmacht has to offer.
The 10th Army was equipped as follows:
x1 Wehr Infantry
x2 Pioneres w/ Opel Blitz
x2 Panzer IIC
x1 Panzer 38(t)A
x1 Sdkfz 222
x2 15 cm sFH 18
x1 Bf 109E
x1 Bf 110C


Based on this map there is going to be 2 main thrusts. The first and main attack with drive directly east from the starting point and smash into Kielce before flanking the other objectives. The second, smaller thrust will head north and secure the various small towns and the airfield. It will mostly secure our flanks to make sure nothing can get behind the main attack and cause complications.


Turn 1 - A clear day kicks of the first true campaign of the new Wehrmacht.


The first day sees the two armies begin moving as the northern aemy smashes a cavalry unit. Meanwhile the southern army assaults an infantry unit dug into the southern town and an AT gun guarding a crossing of the river. Other forces such as the artillery and some armor move to prevent any counter attacks from having much impact.


Turn 2 - The nearly destroyed infantry unit deals minor damage to one of the 15 cm while a bomber tries to attack the Panzer 38t but gets severely damaged from the nearby fighter.


The weakened forces from the previous day have all been completely destroyed including the bomber but it takes up most of our units to do so and little movement is achieved. The next day should see more significant progress.


Turn 3 - A recon unit attempts to move against the northern force but is unwilling to attack and finds itself stuck on the river. No action elsewhere.


The recon unit is utterly destroyed while the southern force moves across the river.


Turn 4 - Another bomber shows itself and an AT gun deals light damage to our recon unit but leaves itself wide open.


The AT gun that left itself wide open was suppressed and driven onto the nearby river where it surrendered. The southern army draws closer to Keilce and heavily wounds a cavalry unit in the process. However, the infantry unit inside the town between the two armies forces us to be careful and protect the flanks more than would otherwise be necessary. The bomber is heavily wounded but fails to be fully shot down.


Turn 5 - No polish units have moved against us besides the low health bomber which fails to do anything.


The southern army moves to the outskirts of Keilce while the northern army along with a tank from the southern army surround the the center town. The Polish Bomber is shot down which hopefully means the end to the air force for now.


Turn 6 - A Polish TKS tank assaults a the Wehr Infantry outside of Keilce but the 15cm helps to minimize the damage.


The northern army drives the center infantry onto the river and then causes another minor surrender clearing the way to take the airfield within the coming days. After that the northern army should be able to begin assaulting the objective town on the river. The southern army destroys the TKS and encircles the Keilce.


Turn 7 - The Panzer IIC encircling Kelice finds itself surrounded, suppressed, low on ammo, and moderatly damaged. It may have been a bit to zealous to encircle the town without proper scouting.


The infantry in Kelice are driven out by our pioneers which allows the exhausted Panzer IIC to retreat to a relatively safe position. The second Polish TKS tank unit remains untouched but the other infantry unit is softened up by a Panzer 38t. The northern army takes the airfield giving our bomber the ability to reach any hex on the map.


Turn 8 - The TKS tank and infantry still attempt to attack our forces around Kelice but struggle to do more than take serious damage.


Our forces brutally smash all forces around Keilce leaving only a faint remnant of the TKS unit left. The northern army begins moving to surround their objective.


Turn 9 - No activity from the Polish


The southern army finishes off the TKS unit and moves toward the supply town where the panzer 38t deals light damage to an artilelry piece. The northern army completes the encirclement of its city.


Turn 10 - The polish artillery attacks our 15cm while the infazntry within the town itslef assault the Panzer 38t dealing 1 damage to it.


The southern army tanks destroy the artillery piece outside of the supply town allowing a direct assault into the city to be possible. The panzer 38t captures the airfield that was previously skipped. The northern army completely surrounds the polish infantry and causes a small surrender after the pioneers take assault the city. The town is not captured to allow the forces to assault the remaining enemy units as quickly as possible.


Turn 11 - No movement form the shattered Polish forces


The infantry in the supply town falls after 2 artillery pieces bombard it followed by a direct assault from pioneers. The armor finishes the infantry up and begins to assault the infantry unit on the river.


Turn 12 - No Polish actions


The final Polish unit is crushed and the remaining objectives are captured leading to a decisive victory.

Overall thoughts, this was a very nice Poland South outside of a few minor hiccups such as the the recon unit getting hit by an AT gun and the Panzer IIC getting surrounded. The AI for some reason was extremely zealous in attacking the Panzer 38t even when it was clear that nothing would get done (I had several infantry in this scenario take 3-4 damage to deal 1 damage to the 38 if anything). However, none of our units fell below half strength and it will be very easy to reinforce them without spending much prestige. The downsides I have with the commander traits barely showed themselves in this easy scenario so that was nice because I guarantee that won't last. I've already completed Warsaw and will likely post the AAR later. Otherwise I'm going to be updating the poll to see where we will be going in 1940 (Both for Norway and France). This is my first AAR so sorry about the rough patches about it hopefully by doing this I'll get better at it.