Hyazinth von Strachwitz

3rd of April 1942 Winter is over... let the games begin! Pskov remains German. Jörg has brought the unit to full strength, and even after the refreshment it has one experiences bar. This means my units (even the Light Tanks) do almost no damage to the unit. I need heavier equipment in this area... over the last month my units were busy with attacks, so I was not able to upgrade them. The remainder of the Red Army is now upgraded. I think half of Romania has gathered in the north of the Krim peninsula. I think we all know why. Here is my current income.

20th of March 1942 The Battle for Pskov still rages with losses on both sides. The city looks a bit different now.. at least there are a lot of free parking places. Not much hope for the German division in Pskov, it is almost surrounded. Next turn I will have Prepared Attack Bonus for all units in adjacent tiles... that should fit. My tank reserves have been upgraded to Heavy Tanks Level 1. Not as good as the German tanks, but better than the Light Tanks I had previously. @ Al: late November 1941.

4th of March 1942 Spring has arrived, and fighting will restart sooner or later. I expect an attack on the Krim peninsula, but this will not be the main drive. The main drive will occur somewhere else, and I think it will be somewhere between Kursk and Stalino. This is why I concentrated a lot of troops there. Cheers to my scientists... this will make our new tank corps more powerful. In the north, my troops have started the first wave of attacks on Pskov. The German division in the city is heavily damaged and needs to be reinforced. My Light Tanks are ready to attack next turn... so maybe my troops can take back the first Russian city in the war. Here is my position from Mitsensk to Kharkov. Some of my troops have formed a bulge to the west. They are fully entrenched behind a river, so my position is good. But the main reason is: it might occur that Jörg attacks this bulge first, and I need to time to establish a second line.. you spot my engineers in the north of the city. If Jörg attacks the troops in the west, it will take him a few turns until he reaches the second line, and his troops will be no longer in perfect condition. So this position is a decoy and a time saver.. let us see if he bites in. Maybe he attack somewhere else, and then I can still withdraw the troops from the bulge to reinforce the attacked area. Here ist my frontline from Kharkov to the south. 4 tiles deep, and most units are upgraded. 5 ATGs wait in the center. For sure not easy to penetrate. Jörg can come out to play.

My impression after playing many matches of "Call to Arms" versus the AI and human players: this will be very difficult for the CP!!!

16th of February 1942 General Winter is still in Command, not too much happening. I can imagine the Wehrmacht needs the rest to regain its strength, but my feeling is that the Red Army is not yet ready for large scale operations. After what I read in books they tried a lot of these operations in 1942, and the usual results were horrific losses and strategic defeat. Half of my infantry is now upgraded to Level 1, but it will take time until this process is finished. My troops reach the outskirts of Pskov. This will force Jörg to divert some forces over here... and these will miss somewhere else. Still happy with my over all situation. I have added more troops to my defensive perimeter in front of Moscow, and I can easily send extra troops up there if Jörg decides to attack there. I wonder what his next targets are.. pretty sure the Krim peninsula is one, but what else?

As far as I know, Germany can purchase the "Graf Zeppelin" via a Decision Event.

31st of January 1942 Still not much to report, almost no fighting due to the winter weather. The Red Army moves closer to Pskov, while the German troops are hit by the severe Russian winter.

15th of January 1942 Just ordered my first Tank Corps... nice. Apart from that there is not much to report. I started to upgrade some of my armies at key locations to Infantry Weapons Level 1, but it will take time until I have upgraded the complete Red Army. I also received Fighter Tech Level 1. Jörg has drawn back some of his forces around Pskov. So I let my own troops advance. Nothing happened elsewhere.. both armies are resting.

30th of December 1941 It is deep winter now, and the Wehrmacht if fully hit by supply shortages and strength losses due the low temperatures. Jörg has written me he is very happy that the event is over, but I needed to mention to him that the event might take a bit longer than he hoped for... as far as I can remember from my matches versus the Allied AI, the Wehrmacht gets hit by this event in three consecutive turns. A player who does not know the event at all might get surprised in an advanced position, and this will hurt a lot. Fortunately for the German side, Jörg was well prepared. Since two turns, fighting has almost stopped, and both sides enter the winter camps. I have evacuated a few cities that did not fit into my defense concept. My idea was to have a firm line that will definitely hold the advance of the Wehrmacht, and I think this plan worked. Nice greetings from our scientists! The Krim peninsula is an obvious target for next spring. My defenses are set up, and I will try to make it as difficult as possible for Jörg. This is what i had in mind: a firm line from Leningrad to Stalino, and the Krim peninsula still under my control. From now on I can buy Soviet Tank Corps, so I can mount offensives against the German inavders. Time to strike back, but I will not yet reveal where my counterattack will start. In general I am happy with my performance. 1942 will get very difficult for Germany.

16th of December 1941 The Red Army is entering positions where it wants to remain over the winter. In general I am very happy with the current state. No lost units this turn (for the first time), just a few political developments. The "captured" towns means the Wehrmacht captured them, so from my view these are cities I lost during the last turn. Heeresgruppe Mitte is approaching Moscow. My defenses are prepared, and I am confident they will hold. I evacuated Orel, because it was in danger to get surrounded. For the moment I prefer to have a stable frontline with good supply and no pockets I cannot reinforce, this is why I made this strategic drawback. More of this strategy will be visible in the next two pictures. From Kursk to Kharkov, my lines are stable. I will place infantry in the first line and ATGs in the second, so I can counter any German Tank attacks. Melitopol was evacuated as well, I want a firm line at Stalino. Seems as if I was successful in defending the eastern part of the Ukraine. Winter can come, I am prepared.

A couple of weeks ago, I played the Allies in another AAR of this campaign... the AAR is in German, but the screenshots will be understandable for everyone. http://www.si-games.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25149 Have fun!

4th of December 1941 Germany is bringing a new type of units to the frontline: Mechanized Corps. They have very good punch against my infantry. And we have very good news from our naval forces!!! My losses remain low. I prepared a trap for the "Tirpitz": I did put my subs into the expected path of the mighty warship, and Jörg got caught: the "Tirpitz" was ambushed by my subs and took damage during Jörg's turn. During my turn, my subs can attack the ship with Prepared Attack Bonus and leave it heavily damaged. My own Battleship "Marat" attacks as well, and the "Tirpitz" is almost gone. Finally the Destroyer "Tiblisi" sinks the burning ship, and the pride of the Kriegsmarine is on the bottom of the Balric Sea. Another great victory for our glorious forces!!! My defensive line in the north looks fine. Around Kursk, my troops destroy two more German units. But I start to feel the immense pressure of the Wehrmacht, and my technologically inferior forces retreat. I have surprised Jörg part of the front, but now I need to react to the enormous presence of Panzers here and make sure not to loose the whole frontline. In the south, the Germans advance as well. I still have nothing against their Panzer Divisions, so I face the risk of loosing Melitopol.

22nd of November 1941 My confidence is growing, my troops destroy the first German Tank Group. My own losses reach an All Time Low. In the north, my troops hold the line. Not much activity here, the focus is in the south. Around Kharkov, my troops destroy a trapped German division and a weakened Panzer Group. Unfortunately it had supply 5, so Jörg can buy it back, but I did not want to miss the chance to kill one of these nasty units. A couple of German units might find their way out of the trap. In the south, I can hold the line. My target is to control Melitopol until the winter comes. Looks good.

10th of November 1941 Time to strike back... I will start my first major offensive now. The timing seems right, the German forces around Kharkov are exposed. I am not quite sure about the outcome... I might loose all my troops or achieve somehting... who knows. At least I have the initiave and can decide where to strike. Maybe winter strikes somewhere in the middle of this offensive, and this would be an advantage for me. I have seen worse losses already. In the north, my troops dig in around Lugo. I left a couple of units close to the frontline to delay the advance. Jörg does not attack at Narva, my line is too strong there. The Red Army strikes back! Of course my troops lack the technology and experience of the German troops, but let us see what numerical superiority and good supply brings. A couple of German units are encircled. In the south, I just want to hold the line.... I can live with the loss of Melitopol, but I want to keep the Krim peninsula and Stalino. My fist Anti Tank units arrive.. might be a nasty surprise for Jörg. Next turn 13 new units will arrive, including 3 more ATGs.

29th of October 1941 Time for some crucial developments! On various theaters the Red Army has started to fight back. For sure it is not the right time to fight back all along the frontline, but I have ordered to execute a couple of smaller counterattacks, and these will keep Jörg busy. Dnjepropetrovsk will fall, but it held long enough to allow the transfer of reinforcements. One of my strategic targets: controll the eastern half of the Donets Basin when winter breaks in. The weather prevents the Germans from inflicting major casualties. In theory, I could buy back the HQ I lost at Dnejpropetrovsk, but fortunately I have more than enough low quality HQs. My troops evacuate Pskov and form a defensive line at Lugo. Why do I do this? Any troops at Pskov would be killed on low supply, and it will take Jörg two turns to reach Lugo. Then it is the end of November, so time is running fast. And I can bring in new units to Lugo, so it will be easier to hold.... but any unit I would send to Pskov will be dead in one turn, and from next turn on the railway junction will be cut off, and I would not be able to send new troops. And I can be pretty sure Jörg will not reach Leningrad, because it is just 4-5 turn until years end... at Narva, he does not even try to break my line. I send massive reinforcements to Kharkov, and I prepare an attack in the rear of the German spearhead. Let us see if Jörg anticipates this. I might loose the city next turn, but I will try to take it back... I have 10 units down there. Final whistle for Dnjepropetrovsk. No more supply, no reinforcements... but I was able to withdraw a couple of units and encircle a Romanian Corps. A starving German division is destroyed, so my troops notice the enemy is not invincible. At Melitopol and Stalino there are enough units to hold the line and maybe conduct local counterattacks on weakened axis units... there are plenty of those. I think this turn I forced 3 or 4 axis units to withdraw... this did not happen at the start of the campaign. My troops from the Krim peninsula march to the north, force an axis corps to withdraw and reach the outskirts of Nikolayev. By the way: I get 17 new units next turn.

17th of October 1941 The battle of Dnjepropetrovsk still rages... and there is a (first) battle of Kharkov, that might be even more exciting than the one in Dnjepropetrovsk. And of course the weather starts to change... muddy ground in the south and snow in the north. Less losses, and the Force Pool is empty.. at least for Divisons and Armies. The hole in the north gets bigger, but the weather might help here. Our glorious forces destroy the first German unit: the 5th Jäger Division bites the dust. I had a few troops in the rear... for emergency reasons. These move to the north and reinforce Kharkov. It is an interesting situation there: no numerical superiority for the Axis, better supply on my side... and good entrenchment. Axis forces enter the inner ring, and the fall of Dnjepropetrovsk is getting closer. I do a couple of counterattacks to keep Jörg busy, and I can force a corps and a Tank division to withdraw. Apart from that I try to cut off isolated units, so the start on supply zero next turn. This means their combat usefulness is very low. Visible on the bottom: the bottleneck to the Krim peninsula is closed. If I can keep the Axis away from there until the end of the year, I would regard it as a big success.

5th of October 1941 I have finally reached October, and my confidence grows a bit. As I lost Smolensk early in August and Bryansk early in September, I thought this is going way too fast. But now it looks a bit better. Let us see what the remaining months of 1941 will bring. Every turn consists of 6 days instead of 3 now, so my next post will be on the 17th of October. The first phase of easy victories has ended now... October and November will be more difficult... but the Wehrmacht is still way ahead the Red Army, so the suffering will continue. Most of these units are destroyed on supply 5 or higher, so I can buy them back easily. My force pool is completely empty of divisions, and there are just 2 more armies I could buy. In the north, Jörg has beaten a hole in my defensive line.. and this hole will not be be closed anymore. Let's make the best out of it and try to win some time. Heeresgruppe Mitte is approaching Vyzma... the lack of tanks slows the operations there. Fortress Dnjepropetrovsk is holding, but soon the Germans will reach the inner defense perimeter. I try to keep them busy with counterattacks, and a lot of German units are cut of from supply. At least this slows down their attack to the south where I try to fortify the entrance into the Krim peninsula.

23rd of September 1941 Final turn of the summer... from now on there will be more than 3 days per turn, and this will help me big time. A lot of casualties this turn. Heeresgruppe Mitte is refreshing its tanks. Sooner or later they will attack again... but where? The Battle of Dnjepropetrovsk rages. I decided to do a small counterattack. The Romanian Corps in the west and the German Corps in the northeast were damaged badly. My actions have lowered German supply, and the division in the south is on supply zero. The tanks have zero as well, and this limits their offensive power seriously. Fortunately my egineers have finished a first fortification, and this helps against direct attacks from the west.... and in the east, there is low supply. Next turn it will be October, and I hope for bad weather. My losses of the first threee months... but at least I destroyed three romanian corps.

17th of September 1941 In the past weeks we had the Battle of Kiev, now the Battle of Dnjepropetrovsk is starting. We have seen worse losses. The North still holds. I am happy for every turn, because it is a bit early for a siege of Leningrad. The majority of the German Tanks is in the south. Apparently the industrial ressources of the Ukraine are the next target of the Wehrmacht. My troops are prepared, but the only thing they can win is time. Germany is fielding 108 units at the moment. Detailed losses next turn.

11th of September 1941 The north is very quiet... too quiet. I think Jörg is gathering troops to punch a whole through my defensive line there. I have seen Heavy Artillery approaching. The usual losses. In the Center, my troops can cut off a German corps. Close to Djnepropetrovsk, a local counterattack destroys another Axis corps. Is think it is already visible for everyone: this city will be a stronghold.

5th of September 1941 The German Tanks still lurk in the Center of my frontline, and there is no way to stop them at the moment. Losses increase again. Heeresgruppe Mitte approaches Vyzma and Bryansk. In the middle there is no way to stop the German advance. Only time can help here. The loss of Nikolayev is very bad for the Red Army... I loose a supply point there, and I cannot bring in new troops.

30th of August 1941 Difficult times for the Red Army. There is a concentration of German Tanks in the east of Kiew, and we cannot fight back there at the moment. Losses increase. In the north, the Germans test our defensive lines... not breaktrough so far. In the east of Kiev, there is no way to stop the German concentration of Tanks. I try to do a kind of "fighting retreat". The south looks better. A Romanian Corps is driven back in a counter attack, and they take heavy losses. A German Tank division wants to encircle my defensive line, but I can bring in reinforcements. My Navy attacks the tanks and destroys a few. Supply is quite low down there... at least for the German troops. The Kriegsmarine sends the "Tirpitz" to the Baltic. From now on I need to pay attention.

24th of August 1941 Kiev falls, and now I have a small problem in the middle of the frontline: a lot free German troops. I try to establish a second frontline here, but this will be more diffcult. At least I was able to stop the Wehrmacht in front of Kiew for almost a month. My losses increase this turn. But until the end of November I will get 60 (!) new units. Heeresgruppe Nord approaches my defensive perimeter. Attacking entrenched positions via rivers is not too easy. Around Kiev, I take back the remainder of my troops to establish a defensive line there. Pictures next turn. In the south, Heeresgruppe Süd is also advancing into my defenses. One of my armies starts a local counterattack to cut off a German corps. Here is an overview after just two months of fighting. Pretty sure the next to months will not bring the same gain for the Wehrmacht.

18th of August 1941 This is what I call "reliving history"... the Panzer divisions of the Heeresgruppe Mitte have turnd south to help the Heeresgruppe Süd to finally take Kiev. So at least my plan has worked to win a bit of time. Lost 5 units this turn, but I can still cope with these losses. The amount of new units I get per turn helps me big time. No news in the north, my units are entrenching. The Tank divisions from Heeresgruppe Mitte approach Kiev from the north. No way to defend against this move, but at least it takes a lot of time. Jörg has done some Recon flights in the south to find out about my defensive setup. Here is the first defensive line.

12th of August 1941 Just two lost units this turn, but 9 new arrivals from the building queue... this goes in the right direction. In the north, my defense line looks almost ready. Around Kiev, my counterattack drives a German corps back. Good to know it is not only the Russian troops that can run. Still no pictures from the east of Kiev. Odessa is still defended by our heroic Parachutists, so the advance here is way slower than in the north. Time to set up defense lines.