Will95

Turn 12 The situation in the south has been reduced from 'critical' to 'serious'. We can certainly not afford to be complacent, but along the line corps have largely managed to dig in and entrench. We had to concede a little more ground, but ground can be easily gained back. Gomel was cleared of resistance. We are now just a hop and a skip away from Kiev, with apparently little force in the way. The north had some good success. Bombers struck at both Russian HQ's, and a corps managed to break through the line to do further damage. Without supply, the Russian light armour will be forced to abandon their positions and fall back to Leningrad itself. Two artillery guns are within range to check the damage of any units foolhardy enough to stick around. Further north we will soon be closing on Narva, bringing a 4th Panzer into the Leningrad battle ground. Progress continues to be made in Finland, although I'm going to have to pause the assault for a turn or two while I get reinforced. We managed to destroy another Russian army, though. So, Summer is at an end. The war has certainly taken a different turn from usual, and it's developed strangely. The key objectives to achieve before the end of October (when I will need to start hunkering down) is; Leningrad, Kiev and to close in on Dnepropetrovsk.

Turn 11 Yikes, this turn was almost as bad for me as the last was for Ash! We took a smidge over 1000MPP's worth of losses, so let's see what happened... Let's get the painful bit over quickly- the south. Army Group South experienced a decimation across the line (although only 1 destroyed unit) which has forced a fallback. The Soviet light tanks did some real damage to one of our Panzer corps as well, although the other survived to do some counter-attack this turn. The situation here is now critical- the line won't hold against another Soviet attack of similar strength. I have reserves (1 corps and 2 divisions) waiting to be deployed sitting idle in Germany, but as yet haven't had the MPP's to spare to rail them in. Fortunately AGC continues to clear up. One Panzer is now prepared to add a second veteran step, bringing it to 12 strength- a real threat. AGN weathered a storm from Soviet Light Armour but remains in a strong position. The Panzers took a beating but will live to fight another day, and they should still be able to get back to 11 strength. Tallinn will fall next turn and this will bring Kuhler's small force back into the fray. Although it is tempting to bring him down to the South to shore up the critical situation there, I feel the MPP's required to operate them could be better used elsewhere, and once Tallinn is taken, I will press on towards Leningrad and try to stretch the Soviet line as much as possible. And for a bit of very good news, the Finnish have broken the line at Viipuri which will force the Soviets to reposition.

Turn 10 We have breached the river with low-moderate losses. Ash chose not to attack on his turn, but I was able to unseat his light tanks with bombers and artillery. I was careful to make sure that the Panzers were used to their full effect, although I tried to negate as much damage to them as possible. One unit was taken down to 70%, which is less than ideal, but the other two remain at full strength and in forward, but not exposed, postiions. The two 'threatening' Soviet armies around AGC that you saw last turn chose their moment to come out of hiding- one to attack my HQ in Smolensk (no damage) and one to attack my fighter (40% damage). It was remiss of me not to consider that Ash might have attacked and I've paid a moderate price for it. Fortunately, both armies were left out of supply after their little adventure, and were promptly destroyed. Army Group South launched a large scale offensive in an attempt to break the entrenched deadlock. Losses were taken by both sides, but the Panzers were put to good use by striking at the southern part of the line near Odessa. Ash has more than enough light armour to do some real damage with a counter-attack next turn so I'm braced for some uncomfortable reading. All rests on the ability of AGC to flank quickly and decisively... This turn saw the highest level of losses for the Soviets since Barbarossa began, which can only be a good thing. The Summer will soon be over though, and with Autumn comes mud and rain, so we must 'make hay'!

Turn 9 The assualt in the north is primed and ready...Strong backing from heavy artillery means that if Ash counterattacks across the river, he will face serious losses. This is the last major hurdle before we reach the city of Leningrad itself. Smolensk is ours, and we take a turn to refit and rearm. Two Soviet armies have appeared from the north-west in mildly threatening positions.My next priority is going to be to swing down towards Kiev, and finally lift the pressure on the southern front. Looks like Ash is settling down for the long haul in the South...the Soviet line is long and dense. To make progress here, it is imperative that I flank with Army Group Center as soon as possible.

Turn 8 This was a rough turn. A swarm of light tanks descended on my southern front and decimated countless units, destroying a fighter wing and damaging badly two HQ's. The early loss of the Panzer unit is really hurting my ability to fight back, either, and these light tanks are around to stay. The positive side is that Army Group Center has cleared Smolensk and continues onwards with almost no resistance- if I can make good progress on 2 out of 3 fronts for Christmas, I will still be in a good position by 1942. I forgot to screenshot the south this turn, sorry! In the north we've found a line of light armour ready to defend Leningrad. No attacks yet- but I expect next turn will be bloody.

Turn 7 We took our opportunity to fight back in the south, with attacks spanning the frontline. The light tank armada that hit last turn has moved back, probably to refit before attacking again. The Velikaya river is, as predicted, where the Red Army is preparing to stand in the north. Light tanks have taken up defensive, entrenched positions to prevent me reaching Leningrad in a timely fashion. Fortunately, I knew that this would be a tough area to fight against, and I brought two artillery guns to assist in unseating the Soviets. In the center, I continue to make progress towards Smolensk encountering little to no resistance.

Turn 5 Catastrophe! Ash unleashed a surprising volume of light tanks on my isolated Panzer group, destroying it utterly, and out of supply, preventing a quick buy-back. There are at least 4 Soviet armour columns around Zhitomir, with more further south- this would appear to be where the Red Army is making it's first stand. With just two armour groups in the south, it's going to be a struggle to make too much progress here against such a volume of light tanks, although our counter-attacks drove countless armies away and destroyed a few outright. I have a Hungarian HQ and two corps moving in support, as well as more German corps. The north was more pedestrian, with Odessa finally captured. There are a number of small towns I need to capture before I can turn my attention to Leningrad proper however, and I suspect that a defensive line will be forming around the Velikaya river. Nevertheless, we must press on. Army Group Center cleared Minsk, no further action to report.

Turn 4 My attack is splitting off into three distinct arms now; Army Group Center, North and South, a little like history. I planned for Riga to be taken this turn, and although I cleared the city, was not able to capture it. However, this is a small detail- it will certainly be in my hands by next turn, and I'm making steady, controlled progress towards Leningrad. I noticed that Ash pulled back the two light tank units from the Finnish front this turn so I expect they will be mobilized the defense of the city. Army Group Center had no action to report, but I am planning to assault Minsk next turn. It appears there is just a single army in residence, so should be easily crushed. The south saw the lion's share of the fighting- Ash took the opportunity I provided when I paused my southern assault to refit my Romanian troops with better equipment to dig in aroud the River Bug. Rather than take him head on, I assaulted with my German troops from the west, and began to 'roll up the carpet', so to speak. One panzer division outflanked aggressively to destroy a Russian HQ and is now left in low supply. However, I'm not too concerned; unless there are surprise reinforcements coming from Kiev, Ash will now have to decide if he wants to save what troops he can and withdraw, leaving his dugouts, or face being completely cut off. So far so normal. I think this next turn could prove very interesting though, as the initial shock of the invasion has worn off, and Ash has now had a bit of time to redeploy his troops, so we might see the first counterattacks.

Turn 2 Barbarossa is progressing nicely. Having studied the campaign map a bit more and read some of the existing AAR's, I've decided that I will push on three seperate fronts towards Moscow, Leningrad and the Caucasus. Across all fronts, Ash has withdrawn, avoiding all fights. This is in stark contrast to my tactics when I played as the Soviets- I tried to counter every which way I could. However, he did manage to damage one of my German corps to 40% strength in the south with some limited offensive action. Odessa is well suited to defense- the river, and the army that starts garrisoned in the city, provide the first tough line of defense for the Axis to crack. I'll manage it, eventually, but I'm not going to tackle it head on. In the north, I pushed towards Riga- it should be in my hands in 2 turns time.

Interesting thoughts Strategic; Cool point about Helsinki doubling it's supply! I wasn't aware of that, even more reason to drive for Leningrad. I'm really in two minds about going forwards towards Moscow. I know that if I try and recreate history with three thrusts, I won't end up meeting any of my objectives. Perhaps I will just keep 1 HQ and a small capture force move down the center to keep Ash stretched throughout 1941 and give me more area to retreat through in the future. When I've previously played this campaign as Germany I have gone with an emphasis on encirclement and subsequent killing units out of supply- and I think there are some drawbacks, particularly in 1941 when time is of the essence. If you blow through in a frontal assault, you can cover more ground. If you encircle and wait a turn for their supply to drop, you can increase the cost and time to replenish forces but causes a delay of 1-2 turns (and gives them a chance to counter-attack). I guess we'll see

Well, well, here we are once again. 'Tis the season for warmongering!! Like a good book, StratCom is always a pleasure to return to, and I always seem to find something new and fascinating about the game every time I come back. Ash and I are definitely rusty- a year hiatus has seen to that- but we hope to provide a long, close and entertaining match. I also want to apologise for the half-finished AAR's we have sitting around these forums- a few of our games that we tried to start last year ended up fizzling due to real life commitments, but we will endeavor to keep this match flowing neatly. Starting a new campaign, especially something as big as AoC, always gives me a mixture of nervous anticipation and excitement- you never know where the game will go, and I'm not even entirely sure what I'd like to do yet. I'll be playing as the Germans and trying to remedy the mistakes that Hitler's generals never could. First order of things is to take stock of the map and get reacquainted with the lay of the land, so to speak. The primary weakness of playing as the Axis in this campaign is that you are locked into the historical positions- ie, an Army Group North, Center, and South, with a small force jumping off from Romania consisting of Hungarians, Romanians and Germans. In Storm over Europe (my personal favourite) or AoD, you can choose to totally bypass history; you could focus all your resources in one singular thrust, or invade earlier, or even try to delay the invasion further. However, in B2B, we are stuck with the same 22nd June start date and the same force distribution, and we must make the best of it. I've included some shots of the front line at the bottom of the post, but there's nothing particularly interesting there for those familiar with the campaign- it's the usual messy bloodbath that kicks off Barbarossa. 1941 goals The first few months are absolutely critical, no doubt about it; I've got to gain enough land to set myself up for the winter and subsequent '42 spring offensives, while at the same time trying to preserve and vet up as much of my force as possible, especially my panzer divisions. So, Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, the Caucasus, something else, or a mixture?! The ball is very much in my court, as the German player. Naturally my eventual goal is to control all of these, but let's weigh up the various pros and cons of going for each in 1941. Leningrad Pros: Taking it connects me to the Finnish forces, freeing up a lot of strong infantry; closest objective by distance, so quite manageable, seals off the northern flank. Cons: Engineers spawn at Leningrad early on, making it a bit of a fortified nightmare to break through; few MPP sources to speak of besides the city itself (total gain from Leningrad + Riga = 36 MPPs). Moscow Pros: Big NM hit if captured, approximately 70~ MPPs in city income en route Cons: Long distance to travel, Pripyat marshes require significant anti-partisan presence, exposed flanks Stalingrad Pros: Lots of mines and cities Cons: Local geography very inhospitable to attacking armies due to lack of supply sources and rivers, very long distance to travel, still doesn't seal off southern flank due to supply center at Baku Caucasus/Baku Pros: OIL! Cons: Longest travel distance, exposed flanks (I learned that the hard way in an SoE game last year when I was having a jolly romp down into the mountains before Soviet tanks cut off my single line of retreat) I feel that given the strong northern presence in current starting positions, I would be foolish not to attempt to capture Leningrad quickly. Freeing up the use of Mannerheim (rank 8 general) and his men will be invaluable in 1942. Moscow does not interest me currently, because the monetary gain simply isn't worth the blood I'll have to wade through to get there quickly. I favour a southern approach- taking the bulk of my force and sending it down to Stalingrad and the Caucasus. I won't be able to reach Stalingrad by 1941, but I would like to reach the Stalino/Kharkov/Kursk line before winter sets in. So, that's it. A two pronged approach- take Leningrad, and get as far south as I can by winter. Then, if all goes well, attack Moscow from the north with the Finns in 1942 and attempt to get down to Baku. Ash is a worthy adversary though, and he's handed me my ass more times than I like to remember, and we find Germans notoriously difficult to play well. It's all to play for

Things are going well. My offensive has pressed the Russians hard in the north, succeeding in destroying the HQ there and surrounding the town. Within the next 2 turns I should have control of Kovno. Further south in Prussia, I have brought troops from the West to protect my rear against a Russian incursion, under newly-appointed Hindeburg's command. This will hopefully allow me to continue my offensive in the north, while trapping the units in the south in a protracted land war. Down at the Austrian line the Russians have moved up to threaten Galicia, but nothing else of note. My offensive begins in Serbia with the destruction of a front line detachment. Next turn I will bring German artillery to the forefront of the battle. So far, so good. How well things go largely depends on what Ash does with the Russians. If he masses up and smashes me at any one point, there's a good chance I won't be able to resist. However, what I am hoping, is that I can stretch him out across a thousand-mile front line with constant incursions into his territory with small battle groups, thereby denying him his numerical advantage, and placing me firmly on the front foot. We shall see.

You're making me worried now Bill!!

It's definitely a double edged sword. I've gamed the first few turns of this scenario in hotseat games against myself and I think the prospects are good- but as you say, it is risky. For one, I will have at least a solid year to dedicate to crushing Russia without having to concentrate anywhere else. Considering the sheer mass of troops that get deployed to the West, I should be able to sweep Russia aside- maybe even by the end of 1915. Even with all cylinders firing for artillery on the Entente side, they shouldn't be able to get anything worthy of cracking my Western line until 1916. Ultimately, it all comes down to how things go in the East- but consider this. Once Russia is out of the game, not only do I then have a mass of experienced German units to send back West- but also a sizeable Austrian army. I hope that Ash also does an AAR, but I understand that he is very busy right now and may not have the time- if he does do one, it might only be infrequently updated. But I think he will.

The year is 1914, Archduke Ferdinand has been assassinated, and war has been declared. It's time for another world war! Last time Ash and I duked it out in the CTA campaign, he was CP and I was Entente. CP had a rocky start with a delayed Belgian invasion and took a hammering on the Western front particularly after 1916. The Entente managed to pull off Gallipoli to some effect, but was ultimately forced back by a strong Ottoman force. The Entente was victorious- just. This time, I hope to lead the Kaiser to glorious victory under the German banner. My strategy this time will be one of an Eastern focus. I feel it is crucial to limit the fighting to one front at a time in order to be successful in this campaign, so I have neglected to invade Belgium at all. Instead, I deployed my additional starting units to Prussia, where offensive measures are already underway. With Von Hindenberg due to arrive shortly, I will have two sizeable battle groups pressing the Russians towards Warsaw within a matter of weeks. This will alleviate some pressure on the Austrians, in turn allowing me to push into Serbia and remove that front from the war, hopefully by the end of 1916. So, to the east then. My initial units were sent as a battle group to the north. Usually in the first weeks of the war the Rus is able to push into Prussia- they are not used to being pushed back. The West is completely quiet, not a shot fired. My thinking is this; while the Germans begin the war with both and artillery unit and a level of artillery tech, the British and French have neither. Therefore even with a significant investment in both areas, I would not expect the Western allies to be able to crack my entrenchments before early 1916 at the very earliest- and by that point I hope to have defeated the Russians and will be able to turn my attention. Any ground lost will be regained. So, without further ado, let's be having it!

Turn 28 In the south, the snow lifted. The spring will bring pretty heavy bloodshed for both sides, but this time it's the Soviets who draw first blood. Following a winter of creeping up towards the city and finally sieging it, I was able to assault Rostov and recapture the city. Further up the line I reinforced my units and prepared for the mass Axis wave attacks to follow. In the north, my paratroopers are taking heavy damage behind enemy lines. The race is on to see who can break through first- both of us have troops out of supply. If nothing else, the damage to the HQ will have long-lasting ramifications for troop effectiveness. I reached armour level 1 and fighters level 1 this turn. I've lost a few armour units but still retain 3- a good number to start hitting back with!

Turn 26 Apologies for the lack of updates. The lines haven't shifted much over the winter- I've done some decent, but not earth shattering, damage to Ash's mainline forces, including destroying another panzer corps and several divisions. The winter event hit him hard and although I wasn't able to take advantage of it to really cripple him, the end result is that the main Axis advance has been halted, and all German tanks have been withdrawn to the rear. In the south, the main line has remained static, but in the south I lost Rostov. This was unfortunate, but luckily I remain in control of the port, so I still have good supply here. I'm building up troops to try and retake the city. I also destroyed a division this turn, and my attack from the east is gaining both momentum and ground. In the north, I was finally able to pull off the large scale paratrooper operation I've been planning for some time. Despite the snow, I was able to seriously damage the HQ attached to the small German infantry-only force trying to break my flank at Narva. They've been hammering the town and trading blows but weren't able to take it- and this turn I hit back. This small pocket of German infantry plus the HQ is now isolated without support, and if the snow clears, I should be able to start mopping up. I don't have a huge force here myself, but hopefully I can turn this into a sizable win for the Russians.

But that's assuming your opponent is going to leave his Panzers ajacent to you. Ash is smart with his tanks- he almost never leaves them as the furthest forward unit, and generally favours a slower advance to build experience rather than a straight up Blitzkrieg. If you keep waiting for the perfect opportunity there's a good chance you're just going to get nuked from the sky, or outflanked.

Turn 21 A severed rail link to Kharkov meant that supply dropped to just 5 for the city- also meaning my nearest HQ lost his 10 supply in favour of a much weaker 8. I've retaken the rail lines but the damage has been done, and my counter this turn was quite weak. Instead my main attack came in the south out of Morozovsk, where I'm trying to relieve the pressure on Rostov. I destroyed a corps and badly damaged another, so hopefully the Panzers will switch targets to my new forces instead of hammering Rostov. There were some small engagements in the north, culminating in one of my LT's breaking the line and attacking the artillery behind for some decent damage. I'm also preparing my paratroopers to land behind the small infantry force attempting to break through at Narva- both paras are in range of the towns providing supply to this force, and if I catch Ash unawares, I could do some nasty damage.

My thinking behind the Light Tanks is just that because they can't be bought back, they're effectively disposable weapons. I haven't been just throwing them away willy-nilly, but they've been a pretty key part of my aggressive fall-back. Indeed Al, I know that the winter strike is just around the corner, so I'm keeping the Germans engaged. Better yet, Ash is playing ball and keeps trying to hit back rather than just accepting his gains and entrenching- prospects are good for 1942.

Turn 20 The battle for Kharkov continues- two divisions went down around the city fighting, but the entrenchment cost the Germans fairly heavily in corps losses. Attacks by weak Panzers left two armoured units exposed- my Siberian reinforcements were able to hit back, destroying one and seriously damaging (30%) the other. A corps was also knocked down to 50% strength and isolated from the main Axis line. Outside Rostov, the lack of armour or proper armies is telling. The city is still standing firm but I'm having a hard time hitting back at the Panzers. One AT unit was lost, the other survived to damage the armour nearest to it to 60% strength. Fortunately, I spied an opening and was able to sneak in and smack Manstein's HQ for 40% strength, together with some assistance from a medium bomber. I got some more Siberian tanks arriving at the end of my turn, and pretty soon the snow will arrive- then I can kick my counter offensive into a high gear.

Turn 19 A full scale defense saw multiple counter-active measures across the southern front. Two Panzers were wounded outside of Rostov, and a corps brought to 10% strength in the battle for Kharkov. Unfortunately, despite the river defense, Kursk was lost. With Stalino also gone, this leaves Kharkov as something of a salient. The remaining Kursk defenders have fallen back while a new attacking force is assembling with Siberian reinforcements just south of the new lines. I'm gearing up for a small scale offensive in the north, try to divert some of Ash's armoured strength away from the pressured south. I need to get my Light Tanks killed off before they become completely useless in 1942.

Turn 17 The German armour has advanced to Rostov, and it's all I can do to just about hold onto the city. Kharkov is threatened, but well defended. I finally got some AT units this turn though, so I may be able to start hitting back- soon as the winter strikes. In the north, no further Axis advance. Likely Ash has sent most of his troops south to try and break me, giving me the option to either push in the north myself, or redirect my forces to defend the south. Winter cannot come soon enough....