1942 Case Blue - AAR!

[DrunkenLuftwaffe]

Is today the day we get to PLAY this?

[Ivanov]

On 8th of September the Kalinin Front of gen Konstantin Rokossovsky got activated. His confident troops easily overcame a weakened German defence and the city of Vyazma has been recaptured! This the first Russian town liberated during the present campaign and commander of our victorious armies has been awarded the Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union. It’s worth mentioning that our advancing tanks have overrun the positions of German heavy artillery in the vicinity of Vyazma. At the same time the Western Front of gen Zhukov moved forward towards the city of Kozelsk. It seems that the Fascist Army Group Centre is severely weakened by the previous fighting and our multiple offensives put a severe strain on the enemy reserves.

There has been no major fighting near Leningrad and in the south, our forces conducted a series of limited attacks against the Heeresgruppe Süd. It seems that Fuhrer is determined to hold the ground there at all costs. Due to that we need first to strengthen our armies in the theatre before a decisive breakthrough can be achieved. It will take a little more time that expected but the Red Army will prevail, there can be no doubt about it!

Quite unexpectedly our North Western Front has been reactivated, conducting a massive, human wave attacks against the Fascist positions near Rzhev. STAVKA has spotted that the enemy has been quietly withdrawing some units from that sector, probably in order to stiffen the crumbling front near Leningrad. Our objective is to prevent this movement and of course to inflict further attrition on the enemy:

***

GERMAN ARTILLERY OVERRUN NEAR VYAZMA

[Ghost of war]

Alright, here is the situation in brief.

In the North we withdrawn 16th and 18th armies from the poorly supplied positions around Leningrad. It was necessary, as continuing the attack on the city in this circumstances couldn’t bring any success. However, we withdraw orderly and performing counterattacks. This turn the elements of 16th Army have eliminated the weakened Soviet army. We had to abandon our positions around Demyansk, leaving one division to defend the city. One of the Soviet armies attacking Rzhev has suffered 90% casualties and retreated. Looks like that the Soviet forces in this area have low morale and readiness. Maybe they still remember the heavy beating they took earlier this summer?

In the Centre, OKH followed Gen. Model’s advice and ordered the withdrawal and delaying Zhukov’s offensive. Therefore our armies have abandoned Kozelsk and Yeltis, to extend enemy’s supply lines and give us a time to build new secure, defense line.

Army Group ‘South’ appears to be tough nut to crack for the Steppe and Stalingrad Fronts. With the apparent passiveness of the Soviet forces, we destroyed one Soviet division and made two other to retreat with heavy losses. It is worth saying, that Luftwaffe has caused heavy losses of the Soviet Fighters Group. We also continue sending newly produced units to this front and strengthening our forces in this area.

[Ivanov]

The commander of our advancing Kalinin Front - Konstantin Rokossovski has sensed that a new opportunity arose after the capture of Vyazma. Instead of pursuing the enemy who is fleeing westward, he decided to turn his armies and strike north, in order to unhinge the enemy defence around Rzhev. At the same time our Northwestern Front led by gen Meretskov, struck Rzhev from the North. Quite unexpectedly the fascist Ninth Army of Walther Model found itself encircled and trapped in a pocket! For once Fuhrer’s insistence on holding untenable positions has it’s grave consequences. At present there is not much left from the Ninth Army – just a corps and two divisions but the sole fact that an entire German army along with it’s HQ got encircled in a cauldron, is a clear statement that the balance of power in the east is changing!

Our Western and Bryansk Fronts have been also moving forwards towards Orel and Kursk. The enemy simply chose to abandon his easternmost positions and there has been no fighting in that area.

All quiet on the Leningrad Front and only our political officers have been working fervently in order to restore the morale and instill the hatred towards the fascist invaders among the ranks:

In the South a local attack against Morozovsk has been undertaken. It was primordial to secure the town before we can advance any further. A well entrenched and experienced enemy division had it’s positions there. Due to our weakness in the air and the lack of heavy artillery, two penal divisions performed first human wave attacks in order to clear the first two lines of German trenches. The fighting was particularly violent but finally the enemy division was destroyed.

STAVKA estimates that in fact our Stalingrad and Caucasus Fronts don’t poses any numerical superiority over the enemy Army Group South. Due to that, they still need to be reinforced before further resumption of the offensive operations.

[Ghost of war]

Omniscient sages in the OKH noticed the obvious weakness of the Soviet Steppe Front south from Morozovsk and ordered two Panzer Corps to attack along with Gen. Manstein’s 18th Army. The result was satisfactory: we eliminated one Soviet Tank Group, one penal division and made about 30km breach in enemy lines. The spearhead of our attack reached Soviet Air bases, just north of Volgodonsk. We also inflicted heavy casualties to several other Soviet armies of the Steppe Front.

It is worth saying that we were successful in our attacks due to the air superiority Luftwaffe posses in the South. Their attacks must have been painful this turn…

Further north, weakened Army Group ‘Centre’ slowly withdraws, inflicting damage on the approaching enemy. This turn we destroyed one of the advancing Soviet divisions north from Voronezh.

The enemy tried to destroy Gen. Model’s HQ… but they didn’t manage to do it. Gen. Model caught the last train from Rzhev to Berlin and of course he will be organizing the defense against Northwestern and Kalinin Fronts. We are also strengthening our defenses in the North, since Abwehr informed us about unit concentration in Leningrad area (they have at least one Mech. Corps).

We want to protest against the misinformation that was recently spread by Ivanov’s Ministry of “Truth”. German technological research is in great condition, we have just recently invested another 125 MPPs into… well I won’t tell you what, but here is the proof. The problem with German research is that at the beginning of the scenario it is almost fully invested, there are only two slots available. So until some technological breakthrough the Axis player is unable to invest anything.

I really fear what revelations will they reveal in the next turn. Maybe this time the Ministry of Love will issue some statement :eek:?

[Ivanov]

The present exchange of blows in the south has surprised STAVKA. Due to the numerical parity between our fronts and the Heeresgruppe Süd, the most likely outcome will be a mutual attrition – a not very encouraging outcome from the German point of view. Accordingly gen Vatutin has ordered his tanks to counterattack and one of the enemy panzer corps has been destroyed. Unlike the Germans, we don’t commit all of our forces and the Red Army has been fighting only with the bare minimum forces which are necessary to hold the line. At the same time we are trying to assemble a significant operational reserve that could finally tip the balance in our favor. While all enemy’s attention is focused in the area near Morozovsk, gen Pukarev was ordered to capture Mikhailovka, which was held by the brave Italians. It seems strange indeed that feeble allies have been entrusted with a task of holding a key position on the vulnerable, eastern flank… Well, history likes repeating itself and this fact has been duly noted by the Soviet High Command…

Near Rzhev gen Model decided to leave his troops to their own fate and our Kalinin and Northwestern Fronts continue mopping up the enemy pocket:

In the center, the Western Front led by Zhukov is approaching Orel and the enemy positions there look particularly weak. It seems like while all the reserves are sent to support the Heeresgruppe Süd, other sectors of the front are deprived of any significant reinforcements. Will the Heeresgruppe Mitte survive until the spring? Stalin is convinced that the war is practically over and that there will be Red Christmas in Berlin. As always gen Zhukov is less sanguine and far more realistic…

***

A group of German prisoners captured near Rzhev. On the closer look it seems that there is a little Communits sleeping inside each one of them! After all those brave young men are destined to bulild the new, better Germany when the war is over

[Aryaman]

Question, how are the new type of units (AT, Armoured trains...)performing?

[Ivanov]

Question, how are the new type of units (AT, Armoured trains...)performing?

Neither of us field any armoured train. The loses are high and so far we just focus on repurchasing the destroyed units. But thanks for reminding me about the trains. I will check them out if I have some spare cash.

As to the AT - they didn't have much opportunities to fight because I noticed that both of us are quite hesitant to send the valuable tanks where the heavy contentrations of AT units are spotted. So the anti-tank is not a war winning weapon but it certainly limits a bit the omnipotence of tanks. I quess that ther role of AT will become more prominent as the higher tech levels are researched.

[Ghost of war]

Well, indeed the Italian Expeditionary Corps was brave but facing such a numerous enemy they must have lost. Unfortunately they don’t possess the tactical ability of withdrawal and they were destroyed. Führer sent his condolences to Berlusc… I meant Mussolini and they made some arrangements for sending additional Italian troops to the Ostfront in the next month. We’ll see how they will cope with the Red Bandits…

In series of rapid counterattacks we destroyed another Soviet Tank Group and one army. We also heavily battered another army and made it withdraw. It is also worth mentioning that the Soviet airbase near Volgodonsk was raided again and the Air Fleet lost 70% of airplanes.

At the end of my turn the terrain on the whole Southern Front changed into mud which will severely affect the mobility. Well, it’s time to start preparing for the Winter 1942/43.

On the rest of the fronts we continue the withdrawal and building new defense lines. Here is the strategic situation. We also ended our great anti-partisan operation in Zhitomir region. We destroyed two Partisans groups and strengthened the region with some additional garrisons.

And here is something from our Ministry of Truth. The Soviet POWs are happy that they were liberated by Wehrmacht. I guess they won’t have to fear NKVD shooting at their back anymore.

[Ivanov]

In the area know as the “Rzhev Traingle of Death”, our Northwestern Front managed to eliminate the remnants of the Fascist Ninth Army. The town of Nelidovo has been captured and it seems that enemy frontline has been ripped wide open. The only problem from our point of view, is that due to the atrocious, marshy terrain, further advance towards Vielkiye Luki seems quite problematic. This poses an interesting strategic dilema and our strategists have to yet to decide what would be the best way to employ our forces in the area...

Further south the Western Front led by Zhukov scored a comprehensive victory and the city of Orel has been liberated. We have spotted that enemy has brought in a panzer corps to the area and it will be interesting to see if the Soviet push westward will continue or our High Command will be content with consolidating the current positions:

There was no major action on the Leningrad and Southern fronts and for the moment we are content with continuing the build up and reorganization of our forces there.

***

It looks like the local population on the occupied territories managed to survive in a good shape. The grateful and content Soviet peasants put their best clothes on and greet our soldiers in the area of Orel.

[Ghost of war]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the situation in Sept/Oct 1942. OKH was not happy with the performance of our forces in the Southern Russia. We were dragged into meat-grinder and we admit that, in spite of some tactical victories, the operational victory belongs to the Soviet. They managed to concentrate the formidable amount of forces and start counteroffensive against us. The bright side of our situation is the fact that until now we avoided the disaster like in real 1942. So the orders for Army Group ‘South’ have been changed. Strategic objective remains the same- Stalingrad. However in the next few months we will change our way of reaching it. Though the winter is coming and it is too late to start another attack, we are already thinking of the summer offensive for 1943.

Army Group ‘Center’ under Field Marshall Walther Model’s command and Army Group ‘North’ under Gen. Maj. Gerhard Lindemann, will not start any new offensive actions, as it wouldn’t probably bring any success due to our limited resources in this area. Instead, they will focus on defensive actions against the advancing Soviets and they will withdraw in case it is necessary. There is no point in holding the ground for the cost of too many MPPs. Especially that Northern and Central Russia doesn’t bring any MPPs to our pool. And it is sad, but we need to postpone capturing Leningrad for future.

[Ivanov]

The only major action on 11th of October took place in Demyansk. The forces of our glorious Northwestern Front easily overcame an enemy detachment in the town:

Unlike the Fascist High Command, STAVKA would be quite pleased to continue simultaneous offensives on few sectors of the front. We feel that the Red Army is growing stronger each day and our industry is producing the weapons and new units like sausages! Unfortunately we are aware that the bad weather period will seriously hamper any future operations. What an irony because just two months we were awaiting the rain, snow and mud like a salvation...

***

Our soldiers on the liberated territories need to maintain a vigilant posture. No doubt that the fascist occupiers left behind many agents, saboteurs and spies!

[Ghost of war]

No major changes on the front with two notable exceptions.

We received this at the end of the last turn:

And at the end of this turn it started to snow.

Apart from this we continue upgrading our units and strengthening Army Group ‘Centre’ and Army Group ‘North’. OKH Predicts that the Soviets are plotting against us in those areas…

***

The Bolsheviks claim that they are vigilant on so-called “liberated” territories. But actually they can reveal their real face of terror. No doubt that NKVD is treating people worse than we did…

[Ivanov]

The weather has been dreadful at the end of October and all our offensive operations have been halted. Just to give you an idea about the conditions we are facing, take a look at the image from the Leningrad front:

Note the engineer units which are building the fortifications around the city. We won’t allow again the evil invaders to set their dirty feet in the vicinity of the Great City!

***

The enemy propaganda efforts are quite poor and humourless Even our imperialist Allies recognize the good nature and dedication of the Soviet people.

[Strategiclayabout]

Mmmmh... Not sure who is winning the propaganda picture war but there surely were many casualties to laughter . Waiting for the opening of 1943 hunting season !

[Ghost of war]

Not much to report after my turn. We use the time of bad whether to research new technolgies and we have used all the Research slots:

Additionally we increase the number of Fighter Groups on Ostfront. Duce sent the bravest of the bravest Italian pilots to help us in our crusade against communists!

***

Maybe our informational activity doesn't make you laugh Kamerad Ivanov, but truly there is nothing to laugh about. The true faces of Bolsheviks are rather scary, not funny. Definitely they are not like the face of the guy from your poster...

[Ivanov]

We use the time of bad whether to research new technolgies

Our intelligence services have provided us with some unnerving images :eek:

[Ghost of war]

That's right! What did you expect if our scientist are the best of the best:

[Ivanov]

The guy in the middle is particulary scary :eek:

[Ghost of war]

The guy in the middle is particulary scary :eek:

He is a mastermind of our tank weapons project.

[Ivanov]

He is a mastermind of our tank weapons project.

From him I expect nothing less than this!

[Strategiclayabout]

Those scientists ?

[Ivanov]

Pure evil...

[Ghost of war]

Führer is reading this thread in his Secret Bunker in Argentina and he wasn't happy with you joking.

This is serious thread because STRATEGY WARGAMES ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS. Now please stop.

[Ivanov]

Führer is reading this thread in his Secret Bunker in Argentina and he wasn't happy with you joking.

We thought he was hiding somewhere on the dark side of the moon :confused:

***

Our operations continue to be hampered by the weather. The only main action took place in the north where the units of the Volkhov and Northwestern fronts liberated the ancient city of Novgorod. It seems that the enemy has vacated this area all together.

In the south our bombers hit Rostov damaging the supply depots of the Heeresgruppe Süd.

The Soviet factories continue to produce new, deadly weapons and we hope that they will turn the tide during the 1943 campaign. And remember – they come like the sausages ( not bratwurst )!