AAR - "1939 Storm Over Europe" (Axis) - Return of the newbies!

[Strategiclayabout]

- I want to say but I can't, don't want to risk ruining your game but Italy isn't the only choice though the more logical. ALso, Kriegsmarine can't defend all the coastlines and the Atlantic is big (well intelligence can help sometimes ^^).

- And you don't need total control of the sea if you're willing to take some risks. Let's say Allies land in several places, it'll be hard to tell where is the main offensive .

[Will95]

Fair enough, I'm sure Ash will surprise me with something nasty in the years to come

[Will95]

Turn 41

Northern + Central Sector

Units left behind in the great Soviet retreat were mopped up by reserve forces. The Panzers however, have bigger fish to fry and continued their relentless advance- now switching to deal with the northern pocket. The HQ was left exposed in the rear and our tanks did terrible damage. Stukas dealt with the only tank group protecting him, and unless a serious amount of AT arrives for the Red Army here, my opponent stands to lose a very large chunk of his army in an encirclement. Heavy bombers hit Koeningsberg, ensuring that the army is left out of supply. The Soviet army at Danzig was also destroyed, and the town retaken. Is this no way out for the Soviet Army Group?

Southern Sector

Our troops at the Iron Gate were spotted and force back- a nice idea, but I wasn't able to pull off what I had hoped. For the meantime, neither the Soviet tanks nor my Axis minor troops advance due to the geography. Next turn, I may try and surprise my opponent with an appearance by General Franco...

General Staff

We invested further into heavy tanks.

[Will95]

Turn 42

Northern and Central Sector

Blast, the northern army managed to escape. They managed to travel surprisingly far given what I took to be a low level of supply, but, oh well. We did however manage to send a Panzer division to the rear which struck at the weak HQ and destroyed it entirely, leaving the rest of the surrounding army without leadership or proper supply. An AT unit and a front line corps joined the HQ in the mass graves.

In the center bombers revealed the Soviet air force, and the rest of the Luftwaffe re-armed. Next turn I will split them up a little- a few stukas in the south ought to tip the tides.

Southern Sector

Hitler spent all night on the phone screaming at the Hungarian ambassador after the country was 'liberated' by a single Russian unit sneaking through the lines. Serves us right really, for committing so much to the south and leaving so little to guard the important bits. We will be able to take it back in a few turns time, but it remains an irritation.

With the Hungarian army now dissolved, we operated over Franco with a tank unit and 2 elite infantry armies to fill the gap. We continued to skirmish with Soviet tank groups with neither side able to claim a solid victory.

General Staff

Damn Russkies started raids on our Swedish convoys, but I don't have the resources to spare. We shall just have to eat the MPP drain for now.

[Will95]

Turn 43

Northern and Central Sectors

The tank that we sent around the flank to take out the HQ was lost- unfortunate, but a relatively small sacrifice given the enormous gains made recently. This turn was quite quiet as we re-arm our troops, several of our units can now reach 12 strength. 3 stukas and accompanying fighters moved up to begin a new assualt.

Southern Sector

We continue to pay for the loss of Hungary, however temporary, as our special forces take a beating from the Soviet tanks. Franco's army was most appreciated, and the German AT tanks have reached the southern sector to help combat the blasted T34's.

[Will95]

Turn 44

Northern + Central Sectors

Another quiet turn as we continue to prepare our troops for the next major push. Another Stuka was moved to the south as we don't have any immediate concerns in the north.

Southern Sector

This is where things have been a bit rough- the capital at Sofia will soon be under direct artillery attack, and Franco is busy trying to re-liberate Hungary. However, there only appears to be a small Soviet air force here, so with now a total of 2 stukas, we can start knocking out the armour. To assist, Kuchler's headquarters has been sent down for added leadership. I've also noticed that given how much this Soviet pocket is now sticking out, I should attempt a flanking move. Next turn, I'll operate the majority of the German armour (no longer required up north for now) and a HQ to swing down and come in from behind Bucharest. That should cut off this entire Soviet army and leave them out of supply.

General Staff

We reached level 3 intelligence.

[Strategiclayabout]

- Very fun campaign with unusual situations (looking at the map it looks like 1944 ), keep it going !

- Despite the Hungary debacle, superior german tactical and strategical mobility keep Russians on their heels.

- What's the unit count for each side ? Any plans for more paradrops ?

[Will95]

Not sure what to do with the paras right now, I'm going to cautiously advance the line until I can get some better recon. Ideally I'd like to try and target his fighters, but I also need to send armour relief to the south, unless the stukas are able to do it alone. I'm either going to commit to another big central attack (where he's got room to manouver but also has a real lack of HQ's and armour) or a big flank down in the south (where I could potentially score a big win by encircling a huge Soviet army but it'll take time and mean no capitalization on the original central push).

[Will95]

Turn 45

Northern and Central Sector

I decided to go for the first option, and press our recent advantages. Intel revealed an AT gun in the northern sector, and a scouting Corps showed an infantry screen protecting it. Some stukas and Panzer blitzes later, the AT guns were destroyed along with 2 armies. This leaves just corps in between us and the supply depot at Kaunas.

In the center we cautiously advanced to reveal a sizeable Soviet army protecting their fighters. Combining a sweeping panzer attack from the north, a push from the center and paradrops behind the lines, we will seek to crush this central Soviet force.

Southern Sector

Things here are as dicey as always. While the Spanish deal with getting back Hungary to open up the train lines, the German forces are preparing an exit strategy. The one good thing is that the Soviets have only 1 HQ and few supply sources, leaving a good chunk of their army out of supply thanks to the rough terrain. We probed the Iron Gate once again, to see if we can cut their supply completely.

Hungary

Franco has been given the nice easy task to prove his mettle on the eastern front and prove to Hitler his armies can be more than expensive doorstops- to take back Budapest. A Soviet army moving to reinforce the stolen capital was destroyed by, sigh, German Stukas, when the Spanish tanks were too inept to do it themselves. However we should be able to liberate the capital next turn, especially with additional German armour moving in from the north.

[Will95]

Turn 46 + 47

No pictures this time, sorry!

Not much has changed though. In the Northern + Central sectors we sent a corps to claim the Soviet territory left mostly undefended. Otherwise it was refitting and rearming, with most of T47 spent arming our troops with the latest in infantry weaponry (level 3). Now we can really stick it to the Red Army.

Intel has revealed a large central Soviet army however, one that we cannot crack for as long as they have such advanced fighters. Therefore we will soon operate more Stukas to the south, along with Rommel and his tanks, to see if we can drive back the Soviets there and take back the various capitals along the way.

In the south our stukas took out one of the roving T34 groups and once again we are stalling for time as we upgrade to level 3 infantry.

[Will95]

Whoops, fell a bit behind on the last few turns, mainly because there was no real action to speak of.

Turn 51 + Recap + 1943 Warplan

Northern and Central Sectors

The Soviets suddenly withdrew in the direction of Minsk, and the Germans followed, taking out a few corps with them although nothing major. The Red Army now forms a single defensive line in the north. There is no real plan of action for now, as much of the heavy armour has been committed to a plan in the south.

Southern Sector

The Soviets also withdrew here, which was probably just as well for them as more stukas and tanks were arriving. We are now pressing forward, and they appear to be setting up defensively at Bucharest. Coming from behind however, we have a sizeable army including Rommel's tanks. We hope to force him to operate out and abandon the south, or be forced into an extremely bloody battle.

Warplan

In blue are expected enemy movements. Red represents our prospective movements. Intel revealed amphibious transports on the US coastline, so we can expect an incoming invasion towards the French, Spanish or occupied British coastline. Although we have something of a garrison army in France and Spain, Britain will be a weak spot, and frankly if the US bring enough forces to any of the three it will spell serious trouble. I have probably 5-6 turns of grace before they arrive if he makes use of the travel arrows to the North Atlantic, so Mediterranean subs will be immediately redirected towards the Atlantic to intercept the landing force as it approaches. We have also begun investing more into unit production of late so we can have a more sturdy defense.

A British army has been moving through North Africa taking the Italian holdings there, and we expect an invasion of Italy to follow. Two new Italian armies were mustered on the coast, but once again, it won't be enough to resist a committed attack.

Our plan is to use our resources for as long as we can afford them on the eastern front, to score a major victory in the south. With the enemy holed up at Bucharest and our flanking tanks and Stukas coming from behind, destruction of this Soviet army would be enough to justify sending reinforcements to the west against the Americans and British. In the North we will attack if we can but the enemy is dug in and we lack de-entrenching tools.

I forsee a rough couple of years ahead for the Reich. We will try to dedicate as much MPP as possible in the coming turns to producing a whole new army, complete with armour and HQs, because it will be necessary if we are to have any chance of holding off the Yanks.

[Will95]

Turn 52

Northern and Central Sectors

Nothing interesting to speak of.

Southern Sector

Oh boy. Rommel's staff was completely and utterly destroyed. Having evacuated by plane just minutes before the T34s rolled through the camp, he will reach the front later this year once again, but his loss is mourned. Soviet reserves arrived to pound our forces here, but we struck back- both Soviet tank battalions were destroyed. In the moutains around Bucharest we advanced, destroying an army and hitting the soft artillery behind. It is now imperative that we smash through Bucharest to link up with the army on the other side of the mountains or further Soviet reserves could make our lives miserable.

General Staff

Partisans have been very active over the recent months, taking out supply depots in France, Greece and Britain, but otherwise no changes.

[Strategiclayabout]

1942 was easy wins for Germany, 1943 seems to be a bit more complicated already. And by the way, where the hell have all those Italians vanished ? Will Allies turn the corner this year ? Or just hit the wall ?

[Will95]

I honestly don't know. I think my plan to give concessions to Stalin and commit to Sealion really screwed me over- then again, I'm not sure how things would've gone if I'd followed history closer either!

Once the American invasion starts, either coming up through the Med or across to France, I'm basically screwed. The Soviet army is just too massive for me to go through it all at once, and even though I'm killing far more than I'm losing, his armour, HQ's and fighters are getting a lot of experience and upgrades. Add to that a potential British invasion into Italy and my Reich is about to get ripped apart six ways from Sunday.

As there's no AAR to kinda 'mimick' (which is how I approached our 1914 campaign) I've been playing this one by ear, and made quite a few categorical errors, like neglecting Africa almost entirely, spending 500 useless MPPs on trying to appease Stalin diplomatically and losing virtually all the Axis minors in the south.

I'll slug it out with the Red Army and hope for a breakthrough, but I imagine that when the invasion into mainland Europe starts I'm gonna start crumbling.

[acrashb]

give concessions to Stalin and commit to Sealion really screwed me over

Most likely. The game is about MPP's and you don't have enough USSR resources - or south-eastern European, or North African - to compete long term given the early entry of the US. Getting a high kill-ratio helps, but if you can't leverage that into resources, it just delays the inevitable.

Having said that,your opponent could screw-up somewhere and be set back. Pity you could not close the Med after taking Gibraltar.

[Will95]

Damn warping arrows

But yeah, I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head there. I'm going to keep slugging on, but as you'll see from Turn 54, things are beginning to turn against the Fuhrer...

[Will95]

Well, I haven't updated in a while as I've been kinda unwell, but I'll give a quick recap sans pictures to cover the latest developments.

The eastern front, once a juggernaught of German air and land-power, has all but crumbled. Although the south is now strong, the north has essentially collapsed and with reserves still months away, we expect the Red Army to go halfway to Berlin before we can halt their momentum.

At sea the US navy has shown itself to be a frightening beast, sinking a good chunk of the Kriegsmarine with their level 4 anti-submarine warfare. This then facilitated the US invasion of mainland Europe, starting in Spain and now into the UK as well, with a tank force that will surely blow away the meagre garrisons and the odd Spanish army that are the only lines of defence.

The British conquered most of North Africa and have now declared war on Vichy and continue to plunder.

All in all? The German army is done for. I'll let Ash grind me down a little more but I'll soon be waving the white flag. A sad day? No- a good learning experience!

Next time- back to WW1!

[Maskirovka]

Interesting AAR, thanks for posting it

[Will95]

It was a fun one for experimentation and getting to grips with the scenario as a whole

But my overall strategy was quite flawed, hence the relatively short game

[Maskirovka]

Yeah a few mistakes, but some pretty inspired tactical moves - particularly regarding the Paradrops. I've not played this scenario myself so couldn't say much more beyond that