1944 Bagration - AAR

[Strategiclayabout]

Hi steelwarrior77 ,

 

I'll answer that later if you don't mind as I still have the main front in Poland to post here and "finish" the AAR:

 

POLAND

24-30 August Lublin counteroffensive
Failing to take Lublin had immediate consequences as 48Pz and mobile artillery were destroyed by receding Reds breaking out of the unsealed kessel.
Despite that germans were still strong enough to slice through fleeing enemies and 1 HQ 1 tank & 1 AT were destroyed after furious combats.
However any further advance was discarded on 30 August after the fall of Brest-Litovsk which provided another logistical base to Soviets.
Till 5 September Russians launched several infantry-led attacks to stabilize their lines enduring severe casualties but also wearing down german forces.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Strategiclayabout

[Strategiclayabout]

5-23 September defense of Siedlce
With panzer units spent and red reinforcements pouring in from Belarus and Ukraine pressure kept increasing and OKH went full defensive.
Germans regrouped on the Radom-Siedlce line and entrenched themselves around the town covering the main roads to Warsaw.
The move was quite successful as casualties dropped significantly for nearly no loss of ground while 1 army 1 tank & 1 mech were destroyed.
Still past mid-September situation became critical again southwards where only a light screen of troops was guarding Krakow.

[Strategiclayabout]

23-30 September retreat to Warsaw
On 23 September Russians launched a three-pronged attack on Siedlce Radom and Tarnow while simultaneously advancing in East Prussia.
All towns held but red divisions made easy progress in the south where they ran throug wide undefended gaps around Tarnow.
Pressure became unbearable and OKH had to trade ground for time again evacuating the Lublin salient to reinforce the Krakow area.
Local counterattacks to cover the retreat yielded some good results allowing resting mobile forces to stay out of the fight.

[steelwarrior77]

Thanks for the upadte ;-)

[Strategiclayabout]

BATTLE FOR WARSAW - OPERATION RED OCTOBER

At that point you can see an encirclement of the whole Warsaw area becomes quite possible leading to the decisive battles of October.
Soviet northern pincer was blocked using Koenisgberg as an anvil with the hammer using the marshes to the west as a shield while constantly wearing down enemy units.
Southern pincer was left free to advance with focus on holding roadbloacks in the back and keeping Tarnow's gap narrow to allow an easy counter.
Goal was to reduce pressure in the center while buying time to replenish panzers and get all those PQ infantry units scheduled to arrive over the coming month.
*
After some feints and probes here and there the whole thing more or less unfolded as three different battles though they were all connected.
Actually the main event surprisingly happened in the center but was delayed for a while because Soviets started slow.
They voluntarity stalled nearly two weeks to let SS units crush polish partisans so they wouldn't have to deal with them afterwards.
In the end it was a very bad move by Stalin that costed him dearly since it gave OHK much needed time to reorganize its forces.
*
5-16 October Warsaw Uprising

Edited December 29, 2014 by Strategiclayabout

[Strategiclayabout]

17-31 October Battle for Radom
This was probably the turning point of the whole campaign with an unexpected battle leading to brutal fighting and atrocious losses over two weeks.
Soviets surprised Germans with a strong attack in the center on 17 October which took out Radom and Siedlce quickly opening the road to Warsaw.
Fortunately OKH reserves were already starting to deploy in the rear and panzers were free to counterattack at will unsuspecting Russians.
It seems Stavka completely underestimated Speer tremendeous efforts to reequip and replenish battered units from the summer debacle.

*

Radom was retaken as fast as it was lost but Stalin refused to let go and red reserves were diverted to push a pincer move on the town that was close to succeed.

However it was too late for that kind of move as german mobile forces had already gained a decisive advantage and doubled down by breaking the pincers.

Soviets had such numbers in the area that confused units were unable to advance and had no space to maneuver creating chaos in the lines and ultimately defeat.
The results of Operation Red October were a stunning victory for the Reich and crushing losses for red arms with 5 main units destroyed to 13 including numerous tanks.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Strategiclayabout

[steelwarrior77]

Wow exciting ;-)

[Strategiclayabout]

Thanks for reading ,

 

5 October - 22 November Tarnow corridor & kessel of Krakow
German swift answer in the center also had one major consequence as it suddenly put enormous pressure on the narrow corridor feeding soviet offensive west of Tarnow.
Red defenses were unprepared in the area and crumbled easily leading to the creation of several kessels around Krakow on 17 October despite several counterattacks.
However it took time to reduce all trapped units though they lacked mobility because of bad weather and combats were still raging around Radom till the end of October.
Once panzers were able to shift to the south freely it was over quickly and the remaining pockets of isolated Russians surrendered on 22 November.

[Strategiclayabout]

17 October - 16 December siege of Koenigsberg
A vicious battle lasting two monthes ending as a russian tactical victory with the capture of the city but a german strategic victory as no other gain was made in Prussia.
Each time the Festung was about to be isolated on land the coastal path was reopened and our heroic 267th div was able to hold firm despite overwhelming odds.
In the end though snow slowed down german counterattacks and it wasn't possible to get supply through the port once Soviets completed the encirclement.
Evacuation of remaining men by sea was decided on 16th December and the enemy only captured empty ruins when they attacked again the following day.

[Strategiclayabout]

I'll add one last series after this post the next day to summarize the last battles of the war but the game was more or less over at this point .

 

Operation Red October Stats
You can see on the strategic map that Germans managed to concentrate all they had around Warsaw on a narrow/central front to stop the Soviets.
Enemy mobile units suffered horrendeous losses with 6 tanks, 2 cavalry & 1 mech vs only 1 panzer while infantry losses were more or less balanced.
The carnage is even more obvious on MPPs charts with a clear peak for Stavka in October after a low ebb in August-September despite battle of Lublin.
Overall in one month Stalin lost around 6,000 MPPs to 3,000 with a staggering 4,000 to 2,000 between 17 & 31 October alone and well over both incomes.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Strategiclayabout

[steelwarrior77]

Ok - so a happy ending for you ;-D

[Strategiclayabout]

Yes hodling Warsaw was critical for victory conditions and it was a very long and hard battle .

 

4 December - 4 March battle of the woods
After some time to rebuild their supply and offensive power Soviets came back trying to use their usual advantage in winter attacks.
Combats concentrated on the woods around Radom and Siedlce especially the ones between the two towns taken and retaken multiple times.
Radom was lost again early but russian progress on the road to Warsaw from there was gruesomly slow with two tiles gained over three monthes.
Actually the whole affair became more of a WWI thing than anything else with so many units in the area that only frontal assaults were possible.

[Strategiclayabout]

[Strategiclayabout]

[Strategiclayabout]

This is the end of my Bagration AAR, I hope you enjoyed it despite the very long gap between the two parts (sorry for that) .

I'll add one last message later after that part to sum up various things about the game, thanks for reading ! 

 

20-30 March the last battle
After those three monthes of carnage in terrible weather Soviets coming from Radom managed to reach Warsaw suburbs on the other side of the Vistula.
They also had captured most of the woods west of Siedlce opening another path to polish capital while threatening Elbag on the prussian coast.
The stage for the final battle was set up as Stavka concentrated 3 tanks & 3 mech in the Siedlce area to break Germans once and for all.
On 20 March 29 corps was caught by surprise but bought enough time for AT units on the other side of the river to make a stand though not many men survived.
*
At that point of the conflict with pressure continuously increasing in the West Germans lacked ressources to rebuild panzer units.
However they still had enough to maintain a core of armor with some mech and plenty of cheaper AT crews and elite gunners.
That proved to be enough to smah russian mobile forces in an audacious frontal counterattack towards Siedlce even reaching the town.
Two whole red mech armies were crushed in wild combats while most of enemy units around Radom were halved actually ending all operations.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Strategiclayabout

[Strategiclayabout]

So to sum up some things:

 

AXIS

Germans should disband all research chits at start (precious MPPs reserve given violence of USSR first strike) chances to get a hit on lvl 5 techs are super low and will only happen late.

Germans have a lot of ground to give in the north but deciding the best moment can be difficult. In the south fight a bit to gain time and reinforce defence of Romania.

Germans should keep producing units especially artillery/AT & infantry div/corps to stuff the lines for later when the front shrinks.

Germans should be cautious with their panzers as given the cost it's easy to burn them down and not being able to get them back EVER.

Using Carpathian Mountains to defend with few units is a must but keep the passes guarded !

Fortifications (one corner to have more) should be built around Bucharest Warsaw or Berlin depending how well Axis is doing.

Don't spend too much on Luftwaffe just keep some fighters able to intercept (don't buy elite steps).

Think well before operating units to the front as it will eat up MPPs quickly better fall back and produce more units.

Of course try to avoid destruction in low supply as much as possible (production price an even more delay are critical here).

*

USSR

After first push USSR should target Romania and its oil fields as quickly as possible (less MPPs for Germans, extended front, romanian units out).

Finland isn't worth the trouble if Germans decide to defend it though it allied units cost more, there isn't much to gain there.  

Paradrops can be a decisive weapon, especially vs Romania or if Germans defend too long in Belarus or leave critical tiles (supply/railroad/town open).

Don't get drunk with your own power/superiority, concentrate, overun and only use frontal assaults to break german lines then push forward.

Hammer german allies (especially Hungary/Romania) whenever possible as they cost more to reinforce (debatable for Finland as said above).

Use mobile divisions to cut railroads/supply in the back of strong points once breaches are created.

 

I probably forgot some things but that's it .

Edited January 1, 2015 by Strategiclayabout

[steelwarrior77]

Cool list of hints - I like that ;-D

[Rosseau]

A skillful defense against unrelenting pressure from your opponent. Great read.

 

A bit off topic: How do you think the AI would do as USSR with "intermedidate" and +0.5 settings?

 

Thanks again.

[Strategiclayabout]

Thanks for reading Rosseau golad you enjoyed it ,

 

Well it depends how you play as Germans and which campaign you start I suppose .

Those are also "difficulty" levels in their own way:

41 advantage Germans

42 small advantage Germans

43 small advantage Russians

44 advantage Russians

difficulty will give AI a strategic advantage (better calculation/routines/coordination + some more MPPs/units) AI will target your weaknesses better

exp will give a tactical advantage (thougher, better combat results) you'll have to concentrate more on your objectives = more heroic defenses and slower german advance

intermediate +0,5 won't change a lot at start but you'll see elite russian units/steps more often and sooner with HQs piling up exp faster so it plays more in the long run (only my opinion)

Just try advanced + 2 exp for a few turns of Bagration as Germans you should see a difference and feel the heavy pressure of summer 1944 in the East .

[Rosseau]

I was afraid you'd say that. I was not sure how all of that worked, so thanks.