Fall Weiss: The First Published MP AAR

[Stonewall]

The Situation:

September 1, 1939. Poland has refused to turn over Danzig to the Germans. Operation Fall Weiss is about to begin.

Field Marshall Kriegspieler commands German forces.
Field Marshall Stonewall commands the Polish hordes.

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These are the Polish forces at the start of the campaign:

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Polish forces were given marchnig orders. Hopfully then would reach defensive positions before the Germans completely destroyed our perimeter defenses.

One week into the campaign, Germany had crossed the Oder and was deep in Western Poland. The Russian Bear sat ominously to the east. Danzig is about to be cutoff and our limited local counterattacks have been fruitless. Half our airforce is destroyed and all armies are in full retreat.

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By the 11th, the front had stabilized somewhat as the Kraut forces regrouped for the final push on Central Poland. All Polish units were ordered behind the Vistula to defend Warsaw to the last man. The Germans had already crossed the Warta and Notec Rivers and were fast aproaching the withdrawing Polish units. Catastrophe was just around the corner.

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EDIT: First screenie was wrong. It has been corrected.

 

[Patrick Harte]

Who plays the Poles and who plays the Germans?

PD: Sorry for my English.

 

[Stonewall]

Who plays the Poles and who plays the Germans?

PD: Sorry for my English.

Germans: Kriegspieler
Polish: Stonewall

Don't worry about your English. Its perfectly fine.

 

[unmerged(2238)]

I really want to see where this goes. THanks in particular for all the screenshots.

 

[Stonewall]

I really want to see where this goes. THanks in particular for all the screenshots.

Sure. I'm not much for writing, so screenies will tell most of the story from my side. This game is already completed. I'm just waiting for Krieg to chime in tommorrow and give his version. No need to give away the whole story in one night. Even though the end result is predictible, we had some interesting battles along the way that I'm sure you all will enjoy.

 

[unmerged(2238)]

On a side note, it's tough having it looks like 4 divisions trapped up there and obliterated... is there anyway to avoid this in the scenario or is it pretty much a done deal at the beginning of the scenario?

 

[Stonewall]

On a side note, it's tough having it looks like 4 divisions trapped up there and obliterated... is there anyway to avoid this in the scenario or is it pretty much a done deal at the beginning of the scenario?

Crap. I posted the wrong screenshot. The first and second are identical, just reduced in size. Oops.

To answer your question, the divisions in Danzig aren't stuck. The "Polish Coridor" is open at scenario start. Getting the units out of Danzig into safer territory before the German blitzkrieg hits...well, thats tougher than it sounds.

I'll go back and edit the screenies to reflect what they are supposed to show.

 

[unmerged(33990)]

"yeah -- incompetent swine!"

:rofl:

Playing Poland isn't easy... at least on this battlescenario!

 

[Stonewall]

"yeah -- incompetent swine!"

:rofl:

Playing Poland isn't easy... at least on this battlescenario!

Quite correct. Poland's only hope is to hold the German hordes until end of October, at which time the BSC ends and a winner is determined. Its a tricky case of "where do i fight" and "what do i concede." Not easy answers. As the ai taught me, simply retreating all guys into the river defensed urban province of Warsaw is not effective. So, where to fight? Ultimately, I fought one long delaying action with varied results.

Sidenote: Krieg and I had a wager a few months ago. Loser got to be Poland and had to write an AAR detailing his humiliation. Guess who lost?

 

[unmerged(33990)]

Sidenote: Krieg and I had a wager a few months ago. Loser got to be Poland and had to write an AAR detailing his humiliation. Guess who lost?

I'll keep myself excited.

 

[tombom]

Nice AAR. Why is it that the counters remind me of the IPB smiley?

 

[unmerged(6766)]

Funny... is there any chance that Russia joins in on this particular scenario? I mean is there an event which brings Russia into it?

 

[Kriegsspieler]

Funny... is there any chance that Russia joins in on this particular scenario? I mean is there an event which brings Russia into it?

You can't sit as the Soviets for this scenario, but they do come in and do have an effect, stealing VP from the Germans.

The German starting position dictates a pretty obvious set of attacking moves on the first day. You attack out of E. Prussia toward Torun and out of Küstrin and Oppeln toward Poznan and ultimately Bydgoszcz, with the goal of trapping as many Polish divisions in Danzig as possible. From a strategic perspective (or, at least from MY perspective!), the Germans start with too large a share of their army in Breslau, poised to attack Cracow. Sure, Cracow gets you 5 VP -- which, as you will see, I desperately needed at the end -- but Cracow is going to fall anyway and those units could have been better deployed elsewhere. Anyway, the third major thrust is directed toward Cracow.
One last note about Germany's starting position. Nearly all of its air units are highly mixed, with interceptors, escort fighters, tac bombers and CAS all mixed together. This makes it difficult to get those air fleets to operate at maximum effectiveness in designated missions. I find it especially annoying to have CAS mixed in with tac bombers, because the very short range of CAS prevents the tac bombers from being used from more remote bases.

 

[Black Lotus]

Watch out for Russia!, they're gonna get you!

 

[Stonewall]

Russia makes an appearance. I've got an excelletn screenshot with their contribution.

Krieg is right about the German position at the start. Either the Germans are too weak or the Poles are too strong. But, I'm working on changing some of the 1939 GC's startups wrg to that situation...specifically the mixing of air units and reducing the effectiveness of most Polish divisions. They're much too strong at the moment.

 

[Kriegsspieler]

Stonewall is being too chartible here -- uncharacteristically for him! :rofl:
The early part of the offensive went very rapidly, but as I approached Warsaw it began to slow down. I failed to trap as many divisions in Danzig as I had hoped -- I think it was only four -- and the majority slipped across the Vistula River to take up positions defending the capital.

Already by Sept. 10 it was clear that I had made two colossal blunders in organizing my campaign. First, I had failed to order my units into "offensive" mode, which guarantees an extra burst of ESE (Effective Supply Efficiency) and raises your army's combat effectiveness. There was no reason not to do this, because the Germans start with more than enough supplies to last the entire campaign, with plenty left over to toast the victory in high style.

The second blunder was still worse. Down in lower left hand portion of the starting set-up, there are two large stacks of units, one of 8 divisions (I think) representing the German Army Group South and the second (also 8 divisions) represeting the reserve forces for that army group. I failed to start bringing those units forwarded for at least five or six days after the start of the invasion, an error that would cost me dearly as my troops approached Warsaw.

 

[Rey]

Nice AAR Stonewall

 

[Stonewall]

After a series of devastating losses, Poland had its first victory of the war. Unfortunately for the Poles, the victory would noto affect teh campaign in any way whatsoever. In a naval engagement off the coast of Danzig, the Polish navl consisting of 3 destroyers and 2 submarines met the German Baltic Fleet. After all surface units were sunk, the Polish submarines closed range and engaged two German battleships. The result was the first Polish naval victory since 1630 with the KM Schleswig-Holstein, a WW1 era battleship slpped beneath the waves with all hands on board.


Before and after combat reports:

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On September 15th, German units crossed the Vistula and began an assault on Warsaw. The atack was repulsed by the brave Polish defenders. One report revealed that a Polish cavalry division successfully charged a German panzer formation.

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Following the victyory in Warsaw, ominous news arrived from the east. Russia declared war on September 18th. Poland was all but dead. The French and British did not respond to the attack.

Sidenote: Checkout the Russian stack near Minsk in the following screenshot!!

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Once the Russians had declared war, we knew it was over. It was only a question of time. A game of sitzkrieg was initiated for the next 3 weeks. Poland was consumed and by mid-October, only Warsaw remined in Polish hands. German air assaults were intensifying. Our units were shattering due to organization and strength losses. Over the course of those 3 weeks, the Germans launched 4 seperate assaults. While they were repulsed, the effects on our troops was undeniable. We would not be able to hold against another attack.

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The final assault came on October 15th. After 4 days of intense fighting, the 39 remaining Polish divisions were defeated. With nowhere to run, they surrendered en masse on the 19th of October, 1939.

Post Game Commentary: Krieg played an excellent game. I used some gamey tactics and retreated my units into Warsaw as soon as it became apparent I couldn't defend anywhere else. So, don't believe him when he says he made tons of mistakes. The Germans are hard pressed to win in a historical manner in this particular MP scenario. The disposition of forces is such that Poland should be able to hold out until at least mid October, which I managed to accomplish.

 

[Zuckergußgebäck]

It is time for revenge!

You must close all his threads in OT!

 

[Kriegsspieler]

It is time for revenge!

You must close all his threads in OT!

Heehee --
Fortunately, I don't hang out there much. . . .

One thing I can say: this was my very first MP experience EVER -- and I've been playing these games since the first EU. It was a ton of fun, although very disorienting. I kept wanting to hit the "pause" button. In any case, it won't be my last MP. Stonewall and I are already planning future ones.

BTW, Zuckergußgebäck, you win my personal award for the best forum name. Tasty!