On the edge - a Soviet mini AAR

[GAGA Extrem]

June 1942:

The situation looks better - despite losing 3 ARM divs to the oil thing. Our synthetic plants will be ready in August - only 2 months to go. With the last pocket the germans have - again - lost several divisions. Current losses: 740.000 SU, 1.865.000 GER.

Jun 1-7: Attack on Pskov fails due to heavy resistance. Losses: 9.000 to 10.000. Our units at Novorozhev are defeated. We prepare for a counter attack.

Jun 4: Battle for Rogachev is won - and as planned, german units rush towards the province. Counterattack on Orsha sucessful. Rogachev taken. German Paratroopers in Murmansk surrender.

Jun 6: Second attack on Zhlobin, this time supported from Gomel and Rogachov. Commencing attack on Hammerfest.

Jun 8-14: Counterattack on Novorozhev, looking good. Germans attack Orsha again, but only 9 vs 4 DIV now, our tanks should be able to hold. Zhlobin is a meatgrinder - the germans have gone VoV again, but our ORG losses are above average.

Jun 10: Stalin announces the "Great Patriotic War"! FOR MOTHER RUSSIA!! Counter attack on Novorozhev sucessful. Losses: 2.200 vs 3.400.

Jun 12: Infrastructure Destruction Doctrine finished, Movement Speed Offensive tech started.

Jun 15-21: Zhlobin has become a meat grinder. The germans lost 10 divisions to VoV already (4 INF, 3 ARM, 3 MECH) - and still continue the fight. Finally their GAR disintegrates and they flee - leaving 150.000 men on the field. Soviet losses: Only 12.000.

Jun 19: Battle for Hammerfest is won. Improved Mech division researched (quenue will be upgraded after the next unit is ready - this will result in lowered gearing and some retooling time, but the new DIV will be 25% more powerful!). New project: Advanced Field artillery. Our tanks head for Vitebsk. Next target: Trapping the german units in the north (Codename: Operation Sommerwind).

Operation Sommerwind:

Jun 20: Attack on Vyshgorod. Kiev will soon be ours again!

Jun 21: Improved Static AA finished, Advanced mech div started.

Jun 23: Despite massive commitment, the battle in Vyshgorod stalls. We cancel the attack and move 6 mech divs towards Zhlobin. We will be back. Our ARM has reached Vietbsk and is tanking up. Operation Sommerwind will commence in July.

Jun 25: 9 retreating GER units arrive in soviet controlled Smolensk and surrender.

Jun 29: Attack on Narvik. British units join the battle, the germans retreat into Sweden.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

July 1942:

Overall the situation is stable again. If operation Sommerwind suceeds, we will break another finger of the german army. Many can't be left after the recent disasters...

Jul 4: Operation Sommerwind is delayed for one week to give our tanks a bit more fuel. In Priluki (E from Kiev), the germans have started a massive attack: 31 vs 9 DIV. Luckily, 3 MECH are ready just in time and deployed behind the front line. Attack on Vyshgorod commenced to support my defenders. 8 additional adjected divisions committed to defence.

Jul 7: Defence in Priluki is about to break. MECH reserve is brought to the frontline and will arrive in 26h, in addition, 20 german divisions attack Novorhzev mear Leningrad. This is our starting signal: Operation Sommerwind commences!!

Jul 8: Another attack in the south against Poltava, ambushing the defenders. It looks like the germans will repel us from Kiev.

Jul 11: The mechs turned the tide in Priluki, but Poltava is hopless. We set up a second line of defence. Operation Sommerwind continues, first province is taken. Two more to go.

Jul 12: The battle of Vyshgorod is won! Losses: 10.000 vs 88.000! The 6 MECH divs turn south to support our defence.

Jul 14: First phase of Operation Sommerwind sucessful! Our tanks have taken the defenders by surprise and broken into the german lines. The whole northern army is cut off, our tanks move north to tighten the pocket.

Situation on Jul 14:

Jul 16: Things are getting worse for the germans - the pocket hast become much smaller and 13 divisions under Manstein are pushed back.

Situation on Jul 16:

Jul 18: The germans manage to occupy the (undefended) provinces of Riga and Dagaupulis, but this doesn't matter, since our offensive has already moved north. In Voru, two german Divisions disintegrate after 3 ARM DIV start commence their attack, Manstein finally retreats with his worn down divisions - right into the arms of our tanks! And while our single tank division in Tallinn is forced to retreat, 8 ARM are breaking into Tartu.

Situation on Jul 18:

Jul 19: Counterattack in Poltava - 46 vs 6 divisions, the german won't stand a chance!

Jul 20: A german MECH division manages to break out of the pocket via Pärnu - 3 ARM div are sent towards Riga to intercept and close. Narva and Dagaupulis are under heavy attack, the defenders scatter.

Situation on Jul 20:

Jul 22: The german mechs delayed our attack and managed to get away. Well, let the germans have this small victory, we take the big one: The pocket is closed again - and secure. All german units inside are on full retreat and will surrender within a few days. In Poltava our attack proceeds nicely.

Situation on Jul 22:

Jul 25: The germans have brought more Panzers to Poltava. The battle is getting more and more interesting... Pocket secured - german losses: 250.000 men - 25 divisions (at least 2 MECH and 2 ARM). Total german losses now over 2.500.000!

Jul 31: Our tanks move to launch a new offensive at Minsk, the new border in the north is secured by INF and MOT. 3 new MECH ready to deploy. The battle for Poltava turns out to be much more exhausting than we thought - or divs are running low on ORG, an several have already halted their advance. Anyway, a victory is imminent. I wonder who the casualties will turn out...

 

[son of liberty]

Great job turning that around.

 

[unmerged(34917)]

What, how is it possible that the USSR is out of oil. And I noticed this VoV thing also in my SU game. Their armies just got crushed to dust by that. Dont know whether it had anything to do with Gar though.

And that 'Bugstrahler' or 'BugBeamer' Waffe is :rofl:

 

[GAGA Extrem]

August 1942:

July was most sucessful. One could say: It was a Coup dê Grace! With this loss the northern flank is devesated and we are one step closer to Berlin.

Aug 1: And here are the casualties from Poltava: 17.000 vs 22.000. Not as good as I expected, but well, we still have 3,5k MP to burn... Hehe...

Aug 3: We take a look at our tanks while they are on the move - XP is now at ~60%, our Mj. Gen. have reached skill levels from 5-8. Deadly weapons indeed! We plan a new pocket in the south: Once our MECH has regained enough ORG we will attack Krivoy Rog and proceed to Odessa, trapping the very southern units. We name it "Operation Südwind". In additon, will will attempt to create another pocket in the north: While we have still superior numbers, our tanks will move all the way to Königsberg and trap the remaining survivors, while our overwhelming numbers on the front proceeds with an all out assault. Codename: "Operation Nordwind".

Plan for Operation Südwind:

Plan for Operation Nordwind:

Aug 7: Operation Nordwind commences! At 0600 our units move out. Among the whole frontline the germans are badly outnumbered.

Situation on Aug 7:

Aug 8: 10 Synthetic oil plants are completed - they are deployed to Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad. The provinces are prioritized. Our attack on Minsk stalls due to urban combat.

Aug 10: Combat is going nicely, the attack on Minsk is going better as thought. The city will probably fall within 2-3 days.

Situation on Aug 10:

Aug 12: The defenders in Minsk go VoV. That won't save them, though. The main frontline is already broken and soviet CAV mobs up units in the rear area. First synthetic oil arrives: 40/day atm, so we should get about 120/day when their buildup is complete.

Situation on Aug 12:

Aug 14: The enemy is fleeing from Minsk. Combat in Memel and Kaunas.

Situation on Aug 14:

Aug 16: German resistance broken. Units on full retreat. 5 german divisions retreationg from Minsk are being overrun. A small counter attack is halted by our last tank division.
Situation on Aug 16:

Aug 18: Our tanks in Minsk are forced to retreat, but reinforcement (3 MOT, 1 CAV, several INF) are on the way.
Situation on Aug 18:

Aug 20/21: On midnight Königsberg is captured by soviet armor, closing the pocket. For the first time, soviet units have set foot on german soil. More will follow soon. On 0500 operation Südwind commences. 24 divisions sail out to attack the german forces near Odessa.
Situation on Aug 21:

Aug 22: Operation Nordwind is almost completed - only a handful of german divisions still fight in the last province - they will surrender within the next days. Operation Südwind, on the other hand, is stalled - the enemy had several MECH and ARM units in the province and is reinforcing the lines quickly. And on 1700 I got a funny event - better late than never:

Situation on Aug 22:

Aug 25: Armored spearheads take Elbing and Torun. The last german units in the northern pocket have surrendered. Losses during the last battle: 4.000 to 19.000, total losses now: 888.000 SU, 3.000.000 GER (inflicted losses by SU: 2.664.000)

Aug 26: 24 german units are now fighting in Krivog Roy, but Cherkassy is almost undefended. Change of plans: We abort the attack and start another attempt there. Losses: 10.000 vs 7.200. Battle of Bobraisk is over. Losses: 2.700 vs 43.000 (VoV, ouch!).

Aug 27: Our axis of advance is now shifting rapidly - we mag a deep push behind the enemy lines, targeting the southern areas. If our attack in Cherkassy suceeds, we might be able to split the german armies into half and then encircle them from the rear. However, Charkassy is - again - a stalemate due to fresh german panzer divisions, so we can't expect too much here.

Situation on Aug 27:

Aug 28: Research budged increases to 100%.

Aug 30: Operation Südwind aborted. Losses: 9.500 vs 4.500. The germans have too many ARM and MECH in this area - and attacking across a river doesn't really help my combat odds... Advance on the norhern flank proceeds steadily, Warsaw is taken. Only 4 provinces to cut off the whole german army...

Situation on Aug 30:

 

[Hastatii]

Operation Südwind? a german name on a russian operation? :rofl:

 

[GAGA Extrem]

September 1942:

This month could be the end of the german army. Our forces have crushed and overrun the northern flank and are about to cut off the whole german army in the mid and south. Our units from operation Südwind will try to keept the ARM and MECH busy, so our tanks have time to tighten the pocket and set up a line of defence.

Sep 3: Our armored divisions race towards Romania, totally unopposed. German units are busy at the front line - and the few divisions that mangaged to redeploy are easily repelled. If INF and MOT can follow fast enough, the pocket will be closed and doom awaits the german army.

Situation on Sep 3:

Sep 5: German TAC are bombing our tanks - we ignore them, since their damage will not make much of a difference now. The last province in Romania is undefended - our tanks race towards it, our fleet is ready to give the Romanian ships in port a proper welcome.

Situation on Sep 5:

Sep 6: Our fleet in the central black see spots a Romanian DD flotilla. It is damaged badly, but mangages to get away.

Sep 7: The pocket is closed! The whole mid and southern german army is now trapped. Do you smell this? Smells like victory! Our fleet engages a Romanian DD and SS, the DD flotilla is sunk.

Situation on Sep 7:

Sep 10: Diversive attack in Kiroy Rog ends. Losses: 15.000 SU vs. 50.000 GER. Our units are advancing further south.

Sep 16: Pocket is getting smaller and smaller. Victory at Rowne, 11.000 vs 52.00 losses. Once we have passed the swamps this will be over quick.

Situation on Sep 16:

Sep 19: In a desperate attempt, the germans start an attack on Meltipol - using 6 ARM divisions! Furthermore, they have taken Kielce back with help of 3 CAS and 2 TAC. This small victory will not change the outcome. But this is endgame for them, they will try to make a last stand.

Sep 21: Victory in the swamps of Korosten. Losses: 14.800 vs. 47.000. And in Kirvoy Rog. Losses 18.000 vs 23.000. Advanced INF div finished, improved electronic computers started.

Sep 22: Fighting in Meltipol is over, retreating from combat! A look at enemy combat efficency shows that many units inside the pocket are already out of supply.

Sep 23: We attempt to retake Odesse in order to cut the pocket in half. Since the city is only defended by a single division it should be a cakewalk. Two divs evaporate due to oil issue.

Sep 30: Vicory at Zhitomyr! Losses: 12.500 vs 114.000. The remaining survives flee into Kiev that is already encircled and under attack by 27 divisions. Near Odessa, the remaining german ARM divisions make their last stand. And on the western front, the germans have gathered enough forces to proceed with a counterattack. We fall back to Warsaw - as soon as the pocket is cleared, our next target will be: BERLIN! Total losses: 1.024.000 SU vs. 3.508.000 GER, inflicted: 3.208.000 vs 2.225.000.
Situation on Sep 30:

 

[son of liberty]

And so the Iron Curtain descends upon all of Europe.

 

[Hastatii]

nice pocket, how many germans did u encircle?

 

[GAGA Extrem]

nice pocket, how many germans did u encircle?

I can only guess, but that should be around 80-120 divisions. Many have already evaporated, but let's have a look at german casualties once the pocket is cleaned...

Btw, that new encirclement bonus for the attacker is neat, as it doubles for each frontline - attacking from 5 directions gives +60% CE... But... more comments once the germans are finished off...

 

[Deus Eversor]

that was an epic encirclement! Kiev just like Stalingrad!

 

[Hastatii]

I can only guess, but that should be around 80-120 divisions. Many have already evaporated, but let's have a look at german casualties once the pocket is cleaned...

Btw, that encirclement bonus for the attacker is neat - attacking from 5 directions gives +60% CE... But... more comments once the germans are finished off...

... sweet. I love the feeling after you've defeated germany although it might not be hard I still get very satisfied by it

 

[GAGA Extrem]

October 1942:

Endgame. The germans have lost most of their army - and their allies will soon switch sides, we will make them an offer they cannot refuse...

Oct 1-7: Battle for Kiev, the remaining 20 german divs stand VoV, but are out of supply and have lost their fortifications (since I destroy 0.1 lvl of landfort per hour). It is only a question of time until they surrender, many of my units are already moving westward. In Dnepropetrovosk, the remaining german Panzers keep fighting - and will probably survive my first attack. Although they are out of supplies, I have not enough hard attack to cope with them. But, well, we have time. Frontline supply service finished, frontline repair tech started.

The last stand in Kiev...

Oct 8-14: ... and the inevitable end. The last units that finally surrendered were the 4., 6., 10. and 16. Panzer-Division and the 162. Panzergrenadier-Division. They almost stood to the very last men.

The End of Kiev:

Oct 13: Attack on Perekop - 11 German units without ORG surrender after a few hours.

Oct 15-21: 3 MECH can be deployed. Our units get into position to deliever the final blow.

Oct 18: Tupolev gains +1 skill level. Nice. We move 1 towards democracy (partisans hurt our IC, +5 dissent).

Oct 22-31: Our tanks are fueled and ready to go - Operation Endgame will start on November 1st.

German losses after cleaning the pocket: 3.771.000 (vs 1.038.000 SU) I estimate roughly 90 divs were trapped in the pocket.

 

[Mortu]

Gaga -- hat's off to you. You turned what I considered to be a bitter defeat into a resounding victory!

Industry transfer into Siberia: Three of those already fired back before the July save, which is why Kiev had no industry in it. Speaking of Kiev, what level were the forts rebuilt to when you assaulted it?

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Gaga -- hat's off to you. You turned what I considered to be a bitter defeat into a resounding victory!

Yeah, thanks. And: I have to admit, that game was intense. One of the best ones I have played in a while. With my optimized buildup the germans barely get past the first provinces, but THIS was epic!
Although your buildup was not that bad. It was just a substandard OOB and lack of units. With 30-50 more INF you would have been able to achieve a similiar result.

Speaking of Kiev, what level were the forts rebuilt to when you assaulted it?

The germans had rebuild them to lvl 10 a few months after they took the city in 1941. I never attacked the city (guess why ), but during endgame they were already down to level 7 from previous skirmishes.

 

[unmerged(34917)]

Excellent, what a turn around! Good show.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

November:

Nov 1: At 0900 operation Endgame commences. Over 100 soviet divisions beginn their final assault on Germany.

The Situation:

Nov 2: Japan declares war on USA, GB and the Netherlands!

Nov 6: Advanced Interceptor finished, Practical Turbojet Engine quenued. Attacks on Kielce and Przemysl fail due to involvment of low quality troops.

Nov 7: Advanced Decryption Device finished, advanced sythetic material plant issued.

Nov 8: Snowfall hempers our offensive. No problem, we have time.

Nov 10: Romania wisely changes the sides. Welcome to the Comintern, comrads!

Nov 12: Improved Synthetic Oil Plant finished, Advanced Synthetic Oil Plant tech started. Victory at Bydgoszgz - our armor has broken through!

Nov 20: Offensive proceeding, although the germans still resist with everything they have left. Breakthrough Prioritisation finished, Guerilla Warfare added to quenue.

Nov 21: Berlin is encircled, the remaining army in the east is cut off. Slovakia is annexed.

Nov 24: Battle of Berlin commences. MECH divisions cut off Yugoslavia.

Situation on Nov 24:

Nov 28: Berlin has fallen. Adolf Hitler has fled to the Adlerhorst. Many german divisions encircled in Lodz. Soviet mechanized infantry rushing through Greece. Guderian makes his last stand in Cracow.

Situation on Nov 30:

 

[son of liberty]

So, when will the Swiss join the glorious revolution?

 

[GAGA Extrem]

December 1942:

Well, it is a cakewalk, but we want to finish the AAR properly, don't we?

Dec 4: Rocket Interceptor Tech available. Vrooooom! Croatina annexed, Bulgaria annexed.

Dec 7: Battle of Cracow won. German units make their last stand in Stettin.

Dec 10: Naval Combat in Pomerian Bay, 3 German SS are heavily damaged.

Dec 23: Advanced Field ART finished, porceeding with Advanced MOT division.

Dec 27: Another naval engagement in the Pomerian bay. Some TP plus 1 CL and 1 DD as screens.

Dec 30: 3 MECH divs are being deployed.

Situation on Dec 31:

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Januar 1943:

The last of a thousand years.

Jan 2: Synthetic Oil plants ready.

Jan 10: Several engagements on the Pomerian Bay. 7 german TP are sunk.

Jan 21: Rome taken. Mussolini escapes to Palermo.

Jan 25: 3 MECH div deployed.

Jan 30: Last Italian units in Nice go VoV.

Situation on Jan 30: