DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu [COMPLETE]

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Turn 55:

Briefly (I am lazy):

- Fungwu does not seem willing to push further yet. He is cautious and maybe he suspects the trap. My movements continued as planned, however, since I need those panzer divs behind the front anyway.

- More units inside the pocket evaporated. Now they are so weak I don't think they are worth any effort to save them any more.

- Another Soviet bridgehead was pushed back, but the hex is defended by a few flame panzers and Fungwu has the chance to establish a really strong bridgehead in the next turn.

- New reserves for 1.Panzergruppe: 5.Pzd, 216.ID, 60.Mtz. I am also moving 5-6 army-level AA regiments with lots of 88s from the two army groups.

- OKH will send 4 fresh ID's from the west (83.ID, 330.ID, 246.ID, 208.ID).

- Lots of partisans behind my lines.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Turn 56 (31, Dec 41)

- Things look good and Fungwu seems not to suspect anything. He beat 2 inf regiment on minimize losses to reconnect with his trapped units. I put two more regiments on minimize losses to allow him to create a 3 hex wide corridor, so Soviet units can move freely southward. This will possibly happen in the next turn. There are a lot of strong Soviet divisions and a lot of artillery ready nearby.

- Next turn, I will be ready to complete my move, namely to replace 11.PzD, 16.PzD and 14.PzD with 3 infantry divs (216.ID, 298.ID, 88.ID). They are already a few hexes away. I want to make the move in one turn, so as to not give Fungwu any hints for my counterattack.

- Again, another Soviet bridgehead was pushed back.

- There were fierce battles for a crucial hex, from which I intend to launch my attack, north of Shakty. I lost it and took it back.

- OKH sent 4 fresh IDs, one of which redeployed to AGS (208.ID). More divs are coming from the west front.

The next turns are crucial. We will see if my counterattack succeeds or not. I think I took the right decision. Stay tuned.

 

[Silvanski]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Interesting situation there in the south. I'm looking forward to the outcome of this confrontation

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Interesting situation there in the south. I'm looking forward to the outcome of this confrontation

Turn 59:

The counterattack has to wait.. Meanwhile, the usual slugfest took place in the last two turns, with Soviet forces crossing the Donetz and Germans pushing them back. But in this turn, Fungwu created 3 bridgeheads. One in Voroshilovgrad (first time I lost the city), one next to it and another in Rostov. I beat the first two but not the third one.

My infantry around Rostov and Voroshilovgrad resemble divisions only in their titles. (170.ID, 50.ID, 299.ID, 97.JgD, 257.ID, 216.ID, 111.ID)

Also, my line near Krasnodon was beaten back a few hexes. These minor setbacks could develop into a crisis soon and that's why my attack has to be launched before that happens. Everything is in place and I am just waiting for Fungwu to move more units into the future pocket, so far he seems more interested in pushing westward.

I brought some more reserves and in any case I can handle even a total collapse of my front from Voroshilovgrad to Rostov.

Minor battles:
- AGN is struggling to contain superior Soviet forces. I lost a lot of inf regiments here, but so far I can keep my line intact by slowly falling back. Soon, I will need some more infantry here.

- Tula: I took the city back a few turns earlier and I pushed the Soviets away from the city to secure it.

- Kolomna: The city changes hands in every turn.

- Odessa: Progress is slow, I gain one hex per two turns, but I am satisfied.

- Batumi: Turkish forces are two hexes away from the city, but my attacks produce no results whatsoever.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Turn 61 (18, Jan 1941):


AGS

The situation has changed since my plan was drawn. It is now superseded by events and is obsolete.

- Fungwu advanced from Krasnodon towards the southeastern approaches of Voroshilovgrad, flanking 44.ID.
- He took 2 out of 3 hexes of Voroshilovgrad, I managed to get back one (using 2.PzD mainly) and expel him from the other without having the movement points necessary to advance into it.
- I also used SS Totenkopf and 13.PzD to gain back the hexes lost near Krasnodon. I only gained one hex, thanks to an early turn end. Thus, what would be my northern pincer is now engaged piecemeal (although in the general direction it would have been engaged in my plan).
- I decided to cut off the old pocket at the shortest connection point (3 hexes), since I couldn't wait any more (a Soviet offensive was launched from Rostov aiming at creating a pocket of my units around Shakty). I used 9.Pzd, 11.PzD from the east and 5.PzD from the west. Both attacks failed and consumed 5-6 rounds of my turn! At least the tank kills were in my favor.
- The other panzer divs were relieved by infantry divs and are resting behind the front.
- I attacked his large concentrations around Rostov with LSSAH and SS Wiking. I regained one hex and my artillery caused significant damage.
- In summary, I committed most of my mobile reserves to 4 major battles: 2 SS divs in Rostov, 2.PzD in Voroshilovgrad, 2 divs west of Krasnodon and 3 divs at the connection point of the old pocket. I am hoping to make Fungwu to give the battles I want committing his reserves here.


AGN

- Fungwu's relentless assault continues and has caused me serious damage. Several divisions have lost quite a few infantry regiments. I 've sent 218.ID from the OKH pool and 2.RFSS from AGS to reinforce this theater.
- My line was pushed back behind the Nameless River (connecting the Neva and Volkhov rivers) and Soviet units sit just two hexes away from the main highway. I can not allow that. This line is going to be my last one here. There will be no more withdrawals. I tried pushing back those units but failed. I may have to commit more panzer divs.

Loss penalty: 915 (Ger) to 2394 (Sov)

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Turn 62:

- The German counterstroke is marked by initial success. The pocket is reformed, after 5.PzD (assisted by 212.ID) and 9.PzD attacked from west and east respectively and trapped 20 Soviet divisions and +22 brigades.

- SS Totenkopf and 13.PzD continue their attack toward Krasnodon. Fungwu has some very strong divisions here backed by lots of artillery regiments, so progress is tough, only one hex gained by each division.

- 16.PzD also gained a hex in the direction of Sverdlovsk. 14.PzD and 11.PzD (reorganising) will attack in the next turn toward Sverdlovsk too but 2 hexes east of 16.PzD.

- I hope Fungwu will fight to save his trapped units, because there is a chance that my attacks can create another pocket around Sverdlovsk. This is similar to what I've planned 5-6 turns ago, but I am executing it differently: I committed two panzer divs to close the pocket, hopefully compelling Fungwu to save them with units from outside the pocket. The other attacks from my panzer divs are spread to create chances for smaller pockets, if the larger scheme fails.

AGS Reserves:
25.MtzD (fresh)
29.MtzD (fresh)
60.MtzD (fresh)
331.ID (fresh)
46.ID (fresh)
211.ID (fresh)
223.ID (exhausted)
299.ID (lost all its regiments - will be transferred to AGN)
170.ID (only 9 rifle squads left)
50.ID (lost all its regiments)

A total of 10 divisions, but I can count only on 6 of them at the moment,

 

[Werryzz]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Hi, im enjoying about your AAR, but could you post any pictures about other fronts? Im interested.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Hi, im enjoying about your AAR, but could you post any pictures about other fronts? Im interested.

You can find screenshots of them in previous posts. Not much has changed since and that's why I am not posting any. But I will post screenshots of all three army groups in my next update.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

We decided it to call it a day. With only 12 turns left there was no room for big changes. I will try to post a summary when I get some time.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

A short summary:

The first ten turns were marked by the spectacular German advance towards Smolensk, Leningrad and Kiev. Fungwu started building a line well back, running from Narva, Luga, Novgorod, Peno, Rzef, Vyasma, Orel, Kursk, Dneprpetrovsk. I reached this line around turn 10 in the north, turn 12 in the center and turn 15 in the south, until then I had to face numerous, annoying ants trying to slow my advance.

After contacting the main Soviet line, my attack begun in earnest:

In AGN sector my progress was slow but I managed to capture Leningrad by turn 30, after giving a set piece battle, sustaining heavy losses in tanks.

In AGC, I tried a double pincer move using my two panzergroups as spearheads. Here too, I progressed hex by hex, without achieving a breakthrough and facing strong resistance. Moscow was captured in turn 30, after which I switched on the defensive and pulld my panzergroupd behind the line.

Only in AGS, we saw a true blitzkrieg. Here, the Soviet line had no depth and after several successive breakthroughs I blitzed eastern Ukraine and fromed large pockets. My offensive had lost its momentum just after Rostov was captured. In turn 45, Fungwu launched his Winter offensive, aiming at cutting off AGS. I had many divisions in reserve and more were coming each turn. I managed to launch a successful counterattack with 1.Panzergruppe forming a pocket. My line was more or less held, despite heavy losses.

Fungwu complained about unrealistic combat results and I have to admit he has valid reasons. In some instances, some depleted units of mine managed to win battles against 10 and 20 times stronger enemies (one extreme example: I was down 69:1 in infantry but I held the hex). I have experienced similar issues (in a smaller degree) when I was facing his ants in early game and then when I was trying to break his main line (some units mysteriously evaporated when they attacked weak hexes and I lost several panzer regiments in this way). I have some theories on the mechanics responsible for these issues and we discussed this with Fungwu over email.

However, excluding these issues which are tactical in nature, I had great fun. On the operational level, this must be the most interesting game I have ever played, against a great opponent.

Here is the front by the end of the game:

 

[Sker]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Maybe you can report the issues you are talking about on the matrix forum. This can be helpful to fix them up.
I heard that ant units are one of the bigger concern for every scenario designer.

 

[El Cid]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Are you playing this scenario qith TOAW3?

Is there a download place for this scenario?

Thanks

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Are you playing this scenario qith TOAW3?

Is there a download place for this scenario?

Thanks

Yes, I am playing with TOAW3 with the latest patch. The scenario is currently unavailable on the net, but I can send it to your mailbox.

 

[El Cid]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

That would be very kind, Olorin.

faillan @ terra dot es

Is the situation in Greece as bad as it looks on the news? I know the news focus and tends to blow up situations, but it would seem the cities are in chaos.

 

[Olorin4]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Check your mailbox El Cid

(I am off to prepare molotov cocktails for tomorrow!)

 

[El Cid]

Re: DNO-Olorin vs Fungwu

Thanks, I have received it. I am currently playing ina row the scenarios of Road to Moscow, and I am hoping after that I can consider playing DNO.