Europe Aflame: Telumar vs Heldenkaiser (Axis AAR)

[Telumar]

As Dierk has been running his AAR of our current game for so long now and as i currently have some spare time i finally decided to post a thread of my own. So, in the case people have been wondering what the german side does, plans, thinks - here's the place.

Like Dierk i am also new to EA, this being my first attempt at it, so please bear with me..

I am sure Dierk already told the whole story of what has happened until now, so i don't need to repeat it here.

Current turn is 80, we're in Winter 40/41 and i'm suffering the 80% winter shock which has brought almost all offensive operations to an end. Nevertheless we're planning and preparing some things for the coming campaign season. I will explain as we go through the various fronts.


The Eastern Theatre


Nordic Front (Norway/PetsamoMurmansk)

Yes, we're actually planning a surprise (hopefully) for the Allies. The objective is Murmansk. :surprise:. I've (secretly? let's hope..) assembled a force of two Mountian Corps, one Infantry Corps, Engineers and 2 FJ/LL Divisions plus the Brandenburgers. The initial plan was to land the FJs behind the enemy lines at Petsamo and to encircle the soviet troops here. Petsamo is an Axis supply point, so actions against Murmansk can follow quickly after the defeat of the soviet defenders. But as Murmansk seems to be garrisoned by only one Marine Division a direct attack against the city either by sea and/or by air, best by a combination of both, seems to be promising. I don't know yet which variant i'll opt for. In each case this will have to be accompanied by a bridge bombing campaign targeting the southern finish rail-net to prevent or delay enemy reinforcements.
The risks are high and it might as well lead to a disaster..


The Ostfront



After the battles in Poland and the Bessarabia-Odessa offensive the entire Ostfront has become rather quiet. Just before the onset of winter we achieved the Bessarabia-Odessa offensive's objective and cut off Odessa and the Uman fortresses. We will starve the defenders until the end of Winter allows us to finally mop them up easily.

I haven't come up with a plan for 41 yet. Let's say it's no further evolved than "attack!!!"... No matter what, we'll have to go on the offensive here as soon as winter ends to distract enemy forces from reinforcing other theaters where we will also conduct offensive operations (Norway/North Finland and the Caucasus (more on this later..) ), but with valuable strategical objectives in direct reach. Something that is lacking here. Yet.

Some thoughts:

- Pushing from the Uman bridgehead to Kiev while reaching Minsk via Brest-Litovsk (Axis supply point btw.) could render enemy positions in East-Poland and NW-Ukraine untenable, possibly leading to a massive withdrawal/route or encirclement of substantial enemy forces.

- An exotic operation: Invading Helsinki. Just as a distraction. The city is an Axis supply point. But maybe this could be done later if Leningrad comes into reach.

I have no idea about the strength of the Red Army and what is possible/doable without the Barbarossa bonus. Feels a bit like driving blind.


Turkey/Caucasus

The theatre where most of the action took place in the last turns. We're reaching the soviet border now. Too bad the winter shock has stopped my blitzkrieg here. Now Dierk has time to organise (once more) his defences. Luckily pro-Axis partisans have become active in the region and i hope they will keep him busy and prove worthwile in delaying/disrupting enemy reinforcements reaching the area. i have secured the turkish "hinterland" and black sea harbours against nasty surprises (partisans, airlandings, amphib attacks) with some bulgarian and italian forces.

The plan is as follows:

- The northern group will take Batumi and turn north along the black sea coast with the objective Maikop. The group consists of 1 Ger.Mot.Corps, 2 Ger.Inf Corps, 2 Ger.Mount.Corps and 3 It.Mount.Corps under command of the German 10th and the Italian 2nd Army.

- The southern group will advance into Georgia and take Tiblisi (Tiflis) and then force the mountain passes to the north with the objectives Grozny and reaching the Caspian Sea. This will isolate the Baku region which might fall easily then. This group consits of 1 Ger.Mot.Corps, 1 Ger.Panzer Div, SS Div "Charlemagne", 6 Ger.Inf Corps, 1 Ger.Mount Corps, the Bulgarian Mech.Div, the It.Panzer Corps, Engineers and the German Marine Regt under command of 1st Panzer Army and 16th Army.

- The Terek river and the Mount Elbrus massive will serve as a natural defence line.

- German forces from Egypt will reinforce this theatre

As for the enemy in this area: The British are planning something in Iraq. Our recon has identified an Armoured Division near Mosul. Also British units have left Britain in the last few turns - destinatio/arrival could not be reckoned. I think he might be building up a force in Iraq to threaten our southern flanks.


Egypt

Here we're still fighting the ever-resurrecting British armies. :angry: Italian XXII Corps has been separated from our main forces, pushed onto the road to Sudan, but is still in supply (!).
I already have brought up two fresh Italian Corps (1 Inf, 1 Mot.) from the motherland in exchange for two worn out ones which will be sent home to rebuild. From Pz Army Africa the Engineers, the motorized Flak and one of the light divisions will stay. The rest will be sent to Turkey.


More to come...

 

[Telumar]

A look at Infantry losses - i don't know if this is good or bad given the fact that i had 10,000 Heavy Rifle Squads in the pool once. This turn i received ~1000 Rifle, Heavy Rifle and Heavy Rifle AT squads (each) from the "Breslau Industry".

No picture for tank losses, these are ok. All Pz Korps are almost at full strength in vehicles and we have quite some reserves in the pool.

Regarding the Luftwaffe, there are 6000+ Me 109s in the pool.

 

[Telumar]

Turn 81

(2nd week of January 1941)


Ostfront: Dnjestr

We were able to reduce the Uman-Kessel to a single hex where one Airborne Corps is still holding. Nothing else happened here, the entire front is still quiet. The enemy seems to be more occupied with the Caucasus.

Turkey/Caucasus

The enemy is sending further reinforcements from Central-Russia into the area, as well as some new air formations. The pro-Axis partisans at Tiflis have been pushed away from the city. Further south a british "raid" into Turkey pushed back the Bulgarian Cavalry-Mech. Div, but we are sending down troops from Erzurum to block the british advance while the Italian III Corps will be trying to cut off enemy lines of communications.
Our attacks against Leninakhan and Batumi fail though one enemy Inf Corps has been pushed out of Batumi. As you can see some of the German forces are in reorg this turn, so we could only advance with the italian Armoured Corps in the centre. But we have brought forward the Charlemagne Division (in bright green) to enter the battles next turn. 164th Light Division has arrived from Palestine via rail. Also, a good part of our forces is still resting. Until the end of the Winter Shock no serious operations will be possible i think, but we're trying to keep up at least some pressure.
What you can't see in the screenshot, the Terek bridges and a bridge near Maikop have been destroyed by the Luftwaffe. Additionally our partisans have cut off the enemy rail line at Derbent on the coast of the Caspian Sea (just by sitting there and converting hexes).

Near Ankara, enemy partisans have appeared. A Bulgarian division has pushed them further away from the railline while other reinforcements are on the way. (the italian corps in the screenshot is a reinforcement for the Caucasus front, the rest are our actual occupation forces)

Egypt

We were able to push the entire Nile Army onto the road to Sudan. Well, this is actually what Dierk intended, but we're not too unhappy with it. They are cut off from supplies. As is Italian XXII Corps which blocks the enemy supply. It's become a race now as British motorised forces are nearing from Sudan. Italian XXII Corps will be no match for them, and when they destroy this unit the Nile Army will be saved once again (the third time?). So we have no other choice than to attack despite the terrible state of our forces and the 80% shock - as expected not with success. Looks like Dierk will be winning this race..

 

[Telumar]

Turn 82

(3rd week of January 1941)


We have received four new Luftwaffe units, three of them Fighters and one Bomber unit. Four more Air units will follow on turn 84. The coasts of northern France and Norway have been fortified with various Atlantic-Wall fortresses.
Bridge bombing in western Russia and Belorussia has been resumed. The goal is to reduce enemy supply levels at the front. In northern Norway we have moved up our ground forces for the upcoming offensive (once Winter ends). I hope Dierk will interpret this as mere defensive measures given the fact that i had only one Corps facing three of his at Petsamo.


Ostfront: Dnjestr

The Uman-Kessel has finally surrendered. Not much to show here. Dierk has brought up the Don-Flotilla which has proven very resilient against our Ju-87s and SM 79 IIs.


Turkey/Caucasus

The enemy build-up continues as more enemy forces have been railed towards the Caucasus region. One of our Caucasian Cavalry units has been destroyed near Tiblisi while the other one has been badly mauled and is awaiting certain defeat.

Cossack partisans retreat from Derbent. Further south another partisan unit, which had been chased by enemy Cavalry during Dierk's turn has blocked the Baku-Tiblisi railroad. We have brought in more reinforcements, namely one third of Pz Group Afrika. The Bulgarian mountain Corps has been relieved from Garrison duties at Misis (turkish/syrian border) by an Italian Inf Corps and will itself garrison Guleman (further west along the railroad leading to the soviet border).

In a bloody assault our Infantry seizes Batumi, forcing two enemy Inf Corps to retreat and evaporating the city garrison. Not too bad for a force under 80% shock. Near Leninakhan we just close in on the enemy frontline as the two forward German Inf Corps are still reorganising. The turkish partisans near Ankara have been defeated.

The British raiding force in southern Turkey has decided to head straight for the west. We are in pursuit, hoping to trap them soon.

Egypt

Parts of III UK Corps have overrun Italian XXII Corps on the Sudan road and Dierk once again manages to save the Army of the Nile and Middle East Command! We are in no shape to attack and so we dig in. LXXXX PzG Corps and the remainder of PzGroup Afrika have left Egypt for Turkey. More British units have been sailed to Port Sudan.

 

[Telumar]

Turn 83

(4th week of January 1940)

The Don Flottilla has managed to sink the rumanian destroyer fleet! In the Caucasus the Soviets keep chasing our partisans while further south the British raiding force has broken out to the south (due to italian weakness..). In Egypt the Brits are retreating back to Sudan, leaving behind a small cover force. The enemy build-up in the Caucasus region continues.

We receive one German Inf Corps, one Luftwaffe Feld Corps and a German Security Division as reinforcements. The regular Infantry Corps has been sent to southeastern Poland while the other two units will bolster the defence of Königsberg and East Prussia.

There's not much to report from this rather quiet turn. In Egypt our attacks against the British covering force fail. In the Balkans the partisan war rages as ever except that it's become a bit more difficult for us with the 80% shock, but we still have the upper hand here.


Turkey/Caucasus

The only place where some action occurred. We gained a hex near Leninakhan, but failed to take out another enemy position northwest of the city. Those of our partisans in the Caucasus that were able to have broken contact with the enemy.
The Brits are still roaming around in southern Turkey. Stukas manage to take out a handfull of tanks, but the Bulgarian Mech Division fails to inflict damage to the 5th Indian Division.
LXXXX PzGren Corps has arrived in Erzurum. 18th Artillery Division and two Flak Divisions have crossed the Bosporus and will be railed to the front next turn.

 

[Telumar]

It occures to me we will sooner or later have to occupy Iraq, too. Dierk's Middle East Army is heading for Sudan (probably to be shipped to Iraq?) and another indian mountain division has been identified in Basra. I don't like the idea much, especially as i don't feel very much inclined to divert forces from our other efforts, but the prospect of a British Army heading for southern Turkey feels much more uncomfortable. Ibn Saud is already heading towards the Euphrates river in some kind of recon mission. I think i can send two more italian Corps - the one currently guarding Cyprus (there's no need for it anymore in the meantime) and the one at Misius. Additionally Creta garrison could be sent to the region, too. But we will need at least two German Corps to be on the safe side and that is what causes me some headache. Egypt has to be guarded, too. A task i will not rely upon the italians alone, so relocating German troops from there can only be done as soon as it is confirmed that a good part of the British Middle East forces have been deployed in Iraq. The "Iraqi Coup" TO is still active, but i'll use it only when i'll actually go into Iraq. I think it also deploys an additional indian Division to Iraq.

 

[Telumar]

Turn 84

(1st week of February 1940)


As expected Dierk shipped troops from Port Sudan to Basra. Meanwhile his raiding force is heading south again after pushing aside a Panzer Division (1/3rd of PzGroup Afrika). In the USSR he further reinforced the Caucasus, but also the east european front. (How many units do these Russians get..?!)

We received several Luftwaffe units as reinforcements. In Norway we finally have coastal garrisons - this allowed me to recombine one of the Occupation Divisions in the South which will be send to mainland Europe in exchange for a security division. One of the freshly arrived Bomber units and another from Germany have been sent to Narvik airport to support our planned offensive against Petsamo - Murmansk.

In central Russia we resumed the bridge bombing campaign. In the Odessa Kessel the Rumanians overran one of the outer city forts.

The Med Fleet has been spotted off England's coast, nicely in reach of our freshly arrived Ju-87s, and has received a nice beating. The screenhot is from our first attack - in a second attack with another fresh unit the Luftwaffe was able to eliminate the remaining heavier ships and some more destroyers, but lost quite some 60 Stukas in both attacks.

Turkey/Caucasus

Not really much to show here. The German Inf Corps are no more in reorg which allowed us to increase the pressure. We gained one hex northwest of Leninakhan in a murderous battle, pushed the soviet defenders south of the city out of their positions but were unable to advance into the abandoned territory. Our partisans are again trying to break contact with the enemy. One group is blocking the railway near Derbent. The last third of PzGroup Afrika has arrived. In previous post mentioned Artillery and Flak are near Istanbul in reorg.

Iraq

Italian X Corps, one of the better italian units in terms of equipment, has been shipped to Misius in the syrian-turkish border region. Italian 5th Army will take command of the 'Iraq force':
III, VI, VIII and X Italian Corps, the Bulgarian Mech Corps and 1/3rd of PzGroup Africa. 90th Light Div in Egypt is earmarked for this theatre, too - as the situation allows/calls for it.
As soon as the winter shock is over we will head into Iraq with the final objective Basra. I doubt that i will be able to reach it soon, but at least the operation keeps the Brits away from Turkey and the italian units would have probably be of no use in the murderous battles ahead in the Caucasus region. But then...who says they will put up a good show in Iraq? Besides: As long as the Brits are occupied with Iraq Dierk might not come up with other ideas like invading Narvik i.e.

 

[sapper32]

A look at Infantry losses - i don't know if this is good or bad given the fact that i had 10,000 Heavy Rifle Squads in the pool once. This turn i received ~1000 Rifle, Heavy Rifle and Heavy Rifle AT squads (each) from the "Breslau Industry".

When i attacked the USSR in early 1941 i had 70.000plus HRS with 13.000 in the replacement pool all my units where fresh and full strengh,it will be interesting to see if you can defeat the soviets from this position.

Ian

 

[Telumar]

And did you defeat the Soviet Union?

Regarding the USSR my plan is outlined in the AAR. But again in short: Take Murmansk in a quick and bold action, take away the Oil regions and while these both operations are underway attack in Ukraine. Continue with strategic bridge bombing. Do you think this could break the Soviets? i don't know, this is my first EA Game.

EDIT: It's not like the Soviets are fresh. Dierk's finish adventure was a costly affair. He attacked the Balts and took losses. The frontier battles that took place soon after DoW cost him quite, especially between Brest-Litowk and Lvov. He suffered a disaster in Bessarabia were he lost six Corps in no-supply conditions. In Turkey i think i destroyed seven to ten further Corps. Two Airborne Corps in the Uman pocket.
And still..:blab:

 

[sapper32]

Yes i defeated the SU with a massive Southern strike at Kiev then North to Moscow while AGN and the Finns took Lenningrad then on to Moscow.I had the Barb TO to help me kept going hard and fast didnt give my opponent a chance to get a solid defence line together.
I would say your situation is the SU player has his reserves comming into the line already there is going to be a lot of Red army Inf to deal with and you have no Barb TO also the SU replaces his units fast so anything he has lost so far will already be back in the line or comming back into the line time is not on your side.

 

[Telumar]

Then the war is already lost!

Seriously, time is never on the Axis side when fighting against the SU. I don't know if i can pull it off, maybe i should lurk him into attacking by faking an invasion of Britain? Even if i did this i doubt Dierk will go offensive again with the Soviets. Remember his experiences in Finland, in the Balticum and when he tried to invade the Generalgouvernement. Not to forget Turkey.

We will see. :ar15:

 

[Telumar]

Turns 85 - 87

(first three weeks of February 1941)

These have been rather eventless turns, so i think a short summary will suffice.

On the Russian front bridge bombing continues. Odessa has surrendered. Further reinforcements are going to the Chelm area and into the Dnestr bridgehead, including two Hungarian Infantry Corps which have been relieved from Garrison/Anti-Partisan duty in Yugoslavia and Greece to join the rest of the Hungarian Army around Lvov. Elsewhere the frontlines are quiet, except at Batumi where we lost a German Infantry Corps (!) in an attack.

The only theatre that sees some action at least is Northern Iraq. Here the Italian 5th Army with the Bulgarian Mech Division attached has forced the British back to Mossul.

I plan to exchange the Italian Armored Corps in Turkey with 2nd/PzGruppe Afrika in Iraq. Then the powerfull PzGruppe Afrika can be recombined at Erzurum and used in the offernsive into the Caucasus region. The Italian tanks with their 60% proficiency will suffice for Iraq i think.

 

[Telumar]

Oh, i have forgotten to mention that we switched to 3.4 Beta, hence the new graphics - personal customization. Hope you like it, i've been working on these on a CRC display as my good old LCD died some weeks ago and experience tells me that colours might look a bit different on CRC and LCD..

 

[Telumar]

Turn 88

(end of February/beginning of March 1941)

Still the Winter Shock is not gone...

Another more or less eventless turn. Dierk attacks my airbases in Northern France, losses are about equal. We retaliate with an air raid against a destroyer flottila in the Channel sinking/disabling 15 enemy vessels but lose 45 Ju-87s! (In fact most of these losses go to the pool).

Reinforcements this turn: XXXXI PzKorps, III LW Field Corps, 203rd Sec Div

Fighting in Northern Iraq continues, with the Italian X Corps entering Mosul:

Note: Dierk has pointed out that the Bulgarians are not allowed to enter Turkey, according to the manual house rules they are restricted to Russia and the Balkans including Istanbul. So the Germans and Italians will be relieveing the Bulgarian forces in Turkey which will be sent to the Ostfront. I already railed the freshly arrived German security Div and the new LW Feldkorps to Istanbul, but yet couldn't move the Bulgarians as they were in reorg.

 

[Telumar]

Turns 89 and 90


March 1941

Nothing new. Now that the Wintershock is gone the Mud Cease Fire has set in..:angry:

I am moving the Bulgarians out of Turkey in exchange for some German security/LW field units. Denmark garrison exchanged with a LW Field Corps. Also further reinforcements are sent to the Caucasus front (1 PzKorps, 3 Inf Corps).

 

[Telumar]

We can skip turns 91 - 93 as nothing happened during these turns. Just shifting reinforcements to the front. And continue with...

Turn 94

(2nd week of April, 1941)

Hostilities finally resumed! Off the coast of England the Indefatigable Group has been attacked by our Stukas and the aircraft carrier has been damaged. In the Balkans the Partisan war rages on with some successes for the Axis forces. In the Sinai stragglers from the Arab Legion were able to form a new battlegroup, but find themsleves now more or less surrounded.

Now for the Eastern Front:


Petsamo

The attack on Petsamo, the first step of our offensive to reach Murmansk, has begun. 22. Luftlande Div, 7. Flieger Div and the Brandenburgers have landed behind the enemy front while one Mountain- and one Infantry Corps have crossed the frontier river. The russian defenders, three Armies, have been cut off, but will most probably be able to break the encirclement in the weakly held 7. Flieger Div area along the coastal road.
Further south a Luftwaffe task force stationed in Norway has cut off the Murmank region's line of communications with the rest of Russia and southern Finland.

Eastern Poland/Brest-Litovsk

The plan was to achieve a breakthrough, take Brest-Litosk and head for Minsk (with a similar pincer heading from Uman towards Kiev thus forcing an enemy retreat from West Ukrainia or at best to form a giant Kessel). But a ridiculuous performance by our armored forces against single fortified russian infantry armies denies any breakthrough. Infantry losses were heavy for both sides.

South Ukraine

A similar picture as in the Brest Litovsk area. Our attacks along the Uman - Kiev road have been repelled. Along the Bug we move up to the enemy positions to bind them. The only brakthrough occured in the weakly held (and unimportant) coastal area where Rumanian and Bulgarian forces advanced along the flanks of two enemy reserve armies.

Caucasus/Eastern Turkey

Here we achieved some successes. In the Batumi area Italian and German Mountain troops achieved a breakthrough, but the armored attack against an enemy Infantry Corps east of Batumi fails. Leninakhan falls and VX Motorized Corps has reached the banks of the Kur river. The Luftwaffe also managed to cut off rail connections from the Russian Motherland to the Caucasus.

Our first objective will be Tiblisi. If we manage to take this town and its supply point and can keep enemy raillines disconnected the enemy supply situation in the region will deteriorate significantly. This should enable us to finally cut off the entire southern Caucasus by advancing to Grozny and to the Terek estuary at the Caspian sea. We will see, i am not that optimistic as i might sound: The enemy has massively reinforced this area during the Winter and the Mud season, i outlined this on the screenshot. And these are only the stacks that have been identified by our recon. Surely there's also plenty of enemy troops in Tiblisi itself and north of Batumi.

Iraq

Only a minor sideshow, but at least somehow important for the security of our southern flank in Turkey.
Here 5th Italian Army advanced further south against surprisingly weak resistance. An Indian Mountain Division has been chased into the area south of Lake Van, binding much to much forces... Italian XVII Armored Corps has been shipped into the region (unloaded at Misis). It has reached the Euphrat crossings east of Aleppo, but i'm not sure yet if it will be used in Iraq or in the Caucasus.
Ibn Saud has taken Habbaniyah Airbase, crossed the river Euphrat and is heading for Baghdad (off screen). OKW has ordered German 90. leichte Div. from Egypt to reinforce Ibn Saud.

 

[Telumar]

Turn 95

(3rd week of April, 1941)


Heavy, localized battles with mixed results. The turn dropped down to 20% after the first combat round, otherwise more could have been achieved.


Petsamo

The Soviets almost managed to free the road connection Murmansk - Petsamo. But the weak FJ Regt threw back the Soviet HQ and advanced further southeast to the outskirts of Murmansk which is guarded by a Marine Division. Petsamo, although under attack, has not yet fallen, but the Soviet defenders south of the town have been scattered and badly mauled. I regard the enemy as almost defeated. If he can't bring up reinforcements fast enough, Murmansk and Petsamo will be ours. Recon has spotted nothing further south yet, but i doubt its accuracy. We will see.
Another two bridges in Finland have been blown by the Luftwaffe.

Eastern Poland/Brest-Litovsk

Still no progress there. Two combat rounds only did theirs to add to the stalemate. Ridiculuos.


South Ukraine

Here we finally achieved a breakthrough along the Uman - Kiew road. It has not gotten that far due to the lack of combat rounds, but it's a first step. As long as he can't throw anything fortified into my way the Panzers will keep rolling.

Caucasus/Eastern Turkey

Here we only managed to widen the breach at Leninakhan and took the Kur river bridge south of Tiblisi. I expect the hardest battles yet to come: Getting on the other side of that river. In the Batumi sector at the Black Sea coast our attacks have been repelled by fortified soviet infantry.

Iraq

The situation hasn't changed very much, we're chasing the shattered South African tank division through the plains of Iraq with no decisive outcome. Further north we're still after a lonely enemy Mountain Regiment. Italian VI Corps and XVII Arm Corps have been sent as reinforcements. The problem is that the Italian units can't divide, which makes an encirclement rather difficult.
64. Lt. Div is heading for the Euphrat river to reinforce Ibn Saud who has stopped his advance and dug in as Bagdad is occupied by the infamous Nile Army.

 

[Telumar]

Turn 96

(4th week of April 1941)


Surprisingly we received reinforcements this turn! 3 fully equipped, battle ready Tank Korps (named after nordic deities Thor, Odin and Loki), one Security Division and 3 Reserve Corps (of the type Eastern Reserve)! A nice present to the Führer's birthday.
PzKorps 'Odin' will be sent to Turkey, together with 281st Sec Div, PzKorps 'Thor' will strike his hammer upon the Soviets in the Brest-Litovsk area and Loki will go to South Ukraine.

I like positive surprises, but it wouldn't harm mentioning it in the briefing. (hint hint.. Mr.Veers and Mr.Stevens) Just adds to better planing.



Petsamo

Victory at Petsamo! After bloody battles the city finally falls. We will need the supply point to continue advancing to Murmansk. XXI Infantry Corps is preparing to board ship at Narvik and will be shipped to Petsamo over the next two turns (the Corps was split into three). It will be replaced by a Border Corps from East Prussia.

Eastern Poland/Brest-Litovsk

The ultimate meatgrinder. For the first time we made some progress, although minimal one - we gained one hex southeast of Brest-Litovsk. Our units in the front are depleted and exhausted and i fear we will need to commit the local reserves, which actually should have served as an exploitation force, for grinding further forward.

South Ukraine

Further progress! We manage to widen the breakthrough and push more Panzers through it. LVII Panzer Korps, leading the advance, reaches the Dnjepr river at Cherkessy. We have deployed four German, one Hungarian and one Romanian Pz Korps here.
Interestingly the Panzer Korps', which had so much difficulties in dislodging enemy fortified infantry, pushes away the Mech Corps which Dierk has deployed as Tactical Reserve with ease.

In the Odessa region the Rumanians and Bulgarians advanced, only to find a second front line behind the river Bug. I expected this and from recon it seems that there might be also a second fortified front line behind the Dnjepr. And of course Kiev will be heavily fortified, too. So, more meatgrinding ahead..:OHNO:

The question is wether we should cross the Dnjepr at Cherkessy while also heading north on the western river bank or if we only move north without crossing the river. Splitting up would allow to envelope/possibly encircle the city, but would mean two weaker wedges instead of one steamroller. I think the enemy also has still some reserves in Zhitomir which could threaten our flanks. On the other hand, at some point we must cross the river, why not now?

Caucasus/Eastern Turkey

More advances! At Batumi XVI Mot Corps achieves a breakthrough and rolls over North Caucasus Front's HQ. Our mountain troops have begun enveloping the three soviet Armies in the rather quiet middle sector of the front.
LXXXX PzG Korps grinds its way across the river Kur. As in the Ukraine, intervening Mech Korps are easily pushed aside. First attacks against the city have been repelled. We also succeeded in widening the breach north of Leninakhan (where we lacked MPs to advance into the vacated hex) and south of the road. Again it is proven true that unfortified soviet units have no chance to withstand even the modest attacks.
The bridge bombing campaign continued, too. At the end of the turn all four bridges leading from central Russia to the Caucasus region were destroyed, but i think Dierk will manage to repair at least one of them.

Iraq

Recon has spotted naval troop movement from Africa to Basra. The isolated Mountain Regt behind the main front finally surrendered and 90 Lt.Div has taken position in front of Baghdad. Overall situation between Mosul and Bagdad hasn't changed much, so we can skip the screenshot.

 

[Mark Stevens]

"I like positive surprises, but it wouldn't harm mentioning it in the briefing. (hint hint.. Mr.Veers and Mr.Stevens) Just adds to better planning."

It isn't spelled out unit-by-unit, but this should have given you a clue.

For example, we have assumed that an early Soviet attack on Germany prior to the historical 'Barbarossa' would have resulted in extensive fortification of the eastern border, mobilisation of additional German reserves and an earlier shift toward full war production, which did not occur until 1943. In this eventuality, such a Soviet attack on Germany will trigger additional German reinforcements, both immediately and over time, that would otherwise not appear in the game.

 

[Telumar]

"I like positive surprises, but it wouldn't harm mentioning it in the briefing. (hint hint.. Mr.Veers and Mr.Stevens) Just adds to better planning."

It isn't spelled out unit-by-unit, but this should have given you a clue.

For example, we have assumed that an early Soviet attack on Germany prior to the historical 'Barbarossa' would have resulted in extensive fortification of the eastern border, mobilisation of additional German reserves and an earlier shift toward full war production, which did not occur until 1943. In this eventuality, such a Soviet attack on Germany will trigger additional German reinforcements, both immediately and over time, that would otherwise not appear in the game.

I know, i have read this. Ostwall, Eastern Reserve Corps etc. The three Panzer Corps are very powerfull and have a decisive impact on the battlefield while the other units i received so far are of more defensive character. So, maybe mentioning these Corps' couldn't harm.

If i have you here.. is anyone working on an update of EA to version 3.4?