TOAW3 EA3.4d Mark Stevens vs. Bdr.Mallette

[Bdr.Mallette]

Ok, finally bought TOAW3...yeahhhhh.

The Graphics look good, nixed the caption bubbles but all is good.
Polish forces seem much tougher I must say tho...well, around Warsaw that is.
The following AAR will be broken down by campaigns.
I think the Poland campaign may be a bit early but it is early in the war so, I think it's ok.
Good to be back after a long sabbatical...heheh.

The Conquest of Poland
Mark Stevens (Allies) vs. Bdr.Mallette (Axis)
EA3.4d

August 19th, 1939

As Tensions rose In Europe, Poland found itself between two very large and aggressive forces. With it's government inept to avoid any kind of conflict it was destined to be conquered by either state on it's borders. France and Britain, and of course it's commonwealth were in support of Poland and would come to it's aid if necessary but both Allied Empires were still in a state of disrepair, somewhat. France had become content with a purely defensive minded force and Britain with it's forces spread across a large area, relied on it's Navy far too much. They seemed able and willing just lacked the overall fortitude to come to Poland's aid in any true manner.

On August 12th, 1939, the Soviet Union attacked a forewarned Finland but little progress was made at first. Germany had no formal agreement with Finland but Hitler had made quite clear to Ambassador Molotov how he felt about Finland earlier that month, he needed it's nickel and iron mines for his future war production.
It was unfortunate but Germany had to accept the invasion of Finland as it had a formal agreement with the Soviets and the splitting up of Poland. So after the Soviets attacked Finland, Germany began it's attack on Poland blaming the Poles for the beginning of the conflict. Hitler had agreed to stay out of Finland so long as the Soviets maintain their part of the Pact the 2 states had made regarding Poland.

Phase 1:
The invasion of Poland itself began quite quickly, using the new 'Blitzkrieg' tactics to drive deep into Polish territory and bypass some of the dug in positions that were in place by the Poles.
The 1st Panzer Army Drove straight East towards Warsaw cleaning out Polish forces around Lodz and forcing back other forces on the border. 2 full Pzr Corps, 1 SP AT unit and infantry forced their way thru past Lodz and made their presence quite clear to the forces near Warsaw. Mobile infantry aided in the push and the Luftwaffe pounded the Polish positions. In northern Poland, the German 4th Army pushed past Poznam but the Polish forces remained intact after several attacks failed to dig them out. North-East of Warsaw the 3rd Army moved up and prepared to secure the northern approach to Warsaw.
All airborne forces were dropped just outside of the forested area South-West of Warsaw and secured the Airfield and will assist on the final assault of the Polish capitol. Polish forces defended well, unfortunately and more training for the German Heer seems likely in the near future. The following pic is of the planned invasion of Poland, the first stage pretty much went as planned just the casualties were unexpected.

2nd Week in Poland

Phase 2:
After a fairly bloody first week, German forces had pushed their way deep into Polish territory and were forcing the opposing forces to scramble to cover their capital. This did little to help the Polish forces I'm afraid.
1st Panzer army pushed the main bulk of the Polish forces that came out to meet it back to Warsaw and is now sitting on it's doorstep. Mobile units also aided in the push by covering flanks or helping to surround the enemy. Most of the werhmacht were left to clean up roughly 6-7 Polish corps who were stubbournly holding their positions not knowing that the war was already over for them. Not wanting to waste a large amount of force to move them, the Luftwaffe was brought in to pound them out of their holes and then they were on the run from then on. Airborne units that were previously dropped re-grouped and forced the southern flank a bit, holding their positions till the link up occured with the 1st Pzr army. The north eastern border with Prussia seems static and no progress was made but the Polish forces did suffer casualties in greater number than the Germans. On the southern border, German infantry were happy to watch the Luftwaffe bomb the defenders till they had suffered enough and then they attacked and the defenders were punished and pushed back in a northerly direction, sure to be in re-org next turn.
All in all a successful turn with good results, A full Pzr army at the gates of Warsaw, Easy clean-up duty for the infantry and the Luftwaffe can be proud of a job well done and some needed experience gained. Re-group then plan for France.
During this time, the Finns had been defending against the Soviets with some small counter-defensive actions but nothing yet to speak of. Hitler hopes, that the Soviets don't progress too far.

Week 3 in Poland

Phase 3: Assault on Warsaw

The third week in Poland was to be a relatively easy one less the assault on Warsaw. Most of the infantry were to re-group and then rail back to Western Germany in preparation against France and Britain. Few attacks were ever launched on the outlying Polish defences except the initial penetration. These Corps level units were pounded with the luftwaffe then pushed around by the infantry till they were more or less inconsequential to the battle. Obviously, the main focus was on the western approach to Warsaw. The 1st Pzr Army had done a wonderful job getting to the gates of Warsaw, the task now was to breach it. The Polish Corps units that were north and south of Warsaw were in local defense so every assault on Warsaw drew reserves in to the city, by the 3rd assault Warsaw had sucked up all other polish units in the area and was defending well. Luftwaffe bombed, Panzers attacked, infantry pounded away but to no avail, Warsaw held out for the week.
Since the initial, early assault on Warsaw has failed, we will surround the city entirely and then force them out using engineers and tanks with of course several good attacks with bombers. Forces in West Germany are positioning themselves for defense and possible incursions into France may come into play.
During the battle for Poland, the Finnish forces have put up a rigid defense and their re-inforcements have arrived. Sweden has also joined the battle and has placed it's forces accordingly but will allow the Finns to defend their own country till called upon.
After review of losses, they were noticeable but not too high to negate the speed in the victory, still to come but inevitable. Men will cheer and drink Schnnaps for a day or two. Hopefully we will gain allies after such a swift Victory.(historically)

Week 5 in Poland

Phase 4: Capture Warsaw

Well it's been a grueling battle in Warsaw. The Poles held out for 2 weeks in the City until overwhelming force took the city. Overall a final victory 1 week behind schedule.
Most of the army has been railed to Western Germany for attacks being conducted by the French. They have been rather pompous in their behaviour on the borders. For some reason the Belgians which have not declared war or us on them, have decided to allow the french in their country and have aided in border assaults by the French. During the battle for Poland, Finland has been under assault by Russian forces and have held their ground so far with Swedish forces joining the battle.
Sitzkrieg coming soon I think so will have to wait and see what next objectives should be. Cheers, Warsaw is ours! Schnapps for everyone.

:smoke:

 

[L`zard]

Good for you, Jason! It's about time, eh?

:clown::nuts::clown:

 

[Bdr.Mallette]

ya ya ya ya... Hey..what can I say playing EA3.4d with CoW for the last 4 years.. haven't needed to upgrade... but it is good so far.. I guess.. well you know... It's ok... sorta.

Hey wait.. " it's about time" for what Capturing Warsaw or for buying TOAW3???

sheeeesh

 

[L`zard]

Both!

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[Bdr.Mallette]

Battle Of the Lowlands




The Planned offensive would take place in late fall and early winter, prior to the SitzKrieg.
The overall strategy was to secure a route through the Ardennes Forest and capture Sedan and possibly, even if things go well, Rheims. It was the 1st Panzer Armee's main duty to punch the hole through the defenses and let the infantry and mechanized troops push the Belgians back and finally to get them to capitulate. The first phase of the battle was successful less the capture of Sedan which turned out to be much harder to secure as Winter encroached. The main route to Paris was secured and some losses were forced on the French and Belgians. The Luftwaffe and the RAF began their struggle which would last months and sure to be a constant front. The losses were fairly heavy on both sides at the beginning but the Luftwaffe was eventually able to secure a slight air superiority which aided in the successes on the ground. both the French and Belgians were stubborn in their defense of the land but the weight of panzers and infantry forced the issue.
1st phase of the Battle for France and the Lowlands was over.



The 2nd phase was intended to push the Belgians back and inflict damage on the French units in the country, which several were forced to dissolve. The air battles went on, each side punishing each other, blowing bridges, bombing forces, slight interdictions. Once again, the allied forces held strong, my thoughts begin to think of the Sitz and re-grouping and re-thinking avenues of attack due to the marshlands not being the best terrain for attacking forces. All bridges in Holland had been destroyed and my engineers were busy running around fixing, when possible.
Overall, the 2nd phase was a much more difficult go and the French defended well with signs of the British coming to it's aid by shipping ground units and tanks into France. From my point of view, I thought of an opportunity to capture those units or possibly, he has positioned himself well enough to hold out longer and force a good counter-attack. Winter approaches.... Sitzkrieg begins soon.



Battle of France




The Battle of France had begun earlier with the assault through the Ardennes but had been slowed by the Belgians defensive actions as well as a stubborn French front line. The RAF was a major cause of the slow progress and were hampering the overall offensive.
Week 4 was a slow grind before the Sitz was to arrive. French units had dissolved but many had railed into positions as well. Air battle continued, ever costly and there seemed to be a small glimmer of hope of breaking through before Winter but to no avail, The Sitz arrived and all aggression stopped. re-group, re-supply, re-plan.



The following proposed attack into France was a little pre-mature, I had thought that the case yellow would appear right after the Sitzkrieg ended but it did not, so there were several more turns of assaulting without the use of the shock bonus. Without it I would have to run the flanks a bit more but I figured(improperly) that with the case yellow bonus...punching right through on the main road would be easy, not to be, still had to flank him for the capture of Paris.






After the case yellow plan was invoked, the Panzer corps shifted their attacks onto the northern flank and were to punch through to Paris and take the city. As well, units were to clean up in Belgium and Holland and then assist in France by capturing Calais and Boulogne. The Luftwaffe was tasked to achieve air superiority and assist in levelling the French army and that they did. With some naval aided bombardments, properly co-ordinated assaults and capturing the Spitfires in the air with lesser numbers than ours, air superiority was gained and French ground forces suffered the consequences.



The assault to Paris continued and after 3 weeks, it was taken on May 5th 1940.
The German forces in France are now securing the ports, airfields and planning has begun for the attack on England and it's allies. Letting my panzers rest and re-supply and prepping against the Brits is the plan for the day, surely to change if needed. The Swedes and Finns are holding against the communist hordes but with few reinforcements coming their way, their battle is a tough one.

The Battle of France has ended.

 

[MThomas722]

Hello, Thanks for the AAR, very interesting. Care to share your HInf squad losses after the fall of Paris?

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Bdr.Mallette]

nope, unless mark does too...sorry for late post...but...working and lost link to this friggin site and couldn't remember where it was.

 

[Bdr.Mallette]

Operation Barbarossa
The Conquest of Russia

July 30th, 1940

Germany began the spring by launching a decisive blow to France and knocking them and their colonies out of the war. All that remained was the British Empire and it's colonies. For the time being it was forseeable that the only area of operation that they could begin combat was the Mediterranean theatre. Italy was to be brought into the war, and possibly affect an invasion and capture of Gibraltar and possibly Malta. The Afrika Korps that was to arrive was to use the surprise of Barbarossa to drive to El Alamein and then to Alexandria with the aid of Italian units, this was to be a slow grind and painful to watch the Italian army fondle about. This theatre will be explained later, in great pain driven sentences.

The inevitable assault on the Soviet Union was to begin a year earlier than anybody had suspected. To Stalin it must have been a great blow to his awareness of the situation for not just months prior a Pact had been signed between the 2 states. To the rest of the Allies it must have seemed impossible to fathom that Germany could be capable but a sense of urgency to prepare as best as possible must have been an immediate thought to all. After the fall of Paris and shortly after, France, the colonies seceded to any Axis decisions, Bulgaria joined the Axis forces, defences on the French northern coast were prepared and major units railed to the Eastern Front. The move was as discreet as possible and somewhat represented a push into Yugoslavia then Greece. This was not the plan, not in the beginning. Nearly the entire armoured force was moved to the southern route of Kiev, Cherkasy and the Dneiper river and it's approaches to Stalino and Rostov.

The Plan:
The main assault would drive just south of Lvov using the open terrain and punching through any defenders and driving as far and as fast as possible. The Infantry would clean up behind and secure and repair bridges and rail lines. In the Central Front an entirely infantry based force would push past Minsk and Mogiliev bypassing the Pripet marshes that were to be slowly secured using smaller forces. The Northern Front was similar in strategy where an entriely infantry based force would push as far as possible then hold till later reinforcements and new arrivals would strengthen that front enough to push on. The Luftwaffe would pound the forts and the bridges that approached each front, focusing mainly on the southern approaches and supply routes.
In the Mediterranean, Rommel and the Italians would push as hard as they could during the Barbarossa bonuses. The Karelian front was to be secured and fortified to be used later as an approach to northern Russia.
Whether or not Spain would be brought into the war depended on what the Brits did and the options to attack Greece and Yugoslavia also remained questionable. Norway and Denmark would be neutral for awhile so no action would be taken in these areas except for defensive preparations.
A push through to the oilfields is the main focus, the only focus and hopefully my infantry and arriving forces can secure the central and northern fronts long enough to achieve a great victory in the south. Time will tell.

As the weeks went by, German units pushed East as far as they could before the Shock of the events taking place wore off. In the Mediterranean the Italians did not reach as far as I wanted them to and with the lack of transports, some of the Afrika Korps were left in Italian ports for weeks on end till they moved out east. I must assume that with the early DoW on Russia, the units were still plenty supplied and the Afrika Korps received a lot of equipment in a very short time making too bulky to move across water. Finland was shored up as well as France.
During the shock the Brits made a couple of very surprising landings, or attempts around LaRochelle and in the Normandy region but were repulsed quickly.

The Fronts:

The 3rd Army was resonsible for the most northerly region composing of roughly 4 full corps of regular infantry. Capturing the Baltic states was it's main goal.
They were to seize and secure the approaches to Leningrad and hold what ground they could.
The Baltic states were taken all the way up to Narva but were held up at the Pskov Line of forts and were unable to break through without the aid of a southern flanking manoeuvre. Some heavy casualties were expected around the fortified areas. Velikye Luki was just out of reach as well as the shock wore off and the Russians attempted to solidify their lines. Once again, the forts held up the advance as they are designed to. The German 14th Army was tasked to the 3rd's Right flank and it was ordered to capture Minsk, Mogiliev, Orsha and push on to Smolensk then hold until '41 Armour arrived. If an attempt at pushing south from Mogiliev to link up in Gomel with the southern forces were possible, then it would be done but only in a low risk operation.
The German 2nd, 10th and 18th Armies were given the task of securing the southern flank of the Pripet marshes and to secure Kiev and Gomel then if a link up with the northern forces was achieved early enough, a push to Bryansk then Kursk would be a possible gamble before the winter creeps in. With the aid of Hungarian troops and possibly the Light Panzer Corps would be tasked to those Armies to expedite the advance.
The 1st Panzer Army along with the Rumanians and Hungarians and several Regular German Corps were given the task of securing everything south of the Pripet marshes and pushing to Stalingrad before Winter arrived. If capturing the city is possible, then it will most definitely be done.

In the north, the advance went swiftly but mostly in part to the Russians backing up and diggin in along their fort lines. Which was fine with me but the damn forts were really tough. Once the forts were reached, a few attempts at punching thru them drew no success so a flanking manoeuvre around the southern approach was conducted and they were to be bypassed if possible.
Velikye Luki and Pskov were the enemy's main strong points of course and they could be avoided with the flanking manouevre to capture the main route betwen them and the Pripet Marshes.
The Luftwaffe continued Strategic bombings on Bridges and airfields to the approaches of the northern and Central fronts while the south moved quickly to capture the bridges with plenty of engineers following up behind them.

The Central front has been sporadic but I have made several attempts at firming it up and attacking Smolensk but troublesome cut-off Russian divisions still parade in a wee part of the rear but units are cleaning them up to make the advance easier.
The Pripet Marshes have been a slow go but no real enemy presence there just moving and fixing bridges. Gomel has been reached and hopefully linking up with north and south units will begin soon and a stable more cohesive front will be established in the North and Central areas.

In the South, the 1st Pzr armee has been very effective in it's advance capturing and moving on past both Kiev and Cherkasy and crossing the Dneiper in wholesale manner. They pushed the Russian units back farther and secured the Crimean Peninsula and the approach to Rostov and then to Stalingrad. The city of Voroshislov and the river crossings have been secured and the overall advance has been very well executed except for a few minor time drains or a few very severe battles that drained the forces that week. Before Winter, a line up to Stalingrad is the very least that is expected and the securing of Rostov and territory below must be achieved. An assault towards Maikop would be the ultimate for now but he has been railing troops there for a few weeks now and I think it is not achievable at this time.

Overall, a well executed first phase nearly complete, with plans for the second phase in the works most likely involving Moscow or Stalingrad.
In Finland, the Karelian front was shored up and some attacks were conducted but in most parts it is definitely a side show to the main front. Not much to report except maybe a possible capture of Murmansk.
In the end, after the winter arrived, German units along with it’s allied forces swept into the Southern Caucasus mountains and did affect a capture of Maikop but not being able to hold it during the Russian winter offensive, which has been very effective up to present turns (86).
The overall battlefield at present cannot be explained or shown due to obvious reasons but a lead up to and just past the Barbarossa offensive can be explained.
Karelian Front
The Karelian front in the north involving Swedish and Finnish forces has stabilized the front and there was no real threat to Leningrad that I experienced, maybe the allies were a bit worried but I wasn’t because I knew it was a too tough of a battle that would be a turn burner and drain forces. The Kriegsmarine got involved a few times but other than that, just some grueling battles in Finnish forests.


Northern Front
The northern front turned out to be what I generally expected, stopping around the Pskov line but I was hoping to gain a bit more. So far we have been battling it out in this winter long Siege by the Russians but The German units have held and fought back bravely In the cold.

 

[Bdr.Mallette]

Central Front
The Central Front was a tough battle just north of the Pripet marshes. It was expected to be a tough go but clever Russian manoeuvring kept the German forces tied up for several turns that could have been avoided. The advance was made past Gomel and a strong link up with the southern forces was accomplished. The Pripets were cleared of enemy units slowly but surely and the lines were built for advance and winter approaching. The Russian winter offensive has been, well, tasking shall we say.
Strong units have been transported to the needed areas and Spring is on the way.
New plans are being drawn up however in regards to the Russian defensive positioning, which was expected, no plan remains unchanged.





Southern Front
The quick advance on the Southern front was accomplished rather surprisingly but it shall be taken ,with a grain of salt. Crossing of the major rivers was affected by engineers who helped all the way to the Don river. Great strength lies just on the other side and it seems a goading measure. My approach on Maikop all along felt like a trap to lure a lot of units towards Baku then trap them by cutting supply at Rostov….but I may be hallucinating. I took the bonus of materials and shored up my defenses as he rolled up my Hungarian and Bulgarian troops as soon as the winter came. It was not fun to watch but it was predictable. I was surprised to find out, no winter ceasefire or such…just a strong Russian offensive, hmph!
Stalingrad is within reach, relatively but plans change, sometimes… who knows?






North Africa
Well, what can I say!? The Italians were piss poor performers in the desert and have moved back to ElAgheila with 2 divisions of Afrika corps. The rest could not be shipped due to under capacity for the weight of the tanks. The Brits have poured a lot into the desert to fight Rommel and secure the Med but he also still attacks parts of France.
It has been a painful campaign so far and I guess all I can say is “UGH!”




It has been a good fight so far but 1941 is going to be a busy year… Bismark should show up too. Plans have been changed due to the obviousness of the assault on Stalingrad but it still must be taken. Onward and take the 2 cities!!!!

 

[Mark Stevens]

View attachment 34102View attachment 34103View attachment 34104

Without giving away the farm, the three fronts in micro-view at the end of winter 1940-1