Russia! Why not? (Morvael welcome)

[morvael]

Thanks! It was a collaborative effort. Once I finish this AAR there will be a time for rematch with switched sides.

Only the last few turns were on 1.08.01,. 02 came out after we finished I think.

Did I really wrote this fort joke? I don't remember that [:)]

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: morvael

Thanks! It was a collaborative effort. Once I finish this AAR there will be a time for rematch with switched sides.

Only the last few turns were on 1.08.01,. 02 came out after we finished I think.

Did I really wrote this fort joke? I don't remember that [:)]

Good job then as SHC

[morvael]

I will be GHC in the new game.

[morvael]

Turn 188 (January 18th, 1945)

Enemy forces between Klagenfurt and Wiener Neustadt are cut off from rail and will have to retreat on foot through the Tauer Mountains. Units of 64th Army reach the outskirts of Wien. 3rd Army enters Bratislava, left by German units one day earlier. Entire 4th Ukrainian Front, with three Guards armies is disengaging and moving north, to join the Berlin operation:

[morvael]

1st and 3rd Belarussian Fronts provide cover for the armies advancing on Berlin. Their secondary task is to cross the Sudeten Mountains and enter Czech lands:

[morvael]

Bunzlau, Neusalz and Sagan are captured by the "Tank Front" (all eleven Tank Armies operating together, assisted by cavalry forces of the 1st and 3rd Shock Army). Goerlitz is nearly surrounded. Only the Spree river has to be forded now, in order to open the direct route to Berlin. 2nd Belarussian and North Caucasus Fronts move in the wake of the mobile force, to provide cover and the means to take the German capital. Breslau "fortress" is no more, another heavy blow to the shaking German morale. 16 divisions are lost there, including the elite 1st Hermann Goering Panzer Division, as well as 31st SS Grenadier Division, 8th and 100th Jaeger Divisions, 1st Luftwaffe Field Division together with 11 regular infantry divisions. The same number of divisions were lost in the Zhitomir encirclement last year, but half of these were Hungarian and there were no panzer divisions in the bag. This means the loss of Breslau garrison is the greatest single blow suffered by the Wehrmacht during the entire war. Hitler hides in his underground bunker and vows to use Wunderwaffen to turn the tide of the war, but even his most loyal praetorians do not believe this:

[morvael]

Soviet cavalry attack between Zbaszyn and Deutsch-Krone gains momentum, even as desperate German defenders try to stem the tide - to no avail. Further north an unopposed advance continues. The territory of pre-war Poland is now fully occuppied, er... free of the nazi invaders:

[morvael]

Truck situation slowly detoriates, as more and more vehicles are damaged due to relentless advance in difficult weather conditions.

Strength:
men: 11 603 763 vs 3 229 252
guns: 205 152 vs 36 632
AFVs: 22 960 vs 9 697
aircraft: 21 681 vs 1 499

Trucks:
in units: 315 958 / 326 864 (96.66%)
in the pool: 215 815 / 223 523 (96.55%)
in repair: 155 555

Losses:
killed: 39 468 vs 10 346
captured: 490 vs 119 880
disabled: -788 vs 6 336
guns: 927 vs 2 470
AFVs: 999 vs 253
aircraft: 290 vs 61

Including:
in combat: 179 vs 40
from AA: 33 vs 1
on the ground: 0 vs 6
operational: 78 vs 14

[morvael]

Note, the goal of the "tank front" is now to make a big hole in the German lines and reach Berlin, fancy encirclements are no longer the target. So they have to push German stacks aside and open a 4-5 hex wide corridor to the capital. This is all done in order to finish the war before spring/mud break, before the truck pools will be exhausted, and before the end of March'45 - to get "Major Victory" level. The actual result of course isn't very important to me, as someone clever said: "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome." It's just that I set such a goal for myself for the final phase and want to make it happen according to my plan.

[morvael]

Turn 189 (January 25th, 1945)

The attack on Wien begins. Some probes were launched to disrupt industry in the city, with no hope of capturing it yet. To the west, mountain troops take Klagenfurt and follow the withdrawing enemy units across the Tauern Mountains:

[morvael]

Olmutz and Prerau are taken, and Soviet riflemen regroup to ford the Morava river next week. Sokolovsky's 9th Guards Army captures Mährisch Schönberg 50 miles to the north:

[morvael]

Armored spearhead driving to Berlin is unstoppable and advances 40-60 miles across a broad front. Foot units from 2nd Belarussian Front try to advance as fast as the tanks, to cover their flank and rear, but even though they march day and night, a gap opens near Goerlitz. Cottbus, Guben, Finsterwalde and Lubben fall into Red Army's hands. 9th Tank Army is near Mittenwalde now, barely 30 miles from the German capital. Two enemy infantry divisions are cut off in Rotherburg by the cavalry armies advancing from the east and south west:

[morvael]

2nd Light SU Brigade enters Kolberg, and at the same time 1st Light SU Brigade enters Belgard. Even though German units reached their next well-fortified defensive line, they are already outflanked from the south and will have to continue their retreat towards Stettin:

[morvael]

Truck situation becomes critical. Units have less than 90% of needed vehicles, while rear services can only muster 79% of the required number. To counter this 1 armored division (Rumanian) and 43 light SU brigades are disbanded, with the rest to follow soon.

Strength:
men: 11 739 497 vs 3 088 002
guns: 207 564 vs 35 681
AFVs: 22 935 vs 9 686
aircraft: 21 663 vs 1 616

Trucks:
in units: 296 780 / 330 767 (89.72%)
in the pool: 214 721 / 270 207 (79.47%)
in repair: 168 707

Losses:
killed: 36 160 vs 7 748
captured: 384 vs 151
disabled: -6 225 vs 1 763
guns: 722 vs 675
AFVs: 1 090 vs 156
aircraft: 235 vs 52

Including:
in combat: 167 vs 29
from AA: 14 vs 0
on the ground: 0 vs 2
operational: 54 vs 21

[loki100]

looking at your inset map (I do realise this not the real point of your recent posts), presume the forces to the east of the Carpathians are that late game Polish army but what do you have hanging around Moscow? Is it just the various fixed HQ formations?

[morvael]

You are right about 2nd Polish Army. Around Moscow is my air morale recovery training center. Several bases under Moscow Air Command with good leader. Wasted units from the front go to reserve, then to those bases and back to reserve.

[morvael]

I wrote about it in some post a while back. I used them since early 1942, with a pause in 1943, but once I started bombing air bases I had to restart it.

[gingerbread]

ORIGINAL: morvael

You are right about 2nd Polish Army. Around Moscow is my air morale recovery training center. Several bases under Moscow Air Command with good leader. Wasted units from the front go to reserve, then to those bases and back to reserve.

Is this to get the bonus morale boost when moving to reserve or do units recover/gain more morale when on map than in reserve?

[morvael]

I think it works both ways. They recover quite quickly. Every move to reserve gives +5 I think, turn at airfield also gives something. I did this recycling for all units under morale 60 as long as reserves lasted in the national reserve for years of the game. Quite good at rising average quality, if you have the patience.

[morvael]

Turn 190 (February 1st, 1945)

62nd Army, assisted by 64th and 66th Armies, launches two attacks on Wien. Both are repulsed by Generaloberst Heinrici's masterful use of reserve 17th Panzer and 78th Sturm Divisions. In the resulting bloodbath, nearly 6000 Soviet casualties are exchanged for just 550 defenders. The city is almost surrounded now, its fate sealed, despite fanatical resistance. Already the city's factories lie in ruins, destroyed by artillery barrages: