Towards the edge of destruction with hooooper and Blubel

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

Moderators: Joel Billings, Sabre21

Post Reply
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

Towards the edge of destruction with hooooper and Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Turn 1

The disaster on the frontiers. Here's the situation in the north.



Image
Attachments
TurnonenorthBS.jpg
TurnonenorthBS.jpg (320.92 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Riga, which contains the whole of NW Front's high command, ground and air, has been cut off, the Baltic States' ports have been taken and Sobennikov's 8th Army has been trapped in the Tuckums pocket. On a more positive note, the panzers have not made it across the Daugava.

The centre, before Soviet moves. Not much chance of breaking this pocket.



Image
Attachments
TurnonecentreBS.jpg
TurnonecentreBS.jpg (284.61 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

The situation in the south.

It's the Lvov pocket, of course, but without the Zhitomir encirclement.



Image
Attachments
TurnonesouthBS.jpg
TurnonesouthBS.jpg (462.75 KiB) Viewed 330 times
Blubel
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:39 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by Blubel »

Just wanted to say "HI" and good luck with the AAR!
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Soviet responses ...

In the north

Riga is evacuated of its many generals and commissars, the Stalin line is manned,and the Tuckum pocket is opened. In the rear, three divisions are sent to the Valdai hills under 41st Rifle Corp, which is given a couple of sapper regiments an RR battalion to help it dig what will probably become the main line of resistance. On the Northern Front, I'm planning to fight the Finn when they activate, so a couple of SAD airbases are railed to Salmi and put under the Norther Fleets headquarters. Everyone who doesn't look busy is sent to the Luga line to prepare the outermost defences of Leningrad.



Image
Attachments
NorthAS.jpg
NorthAS.jpg (495.57 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

In the centre, I couldn't break the pocket, so a line of cooks and bottlewashers is thrown across the landbridge and Western Front's western forces start trudging east.

Image
Attachments
CetntreAS.jpg
CetntreAS.jpg (536.83 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

In the south

The pocket is opened and almost the whole of the southern forces are reprieved for a turn, and a couple of weak lines are thrown up behind rivers. A precarious position, and possibly not the right decision. There's one school of thought that says its better to leave the pocket pocketed in the hope of a quick death and an early resurrection, around turns 12 and 13 when the Soviet position is usually critical. This may well be right, but it just feels wrong, so I've gone for the psychologically plausible option of trying to rescue the armies; if nothing else they'll be a nuisance for the Axis infantry for one more turn.

Meanwhile, in the deep south the 9th Army is activated and begins the long walk east.

Image
Attachments
SouthAS.jpg
SouthAS.jpg (543.44 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

The main command decisions are to put Vatutin in charge of the 11th Army, which is in charge of defending the Stalin line and will be the key army in defending Leningrad. Tolbukhin takes over 20th Army, which is going to be the main first echelon defender of the landbridge. A further decision is taken to postpone the assignment of Zhukov until it's clearer which theatre is in the greatest danger. The same goes for the strategic reserve, which is the Orel Military District's forces.

As for the airwar, I've gone for the following doctrine in the hope of fighting a war of attrition with the Luftwaffe fighters, which seem to be very keen on interdiction.



Image
Attachments
Flightdoctrine.jpg
Flightdoctrine.jpg (89.78 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Turn 2

North



Image
Attachments
bigpicturenorthAS.jpg
bigpicturenorthAS.jpg (429.36 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Centre, before Soviet moves



Image
Attachments
northcentrebs.jpg
northcentrebs.jpg (361.56 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

And after

Image
Attachments
bigpicturenorthAS.jpg
bigpicturenorthAS.jpg (429.36 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

South

Image
Attachments
South.jpg
South.jpg (369.78 KiB) Viewed 330 times
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

The situation in the north and centre are fairly standard, as far as I can see. My opponent is playing fairly conservatively - no t2 assault on Vitebsk - and has yet to show his hand. In the south, the Axis have punished my rather uncertain last move, and pocketed the line of troops that was rushed up to the Front. If it's any consolation, and it isn't, I did tell myself so. However, because running for the river now would allow the Germans conveniently to eliminate the whole of my forces in the western Ukraine, I open the pockets with a couple of sharp attacks, isolte a group of mechanised divisions and move the Southern Front in a north easterly direction to cover the immediate approaches to the Dneiper. This might be another wrong move, but at least I'm being consistently wrong.

The likely result is that the Germans will keep a strong initiative here and will probably be across the Dneiper by t6, or will be able to launch themselves south towards D and Z and the Black Sea, another strong option. I'm tempted to commit the strategic reserve (the Orel MD's 21st Army) to the Kiev axis, but decide I can wait for a turn or two.

Image
Attachments
bigpicturesouth.jpg
bigpicturesouth.jpg (311.07 KiB) Viewed 330 times
User avatar
gingerbread
Posts: 3055
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:25 am
Location: Sweden

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by gingerbread »

Be careful with the mountain unit in Rumania so that you do not you unfreeze a lot of Axis minors.
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Good point. And btw I forgot to thank my opponent for his encouragement with this, my first AAR. I also forgot to mention that I managed to get Vasily Kuznetzov killed by displacing 3rd Army while it was in the Pripet. This is a heavy blow. His successor, General Klyavinsh, is a most depressing character, and I doubt that his men would follow him into a bar on payday.

Image
Attachments
Klyvanish.jpg
Klyvanish.jpg (42.51 KiB) Viewed 330 times
User avatar
Peltonx
Posts: 5814
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:24 am
Contact:

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by Peltonx »

Weak opening by GHC in North and center. South is ok.

Thiis will be a short game, once you commit to south I think the attack will competely stall out.
Beta Tester WitW & WitE
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Well this might sound odd, but I would rather the German player had a good 1941, for the reason that it leads to a much more tense, enjoyable and historically accurate game. As long as they don't do too well, of course: that would just be depressing [:D]
User avatar
Baelfiin
Posts: 2983
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:07 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by Baelfiin »

Good to see you doing an AAR hooper, your occupation of my berlin is still one of my fondest memories 8)
"We are going to attack all night, and attack tomorrow morning..... If we are not victorious, let no one come back alive!" -- Patton
WITE-Beta
WITW-Alpha
The Logistics Phase is like Black Magic and Voodoo all rolled into one.
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Ah, you were just a Matrix trooper in them days ...
hooooper_slith
Posts: 514
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:49 pm

RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel

Post by hooooper_slith »

Turn 3

Leningrad: a lightning lunge by one of PG4's panzer korp has brought it to within a few miles of Leningrad. I always used to get 27th Army organised and order it to mount a proper defence against the left hook, but in game after game nobody ever went up that way, and 27th had to sheepishly retreat anyway in order to man the west of the Luga line against the attack that had broken through Pskov. So the very first time I don't bother organising the 27th, here are the Germans.

Image
Attachments
Leningradeek.jpg
Leningradeek.jpg (461.83 KiB) Viewed 330 times
Post Reply

Return to “After Action Reports”