Gotterdammerung, GC 43-45 Xhoel (Axis) vs Hghx-0 (WA)

[xhoel]

T28

No enemy attacks were launched so there was no update for this turn.

T29, 15th January-22nd January 1944.
Italy

The enemy launched a surprise attack against the Bifena Line and managed to capture the port city of Salerno. The defenders of the city (3rd/148th Reserve ID) have taken very heavy losses due to being outnumbered 10:1, outgunned 8:1 and because they had to endure constant naval bombardments as well as air attacks. The unit has been decimated in the fighting and has ceased to exist as an effective formation. By sheer luck and because of the bad terrain the enemy has been unable to capture Napoli which was undefended at the time. We have rushed the 5th Mountain division as well as the 15th PzGren Division to close the gaps immediately. 2 Infantry Divisions that just arrived in northern Italy will be sent to the Bifena line ASAP.

Meanwhile recon and intelligence have picked up a major build up in the Foggia sector and we expect attacks to be conducted in the Termoli sector as well. To help defend against such attacks we have deployed mountain regiments in the area and reinforced them with elite Italian Infantry Battalions.







In the Piombino sector something is brewing as well. Recon and Intelligence has picked up a major build up of enemy forces and we suspect that the WA will attempt to push in force so they can break out of the beachhead. We have repositioned some of our forces so as to reinforce the weak spots and deny the enemy an easy fight. Next week should see major offensives in both sectors.



Rainy weather over Italy next week while snowfalls continue over the Reich.



Casualties:

[John B.]

Good to see this AAR back on track!

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Good to see this AAR back on track!

Thanks John! The next few turns should get very interesting as the WA try to push out of the beachhead and also press from the south. Stay tuned!

[xhoel]

T30, 22nd of January-29th January 1944.
Air Europe.

The enemy continues to hit the coal mines as well as the Industry plants in the Ruhr even though the weather over Europe remains bad (snowfall). Our nightfighters have been busy intercepting British night raids to good success and more air groups should be reinforcing the night fighter defenses next week while our single seat fighters have not seen any action yet.
We are having small shortages of resources, 42 HI locations did not have enough resources for production.

[xhoel]

Italy

In central Italy, the WA made a strong push south of the beachhead, pushing the 272nd ID back and causing heavy losses to them. They followed up with other attacks (3 of them) all of which were held back by the 272nd ID. This was mostly due to heavy mud on the ground, which prevented the enemy from using their full strength on the attack and the fact that our forces were entrenched in a level 2 fort. They still took heavy losses because of Naval Gunfire and have been pulled back to Rome for R&R.

Positions at the start of the week:



Hold by the 272nd ID:



TOE of the 272nd ID, left turn 29, right, turn 30:



The enemy concentration and strength pushing towards Rome is disturbing to say the least. To counter this threat, mechanized formations have been pushed to the defense. The 12th SS Pz and the 90th PzGren Divisions have taken positions on the coastal hex north-west of Rome. They are susceptible to Naval gunfire as well as bombing runs from the air. They need to hold their positons as they are the only land connection to the port of Civitavechia. Meanwhile the port itself has been reinforced by the Lehr Motorized Brigade and should hold until reinforcements come. We may need to give it up if the enemy keeps pushing here.

The flanks at Viterbo have been reinforced by the 29th PzGren Division but they may need more forces in order to hold back enemy attacks.

Because the threat towards the Italian capital is so big right now, Luftflotte 2 has been ordered to deploy fighters in the Rome area and has done so, deploying 201 single seat fighters in the sector, which should be able to deterr enemy air attacks.



The enemy pushed in the Vasto sector as expected, forcing the 2/157th Mtn Division to retreat. Another attack further north failed. The Schmalz PzGren Brigade is moving to the area to help strengthen the defenses and there is no doubt that the enemy will attempt to attack here again.

In the Napoli area, the 266th ID was transferred to Napoli to reinforce the defenses of the city. The enemy has a strong concentration of forces in the area and they will probably attempt an attack on the port city if the weather allows.

Positions at the start of the week:



Positions at the end of the week:

[xhoel]

Casualties and weather:

[xhoel]

T31, 29th of January-5th of February 1945
Air Europe

The enemy continues to target the Ruhr and our night fighters have been busy intercepting British night raids to good effect. We have lost 17 NF in the defense. More air groups are being deployed to the area.

Italy

The enemy attacked our lone regiments in the Vasto area routing 1 and forcing another one to retreat thus opening a hole in the defense here. Our units took very heavy losses, the routed regiment was completely depleted.

To help close the gap in the area, both Fliegerkorps II and Luftflotte 2 were ordered to fly interdiction missions in the area, to slow down the enemy advance. We lost 23 bombers in the process both to A2A combat and to Flak fire. However at the end of the day, the enemy forces were interdicted heavily. Interdiction numbers are noted in the map. The air groups have been pulled back to North Italy.







The Schmalz PzGren Brigade counterattacked the Italian Motorized Group that was acting as a vanguard for the WA, routing it in the process and inflicting heavy losses on them. 2 Infantry Divisions have arrived in the Piombino sector from Rome and 2 Motorized Brigades have arrived from North Italy. These forces are being used to close the gap. More reinforcements should arrive in the following weeks. The enemy is in a good position to exploit our weakness in the sector. We expect the 2nd US Armored division to join the fight next week as well.



The commander of the XIV Panzer Corps General Hube, tasked with defending Napoli was sacked and replaced by Generalmajor Erich Abraham.

In the Piombino sector the heavy mud has turned to light mud, and we expect heavy attacks next week. Some of our forces have been repositioned to reinforce weak areas.

[xhoel]

Overview and casualties:

Casualties were heavy this week due to the strong WA attacks. Unfortunately in WitW the losses screen is reset once you open it so I cannot show you casualties at the end of the turn. I will show you casualties at the start of it though:

[CaptBeefheart]

Great AAR! I just caught up. You and Tankbushido have rekindled my interest in this game.

It seems like he has a lot of D-Day forces committed to the northern Italy invasion. I wonder how that will play out.

Cheers,
CB

[xhoel]

Thanks for the kind comment!

Yes he has committed a lot of forces in Italy, which he will probably start pulling back soon, if he wants to be ready for the France landing. We only need to hold for a couple of weeks.

Stay tuned, the next update will be posted either today or tomorrow.

[xhoel]

T32, 5th of February-12th of February 1944.
Air Europe

The WA have switched their bombing targets and hit V Weapon launch sites in France damaging them heavily. 2 out of the 6 sites will be operational next week, the other ones will be out of action for a bit. The biggest launch site at Cherbourg has been put on priority repairs.






Italy

The enemy did not press forward in the Termoli area, due to heavy German Interdiction but chose to attack further south, near Napoli. The 5th Mountain Division, who after being bombed heavily from the air, held back 2 separate attacks by 4 divisions took the brunt of the enemys wrath. The division took heavy losses and needs to be pulled off the line for R&R, however the critical situation does not allow that. They will have to stay on the front and have been reinforced by an Ost Infantry Battalion to bolster their bayonet strength.

Northwest of this position, the Allies were more successful. An attack by the 2nd US Armored Division, the 8th Indian Infantry Division and 2 French Mountain Regiments managed to push back the 3rd Regiment of the 188th Mountain Division, inflicting heavy losses on the German defenders.

We have given ground where possible, but are determined to hold Napoli and won't give the city up without a fight. The 275th ID has arrived in the sector and should reach the front next week.



5th Mountain Division TOE:



Bifena after:



In the Piombino sector, the defenders of the port of Civitavecchia have been reinforced by the 416th ID. We will not give up the port without a fight. The LW has flown interdiction missions in the enemy rear in order to hamper the flow of supply to their forward units, which will need good amounts of ammo in the upcoming attack.





Some of the screenshots show the maps without weather conditions so it appears as if the weather is clear. It isn't. In Italy it's rain and light mud. Soft factors have been toggled to show ammo levels.

[xhoel]

Casualties and weather reports:

[Searry]

I'll be keeping an eye on this one! Nice AAR.
Could you show the victory screen?

[xhoel]

Thanks for the kind words Searry.

Sure, here you go:

[Searry]

It's looking pretty good!

[EwaldvonKleist]

Continues to be a fine AAR. Compared with the history you seem in a slightly better shape with naples still in your hand, even if the big bridgehead North of Rome looks a bit menacing?
Inner lines could become your best friend...

[xhoel]

@Searry: First time playing the GC so I don't really know what a good VP situation looks like, but I'll take your word for it

@EvK: Thanks for the nice words! Napoli is in my hands...for now. I am fighting against time there really, once the WA make a strong push they will be able to capture the city. You can tell how battered the 5th Mtn Division is after holding back two attacks. More attacks like these and I will be forced to give ground and shorten the lines.

The Bridgehead is indeed very menacing and has a lot of strong units, the sheer amount of troops in it is very high. I aim to hold my positions till March, with the belief that the WA will have to transfer many of these units to GB for the summer invasion of France.

Cheers!

[xhoel]

T33 and T34
Air update

Due to the fact that there was no action on the ground during turn 33 and turn 34 these two turns will only deal with the air portion of the war.

Turn 33, 12th of February-19th of February 1944.

The British Bomber Command launched night raids targeting the V-Weapon Factories in north-eastern Germany. The enemy has suffered heavy losses due to the bad weather conditions, flak and night fighter interceptions. They have managed to bring the factory at Greifswald (the biggest one in Germany, size 20) to 50% damage. The other factories have not been affected or have been affected very little as shown below:



The Americans have also launched raids in France targeting V-Weapon Launch platforms to good effect. We have no fighters in the area so only flak is countering the American raids.







The WA launched heavy raids on our airfields in central Italy causing heavy losses to recon aircraft and tactical bombers. Raids and losses are shown below. This has forced us to pull back our air groups to northern Italy for R&R. It should not be a problem replacing said losses since we have plenty of aircraft in the pools.





Losses at the end of turn 33:



T34, 19th of February-26th of February 1944.

The Americans launched raids against our AFV factories in the Hannover sector damaging the production of Panther A by 56% and StuG IIIG by 47%. There are no fighters in the area to counter the strong enemy presence but we might allocate assets here to protect the AFV factories. The enemy took heavy losses again due to bad weather conditions. It is worth noticing that the enemy is able to conduct massive raids of upwards to 2.000 aircraft and if we want to counter this kind of force we will have to deploy all of our fighters in the sector.



For the second week in a row, the WA continue their raids on Railyards and ports in south Italy. Fears of an invasion have gripped Army Group C. Kesserling has ordered reserves to move to the coast and hold their ground there.







Weather over Northern Europe will be heavy rains for next week so we don't expect any raids but at the same time the weather over Italy will be clear so if the WA want to launch an invasion, this is the perfect time to do so.

[xhoel]

I just noticed that some of the pictures in the AAR are blurred due to the ridiculous rules employed by Photobucket. I will try to substitute them with their clear versions in the following days if time allows.

Also it seems that the AAR won't continue for now. I have sent my turn on the 17th of August and was informed by my opponent on the 26th of August that he would need more time to do his go and I assured him that that was ok and that he could take his time.

On the 17th of September I shot him an email asking how the turn is looking as as of today (27th of September) have not received an answer yet. I just sent another email asking about the turn and will post an update if I receive an answer.

Cheers!

[EwaldvonKleist]

Not good to hear.
Regarding images, I recommend my method of opening an image saving thread in the mod subforum where Max file sizes are generous.
On this way pictures in tge AAR do not disappear unless the forum is deleted-and in this case it does not matter anymore. I do this for my Stalingrad AAR and it works well.