Gotterdammerung Scenario AAR - Axis vs AI

After action reports for Time of Fury

Moderators: Slitherine Core, Time of Fury Design

doomtrader
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Post by doomtrader »

It can be modded by even very unexperienced user
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

If you review the last situation map in Italy, note that the British drive towards Rome out of Anzio had two effects: it broke the German line there, but it also placed the advancing British in a tenuous position, if the Germans could rally for a counterattack.

That's exactly what happened. My remaining bombers on the Western Front hit the British hard. Then I hit them with a combined assault of infantry and armor from three directions. They were unable to retreat and were shattered.

Meantime I stripped Greece of half of its occupation force, and shuffled the line, using the nearby railroads, to plug the gap opened up by the British drive farther to the east on the Gustav Line.

My armor in Monte Casino was ordered to abandon that strong position, and fall back. Unfortunately, if the Allies concentrate their attack on the retreating Germans, they will also be unable to escape north.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

On the Eastern Front, the weather continues to hold everyone in check. However, where things are clearer on the borders of Romania and Bulgaria, my limited recon shows a weakness in the Soviet line. I'm going to drive north towards Vinnitsa, hoping to catch some of the Soviet air force before they can rebase. I think it's too much to hope any kind of sustained offensive.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

April 8

the Battle of the Atlantic rages on. 35 Allied STPs sunk, but three more subs lost.

This week two subs were caught on the surface and were unable to flee before British destroyers overtook them. I'd have those captains shot, but ....

First week all the action was in the Bay of Biscay, second week in the Sea of Alberon (east of Gibraltar for those of you who never heard of it before, like me), third week off Shetland Isles and Southern North Sea.
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

The Vinnitsa Offensive continues. The Soviets have been caught unprepared for this early spring assault - perhaps they were unaware of my local superiority in armor. At any rate, their concentration of air units around Vinnitsa is threatened [a test for the AI - it has to be able to rebase under threat - this has been an area needing improvement] and their concentration of armor farther west has now been cut off from rail lines to the east, leaving the whole force in local supply.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

Im hoping that I've succeeded in stabilizing the front in Italy. Once again this week the British have been too aggressive for their own good. Their 13th Corps has been bloodied in a counterattack and forced to retreat. In the meantime, I've spent nigh on to 100 PPs in reinforcing my units along the line.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

mid-May

20 Allied STPs sunk this week, with a loss of two subs.
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

The line west of Odessa had looked stable and secure last week, but the Soviets are not content to leave a sector in stasis. Attacking the juncture between the German and Romanian lines, their armor has sliced through and encircled an entire German corps A bit farther north a German corps has just crumbled under assault, and fallen back from the river defense lines. My offensive towards Vinnitsa is threatened now. I needed that secure right flank.

The Soviets have moved some of their threatened air bases, so the targets for my offensive have fled. Fresh Soviet infantry units have moved into Vinnitsa.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

There's a similar situation in the north, where Smolensk looks ripe for the taking, but farther north and south the Soviets are threatening my less well-defended lines. Smolensk will have little value if I can't hold the flanks.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

The Finish line was holding too, until this last offensive by the Soviets. Short of sending in German reinforcements, which are non-existent, I don't see any way to hold back the Soviets.

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

FYI I have paused this AAR because the image server is down. As soon as that is up, I will resume. It's an exciting time too, because the Allies just made their assault in France, and checking out the strength and followup on that assault is the very purpose of this AAR. Not every WWII game out there, on this strategic scale, can handle it.
Tomokatu
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Post by Tomokatu »

Pause noted. :cry:
cymrusaint
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Post by cymrusaint »

As with all your AAR's, this is great. Will you ever be able to finish it?
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

Yeah, I could at least show you guys what the DDay invasion looks like. At first I paused because of the image server, but now I've paused because of a supply issue I found for the Allies in Italy. I was hoping to get that fixed before continuing. I'll think about continuing for a few turns with the caveat that the Italian theater supply needs some work for the next round of testing.
NotaPacifist
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Post by NotaPacifist »

You refer to the 'image server'. There are a lot of free servers out there...or is there something to do with the game that only allows you to place images in a certain place?
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

I am a creature of habit, and quite lazy. They set me up with a program called 'screenup' which allowed me to very quickly and easily upload and get a link to an image. then they have a server. So always seeking the painfree route, I used it.
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

June 9

The Western Allies have made their big move, crossing the Channel to hit a wide swathe of beaches extending from south of Le Havre to Caen. A secondary landing appears aimed at Cherbourg. So far they have failed to take any of the ports, and are dependent upon fleet supply to the beachheads.

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They have quite a fleet to depend on, too. Our estimates show the following:

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Initial reaction? Contain, contain, contain. At Cherbourg. And also between LeHavre and Caen, where they have failed to push forward from the beachheads.
gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

Now, what to contain the Allies with? I'll have to draw units from other possible landing areas. And from Italy? Or the East?

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gwgardner
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Post by gwgardner »

I've stripped the Atlantic Wall, from Brest to Antwerp, to form a wall around the Allied beachhead. I also counterattacked near Cherbourg.

Unless the Allies can bring up reinforcements, or make tertiary landings at the now abandoned beaches, I'm not at all sure they'll be able to hold on to their position. My position looks rather good.

[playtester's note: I'm thinking that it was too easy to use my RRs to bring forces from the beaches to surround the Allied beachheads. The Allies have overwhelming air superiority. They ought to be able to suppress my rail usage. Ideally Wastelands will add such a rail suppression feature for air power. ]

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NotaPacifist
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Post by NotaPacifist »

Thanks for this AAR. Naval invasions are really poorly modelled in many games.

One of the major contributors to Allied success at Normandy was their ability to suppress road and rail movement during the invasion with the large numbers of fighter-bombers at their disposal since they weren't needed to battle the Luftwaffe. Basically, they more than effectively halved German movement by forcing the Germans to restrict a lot of movement to night time.

This is a tactic I would like to see enabled. Aerial interdiction ( To cut or destroy (a line of communication) by firepower so as to halt an enemy's advance.) happened in many places during the war, but has seldom been practicable in a war game. I think the easiest way to implement it would be for player A to make attacks or commit air units to interdict traffic through an empty hex or hexes. Player B would then have his movement allowance severely reduced by moving through those hexes.

The same thing could happen for rail hexes I imagine.
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