Battlefield Europe - Barbarossa Redux (Level General)

[GeneralWerner]

Next time I would send half of the troops to England. But without intelligence (not implemented in the game) or experience from earlier plays it is difficult to guess the right number of units.

The Tiger makes the Tunis battlefield relaxing. He does not have to do more than standing around. The Americans are coming to him. Covered by artillery and fighters and flanked by 8,8ers the defense is comfortable. But as you said he is really missing in the east.

I am preparing my next reports. Two things I would improve next time. I have to find a solution to get a feet in the Near East early in the game. I want to have the prestige from these oil fields. And I attacked Leningrad much too late.

[GeneralWerner]

Berlin – September 25 1943 – Headquarter of the OKW.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk and looks at the huge strategic map that his staff has prepared at the wall. Somehow surprising that in summer 43 suddenly several naval campaigns became obvious. To attack Gibraltar lies on the hand. But Guderian’s idea to attack Leningrad from the north (by transporting a lot of German troops over the Baltic Sea) and not from the south and Rommel’s idea to bypass the British defense by invading the Nile delta are uncommon moves. That is why they will be successful. Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is satisfied and starts to read the newest OKW reports.


Heeresgruppe West and the German Kriegsmarine
Operation Seelöwe is done! The war in the west is over. We have already sent all planes and tanks to the east and the whole Kriegsmarine is handed over to the Mediterranean Sea command.
For the next six month: We only have to fight partisans.


Germany, Das Reich
Nothing to report.


The Mediterranean Sea
The Italian fleet is entering the western Mediterranean Sea with the target Gibraltar. A combined attack with the German Kriegsmarine will send all British and American battleships to the ground of the sea. The Kriegsmarine is approaching Gibraltar from the west. Invasion troops will recapture the cities at the western African coast.

Atlantic September 43: The German Kriegsmarine will soon end all Anglo-American hopes for a successful campaign in Africa near Gibraltar. After that a part of the fleet will enter the Mediterranean Sea. The rest will patrol the Atlantic from Scandinavia down to Africa.

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The Kampfgruppe Steiner is successfully holding Tunisia against the American invasion that landed end of 1942 near Casablanca.

Tunis, September 43: Oberst Steiner is extending his defense line to allow not too many American troops to bypass Tunis and further approach to the east. Especially the American infantry troops are very dangerous.

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For the next six month: Hold Tunis and start to recapture Africa.


Balkan
The Axis is fighting Partisans.

Nothing special planned for the next six month.


Afrika Korps
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel – the desert fox - has stopped the British counter attack (operation Crusader) and started to invade Egypt. He is surprising the British defense with a naval maneuver (operation Dattel) by landing 100.000 men in the Nile delta and will attack the strong British defense line at El Alamein from both sides.

Nile, September 43: Rommel’s invasion in the Nile delta has started. When the troops will leave the Nile delta and attack the British defense at El Alamain the rest of the Afrika Korps will attack from the west. Montgomery will be feared to death when he realises this plan.

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In the next six month: The Akrika Korps will capture Egypt and as soon as possible approach to the Near East.

[GeneralWerner]

Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Finnish Allies, Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
The troops of General Guderian, General Hoth and General von Manstein were in a very dramatic situation at the eastern front. The Russians continuously attacked the Wehrmacht in 1942 and in 1943 at the whole front line and with the first snow 42 the Russian offensive was reinforced again with outnumbered tanks, infantry and artillery. The German defense line in the East is still Moscow - Kaluga - Orel - Kursk - Belgorod - Kharkov – Dnipropretrovsk. The most critical point was around May 43 when the Red Army tank troops were massively supported by artillery and bombers.

Eastern front, May 43: The Red Army nearly breaks the German defense line at Kursk and Belgorod. Brave German infantry and scout divisions fill the holes in the defense line to protect the valuable artilleries.

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Now in September 43 we got the situation again better under control. The six Panzer divisions from England came back and already three Panther divisions are causing horror in the Red Army tank forces. Also many fighters and bombers from England are now fighting at the eastern front. But still the Russian Air Force is a powerful opponent and in the air it is a draw currently.
In the south Odessa was captured (we attacked with nearly 200.000 men) and now the infantry troops prepare for the attack on the Crimea and Sevastopol.
In the north Guderian has begun the attack on Leningrad. As we need all our tanks in the east the OKW has decided to attack Leningrad mainly with infantry, artillery and strategic bombers and to avoid tank battles. If we capture the city from the north we hope to lure the strong Red Army tank forces into the city to destroy them in street fights.

Leningrad, September 43: German troops were transported from Tallin to Helsinki over the Baltic Sea. Together with the Finnish troops they attack Leningrad from the north.

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The Finnish troops will attack Leningrad together with the Germans.

The plan for the next six month: Hold the defense line in the east against Russian counter attacks. Capture Leningrad and start to attack in the very south of the front line. Upgrade the equipment to the modern variants. Especially the Panther tanks showed their high impact.


Global summary
Following our campaign “England first” the Wehrmacht has defeated the English mainland and now invades Egypt. Newest intelligence reports tell that Churchill is still in Cairo and the British Royal family fled to Ottawa, Canada.
Tunis will be defended by all means. The American invasion in North Africa will be repelled. The Anglo-American fleets near Gibraltar will be destroyed.
Our campaign in the east is still completely stopped by the Red Army in the centre. We start with first attacks in the north (Leningrad) and in the south (Crimea)
Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz looks forward to have a “private talk” in Berlin with the American General Eisenhower (commanding in Tunisia) and the British Field Marshal Montgomery (commanding in Egypt).

September 1943: Blue: Defending / Red: Attacking / Green: Naval moves.

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[GeneralWerner]

Berlin – April 23 1944 – Headquarter of the OKW.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk. Currently Field Marshal Montgomery has left the room. As expected he did not say much. Montgomery is now going to a high rank POW camp to a secret castle deep in the Austrian Alps. The British Field Marshal was captured in El Alamain when the encircled British troops surrendered. Currently Oberst Steiner is currently hunting General Patton and General Eisenhower in North Africa.
Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is very satisfied and starts to read the newest OKW reports.


Heeresgruppe West
Nothing to report.


Germany, Das Reich
Nothing to report.


The Mediterranean Sea
The Italian and German fleet have destroyed many British and American battle fleets near Gibraltar and are now on the way to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The British have sneaked in a small fleet through the Suez Channel. These ships have to be found and destroyed before the landing operation in the Near East can start.
The Kampfgruppe Steiner supported by tactical bombers and some battleships is destroying the last American troops in Africa. Already the first troops are embarking to travel to Italy and from there to the eastern front. Steiner stall lead the attack on Stalingrad.
For the next six month: End the war in Africa and transfer the heavy weapons including the Tiger tanks to the Stalingrad area.


Balkan
Nothing to report.


Afrika Korps
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel – the desert fox - has easily broken the British defense at El Alamain and captured Field Marshal Montgomery. Now his troops are moving to the Suez Channel and conquer the rest of Egypt.
In the next six month: Approach to the Near East.

Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Finnish Allies, Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
In spring 1944 the attacks of the Russians became weaker and the Wehrmacht switched back from defensive to the offensive in the central and southern frontline. Soon the command will come for the troops in Moscow to attack and move east to the Oka River. In total seven Panther divisions are fighting at the eastern front.
Operation Ikarus has shocked the Russian Air Force. We have transferred more than 1000 planes (mostly fighters) from the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern front. They were gathered at airports in the hinterland and stroke together with our eastern Luftwaffe and the anti air Flak stations against the incoming Russians bomber and fighter forces. Not many Soviet planes fled back to the east on this day.
In the north the attack on Leningrad is ongoing. Guderian has already destroyed the whole artillery, the Flak, the battleship and the fort of Leningrad. The Finish troops have captured the northern part of Leningrad. Now Guderian is decimating infantry and tank divisions of the Russians one after the other mainly with heavy artillery and strategic bomber strikes followed by infantry attacks. Some tactical bombers are on the way to Leningrad to increase the attack power against the tank divisions.

Leningrad, April 1944: Half of the work is done.

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The plan for the next six month: Attack to the east with all forces.


Global summary
We hope to end this war in the East and the Near East in 1945 in the same way the operation Barbarossa begun mid of 1941: with Blitzkrieg.

April 1944: Blue: Defending line of the Wehrmacht in the east for two years / Red: Attacking / Green: Naval moves.

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Russia, April 1944: Order of battle for the Luftwaffe at the eastern front. Operation Ikarus has outnumbered the Russian Air Force (red dots) by 27 fleets of the Luftwaffe (black dots). 7 fleets stay in the Mediterranean battlefield and will support our attack to the Near East.

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[jinxed75]

Great Stuff, you've made it through the worst. You don't have to fear much from the russians from now on. There will be the occasional IS-2s, SU-152s und Guard Infs, but they just trickle in, and are pretty easy to take on.
You could have taken Leningrad in Winter/Spring '43 with just the finnish troops (and some Bomber support) if you hadn't opted against using your east sea fleet. It would have been good target practice for the Tirpitz and the Hipper, too. But, in the end, it doesn't matter.
Only one more thing: Hurry up! Getting to Baghdad takes more time, than it seems at a first glance. And bring some FW190 A-models, you need long range fighters to escort your Bombers, as there are still 2 British fighter squads around the Baghdad area.
I followed a different strategy than you did, as I defended Tunis with the complete Afirica Corps, while dispatching an Expedition Corps from the eastern front at Turn 60 to land in Palestine.
Well, it would have worked, if weren't for that damn Partisan spam in Greece and Yugoslavia, which brought my train convoy towards Athens to a halt for a couple of turns. So my campaign ended at the outskirts of Baghdad in T99.
From the looks of it, you can make it, though. Good luck

[GeneralWerner]

Stalingrad – November 19 1944 – In front of the firing squad.

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union, is standing in front of a brick wall somewhere in Stalingrad and the cold rain lets him shiver. He feels very unwell. Stalin has told him one year ago that if the Germans capture Leningrad and Zhukov can’t recapture Moscow or break the German frontline in 1944 he will find himself in front of a firing squad.

Zhukov has sent his best men to free Moscow in the last 18 month but the Germans tenaciously defended the city and the Red Army troops never could enter the city.

Zhukov has sent his best battle tank troops supported by infantry, artillery and bombers to attack Army Group Centre and break through near Kharkov. And in April 1944 they nearly made it. But then came this cursed day in April when the sky was filled with German fighter and bomber planes along the whole front line and the Soviet Air Force was pulverized. From that day the Red Army had lost the initiative and slowly had to retreat.

In July 1944 Leningrad was lost. The Germans and Finish had attacked it from the north and the strong Red Army tank forces protecting the city in the south were outmaneuvered. One day after the loss of Leningrad Zhukov was imprisoned. Even in his prison here in Stalingrad Zhukov heard in summer and fall 1944 about German troops west of the city. The Don River protected the city but it seemed also that the Germans did not really want to attack the city … not yet.

And today, November 19 1944, it is the day. Zhukov is closing his eyes and listens to the commanding voice: “Raise your rifles … aim … FIRE!”. For Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union, the great Patriotic War is over.

Far away in Berlin Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk and starts to read the newest OKW reports.


Heeresgruppe West
Strong partisan forces attacked the Wehrmacht in France and England but we have enough infantry there to repel them.


Germany, Das Reich
Nothing to report.


The Mediterranean Sea
German battleships and tactical bombers attacked the fort of Gibraltar for the last months.

The Kampfgruppe Steiner has finished the Americans in North Africa. In July 44 in a tank battle near Oran the eccentric American General Patton fought with his last M4A1 tanks Oberst Steiner’s Tiger tanks. It was a short fight and Patton became a prisoner of war. After that the whole rest of Steiner’s troops including the Tigers were transfer to the eastern front.


Balkan
Nothing to report.


Afrika Korps and the Kriegsmarine
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel has defeated the British troops at the Suez Channel, crossed the channel, captured Jerusalem and is now attacking Beirut.

In the next six month: Attack north supported by the battleships. In parallel send a strong force through the desert in direction Baghdad.


Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Finnish Allies, Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
In 1944 we attacked at the whole front line and captured more and more cities.
We have the total air supremacy at the eastern front.
In the north Leningrad was conquered and in the south the attack on Sevastopol started.
Now in November 44 the main part of the front line moved back in safe positions waiting for the first snow and the expected Russian winter offensive.

The plan for the next six month: Repel the Russian winter offensive and switch back to offensive as soon as possible.


Global summary
We attack carefully in Russia. In the Near East we use the Blitzkrieg tactic to defeat the British troops in the Near East and capture the oil fields.

November 1944: Blue: Defending line in preparation of the next winter offensive of the Red Army / Red: Attacking

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[GeneralWerner]

Berlin – July 05 1945 - 10:00 pm

The victory parade is going on since two hours and all types of Wehrmacht and Axis military equipment is shown to hundred thousands of Germans and guests from many other countries. Also a lot of captured British, American and Russian equipment is shown.

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In front of the German Reichstag the whole OKW and all high rank military leaders of the Wehrmacht, from Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland and the other smaller allied nations are viewing the event. It is three days ago that the British Empire has given up the fight against the Axis after Rommel’s Panther tanks have captured the last British cities Mosul and Kirkuk in the Near East reaching the border of the Caucasus. As special guests Field Marshal Montgomery and General Patton are invited but both do not really enjoy the show.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is talking with General von Manstein and General Steiner about the upcoming campaign in the east. The British and the Americans are out of the game. But America has defeated Japan in the Pacific and will surely get in conflict with the Reich again somewhere in the world in the next years. The Russians are now standing alone and they showed in the last weeks that the exhausted Red Army will sooner or later not be able to hold back Guderian’s, Hoth’s and von Manstein’s troops any more. Latest when Steiner will start to attack Stalingrad and Rommel will capture the Caucasus from the south with the 1200 tanks in his army (containing 800 Panther tanks) the Russian front will break and Stalin will take back his troops behind the Ural to avoid the complete destruction.

The Red Army has proven to be a very strong and dangerous opponent. Nearly beaten in the first months of Barbarossa the Russians came back and were for two years a permanent danger in the east fighting furiously for every feet of the Russian motherland. With operation Ikarus in April 1944 the Russian Air Force was annihilated and could not recover from this heavy blow. In spring 1945 the Soviets have sent in some new strong fighter and bomber squads but they were easily outnumbered and hunted down by the Axis Air Force. After that the air supremacy of the Luftwaffe was total and nearly no Russian airplane was showing up at the eastern front. Even the dangerous Russian IS 2 and T34 tanks could not change the situation anymore and the Russian winter offensive 44/45 was weak. In the last 6 month the Red Army has lost city after city to the (slowly) approaching Axis troops that are having nearly no casualties any more.

The war is not completely over but nobody in the OKW has a doubt that it will end latest mid of 1946 in the east.

In the evening of this glorious day Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk and reading the last OKW reports. For him this will be the last action. He will retire tomorrow. The last years were extremely demanding and it is time to hand over the military leadership of the Wehrmacht to a younger man, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel.


Heeresgruppe West and the German Kriegsmarine
Finally the Kriegsmarine supported by some bombers of the Mediterranean command has destroyed and captured Gibraltar. The Kriegsmarine also gave support to the Afrika Korps in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and some submarines went through the Suez Channel to enter the Red Sea.


Germany, Das Reich
Nothing to report.


The Mediterranean Sea
Nothing to report.


Balkan
Nothing to report.


Afrika Korps
After crossing the Suez Channel with his Panther tanks it was only a matter of time to reach Baghdad and the oil fields. The sand slowing down the troops and the crossing of the Tigris River were the main challenges. To support Rommel the OKW has reinforced him with Stuka tactical bomber forces that were weakening the British troops before the tanks and infantry arrived to finish them. The coastal cities were captured after previous bombardment from the German Kriegsmarine.

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The Eastern Front
Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeregruppe Mitte were moving continuously to the east. Heeresgruppe Süd has captured the Crimea and will soon strike south to capture the Caucasus while Rommel is attacking from the weakly protected south. The Caucasus will fall in some weeks. Steiner’s Armee is planned to attack Stalingrad soon.


Global summary
The campaign of Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz “England first” was working very well.
The OKW was satisfied with the results achieved on all frontlines.
The only fact the OKW was not satisfied with was the incapability to land Kampfgruppe Steiner in Palestine (like it was initially planned) very early in this campaign. This would have made it easier to capture all British cities and approach to the Caucasus. Also the Italians missed to block the Suez Channels in time what allowed the British to bring in another fleet in the (already cleared) eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Fighting the partisans on the Balkan, in Russia, France, England and Norway worked well and also the important railroad connections were well protected and there was never a problem to move our troops.

Blue: Dominion of the German Wehrmacht and the Axis countries in July 1945 / Red. Planned future attacks.

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End of the Report.

[JimmyC]

Well done. You seemed to have found it easier than me at El Alamein and also crossing the Suez. I really struggled there.

It seems you also overtook me with your progress. I need more time to play!!

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Well done. You seemed to have found it easier than me at El Alamein and also crossing the Suez. I really struggled there.

It seems you also overtook me with your progress. I need more time to play!!

Indeed. Good Job.

But the war continues... I look forward to seeing if you get to America in the WWI mod!

Greetings from Stonehenge,

- BNC (OK I was actually there yesterday and am now at a hotel )

[GeneralWerner]

The Suez Channel surprised me. I thought it could not be crossed and I already wanted to move back parts of the army in Egypt to the harbors and get them in the boats. Then suddenly there appeared British armor directly on the channel hexes. But I had already upgraded the tanks to Panthers and I had a experienced tactical bomber. They did the main work. In the Near East the battleships helped a lot at the coast to suppress the defenders. And for Baghdad the real problem was the distance. I decided to buy Stukas in Beirut. The only units that could help and reach the battlefield of Baghdad in time. After the airport of Baghdad was captured the rest went very quickly. I captured the last city in round 98.

Landing the infantry in the Nile delta worked better than expected. I landed in late fall and it saved my even one round when suddenly the Nile was frozen and the infantry could do more steps. That is geographically of course not correct but it would be possible to land tanks in the frozen Nile delta in winter.

The mod rated my performance as a clear defeat (I expected a marginal victory) and didn't find out why (may be because there is still an unoccupied hex in England - Scapa Flow - but it is not a victory hex.)

But what matters WWII if it is possible to win WWI (like BNC wrote) and prevent WWII from happening

[JimmyC]

I am also leaving Scapa alone as it isn't a victory hex.

I also decided to leave Gibraltar alone too, as it takes too long to reduce the fort there. But is that necessary to beat the British Commonwealth?

I found that you can beat Russia without capturing all the victory hexes, so i assumed the same was true for the British...

[BiteNibbleChomp]

But what matters WWII if it is possible to win WWI (like BNC wrote) and prevent WWII from happening

I have plans for a successor to Kaiserschlacht...
But it there shall still be war. (And probably more extreme tank designs going in the direction of the A11V)

- BNC BTW, I saw Bovington the day before Stonehenge

[GeneralWerner]

Here the correct ending.

(McGuba found the solution. Playing not in English language can result in wrong text messages)

(ok, the picture shows not victorious German troops but maybe the man of the Deutsche Wochenschau was so enthusiastic about the victory that he has simply taken the wrong Picture ;))

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[McGuba]

I also decided to leave Gibraltar alone too, as it takes too long to reduce the fort there. But is that necessary to beat the British Commonwealth?

No it is not. Only the designated victory objectives have to be taken.

(ok, the picture shows not victorious German troops but maybe the man of the Deutsche Wochenschau was so enthusiastic about the victory that he has simply taken the wrong Picture )

Haha, probably. Or maybe just too many Schnaps during the celebration party, lol.

Or maybe we can see the German delegation landing in New York ready to discuss the conditions of the US surrender. The armed guards are unfortunately neccessary as the American crowds always find it a bit difficult to accept losing a war and might attack the peacful and unarmed delegation...