Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

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JimmyC
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Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by JimmyC »

Just finished a playthrough of the entire campaign (including the intro scenarios). My plan was to conquer everything except Britain. I played on General difficulty with random dice and brought in 3 panzer IV’s and 2 fighters. I briefly summarise my progress during the war (sorry, no pics):

Eastern Front
I focused on closing the Kiev gap, with Moscow as a secondary objective. Kiev gap successfully closed, with Moscow falling in Spring ’42. No serious attempt was made to encircle Leningrad until late ’43 at which time it was fairly quickly taken in early ‘44. However a lot of my infantry were tied up around Leningrad fighting the Russian infantry and occasional Russian counterattacks. Also early on I managed to advance to Rostov in the south and Kursk in the center.

In ’42 and ’43 my armies made very little ground in the center and south, as I was constantly battling Russian counterattacks (especially around Kursk). The main advances were in the north where I advanced to and captured Gorky, before enduring massive counterattacks which I was able to stop. ’44 saw me advance on Stalingrad in the south with my southern flank anchored around Rostov (no attempt was made to advance towards the Caucuses). Also in ’44 I advanced from Gorky along the northern bank of the Volga with the idea to swing south towards Stalin’s bunker. Again there were massive counterattacks which slowed me immensely, although I could beat them back. I made no attempt on the central front as there were no strategic objectives here, holding the line around the west bank of the Don River with mostly second rate troops (Panzer IV’s, AT, Hungarian/Romanian troops, etc.). This meant I was doing a giant pincer movement heading towards Stalin’s bunker. I captured Stalingrad in winter ’44 and advanced northwards along the east bank of the Volga, with my other northern army advancing southwards. Lack of funds, plus massive Russian counterattacks prevented me from capturing Stalin’s bunker within the required time.

Mediterranean/Middle East
I immediately set out to gain sea superiority in the Eastern Med and made landings on the Syrian Coast. My forces then drove straight to the oilfields, which I captured in late ‘42/early ’43, during which I beat back 2 counterattacks (1 from the east and later 1 from the west). My forces then swung north to the Caucuses, where I captured Baku in early ’44 and eventually Tbilisi in Spring of ’45. Due to strong defense by the Russians and some counterattacks/ambushes, my forces were mostly destroyed and I had to adopt a defensive posture at Tbilisi. A late Russian counterattack saw me lose Tbilisi, but I recaptured it on the final turn.

Around Tobruk, I defeated the first counterattack in late ’41 and then invested Tobruk, capturing it a couple of turns before the large counterattack from the Suez. The Suez counterattack split into 2 groups, 1 comprising predominantly of armour which headed towards the oilfields (around 5 units) and the remainder which attacked my forces at Tobruk. Because they split their forces in this way, it was easier for my defenders at Tobruk and I defeated their counterattack without having to commit too many of my troops. This allowed me to focus more on defeating the Torch landings.

Rudel and the Luftwaffe managed to take Malta just before Torch commenced, which helped immensely. We undertook a fighting withdrawal from Kasserine Pass and stopped the enemy just east of the hills, eventually destroying all enemy forces. As I had just read General Werner’s AAR (where Rommel’s army was annihilated during Torch), I expected to also fail and so garrisoned a strong force in Sicily. This turned out to be unnecessary and a somewhat costly mistake as I desperately needed the Sicily garrison forces elsewhere.

After defeating Torch/Suez attacks, my armies split into 2 groups. One (mostly the troops in Tunisia), headed to western Europe to assist against the Normandy landings. I experienced a large bottleneck of troops due to limited ports/transport craft and therefore this transfer took significant time, with my troops arriving in dribs and drabs. The second group (mostly Tobruk garrison) landed on the Syrian coast and recaptured the cities there, before heading down to the Suez and Cairo, which I captured in late ’44. I then transferred these troops to the Eastern Front, although they arrived too late to make a difference.

Western Front
I decided to contest the skies and massed large amounts of AA (some upgraded to heavy caliber), plus 4 Fw 190’s. It worked early on, but failed during Normandy as the overstrength Mustangs were just too powerful. I was slow to entrench troops on this front, as I overestimated the Torch landings (see above), meaning that my defensive positions weren’t as strong as they could have been. Even though I had massed AA, the enemy air attack was relentless and even when covered by AA, my key units (tanks/artillery) would suffer hits most turns. So this was a very costly fight and after running short of prestige I had to reinforce with green troops (including my fighters), which made things even more difficult. In this respect I found the late SPAA to be really worthwhile (Ostwind and Wirbelwind). They have good mobility, which makes them a perfect match to support armour, whilst also being tough enough to shrug off hits from enemy infantry (although not the stronger enemy armour). I upgraded 2 of my AA to these units and found it to be worthwhile.

I held onto Paris until the end of the war, but was driven back to near the Rhine River in the north. This front bled me of resources.

Result
Draw, although Russia was really on its last legs. In all honesty i was also on my last legs and if the game had been extended i am sure the Commonwealth and US troops would have penetrated into Germany.
JimmyC
Sergeant Major - SdKfz 234/2 8Rad
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Tactics - what worked and what didn't

Post by JimmyC »

So what worked and what didn’t?

The good
- Malta captured just in time (1,000 prestige – Yay!). Rudel really is key to capturing it imo.

- Landings on the Syrian coast went relatively well and the drive on the oilfields was successful, albeit time consuming. It also helped to defeat the Suez counterattack as the Allies split their forces.

- Eastern front to mid ’42 was very successful with Kiev gap closed and Moscow captured.

- My pincer movement which ignored the center went surprisingly well and freed up more troops for each pincer, as the west bank of the Don River and the fortifications around Kursk proved to be strong defensive positions. It also allowed me to place by best units in the pincers, whilst allocating second tier units to the static defensive front.

- Torch was successfully defeated. North Africa and the Middle East were fully liberated by late ’44 (another 1,000 prestige – Yay!).

- My strong air defences limited the losses caused by Allied bombing until relatively late in the war.

- Although falling quite late in the war, Leningrad fell pretty quickly once I made a concerted attack on it. Panthers and massed artillery were key.

- Although of little strategic relevance, it was fun to successfully complete the Channel dash with my strength 2 capital ships (I hadn’t bothered to repair them at that stage). All of them made it through alive!

The bad
- From mid ’42 until late ’43 my eastern front was mostly static as I fought off counterattacks and rebalanced my forces. With a lot of troops committed to Africa/Middle East, I didn’t have enough reserves to make a meaningful push forward. This felt like wasted time with the clock ticking.

- Over commitment of troops against the Torch invasion. I could have used those 7 units in Sicily on the Eastern front. I blame General Werner for this one! I then had a huge bottleneck of troops trying to transfer from North Africa, which took significant time.

- Long distances and rough terrain delayed my army advancing on the oilfields in the Middle East. I was then further held up advancing on the Caucus oilfields by the terrain and strong defences. In the end, my forces only just managed to capture the Russian oilfields, but it was very late in the war and did not make much difference, other than tying up and wearing down many of my best troops.

- The area around Leningrad was a massive meat grinder for my infantry. I should have just left this area alone until I had sufficient artillery to back up my infantry, however more and more of my troops got sucked into this grinder by the occasional Russian counterattacks.

- My Fw’s, once dominating western Europe, were mauled by massed Allied fighters. This cost me a lot of prestige as I always used experienced reserves. I should have limited their operational area to my Werzberg radar concentration and relied on AA to protect my troops.

- Stupid mistakes with resource allocation which is a chapter to itself. Feeling quite comfortable early on resource-wise (I had about 7,000 prestige) I splurged on upgrades out of series (mostly AA and AT). I also:
1. Upgraded all of the minor allied units when not necessary (eg. minor nation infantry upgraded to ’44 version even though they were just hunting partisans).
2. Repaired all the Kriegsmarine vessels in late ’43 even though I hardly used them throughout the war and had no particular plan to use them.
3. Finally and most fatally, I made the serious mistake of upgrading around 5 or 6 AT’s to Marders as I wanted to try them out. Turns out Marders suck pretty hard…

In late ’44 and most of ’45 I ended each turn with 0 prestige (even with all the oilfields), which is what stopped me short of Stalin’s bunker. If I had allocated my resources a bit better I probably would have defeated Russia.

Was a really fun playthrough and I could feel the difficulty level has increased (especially on the western front). I definitely recommend this mod!
oladelmar
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by oladelmar »

I'm not in '44 yet, but so far a mass of mobile AA and 3 Fw fighters are keeping the skies clear in the West. The Sdkfz with 140% rate of fire reliably kills an average of 2 strength points off most fighters and even some strat bombers, letting the Fw's do the mopping up with minimal losses, thus gaining 2-3 stars and heroes aplenty. Resources permitting, I actually overstrength any Fw fighter with an Int hero, as this seems to discourage the AI from attempting to destroy it due to the unfavorable odds. I also frequently set up bomber traps using a light cruiser covered by an Fw AND 1-2 AA units. I have to say it's my favorite part of the war to shoot down those endless amounts of fighters and bombers :)
oladelmar
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Re: Tactics - what worked and what didn't

Post by oladelmar »

JimmyC wrote: - Over commitment of troops against the Torch invasion. I could have used those 7 units in Sicily on the Eastern front. I blame General Werner for this one! I then had a huge bottleneck of troops trying to transfer from North Africa, which took significant time.
Call me a cheat, but since I know Torch is coming, I stop it at the beach. With troops ready to land on the coast in Oran and Alger, and a task force of 2 battlecruisers, a heavy cruiser and a sub lurking off the Moroccan coast, I was able to prevent the landing altogether. Blocked the strait of Gibraltar with the MAS unit, took out the Gibraltar air cover with an overstrength fighter unit and used the Italian strat bomber to rain bombs on the battleships. The unescorted British transports attempting to land in Algeria were easy pickings for the Italian destroyers. It's a heavy up-front investment - all these forces need to be in place quite early, but the payoff is big, as you can start sending units back to other fronts in spring/summer '43. And Vichy is still alive and kicking, meaning less territory to occupy...
oladelmar
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by oladelmar »

I'm May '43 and I realize I've actually over-prioritized Russia - that's a first for me. Ref your comment about a static eastern front being wasted time - tried to avoid that and kept hammering the Bear, now only Archangelsk and Astrakhan are in Russian hands and will fall within a few turns. The downside is I'm only just able to start pushing for the oil fields, but IMHO there's a lot of effectiveness to be had from keeping units where they are and killing whatever you can. I feel it's worth the trade-off, as I'll be able to accept a Russian surrender soon, and have ample time to prepare for D-day(which I intend to let happen, to keep the challenge going a bit longer)
GeneralWerner
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by GeneralWerner »

Dear comrade Generalfeldmarschall JimmyC,
you know, a leader always makes his decisions alone and is responsible for the consequences on his own.

Interesting AAR. I played a similar game in the last weeks with similar goals but quite different strategies. So now I have to report, too.

@oladelmar: Really an unconventional idea to prevent Torch. I never had the idea it could be possible :oops: Well done!
oladelmar
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by oladelmar »

Praise from ze General, I blush! Looking forward to your next AAR entry, I've read them all several times. And u too JimmyC, a most interesting read.
JimmyC
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by JimmyC »

I recall reading another AAR where they defeated Torch by blocking the Straits, but that was a long time ago (probably v1.04 or something). I didnt realise it was achievable in the current version. Indeed it sounds very efficient. How do you deal with Operation Crusader though? Can you still beat it back without the help of the Regia Marina?

I've just started another playthough but this time am trying to invade England before Torch happens (and hence prevent it). Any tips on the best landing area? Mines make a lot of the approaches troublesome.
oladelmar
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by oladelmar »

To be clear; to defeat Torch on the beach you need both German and Italian fleet and air units. Once repaired, I send Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser south to Gibraltar, destroying the British destroyer screen on their way to ambush positions off Southern Morocco. A german sub follows later. I send most of the Regia Marina east to help the AK - I leave a blocking force of a cruiser, 2-3 DD's and a sub to kill the Malta convoys, along with the Italian Strat bomber. Intercepting the convoys far enough west to be out of 1-turn range of the Malta-based aircraft is prudent, unless you've already eliminated that threat. The next vital part is to eliminate the Gibraltar air cover - I did this by sending my best fighter unit, refuel at an Algerian airport, and set up a fighter trap with it and the Italian strat bomber.

With most of the Regia Marina at hand I stormed Tobruk right away, and had a comfy situation in the Halfaya pass by the time the Matildas started rolling in. Reinforced the AK with an 88, upgraded the Italian arty and blasted my way through the El Alamein defense line with the massive naval and arty support. After crossing Suez, I was surprised by reinforcements landing in my rear! Cost me my para unit, what a waste.

My experience with early Seelowe landings are limited, as I feel the pressure to defeat the Soviets is so overwhelming, the logistics are horrible and I really really hate those sea mines. Plus I find the concept of 'Germany makes its first major amphibious landing in the middle of winter without clear air or naval superiority' somewhat dubious. To keep a semblance of realism I would suggest going for the Portsmouth area. Suggest clearing out one naval mine with tac bombers/DDs to create a faster crossing point. In support I would do anything that essentially trades prestige for extra firepower during the landing; take the Tirpitz south, ignore defending German airspace, bring all your naval units. I'm guessing perhaps your biggest problem will be the Soviet Air Force, as you'll need a lot of fighters to cover landings and ships. Might as well bring as many bombers as fighters to the West, as you won't be able to protect them in the East...
McGuba
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by McGuba »

JimmyC wrote:I've just started another playthough but this time am trying to invade England before Torch happens (and hence prevent it). Any tips on the best landing area? Mines make a lot of the approaches troublesome.
Only for the record: Operation Torch cannot be prevented by an early invasion of Britain. Historically many (even though not all) of those ships came directly from the US meaning they would have come anyway. The distance from Canada to Morocco is not significantly longer than the distance from Britan via the North Channel.
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JimmyC
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Re: Battlefield Europe v1.09 - brief summary (no pics)

Post by JimmyC »

@ oladelmar - i previously found Sealion to be like a frustrating jiggsaw puzzle of micromanagement, so mostly focused on Russia in other playthroughs. This time though I will make another go of it and remain relatively passive on the eastern front until sometime in ’42. It should be a fun challenge going up against the Russian juggernaut 1 on 1 later in the war assuming I succeed with Sealion.

@ McGuba – thanks for the heads up on that. It would have been a rude shock to have been hit by Torch without any idea it was coming.
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