Battlefield Europe v1.9 – The Race to Berlin!

[PeteMitchell]

Italy/Slovene Lands:
New American tank offensive towards Ljubljana!

BE_Turn_88_117_Ljubljana.jpg (306.24 KiB) Viewed 4431 times

France:
The fighting around Lyon continues as well but von Rundstedt is holding the line…

BE_Turn_88_118_Lyon.jpg (299.79 KiB) Viewed 4431 times

Bitter fighting west of Paris, this finally looks like Operation Cobra… just a bit later than initially expected!

BE_Turn_88_119_Paris.jpg (329.18 KiB) Viewed 4431 times

[PeteMitchell]

Norway:
Once spring starts, the last days of the Tirpitz might have come as well… Well, at least there hasn’t been any Allied invasion into Norway until now.

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North Atlantic:
German warships are blocking the Allied convey routes again!

BE_Turn_88_121_North Atlantic.jpg (239.11 KiB) Viewed 4430 times

[PeteMitchell]

Turn 89 – 2 February 1945
Weather: clear and frozen
Open core slots: 72 (+3)

Ostfront:
No kidding… but it looks a bit like the real stuff is just starting…

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With the skies clearing up, Rudel and the Luftwaffe are back in action east of Bialystok. However, not much is left of the Luftwaffe and Rudel's days might be counted as well very soon…

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Well, at least there are less tanks north-east of Vinnitsa…

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[PeteMitchell]

Next round at the Southern Bug River, hopefully winter is over soon… well, however then all the Allied bombers will be back as well…

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Italy/Slovene Lands:
Heavy fighting (and losses) west of Ljubljana.

BE_Turn_89_126_Ljubljana.jpg (306.36 KiB) Viewed 4426 times

France:
The Luftwaffe is supporting the defenders of Lyon.

BE_Turn_89_127_Lyon.jpg (311.6 KiB) Viewed 4426 times

[PeteMitchell]

Rommel is just amazed by the numerous tank units the Allies were able to disembark and mobilize in Normandy and Brittany. Unfortunately, the German mine barrage around Paris hasn’t been closed yet. This might become a real problem very soon…

BE_Turn_89_128_Paris.jpg (326.91 KiB) Viewed 4424 times

Germany:
Allied planes are back over Germany. Unfortunately, not much is left of the Luftwaffe to counter the expected Allied air raids in spring… big weeks might be ahead in February!

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North Atlantic:
However, the blockade of the Kriegsmarine continues as well.

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[PeteMitchell]

Turn 90 – 17 February 1945
Weather: clear and dry
Open core slots: 77 (+5)

Overall situation:
The overall strategic situation hasn’t changed much… except for the fact that things have gotten a bit worse at some (or rather most?) places, i.e. several front lines have moved closer to Germany. In addition, around 20 more core slots are open by now. Furthermore, overall quality, armor, strength and experience of many of the remaining Axis forces is much lower than last year. Looking at the bright side of life, it has to be noted that Bucharest (including the very important oilfield), Budapest, Paris and Trondheim are still under Axis control and many Axis partners have continued the fight until this day.
(right click and open in new tab for larger picture)

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In the air, the Luftwaffe is only a mere shadow of its former self and it is expected that many Allied air planes will dominate the German skies (with all its consequences) going forward…
(right click and open in new tab for larger picture)

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[PeteMitchell]

Ostfront:
The ice of the frozen Neman River started to melt just in time to slow down the Russian steamroller. Nonetheless, the Lativan troops in Kaunas have to be rotated out soon to avoid annihilation. Königsberg has also been reinforced.

BE_Turn_90_133_Kaunas.jpg (287.4 KiB) Viewed 4393 times

The forests east of Brest help to slow down the heavy Russian tanks as well. In addition, Volkssturm units arrived near Bialystok to help reinforce the forests around the city.

BE_Turn_90_134_Brest.jpg (293.5 KiB) Viewed 4393 times

Same procedure as last year… several Russian tanks have been scouted north of Vinnitsa… either they are on their way west to Lutsk (and Poland) or are heading towards Vinnitsa itself to enter Romania from the north!

BE_Turn_90_135_Vinnitsa.jpg (294.79 KiB) Viewed 4393 times

[PeteMitchell]

The OKW believes von Manstein and his Romanian partners are doing a great job in holding Odessa. However, von Manstein himself is getting more and more concerned about Russian bombers attacking his tank forces and long-range artilleries attacking/suppressing everyone else. Should he retreat behind the Dniester River?

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Italy/Slovene Lands:
Volkssturm units also arrived at the Alpine Line replacing many fallen comrades…

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France:
Lyon has fallen! Will the Allies be able to push through the Rhone valley towards Dijon and Strasbourg now?

BE_Turn_90_138_Lyon.jpg (290.82 KiB) Viewed 4392 times

[PeteMitchell]

With almost no tanks left, Rommel decided to move behind the Seine River. He is willing to hold Paris and northern France at all cost. Also its flanks at Le Havre and Orleans are still under German control as well. However, time has run out to close the very important mine barrage west of Paris.

BE_Turn_90_139_Paris.jpg (295.53 KiB) Viewed 4391 times

Germany:
As expected, the amount of Allied planes over Germany is increasing again.

BE_Turn_90_140_Berlin.jpg (280.66 KiB) Viewed 4391 times

Norway:
Operation Catechism, the last of nine attempts to sink or sabotage the Tirpitz, was successful. In this attempt, the German battleship was finally sunk by heavy RAF Lancaster bombers.

BE_Turn_90_141_Trondheim.jpg (261.6 KiB) Viewed 4391 times

[PeteMitchell]

North Atlantic:
Dönitz is fighting his last naval battle north of Ireland.

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English Channel:
At the western entry of the English Channel, a lone German submarine started to attack American battleships protecting the Allied landing crafts heading to Brittany and Normandy.

BE_Turn_90_143_English Channel.jpg (234.97 KiB) Viewed 4390 times

[GeneralWerner]

Hi
Hope you can hold the lines for the last 10 rounds.
Beware of American troops crossing the Alpes.
Werner

[GeneralWerner]

Still I have this Kavallerie Avatar.
It is WW2 and I have to ride on a horse

[PeteMitchell]

Hi
Hope you can hold the lines for the last 10 rounds.
Beware of American troops crossing the Alpes.
Werner

Thanks a lot GeneralWerner, long time no hear! I hope all is well... Yes, I have heard this rumor of American troops considering to cross the Alps as well, I will have to check this asap...

Still I have this Kavallerie Avatar.
It is WW2 and I have to ride on a horse

Well, you could also be glad that you already got a horse, I am still waiting to be given one... actually, I think there were quite a few horses, this link here is really interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in ... II#Germany Also given that most of the Wochenschau propaganda style movies on youtube only show a highly motorized/mechanized blitzkrieg-type German army...

[PeteMitchell]

Turn 91 – 4 March 1945
Weather: clear and dry
Open core slots: 77 (+/-0)

Ostfront:
The front line along the Neman River seems stable (so far)… However, a lot of Russian (and American!) planes appeared.

BE_Turn_91_144_Kaunas.jpg (294.69 KiB) Viewed 4362 times

Also between Bialystok and Brest the situation is stable...
(Please note: so this might be a nice example here, one approach can be to damage enemy units as much as possible so they won’t attack you during the AI turn… but not to completely kill/destroy them, then they also block the way for new and fresh enemy units that actually could attack you again… the AI doesn’t always rotate damaged units out, sometimes it does of course…)

BE_Turn_91_145_Brest.jpg (287.73 KiB) Viewed 4362 times

Aha… so the Russian tanks are heading towards Lutsk this time! Well, not much we can possibly do about it at the moment…

BE_Turn_91_146_Lutsk.jpg (294.02 KiB) Viewed 4362 times

[PeteMitchell]

Italy/Slovene Lands:
Everything under control… actually, a bit too quiet to be true…

BE_Turn_91_147_Alpine Line.jpg (283.59 KiB) Viewed 4361 times

The Alps:
A well informed source, actually a very skilled and experienced General, hinted that several American units might try to cross the Alps from the south (along some of the paths of the Italian Front of WW1 most probably?) to invade a not existing Alpine Fortress (a redoubt basically)!
Well, here are now very recent pictures of aerial reconnaissance across the Alps south of Munich… and it actually seems true…
Luckily the OKW already brought an almost abandoned Italian artillery unit across the Alps and moved a Gebirgsjäger unit from Slovakia a few days ago as well… Mainly, as there were already some rumors about this US troop movement from German sources in South Tyrol as well…
(Please note: so previous playthroughs/attempts definitely help in anticipating certain events! However, not everything always happens as planned/anticipated, e.g. the invasion of Norway, or others. I will comment a bit more on this again at the end of the AAR!)

BE_Turn_91_148_Munich.jpg (301.26 KiB) Viewed 4361 times

France:
So… von Rundstedt believes the situation is far from stable but should still be manageable…

BE_Turn_91_149_Lyon.jpg (291.82 KiB) Viewed 4361 times

[PeteMitchell]

Also south of Paris, at Bourges, a Volkssturm unit is fighting an uneven battle in the forest! However, this skirmish might deviate some of the pressure from Paris…

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The Seine River crossing north of Paris serves a bit as a trap, let’s see how long. At the same time, an unexperienced Grenadier unit left its entrenched position in the south of Paris… unfortunately, this might not have been a very wise move…

BE_Turn_91_151_Paris.jpg (295.87 KiB) Viewed 4360 times

Germany:
Many Allied bombers over German cities… and nothing can be done about them anymore!

BE_Turn_91_152_Hamburg.jpg (304.34 KiB) Viewed 4360 times

[McGuba]

Still I have this Kavallerie Avatar.
It is WW2 and I have to ride on a horse

Yes, it is indeed very disrespectful that the Generalfeldmarschall has to ride to the battlefield on a laughable hairy animal like this. But your earlier successes and accomplishments have not been forgotten by the OKW. A PM had been sent to you earlier so please check your private messages in this forum.

[PeteMitchell]

Turn 92 – 19 March 1945
Weather: clear and dry
Open core slots: 84 (+7)

Ostfront:
The Neman River around Kaunas proves to be really helpful in defending the city as well as Königsberg. However, Rudel got under heavy fire already!

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Shock east of Bialystok! The Jagdpanther is gone! Due to a fateful retreat to a seemingly better position, the Jagdpanther got outflanked as minefields do not exert any zone of control, unfortunately... Now an understrengthed Volkssturm unit has to face off a two star IS-2 tank and Guderian is wondering how to best deploy the remaining Jagdtiger unit…

BE_Turn_92_154_Bialystok.jpg (297.67 KiB) Viewed 4321 times

France:
The exhausted US tank unit is pushing north and von Rundstedt ordered a Volkssturm unit to garrison Dijon for the time being, just in case…

BE_Turn_92_155_Lyon.jpg (285.77 KiB) Viewed 4321 times

[PeteMitchell]

Heavy Allied troop concentration south and west of Paris/around Orleans. This situation can become tricky very soon…

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Further north, the Grenadiers at Le Havre are holding out with the Seine River acting as a delaying natural barrier… Launching V2 rockets from northern France/Belgium has become extremely difficult (if not even impossible already) due to the Allied air supremacy all over Europe.

BE_Turn_92_157_Le Havre.jpg (303.9 KiB) Viewed 4320 times

Germany:
While Allied air raids over Germany are being intensified even further.

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[PeteMitchell]

Turn 93 – 3 April 1945
Weather: clear and dry
Open core slots: 91 (+7)

Ostfront:
Now the Russian offensive directed at Kaunas is getting really serious. It is expected that the city will fall very soon.

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After the shock of Bialystok, several Russian troops are advancing west again and Guderian sees the Bug River as the next natural barrier in delaying the Russians!

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Very similar situation further south, Lutsk and Rowno have already fallen again. Lvov is still garrisoned by Hungarian troops.

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