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Karelian said:
Too bad that the Soviet AI of this mod seems to be unable to keep reserves away from a battle. But great job nevertheless, such a victory will compensate the immensive casualties this battle has so far inflicted.
I'd say it's more likely that any mod geared towards long battles will have this problem- I know I experienced the same thing in some TRP campaigns.

Does Avranches even have a beach? It would be amazing if it didn't.

If the Ukraine is as empty as it looks from your shots, you might have the war finished by Christmas. It'll be the fastest turnaround for the 1944 scenario I've ever seen.
 
Karelian said:
Too bad that the Soviet AI of this mod seems to be unable to keep reserves away from a battle. But great job nevertheless, such a victory will compensate the immensive casualties this battle has so far inflicted.
Man, i did not make any change to '44 AI and this mod is designed to be played since '36.

DvD-it is playing against Lothos vanilla's AI.
 
Folgore80 - Model starts to like Rommel's offensive doctrine :)

SgtPepper20 - Now that they are cut off and without supply that means they will slowly starve, and so will their organization. So, when the battle is over, they will be like sitting ducks.

HKslan - They don't like Soviet equipment :)

EvilSanta - Thank you, but Moscow is still safe for many months to come I think.

Winner, Deus - I am indeed trying to encircle them too.

Karelian, dublish, Fernando Torres - Indeed dublish I was about to give the same answer. At least I think, it's not Torres' fault. HoI2 AI is geared towards short battles; this probably means that it would normally send in reinforcements to where the AI is attacked, but since the attacks are so long, the AI probably slowly depletes his reserves as he continuously tries to enhance one attacked province's defence. At least that's my opinion, but I'm quite sure that has nothing to do with the Mod's AI. Furthermore, I'm also quite sure that it is a really fortuitous case: it is unlikely that the AI would be tricked again to leave such provinces vacant.

PrawnStar - Thanks :) Cliffhangers are a reader's pain, and the writers know that well :) Be sure to play this game any soon!

Minarchist - Hehe, unfortunately for you that's a Cabinet Meeting update, so no action :p it still classifies as an update, though.

Updatey.
 
Cabinet Meeting September 1944

0000 September 1st 1944
Reichstag building, Berlin, Germany

"Gentlemen, I heard somewhere August had been a great month for the Wehrmacht. Now, I also remember we had a mid-monthly meeting on August 16th and things were rather bleak at that time. Julius, can you delight us with more information?" Bormann opened the meeting with a rhetorical question. Not that he didn't know what was happening in the Eastern front, but he was just too eager to listen to the news a second time, in a more formal way.

"Sure I can, Martin. First of all, let me inform that Heinz is not present because of his business with Heeresgruppe Mitte. I hear they're getting all quite excited there - and now we'll know why. Gentlemen, take a look at this map."​

032-1-East1.jpg

"This is how the Eastern front looks as of Sept. 1st, that is, today.​

032-2-EastNord.jpg

"In the North, Heeresgruppe alone is dealing with massive Soviet superiority. They're being kept at bay, however, by continuous delaying tactics performed by von Rundstedt. Heeresgruppe Nord is in perfect condition, and this allows von Rundstedt to launch several attacks, with Kriegsmarine's support if possible, in order to destabilize the level of organization of certain Soviet divisions, thus preventing any successful breakthrough from the Soviets. This is how we prevent an otherwise certain breakthrough."​

032-3-EastSud.jpg

"Here lies the interesting news, gentlemen. Now, many of you know Rommel as a riskful gambler, one that isn't patient towards his subordinates, one that likes to glorify himself, a bit bombastic perhaps. Some of you appraise him for his military skills, some of you despise him for his behaviour, and some inadequacies of his tactics. But at least, let's face it, he is about to save our Fatherland from disgrace. Not only did the daring attack on Lvov, and later Stanislawow and Beltsy show that, behind those massive build-ups of Soviet divisions there's just rubble and oxygen; it did also show how the Wehrmacht is still capable of encircling one hundred divisions. Stryj is being attacked from nearly every direction - please ignore the fact that some divisions are of different colour - our allies seem to like flip-flopping - and Model, now commanding the attack, estimates that it will take him just two more days to finish the defenders off."

"Julius, we're all excited by the news, but I must ask you... is there an even remote chance of the Soviets breaking the encirclement?"

"Not even remote, Martin. Even if the Soviets attack Lvov or Stanislawow, our divisions will defend long enough for the trap in Stryj to close and the defenders to be evicted. As I already said, beyond Lvov there's little to none enemy presence: we estimate a total of nineteen divisions that could menace our encirclement, and we have nine divisions for each province in Lvov, Stanislawow and twelve in Beltsy, some of which are occopying Chisinev to encircle a further twenty divisions."

"That's just brilliant. If we really can capture one hundred and twenty divisions, I... ah, I'd really like to see what would be the reaction of Hitler!"

"He would never admit that he was terribly wrong when coming to military matters."

"Oh, that's for sure."

"Now, there's some slightly worrying news. That's Italy."​

032-4-Italy.jpg

"The Allies have tried to attack our line, still to no avail. They did succeed however in weakening our troops, and I fear their next attacks will force us to withdraw. Fortunately, three divisions are about to reinforce our defense, but that will not be enough in the long run. I suggest we re-redeploy a substantial force in Italy to deal with the Allies, so that we can have even more troops ready for next Summer."

"Do you suggest that we need to redeploy some of the divisions that are currently under redeployment in Poland?"

"That is, Martin. We're about to capture more than one hundred divisions, and I cannot see how can Rommel fail now, and we managed to do this brilliant operation with the current number of divisions, that is minus those under redeployment. Not even the Soviet Union can produce one hundred divisions in less than one year, and if they try to do so, they would probably exhaust their manpower. I say we redeploy twenty of those divisions to Italy. The other twenty will stay in Poland just to be sure that this Winter will be a merry Winter for everyone. We'll all benefit from a successfull campaign in Italy, as it will free even more divisions for Russia for next year."

"All in all, you're right. We'll consider that when Rommel brings me one million Soviet prisoners - as soon as possible, I hope. Joachim, the current state of our Ally...?"

"Japan is faring quite well."​

032-5-JapanSiam.jpg

"The British had made virtually no progress in Burma and Siam; China does worry me a bit however, as in the long run the Japanese will probably get crushed by a pincer movement: the British from the West, the Chinese from the East. They could score better, but it could've been much worse afterall."​

032-6-JapanAustralia.jpg

"They still do not realize invading isles here and there is a dangerous affair in 1944. I don't know what the heck is that Japanese division still doing in Australia, but at least the Americans seem to be pretty relaxed too. The IJN has not suffered any loss whatsoever."

"Does that mean they have no ships left, Joachim?"

"No they do fortunately, not in good shape but they still have a decent fleet. It's just that, strangely enough, there had been little activity in the Pacific."

"That's good to hear. As the British would say, 'no news, good news'."

"You said that twice in the last two months, Martin."

"Oh, did I? Well that's always true. Albert, production please."

"Here we are."​

032-7-Production.jpg

"With more than eighty divisions fighting in Stryj, and Heeresgruppe Nord in full supply, our estimates about reinforcements are totally wrong. It shows an unusual low quantity, but that is just sufficient for the Luftwaffe and for those troops who are not in combat. Once Rommel is finished with counting how many Soviets he's about to capture, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Sud will stop fighting and will need a lot of reinforcements and manpower. In the meantime, while we cannot reinforce such troops, we're allocating such production to combat dissent and to raise our Supplies stockpiles. Not only we want to combat dissent: we also want to accumulate a decently-sized amount of funds for Ernst to increase his agents among the ranks of our enemies, and for Joachim to arrange many more deals in the future. Talking about deals, our stockpiles are fairly high, and a surplus is evident for Energy and Metal. We have a slight deficit for Rare Materials, but nothing to worry about. Oil is what we need at present and I'm sure Joachim will soon buy up to the last oil barrel. Manpower is fairly good and still not critical."

"Ernst, intelligence."

"Our lack of funding means that we cannot report accurate estimates about our enemies' ranking. I'll show what I have."​

032-8-Intell.jpg

"To understand how much our agents' network is in shambles, just think that our spies believe that the Soviet Union wants to focus on a stronger navy. Just like penguins at the Caribbeans. Anyways, such spies report two hundred sixty-four infantry divisions. We know that the number is much higher but let's assume it's right. The destruction of more than one hundred divisions would mean cutting almost in half their military strenght.

Their airforce is in reality much larger than eighteen fighter squadrons. Twice as bigger, to say the least."​

032-9.jpg

"Again, the estimates are a roughly indication of our enemies' strenght. Seventy-nine infantry divisions we guess they are almost all busy against the Japanese."​

032-10.jpg

"Same story for the Americans. Their industry is rather big, so is their navy, but with them out of the beaches of France, we really have little to worry about them at present. I'm finished"​

"It's the first time I am eager to conclude a meeting. I want to hear news from Stryj as soon as possible. Keep me informed, gentlemen" Bormann ended the meeting.
 
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historically, the us had 90 active divisions (hence, it was called the 90 division gambit). ur intel is right with usa. russia has 400<. lack of tech+ -100 divisions means ur fine for awhile. crush england while u still can.
 
Of the encirclement works, it may be the turning point of the whole war. It may make Barbarrossa II to look useless... :D
 
Nice nail-biting encirclement battle.....I am as nervous as Rommel....I can't help but think that the Russian Bear will somehow sneak out of the trap. Crush them quickly!!

KLorberau
 
Remble - Ringle says so :) I did leave it to free interpretation, as neither I know yet if I will attack Italy. At the end, I think I will organize an offensive if my redeploying troops make it in time to re-redeploy in Italy.

Mr._Blitzkrieg - Their divisions don't worry me too much at present. England will play with the Japs for a little while methinks.

Kurt_Steiner - I fear it might spoil the fun in 1945 :)

HKslan - Each day will be a victory day, hopefully :)

KLorberau, Lord Finnish, Deus - Thanks :) We should see shortly whether the Ruskies will be able or not to escape the trap.

That is, update. Even a bit bigger than usual.
 
Checkmate!

0500 September 1st, 1944
Avranches, France

The Americans tried to land in France once again.​

033-1-Avranches.jpg

They could have been much more troublesome if they ever considered about organizing their troops. The battle was quickly won after six hours of combat.​

0615 September 1st, 1944
Stryj, Poland

The trap had closed. Stryj fell.​

033-2-StryjWin.jpg

Von Bock was the first to occupy Stryj once again from the grasp of the Soviets; Rommel's headquarters were filled with champagne soon after the news had reached his ears. Now it was just onwards to pursue them till they ran out of space.​

0600 September 1st, 1944
Lvov, Poland

Only now the Soviets seemed to understand the dire necessity of breaking the encirclement. It was too late for them anyways, and the nine divisions defending Lvov retreated in good order towards Stryj.​

033-3-LvovRetreat.jpg

Rommel needed not Stanislawow or Lvov now, but a million prisoners. And now, no one could hamper him.​

0900 September 1st, 1944
Przemysl, Poland

Nine Soviet divisions were almost perfectly equipped in Przemysl and did not want to take part in the defense of Stryj.​

033-4-Przemysl.jpg

Stalin was for sure going to shoot them all for deserting the defense of Stryj, so the Wehrmacht was just easening the burden of Soviet military bureaucracy on shooting ninety-thousand soldiers.​

033-5-PrzemyslWin.jpg

After just twenty-seven hours of battle, one hundred divisions plus nine had to retreat once again. Cracow would be their last spot; their last escape.​

1300 September 2nd, 1944
XXVII. Korps, Prezmysl, Poland

Busse had been ordered to attack Cracow as soon as he arrived in Przemysl. Cracow was defended by only one division.​

033-6-CracowAttack.jpg

They would soon become one hundred and six.​

033-7-CracowOngoing.jpg

A few hours later Salmuth took command of the battle while thirty Soviet divisions had finished retreating from Przemysl.​

0600 September 3rd, 1944
Diplomatic Offices, Berlin, Germany

"There we go, mr. Ribbentrop. We cannot stand your act of aggression against freedom and human rights in the world. Our peoples hereby declare war!"​

033-8-War.jpg

Von Ribbentrop stared at the two ambassadors from Syria and Lebanon, and he was about to laught to them, if it weren't for the fact he was a diplomat afterall and he was used to contain his emotions. They wished to declare war together, what a friendship story.

"Very well then, we'll inform you when we our troops are going to occupy your diplomatic offices. Now, if you don't mind, I have more important business to attend."

The two ambassadors were quite surprised by von Ribbentrop's words, but they couldn't do much about it as they were being more or less forced to leave by two guards.

Later on, von Ribbentrop called an aide to carry that message to Martin Bormann: "Take that good sir, and let herr Bormann have a laugh today."​

0700 September 4th 1944
Cracow, Poland

Stoic resistance was being put up by the Soviets as merely eight out of one hundred and six divisions were able to combat, and out of supply. More and more divisions joined the battle but it would take the Germans some time before capturing such an enormous quantity of men. Their fate was sealed anyways; they were just delaying their destiny till they could.​

033-9-CracowOngoing.jpg

And they would fall.​

0300 September 5th 1944
VII. Korps Headquarters, Chisinev, Romania

Another encirclement, although smaller, was undergoing. It was that of Ismail where twenty Soviet divisions had their back unguarded.​

033-10-Chisinev.jpg

VII. Korps was the first to cut them off, and this would result in immediate Soviet response.​
 
Checkmate!
continued

0400 September 5th 1944
Chisinev, Romania

Attacks on Chisinev and Beltsy were immediate, although that on Beltsy would've been called off soon.​

033-11-ChisUnderAttack.jpg

This did not prevent the Germans to try and start the destruction of the Ismail pocket.​

033-12-IsmailEncircle.jpg

The battle was in a state of a certain confusion, as sixty-six German divisions could not at first distinguish eight divisions from twenty; nevertheless, Soviet morale was faltering quickly, probably also because the defenders were in the meantime trying to attack Chisinev.​

033-13-ChisinevWin.jpg

Later on, in fact, the Soviets had to call off the attack on Chisinev, leaving the Germans free to attack Ismail at will.​

1300 September 5th 1944
Heeresgruppe Mitte, Przemysl, Poland

Guderian himself had arrived to assist the capture of the enormous Cracow pocket. Five more divisions from the experienced commander started to put the Soviets under severe pressure.​

033-14-GuderianCracow.jpg

More divisions were about to come too, and the fate of such pocket was drawing closer and closer as the hours flown away.​
 
129 Divisions. A million and a quarter Soviet troops gone. The only encirclements I've ever seen that big were in Kami888's Kapitulirien? Niemals! AAR where he played well into the 1960s complete with nuclear bombs being dropped on 50 cities. You are one lucky man. Germany will probably have to develop new weapons just to fire all the captured ammunition and artillery shells.

EDIT: Stalin would definitely execute the commander that allowed this to happen.
 
I think that Stalin would EAT the commander, since Siberia would be too nice for him, as would a 9mm brain-hemmorhage...
 
Just caught up in this aar and i must congratulate you for the success of Normandy campaign and Stryj pocket, you have made amazing progress.
I dont doubt that Stalin wont have another officer purge after stryj-fiasco. :rofl: