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Shadows of Maximilian Schell in that last scene ;)
 
@trekaddict: Rommel for sure, probably one of the most brilliant and caring of the German military commanders. A shame he died historically after the July Plot, but he's a good character for my game and AAR. And now you have over 3000 posts, isn't that the number you need to have an alternate shield? Couldn't help but note the one you have in your AAR Against All Odds congrats, I'm lightyears away.

@Kurt_Steiner: Anthony Hopkins, Dirk Bogort, Gene Hackman, Hardy Kruger, James Caan, MAXIMILIAN SCHELL.
He played the role of General Bittrich so well I think in the movie full of so many future and current stars. Can't help but imagine Rommel abit as Schell in some of the scenes during the movie.

@Enewald: Everyone loves Rommel.

To Everyone: Since the invasion of Russia and 1945 will be starting up next I would like to know how some of the other German commanders were like, if anyone knows so I don't make them what there not. I did some research on Rommel and von Rundstedt but generals like: von Bock, Guderian, Kesselring, etc. are important leaders on the front, sticking to this theme of soldier, general, and civilian accounts about the war any help on these characters would be appreciated thanks.
 
Well, yes, and I have already contacted an admin about it. Believe me, my own AAR is already much bigger than I expected, so rest assured yours will grow too. I shall follow it anyway. :)
 
A City Too Far

Forging Destiny

300px-Crossingtherhine.jpg


~ Dusseldorf, Germany

"Captain Miller! Captain Miller!"

"What is it Colonel?" questioned the American officer to his superior.

"The soldiers trapped at Essen can't hold out much longer, we must reach them within the next twenty-four hours or the Germans will steamroll right over them for the final time and the bridge at Essen will be lost."

"And how do you suppose we reach Essen colonel?"

"With these," he points back and shows the captain a bunch of floting sticks of wood that the Allied Command calls boats. "You and your men will be crossing the river and then follow it up by seizing the opposite end of the Dusseldorf Bridge and then the British and American tanks can procede across and together we can reach Essen and save those thiry-thousand poor soldiers scattered inside and around that city, you go in two hours."

"In broad day-light colonel? You must be mad, I'll have no battalion left after this."

"I'm sorry Joe, we just don't have the time to wait anymore, the fate of the war hangs in the balance. Right now, the Germans are winning but also on the verge of defeat, once we cross the Rhine the war will be over."

"Ofcourse colonel, I'll have my men ready to go in when you need us."

The colonel begins too walk away, "Joe! Good luck and God-speed!"

"Thanks Henry."

Colonel Martin looks from his command tank at the base of the river and orders his tanks and artillery pieces to commence firing at the German River defenses, smoke encircles the river base and the German soldiers take cover in their trenches and fox-holes knowing what is about to come, 500 American soldiers are about to ford the river and seize the bridge in the face of equal numbers while entrenched and hidden in their defensive pockets, can such an attack even succede?

Colonel Martin looks through his binoculars and can see nothing through the smoke and explosions, he orders his tanks to cease firing and the river clears and his tanks arm with smoke screens. "Colonel Henry. Your men can begin to cross the river, I have my tanks armed with smoke to screen your early advances, good-luck colonel. And God knows I wouldn't be brave enough to do what your men are about to do."

"God's Will and mercy."

"Commence firing!"

On the river base the captain can see the Sherman's fire their last volley into the defenses, "That's are que. Come on boys lets get to it!" The American soldiers push the scrappy wooden boats into the water and they begin to travel across the river and the water begins to drift them towards the bridge itself. "Keep left men! Keep left! Stay away from the base of the bridge!" And as the Americans reached the half-way point the Germans began to open up with everything: mortars, artillery, panzers, and infantry. Inside their boats on the river the Americans are slautered one-by-one.

Screams and cries come from the boats and beside Cpt. Miller's boat he looks over to his right and the boat is shattered into a million wooden splinters and the men fall into the water and easily picked off by German soldiers and snipers from concealed positions on and around the bridges. The captain takes a deep breathe and prays and begins, "Hail marry full of grace... and continues to recite the prayer as they continue towards the shore. On the Allied side of the river, Colonel Martin looks at the carnage occuring below him.

"Cover fire, quick!" The tanks begin to pound the shorelines and the Germans are beginning to waver as the shells and Americans come ever so closer to them, some of the less-sterdy soldiers, the new recruits begin to flee their positions.

A German officer looks back at some of the fleeing men and stands up and shouts, "Stand and fight men..." and is struck in the throat by an American bullet, he falls over the edge of the fox-hole and has blood spurting up from his throat, on the base of the river the American boats reach the shoreline and the Americans begin to jump out and press forward up against the baseline and the German soldiers begin to panic. American soldiers jump into the defenses and begin fierce hand-to-hand combat with the German defenders, Captain Miller looks up the hill and waves his arm forward and the American soldiers advance behind him leaving the wounded and dying screaming in horror behind them as the rest move towards the bridge.

Miller moves up and leaps a brick wall and looks behind him, only nine soldiers are with him. "Harry take your men around the bend and draw fire, you cover. The rest follow up with me. Go! Go! Go!" Running across the bridge the Americans drew and open fire and the German bridge defenders stand up with their arms raised and the Miller walks forward to the middle of the bridge and holds his rifle above his head, the British tanks begin to move across, from his headquarters General Decker looks at the bridge realizing the German defense has failed and he readies for the spectacular explosion to come.

"Are you ready?"

"Ja! General!"

Decker looks at the bridge and sees the British tanks crossing the bridge, the lead tank passes Captain Miller standing in the middle of the bridge and he smiles and the tank enters the center part of the bridge directly underneathe one of the five explosive boxes.

"Steady, steady," says Decker as he looks at the bridge. The British tank is now three-fourth's the way across the bridge and General Decker no longer kneeling stands up with a massive grin. "Now!"

A massive thunderous rour erupts at the bridgehead, one that throws the attention of Colonel's Martin and Henry to the noise.

ripple-rock-explosion.jpg


In the river a final German artillery barage hits the river no longer a threat to the bridge advance, General Decker is in shock as the young officer attempts to blow the bridge, nothing happens. "Now! NOW! NOW!" General Decker grows nervous and a major behind him panics.

"Mein gott! They're only a day away from Essen! Who can stop them now?"

General Decker blindly stares at the Allied tanks cross the Dusseldorf Bridge and plainly answers, "No one."

Captain Miller looks for Colonel Martin in his command car coming to greet the American captain, "Now we have the all the bridges. Tomorrow we'll be dining in a German war factory," laughs the British colonel and laughs in agreement and turns backs and looks at the many tanks crossing into German-held territory...
 
TheEnlighted1 said:
"Now we have the all the bridges. Tomorrow we'll be dining in a German war factory"

There are some cheap restaurants in Germany. Ok, they are not MacDonalds, but they are better than a war factory...
:D
 
@Enewald: Pretty Much...
In reality to the game (Dusseldorf) which would be in the Cologne Provence was open as I saw no Allies in border Belgium. Then some Brits and Americans appear and looks like they move to Cologne so I send Decker's SS-Panzer division to Cologne and are defeated while Allies in Essen so disorganized at like 5% and all weak and still encircled.

@Kurt_Steiner: I hate McDonalds. The Allies will have some fun while in Germany I can promise you that. Well, a factory lunch is probly better than a cheap MD's burger in my opinion, but that's just me.
 
TheEnlighted1 said:
@Kurt_Steiner: I hate McDonalds. The Allies will have some fun while in Germany I can promise you that. Well, a factory lunch is probly better than a cheap MD's burger in my opinion, but that's just me.

I fully agree :D
 
A City Too Far

The Dash for Essen

11th-Armoured-01.jpg


Field Marshal Rommel and his staff were being driven up to the frontlines at Essen, the hotel and Major Harolds command post which were now all but cut-off and overrun by the elite SS-Panzertroops. Sitting out in the ruins of the once magnimous hotel and riverside buildings lay the British wounded and surrounded without any ammunition, Harolds sits on a ledge and blindly stares at the ground with a face full of dirt and rabble.

Across the bridge Rommel's car grows larger and larger and the soldiers dressed in sharp black and polished uniforms stand at attention as the field marshal approaches them. The car pulls strait up to the British soldiers and Rommel and Heissmeyer stand up, Rommel in his sharpe black overcoat steps out of the car and stands beside the car door and looks at the faces of the British soldiers sitting and staring at him. He can see some grow anxious, turning to their partners and asking, "Is that Rommel?" Rommel begins to walks forward and takes out a piece of paper with a name written on it and a German-to-Enlish Translator walking with him. Rommel pauses infront of Major Harolds and looks done at him, in his best English he questions, "You must be the fierce Major Harolds I heard so much about."

The major blindly looks up at the German and National War Hero. He simply smiles and looks back done at the ground and his bloody foot. Rommel takes out a bar of chocolate and hands it to the major, the major sees the gesture but doesn't move. The Corporal translator steps up and speaks clearly in English to Major Harolds, "My field marshal wants you to take this chocolate, it's the finest in all of Germany. We just got the shipment this morning, straight form the Hanover Chocolate Factory." Major Harolds looks up at the marshal holding out the candy bar and he smiles and takes it from Rommel, in his best abled voice he only musters out and weak and virtually unnoticable...

"Thanks."

Rommel gets back up and looks at the carnage that has befallen Essen and can see his panzers and grenadiers continue to march deeper into Essen. The Field Marshal blindly looks at his watch and smiles and turns back to the major, "Where is the rest of you division? Where is your general? Too kill so many is not what we all want."

~ Outside of Dusseldorf, Germany.

Captain Miller looks up at the leading commander of the British Tanks Guards Element and asks, "Why have we stopped? We are so close to Essen. Essen! Those are British and American troops down there, trapped and being slaughtered by elite German forces and waiting for our rescue and you are just going too sit here, after three-fouth's of my men are dead after busting their ass to get that bloody bridge... and... and drink Irish Tea!?"

The British major standing beside the American captain looks at him, "I'm sorry captain but Colonel Martin..."

"If your colonel was here he'd be pushing towards Essen and you know that!"

"Captain! You're not a Tank Commander, I have fifty tanks and all their crews under my command and I'm not throwing their lives away to reach Essen until our infanty support mops up the resistance in Dusseldorf and then we can move safely without losing so many innocent lives!"

"I'M A COMMANDER TOO! Nearly all of my men died so you guys could take that hellish bridge and reach Essen and releave those men dying waiting for you, don't tell me I don't know what it's like to order my men to death. I just did and many of them were, WERE my friends and now they're dead!"

"CAPTAIN MILLER! That's enough, I have my orders. We wait!"

Captain Miller walks backwards too the bridge where the sun is setting behind him and turns back at the British Major, "God Dammit! Must you do everything by the books! By the time your prescious footsoldiers get here the troops in Essen will be all dead!"

~Southwest Corner of Essen, still held by British 1st Airborne, General HQ

General Down walks into his shattering command post and leans against a broken wall and gets news from the radio that the British are still miles away from releaving them and that the British Infantry along the river banks have fully capitulated to the Germans. The Americans still behind them are also trapped and being strangled to pieces as the 1st Airborne is.

"They said we'd be here for five days at the most, we've been here for fifteen!"

"General, are planes still drop supplies to the Germans. Doctor Raab is in the halls, he wishes to speak to you."

"Let him in."

Dr. Raab walks into the room, "General. I'm sorry but there is no more places for your wounded men, I have hotels, no homes and no rooms for these men."

"Outside?"

"Even that is overcrowded sir."

"Doc, I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm sorry I drug you into this thing. You may now leave and return to home on the outskirts of Essen and not need worry about us anylonger."

"General," says a depressed doctor, "I have no home."

~ General Alanbrooke's HQ. Four Miles from Essen. Residence of von Krimmer Family.

Colonel Martin, General Browning, General Horricks and Colonel Joe Carter look at the field infront of them.

Colonel Martin looks at the smoke rising from Essen and can hear the gunfire and explosions well, he looks to the others, "Why don't we just try to bash our way through?"

"I'm not sure if that could be done Marty," says Browning.

"Then that's it, I take full responsibility, my men were not fast enough," comments Horricks.

General Alanbrooke walks out, "No, we should have never attempted this with so little time to prepare. Joe? Do you still have some of those boats?"

"Yes."

"Tonight, we save those that we can. I'm sorry but that's the best we can do, the war will not be over by Christmas..."

The Essen circle is closed, the Allies no longer able to hold on,

Operation Wallenstein has failed. And the lives of so many brave soldiers lost in the most deciesive battle in the west, and possibly the whole war at this point. With the Allies all but expelled from Germany, poorly organized and badly beaten... The rejuvinated German forces under Rommel can have their sight set on the Dutch Shoreline and countryside.

Casualties at Essen:
British, of 18,500: 6500 killed, 10000 wounded and captured, 2000 escaped.
American, of 8800: 1900 killed, 5000 wounded, 1900 escaped.

German Heer, of 10,000: 450 killed, 675 wounded.
German SS, of 19,000: 3500 killed, 4300 wounded.

Operation Wallenstein Brakedown:
Allies: 12 divisions, roughly 10-120,000 men
German: 3 SS panzerdivisions, 1 SS panzergrenadier division, 5 Wehrmacht divisions, roughly around 72,000 men.

*Based on the scale of in-game divisions being made up of 10,000 men + 2,000 per brigade groups.
 
Enewald said:
uuh, the german pwned them. :p

Hehe. :D

Ofcourse we did,

Never underestimate the armies of the Fatherland and Field Marshal Rommel

The Allies thought they could dance into Berlin, they got a big change :rofl:
 
what's the current date in the game? still time for a bit shuffling on the eastern front? crush the communists, repeat the infamous 100 div pocket from that other 44-aar (das war ein befehl?)!!! :cool:

Or alternatively you could try to kick the allies out of the boot, but the reason for suggesting east front over italy is that the italian weather remains pretty good even until the late fall, which is not always the case with Belarus and the soviet territory there
 
Laurwin said:
what's the current date in the game? still time for a bit shuffling on the eastern front? crush the communists, repeat the infamous 100 div pocket from that other 44-aar (das war ein befehl?)!!! :cool:

Or alternatively you could try to kick the allies out of the boot, but the reason for suggesting east front over italy is that the italian weather remains pretty good even until the late fall, which is not always the case with Belarus and the soviet territory there

Current In-game date: March 30, 1945

Currently Planning the Invasion of Russia, and stockpiling supplies and as much oil from Romania as possible.

The Allies in Italy have been expelled, the Allies in Western Europe gone and not much a threat, France is defended not so much but with rapid motorized groups along the coast and Italy defended by RSI and Croatian troops.

I hope to get to the Russian Front which will consume me, I'm not so if I should have another "book" on the rather dull fronts of Operation Torch and Italy though.

The Armies of the Reich will march triumphantly into Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad and Baku before the winter, or that's the plan...
 
Russia is next to go, that will be very interesting to watch.

War with the SU will be tough because of all the attrition and bad weather especially the marshes and mud.
 
@ Dr Death: War with Russia. The long awaited return to Russia at last.

Where Napoleon Failed I shall succede and the Glorious Third Reich will march from Eastern Europe to the Pacific...maybe.
 
A City Too Far

The End

rommel.jpg


With the Allied Failures during Operation Wallenstein, Rommel conducted an extraordinary campaign in Holland and Belgium and would throw the Allies and Montgomery back into the seas once again, with the winter months rapidly approaching the Allies who have lost so much men and material in France, Italy, Holland and Germany were unable to continue the land war in Europe and the Americans and British soldiers still hard at war with Japan continued their war against Imperial Japan, while the war with Nazi Germany was slowly descending away. With Western Europe firmly under the command of the Germans once again the Germans began to focus deploy and reinforcing the Eastern Front Armies for the long anticipated Invasion of Russia once again, "Operation Frederik the Great..."

Based off of Joseph E. Levin and Cornelius Ryan's "A Bridge Too Far"

Cast of Characters: (By role)
German:
Erwin Rommel (Maximilian Schell)
Colonel Schneider (Hardy Kruger)
Walter Model
Paul Hausser (Walter Kohut)
Major Krafft (Captain Grabner-historical)
General Decker (Hardy Kruger)
General Heissmeyer
Captain Kruger

British:
Major Harolds (Anthony Hopkins)
Captain Thomas (Christopher Good)
Colonel Martin (J.O.E. Vandeleur-historical)
*Dr. Raab (Laurence Olivier)
British Tank Major
British Captain with Colonel Martin
Sergeant Perry
British Intelligence Officer
British Intelligence Officer 2
General Down (Sean Connery)
General Alanbrooke
General Browning

American:
Captain Miller (Robert Redford)
Colonel Joe Carter (Ryan O'Neil)

Dutch:
Mr. Koornhardt
Peter Koornhardt
Mrs. Koornhardt
Mr. Jansen (alluded too)
 
Well folks, now that I've pretty much caught up with AAR, and gameplay the Invasion of Russia is next... I hope.

To Moscow, To Leningrad, To Baku, To Sverdlorsk and on...
 
Will now be looking forward to the titanic struggle between Soviets and Germans.

Destroy the Communists!