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HKslan said:
Good AAR you've got here.

Are you still planning on turning up the difficulty and aggressiveness once it's 1945? That'll really complicate your offensive.

Thanks, I'll make that choice when the time comes, the only major problem will be the increase in consumer demands and national dissent which will go up if I swich to hard which may hamper my already struggling economy thanks to the allies bombing campaign. As of now I'm probably going to increase the difficulty before I attempt to take down the USSR.
 
I come late, but I came, at last. A wonderful AAR here we have. Go on like this, please!
 
Kurt_Steiner said:
I come late, but I came, at last. A wonderful AAR here we have. Go on like this, please!

Thanks. Huh, sadly updates are going to be really slow now, football season kicks off today, I have a game at 7 and school is going to start again soon and I still have to do my summer reading project :( :eek:o

I marvel at the success that others have had in this scenario (Remble) and hope that in the end I can come somewhat close to that outcome.
 
A City Too Far

Crossing the Rhine

dhm1104.jpg


As Operation Wallenstein kicks in, Patton enters Dortmund on August 15, 1944 and Brooke enters Aachen after a small engagement with OKW Reserve units. The Rhine is becoming increasingly open to crossing as the German Command rushes everything to the Holland Front. Field Marshal Rommel gets the news of the liberation of Eindhoven on August 1, the next few weeks see the Allies advance deeper and closer towards Germany with no one in a position to stop them after the Allies broke the Eindhoven Lines. The OKW Front in Holland is in full retreat to the Fatherland and the the III-SS Corps gathers her remaining forces after being beaten at Rotterdam and Arnhem and then withdrawn to Essen.

~Rommel's HQ, Dusseldorf, Germany.

"The Americans sweep in from the north with Patton here," he slams his fingers on the map at Munster and Dortmund where Patton's Forces have entered. "The British attack from the south out of Belgium and into the Aachen lead by Alan Brooke here!" he slams his fist on the board at Belgium and then point towards Aachen. "This is unacceptal, this is the first time in over one hundred years that a foreign soldier has stepped on the Fatherland."


"We are trying to form defenses in the north," Model says as he is the commander of the Northern Lines based at Wilhelmshafen and now commanding the retreating troops from Dortmund. "In a few days I will counter-attack Patton in Munster, he's weakest there and sweep down to Dortmund and expell the Americans from the Holy Fatherland in a matter of seven days."

"Beyer, take your southern command and sweep back into Belgium through the Ardennes and then re-take Aachen. The British soldiers advancing towards Essen must withdraw then, that's the plan generals. With the II-SS Corps coming up from Calais, they will help in Belgium."

"Generalfeldmarshcal, news about the II-SS Corps."

"Well what is it Model?"

"The Americans have landed back at Dieppe and they're moving to stop them at the beaches before more Allies enter France again."

"They've invaded France again? Who's in command, why wasn't I informed of that right away?"

"Mark Clarke and we just recieved the news an hour ago sir."

"Dammit, I need to now this stuff immediatley, so Hausser is going for Dieppe? Hmm, what about the 15th Armee in Rheims?"

"Oil shortages, sir they wont be moving until they're resupplied."

Rommel scrathches his head and a message enters the room. The young SS officer looks at the generals and field marshals planning the defenses of the Rhine in confusion. "Feldmarshcal, the British have entered Essen and are preparing to cross the Rhine as we speak. They have control of the Essen Bridge across the Rhine, we failed to detonate the bridge on schedule."

Rommel grows angry with this news, "Who's at Essen, my former Headquarters?"

Model walks up and clears his throat, "Schneider's SS Battalion: four panzers, twenty armoured cars and fourty trucks and half-tracks. In total maybe one thousand soldiers are at Essen."

Rommel looks back at the officer with the news, "How many Allied soldiers?"

"Three divisions."

"The Third SS-Corps, they will attack Essen immediatley!"

"What about Schneider's men?"

"Delay them as long as possible." Rommel walks out of the room with sweat coming down from his head, the war is turning against the Germans quickly and he is the man the Reich has turned to too save the empire from utter defeat.

~Essen, Germany.

"Major Harolds, we hold this end of the bridge," the British major looks at the bridge from a nearby hotel. "We believe that there is a German Unit on the other side of the bridge."

"Captain?"

"Yes Major?"

"Can we cross the Rhine right now?" The two soldiers look at each other.

"If you want us too cross the Rhine, it will be done. May I lead the attack across the Rhine?"

"Ofcourse Thomas. Take your battalion across the river, I'll support you from this end, when crossed deploy your flair and the rest of the division will move across and then the Americans and British Tanks will be clear to cross into Germany and in thirty-days we'll be celebrating in Berlin."

"Aye." Captain Thomas runs down the stairs and the British Major Harolds looks at the bridge. The surprised that the bridge is intact he contacts the British Army HQ, the only bridge across the Rhine is at Essen. The Race to take control of the city has begun, the war will not be decided in the east, it will be decided at Essen, Germany. If the Allies hold the city they will cross deep into Germany with no one to stop them, If the Germans hold the lines at Essen, then perhaps victory can still be achieved...
 
Seems like the war in the west has gone so chaotic.
Landings in Holland, Southern France, Dieppe, not to forgot about the Italian Front and they its going they're going to land again in France until they have no more soldiers to do it with, good luck.
 
clifton said:
Did you stabilize the front in southern France?


I plan too get to all the fronts eventually in this AAR, but as of now the Southern French Front is secured to some degree.

They've progressed to the RSI Border where RSI and Croatian Troops have stopped them, the I & II Italien Armees continue to hold Rome from Allies in Southern France and the majority of the Normandy Forces have redoployed in the south. Soory for not having an actually in-game pic of Southern France, this is what the current front in France looks like. (I simply don't have the time to take a bunch of screens, I take the ones that will be most important in my mind... This is one is edited to show what the Front looks like. My troops in Lyon ESCAPED!! :D

Hopefully you can make out the map below: Dots represent change of control and solid lines are the current fronts and the smaller lines with arrows represent retreat, moves and attacks.

France.jpg
 
Usuall the IA is quite schizo, but this time it is going all the way up in madness... :D
 
@ Kurt Steiner, normally when playing the scenario as Soviets and win the war in like a few months the Allied AI had never performed an Invasion of Holland, even with their slow progress in France, and I've never seen a Landing in Bordeaux or any other southern France province except for like Toulon or Marseilles. My Heersgroupe West in in total shambles.

@zoli1984, so many landings, so few troops to spare. We make do with what we have and hope for the best and maybe to (Furious) AI agressivness will stab them in the back as it has done a few times.
 
A City Too Far

First Contact


p19.jpg



"Herr Oberst? When shall we cross the bridge for Essen?"

"In a few minutes Major Krafft, take your company and cross the bridge at all costs, how many men are in your group?"

"About two-hundred or so."

"Captain Kruger, your infantry will support Krafft's Armoured Company across the bridge. Rommel has ordered to hold the bridge and stall the Allied advance for as long as possible, to do this that bridge must come back into our hands otherwise they will simply steam roll across the Rhine and the war will end in without our mighty economy."

"Oberst Schneider, the men are ready," announces the major.

Colonel Schneider looks over to Major Krafft, "Give them hell," he shakes the major's hand and walks back. The Major and the captain walk side by side towards their respective command cars, Krafft dressed in his traditional grey-green officer uniform while Captain Kruger is dressed in the famous Waffen-SS green camouflauge uniform. They board their cars and the major looks back at his collumn, fifteen armoured cars and another fifteen halftracks and kublewagens. He holds his arm up and moves it forward, the German collumn begins to advance.

From the British positions across the river the soldiers prepare for the German attack, not knowing how large or small, how powerful or weak the attack is going to be. Major Harolds looks over to Captain Thomas and begins to question about the potential of the German assault. The captain looks back at the major and remarks, "We can only hear them, likely an armoured unit that's all, nothing to serious." The British officers look across the haze on the bridge and can begin to see the Germans in their cars and trucks.

Major Krafft looks up and see's the British waiting for his attack, he shouts backs to his soldiers and the soldiers prepare their weapons and begin to pray to god to spare their lives. The major continues forward until he's about one-hundred feet from the end of the bridge before he gives the order, "Fire! Fire! Come on Fire! Open Fire! Schnell!"

The Germans begin to rip holes into the houses and hotels with their MP-40's and K-98's. The British begin to return fire with everything they have: grenades, rifles, machine guns and other anti-armoured weapons such as the PIAT which was proving very successful against the light armoured vehicles, a Kublewagen is turned to its side as it was struck be a grenade and another slams into a halftrack loaded with soldies. Another halftrack pushes forward with about fifteen soldiers in firing from it. The infantry is behind the vehicles peeking out and shooting at the British positions.

Major Krafft pushes forward against withering fire, "Come on! Come on brave soldiers of the Reich, keep pushing forward! Forward!" Captain Kruger looks from his car about fifty feet back from the major's he see's the major's car struck with a PIAT and the car stalls with the major inside shouting orders to the soldiers on the ground. "Keep going forward, fire!"

The SS soldiers pressing forward are cut-down by tremendous British fire, a SdKfz-234 armoured car plumets to the river below and the soldiers in their trucks and cars begin to cry out in pain and terror. German soldiers begin to run back and return fire, the bridge is wrecked with about thirty destroyed vehicles, the remaining pull back to the safety of the Rhine. A grenade strikes Major Krafft's cammond car sending it into a blaze and the major struggles to exit. In the midst of the confusion and chaos of the German retreat Captain Kruger looks backs and see's the major struggling to get out of his burning car. He leaps out of his withdrawing car and jumps onto the hood and then to the ground and runs forward while everyone else is running in the opposite direction.

The Captain rushes forward to about twenty feet from the car and collapses, struck by several bullets in the chest the captain slips onto the bloody pavement and lays moationless on the ground, the major takes on look back at his soldiers abadoning him and looks back at the British soldiers beginning to advance onto the bridge in pursuit and he falls into his burning car, the British counter-attack is called back and the Germans have failed to capture the bridge losing about 70% of their men and material in the process.

Colonel Schneider looks at the soldiers returning from the fight with their friends and comrades on their backs and looks back at his lieutantent, one of the few remaining officers sighs and begins, "Another glorious defeat for our forces," he looks down to the ground and the lieutantent looks over to his colonel and looks back at the men.

"Send in the panzers."
 
The Pippen said:
I can love to imagine this as a Bridge Too Far.

And what have the Soviets been doing all this time now?

The movie and what is going on in the game match up so well that I couldn't help but think about such a terrific war movie. :D
 
I had in mind Graebner's attack in Arnhem as I began to read...

Well, let's hope that the Panzers clean the other side of the river...
 
Kurt_Steiner said:
I had in mind Graebner's attack in Arnhem as I began to read...

Well, let's hope that the Panzers clean the other side of the river...

It is Rommel in command, so maybe he can reprise one of his tactics from Case Yellow, the Tank Volley where all tanks fire at the same time at the same target.
 
this aar is kinda awesome, since the whole plot of this happened in MY VERY own götterdämmerung game. I beat the allies in france then they land into undefended netherlands and are able to cross the rhine.

I had strat deployed some reinforcements, since I had pwned the soviets truly in '44, i could afford sending panzers to germany, well they overran my province and they instantly teleported to berlin, so they got there a lot quicker overall just by driving . Theres some strategy for you if you want advice :p
 
@Kurt_Steiner: Basis idea came from that attack at Arnhem, poor Germans, never knew what was happening. Ahh and the panzers must be able to turn the tide at Essen and more. Americans in the north against Model and British in the south against Beyer and in the center at Essen Americans and Brits vs. Rommel.

@trekaddict: Only if I had more panzers, the III-SS Division which is basically the SS-panzers from Avranches and not the starting II-SS Panzer Corps in the game, they've been bombed and shot to pieces and have been defeated so many times in my efforts to slow the Allies down so that the new wave of Mechs, Panzers and Infantry can be completed.

@Enewald: The AI followed procedures in Southern France as it always does but now I have mostly stabilized, but the AI got lucky in Holland as it was guarded by only one division and troops going for France probly just droped out in Holland. Eitherway this has made the game more interesting and ever more harder.

@Laurwin:Thanks, I'm happy to see the AI hasn't just done this too me. Well I haven't beaten back the Soviets at all I've been retreating to Central Poland where I'll hold the lines and build up during the winter and return to Russia in the Spring with the might of Germany, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. And any advice is welcome noting we're still in 1944.
 
A City Too Far

From Out of the Brush

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~Field Marshal Model's Headquarters. Munster, Germany.

At his desk Field Marshal Model sits into his new establishment which had recently been taken by the Americans and is now back in German hands. He looks at the the fields outside and sits down at his desk and takes picks up his glass of wine, he looks at the phone and picks it up when one of his aides walks in. General Bittrich steps forward.

"Excuse me generalfeldmarshcal, but Hausser is on the line."

"Hausser? Isn't he busy in still in France with his Second SS-Panzer Corps?"

"Not exactly sir, he has been made commander of the Cologne Front, and has taken control of Beyer's Forces in hopes that with a crack SS-Commander they can hold the lines from the British advance."

"Tell him that I'm busy."

"It's about the situation at the bridges at along the Rhine sir, Dusseldorf. He's sent on of his most trusted SS-general's there to hold the bridge at all costs. Dusseldorf holds the only bridge for the English to cross in able to reach Essen."

"It's all about Essen now isn't it general?"

"Yes, if they hold the bridge at Essen, the Rhine will be under Allied occupation, under our control it then the Rhine remains in German hands."

"Why hasn't he called Rommel?"

"He has, he was unable to reach Rommel but was informed that you're the second-in-command of the west."

"Put him on," Field Marshal Model picks up the phone and begins to talk with the newly promoted Field Marshal. "Feldmarshcal Hausser, what do you need from me?"

"Sir, I've found plans about the Allied operation going on, its called Wallenstein and the Allies will be pushing across the Dusseldorf and Essen Bridges to reach the Rhine under British command and in the north, Patton will lead a much larger American force and sweep to Hanover and Kiel. The war is supposed to be over by Christmas."

"My dear Hausser, if these plans are top secret why then are they in our hands? Hmmm, its a trick. If they were going to end the war so early and take the bridges don't you think that they would already be holding the bridge at Dusseldorf and had Patton attack me with more than a corps? This a plan to draw attention away from the southern front where they'll be attempting a brake through."

"But sir, they're right by the industrial center of Germany?"

"That's only because we had no units to stop them at our border, now we do and they're pity little assault and this *Operation Wallenstein is over."

"But what if its not sir, I ask you to give me the permission to blow the bridge at Essen."

"Are you mad? We need that bridge for a counter offensive."

"With what? We can't launch any counter-offensive from Germany. The French Front will come and do that."

"Feldmarshcal Hausser, you will not blow that bridge, understood. Hold them and don't let them take Cologne, that's what they want not to help out the soldiers at Essen. Cologne is the largest industrial city in the Rhine, that's the target. I assure you that."

"Sir, I always thought we were taught men over material."

"Not the Allies..."

~Dusseldorf, Germany.

"General Decker, a message from Hausser, you can't blow the bridge, Model won't allow it."

"Then its settled, we hold off the Entire British Army with one SS-Panzer division and some conscripts that happily joined us."

"General, the bridge is needed for a counter-attack."

"Have all the generals gone made, we have nothing to counter with, everything is in France. Get me feldmarschal Hausser, I want to know how we can stop an entire corps strenghted or larger British force with just one SS-division."