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And this is why relying on the AI is a bad idea.

But this is also why it is more challenging to play an Axis minor, rather than Germany. My preference is to play Germany and to drive events but that tends to lead to well planned, well managed operations. It is so much harder to achieve your aims, and support your Axis partner when they do not perform at the same level. Myth has been particularly hard hit by his allies' poor performance but this had led to an epic tale.

All hail those who play second fiddle!
 
Well, damn. Germans.
 
myth said:
The causes of the German withdrawal are not clear to this day.
It's quite obvious - the Germans have been ordered, finally, to attack from their eastern front (or thru Finland) into SU, and all the units need to run around Hungary to get into position.

Your ability to perform a strategic withdrawal will be sorely tested this time.
 
gah i think mussolini needs to send his black shirts over to berlin to give hitler a talking about the war effort
 
Looks like the Germans are heading south to secure all the best beaches for their summer holidays.
 
That is painful. It will make for interesting reading to see how you try to save your armies from that German-created catastrophe, but I doubt it was much fun to play.

Maybe Il Duce can request the help from the unruly elements in Sicily or Napoli and get a horse's head delivered to the Fuhrer's pillow? Some showing of displeasure seems appropriate. ;)
 
I am now starting to see Myth's fatal game crash not as a halt to this wonderful exploration of strategy, but rather, as the imposition of the political into the military.

With failure after failure by their German allies, Mussolini's fascist cabinet, or perhaps the King, became so infuriated that a coup d'etat was launched. Further game play was, of course, impossible.
 
That hurt. I would have loved to see what you could have held on to in terms of Soviet territory, and whether that would have been enough to shift the balance of power in terms of ressources, manpower, and IC.

Thanks for keeping this going right to the bitter end:cool:
 
So, at what date did you have the fateful crash?
And I'm really rather exited to see how you are getting out of this one!

..Btw, have you any idea why the AI is pulling the troops back? Is there a threat from abroad (west...) Have the finns deployed some troops? ..Or is it just the "Congaline" to India again?

-You could just have requested some Expedit. Corps, couldn't you?
 
bloody hell... that is so unexpected!

I really wish you @ least could have made the southern poland / slovakia pocket.

But these germans have backstabbed you on every occation! Shame on the AI for making the game even harder than it allready is for an italian player!
 
Baltasar: That crafty Fuhrer, he...wait, no, that's not crafty, that's retarded. Bloody Fuhrer! :p

Axe27: Maybe, but I certainly do not want to control Germany's army. I'm playing Italy damnit. :p

shepherd352: Too true. :D

Maj. von Mauser: They strike again. :p

TankHunter: Hehe maybe. ;)

FrodoB: Maybe, maybe. :p

GrenadierSchube: Too right! Bloody Germans! :p

Ahriman: I wouldn't be surprised. :D

Stuyvesant: Hehe, perhaps perhaps. :D

li2co3: Interesting hypothesis. :D

rasmus40: Of course, not going to the bitter end is a bit boring. ;)

Enewald: :p

BlitzMartinDK: You should know by now how I've reacted to expeditionary corps in the past. Why would I want them now? :D

Krogzar: Hehe, if it wasn't for the AI it wouldn't be too hard. ;)

Next update will be Sunday-ish. Not Saturday as I'll be spending the day in Philadelphia at the Latvian Society, voting in the Latvian parliamentary elections!
 
I'm eagerly looking forward to the next update. This AAR is gripping. :D
 
BlitzMartinDK: Pfff. :p

Lamahorse: Glad you're enjoying it! :D

Today's update is a bit short, but I've been tired all day from yesterday's events and stresses. I've also been distracted by two high level Paradoxian minecraft meetings and another project I'm working on. But nevertheless, it is coming!
 
The Year of Ruin
Part 8: Withdrawal II, March 26 – April 16, 1945

Retreating in the face of the enemy is invariably a messy activity even when supreme coordination is attempted. Even at the best of times, strategy is a business conducted in an ambiguous situation where the other strategic actor is attempting to impose his will upon oneself just as one is trying to impose one’s will upon him. The situation is even worse during a withdrawal because a withdrawal precisely means that the enemy’s imposition of will has been, at least to a certain extent, rather successful and the only way to combat this imposition is to withdraw and sacrificing either gains made in previous offensives or one’s own territory, depending on the exact circumstances. Thus the enemy has the initiative, he has the confidence to advance and he has the forces to continue, at least within the invisible binds of his own culminating point of victory.

The Italians were deep into Soviet territory, very deep indeed. The closest defensible line undoubtedly lay at the River Prut, in northern Dacia. The whole of Ukraine would have to be crossed along a north-south axis even for nearby armies such as those commanded by Guzzoni and Pintor. For those further away, they would also have to move along the infinitely more imposing east-west axis as well. Yet even before such an exodus could be considered, battles had to be broken off, many of them offensive battles. Thousands more would die in the last days of these battles: over two thousand two hundred Italians and over five thousand three hundred Soviets. It was only by March 30th that the Italian armies could actually begin lumbering southward and westward toward Dacia. The armies in the Kazan and Caucasus would also have to withdraw, else the weight of the Soviet juggernaut would roll up and then over them. Over half a million Italian men began streaming toward Dacia and Anatolia, never mind the legions of Germans who were already moving.

126-01-TotalWithdrawal.jpg

Another total withdrawal out of the Soviet Union and toward the Balkans.

This is, of course, the moment when everything begins falling apart. The withdrawal could only run smoothly if the Soviets did not interfere by delaying units or forcing them to deviate from their paths. This reprieve the Soviets were not willing to grant for obvious and good strategic reasons. Instead, Soviet pressure redoubled after an immediate and short period of surprise at the Italian, and they began hounding the rearguard formations mercilessly. Southwest of Moscow, large numbers of Soviet formations tore into a straggling corps of three divisions, and forced a corps of five formations to deviate to try to save it. In this they were fortunately successful, but it was a very close encounter as the Soviets had finally begun learning how to properly pursue a withdrawing enemy.

126-02-OMGOMGOMGWithdrawal.jpg

A hair-raising withdrawal.

From western Ukraine and southeastern Poland, too, the Italians were receiving a significant amount of trouble from the pursuing Soviets. One corps, which had nearly broken through to the German lines with the support of a loaned German infantry formation under a certain Major General von Manstein, began stuck for some time, under assault at the end of a long and very vulnerable salient. While one Italian corps was sent forward to rescue it, as elsewhere before, it was very far away and might not make it in time. Von Manstein bravely forged ahead with his division and held the vulnerable neck of the salient open long enough for the Italians to escape, sacrificing the cohesion of his own division to do so. While the German high command did not appreciate the Italian ability to achieve and exploit success, at least some of their lower level generals did.

126-03-MoreOMGOMGOMGWithdrawal.jpg

Another nerve-wracking withdrawal.

By April 16th, however, all formations were safely back in Dacia, nearly exactly on the old defensive line that had been held back in 1941 and 1942 for some time. This time, however, the Italians would have three medium or large armies holding it rather than two small ones, leaving Vercellino’s and Pintor’s armies in the rear to use as a reserve as necessary. The Italians planned to hunker down and simply defend for the foreseeable future. They had decided to let the Germans take the greater weight of the war on their own; the Italians had already suffered enough dead for a war that was neither of their making nor in their real interest.

126-04-SettingUpDacianLine.jpg

Italian armies filling out the renewed Dacian Line.

The withdrawal had been costly, but nowhere near as costly as the previous advances had been. Just over four thousand eight hundred Italians had lost their lives during this time, the Soviets nearly six thousand eight hundred. Given the high losses of previous weeks, such a drop attests to the overall success the Italians had in breaking much of the contact between themselves and their Soviet pursuers. The Italians would become passive in the war, defending only their own territory and confident in the German ability to do the same. Stalemate would exist, but neither side would be able to overthrow the other.
 
Good job getting the men out, must've been a closely run thing at some places. I take it the Germans are still not attacking despite the fact that the Soviets have greatly reduced the number of formations on their side of the border? What's your situation in former Turkey, are you pulling out your forces from there as well? Did you lose any formations at all?

If the Italians stay passive on this front, what will Mussolini occupy himself with? Hitler cleary doesn't get his act together and maintaining a defensive force in the area is a costly affair. May be Mussolini might be looking for some places further away like India? And what's going on in Africa?
 
I'm having difficulty imagining how angry the Italian General Staff is at the moment. I think I'd be chewing the furniture by now.

What next for the tired soldiers of the Italian army?