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Wonderful AAR - I found about it through the ACAs (I rarely care about HoI). And what to say? You have my vote:). Btw, Bastogne -that reminds of Band of Brothers series:).
 
I'm tired of praising this aar,so i'm just going to say its the best one i have ever read and vote for it which i did.:)

Soviets are losing the plot here.What they need to understand is that right now they have MORE divisions on the eastern front but inferior on a defensive slugfest.
They don't need a head on attack they need to expand the front because germany doesn't have enough divisions to cover whole front equally well and will create gaps,here cyvep is totally right,an armoured thrust through lithuania should be attempted and even if its thwarted will burn mp.Basically they need to draw more german strength from the west,and create a situation where germany can't be strong enough to launch an all out attack on any front.
Japan is silently doing its part admirably.
Axis situation isn't as bad as it looks...its still mid 1940 so axis strength should remain good for another 1yr or so ,in this period france must be defeated.
Inclusion of greece could provide a few divisions on the eastern front hopefully.
But the real crunch starts now...if the wehrmacht can go through the riverline defenses of belgium and france then even twice number of french divisions will have problems on flat plains against german divisions.The british are much better quality but too small atm,but british armour will be a pain in the ass if uare attacking with infantry only and no armour or AT available.
I would advice cpt easy not to try to force riverbanks against equal opposition unless desperate coz they will be total slaughter which allies can afford.Only if position is desperate should this be attempted.And no paradrops counting on a quick river crossing because river battles invariably get delayed and probably para division will be wasted waiting for the reinforcements to arrive.
Btw what is ur infantry tech?1942 standard?
 
Please accept this praise : your MP AAR are the best i've read so far

Just a question : Have you no insight of what France/Britain are up to ? It seems fairly strange to see the lack of reaction they offer you. Is there no sign of a build up in the med to try to open a second front somewhere in Italy or in the balkans region ? Or do you believe/have informations they only prepare their defensive positions at French borders ?
 
Yay, the Greeks in the Axis camp. The more forces on your side, the better. And good progress in Belgium, though the Allies seem too passive up there.
 
It would be interesting to hear from the SOV player at this point. The stalled invasion of Russia and fairly slow progress in the west must be a light in the dark for the Russian Bear? When is thoose T34s leaving the factory?

SOV player here. Thanks to CptEasy for writing this and all of the readers for encouraging him and commenting! I will try to answer some questions.

As discussed, an early war entry for the russians helped increasing production enormously, but tech levels... not as much. It will definitely take time to catch up, so the tanks produced are still of an early model at this point.

There has also been a constant questioning of "passive" SOV play in this AAR :) ... Can't say too much at this point, but I believe a SOV player has to be careful with offensive moves as the enemy troops are of superior quality. And as we have seen, Axis need to be offensive to gain resources of various kind.
 
Now all you have to do is kick the buts of the frog-eaters and tea-drinkers :)

Hopefully so. Or they punch my beer-drinking, sausage eating face…

Please accept this praise : your MP AAR are the best i've read so far
Just a question : Have you no insight of what France/Britain are up to ? It seems fairly strange to see the lack of reaction they offer you. Is there no sign of a build up in the med to try to open a second front somewhere in Italy or in the balkans region ? Or do you believe/have informations they only prepare their defensive positions at French borders ?

I do accept your praise. Thank you very much. Well, France I guess, is just holding on. They now hell is coming their way and are just digging in, I expect. It will be tough going when/if I hit the French wall of flesh and guns. They have had longer time than “normal” to build up. It might be quite hairy. UK have a lot to do on other theatres (Africa/Asia) and except the few divisions they tossed into Belgium, they are digging in with the French. As UK pretty much rule the western oceans it’s difficult to know if the shift fronts. I do worry about an attack in Vilhemshaven-area as I am quite thin there. BUT, UK is spread quite thin so all in all, I don’t think he have any extreme offensive potential. If he got something planned, I guess we’ll see it pretty soon.

You are pushing them hard. The Allies are passive and will probably simply want to save France without bothering with the Benelux. I'm surprised by this. They should coordinate their actions with the Soviets and give you as many problems as possible.

Hmmm… well, they are doing a little bit more than is shown as I mainly focus on important battles, but true, I haven’t missed any major battle and I have to agree they are slightly more passive than I would have thought. Still, I guess they rather use as much dig-in bonuses as possible rather than charge into panzers. But how to choose between these strategies is of course a matter of taste.

I'm tired of praising this aar,so i'm just going to say its the best one i have ever read and vote for it which i did.:)
Soviets are losing the plot here.What they need to understand is that right now they have MORE divisions on the eastern front but inferior on a defensive slugfest.
Btw what is ur infantry tech?1942 standard?

Hey, Austerlitz – no I recognize your posting again :) Good stuff. I did cut it a little bit short but will answer it all. And thanks man, for the praise. You’ve been with me from the first AAR. Cred. About SOV strategies you got some answers from Daphne. He is building up and waiting. With that long-standing war-economy he will be a hard not to crack. Concerning France, I guess you are right. As I have to cover up the East Front I think me attack on the West is a lot weaker than “usual”. Had the Mol-Rib been in place I would have had tons more… Anyway – as I mentioned earlier in the AAR I started out with a massive investment in Infantry. My original though, actually inspired by you, Austerlitz, was massing out “2inf, 1 art/eng” divisions to be able to cover huge areas with troops. It did help me a lot. Now, as that objective was rather successful and I noticed that I needed more punch, I have started to build “3inf, 1 art/eng” divisions instead (as the “fresh 50 000 who now travel towards the front in the West). So, to go back to you comment, I was worried how my western forces would cope with the dug-in French defenders. Luckily, I have deployed some 6-7 panzer divisions in the west so they should be able to do some good… My infantry at this point is all upgraded 1940-standard and have been for some time. I wanted to avoid the heaviest penalty on research so I waited a little with the 1942 tec.

Yay, the Greeks in the Axis camp. The more forces on your side, the better. And good progress in Belgium, though the Allies seem too passive up there.

Yes. Dunno what good they will do. RN will tear their fleet apart like nothing. At least the Greeks get some time to build up their troops and maybe they will be useful in the future. As it is now, they are land locked in Greece as Balkan is all neutral.

Subscribed! How is the situation in Asia? Is Japan still gaining a lot of ground?

Welcome onboard, Freeman. There will come some more info about Japan a few chapters ahead, but yes, they are chewing away slowly but surely against Soviet. In Asia, they are more or less regrouping after capturing Dutch Indo-China – preparing for new bloody adventures.

Good update CptEasy! Love you're AARS :)

Wonderful AAR - I found about it through the ACAs (I rarely care about HoI). And what to say? You have my vote:). Btw, Bastogne -that reminds of Band of Brothers series:).

Just great aar ; I voted for it. Keep on...

Now that brought a smile to my face. Thanks for voting guys! Nice to have a non-HoI-playing reader as well. Not too common. But why on earth don’t you play HoI, Athalcor? ;)


....

Next post will have to wait a few days as I'll be in Vilnius, Lituania a couple of days. Have never been there before so it will be interesting.
 
Vilnius is pretty nice city, you will like it.
Haven't been to Stockholm yet, even it is just across the sea from Estonia.

And yes, probably you have much less forces in West, leading to higher losses and slower advancement.
 
Why don't I play HoI?

Well, it is too overwhelming to take care of all the units for me when you play a major nation and when you play a minor you are unable to affect the world. (/my opinion)

But you made the war a great story, your different approach to the war (no m-r pact) and of course the fact you are playing large scale multiplayer make the AAR very interesting.

And enjoy Vilna:).
 
SOV player here. Thanks to CptEasy for writing this and all of the readers for encouraging him and commenting! I will try to answer some questions.

As discussed, an early war entry for the russians helped increasing production enormously, but tech levels... not as much. It will definitely take time to catch up, so the tanks produced are still of an early model at this point.

There has also been a constant questioning of "passive" SOV play in this AAR :) ... Can't say too much at this point, but I believe a SOV player has to be careful with offensive moves as the enemy troops are of superior quality. And as we have seen, Axis need to be offensive to gain resources of various kind.
Don't get me wrong I think your defensive play is great, it's the Germans who are in a hurry to settle things. I was just curious over the progress, but I guess there are mostly T26s rolling off the production line so far :) Any news from the far east?
 
Great updates! I just love how you combine your assaults with airdrops it bodes well for the attacks on your more spacious land-fat neighbors.

If it isn't to much of a trouble I would prefer getting the screens mostly in the more informative "terrain mode" since the terrain usually matters quite a bit.
 
Don't get me wrong I think your defensive play is great, it's the Germans who are in a hurry to settle things. I was just curious over the progress, but I guess there are mostly T26s rolling off the production line so far :) Any news from the far east?

Thanks, the second part was not aimed at you either. Yes, research takes time (I should know, being a scientist myself...). Regarding the Far East, I forward the question to CptEasy and Zid who might have screen shots showing the situation?
 
Daphne-I am assuming part of the reason your are not on the offensive is the supply situation. How are you faring in that regard?

It is not a major concern I would say, but it is true that with the current tech levels some troops eat better than they fight... So there is a limit as to how much I can concentrate in one segment of the front, especially in the famous Polish-Belorussian swamps. But the poor infra here is obviously also a good defensive factor.
 
UK player here.

Yes, the Greek war entry did cause a couple of naval battles. I'd describe them as "entertaining" and they hardly even cause any disorganization.

About the defence of Benelux. Defence of Netherlands I find rather tricky. There are some defensive grounds, but chances of getting surrounded are very high. I'd rather set up my line in Belguim. Another factor was that the UK motorized forces retreating through Belgium from "the Hammer" was out of supply. Being motorized they had a speed of 1 km/h and once they finally made it to France, they were at 0 organization. When Benelux was hit, these forces weren't ready.

Once Germany entered Belguim (and Belguim joined Axis) supply was not a problem. I moved in to defend the cities and wanted the France player to complete the line along defensive terrain. But the French player was happy with his (maximum) dug-in positions and could not be persuaded. One of those times when the co-operation wasn't 100 %.
 
Once Germany entered Belguim (and Belguim joined Axis) supply was not a problem.

Belgium joined "Allies", obviously :)

Interesting to hear your org went down to 0. I was hoping for something like that, as stated earlier, but didn't think it would become as dramatic as zero.
 
Great updates! I just love how you combine your assaults with airdrops it bodes well for the attacks on your more spacious land-fat neighbors.

If it isn't to much of a trouble I would prefer getting the screens mostly in the more informative "terrain mode" since the terrain usually matters quite a bit.

Thanks Prof. Well, I think you have to do with the mode I play in when I take the screenie. It's multitasking enough for me to press F11 at the right moment when running a non-pausing MP-game ;) But I'll keep ure comment in mind. If I have time, I'll try to switch now and then.
 
The problem with terrain mode pictures is, that for me as a non HOI player, I have no idea what those pictures mean.
So the presentation in normal map-mode seems to be maybe more understandable for people who are just checking in here to see whats going on in your war...
 
Sudden Carnage

Chapter XXIII – Operation Vice II










Countries played by humans: UK, France, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan







Recap: Operation Hammer Sickle is over and was quite successful. Netherlands is now a puppet of Germany. Now, Operation Vice have started, the battle of Belgium, and managed to secure the northern part of the country in little less than two weeks. The 2nd Paratroop Division has daringly been dropped in Phillipville, hoping to capture retreating Belgians.











38-2.jpg

March 2nd, 1940

The attack on the Belgian capital is starting to show distinct progress. The Anglo-Belgian defenders are being grinded down while they fail to do any substantial damage on the German troopers. With the eastern offensive through Bastogne being successful, about an army corps of Belgians and a British motorized infantry ended up in a sack with the only escape route through Bruxelles. It didn’t seem, however, like the Anglo-Belgians had realized this yet.

The attack on the paratroopers in Philippville had intensified with yet another French infantry division. The German leadership nervously dwelled upon the incoming news and put a lot of effort in helping the paratroopers out. For the moment, Japanese fighters held the sky free of bogies while German bombers dropped their loads on the French in Montmédy.

The fresh 50-thousand have now started to move out of Eindhoven towards the front. The German leadership had now decided where to insert them into the battle.











39-2.jpg

March 5th, 1940

The German push to relive the paratroopers was successful. The eastern offensive launched an attack into Montmédy and Japanese paratroopers were dropped directly into Philippeville, evening out the odds. With this, the risk of losing the paratroopers was reduced to almost nothing.

During this day, Bruxelles fell. With this, the paratroopers in Philippeville got both fresh supply an also a possible escape route. Still, the French attack continued. Also, the Anglo-Belgian troops in the sack were now definitely captured in a pocket from which they were very unlikely to break out. With this, at least 50%, if not more, of the Belgian army would be pacified before the attack on France started. It was an extra victory to have been able to have captured a British division too.

The victory in Bruxelles gave the German stockpile yet another boost. The Belgian stockpile was a disappointment in comparison with the Dutch, but still welcome.

In the north, the 50-thousand fresh troopers kept marching westwards (red cricle).











40-2.jpg

March 5th, 1940

In the evening that day, the French attack on Philippeville ended. As most of the battle had been in the shape of mortar duels and long distant sniper fire there were a relatively low amount of dead on both side, even if the wounded counted a lot higher number.

Axis had now taken all Belgian land bordering to France without being contested for it. In Montmédy, the German attack continued.











41-2.jpg

March 6th, 1940

Our new Allies, the Dutch, are happy to re-open the old deal on Rare Materials. Very good! We want the new beautiful stockpile to last as long as possible.

::For Johann Keller, the life within a forming combat division was something completely different to anything he had ever done before. As a businessman, he was his own boss. Working for the Armament minister, Hjalmar Sacht, was different of course, but he was still quite free within a certain framework. His new position was as CO for the brigade logistical section. It gave him quite a lot of power within the division but not much freedom. Everything was done by the book and his job was mainly check that nobody stepped out of line. Well, right now, when everybody was in training camp there were a lot of challenging tasks when they realized that a designed unit had flaws and needed to be rearranged. But as they were training both heavy mechanized units and standard mechanized units, he had several colleges on similar positions to share his experiences and thoughts with. All in all, he was actually happy. That darkness in his chest was gone. He felt whole again. He was where he supposed to be. Soon he would venture out on the field of battle like all the rest of his friends. He would do his part.::

::Hjalmar did off course not want to let him go from the research team but Johann had been firm and also argued that Hjalmar needed somebody with the knowledge of the science team that also could experience the mechanized unit in field and report on its performance. Hjalmar had finally accepted this and Johann had left his luxurious life in Berlin for a life around the creation of the new mechanized units, in the field.::











42-1.jpg

March 9th, 1940

The Belgian-Anglo pocket is crushed and the troops surrendered. When the attack of a lone Belgian division against Bruxelles ended with a crushing Belgian defeat, a contingent of German troops in Bruxelles attacked Hirson. The German attack on Montmédy also continued with the French losing ground.

With this, Operation Vice was successfully over after about 3 weeks of quite light battles. Though they still continued to fight, the Belgians were now broken as force of any significance.











43-1.jpg

March 10th, 1940

The battle of Montmédy became a hard one, but eventually, the French fell back after considerable losses. As the panzer rolled into the province a new milestone was reached in this world war, as France had lost its first province to Germany. It was pay-back time...











44-1.jpg

March 10th, 1940

With the worst of the winter drawn passed, the Red Army launched a rather massive attack on the northern East Front, close to the Lithuanian border. The German leadership was quite surprised as this was defensible lands and they had though the blow would fall further south. Well, Stavka obviously wanted to surprise and in that they were successful. The German forces here were not very strong and with very little reserves. Quite luckily, the German leadership had just deployed a brand new 10-thousand man strong infantry division in Wolkowysk. Unfortunately, it was not organized enough to be thrown into battle yet. If things went bad, it could at least dig in and prepare for a new frontline.

Still, the Soviet attack did not look too bad, but on the other hands, they had the numbers and probably reserves to throw in later. The Germans had to shuffle the troops around to patch up the holes.











45-2.jpg

March 12th, 1940

While trying to find troops from the south and center to help in the North, the German leadership also wanted to give the Rus another front to think about. For the third time in this war, they attacked into the Soviet province of Shepetivka - in the southern East Front.

::Heinrich “the Rooster” Hahn laughed bitterly when they got the order. Attack Shepetivka… again. It was about a month ago when they’d attack the last time. It was muddy then, but now most of the lands had dried up to a decent level. They were not told much about the all over battle plan, but rumors trickled down the hierarchy of command that the northern army was under attack in several location. As they knew that no reinforcements had reached their own front, they realized there were no chance what so ever that they had the numbers for a real offensive. This would be just another pointless combat over the devastated plains of Shepetivka.::

::Michael Wittmann inspired the men quite harshly pointing out that all battles were equally important if you got to kill enemies and as Heinrich started the powerful engines his mood grew lighter. As usual, 1st Panzer would be the main spearhead, supported by some mountaineers and some 2-brigade infantries with heavy artillery brigades. The Red Army awaited them, dug in along long trenches with bunker systems of earth.::

::It was one of many grey, dank, early spring days. Heinrich shivered a while until the heat of the engine gave the crew much appreciated warmth. “She’s our mother, this bitch, and we’re in her loving womb” Bobby said. Heinrich snickered. “That’s the only womb you’ll ever get close to”. Teasing about girls was one of the few things that really got to the gunner. “I’ve had more chicks than you’ll ever see, you mole.” Baltazar snapped back. During the muddy season, Bobby started to call all drivers for moles as they were more under the ground than over it. As the Soviets opened up fire from their hidden positions, bullets pinging into their armor and ricocheting away, their argument stopped. “Eat this, Ivan-bastards!” Bobby yelled angrily and squeezed of the first round. Shooting at a trench from this distance was crazy and he didn’t hit, even if it was close. “Conserve your fire, God damn it!” Michael yelled at Bobby who muttered something wordlessly. And so the party started.::











46-2.jpg

March 13th, 1940

The Soviet pressure on Skidel was massive. The two German divisions were swarmed with enemies massing over the river all over the place. The defense was well prepared and the defenders superior in equipment and skill… but the enemies was just so many.

The German leadership did what it could to get troops from other locations to support the brave bastards in Skidel. The new, not organized division was ordered to a neighboring province to relieve a rested division there. It was not anticipated that the Red Army could launch an attack west of Skidel so it felt safe to place the rookies there – and to march the veterans to Skidel. Troops also came from the south, but it would take some time for them to reach the combat area.

The Red Army could not sustain both tie-down battles south of Skidel, and the southernmost was cancelled, which gave the Germans a little more freedom to shuffle troops around. Still, the Soviet attack was mighty and the German leadership knew that the outcome of the “Skidel Showdown” would be of great importance for the East Front. If the Soviets breached the German line along the river, they would slowly start to push through former Poland. If they could be stopped, they would be delayed for weeks being forced to come up with a new offensive idea… and that would be valuable weeks as Germany started to bare down on the French. The outcome of the Skidel Showdown would reverberate over the world and effect plan-making of the three mighty powers of Axis, Allies and the Commitern.


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