Germany '44 1.3 beta

[Arderich]

Session 10

Meeting 2

Before the Generals work on the map there is a heated debate about regrouping forces at the eastern front and about assigning new leaders. This is still a work in progress but some changes have been made and I will tell you about the results, showing them in the maps.

One leader deserves a special attention. Generalmajor Krukenberg. He reppelled the britisch invasion on Oslo and gained lots of experience. He was replaced and currently is in Berlin, too. If there is a chance to assign him to a heavy fighting unit I will do so. He has the traits of Logistic Wizard and defensive Doctrine and a skill level of 4. With a 72.5% experience he might reach a skill level of 5. Hopefully he will be a very usefull General in a much higher position soon. In near future he will be asigned to lead the defence of Venecia or Trieste.

Too many changes have been made. I will not talk about every change. I will only show the most important results and talk about a few changes which I think that are interesting.

This is the Situation with Heeresgruppe Nord. There are some Panzerdivisions from Panzerarmee Nord (formerly Panzergruppe West) from Heeresgruppe Mitte supporting Heeresgruppe Nord.
2 Panzerkorps stand in Raseiniai and Kaunas. Panzergrenadiere Balck are in the background, assigned to the task of a firebrigade.

I hope my map makes sense to you. So many arrows...
My weakest spots in the north are Raseiniai, Kaunas and Daugai.
Taurage is a somewhat weak spot, too.

The soviets can afford to attack at bad odds as long as the odds are not too bad because they have sufficient manpower and free units. Attacking Taurage or Raseiniai is an option for them, draining manpower of both sides while my side doesn't have reserves. This is even more true for Kaunas and Daugai. Kaunas can be attacked from 4 fronts. Daugai from 5 fronts.

Originally I intended to conquer Alytus. This would decrease the threat against Kaunas and Daugai but both provinces still would not be 'safe'. In order to make the front more safe I would not only have to conquer Alytus but also Ziezmariai. I don't have the manpower to do such expensive offensive operations. I could try to build fortifications in Kaunas, Raseiniai, Alytus and Daugai but I fear I will not have the time to do it and holding the provinces while building this land forts will be too expensive.

 

[Arderich]

I must admit that the slaughter to reconquer the airports of Kaunas was a huge mistake. Heeresgruppe Nord will retreat to a safer position.

Looking at the new frontline it is so simple, so obvious. I was so blind not to see it before. It makes sense to take a break and rejudge the situation.

 

[Sangeli]

I thought the change in amphibious invasion AI would make this scenario impossibe; I guess I was wrong. I'm surprised that the AI doesn't land somewhere along the long Balkan coastline rather than Venice (I know they landed in Croatia but not in strength).

 

[Enewald]

The flows of the river on the map compared to the between-province relations are strange. Some provinces are entirely surrounded by rivers although the map does not say so...

 

[Arderich]

Sangeli, I can't see a difference between 1.2 and 1.3. So far the AI tried amphibeous landings in Kiel, Wilhelmshaven, Venecia, Trieste, Rodos and in Croatia in Zadar and Cecinje. In the balcan area they were successfull with only 4 brigades because I obviously missed to defend the harbours for whatever reasons.

Enewald, I love the new way rivers work. It adds so much more depth to the game because it is often asynchronous. In most cases it's intuitive once you get the hang of it. In some very rare locations I can't understand the decisions of the map designer, though. So no matter how intuitive I think the map is, I always must doublecheck the province information. The idea is great, the implementation in some rare cases is flawed.

Here is an example of an implementation that is flawed imho.

 

[Arderich]

Heeresgruppe Mitte with Rommel as leader currently is by far the largest Heeresgruppe with 792 k soldiers. 2 tank armies, Panzerarmee Nord and Mitte are also the most powerfull weapons the germans have. Currently the majority of Panzerarmee Nord is supporting Heeresgruppe Nord. After the retreat of Heeresgruppe Nord behind rivers they can be assigned to new tasks.

For Heeresgruppe Mitte there are not many rivers helping to build a defense line. The units from Sopocknie will retreat to Augustow. Soviet forces from Kamien Koszyrski are regularly harrassing our forces in Kowel. I do believe conquering Kamien Koszyrski is worth the effort. After this has been achieved I think both Panzerarmeen should join Heeresgruppe Süd.

With 344 k soldiers and only 4 armies Heeresgruppe Süd is a smaller army group. Both armies, Armee Straube and Armee Ungarn, almost reach the size of the 3 armies in Heeresgruppe Nord, though. Panzerarmee Mitte from Heeresgruppe Mitte is supporting Heeresgruppe Süd. This area is the most difficult area to defend. Lopatyn is a difficuld province to hold. The same problem with Rohatyn. There is no option to retreat. If i give up this provinces the soviets will just can continue.
That's one reason why Panzerarmee Nord and Panzerarmee Süd soon will be detached from Heeresgruppe Mitte and assigned to Heeresgruppe Süd. I think I should build some land forts in Lopatyn and Rohatyn. This area most likely will be the main area of conflict between the soviets and me.

Heeresgruppe Rumänien has a decent size with 470 k soldiers. You might remember one of my first posts when I have said they will retreat. So far it has been calm in the south and I was busy elsewhere so I have not paid much attention to them. The map shows they are often in unfavourable terrain. They must retreat. If you are one of those who don't just look at some pictures but also check what's going on you might have noticed there are no foreign armies such as Armata X or whatever. I replaced the foreign army HQs and some of the foreign Korp HQs with german HQs. Germany has better leaders and I want to use them. As far as I know – I could be wrong – the foreign divisions don't suffer from my 40% difficulty penalty so the units from Hungary and Romania might become very powerfull and usefull in future.

edit: foreign troops under my command get the 40% penalty.

 

[Enewald]

No, you can't abandon the Dnestr-line!

 

[Sangeli]

You should move you Panzers south to Hungary and let the Soviets break out in Romania and use the Carpathians as a pivot which cannot be outflanked. Once the Soviets become overextended you strike back over the Romanian plains to the Black Sea. It's risky but the since Bulgarian controlled units get no penalty they can hold back the Soviets a bit. And although Romania could be annexed, that could be ok as long as you keep their expiditionary forces because the Soviets inhereit a huge useless frontage that causes them to weaken their attack's northern flank. On the contrary you could simply create a Festung Buchaerest to keep the Romanians alive.

Edit: I realize that the Carpathians further south are close enough to the coast so you don't have to strike at the base of the salient which could be strong. You could launch you counterattack at Brasov or even south of that and head northeast rather than southeast to cut off more units.

 

[Arderich]

Yes Sangeli, I have such a thing in mind (like Festung Bucharest) after securing the positions of Heeresgruppe Mitte / Süd and after I have conquered Italy. I expect this to come late summer '45.

 

[Arderich]

Session 11

With the frontlines carved in stone for 1945 (let's hope fro the best) I assume year '45 will pass a lot faster than the previous months and I will give quarterly reports instead of monthly reports.

January 1945

1. I start the production of a land fort in Lopatyn and Rohatyn.
Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Rumänien start to retreat to safer areas.
2. After 4 tank divisions from Zlozow attacked Tarnopol the soviets ceased their attack against Rohatyn. 2360 german vs 2541 soviet casualities. I think I will use the tactic more often in future.
3. After a second change to foreign policies in France I am pleased with the result. Our IC increased to 440.
We start to attack Foligno in Italy. This time the encircled allies will die. 17 brigades, 39 k soldiers.
4. We lost the battle of Latina. 2898 german vs 2193 UK casualities. The british counteroffensive in Southern Italy advances.
5. We have won the battle of Fologni.
6. Amphibeous attack from UK against Wilhelmshaven.
11. I don't know what ecxactly was upgraded but someting had been done. I need 44 IC less for upgrades. For some days the soviets attack me in several provinces at the eastern frontlines. In the area of Heeresgruppe Rumänien and Heeresgruppe Mitte. Annoying but nothing to worry about. Panzerarmee Nord will reach the area of Heeresgruppe Süd soon. Other units from Italy are on their way to attack the UK forces in Jugoslawia.
14. We researched Air Launched Torpedo.
16. After some time of fighting we have won the battle of Rodos. The UK tried to bomb us with CAG. We sent 4 interceptors and gave them a hard time.
Some units that came from Greece attack a lone UK paratrooper brigade in Jugoslawia / Cetinje.
18. Three Panzerdivisions from Panzerarmee Nord attack Kamien Koszyrski. Kowel shall no longer be under attack.
After we started an attack against brody the soviets we have won the battle of Lopatyn. 4082 german vs 6103 soviet casualities. The soviets try to break through our lines even at such odds.

In Drohizyn Poleski we just attacked for the purpose to pin down the enemy. The soviets have a huge combat penalty of 81.1%. Very nice.

19. In Jugoslavia we have won the battle of Cecinje.
22. In Jugoslavia we attack Zadar.
In Italy UK attacks us.
Soviets attack us in Torczyn. Our units are out of supply and have an additional combat penalty. Probably I have too many armored units in the area?!?
24. We have won the battle of Tarnopol. 5268 german vs 14283 soviet casualities. Immediately we stop our movement. We don't want to arrive in Tarnopol.
We have won the battle of Zadar. The lasts UK units in Jugoslavia vanished. Alltogther there were 4 UK brigades in Jugoslavia. Not really a threat. One of our divisions stays to protect the harbour, todo divisions move to Romania.
28. Brasil is attacking Kiel. Wtf?
Two days later there is no brasil fleet anymore. 4 transporter only which were destroyed by our submarines. Their first mission.
31. We have won the battle of Kamien Koszyrski. 8070 german vs 11034 soviet casualities.
I cease the attack against Poworsk. 4189 german vs 3814 soviet casualities.
The battle against Drohiczyn Poloski continues because of the nice russian stack.

 

[Arderich]

February 1945

No more monthly reports. A screenshot should be sufficient.

Now that our frontlines finally are stabilizing …

1 I start the production of land forts in Kamien Koszyrski, Torczyn and Zloczow
7 We researched Infantry AT and Infantry Guns
8 We researched Aero Engine and Twin Engine Airframe. I stop the research to the next level of Aero Engine but continue with Twin Engine Airframe. We research faster than we can upgrade due to our IC problems. Meanwhile a large air battle over Königsberg is raging. Soviets do use a large stack of 18 planes. This battle will hurt them. Our stock of supply is no more. I must use IC to produce supply. This means I can no longer upgrade at 100%. We need 276 IC for upgrades. I can only spend 165 IC.
9 We have won the battle of Onesti. 3595 german vs 3424 soviet casualities. Generalmajor Krukenberg (now with 77.3% experience) will lead one division in Onesti as I expect the next attack coming soon.
11 In Italy the UK attacks us in Laquilla. No need to worry. Italy will be ours once I have my transport plane. My Paratroopers already are on their way to the next airports. The infrastructure in Italy is improving.
15 our manpower pool reached zero. I dismantled 4 militia divisions. Now I have a pool of 16. This will not last long.
16 54 brigades or 161k soldiers from USA try an amphibeous attack against Zadar. There is one division trying to repell them.
In Romania we lost the battle of Gheorgheni. 11221 axis vs 4323 soviet casualities. Those units in Gheorgheni were hungarian and romanian units. Some german forces that came from Italy stand ready in the backround.
19 We have won the battle of Brody. In the area of Heeresgruppe Mitte there is a huge mess going on. In the top of the following screenshot you can see our units attacking a huge stack of soviet forces. There the soviets will suffer lots of casualities.

From Poworsk the soviets attacked Holoby. Their constant attacks make my infrastructure suffer. I prefer to attack the russians instead and make their infrastructure suffer. When my units attacked Poworsk the soviets stopped attacking Holoby. My forces from Holoby now support the attack against Poworsk.

Unfortunately the soviets attack my forces in Torczyn from Maniewicze. More units arrived in Torczyn intentended for the purpose to attack Maniewicze. Now they are under attack and I suffer a stacking penalty in Torczyn and there is not much I can do against it. I don't want to risk a retreat of just a few units to reduce the stacking penalty. This had been gone bad in Venecia. I must hold Torczyn. I am producing a land fort in Torczyn.

With the strategy to make the soviet's infrastructure suffer instead of mine I already attacked the units that once had been in Tarnopol. Now Tarnopol is a province with next to zero infrastructure. Noone wants that province as you can see in the screenshot.

I had the same idea for Maniewicze, Brody and Luck: attacking but not moving forward. Now with the attack against Torczyn my forces that just had won in Brody must attack Dubno to pin the soviet forces in Dubno down. More Panzerdivisions from the south will follow to Brody for the purpose to support the attack against Luck. I need to conquer Luck to attack Maniewicze so the soviets cease their attack against Torczyn.

This might look like an offensive but it's a defensive operation. Really. Honestly. I admit it's a mess. Looking at my manpower pool it is twice a mess.

20 I dismatle 4 calvalry and 2 militia brigades.
I researched Infantry Support. I add Helecopters and Radar Guided Missile to the top of my research line. Currently I am short of 5 leadership points to research every project. The next infantry techs will have to wait.
23 In Italy we have won the battle of Laquila. 4645 german vs 4542 UK casualities.
In Jugoslavia one division moves from Split to Zadar. The USA is progressing with their amphibeous attack and units from the Trieste area probably will not arrive in time. In Split there is a croation garrison. I pray nothing will happen to them. I love Croatia.
I cease the attack against Poworsk. 4189 german vs 3814 soviet casualities.
One hour later the soviets attack Holoby so I attack Poworsk and the soviets cease their attack against Holoby. Argh.
It seems I have less bad odds while attacking. My divisions in Holoby will not support the attack, though. They will dig in in Holoby. I also started the production of a land fort in Holoby.
26 We research Small Arms technolgy. I dismantle another cavalry division.
27 We have won the battle of Dubno. 3599 german vs 6828 soviet casualities. In the moment we arrive in Dubno the soviets attack us.

 

[Arderich]

March

Our upgrades require 328 IC. We can spend 158. Our manpower is at 39. We gain 37.6 manpower a month. Currently I am loosing 4,3 manpower a day. In 9-10 days I'll have to dismatle the next units. The problem is: there not that many units available to dismatle.

At march 6 a lot of infrastructure will be finished. I gave build order 2 times but I will add the second infrastructure to the end of the production line and will not give the IC anytime soon. I want my unit upgrades.

At march 9 my transport plane will be finished. The infrastructure in Italy has improved. Still there are some units out of supply. With my paratroopers it should be easy to conquer Italy, though. This will help to improve my IC.

The area aound Lopatyn. The red line is my frontline. My units in the east of my frontline are forward defending. Notice the damaged infrastructure. I must keep soviet units away from Lopatyn in the center of the screenshot.

The situation in Romania. We reconquered Gheorgheni. The russians were presing forward but now they move units to the north where my Panzer cause havoc.

The area is unstable. After I have conquered Italy and after I have build some forts in the area aound Lopatyn (see screenshot above) I hope I can spare my tanks for my very first real offensive. Originally I have intended to do such a thing in 1946 but if the soviets can continue with their pressure I will loose manpower nonstop. My tanks several times had proven they can break through russian lines so it might be wise to use it the right way instead and to encircle some soviets.

 

[Enewald]

Soon letting the Soviets into Danubian basin?
And then crush them all there.

 

[Arderich]

Yes, that's the plan. First comes Italy, then I want to increase my fortifications in Lopatyn, Torczyn etc. Once I have the fortifications I will not need my tanks in that area anymore and they can be assigned to this task.

Originally I intended to do it in 1946 but constant attacks of the soviets in the area of the southern Carpathian mountains will drain my manpower (most of all the manpower of Romania) too much. This must stop. Most likely in late summer this campaign will start.

 

[Sangeli]

My advice is to forget about the forts; just pull back at the same time you let the Soviets attack Romania. You just have to be sure that the infrastructure is suffeciently bad before you withdraw.

 

[Arderich]

I never build forts before but in this game I just want to try it. I am currently building forts in 8 provinces or so and I intend to increase their size to 3-4. The idea is to to have such strong fortifications so I will not need my tanks in that area anymore. The strike against Moscow shall come from the romanian front with all the tanks I got. Usually I would agree with you. Let's say it's something different and adds more spice.

About the infrastructure tactic you've mentioned: It worked well in Tarnopol but it has not worked in Luck. I do believe the AI does not only calculate the odds before attacking, the AI also checks the value of the province the AI is currently holding. In other words, if the AI is holding a strong province with some defence advantage like forest etc it is much less likely to attack as if the AI is coming from a province with plain territory or so. I see it at the romania frontlines and in the area around Torczyn, Lopatyn.

Unfortunately I had to deal with several crashes and even a blue screen of death. Currently in my game it's march 24. The crashes all occured in the timeframe around the first week of march. Stopping several battles at the eastern front, stopping all bombardments and delaying the invasion of Italy helped me to continue. I also followed the advice in the tech forum and installed the k-lite codec pack and shot down several windows services. I guess I'll have to encircle and kill some soviet units soon to get more free memory. The game is not that much fun if you have to fear your next action will make the computer crash again.

 

[Arderich]

Session 12
March

1 we have won the battle of Torczyn. 4643 german vs 2880 soviet casualities. This was an expensive victory because the soviet attacked a large stack on my side.
Four divissions attack Maniewicze. Some of my damaged units support the attack against Luck.
4 Switzerland joins the Allies.
5 After some crashes I reloaded at this stage and stopped some ongoing battles. I also stopped all bomber missions.
We have lost the battle of Maniewicze. 1193German vs 2343 soviet casualities.
We have lost the battle of Luck. 7686 german vs 15356 soviet casualities.
6 the production of infrastructure in 28 provinces had been finished. I get the messages in my logs and popups for only 7 provinces (my own territory). I'll have to check my settings. In all provinces another improvement of infrastructure is in the production line. I move them down and don't give IC to this tasks for now. Upgrades are more important.
11 meanwhile Switzer conquered 11 provinces without german resistance.
In Italy we have won the battle of Latina. UK was attacking us. 2120 german vs 2973 allied casualities.
Three paratroopers drop in Bern. Zurich already had been captured by 1 german paratrooper division.
13 Communist China joins Komintern.
We researched Agriculture9, Industrial Effiency9 and Production9. I cease some research that have not gained attention because of my reduced leadership caused by my foreign policies. I realize I made some mistakes in research. I should have more focused on cheap landdoctrines.
Switzerland conquered 6 additional provivinces.
Here is a picture of Switzerlands glory. With 3 paratrooper divisions and little resistance in Bern it will not last long.

19 we have won the battle of Luck. 1687 german vs 2710 soviet casualities.
20 After loosing Zurich and Bern Switzerland surrenders. Their government cobntinues to fight in exile.
21 soviets attacked us in Torczyn. We have won the battle of Torczyn. 1687 german vs 2710 soviet casualities.
24 we researched Civil Nuclear Research. What a waste. I won't build the bomb.

Meanwhile the results of my new infrastructure are visible on the map.

25 three more militia brigades dismantled.
26 we have won the battle of Maniewicze. 3076 german vs 4855 soviet casualities.
27 Japan is asking for 17.4 crude oil. We sell.
We have won the battle of Styr. 2406 german vs 4071 soviet casualities.
1 April we have won the battle of Dubno. Notice the heavily damaged infrastructure on soviet side. After a successfull forward defence mission our tanks will return behind our frontlines to regain some organisation.

First quarterly meeting of german high command.

The year has not begun as peacefully as I intended to do. Soviets keep constant pressure, draining my manpower and destroying my infrastructure. The only option I had was to attack them myself, to get the initiative and to make them fight on my terms. They had to fight against my tanks on plain fields and it was soviet infrastructure that suffered but not mine.

The drain in manpower is strong. Infact I can no longer reinforce all my units. Instead I set priority to my tanks and airforce. All the infantry will suffer in the long run. Plenty cavalry and militia already disbanded. There is not much to dismantle any more. That's why I want my upgrades and my fortifications. No more such a drain on my infantry if they are stronger. I hope I will be able to use my tanks for an encirclement of some russian forces in a few months to reduce the soviet pressure.

Currently I need 306 IC for upgrades and I can give 224 IC.
82.5 IC for reinforcements are required but I don't have the manpower. If I would spend all the IC now then my infantry will get reinforcements, too and I will have zero manpower for my tanks and airforce in the first 2 weeks of April. I must find a solution for this problem soon or my infantry divisions will loose too much strength.

In a huge battle over Königsberg I have hurt the soviet airforce a lot. With Sitzerland joining the Allies the UK started another huge air offensive. Almost all of my interceptors now are heavily damaged. The UK seems to have some better technologies. They easily gained air superiority. My national unity of 85% is refelcting this development. I expect my unity to decrease even more in the next months. The soviet airforce is attacking again while my interceptors still try to recover.

Spain was close before joing the Axis. Now they move up to the Allies again. Patience...

The offensive in Italy will begin today.

 

[Sangeli]

If I were you, after you capture all of Italy I'd disband some of your infantry units in Italy to free up manpower for the Danube Basin counterattack. When you let the Soviets attack it is imperative that you retreat in good order, control Bucharest, and let Soviet reach into Bulgaria. A good tactic would be to create a passage between Bucharest, Sofia, and your own supply lines. Although it is very ineffecient defensive tactic, it allows the Soviets to be drawn so deep that they are helpless. I also recommend pulling units off the line in the center in the north just as you let the Soviets attack and move them to the south western Carpathians to attack far flung soviet units from the north to prevent a complete breakout

 

[UncleAlias]

4 Switzerland joins the Allies.

Worst.
Political decision.
Like, EVAR!!!one

Even our current crop of politicians would not have been that stupid.

 

[unmerged(7509)]

I've been following this AAR for a while, and I like it.

Worst.
Political decision.
Like, EVAR!!!one

Even our current crop of politicians would not have been that stupid.

It really was a terrible decision when completely surrounded by the Axis, but at least it will give Germeny some much needed IC or mapower and leadership at a very low cost.