Warplan Narva: A Baltic Crusade - A War in the East - Road to Leningrad Axis AAR

[Drakken]

For your enjoyment, I begin an War in The East AAR of the Campaign to reach and conquer the city and Leningrad and beyond as Axis Army Group North. It is as much for your entertainment as to improve my gameplay of this game for an eventual Grand Campaign, so mistakes WILL be made in this campaign.

Enjoy the disaster as it unfolds. For it WILL be a disaster; whether it'll be a German or a Russian remains to be seen.

Scenario : WITE Road to Leningrad, WITE version 1.07.15
Length : 17 Turns
Map : Limited to South of Vitebsk to Vishni Volochek in the East. Finland included.

Conditions :
- Normal difficulty, so no bonus either for the Axis or the Soviets
- Complete FoW
- Support Units NOT locked
- Non-Random Weather
- No Reduced Weather Effect

To win the scenario, the ubermench Teutons and the subhuman Slavs must either reach the following objectives :

[Drakken]

The Axis Army Group North Order of Battle, with the statistics of the man involved in the scenario:

[Drakken]

The current situation on the Northern front on the eve of Barbarossa, with a very crude indication of my aims for Phase 1, coded Warplan Narva.

PHASE 1 - WARPLAN NARVA (22 June 1941)

a) 4th Panzer Group will pocket the Northern border troops by taking the port of Liepaja, while the rest of its Panzers and Motorized troops will race to reach Riga.
b) 18th Army will push North to damage the Russian troops on the border, and bag the pocket when it's done. Then will sweep Northeast across Riga, and push to Pskov.
c) 9th and 16th Army will go to take Kaunas. Then while 9th Army will remain on the right flank to the Dvina, 16th Army will go Northeast to the corner of the Daugava (south of Riga) then push toward Zilupe to cross the Velikiya.
d) 1st Luftflotte will destroy the Russian Air Force on the ground, then move following the troops to support the offensive on the ground.
e) Intervention of the Finnish Army when we enter the vicinity of Leningrad is to be expected.

[jimmy olsen]

You have hindsight and a functioning brain. The Soviets are being run by an AI.

Shouldn't your win be assured?

[Drakken]

You have hindsight and a function brain. The Soviets are being run by an AI.

Shouldn't your win be assured?

WITE's AI is far from being braindead. It can use the terrain well for defence, and if I don't kill enough Soviet units early on they'll come back to bite my ass later.

Also, Leningrad is far from being easy to be taken with only 4th Panzer to assist, and even if I take it I might get a draw if, by Turn 17, the Soviets still keep certain objectives I couldn't reach in time.

[The Brain]

The mighty Finns will steamroll the reds.

[Valmy]

The Soviets are being run by an AI.

Still better at defending the Soviet Union than the 1940 Soviets.

[jimmy olsen]

Also, Leningrad is far from being easy to be taken with only 4th Panzer to assist, and even if I take it I might get a draw if, by Turn 17, the Soviets still keep certain objectives I couldn't reach in time.

Under what circumstances is taking Leningrad not a clear win?

[Drakken]

Turn 1 - June 22, 1941

On dawn of June 22, 1941, 1st Luftflotte begins Warplan Narva by attacking Soviet forward airbases in Kaunas and Siauliai. Every available bomber and fighter escorts are headed toward these airstrips to bomb the Slavs into oblivion and gain air supremacy.

Herr Göring will be pleased of the results. After several waves of vicious bombardment on 7th and 8th SAD Air Bases the Luftwaffe claims 341 destroyed Soviet aircrafts for a measly 12 planes lost, a third of which only suffering operational damages which can be quickly repaired. The skies over Army Group North's front are now undeniably German.




4th Panzer Group's aim is to punch through the keyhole of the whole front at Taurage, situated a few miles west of Jurbarkas. The task will be given to 269th Infantry Division.

4th Panzer Group is composed of two Corps, 41st and 56th Corps, plus the Totenkopf SS Motorized Division. Sieg Heil, indeed.

A hole is readily opened through the Russian line, wiping NKVD's 106th Border Regiment and the 125th Rifle Division off Taurage. 269th keeps moving forward, sweeping the breakthrough open for 30 miles wide. In a twist of the original plan, as our reconnaissance reveals that Riga's defence is better than expected, both 41st and 56th Corps are ordered to race toward Riga. They reach its outskirts, but due to exhaustion and because of the terrain (damn rivers; assaulting over them cuts CV in half) they fail to capture it facing a fierce defence from NKVD 22nd Rifle Division. That said, 6th Panzer Division succeeds in moving passed Riga, hopefully closing or hindering any possibility of retreat and effectively pocketing everything west of Riga. As the supply line between Eastern Prussia and Riga is not yet secured, airlifts are quickly assembled to resupply these forward units in fuel.

18th Army then starts its onslaught, attacking due north through Kretinga, Priekule, all the way to Liepaja. Most of the front's defenders are routed northward, caught in the pocket passed Priekule. The SS Division Totenkopf turns westward and liberates Liepaja from the Slavs. 18th Army's HQ is then moved to Memel, closer to the action.




16th Army begins the offensive on a excellent note. The front, defended by the Soviet 5th, 33rd, and 48th Rifle Division, and the Commissars of 107th NKVD Border Regiment, is hit harshly, the front quickly dissolving with its defenders either routed or shattered. 12th and 121st Infantry Divisions, plus supporting units, keep pushing forward until reaching the fortified city of Kaunas. After a quick pitched battle these push 84th Motorized Division off Kaunas, taking the city :




The rest of 16th Army quickly form a line passed the Neman to secure a bridgehead beyond the Neman and the Dubysa, while 10th Corps secure the flanks on the other side of the river, facing Jurbarkas. 16th Army's HQ relocates to Ebenrode.

My assessment of the situation after the Axis's beginning offensive: A bit dissapointed that Riga hasn't felled, but surrounding it so soon is some thin consolation. However, for the loss of 1400 Germans, we have inflicted 46,000 casualties to the Soviet Union. The Western pocket isn't a secured as I would have expected, however the routed nature of those troops seen over my fog of war lend me to believe the pocket will hold.





Next turn we intend to finish off that Lithuanian pocket, complete the capture of Riga, sweep 16th Army toward the Daugava and move Army Group Center's 9th Army passed Kaunas into the Dvina. More Slavs to be sent to Hell (or Stalags, we all know which is the lesser evil for those Russkies unlucky enough to fall into the German grasp) promise to come in the future.

[sbr]

 

[Valmy]

MOAR!

[Drakken]

Turn 1 - Soviet side

Our Western pocket was not as tight as we had foreseen. Damn Baltic Sea and its damned ports in any and all nooks of coasts. 

Our recon discovered that the Soviets remnants trodded North around the port of Ventsplis, now drawing their supplies from the sea. The same can be said for Riga with its functioning harbor. We will thus need to push the routed Soviets units off Ventsplis to completely close the pocket, but that risks seeing the routed units teleport out of the pocket. Thank you for that bullshit, Gary Grigsby.

Recon also confirm that STAVKA is preparing a first line of defence in around Pskov, behind the Velikiya. So far no significant force has been encountered East of the Daugava until Pskov.

Following recon and my evaluation of the situation, the following conclusions and ideas dawn on me. You guys can give your further inputs :

a) To use 4th Panzer Group to attempt capturing Riga immediately would, to be truthful, be a blunder despite my earlier Halderian optimism. Riga is, I discover, a big, fortified city surrounded by small rivers and defended by a whole NKVD Rifle Division. Panzers are not suited at all for leading assaults in urban warfare without infantry support. We would suffer heavy casualties, plus we completely sacrifice mobility and get bugged down for one, maybe two and even three turns. My belief (and Heinz Guderian would agree) is that panzers are better used on the move wrecking havoc elsewhere. So instead, I aim to to keep Riga isolated on the East while 18th Army's infantry units, which are better suited for that task, mops it up. After all we do not need the whole 18th Army to collapse the pocket, only a Corps will suffice.

b) 4th Panzer Group's infantry divisions are to be placed East of Riga to prevent Russian reinforcements; the rest will follow the Daugava downstream through Plavinas and capture Jekalpils, aiming to extend our zone of control to the railroad. That way we would bypass Riga through Jegalva for our supply lines, while 18th Army both completes collapsing the Western pocket and turn to capture Riga. Obviously, we would need to push the Russkies away from Siauliai so that the whole length of railroad falls under Axis control. (In yellow)

c) 4th Panzer Group will continue downstream along the Daugava to capture Daugalvis, then attempt to move it further down the Zeimana to attempt to cut behind the Soviets remaining West of both rivers. 16th Army would attempt to take control of Svencioneliai, cutting any way out. If the pocket is not completed, this would at least close the main ways of retreat eastward towards Pskov. (In green)

Hopefully, nothing really prevents both b) and c) to be completed at the same time except fuel limitation; we badly need one secure supply railroad line for our panzers, Riga is currently a thorn in our backside, and airlifts can only provide fuel so far.

[Drakken]

As an aside, found Guderian's Achtung! Panzer for under 10$ on Amazon. Ordered. 

[Drakken]

Turn 2 - June 26th, 1941

The Commander-in-Chief got a bit tipsy before playing his turn last night, and famously telegraphed to Generaloberst Hoepner "Fuck it. Panzergruppe Vier, move in position and take that damn city from the Commissars. Fortune favours the bold, so no time to lose!" Then he entered a drunken stupor and fell asleep.

And it seems that in vodka, military genius arises.

The Axis successfully accomplished all four objectives for this turn : Seize Ventspils and close the pocket without pushing too many routed units outside the pocket, capture Riga (with 4th Panzer no less), establish the Jegalva-Jekabpils rail line, and capture Daugavpils and take control of Utena, sealing all the Russkies inside the Panevesys-Rokiskis right west of the Daugava. And good luck getting out of that one! 6th Panzer Division and SS Totenkopf both control the hexes right across the Daugava River.




After bombing Riga's harbor with over 70 bombers, elements of 6th Panzer and 36th Motorized Divisions, supported with the Luftwaffe, the 616th Jagdpanzer Battalion, and lots, LOTS, LOTS of Howitzers, moved beyond the rivers in the Riga istmus, bypassing the prepared defences of the 22nd NKVD Rifle Division and nullifying the effects of Rivers on CV calculations. Now facing 6-to-1 odds in numbers the defenders were overwhelmed and routed, losing a third of their effective force. Our losses in comparison have been negligeable; not even 300 casualties.




Panzer Divisions then raced both North (1st Panzer) and South to take Daugavpils (6th Panzer, plus 3rd Motorized in support). SS Totenkopf was ordered due East to seize the railway between Jegalva and Jekabpils. SS Police Division seized Siauliai, completing German control over the whole rail line to Riga. That means, however, that both 1st and 6th Panzers are now way passed their existant supply lines, outside the range of German transports, and now exhausted in fuel, so next turn as we finish off that pocket we will need to reassemble 4th Panzer Group in and near of Riga to refuel, refit, and rest.

18th Army's 1st and 38th Corps moved on Ventspils, easily pushing off the 67th and 90th Rifle Divisions covering the outskirts of the harbor. With Ventspils falling the last line of supply for the Soviet remnants is permanently closed. The same for the Soviet units remaining around Panevesys and Rokiskis : 16th Army's 12th Division takes control of Utena, sealing the last way out across the Zeimena.

I'm proud of my boys. I wish there was a way to give a promotion to Hoepner, he deserves his Marshall's baton.

[Tonitrus]

No black counters for the SS?

Game sucks.