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

[Drakken]

No black counters for the SS?

Game sucks.

They are black on the original map. 

I'm using Jison's MapMod, which significantly improves the cartography of the map. It actually shows and identifies villages and makes it easier on the eye.

[jimmy olsen]

A turn equals 4 days?

EDIT: Why did you think it went easier than you expected?

[Drakken]

A turn equals 4 days?

EDIT: Why did you think it went easier than you expected?

Turn 1 equals 4 says, subsequent turns equal 7 days.


Because :

a) The NKVD Rifle Division inside Riga had, from its level of detection level, a defensive CV of 28; for a Soviet unit starting Barbarossa, it is huge. Further more it is only an estimated evaluation, the real CV could have been even higher! I had no choice but to use Deliberate attacks with multiple units of my PzG, which with the swampy and river terrains around Riga would cost me a lot more MP than normal. It was a gamble, and I had only one real chance. Had I failed my assault I would have lost time, a lot of MPs, plus lost precious panzers, men and equipment (plus losses I would have suffered during the Soviet turn due to battle friction, as neighboring enemy units do continue to inflict low level of casualties to one another even with an actual attack).

b) That Rifle Division had very favourable terrain (See my Division inside Riga on the last map pic? It's Defensive CV is now 78 because of terrain!) Furthermore, the fact that Riga has several Rivers cuts my units' Attack CV in half if they attack across it. Even if I move my Motorized Divisions east around Riga to assault by the rear, which I did, nothing was really assured because the bonuses the 22nd NKVD Rifle had accumulated. What helped, I think, was that I bombed the Port first to damage its supply, I had complete air superiority in that battle, and the HQ Support AI assigned a LOT of Howitzers.

c) As both Riga and the pocket were still supplied by sea, moving my units near Routed units risk seeing them bumped outside the pocket. I definitely don't want this to happen, I want to have a maximum of Soviet units surrendering : Routed units will refit and come back, shattered units will disappear but reform behind the lines, surrendered units never come back. So to ensure their surrender I need them to spend at least one turn pocketed so that they become isolated and unsupplied. That's the rule. Thus, when I attacked on Ventspils no unit were bumped outside the pocket, which is very good news : next turn these units will be surrendering in droves.

d) On Turn 2 and on, Panzer Groups are never as strong as on Turn 1. They always risk shortages of fuel, so I was afraid I would lack enough fuel to accomplish all my objectives at the same time. in fact, I overstretched my forward panzer elements: 1st and 6th Panzer, plus my motorized division near Utena, are almost depleted in fuel and are way, way outside their HQ's command range. They are facing the kind of problems the real Panzer Groups faced when they rolled too far behind enemy lines.

e) I didn't believe the closest 16th Army divisions had enough MP to reach and close the pocket with their ZOC. Pleasantly, I was wrong.

You may feel I have it easy. Indeed I have taken Riga even earlier than the real 4th Panzer Group. However the Russians are already moving to form a defensive line around Pskov and they receive reinforcements each turn. I must already take my complete Turn 3 to mop these pockets once and for all while moving these armies eastward, while I work to bring my 4th Panzer Group together to rest and refuel.

[Drakken]

Turn 2 - Soviet side

Our offensive sealed the fate of those pockets. Resolution of Soviet's turn 2 effectively reduced the size of their pockets as uncontested hexes automatically became Axis. One feeble attempt of one Russian tank unit to cross the Daugava failed as it couldn't even reach Daugavpils, which is controlled by 6th Panzer. The different pockets have now broken into smaller, isolated units, which will be easily mopped up (in red circles).

Here is the planned "cleaning" operation for this turn, and where I expect my troops to be at the end of Turn 3. As expected my forward Panzer Divisions' fuel down south is quite depleted, so after the Russkies are sent to the stalags in droves I will bring them closer to Riga to be resupplied both by sea and land supply lines.




The Soviets have all but abandoned the remaining Baltic States, the road to Tallinn seems clear.

However, two new titbits of information has arrived from our recon. First is that, additionally to the building of a defence line around Pskov and behind the River, another concentration of troops is building south along the Dvina, a hundred miles inside the woods west of Velikiye Luki. This terrain is also quite swampy, difficult ground to move and fight in. Second is that the Soviet Air Bases are filling up behind the Dvina and around Pskov, way outside the range of our main airbases. These must be brought closer to the front, so after a little forward recon by SS Totenkopf I will move these at the plains around Plavina and Jekabpils before launching renewed attacks on their airfields, hopefully within the range of my fighters.




Finally, the current state of the build-up around Leningrad. Or at least, what my recon allows me to see.

[11B4V]

Good stuff here. Keep it coming.

[Berkut]

This kind of got me jazzed to fire this up again, and I noticed I am still waiting for turns from Syt and Habs.

Version 1.08 due out any time now. I guess I might as well wait for it before I start anything new...

[Drakken]

This kind of got me jazzed to fire this up again, and I noticed I am still waiting for turns from Syt and Habs.

Version 1.08 due out any time now. I guess I might as well wait for it before I start anything new...

FYI, 1.08 changelog has been made available over Dropbox. It contains no less than 77 pages of changes and updates.

The main feature, is that the infamous 1:1 odds = 2:1 odds for Russians during 1941 has now been made optional.

[Drakken]

Turn 3 - July 3rd, 1941

All pockets have been steamrolled with only token resistance. Most if not all fighting units have surrendered, for a grand total of 7 Russian division-sized units captured. That doesn't seem like much, but in the end it totals over 50,000 men and their unit supports sent to PoW camps, 600 guns lost, and almost 200 fighting vehicles destroyed or captured! Including the infamous 22nd NKVD Rifle Division, which was sweeped off the streets of Riga.

All that for 343 men lost, and 4 guns that have malfunctioned. 





As stated, this turn is about my units being reshuffled toward the frontline, resting and refitting 4th Panzer in the outskirts of Riga, and bringing the hammer from above on the Soviet air bases.

After moving all the 1st Luftflotte's air bases near the front, we launched several bomber waves upon the 6th, 7th, and 8th SAD Airbases in the Dvina sector. Due to the large amount of fighters spotted on these bases, it was concluded that those are used for interdiction purposes and needed to be weakened. However, we accomplished only moderate damage: 34 fighters and 9 bombers destroyed on the ground, for 4 fighters and 5 bombers lost. Furthermore, instructions were given that all available aircrafts be used to fend off Soviet fighters off the skies and interdict Soviet unit movements as much as possible.

As 18th Army's 1st Corps had been given the task to stay in the rear to finish up the pocket, and thus are further behind lines, it will be given the new task to reach North and secure Tallinn while the rest will move East to reach the Velikiya and face the Russian concentration at Pskov. 4th Panzer will move towards the small town of Abrene with the objective to reach Ostrov (and pierce through if needed to) aiming to cleave through the Russian front in a envelopment move northward behind the lines, with the option to go South if practicable.




In the South, 16th Army will follow the Dvina and push the Soviets and their airbases, while 9th Army will advance on Vitebsk then turn North to flank the Soviets, cut the grass under their Bolshevist feet, and march on Velikiye Luki.

[jimmy olsen]

5400 Soviets killed and 51,000 disabled, is that a realistic ratio?

[grumbler]

5400 Soviets killed and 51,000 disabled, is that a realistic ratio?

  What does "realistic" mean when referring to soldiers who have been "disabled?"  I'd guess that it is everyone who can't fight today but will fight tomorrow (since the other options are killed and POW), including wounded, men from units that have broken up, sick, guys on leave, etc.  What causes you to think such a total, in the chaos of the initial German invasion, wouldn't outnumber the killed 10:1 or, alternatively, that such a total should be far more than ten times the number killed?

[Drakken]

T3 - Soviet side

A short resume, this time.

Not surprisingly, All Soviet units evaded contact with our troops, retreating eastward toward their prepared lines of defence. Sadly, our interdiction attempts failed miserably: Not a single German plane spotted moving Soviet troops to intercept and hassle. Generaloberst Keller and I must have a talk, man to man.

Our recon keep tabs on forming concentration at Pskov (here however, the recon fail to map whether there was more troops involved in defending the city. In fact there seems to be less. So either our recon was poor, or the Soviets have sent some fighting elements elsewhere), plus concentration morphing around Idritsa, and at Polotsk behind the Dvina. Ostrov, however, seems wide open; Our recon failed to see any formation along the Vekiliya, so while it is good news it could also be because of poor intelligence-gathering.

However, Soviet planes counted inside the SAD air bases we punished last week were still quite low. So it seems that we did accomplish some lasting damage to its most forward airforce, that the Soviets still have to repair. Furthermore, we spotted a new airbase in vicinity : VVS's 5th Air base composed of recon and transport squadrons. Decision was taken to send 1st Fliegerkorps to bomb it to the ground, hopefully hurting the Russians' recon and air transport capacity.




Also, the state of the defence in Leningrad at the end of T3.

[Drakken]

Turn 4 - July 10th, 1941

With about a hundred bombers and as many fighters assembled, 1st Fliegerkorps savaged VVS's 5th Air Base : 31 Recon and Transport airplanes were destroyed on the ground after several sweeps, plus 7 fighters mustered for CAP. Our reports state that only a few SB-2s and U-2 survived the onslaught. This confirms that, as of now, Germany holds the mastery of the skies in the region.

Another good news, this time administrative : The railroad between East Prussia and Riga is now repaired and converted to German gauges. Supply will now come unhindered to Riga, which will be the new supply hub for our trucks towards our fighting units. Next stop : Pskov!

16th Army has moved in front position along the left bank of the Dvina, preparing for an engagement to pin the Russians west of the city of Polotsk. As vanguard action 12th Infantry Division hastily attacked the positions of 84th Motorized Division. Facing overwhelming air superiority the latter was easily routed off the woods with heavy casualties, more than 1200 men for less than 60 on our side. The few Soviet bombers in support were downed or severely damaged.

9th Army kept its march unhindered towards Gluboskoe, less than 100 miles from Vitebsk. We expect the first elements of 9th Army to reach the lover Dvina next week.




18th Army's First Corps proceeded north towards Tallinn, 11th Division reaching as far as Parnu. In addition, 93rd Infantry Division was assigned to 18th Army in reinforcement to take Talliin. The rest of 18th Army moved East, reaching Balvi 50 miles west of Pskov.

As we postulated, 4th Panzer Group found Ostrov completely unguarded! Its Panzers and Motorized divisions went forward, rolling across the Velikiya, veering North to threaten both surrounding Pskov or eventually turning South to trap all the troops lying in front of Idritsa before running short of fuel. Worringly, however, we encountered a rather strong Tank Division in a fortified position southwest of Plyussa, guarding Pskov's supply line and from a potential encirclement attempt.

With this, though, I expect whatever remnants of the garrison around Pskov to be small; it seems the Russians have all but evacuated Pskov with only a rear guard. the main prize for us would now be totally surrounding the Soviets down South at Idritsa and Polostk, netting us more than a dozen Soviet units helplessly trapped and isolated! Hopefully our earlier destruction of the Soviet air recon ability and our swing northward might have dismayed the Russians enough to hide that future encirclement attempt.

36th Motorized and SS Totenkopf both lie in the rear, right in the middle of the salient, protecting it from any eventuality of Soviet move to trap 4th Panzer into its own pocket.




And... Finland started to move. Well, sorta. 

The good news : Finnish air force dastardly attacked the numerous northern Soviet air bases off Koivisto, destroying 63 fighters and 4 bombers in the bombing waves.

The bad news : 2nd, 6th and 7th Finnish Corps, the only Finnish units to be unlocked, skirmished with the Ivans in the far north of the Finnish border. It went decidedly against the Finns, barely displacing two Russian NKVD regiments. 7th Finnish Corps only managed to move a mere 10 miles inside the line of their rightful territory. The only benefit of these first encounters was to create dents in the imposing Russian fortifications along the Karelian line to be exploited in the future.

[jimmy olsen]

5400 Soviets killed and 51,000 disabled, is that a realistic ratio?

  What does "realistic" mean when referring to soldiers who have been "disabled?"  I'd guess that it is everyone who can't fight today but will fight tomorrow (since the other options are killed and POW), including wounded, men from units that have broken up, sick, guys on leave, etc.  What causes you to think such a total, in the chaos of the initial German invasion, wouldn't outnumber the killed 10:1 or, alternatively, that such a total should be far more than ten times the number killed?

Ah, I didn't realize it was refering to anything other than wounded. That makes sense.

[Drakken]

Seems that v1.08 beta patch is up.

Should I restart a new scenario under the new beta patch, or keep going on with v1.07.15?

[jimmy olsen]

Keep going!