@ PB: Your AAR is the reason I got the game myself. Really like your progress in the game.
I guess if you keep the strategic thinking with the operational exploits of the war you won't have a problem in crushing the russian in the east finally. It's a little sad the game doesn't provide a glorious finalisation only a point game win.

However, your AARs provide a nice trade off for this unsatisfying outlook.
Hats off to you

Thanks guys!

I've said it before but you guys commenting on my progress and following this thread really keep me motivated. And by writing this AAR and forcing myself to formulate plans and organize my ideas I've learned a lot about the Eastern Front.


And then there was...

"Ach Gott, der Schlamm!"

Or: how to wage Blitzkrieg during the Rasputitsa. (Hint: not all).



What to do during the "time without roads" in Russia:

1.) [x] get boozed on local spirits
2.) [x] try to score with one of the ladies of the Fronttheater from Berlin
3.) [x] bribe the Luftwaffe guys for a trip to Paris in that Ju-52
4.) [x] regret not being in Africa with Rommel where lately ALL the fun seems to be
5.) [ ] fight a war

For those who voted 2.) I present Erika and Anna. They love kittens, afternoon walks, drinking games involving amphoras and comforting lonely Landers far away from home.





In a word: mud. Yeah, I got a bit surprised, thought I'd have another week. So much for that. The officer in charge of weather forecasts will get quite a bit of experience in clearing mines soon.

So, all operations have been put on hold, there's simply no way to move or fight in the mud. The combat value of my divisions has dropped to a fraction of their normal stats, and any movement (except on rail) has become severely restricted.

I've done a further bit of reorganizing, freeing another corps HQ to move South, shuffling divisions to and fro, and I even got another brand-new Panzerdivision with 161 tanks from OKW, the 23rd. Other than that there's nothing to do. Any attack under these conditions only causes massive casualties with little gains. I restrict myself to contain the trapped Soviet troops as best as possible and...wait...

There's no point in detailed update shots, so instead I'll post another strategic overview of the Eastern Front. Not much changes since February in the front line, but I've actually done some serious damage to the Red Army during the last four weeks.

Soviet casualties have exceeded 6 million men, with German losses at ~ 1.6 mio. An important difference in these figures is that a very large part of the Red Army casualties are actually 'total' losses, mainly due to capturing entire formations, while a large part of the German casualties are WIAs that (to some extent at least) do in fact return to their divisions over time.

To illustrate my point: so far all axis forces together have lost exactly one division, a Rumanian infantry division that surrendered during the blizzards.

The Red Army OTOH has lost 246 infantry divisions, 39 armour divisions, 20 motorized divisions, 57 cavalry divisions, 8 cavalry corps, 52 armour brigades, 165 infantry brigades, 20 airborne brigades and a host of other minor formations.

Your frontline looks more stable. There are none of the deep bulges that existed in the historical frontline.


Wheels

Yeah, the rather straight front line without big bulges provides me with a nice assortment of reserves. I'm currently counting a dozen uncommitted, full-strength infantry divisions and 5 (!) Panzerkorps in reserve right now. After the desperate struggle to hold my lines during the Blizzard this is indeed rather comforting.

And my Panzertruppe is gaining strength again:



You can see that out of 21 Panzerdivisions (5th PzDiv is split up into three regiments)

8 PzDivs are > 90% TOE (tables of organization and equipment-> strength)

6 PzDivs are > 80% TOE (I rate 5th PzDiv with 2 regiments @ 81% and 1 @ 72% as in the 70s category)

4 Pz Divs are > 70% TOE

3 Pz Divs are > 60% TOE

This means that 15 PzDivs are to be considered fully combat ready, 4 are ready for limited operations and should be up to full strength in short-ish time and only 3 PzDivs are still in need for a prolonged period of rest&refitting.

TOEs of the motorized formations:



Of the 14 MotInf divisions, 3 brigades (900th Lehr Mot. Brigade is to be withdrawn soon) and one Mot. Regiment

11 formations are > 90% TOE
3 formations are > 80% TOE
4 formations are >70% TOE

The conclusion is that my mobile formations have survived the winter of '41/'42 in pretty decent shape which will enable me to strike hard during my planned spring/summer offensives.


Turn 43, April 9th 1942

The situation for the infantry divisions isn't as good, many are still recuperating from the severe casualties suffered during the winter. I'm trying to relieve fought-out divisions from the front line and am confident to have the Heer in decent condition for the new offensives soon.

I won't post map updates this turn since there wasn't really a lot of change. Besides the usual re-organizing of various corps and armies I limit myself to a few attacks against the cut-off Soviet units, but during the mud even these attacks need to be conducted carefully. Still, the Red Army loses another 70.000 men, 1.000 artillery pieces and 550 (!) tanks this week.

And another update!





Turn 44, April 16th 1942


And another week of (comparatively) calm on the Eastern Front. The mud still precludes any major combat (against non cut-off units) or movement other than by rail, so there's barely any change to the front line.

The only actual combat occurred within the two Kessel North-East and South-East of Tula where the infantry divisions engage the cut-off Russians. The result of this fighting is the liquidation of the smaller cauldron and another 150.000 Red Army soldiers dead or marching into captivity, with another 2.000 guns and more than 400 tanks captured or destroyed.
The Luftwaffe played an essential part in this operation, supporting the infantry divisions with up to 200 aircraft for single attacks. Almost 100 Soviet aircraft have been shot down in furious air battles, while the Luftwaffe only lost 8 planes. I estimate another 30.000 enemy soldiers still trapped. All in all Operation Rheingold and Rheingold II will cost the Red Army about 250.000 men, 3.500 guns and more than 1.000 tanks. German total losses in the fighting will be about 10.000 casualties and fewer than 100 tanks, with many of these losses WIA and damaged vehicles that will return to their divisions.




Still, not all news are good news. A long-awaited, but nevertheless distressing information has reached HQ: The Red Army has finally started converting its tank brigades into tank corps. These formations are comparable to Panzerdivisions, although they feature less infantry and support weapons. Still, they are powerful and highly mobile formations and will have to be treated with respect.

Also Partisan activity is slowly increasing in the rear areas. I have garrisons in all captured cities and so far all identified partisan units have been quickly dealt with, but I'll have to pay attention to this development. Attacks on the railway system can seriously hurt my operations.

The only other memorable action this turn was the transfer of LVII Panzerkorps, with 12th Panzerdivision and 14th and 18th MotInf divisions to the Crimea in preparation for an offensive towards the Kuban and Krasnodar.


EDIT:

OK, I just couldn't bear watching all those shiny Panzerdivisions around Stalino doing nothing, so I started yet another limited attack, aimed at surrounding and capturing Rostov. The Red Army in this area is just too weak at the moment to miss the opportunity. I've seen how the Russians put up a wall of new formations seemingly out of thin air before, and at the risk of damaging my precious Panzers in the mud I attack. The fighting goes well and if I'd indeed manage to capture Rostov soon that would greatly help me for the great spring offensive.

ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK !!!!
This where we grab them by the nose and kick them in the ***

Patton Intro (NSFW - language)

http://youtu.be/t3J9hmCLmvg


Wheels

Pass the amphora, I'm bored

PB vor, noch ein Tor!

PB fore, another score!

Make that two, i'll join you Gambler

Look forward to Operation Dietrich Para

When's the Bum Bum Boris back?