Europa Games and Military History

Month: January 2025

1944 NOV II Soviet Turn

Narrative

Again the Soviets are reminded that the German forces are as slippery as an eel when it comes to trapping them in any net as the northern and part of the central pocket breakout to freedom. However the freedom for some is short lived as the Soviet Steamroller threatens to crush them or sweep them off the map. The German line is now pressed against the western map edge and this turn sees the defence fracture as the Soviets reach the west edge in two more places.

Turn Report

Arctic Front: (1 attack) Supply difficulties hamper the Soviet forces but more troops are landed on the beach lodgement between the MLR and the Narvik defenders. All Soviet airpower is directed to softening up the increased Luftwaffe presence but the airbase attacks result in not a single effective hit. Deprived of airpower no other attacks are possible but the Navy provides massive gun support to an attack on Hammerfest from the Soviet lodgement on the southern end of the island and the garrison finaly surrenders. This is the German last outpost east of the MLR.

Belorussian Front:
(8 attacks). The relentless push along the coast continues and the river-line is crossed in front of Danzig. Parallel attacks spaced along the front to the south reach the Map edge at Hex 2832.

The slower units from the northern pocket and the deliberate spoiling force left in their wake are all eliminated but limit the Soviet advance north of Warsaw. A particular failing is a 5:1(-1) attack against fortified hex North West of the city which resists a massive armoured assault and will not be dislodged (NE).

South of the city however another crossing is made of the Vistula widening the bridgehead and closing the gap between the western bank forces and the southern suburbs of the city.

SE AAR 01 1944 NOV II Soviet Turn

Frontline during 1944 NOV II Soviet Turn.

Ukraine Front:
(4 attacks). More of the same here as the forces press the beleaguered defenders. The Western map is reached at point 4733 by attackers pushing in from the Lvow and Lublin directions. With the map edge already reached in northern Hungary this traps a group in a one hex deep 80-mile-wide section of front without a rail line and so no means of escape.

Steppe Front:
(4 Attacks). With much of the Soviet forces in supply difficulties a mixed set of results from a few low odds attacks pushes a couple more hexes into the interior plains and widens the West edge lodgement in the northern tip of the country. The out of supply Soviet tank forces in the extreme south can do little but slowly move north into the remaining part of Nazi controlled Rumania but are still many miles from any Axis forces with which to engage.

Air Combat:
A few air support missions draw a massed German response and cost a few aircraft but all achieve their aim of bumping the odds to favourable columns. Only one DAS mission is needed in which a Tu25s is lost to German interception. With very little lateral movement possible anyway the Soviets decide not to expose their aircraft to unnecessary interception and carry out a large re-organisation operation transferring aircraft to optimal airfields for the final month’s push.

Combat Report

Attacks = 17
Losses: Soviet = 10, Air= 4.
Axis: Forts = 4, FAs = 1, German = 67

 

The Coastal Defense Study Group

Woe to the Europa player who ever would have to create maps for the US coast and put CD counters on them in any Europa scenario. Any game in which the Axis would be able to mount a significant threat to the US is one that has already turned sour for the Allies.
If you should find in such a predicament, though, the first and best source for such information would be the Coastal Defense Study Group and its exhaustive Wiki covering the history of US fortifications. The CDSG works to educate and preserve the history of the United States coastal defenses, and does so through conferences, a journal, and the already mentioned resources on the web.

URL: cdsg.org

1944 NOV II Axis Turn

Weather: Snow to Arctic, Mud in B&C, Frost in D, Clear in G.

Axis forces have not given up on their comrades trapped NE of Warsaw and launch a second breakout attempt aided by more arriving troops. In the centre replacement infantry move into Warsaw reinforcing the massive garrison unit. They may be down but the Axis are not yet out.

Army of Norway:
A precious Res Pt is spared and shipped north and troops manoeuvre to prepare for a further attack against the Marines next turn. The centre of the main line is reinforced and a further Luftwaffe fighter arrives to ward off the Soviet GS which they rely on for successful attacks.

AGN:
All available units and aircraft concentrate both inside and outside the pocket NW of Warsaw to breakout the trapped units. The breakout force is fully stacked with a cadre remaining behind to man a fort at the eastern end of the pocket which will be useful to split the Soviet tide much as a groin in a breakwater limits the power of the waves.

They hit a 12-8 Gds Mech/2-1-8 eng tk/1-2-6 AA and this time are more successful than last turn. At 5:1 (-2) with GS they manage to DR the defender who is cadred in the retreat. The trapped units advance to safety and mobile units pour through the breach in exploitation. This will add considerably to the Axis ability to resist in this area.

Outside Warsaw a lone 2-6 Gds cadre has reached the eastern suburbs but its artillery support has failed to keep pace due to the dreadful ground conditions and so it is now exposed to attack. A sally by the Warsaw garrison and a newly arrived 5-8 Jager division wipe out the puny defenders and allow the light infantry to advance and occupy the hex direct to the East of the city. This is a suicide mission but will delay the inevitable attack against the city by at least two weeks.

AGC:
In the centre a trapped 14-10 pz unit aided by GS risks a 4:1 attack against a 5-6 guards infantry and is rewarded with a DH allowing the Panzer unit to advance and then, in exploitation, reach the SE outskirts of Warsaw and supply further limiting Soviet access to the city.

The bridgehead over the Vistula is too powerful to attack so the defensive ring around the bridgehead is reinforced to try to limit any advance.

AGS:
Hungarian forces grudgingly give up ground to maintain a coherent front. A 3-5 Hungarian Security division is rebuilt and moves to contain the Soviet tankers north of Stu Mare.

In Rumania with nothing to defend the remaining troops (14-10pz xx, 2×7-8pz cadres and the sole remaining Rumanian unit a 6-10 Mot xx) exit the map and begin to rail north.

Air Combat. The Luftwaffe assemble the largest concentration of air power for perhaps the last 6 months to aid the breakout attempt in the AGN sector and a Mission force of 15 bombers carpet bomb the defenders. Two are Patrol Attacked away, one is removed by combat and another two by AA fire but in total 21 effective points are delivered bumping the odds to 5:1. The two other Axis attacks are also well supported. The Luftwaffe is present in extreme concentration and the short range and pitiful patrol attack range of the Soviet fighters means that their response is muted. One notable event is that the Me262 is Returned by a Patrol Attack and plays no part in any combats this player-turn.

Combat Report:
Attacks = 3.
Losses; Axis; Air = 1; Soviets; = 23, Air = 3.

The War against

… what exactly is unclear, but the shouting got too much for us. We will be deactivating the Twitter account of the Generalstab, There is not much else to say, it was fun while it lasted, but I refuse to look at the things promoted and shoved in my face on Twitter these days.

So the plan is to move to where the Sky is blueer during this year. I admit I have been lazy posting and engaging online a lot, since other projects took precedence. But I have been busy during the past years, and will actually be able to share some of the results soon, probably on the other long-term project the Ametria site. It will be more oriented towards interaction, scientific study and historic work, and sources will be king. I hope to interest some of you for it, come the time.

1944 NOV I Soviet Turn

Narrative

“The Undiscovered Country”
Soviet forces in Rumania report a baffling and frightening phenomenon. Tankers are perplexed when they encounter a strange energy barrier a few miles west of the Dambovija River. The news is passed up the line. The fledgling Soviet Atomic Research Establishment has learned of Nazi Heavy Water experiments and surmises this is an, as yet, unknown Nazi Superweapon. Tankers report that their out of supply condition means they cannot move further west. At other points along the front advanced units report meeting similar phenomena but in places progress would seem possible because the barrier offers only light resistance. However STAVKA orders that no unit should move west of the line until a full assessment can be made. Steppe Front mobile units are therefore ordered to swing North and push up into Hungary as soon as they have dispatched the few remaining pockets of resistance in Rumania.”

The mud and consequential deteriorated supply condition now ensure that no matter how well their forces perform Map Exit from Rumania is now impossible due to lack of supply and there are insufficient supplied forces in Hungary.

With only four turns left and a force ratio of 3:1 assured but no map exit shift possible the Soviets are now battling to reduce the Axis city point count to improve the Victory level in their favour. Narvik appears out of their grasp, Danzig per errata is not included so only Warsaw remains as a potential prize.

With the mud hampering their operations as much as the Axis the advance mech and armour units are obliged to hold the line as the slower infantry try and push past the isolated pockets of Axis resistance. The pockets interlink in the centre and progress is slow with weak points between the Soviet advanced guard and the main body of troops.

Not withstanding the above the Soviets are able to increase the number of attacks to 26 this turn.

Arctic Front: (1 attack). The Soviets launch a 4:1-(-1) attack from Bardufoss against the line in front of Narvik but the marines are unable to make progress (NE).

Turn Report

Belorussian Front:
(9 attacks); Pushing along the coast the Soviets continue their steady, relentless advance cadreing a 6-8 Mtn and eliminating a bypassed FA. They also gain another advance at the furthest point West moving to within one hex of the map edge and cutting off from the south, temporarily, the forces defending Danzig. Of the next 5 attacks however no less than 3 result in NEs. Crucially however they do manage to eliminate a stack in the corridor linking the large pocket NE of Warsaw with the city. Attacks against the two isolated Panzer Divisions in separate pockets are mixed with one elimination and another NE.

Ukraine Front:
(8 attacks); The main aim here is to widen the bridgehead over the Vistula and use this as a springboard for a move north to Warsaw. At the same time this will sever communications to the powerful Panzer units falling back north from the Lvow sector. As a precursor a 16-10 isolated panzer unit is eliminated north of Lublin and the 4-6-6 infantry unit defending the city is also removed from active service. At the southern end of the line the push north from Lvow hits the fort line again but 2 more NEs dampen the Soviets’ ambitions and only one completed fort is eliminated.

Steppe Front:
(8 attacks); Most of the Hungarian front is now active with a lone Tank Corps complimenting a cavalry/Infantry advance in the north of the country. The Corps reaches the western limit of possible advance and turns directly south having cut off Hungary and the south from Germany/Poland to the north. However its U1 supply condition and the weather prevent any significant advance or roll up of the Hungarian line.

Along the mountain ridge the steady Soviet attacks and infiltrations push the Hungarian and German defenders off the ridge and they now cling precariously onto the Western slopes. The fort on the road to Stu Mare is eliminated and Soviet forces advance along towards the city.

In an unopposed move a Cavalry xx captures Pleven, the last remaining on-map Axis owned city in Bulgaria.

In Rumania Basov is taken and with it the last airfield in Rumania. A returning Ju87 ditches in friendly territory to avoid capture. The last vestiges of resistance are quelled with two auto attacks eliminating a pocket miraculously clinging on SE of Bucharesti and the southern tip of the defending line West of the Dambovija river. Only three occupied hexes remain on the southern plain, a 6-10 Rum mot XX, a pair of 7-8 pz cadres and a 14-10 pz xx all clustered around the railroad West.

Air Combat:
While battles rage across the front on the ground it is no less active overhead. GS, Harassment and DAS missions are all patrolled and intercepted and the FW190 in its various marques reigns supreme. 7 Soviet units are lost but a Spit 9 interceptor brings down a Fw190a with a snakes eyes roll.

 

Combat Report

Attacks = 26
Losses: Soviet = 21, Air = 7.
Axis; Forts = 5 (incl 1 half built); German: FAs =2, Pos AA = 1, Isolated = 20, Un-isolated = 62, Air = 3
Eastern = 2, Hungarian = 7, Rumanian Isolated = 3, Un-isolated = 2, Air =1 (crash landed).
Axis Total = 96

Combat Ratio: Nov I ’44 Axis/Soviet = 96/21 = 4.57:1

Thank you to the CDSG!

I recently found some time to work on putting the U.S. Field Manual Collection on a more solid footing, going through the various FM 21-6 (Index of Training Publications) and other lists to see what manuals are still missing, and seeing if they are available online. All this for a bigger update at the end of this month, when I will add roughly 200 new FMs or variants thereof, and correct some spelling errors.

Sometimes, the search for missing FMs ends at the gates of a mailing list who’s owners remain unresponsive. Sometimes, the reply comes quick, and I get more than I asked for. The webmaster of the Coastal Defense Study Group was so kind as to indulge my request for a couple of FMs and instead handed me their whole repository of documents, for which I am deeply thankful. I do not take donations for this website, but if you want to support the amazing work the CDSG does for the military history of the United States, please head over there and have a look!

An Epic Ending

Ken Newall’s report of his solitaire game playing Scorched Earth had been a persistant source of entertainment for many readers on the Europa mailing list as well as for me. Finally I would the time to upload the last reports from the autumn and winter of 1944, concluding this monumental spectacle, and finishing with an insightful wrap up. The posts will be published over the coming weeks and conclude on February 19th. This should give me enough time to catch up with all the other exiting reporting that happened in the past years on the Europa list. So there will be no want for game reports this year, and I think I will stick to the schedule of having a new post every week for as long as I can make it last.

 

1944 NOV I Axis Turn

Weather; MUD!

Finally the weather breaks and the Eastern Front is awash with copious amounts of rain turning all to Mud. Only the Rumanian plain escapes; remaining dry. At any other time during the last 2 months the Axis would have welcomed this change but it could not have come at a worse time for the defenders. The Soviets have broken through and surrounded a large part of the German Army in Poland. Normally mobility and Armour Effects would enable German forces a partial, if not full, breakout of surrounded troops. The Mud denies them these advantages and effectively dooms the Army. Any Hope that near Total Victory, Soviet Style can be averted is badly damaged.

Army of Norway;
(1 attack). Despite the crisis on the main front more troops and Res Pts are shipped north. In addition the Luftwaffe increases its presence to combat Soviet GS and provide DAS for the defenders. 2 res points are expended to provide air cover for an attack on the landward Marine brigade as a precursor to an attempt to retake Bardufoss. The brigade is forced back.

AGN:
(1 attack). Units inside the large northern pocket are given permission to breakout. Those that can move southwest towards Warsaw but progress is painfully slow. Others concentrate against a defending 12-8 Gds mech (with DAS cover) but the Mud delays a Panzer division from reaching the jump off point. Help is desperately needed from outside the ring but conditions here are little better and an entire panzer corps holding the line east of Allenstein fails to disengage. Reinforcements and some troops are able reach their start lines and the attack is launched. At 3:1 the attack is too risky so a large amount of GS is called upon to raise the odds to 4:1. This carries a 1/6 risk of an NE and while the Luftwaffe is capable of raising the odds to a “safe” 5:1 the resultant loss of DAS cover elsewhere is considered too great a cost and a risk is taken. The die is rolled and a 1 is the result! The fate of the trapped units is sealed and with them probably the fate of Warsaw!

AGC:
(0 Attacks). Any relief for AGC troops must come from the south but wooded terrain and advancing Soviet units prevent any effective concentration of force. Units can only content themselves in forming a defensive ring around the bridgehead West of the Vistula where a 15-10 Mech has a firm lodgement. Units still in place at Lublin are now at risk of their own isolation so pull out leaving a self-isolated 4-6-6 to stem the Soviet tide.

AGS:
(1 Attack) In Hungary units maintain a good line of defence although have been pushed and/or manoeuvred out of the mountains at many points. The line here is probably the strongest of the entire front particularly as the Soviets have only committed light forces to this sector. However the line is at risk of being rolled up from the south so pulls back abandoning Brasov to refuse the right flank against any move north from Rumania.

The panzer/Rum mot pocket west of Ploesti breaks out with help from a reinforcing 14-10 panzer as mobility is still good here. The Axis force levels are the barest minimum for the task however and because they need to attack from the east side of the river to get the necessary odds cannot surround the defending Tank Corps cadre. The attack does force it to retire under pressure and the surrounded tankers again breakout to freedom crossing the river Dambovija for a last ditch defence.

Air Combat:
Soviet fighter pilots returning from a DAS intercept mission over Lublin are arrested and interviewed by the Base Commissar after lodging a fantastical report of propeller-less aircraft which appeared from nowhere, ripped into their flight and disappeared as quick as they came. They faced execution for dereliction of duty and careless use and loss of equipment but fortunately a response from an urgently dispatched communique by their squadron leader was received just in time; confirming the veracity of their reports. The Me262 has arrived on the Eastern Front.

Combat Report: Attacks = 3.
Losses: Soviet = 3 aircraft.
Rumania destroys two of its own aircraft on the ground (deactivates) to prevent them falling into enemy hands before evacuating Pleven.