This is my AAR for the Case Blue - Phase I scenario on normal difficulty in Gary Grigsby's War in the East. Here's a historical overview from the game:
"In February 1942, the German OKH began planning 'Fall Blau' (Case Blue) -- a follow-up campaign for the failed Barbarossa offensive. The Caucasus was to be the principle objective. Phase I of the German plan was to encircle and destroy all Soviet forces west of Voronezh."
(https://i.imgur.com/wZoGeF8.jpg)
Turn 1. I need to take Voronezh and Boguchar and defend Kursk, Kharkov, and Belgorod. Voronezh is on the other side of a river; I'll need to keep this in mind.
I have some panzers and motorized divisions in the north and south to help take the objectives and encircle the enemy on the front.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jel0IPt.png)
Let's look at the objectives. It looks like Voronezh and Boguchar don't net many victory points... encircling and destroying the enemy will be essential to achieve a decisive victory. A major victory should never be good enough...
(https://i.imgur.com/wPI6LpT.png)
My first plan of attack is simple. Encircle the enemy with my panzers, clearing the way first with my infantry as far as possible. I need to get into the hex north of Voronezh as soon as possible so that I'm not stuck attacking across a river later on. I do an HQ build up to ensure my panzergrenadiers in the north have enough fuel to achieve these objectives the next turn.
I assign support levels of my HQs and have the AI do recon and bomb airfields. I assign pioneer battalions to infantry units attacking across the rivers in the south and to my panzergrenadiers who I'll be using to take cities later on. I want to attack the objectives with my mechanized infantry. They can get to the objectivies quick enough, but don't take penalties for fighting in urban hexes like panzers.
I execute my plan and finish the turn.
(https://i.imgur.com/arPsAtQ.png)
My ground loss ratio isn't that great... it's about 2 to 1. That's okay, it will be better once I attack the encircled Soviets.
(https://i.imgur.com/DwXcKME.png)
The Luftwaffe does a good job of bombing enemy airfields.
(https://i.imgur.com/npiBuYf.png)
Here is the beginning of turn 2. I've encircled the Soviets in the front line by pushing forward where I can with infantry, then breaking down panzer corps into regiments and spreading them out to ensure the Soviets won't breakout from the pocket.
(https://i.imgur.com/FEzapcF.png)
My plan is to destroy the encircled Soviets, take Boguchar with my panzergrenadiers in the south, then occupy the hex north of Voronezh with three panzergrenadier divisions.
I'll also encircle the Soviets in the center with my panzers.
I do recon, bomb the airfields, then execute my plan.
(https://i.imgur.com/A1T8Mbf.png)
Much better... taking out the encircled Soviets brought me from a 2 to 1 to a 10 to 1 ground loss ratio.
(https://i.imgur.com/l3y4Arx.png)
Things are looking good with the Luftwaffe too.
(https://i.imgur.com/1yrQfJL.png)
The beginning of turn 3, the last turn. I've taken Boguchar, but it's isolated and weakened. I will transport fuel by air to the unit and send an infantry division there too.
I'll also destroy the encircled Soviets and take Voronezh with my panzergrenadiers.
I do recon, bomb airfields, execute my plan, then end the turn.
(https://i.imgur.com/2dmr0gO.png)
The game ends! I've managed a tight decisive victory, which start from a 5.0 to 1 VP advantage. You can see the majority of my VPs came from destroyed Soviets. Like I mentioned earlier, encircling the enemy and destroying them here is essential for a decisive victory.
(https://i.imgur.com/sUaSgdr.png)
The final map result.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bi20eJe.png)
And my favorite screen. I had a lot of fun with this scenario. It's scale and length are similar to Road to Minsk. It's great if you want to play through a scenario in the evening. Unlike Minsk, the scenario takes places in 1942 so the Soviet are stronger and will break out of pockets if you're not careful.
Thanks for reading!
(https://i.imgur.com/KqLZi1u.png)
Excellent AAR! Unfortunately, now I want to buy the game :P
Thank you :)! WitE is a lot of fun but it takes some serious effort to learn. I'm about 2/3rds through the 300+ page manual.
:dreamer:
Nice!
The Eastern Front is always interesting to me (was regaling The Boy with info about the Battle of Kursk and Dan Carlin's "Ghosts of the Ostfront," series just yesterday).
very nice are you using any mods for the game?
Con
Very cool, Pzrjager!
A helpful suggestion for future posts - when you post an image tag, put the text 'width=####' in there so your images don't go off the screen.
I think in general the best width is around 1000 to 1200 or so.
For example - instead of "[ img ]image link here[ /img ]", do "[ img width=1200 ]image link here[ /img ]".
(Note the spaces before and after the 'img' text is not supposed to be there, but had to be entered so you could see what I'm talking about.)
Hit the Preview button at bottom right to get an idea of how big your image is. You can adjust the number however you want, then click Post when you're happy!
1000 is usually safest max width to prevent horizontal scrolling on smaller screens.
How dare you limit his dreams?!?
800 works for iPad viewing... just saying.... :peace:
Ain't nobody goin' to no moon usin' no durn Canadianistan metric measuring system.
Just cause you 'Muricans can't count to 10 doesn't make it wrong. :coolsmiley:
We don't have to count to ten: we shoot at that point. >:D
Here's one of the screenies at width 900.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bi20eJe.png)
At 800.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bi20eJe.png)
At 1000
(https://i.imgur.com/Bi20eJe.png)
At 1024 (which like 800 and 900 has the advantage of being a "resolution" number).
(https://i.imgur.com/Bi20eJe.png)
Meanwhile, were you playing with no fog PzJgr? Or was your air-scouting just that good? (I've owned the game for years but never played it.)
@Con Thank you. I have several mods installed.
If you want the same setup, follow the guide here: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4086504
You'll need to use the links here for the map mods: http://thestrategygamer.com/2017/01/31/war-in-the-east-map-mods/
And I use this mod for better leader and unit photos: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4143659
And last, I recommend you use JSGME so you don't have to replace your original files with the mod files: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3937265
@BanzaiCat Thanks for the tip, I've changed the images to 900 width. They look much better :).
@JasonPratt Yup! I play with no fog of war, which is the default setting. Recon is still useful however. Although I can see all the units, I don't have an accurate idea of the enemy units' strength. If an enemy unit is next to mine then I'll have a good idea because the AI will automatically recon the enemy. However, I sometimes won't know the strength of units behind the front, and even more so when they're in terrain and/or fortifications. Recon will help me understand what I'm going up against so I can attack with the appropriate amount of force.
What level of victory do you earn as the Germans with the scenario Road to Minsk?
The reason I ask is that this scenario is my own impossible task to get a Decisive victory on so I would be interested if you have achieved it what you did. I keep coming back to this one like a beaten dog just not willing to let it go.
My biggest question is how far do you push your troops on the first two turns. I find if I go to far on turn 1 I cant get my panzers over the river on turn 3 due to supply and truck shortages. If I take it to easy then the Russians just put thousands of counters dug in across the river and jam up my ability to concentrate and break through delaying me too much to take the victory cities. If I spread my panzers to ensure encirclement of the Russian troops I dilute the ability to concentrate them and move on the subsequent turns.
Con
Lots of good information in this thread, both in how to play Grigsby and how to properly post images so they fit.
I was surprised that you are able to break down divisions into regiments. That goes a long way in helping to ensure the encircled enemy remains encircled. I'll have to try this in my next Grigsby game.
Well done in the battle!
Sorry I meant the Road to Smolensk Scenario not Minsk. Minsk i can do.
Con
Quote from: Con on April 19, 2018, 01:50:09 PM
What level of victory do you earn as the Germans with the scenario Road to Minsk?
The reason I ask is that this scenario is my own impossible task to get a Decisive victory on so I would be interested if you have achieved it what you did. I keep coming back to this one like a beaten dog just not willing to let it go.
My biggest question is how far do you push your troops on the first two turns. I find if I go to far on turn 1 I cant get my panzers over the river on turn 3 due to supply and truck shortages. If I take it to easy then the Russians just put thousands of counters dug in across the river and jam up my ability to concentrate and break through delaying me too much to take the victory cities. If I spread my panzers to ensure encirclement of the Russian troops I dilute the ability to concentrate them and move on the subsequent turns.
Con
Hey Con I wish I did, I only got a major victory too.
Here is my victory points screen:
(https://i.imgur.com/u2Xc2mB.png)
And my final map:
(https://i.imgur.com/zS7QZ5p.png)
I'd like to revisit it sometime.
That makes me feel better that I am not the only one unable to decisively win this scenario. I am back at it for the umpteenth time. It's like a sickness with me that I want to achieve a decisive victory on this scenario.
Does it help that the Nazis didn't achieve a decisive victory here either in real life? ^-^