Gotterdammerung - A German WW2 DAR

[Montmorency]

Grittinks. This is a DAR of Nazi Germany's last months. The scenario which I am playing is on a hex map, 10 km per hex. The time scale is daily turns. It begins Dec. 16. It ends in Sept. '45, if I can hold on to Berlin. I am now on Turn 57 (February 10). Instead of committing my Pz. divisions to Wacht am Rhein, I canceled the operation and railed them off to the Ostfront. I shall describe the consequences.

**This is a turn-based game, so posts are only up-to-date for my playthrough of the day: I move first for a day, then the Allies move. Much of my turns are spent assessing the damage caused by the Allies in their turn "yesterday".

This has been a bloody bloodfeast:

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I will post the Allied losses in a couple of turns.

Monty's Quality Scale for Soviet Corps/Allied Divisions:

(Numbers referring to Attack (Anti-personnel)-Defense numerals on Unit Counters)

Unit Hierarchical Symbols

17-16 and up: Good/Excellent
13-12 to 16-16: Fair
10-10 to 12-12: Decent
7-6 to 9-9: Mediocre
Below:

Acronyms & Abbreviations:

AD - Armored Division
ID - Infantry Division
IR - Infantry Regiment
RD - Rifle Division
RC - Rifle Corps
TC - Tank Corps
TD - Tank Division
AT - Antitank
SPG - Selfpropelled Gun
RR - Rail Repair
Cav - Cavalry
Mech - Mechanized
Inf - Infantry
Amd - Armored
Mot - Motorized
Eng - Engineer(ing)
Bde - Brigade
Reg - Regiment
Btn - Battalion


WARNING: LARGE IMAGES; BE AWARE

Game Map and Frontlines as of Now:

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Netherlands:

The Allies have crossed the Rhine here in force after a breakthrough a week ago. Back in December, after I failed to launch the Battle of the Bulge, the Americans attacked strongly here and were repulsed. Unfortunately, some British corps were activated and gave me a lot of grief. Thankfully, the rest of the Commonwealth units will not be released until late March, at which point I will abandon the Netherlands and hide behind the Rhine. The Ruhr factories aren't under immediate threat, but the situation is developing poorly, and if he strips other parts of his line to exploit this gap...

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West Front 2: Mostly quiet here, except for the south. In December and January, there was brutal fighting around Saarbrucken. Eventually, the Americans gave up. Many units have been moved from this sector to one of the two breaches in the West Front. Remaining (pictured) are: 9 ID, 3 AD, 4 Cav Reg, 3 Eng Bde, 6 Arm AT Btn, 1 Amd Btn.

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West Front 3: Just south of Karlsruhe, a few kilometers west of Stuttgart, has been another massive crossing over the Rhine. This one is actually bigger than the aforementioned. Much bigger. Oh my. The Free French, at least, are keeping out of the way. They aren't all that strong, either. Maybe later, when they activate, I can quickly beat a withdrawal to the Rhine. Replacements for French units are very low, I hear.

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Yugoslavia: I fell back to my current positions in December. For a week in early January, I tried to surround Tito's army in a trap, but was tricked myself. Not much of note occurred in the last month. I am facing here mainly Tito's PLA, some Bulgarians and a couple token Soviet rifle corps. Beside what he has in the front, Tito has another full army in the mountainous interior of Yugoslavia. I'm not sure why he's holding it back. Overall, my position here is quite secure.

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Budapest: This has been the site of a grueling battle of attrition. For a month and a half, I held the entire city. In the last few days, however, I have been forced to abandon Pest and retreat behind the Danube. Everyone here is exhausted and depleted. Of course, I must hold here. A defeat would lead the Hungarians to lay down their arms and/or defect to the Soviets, something that would cripple me along half the Eastern Front.

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[IMG]

Hungary: Pretty ok. The enemy is not strong here, and I've held my ground everywhere except along the flanks, where I was pushed back a few 10s of km.

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Poland 1: Here, the middle area saw the greatest success. All Soviet assaults were smashed. At the bottom, I have stood my ground, giving up only 2 or three hexes. The Soviets have been concentrating here; the defenders are pretty chewed up. At the top, a Soviet bridgehead allowed them to drive me back from the river (marked) and swallow up a very small pocket. Stable for now.

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Poland 2: In this sector I was pushed back a ways. My line up until mid-January was along the Vistula River, from top to bottom. Thankfully, I've usually been able to bring in reinforcements in time to set up defense in depth. There are several weak links in my line, and there is a preponderance of Guards armies in the area, but I'm not facing catastrophe here as of now.

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Poland 3: In this sector, many important bridges have been blown by Soviet bombers. I am working furiously to repair or replace them. This is especially critical for the northern reaches, which are cut off from reinforcements and rail supply.

You might have noticed that this is Warsaw. Warsaw is hanging on by the tetherhooks. It's being hit hard. Soviet fighter cover is thick here. Only my jets have survived the last month. In the north, a big hole has been blown through my line. Though the Soviets can't easily exploit it - he seems to lacks reserves - they can definitely roll down my weak line all the way to Warsaw if I can't do something. Due to my low rail transport, I have only been able to rail in the one indicated division.

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Poland 4: The line here is solid everywhere except the very middle - between the two small lakes. I have few men there, and the Soviets have just moved in 2 more divisions. I am at the breaking point. A breakthrough there would endanger the entire southern half of the asector. Unfortunately, I don't have the transport assets to send more than a token relief force.

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Prussia: As you can see, I have been forced back from the river almost everywhere. A steady influx of reinforcements, however, has allowed me to erect a formidable defense. The Prussian port Neukuhren, north of Konigsberg, has been invaluable. I have shipped in units from Kurland and Denmark to bolster my force. Of course, the Soviets have also shifted an army or two away from the Baltic. Consequently, in one troubling spot (orange circle) the Soviets oppose me with 4 rifle corps and a tank corps. Another RC is in reserve and may be commited there too.

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Kurland: Worthless piece of land. As soon as Hitler lets me, I'll ship out half a dozen divisions. What I have is more than enough to fend off with the Soviets, who have depleted themselves in the sector to beef up the one below.

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Polish Interior: Just when I thought I had eliminated the partisan scourge, a few more revealed themselves and blew a couple major rail bridges. Anti-partisan TF consists of 2 Pioneer regiments, 2 RR Pioneer battalions, 2 infantry battalions, and an infantry regiment.

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Zakopane: I seem to have rounded up all anti-Nazi Hungarian partisans except for a few around Zakopane (which, yes, is technically in the southern tip of Poland). I have a few units there equivalent to 2 brigades, maybe.

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Berlin: This is where most of my reinforcements show up. Currently, I have 6 ID, a Pz division, and a mechanized division sitting around here. I have other units doing the same elsewhere in Austria and Czecholovakia. This backlog is due to the difficulty of transporting men over long distances. Allied interdiction, I suppose.

Denmark: I have an infantry corps garrisoned here. Eventually, Hitler will release it for whatever duties may need to be fulfilled at that point.

Air: For the most part, I seem to have achieved air parity. End of turn Air Superiority was 35-43 in the Allies' favor. I have lost 25 planes for 122 so far today. From the old enemy loss report (c. January) that I managed to acquire, I can deduce that the British have been mauled, the Americans given a broken nose, and the Soviets slightly winded.

Italy: Not yet.

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Note: Enemy OOB details are minimums, taken from what I can see. Fog of War is hiding some.

Correction: I appear to have written "spontoon" instead of "pontoon" in some of the screenshots. I must have been thinking of Ancient Greece or something.

Thoughts? Demands?

[Montmorency]

Turn 58 (2/11/45)

Berlin: Reinforcements today are a reconstituted Volksgrenadier Div, Volksturmm battalion from Gransee, and the 512 sPzJ Abt. in Austria.

Air: Stormy weather in much of Germany. A total of 10 aircraft have been shot down so far today (both sides).

Netherlands: The situation has of course worsened. I may need to consider a full pullback of my remaining forces north of Essen behind the Rhine. Unfortunately, I don't have enough units to cover all avenues of approach, so the Brits could eventually cross with pontoons over some undefended portion at their leisure, if they take a bit of time to probe..

I estimate that 2 or three divisions would be required to stablize this sector.

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West 3: The bridgehead - if it can still be called such - has further expanded. A couple of my incoming divisions were beaten up. I would need at least three more to stabilize this sector. The orange circle labels what appears to be an entrained US ID. No doubts about its destination.

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Yugoslavia: Note that there is a small battle unfolding on the river-side flank. That Guards Rifle Corps is spearheading assaults on a Croatian position. Though I wouldn't bet on it holding for even another day, the decrease in the corps' stats is noteworthy. Also, check it: behind the Croatians is Das Reich in a fortified position. Das Reich is always good insurance, even if it lost at least a third of its strength in the major fighting that took place in the sector in January.

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Budapest: The 1 PzDiv on the Balaton flank has easily repulsed a large Soviet probe. Three rifle corps and a division were involved. Though only two are visible in the last update (at the tops of their stacks), check the ATK-DEF reductions for yourselves. Silly Ruskies - you can't attack panzers without tanks of your own! Soviet attempts to infiltrate Buda have also been stopped, though at non-trivial cost.

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Hungary: Notice the ID (actually a Jaeger division). It was hit hard. If it breaks, I will have to pull back the adjacent Mech Div (SS Polizei), as its position would become untenable.

Notice the guerilla battalion trying to infiltrate me through the gap in my line. A Hungarian Hussar regiment puts it in its place, though their air support takes out an infantry and a tank platoon.
My fighters did swoop in and shoot down some of their bombers, at least.

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Poland 1: At bottom, a rifle corps is moving to outflank my line. I had to commit my newly arrived reserves here, though I'm not sure what these scraps can do against a Soviet corps, no matter how depleted. I would use my threatened ID to flank the flanking corps in that attack, but that would leave it vulnerable to counterattack from the front proper. I jhoped that this wouldn't end badly.

Unfortunately, it does. This is a horrendous defeat. I lose a battalion's worth of men, and the Hussar regiment (including its tanks) - to the enemy's platoon. Dozens of planes are downed on both sides. Turns out that the weather where these two encounters took place was fine. A definitive figure for aerial losses: 22 for 50.

At top, a lot is going on. Tarnow was attacked by opposing Guards RC, but held up nicely. Adjacent to it, the 544 VG division was badly mauled, but in the end stood fast. There's something else, but it can wait for a couple of days, I think. I would very much like a fresh division here.

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Poland 2: The areas in white are trouble spots where I am being hit hard. Black are units that may have to be pulled back soon to shorten the line/preserve them. The Soviets have tons of AFV regiments and brigades in the sector, on top of having 16 Guards corps of various sorts (most having extensive organic armor assets of their own). Another factor is the exceptional health of these units. The Soviet supply network is healthy in this sector, as it is in Sector 3, NE Poland, and Kurland. A couple of divisions extra here, and I'd be fairly confident.

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Poland 3: Ah me! Warsaw was rocked by a cataclysmic attack. By the time it petered out, only a battalion was left in its position. Now, I've improvised a hasty defense consisting of an infantry brigade and 26 SPGs. These are facing two tank corps, a rifle corps, and two rifle divisions. They haven't advanced into the breach in the north, but given the rough handling the Warsaw-ward flank guards have been receiving, the gap may soon expand to 4 hexes, although now that the relief division has settled in, only one hex is open. For the moment.

I badly need a division for Warsaw, and 2 divisions for the gap. Last of the engagements here was a small probe that pushed an infantry division from its trenches. Nothing too serious, I hope.

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Poland 4:They've done it. They've penetrated past the isthumus there. 2 rifle divisions and a tank brigade. Also, he at some point sent a sizeable rifle corps to guard the flank of the breach. I desperately need a division here.

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Prussia: A Panzer division (with only 3 dozen tanks) embarked at Danzig and was shipped to Konigsberg. The hot spot I mentioned last time has grown more serious. That reserve corps was comitted, and the 5 RC and 1 TC attacked again. Both sides seem to have suffered outrageous casualties. What is worse, another RC from the riverbank (on the left flank, the only place where my line has not had to shift) has slunk away, to parts predictable. Accordingly, the opposite hex is under no immediate threat, so I will shift a security division and an SPG brigade to where they're most needed.

A piece of good news: Two RC and an RD came against the other indicated hex, SW of Tilsit. It was not nearly enough; the attackers quickly stalled.

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I ended up sending my best reserve division from Berlin to Stuttgart in West 3. Totaled, I would need at least a dozen divisions to stabilize the situation on all fronts, for perhaps a week. Even if I had unlimited rail transport, I would only be able to fulfill half of that.

Audience, won't you say a word to the Muse?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Uh, no mechanics this time, I suppose. Anything specific about them you would like to know?

[AggonyDuck]

Thanks for the update. I'm reading this in suspense. :)

[Kagemusha]

Great stuff!Thanks for posting this DAR.Keep it coming.

[Samurai Waki]

Definitely a nail-biter!

[Double A]

Invent nukes.

[Subotan]

Do you expect to be able to push the Allies back and avert the Götterdämmerung?

[Montmorency]

I can hardly expect to survive the winter.

Once there's a full breakthrough, that's it. The enemy will run wild throughout the heartland and all I will be able to do is sit in place and hope my doomed armies delay them long enough to achieve a half-way historical end date.

[Montmorency]

Episode 4 - Dealt a Bad Hand in Poland

TURN 60 (2/13/45)

BERLIN: Reinforcements are an ID, an IB, and an Inf Btn. Good news! The US 28 ID has withdrawn to parts unknown. The TF Linden/42 ID has disbanded.


POLISH INTERIOR: A horde of partisans has materialized near Konin. However, they are in a bad position and may be trapped against the river if I move quickly.

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NETHERLANDS: The pocket has largely been reduced. There's a diminished battalion with a 50mm AT gun, a StuG platoon, and 6 halftracks. I had the battalion charge a Wolverine battalion. Those who weren't killed or captured immediately actually managed to disable a platoon.

The first bulge has been evacuated. Almost everyone, including almost all the artillery, is marching north.

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WEST 2: Moving out. One of the American divisions has too.

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WEST 3: With my position steadily worsening, I had my strongest division in the sector advance into lightly defended Pforzheim. I don't know what I was thinking; it could easily be surrounded now. A retreated ID and Pz Btn attacked a vanguard Cav Btn to improve its position. Air support allowed them to drive it away. Apparently, it is in a sorry state: most of it was mortars and transport vehicles. The only AFVs were 8 M8s and an M24.

There are 2 ID on the other side of the Rhine. If these are meant to cross into the combat zone, the US will have 12 ID, 3 AD, and the equivalent of a Cav Div in the bridgehead.

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BUDAPEST: Both Panzer divisions on the Balaton flank have been attacked. Moderate reductions in both attack and defense, on both sides. Looking at my records, the Soviets have come off worse: most of the reduction is associated with the loss of stockpiled "extra" supplies.

Some probing around Buda. Soviets aren't doing too well.


HUNGARY: As predicted, the ID failed. Polizei withdraws to the rear.

The last Hungarian hex along the line is in danger of collapse.

The Slovak partisans are being driven back, but reinforcements to the next sector have been delayed by a blow bridge.

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POLAND 1: The weakest point in the line was demolished, but the Soviets failed to exploit it. Realzing that the next logical step for the enemy was to attack the other weak point to encircle it, the ID moved against the RC caight in the rear. It was so damaged that it fled back to its own line in headlong rout. Hundreds were captured. Of course, this means the ID loses its defense bonus. And there's still a gap in the line.

Up top, another bridgehead is imminent.

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POLAND 2: SS Nordland and an ID were pushed out of their positions, though they were quickly regained from the vanguard armor. Both have suffered grave losses, such that their effectiveness has been cut nearly in half.

A bulge here is to be evacuated as well. Preliminaries have begun. This should free up at least a Pz Div.

Elsewhere, the situation is getting worse even faster. NW of Radom, I have only scraps until the curve in the line.

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POLAND 3: Warsaw holds, but the Soviets still have a lot of fight in them.

Walter Girg has finally gotten into a sticky spot too sticky for him to get out of. His back to main-line Soviet corps, pressed by armor to the front - will he find a way? He did manage to fight his way north, where only a supply column blocked his path. He left a fifth of the trucks burning.

North of Warsaw, a fresh fortified division was dislodged, forcing Totenkopf to relocate.

The reinforcement ID engages the Mtr Bde occupying a small breach in the swamps. The Soviets lost about a battalion or two, and 5 dozen aircraft. I was mauled: the division had 2/3 of its assets shredded, and over 2 dozen planes were shot down. It did recapture the position, though.

East, what was a troublesome situation ended as a crushing rout just a couple of days later. Catastrophe moves swiftly on the East Front. And the West Front too, come to think of it.

In the Soviet rear, there is a stack of 5 artillery divisions and a tank brigade.

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POLAND 4: They're pouring into that breach. An ID from the capital is being railed in, though the situation is equally desparate in many other sectors. I don't think this sector can expect more reinforcements for a few weeks - in other words, never.

North, at Goldap, my defenses are being overwhelmed. One of the ad-hoc divisions simply vanished.

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PRUSSIA: That hex has been attacked again, but the Soviet corps are gaining attack and defense. They are losing less than their replacement rate here. That doesn't hold for my units, unfortunately.

Two other hexes nearby are being probed by the tank corps. They're not strong enough to last for long. I need to abandon the bulge so as to shorten my line, but all the good defensive terrain is too far away; my men will quickly be caught out of their trenches and cut up.

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[johnhughthom]

Good reading Monty, I've never managed to get to grips with HOI and I'm going to come back to this when I try again (when FTM is a bit cheaper) to give me a bit of a hand with some of the nuances. Nice to see I'm not the only AAR writer getting my butt handed to me.

[Populus Romanus]

Interesting read, I have never seen a strategy game like this.

[Montmorency]

Episode 5 - Prussian Peril

TURN 60 (2/14/45)

AIR: 26 for 54. As is demonstrated, and has been before, Soviet air power makes counterattack a foolhardy proposition.

BERLIN: 2 ID in reinforcements, though one is battalion-strength.

ZAKOPANE: Recaptured. Bagged some partisans.

NETHERLANDS: The SS Lettische there is finished. Quite a shame. It's a significant blow. However, 3 IDs, hundreds of arty pieces and some armored elements are en route. That should be enough to stabilize the area south of Essen. As for the north, in the British sector...

Oddly, the Amis seem not to have noticed those redeployments taking place. As a result, my divisions slunk away quite peacefully.

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WEST 3: Now I've been blown wide open. He did indeed commit 2 fresh IDs just now. I'm not sure whence he got them, though. The southern Siegfried line is now in extreme danger of being rolled down. The Colmar bulge will inevitably be surrounded. I could evacuate it, but a corps would have to be left behind, and the not-inconsiderable French [B]1re Armee will quickly pour over the Rhine and just generally screw me. My best ID must be redeployed from Berlin to this place immediately, for all the good it will do.

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YUGOSLAVIA: This Bulgarian ID has been sitting here for a while. Well, I don't want to let them build up overwhelmingly (I know that there are yet more Bulgarian divisions out there, not to mention a full Titoist army), so I'll try to take them piecemeal where they try it. That's why I'm moving to encircle this thing. At worst, I lose some supply temporarily. I seriously doubt he has corps in place to move in force to support this shrimp. Opportunism is all the Germans have to uplift them at this point.

My Cetniks, while driving out the Bulgarian command, discover that:

1. They have the army level artillery attached.

2. There's a Tito-corps in the area.

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HUNGARY: Budapest looks OK. A frail division tried to bridge the Danube at a weak point north of the city. I'll try to lure it in. Then again, maybe it will have the same result as the two bridgeheads.

The SS partisan-hunters pushed the Slovak fighters all the way back to the Soviet front - though losing a company for a platoon - and the relieving divisions finaly moved into -

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POLAND 1: They easily pushed a Soviet IC and tank bde away from the road. Twice that has happened. It indicates that the Soviets here are exhausted. It also indicates that those corps are experiencing a critical shortage of infantry. They're mostly MGs, AT rifles, and organic artillery now. The Hungarian ID's attack on a lone tank brigade stalled with serious losses due to air support.

Quiet elsewhere.

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POLAND 2: Bulge evacuated. Penetration by 2 Heavy-tank Regs and an SP Reg. Only a Heavy Pz Abt. survived, so I'll counterattack with it. Obviously, even if it miraculously succeeds it will never hold back the adjacent Mech Corps. But why not? It's not like it matters at this stage. Over 50km of front are flimsier than clapwood and will fall apart momentarily. The hex in question is a little cloudy, so maybe the Sturmoviks will keep away. Maybe 22 Tigers can figure something out. In the end, the battle is an ill-advised failure: 8 Tigers for 2 IS-2. Air support did show up.

This is it, I think. This is the schwerpunkt. This is where I will break first.

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POLAND 3: Warsaw is Erebus, but I'm cannibalizing other parts of the line to reinforce it.

Walter Girg lives, but is still trapped.

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POLAND 4: Nothing left in that hex, but no Soviet advance.

PRUSSIA: Breakthrough. Subsequent measure.

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