East Prussia '14 - 2nd Masurian Lakes Central Powers AAR

[ComradeP]

Turn 41, 06:00 12th of February 1915, Snow and Storm conditions.

Though several battalions were pocketed on the previous day, it was not as successful as hoped. The amount of ground covered was once again solid for these weather conditions, though.



The first surprise of the day yesterday was that there was an infantry brigade from 68th Infantry Division around the 1000 VP objective. My cavalry nearly beat them to the objective, but not quite. I had expected elements from the 1st Cavalry Division, but not infantry. 1. KD spent most of the day disengaging and moving east through the woods to outflank the position.

There's an encircled Russian battalion in Wilkowiszki and at least 1 bypassed Cossack sotnia north of the units moving in from Naumiestis. Another battalion from 68th Infantry Division was encircled and destroyed yesterday.

XXIX. Reservekorps and 42. ID will spend most of the day sorting themselves out. The reservists will go south along the secondary road, the regulars will join 31. ID and head east towards Mariampol.



XXXVIII. Reservekorps will deploy in a line and will move south near the primary road, 3. RD will start moving east.

The Landwehr east of Darkehmen took out a battalion from 29th Infantry Division, but otherwise the sector is quiet.



Not much happening here besides cautious probing. The Russians could outflank my push and encircle the Landwehr, but that's a risk I can live with.



Most of 57th Infantry Division slipped away as well, I was only able to pocket 2 battalions. Most of the infantry was already east of where I expected it to be, due to pulling back at night as well.

XL. Reservekorps will move towards the Wissa, 2. ID will form up and move north-east towards Lyck. IB 5. will move north along the Spirdingsee to keep an eye on III Siberian Corps. With most of the Russians already gone, there wasn't any point to moving KB 3. towards Kolno. It will head towards Lyck with 2. ID.

[ComradeP]

Turn 49, 06:00 13th of February 1915, Snow conditions.

Visibility is 3 hexes.

Running out of time is still a possibility, but progress should be decent without Storm conditions.



The guards will advance towards the south, 1. KD will advance towards Grodno to cut off the exit and supply hex. After that, I'll send 2 cavalry brigades south and 1 cavalry brigade west I think.

Various Kürassier squadrons failed to locate the Cossack sotnia(s) behind my units north of Wilkowiszki.

Units from 42. ID assaulted a unit blocking the bridge from Wilkowiszki to the south-east. The engineer unit would be encircled on the 06:00 turn as it retreated towards the north after an assault. XXI. Armeekorps will move to Mariampol.

XXXIX. Reservekorps will move south and eventually to Kalvarija. It will be slow going and in terms of movement, moving them after XXI. Armeekorps might seem more efficient, but I'm trying to outflank as many bridges/blocking units as possible. My opponent tends to leave single battalions as roadblocks at bridges.

I might send a brigade of 42. ID north, it depends on what kind of resistance GB 5. and 1. KD encounter. If most of 56th and 68th Infantry Division are in the area, the units currently in the north will need help mopping them up.



XXXVIII. Reservekorps is still dealing with a rearguard from 73rd Infantry Division. Unsurprisingly due to not being able to move and assault even in Clear terrain, it takes time.

3. RD is slowly making its way to the eastern side of the lake at Vistytis.

I decided to move the Landwehr brigade from Landwehr Division Königsberg north again. Two battalions will protect the objectives at Stallupönen and Wilkowiszki from stragglers, the rest of the brigade will move to Pilvishki.

Hauptreserve Königsberg has not encountered any units recently, it will move through the Rominter Heide.

The northern Landwehr brigade of Landwehr Division Jacobi will move south-east towards Goldap.



The southern Landwehr brigade of Landwehr Division Jacobi will move east, the Russians in the area are gone.

Wireless intercepts identified XX Army Corps, as well as 27th and 29th Infantry Divisions (in the same hex, otherwise the divisional HQ's wouldn't have been spotted) 25 hexes or so east of Goldap, so the Russians clearly used the Storm day to withdraw.

There are still rearguard units/stragglers near Landwehr Division Einem, the division will move east with the artillery from the Feste Boyen garrison.

The 3 other units, 2 engineer units with a reduced Speed rating and 1 cavalry squadron, from Feste Boyen will move south. The HQ is permanently Fixed in the fortress and they're D quality, so their value as combat units is low. The cavalry squadron might seal the fate of some units from 7th Siberian Rifle Division to the south, however.



IB 5. encounters the tail end of 7th Siberian Rifle Division out of position, as part of the brigade is already to the east on the primary road to Lyck.

2. ID will form up at the Lyck/Lek river at the point halfway between the "German Empire" and "Railhead (Russian gauge)" markers and will cross the river there together with KB 3.

XL. Reservekorps will cross the Wissa at the bend in the river east of the spearheading cavalry squadrons.

[ComradeP]

Turn 57, 06:00 14th of February 1915, Mud conditions.

Visibility is still 3.

The mud dramatically cuts Local Supply levels away from primary roads due to the 400% MP modifier for motorized movement, as opposed to just 200% during Snow turns. My units near Kovno have a Local Supply level of 1.

The Mud conditions also mean swamps and marshes return to their original state, instead of Field/Clear.

Running out of time seems more and more likely, due to the high value objectives being in the south-eastern corner. If XX Army Corps keeps moving towards those objectives instead of forming a line somewhere else, I doubt I will get there in time to dislodge it.

The good news is that a bit over a brigade or Russian battalions and numerous cavalry units were knocked out yesterday.



GB 5. spent most of the day firing at the Russians in front of them, waiting for 1. KD to deal with the Russians east of them.

1. KD took out numerous squadrons/sotnias from 1st Cavalry Division and an infantry battalion. Most of the division will now start to move south.



42. ID started its assault on Mariampol during the night and unfortunately the two battalions on the other side of the river are still Disrupted.

31. ID will continue to move south.

XXXIX. Reservekorps continues its slow march south. Only some Cossacks were spotted thus far.

XXXVIII. Reservekorps continues its slow push south east of the Rominter Heide.

3. RD completed its redeployment from the right to the left flank of the push, took out an infantry battalion and will move south-east.



Goldap is liberated, no Russians were spotted by the Landwehr.



Landwehr Division Einem took out a roadblock battalion from 8th Siberian Rifle Division north of Widminnen. The bulk of that Russian division is facing 2. ID south of Lyck, as an indication of how spread out the Russian roadblocks are.

The Ersatz squadron from Dragoner Regiment 11 sealed the fate of the Siberians in front of IB 5. by galloping in from the north to block their retreat. The brigade took out 4 infantry battalions and an MG unit from 7th Siberian Rifle Division. A fifth battalion will become POW on the 06:00 turn.



2. ID and XL. Reservekorps are getting ready to cross the rivers in front of them.

The units in front of 2. ID are from 8th Siberian Rifle Division, as mentioned earlier.

XL. Reservekorps will need to construct a bridge, but it faces only spread-out reservists.

[ComradeP]

Turn 65, 06:00 15th of February 1915, Soft conditions.

The weather improved. Units can move and assault in Clear terrain now, and can move 3 Clear hexes instead of 2.



It's clear GB 5. can't deal with the Russian infantry and the numerous MG units in the area by itself, even with the poor supply situation for the Russians.

A brigade of 42. ID moved north to reinforce 1. KD and GB 5. A second brigade of 1. KD will move south using the primary road on the eastern edge of the map. The divisional HQ, MG and field gun battalions and one brigade will remain in the north or now.

I decided to move the Ersatz units of Landwehr Division Königsberg to the area as well, after the Landwehr units of the same division approaching Pilvishki, as I wasn't sure how many Russians are in the area. I could've moved them north earlier, but I wasn't sure if the Russians would stand and fight near the Rominter Heide. Having C quality units in the area would've been useful in that case, but the Russian reservists pulled back.



With most formations on or near the primary road network, I expect to close the distance to the Russian units moving south in 1 or 2 days.

XXI. Armeekorps, minus one brigade from 42. ID moving north, will move south towards Lazdijai.

XXXIX. Reservekorps will also move towards Lazdijai, but from the west.

3. RD will move to Suwalki.

XXXVIII. Reservekorps will move to Suwalki from the west and will turn south towards Augustow afterwards.

Hauptreserve Königsberg and Landwehr Division Jacobi will move south towards Lyck.



IB 5. and Landwehr Division Einem face stragglers and rear guards at bridge crossings, but otherwise slowly move towards the area north of Lyck. I was surprised that there was still about a brigade of Russian infantry battalions in the area.



2. ID finds it difficult to deal with III Siberian Corps. The Siberian units keep retreating the "wrong" way for me and the right way for the Russians, and one division isn't enough to threaten the entire sector. I do have a plan, though. I'll slowly shift the focus to the right flank. An attack towards Belda should trap any Russian units still in the area if there are no Russian units directly east of Lyck to block an advance from the north.

79. RD will move to Grajewo and will cross the Lek to support 2. ID.

80. RD is still trying to pocket units from 57th Infantry Division as it moves to Osowiec.

As to losses: I tried to block a few Russian units from withdrawing in front of XXXIX. Reservekorps with a field gun battalion, but that backfired as there was a non-Disrupted cavalry unit around. The unit lost 9 guns, but somehow didn't even become Disrupted. Russian losses slowly mount as I catch up with retreating columns.

[ComradeP]

Turn 73, 06:00 16th of February 1915, Snow and Storm conditions.

After getting good weather on the previous day, the weather worsens again on this day. That might be to my advantage, as the retreating Russian infantry units can't move more than 1 hex when not in T-mode on primary roads.



With the additional forces arriving, I'll be able to isolate the Russians in this area by the end of the day. Taking out the pocket will take time due to the terrain and the number of Russian units in the area.



An overview of where my units are.

Most of 76. RD will unfortunately have to spend the day stuck in front of the full hex bridge west of Suwalki. There's a bug where full hex bridges can't be used during Storm conditions, not just pontoon bridges. WDS is aware of the issue and fixing it.

75. RD will spend the day slowly moving to the primary road network, one hex at a time.

3. RD will keep moving south, capturing Suwalki along the way.

XXXIX. Reservekorps will spend most of the day crossing several bridges, slowly moving east. The units are moving along a primary road, but MP modifiers for movement across bridges in non-Normal conditions don't work correctly (the bridges are not treated as primary roads). WDS is aware of - and fixing this issue as well.

To the east, 42. ID (-) will spend the day moving towards the primary road network as well. 31. ID will move east and south along the primary road together with the brigade of 1. KD.

North of Lyck, Landwehr Division Jacobi and Hauptreserve Königsberg will move south/south-east.

The second brigade of Landwehr Division Einem is also more or less stuck on the secondary road network for the day.



A brigade of Landwehr Division Einem and IB. 5 will push the 84th Infantry Division away from Lyck, cutting the retreat path of III Siberian Corps. Cavalry from Landwehr Division Jacobi will cut the escape north at Syoitki. 2. ID will cut the escape route east together with 79. RD, with the reservists assaulting in T-mode along the primary road through Belda.

Note that the primary road from north-west to south-east turns into a secondary road. That will be the doom of most of the Siberian units. Had they retreated with Soft conditions, there would be no problem, but by the end of the day most will be pocketed.



80. RD will deal with 3 Russian infantry battalions trapped on "my" side of the river before slowly moving north-east of Osowiec to find a suitable place to cross the river.

[ComradeP]

Turn 81, 06:00 17th of February 1915, Soft conditions.

Good weather again. It makes assaulting easier as all units can move and assault in Clear or Field terrain, but it also makes it much easier for the remaining Russian units to withdraw into the forested terrain east of Augustow.



The Russians in the area are now pocketed. I'm still not sure how many Russian units are still around. I'm hoping the units from 42. ID and most of the units from 1. KD can start moving south on the next day, with Landwehr Division Königsberg taking over.



XXXIX. Reservekorps will deal with some stragglers from 56th Infantry Division before moving south and east.

XXXVIII. Reservekorps will join the attack towards Augustow by 3. RD south of Suwalki.

42. ID (-) will move south and east.



I'm not a fan of edge of the map gaming, but in this case it's my best option to make progress south, I fear. The reinforced brigade of 31. ID and the cavalry units (arriving) in the area will move south-east, cross the river there and move to the primary road a few hexes south of the river. The other brigade of 31. ID will move west and south along the primary road.



North-east of Lyck, (most of) what remains of 84th Infantry Division is nearly pocketed.

Most of III Siberian Corps is pocketed south-east of Lyck. About a brigade of 7th Siberian Rifle Division is unaccounted for.

Hauptreserve Königsberg will move towards Augustow, various Landwehr units from Landwehr Divisions Einem and Jacobi will clear the 84th Infantry Division pocket. IB 5. will disengage after 2-3 turns and will move south towards where 79. RD is now.



In the next few days 79. RD and 2. ID will move south-east to Ciszewo, will cross the river at the line of forested hexes and will move south-east towards the 1000 VP objective.

The Marshes around Osowiec are back until Snow/Frozen conditions return, so units from 80. RD can't move more than 1 hex per turn. That's fast enough for now.

In the previous days, taking out Russian battalions here and there resulted in steadily increasing Russian losses, and clearing up the pockets should lead to another spike in Russian losses.