Hopefully short Ukraine AAR (I'm still alive, so much for short!)

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medic911
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Hopefully short Ukraine AAR (I'm still alive, so much for short!)

Post by medic911 »

Note:
Not sure how long this will be, as my first play-through as a practice already had me dead by now... i also expected Japan to distract the rest of the world with its invasion of DPRK and China, but that hasnt happened yet either so now all my potential enemies have tons of powerful allies with nothing for their military-industrial complex to do.....

that and ive been near bankrupt since almost the start, lol.

Begin AAR:

The Ukraine, filled with rival factions and built upon recent revolution, has seen the loss of Crimea an the toppling of three governments in the last decade, though most recently through a referendum rather than a revolt. As western nations and former European friends fall to the wayside and speak negatively about the Ukraine, if they notice the struggling nation at all, the people of the nearly bankrupt nation grow angry. The last of the reformers and revolutionary coalitions lost power in a vote that the United States and NATO claim was rigged—a pro Russia government was installed and takes full power in March of 2021.

By April, the 20,000 troops and fully fortified defensive line with Russia are shifted to the west. The critical points along the border with Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Every city and tow is ordered to field a garrison of reservists and guardsmen by the end of the year. By mid-August, 50,000 troops are poised to take care of the western front, 10,000 in a strike force positioned to hit either Hungary or Slovakia—nobody knows which is the first target.

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The west suspect the poor nation's government must be getting support from the soviets, but it is difficult to prove, as the only funds seem to be coming from Jordan, Serbia, and Kuwait. Western leaders feared the Russians may be trying to rebuild the Soviet empire. Americans grew especially weary as the Ukraine allied with much of South America. By November, deployed Ukrainian forces numbered nearly 60,000, but the airforce remained on reserve status, giving most nations a feeling of relative ease.

For now.
Last edited by medic911 on Jan 08 2015, edited 1 time in total.
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Excited to read more!

I have never played Ukraine and I am surprised you have the economic woes you stated. Historically it was the soviet satellite that offered the most natural resources. What are your game settings?
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Also, I have a good friend from Kiev and he considers the word "Russian" a curse word. It would be cool to see you build up to the point that you turn around and punch Russia right in the face with an invasion!
medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by medic911 »

My plan at first was to do exactly that. I had a string of fortified chock points heavily defended by my modern units and i built a decent airforce (that could at least defend me from the Russian swarms for a little while) but i quickly ran into economic freefall. I was forced to ally with Russia for military protection and better trade prices, because the west hated me, and my only three allies--Israel, Vietnam, and Jordan--were not strong enough or close enough to help me. If i had spheres on, im pretty sure id be solid red by now, a drastic change from where i first wanted this game to go. (I hate the soviets, and still call them that most of the time)
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Good plan. Can't wait to see how it progresses!
medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by medic911 »

Please forgive the lack of operational maps/oobs this time around, still trying to do this one quickly while I work on a bunch of other stuff….

The Ukrainian military launch the long awaited attack on Hungary early on the morning of December 11th 2021 under light winter conditions. Russian military "advisors" heavily "suggested" this move, as it would provide a quick path to the Slovak capitol, possibly shortening the war they truly desired. Additionally, it would make a suitable test of the newly bolster Ukrainian military.

The tanks, artillery, air defenses, and half the infantry were left behind and the amphibious btr4s crossed without air support. The overconfident enemy rushed the bulk of their force to the front to crush our apparently weak invasion. Instead, our own airforce launched en-mass and decimated the enemy. After 3 days of heavy fighting, the counter-attack was pushed back and out of supply. Our own forces had captured Debrecen. More amphibious forces were being marshaled behind the river line held by the artillery, anti air, and tanks. Only one unit was lost and 374 casualties suffered, compared to 26 and 15,000 Hungarians.

The key airfield of Szolnok fell on the afternoon of the 18th and was in use by evening. This airfield gave our forces CAS on a moment's notice and allowed for more rapid advance of the front, as the strategic bridge crossing was also located there. Only Cegled stood between our forces and Budapest.

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The next morning, the enemy counter-attacked with everything they had left. Several regiments of outdated TAB 79 APCs attempted to reclaim the airfield. They were not prepared for the arrival of our re-enforcements, which included anti-tank guns and more airpower. For good measure, the strategic bombers and multirole fighters were called in to mop up the retreating enemy. The "battle" lasted for less than a day. By midnight on the 21st, our assault on Budapest began. In two hours, we had a toehold in the city and fighters stacked to the stratosphere for CAS. The war was all but over by this point, as no nation dared challenge Ukraine for fear of Russia. Rumors had it, that Russia operative were among the troops on the ground, observing the progress of the Ukrainian Army.

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It took 26 hours for the enemy capitol to fall once the first shots of the battle commenced. We waited for a day to see if the enemy would surrender, instead they chose to fight on. Our forces marched north-east to Miskolc in an attempt to destroy the last of the enemy resistance, while the airforce laid waste to their military fabrication facilities. At noon on the 24th of December, Hungary officially ceased to exist as a nation. Total casualties: 554 Ukraine to 39,534 Hungary. 1 unit was lost in the initial invasion.

By February 8th, the bridge and road network was well underway. As long as Europe doesn’t get smart and attack before it is completed, Ukraine will have several divisions of infantry, tanks, AA, and artillery poised along the border, and much air support nearby. In an attempt to solve short-term budget woes, the domestic production of consumer good as been banned, and many redundant and outdated oil power plants and small manufacturing facilities in Hungary have been scrapped. We also scrapped the research center and hydroponics lab. We now turn a 91M daily profit, with estimated 63.5M in surplus trade per day also (and 300 billion in debt with a credit rating of 0……..)



NOTE:
First time ive ever really done an invasion with no tanks, AT weapons... just one type of infantry. i really didnt plan it too well, but i was committed once i built all that ****, bridge or no bridge! Thank god i built a good airforce, and they did not !
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Good details!
medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by medic911 »

The Russians have been busy in the early months of 2022. A nuclear submarine on a training exercise was lost to "mechanical failure." Some see the timing very conspicuous. Rumor has it that the nuclear weapons once carried on board the ballistic missile submarine were smuggled aboard the new cruiser headed for the Ukraine as part of Russia's new arms trades. Other Russian allies, such as Serbia, Belarus, Paraguay, and Vietnam, received large shipments of military materials. They have all begun producing Russian military designs under license from the Kremlin as well. The west continues to look on with rising suspicions.

In an attempt to cut off North Korea from this burgeoning alliance, the Japanese declared war on the 18th of February. After three days, the Japanese advances and airpower have met with stiff resistance and their hold on the area remains tenuous. Thus far, South Korea has not chosen to get involved beyond fulfilling its transit treaty obligations. The Japanese navy has had much more success and dominates the waves.

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On the 21st of February, the decision to ban production of consumer goods was overturned in the Ukrainian government, citing loss of tax revenue that would not make up for reduced expenses. The economic situation remained strained, but was far better than before the invasion of Hungary. We near profitability on some days, but cannot afford to continue military expansion, a must if we are to defend against the onslaught Europe is capable of bringing down upon us. Luckily, Japan has been joined by the South Koreans in the war on the North. The Chinese have deployed masses of troops as well, which likely means the USA will intervene. This war could go on for some time with both of these powers involved.

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Our Russian advisers "suggest" postponing our attack plans until next year. This will give us time to finish our road network in Hungary, fortify the whole of our border with pockets of resistance, and prepare a strike force that can launch a three-pronged attack. The attack will strike the Slovak capitol at Bratslava, the major city of Kosice, and a thrust through the center of the country—cutting the route of re-reinforcement from most of Europe to the eastern part of the country, and acting a s flank protection against Poland. Victory should take under a week. By the time we agreed on this, word came from the North Koreans: the last of their government fled to China, and the nation surrendered formally to Japan on March 20th.

We all expected a long-drawn out fight once China intervened; the ineffectiveness of their forces has been an eye opening wake-up call. Our own strategies must be re-evaluated. In the mean time, it will take all Russia's authority to keep China from Attacking Japan in retribution for the 85,000 casualties they inflicted in a single month. We are not sure how long we can afford to wait, or how long we will be allowed to wait. Our glorious revolution has not quite gone to plan; we are beginning to feel a lot like these guys: http://www.theonion.com/articles/rebels ... mbia,2103/:
"--Only hours after assuming control of the deeply troubled country in a bloody coup, members of the United Deliverance Front admitted Monday that they might have made a 'huge mistake' by seizing power in Zambia: "Dear Jesus, what the hell were we thinking?"--"
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Awesome detail, commentary, and descriptions. Keep it up!
medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by medic911 »

The end of the year has been quite eventful:

On Nov 15th, Egypt declares war on Libya. The initial assault on the capitol through their ally, Tunisia, is a total failure and all units are lost. Egypt maintains a small blister of Libyan territory on the eastern front through sheer force of air power. The war has devolved into a stalemate.
On November 31st, at midnight, Armenia went to war with Azerbaijan. The Armenian economy could not sustain itself, and their relatively rich neighbor proved a viable scapegoat for their sufferings. The people led their nation to war, but misjudged their own strength. By the end of the day, all Armenian forces were in full retreat. Azerbaijani reserves mobilized with unthinkable speeds—almost as if they had been tipped off ahead of time. The Armenians capitulated by 2AM Kiev time on the 12th of December.

Here in the Ukraine, our economic situation remains unstable. It is clear that we will not be able to wait much longer before making out move against the Slovaks. Furthermore, it is also clear that the modest economic gain of such an invasion would be worthless if Poland could throw its full weight into the defense before we capture the small nation. If this were to happen, all of Europe would swarm through the open gates held by Poland and overwhelm our forces—just as the Chinese in Korea. Perhaps we can appease the puppet master with a different prize. The Romanians refuse to ally with the new Soviet cause, but China has demanded Russia not intervene in the affairs of her allies, including Romania. But we are not allied with China, we could take this prize. The Kremlin says they will get back to us.

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2023:

JANUARY:
in Libya, a massive Omani force has come to the aid of Egypt and stabilized the front. Large, open deserts and lack of supply infrastructure stalled any attempt at advancing in Libya. Kuwait then intervened with several infantry and logistical units, including transport aircraft for supply airdrops. Jordan also lent some forces, mainly transport aircraft. Inch by inch, the front move in favor of the Omani army and Egypt. This goes on into February.

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By March, Russia authorizes our plan to take Romania and provides us with the plans to construct silo based nuclear ICBMs. We take what we can scrounge up on short notice, and built two new missile fabs and a silo. While preparing invasion plans, we deployed 3 transport squadrons to Egypt to assist the Omanis and our Kuwaiti allies and to test our air resupply capabilities. Turkey refused to allow our aircraft passage through the straights. In fact, Turkish policy is to fire on any ships passing through the straights on sight. In the first 5 weeks of 2023, they have sunk 34 vessels. We decide not to test their patience and recall the squadrons. Mow we have a new problem… we have no access to the ocean with our navy, and no access to the Mediterranean for our land forces—should we ever need them in Africa or the middle east.

On the bright side, at least we have not all starved to death by now. technology trades, arms deals, bulk raw material trading, and a massive cut to military growth has stabilized the situation--for now.

April:
A tentative date of August 6th is selected for our Romanian operation. By this point our next multirole fighter will be in great supply, the two Romanian invasion forces will be modestly complete, and the remaining reserves of old units should be sufficient to absorb counter attacks. Thanks to recent technological advancements and increasing demand for raw materials in South America, we have postponed economic disaster—but we have cut military growth by 50% and maintain a large deficit and hundreds of billions in debt. The eastern bloc empire must rise again if we are to maintain solvency in the long-term.
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by Ricent1 »

Good luck. Romania is very tough. They will send scores of armored towards you in waves. The Russian-made 9m123 krisentema anti-tank unit is awesome and will shatter incoming tanks.
medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR

Post by medic911 »

NOTE: I decided to flip two coins. One coin to see if Romania would detect my plan (heads) and One to determine their reaction (heads to invade now, tails to do nothing and wait to defend). They both came up heads… so while my fabs were still producing my AT guns and the infantry I planned to use to defend my borders, Romania launched a "surprise" preemptive strike.

WAR!

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At 6am on the morning of April 17th, Romanian military forces built up near Chernivtsi launch a surprise attack against our lightly defended center position. If the attack manages to overwhelm the 5,000 infantry and artillery soldiers (and local militia) our marshaling yard at Ivano Frankivs'k will be wide-open to enemy attack, splitting our nation in two. We did not anticipate this possibility, as all our military forces are deployed against the Polish and the Slovaks; removing them opens us up to the ravaging hordes of all Europe! We must hold the line without committing these troops; that leaves us 36,000 troops in the field, and whatever reserves of old BMP 1s and T72s we can muster if they break through. We send word to our allies to come and aid us in our struggle.

Our airforce responds with the weight of strategic bombers, ground attack planes, and the new advanced Jian multirole Fighters! While en-route, some of our ground attack SU aircraft diverted to face a new threat in Hungary at Gyula, where the enemy is attempting a 2nd front. We have launched 58 fighter-bombers, multiroles, and heavies at the Romanian first wave….In no time, the momentum of thier attack is broken, but they still hold a large numerical advantage at the front.

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The Serb and Belarusian militaries respond to the Romanian attacks, which our airforce has battered heavily. By the 19th, our enemy has deployed antiaircraft guns to the front, and our airforce pulls back. The Serbs, Belarusians, and Russians move in beyond our defensive lines and counter-attack the northern front. Our infantry pushes the west. The sheer number of Romanian forces overwhelms our allies and the Marshaling yard is threatened by the enemy advance. Polish fighters probe the borders of the northwest, looking for weak points as the Poles consider entering the war. Without support from the rest of Europe, they would never dare such an attack. We must hope that our allies acquit themselves in battle and intimidate the powers of Europe.

With the arrival of the Russian forces, our lines have stopped falling back, instead we hold in the north. In the west, a counter-attack surrounds our entire force on the 24th of April. Broken arrow calls in every aircraft for round the clock bombing. By the end of the day, thousands of enemy lay dead and the attack is broken. Our airforce remains the hero of the battle, keeping enemy counter attacks from reaching the allied lines intact. Even with their efforts, the combined forces of Russia, Belarus, and Serbia have difficulty reaching beyond a few miles--the northern front devolves into stalemate.

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The Serbian army and the Ukranian army launch a coordinated counter-assault on the western front on May 1st at midnight, catching the enemy reserves unready. Our forces fail to take Timsoara in the diversionary assault; but the entire enemy reserve force meets us there in battle, allowing the Serbs a free path to the critical city of Cluj-Napoca—the bridge crossing that unites our two fronts with the center of Romania. The all important road junction falls to Serbian infantry at 10PM on May 5th. We pull back and re-group with more tanks while the Serbs do their thing and attack again as they make their final push into the city. Surrounded, the enemy at Timsoara continue to fight valiantly—they ultimately succumb to our army by dawn on the 6th.Short, but fierce, the 2nd assault on Timsoara costs many lives, mostly Romanian.

The attack on Cluj Napoca left the Serbs battered, and the Russian army had previously retreated to rearm and repair prior to the offensive. Because of this, the heavy all-out Romanian counter-attack comes soon after the city's fall. The enemy knows it is their only chance to turn the war around. 3 Elite modern XA360 infantry units are all that stand between the two Dozen Romanian armored infantry and medium tank units backed up with artillery and AAA hitting the position. Once again, we call broken arrow.

Only half the airforce remains combat ready, but it is enough. After three hours of bombardment, the Serbian reinforcements arrive and counter-attack. Russian forces also begin advancing to the position, but are a day's drive away. Late in the night, Iraqi and Israeli units arrive in our ports, unloading armor for the frontlines. While the Romanians take a pounding on the western front, we advance 25 Nimr infantry regiments South on the main highway to Bucharest. They meet little resistance all the way to Buzau . . . suddenly, a wall of enemy units halts our advance, and rear guard elements fall silent--the force is surrounded deep behind enemy lines, and on the opposite side of the country from the rest of our forces.

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medic911
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR (I'm still alive, so much for short!)

Post by medic911 »

May 8th
Our encircled forced hold valiantly against the onslaught brought upon them. Our northern defensive line rushes to the rescue as the Russians and Israelis take our former positions. Hind helicopters loaded with supplies and rockets head across the country in order to be in position for tomorrow's supply and strafing run—assuming our forces can hold that long.

Many brave helicopter pilots risk their lives to run the supplies and fire their weapons in support of the troops at Buzau. An alarming number do not return. The infantry continue to hold, battered by enemy artillery. Our relief column is intercepted and is delayed fighting through the enemy defenders. We call our strategic bombers for another battle-saving run. The heavy bombers exact a devastating toll, despite heavy anti-air defenses. Buzau clears long enough for the beleaguered infantry to advance and make a run for the enemy gun position beyond the city. In fact, the infantry press on far enough to encircle and destroy the retreating artillery and air defenses. By the time they return to Buzau, the rescue column pulls up. The infantry politely decline rescue, instead they ask for ammunition—they have located an unguarded route to the enemy capitol.

While the western front holds its line in a slugfest between the Serbs, Russians, and Romanians, our battle-fatigued light infantry push on. With APC and AT support from the relief column—and some fresh ammunition—the infantry press on to Bucharest and attack just before midnight, the morning of the 11th. Two days of hard fighting, and tens of thousands of enemy casualties later, Bucharest falls to our forces. The Russians and Serbs also break through on the west and join their two attacking fronts. The Israeli troops turn back without having fired a shot—some relieved and some angry they missed the war.

Our brave fighter, bomber, and choppers pilots are the stars of this war. As hard as our men and women fought on the ground, the pilots turned heavy fighting into lopsided contests. We've lost under 7,500 troops, the Serbs the same, and the Russians 14,000; our enemy over 150,000. Air power, is power. You can be sure all our aircraft fabrication facilities will reopen after this war is over—if the economy stops collapsing.

On May 18th, the Serbs link up with our forces at the former enemy capitol and our war is nearly complete as our infantry head for the coast with helicopter support. The operation takes under 24 hours. The Russians in the north finally leave their defensive positions and make a move one the 20th, heading for the last enemy resistance pocket at Iasi, but receive orders from the Kremlin to pull out of the country… our beleaguered Nimr infantry turn up north and hit another target instead. The local militias melt like butter as our battle-scarred light infantry slice northward. The war is over before the end of May.

While our situation is far from ideal, we have been able to expand military production and industrial raw material extraction for the first time in over a year. Double the land fabs are working, and an extra air fab. More will soon come, after our 28 new uranium mines are completed…. Of course, our nuclear program is totally peaceful—until it has to be launched!

The rest of the year goes off without a hitch for the Ukraine—though Slovak and polish units patrol our border with great frequency.
Ricent1
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR (I'm still alive, so much for short!)

Post by Ricent1 »

Excellent! Feels like I'm there.
Ghostexx
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Re: Hopefully short Ukraine AAR (I'm still alive, so much for short!)

Post by Ghostexx »

May i ask what are the configs?
Also, how that 2v2 war of the Koreas happened (and USA about to become involved)? :o i only get the premade wars.. (India vs Pakistan - NK vs SK without any intervention - etc)
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