Eastory

Status update

The 1944-1945 Western Front data is being compiled. It is around 340 days, so it will take some months to be done.

As I am not doing it myself, there will be some more content in the mean time. Plans (as of now):

1) Deluge Part 3 - late May, Early June.

2) Translation - Combat operations in Estonia in 1941 - Mid June.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TxtCe6U0Cg 

3) A v...

First year of WW2 in animated maps

Here is some content as early access!
No charge, as this is a compilation of my existing clips.
This is a bit of experimental approach, so let me know if you like it and if I should make another one for the next year.

Western Front 1940. Public release

Western Front 1940

Status update: Battle of France script is done, future plans

The time between the release of the Battle of France preview and yesterday has been spent on reading books on the topic and forming the script. Yesterday it got recorded and soon I can start working on retiming the animation:

I'll also share the plans about three of my next videos:

1) Battle of France with commentary.
2) I have made animated maps for the World War Two channel for more than a year and have produced loads of content. So I had the idea of compiling all the map ...

Western Front 1940 Preview.

Status update: Second pass complete. Can you notice the difference?

I am perfecting the short version of the video as a preview for YouTube and will publish it as soon as it is ready. After that I'll start working on the narration for the full release.

Status update: WF 1940. A lot of work done, a lot to be done

The Deluge: Part II - public release

The Deluge: Part II

Status update: Development Hell

I was not quite satisfied with the performance of the first Deluge video and knew I need to improve on it. One problem was the high intensity of the video - too much stuff happened too quickly and the viewers weren't able to absorb it in time. After first tests of the second episode, I realized that it would be even more intensive.
Although that video was more than 50% finished, I decided to scrap the whole episode and rewrite it. As a result I lost a week of work. Right now the animation...

Status update: Deluge II in animation stage, Western Front 1940 in progress

The Deluge will be a three part series. Script for the second part has beer re-written and is 90% done. The drawings are mostly done and I have begun with animating. It seems that the monthly upload goal is within reach.

Also, we have been working on the Western front series. The plan for 1940 is to use the assets I have made for the World War Two channel in order to save time. Right now we are busy creating daily orders of battle that would become the groundwork for the video. The Ger...

Semi-weekly status update: Deluge I, cut content

Hi guys!

I was thinking of experimenting with some semi regular updates in order to let you know about the progress made, tell you of what I am currently working on and to get to know your opinion. 

As of now, the second part of the Deluge is progressing nicely - most of the script has been drafted and more than 10 pictures are ready.

This post is about the cut content from the first Deluge episode. In the attachments is an early draft of the script. Originally I wanted...

The Deluge: Part I - public release

The Deluge: Part I

Grab your inflatable boats and rubber boots - the Deluge is here!

Eastern Front animated 1944/1945 - Public

Enjoy!

Eastern Front Animated 1944/45. Preview

I guess you have been waiting quite long for this. Enjoy!

Endgame - Early April 1945

The Red Army had secured the flanks and was making last preparations to launch an attack towards Berlin. Meanwhile, with the main German focus back at the Eastern front, the Western Allies were able to breach the German defenses on a wide front, encircle the defenders and were now in the process of advancing through Germany with little opposition. With all hopes for any political solution to the war lost, all that was needed to end the conflict was a final push that would convince Germany to ...

Beginning of February 1945

After two weeks of the Soviet winter offensive of 1945, the Red Army was confronted with a dilemma, similar to that of German generals in 1941 after the battle of Smolensk - whether to attack the enemy capital immediately and risk a possible encirclement from the flanks or to secure the flanks first. 

Like the Germans in 1941, they decided to play it safe and concentrate on securing the flanks, which postponed an attack on Berlin for 2,5 months.

Mid-January 1945

During November and December of 1944 the the main force of the Red Army in Poland was undertaking extensive preparations for the Winter offensive towards Berlin, which would be launched in the middle of January. 

At the same time a smaller southern force was continuing its advance in Hungary. With most of the front quiet, the Axis forces were able to strengthen their defenses there, which limited the Red Army's progress. In January the action was concentrated around Budapest, which...

End of October 1944

In the autumn on 1944 the Red Army conducted offensives on its flanks - in the Baltics and the Balkans. In August the situation in the Baltics was more promising, as here the Soviet forces enjoyed more than 2:1 superiority and had already cut the Army Group North off from their main front. In the Balkans the troop strength ratio was around 1:1.5 and the Axis had the opportunity to use the Carpathian mountains and many rivers as consecutive defensive positions.

Despite that the Germans w...

01.08.1944.

The Red Army achieved a total surprise against the Army Group Center. The Germans refused to pull their units back thinking that this was just a smaller scale attack and out of Army Groups strength of 850 000 men 300 000 were lost during the initial encirclement. The results exceeded expectations and the Germans found themselves in a position not able to offer strong resistance and began to withdraw. This sped up the speed of the Red Army's advance, but at the same time didn't allow them to e...

The beginning of the Endgame

As the final version of the last Eastern front video is being rendered, I will be posting some preview snippets. This is the first of them.

Mid June 1944. In the West the Western Allies have landed in France and in the next campaign are preparing to traverse the last territories separating them from Germany. The Red Army is planning to do the same on the Eastern front. According to their maximum goal they plan to encircle and destroy half of the 3.4 million Axis forces opposing them dur...

Choose a topic for a new video

Now, I guess you have all been waiting for the Eastern front to be completed, so the next video will cover the last year of the war. But the one after is up to you to decide. And there are some quite different topics to choose from:

1) Russia's Manifest Destiny. How to push your border 6000 km east across Eurasia in five centuries?

2) The Deluge. A WW2 scale conflict in the 17th century Eastern Europe. 2019-02-16 10:16:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Eastern Front 1943/44 Pre-Release

Hi guys! I am still alive. 

This has been the hardest episode to make so far. Hope you enjoy it!

200 patron goal

Having fulfilled the 100 Patron goal this channel has long  been without another objective. This cannot continue! Therefore I have decided to make a new series if I reach 200 Patrons. As you guys like the animated maps the most, it will be done in this format. I am split between three topics and have decided to have my Patrons decide which of them will stand. So, choose wisely :)

08.09.1943.

After the German attack at the battle of Kursk was defeated, the Red Army began an offensive of its own. It resulted in a series of attacks in different parts of the front. For a time the Germans attempted to contain these offensives with conducting tactical retreats and regrouping their forces. 

In the first half of September, however, they began to realise they lacked the troops to stop the Soviet advance unless they pulled their front line back to a more defensible position. As a resul...

04.07.1943.

The situation before the battle of Kursk. For the last three months both sides have been building up. During the prior offensives the Soviets have had some bad experiences with the Germans counterattacking and cutting off their troops, so this time they are playing safe. They plan to let the Germans to attack first and have them pin down their offensive forces. After that they would launch a major attack of their own. In order to contain the expected German advance large scale fortification work...

31.03.1943.

In the South the German forces had caught the Red Army out of balance and pushed North taking back Kharkov. It was planned to launch another offensive from the North towards the advance of the 1st SS Panzer Corps and take Kursk catching the Soviet forces between two spearheads. In order to get enough troops for the offensive, the large German salient West of Moscow (around Rzhev and Vyazma) was abandoned and the units rushed South. They stopped the Soviet advance in the sector, but were too weak...

19.02.1943.

The beginning of the 3rd battle of Kharkov. During the previous three weeks the Red Army has carried out an offensive into the gap that was held by Italian and Hungarian units. In the southern part their units were sent to the south in an attempt to cut off the bulk of the German army between them and the sea.

However, this has led them to be overextended and German 1-st SS Panzer Corps and 40-th Panzer Corps are about to move towards each other and trap the Soviet forces. A Soviet tank spearh...