Is this game still going on? I was wondering what happened next ...

<t> It's not foolproof! It's just intended to make the German's pay the full price for Leningrad, and to prevent the Panzers redeploying to Moscow in September leaving a skyline filled with smoking ruins. <br/>
As a matter of fact, I've never found that I didn't have time to set up a Luga line: you ...

Thanks, it's counter-intuitive, but it really does work.

<r> <B><s>[b]</s>The Counter-attack<e>[/b]</e></B><br/>
I've found it's worthwhile to accept high losses on tactical counter-attacks to penetrations. Even powerful hexes of two panzer divisions can be pushed back if they are exhausted by hasty wearing down attacks and bombing. However, once the ...

<r> <B><s>[b]</s>The Bolt<e>[/b]</e></B><br/>
As we know, the weak point in the Lengingrad defence perimeter is the "back door" to the east of Pavlovo, and this should be fortified as soon as possible. However, in my experience the key to the position as a whole is the hex to the east of ...

<r> <B><s>[b]</s>Arranging the Defence<e>[/b]</e></B><br/>
I recommend lining the armies up like this<br/>
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<r> Last year I posted a scheme for defending Leningrad called the “open door defence”. The idea was to build a line of armies on the Luga, then to swing them to the line of the Volkhov once the German’s have gained a bridgehead. The title comes from the fact that the manoeuvre resembles opening a ...

The feeling is mutual

And Vatutin, assuming he's still alive ...

<t> I've really enjoyed your AAR, Terje. One thing I'm puzzled by is that you have more than 27,000 planes, but a slick of unused airbases. Not sure how that's possible. In terms of grand strategy, you're going to find it difficult to get to Berlin in the usual way, simply because the Carpathians ...

When it says +5 morale, I think that means that the "natural" morale of the unit is increased by five, and it will tend towards that over time, rather than immediately gaining an exta five points just because it's been attached.

<t> Can't agree with you there, I'm afraid. In one of my games the sudden presence of mud in the middle of Barborossa bopped the German offensive on the head and I've only kept the game alive by playing the Soviet side with ludicrous overconfidence. In another game, the whole Red Army was poleaxed ...

Bummer

Ah, I didn't know that - serves me right for never playing the Germans. So, as you might expect, it's a judgment call. I tend to look at the fuel indicator on the mobile unit, in the belief that a red division will be more affected by isolation than a green one. Is that actually true, though?

<t> Thanks for that, most helpful. I haven't managed to play a game yet where a tank army has performed its deep penetration role, largely I think because no matter how much you beat up a German unit it never routs. In one game I'm playing, I can attack a divisions with 700 men left with a giant ...

<t> Is there any advantage in creating tank armies, apart from the sexy name? By winter 42, after the consolidation of the Red Army into corps has begun, there's usually a surplus of army HQs anyway, so wouldn't it make more sense to put the tank and mech units into spare combined arms armies and ...

<t> It seems to me that the main tactical dilemma facing the Soviets during the early war is whether to isolate the Wehrmacht's spearheads or move what you can eastwards to reform your line. My experience so far is that the more aggressive option only works if you're in a position to trade blows ...

<r> Turn 17 before Soviet movement. The MLRs have held and the panzers have squirted off to the east. I am now pretty confident Leningrad will not be isolated.<br/>
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That's really good advice, and I'll follow it if he doesn't get a pocket next turn. I should add that we're playing random weather, so there's no guarantee that turn 18 will bring the rasputitsa (as far as I know).

<t> I agree with all of that! I could have liquidated my position in the red zone last go, mainly to get divisions out of the pocket, if one does form. In the end I kept them there to cramp AGN and slow down reinforcements. The black line is reasonably strong, or at least as strong as I can make it ...