The issue which you mention is true for both sides. You will struggle to find a Soviet player who lets you surround over a quarter million men, let alone half a million. The most I was able to achieve outside of the first turn was possibly 8-10 divisions, and only once, all the rest being 4-6 ...

As Sertorious21 said, he didn’t go full aggression during the game. His VP total maxxed out with the capture of Orel and Kursk towards the end of November 1941 and that was that. Getting to the Donets around Kharkov in the Spring and Summer of 1942 was fine with him, As mentioned in this thread ...

I would say

German infantry:

- About 25 divisions between 65 and 69
- Maybe 15-20 at or above 75 of which 5-6 above 80
- All the rest in the low 70s

LW field divisions mostly between 55 and 60 with a couple at or very near 70

Standard PzGr divisions about 80, possibly marginally more on average ...

BTW, what strikes me about the game is the very low German HWM. I realize this is a no early end game, but will remind everyone that we designed the victory conditions to pressure the Axis player to achieve at least minimal goals in 41/42 or they lose. You could argue that we should even have a ...

The last turn we played was in January 1944 and it didn't quite bring changes to patterns that we had seen before. The only difference is that there were less Pz divisions south of the Dnepr, so I was glad to find a few weak stacks.

2Pz is not visible here, I think it was the southernmost unit ...

M60A3TTS wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2026 2:37 pm I am waiting on Sertorious21 to give his permission for me to have access to the save so I can better discern what the Red Army looks like by the end of 1943.

No problem for me, if the devs can give you access, please go ahead

Near Novgorod, Sokolovsky pushed the German line again, creating a small bulge. I kept sending a mobile unit to recapture a bit of land between the two masses of Russians, near Novgorod and Staraya Russa. Somehow I figured out that there would be no mutualisation of supply and it would prove a bit ...

Early December continued to be tense near Staraya Russa, although this time a counterattack could be mounted.

https://nsm09.casimages.com/img/2026/08/06//26080609363724042618780853.jpg


A couple of Guards XXX pushed back the 88 ID SE of Vitebsk, and there was no way I could attempt to dislodge ...

At the end of Novembr, pressure continued to build near Staraya Russa, with two infantry divisions ejected from their position. As a consequence, the marsh hex 30km SW of Novgorod had to be abandoned, in order to free some troops. I do not remember if the units that are entrained were both ...

The game closed as no turn was played for about two months. If one of the administrators could allow the map and the various reports to be consulted, it would be easy to post pictures of these, even if no further turn is played.

At least I can summarise the German side as of early January 1944 ...

I may have forgotten to take pictures during a turn, but fundamentally the same areas proved to be hot spots.

Near Staraya Russa, my line continued to be pushed out of favourable terrain, with the Russians slowed down by almost systematic counter attacks. I started to notice Russian attacks with ...

I kept my AGC HQ at the front for months in the hope that Keitel would be done with and sadly he is not one of those whom the Russians picked up. I was pretty livid when early on they managed to get Raus despite the HQ being two hexes behind the front.

It seems I am not alone in having tried that ...

We have reached the first week of January 1944, and it is by no means certain that this will go on. I let the reader fathom out why besides the fact that both Q-Ball and I have a fairly dense professional agenda.

The pressure between VL and Vitebsk continued, but was not sufficient to rock that ...

You aren't alone. The Q-Ball/Sertorious21 game doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. It isn't uncommon for Summer to de-rail a lot of gamers.


We are well past summer, actually 1st week of 1944, but this has stalled indeed. When I have a bit of time, I will pick up the report up to where we ...

The ability of the Soviet to attack with 120,000 men per hex is irksome but the fundamental question is that of the balance between playability and historicity. There are quite a few aspects which a Soviet is dismayed with against the Germans as well. I suspect it is impossible to iron them all out ...

In between these two Vitebsk episodes, the Russians managed to repulse two divisions near Kiev. The light mud made it more difficult but it was a marginal defeat for the Germans nevertheless. One of the divisions that retreated was the 334 ID, rebuilt from Afrika with a morale of 70. Sadly it would ...

Poor weather started to hinder operations and there was a slowdown for a couple of weeks. It is actually the Axis that was most active, although often on a purely tactical basis.

Near Staraya Russa, the woods that had been recaptured were left void of troops. It may not have been a judicious idea ...

Despite all my efforts to wear out the Russians, Q-Ball was able to strike the line NW of Kiev, forcing a small step-back that was also a reflection of the bridgehead shrinking to virtually nothing. An opportunistic strike required the 1SS PzD to travel a bit, but it is not necessarily bad to ...

After the indecisive action of the previous week, more indecisive fighting took place near Staraya Russa. II corps had to yield, which was not ideal although it should have been expected. The silver lining to this situation was that several Russian units had attacked twice, hence were low on CPPs ...

I mentioned the multiple air recon missions recently. They cost dearly in terms of planes, and during last winter had failed to spot the large gatherings of Russians opposite the Hungarian line. This time, a stroke of luck defused one offensive: pilots came back from a couple of missions near ...