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 ...

Grechko continues to flog his men so they do not let the Axis dig in to level 3 fortifications. At this stage, my only hope is that supply runs low and fatigue starts to tell for the massive wedge that dismantles everything in its path.

https://nsm09.casimages.com/img/2026/04/29 ...

Everybody is restocking near VL. One aspect I didn't mention is constant LW activity to look for abnormal concentrations between one and four / five hexes behind the front line. It costs dearly in terms of recon planes but is the only solution to avoid really bad surprises, as a lot of Q-Balls ...

A quick look at losses shows the Germans over 2m men, with the Russians at nearly 10m.

https://nsm09.casimages.com/img/2026/04/12//26041202565424042618743166.jpg


I have had fewer opportunities to catch the Russians in the open over the past weeks compared to June. The ratio remains favourable ...

I mentioned a quieter mid-month, but that was for the German turn actually. A lot happened in many places along the line.

The VL front saw another Russian push. It is difficult to imagine better support than the one provided by Kreysing, in charge of VI corps, yet it was to no avail. Fortunately ...

Things were different a few days later with a successful Russian attack near VL, in the centre and close to Kiev (under XXXIV corps). Most remarkable was to see 7 Pz pushed out despite being in the woods alongside a German and a Hungarian divisions and very well supported by Henrici.

https://nsm09 ...

OKH was relieved that Stavka did not stage any further assault on that week, which means that the action was limited to a customary sweep at troops in clear terrain with no fortifications to dampen the blow.