Grunhilde gets antsy - 1941 GC

[loki100]

Have decided to skip reporting on the opening turns, to some extent its too predictable, simply sets the scene for when the game starts to take on its original flavour. As far as feasible, we are trying for about 3 turns a week, the goal being to go as deep as possible (we talked about something like a chess clock but that is unfair on the Soviets simply due to the admin load they face).

No particular house rules other than not breaking up GA into multiple small missions to evade interception. Locked TB for a couple of reasons. One is that if this is properly balanced over a long game then its pretty tedious to micro-manage but equally it might unbalance the game. This was an issue with WiTW where early on it favoured the Axis but once it was properly balanced it was far more enjoyable to leave it to do its thing automatically (at that stage it could go horribly wrong for the Axis player if you didn't match the real transfers and it was just tedious). So they can redeploy, use the logistics system etc exactly as they wish.

I'm still struggling to get a hold on useful metrics for a longer game. So since I personally found it useful to break the game into broad phases in my last AAR, going to do it again here. In this case, I'm separating out the first 4 turns from the rest of 1941 – the impact is more or less a given and the losses for the opening pockets are near fixed .


I've put in my last T4 data for comparison (and it makes the point that most of this seems pretty much fixed). The big difference is the lower Pzr losses. Some of that is gameplay, I've not used them to attack Soviet tank divisions and so far have not suffered any sucessful counter-attacks. But the last set of patches are clearly at play here. If that carries on, this will see a very much stronger Pzr force in 1942.

The Soviet production numbers are guesses based off old saves I have. I don't think those variables have been adjusted (at least not at such a rough and ready level).




We are using the full VP system as that gives a context and a set of dynamics otherwise missing. So the key points will probably be late 1942, December 1944 or Berlin.

The Axis player starts with 370 and (ignoring time and off-theater bonus) there are 540 available in the Soviet Union (290 linked to cities that were never captured). This has some bearing for both the initiative change and the HWM value (for the December 1944 test).

If the Axis player pushes the base value to 630, to match the HWM the Soviets need to regain all the USSR (incl Helsinki – as in past discussions a given) and Ploesti and Bucharest.

Or to put it another way, if over the course of the game time bonus and off map bonus are evenly traded, if the Axis take the base value over 630, the Soviets need to do better than historically at the end of 1944. This of course ignores what happens if the time bonuses become uneven – but it may hint at why just handing over the full set for the Ukraine is possibly not a good idea.


As is clear, I shed 2 pts of time bonus for Lviv and Riga – impact of the new routines for urban hexes.


My opponent has asked not be named. They've agreed to put in some posts were relevant, since English is a second language I've agreed to rewrite and paste in any relevant images.

[tm1]

Hi

I am assuming your playing the Axis I guess you have asked your opponent not to read you ARR so can you tell me your summer objectives please.

Why I ask well as a PVE the 525 sudden death is given but I like to incorporate into the destruction of as much as The Red Army as possible.

The military industrial complex will dwarf the Axis in due time, but reading various information over the years it was TRUCKS that were the key.

I like to trap as many units as possible and hopefully get there trucks.

regards

[loki100]

He can read it, just isn't active on the main forum

Going by my last game, I'm looking for a good enough 1941, and I'll certainly trade off VP locations for destruction of formations. So far I'm not doing badly at small 1-4 divisional pockets that I can hold, clear in a turn and don't really disrupt me. While I'd take a large pocket I have no expectations that a cautious, competent, Soviet player will offer many (unless its a chosen trade off).

I agree that the early end tests are readily met, the new urban combat rules have already cost me a few time pts, but then my expectation is that is going to balance into the long term.

I've learnt a lot from that experience, not least if I can keep the Soviet Gds numbers down (again by not offering up too many opportunties) the 45 NM for the period to July 42 can be used to do serious damage (& while notionally they get back to 50 in July that is not much help if units keep on getting routed as an escalation on a retreat).

[loki100]

T6 – 27 July 1941

As above, see little merit to turn by turn reporting at this stage, so the first few posts will be month end. To me a game gets interesting when we start to discuss key locations that only make sense due to our decisions, not of playing the hand dealt at the start of the game.

Generally I'm being a lot more disciplined than in the last game and have a plan as to how I want the late summer to develop. For the moment, offering multiple threats in the hope that forces my opponent to cover the essentials - and since they can't cover everything, something may fall my way.

Tactically, am quite happy to take small pockets and mostly trying not to leave individual Pzr regiments in reach of the main line of resistance. Clearly they are quite prepared to grab opportunities to inflict losses where I make a mistake.



So far, thats the only time that has happened.

Before the details, some big numbers.


OOB – size of the Soviet reserve is a (predictable) source of worry – my hope is at the moment a load of that is low experience but it is there – and to quote Halder 'has to be beaten'.



But then they are out of manpower for the moment.



Ground losses – I clearly need to recapture my missing truck.



This is the first turn I've had good fighter cover at the front and it shows. Some intense air battles around Odessa added to the overall losses. So far the Soviets have left GS on, I suspect they will suspend it now – but its been effective in the previous turns.



Freight tables – nothing unexpected for this stage. All infantry formations are at pri 2, the Pzr Grps at 3.



Army Group North

16A is doing its usual deployment to screen the Valdai, I want to take Velikie Luki and push into the Valdai by late August. Really to give me space to retreat if I need to later on.

18A is clearing Estonia, this has been more contested than usual and just approaching Talinin. Pskov fell on T5 (so only a +1 time bonus)..


(where I have combat reports I've noted Soviet formations, and any of their top tier commanders)

Nothing much happened here this turn, wanted to let the Pzrs rest and pulled back to maximise CPP gain. Want to keep the Soviets guessing as to how serious I am – my assumption is that any threat forces them to allocate substantial forces here.

Army Group Centre

Usual delayed approach to Smolensk. It should fall next turn but need to try and judge how strong the garrison is after a turn's isolation. 2 and 9 Army are now available with decent CPP to support PG3.



The actual commitment to Smolensk seems limited so should be easy to take next turn.

4A and PG2 have taken Gomel this turn.

A few turns back PG2 struck north (and has now allocated one of its corps to PG3). This dislocated the Soviet line on the Dnepr. It ran into stiff Soviet resistance around Krichev so pulled back to force the Desna and Chernigov instead (idea here is not to fight but to try and move around strong points). I doubt this will produce an encirclement at Kyiv but may give me a run at Kursk and Orel and outflank the poor terrain around Bryansk.

I'm trying to track Soviet armies and their better commanders, Malinovsky with 5A (from the Ukraine?) was involved in that counter-attack.



Army Group South

Main initial focus was to attack via Rovno, again looking for mobility and trying to avoid using the Pzrs as a breakthrough weapon. The trade off between mobility and Soviet delaying tactics has led to a fairly predictable outcome so far. Setting up for the assault on Kyiv, for PG1 keeping to the logic of moving about half the assets in a given turn so there is usually a core of 45 MP formations available.



Army Group Antonov

As ever, the goal here is to bring 11A up to Odessa intact, set up for an assault next turn. Have
control over the sea but evidence of a strong garrison, probably about 5 divisions?

[loki100]

T8 – 10 August 1941

(The battle of the ports)

Quick recap on the VP situation. Overall I have 478 (the Soviets lost 1 VP for a garrison shortfall), probably of more importance I have 19/31 possible bonus points. So I lost a couple due to the new urban rules (but overall that will work in my favour), beyond that the only surprise was to shed 1 for Talinin (which I've tended to regard as an easy +6).



OOB. Soviets still keeping a lot back.



Heavy losses in that turn



Also in the air, in part the VVS is actively contesting operations but a lot of that was connected with the battle for Odessa.

This is an unusual approach to the VVS but its proving costly for me too.



AGN

As in the last report, Estonia was much more contested than in my previous games. Anyway Talinin fell this turn. The overall effort means I still have 5 divisions in Estonia (incl one clearing the Baltic Islands). They won't arrive at Leningrad now till about T12 (& that with low CPP).

Also I think my opponent became very reliant on ZoC costs and poor terrain to stall the main drive on Leningrad. The other way of looking at this is I'm more willing to risk long narrow salients keeping my formations in divisional stacks and using poor terrain for defensive protection.

Since I've been careful to let the mobile assets rest (and not really used the Pzr divisions) this has allowed me to carve out several corridors.

There is no way will 21A remain cut off from Leningrad but with some luck this will force them to start to defend the city proper by late August – and may give me a chance at achieving its isolation.

My plan, such as it was, was to reinforce PG4 with formations from PG3 but not to allocate any extra corps commands. Since that is how I track German intentions, I was hoping they'd decide I wasn't really going to push here.



16A took Velikie Luki this turn but generally is providing flank cover. Depending on how the situation on the Smolensk-Vyazma sector works out I may push 9A north and at least gain a load of marsh and tree that I can later give up.

AGC

Practically AGC is now split into two sectors. 2A, 9A and PG3 notionally threaten Vyazma (Smolensk fell on T7) but fairly clearly the Soviets have some of their best leaders already deployed here. My assumption is any gains are going to be hard won and mostly relying on the infantry to weaken the Soviet front lines (2 out of 5 attacks here this turn were holds).



4A and 2 PG (which has regained the formation it swapped with PG3) are being opportunistic. My original idea was to go for Bryansk but at the moment am exploiting a weak gap in the Soviet lines around the Desna. Tactically am willing to forego territorial gains to seal off small pockets – its surprising how much these slowly add up.

In a way this is the inverse of the Vyazma defensive lines. Here they are using ZoC and trying to hold at the limits of my mobility, which is effective but can be costly if misjudged.



AGS

6A took Kyiv last turn, generally the Soviets seem to be relying on a defensive line set up at the limits of my movement. Hit a number of fresh cavalry divisions this turn which indicates some fresh formations being fed into the sector.

Not going to gain the time pts for Dnepropetrovsk but Zaporozhye should be ok. No clear idea how far east I can push but the actions of 2PG to the north may improve my overall gains in the Ukraine



AG Antonescu

Not much to say here apart from Odessa. It took 2 turns of substantial air commitment to fully isolate the city with the VVS making a real effort to retain control. Final assault cleared the city and Gordov was killed.



Rumanian 4A and XI Corps have reached the outskirts of Nikolaev.

In fact that was a bad week for the Red Army's officer corps

[tm1]

Army Group North

16A is doing its usual deployment to screen the Valdai, I want to take Velikie Luki and push into the Valdai by late August. Really to give me space to retreat if I need to later on.

18A is clearing Estonia, this has been more contested than usual and just approaching Talinin. Pskov fell on T5 (so only a +1 time bonus)..


Nice work moving 4th Pz Armee to cut off the Soviet 21st Army.

From early my days I learned from the WITE 1 community, 3 rules for Army Group North.

1. Model to take command of 18th Armee and drive through Estonia and assault Leningrad, Model was the best man for the 18th and for the Leningrad attack.

2. 4th Pz after taking Pskov drive straight for Novgorod then onto the lake ports to cut off the rail link to Moscow.

3. Capture the Valdai Hills as they were the key to Army Group Norths defence, if you failed to take the Hills it spelt doom during the first winter.

As for a 18th Armee only assault on Leningrad I cant recall any of my games where have not used 4th Pz in some way to break through to the city.

[loki100]

...
Nice work moving 4th Pz Armee to cut off the Soviet 21st Army.

From early my days I learned from the WITE 1 community, 3 rules for Army Group North.

1. Model to take command of 18th Armee and drive through Estonia and assault Leningrad, Model was the best man for the 18th and for the Leningrad attack.

2. 4th Pz after taking Pskov drive straight for Novgorod then onto the lake ports to cut off the rail link to Moscow.

3. Capture the Valdai Hills as they were the key to Army Group Norths defence, if you failed to take the Hills it spelt doom during the first winter.

As for a 18th Armee only assault on Leningrad I cant recall any of my games where have not used 4th Pz in some way to break through to the city.

I was surprised to get the chance to do that - but perhaps not surprisingly, a Soviet counter-attack has stomped all over the screen of mot regiments - but its had the secondary gain of putting the Soviets onto a line running just south of the Neva. So I can screen with relatively minimal effort while I decide if its worth really going for isolation or to cash in what I have and release elements of PG4 back to the (not really very active) offensive towards Moscow.

More generally, I'm suffering for an admin pt shortage so command changes are at the corps level at the moment, have the worst numpties out and I can address the few that are in army posts.

I'm still trying to work out AGN in #2 to be honest. This is possibly the first time I can even see a means to remove Leningrad, but a part of that has been going where the Soviets aren't and resting the mobile forces till they regain 40 MP. At the moment I don't have Novgorod but I do have a depot at Luga - this seems to be a fair trade off. But that was because the Soviets defending Novgorod in depth but opted to use ZoC as their tool along the Luga.

Sort of related to the Valdai, my feeling is its a problem for which side holds it. In my last HtH Steven couldn't really generate much supply there so the line stalled, I actually gave up a fair bit to make him pay the costs for the supply traces. If you can get to the other side and set up around Vyshny Volochek then it may shift - but I think the intervening terrain is a bit of a black hole for both sides (in that whoever holds most of it pays the inevitable supply costs).

Against the AI (both ways) I tend to find the AI gets that region, with the Axis at 120 the combat routine will shred the defenders, with the Soviets at 110 its easy for the AI to respond and screen any break out, so you constantly have to fight.

[loki100]

T9 – 17 August 1941

AGN

Perhaps not surprisingly, 21A trashed the screen of motorised regiments (one as a rout) and pulled out of the pocket. L Corps moved to take over the vacant space and separate what seems to be a strong force at Oranienbaum from Leningrad. For the moment, there is no scope for a direct assault so what matters now is if I can isolate the city (overland). If so, then its feasible to take it once that has had an effect (allied to the drop of NM to 45). Started the other part of this plan by taking Novgorod and trying to move up the Volkhov, first goal is to break the Moscow dual track rail along the Volkhov as that alone starts to put a constraint on the flow of supply.

I can bring over the forces from Estonia over the next few turns and they will help create a siege barrier south of the Neva.



16A has commenced a low level offensive into the Valdai, this is one of those rare stages where a basically attritional battle is in my favour. Not least any Soviet formation that routs or retreats with heavy losses will remain weakened for some time.

AGC

Linked to that, 3PG is recovering at Smolensk but 9A has started an offensive on the northern sector linking to 16A. My intent is to generate a low level pressure point, the Soviets seem to be defending here with cavalry and weak infantry, if I run into something stronger I can stop. The goal is to try and set up a situation where if I commit 3PG it can actually cut fairly deep.

However, 2PG makes more progress for relatively limited actual commitment. I'm going to outrun my supplies here but this makes a mess of the Bryansk defense and fresh Soviet units in open terrain are relatively easy to brush aside.



I'm not risking regimental breakdowns which makes it hard for the Soviets to counter-attack (unless they reinforce heavily) but I then do need to keep quite a lot sat back as a reserve and to block any attempts at cavalry raids.

AGS

The Soviets are now falling back substantially, well out of range of my advancing formations. I guess trying to rebuild as much as they can?

Since its mostly an advance over abandoned ground, letting most of 6A rebuild its CPP. That could be very useful when I reach Kharkiv. Main action was a push into the Dnipr bend, prepared to push 1PG a bit harder for a short term gain.



Again really trying to avoid regimental deployments but generally the Soviets seem to be weak on this sector.

Not shown but 4RuA and 11A trying to envelop Nikolaev. Generally the Soviets can keep out of reach on this sector but that does mean giving up quite a lot of ground.

OOB, they approach 3m. On map that is +200k since T6 and off map -100k so they are clearly drawing down their reserves and only slowly makinga net manpower gain.



Manpower reserves for both sides staying steady – not exactly a surprise but it does slow their ability to rebuild destroyed formations.



Ground losses in my favour. In a series of disconnected pockets I destroyed another 5 divisions but no fresh encirclements this turn. A deliberate choice has been to prioritise these small opportunities over a faster advance.

I've lost 45,000 men and 90 tanks since T6, they have lost 400,000 men and 1,000 tanks. I think my tank losses are low due to a combination of the latest patch but also I have mostly kept the Pzr divisions out of combat, and very rarely risked regiments on the front line.



Not a good turn in the air. While I'm prepared to push the LW for results I can't sustain these losses (even accepting the LW will have the winter to recover and by Spring 1942 will have mostly new plane types).

I need to work out how to adapt to a more aggressive use of the VVS.

[tm1]

I like your screenshots right down to adding Army / Korps positions nice touch.

9th Armee has 78th Sturm Division, if my games go into 43 I like to add 2 heavy Pz Battalions or Regts whatever they are to it that show up.

It does wonders for the Division , and while i am just thinking about it know because you mention your 9th Armee is opening up a offensive, you could add any Pz SU's to it know.

It turns into a great ADHOC Pz division and tear the heart out the enemy.

Food for thought, I think in my next game I will add them early to the division.

regards

[loki100]

I find that wherever Heinrici goes, that is where my infantry are at the most dangerous. He seems to be able to trash even the strongest Soviet formation, so I also make sure he gets the better infantry I have to hand and try to hook him into a PG command (for the CPP regain).

but agree about that Sturm division, at the stage were most German infantry are purely defensive tools, its still got the capacity to lead an attack.

This game has some very odd patterns, they are taking the risk I can actually pull off a large secondary pocket but at the same time its really stalled AGC. Its very effective, the mindset seems to be that I can take out the front line (its rarely stacked) but there is a real depth to their positions.

[loki100]

T10 – 24 August 1941

Having had an operational pause at Smolensk, PG3 was ready to resume an offensive. Main events in the Soviet turn was a sustained offensive falling on 4A and lots of cavalry raids cutting off PG2.

But generally, an active turn across the map.

AGN

My view here, is I have a chance to cut off Leningrad, and there are about 4-5 turns till the autumn mud and then probably a few turns in November. I don't need to make massive gains, so am focussed on hitting individual Soviet formations and steadily improving my position – and worsening their supply issues in Leningrad itself. In the end I'll settle for near full isolation, a good defensive line and the chance to exploit their low NM in the opening half of 1942.

Trying to cut the Moscow rail in as many places as possible, the more they are reliant on the single track lines the worse their supply problem becomes. Evidence of heavy reinforcements here – I have detected at least one new army (27) and assume that the Neva, Luga and Coastal formations are all still on this sector.



Still trying out ideas, In past games I've been very passive in the Valdai (leave the supply problems to the Soviets) or tried to rush it with a Pzr Corps (really not a good idea). This time I'm taking the view that the more trashed Soviet divisions there are, the harder it becomes for them to deliver a serious blow in December (yep I'm being optimistic).

So given the strength of their immediate defense at Vyazma, committed 9 and 16 A to see if I can make some serious gains. The really big goal is the Moscow-Leningrad rail but I think that is a long way out of reach but securing the dual rail from Velikie Luki and a readily defensible stop line could pay off.



AGC

PG3, supported by 4A, managed to put some serious pressure on Rokossovsky's 30A in the centre of the Soviet line. As such the Pzrs exploited without engaging in combat and shouldn't be vulnerable to any counterattacks. If this works, it outflanks the strong Soviet defense of Vyazma and 9A is trying to keep the defenders on that sector busy.



For PG2 and 4A, the situation was more chaotic. Malinovsky's 5A drove in elements of VII Corps around Unecha and Vatutin's 3A came close to over-running 3rd Pzr (which would have routed as it had been cut off).



In addition, Soviet cavalry formations disupted 2 PG's lines of communication.

In turn, 4A reinforced the northern flank with the units that had taken Chernigov while 2PG managed to force the line of the Svana and its spearheads reached to within 40 miles of Kursk.



While the northern flank of this incursion is now being seriously threatened, to the south 6A is steadily advancing across abandoned terrain.

AGS

The main action on this sector was to clear the Soviets from Dnipro (so +3 time bonus – not doing well for taking locations early).



In the circumstances didn't want to spend several turns surrounding the city. Generally in the Ukraine my goal now is relative speed to make the most of the current Soviet weakness.

III Mot Corps is now pushing north towards Kharkiv (in theory offers a link up to PG2 but I suspect there are very few Soviet formations in that sector).



To the south 11A and the Rumanian formations start to envelop Nikolaev and Kherson.



For a turn with no pockets, fairly heavy Soviet losses. They are mostly deployed in depth but that means a single rifle division on the front line can often take 2,000+ losses if hit hard. At the moment, that is the basis of my planning, I think I can take out ready formations faster than they can be replaced (and from 1 Sept their NM dips to 45).



Broadly the logistics system is working.No formation is really missing out (most are on pri#2.



Overall, say 7 turns till the autumn mud. No idea how this will work out but so far not hitting a logistics block, even in the Ukraine, Clearly Moscow is way out of reach but a lot now depends on whether the Soviets can generate fresh formations (or reinforce those chewed up) quick enough to keep their geographical losses limited.

I now have 492 VP (460 for locations, 30 time and a net +2 for Theatres).

[tm1]

Are you planning to try to keep 4 assault HQ's for 1942 , which will mean you will have sacrifice Fort levels during winter.

I have found if you can reach the forests in front of Moscow they provide good defensive terrain ( of courses that's against the AI ) the South is where I get hit the hardest.

I must have missed it but looks like you have taken Odessa ?

On a humorous but serious note have you sacked Goring yet ?

I'm sure Goring was a good pilot in WWW 1 and on any other day of the week he would be fine, but this is Russia, time to get serious

[loki100]

Yes, my view is the CPP recovery (and indeed command capacity) in 1942 makes it worth while. You gain quite a lot of formations and its hard to fit them in. In general, my best guess is the way to handle the winter is via a robust logistics system, the gain from level 2 forts is nice but unrealistic to achieve on most parts of the front (and if the Soviets dump you out of them, then its very hard to regain that level).

Yes Odessa went on T8, the Soviets must have committed about 40% of the VVS to the air battles so it took me a few turns to nail down the isolation but once I had it was the usual quick assault with most of 11A.

Goring is safe, you usually have such good leaders at the Luftflotte level that very little gets passed up the chain to OKL He's also 30+replacement admin pts to dump so I've never worried about him. Keller (L1) is 8 (admin) and 6 (air), Kesselring (L2) is 7/8 and Loehr (L4) is 7/7. I don't think any of the other values are used in the air leadership tests, but that means I should be passing around 70% of what comes up.

Having said that, my opponent is driving me nuts with his usage of the VVS. I asked and he's not doing anything unusual just being very careful in his deployments (& very ruthless in just burning off his older planes). Am first trying to work out a deployment that negates all this - if that fails then I will indeed save the AP and Goring can go off to enjoy his looted artworks.

I have no idea how correct it was, but was reading Kim Newman's Blood Red Baron (WW1 with added vampires and Dracula leading Germany) and he is scathing about Goring, suggesting he was more an accountant than a particularly good pilot. Now the book clearly is fiction but the description seemed very apt.

[loki100]

So a summary post pulling together some bits from the last 4-5 turns.

In truth, still no idea how this game will develop. Very different Soviet approach with a very aggressive use of the VVS, prepared to risk small pockets to hold difficult terrain and, over recent turns, army sized counter-attacks.

Start with VP.

I still hold by my estimate that I need a baseline of 630 (city points) to set the Soviets the challenge of having to over-achieve against their historical performance in December 1944 (with the caveat that everything else exchanges evenly).

Have reached 460 (against this measure) and have 30 bonus points. I've taken 9 victory cities so if I took each on the historical date I'd have 27 (so very marginally ahead).

The image below also shows the batch of late 1941 (have included Sevastopol as that is always feasible) locations. At a very rough guess, have a chance at +18 for Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Stalino. Not even sure I'll take Rzhev and Kalinin, Orel have a good chance at (but doubt much time bonus) while Kursk should provide a full bonus. No idea about Rostov, all depends on how the Soviets react.



So lets say I have 50 city points and 27 more time points by November (that is around 550 so safe against the 1942 HWM test). Even better, fairly sure I can hold all that set across the winter.

So far I have a net +2 for off map – guess at this stage neither of us can really allocate much away from the main theatre (also playing with locked TB).

Ground losses

Across August I've lost 65,000 men, 700 guns and 200 tanks. The latter I keep to the view reflects the most recent patch and an adjustment to my game play with the Pzrs. I most definitely don't use them to attack Soviet armoured formations.

Soviet losses are 500,000 men, 7,500 guns and 1,700 tanks. If things carry on like this, they will have losses around 2,5m by the autumn rains.



One consequence is a slow build up of formations lost to encirclement. Not many but destroyed 15 divisions across the month. I could have more but opted to clear some cities directly as I don't want the delays. So this turn took Kherson so the Rumanian rail repair formation can convert as much as possible before it converts to Support Units.



Air losses

As maybe obvious from the reports I've found this game a bit uncomfortable in the air. At one level the VVS is being used with an intensity that the AI does, but with far more planning going into it. I've sometimes won big but where I am stretched, I've had some significant losses.



So I've lost 500 pilots (gain 134 trained per turn) and 800 planes (mostly German). In particular, my level bombers have been chewed up. In return, they've lost 1,000 pilots and 1,300 planes. Of note, they just kept on using the older I-series stuff, there can't be much of that left in the pools.

OOB

All of which has an impact on the current OOBs. Broadly German and Allied numbers are static but the increases can all be traced to fresh arrivals. The Soviets have just reached 3m (only 200,000 more than the month start), down 1,000 guns, 1,500 tanks and 1,200 planes (on map). Overall they are down 200k men, 2,000 guns, 1,000 tanks and 1,000 planes.



Which suggests a pretty casual approach to their current army. Its clearly being used to blunt this phase of the Axis offensive, what isn't clear (to me at least) is what this means for a winter offensive. Since I tend to see the same divisions and commands when they counter-attack, I assume there is a serious approach to breeding Gds formations.

Their manpower pool is flatlining, so there is no source of additional formations. I'm assuming they are keeping a relatively large reserve force for training purposes, in a way I'd like to provoke them to draw down more of that. Weaker units that shatter or rout with heavy losses will add to the damage done to their artillery stocks and so on.



And sticking to the predictable, in places the front has scarcely moved. Its only south of Orel am I making real gains.

[loki100]

T11 – 31 August 1941

Another bruising turn with some real blows landed by both sides.

AGN

The Soviet 21A made a massive attempt to dislodge 36 Mot from its salient.



Fortunately that failed and may have allowed me to make gains in turn, Pushkin was taken, breaking the rail links and XXXI Mot cut the rail on the Volkhov.



16A (& 9A) carry on making slow gains in the Valdai, for the moment any gains here are a bonus but I do need to ensure the limited rail net is repaired (as much as feasible) before winter or its a death trap due to the lack of supply.

AGC

Another massive Soviet attack, this time by Tolbukhin's 24A drove back elements of 9A.



That set in train a series of heavy actions. 9A carried on pressing 48 and 24A back on the northern sector. Heinrici's XXXXIII Corps broke through Rokossovsky's 30A, enabling elements of LVII (M) to capture Spas Demyansk and further outflank the Soviet positions screening Vyazma.

[An indication of how important this sector is to the Soviets is the arrival of Bagramyan to take over 28A, On the other hand, if Rokossovsky is not careful he's going to be arrested again given the number of lost battles on his sector].



To the south, 4A came under more pressure, especially by Malinovsky's 5A.



With its rear disrupted by Soviet cavalry, PG2 had an operational pause, not least to allow elements of 6A to secure its southern flank.

AGS

6A is still clearing the now abandoned sector west of Sumy-Poltava. 1PG has split so III(M) is pressing on Kharkiv while XIV(M) is trying to encircle Zaporizhzhia. The balance rested after last turn's action and will probably try to drive directly on Stalino next week.



To the south 11 and 4 RuA cleared Kherson and Nikolaev in order to maximise the chance to either clear the Crimea or support 1 PG at Stalino.

3RuA is pushing over the Dnipro to break the Soviet rail links to the Crimea.

The big advantage here is that 6A has done nothing since the fall of Kyiv. So I have a near fresh infantry army to commit to the final push and it can fill in where ever I think there is most to be gained.

[loki100]

T12 – 7 September 1941

No sign yet of the weather changing. Its been light rain/mud around Leningrad since early August but everywhere else fairly clear.



Picked up a VP for the Balkans, no other changes. Made a conscious decision to lose 1 turn bonus for Zaporizhzhia so as to claim it as a pocket. Equally manouvering around Kharkiv so it becomes a pocket not just a capture. More or less writing off the time points for Orel.

Logistics are still ok, not too stretched.



I've made no use of super-depots, instead lots of priority 4 and starting with secondary links. AGN is linked to Luga, Novgorod and Velikie Luki. Focus with its FBD is improving the network behind 16A (no point pushing into the Valdai and being completely out of supply come the winter).

Northern part of AGC is using Smolensk and filling in some of the smaller cross links. Southern part is linked to Makoshino (on the Desna), its FBD is currently repairing back to Kyiv which gives me a N-S rail line and creates a decent route to supply around Kursk. AGS up to Kremenchug but have done a lot of small spurs to hook in the larger rail yards. Rumanian formation will reach Kherson next turn – which is not bad to supply an attack on the Crimea (if I choose to risk it).

As ever, with this turn, the big question is where to send XXXX Pzr. Its the last big reinforcement and can make a difference.

Soviets now have 3.2m on map and their reserve is down to 340k.

AGN

The Soviets have reverted to a more passive defense here (or are just taking a break). No scope for anything dramatic but that is the Moscow-Leningrad rail out of use. X Corps making very slow progress at Staraya Russa, so not sure I'll manage to push eastwards here.



AGC

Again best to split into two distinct operations, and I'll include 16A here (even though it notionally reports to AGN).

Two large Soviet attacks, 24A hit V Corps again. I'm assuming this is mostly with the goal of creating Gds formations as they don't follow up – but it has also stalled 9A's direct attack towards Vyazma.



28A hit 3PG hard on the flanks of last week's breakthrough. Regiments do seem to be very attractive to the Soviets. This shows the impact of the recent patches, a while back that would have been 2 regiments out of use, as it is they need a turn or two to refit.



More widely, 16A is actually making decent progress. A lot the Soviet units rout out of combat, this gives me some hope of picking up Rzhev, even if 9A is struggling towards Vyazma. 2A redeployed to cover the northern flank of 3 PG and, finally, the Soviets abandoned their salient around Roslavl. Their 5A seems to have disappeared (which is proabably not good news). 3 PG made steady progress, offers the possibility of Kaluga or linking back to 2PG for Orel.

The Soviet 30A again took the brunt of the attacks but unit identification suggested near 100% turnover of formations from the previous week.



To the south, 4A moved into the sector abandoned by the Soviets while 2 PG came close to encircling Kursk. Both sides seem to be taking chances here with the possibility of either encirclement or having their supply lines cut. My (limited) safety net comes from the steady gains of 6A to the south.

I'm assuming the formations originally screening Orel are still there – which is a worrying offensive potential.



AGS

III Mot and elements of 6A partially surround Kharkiv. For itself, I'm under no time pressure here so may as well add a pocket to the time bonus – unless the Soviets opt to hand over the city without a fight.

To the south, crossed the Dnipro in force, XIV Motorised pushing towards Stalino. Elsewhere managed to encircle some formations and cut off 9A from an easy retreat directly to the east (of course it may have always planned to retreat into the Crimea).



Encircling Zaporizhzhia will cost me 1 time VP but feel its worth the trade off for a few more destroyed formations.

Losses

Another turn of heavy losses. Notably I've had 20% of my total tank losses in that turn alone.



Still effectively losing the air war.



Need to really think about location and allocation of the air assets.

[loki100]

T13 – 14 September 1941

Mixed fortunes across the front. AGN made steady gains, AGC was hit by a large counter-attack but PG2 encircled Kursk while AGS made substantial gains.

AGN

This suffered a large attack on the centre of the line but the German formations managed to escape without many losses. In turn, Kolpino was captured, increasing the isolation of Leningrad and PG4 made significant gains along the Volkhov.






16 and 9 Armies carry on making steady gains. Starting to think this is almost worth reinforcing.



AGC

3PG and the supporting 2A faced a series of heavy attacks (and found where the Soviet 5A had got to).





As a result, it suspended its offensive and spent the week re-organising.

To the south 4A moved up to the new Soviet defensive line anchored around Bryansk while PG2 encircled Kursk.

Elements of 6A secured the southern flank.

AGS

III Mot and 6A managed to encircle Kharkiv and close the gap to 2 PG at Kursk.

To the south, elements of 17A took Zaporizhzhia while 3RuA overran some bypassed Soviet formations and pressed along the coast. 4RuA and 11A approach the Soviet defensive line for the Crimea.

Rumanian repair unit has managed one hex east of Kherson – a new record for me.



The near complete collapse of the Soviet defence on this sector meant elements of XIV Mot reached the outskirst of Stalino.

Overall, Red Army is not recovering very fast but has added a net 300k since mid-August.



Impact of a few small pockets pushed Soviet losses back to around 100k.



Much more satisfactory in the air. Do find if you mainly run GS, the key is in the deployment, especially of the fighters.



German tank pools much better than in previous games. I actually have 2 weeks of production in the active pools – all I now need to do is to get that up to the front lines.



Up to +507 VP (so need 18 more to meet the 1942 Sudden Death HWM).

[Stamb]

Can you show your rails network?

[loki100]

this is for T15 (end Sept), for the north nothing unusual, in that its the usual hub at Minsk and lines north (with local depots for AGN), west and something supporting PG2 via Gomel.

My goal is now a N-S link between the 2 parts of AGC and to fill in behind the 16A in the Valdai






Main Ukraine I'm experimenting, idea is to have multiple E-W lines with N-S connections. So the railhead is some distance back (with short term consequences), my hope is by the time it really matters I have 3 W-E lines into this sector and at least two N-S connections. That gives me a lot of flexibility in the winter, I can either try to hold around big depots or if I'm pushed back I can still use parts of the network for refit etc



Coastal line much as expected, at some stage I need to pull one of the Ukraine FBD down here but for the moment that gives decent supply into the Crimea



overall I'm letting the computer units do their thing, seems to concentrate on the secondary dual rails such as south of Brest-Litovsk or the Daugavipils-Vitebsk line which is really useful for creating redundancy in the system

[Stamb]

Thanks.
I remember that in my game i had very hard time getting freight to a Stalino which had super depot with the only double rails line that comes from Lviv.
Secondary lines, as you are doing right now near Poltava, helped to improve freight situation in Stalino.

Anyway in `41 Axis has to make choices where to have rails repaired. No time to repair everything important until a winter in game where Axis has good territorial gains.

Will be there any posts from Soviet player?