AAR: Defense of the USSR part 2

[Vic]

12th July 1941

Above the pripiat marches: German advance had more speed then expected. They are already at the Dvina river and past Minsk.

[Vic]

Below the pripiat marches: Germans wiped out the whole front except some remainders in Odessa and near Parakop.

[Vic]

In the north i tried to form a line along the Dvina. Blowing the bridge at Riga however failed.
A small counterattack near Kiev was succesfull.
I am massing armoured reinforcements in the area behind Minsk. The first 5 medium tanks have arrived there. No training they will have to go straight into battle!
And as a side note: I am using the finland front to train the remainders of my airforce.

[Vic]

In the south i reinforced my positions behind the dnjepr. For so far as possible since i sent most of my reinforcements north. However some local production (Kharkov, Maikop, Sevastopol, Kiev) is being used to reinforce the south. And take a look at Odessa. The town is surrounded at the moment but still supplied by sea. I left a strong garrison.

[Arditi]

 Will the Russkies be able to hold!?  "Fight for the Motherland" is the call to battle!  Great AAR.  I'm really enjoying it.  Keep up the great work gents.  I'm looking forward to see if the medium tanks can exact some revenge![;)]  haha
    Regards, Arditi[:)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Interesting looking game. didnt realise its the entire eastern front.

I'm just hopeing that you don't get berlin in 42/3 like it was easy to do in war in russia.

anyway thanks for posting AAR's its the no 1 way to get the feel of a game imo.

[tweber]

German 2nd Turn:
 
In the second turn, the key decision is how to handle isolated Soviet units.  Eliminating all of them, and painting all the hexes protects your rear areas, but it delays your advance.  Once units are out of supply, they cannot move and become effectively neutralized.  However, you do not want to ignore too many units as they will come back too life if supply is later established.  In this turn, I focus on eliminating some of the larger pockets near Bialystock in the center and near Odessa in the South.  I will ignore the remnants of troops in the Pripet marshes and along the North Eastern border for now.  They are safely away from anything important.  Here are some other highlights of my turn:
 
1.  The Romanian AG had a Pz corps in front of Odessa that started the turn cut off from supply.  However, units can carry a turn or 2 of supply so the unit was still able to move.  Instead of heading West to re-establish contact, the unit head east along the coastal road looking for Soviet units.  I was able to establish a beachhead across the Bug and am in position to storm the Dneiper next turn.  It is important to take any opportunity to establish beachheads in the early round as rivers make good defensive lines.  The rest of the group was able to re-establish lines and invest Odessa.
 
2.  AG South cleaned up some pockets and moved mostly unopposed across the Ukraine.  Russia is big.  It suspect there will be a big battle around Kiev / the Dneiper on turn 4.  My air units start softening Kiev.
 
3.  AG Center also advanced and captured Minsk.  When the Germans capture a Soviet production city for the first time, captured war material (e.g., tanks, trucks, artillery) is available for use.
 
4.  AG North approached the Dvina and Riga.  An assault south of the city inflicted casualties but was not able to secure a beachhead.  Hope to take Riga next turn. 
 
5.  The Finns assualted the Leningrad defenses and have now invested the city.  They are probably not strong enough to take the city without help from Germany.
 
Overall, I got half the rilfle and tank kills from the previous round.  No air kills.  This is due primarily from lack of targets.  As the German player, it is important to maintain a level of casualties on the Soviets at or above there production levels throughout the first summer.  Roughly 80% of the original Soviet order of battle is destroyed.  I will soon be fight newly produced troops on well prepared defensive positions.

[pad152]

Airpower? I see what looks like airfields, where are the aircraft?

1. Can new airfields be build during the game?

[Ola Berli]

Sir, calm down. I am sure this Gem have airpower in abundance [:)]

[tweber]

Engineers can build airfields, makeshift harbors, and fortifications.  They can also build roads, bridges (very important in this scenario), blow bridges (also important), and repair locations. 
 
Most of the initial Soviet airforce was destroyed in the first turn.  The Soviets have been building air units.  In fact, I found an air unit stacked under the machine gun unit in Parakop (near Crimea). 
 
The Germans have about 40 fighters plus assorted divebombers and bombers.  They are not visible to the Soviets (but have been active)

[Zakhal]

Is there a possible real-life comparison for those unit numbers? If soviet army (corps size?) has 5xtanks and 20xrifles ~ regiments/brigades (2000-3000 men & 100 tanks if tank unit) perhaps. That would put the soviet army strenght to up to 25x2-3000=50,000 to 75,000 men including som 500 tanks perhaps.

[tweber]

1 rifle unit is about 1000-2000 soldiers, 1 tank / 1 plane represents about 200-300 real life units.   Wikipedia is a great source on troop strength.  For production, the Soviet have about a 3/2 advantage.  I took GDP numbers during WWII from Wikipedia and split the German economy 2:1 between the East and Western fronts.  I model the initial Soviet surprise by starting the Soviets out with low staff (Soviet purges) and low readiness.  This allows a somewhat smaller German force to maul an unprepared Soviet army in the first few rounds.  Later offensives (Soviet offensive of 1941, German 1942 offensive) are modeled by events that reduce combat effectivenes of the German and Soviet side.  I also model Allied lend lease and Siberian production as additional production capacity that becomes available later in the war.