Fire fighting the Red Hordes - Uranus vs Olivier

[Bonners]

30th December

A bit of a quiet turn. Olivier never seems to panic, he finishes his offensives, makes me withdraw and then starts to build his forces for the next attack. I never quite know where it is going to fall and just have to try and marshal my reserves to the right spot.

The only attack of note happens around Voronezh where I try and dislodge the remaining Soviet breakthrough units. Although I inflict some losses attacks against dug in infantry are tough and the Soviets refuse to budge.

As it is a quiet turn I thought I'd take stock of the overall position.

Firstly a comparison of losses. In game turns we have been going about a month and a half and although there has been lulls, there has been a lot of heavy fighting.

Axis losses to date (including those encircled at Stalingrad and minor allies losses):

249,000 infantry
3,000 guns
55 light tanks
790 medium tanks
5 heavy tanks
3390 motorized
325 fighters

Soviet losses to date:

150,000 infantry
1495 guns
545 light tanks
695 medium tanks
235 heavy tanks
5150 motorized
515 fighters

Of the Soviet losses I am most pleased with the fact that I am slowing down his motorized divisions, thosetank and truck losses must hurt him at some stage! Soviet fighter losses are actual very much in Olivier's favour, maybe not now, but in a month or so he could really begin to get air superiority. I really need to get a 2:1 loss ratio in the air.

I cant tell Olivier's total troops as we have FOW settings on. I have to say, although the AAR loses a bit, I can thoroughly recommend that setting. It is nerve racking as the Germans not knowing how many tanks and troops the Soviets have at their disposal.

It being a quiet turn I also thought it might be interesting to have a look at the overall strategic situation. I've put two maps up, one of the current position and one showing the dispositions at the start of the game. I havent really felt like I am retreating far in the Caucasus, yet looking at the map that is a fair old way I have fallen back.

[Bonners]

1st January - Happy New Year!

Well, it is a quiet New Year anyway. Olivier's forces are building up far faster than I can build up my defences, but I keep trying. Apart from the gradual withdrawal in the Caucasus there is actually no real fighting on the front lines, perhaps an unofficial front lines truce has taken place? No map update as nothing really to show.

The only activity is in the air where I try and bomb some of the Soviet front line tank and mechanized units. Although I again manage to take out 80 Soviet fighters (getting back to 2:1) there are still enough to get through and intercept some of my bombers. Time to rest the Luftwaffe back up.

[Bonners]

3rd January - no step back

The order I have been dreading arrives from OKH. Not realising that it is the fact that I have been able to fight a fluid defence that has led to the lines becoming stable, I now need to look at the implications of this order.

Well the overview in the screenshot shows the problem. I reckon that Olivier has his forces now gathered for breakthroughs in at least seven different places. I have to admit that if I hadnt received the no step back order this turn virtually the whole line would've been shuffling back.

Now, unless I give up the major objectives this order generally means a loss of 1-2 prestige a turn - obviously I'm hoping for the odd good turn when I lose no prestige. Added to this is the fact that I have three minor objectives to keep, all of which it is definitely possible to keep and I am not out of the game yet.

The worry is that if Olivier builds his forces up for a sustained attack. I have been able to keep the lines solid and counter-attack when the offensive only lasts a turn or two. Olivier is obviously resting forces to make sure that the next attack counts. I need to really carefully plan in which areas I retreat from now on.

I just have to hope that I have enough mobile reserves north of Rostov to hold the line as the obvious solution is to shorten the line in the Caucasus to try and create a reserve.

The task has just got a whole lot tougher, but the Germans still have a chance, it just depends on where and how Olivier attacks with his next offensive.

[Bonners]

3rd January - try and put the map in properly

Deleted the map from the last post as it was huge!!!! Hopefully this one works.

[Bonners]

5th January - breathe deep, dig deep, sit in your foxhole and prepare

Not a lot I can do really but sit back and await the inevitable attack. I have done all I can, the airforce is rested and ready, the panzers are sat behind the frontlines fuelled and ready to go with action cards in hand. The next move is all down to the Soviets. I am sat watching the forces build up and up not being able to do anything about it, I must save my forces for the attack, I cant afford spoiling attacks.

So I wait and hope against hope that the attack will be delayed by another few days to give me chance to reinforce some of the more vulnerable parts of the front.

We wait......

[olivier34]

Some news front the soviet side. What a game ! I am learning slowly how to use the powerful red army. Bonners analyse perfectly the situation. We are the 5th of January and for the past turns I have mostly moved my forces and concentrate in some area, preparing a major offensive that will destroy for sure the ennemy front. [:D]
Here are my losses so far and I have left : first number, my losses, the second at start and the last what I have at this date.
Inf 157 000 925 000 955 000
Guns 1570 12 000 13 200
Light tanks 550 965 825
Medium tanks 715 1340 1025
Heavy Tank 235 500 355
Motorised 5300 29800 30600
Fighters 595 1035 930
The reinforcement per turn is good and some fresh units has been sent (from Moscou). I have played three times the more fighters card, twice the more tank and if I remember I have ask some more trucks and AA guns.

More men and guns, less tanks and fighters...The red army is less powerful..I don't think so. I have check the morale value of my troops, much better than the average 50 at start of the game and they have better experience. The staff has gain experience has well and a few capable officers have join the front.

Stats FOG on. Here are the numbers that I get about the axis losses.
Inf 250 000
guns 3010
Light tanks 55
Medium tanks 790
heavy tanks 5 tigers [:D] I am very proud
Motorised 3390
Fighters 365

[olivier34]

I have been lucky to close the Stalingrad pocket so quickly...the next step of the campaign is much harder. I haven't check the reinforcement schedule of the Axis side to had some flavour to this game. How many panzer divisions am I facing ? I have conduct a lot of small offensives, firing my artillery, taking a hex, exploiting with mobile forces and each time a strong counter attack will cut my troops that have drive behind the front, isolate them and massacre them. Is there a FOG when you check the results of your opponent attacks ? How many time I have seen thousands of soviets down, 60 or more tanks destroy and the germans suffering little [:@].
The german side is more powerful, better officers and cards and more experienced troops but can they resist to an attrition war ?
In the air, Bonners has been abble to keep the initiative. I have expected to strike his panzer formation from the air but the Sturmovik aren't good for the job. Bonners keeps his panzer div in a single hex (something that at start I thought to be a mistake) but doing so, the AA fire is intense...

Voronezh : I have sent an army and four artillery groups after the fall of Stalingrad to launch a minor offensive with the goal to divert some german motorised divisions from other part of the fronts. After four days, it turns to a disaster. I moved the artillery groups south...

Caucasus :
Bonners has retreated most of the time. My forces there have not been abble to attack clearly a front line. The good thing is that my objectives there were achieve a week earlier, giving me some prestige points. My troops are runing and are now so weak...they never get a chance to rest. Readiness below 60, 70 APs average...I have decided to let them rest. When an infantry in this shape get close to the german unit, it is immediatly vaporated. [X(
I have try an amphibious assault (Novorossisk was an objective 2 pps) but failed...(something wrong with the supply...)
I had not pay attention to this front the first 5 turns, just pushing the counters when I realise that there is not enough ENG units to follow the armys.
(Caucasus MAP the 7th of January.)

[olivier34]

I made a few screenshots of the front between Voronezh and Rostov (7th January and 9th January main offensive "cold hammer" (I am very bad when it turns to find a name to an offensive but I kind of like this one [;)]). Should I post them now Bonners ?

looking at your losses (that you had the 30th of December), I realise that they are the statistics that I get the 5 of January, three turns after !

[Bonners]

Cold Hammer eh? Sounds appropriate! Go for it, be interesting to see what you thought from your side on a major offensive.

[Bonners]

...and those losses compared to actual troops...sheesh....I've hardly made a dent[:D]

I have made an executive decision not to tell my troops on the ground, it'd be too depressing for them[:D]

[olivier34]

January 7 :

[olivier34]

7 January

[olivier34]

January 7, "COLD HAMMER", sounds like the name of a beer !

[Bonners]

7th January - Hammer of the Gods

'We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our tanks to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!'

With apologies to Led Zep, but when I opened my 7th January turn that was the song that came to mind....and now far too late German intelligence inform me that it is Operation Cold Hammer...so doubly appropriate.

Little do I realise that 7th January is just the prelude to the main attack. As mentioned before our intelligence service has a spy in the Soviet ranks, but he seems fairly useless as he gives us information several days after things have happened.

Anyway, the opening moves of the Soviet offensive still leave me fairly hopeful that we can contain it, the Italians are brushed aside in several spots. I realised that they were the weak part of the front and was trying to rush in armoured reserves, I just ran out of time. At this stage I do not realise the full extent of the Soviet offensive in the centre, I half expect the main blow to fall further south and I am hopeful that I will do the usual of a slow retreat, counter attacks from panzers and then take the main Soviet thrust head on opposite Rostov.

The Soviet airforce is blasted aside and the rested and ready Stuka pilots go about their business inflicting a bloody mess on the Soviet spearheads. Meanwhile elements of 12th Army rush southwards to counter-attack the northern bulge of the Soviet breakthrough. With my building counter attacks and the Stukas the Soviet losses for tanks in the turn are 145 including 75 T34s. High Command has every confidence that these attacks will be repulsed which will enable the slow retreat to continue whilst the reserves being released by OKH join the line.

[Bonners]

9th January - Cold Hammer in full

...and so it begins. Every Soviet offensive so far has been ultimately containable, but now Olivier has used the week of rest to bring his forces up to strength and what is becoming apparent is that there are full reserves in place to take full advantage of any breakthroughs and breakthrough there are...breakthroughs a plenty.

Starting from the north working the way down. Firstly against the remaining Italians. They had already taken the first blows and now the full force of the Soviet hammer falls upon them. Units are split asunder and Italian units begin to dissolve in the snow. With the full force of the Soviet offensive falling on them for four days in a row the Italians dissolve completely. Any remaining Italians either down arms or retreat from the front in full flow. Their spirits sink to zero and I am left with a huge Roman sized hole in my lines. Looking at the main Soviet thrust it is fairly obvious that the spearhead units are still fresh and will be able to continue the advance, this is no mere spoiling offensive.

South of the Italians one of my armoured reserve units, 16th motorized will not be able to help plug the gap. The Soviets are no longer going around the German panzers but are beginning to take them on head on. Despite some desperate defence 16th motorized is pushed back. They may be able to hold the line but are no longer of use in an offensive capacity.

The next offensive to the south concentrates on the weaker Kampfgruppe and Romanians surround 57th Corps. Unfortunately the armoured reserves have already gone to the north, there is the 1st Romanian armoured division and that is it, the strong 11th panzer is unfortunately holding the line.

Further south, directly opposite Rostov the Soviets make three further breakthroughs. This is where my main panzer forces are still based along with a trickle of reinforcements from the Caucasus front. What I dont realise, due to my tardy spy again, is that this is actually the main Soviet thrust and he is aiming for Rostov by the straight route.

What it means in the short term is that the strong panzer forces defending the direct route are pinned in place and they will soon be taking on the strong Soviet mech corps head on in a bloody battle to the death.

What is fascinating, is that looking at Olivier's plans above this was always going to be main offensive. As it runs out, although his forces further north were not as strong, by pinning my panzers in the south it meant that the northern thrusts would have greater success than I think even Olivier suspected.

One thing that was obvious to me was that this offensive would not be stopped in a couple of quick blows, the breakthroughs were too numerous. Decisions needed to be made on the no step back losses in the negative column along with minor objectives in the positive column. Tough choices ahead, this time Olivier is playing for keeps, he has planned and executed the offensive brilliantly.....and this is merely the beginning.

[Bonners]

9th January

Screenshot showing Olivier's offensive moves:

[olivier34]

I spent an hour and half playing the "9th january" turn, a lot of attacks to conduct ! Near the end I made a few mistakes (tactical ones) in the south...and I will again the next turn (no undo button !! harghhhhh) but this is part of the game. The first results of this offensive in the north made me change my plan. The 6A and 1GA have done great, they need some back up and fresh troops but I don't have a rail line available in this sector. What I do have is new fresh tank corps and some infantry divisions arriving as reinforcement that I can place in a town 100 kms behind the front line.

[Bonners]

9th January - Cold Hammer response

Again starting from the north I try to deal with each attack in isolation, if I look at the state of the whole front I tend to hide under my desk. I have the Slovak division and 3rd Panzer in play ready to shore up the southern shoulder of the bulge, 401st motorized are available to hold the line I jsut have the small task of finding some units to shore up the northern shoulder, easy[;)]

Meanwhile in the central part of the front, those dastardly Italians have left me with no possibilities of a counter-attack so I have to withdraw. In the south I realise that I have to at least try to blunt the offensive though. Once more the panzers roll out across the steppe, although I have a feeling this could be the last offensive on mass that I manage.

As mentioned before, Olivier has used his rest and refit time wisely and it soon becomes obvious that the Soviet spearhead units are hardened veterans dug in and fully comfortable in taking the German panzers head on. All three rested panzer corps of 4th panzer army charge in for the fight, cards are played and there is a high degree of confidence in the assault. Previous results are not to be had though. Despite inflicting heavy losses the Soviet units manage to hold on whilst surrounded. It is also fairly obvious that although the Soviet troops end the day encircled, that it will be the Germans at risk soon. Through recon and the attacks the scope of the Soviet offensive is now becoming abundantly clear. Every breakthrough in the south looks like it is going to be followed up by fresh reserves to keep the momentum of the attack going.

To further compound my difficulties, Soviet partisans strike in the Caucasus. With my withdrawals I only have one working rail line and this has now been cut. I need the Romanians to delay with them very quickly or I could have a disaster in the making, or at best have to transfer my air force to protect the sea lanes.

[Bonners]

January 11th - no let up, no Romanians

The worst case scenario comes to pass. Although I suspected that there was a second line of Soviet reserves, I did not suspect that they would be so numerous or so mobile. In the centre they crash through my remaining Romanians leading to the Romanians taking on the same disappearing act as the Italians. This is more serious as not only does it leave me problems on the front lines it means I have to speed up the withdrawal in the Caucasus and I have to cobble together some units to deal with the partisans in the rear and also transfer units to the Crimea to hold against possible flanking amphibious attacks. Another consequence of this is that I decide to rest the Luftwaffe on mass. I will need them fresh if Olivier does decide to try a rear attack.

The only consolation in all this is that the Hungarians dont look to be going the same way, they have fairly high spirits and most of the units are dug in in good defensive terrain or have German units buttressing their lines. I did know that the Romanians would be going next but I was hoping against hope that they would last another couple of turns.

What this means to my forces in the north is that there is now no possibility of trying to hold the bulge so I gradually give up the shoulders, but with cavalry units to the fore the Russians are advancing faster than I can get a front line together.

Just south of this there is a similar breakthrough and as well as wiping out the Romanians several German units now also suffer heavy losses.

What is less expected is the amount of units that come through the next thrust to the south. The remains of the German Kampfgruppes are swept aside. The Soviets also are advancing on a lovely East to West rail line and for once I have not been able to blow the bridges in time, so it will be up and running very shortly. This thrust is the biggest danger as the units fighting directly in front of Rostov could be cut off from the north. Directly though the German Kampf units will probably not escape encirclement, they can fight on an entrenched front line but once out of their trenches they are collapsing rapidly. I am more concerned that 17th panzer escapes the trap.

The Soviet forces opposite Rostov meanwhile have to be stopped and the bloody tank battle continues. I no longer have fresh and rested tanks, but the Soviet units are similarly getting worn down. I also realise that I have to fight here as otherwise several of my panzers will be cut off completely. During his turn Olivier was true to his word and continued the battle, this time not being afraid to take the panzers on. We will both look at losses once the battles have died down, but I think it is fair to say that tank and motorized losses have been very high for both sides in the Battle for Rostov. Despite the ferocious nature of it, there has to be only one outcome and it will now be a case of trying to extract as many as 4th Panzer's tanks as is possible, the battle can just not continue.

So, Operation Cold Hammer reached a sixth day. Before this operation Olivier gave me several turns to get my front rested and refitted, but I absolutely think he made the right decision in waiting. He was able to fully deploy his forces and make sure that each attack could be reinforced with breakthrough reserves including cavalry. After the first two turns my front was teetering and by the third turn of the offensive I was left with big holes in my lines. My only worthwhile counter attacking forces had been ground down in a battle of attrition. Even if I do manage to get a new front line together a lot of the Panzers will now have to occupy front line positions rather than acting as tactical reserves. The Luftwaffe has similarly been ground down, as the offensive heated up my fighters were less and less effective at stopping the Sturmoviks in getting through and in some parts of the front it is fair to say the Soviets have gained tactical superiority, even if there is still an overall contst for the skies.

This offensive has been brilliant fun to try and defend against and full credit to Olivier for organising the Soviets into an efficient killing machine, but combined with the no step back order it is going to be really difficult to try and not be dismissed. But...but...there are a few little rays of hope on the horizon...we fight on!

[Bonners]

13th January - the Soviets throw more reserves into the attack

Now things are getting desperate. The Soviet horde is showing it has learnt lesson in 18 months of fighting the Germans. On this turn the Soviets no longer batter through the lines but start to surgically strike through.

The decisions has already been made to give up the Caucasus and with spare rail capacity the remains of 1st Panzer Army are rapidly railed towards Rostov. Half of them go this turn and the rest should make it by the next turn.

Meanwhile 4th Panzer Army is rapidly retreating itself towards Rostov. When both armies get there I am hoping to release some reserves to other parts of the front. But the Soviets are now looking as mobile as the German units, Mackerson's and Lemerson's corps take heavy casualties as they try to fight their way out of the enveloping Soviet wings. In a reversal of fortune that will not be lost on the panzer troops it is now Soviet dive bombers swooping over the retreating columns. The battered Luftwaffe can temporarily put up no resistance. The Soviet Sturmovik losses are high, but they are relentless in their attacks and large numbers of tanks now litter the battlefield.

North of 4th Panzer up as far as Starobelsk there actually isnt much of a frontline left, just a huge gaping hole. The Kampfgruppes that have been holding the line all the way from the Chir in the initial phases of the Soviet offensive now lose their race to safety and most of them will soon be encircled. The only troops who will escape from the pocket are 17th panzer and even for them it will be a close race. Their high readiness and integrity mean that the Russians still treat them with respect though.

Further north the next Soviet thrust is still going. I still have fairly strong troops around though and 7th panzer turn up in the nick of time from the western front to bolster the defence.

What did shock me on this turn was that Olivier still had units available to create another breakthrough to flank Voronezh. Again he makes good use of tank brigades to smash through the defences. Looking at the situation though I think I may have a small opportunity to actually cut off some Soviet units. I finally withdraw over the frozen Don from Voronezh (another city given up without a fight), but in doing so I create a small number of reserves that just may be able to give the Soviets a bit of a shock here.

Again this was another tough turn, but remembering that Olivier does not know what reserves I have (and the fact I can rail units to threatened sectors) he picks the right moment to take a few chances with his spearheads cutting through and making sure that my panzers cannot counter-attack but have to retreat to stop themselves from being encircled.

Operation Cold Hammer has now lasted for four turns and has put the game right in the balance. I am now at the stage where each loss of a city has to measured in terms of the no step back order and then calculated against the prestige I will be gaining from minor objectives. What would have been nice would to have had the odd realistic major objective to hold. I had one major objective and that was Stalingrad, since then all the objectives have been minor, so I have had no opportunity to build up a prestige reserve for the no step back order. It would be nice to have a couple of major objectives, such as Rostov, Kharkov or Voronezh that I had say a 50/50 chance of keeping.

Anyway, the game now stands on a knife edge, my comments to Olivier were that the next three turns would probably decide if we end up going through to March.

For a change I've put the situation map that greeted me on opening my turn to give an idea of the breakthroughs that Olivier had managed.