A Clash of Titans, Xhoel (Axis) vs Bitburger (Soviet)

[xhoel]

AGC

We have given up the high ground north of Ostashkov as part of shortening our lines. The 9th Panzer Division is heading to Rzhev to enter its winter quarters while the 17th Panzer Division is making Ostashkov their home. The elite L.A.H SS Motorized Division and elements of the XXXX Panzer Corps are also on the front lines.



Circled in black, Infantry divisions belonging to the VI Corps under General Walter Model.



One of the best formations the German Army has right now.

Walter Model has received the command of the units defending the Klin sector (VI Corps), where the Soviets are expected to make their strongest thrust. South of them, Lothar Rendulic has taken command of the VIII Corps, defending the Mozhaysk sector. Elements of the LVII Panzer Corps are defending the villages between the two sectors. Air assets have been earmarked to take part in the defensive operation. The Kaluga sector is being defended by elements of the 4th and 18th Army. The sector south of the Oka is predicted to remain quiet during the week because the loose ice on the river prohibits movement. A strong thrust is expected in the Ryazan sector too, where elements of the 4th Army are defending.



Units circled in black belong to the VIII Corps commanded by Generalleutnant Lothar Rendulic.

To the south our units have begun pulling back from their forward positions. We conduct 2 attacks on weak Soviet units and force them to retreat. We will not try to hold off the Soviets here, but will rather attempt to conduct a disciplined retreat to the secondary lines around Tula.



Pullback in the Orel sector. Attacks by our units are marked in black squares.

Effects of the blizzard on a unit that has not moved (notice the damaged elements and fatigue):

[SparkleyTits]

Yeah it'll hurt taking those punches in December but that's the theatre in winter that usually turns into lots of losses in bodies and ground until Febuary but with those reinforcements from AGN and panzers nearby I am sure you can stop it from becoming anything game ending

I like to attack a lot with my Finns as this is the strongest relatively they will ever be and it'll be the best time they can commit offensives
It either gives a nice buffer of land for the longterm defence of the Finns as the Soviets give it up or it draws away reinforcements if the Soviets decide to stop the Finns
I know some people don't like using up the Finns manpower so it is a preference thing but it's a pet peeve of mine having pools and pools of assets that never get used up [:D]

[xhoel]

AGS

The Soviets are showing a lot of spirit in the south. Their units pushed back the 25th Hungarian Infantry Brigade causing heavy losses to the unit. They are putting pressure on our forces in an area where we are weak because we have several understrength divisions. They need to reach rail heads ASAP in order to refill their TOEs. Another powerful attack took place in the Kharkov sector last week. The defending 168th ID managed to hold on to their positions and caused heavy casualties to the Soviets. In this sector we have straightened our lines and are awaiting for further attacks that will surely come next week.







The area around Rostov was relatively quiet and our troop have re-positioned themselves to prepare for further attacks that are coming from the north. The loose ice on the Don prevents a Soviet crossing at this time. 2 Soviet attacks fell on our positions this week. One of them managed to push back the 97th Light Infantry Division which conducted a fighting withdrawal albeit under heavy losses. The other one failed to dislodge the 31st ID, which assisted by the quick reacting 1st SS Motorized Brigade counterattacked and inflicted heavy losses on the Soviets. We were forced to abandon this position during this week however since it would be impossible to hold on to it.



Circled in black, the battle lost by the 97th Light ID.

[xhoel]

Crimea

In the Crimea our troops have been ordered to dig in and make use of the milder weather down south to prepare the positions for withstanding a Soviet offensive come January. The supply situation remains critical.



Casualties
Ground



Notice the heavy truck losses.



Trucks:

[xhoel]

Operational Map and OOB:

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: SparkleyTits

Yeah it'll hurt taking those punches in December but that's the theatre in winter that usually turns into lots of losses in bodies and ground until February but with those reinforcements from AGN and panzers nearby I am sure you can stop it from becoming anything game ending

I like to attack a lot with my Finns as this is the strongest relatively they will ever be and it'll be the best time they can commit offensives
It either gives a nice buffer of land for the longterm defence of the Finns as the Soviets give it up or it draws away reinforcements if the Soviets decide to stop the Finns
I know some people don't like using up the Finns manpower so it is a preference thing but it's a pet peeve of mine having pools and pools of assets that never get used up [:D]

I hope to delay them long enough and maybe cause enough losses so the offensive losses steam. Once the Salients of Klin and Tula are evacuated we will have more reserves free. There are around 24 divisions in the Tula salient alone, not counting the armored formations that are in their winter quarters in the city.

Will have to see how I use the Finns. If it's possible to divert Soviet resources to the area I will commit them, but somehow I doubt that Bitburger will commit resources to defend some forests that have no strategic importance whatsoever.

[JTP]

I noticed a reference to "coverting the terrain for the infantry" by motorized divisions. What does this mean ?

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: JTP

I noticed a reference to "coverting the terrain for the infantry" by motorized divisions. What does this mean ?

What are you referring to JTP? I don't recall having said that.

[Fanstar1]

Seems like Soviets will have a hard time holding in 1942.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: Fanstar1

Seems like Soviets will have a hard time holding in 1942.

We have around 13 turns of hellish weather before us so I'm focusing on not suffering any disasters for the time being. But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state, I will welcome that

[JTP]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: JTP

I noticed a reference to "coverting the terrain for the infantry" by motorized divisions. What does this mean ?

What are you referring to JTP? I don't recall having said that.

Post #46 by EwaldVonKleist.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: JTP

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: JTP

I noticed a reference to "coverting the terrain for the infantry" by motorized divisions. What does this mean ?

What are you referring to JTP? I don't recall having said that.

Post #46 by EwaldVonKleist.

Ah I see what you mean. Would be useful to use the quote function next time. What EvK is referring to is that it is better to launch motorized divisions further to clear empty enemy hexes because next turn they will turn friendly and all units pay less MP to move through friendly hexes as opposed to pending friendly hexes or enemy ones.

[JTP]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: JTP

ORIGINAL: xhoel




What are you referring to JTP? I don't recall having said that.

Post #46 by EwaldVonKleist.

Ah I see what you mean. Would be useful to use the quote function next time. What EvK is referring to is that it is better to launch motorized divisions further to clear empty enemy hexes because next turn they will turn friendly and all units pay less MP to move through friendly hexes as opposed to pending friendly hexes or enemy ones.

Ok, thanks !

[Balou]

ORIGINAL: xhoel
But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state,..

The figures presented in your AAR suggest that with a weekly replacement rate of roughly 120000 troops (as mentioned above) and 13 weeks to go the sov OOB would be 5,8 mio by march 1st '42 (not counting battle/attrition losses). Plus they have 8000+ tanks right now by mid january 42. Is that really what's called a weakened state ?

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: Balou

ORIGINAL: xhoel
But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state,..

The figures presented in your AAR suggest that with a weekly replacement rate of roughly 120000 troops (as mentioned above) and 13 weeks to go the sov OOB would be 5,8 mio by march 1st '42 (not counting battle/attrition losses). Plus they have 8000+ tanks right now by mid january 42. Is that really what's called a weakened state ?

Your numbers are a bit off. The Soviets do get 120k fresh recruits every week but are also losing around 70k men each week. That means they gain 50k a week. So in 13 weeks that's around 650k. By March 42' they would have 5mio men in their OOB. Many of their divisions will also be spent after the winter offensive and will need to refill their TOEs which translates to them being pulled off the front thus making it more vulnerable. And replacements do lower the exp of divisions which is quite an important factor in combat. Anyways as I said in the post above, the Soviet Army looks anything but weak right now. The CVs of their frontline units are off the roof and they will cause a lot of damage in the winter weeks.

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: Balou

ORIGINAL: xhoel
But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state,..

The figures presented in your AAR suggest that with a weekly replacement rate of roughly 120000 troops (as mentioned above) and 13 weeks to go the sov OOB would be 5,8 mio by march 1st '42 (not counting battle/attrition losses). Plus they have 8000+ tanks right now by mid january 42. Is that really what's called a weakened state ?

Replacement rate goes down in Jan. The 8k tanks will also go down as further conversion from Armor divisions to tank brigades will take place. T

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: Balou

ORIGINAL: xhoel
But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state,..

The figures presented in your AAR suggest that with a weekly replacement rate of roughly 120000 troops (as mentioned above) and 13 weeks to go the sov OOB would be 5,8 mio by march 1st '42 (not counting battle/attrition losses). Plus they have 8000+ tanks right now by mid january 42. Is that really what's called a weakened state ?

Your numbers are a bit off. The Soviets do get 120k fresh recruits every week but are also losing around 70k men each week. That means they gain 50k a week. So in 13 weeks that's around 650k. By March 42' they would have 5mio men in their OOB. Many of their divisions will also be spent after the winter offensive and will need to refill their TOEs which translates to them being pulled off the front thus making it more vulnerable. And replacements do lower the exp of divisions which is quite an important factor in combat. Anyways as I said in the post above, the Soviet Army looks anything but weak right now. The CVs of their frontline units are off the roof and they will cause a lot of damage in the winter weeks.

I believe you will be just fine as long as you are elastic in your defense where you need to be. The Russians had a few teeth removed for the blizzard with the of the extra movement points for attacking. This equates to less deliberate attacks, which in turn means less losses to the Germans.

[Balou]

Thanks for your answers. Never played the russian side, which one should obviously try to get a better understanding of your opponent.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: Balou

ORIGINAL: xhoel
But if as Crackaces said, the Soviets enter 1942 in a weakened state,..

The figures presented in your AAR suggest that with a weekly replacement rate of roughly 120000 troops (as mentioned above) and 13 weeks to go the sov OOB would be 5,8 mio by march 1st '42 (not counting battle/attrition losses). Plus they have 8000+ tanks right now by mid january 42. Is that really what's called a weakened state ?

Your numbers are a bit off. The Soviets do get 120k fresh recruits every week but are also losing around 70k men each week. That means they gain 50k a week. So in 13 weeks that's around 650k. By March 42' they would have 5mio men in their OOB. Many of their divisions will also be spent after the winter offensive and will need to refill their TOEs which translates to them being pulled off the front thus making it more vulnerable. And replacements do lower the exp of divisions which is quite an important factor in combat. Anyways as I said in the post above, the Soviet Army looks anything but weak right now. The CVs of their frontline units are off the roof and they will cause a lot of damage in the winter weeks.

Since my name is being used here .. I want to clarify...[8D]

So clearly the Soviets can push the Germans around in the winter. The real problem I see (N=2), is when the next summer offense comes along.

Somebody can correct me, but it is my observation that a division requires about 5,000 to be ready, 7,000 to be effective, and 9,000 is full TO&E. Corps require even larger demands on manpower. So let's say minimum 5,000 men to put a division in a hex 2,000 for a brigade 5M means 1,000 hexes covered minimally. It goes to 714 using 7K. Of course, the Soviets build Corps size units and that reduces coverage by 3 hexes, and concentrates manpower per hex. Stacking 3 Corps to get an offensive advantage even tilts this further ..

With 8MP and an OOB around 5.5M on turn 55 there simply was not enough manpower in units to cover the front from North to South deep enough. A look at the AAR showed that with 5 deep the Germans were able to push deep during a snow turn. On turn 55 the Germans were about to envelop multiple Soviet units.

IN the 2x3 with about 4.3M the Soviets were definitely able to push the Germans back in panic and even surrounded some units in the blizzard. A single division will hold a hex in the winter, and the Soviets concentrated forces against our weakest points. But now on turn 35 and 20 turns for the summer the Soviets are looking at a real challenge to cover the front from North to South. The intensity of the winter offense has multiple turns that the manpower did not increase appreciably.

I understand that the Soviets take even more losses with the latest version? My analysis is simply saying there are X number of hexes to cover with Y manpower no matter the version. About 5 deep where the Germans might attack in the summer is about what it takes to slow the 42 offense. If this is 2 or 3 deep … the Soviets are in trouble.

[xhoel]

T26, 11th of December-18th of December 1941
AGN


The Finnish forces have launched local attacks to break Soviet frontline defenses in an attempt to pull Soviet reserves to the sector. In the Vaidai sector our troops have been pushed back from the hills east of Lychkovo but managed to retake the position during the week.





AGC

Further to the south, Mansteins LVI Panzer Corps managed to hold back an initial Soviet assault but had to give ground after the Soviets launched a secondary attack. Heavy fighting occurred in the 9th Army sector, where our units where forced to give ground after heavy Soviet assaults. Astonishing defeats were recorded by the V Corps which failed to hold the enemy back in 3 occasions, even though they had the opportunity to do so. The 6th ID suffered heavy losses in the defense of Konakovo. For his failures in holding the ground, General Richard Rouff was sacked earlier this week and Generalleutnant Wilhelm Stemmerman took command of the V Corps. The defeats of these week forced us to give ground and reposition our forces.



Battles in the 9th Army sector, holding battles marked in black, the battle of Konakovo marked in red.





The only victory in the 9th Army sector was recorded by the 183rd ID which managed to hold back two Soviet assaults north of Volokolamsk. In front of Moscow the front remains quiet.

Battles north of Volokolamsk:







The sector east and southeast of Tula also saw heavy fighting during the week. The Soviets launched 10 successful attacks and have advanced forward. Several armored formations are in the region, which is concerning to say the least. Our troops have given ground and are moving west, pulling back to our secondary defensive positions around Tula. Mos divisions are understrength (50-65% TOE). The Soviet pressure here is very strong.

German positions at the start of the week:





Positions after German moves: