RODINA ---M60A3TTS (Soviet) vs HLYA (Axis)

[M60A3TTS]

43 aircraft destroyed was small consolation for losing 5,800 aircraft on turn 1, but it's better than just sending everyone scampering to the reserves. And maybe it sends an early message that my planes carry bombs too. [:)]

I sort the air units on the commanders screen by total on turn 1. Smallest to largest. In that case, I could select an entire base where there were no aircraft left and send them to the reserves. This was done about 5 times. Then I shifted later to sort by morale, lowest to highest and took out all with morale less than 40, one by one. Finally, airbases with units not involved in fighting and zero air miles accrued had the units air transferred to other bases where air power is concentrated, such as it is.

[charlie0311]

You may hover the mouse over an ab when in air transfer mode. The morale of all units in the ab will be displayed in the pop up. Select a low morale unit from the cr, then go to air transfer mode, viola. Sometimes I get 4 or 5 air units with "one" click in this manner.

[M60A3TTS]

Ground Overview

A total of 673k men, 7.9k guns and 8.5k AFVs in 134 units are isolated. This includes 83 divisions consisting of 42 rifle, 11 motorized, 20 tank, 6 mountain and 4 cavalry divisions.
An additional mechanized corps, the 5th, has no escape route and will be lost. A final group of 3 tank divisions are likely to be isolated next week. This will eliminate approximately 12 of the starting 27 mechanized corps. The pockets that have been formed are to no surprise, unbreakable.

Riga is lost in the north as 41st Panzer Corps crosses the Daugava. Just as elsewhere, much of the front's units are isolated. Northwest Front garrisons Pskov and takes position on the bank of the Velikaya.

In the center, Minsk is not taken as 39th Panzer Corps does most of the surrounding of units in this area. 56th and 57th Panzer Corps conduct minimal fighting and are north northwest of Minsk and able to adjust their line of march towards Leningrad, Velikye Luki, or Minsk-Smolensk. Only 10th Army HQ remains cut off in the Bialystok pocket, allowing 3rd, 4th and 13th Army HQs of Western Front to take up position well east of Minsk.

In the south, there are no surprises as HLYA conducts an extended Lvov pocket with all remaining panzer corps. Southwestern Front falls back with what remains towards Kiev and the Dnepr's eastern bank. In the far south, Southern Front begins to fall back on Odessa.

Rail unit movement included the 2nd Mechanized Corps of 9th Army, Southern Front. This has the strongest pair of tank divisions, the 12th and 16th. These are two of the three divisions remaining free that are equipped with T-34 tanks and are joining 13th Army of Western Front at the Dnepr land bridge. Another pair of rifle divisions from Moscow Military District are sent north of the Neva River near Leningrad. A pair of mountain divisions are on rail from the south.

There was one personnel change, F. Tolbukhin replacing P. Filatov of 13th Army, Western Front.

There were 16 fortified zones at immediate risk of loss which were disbanded. Two rifle corps HQ were also disbanded.

[M60A3TTS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bm1gSgJptY

Week 1

Northern Situation



Southern Situation

[Dinglir]

One Point for super nice graphics.

I love it!

[SparkleyTits]

That eye candy is amazing!

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

Ground Overview

A total of 673k men, 7.9k guns and 8.5k AFVs in 134 units are isolated. This includes 83 divisions consisting of 42 rifle, 11 motorized, 20 tank, 6 mountain and 4 cavalry divisions.
An additional mechanized corps, the 5th, has no escape route and will be lost. A final group of 3 tank divisions are likely to be isolated next week. This will eliminate approximately 12 of the starting 27 mechanized corps. The pockets that have been formed are to no surprise, unbreakable.

Riga is lost in the north as 41st Panzer Corps crosses the Daugava. Just as elsewhere, much of the front's units are isolated. Northwest Front garrisons Pskov and takes position on the bank of the Velikaya.

In the center, Minsk is not taken as 39th Panzer Corps does most of the surrounding of units in this area. 56th and 57th Panzer Corps conduct minimal fighting and are north northwest of Minsk and able to adjust their line of march towards Leningrad, Velikye Luki, or Minsk-Smolensk. Only 10th Army HQ remains cut off in the Bialystok pocket, allowing 3rd, 4th and 13th Army HQs of Western Front to take up position well east of Minsk.

In the south, there are no surprises as HLYA conducts an extended Lvov pocket with all remaining panzer corps. Southwestern Front falls back with what remains towards Kiev and the Dnepr's eastern bank. In the far south, Southern Front begins to fall back on Odessa.

Rail unit movement included the 2nd Mechanized Corps of 9th Army, Southern Front. This has the strongest pair of tank divisions, the 12th and 16th. These are two of the three divisions remaining free that are equipped with T-34 tanks and are joining 13th Army of Western Front at the Dnepr land bridge. Another pair of rifle divisions from Moscow Military District are sent north of the Neva River near Leningrad. A pair of mountain divisions are on rail from the south.

There was one personnel change, F. Tolbukhin replacing P. Filatov of 13th Army, Western Front.

There were 16 fortified zones at immediate risk of loss which were disbanded. Two rifle corps HQ were also disbanded.

One question - why did you choose to disband the rifle corps HQ? I've always taken the approach that they would disband automatically so I didn't spend AP to do it ahead of time.

[M60A3TTS]

In this case they belong to 13th Army under Tolbukhin who is defending the land bridge. I wanted his leader stats to immediately impact the divisions under the disbanded rifle corps who of course have less than stellar leaders. I am using this tactic sparingly, as I definitely need to get the most from my AP spends in the first ten turns.

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

In this case they belong to 13th Army under Tolbukhin who is defending the land bridge. I wanted his leader stats to immediately impact the divisions under the disbanded rifle corps who of course have less than stellar leaders. I am using this tactic sparingly, as I definitely need to get the most from my AP spends in the first ten turns.

Thanks M60. I guessed that may be the case but wanted to check to be sure. Don't want to miss out on any Soviet strategy tips from you.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 2
June 28- July 2

Air Activity

There was a significant reduction in operations due to the arrival of the VVS into the reserve. There were further night bombing missions this week by Long Range Air Command but without any meaningful effect. Losses were 181 aircraft to 16 Axis. Morale cycling begins as 27 air units arrive at three bases southeast of Voroshilovgrad. Three more bases south of Rostov contain another 20 for similar purposes.

Ground Activity

The Western Front units in the Bialystok pocket have all surrendered.

The two panzer corps of PG4, Army Group North, 41st and 56th have turned west and are in a position to either advance to the north or attempt a western advance north of the land bridge. The 39th and 57th Panzer Corps of 3rd and 2nd Panzer Groups are in a position where they can assault the land bridge directly.

STAVKA’s 20th and 24th Armies deploy in response behind and to the north of the land bridge. A mixed screen of NKVD regiments and parachute brigades deployed forward to provide a screen north of the land bridge. Tolbukhin’s 13th Army of Dmitri Pavlov’s Western Front remains in a position to defend the land bridge. The two transferred tank divisions from 2nd Mechanized Corps to 13th Army received additional T-34 tanks during the most recent reinforcement phase. The other three depleted armies of Western Front deploy what few divisions that are pulled together along the eastern bank of the Dnepr. The Orel Military District deploys the troops it has to the Dnepr as well, to the south of Western Front. Mikhail Efremov’s 21st Army is assigned to the Orel Military District at this time.

Northern and Northwestern Fronts have little to do for the moment. Two rifle divisions north of the Neva River are in the initial stages of fortifying the ground of hex X83Y16. Another rifle brigade is just to the west to keep the fortifications at their present level. All remaining units that are available defend in the Pskov area.

In the south, many units remain in the Lvov pocket. Nearly 332k men and 4.3k AFVs are trapped as the Germans complete their encirclement of those units unable to maneuver safely away from the panzer juggernaut.

Southwestern Front under Mikhail Kirponos deploys east of the Dnepr. Southern Front of Yakov Cherevichenko does likewise. A small portion of Southern Front falls back on Odessa while 18th Mechanized Corps of 9th Army pulls back by the city of Nikolaev. Another two rifle divisions are positioned at the entrance of the Crimea.

Personnel Changes

Zakharov G. replaces Borzikov A. of STAVKA’s 20th Army
Rokossovsky K. replaces Kalinin S. of STAVKA’s 24th Army.
Vatutin N. replaces Korobkov A. of 4th Army, Western Front

[M60A3TTS]

Week 2

At the land bridge




The Axis advance in the south continues. Kiev not yet in his sights.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 3
July 3-9 1941

Industrial Evacuations

The first significant cluster of factories starting to be in range of German motorized units are the 5 heavy industry and 16 arms at Dnepropetrovsk.



I will take those out by first entering the starting railcap on my sheet of 143,414 and entering the relevant numbers. I finally take them off the evacuation progress board. There is a separate heavy industry sheet not shown.



I will leave it at that for the turn, with 81% of railcap of week 3 committed to evacuations and the remaining 19% to units.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 3
3-9 July 41

Action at Vitebsk



There is little doubt as to the direction of the main German drive. There was no discernible movement of their forces in the direction of Leningrad. 16th and 18th Armies of Army Group North are moving on Velikye Luki. The SS Wiking Division normally deployed to the south is part of the move in the center.

Col Gen Guderian changes roles and takes over 57th Panzer Corps from General A. Kuntzen. No less than seven divisions show up in multiple combat results under that corps, so it would seem HLYA is using his admin points to get around command limits for the panzer corps. That will have to be taken that into account going forward. A pocket at Vitebsk bags several divisions which could be freed, but I hesitate to sacrifice one of the few high morale rifle divisions to accomplish that. Since it is clear at this stage that an all out drive for Moscow is in progress, adjustments will be made accordingly.

First, ground will have to be given up in the area of the land bridge without delay. Otherwise there are easily enough panzer and motorized divisions to push through what defensive lines are in place and the SS Wiking likely still has a good supply of fuel at this stage.

Second, depending on what happens on the south, if the Axis forces do not make a significant lodgement over the Dnepr next week, then factory evacuations will begin in and around Moscow. The Germans may end up missing the Wiking division that can force factory evacuations in the south by its mere presence.

Third, General Armii Zhukov will operate in the center along with Generals Tolbukhin, Rokossovsky, Zakharov this week. Generals Konev, Malinovsky and Purkaev will likely be committed to the center next week. This will put all the "A-List" leaders into the line opposing his push.

Fourth, the Western Front command team of Pavlov and Kopets will be replaced next week.

Fifth, priority for high morale divisions will go to the Moscow sector.

Sixth, air power will concentrate along this axis next week.

Seventh, several Leningrad PM divisions were not sent south, but instead put into line against the Finns to impede any attempt they might make to cut off units on the frontier next week. They will be released once fighting starts where possible.

Lastly, I have a "Plan V" starting this week. The details will remain a mystery until HLYA encounters something he may not have expected, after which time all details will be revealed.

[M60A3TTS]

Air Situation

Most units that were sent to the reserves in the first week with a morale of 19 have recovered to about 46 and are moved back onto rear area bases for one more cycle. They will only gain 10 morale when sent back again, but it will be enough to restore them for front line duty in Week 5.

There are enough spare IL-2s to do a “U” upgrade status for a pair of I-153BS regiments that have the highest experience. In the early game, these other aircraft I’ve noticed that can get free upgrades:

DB-3B to IL-4
TB-3 to IL-4
SB-2 to Pe-2 which is not so much of an upgrade since the payloads are equal but the SB2 has better range. Of course, the SB-2 pools will eventually run out, needing this done.
I-15bis to MiG-3

Many units still have high fatigue levels, even in the reserve. That should work itself out shortly.

HLYA is keeping his airpower centralized around Vilnius and Bessarabia and consequently back somewhat from the front lines.

The Long Range Air Command has consolidated all bases southwest of Moscow and reinforced its long range bomber fleet.

[smokindave34]

Even with Guderian in charge of a panzer corps wouldn't HLYA incur penalties or failed leader rolls with 7 divisions attached to the corps? Or is he just rotating units in an out of that particular panzer corps for attacks?

I'm assuming the 'V' in "Plan V" stands for Victory!

[M60A3TTS]

I'm pretty sure he's rotating units in and out with admin points. Otherwise, giving Guderian a corps wouldn't make sense if HLYA was going to overload it.

[smokindave34]

I hope "Schneller Heinz" took the demotion well

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: smokindave34

I hope "Schneller Heinz" took the demotion well

Indeed if HLYA has done what I think he has done - Heinz will now be a leader of a panzer group. If you put your best panzer leaders in the corps, you put your next best panzer leaders in the panzer army HQs. Question is would Guderian appreciate seeing his subordinate become his superior?

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
SB-2 to Pe-2 which is not so much of an upgrade since the payloads are equal but the SB2 has better range. Of course, the SB-2 pools will eventually run out, needing this done.

If the SB-2 is better, or at least more useful for your playstyle, would it be worth giving the U option to the least experienced groups first and work upwards rather than starting with most experienced?

[M60A3TTS]

A pullback to Smolensk would normally be in order for the Western Front. But with all that HLYA has committed to the center even with low fuel the threat of further encirclements remains real. As much as I hate to do it, a withdrawal more to the east takes place. Week 4 will see the arrival of Reserve Front and the first AP bonus with it, so hopefully a stiffer defense can be pulled together as more leaders are swapped out and more units arrive.



In the south, Kiev remained occupied and the Dnepr Line extended slightly.