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

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: SparkleyTits

Great stuff as always!

Thanks ST. Waiting to see how things go once the proper offensive begins.

[SparkleyTits]

Yes me too, I am on the edge of my seat!

[bigbaba1111]

great AAR. your panzers will have a good moral in the spring but it seems that your infantry loses are quite high at 700k.

but with high moral panzer divisions anything is possible when the ground allows panzer operations. very excited to see your spring offensive.

[xhoel]

@ST: you and me both buddy
@bigbaba1111: Thanks for the compliment. Agreed, overall losses are high but that is the result of my disastrous turns during the mud where so many divisions where cut off. Isolated divisions suffer terrible attrition. I hope the Soviet offensive will die down at the beginning of February. That would help curb the mounting losses.

There is a long way till summer of 1942 but stay tuned because I intend to deliver!

[TunganNinja]

Excepting Crimea, you seem to be in a good spot to weather the blizzard. Soviet momentum is going to peak in the next few weeks, but judging from the win/loss ratios you should be able to pull off a successful strategic retreat in several sectors.

As for the Crimea, it will indeed be interesting to see what the Soviets can bring to bare on your positions. It appears from recon that they have built up reserves at Kerch and Sevastapol behind the front lines. I would expect Soviet air superiority as well. I cannot tell what the supply distance to your frontlines are, because I cannot see the rail head or the FBD working on it. If it is far you will need fresh divisions to the front asap. Can you please illuminate us on that point?

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

ORIGINAL: xhoel




Thanks HLYA. They don't need to rout to actually damage the Germans. Low TOE divisions take a lot of losses and have to be pulled off the line for R&R. That's a couple of turns in the rear at least.

Break them into regiments and they will take even less losses Do the comparison from the attacks on regiments to divisions. Granted the Regiments will retreat but the loses are far lower.

It is not always the case. I did run the tests and I'm seeing it in my game as well. It also depends on the attacking units and many other factors. I wouldn't defend with regiments unless I really had no other choice. Plus, no reason to gift the Soviets free wins when you can help it.

No, it is not always the case like it used to be in the past. The regiments and brigades actually take more loses than they used to in the past. And of course it depends on other factors but if you know what they are you can use them. On the last sentence I could only think it would be pure "lunacy" to defend everywhere with regiments or brigades. But you are doing fine and have the balance down it looks like.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

ORIGINAL: xhoel

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain




Break them into regiments and they will take even less losses Do the comparison from the attacks on regiments to divisions. Granted the Regiments will retreat but the loses are far lower.

It is not always the case. I did run the tests and I'm seeing it in my game as well. It also depends on the attacking units and many other factors. I wouldn't defend with regiments unless I really had no other choice. Plus, no reason to gift the Soviets free wins when you can help it.

No, it is not always the case like it used to be in the past. The regiments and brigades actually take more loses than they used to in the past. And of course it depends on other factors but if you know what they are you can use them. On the last sentence I could only think it would be pure "lunacy" to defend everywhere with regiments or brigades. But you are doing fine and have the balance down it looks like.

Thanks HLYA. I find that is quite true. Am glad that it has changed, kind of ruined the immersion for me. The biggest factor IMO is the opponent you are playing. Bitburgerdraft is attacking deliberately almost 100% of the time and is not launching measly attacks but serious ones where he has a clear superiority in men- and firepower. In such conditions, defending with regiments is not the best counter. One of the battles above shows that the regiments took around 320 casualties (lost) against a Soviet attack. The Soviets took 700 or something like that, so an exchange of almost 2 to 1. Considering that Soviet casualties are spread out because of the various units attacking, such losses affect the Germans much more. This isn't an isolated incident and from what I have gathered so far, how many casualties you take comes down to large part to luck. But yeah regiments and brigades have their place as well and I'm not advocating for defending with divisions everywhere. Its a mixed bag. But I also don't have the luxury to give a lot of ground since my advance was close to historical and didn't see crazy advances like in other games (not complaining, both me and Bitburgerdraft are quite happy with the game that we are playing).

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: TunganNinja

Excepting Crimea, you seem to be in a good spot to weather the blizzard. Soviet momentum is going to peak in the next few weeks, but judging from the win/loss ratios you should be able to pull off a successful strategic retreat in several sectors.

As for the Crimea, it will indeed be interesting to see what the Soviets can bring to bare on your positions. It appears from recon that they have built up reserves at Kerch and Sevastapol behind the front lines. I would expect Soviet air superiority as well. I cannot tell what the supply distance to your frontlines are, because I cannot see the rail head or the FBD working on it. If it is far you will need fresh divisions to the front asap. Can you please illuminate us on that point?

Thanks Ninja. That is the plan, a slow retreat but not a rout. Trying to minimise the casualties and maximise the Soviet ones is the priority right now (as well as keeping the communication (rail) lines near the front intact).

The FBD has just reached the lower Dnepr near Kherson. I feel quite confident about the Crimea because the Soviets don't have many avenues of attack and my units are entrenched in level 2 forts. The port of Yevpatoriya (level 2 port) should become operational next week so that would improve the supply situation drastically. I have 7 Divisions here (3 Rumanian and 4 German) as well as a Cavalry Brigade. I will transfer additional fighter groups there next week to assist the 2 Rumanian fighter groups). There are 8 Soviet divisions in Sevastopol and around 9-10 divisions in the Kerch area. Will have to see how the situation develops.

Cheers,
Xhoel

[John B.]

Great AAR! I check every day to see if there are any updates!

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Great AAR! I check every day to see if there are any updates!

Thanks John! Then you should stick around for the new update. I'm wrapping up turn 29 right now and the Soviet offensive has just begun in its earnest. Cavalry Corps are on the front, things are about to get interesting.

[xhoel]

T29,1st of January-8th of January 1942
AGN

Soviet troops gave ground last week due to Finnish pressure in the north. The Finnish forces however renewed their attacks this week with great success pushing back the Soviets in several positions. The Soviet presence here seems to be very weak, as it appears that the enemy has stripped units to reinforce other Fronts. 5 Soviet divisions routed and an additional 4 (Divisions/Brigades) were forced to retreat.



Finnish attacks:



Further to the south, the Soviets launched a powerful attack against the 291st ID. We barely managed to hold the position here, thanks to the skillful leadership of General von Wiktorin. The Soviets took heavy losses. The sector remains one of the quietest since the blizzards have hit.

[xhoel]

AGC, Northern Part

The Soviet renewed their attacks in the Rzhev sector this week, conducting 5 successful attacks. German casualties in these battles did not go over 200 men, a good ''loss'' in the books of the OKH one might say. We managed to hold the Soviets back in one occasion causing heavy losses to their attacking forces. Our troops continue to give ground here as we have no prepared defenses whatsoever except for the natural terrain. The Latvian SS Mot Brigade was pulled from the frontline this week and is refitting in Rzhev.







Very heavy fighting took place in the Tula sector however. The enemy launched 2 successful attacks over the frozen Oka river pushing our units back, which took heavy losses in the process. One attack failed. We are forced to abandon the town of Kashira and one forward position so as to avoid encirclement.
The other Soviet attacks north-east of the city saw little success, 4 out of 5 failed. The XXXIX Panzer Corps stationed in Tula counterattacked the Soviet rifle division spearheading the only successful attack and routed them. (I forgot I had a panzer division in reserve here and it automatically committed to battle before I could fix my mistake). 1 Infantry Division has been pulled back for R&R.



German holds marked in black circles.

Heavy Losses battle depicted in the map above:





German counterattack:



We are doing what we can to evacuate the salient as soon as possible but the Soviet pressure here doesn't allow for a quick withdrawal therefore every week we are forced to hold unfavorable positions just so that we can avoid leaving units behind.

[xhoel]

AGC southern part, the Orel offensive.

The heaviest attacks of last week fell on the Orel sector. The Soviets have finally committed their new Cavalry Corps formations, which are a force to be reckoned with and have enough mobility to exploit breakthroughs through our lines. The enemy pushed in three places last week and our troops only managed to hold on in 3 occasions. During this week we reestablished a front line with armored reserves operating in the rear in order to prevent a Soviet breakthrough. The L Corps has arrived and has been deployed to the front immediately. Various other armored formations have been deployed in the rear. Different command overlap in the sector and we are doing our best to keep them separated in order to prevent friendly fire incidents and communication problems.





The 21st RD is one of the best the Soviets have in the field.



The Cavalry Corps however have low levels of training and relatively poor unit cohesion. They are being supported by Motorcycle Regiments and Independent Tank Battalions.

Cav Corps showing levels of experience:



The Motorcycle Regiment is supporting the Cavalry Corps in their operations:



Intelligence reports indicate that the Soviets have concentrated their best formations in the sector. 4 Shock Armies are present here, operating under the command of the Volkhov Front commanded by Zhukov. Each of these Shock Armies is in turn commanded by exceptional Soviet Generals, such as Tolbukhin, Konev, Bagramyan. There are 12 confirmed Cavalry Corps formations here and another 4 suspected ones in the rear. In addition to these formations there are also 3 Tank Divisions, 2 Motorized Divisions and 2 Tank Brigades present. 2 ''battle hardened'' Soviet Rifle Divisions (the 21st and 32nd) as well as two Mountain Divisions are spearheading the assaults. This leaves no doubt that the enemy will push here, in an attempt to cut off the Tula salient.

Soviet Trio in command of the offensive in the sector:

[xhoel]

AGS

The Soviets pushed hard east of Belgorod and Kharkov last week. The mix of Hungarian and German units defending east of Belgorod fared well. The Hungarian Infantry Brigade was routed after a second attack that fell on their positions. The 18th Rum Infantry division was routed as well after heavy combat. Both of these formations have been put on R&R in the rear. It takes two counterattacks to dislodge a Soviet Tank Brigade but it is done. We give ground were we can. Reinforcements are on their way.









In the Stalino sector the Soviets launched 3 attacks and pushed us back in three positions. The 15th Cav Corps took part in the fighting during the week. Another Cav Corps was spotted in the rear. We recover the ground lost last week and are preparing for additional Soviet attacks.





In the Rostov sector, the enemy launched only one attack against a lone Mountain Infantry regiment, pushing them back. The rest of the front remains stable here and no additional attacks were mounted. Rostov remains in German hands.

[xhoel]

Crimea

In the Crimea we are preparing for the start of the Soviet offensive. One combat ready Rumanian division was pulled for R&R. The port of Yevpatoriya is finally operational and we can start bringing in supplies by sea in the coming weeks. We have deployed additional air groups to support defensive operations. The operational map shown below gives a better insight into the situation.

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: xhoel

AGC southern part, the Orel offensive.


Intelligence reports indicate that the Soviets have concentrated their best formations in the sector. 4 Shock Armies are present here, operating under the command of the Volkhov Front commanded by Zhukov. Each of these Shock Armies is in turn commanded by exceptional Soviet Generals, such as Tolbukhin, Konev, Bagramyan. There are 12 confirmed Cavalry Corps formations here and another 4 suspected ones in the rear. In addition to these formations there are also 3 Tank Divisions, 2 Motorized Divisions and 2 Tank Brigades present. 2 ''battle hardened'' Soviet Rifle Divisions (the 21st and 32nd) as well as two Mountain Divisions are spearheading the assaults. This leaves no doubt that the enemy will push here, in an attempt to cut off the Tula salient.

Soviet Trio in command of the offensive in the sector:

With your defense the Soviet Cav are just not going to get any breakthrough. With January next turn you get a defense bonus. So I think you have this contained nicely with a very low chance of a breakthrough.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

ORIGINAL: xhoel

AGC southern part, the Orel offensive.


Intelligence reports indicate that the Soviets have concentrated their best formations in the sector. 4 Shock Armies are present here, operating under the command of the Volkhov Front commanded by Zhukov. Each of these Shock Armies is in turn commanded by exceptional Soviet Generals, such as Tolbukhin, Konev, Bagramyan. There are 12 confirmed Cavalry Corps formations here and another 4 suspected ones in the rear. In addition to these formations there are also 3 Tank Divisions, 2 Motorized Divisions and 2 Tank Brigades present. 2 ''battle hardened'' Soviet Rifle Divisions (the 21st and 32nd) as well as two Mountain Divisions are spearheading the assaults. This leaves no doubt that the enemy will push here, in an attempt to cut off the Tula salient.

Soviet Trio in command of the offensive in the sector:

With your defense the Soviet Cav are just not going to get any breakthrough. With January next turn you get a defense bonus. So I think you have this contained nicely with a very low chance of a breakthrough.

Thanks HLYA, the concentration of cavalry there is still worrying but from what I can tell there is a low density of infantry formations to support the attacks. We'll see how it goes!

[xhoel]

Casualties and OOB:
Ground:

This was the bloodiest week so far in term of casualties since the blizzards hit. Axis KIA at 9.000 men and Soviet ones at 35.000 men. Additionally the Soviets lost 360 AFVs. Axis AFV losses shown below are mostly Hungarian ones. German Panzer Divisions have not been deployed to the front yet. 3.640 trucks lost to all causes. The motor pool is at a 31.000 truck deficit right now.



Motor Pool:



Air:

Air losses on both sides reflect the increased activity on the ground. The LW Transport Fleet is taking losses due to the non stop flying of supplies in areas where shortages are present. (I try to keep all of my units above 50% ammo).



OOB:

Both OOBs show a slight improvement as we enter January. A big bump in the German numbers comes from the addition of Hiwis to the TOEs.

[John B.]

A good update as always!

[bigbaba1111]

great AAR update again. this cavalery corps ball near orel looks terrifying.

btw: i was away a long time and it seems that sapper regiments are nerfed quite a bit. just wondering what kind of SU now are up to date for cavalery/rifle corps. i guess non motorizied ones for rifle corps because of truck pool.