Razing the Reich II (no Manstein63)

[Bozo_the_Clown]

I am perplexed as to why these guys (yellow circle) won’t dig? Is there something weird going on with this hex?

If they don’t dig this turn I am going to report as a potential bug.

It's the other way around. The bug is that the units in X83, Y2 and X83, Y0 are digging. They shouldn't build fortifications because they are frozen. The three units in X83, Y3 are doing what they are supposed to do. They start digging on turn 4.

[smokindave34]

I've never been a fan of driving for V Luki as the axis - a lot of terrain very favorable for the defender there. Easy to get bogged down.

I can't see the CV's but it looks like a "wall of steel" has been built at the land bridge......

[Michael T]

Yes WOS hexes are around 40+ CV.

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: Michael T

Yes WOS hexes are around 40+ CV.

Sounds good, but because of changes 30 CV easly falls to HA's by PD's now if done right and a 40 will fall after 1 or 2 HA.

equipment that fires matter now its not all about small arms fire like back in the day.

3 PD can easly get 60 CV which can NP drop a 30 CV stack. Logistics is tighter, but attacking is easyer so its a wash.

flipping the coin works same way for Russia as Chaos proved.

not many people have figured this out yet. 3 MP attack vs 16MP huge difference over a few turns.

+ we have more control over replacements, which is why more German players grind for pockets.

[Michael T]

Yes lots has changed since I last played as a Soviet. I have made quite a few notes for things I would do differently next time round. And same goes for playing as Germany.

[Peltonx]

I did say "if" and your you not just anyone next 3 turns will tell allot.

[BrianG]

Did you attach them to the frozen hq? They take on trait of frozen unit. If yes, they wont build.

If still attached to non frozen hq they will build.

[Michael T]

I could not attach any newly arrived divisions to the existing HQ in that area. They were all Stavka. Two hexes dug and one did not. I know not why.

[chaos45]

From the current positions the Soviets are fine in this game if not way ahead of schedule. The Germans have been slowed far to much for Barbarossa to be considered successful at this point. This will allow michael to easily evacuate all his factories or at least most and slowly build up counterattack forces already this early in the game. He can just start giving up space now as he has bought most of the time he needs already for 1941.

I think you can already chalk this up to a Soviet in the bag game, its why i gave up as Germans on T3 vs Bozo....the game can be very deterministic without a massive German initial success.

[rainman2015]

Hey MT. I am playing my first game as the Soviets (been playing exclusively Germans for 2 years), and i am wondering 1) where did you get all the divisions for the North and Central fronts, how many came directly from the south? and 2) it looks like you have put around 11 divisions on the Janis line to stop the Finns, where the heck did you find so many divisions so early, especially given also being so strong in on the Northern (Leningrad) front (and Central front)!?

One more totally generic question as to how to manage the Soviets (again, i have the Germans down as to how to organize them, but this is first time with the Soviets). Do yall do some sort of pre-planning worksheet or something to 1) figure out what divisions/corps/armies are going where before moving them and 2) to figure out how to re-arrange all the command structure army/front wise? I am noticing i am, with limited rail cap, a little overwhelmed as to who to start moving where to get the forces i want to the right places.

Thanks!
Randy

[rainman2015]

Also, impressed with the Janis defense, not sure how the Finns break that given the few (or one) hex they can attack from other than hitting it at 1-2 attacks and hoping for a good result. Maybe the only way around it is to take Leningrad and flank it from behind eventually, but that means that the Janis line certainly did its job!

Randy

[Michael T]

@ Randy. To get all those troops up around Janis, Leningrad and the land bridge you have to strip the south of all but a skeleton force. Leave just enough to prevent a walkover. It’s a balancing act. It comes with experience. You also have to keep your southern forces intact by keeping just out of range of the Panzers. But nothing is certain. The hun can do multiple HQBU and hit you where you may not expect it. The skill of the German you face dictates much of what you can achieve early on.

This is why a really good opening and follow up turn is necessary for the German. The better he does in T1 and T2 the less troops the Soviet has to play with up north. A particularly strong opening may mean I would have had to decide on either giving away the Janis defence or perhaps fatally weakening the south. I would give up on Janis.

Playing Soviet is very much an administrative task, way more so than playing Germany. When playing Germany I would spend 90% of time figuring out operational problems, 10% admin. With the Soviet it’s maybe 50-50. Yes I have a spreadsheet, but not for Army organization or operations. The opening turns for the Soviet are an organizational nightmare. You just have to live with it and do the best you can and slowly turn by turn get on top of it. Operationally, I start by getting what I feel is the minimum number of troops in to position in the highest priority area, work down the list of priorities. This list depends on your overall strategy. If I have excess troops, return to the top priority area and beef it up to a sensible maximum, work down the list again. You also have to figure on using lots of rail for factory evac’s from July, again it’s a balancing act. I usually do not move mech units by rail at all unless in a real emergency. They cost too much in rail cap. It’s T5 in my game and I still have mech units sitting in the Urals since T1 or T2.

It can be overwhelming if you look at the whole thing at once. Break the turn down in to parts, take breaks. Playing Soviet is a different mindset. Confusing at first after playing German but after a few turns a familiar pattern sets in and you can relax, unless you are getting torn apart [:)]

[Michael T]

My Janis guys I was concerned about are digging now, at last.

[Michael T]

I have done around 80% of my T5. Should finish tonight. It will be a bit of a nerve wracking wait for T6 when I finish as I am standing my ground and am not running anywhere. Interesting times ahead [X(]

[Michael T]

End Soviet T5 – 17th July 1941 – Clear

In the far north the Janis line is well established. I think it will hold. But further to the south I am having trouble extraditing my troops from the border around Vyborg.

PG4 (3 Pz and 4 Mot) pushes to the north east of Pskov, trapping two ID in a swamp. A counter attack by Soviet forces relieve them (see post below).

PG3 (4 Pz and 2 Mot) drive a wedge in to our lines to the north of Vitebsk, we fall back from envelopment and reform a line in front of the leading German Mot units.

PG2 (4 Pz and 2 Mot) cross the Dnepr north of Mogilev and threaten the land bridge from the southern flank.

The twin thrusts by PG2 and PG3 threaten to envelope the land bridge defences so we thin out the land bridge wall and send the stripped units to defend the river lines running to the east to cover the flanks of the land bridge armies.

PG1 (6 Pz and 4 Mot) are stationed to the north and south of Kiev. The Dnepr will be crossed next turn I believe. We draw troops up from the vicinity of Kirovograd to reinforce the lines behind Kiev.

I decided to try and hold my ground this turn. No withdrawal anywhere. So the risk of encirclement is great. Inevitable really. But I can afford to lose some troops at this point to save territory. My aim is give him as little room for retreat as possible come winter. The risk is I lose way more troops than I would like through a very large pocket or two. The wait begins….

[Michael T]

Some small retribution on the hun, and we relieve some cut off troops... Stalin is pleased.

[Michael T]

End Soviet T6 – 24th July 1941 (Clear)

No great disasters to report so far. The no retreat strategy is still in place and to date working. Though it is fraught with danger.

In the north no gains are made by the enemy towards Leningrad, he is content to grind east from Pskov.

In the centre PG3 continues its push towards V.Luki, reaching the city’s outskirts. PG2 expands its bridgehead over the Dnepr and keeps pushing east.

The envelopment of the landbridge and its armies is a real possibility but Stalin orders stand fast.

In the south the Dnepr line is breached just south of Kiev, some extra units are drawn from further south to help contain the bridgehead. Again I am playing with fire here.

In other news I was surprised to see Odessa fall (2.02 : 1). The attacking CV doubled and the defending CV halved. Can’t help bad luck. But I lost all industry in Odessa. A nasty sting, I thought I had more time. The axis commanding army was Rumanian!

[Michael T]

End Soviet T7 – 31st July 1941 (Clear)

No choice but to make some withdrawals this turn.

In the north the Janis line repels two attacks from the Finns (details below). PG4 pushes toward Novgorod (see close up below).

PG3 Rolls through V.Luki and PG2 drives deep to just south of Smolensk. I have to withdraw from Vitebsk, the bulge would be too vulnerable to encirclement. I hate to retreat here but I must.

In the South PG1 expands it’s bridgehead to the south of Kiev. The danger of hanging around Kiev becomes too great. Again I must withdraw.

[Michael T]

Successful Janis defense X2

[Michael T]

Close up of Leningrad front.