Matrix Games Forums

June 8th 1942, Hitler awakes to the news of the defeat at Midway to the Empire of Japan. Halder and the general staff plead that "Fall Blau" must be scraped and the destruction of the Red Army is a must and Moscow has to be the goal. Hitler, after a fit, agrees and hands over command to Halder and the OKH in the east...After the brutal winter, organization is a mess, and the rebuilt panzer forces are in the south...Hum...

Plans are being laid. Lines must be shortened in areas to prvide thrusts elsewhere. 18th Army is instructed to remove the enemy on the coast (red) and pull troops back (yellow)...These are really before action reports. Action reports will follow after plans are in place...

The northern flank. Models 9th army recieves the brunt, secure it...Close the small salient (red) destroy the pocket (blue) and press north-east (yellow)...

Some info, I'm in the mode that shows static units (white outline). It costs AP's (Admin points) to activate them (move trucks), and theres only so many. So you can see that I really have to manage where and when I move those trucks...Never had that in a board game ,huh...

LVI PzC, 4th Army is going to activate and drive to close the southern flank...

Heres a bigger pictute of the Moscow front area so you get an idea...Yellow are proposed advancments, Hoths PzA (pink) is the death blow, the upper cut...

Lol...Looking at this game, I want it and I have it...Lol and it's only alpha...Ready for my attacks...I've got some of the northern and the south ss's ready. It's my 1st and 4th PzA's that take some time...Oh, then theres the wife, darn her...Lol...What is with that song, "Girls just want to have fun"? What about the boys?...Different toys I guess...

Leningrad, the attack to take the coastal units out. I clicked on a stack to show whats there (pink border). The attack went well and were getting ready for next week...

9th Army, the pocket is closed. There so dug in it will take a month to clear them, but I need to get a bridgehead meanwhile...

4th Army, I activated an other Corps to support the attack. The flanks were so strong I didn't breakdown the PzD and advance further...But the pressure is on...

Btw, I'm not close to ending this turn. You may say '"why didn't I move that, or this"? Well I'm not done yet. The wife is gone and had time to post...Guys the first turn is a bear, it always take longer (any game). So I'll get into the flow as long as she lets me...lol...

quick ? 4 u. noticed alot of shore still up by Lenn, doe sthe game model shore bombard capacity for either side?

Well Sevastopol fell to Manisten and the big guns there...The plan is to move them north for the assult on Rostov...

Heres the press on Rostov. XIV PzC lead by SS Wiking breaks towards the city...

Freeboy I missed your question... The coast of the Baltic is abstract, as theres no vessels in the game...So after the gulf of Finland its called a stalemate (no navel action), no help from either side. Before the gulf it's German waters...

What is the division above and to the left the SS Wiking.
BTW... your plan looks good.
I guess will see if a one arm encirclement of Moscow would work.

Its the Slovak Mot Div...

It's good to have your AAR back PyleDriver.

Looking at the front near Rzhev and your proposed line of advance, wouldn't it do more damage to the Soviets to wait until the units of the northern yellow arrow can make a move, and then to close the pocket from Rzhev instead of from the position of the southern yellow arrow? It would trap more units and give you a shorter frontline. You could also advance from the Rzhev pocket to Torzhok, cutting the only railroad out of the area the Soviets will have left after the forces near Velikiye Luki close the other one (the one that HQ is sitting on next to an unidentified Guards formation and an air base).

A human Russian player's reaction to PyleDriver's offensive plans would be "Go ahead, make my day!" Attacking headlong into the Russian strategic reserves reflects the unfounded contempt the German General staff still had for the Red Army in the spring of 1942. I don't know how well the AI will do but as a Russian player I would welcome the chance to re-organize and reinforce my weak southern wing while the Germans bang their heads against dug in rifle divisions. You can't expect too much from the AI but maybe in this AAR we'll see which army really was stronger in 1942. I'm on the side of the argument that says Blau was strategically correct but operationally mismanaged, and the OKH plan overly optimistic regarding the relative strength of the two armies. This AAR should be very interesting to follow.

This is going to be a very interesting AAR. I can't wait to see how the AI is going to counter Jon's offensive moves.