JBeil (G) vs eisman (S)

[jbeil]

Hello!

After years of sitting in my Steam library, I've decided to finally take on the task of learning how to play WitE, and eismann has graciously invited me to play a PBEM game on the 1.12.07 version of the game. I've played the first few turns of a game against the AI, and I've done a few small scenarios, but this is a big challenge to learn on!

(nobody tell Mr.Moustache I don't know what I'm doing!)

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My plan for the south is to reach the Romanians by the end of turn 1 with the orange Panzergruppe, and then turn east to achieve smaller encirclements - with the built-up fuel and ammo, I don't have to worry too much about the panzers being surrounded at this point, so I'll abuse them for a few turns to get as many of the southern troops in the bag as possible.

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In the north, I want to reach Riga this turn if possible, while the infantry routes towards Kaunas-Vilnius and on to the Daugava - ideally I don't want to Soviets to be able to hook against the big river. The green Panzerkorps will drive for Minsk, and the blue and green infantry will be tasked with eliminating the Poland pocket before the end of turn 2.

[jbeil]

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I managed to reach Riga but it took a significant effort from the Panzers - I might have been better off swinging further east to set up a bigger encirclement. Still, I've driven a lot of airfields away, and next turn I'm aiming at getting near Tallinn. I've reached the Daugava, so my opponent will have to retreat further away that the first natural barrier unless he wants to try and take on the motorised divisions.

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In the centre I've gone for a smaller pocket than I could have - most of the tank divisions are already mauled and I anticipate no problems swallowing them up next turn. The walls of the pocket are a little better here than in the south, and if my opponent makes a determined attempt to relieve them, he'll just lose more units.

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I think this may have been a mistake - I wanted to get the Romanians activated as quickly as possible, but in doing so I've just left nothing behind. I'll have to hope the lack of fuel hinders enemy movement next turn, and I can get a quick surround of Odessa to make my work worthwhile.

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As I'm just trying to focus on learning the basics, I left most of the air war to the AI, and only destroyed 2.5k airframes. I've seen some people claim that 4k is the minimum required, which leaves me a bit nervous!

Here's hoping the supplies aboard the mobile divisions will last long enough for the infantry to reach them and that my opponent doesn't have any nasty surprises.

[jbeil]

Turn two - I've liquidated the pocket around Lvov, and used some of the panzers from AGC to hook north towards Velikie Luki - my plan there is to try and go around the big developing force in front of Smolensk. AGN is already looking like it will have a real job on to cross the river into Estonia, and I'll have to see how quickly the infantry can form up to perform a deliberate attack. It might be a case of an HQ buildup in the panzers for AGN.

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AGS is a trickier problem - historically this was the strongest Soviet front, and rather than break them apart my plan will be to isolate a smaller chunk, surround them, and force the soviets to withdraw. Let's see if if it works!

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