Poland then Russia instead of France

[Christolos]

Hi,

Preamble:

I first posted about this in The War Room section (see: tm.asp?m=4198212&mpage=1� ) since I thought it was appropriate in the context of being a strategy that could be attempted not necessarily to make a case for it being a good strategy, but more so to see what would happen.

So now I thought I would continue updating what is happening in the context of an AAR, since I think the point about posting in the War Room has been made and could now be continued as an AAR.

The following will detail the situation as of May 29, 1941.

With limited forces, my goal in the East is to capture Leningrad and Moscow as soon as possible while trying to make as much headway towards Kiev as possible.

With Finland having joined the Axis side, here is the approach towards Leningrad:

[Christolos]

Here is the approach towards Moscow:

[Christolos]

Here is the somewhat stalled approach towards Kiev:



I wish I had another HQ for this sector but I don't!

[Christolos]

The situation in North Africa looks good:



...but the pressure is on in the West and I don't know if I will be able to take Moscow in 1941.

I'm confident that Leningrad will fall in 1941...but I have a feeling I will need to operate some troops back to the West to keep the Allies from racing into the Ruhr...and this will hinder my chances of taking Moscow.

C

[Hartmann]

Thanks for keeping us up to date about this. [:)] I don't wish you ill, but for the sake of the game I hope the Allies will give you a hard time. [:'(][:D]

[Christolos]

Indeed, the AI is kicking my butt in the West and has taken all of Belgium and has even broken through in a few places into Germany (I lost a fighter unit this way), which has forced me, as I expected, to shift troops from the East to the West, taking the punch out of my drive East.

I have been able to take Leningrad (also as expected) and have closed in on Moscow...but I'm worried that I won't be able to take it. before the winter (1941)...

I'm not even sure if Russia would surrender if I just took Moscow without taking Stalingrad as well. My efforts towards Stalingrad are way behind...[:(]

I have made progress in Egypt (captured El-Alamein, destroyed the British 7th armoured and the armoured unit of US tanks that arrived) but it hasn't been easy at all as the AI has put up a fairly solid/stiff defense the whole time.
I understand this may be because there is no threat in the West so the UK land forces are more likely to deploy to Egypt...

I have also made some gains on the naval front both in the Atlantic and in the Med but this came at a heavy price but still with fewer losses than the Allies, so I have also been enjoying the naval game which I find reasonable given the difficulty of modelling reality of this aspect in a Strategic level war game that requires considerable abstraction to try and do so.

I will post some new pics soon.

[Christolos]

It is now September 2, 1941. As mentioned, Leningrad has been taken and I am trying desperately to capture Moscow before the Winter, but lack the firepower to do so...

Here is the situation around Leningrad:



I have already shifted the armour and artillery I had in this sector (which helped to capture the city) towards the effort against Moscow, and will follow with the air units and the remainder of the German land forces including the HQ unit.

[Christolos]

Here is the situation around Moscow:



The front is way overextended with my flanks poorly defended to the point that my spearhead could easily be cut-off. This hasn't happened yet and could be because the Russians (the AI) simply don't have the troops to spare, or the AI isn't clever enough to attempt it/carry it out...I just don't know...but I'm sure a human player would think about it and/or maybe even attempt it...I don't know but it is an interesting point to ponder nonetheless.

[sPzAbt653]

the AI is kicking my butt in the West and has taken all of Belgium

I've done this [Poland then Russia] a couple times and the Allies haven't gone into Belgium on me. I guess I am lucky so far.

I'm not even sure if Russia would surrender if I just took Moscow without taking Stalingrad as well.

I've been in Russia plenty of times, enough to say that if you take Moscow, the Capitol moves to Kuybychev, and if you take Kuybychev it moves to Perm. Keep an eye on the Russian Morale as it goes down and you will get an idea of how close he is to surrender. Most of the time he will hit zero before surrendering [but not always [;)] ]

[Christolos]

I've done this [Poland then Russia] a couple times and the Allies haven't gone into Belgium on me. I guess I am lucky so far.

Yes, you may have been lucky...but this also speaks to the fact that the game has a good level of re-playability in that we can never be sure of what will happen until it does or doesn't.

I've been in Russia plenty of times, enough to say that if you take Moscow, the Capitol moves to Kuybychev, and if you take Kuybychev it moves to Perm. Keep an eye on the Russian Morale as it goes down and you will get an idea of how close he is to surrender. Most of the time he will hit zero before surrendering [but not always [;)] ]

I have to admit that this discourages me a little somewhat in terms of continuing with this strategy, as I was hoping to get Russia to surrender in 1941. It would appear that this will not be so simple. Russian national morale is currently at 90%...

[Christolos]

Here is the situation heading towards Kiev:


The way towards Warsaw is wide open...[:(]

[Christolos]

Here's the situation in the West:


It is tenuous at best...

[Christolos]

Things are going better in Egypt but it hasn't been easy!

[Christolos]

Finally, here is the current detailed losses report:

[sPzAbt653]

I have to admit that this discourages me a little somewhat in terms of continuing with this strategy

Well, I didn't mean to discourage, just giving some intel, so sorry about that. On the positive side, Russia surrendered to me once when they were at 60% Morale [although that was during beta so it might have been changed].
And on the other hand, the US is coming soon. You might even expect US troops in France by February 1942. Now that is discouraging !

[Hartmann]

It would be much more discouraging if this were an easy win for a human player. It shouldn't and at the moment I think the AI does well enough against CC1, especially as he does a good job in the East and in Egypt. It will be interesting to see what happens once the US comes into play.

[Christolos]

Thanks sPzAbt653 and Hartmann for your insightful comments.

I would expect that the US forces that would arrive in 42 would be rather green with regards to upgrades and experience...so this may buy me a little more time.

What concerns me the most at this point is whether I will be able to take Moscow before the winter and if I do, how close will Russia be to surrendering...

I will post an update soon.

Cheers,

C

[Christolos]

I have to say that things are not at all going well as the AI (kudos to the AI!) has finally started to attack the way over extended flanks of my spearhead aimed at taking Moscow.


I can now say that the whole approach was pure folly...and to boot, the Siberians are on their way westwards...so the fate of my attack on Russia is now sealed.[:(]

I have had my fun up to now but there is no point continuing this and so I will start a new game going after France (this time) before attacking Russia.

C

[Christolos]

C

[Christolos]

I've done this [Poland then Russia] a couple times and the Allies haven't gone into Belgium on me. I guess I am lucky so far.

Hi sPzAbt653,

I forgot to ask you, how did the games where you have done this [Poland then Russia] a couple of times, turn out?

Thanks,

C