Operation Typhoon: MrBendy vs Cpt Cruft (game over: Soviet Marginal)

[Captain Cruft]

Vast Truck Wealth

One thing I have noticed, all the infantry reinforcements I have been getting are fully motorised, with many trucks. Whereas the initial armies were largely foot-bound. I don't know if that is historically accurate (somehow I doubt it) but in game terms what it means is that I can move very quickly on the offensive. Scenario balancing reasons perhaps?

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 20

Well as if to contradict what I just said, this turn I got an entire army of foot soldiers as reinforcements ...

You can see from the map that now the snow has come the cold-enured Russians are really going for it both north and south. I don't think I'll be able to push it very far due to the supply situation but it still feels good [8D]

The right-hand half of the red clump to the north-east of Tula is the 1st Shock Army, which is the "hounds" I referred to earlier. The few Germans in their path so far have not been able to put up much resistance.

[larryfulkerson]

Are the blacked out areas places where you have "censored" the picture or ....????

[Captain Cruft]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Are the blacked out areas places where you have "censored" the picture or ....????

Yes exactly.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 21

The tide has definitely turned.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 22

The weather is taking its toll. The 1st Shock Army went into re-org this turn, which put the kibosh on the drive towards Tula.

Elsewhere we continue to advance where we can, and the 61st Army evaporated an entire German infantry division in the south [8D] It was hard work though, those units will not be up to much for a couple of turns at least.

Time is the main problem now. Only 4 scheduled turns left. Can the Soviets re-take enough ground to win the game?

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 23

The Soviet Hordes advance on all fronts.

Well, we tried to, but failed a proficiency check and so only got one combat round off. Which was very annoying since I had carefully planned follow-up attacks and retreats were achieved on about 90% of the first round attacks. Oh well ...

As it's getting near the end of the game and the Germans are offensively bust I can't be bothered to censor the map anymore. So here it is in its entirety.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 24

Another turn, another single round of combat [:(]

Still, we are not doing too badly.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 25

Kaluga falls!

Much to my surprise, Kaluga has been re-taken in a pure infantry battle. The score is now showing Marginal Victory to the Soviets [8D]

However, casualties everywhere have been horrendous, and my offensives are definitely running out of steam. There is only 1 turn remaining though so it's probably not a problem.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 27: Game Over

Soviet Marginal Victory

Well the game decided to give us an extra turn, but it made no difference to anything. The last two turns just comprised of bloody Soviet attacks which gained little ground. My counter-offensive was definitely running out of steam and you can see the new front-line starting to form on the map below.

I was extremely disappointed by the bland Victory screen, which is frankly not worth showing. It consists of a text string "Stavka Victory" in a blank box. Though I do understand that this is down to the scenario designer and not the game's fault ...

Anyway, a very enjoyable game and I thank MrBendy for playing it [:)] I certainly learnt a lot, though in this particular scenario I don't really know what I would do differently another time. The Soviet player has very few choices until the last quarter of the game.

[briantopp]

An excellent AAR thank you for sharing it. I'll see if I can generate a more satisfying victory box when i get around to updating this scenario. It's fascinating (and reassuring) that you basically ended up right on the historical result.

I draw your eye to another scenario I've posted, "Battle for Moscow". Same situation, but includes the front north of Moscow as well as the south. you can find it here:

http://ca.geocities.com/briantopp@rogers.com/

The scenario you've playtested here is a TOAW implementation of "The Gamers'" Guderian's Blitzkreig I. "Battle for Moscow" implements "Guderian's Blitzkreig II" a much more sweeping look at the same battle.

All the best,
Brian Topp