Campaign 44'...an AAR of sorts

[Preuss]

I figured I'd try this campaign against the AI as the Germans to test new toys...most especially the Me-262...and the big tanks.
Though the AI isn't especially bright, it has managed to smash through most places, moreso now because it's winter...the campaign begins in Aug 44
My infantry corps are uniformly 5 infantry divisions and in most cases 2 supporting units, whether they be a Jgpz battalion, sturmgeschutz, or artillery and flak.
My panzer corps in most cases have 4 pz divs plus a few supporting units. The numbers and size of the tanks is enough to make you drool for them in the 41' campaign.
My general idea for the ground combat was to stay fluid...keeping some pz corps nearby to isolate and cut off russki units. In this I have been successful quite a few times. More often than not, these isolated units manage to break out despite the fact that they have been isolated with no supply and that the unit they chose to punch through was a hefty pz corps. The numbers of Russian tanks are staggering.
Most of my corps now stand at the Niemen, to the southern end only a few short hexes from Ploesti. I've resisted the temptation to withdraw units from either Sud or West fronts.
I've lost only 2 corps (only???) through surrounding and surrender.
My greatest problem is readiness recovery and OP levels. There seems to be a greater amount of failures of units to follow their plots...though I'm not used to having them fail at all, there have been a couple that have thrown off my attempts to surround and destroy.
Pz corps may have to wait up to three turns before they have enough readiness recovered to be battle worthy. Infantry corps recovery is not much better, and many divisions are depleted to pitiful size.
In the tactical air war, I withdrew all of my air units to save them from devastating losses I suffered in the first turn. The only air units near the East front are those protecting Ploesti.
Though this gave me many fighter units in concentration, most were very small, and all suffer heavy attrition in duels with the USAAF. Russian air forces in the Ploesti area are almost non existent due to some timely PzKorps/RuHQ clashes and the preponderance of Russian airpower facing Army Group center. Though I've had one similar HQ-smashing success in Army Group Center's area of control, the Russian airpower is proving to be too much to handle...I simply don't have the Luftwaffe units to spare from defence of factories and oil production.
In the strategic air war, my forces are dropping many USAAF aircraft...so many so, that I think the game goes a little over the top. Rarely does the USAAF lose less than 70 bombers per raid and as many fighters. Since I've not seen any 700+ bomber raids, I think that their bomber offensive would have been realistically crippled due to those kind of losses. Still they come, and my oil refineries are bombed to smithereens...even if 30 US bombers make it to the target they do heavy or higher damage. (I remember somewhere it being said that the USAAF was almost driven from German skies in 43') The casualties it's suffering now are horrible. In the mid-december turn, Ploesti was producing 8. Essen is similarly pounded. And heavy industry is taking huge hits, too...I am only thankful when I see something like "hetzer factory takes heavy damage"...at least they left the oil alone!
I'm losing on about a 1 to 1 ration against the USAAF...though sometimes I get lucky and they lose more than me. It's pleasing when their AF box shows only a fighter unit, or is completely empty.
In production, I immediately turned all but He-177, Ju-87 PzJag, 2 Bf-109 factories and 2 FW-190 factories to Me-262 production. Last time I looked I was producing about 70 each turn. Almost all of my air units are equipped with either Me-262, Bf-109k, or FW-190D.
The size of my Luftwaffe units is see-sawing. Often I rotate stronger units out of Reich defense, or Ploesti to one or the other or for an airstrike in a threatened area. Keeping those oil fields is probably my greatest concern. No sooner does a unit get to above 70 servicable aircraft than it finds itself sadly depleted. In general, though I can tell you that their is a gradual size increase.
In air to air combat between the Me-262 and Russki air power, the 262's rarely lose less than the Spitfire IX's, La-5's, and P-47's they meet. Taking time to train my fighter units is out of the question...LOL It was with pleasure that I am able to now do some interdiction raids in the south against Ivan. Something must have been tweaked though, because I remember the Ju-87 PzJag's (exp 80...yes, they've been training!) used to ring up some tremendous numbers of Ivan's tanks in the old version of Second Front.
I'm finding the leadership pool less than desirable. The old names of of 1941 are scant. Manstein, the most capable is defending Ploesti. I've been tempted to withdraw "smiling Albert" Kesselring from SUD front and Rundstedt from West front, but have resisted fearing that something unfortunate could result. Hitler still sits in OKW...grrrrrrrrr.
I'd like to know how some of you fared in that scenario. I'll keep plucking away at it between PBEM games and family matters...but...it looks bleak unless I can somehow shatter the USAAF bomber fleets.

Cheers,

Gary

[Preuss]

Addendum....
Tank production is high...I have almost 800 Pz IVJ's sitting in reserve...with no place to go! Lots of King Tigers and Panthers too. I'd like to be able to shut down a few factories in hopes of using the resources elswhere.