Ostfront H2H

[Captain Cruft]

Progress in the north is actually a bit better.

[Captain Cruft]

Brest airfield

Now for the AGC air action. A different view of the combat results this time.

Once again the I-15s get slaughtered.

[Captain Cruft]

Minsk airbase

A large attack on Minsk airbase is very successful. Again no losses, even the Bf-110 can cope with the chubby I-16s.

AGC is much better equipped on the air front than AGN ...

[Captain Cruft]

More air attacks on a couple of lightly defended airfields, no losses at all.

IMPORTANT NOTE

I have left 1 x BF-109 unit, 2 x BF-110 units and all 4 x Ju-87 units in the AGC alone this turn. This is so that they are at max readiness for next turn which means their anti-supply radius will be greater.

[Captain Cruft]

AGS

Less detail on the combat from now on, it's basically just more of the same.

AGS is always a slog since there are boatloads of Soviet mech corps in this area, well equipped with T-34s. However, for some reason, for the first time ever I have managed to over-run Lvov airbase on the first turn. Lots of MiGs there too.

[Captain Cruft]

Germany turn 1 wrapup

The German turn is now over.

Since the Hungarians, Slovaks and Romanians start at varying degrees of reduced readiness I have merely moved their ground units forward a bit so as to be ready to go on turn 2.

However, I did so some air attacks behind the Romanian front, which were quite hard work.

[Captain Cruft]

Production

All I did here was to move all the stuff forward from the rear area railheads (e.g. Berlin, Dresden) to those near the front i.e. Konigsberg, Warsaw and Cracow. I have also setup an "SS Depot" at Poznan. It pays to keep these guys separate I have found.

There was one reinforcement unit to move forward which was the Croat infantry regiment at Zagreb. This is now somewhere in the Carpathian mountains where it will need to gain readiness before starting on its intended role as an anti-partisan unit.

[Captain Cruft]

Soviet view turn 1

Here is the strategic map from the Soviet perspective after the initial German assault.

The Soviets get boatloads of reinforcements, which mostly come in around the map edges. These units must be moved nearer the front over the rail network, but there are not really enough trains and many of them are not in the right place. Solving this problem is one of the Soviet players challenges.

[Captain Cruft]

Luftwaffe interdiction

Here you can see the effect that the air anti-supply is having in the NW Front area (opposite AGN). The numbers in the red circles indicates the supply points lost in each hex which would otherwise have been delivered to units. It is absolutely essential that the Soviet player counters this, which is done by having fighters near the front line which are ready enough to intercept.

Simply withdrawing the airforce to the rear areas to "train it up" is not an option, at least not for the fighter component.

[Captain Cruft]

Soviet turn 1

Mostly just a lot of moving stuff about. Some back and some forwards ...

I have tried to concentrate the surviving MiGs at important airbases like Riga, Minsk, Kiev & Odessa while the I-15s and I-16s will try to hold the frontline.

A counter-attack on the SS at Lvov airbase was attempted by two mech corps. Heavy losses were taken and all we really managed to do was make the Wiking division require a replacement halftrack.

[Captain Cruft]

Turn 1 losses

First screen ...

[Captain Cruft]

Second screen ...

[Captain Cruft]

Germany turn 2

Reinforcements have arrived, as they will for both sides on virtually every turn.

[Captain Cruft]

Oh no it's the Italians ...

[Captain Cruft]

German morale has increased by 8 points.

[Captain Cruft]

Conversely Soviet morale has decreased by 8 points.

NOTE - This is just the RegimeBaseMorale, actual unit morale will of course vary with circumstances. One thing the Soviets can do to boost their morale is to produce more Kommisars (a staff SFType) and put them into the HQ units. These SFTypes are produced at "NKVD" factories around the map and give a morale bonus to troops under their influence.

[Captain Cruft]

A German view of the air anti-supply exerted around Minsk. Much clearer without the Soviet units ...

[Captain Cruft]

Soviet reinforcements on turn 2.

[british exil]

Was wondering why you were playing both sides, till I decided to download the scenario and found it as only human players possible, which is a shame. Was looking very interesting.

But I will still carry on reading your AAR. Keep up the good work.

[Captain Cruft]

This AAR is just an advert ...

The entire database has been changed and the AI just can't begin to cope with it I'm afraid.