41 Grand Campaign Me(sov) vs ComradeP (axis)

[Klydon]

Another thing by not looking for opportunities for fighting at all, is I think Soviet Guards units are going to be very few. The Russians need to get some experience and its hard to do on defense, especially with as careful as the German has been in this particular game.

Not saying it should change for this (or any other Soviet player), but I have noticed the same thing as far as general retreat and looking to load up during mud/winter for the Soviets. In a certain sense, it is disappointing because there don't appear to be very many downsides for the Soviets in such a strategy, when historically, such a policy would not have even been considered in 1941. (Retreating in the south was ok in 42 as it was look at in a different set of circumstances). Will be interesting to see how it all turns out, but at this point, it appears the Germans won't get much done in terms of killing the Red Army in 1941 and it will come down to how well they can handle a resurgent Red Army in 1942 and 1943.  

[notenome]

So start of turn 9.

Remember when I mentioned the possibility of a grand encirclement? Well it looks like von P is really gonna give it a go. The panzers begin blowing past Gomel, and in the South von P attempts to establish a bridgehead near Cherkassy, but is repulsed.





On the other hand, von Ps armor has swung even farther south, even crossing the Dnepr north of the Crimea. I still don't understand what von P is hoping to accomplish here.



Seems pretty clear von P is not going to try to go for Moscow, so troops are instead going to be redirected to plug the hole near Gomel, and at least one army is going to go near Stalino to prevent any major exploitation.

[notenome]

Not much to report as for Soviet moves this turn. I basically reinforced the far south a tad bit, evacuated some factories in the Donbass region, reinforced the area around Cherkassy and applied a massive bandage around the Gomel area. Zhukov got dismissed from STAVKA and replaced with Kulik, who I promptly replaced with Shaposhikov. What has me worried is that Shaposhikov's political rating is so low, I'm afraid next time Stalin gets chippy it might be the firing squad for him...

As for counterattacks, I hit the SS motorized brigade with 5 divisions but couldn't force a retreat. Part of the reason for the large mattress around the panzer spearhead in the south is that I hope this will better position me to counterattack the exhausted panzers (before he can advance von P will have to make at least 5 separate attacks). APs were mostly spent culling the 4-rating generals. Also I have begun building RR brigades instead of construction batalions in preparation for the winter. Provided no major emergencies I'd like to start funneling some reserves to Moscow where I can have them train up for the next couple of months in preparation for the winter.

[Flaviusx]

What was your CC like on that counterattack? Was it in clear terrain? (I try to counterattack in clear if at all possible and avoid any kind of adverse terrain.) It should have worked. I suspect you failed some leadership rolls.

You really need to start thinning out your troops near Kiev soon. I don't think you should hold on to the bulge much longer.

[notenome]

I've been gradually thinning Southwestern and western fronts. Its taken a while because of the deception involved. I have moved many empty HQ into the line to make it seem like their are still multiple units in some places. In total maybe some 30-35 divisions have been reattached to STAVKA or Bryansk. As for my CC during the attack, it was conducted by some units from a Bryansk Front Army and a STAVKA reserve army. Probably what happened was that 1) Both HQs had to move, which reduces the chance of aritllery coming into play, 2) One of the hexes had to cross a major river. I tried to compensate for this by setting ground support to 160, but no joy.
 
As for the Kiev Bulge, I'm not abandoning it. Its lvl 4 forts, and even if encircled, I want von P to have to make those attacks. It will at the least delay any hypophetical exploitation significantly.

[notenome]

Turn 10 start and the entire front saw action.

In the North the fascists woke up and have cut northwest. There's no way they can reach Leningrad in 7 turns, so my focus here should be avoiding unecessary encirclements.

In the Center von P has blown three large holes, isolating 7 divisions. One area looks ripe for counterattacking, and the situation begins to look troublesome again.

In the south infantry again attacked across the Dnepr, and have established a bridgehead I have no hope of retaking. Still I will not abandone the Dnepr line, let him slug it out against those forts.

In the far south I saw a priceless oportunity as von P swung around our exposed flank. An entire panzercorps has been isolated! Now we have many opportunities to counterattack, and I intend to inflict some damage. Those cavalry divisions are priceless!

Lastly near the Crimea 17th Army looks to be getting ready to attempt to blast through. Time to start triple stacking those defenders.

In terms of casualties, our aggressive approach to the air war appears to be paying off, as losses are beginning to reach the 10:1 ratio. As I'm almost exclusively flying obsolete aircraft, I'm very happy with the results. In the ground war it looks almost definite that losses will be below the 10:1 mark, as von P's casualties have almost doubled in last few turns.

If anyone would like to request a particular screenshot, feel free to ask.

[notenome]

Turn 10 is in the bag.

Once again we put a huge bandage on von P's breakthroughs. Over the last few turns we have quietly moved units out of Southwest front, which is now almost level. Unfortunately we are a front short in the South, because Southern front has become badly overloaded. Our counterattacks their failed pretty spetacularly, but mess I've created for von P should delay him there for another turn. All factories have been evacuated from the Donbass area.

In the Center we've decided to form a third line, in between the Rzhev-Vyazma line and the current front. For morale purposes it has been called the Lenin line, and should limit further exploitation.

7 more turns. The clock is ticking for von P. The Red Army now outnumbers the Wehrmacht by 1.1 million men.

Here is the end turn map, the result of some experimentation with color saturation. I tried to get it to look like the old Soviet operational maps (kind of yellow-greenish look).

Feedback is always appreciated.

[notenome]

Here's the start situation of Turn 11, plenty of fireworks.

[notenome]

Report of our glorious Red Army counterattacks. A very bad day for the Waffen SS.

[Flaviusx]

Excellent.

You're really getting it now with how to counterattack with the Red Army. You are in fact the first player I've seen thus far to do so.

Yes, it costs APs. Leadership and proper c&c is critical. And quite right about rifle divisions and cavalry divisions -- and how useless tank divisions really are.

[randallw]

Flavius will be proud of your attacks. [:)]

[cookie monster]

Well done.

Great editing of the game into a picture.

[notenome]

Here is the end of Turn 11. I haven't done the sepia-tone editing thing, did you guys like it?

[randallw]

Do you have something guarding the main Kiev hex itself?

[notenome]

I had until this turn but stripped it out as well. Whatever is defending in the perimeter will retreat into it, its been built up to a lvl 4 fort.

[kfmiller41]

How do you post such massive screen shots, I thought the limit was 5000kb per post? I would think these were larger than that, even as Jpegs. Great AAR by the way. I never considered attacking but both my opponents were less aggressive than yours

[notenome]

I just use paint and glue my screenies together and then save them as jpegs. So far haven't had any problems. Thanks for the complements.

[Fetrik]

I just read this outstanding AAR from pg1 to 5. It is very entertaining and i am impressed by your strategies. [&o]
I'm still reading the manual and have only played through the Minsk scenario. But instead of continuing to read the manual i think i will have to take a look at ComradeP's AAR and read about his frustrations with breaking your defenses. [:D]

[Farfarer61]

Great Read! I think you are setting the groundwork for a 43 victory unless von P is playing a deep game indeed. i like your insights into C+C, SU and aircraft use. They make a case for why getting into the detail is sometimes critical.

[notenome]

Thanks for the complements