ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus
The thing is, if you don't mass your forces around the most dangerous units (aka panzers), what is going to stop them from maneuvering (lots of MPs) and therefore surrounding your forces? A constant retreat, in my opinion. And that automatically means the German player will then be totally free to grab Moscow, Leningrad or whatever he wants [8D]
In fact I am not really counter-attacking. It's more about placing my forces in places which I consider vital to stop my opponent. Pure counter-attacks (aka attack enemy stacks), so far I only did 2, I think.
I think we're really saying the same thing then...I don't think that the Sovs should constantly retreat, but sort of stay "in the face" of the German player, which I think is what you're saying as well (the "counterattack" wording kind of confused me). That said, I can't say that this strategy has worked very well for me in my single PBEM, so I will be re-evaluating. Hence my interest in your AAR.
ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus
All I can say is that so far concentrating my hordes around the most dangerous units is working for me... as long as you are prudent and do NOT allow your opponent to surround these many forces.
Sabre, much more experienced than me, says various lines are needed. So that's maybe the answer [8D]
Heh, this is the hard part for me: "...as long as you are prudent and do NOT allow your opponent to surround these many forces." I just think that if you are close enough to slow down the enemy, you are close enough to be surrounded. I think multiple lines are the way to go, but it often impossible to put together until fairly late in the season. And I by no means have anything bad to say against 2ACR, but it seems (at least from the single AAR I'm reading by him) like his style of play is different from some others, more of a "punch a hole and drive deep" style rather than "focus every move on bagging more Sov units" style. That is what I meant when I said I didnt think he was as aggresive as others... And it is very possible that this observation is simply incorrect.
ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus
Still, you cannot allow the panzers to do what they want. You MUST try to contain them: one turn here another turn there. If you don't, I am pretty certain you are doomed.
Could not agree more, I just have a very poor understanding thus far of how to achieve it. For instance, I've read in several threads that you should also keep at least one Sov unit in contact with each Panzer div. I do this, but don't fully understand what good it does; while it obviously forces them (or more likely, some accompanying unit) to attack before they can move, if you placed your units one hex away, they would have to pay to enter your ZOC before attacking, which would seem better. I guess having a unit touching the panzers causes them greater fatigue and attrition, but is that the main reason?
