How to lose the war - PDH vs Cpt Flam

[pompack]

ORIGINAL: Aditia

question PDH, your armaments pool is 4800. Isn't that a bit low, also a potential restriction of new tanks flowing to your divisions?

Tank factories and armament factories compete for supplies, but tank factories do not require armaments to build tanks. Only devices/units marked with an "A" require armaments.

I think. I've only read the manual four times now so I'm not anywhere close to understanding it yet [:D]

[PeeDeeAitch]

Well, I had to try plan 1. Late May, as far as I know the Soviets can't make infantry corps yet, I have seen one or two of the brittle 1942 tank corps. They are getting stronger.

In a surprise move, I transfer the mighty 402 Bicycle Recon to the 4th Panzer Army. With banshee wails the intrepid bicyclists lead off the attack - though little progress is made, the sight of mg34s on handlebars, mortar wagons pulled behind, is not one to be forgotten any time soon.

4th Panzer and 3rd Panzer made agonizing progress, I thought about calling it all off. The southern drive was far stronger, and broke through the lines. Two panzer corps there were in the clear. Finally, the link up as the final panzer corps of the 4th Panzer made it to the 2nd Panzer lines.

It won't hold, it can't. I think I may well lose 2-3 units. Still, it was fun. Here is the pic. Note, no strengths. I purposefully made the center of it wide but no units "caught" out there as best I could.

Next turn is mud, and possibly the ruination of the Panzer forces...

[PeeDeeAitch]

Oh well, it was good while it lasted [:)]

Tomorrow I shall know if I need to actually think of my retreat to the Dnepr.

[TulliusDetritus]

You did it [:)] Amazing. Well, mud is bad for everyone... Yes, he has to move but to really cut your advance off he must reach the central corridor... and I can't see how he might be doing that in one turn [8D] You will need to infiltrate more units to create a ring of steel that his cavalry cannot break. The two bottlenecks per se should not be a problem. Especially during mud: CV divided by 8, that will be your best shield.

[Klydon]

Well done. I can't believe he didn't have more at the base of that salient. Way, way too much up in the face and immediately behind the lines. There are just a ton of divisions there. He may break it, but it will get reestablished and if nothing else, you are going to have him off a big fortified line over a large section of the front, which was sort of one of the points in doing this. 

[PeeDeeAitch]

One last thing. Don't feel too sorry for me. Even worst case scenario here, I actually have method to my madness. I had to strike when the iron was set to permanent press.

[PeeDeeAitch]

He did have a lot at the base, but I think I my arrows might have overwhelmed him. I didn't strike in the arrow direction, but instead more north east of the bridgehead - I expanded there a bit last clear turn, and so I had one less line of level 3 forts.

In the north there was no good way to go. I was lucky to make it as far as I did.

[PeeDeeAitch]

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

You did it [:)] Amazing. Well, mud is bad for everyone... Yes, he has to move but to really cut your advance off he must reach the central corridor... and I can't see how he might be doing that in one turn [8D] You will need to infiltrate more units to create a ring of steel that his cavalry cannot break. The two bottlenecks per se should not be a problem. Especially during mud: CV divided by 8, that will be your best shield.

Problem is he gets his half of the turn of clear before the mud turn. THAT is my real worry. Cut off units will not be saved.

[Mynok]

That's nice. The only cav he has that is dangerous you have properly pinned and ZOCd. Now he may very well rail in some stuff and finally break it before you can kill everything, but you will bag some serious units for sure.

Biggest issue is really how well your boots can kill isolated units in their estrogen-poisoned state. [:D]

[PeeDeeAitch]

Yeah, more negative waves again this turn, Moriarty. That cav unit still bothers me - I imagine it has a moral of 99 and 22 movement points...

If you look in the routed units to the east of Tambov in my pic, you will see the tank corps that had the misfortune of playing with one of my real tank corps...

[krupp_88mm]

well it was a good attempt, better luck next time

[ComradeP]

A real suspense as we wait to see if the pocket is broken open, or whether you fail at failing.

[Q-Ball]

Hard to tell because we can't see the CVs, but on the surface that pocket looks pretty strong. It would take 2-3 successful attacks on Panzer units to break it. At least the first turn; it should be broken the next turn after.

Still, pretty impressive!

[DTurtle]

Nice pocket, the only real weak spot I see is the single tank divisions along the Pronya in the north. Everything else seems like it should be quite secure or too far to penetrate as a soviet player.

[pompack]

IF he has a couple of tank corps (even shells) that can quickly rail in to the two rail lines east of Tula and Tamboy respectively he has a chance to break the ring by maneuver. Without that I don't see how it can be done unless he has a Cav Army lurking somewhere to try the same approach line in the mud next turn.

[Ketza]

That sir is a nice pocket.

[cpt flam]

it take me a hard time to reopen in the south
with some lucky attak against a SS X
slovakian are cut next turn will be a nightmare [&:]

[PeeDeeAitch]

Well, I had to try, now it is a furball. As Capt Flam said, it was broken, not fully, but supplied. My worries were units (important ones) being cut off, but that was not really the case. Who would have thought that minor SS brigades, Slovaks, Italians, and Hungarians would be bad on a river flank? Live and learn.

Still, in the mud this turn maneuver was impossible. I did "seal" it again, but the tank shells are going to open it again. Mud, though, means that the units in the pocket will not be able to move far, and next turn (insert evil laugh here) I get the clear first.

Units in the north prepared to smash south in the clear, hopefully giving a double seal to the pocket next turn. Units in the south played around and tried to pretend to be useful. Infantry rushed forward as much as they could to shore up the pocket.

Nobody can accuse me of thinking small. This will be the do or die battle for the campaign season, I am sure. My mobile forces will be burned for a long time after this, no matter what. Still, there is a measure of operational mobility regained [:)]

[PeeDeeAitch]

And for those who doubted, the 402 is now panzertruppen!

[Altaris]

I think you've probably bagged the vast majority of those units now. Just keep pushing your infantry in to the spearhead to close it up for good. I don't think he'll be able to sufficiently open that pocket enough to evacuate very much of it. Maybe some of the units on the eastern-most end of the pocket, but I think the rest are toast.
 
That's a big win for you, and imagine it has to have him scrambling to rebuild a front where you've punched this big hole in his lines.
 
I think this also shows why the Soviet player absolutely must have some screening units in the backfield behind his front lines. Doesn't necessarily have to be a huge number of units, just enough to checkerboard and make ZOC problems for any tank penetrations.