1.04 The East is Red II (no Jajusha please)

[Jajusha]

ORIGINAL: Tarhunnas

Almost forgot to tell - a tale of unsurpassed heroism! Soldiers of the Workers and Peasants Red Army have managed to annihilate a Rumanian armored division! Let this be a warning to the perfidious hyenas that follow in the steps of the fascist invaders! All we ever wanted from Rumania was a little talk about border adjustments, and the first chance they get, their burgeois leaders decide to stab the peace loving Soviet Union in the back. This is what they will get!

Rumanian tank division is already refitting to full strength:

[Jajusha]

On the game so far, my opening in AGN and AGC need work, lost 1 turn due to me messing up. Because of that, im slightly late in reaching the Dnepr, but surrounding more units then normally one has the chance, so i think casualty wise i'm not doing too bad.

Tarhunnas is putting a good defense, harassing panzers whenever he has the chance, leaving breadcrumbs all over the place to keep ZOCS in almost all clear hex terrain. Will try to keep it as interesting to my oponent and the AAR crowd :p

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 5.

Here are losses and OOB at the start of Turn5.

[Tarhunnas]

And Soviet production.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 5.

In the north, the Germans have moved out of the swampy passege and swung north to Narva. I have some troops cut off in Estonia, but I will be able to ship some of them out via Tallinn. I intend to leave a sizable garrison in Tallin. That will force the germans to divert infantry to storm it. Map before Soviet moves.

[Tarhunnas]

In the center, not much is happening. The Germans push forward a hex or two on the landbridge. Whenever this happens I get nervous that they are gassing up the panzers.

Menawhile, RKKA is launching a conterattack and we manage to retreat one of the vaunted panzer divisions!

[Tarhunnas]

Same in the south, not much change in the frontlines.

The Rumanian armored division shows up in the front again. Apparently they didn't get the message, and as the RKKA always keeps its promises, we clobber them again!

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 6. North.

Intelligence reports that the German panzers are apparently back in front of Pskov, after flopping around for a while in the northern Baltics. The Pskov line is bracing for the assault, with a three hex deep red carpet rolled out. The enemy is not making good progress here. It appears that with some luck, the Fascist bacterial infestation of the Soviet body politic can be halted at the border of the Baltic states.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 6.

Center. A panzer thrust to the southeast menaces the Dnepr line. Three infantry divisions launch a counterattack that cuts off the supply of the leading Fascist panzer divisions, but we evacuate the Dnepr line and withdraw. Map after Soviet moves.

[Tarhunnas]

In the south, an enemy effort straight at Kiev. Again, one of the leading divisions can be cut off by our cavalry. Lines adjusted and brought back.

Summary so far:

* All the industry that is even remotely threatened has been evacuated.

* We have avoided any large encirclements after the initial ones on turn 1 and 2.

* We have substantial reserve forces of four reserve armies digging and training behind the front at Luga, Staraja Russa, Vyazma-Rzhev and Bryansk.

All in all, the Soviet defence feels successful so far.

[Tarhunnas]

Ok, never ever think things are looking good! This game has a tendency to surprise you.

In the north, the Germans have smashed their way through the Pskov line in two places and surrounded substantial parts of the defenders. Not good! And the pocket is not possible to break!

Kuznetsov is immediately dismissed as head of Northwest Front and Zhukov put in his place. He immediately begins to seal off the penetration.

Map before Soviet moves.

[Tarhunnas]

And in the south, the Axis thrust towards Kiev continues. The Soviet forces, although unwilling to give up parts of the motherland without a fight, retreat to more defensible positions. Map after Soviet moves.

[Tarhunnas]

The rumanian armored division show up again, and of course we give them a good scare again! [:D]

[Tarhunnas]

And losses turn 7.

[fiva55]

lol you are giving the Romanians a bad name.

[Klydon]

He is going to lose that Rumanian armored division if he is not careful. Their moral has to be way down and the division has to be on the verge of shattering. It is clear it can't stand up to even a minor attack at this point, so why he keeps running it out there is stupid. Once gone, it is gone for good. It has its uses as a mobile division to help flip a lot of territory. 

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 8.

The Germans continue to brutalize our defence lines at Pskov. Some of the defenders of the motherland are encircled again. Happily, some places of the encirclement is held by a single regiment, and valiant counterattacks push them back, opening a path to our surrounded comrades (and surrounding some of the Geman genossen in the process)!

There are now two panzer groups pressing on towards Leningrad, which is obviously a high priority target to the Germans. We answer the challenge, and the Leningrad area has priority when railing reinforcements to the front.

Map after Soviet turn 8.

[Tarhunnas]

Not much happening in the center.

In the south, the retreat continues as the Germans press on towards Kiev. With the Rumanian armor division nowhere to be seen, we rout a German panzer division that stuck its snout out too far as a substitute. Map after Soviet moves turn 8.

As can be seen, cavalry units are kept in reserve as far as possible, in order to be rested and ready for the winter counteroffensive.

[Klydon]

Unless something dramatic happens, I think Hermann is ready for the standing 8 count. He may be hammering around Pskov, but the issue is this turn 8 thing. Nice job with the Russians. 

[Tarhunnas]

Overview of the front after Soviet moves turn 10.

The Germans are pushing hard for Leningrad with two panzer groups. In the center, only infantry that are slowly pressing forward.

In the south, the Germans make an encirclement west of Kirovograd, but heroic counteattacks manage to open a supply line to the encircled comrades.

Overall, things are looking bright. The fascist invaders are being slowed down in most fronts. The question is wether Leningrad will hold against a very determined German effort?

As for industry evacuation, everything that is threatened has already been moved. I don't move any industry this turn, I want to keep it online and producing.