Stalin's in the gulag, I'm in charge! II - vs 2ndACR (Axis)

[cpt flam]

he will have possibility with snow to attack West Front (seems a bit light) as defense [&o]

[TulliusDetritus]

And look what was done in the south. Too late, I suspect [:@] I am pretty certain the forces in the west are routed or very weak. He should bring reserves to this area. Next turn snow, so...

[TulliusDetritus]

Anyway, here are the Southern Front attacks.

[TulliusDetritus]

ORIGINAL: Sabre21

About how many Soviet attacks per blizzard turn were you able to make and how many failed? I was running 35 to 40 per turn with one third of them failing. There was a substantial increase in armament points after I did my testing, so I would expect numbers to be higher, just not sure by how much.

Retreats this turn = 51 [X(]
Helds = 21

Total attacks: 72

On december, I managed to make much less retreats. That month I too learned to not attack against the odds (2ndACR was heavily entrenched in the north and center) [:(] But january and february, more or less what you see (the numbers above) if I am not mistaken. But don't forget the south was full of nice opportunities I could exploit.

[TulliusDetritus]

ORIGINAL: cpt flam

he will have possibility with snow to attack West Front (seems a bit light) as defense [&o]

Yes, you are correct. From now on I will need to be in defensive mode [:)]

[TulliusDetritus]

Alright, done. Here are are the Front-lines on Turn 24 and now (Turn 37, end of blizzard).

[TulliusDetritus]

Overall, what can I add?

My objectives were:

a) secure Leningrad
b) secure Moscow
c) strike in the south, basically in Stalino area.

As for a), 2ndACR was way too strong up north so I could not push him that much in this area. Or I am simply incompetent, I will not rule this out! [:D] Still, I am happy and rather confident.

As for b) you might remember that 2ndACR was "collaborating". Yes, I pushed him, but he also did a strategic withdrawal on this area, the closest to Moscow (near Tula and Kaluga that is). Here the objective was fully accomplished.

And as for c), near Stalino area that is, the big cities here proved to be a nice shield. And the truth is I was too weak there. I was incompetent that is. IF that was one of my objectives I should have brought more forces. I ended up doing that (when I brought the 4st Shock and 46th Armies) but I suspect I missed one month here. So MY mistake, obviously.

In the end, the most dangerous push was in the Southwestern area (well, 2ndACR might disagree, since it's in the Bryansk Front where I annihilated some nice German divisions). And of course, the reason is plainly obvious. When he decided to do that bold maneuver to grab Stalino and the other cities (turn 14 or so) he WEAKENED big time the area in the north. I did my first attack there when mud hit (two nice German divisions were bagged). And the situtation did not change during the snow and whole blizzard. He did NOT reinforce that part that much. Therefore there were lots of nice opportunities here. Which I of course exploited!

[76mm]

The Germans bounce back really quickly (really immediately) after the blizzard, so be ready for some attacks next turn if you are weak somewhere (haven't reviewed your positions in detail). Nice blizzard, you're in great shape for 1942. What's your strength at now?

[TulliusDetritus]

Strength? You mean this? [:)]

And yes, I am well of aware of this simple truth... I will run out of spinachs pretty soon! [:D]

[TulliusDetritus]

As I have said above and one some other comments, I am aware that my defensive campaign should be tough. Soooo, let's see what are the nice defensive geographic features. I will be forming defensive lines there. AND in fact even BEHIND. Remember, I am a paranoid. Jokes aside, I will defend in depth: NO carpets, except Leningrad area and isolated cases. Successive lines. And let's see what happens [:)]

[TulliusDetritus]

Defensive features in the center...

[TulliusDetritus]

Orel, Kursk, Kharkov [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

And defensive features in the south. I should be sending all my Infantry and Airborne brigades to these places (all the screenshots). That should be my priority [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

In fact, if I have enough forces, there will be stong-points between these defensive lines. I will NOT take any risk.

As I see it, having these lines IS my top priority on 1942. My objective remains the same: DO SURVIVE.

[TulliusDetritus]

Oh, given that 2ndACR is not updating his AAR anymore (lack of time), this is what he has to say:

"Here you go. I basically survived the blizzard, but the German army is looking rough. The units that had to retreat or pull back mainly. Forts really help with the blizzard casualties"

[TulliusDetritus]

[center]Turn 38[/center]
[center]5 march 1942[/center]

It's official! [:(] I ran out of spinachs!!

Oh well, you can have her, I don't mind

[center][/center]

[randallw]

Gaining back ground in the North is tough, with all the forests and some swamps.  The Axis player gives up ground in the South because he must.
 
Don't forget that you can pull together the tank brigades in corps next month.  And just for forwarning, the 1942a tank corps OOB is about the size of a 1941b tank division: about 170 tanks, 6000 men. You should not use them 1 vs 1 on panzer divisions.

[Klydon]

With 2ndACR not really doing an AAR, I feel free to speculate a bit more and not feel bad about giving something away that I may have read in another AAR.

I think the Germans will recover somewhat, make some local attacks here and there, but nothing major at this point I don't think. In fact, I think he is going to be shocked with the power of the Russians and after a short attempt at some sort of summer campaign, will go more into a defensive mode.

From his perspective, the terrain is rotten in north and center where he stopped at along with overpowering Russian forces. In the south, it is a different matter in terms of open terrain, but his army took a beating down there; still that is probably where his best opportunity lies in terms of trying to do any major offensive moves. The real question will be what the targets and objectives are down there.

[TulliusDetritus]

I know it's too early (things may change a lot) but that's where his Panzers (the REAL deal) are. As yo can see, they are concentrated in the south.

As for 2ndACR possibilities, I only see two realistic objectives:

1) grab economically important places in the south
2) destroy the Red Army; and this can be best achieved in the south, in my opinion: tank country.

So I am expecting agressive moves in the south. But maybe 2ndACR will be surprising me [:)]

Once I will know where he will push (the Panzers, ALWAYS the Panzers, because it's the only thing which matters), that area will get a MEGA extra depth and obviously a huge concentration of forces. As I already said, I will not take any risk.

[TulliusDetritus]

Anyway, as for the Guards Rifle Divisions, the harvest was not complete! The last blizzard turn provided me more Guards units (the last easy ones that is). Now the grand total is 55 Guards Rifle Divisions + 3 Guards Cavalry Divisions [8D] I should put all these units to good use.