1.04.10 Fulkerson vs KLilly

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: randallw
I see a few rifle divisions scattered far behind the front; any plans for them?

It's past the November '41 cut-off for units to reconstitute after they die so I've been building some Rifle Brigades so as to be able to try to build a line of fortified positions behind the front because pretty soon now Kevin is going to unleash his '42 offensive campaign and I'm pretty sure he's going to build some pockets and destroy a bunch of my folks. The Soviet Winter '41-'42 offensive was relatively mild as far as destroying some Axis units ( I think maybe I killed about 3 or 4 divisions of his ) and Kevin is in pretty good shape so far so I expect a rather bold '42 Axis spring / summer offensive because he's pretty aggressive for his age and temperment.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T39 front lines before any Soviet movement:

[larryfulkerson]

And here's the T39 ground losses so far:

[larryfulkerson]

And the OOB:

[larryfulkerson]

And the state of Soviet production:

[larryfulkerson]

I'm preparing for Kevin's onslaught by spreading out in a carpet so as to contain his pushes because I know he's going to start pushing big time soon. 

[Klydon]

Yeah, notice the build up NW of Sumy. The Sumy sailent is an obvious target for him to go for a big encirclement. I don't see his other panzers however. How is your recon going? Need to figure out where they are or you might find out the hard way. 

[JKLilly]

Hi all -- reporting in.

I've gotten far enough to see the advice up to before the snow. My front was a mess, but am sorting it out. Planning my 42 attacks for late Spring.

My armor is in much better shape than my last game with Larry. I only have a few 85 plus morale units unfortunately. Didn't read the excellent string about keeping those units for exploitation. But I do have a few SS units grouped together.

So, for the 42 campaign, do I attack in the North or do the historical thing and attack South? Since I have both Leningrad and Moscow, I have no historical guide. For now, I've been trying to clear bridgeheads that can be used against me in offensives.

[larryfulkerson]

I for one would like to see an historical drive on Stalingrad in spring / summer of '42. Just a thought.

Here's the front lines in T42 before any Soviet movement.

[larryfulkerson]

And here's the ground losses so far:

[larryfulkerson]

And here's the OOB:

[larryfulkerson]

And here's the state of Soviet production:

[larryfulkerson]

And to change the subject for a second: I've been letting the AI play against the AI just to see what would happen and so far all the 1.04 games have been a draw.

[larryfulkerson]

KLilly has started his spring/summer '42 offensive. He did some major attacking and made some progress.
I'm going to have to do some re-arrangement of my lines as a result. Here's the front lines in T43 before any Soviet movement:

[76mm]

If he's doing it right, he's going to be able to blow through your lines pretty easily, actually I find the fact that he only went one hex deep a little odd.

Find where the panzers are, and everywhere else, reduce the carpet and start attacking his front line, if nothing else to keep him a bit off balance, and more importantly, win the battle of attrition.

[Pawlock]

Larry , hope you dont mind me offering some advice for what its worth.
Your front looks very uniform thick carpet, but from what I can tell you have no reserve armies in the rear. If it were me I would peel a layer off the carpet and reduce the strenght of the front where hes weakest and start making 2-3 reserve armies for starters sittiing in rearward strategic locations on a rail line ready to be deployed to trouble spots quickly. Keep these armies attached to Stavka for maximum flexibility.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Pawlock
Larry , hope you dont mind me offering some advice for what its worth.
Your front looks very uniform thick carpet, but from what I can tell you have no reserve armies in the rear. If it were me I would peel a layer off the carpet and reduce the strenght of the front where hes weakest and start making 2-3 reserve armies for starters sittiing in rearward strategic locations on a rail line ready to be deployed to trouble spots quickly. Keep these armies attached to Stavka for maximum flexibility.

See, this is why I keep loosing at these kinds of games. These good ideas just never occur to me. Of course I'll begin to build some reserve armies right away. Keeping them answerable to Stavka is a good idea too. Thanks.

[CaptBeefheart]

Excellent AAR. If I could make a wee suggestion: it would be great if you could write the date of the turn, not just the turn number, at least once in a while. I don't have the game but will be buying it eventually.

Thanks,
CC

[Peltonx]

Larry if I was you I only have a carpet 2 deep in the far north. The area is very bad for tanks, there is no industry so if you lose 8-10 hexs in the summer who cares. He would lose allot of men attacking. I would tstring that army south( yellow looking units) to take up positions of the next army to the south of it.

Ok once thats done slide the next army south ( brown units) also, stay 3 deep in that army gruop area.

Then string the purple army south staying 3 to 4 deep into the pink army areas.

This should free up the hole pink army gruop as a BIG reserve. You should be able to do this in 2 turns 3 at tops. All this is done at the same time not one army at a time over 4 turns.

The best thing is its right at his point of attack. Sliding troops is a pain in the butt, but you dont have to rail troops all over the map and all your units are still, digging an holding forts ect.

Also one thing that can really be a pain in the butt for me when I am attacking is when the russian defender puts their med strength units in the front lines, the weakest in the back. His best units and strongest hexs are in the 2 to 3 rows of the carpet or checker board.

The reason why this is done is it is hard to figure out where the enemys weakest points are an make cracking your defence much harder. If your best troops are in the front the GHC can simply wipe out your best troops with infantry, then the panzers have a field day on your weaker units.

Even using the carpet your should checker board your strong points in the middle rows. The weaker units are in the back digging. ALL your tank units should be in back so you can counter attack. You shouldn't have a single tank unit north of Moscow.

Thats my two cents.

Your doing much better in this game. You lost industry, but atleast your tank numbers are climbing in this game. Also your man power seems better and your winter offensive

was better. If you can keep him from bagging large number of troops you be in good shape. The front lines are really long, which is a huge advantage for you after 1942.

Pelton

[larryfulkerson]

Whoa.  Thanks for all the advice Pelton dude.  Writing AAR's is a good idea if only for all the good advice you get from the experts.