1.04.11 Klydon (Axis) vs Hfarrish (Soviet) No Hfarrish please

[Tarhunnas]

You have inflicted slightly more losses on the Soviets than I had on turn 13, while German losses are about the same as in my game. Well done!

Nice color mosiac west of Moscow. Your armies look a little intermingled there...

[Klydon]

And just that fast, Hfarrish gets the turn back to me.

Turn 14 start after recon is mostly done in the AGN/AGC area.

The Kalinin/Kaluga industry is finally evaced except for a few HI in Kaluga. Looks like he pulled back here and there. I really don't understand that given the time of year and he has to know my troops are fairly tired.

As long as he wants to continue to pull back here and there, I will gladly move up and flip the territory and try to keep pressure on him.

I have 3 turns before mud. I think I am going to have to decide if the panzers rest this turn and go next turn or if I go this turn as they are. Both have their advantages. Any encirclement I may or may not get I have to be careful with because I figure Hfarrish will take advantage of knowing the weather will be mud following turn 16 and it will be very difficult to counter attack against anything he may do.

[Klydon]

AGS turn 14 start.

He pulls back between Sumy and Bryansk along the AGC/AGS border. I figured he would a bit. That salient was starting to look tasty. He moves the units in the pocket to spread out as much as possible, which I don't really care about (I had planned on that). Makes it easier to kill him. One attack attempted from the pocket forces against a motorized unit that fails.

Still what seems to be a bazillion Russians all over. Nothing is going very fast down here this turn. I think the panzers will do as little as possible and see what develops next turn. A encirclement to chop out the line in front of Kharkov would get a pile of Russians and also straighten the line up for winter rather nicely.

[Klydon]

ORIGINAL: Tarhunnas

You have inflicted slightly more losses on the Soviets than I had on turn 13, while German losses are about the same as in my game. Well done!

Nice color mosiac west of Moscow. Your armies look a little intermingled there...

Yeah, except you had an awesome next couple of turns. I don't see that happening here unfortunately.

Have to like all the pretty colors around Moscow. [:)]

I am working on getting units where they belong, but it is going to take a lot of infantry to grind their way forward to continue to put pressure on Moscow. Even if I get a couple of hexes a turn and it hits mud, he is going to have to consider moving the industry, which is my goal at this point. If he doesn't, I will have some time during snow to make him pay for that decision dearly I hope.

[Klydon]

German end turn 14.

Mega map to give an idea of the front. I am fairly happy with how straight it is; just need it further east. [;)]

Much of what I did this turn is with the idea that he will continue to pull back and yield ground, except around Moscow. While I would love to pocket more troops at this point, it is most likely not going to be in the cards, but we shall see.

In the north, I find the wonder of high moral infantry among the 16th army and make a good salient above VV. 18th army and 2nd army continue to move by each other in shifting positions along the front while infantry from everywhere tries to push forward in the Moscow area. I didn't get real far this turn again, but what I am hoping is the attacking (and losing) is taking a toll on the Russians and at some point the defense will start to fall apart as the Russian infantry divisions are just not that strong anymore. I don't know if that will happen here or not, but we shall see. The panzers play a limited role. XXXIX is just south of Torzhok to threaten either a northern thrust or a southern one. I will likely move 2nd army a bit further north in the big scheme of things and look to withdraw some high moral infantry divisions that are still in fair shape to preserve them for the 1942 offensive.

In the center, both XVI and XXXXI panzer do some pushing south of Kalinin, but withdraw. Both XXXVII and LVII also do sort of the same thing with a couple of armored divisions on refit, but withdrawing in good shape to be ready to exploit any threat and also stay away from his infantry. I also build some forts here to start the digging process for winter.

In the south, could it be we have some movement? I found a bit of a weak spot in his line between Kursk and Kharkov. One thing led to another and most of the mechanized found their way through the hole. This is actually a fairly good spot for a break through. I was able to take advantage of some hills on the north side along with a river there and also a river is along the south side. In addition, I am not surrounded by tons of infantry to beat up my poor units. 3rd Panzer reports having lots of fun doing doughnuts in celebration on Russian airfields north of Belgorod, undoubtedly contributing to the nice heavy Russian air losses this turn. XXIV panzer is mighty once again with the assignment of 2nd and 5th panzer divisions along with the SS motorized unit. They lay in wait in the trees hoping not to be seen, but stand ready to join the battle and exploit any opportunity they can.

Further south, elements of 17th army make good progress in tightening up around Kharkov. This now is starting to look like a dangerous salient to the Russians, especially since the panzer corps has shown up from the south. Part of the issue is no one really has any gas, but will he stick around to see what happens? I will have to do something with the front by Stalino as 11th army is very weak here. What I need to do is to shift armies down towards the south a bit. 17th army needs to move further south along the line along with 6th army and have 9th army also come south further as well. 9th army is very stretched at the moment to allow the infantry maximum concentration in the Moscow area. This will have to change or I am going to have severe issues at some point. The little pocket was liquidated and 11 Russian units were captured this turn.

[Klydon]

Turn 14 end charts. I listed all the German infantry divisions here. They are in CV order. Note how few are still double digit.

[Klydon]

Turn 15 start after recon is mostly done.

Overheard Hitler rant at a situation conference this last week..

"I tell you Keitel, the Russians are finished! The only place they are fighting for is Moscow. When their flank is threaten by a German solder on a bicycle with a pistol they retreat! Send orders to the front that Moscow is to be captured immediately and let me know when it is done. I don't want any excuses!"

Well, the Russians are far from finished but it does seem like if I set up any remote possibility of a encirclement, they do pull back. I can't argue that hard about it because it has been mostly working for Hfarrish, but to me it seems like he is giving a lot of ground when he doesn't necessarily have to.

In a 18 hex section of the front where I have all of 8 infantry divisions, he pulls back an average of 5+ hexes out of good fortifications and doesn't even leave a rear guard. I will gladly occupy this and flip the territory. Helps straighten my lines up with minimal forces. There are other pull backs in the north and down by Kharkov.

He launched 1 attack against the panzers in the south and it failed. As I mentioned last turn, that was a pretty good spot to make a penetration in that I had rivers north and south and some hills to the north to work with. It allowed me to get someplace and not get the panzers kicked in by infantry attacks like he has been doing in the past. Those units are mostly shot however.

With the pull back, my panzer reserve is going to have to roll a long way to join the party only to have mud in two turns. Part of me is considering moving them back to the rail line and shipping them back to Germany for the winter. I simply don't have other elite panzer divisions and I will need some for 1942. Will give it some consideration before I do the turn.

In front of Moscow, the Red carpet has turned into the Red shag carpet with multiple units stacked up in front of my infantry. I will also have to give this some consideration as well. I may not take Moscow (I don't think I will at this point) but I want him to feel threaten enough to move the industry. It is sort of a game of chicken at this point. How long will I continue to attack against a line like that and if he makes a miscalculation and I do manage to cut off the industry, then that is a pretty nasty gamble to take.

He did move industry out of Kalinin and Kaluga. Both are bone dry now. The rest is gone out of Kharkov as well. I still want Kharkov to put a dent in his rail cap and also capturing a nice 20 pop center site is good.

[Klydon]

End of turn 15. I have been slacking a bit on posting stuff. I have the start of turn 16 as well, but that will be posted later.

In the north, the Finns look to make a pest of themselves and cause Russian casualties. I would like to push more along the border, but pushing up the rail line seems to be more prudent. Will see how this shakes out because these guys are way out on a logistical limb.

16th army gets some breathing room in front of VV. I would like to drive a little more for some more breathing room, but at some point, I have to consider getting dug in. Still, any pounding I can give now means hurt Russians later.

2nd army and 18th army continue their swap in the line, but it is not going as fast as I would like since combat operations have priority. I am on the doorstep of Kalinin and hope to get it to fall next turn, even if it is empty of industry, etc. Getting into that swamp east of Kalinin would be helpful as well, but likely not to happen.

Elements of 2nd army, 18th army and 1st Panzer launch an attack between Kalinin and Moscow and make it to the canal. Infantry continue the frontal assault in front of Moscow and are now 2 hexes away. This game will likely be one of the closest the Germans get to Moscow without being able to take it. The game of chicken continues with the Moscow industry. It seems Hfarrish is determined to hold the city and not evacuate the industry so he can use it over the winter. IMO, he is really rolling the dice here and at least should evacuate industry that is not on line yet anyway (several aircraft plants). Khimki (NW corner of Moscow) is a level 4 fortification. I don't know if I can crack it or not, but the transport plane factory is still there.

9th army and 3rd panzer along with some other infantry make a drive and capture Kaluga. This southern pincer arm is not as nearly as strong as I would like it, but I think I have to threaten it to put more pressure on Moscow of the possibility of a double envelopment. The rest of 9th army takes over the free territory handed over by the Russians.

In the south, some local attacks to push towards Stalino and also Kharkov. The minors get lined up some more to do what they do best and that is dig. I really need to shift the line south badly from an infantry perspective or I am going to get blasted down here during the winter. The game of chicken continues down here as well with the Stalino area loaded with industry still. I don't have as credible of a threat down here, but there still has to be some concern from the part of the Russian since I am now 5 hexes away from Stalino.

[Klydon]

End turn 15 losses and OOB

Alarming casualties for the Germans this turn. 2-1 losses is not good at all. I have been keeping the Russians around the 4 million mark and he has taken a beating in the tank and artillery department.

[Klydon]

Turn 16 start. 2 turns to mud! (I think)

AGN/C shots. I got him to move some industry! The transport plane factory left in the NW corner of Moscow. The bi plane factory is still there however. Surprised he did not leave it open for me to take it to get rid of it. [:D]

Tula and Moscow still have all the goodies at home. Tula has like 25 Armaments in it and while further away from the front than Moscow, does not seem to be as well guarded, but then I don't have nearly the troops in the area either.

[Klydon]

Turn 16 AGS start. Nothing shocking here either. Stalino area still full of industry. There is even a town with 2 heavy industry in it that is not very far from the front. Not sure if he missed that or not, but I think it will have to go on the hit list this turn. I don't know how carefully he is checking and I can't imagine he is out of rail cap at this point after apparently not moving much industry anyplace else.

[Klydon]

Heh. Welcome to page 6 and the German issues for this AAR. I have 2 turns left before the mud flies. I have Moscow full of industry along with Tula and the Stalino area. My panzers are fairly shot in terms of combat effectiveness and the infantry in front of Moscow that has been hammering him for the last several turns is fairly tired with their ToE's being down as well.

Kharkov should fall this turn along with Kalinin. Neither have anything left in them industry wise, but rail cap will take a hit with the fall of Kharkov not to mention it is a pop 20 city, so the pop will take a hit as well.

So what do you do as the German in this case?

One plan I have is to continue the assault on Moscow from the NW more or less with a weak attack from the SW.

[Klydon]

Another idea is to make a play for Tula (and probably wind up short regardless). Moscow would not be assaulted as hard from the front (probably not at all as he has the red shag carpet out stacked 3 deep in at least level 3 forts as you can see from the start screen shot).

I am likely transferring XXIV panzer from down by AGS to join the PG3 panzers. Issue is that XXIV panzer won't be there until next turn to help with the last gasp drive. (Or I could just leave XXIV panzer out during mud and get ready for a snow offensive of some type or just leave them out period. They have 2nd and 5th panzer divisions).

[Klydon]

Lastly, I could just attempt to consolidate, get ready for winter/snow offensive and make a few attacks of opportunity. The bad thing about this is it telegraphs that the Moscow/Tula industry would be safe. Part of the reason to attack hard is to get him to move it and deal with the down time.

[Klydon]

For the AGS area, there are essentially two choices I think. The first is sort of to stand pat and make local gains. Getting Kharkov obviously is something to accomplish and should happen. The panzer corps down here are all pretty combat effective. They have movement available but as far as accomplishing much of anything combat wise, not going to happen until at least snow after they have had a chance to rest through the mud. The panzer corps just east of Stalino has around 80 tanks total between the two panzer divisions.

The second option is to make a move more towards the south to the Stalino area with as much infantry as I can spare (most of 17th army) and also 1st Panzer army. The 1 PG2 panzer corps would likely stay up a but further to present some threats up there and also help out 6th army with local gains and to guard the long front. The idea would be to grind forward the next turn or two to get Stalino in range of a snow offensive and also to push the Russians back some more from my winter line I am constructing (line of Rumanian/Hungarians). Part of the issue is I don't think he will move stuff no matter what I do and I don't know that even with the snow offensive I can get there. I can get close probably, but close isn't good enough. The second option would work better as well if I did somewhat of a redeployment up north to bring more of 9th army further south.

My line between Kaluga and AGS is going to be thin regardless of what I do. In part, this is a calculated move because the Germans can't be everywhere and expect to get any place.

[Klydon]

Recap on turn 16.

No heavy German pressure was sent towards Moscow. Kalinin fell after a big assault. Efforts were made by 16th and 2nd army to push the bulge in away from the VV/Tozhok (and now Kalinin) area to both shorten the line up and also to help safeguard the rail lines a bit. A panzer corps is relocated up here to make a threat at cutting off a Russian salient and regroup a bit. In the far north, the Finns find Russian resistance fairly weak and continue to try to make a pest of themselves.

In front of Moscow proper, German troops regroup as the army shuffle continues and the German HQ come to the conclusion that trying to grind through the Moscow defenses given the late season was sort of futile. Probably gives some insight into what 1942 may look like (more like 1943 with very heavily fortified Russian lines 3 and 4 hexes deep). Some troops are shifted just to the south of Moscow to push around less fortified Russian units; again as a line straightening exercise. 3rd panzer and 9th army along with some infantry elements of 2nd panzer move to threaten Tula. The rest of the AGC area is fairly quiet to the south. In this area, the Russians have probably won the game of chicken with his industry staying put, although he did move the transport airplane factory near Moscow.

For the AGS area, the GHC recalls the two reserve panzer divisions. (I don't see the point of them running out to barely make contact, be low on gas on the last clear weather and then sit around for 4 turns of mud). Essentially, I made a bad call on where to send them. It appears that sending them to the Stalino area or to 3rd panzer army up by Moscow would have been better calls. Oh well.

Further south, I make better than expected progress against the Stalino area; enough to put a good threat on it. The panzers in this area are fairly shot, but they do the best they can. The other two panzer corps of PG1 are brought down along with a general shift of the line to the south. I bring in some more Rumanians to do some digging for winter while the Germans continue to work on advancing the line. I start to pull out the mountain units to rehab and become a reserve before blizzard hits. Both get 2 Stug battalions and a pioneer battalion.

I am lucky to capture Kharkov, despite a 9 division assault and every plane that I could muster. This was against 2 divisions of defenders in level 2 forts. I outnumber the garrison nearly 6-1 in manpower, have over 1000 tubes, etc and I still barely win.

[Klydon]

German turn 17 start. (After most recon is completed)

AGN-AGC area. No attacks by the Russians here.

[Klydon]

AGS turn 17 start. Russians launch 1 counter attack here against some panzers by Stalino. First attack failed, but the second forced a retreat.

[Klydon]

OOB, losses and production. Based on some of the other AAR's, I got smart and clicked German only. What I thought was an ok situation with armaments turns out to be no rifles in the rack. I will have to see about disbanding some AA company support units. Won't help much, but will help some. Given the depleted situation of my panzers, I should have known better. This is going to be awhile unfortunately.

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: Klydon

No attacks by the Russians here.

That sounds like defeatist streak there? It's only turn 17! [;)]