The Anti Bolshevik Crusade - Tarhunnas vs Q-Ball (no Q-Ball please)

[ComradeP]

Id rather go for the bulge north of Moscow.

The terrain isn't great there and it doesn't really do damage from a strategic perspective. Capturing some manpower centers in the south again would do more on the longer term, especially as the Soviets more or less need to recapture the Ukraine.

[Balou]

@ Comrade P and Apollo,

Low german tank numbers: what experience levels are to be expected after the Pz- and Mot-Divs are back to full strenght in terms of tank figures?

[Encircled]

Its got to be a drive to the Sea of Azov for me.

Only problem is thats its really obvious, but it does represent the biggest chances of success.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: Balou

@ Comrade P and Apollo,

Low german tank numbers: what experience levels are to be expected after the Pz- and Mot-Divs are back to full strenght in terms of tank figures?

I don't expect dramatic drop of experience for German Panzer divisions with new equipment...


Leo "Apollo11"

[ComradeP]

Low german tank numbers: what experience levels are to be expected after the Pz- and Mot-Divs are back to full strenght in terms of tank figures?

The experience level would depend solely on the morale of the unit as the elements would have enough time to train between winter and summer, which is why I asked if Tarhunnas could post a CR screen screenshot showing his mobile units. If he's running around with 70 morale/experience mobile units, he'll face some problems. A Panzer division would have a CV of 13 and a motorized division a CV of 10 at 70 morale/experience and 100% TOE. That would drop further due to fatigue as soon as he starts moving, so the Panzer divisions are shadows of their initial 1941 selves even at 100% TOE.

[Balou]

Somehow what I expected. Seems to be one more reason for keeping those Mob Divs in refit mode in some larger city. And with a lot of Mob Divs actually filling frontline gaps, morale during blizzard won't improve...

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 42. April 2 1942. Mud.

Not much happening wortghy of a screenshot. Instead in answer to popular demand, the stats for the panzer divisions.

[Tarhunnas]

And the motorized divisions.

[Mynok]

Those morale levels are not good at all.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 43. Mud. Not much happening.

[Klydon]

Ouch. Those guys look more like 1944 panzers than 1942 panzers I think. Going to make it hard to get any type of encirclement with the lower moral. 

[Balou]

@ Mynok,
Will changes of corps commanders speed up morale gains?

[Tarhunnas]

OKH is thinking of some kind of limited offensive come spring. There are a number of alternatives being explored.

A. An offensive to cut off Soviet forces north of the Crimea and trap some of them against the sea. It will undoubtedly be more or less expected by the Soviets, but it would have the advantage of shortening the front if it is successful. Soviet forces east of Zaporozhye appear strong and arranged in depth though.

B A two-pronged offensive to cut off the Soviet protrusion west of Kursk. Soviet forces in this area appear weaker, and it would also shorten the front somewhat.

C. A two-pronged offensive towards Kharkov. Probably not expected by The Soviets (possibly because its daft?). This plan has the disadvantage of lengthening the front, though it could be combined with B.

Other alternatives could be a thrust towards Tula, but it would be hard to trap any enemy forces there.

[Peltonx]

A to shorten lines and C. I thk C will also shorten lines because he will have to withdraw from B area at some point or weaken area to help with C.

If you can bag about 40 units it would greatly help come the next winter.

Pelton

[76mm]

Have you reconned the perekop isthmus (ie, the "gates" to the Crimea) very much? If they are not occupied/fortified, I think you should try to smash through at the very southern eend of your line and then sneak into the Crimea. Once you have his troops off the Dnepr you should be able to keep pushing East, although I guess he could form a pretty decent carpet as he pulled back.

[Klydon]

I think it is wise to keep your offensive small to start with since your motorized/panzer force is so beat up. You will get some life back into them as they change ToE's and all those PZ-III's being built get sucked out. Part of the issue is your force is so chewed up, you are going to have to make some decisions because you can't get even come close to getting them all up to reasonable strength. Your choices are likely to select what units you want to refit and rebuild them up to ToE as much as possible while leaving other units pretty much in the crapper. (This is what the Germans did historically). The other option is to try to do it across the board and realize that your motorized/armor units are just going to be weak and that much easier to displace by Russian counter attacks. You can also look to pump your attack units up with support units as well, but that can only go so far.

Pelton mentioned it and I agree that the goal should be to destroy as many Russians as possible. Any operation planned should likely keep that in mind IMHO.

While the Russian may suspect where you go, doing something about it is another matter. If you attack to shorten the line around the Crimea for example, will he really fight you every inch of the way and risk encirclement or will he pull back? You want the line shorter, so to an extent, this helps. Part of it is what you think Q-Ball will do as a player in response to an attack there or what he will do in regards to any attack you may launch.

This is one of the best AAR's in a long time, so I look forward to what is going to happen down the road.

[Mynok]

ORIGINAL: Balou

@ Mynok,
Will changes of corps commanders speed up morale gains?

I don't believe so, but that's probably more of a question for the testers. I'm not privy to the morale increase calculations that occur during battle.

[Mynok]

After seeing those panzer morale levels, I'd be very careful about attacks. You will have to use them to break through as your infantry in 42 just doesn't have the punch anymore. That risks losses you can't afford, both tanks and battles (i.e. morale drops).

I kinda fear this one may go static, with both sides being too weak to make offensive headway.

[Ron]

Wow, your Panzer divisions did take a beating over the blizzard. The AFVs will return and fill out the TOE, but the high morale is gone forever.

I think a major blow is still possible. I would be looking at combining all the Panzer Groups for two successive blows - one aimed in between Orel-Tula and the other towards Belgorod. The one offensive will need to be delayed about 2 weeks to get the Russian to commit reserves to the initial attack. Concentrate some of your best infantry - Leaders - SUs to facilitate the breakthroughs and to follow through as much as possible. Once the second prong had started you can use HQ buildup on the first to gain another bit of momentum. You should be able to create a large pocket and force the Russian to relocate, opening up other avenues of atatck. I am not sure you will have enough resources accumulated before summer but food for thought.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 45. Mud. Not much happening. Some relocation of mobile units behind the front.