On Death's Door- GC WarHunter vs M60A3TTS (no WarHunter please)

[M60A3TTS]

Version 1.03 WarHunter (Axis) vs. M60A3TTS (USSR)
My first PBEM

11 December 1941. The Soviet Union in the dead of winter finds itself in dire straits. The Wehrmacht has overrun the Ukraine and caused severe disruption to Soviet industry in the Rodina as a whole. Leningrad, Moscow, and the cities of the Donbass all the way to Rostov are firmly in German hands. Over 3.8 million Soviet troops are killed, captured or disabled compared to 740,000 Axis casualties. The Soviet military currently fields a force of 3.9 million vs. Germany's 3 million. Many of the Soviet rifle divisions and brigades are hampered by low morale and depleted numbers while the Red Army attempts some sort of a Western offensive. Although winter has temporarily put the Axis on the defensive, the question lingers will the USSR remain in the war by the same time next year. Neutral observers have their doubts. MaNy Russians too, who ask themselves how did we get to this point, and what hope remains?

What will follow is a review of the prior six months that has put Soviet Russia in the circumstances she now finds herself.

[M60A3TTS]

In the first week of the German offensive, major gains were seen in the north with the capture of Riga. At the center, Guderian's panzers raced to the outskirts of Minsk while Soviet troops were pocketed at Bialystok.



To the south, a rapid advance by Kleist's 1st PanzerGruppe resulted in a link up with Rumanian forces.



Ground losses for the Red Army amounted to over 375,000 men to the Wehrmacht's 18,000. Attacks on Soviet airfields resulted in the loss of almost 5,500 aircraft compared to a mere 170 losses to the Luftwaffe.

[M60A3TTS]

By the third week, the Soviet forces in the north were primarily in front of Leningrad, with forward elements controlling Pskov. Hoth's 3rd PanzerGruppe had detached a corps to assist AGN in its area of operations.


In the center, the Red Army was in considerable strength on the east bank of the Dnepr. At this stage their was little German activity.


To the south, Zhitomir and Vinnitsa remained out of German hands while Southern Front held watch on the Dnestr.


Soviet ground losses wew approaching one million in contrast to the Axis sixty thousand. Soviet air units had been evacuated in large part to the national reserve. Total losses were near 6,000 aircraft to 274 of their opponents.

[M60A3TTS]

6 weeks into the offensive, the Germans were fast approaching Leningrad. The city had been in danger for previous weeks, so as a result the entire industrial capacity had been shipped east.


In the center, Smolensk was in the process of being surrounded. A few German divisions had managed to fight their way over the Dnepr.


In the south, Kiev with its industry railed out remained in Soviet hands, but the Southern Front was being overrun by Kleist's panzer units. Soviet 19th and 4th Armies held their ground south of the Southwestern Front, but forces further south were weak and not fully organized.

[M60A3TTS]

In the ninth week of the campaign, Leningrad had fallen along with the 131,000 men of the 23rd Army. Worse still, a linkup with the Finns enabled the Axis to surround a number of divisions of 27th Army.


Kuzma Galisky's 8th Army of Northwest Front held the Vyshny Volocheck region and was tied in with the right flank of Zhukov's Reserve Front.


German panzers attempted to attack fron Rzhev south towards Vyazma. If successful, it could split the front in two, driving a wedge between Konev's 31st Army and Maslenniknov's 29th.
It might also force a general withdrawal of Western Front with positions along the Oster River.


Meanwhile, Southwest Front had become the victim of another lightning strike by Kleist's panzergruppe. The front was almost totally surrounded. Fortunately the front headquarters, a mere 20 miles from the LAH SS division, remained intact. Assigned to the headquarters were over 900 guns from more than 20 howitzer, artillery and mortar regiments.


Southern Front largely held its portion of the Dnepr in the D-Z area, but the entrance to the Crimea further south was weakly held.

[M60A3TTS]

As September began, the area to the far north offered little resistance. Northern Front had lost so much as a result of the Leningrad debacle that Northwest Front had to take some responsibility for this area, stretching their lines to Kalinin.


In the Moscow area, the panzers made a serious effort to surround a portion of Pavel Kurochkin's 43rd Army and Konev's 31st. At this time, 31st Army was the largest with over 143,000 men. At the same time, German troops were advancing rapidly towards the weak line of Red Army units southwest of the Rybinsk Reservoir.


Farther south, Western Front saw little action while attempts were being made to reform Southwest Front. The enemy closed in on Kursk and Orel. Kharkov was by now a front-line city. The T-34 factory had departed to the east three weeks earlier. Armaments production at this stage remained a respectable 339.



Also by this stage, much of the Crimea was occupied. Sevastopol was isolated with 5 divisions holding there.

[M60A3TTS]

Three weeks of fighting in the area around Moscow sees a thrust by several panzer divisions north of Moscow with other motorized and rifle divisions not far behind. Meanwhile another panzer push seals off a host of Soviet divisions northwest of Moscow. The defenders have driven a number of panzer divisions back in spots, but the number of German units entering the area is turning the tide in their favor.


To the south of the capital, Tula is threatened. Industry has not been evacuated here.


In the far south, the panzers run rampant over the defenders, and take Stalino, Voroshilovgrad and Rostov. A good number of armaments factories are destroyed with Rostov's fall. Armaments production has fallen by this time to 292.


Casualties to date stand at 2.8 million for the USSR vs. 382,000 Axis. Among Red Army losses are 121 rifle divisions. Manpower is beginning to back up with over 110,000 waiting for arms. Air losses are 10,774 to 1,438.

[M60A3TTS]

Eighteen weeks into the campaign. Despite the mud, the Wehrmacht has managed to isolate Moscow and push the Red Army back further still. Tula was also lost with all armaments factories, reducing production to 260. Now almost 400,000 men are in need of arms. Casualties are approaching 3.5 million for the USSR vs nearly 500,000 Axis. It's not all roses for the Germans, operational tank strength is down to half that at the campaign start, with 1,300 machines. The Soviet armored forces the two weeks prior appear to have reached bottom with only 850 more than the Germans. That has now climbed to over 1,200 with all tank plants intact producing almost 150 KVs and T-34s weekly. Soviet aircraft now hold an advantage of 6,300 operational vs. 1,400 German. Among the fighter aircraft available are almost 1,000 MiG-3s and Yak-1s. Another 700 are IL-2s and IL-4s and those factories are safe. Most MiG-3 production was lost with Moscow but a little was saved and Yak 7-A production will start in December.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 24, the last week of November. The defenders of Moscow have surrendered, and Soviet troops are seventy miles southeast of the city. Over 600,000 men need weapons with arms production at a low of 243. Ground losses are 3.6 million Soviet and 559,000 Axis. Air losses 13,500 vs. 2,000. Caucasus and Volkhov Fronts have been organized as the Red Army prepares to attack to the west with the worsening weather. One main problem for Soviet planners are the number of ready rifle divisions, of 235 there are 95 not ready for action. 184 rifle divisions are counted among the war losses. In order to keep units fighting, some units have been merged into others. Still, the STAVKA has almost 500 APs at its disposal.

German fortifications are few in the Kursk-Orel sector where the main push will take place. Some attacks will still take place towards Moscow in order to keep pressure on across the front. And the Red Army for the moment has a 2-1 advantage in operational tanks with 1,500 KV-1s and T-34s.

[randallw]

Time to get cavalry divisions pulled together.

[M60A3TTS]

December 11, the 26th week of the campaign and the blizzard period has begun. The Red Army is advancing, but many units are still reduced in strength and morale and not deemed ready for combat.

Positions in the north


The area around Tula


Southwest and Southern Fronts


On the Don and Donets

[Empire101]

Wow!! You have definitly bloodied the Soviet colossus

Those encirclements are awesome.

Very interesting read... will follow this AAR with interest

[Q-Ball]

Uh...he is the Soviets. He was the one getting bloodied!

The defensive CVs of the Germans, from what I can see, are very very low. His winter defense looks terrible. Romanian Cavalry by itself couldn't defend itself from a Battalion of Babushkas in winter. You should focus from Tula to Voroshilovgrad; looks very very weak.

[Ketza]

I think he is the Soviets?

[M60A3TTS]

Yes, I'm the one getting thrown around like a rag doll as the Soviets. [:(]

The results of the game with an Axis player of some experience vs. a first-timer may be similar to this, I'm not sure. I wasn't worried about the relative experience levels because I figured to learn faster this way. Losing Leningrad itself wasn't bad as all industry left, but was very damaging was the loss of so many units that went with it. I should have focused as much on the overall defensive line rather than Leningrad itself. As a result, it wasn't hard for AGN to move towards Moscow as quickly as it did.

The encirclement of Soutwest Front was bad, but not as bad as it looked. In there were a lot of empty airbases and reduced divisions. More troops came off the map as part of the Leningrad encirclement. Elsewhere the Red Army got pulled up into a number of pockets, but I've seen bigger in other AARs. The battle for Moscow resulted in the bagging of a lot of Soviet units, but I was determined to make a fight of it. In the end holding off the combined weight of AGN and AGC in the area simply proved too much.

The loss of many armaments came largely from the capture of Rostov, Stalino and Tula. More should have been evacuated, but that's part of learning the game and it is what it is. With the fall of Moscow I'm at what I consider to be a very marginal 243 armaments, with a number of factories undergoing repair.

Airpower and tanks are in good shape, with the exception of the lost Moscow MiG plants. But I'm guessing that is far from fatal.

There are 6 cavalry corps created now, but like everyone else they need more men. With 900k of manpower in the pool, let's hope the 1942 bump in armaments gets them quickly to the front in January. The game is being played with non-random weather, so that may be helpful for the continuation of the winter campaign.

Along the Northwest and Volkhov Fronts, there is movement in the direction of Moscow, but no way do I expect to take it back this season.
Reserve and Bryansk Fronts should liberate Tula at some point.

Opposite Southwest and the northern half of Southern Front currently, the enemy has no forts up front but is withdrawing back to where fortified zones have been spotted by air recon. The advance will continue, but once to the fortified line will have to see what shape the troops are in to breach them.

Southern and Caucasus Fronts are facing a line of mountain and Rumanian units in fortified positions in an attempt to keep Rostov secure.

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Uh...he is the Soviets. He was the one getting bloodied!

The defensive CVs of the Germans, from what I can see, are very very low. His winter defense looks terrible. Romanian Cavalry by itself couldn't defend itself from a Battalion of Babushkas in winter. You should focus from Tula to Voroshilovgrad; looks very very weak.

Doh!!

I need to stay awake in class [>:]

[Q-Ball]

No worries.

Also, losing the MIG-3 factories is a complete non-event. You have plenty of other fighter types. You could argue it's a good thing, since they won't consume supplies making planes you don't need. Losing the Su-2 factory in Kharkov, and even a LAGG-3 factory or two won't hurt in the least.

Having only 260 Armament Factories will hurt, though you will be back in the black in January.

[M60A3TTS]

[M60A3TTS]

You'll have to bear with me as I figure out the graphic sizes to use. The December phase of the operation will be for Kalinin, Bryansk, Southwest and Southern Fronts to push towards their limit of advance. In the January timeframe, two shock armies combined with 40th Army will attempt to force the Axis forces between Rostov and Voroshilovgrad to displace to the west.

[randallw]

Gaining 20 hexes back looks like a pretty audacious plan....perhaps beyond capabilities?

The blizzard is about 3 months long, with mud sometimes arriving in March, then dry ground in April.  3 months is 12 turns, meaning you have to gain more than 1 hex a turn.

Of course your opponent will give ground, but panzers in a city can jump out and attack you; then you'll have to deal with them in a serious way.