End of AAR 76mm welcome

[Tarhunnas]

Hmmm, BTW, I always wondered, is attrition per hex or is it directly proportional to the number of men in the hex? Attrition is brutal, and on most normal turns it will be larger than combat losses, so I am trying to get a grip on attrition management.

[Ketza]

I believe its a certain percentage of every unit that is in contact with the enemy.

This has got me looking at things a little differently lately as I try to tone down the attrition. Once a hex along the front gets to a certain fort level it actually makes sense to man it with as little as you can get away with especially if you have a fall back level 3 or 4 fort.

This thinking has led me to strip away a dozen or so divisions from the front as well as any SUs in the front line and create a bigger reserve. The more I have in reserve for counter punching the better as in many cases Axis units attacking seem to provide a better casualty ratio.

I am watching other AARs for clues as to how to keep my army viable in 43 but also doing some experimenting.

[neuromancer]

ORIGINAL: Tarhunnas

Are you more concerned about attrition to the Axis allies than to the Germans? I wonder because I try to do the other way around, let the Allies be in front to take the attrition so as to save the Germans.

You, my dear Hungarian/ Italian/ Rumanian friend are given the honour of canon fodder... I mean, taking the lead! You shall have the honour of facing the enemy first, because of the faith I have in you to absorb bullets... I mean, to withstand the Bolshevik enemy!

[Peltonx]

Looking good so far. I say if hes going to try an grind you down he start around turn 74 when mud ends.

Were you able to put a good dent in his production?

[Ketza]

I am a little fuzzy as to what I have destroyed. I am pretty sure I got all of Leningrad including the KV tank factory. I also grabbed Kharkov and the Stalino trio with long range grabs but back then I didnt pay a lot of attention to the factories that were killed. Also this AAR started before any major patches so he had a lot more rail to start.

I know I killed some stuff just not sure what or how its impacting him.

[Peltonx]

I am gueesing you got atleast 80 to 100 then. Probably more like 100ish ARM pts by looking at how easly you have been able to pocket units during the summer of 42 and his gun numbers.

I thk your 7 million number on the manpower is about at the max you want to see Reds numbers at and 70k in guns. You still control the air war which is huge during 43.

I would say you could have pocketed more units then you did during 42 summer. I feel as you do now that its better to bleed the mech units then infantry. If your unable to have a 42 offensive as the German during 42 your done for.

I would say you have the upper hand that this point, but not by much.

Turns 70 - 90 will really give you a feel for if your on the road to atleast a minor victory. If hes got less then 90k guns by turn 75 ish I thk you have the win.

[Ketza]

Turn 69 mud next turn-

My opponent went all out on my airfields but once again the numbers are far in my favor. 30% or so of my losses are recon planes of which I have 30 or so squadrons in reserve so Ill take these results as long as he wants to dish them out.

[Ketza]

This turn I went ahead and started a new operation in the Crimea. I have had 4th Panzer army waiting for the turn before mud for a quick strike to try and pocket a bunch of stuff and capture Sevestapol. He has been steadily sending in more troops all summer and launching attacks from there. He has just missed the Panzers with his recon for several turns now.

I was going to fall back and give him room to roam before I launched the attack but I figured it was best to let him bludgeon himself on my forts a bit first then go in.

[Ketza]

And the result. The railhead is converted at the just captured hex. One of his infantry divisions routed out. There are 2 or 3 infantry corps and a calvary corp in the pocket as well as a half dozen or so high CV divisions. I was prepared to attack the fortress with SS divisions but he had left it empty except for an HQ which made taking it easier then it should have been.

I also moved a Flotilla in with the Rumanian airforce and the battles to open the corridor killed around 125 of his planes to my 15 or so. Even my Rumanian airforce experience is rather high.

Mountain division also captured Yalta.

[Ketza]

He has as I pointed out last turn sent a lot of stuff into the area around Kharkov. Im prepared as I ever will be with level 4 forts and good infantry backed by 1st Panzer army in reserve in case he tries anything. It is mud next turn so I am not expecting anything right away.

[Ketza]

I launched a few attacks where he wandered out of forts and in one of them a tank corp was committed from reserve so he does have some potent stuff in that sea of brown. His few guards units are in the area as well which is a good indicator where his shock troops are.

[Ketza]

And the OOB. It has not changed much except for the negative impact on his totals from the Mius pocket. I am thinking if I can destroy what he has in the Crimea I should bag around 200k more troops.

His air power remains pretty much the same even with the huge losses he has been taking. I shudder to think how big his airforce would be if I did not have the experience edge on it and been able to maintain the huge loss ratios in my favor.

Most importantly is my own army is staying fairly steady in its numbers and each turn the fort belts get stronger. If I do clear out the Crimea I will free up around a dozen divisions to go into the general reserve as well. The general reserve right now contains all 4 Panzer armies and the roughly 5 infantry corps.

[Klydon]

Nice job in the Crimea. He has to be kicking himself for not having some of those troops in Sevastopol. I only see 1 corps, so not sure you will get 200k out of it. Maybe just over 100k. Still has to hurt.

Too bad it is mud next turn as you could probably over run a pile of air fields he has west of Kerch there. [:'(]

[Flaviusx]

Considering the front is mostly static, you're doing a good job here Ketza. 76mm is getting a tad sloppy and throwing stuff away unnecessarily. You seem to have gotten inside his decision making loop a little bit.

I'm surprised how low the AFV and especially artillery holdings are on the Soviet side right now. He should be pushing 100k artillery by now.

[Ketza]

Not much to report and no screenshots during all the mud turns except for these tidbits:

1) I have been slowly eliminating the Crimea pocket with very little loss to the Axis. He is down to 6 units in 2 hexes. Last turn I think 30k Soviets surrendered. Overall I think the pocket will net around 120k in prisoners in the end.

2) His army is creeping back up to 7 million. Its comforting that I was able to keep it from growing to 7.5 million over the fall I guess ....[:'(]

3) He has been battering the Rumanian, Hungarian and Italian air force as well as my recon planes. The losses are still 3-1 in my favor but I have moved the recon bases back as well as the Axis allied air forces to let them recoup a bit. The Finns smacked him pretty hard when he bombed them. I am unclear as to why he can bomb a base to oblivion thats next to a base thats stacked with German fighters that do not fly intercepts. I have tried various base set ups to try and do a "cap trap" like in WITE but it seems that unless he attacks their base the Luftwaffe planes do not intercept. I am going to have to experiment more.

4) He has about 8 hexes stacked with Infantry corps 2-3 high getting ready for a winter offensive near Kharkov. I am about as prepared as I ever will be level 4 forts and good infantry divisions manning the line backed with 9 Panzer and motorized divsions of 1st Panzer group on reserve. 2 more Panzer armies are on rails with close to 100% TOE ready to react. 4th Pz is finishing mopping up the Crimea and in position to overrun the rest of Kerch if I decide to try and tackle the level 4 fort with 3 massive infantry corps in it.

5) I reorganized the Finns and pulled several divisions from the line to rebuild morale and start building a fort line along the Svir. 16th army grew by 4 infantry and one mountain division and still has a Panzer corps fire brigade attached.

6) The luftwaffe field divisions are arriving and are going to be assigned to the "digger corps" and relive the infantry divisions that were doing the digging. 3 reserve infantry corps have been positioned in the Kharkov area in the second line of forts and 3 other reserve corps are in the Crimea.

[Ketza]

The last few weeks have been busy with an earthquake. a hurricane, a business trip to California, a disaster of a camping trip on labor day, and finally a tropical storm. All we need in DC is a swarm of locusts and we can call it biblical.

We have had a few turns without much to report. I did finish off the Crimea pocket and had one turn where I held 4 out of 5 of his attacks. Next turn however he took Belgorod.

Not sure if this game will go on because of the patch but we will see. He is having a hard time advancing through my forts and I just railed in 3 corps from the disbanded 11th army to the Belgorod area so the chances of any type of advance other then the slow grind is minimal.

[Ketza]

31 Dec 42

He has been slowly grinding forward in the Kharkov sector. The rest of the front is quiet. Casualties are in my favor but he is wearing down my forts so when we update to 1.5 the 1st turn of 1943 it will be hard for me to rebuild.

[Ketza]

His army is slowly growing each turn even with some pretty heavy casualties. His airforce growth is completely out of reach now. Hopefully the patch will slow his growth a bit and Hiwis will give me a bump.

My strength is consistent with my armor actually increasing rather dramatically even using my Panzer divisions in reserve as well as lots of counter attacks.

I am not sure how the patch will impact things but for now it has taken him a long time and a lot of casualties to take maybe some 10 hexes of land. Most of his offensive power including his artillery divisions are near Kharkov. I have been able to make his stacks retreat and still get my Panzers out of the way so for now its a numbers game.

[Q-Ball]

Can you post a German production screen? Interested in your Armament situation.

[Ketza]

Part 1