Stalin's fired, I'm in charge! III - Tullius (Soviet) vs Marquo (Axis)

[TulliusDetritus]

Well, my other game is dead. The last time we did a turn was the 26 june if I remember correctly. 2ndACR was busy during the first two weeks of july and then I had no internet on the last two weeks of that month. Then holidays in august. When I came back I emailed him but no reply so far. I hope he is ok [:)] Anyway, I understand the Germans were possibly done by june '42 [:(] When 2ndACR started his '42 summer offensive I delivered powerful blows (using Guards divisions and corps, tank and cavalry corps, shock and Guards Armies) which forced to retreat 3-units German stacks (infantry or armored spearheads) every turn. And that I did it for 3 consecutive turns (in the main panzer threat area).

I had concluded that the Soviets were (in my opinion, of course) way too strong in 1942. They should be weaker.

Now with the 1.05.xx thing the Soviets should be "weak", at least until autumn, winter '42. A limited German summer offensive should be then possible in theory. Time will tell [:)]

[TulliusDetritus]

The recent debates have sort of scared me... [:D]

Let's see. All I have done on my two other games (vs humans that is) is simply following the Soviet Strategy. Except of course the massive pockets part (why do you think Stalin is fired or in the gulag, eh?) [;)]

So in fact no need to invent anything.

BUT...

The bloody Lvov mega-pocket is everything. On my first game there was no mega-pocket. I railed them to safety. The Soviets had the 16, 19, 20 and 21 STAVKA Reserve Armies in the south. They sent all these armies to the CENTER (because a) Moscow was the most important part of the country and b) the most dangerous enemy units were in the center). So that's what I did on that first game...

vs 2ndACR, yes, there was a massive Lvov mega-pocket. And of course, what a dilemma! I thought "Ok, the Soviets sent their Reserve Armies in the south [mentioned above] to the center, but their Southwestern Front was intact!" So I had to choose...

a) either these Reserve Armies stay in the south and form a new Southwestern Front (almost destroyed)
b) or they are sent to the center the same (a GAMBLE)

I knew b) was a gamble but I railed the same these guys to the center. I too thought that if they stay in the south what would I have? Weak fronts everywhere. If I railed them I could be relatively strong in some few places (I'd be concentrating forces that is). Well, I can't say that strategy was a disaster. I survived that Blitzkrieg. Very few industry was captured as well. As for territorial losses I could even afford to lose Rostov in the South (the city was not captured though) [;)] Because after all the Soviets lost it as well...

So in theory I should be doing exactly the same on this game. As long as I can more or less evacuate industry in the south, I don't care at all about territorial losses. As I have said, if I am forced to retreat and lose Rostov, well, that's what happened in the real war, so big deal. I should be able to capture Berlin in may 1945 [8D] But of course, I still think it is a gamble.

[TulliusDetritus]

First screenshot. Let SPAM begin [8D]

Marquo had said he would not be using the Riga Gambit (I did not even know it existed [:D]). As for me just like on my two other games:

1) I will ALWAYS keep a certain number of Rifle Divisions north of Leningrad and East of Lake Ladoga, just like the Soviets did. 3 + 4 = 7 rifle divisions. The rest will be brigades, regiments or fortified regions (I doubt it).

2) I will not bomb Ploesti etc. The Soviet Air Force was NOT the USAAF [;)]

3) no amphibious landings either (until 1943. I do not even know how to do them)...

So in the Northwestern Front, the 22 NKVD Rifle Division opens a corridor and the trapped units should be getting some supply. They might escape (routed) as well if attacked. A Motorized Division is isolated as well (west of Riga) but it's a pure illusion. Cutting the enemy units off on the very first turn is basically irrelevant if I well understood what Alfonso (a forum contributor) had said on my last AAR.

[TulliusDetritus]

Oh, I forgot, we are using RANDOM weather for a change.

[Q-Ball]

The "Riga Gambit" is closed in 1.05; it basically means shipping-in infantry via ship on turn 1. You can't do that now until Turn 2. It really wasn't a game changer; the net effect is getting 2 Infantry units 5-6 hexes closer to Pskov on turn 1. Whoope-de-do. I don't know why everyone made such a big deal of it.

Not that he took Riga turn 1 anyway

That was a terrible opening in AGN for him; you can't leave so many "leakers" around. No reason for it, because a stiff breeze will rout most of the units up there turn-1.

[Klydon]

Good to see you doing a new AAR TD. [:)]

[KamilS]

Poor logistic situation, and in my opinion it is most important factor in the north. German own goal.

[Encircled]

Oh, I forgot, we are using RANDOM weather for a change.

The only way to play!

V Poor by the Axis in the North, and a big bonus for the Soviets

[CarnageINC]

Good to see you back at TD

[Ketza]

Good luck with your game. Sorry I could not agree to a non server game I am spooiled by not having to open emails whenever I get a turn.

Happy gaming!

[TulliusDetritus]

Hello everyone [:)]

As you may imagine all the comments are welcome (harsh criticism included). But please, this is not the place to bash Marquo. Comments like "I don't like this move, what a mistake, what's he doing" are legitimate, not a lack of respect. As opposed to "wtf, he sucks!". If you need to bash someone then I am your MAIN target [8D]

Ketza, no problem. I was supposed to play vs Ketza but he doesn't like PBEM, I don't like server games, because I save CONSTANTLY (I am paranoid), and from what Tarhunnas told me each time you do that the server has to upload the stuff. Raher slow, he said. Marquo had seen that thread about server games so he PMed and asked me if I wanted to play. Given that I will always play with the first person asking me to play, I obviously accepted his offer.

Like me, he is more a Soviet player. In fact this is his FIRST game as German. Let's hope he can put a good fight. After all, as a Soviet I always assume I will be losing Leningrad, Moscow, Rostov, my socks and wallet...

Feel free to hijack this AAR. As PDH once said "it was hijacked by me", so... [:D]

[TulliusDetritus]

In the Western Front or center he's done the typical pocket aka the Frontier District Massacres. He seems to have concentrated his panzers between Minsk and the Pripyat Marshes. Here I had two choices. I could cut the panzer spearhead in the north or open a corridor for some trapped units. Given that as I said above cutting off enemy units on the very first Soviet turn is irrelevant I decide to open a corridor. I prefer to harass the rear of the enemy, just like I did in the Northwest.

[BletchleyGeek]

Will follow this one with interest TD [:)]

BTW, what happened to your signature? The one with the NKVD(TM) Photoshop filter. I couldn't help chuckling each time I saw it.

[BletchleyGeek]

I always try to setup some sort of blocking/screening force on the forests and swamps along the Berezina river. I think that buys some time to get the show up and running on the Dnepr and the land bridge.

[TulliusDetritus]

In the Southwestern Front, yes, we have a Lvov mega-pocket

But here there is another trap if you don't pay attention. These guys are dead men walking. Period. So risking forces which are outside the pocket to relieve them (opening corridors, counter-attacks, etc.) is in fact risky, unnecessary, absurd I would add. You have already lost many men here, don't add more victims to the bag of your enemy. I don't need to speak from experience, this should be common sense. The fact is vs 2ndACR I launched forces which were outside the pocket to the fight and... I ended up losing the men in the Lvov pocket + maybe 12 divisions (which were outside the pocket). That was a LOT! My Southwestern Front was utterly annihilated. Remember that I rail the Stavka Reserve Armies located in the south to the center... [;)] This game will not be different, remember there is a gamble involved (concentrate in the north, give land in the south). I know and accept it.

So this time I only attack in one place to open a corridor. As explained above I want to harass the enemy, I want my dead mean walking to be a nuisance. Er, I want to buy TIME! [8D] But the guys outside the pocket will retreat some hexes, I want them to be here on this smashed Southwestern Front to delay (if possible) the enemy advance. One turn here, another turn there, it's all I ask.

[TulliusDetritus]

You mean Stalin disappearing the comissar, Bletchley_Geek? Ok then [:D]

Yes, this Berezina river is indeed interesting and I will use it, for sure [:)] So far I have only moved behind the enemy lines. Now I have to bring units forward, especially in the center, where I should be massing many Soviet armies: 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 24 armies (all of them Stavka Reserve Armies). Plus the survivors of the Western Front.

[heliodorus04]

With respect to your request that we not criticize Marquo, I understand why you're saying that.
I respect Marquo in general, and more so now that he's seeing how the Axis works,
BUT
He's about to learn why Turn 1 is so important for Germany, because critical pockets were opened, and given his inexperience, he's probably going to be inefficient in using his precious movement points (for all forces).  Allowing pockets to be opened on T1 is like failing to make a debt payment: next month, you owe more, and it's even harder to find the resources.  These are very serious inefficiencies for a new German to deal with.  It would be one thing if it happened only in one Army Group, but it happened in all 3.

I'm in full agreement with you regarding SW Front.  Moving (hopefully moving) speed bumps no matter what, committing only the absolute minimum to buy "1 more turn" for the guys in the pockets.  And you did a fantastic job of that. 

[BletchleyGeek]

Thank you for bringing back the signature [:D]

As an off-topic remark, this thing of the photo montage ran deep into the Soviet system. Very often photos were manipulated not to erase any trace of real or perceived dissidents, but just because they found the person "irrelevant" or pure aesthetic concerns.

You can take a look at the work of Rodchenko, one of the most signifying Russian artists co-opted by Stalin

Rochenko's photomontage

One of his most famous works deal with the "documentation" of one of the biggest engineering projects in the Soviet Union of the early 30's (?), the construction of the White Sea channel

[center][/center]

the picture above is claimed to portray the "happy" workers listening to a talk on the virtues of Communism by a Communist Party officer. Actually the truth was quite sad, as it is well explained on this short piece:

White Sea Canal, 1933

[TulliusDetritus]

Bletchley Geek, indeed, the Soviet fake photos (other regimes did the same) were grotesque [:D]

Well, in the Southwestern Front I had the choice to open another corridor southwest of the Pripyat Marshes. The guys who did this (6th Rifle Division) are obviously sacrificed, dead meat, so RIP. There are 4 divisions and a couple of sec regiments pocketed, but what the heck, this division alone will not win (or lose) the war. So I keep harassing the enemy's back. Maybe one or two of them escape routed (a miracle).

[heliodorus04]

So Tullius, I have a question, and I'm not trying to be flippant.
Have you considered offering him a re-start?

My sentiment on your first turn moves is that you have utterly destroyed a beginner's chance to leverage his Turn 1 advantage.
You've made it so he has not encircled anything except what is in the 9th & 4th Army areas, and I think that's going to be very difficult for a first-time Axis player to deal with how decisively you have countered.