End of AAR 76mm welcome

[Ketza]

Another hold thanks to rules change.

[Ketza]

And the last hold that happened up north. This battle really shows that the Soviet will have to apply maximum force to remove a fortified Axis hex and not rely on "just enough" to get a 1-1. This should cut down on the overall number of Soviet attacks as well as keep the Axis army on the board longer from less retreats. More turns are needed to gather data but so far I like what I am seeing.

More later when I do the turn its football time!

[Ketza]

1-21-43

76 launched a major air base assault. He lost a lot of planes against my experienced air groups. Against my lesser units the ratios were more even.

[Ketza]

Total losses his part of turn.

[Ketza]

I launched several attacks this turn and got some nice ratios in the air and on the ground.

[Ketza]

Ground losses. I am attacking where he is weak with fire brigades of Panzers. Its costing me some tanks but I have a lot in my pools. This will hopefully force him to stack more units along the front which will increase his attrition. I noticed his attrition go way up when he started stacking corps along the front. I also found these attacks give me a huge amount of air kills at extreme ratios in my favor.

[Ketza]

As the winter trails off my heavy hitter SS divisions will start showing up and I will increase my infantry reserve by whatever comes in. During mud my Panzer force strength should skyrocket. I am fairly confident I will be able to launch an offensive of some type as well as continue to hold the line. I am figuring out how to build the fort lines to fall back too as he grinds forward.

[Ketza]

Its March now and the snow is almost over. His offensive has ground out most of the level 4 forts in the Kharkov area but more forts are being built behind the first. They wont get to 4 but Ill take 2s and 2s. By mud he will be stopped with no real breakthrough.

In preparation for the summer there are some 15 Panzer/mech and 15 infantry divisions ready to react or attack.. Also with the last patch I put most of the front on static to cut back on attrition and built some 50 fortified areas at 50% toe. I have 500 APs in reserve.

The air war continues unabated but the overall kill ratio is still 8 or 9 to one in my favor. He has contined to attack my airfields but I have a lot of planes in my pools so it has not been an issue.

We discussed ending the game but decided to continue it as he feels eventually he will break through.

[Ketza]

Turn 92 - Attrition losses - Last turn I put more then half the front on static mode and wow it made a difference. Static mode will be huge for the Axis now. I will be putting a lot more of the front in static mode this turn. Attrition losses were 30K plus on average before.

[Ketza]

Replacements - 52k went to the front which is up from the average before. Static mode? Not sure.

[Ketza]

I filtered production to Germany only and my AP situation is not as good as I thought.

[Ketza]

Turn 92 OOB - I would have never dreamed of these numbers a few patches ago. Too bad his army is huge as well!

I gave up on culling his air force a long time ago. It just grows no matter what. Are those numbers historical? Thats incredible.

[Ketza]

Turn 92 German fighter status - A few squadrons with over 700 kills. Mid to late43 is when I start to lose whole squadrons to withdrawals and that is going to hurt.

[Ketza]

Panzer divisions - Good shape even with almost constant attacking with a few corps each turn.

[Ketza]

Top infantry - starting to trail off a bit due to heavy Soviet attacks in Kharkov area. Still overall not to shabby for March of 43. I think [:D]

[Ketza]

And the Panzer Grenadier. The SS have arrived and its time for a massive reorganization of the armored forces when mud hits.

[Ketza]

AGN -

[Ketza]

AGC

[Ketza]

AGS - the area between the red lines has been where his offensive has been grinding forward. He has to fight for every single hex and for the most part gets counter attacked back in the area he gains hexes 2-3 times each turn. Overall the ratio each turn has been 2-1 to 3-1 in my favor. Most of my level 4 forts are gone but its fairly easy to build level 2s 3s behind the line before he breaks the one next to him. Static mode being somewhat useful now is going to be a big help.

[karonagames]

Numbers wise, you are in very good shape,historically in July 1943 GE frontline strength peaked at 3.5m, and the SU were at 6.8m. If you had started under 1.05, I think both sides would be very close to these numbers.

Territory wise, you are also close to the summer 1943 startline, with the bonus of the Leningrad/Finnish front.

Looking good so far for a tight finish, and we will see if the SU +1 rule makes any difference - I am still in the camp that says they might need it to achieve the rates of advance they achieved historically.