1.05.18 beta Farfarer vs Fulkerson (sov)

[larryfulkerson]

I've got 59 AP's left to spend on something and there's three new tank Corps now.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's my moves for this turn. With an overlay to show my meager attacks.

[M60A3TTS]

Things to consider:

1. All guards rifle divisions out of the front line, and on refit. Get them up to full strength.
2. Attachments for the corps you are building now and in the near future.
3. All cavalry corps at least 8-10 hexes from the front lines. On refit, like the guards.
4. What do you think the enemy will do and how do you plan to counter that now and when the summer offensive starts.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the OOB, losses, destroyed units, and production:

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
1. All guards rifle divisions out of the front line, and on refit. Get them up to full strength.

I was thinking of making an all-guard army for a reserve army somewhere, full-strength, on-rail, ready to go. For now I'll pull all the
guards units into the second line and put them on refit and let them plump up ready for counterattacks.

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
2. Attachments for the corps you are building now and in the near future.

I wasn't aware I could give SU's to tank Corps so thanks for the heads up. What's the best attachment for a tank Corps anyway?

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
3. All cavalry corps at least 8-10 hexes from the front lines. On refit, like the guards.

Okay, my question to you is this: Do I plan on using the Cav Corps during counterattacks this summer season or do I save them
for the winter '42 - '43 season?

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
4. What do you think the enemy will do and how do you plan to counter that now and when the summer offensive starts.

I'm thinking that Far will start attacking at my weak spots ( and they are several ) as soon as these mud turns are overwith. I'm thinking I'll strip the north areas to bolster the southern parts. Either that or buy some more rifle brigades, or both.

[M60A3TTS]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
1. All guards rifle divisions out of the front line, and on refit. Get them up to full strength.

I was thinking of making an all-guard army for a reserve army somewhere, full-strength, on-rail, ready to go. For now I'll pull all the
guards units into the second line and put them on refit and let them plump up ready for counterattacks.

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
2. Attachments for the corps you are building now and in the near future.

I wasn't aware I could give SU's to tank Corps so thanks for the heads up. What's the best attachment for a tank Corps anyway?

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
3. All cavalry corps at least 8-10 hexes from the front lines. On refit, like the guards.

Okay, my question to you is this: Do I plan on using the Cav Corps during counterattacks this summer season or do I save them
for the winter '42 - '43 season?

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS
4. What do you think the enemy will do and how do you plan to counter that now and when the summer offensive starts.

I'm thinking that Far will start attacking at my weak spots ( and they are several ) as soon as these mud turns are overwith. I'm thinking I'll strip the north areas to bolster the southern parts. Either that or buy some more rifle brigades, or both.

Concerning the use of Guards Rifle Corps for counterattack, bear this in mind knowing that the German offensive has the green light in June. There are 4 1942 TO&E versions for the rifle or guards rifle corps. They come in June, July, October, and December. The first two iterations have between 500-600 rifle squads, but the later versions go over 1,000 so the counterattack quality is markedly better later. Trouble is you may find things getting out of hand by then so really your cav corps are your most potent counter. And that is not taking into account the added mobility of a cav sorps that you may need to punch a hole to break a pocket that a rifle corps just won't be able to do to the same degree. That sort of answers #3 as well- yes, you use the cav corps and tank corps if the opportunity is there sooner rather than later.

[larryfulkerson]

T43: Most of the front lines stayed the same. However, there was some Axis action down south. This is a picture of the action before any Soviet movement or recon:

Edit: I'm going to have to revert to a carpet defensive policy instead of stacks since I can't stop his advance anyway.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what I decided to do about the situation:

[larryfulkerson]

According to this CR report most of my Front HQ's are overloaded. And there's not much I can do about it right now.

[randallw]

Look how much free capacity the Northwest and Volkhov Fronts have.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's my moves with an overlay showing my attacks:

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the OOB, losses, destroyed units, and production:

[larryfulkerson]

T44: This is a mud turn so Far isn't attacking. This is the situation in the south. I can personally guarantee that Far will start attacking
just as soon as all these mud turns are over ( if not before ).

[larryfulkerson]

T47: At last there was a clear weather turn down south and Far attacked big time. Here's what the south looks like now before any
Soviet movement:

[larryfulkerson]

I decided to pull back and make the depth larger in some places. Not much else I can do at this point. This is May 1942 and in June I
can start building Rifle Corps and that may make a difference in this area. I've got 102 AP's and I'm saving up to build several Rifle
Corps.

[larryfulkerson]

T48: Here's the situation in the south before any Soviet movement. It looks like a disaster plain and simple.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the moves I decided on. It's a mud turn so this is as far as I could move some of the units. Far attacked during a mud turn.
First time in a long time he's done that.

[larryfulkerson]

I bought 9 more rifle brigades because I figure I'm going to need them pretty quick now.

[Flaviusx]

Larry, thin out the north. You seriously only need a handful of units to hold that. This will free up reserves. And especially get guards out of there.

Ignore the Finns. Wherever the panzers go, there you must go, and lots of you.

Don't buy rifle brigades. You shouldn't be buying new units at all, if possible, if you have anywhere near 400 rifle division equivalents, that's good enough. APs need to be saved for corps upgrades. Get some mobile reserves down into the Caucuses. Start counterattacking down there. If you had some tank corps down there, you could get easy wins against the Italians and train them up in the school of hard knocks (in this case, mostly hard knocks on the Italians.) Those cavalry divisions, for example, are easy meat for hasty attacks by a stack of tank corps.

Throw strong rifle forces against the panzers advancing past Krasnodar. 6 good rifle divisions will shift a single German mobile unit in the open. Just go medieval on those guys and pound the crap out of them. Rifle brigades won't do the job, they are merely speed bumps.

You need to rationalize your C&C. I count 4 front commands in this small area by the Taman, which is at least 2 fronts too many.

Fly lots of recon. I don't see any recon here. You need to determine where his mobile units are and make your dispositions accordingly. Right now you are merely spreading out more or less evenly across the whole front in a carpet. That's not going to do it. You have to get reserves out and concentrate forces where they are needed, that is to say, where the offensive threat is. (Or where you intend to go on the offensive yourself.)

[larryfulkerson]

ok