Death Ride to Russia: Q-Ball (Axis) v smokindave(Sov). 1.05 beta

[TulliusDetritus]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

PS: Is the real film any good?

You haven't seen it? [X(] Yes, it is a great movie. The actor who portrays Hitler (Bruno Ganz, Austrian like Adolf)) is simply amazing. If I am not mistaken he spent all his life doing shi*** TV Films on Austrian and German movie industry so that role was a big hit for him. Problem is... if you have watched the parodies the the real thing will be sort of weird [:D] Still, you really have to watch it.

FEGELEIN!!!! FEGELEIN!!!! FEGELEIN!!!!!!

[Balou]

Ganz is mainly a stage actor, and btw a very famous one.

[modrow]

Q-Ball,

sorry, cannot resist... your recent "hitler-rant" basically forced me to do it:

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

CRIMEA: The two divisions that Herr Hitler ranted about are going to die next turn. That's too bad, we all make mistakes, and good players make us pay for them. B-G is a good player, he made me PAY!

Situation report by Generalfeldmarschall Q-Ball in the FHQ:

Generalfeldmarschall Q-Ball:

"Ahem, btw, mein Fuehrer, those two divisions you ranted about last wee are goint to die. That's too bad, we all make mistakes, and good generals make us pay for them. That marshal zhukov is a really great general, he made me pay..."

A.H. **edited to comply with forum etiquette**

Sometimes it's good to know we are just playing games [8D]

Hartwig

[janh]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
RE: DOWNFALL: T-D, maybe someone should do a Downfall Parody on WITE. The world does not have enough Downfall parodies!!!!
PS: Is the real film any good?

I wasn't too impressed with the movie, to be honest. It seemed to be more about story telling biased by todays German preception of history than about historical accuracy. Presently there are plans by a German public-sponsored TV station for a movie about Rommel, but the script already spawned a heated debate about his character and involvement in nazi politics. Germans like to view all the leading characters except those few that engaged in well-known, open opposition to the regime as true by heart to the Nazis, and guilty for all crimes by default. There is little grey space for a detailed analysis and accurate representation of people like Rommel, who did not like Hitler and the Nazis, but also didn't fight against them (whether and how much that renders him guilty now). The new movie script also shows that: obviously Rommel will be represented as a whole-hearted Nazi, skewing the representation of this true character and misleading the representation about his military genius. Seems like outside nationalities can see the Germans and the War with much clearer eyes and more value to facts than most of us Germans can or want to view it ourselves.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
Up front, I created double-belts, mostly by splitting divisions into Regiments, and rotating them back and forth during MUD. That helps a bit, but the most you get are size-1 forts that way.

I am looking for good feedback. I probably should have pulled a few more units to around Orel/Kursk to dig in that vicinity, but other than that, I don't regret my winter prep decisions. You only have so many units and so much time.

Without risking to say to much, I believe one, perhaps even two of the flanks of your rearward fort lines are dangling pretty badly in the air. Not sure whether B-G can reach so deep in his winter offensive, but if he manages and finds your open flanks, he might find an opportunity there to unhinge the whole line.

[gingerbread]

There are extra advantages for a sudden pullback when the blizzard starts, if you have the buffer, in that the Soviet railroad repair is slow, so supplying units at the front will chew up vehicles and then fewer tank corps can be supported during much of '42. Railroad destruction is a valid selection criteria for late summer and snow turn attacks/offensives.

[carlkay58]

A few comments:

Q-Ball you can eliminate the attrition casualties from the report by opening the casualty report immediately when you recieve the turn. This zeroes the count and further reports will only report on changes during your move.

Soviet morale - the major change that may have escaped many people is that Refit only benefits unit morale when more than 10 hexes from an enemy unit. If the unit is more than 10 hexes from an enemy unit, it may advance its morale by up to 3 per turn up to the National Morale level. If it is not more than 10 hexes away it may only advance its morale by up to 1 per turn. If the Soviets rail their reinforcements too close to the front too soon they do not gain morale above their original 30 - 35 they start with. This forces the Soviets to build up their reinforcing armies well in the rear as it will take about 5 turns for their morale to reach the National level. This really changes things for the Soviets.

[Q-Ball]

T28: 12/25/41

Not a Merry X-Mas for the Wehrmacht, although I have to say that so far, this Blizzard has been much lighter than the last PBEM I played. Morale may be playing a role as you guys say, plus the fact that I am retreating ALOT. I think B-G knows what he is doing and is a good player, so it's not that.

I hate to give up ground, but I think in this case it's justified. I took alot of ground late in Summer and in Snow, for this express purpose: To retreat back out of it. I also expect to be able to uncork a counteroffensive in Snow. Check out the shot below; I have several divisions building up, and more that are on the map that I haven't used yet.

Hopefully these more tactical shots are interesting for you guys. I don't think anyone has shown the "Magic Formula" yet for Blizzard survival, and I would have done a few things differently already.

Crisis Areas:

There are two main crisis areas: 2nd Army and 4th Army. See the shots.

In 2nd Army sector, the main issue is that I was never strong there, resulting in slow forts builds. I have no answer for the Reds here, other than falling back on Smolensk/Vyazma. On the bright side, there isn't alot to give up here, just trees really.

In 4th Army sector, the big problem is the Reds are so damn strong there. Shock Armys and everything. He really built-up here, probably to make hay.

Otherwise, here is the status:

16th Army: In front of the Valdai Hills, he is pushing, but not terribly hard. I think he is just guarding the flank of the advance on 2nd Army, and 16th Army will probably end the Blizzard in the Valdai Hills, which are a good position.

Moscow: In front of Moscow, we are holding in decent forts. We are down to the last 2 rows of forts, so they will run out Mid-Jan or so, but it doesn't really matter because that whole position will be flanked by the guys coming down on 2nd Army anyway. So it's fine.

Kharkov: We are OK here; falling back under pressure, but my real objective is to just hold onto Kharkov. I have a line of level 2 forts from Belgorod through the Donbas to the Sea of Azov that are still 4 hexes back of the front, so we have some time.

Donbas: I hope to hold the Donbas. The reds are 5-6 hexes EAST right now. The Mountain divisions are really helping here, as he does have quite a few troops.

Crimea: My strategy basically worked; it will be the 1st turn of January before the first serious assault on the Crimea. Even it he clears the exits by mid-January, he will likely have to halt at some point for his own protections. I think I'll be OK, but those are also famous last words!

Attack Counter, 3 Turns In:
25-4 this turn
75-19 Overall; as I said, lighter than I expected; this was about the same as ONE turn against Tarhunnas (which was under a different version)

Otherwise, check out the graphics below.

[Klydon]

Q-Ball, do any of your reserves in Poland have corps HQs? While it may cost to transfer command, might be worth it to have them also in Poland, not taking damage and also sucking up supplies/fuel for when they go back to the front.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Klydon

Q-Ball, do any of your reserves in Poland have corps HQs? While it may cost to transfer command, might be worth it to have them also in Poland, not taking damage and also sucking up supplies/fuel for when they go back to the front.

I am about to send them one that is freed-up.

I just looked at my reserve situation in general; NOT counting the guys in Poland:

-I have 5 Fresh Infantry Divisions still available in Russia
-I have 4 Divisions just pulled off the line, on REFIT, on a RR. They should be available for something soon.
-Most of my Panzers are uncomitted, aside from the Corps in 2nd Army Sector. I am holding-off in particular on 3 88+ Morale Mot Divs, though I may need to send them in. Some Mobile Divisions I mentioned earlier, though, are spending winter outside.
-I also have 4 Romanian Divisions left at 50+ Morale. They are worth something.

In addition, the Germans do get some reinforcements in January, which also help.

[Q-Ball]

1/1/42: Blizzard:

NOTE: I may end up eating every optimistic word in this post!

....but things are not looking half-bad. Maybe that's the optimisim that comes from seeing your unit CVs increase by 50% from last turn, and attacks go down.

This turn, he launched only 16 total attacks. (14 successful). I am pulling back in many areas, but that is still surprising. I will ask B-G why he thinks later on.

The ATTACK COUNTER IS:

14-2 this turn
89-21 TOTAL so far in December

That is a low total for December. I have a few possible reasons for this:

1. My retreating; see examples below. Giving up a hex is a great defense strategy in Blizzard. I have been doing this ALOT.
2. Poor Red Army condition, either RULES changes, or heavy Summer losses, or both
3. Deliberate approach; alot of B-Gs attacks are very high odds.
4. Forts and Preparation

I will seek feedback from B-G, but so far this winter has been very light compared to past Blizzards I have worked on.

Problem Areas:

Nevertheless, it's not a picnic either. I am completely out of forts near OREL, which is the main push I think.

2nd Army continues to deteriorate north of Rzhev, and we are out of forts. I retreated alot this turn, and will one more, but after that I have to either fight, or pull all my troops in front of Moscow back on Vyazma. I have to hold Vyazma, because the woods run out after that town, basically.

4th Army is also on the ropes; the forts are gone, and he is really pressing.

I have dispatched 2 more Infantry Divisions to each area, and 2 more are on the way. Each turn in January the Wehrmacht gets some fresh infantry, which is a big help.

Josef Harpe?: The leader promotion rules are a bit strange. von Bock got canned, which isn't a huge shocker, but replacing him with a GeneralMajor is. Harpe is junior to all Army commanders in AGC, and is 3 ranks junior to the commander of 4th Army, Gunther von Kluge, who is now his subordinate. Maybe Harpe married Goering's sister or something.

Harpe has decent ratings, so I'll leave him there, but weird.

Blizzard Tactics:

Check out my shots below for a sampling of my Blizzzard tactics

[Ketza]

Fallback as needed and on occasion sting him when he starts to spread out. No better way to do it.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Ketza

Fallback as needed and on occasion sting him when he starts to spread out. No better way to do it.

Thanks, I hope these pictures help someone, because I think alot of early AARs lacked specifics on how to deal with Blizzards

It takes 6 or 7 MPs for Russian Infantry to move into an empty, enemy hex. That means a Rifle Division needs at least 12 MPs at the start of the turn to do a deliberate attack, and that's ONLY on units right in front of them. With the crappy Russian leadership and often overloaded commands, several units won't have 12 MPs. And it's tough to concentrate forces, moving laterally along the front to do so, when you have to spend those MPs just to get to the line.

Of course, the tradeoff is you have to be willing to concede 10-12 hexes everywhere. But if the Wehrmacht survives in good shape, you can get that back. No problem.

[Klydon]

Another thing to take advantage of if a German can is to smack a spearhead that can only retreat on to a full stack. They will all rout instead of retreating and should be out of commission for a couple of turns, which is the point. Especially helpful against cav corps.

Great job so far trying to limit the damage. I don't know that I like the low tempo of attacks from him. He is going to be hurting on guards unit creation later on if he doesn't get rolling.

[Ketza]

That is pretty much how I handled my blizzard against 76mm. That was under the old Blizzard rules. I rarely stood and fought and never let him close with me until Feb. I also counter attacked frequently when he used tank brigades and cav corps. I came out of the Blizzard in excellent shape.

The other very positive aspect is you cut down on his victories which reduces guards units which helps in 1942 as well.

The downside is losing the hexes but your army will be in great shape and taking them back should not be an issue.

Good luck!

[Q-Ball]

If anyone is interested, I posted in Opponents wanted for a crackerjack Axis opponent. I am hoping for a forum lurker, and someone who is going to make me SWEAT as the Russians!

PM Me if interested

EDIT: I am playing JAMiAM, so in terms of getting an opponent who is going to make me sweat....I think mission accomplished there!

[Peltonx]

You sure Katzaed BG during the Blizzard.

Great job using space to your advantage. Reading his AAR about his blizzard O is kinda sad, because he was really unable to attack much at all and when he did it cost him much more then you. 3 to 1 odds generally.

I have followed Katza advice and have my winter fort line far from the front seeing land means little to nothing.

You only need to pull 15 divisions out of the line around turn 12-15 depending on opponent and you can atleast get 2 lines of level 2 forts long before lines get to your first fort belts.

Again great job Russian moral is low and German options look great for 42.

Even vs Flaviusx I was able to make 10 to 15 hex Blizzard buffer.

Pelton

[ComradeP]

Q-Ball, could you post a bug report in the tech report forum about Harpe's promotion?

Also: I'll ask on the tester forum, but using non-combat units (that, I believe, don't have construction values to begin with) to keep fort levels in shape is...not really supposed to happen, I'd guess.

[Q-Ball]

T30: 1/8/42

Pelton/Ketza, I am not out of the woods yet so to speak. There is still more Blizzard ahead of me than behind me, so it's not over. Granted, December is the worst, and after this turn, I can think about February, when defense CVs are almost recovered, and when he will probably think about halting.

Attacks this turn were light; 11 total, 7 of which were successful. There were no attacks at all in front of Moscow, or near Voronezh.

ATTACK COUNTER:
7-4 this turn
96-25 TOTAL

This turn, I lost 66,000 total between attrition and combat. That is my lowest attrition loss so far, which makes sense. The damage from December is about cleared out or repaired by now.

Elsewhere:

Overall, I am just about done committing Infantry Reserves. I have a division left in Kursk, and that's about it, other than reinforcements. I do get a division or two each turn now, so that helps. I am also not counting divisions that are being rotated for REFIT; I have probably 6 or 8 in cities resting and building strength. I plan to keep rotating that way. Also, these numbers don't count my 4-Division "Sturm Corps" that I am saving for March.

About Half my Mobile units haven't moved during Winter, so many are in good shape. The ones that are outside, I am just running them into the ground, because 4 or 5 are below 80 Morale, which means they should be able to recover some in Spring on REFIT.

My only big problem now is that, except for a line in front of Vyazma, I am out of forts from the Valdai Hills to Belgorod. That's a long stretch. I will fall back rather than fight in open ground, and if a bulge develops, so be it.

I expect to lose OREL this Blizzard, and keeping KURSK is probably 50/50. Rhzev and Kaluga are definitely going to be lost. I should hold Kharkov and the Donbas, though.

Fort Zones:

I have tried to be careful and keep Fort Zones out of harm's way. They add little combat value, and are cheap POWs for the Russians if they surrender. So far, I have lost 3 to combat; I have picked-up probably 60-odd otherwise ahead of the Russian advance. I can live with half-dozen or so lost to combat over the Winter.

Combat Result:

Below is the most lopsided Combat Result I have ever seen. In this case, 2 crack Motorized Divisions joined via Reserves, and really decimited the attack. Pretty crazy result. I suppoes it helps that Panzer Corps and Panzer Army have excellent leadership.

[mmarquo]

Why don't you disband the fort unit when they are going to be on the frontline? The combat unit in the fortified hex still receives the fort level bonus and you don't lose the men/material associated with the fort unit?

Marquo

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: Marquo

Why don't you disband the fort unit when they are going to be on the frontline? The combat unit in the fortified hex still receives the fort level bonus and you don't lose the men/material associated with the fort unit?

Marquo

Once a hex has gone beyond level 3, 10%, that is 11+%, it will continue to grow to level 4, 10%, even without a fort in the hex. Likewise, for the adjacent hex benefit, and the initial breaking of the level 2 limit, as long as the hexes are at least level 2, 11%, they will go up to level 3, 10%.

If the TOEs of the forts is kept to 50%, then the loss of them is fairly inconsequential. Especially, if you've taken them off refit after their first turn of sucking replacements. Then, it's a question of how threatened the hexes are versus the cost of 1 AP to disband, and possibly 4 more AP to rebuild another at some point. In fluid situations, obviously, the threat to them is higher, but once a line settles in, it may may sense to accept a bit more risk in them on, or near, the frontlines.