To run or not to run... Toidi (Sov) - Mike29 (Axis)

[Toidi]

How does your carreer began?

Simple. One telephone... It was June, 22nd, 1941, 4:30 am. It was JS himself. Told me to get in the fighter plane and go straight to Moscow. The meeting was in two hours...

Meeting?

Yes, JS wanted to meet me. Unusual. Often such meetings were the last thing before going to Kolyma, but not this time... This time I was told that Hitler attacked. Was told that we need to win this war, with my incompetent predecessor leaving army in disarray... And that Axis is advancing quickly and huge parts of our army is already surrounded, and thousands of planes are lost.

And?

Well, I was put in charge. As XYZ. The shadow one. Really responsible... My nemesis was Mike29...

You accepted?

With JS asking, there is not much to say. You just accept, and do your best.

And your predecessor?

Well, he got the usual punishment. I do not know the details, never wished to know...

So, your first moves?

Well, situation in the first week was difficult. Hundreds of thousands of troops were encircled... Minsk was lost.

I retreated a bit. Not too much. JS would not accept that. Besides there were some chance of extracting the troops around Lvov from the encirclement... I decided to support them as much as I could, especially that Mike29 did not send additional tanks south... I only just busted the pocked in the south with the mountain division from Romanian border... And the encirclement east to Rovno. But managed nothing in the north. Just moved back, to the line Vitebsk-Mogilev...

One bright thing was that I got all the support units from the Lvov pocket... spent most of my AP getting them out, so they don't suffer when the encirclement ultimately hold... I also put the remaining planes from the front line into the national reserve and disbanded some fortified regions... And run out of rail capacity railing units to the front...

(AAR made with a 4T delay; to be continued)

Initial situation below:

[Toidi]

How Mike acted?

Well, he was quite aggressive... Actually after a week I found that the troops north of Mogilev were fighting... and lost... What was more surprising, I found myself surrounded in the south...

Turn 2- without any move done

[Toidi]

So, a total disaster?

Well, not really. A challenge I would rather say... I thought that Mike is overextending himself in the south a bit, and decided to punish him... His tanks got cut off. I knew that the encirclement will not hold, but I wanted him to work to get them free... And wanted to make him a bit more considerate...

So you moved out of encirclement in the south?

Well, sure. I also started moving the units in the marshes north west of Rovno... I was very surprised that the units south of Brest Litovsk were free; But moving in the Pripyat area is slow... very slow. I also denied as much supply as I could to Mike, including putting a Security Division close to single hex where supplies were flowing...

And the Lvov pocket?

Well, it is maybe not looking like that, but it was lost. I just decided to move back, not risking any further encirclement. I just did not have the MP to get over the river, into the rough and attack this 3CV tank brigade. I just moved back...

The north?

Well, my first line of defense around Vitebsk was busted. Lots of tanks appeared were there. I had to secure that area at all costs, as well as the Dnepr river bank. Finally I decided to block a bit the approach to Gomel, just in case Mike would like to surround Pripyat marshes quickly...

In the far north, the line at Pskov looked rather reassuring. It seemed to me that Leningrad is not the prime target for Mike...

Air war?

Well, I set interdiction to some very high value, to knock down as much MP from the Axis panzers as possible. Unfortunately, after that turn we upgraded to 5.39 beta, and interdiction was not that important anymore... Also, I set interception very high, as my fighters must make up in quantity the quality of Axis planes...

The situation after my move below:

[Mike29]

Thanks for AAR, Toidy, very interesting! I will try to amend our history, but with little delay and not so literary. Now just want to say that after two weeks of triumphal advance we meed mud, abcence of roads, and angry bears so our plans to cross Dnepr in its Southern part as soon as possible was crashed.

How can I attach image here?

[Mike29]

He thought he already got "Oak leaves" for crossing Dnepr.

[Mike29]

Well, the picture above could be named "Who else wants to play with random weather?" ))

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: Mike29

Well, the picture above could be named "Who else wants to play with random weather?" ))

Hmm you know my answer to that question heheh

[Farfarer61]

Use those tank Divs to punish. Set up north and south of his drives with MP 22 Cav and/or Tank Divs. Spring 42 you will actually miss those 'silly' Tank Div. Good idea isolating whenever possible. It will always be broken, but adds up.

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: Farfarer

Use those tank Divs to punish. Set up north and south of his drives with MP 22 Cav and/or Tank Divs. Spring 42 you will actually miss those 'silly' Tank Div. Good idea isolating whenever possible. It will always be broken, but adds up.

He is really spread thin

[Mike29]

What are the news? How my pockets are?

[Toidi]

So, than July came... How was the beginning of July?

Well, July... It was difficult... to say the least. I underestimated German mobility for the first time... And the beginning of July brought the nasty surprise of having my forces encircled in the south...

The situation before my move below:

[Toidi]

Any other issues?

Well, the situation around Vitebsk was not good... I had to assemble a line to delay the tanks... And I got rather worried about the advances in the south, towards Gomel. Army in the Pripyat marshes would be lost if they finish the encirclement...

As such, I had to put units there... and fight for the troops who try to get through the marshes... Motorised unit which got up north-west of Zhitomir and destroyed the railway made this task much more difficult... Also something was approaching the marshes from the north... destroying the rail on its way...

The encirclement?

Well, it was not tight of course. Actually I made a huge gap... and encircled some German tanks in return... Also the motorised unit in the marshes got encircled...

Any worries?

Well, I hoped the line in centre will hold, as well as that I will get the units out of Pripyat... Also, I was a bit worried about my units in the south, as they did not really moved out of encirclement... Hoped that the tanks will have no fuel to further the advance...

Strategy?

Hold the Germans around Pskov, Smolensk, Vitebsk as long as possible. Get the troops out of the marshes. Slow down the expansion in Ukraine as much as it gets...

Situation after my moves below:

[Mike29]

AGN. Rail road to Leningrad is broken near Tikhvin!

[Mike29]

AGS. Vyazma and Borodino are taken without resistance.

[Mike29]

AGS. the Great Ukrainian Pocket - more than 100 units, approximately 70 - 80 divisions.

[Swenslim]

Wow! Amazing pocket!

[Toidi]

And 10th of July?

Oh, well... On that day I got a message that my forces in the south are encircled... That was tough... And the encirclement was almost tight... It was the first day I realised that my army in the south will get encircled for good, so I ordered to lower the TOE to 50%... Not that it helps much...

Situation in the south:

[Toidi]

Your moves?

Well, the SS division took Krivoi Rog and all the industry there. There was a cavalry guarding, but it was not enough... The tanks around Nikolayev displaced my airfields, after heavy bombing by Mike... Hundreds of planes were lost. Tank at Odessa just did not have enough MP to attack over major river... And Cherkassy were taken and Dnepr almost crossed...

So, I had to open the encirclement - easy, but can't open wide, cut all the tanks on excursions and assemble some credible defence... Some hedgehog in the south is probably all I can do, having all the units in encirclement... Some more worries, as indicated on the map...

[Q-Ball]

Your opponent is really taking chance down south; using a single Regt. to keep open supply lanes is not wise.

You are doing the right thing, which is flood the narrow penetrations, and create chaos. He will spend all of next turn just reestablishing contact with all those units.

There is a good chance the units around Cherkassy will be virtually immobile; they won't be getting any fuel deliveries. I would surround them, and if he doesn't releive them next turn, destroy them

[Toidi]

Thanks Q-Ball... It is a very valid advise and I wish I could have followed it. However, at that time I had no spare forces anywhere... My army in the south was either encircled or in the marshes; I still got some units from Crimea to have the guys cut off, but as the rail was broken, I could not properly surround them... You also see some guys on the rail - I could get them there, but not unload