Disaster in the making. Oloren (axis) vs Terje (USSR)

[Q-Ball]

Can you post OOB and production numbers? I am curious what your trajectory looks like. How much Manpower are you getting a turn?

You've lost alot of territory, but you haven't lost the war, IMO. He has alot of ground to defend, and you should be thinking about limited offensives soon; at this point, the main purpose would be to kill Germans

There are also a Shed-load of partisans in back of the front. Are you supplying them? What kind of results are you getting?

[krupp_88mm]

HAHA, love the MLP stuff, though its hard to find on the net.

most news and some of the most prominent links you can probably find from

equestriadaily

for the underground stuff.. well you will have to find that yourself but there is some scarey sh** out there

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

1) Can you post OOB and production numbers? I am curious what your trajectory looks like. How much Manpower are you getting a turn?

[]2)[/b] You've lost alot of territory, but you haven't lost the war, IMO. He has alot of ground to defend, and you should be thinking about limited offensives soon; at this point, the main purpose would be to kill Germans

3) There are also a Shed-load of partisans in back of the front. Are you supplying them? What kind of results are you getting?

1. Posted here and below, ask if you want any other screenie.

2. True, when he wheeled north instead of pushing on Stalingrad I was delighted as there is alot of nothing in the area he conquered.
Offensives... Well that will be hard. From Moscow and northwards the front is settled with both sides now in level 3 forts, and his units show an unmodified CV in the ranges of 40->99, and I do not have enough CV in three stacks to tackle something like that.
In the south we are on different sides of rivers, and forts ranging from 0->2, here too the Axis CV values are too high for an attack at the moment.
In the centre I could attack but I am not sure how good it would be, as this is where he has ALOT of reserve units, and this is also where my frontline looks like a rainbow. The fronts here are seriously mixed up, and I fear alot of attacks here will fail their HQ rolls.
That being said, I agree that the time is coming for me to attack, but I am not sure if this is just the right time, it might be better to wait for winter?

3. Yes, I have some planes dropping in supplies, and as can be seen the Axis are forced to take out about 5-8 partisan units per turn, each of which will usually do 2 or 3 attacks each on the railroads, not sure if this is good or not, but I bet the Axis feels like they are playing whack-a-mole in the rear.

OOB

[terje439]

Production I

[terje439]

Production II

[Q-Ball]

Your production is in pretty good shape. You didn't lose any major factories, and your Armament situation is excellent.

Your problem is probably MANPOWER. I bet you are getting under 90K per turn.

Your FRONT leaders are a bit puzzling; you may want to make some changes there. You should have guys with high ADMIN ratings, followed by Morale and Initiative

STAVKA: Budyenny shouldn't be in charge of anything. Nice mustache, but that's all he's good for. Boris is a good fit here, not sure why you moved him.

Pavlov, Remezov, Kuznetsov should probably be canned. Even a few others like Kovalev or Popov are OK, but not your A-Team.

Take a look at these guys for FRONT commands:

Konev
Vasilevsky
Vatutin
Golikov
Bagramyan

.......list goes on. I would take a look at that, if you have some APs.

Is Konev KIA? Otherwise, there is no reason to move him from Crimean Front (and whatever it becomes; I can't recall at the moment)

[terje439]

Thanks for the effort Q-Ball.
You are almost on the mark on manpower, 91.500 this turn.

It seems that I might have replaced the Stavka leader by not realizing he was allready assigned somewhere when I assigned leaders to the various fronts, and that Budyenny might have been promoted in his stead, although not sure.
Also, Stalin has sacked ALOT of my commanders so far in the game.

A question then, I have (at the moment 4 things to spend APs on (why do I keep on calling them CP???));
1. Building new units to form a reserve, of which I currently have none.
2. Forming of corps units
3. Rearranging the frontline units, so that each army commands the units in front of it, and not a few units spread all over the front.
4. Reassigning generals.

To me the priority has been 1-3-2-4 with the sole exception when I have the ability to create a Guard corps, in which case the priority becomes 1-2-3-4.
Would you prioritize differently?

Generals listed below.

[terje439]

Follow up

[M60A3TTS]

Your priority of units over leader changes is correct, given what has been pocketed. How many rifle divisions do you have?

On the leaders, a couple potential red flags are Rokossovsky in 7th Independent Army, assuming that's still assigned to Leningrad Front. Also Bagramyan with Coastal Army, but not sure where that army is, strength, etc. I suspect their solid leaderhip values are being wasted where they are. But again, that's for fixing after you have more pressing deficiencies covered.

[terje439]

Sacked leaders
Either by me or Stalin (the latter sacking the most by far, the ones I have sacked have had very low ratings and were replaced during the early turns)
NB! These are merely sacked, NOT killed/executed.

Akhlyustin
Andreev
Artemenko
Bakunin
Batsanov
Boldin
Borisov
Dashichev
Dukanhov
Egorov
Eremin
Ermachenko
Ermakov
Falakeev
Filatov
Gorodnyansky
Goryunov
Ionov
Ivaneov
Ivanov
Izotov
Kamkov
Khryukin
Kirillov
Kirponos
Klykov
Kopets
Korobkov
Korovnikov
Kulik
Kuznetsov
Lizyukov
Meretskov
Mogilevchik
Morozov
Mostovenko
Muzychenko
Naumenko
Nikitin
Nikolaev
Petrov
Ponedelin
Popov
Povetkin
Pshennikov
Rubtsov
Rudenko
Samokhin
Selesznev
Shakt
Shumilov
Smirnov
Snegov
Sysoev
Tyurin
Usenko
Velov
Vishnevsky
Vlasov
Vostukhov
Yakovlev
Zhravlev
Zybin

[terje439]

Unit breakdown

Mountain
10 divisions

Cavalry
10 corps
13 divisions

Airborne
13 brigades

Infantry
2 Guards Rifle Corps
12 Rifle Corps
2 Guards Rifle Divisions
282 Rifle Divisions
100 Infantry brigades (including naval)

Motorized
Nothing but some regimental sized units

Mechanized
Nothing

Armoured
13 Tank Corps
30 tank brigades
5 separate tank regiments
3 separate tank battalions
1 separate flame tank battalion

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

1 .On the leaders, a couple potential red flags are Rokossovsky in 7th Independent Army, assuming that's still assigned to Leningrad Front.
2. Also Bagramyan with Coastal Army, but not sure where that army is, strength, etc.
3. I suspect their solid leaderhip values are being wasted where they are.

1. You are correct. He is still in the north doing nothing but digging in, ever since we halted the attempted penetration in the north.

2. At the moment Coastal Army is (did you not guess by its name? [:D]) holding the river south of Moscow. It is however low on units as that is part of the area that is being rearranged.

3. Rokossovsky - Yes, Bagramyan - No.

Thank you for your input, I greatly appreciate all that post here.

Terje

[Q-Ball]

At least you haven't lost anyone too critical. Meretskov is pretty good, and Yushkevich is OK, but everyone else is basically someone you won't miss anyway

(Except for a couple air commanders who are OK)

[terje439]

Turn 70

Info
Since this is a quiet turn, it will be a partisan special for Comrade Q-ball.

Overall
A quiet turn where all that happens is 7 Axis partisan attacks, and aerial HQ attacks by us. And I can now positively say that the "kill lots of generals in one airstrike"-bug is still in effect as I killed 8 in one attack this turn.
With low numbers of attacks, casualties are reported at 23.000 Axis troops and 63.000 USSR troops this turn.
Our manpower numbers tells us that a total of 93.000 were returned to manpower pool this turn.

Partisans
6 supply drops were undertaken, and 14 sabotage actions were undertaken this turn.
90 partisan squads recruited in cities (810 men)
33 partisan cadres formed in cities
79 partisan squads recruited from the countryside (711 men)
2 partisan cadres formed in the countryside

Units
Still kicking myself here. Sent the turn before I realized that I forgot to spend my remaining 15 AP to buy a rifle division and a rifle brigade. Oh well, I will still have those points next turn, so no biggie.
So the only new unit on the map is a....yup...an airfield.
A net growth of 123.000 soldiers in our units this turn due to the low losses we had.

Generals
In the words of Freddie Mercury - Another one bites the dust.

Worries
Nothing really. Enjoying some good old fashioned mud, which also did wonders for our aerial attacks (scoring a total of 21 AFVs this turn [:)])


Oborin is arrested and executed this turn.

[terje439]

Turn 71

Political
Stalin announced the creation of a new front, the Southwestern Front, and since he also realized that this might require some reshuffling of troops, he rewarded alot of AP this turn (185+15 from last turn =200). This will mainly be spent on rearranging the front.

Overall
Nothing happens really, mostly I believe due to the mud that covers the ground. The Axis do score 8 retreats in 8 different anti partisan attacks this turn, while we kill no less than 10 generals this turn by aerial attacks...
In the end losses are reported to be 23.000 Axis troops to our 63.000.

Partisan
At the start of our turn, 9 partisan units are active on the board (I am talking about the "proper" partisans, labelled 'P'). 9 sabotage actions were perfomed this turn, and our transport planes undertook 6 supply drops. The Germans scored 8 retreats against other partisan units, which indicate the total ammount of partisan units at the start of the Axis turn was 17.

Units
With a new front active, I decide to create yet another combined arms army as well as 4 rifle divisions and 1 light gun brigade this turn. The reshaping of the front is also coming along nicely and should be completed in a few turns. With relatively light losses this turn, our units recorded an increase of 113.000 soldiers this turn.
We also recieve the customary airfield this turn. I now have 10 empty, unused airfields on the board...

Worris
I'll have to stop my aerial attack on the Axis HQs. 10 more generals killed today. This is a slight concern as I easily kill of some 2-4.000 men this way every turn depending on the weather and forts the HQs are located in.

[terje439]

Turn 72

Overall
Mud pretty much sums it up. We have ordered a holt on aerial attacks on HQs, and instead focus on armoured troops. Unfortunately most of the Axis fighting troops are very good at digging in, and are allready in level 2+ forts which reduce the effectiveness of our airforce.
The only ground attacks this turn was 5 Axis anti partisan attacks, which all resulted in retreats.
89.000 fresh pair of hands report to our manpower pool this turn.

Partisans
There are 10 active partisans on the field, while the Axis force 5 more to retreat. Their actions have been somewhat lacking though, with a mere 3 sabotage actions this turn. In return the ammount of supply drops were small as well, with only two being made this turn.

Units
Apart from the usual airfield, no new units are produced this turn. Our existing forces increase in strength by 110.000 troops this turn.

Worries
Wondering if I should continue to remodel the frontline or focus on building units at the moment.

[terje439]

Turn 73

Overall
Another mud turn, so the Axis are satisfied with partisan hunting, and I am happy with bombing a few panzer divisions. The most time is spent on rearranging the front, will be nice when that is all done for sure. Then I can mix them all up and start over again I guess.
Anyway, losses were low this turn as well, with 22.000 Axis troops removed compared to our 63.000.
Our manpower pool recieved 91.000 men this turn.

Partisan
The Axis forced 4 of our partisan units to retreat this turn, leaving 7 on the map. Those 7 partisan units did no more than 3 sabotage actions this turn, a disappointing number. 6 supply drops were made behind enemy lines, however most of these were made in the north.

Units
We order the creation of 3 armoured brigades, 1 rifle brigade and 1 rifle division this turn. Stalin grants us our normal airfield...
Some more aerial units have been given orders to drop supplies to our partisans in the south to see if we can get the partisans there up to the level of those in the north.
117.000 troops are reported as the net increase in forces this turn. 5 more turns like this and we will have made good the disastrous decisions of this summers campaign.

Worries
There are 2 new German divisions at Kerch. Not sure if this is a threat or not, will have to keep an eye on that area.
Considering how easily Stalin executes officers that are not up to his standard, it is amazing that yours truely is still in charge. I think I need some bodyguards...

[terje439]

Turn 74

Overall
Although the mud is gone and the tundra is starting to freeze, the Axis seem content with only two anti partisan attacks this turn. The Axis CV is still too high for me to attack, so all in all it is a very quiet turn.
The good news is that the reshuffling of the fronts is finally completed (well there are three divisions that needs to be railed north next turn, but that hardly counts), so from nwo on I can use my points on general replacement and unit construction.
Losses are once more light with 21.000 to 66.000. Our airforce did not succeed in destroying any tanks this turn, guess I will have to be satisfied with something like 1000 troops and 30 guns destroyed.

Partisans
We are now up to 11 supply drops. I might consider moving some level bombers to VVS airfields to increase this a little, but at the same time, those level bombers are my best bombers...
11 partisan units are left on the map after the Axis forced two of them to retreat this turn. Sadly we only get 2 sabotage actions this turn, I had hoped for more.

Units
Beside the usual airfield I create a rifle division and a rifle brigade. That was all I could afford this turn, but now I should be able to build more units as the reshuffling is over.
All across the front, we write down a net gain of 108.000 troops this turn.

Worries
Still somewhat worried about Kerch, so the units created this turn is earmarked for that area.

[terje439]

Turn 75

Overall
Another quiet turn which shows the Axis relocating their reserves. The only attacks were my aerial attacks on various Axis divisions and 3 Axis anti partisan attacks.
I take the time to take a look at various possibilities for the winter offensive. I fear I am too weak to launch more than one operation this winter.
Our manpower pool had 90.000 returned to it, and 92.000 recruited from our manpower centres this turn.
With low ammounts of fighting, losses are once more light, with 21.000 Axis troops knocked out this turn, compared to our 64.000.

Units
I decided to create 1 tank corps, 1 Guards Rifle Corps and 2 rifle divisions this turn, and Stalin as usual hands us a new airfield. Wonder what I should do with them all...
After subtracting our losses, we record a net strength increase of 112.000 troops this turn.

Partisans
With 10 supply drops and 11 on map partisan units I am somewhat disappointed with only 3 sabotage attacks this turn. The turn started with 14 active units as the Axis forced 3 partisan units to retreat this turn.

Worries
Maybe not a worry per ce, more of a wonder. Where to launch my winter attack. It seems I will only have the strength to do one major push this winter.

[Q-Ball]

Should you be forming more Tank Bdes and Rifle units?

IMO, you get more Tank Bdes than you can realistically support, so you can afford to lose some in 1942 without replacing them. IIRC, you get around 100-ish or so, and I think more than 24 Tank Corps is tough to support logistically, at least until mid-43 or later. That's the equivalent of 75 Tank Bdes.

With Rifle units, I think you get around 450 division equivalents. You probably need 8 mil men to round all those out completely, so you can get away with less. I personally wouldn't build any, unless you are close to 100% TOE on every Rifle unit on the map, and you have excess Manpower/Armaments building in the pool.

How many Rifle Div equivalents do you have at the moment? (Count Corps as 3, and Brigades as 1/2)

Instead of creating new units, you need to be hoarding APs, so that when January '43 hits, you can start converting Rifle Div to Corps wholesale (it costs 20 APs in 1942, but only 10 in 43+, providing a large incentive to hold-off alot of Corps conversion until 1943). For my part, I want to have near the MAX in APs in Jan '43, and immediately create 40 Rifle Corps.

If you are forming any new mobile units, look at Motorized Brigades, and form them into MECH CORPS. Mech Corps unfortunately start at an experience level of 15 after formation, so they take many months to train-up. I would build a few early, giving them time to train, and build into something worthwhile. That is a better use of extra vehicles, IMO, than more Tank Bdes.

MECH CORPS are the #1 Red Army unit once they train, but you have to plan ahead to get them there. Once trained, they are the equivalent of a Panzer Division.