1.05 PBEM AAR: Another Year at the Front with Field Marshal Noob

[karonagames]

Background

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare how 1.05 plays compared to the Alpha I played here tm.asp?m=2521162 in July 2010, and the PBEM test against Trey (el Hefe) that I played in October 2010 tm.asp?m=2568996

I have just received T52 from my opponent Stéphane, so now have enough source material to produce a story of a year's campaign in monthly instalments. As before, I do not have the time or the Paint skillz to produce Jumbo maps and coloured arrows; just simple screen grabs.

I have asked Stéphane to insert his comments, so there may be occasions where I have to be economical with the truth so as to protect operational security for Case Blue.

We started the game in mid-October, and so far the game has been full of surprises, for both sides and most importantly a hell of a lot of fun.

Why Field Marshal Noob? Well, it became obvious that my extended break from the game meant that I had to re-learn the game, and I made many, many mistakes along the way. The last 1941 PBEM campaign I played was in February as Soviets against Speedy in the dark days of 1.03, and the nightmare blizzards.

[BletchleyGeek]

A true AAR with comments from your opponent? This is a very cool idea BigA Thank you for doing it.

EDIT: Hmmm, I just hit the 1,000 posts mark here. I think I devote too much time to forums [:(]

[karonagames]

House Rules

Stéphane graciously agreed to restrict airfield bombing based on the number of Fronts x the year number, so a max of 9 per turn in 1941 and 65 per turn in 1945 (approximately). He also agreed to restrict amphibious operations east of the Crimea until 1943.

I agreed to make no gloating comments about Agincourt and Waterloo or whose food is better in my emails attached to the turns.

[Flaviusx]

British cuisine is a contradiction in terms, Bob...

[karonagames]

Objectives and Outline Strategy

Leningrad and the Crimea are the only objectives on the "get at all costs" list as they anchor the north and South of the blizzard defence line. The other territory objectives are to get the shortest and easily defensible line by T25. A line Rzhev/Vyazma/Kaluga/Orel/Kursk/Belgorod/Kharkov/Stalino would be acceptable.

My outline Strategy is simple - to get the Red Army below 4m by T25 by causing 4m losses including 2m captured. I will attack through mud and snow to cause maximum disruption to Red Army offensive plans for the blizzard

Heretofore my style of play has been based on 75% Hasty/25% deliberate. This time I will maximise deliberate attacks to achieve the highest casualty ratios and maximise routs/shatters.

I will look for every opportunity to pocket and capture even at the expense of capturing a city and disrupting factory evacuations.

[karonagames]

British cuisine is a contradiction in terms, Bob...

I'm Cornish(nearly), we have our Pasties, and Clotted Cream - that's all we need.....

[gingerbread]

Buttered scones with jam is a rather nice treat...

But I cannot grasp this obsession with sheep, or mutton as it aptly renamed as to confuse non-natives.

[karonagames]

Sitrep T3 End June/early July:

North: Well short of Pskov compared to previous games - I tried to herd routed units but left gaps so Stéphane could isolate PZG 4 spearheads on T2 so a turn was wasted to lock down pocketed units.

[karonagames]

T3

Centre: Bialystok pocket held, but again spearheads were isolated on T2 and again advance was slowed - I felt like a total noob at this point.

[karonagames]

T3:

South: I do not use the Lvov Gambit, prefering to lock down a smaller Lvov Pocket, which again due to my rustiness is not locked, but I manage a decent recovery on T3 with a decent pocket South of Proskurov.

[karonagames]

T3 OOB:

[karonagames]

T3 Losses:

[karonagames]

T3 Unit Losses: My target is 200+ Division sized units by T25

[TulliusDetritus]

If you don't mind, could you please toggle the controlled hexes on? It's much easier understanding what's really going on (without them it's rather confusing). Same thing with forts, but they are irrelevant until turn 4 or 5 (fortified positions start to appear later).

If you use the correct software, the graphics are really easy to do. Paint.net is free, really light and easy to use.

Thanks [8D]

[karonagames]

SitRep 31st July 1941

T7 North: Despite allocating an extra panzer corps to PZG4, advance on Leningrad is painfully slow.

[karonagames]

T7 Centre: Due to redeployments, AGC is operating with only one full PZG north of the marshes, so again, progress is painfully slow, not helped by 9th Army being held up in the landbridge. 4th Army does manage a small bridgehead over the Dnepr.

[karonagames]

T7 South: The re-deployment of 2 PZ korps from 2PZG south of the marshes does bear fruit as the Kiev is out-flanked and a significant bridgehead is forced across the Dnepr. Another substantial pocket has been cleared up SE of Vinnitsa. I haven't quite forgotten everything I learned, as Stephane's cavalry in the marshes shows he was looking to raid unprotected HQs, so I make sure the marshes are fully swept by security divisions.

[karonagames]

T7 Logistics: By this stage I was almost disappointed if a panzer spearhead was not isolated! Goering is handing out his gongs - Leader promotions and upgrades seem much, much slower than previous games.

[karonagames]

T7: OOB. I knew tank attrition had been increased since I last played, but having this few operational tanks this early in the campaign was a real shock. many Panzer divisions have less than 60 runners already.

[karonagames]

T7 Unit Losses: Another 50 divisions being resurrected this month - on target for 200.