Campaign '41: Total noob (Axis) tries to find Moscow on the map

[Westheim]

Thanks, guys. There are some useful hints in there, I think.

I fear I've been spoilt by playing Dnipropetrowsk on easy before this. The Russians never really put up a fight there and I got a giant Lvov pocket on turn 3. The South is were I've fared worst so far here - spoilt...

The Kiev pocket is my favourite wet dream at the moment though. Gah, can't wait to get through work today. Two more days, then I'll be able to devote my full power to gaming until January 8 ... [8D]

ORIGINAL: sillyflower

You are doing much better than I did in my 1st GC.

You need to use some HQ build up to give your mobile units some wings and also to airdrop fuel on them. Use level bombers too for fuel drops but remember to do that at the start of your turn.

Checkout other AARs for ideas.

All books have been shelfed for WITE AARs at the moment. [:D]

Someone please explain HQ build up in two sentences. Does it make the HQ stockpile a few extra supplies in advance?

Airdropping supplies was one of my crazier ideas on this. There is no way to accelerate the railroad conversion, I guess?

[cpt flam]

I'm not great about your use of FBD
at a glance you have one just after BrestL and another around Lvov
may be you don't use them effectively
you must change 4 hex a turn to keep supply

[sillyflower]

You should get the big lvov pocket on T1 every time. Even if it can be broken , the Soviets can't escape + Romanians go live on T2

HQ build up - read manual. Essentially by activating HQ build up on a Pz HQ ( pointless for ingantry) you get its units + HQ stuffed full of fuel. Keep HQ with the units next turn means you get 2 turns at nearly max MP.
NB Do buildup at end of turn ( because units an hQBU lose all MP for rest of that turn) and make sure units are in command range of the corps HQ. Costs AP and quite a lot of trucks.

Worth reading manual again in full anyway

[Westheim]

To be honest I'm not sure how to use those railway conversion unit thingies at all. Most of them have 0MP and the ones that do have MPs don't seem to do much either. The manual ([;)]) doesn't talk a lot about them either.

And well, I have a German version and manual of the game, so "HQ buildup" is definitely no phrase to look for in that. But by now I see what you mean and will try to get that done next turn. If it let's me.

[Westheim]

Turn 8 – August 7, 1941

Finland: Finns reach their stop line at Terijuki. Hanko is cleared of evil invaders.

AG North: Did some air supply missions at last turn’s end as advised to PzGr 4, then cried over the aircraft losses…
18th Army is fighting through the isthmus at Lake Peipus. PzGr wreaks havoc south of the Luga river, while creating a small pocket south of Lake Peipus. 16th Army breaks through the lines well to the west of Velikie Luki, but 126th InfDiv fails to take an important hill in the army’s flank. Still, the Soviet line around the Sorot river is unhinged by this and will have to retreat quickly or they will be pocketed next turn.

AG Center: Two thrusts here, as before, one aiming chiefly at Smolensk and the terrain to the east with the only viable railroad crossing over the Dnepr at Durovo on the road to Vyazma, and one aiming in the direction of Gomel – Chernigov as part of the Kiev pincer. Meanwhile 2nd Army arrives here with a single corps, and is put between the two groups of AG Center to plug the gap there.
PzGr 3 and 9th Army work their way to the gates of Smolensk, but – shock! – their assault is bloodily repulsed with over 10,000 casualties on my part. Uaahh!! What happened …!? I have no idea.
PzGr 2 completely disengages from the Mogilew area. I will go on the defensive here with a screen of two infantry corps from 4th Army. The rest of that army and the whole of PzGr 2 will rush south east. Gomel is the first major city on the way, but I can’t get into the position for an attack this turn.

AG South: Has the Zhitomir line become thinner? It certainly looks so to me. Well. I have only that one plan with the Kiev pocket. Go for it.
Well. PzGr 1 faces tough opposition. The road to Cherkassy is blocked by tons of Soviet tank formations. Some costly battles here and I lose another 50 or so AFVs for 30 to 40 miles of advance. Not a too good ratio. The Hungarians, Slovakians, and Romanians on the flanks of my Panzers are of little use as well. 6th and 17th Army do little more than to pin down the Zhitomir front. West of Zhitomir the Soviets have already erected quite strong fortifications. I don’t want to assault them, I want to pocket them. Only the right wing of 17th Army and the left wing of 6th Army attack on the flanks. The small reinforcement XXXIV Corps was added to PzGr 1.
In the south, the Romanians can’t get anything done… no significant advance on Odessa once again. The only exception from the rule is the 8th Romanian Division, integrated into the 11th Army, which fought two successful battles this turn. 11th Army as a whole advanced very well, brushing all Soviet resistance aside easily.

I also get an Italien corps (a tiny one) this turn, but they are still stuck in Yugoslawia. Hey, you! (points at the Dnepr) The war is over there!!

Losses after 7 ½ turns

Axis: 220,000 men – 2,000 artillery – 1,200 tanks
Soviets: 1,329,000 men – 21,100 artillery – 9,500 tanks
Ratio: 6:1 in men – 10.5:1 in artillery – 8:1 in tanks

That's not the quickest pincer movement the world has ever seen ...:

[Westheim]

Turn 9 - August 14, 1941

AG North: With Finland quiet, this is the furthest north where there are battles. 18th Army can only advance slowly through the isthmus at Lake Peipus, while as expected the Soviets abandoned their positions at the Sorot river and retreated east with their flanks crushed. 16th Army follows with it’s right wing now heading for Velikie Luki and the left wing just southeast of Pskov. PzGr 4 tries to advance north, but the terrain there really is not for tanks. I consider moving them south to assist somewhere else and get some infantry reinforcements up here.
The SS Totenkopf Division struck east from Pskov and broke through the Russian lines, conquering Dno. The Soviet front is again split and pierced here now. Will be interesting to see the next move here.

AG Center: another attack on Smolensk, another failure. I can not encircle it, I MUST take it. But the defenders are too numerous, I’m getting a bloody nose in several assaults. Further north I just fail to break through the defenses close to the Mezha. Still – there is no room for encirclements here.
To the south the 2nd Army crosses the Dnepr and crashes into the Soviets at Gorki, delivering results just as a stampede in a china shop would.
To their south IX and XIII Corps extend their line and cross the Pronya river.
Further south, the combined force of PzGr 2 and 4th Army can not take Gomel. Imposssible…

That’s about it. The Kiev pincer is as dead as a stranded whale.

I suck. A lot. Smolensk desaster here, Gomel calamity below.

[Westheim]

Where are those “You can’t do it anyway” guys? You were right. :-/

[Westheim]

AG South: Is Cherkassy still viable as a target now after PzGr 2 has so shamefully failed to achieve it’s targets? Would it be gamey to change the target now that the first attack has failed?
The Soviets give ground in front of 6th Army, which chases after them and gains some ground.
I change plans here. I will still push PzGr 1 to take Cherkassy, but will then take them down to Dnepropetrowsk together with 11th Army, which will shed some of it’s Romanian Ballast. 6th and 17th Armies will try to create a Zhitomir pocket and will go for Kiev. Hungarians and Slovakians will provide support where needed and where they can. If they can.
PzGr 1 gets bogged down by stiff resistance again, but 17th Army blows a hole into the Soviet defenses just east of Andrushevka.
No word on the Romanian army’s performance in front of Odessa. They gained one hex. Meanwhile 11th Army is in front of Nikolaev and has isolated Odessa as far as the land route is concerned.

Total losses after 8 ½ turns
Axis: 259,000 men – 2,300 guns – 1,400 tanks
Soviets: 1,468,000 men – 23,600 guns – 10,400 tanks
Ratio: 5.7:1 in men – 10:1 in guns – 7.5:1 in tanks

New operational battleplan? I don't know. Hide beneath the bed and cry?

[Westheim]

Turn 10 – August 21, 1941

North of Lake Ilmen the Soviet line has stiffened, while it is in great disorder south of the lake all the way to the Smolensk front. In the South, Soviets have abandoned the area around Zhitomir, retreating for Kiev, thus curtailing any attempt at pocketing some forces here.

AG North: I dared to push for Novgorod with PzGr 4 in an attempt to turn the flank of the strong Luga river positions the Red Army has taken up. My Panzers reached Lake Ilmen, but lack of fuel prevents a push for Novgorod itself in this turn. 16th and 18th Armies make some headway, but nothing spectacular. The 16th is on the gates of Velikie Luki but the Soviets have the advantage of a river protecting them.

AG Center: 19th PzDiv occupies Durovo on the upper Dnepr after breaking the Soviet line east of Smolensk for good. But Smolensk still withstands repeated assaults, making all gains here largely irrelevant.
Gomel on the Sozh also holds out, but PzGr 2 breaks out of the small peninsula formed by Dnepr and Sozh to the east between Gomel and the mouth of Besed river.

AG South: The hasty retreat of the Soviets for Kiev give me some opportunities here. 6th Army has a lone brigade as opponent, which is pocketed by rear end stragglers, while Zhitomir is occupied. 17th Army throws itself at Kiev defenses on both sides of the Irpen. Between Belaya Tserkov and the Teterev river the Soviet line is blown to pieces and forward elements of Schwedler’s IV Corps and Kubler’s XXXXIX Gebirgs Corps advance up until the line of the final fortifications before Kiev – thorough fortifications of level 3.
XIV Pz Corps and support troops of varying nationalities break eastwards through the Cherkassy defenses and form a small and loose pocket around Kirovograd.
Another pocket is formed west of Kirovograd when 60th MotDiv with infantry support breaks the thin Soviet lines at Yelanets.
As usual, we don’t talk about the achievements of the 4th Romanian Army. They do all they can. Which is sad, but can’t be changed. We can however change the army commander. Nicolae Ciuperca is sent fishing in the woods, and maybe, if we feel like good people, we won’t send a killer command after him. General Ilie Steflea takes command for us.

Why am I talking about myself as more than one person suddenly?

Losses after 9 ½ turns
Axis: 300,000 men – 2,700 guns – 1,500 AFVs
Soviet: 1,580,000 men – 25,700 guns – 11,100 AFVs (5.3 / 9.5 / 7.7 : 1)
Ratios worsening, mainly through failed assaults on Smolensk, Gomel and so on …

[Westheim]

Turn 11 – August 28, 1941

The Kirovograd pocket did not hold, while the Romanians at Odessa were counterattacked – and defeated by the Soviets! This is … so not awesome.

AG North: 18th Army broke through the Luga river defenses at advanced along the route Kingisepp – Volosovo to within 40 miles of Leningrad. PzGr 4 fails to cross the Luga at Novgorod. 16th Army manages to conquer Velikie Luki.
I need more infantry up here. Tanks are virtually useless in the terrain. PzGr 4 will redeploy to the south as soon as I get some infantry up here. One infantry corps from PzGr 3 is already at Velikie Luki and can readily be stripped from them. But I need at least two more corps for a punch at Leningrad. And, as usual, I need them quick. August is gone, and I am not exactly breaking the back out of the Red Army.

AG Center: XXXIX PzCorps is stranded dry. Air supply failed horribly and I lost over 50 planes. On the banks of the Dnepr … and the Panzer fuel cells are perfectly dry and clean. No attacks on Smolensk this turn. Instead it is isolated on the north bank of the Dnepr, while 2nd Army sweeps across the plains to the south. Hermann Geyer’s IX Corps is moved from 4th to 2nd Army, as the rest of 4th Army will go southeast with PzGr 2.
Gomel was abandoned by the Soviets after their flank had been smashed. I occupied it this turn, while PzGr 2 continues to push southeast. Chernigov is the next big city here, although I’m also feinting a move on Bryansk, which the Russians so far have bought.

AG South: 17th Army has vaporized the Kiev fortifications and prepares for an assault on the city next turn. 6th Army splits; two corps advance to the left of 17th, two go into reserve behind 17th. Potential second thought: a strike across the Dnepr into eastern Kiev may not work (as nothing works here …), so I could ship them to the east early. Cherkassy will fall sooner or later and they could be part of a force striking northwest from there up the left bank of the Dnepr.
Cherkassy holds, but Kirovograd is taken. Some Panzers drive east and cut all rail lines around Krivoi Rog.
In the south, 11th Army takes Nikolaev and will strike for the Dnepr mouth next turn. The 4th Rom. Army encircles Odessa. They will now start to pray for a double sized wonder so that they can actually conquer ist.

Losses 10 ½ turns
Axis: 338,000 men – 3,100 guns – 1,700 AFV
Soviets: 1,735,000 men – 28,400 guns – 11,700 AFV (5.1 / 9.2 / 6.9 : 1)

Happy news: a Panzer Corps will arrive mid-September. I hope they carry fuel…

I will have to bring 9th Army into the salient northeast of Smolensk now, pull out the Panzers, somehow, and get them where they can be supplied. PzGr 3, that is.

[Westheim]

Turn 12 – September 4, 1941

AG North: Fierce fighting in 18th Army’s sector. 10 miles advanced on Leningrad, 30 left, and those are the 30 miles with the heavy fortifications. PzGr 4 will pull out here next turn after it is unable to storm Novgorod and is out of supply. Otto Forster’s VI Corps was reinforced with two new divisions and moved from PzGr 3 to 16th Army. They will take over the Novgorod sector as soon as possible. X Corps (Christian Hansen) will also leave the Velikie Luki sector and relocate to the north (they are already part of 16th Army). Only II Corps (Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt) remains at Velikie Luki and is now the rightmost unit of AG North.

AG Central: The 9th Army and PzGr 3 come to a screeching halt around Smolensk. PzGr 3 can not be supplied, neither or on the ground, nor through the air and has to roll to the rear to catch their breath. 9th Army fills out the Smolensk salient as good as possible. 2nd Army helps to completely seal off Smolensk by advancing on the south bank of the Dnepr.
The southern group of the army group crosses the Dnepr-Desna peninsula and closes in on Chernigov. Overall, little action here.

AG South: Assault on Kiev bei 17th Army, supported by 6th Army, fails. Of course. Would have been the first thing to work out here. Cherkassy and Cherson on the Dnepr are conquered by PzGr 1 and 17th Army (Cherkassy) and 11th Army (Cherson). At Krivoi Rog the advance stalls.
A massive frontal assault on Odessa by the 4th Rom. Army at 6:1 odds fails bloodily. I didn’t expect anything else.

Below: overviews over the front with my intended next moves.

[Westheim]

The troubled center:

[Westheim]

And the just little less troubled south:

[randallw]

Don't forget to install the latest patch.

[Westheim]

Turn 13 – September 11, 1941

I have to make significant gains before winter now or I don’t think – from what I’ve seen in other AARs here – that I will last much past 1943. First and foremost I need to create a pocket whereever possible. And a big one. And quick so.

AG North: Certainly no chance for a pocket here with PzGr 4 about to withdraw south. Before withdrawing however, the PzGr conquers Novgorod and isolates a strong tank formation west of the city. Whether that micro pocket will hold is doubtful.
18th Army has fought it’s way to Krasnogvardeysk and Pushkin at the gates of Leningrad, but is stuck there. The fortifications are horribly strong (level 3 or 4) and can not be taken from the west. The advance was too slow after all. 16th Army stretches out to make the removal of PzGr 4 next turn possible. They already cover 150 miles of front from Lake Ilmen to south of Velikie Luki.

AG Center: The defenders of Smolensk have been promoted to Guards status. No wonder. They’ve been slowing down advance here for ages now. Their efforts ultimately were for nothing, though. Smolensk falls this turn.
While PzGr 3 will pull out and rest for one or two turns where it can be supplied, 2nd Army crashes through the defenses south of the Dnepr, southeast of Smolensk.
PzGr 2 pushes northeast from Novozybkov. Lack of fuel prohibits major gains. Another push with 4th Army takes Chernigov and gets a foothold on the eastern bank of the Desna.

AG South: Recon shows Soviets concentrating across the Dnepr at Cherkassy. In contrast, the approach to Dnipropetrowsk and Zaporoshye seems lightly defended. Strange indeed.
Panzers break the weak Soviet lines in the Dnepr bend and get to within 30 miles of Dnipropetrowsk. Small pocket is formed at Krivoi Rog.
Kiev falls this turn to a massive assault from five sides, but PzGr 1 and 17th Army fail to get a bigger bridgehead at Cherkassy. Two PzDivs cross the river this turn, but the railroad bridge is still held by Russians.
Odessa still holds. These Romanians are making themselves completely useless here. I can’t believe I have to bring in German troops from 11th Army, which would have better things to do!!

(throwing a tantrum here now)

Total losses after 12 1/2 turns:
Axis: 418,000 men - 4,000 guns - 1,800 AFVs
Soviets: 1,943,000 men - 32,200 guns - 12,400 AFVs (I don't like where those ratios are going...)

I get a vague feeling the Russians don't want to me to cross here:

[Westheim]

Turn 14 – September 18, 1941

Soviets don’t give me a single success here. Every mini pocket I made last turn was not sealed off and went up again (with the exception of the one unit trapped on the peninsula south of the Dnepr mouth), and all my threats to create pockets were used by the Russians to contract through retreat and consolidate their lines. Arf.

AG North: 18th Army is stuck at Krasnogvardeysk. The Soviet forts are too strong, continuing impossible. 16th Army will have to conduct a push from Novgorod. Meanwhile PzGr 4 moves south, giving one InfDiv to 16th Army. Another reinforcement division is added to 16th Army’s LVI Corps as well for more power in the Novgorod area.

AG Center: No significant advance anywhere. Russian lines aren’t exactly rock solid, but my armies are too weak for significant pushes.

[Westheim]

AG South: Surprisingly enough for me XVII and LV Corps of 6th Army have forced across the Dnepr at Kiev, breaching the Soviet lines. This comes so surprising that I have no mobile units available in this sector to exploit the breakthrough with the exception of the mobilized Slovakian division. I’m terrible……..
Forward units of 11th Army reach the entrance to the Krim. Now they only have to sneak through.
PzGr 1 fails to advance on Dnipropetrowsk. I need to get infantry up here. Two corps from 6th Army which were intended to exploit the Cherkassy crossing are brought further east for an assault on Dnipropetrowsk. 17th Army units will pour into the Cherkassy bridgehead next turn.
Romanians entered Odessa this turn. No, no, stop, don’t cheer. It was not really their fault. It seems that the Soviet defenders were laughing so many tears from their miserable attempts at making an assault that thousands of them accidentally drowned in the Black Sea. Odessa was found abandoned when Ion B., private in the XI Romanian Corps accidentally walked into the city after taking the wrong road on his way back from the hole in the woods, where – you know what…

[Westheim]

Turn 15 – September 25, 1941

AG North: The entire front has become bogged down north of Lake Peipus. No advance, minor gains for some breathing space at Novgorod, only mounting losses. I’m stuck.
16th Army still covers the front all the way down to Velikie Luki along the Lovat river. Some attacks here. No gains worth mentioning.

AG Center: The push east continues, but it is not a very powerful push. The 9th Army eliminates the Soviet front bulge around Ilyino and pockets two brigades (wow!). This should shorten the front line a bit next turn. Other units of 9th Army cross the Dnepr along the railroads leading towards Vyazma.
XII and XXXXVII PzCorps of PzGr 2 have breached Soviet lines of defense at Unecha. Some elements have reached the Sudost just a bit west of Bryansk. The Soviet line further north facing 2nd Army has become unhinged. Only and obvious concern here: fuel…….
Other breaches are made at Semenovka and further south along the Desna river. Down here and to the east of Kiev the Russians are not defending, but constantly retrating at the moment. And I punish them for cowardice.

[Westheim]

AG South: The 4th Army from the Desna, the 6th Army from Kiev, the 17th Army from Kiev and Cherkassy, and PzGr 1 from Cherkassy all slam into the disorganized Russians here. I know that look. The distinctive look of total chaos. Two of those small pockets might not hold, which is especially sad in the case of the northwestern one.
Further east 6th Army closes in on Dnipropetrowsk and other troops clear the western bank of the Dnepr with the exception of a small stretch of front downriver from Cherkassy.
While 11th Army advances in the lower Dnepr area below Zaporozhye, some restructuring is done to the Romanian army group. XXX Corps (11th Army) distributes most of it’s troops among the other corps. German divisions are added to German corps, Romanian divisions to the III Rom. Corps. XXX Corps with a single infantry division then travels north. It will eventually end up with 16th Army. The front is so long there, I need another corps HQ.

[Westheim]

Turn 16 – October 2, 1941

AG North: Some advance west of the Volkhov river. But a new assault on Krasnogvardeysk, which to me seems to be the key to the southwestern Leningrad defenses, fails miserably. But at least 18th Army destroyed over 160 tanks in the attack. These days, you have to cherish the small successes. However small they are.
South of Lake Ilmen 16th Army holds the Lovat river line, then protrudes east around Velikie Luki. Here is an interesting strategic option. The swamps east of the Lovat and other rivers here are hard to supply. There is a rail line at Lake Ilmen, and another one running east of the hills here and into Velikie Luki. If I make it to Adreapol southeast of the hills, supply might be cut to the southern part of the Soviet line close to Velikie Luki. This is a task for II Corps, which attacks east and wrecks the 1st Tank Division, destroying over 150 tanks. Adreapol is not reached yet, but the momentum is definitely there. XX Corps from 9th Army (AGC) will aid in the push.

AG Center: 9th Army, 2nd Army, and PzGr 2 generally push east, but the latter has already run out of steam well short of Bryansk because of a lack of fuel. A small pocket was made along the Besna, but it contains only infantry.

Kiev area (AGC/AGS): As expected the pocket with the tanks broke up again. It doesn’t help them, though. 4th, 6th, and 17th Army pocket them again and also push east. Along the Dnepr, elements from 17th Army and PzGr 1 reach the Psel river. There is a Soviet front bulge here. Romanian and Hungarian troops hold it to the south, but are too weak to attack.

Lower Dnepr (AGS): Dnipropetrowsk falls to the 6th Army assaulting from south west. Deeper in the south Romanians and 11th Army clean up and try to enter the Krim peninsula.

I’m actually in good mood as far as the South is concerned. But don’t get me talking about the north.