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

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I have posted and talked about this in length for several months now on several threads and got the normal your full of " " from everyone.

The combat ratio was changed from 1.04 to 1.05 to make up for 1v1=2v1 being removed after March 1942.

Its nice to see other players are finanly coming around to this game design al be it several months after the fact hehehe

I haven't bothered to respond to your typical stuff in a long time, but...

You have been whining about a completely different issue from what Q-Ball is saying...you have been saying that Germans are taking heavier losses (relative to Sov losses) since 1.05, without mentioning KIA. Q-Ball is saying that the percentage of KIA is higher for Germans than for Sovs. Two very different issues.

It's probably because the Germans are getting more of their damaged/disables returned to the pool. KIA is KIA, but the other 'losses' are affected by experience levels, and so will skew the comparison of the KIA ratios.

[coolts]

Any progress? My popcorn is going stale! This is the Best AAR i've read so far. (took me 3 days alt-tabbing at work to catch up). So much i have learnt. Its inspired me to kick off a new '41 campaign. Bye bye another 4 months! [&o]

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: coolts

Any progress? My popcorn is going stale! This is the Best AAR i've read so far. (took me 3 days alt-tabbing at work to catch up). So much i have learnt. Its inspired me to kick off a new '41 campaign. Bye bye another 4 months! [&o]

Thanks.......I think B-G has RL time issues, and I have been swamped with work lately as well, so I haven't moved it along. But I wonder if this game is dying out.

Hope not, but I think it's fading.

[coolts]

That would be a shame. Post blizzard Axis recovery & offensives are one of the murky areas of this game, and especially with the new patches, it would be very instructive to see what has changed and what the new opportunities are. Too many games fade in the winter.

[Q-Ball]

It appears that B-G will need to resign for RL issues. He is very gracious and is going to surrender, but I don't think he is in a bad spot at all. It's about even, I would say.

I asked B-G if someone else can pick-up his game.

Is anyone interested in taking up the Soviet side, if that's the case? Not easy to pick-up someone else's army, and the recent patch will add an extra layer of difficulty.

On the other hand, I will allow an intelligence coup, by reading this AAR to date (since you probably have already!)

And knowing B-G, his army is probably very well organized

Let me know if there is interest

This is an opportunity as a Soviet player to skip the beating, and move right to revenge for the Motherland. And there is also no way at this point you'll lose.

[JAMiAM]

Is this game random, or non-random, weather?

I'm already playing you, and don't have time for another*, but thought it might be good for prospective substitutes to know.








* Until I force a surrender, that is...[;)]

[Q-Ball]

non-random, but I think I have a taker anyway. we'll see

I prefer random now, but this was a holdover

[Speedysteve]

A great shame to hear that Q Ball. I probably have too much on to take this on as well but I think it's been a great game and would be a shame if it ended here.

[Flaviusx]

BG is in pretty decent shape here, this isn't a bad game to take over. But I like to bake my own cake.

[Klydon]

Bummer to hear that on BG. I really liked how this game was shaping up and was wondering what was up. I have very much enjoyed both AAR's on this one.

[Q-Ball]

T-60: 8/6/42

The Death Ride continues! smokindave34 has agreed to pick-up the game from Bletchley Geek, so this game isn't dead.

B-G bequethed a good spreadsheet of stats, and a not bad situation IMO. I don't think I can land any knockout punches in 1942, but I hope to still kill bunches of Reds.

Fall Turkis Continues:

I think a push on Moscow isn't in the cards, I think. A huge line of guys along the Oka, and further lines in the rear.

However, at least that ties down alot of Reds, and allows a pocketing push to the East. I would like to take Ryazan, and take as many Reds as possible. But it's probably a bulge I should not occupy in the long-run.

[Singleton Mosby]

Glad to see this AAR continue. It has been a wonderful read so far.

[Farfarer61]

+ 1 to the community support and/of the individual stepping up to the plate

[Q-Ball]

T-61: 8/13/42

Fall Turkis continues, with the Soviets under the command of Comrade Smokindave.

Before Dave took over, my offensive was running out of some gas. So far, we have destroyed 69 Divisions during the summer campaign, taking approx. 700,000 POWs. Not bad, but not a knockout blow by any means.

But this turn, I wasn't very successful; I opened a couple thrusts, but didn't have the strength to close the deal.

We'll see how this plays out; I will probably need August to clean this up and seal it off, leaving 1 more month for a last push this summer.

My goal is to take Tambov, and get to 100 destroyed divisions.

Red Army OOB is currently 6.1 mil

[Q-Ball]

8/20/42

That last turn I wasn't 100% happy with worked out anyway; we bagged and destroyed quite a few units. We have now destroyed 90 division equivalents this summer, which is about 10 short of my goal of 100.

This turn, we finished-off several encirclements. I am already playing the following turn, we destroyed all the units, and I have taken Tambov to boot.

On the downside, our Panzers are pretty tired; several are below 5 CVs and are off the line, and AFV counts are low all over.

We are going to do another operational pause to accumulate fuel and replacements, and go for one more push this summer.

Not sure yet about a winter offensive; I feel like I am pushing it, but I also hate to surrender the initiative.

[76mm]

I think 6.1 million seems like a really low number for the Sovs at this point. I think you should keep attacking, with a focus on small pockets, otherwise his strength will mount quickly.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I think 6.1 million seems like a really low number for the Sovs at this point. I think you should keep attacking, with a focus on small pockets, otherwise his strength will mount quickly.

I agree; I figure he is getting 95,000-ish guys a turn. I didn't take Moscow, so he is OK Manpower-wise.

One thing I have noticed, is that smokindave tends to stack a little more up front than B-G did. B-G always just had a single-unit up front, and stacks in the rear in good defensive positions. I think B-Gs approach is better, and he was making it harder to pocket men. The fact that I spent alot of resource early in the summer, though, is preventing me from getting a big breakthrough. That, and I do think smokindave has moved alot of reserve armies to that area, which is wise.

The 1942 Soviets need to spread-out. I see too many players stack up front, that will get guys pocketed. It's way too easy to defeat; just blast a 3-hex wide hole, and pin one part of the line. This is what I did two posts ago, with that breakthrough near Tambov.

The exception is major river lines; stacking along the OKA is a good idea.

[Q-Ball]

9/17/42

I haven't posted in awhile, but we are winding down the Summer Offensive. How did it go?

Overall, I did destroy alot of units, approx. 92 divisions worth, and I also kept the Red Army to a low OOB level. My hope is that the damage in men and APs is enoug to prevent much of a comeback until mid-1943.

I need that, because the Wehrmacht is a bit burnt out. In my other game, Baelfiin has over 4 mil men in Wehrmacht in late 1942, and here I have just over 3.5 mil. That's alot of dead guys. My tank losses are also high.

I have a couple other attacks to pull this summer, but we are winding it down.

Tula Bulge:

I have created a big, massive bulge this summer. What should I do?

The OKA will freeze this winter, making that line easily penetrable by the Reds. I could withdraw out of this this winter. I could couple that with a backhand blow of sorts against the advancing Soviets, taking advantage of the lack of forts and frozen rivers.

The other option is to wait until Spring, and pull-back then. That's another option, and would mean there wouldn't be much of a summer campaign for him in that area.

Let's see.

[Klydon]

It looks like you more or less have your mind made up by the string of forts to the west of Tula.

I would look to hold the area for now and continue to prepare the line there. You can fall back out of there to that line if he looks like he is going to push hard. The thing is, he may not attack there with the anticipation that you will just retreat. Instead, he could attack in the "joint" area of the line and unhinge all your fortifications to the south and outflank your proposed line from the north.

One other operation you could consider.

While it might be hard to cross the river in an attack, he has his own little bulge/finger at the mouth of the major river there. A drive to the east and then to the river for a small pocket could be possible perhaps and also help shorten the front as well.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Klydon

It looks like you more or less have your mind made up by the string of forts to the west of Tula.

I would look to hold the area for now and continue to prepare the line there. You can fall back out of there to that line if he looks like he is going to push hard. The thing is, he may not attack there with the anticipation that you will just retreat. Instead, he could attack in the "joint" area of the line and unhinge all your fortifications to the south and outflank your proposed line from the north.

One other operation you could consider.

While it might be hard to cross the river in an attack, he has his own little bulge/finger at the mouth of the major river there. A drive to the east and then to the river for a small pocket could be possible perhaps and also help shorten the front as well.

I was thinking of hitting the Kaluga bulge, great minds think alike.

The string of forts are Fort Zones tending a line of Level-3 forts that were built during the spring. That's why they don't seem to follow a particular river line. They are there just to save me digging later; I'm sure they will come in handy at some point!