41-45GC Smokindave (Sov) vs. Zonso (Axis)

[smokindave34]

More internet problems - turn 11 report is below [:@]

[smokindave34]

Turn 11 STAVKA report:

Northern Front - The siege of Leningrad continues. I shipped out two divisions from Leningrad to the port of Sviritsa. 33rd army is holding up pretty well and I leave a hex open to allow the defenders a place to retreat to after Zonso's next attack.

Not much else new here....the only question is will Zonso move 4th panzer south to Moscow or will he use it to close up the ports. If it was me I'd send the panzers south as 18th army doesn't need the help in taking Leningrad.

[smokindave34]

Western & Reserve fronts:

Recon shows 3rd panzer group resting and refitting for a new offensive. Not sure which way Zonso is going to go here. I think his original plan was to head south and meet up with 2nd panzer group but I've moved the 34th army back to behind the Oka so that may change his plans. I could be in serious trouble here. I've tried to build some defense in depth but if all of 3rd panzer had a HQ build up he'll be able to pick and choose what part of the front he wants to exploit.

Fortunately I received a bunch of reinforcements and the newly formed 43 and 49 armies get assigned to Moscow M.D. (no AP charges to move in or out of M.D.'s now!) and help the 4th army dig in near Moscow.

[smokindave34]

Bryansk front:

A gaping hole was blown in my lines here by Panzer group Guderian. The 10th and 3rd armies fall back out of harms way (for now). One bright spot here is that the 104th tank division (along with some cavalry support) was able to cut off the 17th panzer division. That should slow down at least on panzer division for next turn.

I used all my remaining rail capacity (after reinforcements were sent west) to move Armament points of of Tula. There is not much in the way of significant defense between 2nd panzer and Tula....

[smokindave34]

SW front:

XIV panzer corps breaches my defenses on the Psel river and I move back the 19 and 30 armies to my next defensive line on the Vorskla river. Zonso's panzers in III and XXXXVIII corps appear to be in need of a refit. Their CV's are very low and I considered a counterattack here but decided against it since I have another defensive line to move to.

My partisans cut his main rail line heading to 6th army and 4th panzer. That along with the long distance to his existing rail head should slow progress in this area for a bit.

[smokindave34]

Southern Front:

The Rumanian army is on the Dnepr in force now. I shuffled some troops around here to put the higher CV units in the most likely areas of attack. I'm not sure if the Rumanians have the ability to cross the Dnepr on their own...I'd be very surprised if they do.

It's turn 11 and this area could be become a thorn in Zonso's side if he doesn't clear it before winter. He'll need to help out the Rumanians with portions of 11 army to do it.

[2ndACR]

I would shoot those cav div thru that lovely gap between the Romanians and if you are lucky, you can cut off those 4 div by Nikolaev. Remember, once the Axis Allies are gone, they are gone. Every unit gone means a German unit has to be used instead.

I count 8 Cav div that you could move down there. Romanians are fairly weak in the attack.

[smokindave34]

Thanks 2ndACR - I'll do some serious recon in that area next turn and if the opportunity is still there I may go for it. I enjoy playing as the Soviets but one thing that is frustrating is going 20+ turns without a chance to inflict any damage on the axis. This may be my opportunity....

[2ndACR]

You have a couple of fairly strong infantry div to help secure your flanks. Careful on the recon, I would fly maybe 2 and that is it. I would move the 3/16 infantry across the river to the swamp hex, that locks that div in place. The 2/8 and 3/17 infantry cross the river, and all the cav shoot that gap and start sweeping in his rear. Worst case, he falls back to protect his guys, best case is he tries to fight it out. I would even think about 2/8 doubling up with 3/16 in the swamp. That would give you a 5CV stack in a swamp hex.

Shift/stagger the infantry div south of Z town to free those cav div up. Use the cav mainly (they are the German boogey man) to sweep behind and trap the Romanians, odds are they should be safe from the Romanians.

Do not want to tip your hand unless you move to strike right away.

[randallw]

What percentage of German attacks are hasty, and what is their success rate?

[smokindave34]

Randallw - its a server game so I don't have any files to go back and look at. I'll get the data when Zonso sends me the next turn. I can tell you that in his emails Zonso has been very frustrated with his success rate with hasty attacks. In my limited experience playing as axis I typically won't use a hasty attack if the defender is in a fort or behind a river - lots of "held" results.

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

You have a couple of fairly strong infantry div to help secure your flanks. Careful on the recon, I would fly maybe 2 and that is it. I would move the 3/16 infantry across the river to the swamp hex, that locks that div in place. The 2/8 and 3/17 infantry cross the river, and all the cav shoot that gap and start sweeping in his rear. Worst case, he falls back to protect his guys, best case is he tries to fight it out. I would even think about 2/8 doubling up with 3/16 in the swamp. That would give you a 5CV stack in a swamp hex.

Shift/stagger the infantry div south of Z town to free those cav div up. Use the cav mainly (they are the German boogey man) to sweep behind and trap the Romanians, odds are they should be safe from the Romanians.

Do not want to tip your hand unless you move to strike right away.

You've convinced me! If the opportunity is still there next turn I'm going for it.

[2ndACR]

Just remember this........I usually play as the German. But I kill Cav anytime I can find them and pin them down. At the least I will pound them to scrap at all times.

[randallw]

It is a suspicion of mine that if you are shoving everything forward, including lower experience/morale units, an unhappy amount of hasty attacks work on your weaker units.

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: randallw

It is a suspicion of mine that if you are shoving everything forward, including lower experience/morale units, an unhappy amount of hasty attacks work on your weaker units.

I sometimes leave my weaker units as "blockers" while my higher morale/higher TOE units fall back to better ground. I've made the decision that its worth giving the axis a few easy wins (and improved morale) to buy some time to dig in.

[smokindave34]

Turn 12 STAVKA report:

Leningrad Front - The battle for Leningrad is essentially over now. Zonso was able to use 18th army's I corps to cross the Neva river east of Pavlovo and next turn will capture the port of Osinovets. I was able to evacuate 2 of my better divisions out by sea transport but the rest of 33rd army is now doomed. I was hoping to hold him from taking the Neva one more turn [:(]

The good news is that 4th panzer is still out in the wilderness east of the Volkhov river. With only 5 more turns of clear weather left they won't have any meaningful effect on the battles near Moscow.

[smokindave34]

Western/Reserve Fronts:

I expected to see 3rd panzer group running wild (it looked like they has a HQ buildup last turn) when I opened this turn but now I can't find them. That may be them tucked in behind the axis line just west of Rzhev. I moved 4 divisions of 38th army up from Moscow to defend near Rzhev and filled in the area around Moscow with the 43 army (Moscow M.D.).

If I'm right and that is 3rd panzer group, Zonso could push due east and seriously threaten Moscow. I'm pretty strong in this area but have learned the hard way to never underestimate the strength of the German panzer corps - they could be on the Kremlin's doorstep soon if I'm not careful here.

[smokindave34]

Bryansk Front:

I'm very weak here and have mostly defensive CV's of 1. Not sure which way 2nd panzer is going to go - I suspect North towards Tula. All I can hope for here is to try and slow him down a bit and avoid major encirclements. This is the "soft underbelly" of my defense.

[smokindave34]

SW front:

A major pull back here. The 17th army has crossed the Dnepr near Dneprpetrovosk and recon shows at least 1 panzer corps (maybe 2) lurking behind the river. I expect that these panzers are close to a railhead and will have good MP's to exploit this crossing next turn. I was concerned that he could turn north and sweep in behind most of the SW front - I can't take that chance and send out orders to march east! I think I've been doing a pretty good job of protecting my cavalry units so far and don't want to see them end up in a pocket this late in the summer, they will be the spearhead of my blizzard offensive.

[smokindave34]

Southern Front:

After 11 turns of sitting idly by the Southern front actually gets orders to move - unfortunately its due east! I hated to give up those level 2 forts along the Dnepr but I had two armies just north of the Crimea that could end up in a pocket if the panzers west of D-town headed south.

I had hoped to take 2ndACR's advice and hit the Rumanians hard here but it wasn't meant to be. Zonso moved up some additional Rumanian units and those panzers near D-town were sitting there like a guillotine ready to fall.