Under the Red Banner: Q-Ball (R) v Baelfiin (Axis)

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

As boring as this is, it's the smart way to play under the circumstances. Patience and planning for 1943 will pay off in the long run. A pre 43 Red Army doesn't have the chops to crack open an Axis turtle. Stalingrad 2.0 can only happen with generous Axis cooperation and overextension and mostly this never happens. (Very few people have dared to take the oil plunge...wisely so.)

I did so once, and very nearly captured Baku. The only thing that prevented me from doing so was the surrender of my opponent...[:(]

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Ski Brigades? I don't build those at all. The only benefit they confer is better movement in the Snow, but their combat value is so negligible, I don't think it matters.

"Newly created Soviet Ski units receive a morale bonus over the current national morale based on the date as follows: +5 in Sept 42, +10 in Sept 43, and +15 in Sept 44."
"Ski units will have their combat value (CV) doubled in snow and tripled in blizzard"

Haven't used them myself, but they have some other attributes besides better snow movement.
They can't be combined into divisions, can they?

I'm glad someone around here is reading the rulebook![:D] I didn't know that about Ski units, the CV-double/triple thing. I knew about the morale, but that makes them similar to Mountain units, who also get a bump.

Still, even at Triple CV, the Ski Brigade will get to about the equivalent of a Rifle Division. Not enough, IMO, to make it worth it. The Soviet army is about MASS, and on-map Brigades don't really fit with that.

That Wehrmacht Ski Division, though, I have never seen it in Blizzard, but I guess that unit becomes a beast in Blizzard; right?

[Flaviusx]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

As boring as this is, it's the smart way to play under the circumstances. Patience and planning for 1943 will pay off in the long run. A pre 43 Red Army doesn't have the chops to crack open an Axis turtle. Stalingrad 2.0 can only happen with generous Axis cooperation and overextension and mostly this never happens. (Very few people have dared to take the oil plunge...wisely so.)

I did so once, and very nearly captured Baku. The only thing that prevented me from doing so was the surrender of my opponent...[:(]

James, you are welcome to try it against me.

[randallw]

No, the ski brigades can't be combined.

One small extra bonus from them is that they convert to mountain brigades, beginning in early 1945...of course you have to last that far.

[Q-Ball]

T-79: 12/17/42

The assault against Baelfiin's "Eastern Wall" continues. It's really a series of attacks here and there, as I don't have the strength to mount an offensive. Baelfiin is doing a good job in putting up defenses; in most places, like in front of Stalino, it's just unassailable right now. But we are able to pick a few spots.

We are using alot of Artillery; we have created 20 Artillery Divisions so far, and I will create more eventually, 3-4 per front at least. (I want to leave a few slots for the Breakthrough Divisions).

We are also committing tanks; alot of this is to build morale in my Tank units, but also because Tanks are pretty disposable right now, as my pools are filled with all types. Losses don't matter, really.

I lost another 850 this turn; I suppose that is more than I am producing, so I shouldn't be so cavalier, but it would take many turns of this to really create a problem. And alot of these losses are T-60s, which I would like to burn-up and replace anyway.

Attached are examples of combat against the Eastern Wall; at this point, it's limited attacks everywhere, until I get more Rifle Corps.

At this point, I will hit January of 1943 with 500 APs, and at least 70 Sapper Regiments in STAVKA. I plan to immediately spend those 500 APs on about 40 Corps plus Sapper attachments. That should get us rolling a bit more.

[Flaviusx]

Q-ball, the 42 arty divisions do upgrade to breakthrough divisions.

[Peltonx]

nice AAR.

This game is following the game I have vs 8421, very close to historical.

It will be interesting to see how 43-45 turns out.

Good Luck.

I will be following closely as your 15 turns ahead of us.

Who is "we"?

Hehehe

JK

AP's are really the key, if you can get the SHC player behind the 8-ball with them or he spends them on wrong things you can win as GHC player.

3 ways to win.

1. Armament crunch
2. Manpower crunch
3. AP crunch

All things being equal none of the 3 happen, all things being not so equal at least 2 of 3 happen.

Pelton

[Q-Ball]

12/24/42

I didn't know about the upgrade to Breakthrough Divisions; I should look at the TOE! That will simplify things.

I plan to build about 24-30 Artillery units, including maybe 6 Rocket divisions, though they take forever to fill-out.

I still have almost 500 APs, and plan to spend a bunch on Rifle Corps in first part of 1943. In the meantime, I am spending on Artillery Divisions, a handful of Guards Rifle Corps, and swapping out SB-2s and MIG-3s for newer types (the old fighters are all long gone)

I am also starting to disband Construction Bdes; eventually, I plan to have 2 per front, but that's it. And those will be there just for RR Repair.

Baelfiin's Tactics:

Baelfiin hasn't done a ton of counterattacking. He did smack-back a Tank Army that moved into a clear hex, but other than that, he is not trying to counterattack and throw me back. Instead, he is giving ground a bit, or plugging holes.

In a couple places, I destroyed the forts and left a hole, like that shot above of the Hungarians. In this spot, Baelfiin moves a whole Panzer Corps, which cannot be moved, even with no forts. Those units then re-build the fort, and re-occupy the hex. So it goes.

At this point, given the low-intensity of my attacks, he can afford to plug every hole with Panzers and force me to move to another spot. So, I won't really make progress, just kill some Germans and train my guys.

I think Baelfiin is correct to not do any counterattacks, other than what is really necessary to keep a line rather than abandon a bunch of forts. Unless he pockets Soviets, those attacks are not very profitable.

I won't be able to crack this line until I have alot more Rifle Corps. We'll see what progress I can make once I am there.

[sillyflower]

This is playing out like my game with B except I'm German.

[Klydon]

I think you are doing the right thing. Move troops up, blast, move back. Rinse and repeat. You are building experience and moral which will come in handy later on.

[Q-Ball]

1/7/43

Hooray! Rifle Corps go on sale, and we immediately build 40-ish, going on an AP spending spree. We attach a Sapper Regt. to every one built (we had built a stash of these waiting for this day).

We also formed 7 Guards Airborne Divisions, leaving 2 Para Bdes for a later drop if I am inclined.

Each turn, we make 3-5 attacks, nothing huge, but I hope to ramp it up now that I have more Rifle Corps and Artillery deployed. The Rifle Corps in particular really cleared-up alot of Command problems, as it relieves presssure on the armies.

We will probably keep grinding it out this Winter. Baelfiin's Wehrmacht topped 4 mil; it's actually growing, so we need to step-up the tempo.

I am feeding wins to a couple Mech Corps and Tank Corps to push-over to Guards status hopefully. Everyone else is building morale.

Little territory gains, just a few hexes here and there; the biggest advance is in front of Moscow where we have moved the front about 3 hexes.

[Q-Ball]

1/21/43

With all the Rifle Corps we have now (and Artillery), we are able to up the tempo of attacks a bit. This turn, we had 20 attacks along the line with 6 helds. Of course, HELDS are very expensive, and result in alot of dead reds.

Attached are a couple shots below. Baelfiin is not counterattacking a ton, but is using alot of Reserves, which can really stop an attack (see shots). A couple times, after the first failure, I have found some units and tried again, figuring there would be no reserves the 2nd time, and the units would be tired. In this instance, Baelfiin had so many, that I took it on the chin twice. Ouch.

Other than that, we are still converting Rifle Corps, and building a few more Artillery Units. We'll just keep pounding away until Spring, and see where we are then.

[randallw]

If you want to train up the tank corps maybe use more sure-thing infantry units to handle the load of the battle, with the tank units being there as benefactors, instead of the tank corps being the main punch of the attack.

It also didn't help you had mixed commands, paying a 30% penalty for the two corps showing in the unit list.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: randallw

If you want to train up the tank corps maybe use more sure-thing infantry units to handle the load of the battle, with the tank units being there as benefactors, instead of the tank corps being the main punch of the attack.

It also didn't help you had mixed commands, paying a 30% penalty for the two corps showing in the unit list.

I do try to feed easy wins to the Mobile units. I already have 2 Guards Mech Corps, and 7 Guards Tank Corps this way.

In terms of mixed commands, at this point I would rather pay combat penalties, and use APs to build Corps. That's just me. I can lose the occasional combat because I mixed commands, it's more important, IMO, to build all the units I need for later, and get them trained up.

2/11/43:

Still more grinding. Overall, I think we are doing well, killing Germans at a good clip, and even taking territory here and there.

Have to be careful, though, not to push too far, because I can suffer a backhand blow. Here is a good example; 3 Corps down the tubes! An expensive reminder not to push it too far on the offensive, the Wehrmacht can still bite.....

[Q-Ball]

2/18/43

The mini backhand blow at Vyazma created a brick wall of Germans. I cannot make any progress in that sector anymore.

However, further south in front of Bryansk, we are getting a good movement through the fort belt. You can see the maps below.

Tactics:

A few tactics I am using to generate attacks.

First, I have at least 2 Artillery Units now per front. Nearly all attacks include some artillery; makes a big difference.

I try to finish every turn with as many units off the line as possible. It's much easier to move Corps into attack positions if they are 1-hex back of the front to start the turn. I would suggest this to anyone; try to move units OFF the line at the end of your turn. Obviously leave something there, but I like to use Rifle Divisions for this purpose.

Tank Corps are also good for "topping off" an attack.

I have to say I am not that anal about having all units in an attack in the same command. I personally think it's more important to have Artillery, than to sweat that everyone belongs to the same Army, or even Front. I tend to mix my colors alot, and I would rather do that then spend the APs. APs should be used, IMO, for unit builds first, then leaders, then moving units between commands.

[randallw]

I would figure that by now ( early 1943 ) you have leaders set up as you'd like? There should not be a lot of AP use on swapping them now.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: randallw

I would figure that by now ( early 1943 ) you have leaders set up as you'd like? There should not be a lot of AP use on swapping them now.

Basically, yes. I would like a couple guys promoted that I might use on Front commands, but I have it mostly the way I want.

With the new rules, you are forced to use commanders that you wouldn't under the old C in C rules, so some Armies have less than optimal leaders. But not much you can do about that.

41 and 42 are good times to make alot of leader changes, because you don't have the AP demands on unit creation that you do later on. So, I try to work ahead on those.

Soviet players shouldn't really have an AP crisis, IMO. You can take several steps to "work ahead". Whatever you do, make sure you finish every turn with 450 APs or below, and 325 or below if a Front is coming the next turn. Make sure you spend that excess. If you are set on leaders, and feel good about where units are, you can always work ahead by creating Rifle units or whatever and stash them for later in case you lose a bunch.

[sillyflower]

this game is so mirroring my game vs Baelfin's Russians. He and I are using pretty much identical strategies and tactics. I have just done to him what he did to you - surrounding 5 mech corp3 (3 gd) and 1 tank corps with 3 rows of germans between them and his inf corps front line, + a few corps routs to create the pocket. I will be rather disappointed if he gets out.

We are in sept '43 and this is the first time in ages he's been bold and I'm slightly suprised he did it just after seeing how it could fail.



sorry picture is a bit cr#p but I'm useless at this sort of thing and i can't post it on any of my AARs as Baefiin has acess to them [:D]

[Q-Ball]

Interesting, I didn't know you guys were in Sept '43. It looks like you are grinding it out west of Kursk there, hard to tell where I look vs. that game.

Certainly, I am grinding pretty well right now; the last turn the Germans had more losses than I did, and many of our attacks were successful. No breakthroughs, just pushing here and there.

We are in mid-February, so Baelfiin will get a break shortly with Mud, then when the Rivers thaw his situation will also improve. (Clear will help me move more units into attack position, but I would rather have Frozen rivers myself)

[sillyflower]

We have been having our '43 summer furball not many miles from the historical location. Early snow is good - reduced russian attack movement but I still have river defences. I'll have to nag B to post a map