What?! Seriously?! You are back for more??? Now allowed for Oloren!

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: juret

always refit on railroads terje

I would spread 1/3 of the mobile units to an reserve shield behind the weakest fronts in agc-agn and 2/3 to make smaller offensive in the south

Yeah I know, however the braincellkillers from yesterday is stay playing with my mind, so for now I needed visual on the units to best relocate them. I wanted three aprox equal armies, so some of them had to stop off the rail.
Might end up leaving some units behind, yes, however there are also some spare Inf around now, so there are some reserves available.


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 69

Overall
We have started the preparations for what might very well be the "High Tide of the...err...Third Reich" (more details below). Another 10(ish) divisions were placed in static mode, and we see some reshuffling of USSR troops, but they are still located in the LG-Moscow area. I also THINK our panzers were spotted, but that is actually a good thing for now, since they are still close to Moscow, and Brad is fearful of losing Moscow.
31 attacks resulted in 5 helds, 23 retreats, 2 routs and 1 surrender. A few held results too many, but that is how the dice rolls...literally.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
1.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 105.000 troops, 1.508 guns, 102 AFVs, 205 AC.
Axis : 40.000 troops, 406 guns, 35 AFVs, 125 AC.

USSR units lost
1 rifle division, 1 BM Howitzer Regiment, ! PVO AA Regiment.

German units disbanded
Found another empty airfield, so 1 LW air base is disbanded, as is the 369th Croatian Infantry Regiment.

Partisans hunted down
7.

German pools
Manpower : 8.177
Vehicles : 236.296...
Armaments : 5.807
Hiwi : 678
Panic mode = OFF, replaced by "ah, what the heck"-mode
Turns untill no armaments : 1

[terje439]

Plan

[terje439]

Key players

[terje439]

Turn 70

Overall
Mud arrives, I hope this is the proper autumn, and that we do not get any nasty mud surprises when we once more let our panzers loose. We have started to move our panzers south by train, and most of the 1st Panzer Army has been sent south allready, but we will still need 3 more turns to rail all units south.
Due to the weather, a mere 8 attacks were made this turn (the Moscow zone has winter, not mud), resulting in 1 held, 6 retreats and 1 rout. Also, our fuel pool is owing fuel to someone [:D]

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 63.000 troops, 641 guns, 19 AFVs, 138 AC.
Axis : 33.000 troops, 187 guns, 12 AFVs, 56 AC.

USSR units lost
None.

German units disbanded
Two LW air bases.

Partisans hunted down
5. 1 left on the map.

German pools
Manpower : 9.11
Vehicles : 221.108
Armaments : 13.764 [&o]
Hiwi : 1.301
Finally the armaments pool is increasing again.

[Baelfiin]

Trucks are important too !! =p

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Baelfiin

Trucks are important too !! =p

Hehe true true, but never run out of them in my games [;)]


Terje

[ErsteKavallerieDivision]

The next thing I would do is concentrating ALL replacements on the still wornout, though 90+ morale units, i.e., 1st Panzer, Grossdeutschland, and Wiking. They deserve the men and equipment. These divisions could then be formed under a Sturm Corps.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: ErsteKavallerieDiv

The next thing I would do is concentrating ALL replacements on the still wornout, though 90+ morale units, i.e., 1st Panzer, Grossdeutschland, and Wiking. They deserve the men and equipment. These divisions could then be formed under a Sturm Corps.

Would make sense if the option was not to go on one last major attack, as I however do intend to attack and try to form a pocket, imo it makes more sense to actually distribute reinforcements to the weaker units to have more units able ot hold a hex???
And GD, is not that the one about to withdraw?


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 71

Overall
Still mud in the more vital areas of the map, but lvl 8 frost and blizzard in the Moscow area. Is this the proper winter, or will mud reappear? Guess I'll have to look up the dates again. We only make 9 attacks, and score 2 helds, 5 retreats, 1 rout and 1 surrender. The Mud is the main reason for the low ammount of attacks for now. The USSR seems to be building up their forces in the south, which makes no sense since I am pushing 1-2 hexes closer to Moscow every turn. Suddenly I am somewhat worried about Brads intentions. Thanks to my railroad pool, we only managed to relocate 2 HQs and 1 panzer division this turn. I need the railroad engineers to put in some overtime here!!!

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 73.000 troops, 700 guns, 13 AFVs, 87 AC.
Axis : 27.000 troops, 169 guns, 11 AFVs, 34 AC.

USSR units lost
1 rifle brigade.

Partisans hunted down
3.

German pools
Manpower : 268
Vehicles : 217.606
Armaments : 27.448
Hiwi : 9

[janh]

You are playing random weather, right? Seminole made this awesome table:
tm.asp?m=3177463
In N and C, a 9% chance of mud, in S unfortunately a reasonable 18%. November is likely to bring cold or snowy rainfalls, and will turn the grounds to mud in any subsequent week.

As for the southern build-up... nice, congrats to you. He's working into your arms. Best to take on his strongest units now while the Wehrmacht still packs a punch, and not let them live to become your worst fears in the next years.

The Crimea nearby, you basically only need a "1.25"-pronged offensive. The long shoreline narrowing the retreat route will be a great benefit for you. One short arm to cut the Crimea isthmus (8 hexes), and a powerful strong one to reach Stalino and Rostov. I like the plan you've drawn up above. Red PG1 is really the key. I would detach a Panzerkorps strong in Mot. Inf. from PG2 or PG3 to the southern edge to try to seal the isthmus, though, that is if you have anything to spare...

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: janh

You are playing random weather, right? Seminole made this awesome table:
tm.asp?m=3177463
In N and C, a 9% chance of mud, in S unfortunately a reasonable 18%. November is likely to bring cold or snowy rainfalls, and will turn the grounds to mud in any subsequent week.

As for the southern build-up... nice, congrats to you. He's working into your arms. Best to take on his strongest units now while the Wehrmacht still packs a punch, and not let them live to become your worst fears in the next years.

The Crimea nearby, you basically only need a "1.25"-pronged offensive. The long shoreline narrowing the retreat route will be a great benefit for you. One short arm to cut the Crimea isthmus (8 hexes), and a powerful strong one to reach Stalino and Rostov. I like the plan you've drawn up above. Red PG1 is really the key. I would detach a Panzerkorps strong in Mot. Inf. from PG2 or PG3 to the southern edge to try to seal the isthmus, though, that is if you have anything to spare...

Thx. IF I get the railcapacity needed I guess November is the launch date then.
As to his build up, it makes no sense. If he attacks there, he MUST take the ports to secure his retreat, if not he is inviting me to take out his mobile forces. Hmm, I do not trust him to do as I think he will though [:D]

Yes, I will first work on the pocket, using PzA1 and PzA3 to their fullest extent, and then if I have the ability, turn PzA2 southwards. But we shall have to see how it turns out. Brad might make moves that makes the entire plan void yet. I do however like the fact that he flew NO recon missions last turn.


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 72 aka back on track

Overall
Not sure I think all weather effects in this game makes sense, but I'll live... Mud all over means a mere two attacks from our side, both resulting in retreats. My main concern right now is that those blasted partisans show up too close to my redeployed panzers and show them to Brad...
Still 3 turns away from complete redeployment as of now.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 58.000 troops, 525 guns, 11 AFVs, 67 AC.
Axis : 24.000 troops, 103 guns, 9 AFVs, 40 AC.

USSR units lost
None

Partisans hunted down
4.

German pools
Manpower : 52
Vehicles : 217.492
Armaments : 40.034
Hiwi : 7

[terje439]

Turn 73

Overall
Bah. And then BAH! First of all, still mud. Secondly, Brad has spotted the relocated panzers and is railing reinforcements south. Oh well, let's make the phrase "Charge of the light brigade" a German saying after the ground freezes!

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 60.000 troops, 462 guns, 8 AFVs, 67 AC.
Axis : 22.000 troops, 89 guns, 3 AFVs, 15 AC.

USSR units lost
None

Partisans hunted down
6.

German pools
Manpower : 78
Vehicles : 219.147
Armaments : 40.632
Hiwi : 7

[Tophat1815]

Let him ship as many boys as possible south,redirect your panzers to the center and breakthrough in front of Moscow. You will get him out of position and give him a heart attack all at once even if you don't take Moscow.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812

Let him ship as many boys as possible south,redirect your panzers to the center and breakthrough in front of Moscow. You will get him out of position and give him a heart attack all at once even if you don't take Moscow.

Not really possible, the lack of RR capacity means it would take me another 6 turns to redirect north. Nah, we will just modify the plan somewhat and reduce the grandeur [:D]


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 74

Overall
Winter arrives, and we give the orders to send as many panzers to the front as possible. Next turn we strike, but the plan has to be modified as time is now working against us. We will not even have managed to gather all panzers for the thrust (most light green tanks are still too far away), but I think we have enough punch for a modified attack. Well, I think Hitler believed so before Citadelle too [8|]
We launched 15 infantry attacks this turn and scored 4 helds and 11 retreats. Which means we conquered some 5 hexes in total [>:]

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 91.000 troops, 1.151 guns, 43 AFVs, 148 AC.
Axis : 33.000 troops, 366 guns, 13 AFVs, 29 AC.

USSR units lost
None

Partisans hunted down
3.

German units disbanded
1 LW Field Division

German pools
Manpower : 582
Vehicles : 217.630
Armaments : 55.602
Hiwi : 9.866 (what happened here?! Big "Join the Wehrmacht, get free lunch"-drive???)
Note : Numbers are from BEFORE I disbanded that LW field division.

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: terje439

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812

Let him ship as many boys as possible south,redirect your panzers to the center and breakthrough in front of Moscow. You will get him out of position and give him a heart attack all at once even if you don't take Moscow.

Not really possible, the lack of RR capacity means it would take me another 6 turns to redirect north. Nah, we will just modify the plan somewhat and reduce the grandeur [:D]


Terje

I thought you'd only railed a corps south so far,my mistake. Do you still have some panzer divisions in the northern/central front area?

Perhaps a delayed 2 prong attack? When he commits south kick him in the center? Win big or get beat-up in detail......"no risk,no return".

But its almost the end of 42' this time and your inevitable doom isn't looming on the horizon yet...[:D]

Nice to see you disband those ridiculous LW Field divisions as well!

Anyway stay lucky on those die rolls!

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812

ORIGINAL: terje439

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812

Let him ship as many boys as possible south,redirect your panzers to the center and breakthrough in front of Moscow. You will get him out of position and give him a heart attack all at once even if you don't take Moscow.

Not really possible, the lack of RR capacity means it would take me another 6 turns to redirect north. Nah, we will just modify the plan somewhat and reduce the grandeur [:D]


Terje

I thought you'd only railed a corps south so far,my mistake. Do you still have some panzer divisions in the northern/central front area?

Perhaps a delayed 2 prong attack? When he commits south kick him in the center? Win big or get beat-up in detail......"no risk,no return".

But its almost the end of 42' this time and your inevitable doom isn't looming on the horizon yet...[:D]

Nice to see you disband those ridiculous LW Field divisions as well!

Anyway stay lucky on those die rolls!

My bad, yeah, there are aprox 2.25 corps in the South now, so we will attack there. Not attacking would mean surrendering the initiative once and for all and only speed up my defeat, so attack is the only option.
My bet/hunch/prayer is that once I penetrate the initial USSR line, Brad will be forced to deploy his reserves in the open, where I can keep pushing, but we shall see.
Hehe well, the doom can be spotted in the OOB I posted, but it is not as clear as in my earlier games [:D]
Too bad I cannot disband them all, but too many of them have withdrawal dates, and are not allowed to be withdrawn [:@]
And I sure hope the dice rolls in my favour, but they usually do not (played an entire game of Britannia without rolling a 5 or a 6 some years back...).


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 75 aka CHAAAAARGE!!!!

Overall
The USSR railroads must be used by some supertrains as Brad has more or less moved a couple of armies around this turn. So the plan is redisgned on the spot, and instead of a two pronged attack, it has become a four pronged one. I doubt he can hold me in all locations, but we shall see. The first turn as expected did not drive very deep, but deep enough to see that there are no dug in units behind the initial screen. This is looking promising. Better than bad atleast. Most of the line is still static, and will remain so unless Brad really strips his fronts to the bone to contain my panzers. We launched 27 attacks (low number since we needed to attack with stacks and not single units to break the frontline), and scored 2 helds (one was an utter mistake as I managed to attack the wrong stack [:-]), 24 retreats and 1 rout.
I will post a few maps this time as the overall one does not show alot.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
0.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
0.

Losses
USSR : 94.000 troops, 1.214 guns, 163 AFVs, 247 AC.
Axis : 37.000 troops, 405 guns, 47 AFVs, 58 AC.

USSR units lost
None

Partisans hunted down
8. [:@]

German pools
Manpower : 366
Vehicles : 214.924
Armaments : 64.762
Hiwi : 26.359 (Again, what happened here???)