The Game is Called!!! A-Game welcome!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 61 - AUGUST 13, 1942[/center]

AGN has has largely went static. I'm still keeping a few strong 100% TOE divisions behind the front, but Recon shows no buildups on the Soviet side so most of my strength is further South. In fact..I think I only have 1 Motor divisions and 1 motor brigade in all of AGN.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 61 - THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE ACTIVE FRONT[/center]

Here I'm showing how A-game has fled the fight. Before he was backing up 2-3 hexes a turn and now he just flat out ran. Very frustrating for me tbh because I can run 15 hexes deeper into Soviet territory in 1 turn. He'll have himself a hug wall dug by the time I catch up. Luckily though Tambov falls this turn and maybe Saratov will be my next target. Plenty of factories there...

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 61 - THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE ACTIVE FRONT[/center]


Here we see the 17. Amy and the 1. Panzer Army drive towards Stalingrad. And we see a raid allowed because I'm out running flank support. He severed my rail line near Salsk and so will slow down my drive. The 11. Army in the South is trying to get a good foothold and then will largely just hold for now.

[swkuh]

Enjoying your game and your excellent explanations and images.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: rrbill

Enjoying your game and your excellent explanations and images.

Thanks. I just sent T62 so I'll post 63 when it comes back.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T64 - SEPTEMBER 3, 1942 - ACTIVE FRONT NORTHERN HALF[/center]

Here we see the preparation for the attack on Saratov. This attack will be the furthest East I will go. After this I see a withdrawal back to shorter lines for the winter.

Below Saratov we see the 6. Army and 2. Panzer Army (Both heavily loaded down) forming the northern pincer on Stalingrad. We are at 239/260 VP's. Wonder if these 2 cities will put me over the top? Doubt it.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T64 - SOUTHERN HALF ACTIVE FRONT[/center]

Here is the other half of the main drive. Together 4/5 of German mech units are aiming towards Stalingrad.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Losses to Date

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Update Coming. I've spent 10 turns since last update but I broke my right hand and typing has been limited. Were about to finish up another mud turn and both of us have disengaged from fighting and are awaiting more mobility.

First though...can someone tell me how to see what the VP value of each city is? I have 237 VP's and I'm not sure what objectives I need to get to hit outright victory. When I select the VP button on the map screen it doesn't appear to do anything.

AAR following.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 73 - November 5, 1942[/center]

So here is the Northern Front. I hatched an idea to take advantage of A-game lack of recon in this area. For the last 6 months this area has been dead and A-game has stripped it of nearly all reserves. With this in mind I have been pulling units off other fronts (which were slowing down) and building a strike force near Kholm and hiding them in the woods. I originally wanted another mech Corps for the Op but I feared another Corps would tip A-game to the threat and lose surprise.

Overall the Op worked and we shortened the line and bagged about 6 divisions including a mtn division. Were currently in the mud so this Operation should be completed before the end of the year.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 73 - Volga Front[/center]

Not much going on here. Our drive ended on the banks of the Volga and the capture of not only Saratov but numerous Yak factories that were left behind. Near Stalingrad A-Game massed his Guards Rifle Corps in lvl 3 forts and saved Stalingrad. I avoided a pitched battle because I deemed Stalingrad not worth the estimated 100k losses that would have followed. If it would have met the Decisive victory conditions I would have attacked but I don't think it would have.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

The Soviets held Vishni Volschek (however you spell it) and contained 11. Army. As noted on the map pic A-game was building for an offensive on 11. Army's flank but quick rail movements of reinforcements persuaded him to shy away. Overall the front is disengaged and both sides are rebuilding their forces.

Losing 11. Army HQ is forcing me to reshuffle the entire front and spend a lot of AP's moving leaders, units, and SU's. I'm really not sure what to do when the mud ends. Both of us are just staring at each other now.

[Blubel]

You can't see it. But every city is 1 VP, every light urban hex 3 and every heavy urban hex 5. The capital is another 5. Therefore getting Moscow would be good.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Blubel

You can't see it. But every city is 1 VP, every light urban hex 3 and every heavy urban hex 5. The capital is another 5. Therefore getting Moscow would be good.

Thank You

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 80 - December 24, 1942[/center]

So A-Game got brazen and decided to start an attack of his own. Massing up what must be all his Guards units and his artillery divisions he broke a hole in the line in one of the weaker zones. I don't know if A-Game knew or not but I have been pulling mech units off the line since October and letting them rebuild.

I Had 2 Full TOE mech Corps waiting in the woods about 5-6 hexes behind the front hoping A-Game would attempt to exploit....he didn't. So I went ahead and attacked him frontally with massed strength. Seems he was just probing the line to see how an offensive would be.

All of my front line regiments extracted a 2 to 1 ratio against overwhelming odds and my mech Corps obliterated his Guards XXX forcing half of them to rout. The Wehrmacht still owns the battlefield.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 80 - December 24, 1942[/center]

This is how to destroy a mountainous defense line. You sever them from rail in the Blizzard and they die in the mountains. This is the aftermath picture. Last turn 6 divisions died in the open and several more will this round. A-Game is in retreat in the South.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T83 - January 14, 1943[/center]

So this update is going to be a larger strategic overview. Here we see the front from Saratov Northwards. A-Game has been experimenting on the attack by massing his Guards and the feared Rocket divisions to break holes in the line and push forward one hex at a time. He doesn't try to exploit he is just testing the waters. So far I've been able to mass my reserves and evict him but it shows that he is getting stronger.

This turn was the first time he has broken 7 million men. I'm staying steady at about 3.9 million with 120k in the pool. The Finns are building their 43-44 line and have about 50k in reserve. So far the Center and Northern AG's are holding the line. My main issue is not knowing where to go once the spring thaw is over. I have a massive salient protruding towards Saratov and Stalingrad that is kind of a weakness right now. I would abandon them, but I hate to surrender the manpower centers.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T 83 - January 14, 1943[/center]

Here we see Saratov and Southward. Most of this front is static except for the advance in the South. One advantage about attacking in the Caucasus is the Soviets lack of rail. This allows me to overpower him on a narrow axis and disregard my flanks. In the cold Blizzard A-game can't supply any units that attempt to sever my spearhead. This may change come the summer, but by then I will likely have ended the advance. As of now the Winter goal is Grozny. Encircling is almost out of the question as the enemy blizzard hexes sap too much mp's. I'm just smashing him 1 hex at a time.

This is my 4th turn in a row without a hold. I don't attack unless I have overwhelming odds. This slows my advance but it is crushing his morale and building mine. The main drawback is my very long front line. I have 2 options come 43 Summer:

-Hold every inch and shift reserves to counter strength.

-Shorten the front to reassemble a powerful backhand punch.

Not sure what my course is. I fear that come Summer 43 I won't be able to attack against hardened hexes so my best bet is to defend. Any suggestions?

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 90 - March 4, 1943[/center]

Here is a shot in the North. I regret that I'm unable to do more frequent updates but the job, school, and family keeps me from being a grognard. Anyways, 7 turns from last update, here is the likely end result of the campaign in East Karelia. Back on T83 I isolated what appeared to be a probing tank brigade. As it turned out it was a scouting unit for a mid -scale Soviet offensive. When I loaded the next turn I saw 3 Guards Cavalry Corps, 1 Mech Corps, Artillery divisions and supporting infantry divisions. Every turn he was able to slip adjacent to me but not behind me. The heavy woods, blizzard, and enemy ZOC kept him from flanking me and allowed my Finnish Corps to escape his trap. The entire Finnish army has been railed in and is holding a solid line ATM. Lvl 4 forts await them near Lake Janisaari if needed.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]Turn 90 - March 4,1943[/center]

Here is AGN's Volkhov Front. As you can see he got across the Volkhov but the swamp line directly West of it has been a holding ground to contain this breakthrough. Now both of us are slowly stripping the front to move units elsewhere. A-Game is punching me across the front and I'm increasingly unable to throw him back.