Field Marshal von Fogger vs Comrade Marshal Fulkerson

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Leningrad area now. My lines are holding only because of the presence of the ships and all the arty nearby. It's just a matter
of time before John breaks through.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what it looks like in Estonia. John is shipping in more and more troops. And I've spied the presence of at least one Panzer
division.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Riga area. John is pushing outward expanding his bridgehead.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Daugavpils area now. John is taking over control of this AO and I'm fallilng back slowly, leaving roadblocks in the way of
John's path. To slow him down. Somewhat. The Soviet front line is taking shape to the east. I'm finally getting some useful rail cap.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the area from Minsk to Orsha and this terrain is favorable for defenders in that I can try to defend behind the rivers. But as John
makes it across the river then I'll have to pull back to the next river etc.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the north end of the Stalin Line. John is pushing to outflank me and the struggle is gygantic.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the south end of the Stalin Line and John and I are still in serious negotiations over the river bank and it's looking like John is
going to win. I'm railing people into this AO and I think I have sufficient numbers but they aren't there yet and it's looking like they aren't
going to get there in time to contain the Axis units.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Odessa area and John has thrust a Romanian unit across the river and so far it's just a probe but I'm thinking John might use
a Panzer unit to leap across that river. So I'm putting up some blockers and arty to support.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Soviet losses so far. This is as of the end of T6. I've still got about 29K on hand and about 41K assigned and rising.

[Wuffer]

you are deploying your arty quite forward,Larry, eg on smaller roadblocks?
No critique, just a question, because they seemed to be the most important units for the Sowjets, not only in 41, but also later on.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Wuffer
you are deploying your arty quite forward,Larry, eg on smaller roadblocks?
No critique, just a question, because they seemed to be the most important units for the Sowjets, not only in 41, but also later on.

I'm hoping to get some utility from them roadblock-wise and then move them to safety after the roadblock is negated. Most of the time
the arty is destroyed too but I'm thinking I'll probably get some arty as reinforcements to replace them. I could be wrong. Maybe this is
why I've never won playing FITE against anybody. Thanks for posting by the way.

[Wuffer]

yeah, it's a tradeoff - you have slowed down and delayed him fairly well and still owned Minsk/Riga (T6), which is not that bad too

IIRC the heavy arty, eg 203mm howitzers etc, is in short supply. I might be totally wrong, but w/o arty I never had achieved anything, neither in the defence or later attacking and I remember cursing because I had lost all this stuff very early...
anyway, it's your command, Sir, and you are holding your line quite well. If this is a tendency, he will be in trouble, so keep on.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Wuffer
yeah, it's a tradeoff - you have slowed down and delayed him fairly well and still owned Minsk/Riga (T6), which is not that bad too

IIRC the heavy arty, eg 203mm howitzers etc, is in short supply. I might be totally wrong, but w/o arty I never had achieved anything, neither in the defence or later attacking and I remember cursing because I had lost all this stuff very early...
anyway, it's your command, Sir, and you are holding your line quite well. If this is a tendency, he will be in trouble, so keep on.

As a matter of fact you have intriqued me so much about this issue that I actually looked up how many guns I still have on hand. And the
rate of production and I now see what you mean. The on-hand is low and the rate is low and I shouldn't be using the way I'm using them.
Message conveyed. Thanks my friend.

[larryfulkerson]

Okie dokie........I've received some moves from John and I've watched the replay etc. This is the start of a review of the front lines at the
beginning of T7. One screenful at a time, this is the Leningrad view:

[larryfulkerson]

This is the Smolensk area now. My light screen is giving way but the front line is only just now gaining some semblence of form. It's
not ready yet for combat and it looks like there is little time left. But the Leningrad area also needs troops because the Finns have
succeeded in breaking the defensive lines there. I'll post a picture to show what I mean.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the area south of the Marshes, where the Stalin Line is being breached. John is wrapping around the south end and it's starting
to crumble.

[larryfulkerson]

And this is the Odessa area. Actually this part of the front lines is holding up all okie dokie. But the line is starting to give way further to
the north so I may have to displace the south part too.

[larryfulkerson]

This is a closeup of the Finn / Leningrad situation. The Finns have broken my front lines on the east side of the lake and so I'm going to
have to displace that large group on the west side of the lake before they get trapped and killed. There's not much in the Leningrad
area to call a defense so this is one of those pivital moments in the game.

[Petey]

Larry: The Finns are turning the right flank of your Leningrad line. I think you are defending too far forward, and therefore the defensive line is too long for the units you have availible. I'd pull back a bit to shorten the line and use some of the lake hexes also. The southern end of your Stalin line looks to be in trouble. The Odessa area looks good but you could lose it if he breaks through South of your Stalin line. I'd also not use your planes for those long range bridge attacks. The trade-off doesnt seem worth it. They could be used to blunt his panzers or spt the front line. But that's just me. Exciting game so far. Thanks John and Larry!

[Petey]

Yes, I agree. I thinks he's after Leningrad early