In north I am feeling confident and believe that I have decent chance to hold Lenigrad.
In center, Mehring failed to close pocket between Smolensk and Gomel. Some units are anyway doomed but I was able to get around half of them out.
1. Panzer gruppe attacked from Kiev and reached Kursk. This really surprised me. Luckily I had one cavalry division in Kursk.
Also Odessa felt this turn. I guess lucky rolls for Axis.
In north Axis is slowly fighting their way south of Ilmen. Still under control.
I have abandoned Velikye Luki and Smolensk to shorten my lines. Do not know if this was really necessary.
Mehring closed the Gomel pocket trapping alltogether 10 divisions.
Rest of 1. Panzer Gruppe advanced towards Kursk to free the isolated SS division.
Factories evacuated:
Stalino - 5 vehicle points
Bryansk - 4 heavy industry points
Charkov - 4 heavy industry points
Kremenchug - 2 heavy industry points
Tambov - 10 GAZ-AAMG points
interesting developments. Looks like you are well in control in the North, but that the Ukraine could go very wrong. Wonder if you could have left a rear guard around Smolensk, as much to keep the Germans in ZoC for the attrition and cutting off the flow of replacements?
He was slowly outflanking me with infantry. Mehring is trying to pocket everything in sight. I wanted to avoid unnecessary loses.
Those inf formations next to VL and Smolensk have anyway enough power to smash everything except solid line backed with reserves.
You won't need the IL-10s, you really don't even need the IL-4s.
Why? Except the fact that for 99% the game will not come into 45.
Regarding factory evacuation. Currently(T15) I am facing dilemma about Stalino(still 29 arms in). I am below 120k RR capacity so there is no chance to evacuate the optimal 20 armament points. Getting out 19 and next turn 10 will be probably the best solution now. However I am not sure I will have capacity can get out 19 this turn. Should I get out 10 every turn even they will be heavily damaged or rather evacuate as much as possible?
There are four groups of IL-2 factories in Moscow, N. Moscow and Voronezh that are priority evacuations. At full capacity, each will turn out 54 aircraft every week for a total of 216. There are two Pe-2 level bomber groups and one is safely off-map. They will produce a total of 60 per week. So between those two, that is 276 per week. That in itself is a lot of planes. IL-4 production tops out at a total of 21 planes a week, not even 1/10 of the other two types. So when combat gets hot and heavy after a while the IL-2 and Pe-2 factories do a much better job of filling units with replacements that the IL-4. But if level bombers are your thing, you still have the SB-2s and DB-3Bs which can take quite a while to burn through even if they are no longer turned out in factories. Plus eventually lend lease will deliver additional B-25 and A-20 types for free.
Another factor is plane for plane, the IL-2 will do more killing than a level bomber ever will. That's just how the air model works. Now the level bomber may cause more disruption during attacks, but there's no way I've seen to prove that out. Also, the level bombers tends to need more trucks for support and trucks or lack thereof eventually can cause supply issues in late 42-early/mid 43. In a number of games we see the Red Air Force "growing" to 15,000-20,000 planes or more but you have to wonder if half of them ever get deployed. If one does, it is a pretty heavy truck commitment for a lot of airbases. Maybe you can afford that by 1944. For these reasons, the bomber component of my Red Air Force by 1943 now has about three-quarters IL-2 and one-quarter Pe-2s deployed. The other bomber types for the most part just sit in virtual boneyards.
But I am not being pressed. So I can choose what and when to evacuate. Actually IL-2 from Voronezh were evacuated on turn 2.
Any turn you have to spend some RR capacity for unit movement. I always try to use all of the RR capacity. Usually I spend every turn some time with calculating the optimal use of RR capacity.
In this particular case I moved IL-10 out just because I did not want to waste some 2k RR capacity.
True is that IL-4 production is nothing compared to IL-2 and Pe-2. However I am not using them in frontline service, but for partizan supply and flavor actions(like totally useless bombing of Ploesti [:D]). So yes, you do not need them, but if you can afford it, then why not.
Poor Bryansk front was pounded once again. I have been able to open the pocket with inside attack(guess pure luck). The SS regiments had only 1CV. But 15 divisions are doomed anyway.
With all German Panzers north of Kursk, the south is pretty quiet.
Mehring did major breakthrough between Rzhev and Vyazma. I have been able to route one and isolate another one Panzer division. However only temporary. With Brayans-Orel pocket definitely sealed, this was pretty good turn for Axis in Moscow area.
Factories evacuated:
Tula - 5 armament points
Tula - 2 heavy industry points
Moscow - 9 armament points
N Moscow - 3 armament points
I am waiting for turn 18 and unfortunately I did not take battle report screens.
But if I remember correctly
T12-T15: probably under 5 per turn
T16: 5+
T17: 15+
In north Germans have finally managed to cross Luga and I am retreating to Leningrad outskirts.
Mehring probably tried and failed to form Vyazma pocket. Some my divisions are doomed anyway but nothing tragic.
Rumanians with 11. army also crossed lower Dneper, therefore I have retreated in the south too. There is no reason to let slaughter my infantry in the south.
Factories evacuated:
Zaporozhye - 4 heavy industry points
Dnepropetrovsk - 5 heavy industry points
Moscow - Pe-3 5 points
Leningrad - Yak-6 2 points
German Panzers broke out throught the Valdai hills and encircled couple of divisions. I was able to breake the pocket, but my lines in north are dangerously thin now.
In Moscow area situation seems to be stabilized for now.
Good news for Moscow is that 1. Panzergruppe is moving from Orel to south.
Factories evacuated:
Stalino - 5 heavy industry points
Kramatorskaya - 2 heavy industry points
Taganrog - 2 armament points
Taganrog - 22 LaGG-3 points
This game was put on ice in Jan 2014, turn 21, when other commitments forced me out of WitE. After nearly a year away, I have enough time to get back but given the upcoming patch, I resigned this one.
Hats off to Bob for a sterling defence which left me with little but frayed nerves for my summer's endeavours. I was sorely tempted, but could not quite bring myself, to leave pocketed units, a la sapper, to destroy after the no return deadline.
Two things stood out for me in this game, firstly the meticulousness of bob's chequerboard, the like of which I have never before encountered. This was so effective given several other factors. High Russian morale eats Axis MP and fuel as defenders seldom route or shatter.
Probably Bob is unaware that AGC and northern AGS had their supply line cut at least twice by partisans leaving it unsupplied for three turns as one time my security units or rail repair couldn't remedy the cut immediately. Combined with the mud, that compounded my MP fuel problems.
I still refuse to play fixed weather but the blanket effects of variable weather in the summer are way overblown.
By game end, Leningrad was almost cut off, a Typhoon attack on Moscow looked difficult but remained an option. I think I was east of Tula and Stalino-Gorlovka was cut off. All the same, and with 2.5 mil Russian losses and a several divisions pocketed, I was staring at a wall of divisions that hadn't been destroyed and the prospect of dozens returning.
As far as industry goes, I don't think I had much success there either. Minsk and Moggy were taken, and 15 APs surrounded in Stalino. Other than that, it was just bits and pieces, I doubt total APs destroyed reached 40. Nice evacuation work.
“Old age is the most unexpected of all things that can happen to a man.”
-Leon Trotsky
Probably Bob is unaware that AGC and northern AGS had their supply line cut at least twice by partisans leaving it unsupplied for three turns as one time my security units or rail repair couldn't remedy the cut immediately. Combined with the mud, that compounded my MP fuel problems.
This actually disprove Pelton's statement from other topic that's the partisans are not worth it. Sure it is about luck, but it can be huge help.
