Grand Campaign 1941 - JC vs JP

[caliJP]

T14 North: a couple of small pockets gobble up the few units left in the sector. I retreat to V. Volocheck and to the river with no name [:)] northeast of it.

[caliJP]

T14 Moscow: the carving of my front line continues… But I am able to carve back and pocket a couple of German panzer/motorized divisions!

[caliJP]

T14 Center: a very thin line of Russian units form a front line from Kaluga down to Kursk. Luckily it appears there is mostly some scattered German infantry divisions in this sector.

[caliJP]

T14 South:
The pocket is closed again, and this time for good. A pretty sizable chunk of my army is about to march to Germans POW camps… Seeing a bunch of panzers across the Dnepr from D-town, I can see my line on the southern bank of the Dnepr from Zaporozhye to Nikolaev could easily be cut off by those panzers driving to the Black Sea. So I retreat to the Gaychur river and the Crimea border. Crimea shall stay Russian! (sounds familiar doesn’t it?)

[caliJP]

Crimea

[caliJP]

T15 North: the panzers keep moving deep into the forest, southwesterly towards Moscow. I retreat further to create a defense line north-northwest of Moscow. I am happy those panzers are still up there.

[caliJP]

T15 Moscow: two pockets by Rzhev and Kaluga are cleared up. The German army seems to take a small breather… Only two more turns before mud hits!

[caliJP]

T15 Center: the sector from Kaluga down to Kursk seems to have quieted down a lot. The German efforts are now clearly for Moscow and the Stalino

[caliJP]

T15 South:
Big mistake on my part!! I thought my opponent would spend this turn clearing up the rather large pocket made in the previous turn. But no, in addition to that, his panzers are able to make it from D-town to Stalino in one turn and surround another large chunk of my Red Army!! I did not remember that this could be doable by the panzer units that generally are pretty worn out by T15. I am able to open the pocket in a couple of spots and move the surrounded units eastwards, but I doubt I will be able to save them. My industry in Stalino/Makeeva/Gorlovka is also all kaput, I hadn’t evacuated yet… Urgh!!!

[caliJP]

T15
Further south, I have blocked the entry points into Crimea.

[caliJP]

T16 North:
I line up a few shells along the Sheksna River to give them time to fill-up and provide a light screen.

[caliJP]

T16 Moscow:
The fight is heating up, but German progress is quite slow. Looks like Moscow will be saved!! I evacuate Kaluga to avoid a small pocket.

[caliJP]

T16 Center: Kursk is surrounded, Orel falls.

[caliJP]

T16 South: My opponent consolidates the large pocket. I am about to lose a lot of units!!

[caliJP]

T17 North: the Axis is flipping hexes.

[caliJP]

T17 Moscow: the Nazis continue pushing, and are only 2 hexes from West Moscow, I can smell the sauerkraut from the Kremlin . But it is the last turn of clear weather before mud.

[caliJP]

T17 Center:
I retreat from the Oka river line to avoid one last pocket-fest, and establish a line that goes through Tula. I plan for this to be my winter line and starting point for my blizzard offensive.

[caliJP]

T17 South:
The Germans clear up the large pocket and the panzers manage one last lurch eastward and surround Stalino, but I am able to break open the pocket.

[caliJP]

Casualties & OOB as of T17

My Red Army has lost 3.4M men, which I think is about historical, but more than what I am reading on the Forum that some of the “experts” achieve with a run-run strategy. My OOB of 4.1M is not too bad, but really most of my army is made up of units that just showed up on the battlefield in the last few weeks. They are almost all 1=1 ants. My tanks are in brigades that just vaporize at first contact with a German unit. So I have men and equipment, but really not an army at this point. Also armies are in various state of readiness, some with full count of divisions & brigades, some with just a few. There is a lot of work to do before the blizzard offensive, and this will be my focus until then.

[caliJP]

OOB