SOVIET UNION 1941 EARLY VARIANT AAR

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the southern front at the end of turn 21. Another pocket has been pinched off south of Kursk. The drive toward Stalingrad continues.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the Finnish front at the end of turn 25. Leningrad has fallen. It didn’t even require combat. The defenders were so withered that they RBCd. This is the last turn of the mud phase. Little has happened during it up to this point, so I skipped the rest of it.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the southern front at the end of turn 25. Note that some of the pocket made at the end of clear weather has been reduced. More importantly, note that Stalingrad has fallen.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the Finnish front at the end of turn 26. The rest of the Leningrad pocket has been eliminated. Leningrad is being garrisoned by the Finns. One of the defenders of the rail line has been eliminated and this has allowed the Finns to cut the remainder off from supply. The rail line itself has been cut near Archangel.

This is the first turn of the frost phase. The mud shock penalty has expired, but the Axis remain under a 5% shock penalty.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the central front at the end of turn 26. A weakly defended Yaroslavl has fallen. Much of that huge pocket that was formed at the end of clear weather has been eliminated. There is a new drive towards Yaroslavl from Moscow that threatens formation of a new pocket. The Soviets are trying to extricate themselves from that by moving their large units east.

There was another pocket threatening to form around Orel. So the Soviets pulled out of that as well. It turns out they were strong enough to disengage successfully from the weak German line-holders there. I probably should have been doing more of that in some other places.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the southern front at the end of turn 26. The pocket formed at the end of clear weather has been eliminated. Most of the forces here are at the end of their supply tether and probably should switch over to defense.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the Finnish front at the end of turn 27. The line is being rolled up, but note that I broke contain in the north, so some of the defenders have had supply restored. Careless!

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the central front at the end of turn 27. Only a single unit remains of that huge pocket. A new pocket is about to form just north of Moscow. The last defender of Orel tried to break engagement and escape. But this time it failed to disengage and was evaporated.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the southern front at the end of turn 27. A minor drive is mounting north of Stalingrad in hopes of reaching Saratov. The Soviets are scrambling to get a defense of it in place. Meanwhile, the defender of the Majkop oil field has been cutoff.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the Finnish front at the end of turn 28. A Finn unit has been moved to block the supply path the defenders had last turn. They are back out of supply.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the central front at the end of turn 28. The pocket that was forming last turn has been formed. Elsewhere, the lines of defense on both sides have firmed up. This may be the end of offensive operations. Note that the first of the Soviet shock armies has arrived.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the southern front at the end of turn 28. The drive towards Saratov has been blocked, but some defenders in the area have been trapped out of supply. The Majkop oil field defender is now completely surrounded.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the central front at the end of turn 29. The pocket formed last turn has been destroyed. This is the last turn of frost. The blizzard turn begins next turn, so this will be the end of Axis offensive operations. They are endeavoring to shore up their defenses in anticipation of Soviet counteroffensive moves.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the upper part of the southern front at the end of turn 29. A few pocketed units have been eliminated.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the lower part of the southern front at the end of turn 29. The Majkop oil field defender has been eliminated. Capture of that field has increased Axis force supply by 2 points.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the Finnish front at the end of turn 34. (I’ve skipped ahead to the end of the blizzard phase, since little happened during it). Note that all the cutoff defenders have been eliminated via RBCs.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the central front at the end of turn 34. All the shock armies are here along with a lot of other strong Soviet armies. But the German defenses have a lot of supporting HQs, which would make any progress very expensive. I didn’t think there was much benefit to be gained from an offensive and therefore stood all forces down.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the upper part of the southern front at the end of turn 34. The Soviets linked up with a cutoff unit, saving it. Nothing else of interest happened in this sector.

[Curtis Lemay]

The attached screenshot shows the situation on the lower part of the southern front at the end of turn 34. No further action occurred in this sector.

[Curtis Lemay]

The game ends automatically at the end of turn 34 and victory is determined. The attached screenshot shows the victory message. The result was an Overwhelming Axis victory. The final total was 607 in the Axis favor (the Overwhelming boundary is at 600). This is in contrast to the Draw outcome obtained in the original test. Note that the loss of Stalin tipped the total above the Overwhelming margin. Had I released him when I should have, the level would only have been Substantial, not Overwhelming.