Russian 41 Winter Offensive

[MattFL]

So I'm playing through my very first game as the SHC and I'm wondering about when the Russians should halt their winter offensive and begin digging in for the inevitable German spring 42 offensive. What week/month should the SHC start preparing for that? It's mild blizzard and I've been attacking across about 60% of the front every turn just trying to keep the Germans constantly fighting while reforming new armies behind my lines.

So at what point should I halt and begin reorganizing for 42? Guidance appreciated!

On another note, as it's my first game as the SHC and with mild blizzard, it's not so much the lower GHC CV's that have surprised me, it's the incredibly high Russian CV's (playing alt-CV) that surprised me most. Some units showing 18-20 CV and stacks upwards of 40+ offensive CV. It's nice to attack after a brutal summer...

[loki100]

the mild winter rules basically mean that the Germans can counterattack with some success in January - especially around their stronger units and launch their own attacks in feb. For both of these they will pay a price but they have that capacity. Your biggest risk in March is the weather flips from blizzard to snow at which stage you can be very vulnerable as they will be able to move with some speed.

so from all that, we are back to that reliable strategic guide of 'it depends'.

If you really want some terrain, then there is no reason not to keep pounding away into March (here I am assuming that you have concentrated your best units etc). If you are just pushing west because its possible then I'd stop. If you are beating up some allied units for the Gds conversions then it maybe worth carrying on.

In general by late Feb, I'd start thinking of not just stopping but where I want to start the 1942 summer defensive effort. But with the new Soviet morale rules for 1942 (NM of 40 means most of your rifle divisions will be around 38-42 morale), you are not going to hold anything the Germans want (except Moscow). So there is no point to over-committing in March for something you'll lose soon enough, but it maybe worth attacking in March for a very specific goal.

[morvael]

If you want to play in character then the answer is simple. Attack and never stop. [:)]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: morvael

If you want to play in character then the answer is simple. Attack and never stop. [:)]

including a major offensive in the south in May ... [;)]

[MattFL]

Thanks for the comments. I have absolutely no worry the Germans are counterattacking in January during blizzard. In some sectors they've begun to get strong enough to prevent me from hammering that part of the line (or I still attack and sometimes fail with big casualties), but for them to attack beyond the most limited counterattacks to save a key position or something, seems completely out of the question at this point unless I'm totally missing something.

In terms of objectives, I could care less about gaining terrain. I attack along the entire front simply to kill as many Germans as possible and always attack anything armored or motorized with everything that can possibly hit it. My concern is that suddenly one turn my CV is going to drop and the German CV's go back to normal and I don't want to get caught out in that situation. Rather, I want to allow myself at least 2-3 full turns to pull back to where I want my main line to be, reorganize my armies and fronts, and dig dig dig. From what you're saying, I can pretty comfortably attack through January and then start pulling back or easing off in February when the Germans no longer face blizzard first winter penalties. I also assume that the Germans are going to need time to refit and rest up their units as well so I would think (hope) that they'll need a month to prepare to switch over to offensive operations.

In terms of my offensive in general, yes, I purpose built some armies with specific commanders and mixes of unit types putting them under fronts which I wasn't using prior and gave each army obscene amounts of support units. Off the top of my head, I probably have about 8 such armies. Which leads me to my next question, which is about what the OOB sizes for each army should be and how many casualties each side should have taken around this time?

Thanks again for the guidance.

[richter53]

We learn from mistakes so to play smarter the next time. So be risky, take chances.

[caliJP]

I tend to do this:
As soviet in 1942, I don't care about land so much, my main goal is to avoid being demolished in the summer. So I pick a line that I will want to retreat to after the 41-42 winter offensive and use my brigades and other junk to dig trenches there while my good units attack the germans. That way I can attack as long as it seems practical. Once the german defense becomes too stiff, or I see prep for a counterattack based on what the germans are doing with their Pz, I pull the plug and retreat back to the prepared defense line. In normal blizzard, usually the going gets tough in Feb, so that's a good time to stop and let your units re-fill. It also depends on your opponent. The AI is not very dangerous, so you don't risk too much even during snow. A good human player can blast your line as soon as snow comes in (March), so you better have a well prepared front line by then.