We only have to kick down the door..........

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 1 (Axis)

Air rebase: All four air rebases take place in the north and centre much to von Rundstedt's chagrin.
HQ Reorganisation: None

The Axis - Leningrad-Novgorod-Smolensk is now the target for AGN and AGC.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 1 (Axis)

By the way, I don't recall there being a throw for Partisans. I cannot see anything in the rules as to why that would be?

There was no chance for a partisan appearing. This because so few German units were disorganized or in Soviet ZOC.

[Orm]

USSR rails a couple of militia towards the front. The one NE of Kiev is reorganized by air.

[Orm]

Order goes out that the rivers are to be defended. No more ground may be surrendered without a fight.

Alas, this is misunderstood in the Leningrad sector, where Army Group Novgorod was ordered to defend the Volkhov river but instead retreats as fast as they can. Except the motorized 5th Army which is stuck in a swamp.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 3 (Axis)

This is not good from a German perspective. The Soviets continue to trade space for time.... and the Luftwaffe - let alone the army - cannot catch up.

OKH order another Land Action as they need to try and keep pace with the Soviets in the north.

Port Attack: None
Naval Air: None
Strategic Bombing: None
Ground Strike: None
Rail Movement: None
Land Movement: Simply put, the Germans do not have enough units and/or I have deployed then sub-optimally.

It looks like there is no question of any attack this impulse - which given the weather feels pretty disastrous. In the far south I feel like this is real life Stalingrad about to happen I just waiting for Uranus to hit me [:D] 17th Army look mightily exposed as they probe deep into the forest north of Dnepropetrovsk searching for a way across the river Dneipr.

The lack of troops means that nothing can be achieved west of Smolensk other than an ever widening of the gap between Army Group Centre and Army Group South.....

On the extreme left flank of Army Group Centre, elements of 3rd Panzergruppe find themselves bogged down, literally, south of Novgorod, while 4th Panzergruppe take that city.

Lastly, Mannerheim and his Finns continue on their mission to explore the wonderful flora and fauna of the land between lakes Onega and Ladoga.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 3 (Axis)

Land Combat: None
Air Rebase: I attempt to undo one of my air rebases - and get a MadExcept. I will have to start the turn again just in case but I'm too angry to deal with it now [:@] Okay rant over and, relaxing cup of tea to hand, i re-do the turn. Two rebases in the north and two in the south.
HQ Reorganisation: None

[Orm]

Loading the air rebase autosave might be sufficient.

And could you mail the air rebase auto save so I could attempt to recreate the MadExcept?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

Loading the air rebase autosave might be sufficient.

And could you mail the air rebase auto save so I could attempt to recreate the MadExcept?

warspite1

I made a cup of tea and got over my strop and just went through the impulse again. I don't think re-creating it will be difficult - I moved the Stuka near Leningrad to Novgorod and a fighter to Vitebsk. I tried undoing the Stuka when it happened.

[Orm]

The Heroic Soviet forces in the Carpathian mountains still holds out.

The city of Rahkiv has been besieged for 80 days and still the morale is high. Several Nazi assaults has been rejected with high losses to the specialized German mountain forces. Our brave brothers and sisters fight on.

Fight the evil invader whenever, and wherever, you can. Do not let them get any respite before they are beaten back to Berlin.

[Orm]

Soviet intelligence report of a massive concentration of artillery and supply. A major offensive is expected.

Soviet forces are therefore ordered to disengage and retreat out of artillery range.

Edit: Three militia was railed towards the front. (Sevastopol, Gomel, Vologda)

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 5 (Axis)

The weather remains Fine for this impulse. The Soviets continue to retreat however and the lack of damage the Germans are able to meet out is really concerning to OKH.

A Land Action is chosen once again.

Port Attack: None
Naval Air: None
Strategic Bombing: None
Ground Strike: Stukas are ordered south of Novgorod to try and deal with the Soviet 5th Motorised Army that has been placed in swamp to further delay German progress. The swamp nature of the ground means that the Luftwaffe has to bring in their best unit - but thankfully proves successful.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 5 (Axis)

Rail Movement: Dredging the reserves, OKH orders OKW to release the Dusseldorf Militia to garrison Novgorod.
Land Movement: The Romanians are ordered by Hitler to sort out the problems in their rear area. Antonescu thought there was a bug, but in all the 'excitement' of marching across the Soviet step, someone forgot to order the liberation of Bessarabia [8|] The III Motorised Corps finally does the job.

The German forces in the south are simply not strong enough to go chasing after the Soviets as they retreat. This problem is compounded when Hitler overrides the objections of von Rundstedt and orders the V Motorised Corps and XXXV Infantry Corps to support Army Group Centre's attack on Gomel.

Army Group Centre are in no better position - and have taken up defence positions on an Axis Vitebsk-Mogilev.

In the North Leningrad remains a pain, but there is little AGN can do about it without a desperate-odds attack.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 5 (Axis)

Land Combat: The attack in the north is automatic and with fighters on hand, the Soviet air force do not contest this.

At Gomel things are a whole lot more interesting. In line with standing instructions the Soviets will only bring one aircraft in - but as there are no German fighters in interception range, that is exactly what they will do. To stop this, the Germans would have to use up two aircraft - a bomber and an escorting fighter. Because of the +1 the Germans decide not to order the Luftwaffe into the skies. The Soviets fly a bomber to maximise 2 points for a factor aircraft (which then returns to Tula).

The Soviets naturally choose Assault. The fractional odds work, taking the odds to 5:1 +1 and a 6(7) is thrown.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1941
Impulse: 5 (Axis)

Air Rebase: The Germans only have 3 left - and all are used to bring fighter cover closer for those in the front line.
HQ Reorganisation: von Bock is used to reorganise the Stuka and the Militia in Novgorod.

[Orm]

USSR rails a militia from Siberia to guard the flank north of Moscow. Now the last reserve has been railed to the front.

The Soviet Union make slight adjustments of their lines and reorganizes their lines. Backwards.

[brian brian]

"OKH orders OKW" - such a tangled web Adolf tried to weave. (Historical comment; Warlimont's memoir was quite interesting in this regard)

[warspite1]

No idea what to do next [&:]. Soviets are getting stronger - some really big stacks now, and I cannot get at the flanks - Leningrad / Sevastopol. Mmmmm.... #whatthehell? [:D]

[Orm]

I suspect you need a fresh, new, perspective. And perhaps a reminder.

Currently USSR has 26 VPs and Germany has 16 VPs. MWIF shows the correct control of the VPS although it seems to calculate it wrong. Anyway, that means that if Germany captures 5 cities in this, or the next three turns, it is a draw. To me that looks far from impossible. Especially since Germany still has an offensive to play.

Although USSR has some counterattack capability since they have an offensive as well.

Smolensk is already abandoned so Germany has just to march into the city.

And there are several clear hex cities before the next Soviet river line. Capturing 4 of Kalinin, Tula, Bryansk, Kursk, Kharkov, Stalino seems within the realm of possibility.

And then there is Leningrad which counts double. So even if Moscow is out of reach there are enough targets within range for a German win. And I am not confident enough to declare Moscow a safe city.

[TeaLeaf]

A friend of mine, a crack Axis (particularly German) player once told me: Germany cannot attack Russia both in the north AND in the south and hope to be successfull.

I'd add it depends on the luck of the German player and/or the quality of the defense, but in your current scenario I'd say the Russian defense looks better than its historical counterpart.
So if my friend was right (I like to leave that in the middle) you have two things left for you, in addition to what Orm already gave you:

- Pick a lane of attack (north or south);
- Hope to get a little lucky (in particular I'm thinking weather, combat rolls).

As far as the weather goes, temperate zone in Russia has best chances on milder conditions [;)]

[warspite1]

Thanks peeps