FITE2 PBEM General Patton(Axis) and me (Soviets )

[larryfulkerson]

I've gotten started on building a Stalin Line down south. Brian is coming on really
fast though so I may not get it built all the way by the time he arrives on station.
My roadblocks and strongpoints are buying me some time and their contribution is
appreciated. The Stalin Line probably won't hold anybody back but it might delay his
advance.

[larryfulkerson]

I've zipped up Brian's moves to me and attached the file here below so you can download it
and watch the playback of Brian's moves. My password is "password" without the quotes.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what that same area looks like in T3

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what the front lines look like near Riga right now. I've gotten started on a
sort of heavy screen that runs from Riga along the river toward Kiev, same river tho
it changes it's name several times on it's way south. Brian has done a good job of
clearing out all the rabble that got left behind during the Axis advance and I don't
remember an instance where Brian has trapped some of my units on the wrong side of the
river yet but it'll happen soon because the grey tidal wave is advancing. A lot of
my units are in reorg and can't move. D'oh. I'm going to start building another
heavy screen at Pskov extending in the direction of Orsha and Smolensk. Maybe it'll
slow down Brian's advance a little bit.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Riga area right now and you can see that there's Soviet remnants trying to
make it to the east side of the river before the Axis forces can stop them. I think
most of them will make it but there's already some that have been collered by the
disentrenchment zone of control penalty thing. Brian is bringing his planes forward
as he goes so as to increase the recon value a bit I guess. Brian should have control
of Riga by T4 to be on schedule so it appears that he's taking his time.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the 19th Army HQ unit with it's support squads and command squads but there's
also some arty being pulled by some horses and yet it's listed as having an airborne
capability so I'm wondering what gets left at the airport when they lift off. I'm
guessing you wouldn't want to fly the horses, 80 teams of those, and I'm wondering
what happens to the arty tubes. Do those fly? I'll have to fly one of these guys
and look to see what's missing at the destination.

[larryfulkerson]

New moves from Brian. I've been busy blowing bridges while I'm backing up and there's quite a few broken bridges now.
Brian is driving his units at top speed and they are advancing relentlessly and will soon be up against my Stalin Line.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's an HQ unit that alledgedly has airborne operations capability but even though
it hasn't moved yet this turn, and it's on an airfield hex, there's no way to embark
the unit. Not even using the pop-up menu. So maybe it doesn't have airborne cap
after all?

[larryfulkerson]

I've had a good start on a front line of sorts. It's more of a heavy screen because of the properties of the units
standing in the line. There's weak spots and parts of the front line that aren't very strong.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a view of the Stalin Line down south. Now my bigger worry is the Rumanians coming across the river
outflanking my beautiful Stalin Line. I'll have to shift some people to the riverbanks.

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Here's an HQ unit that alledgedly has airborne operations capability but even though
it hasn't moved yet this turn, and it's on an airfield hex, there's no way to embark
the unit. Not even using the pop-up menu. So maybe it doesn't have airborne cap
after all?

Do Soviets have airlift capability so early on with such low shock values? Airlift may come online later in the scenario.

The best way to get the units on the island of Saaremaa is to ship them out to Riga or Tallin, takes two turns due to lift capabilities.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
Here's an HQ unit that alledgedly has airborne operations capability but even though
it hasn't moved yet this turn, and it's on an airfield hex, there's no way to embark
the unit. Not even using the pop-up menu. So maybe it doesn't have airborne cap
after all?

Do Soviets have airlift capability so early on with such low shock values? Airlift may
come online later in the scenario.

The best way to get the units on the island of Saaremaa is to ship them out to Riga or
Tallin, takes two turns due to lift capabilities.

You nailed it. My airlift cap is 0 right now so I'm guessing that's why it won't embark.
You must have had this situation come up before to guess right so soon. And about the
island: I wasn't planning on doing anything with the islands but I suppose I should.
I get some sea cap as soon as I capture Talnin so that's not a problemo. I'll have to
get some support from whatever ships I have handy and lots of air support.

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: cantona2

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
Here's an HQ unit that alledgedly has airborne operations capability but even though
it hasn't moved yet this turn, and it's on an airfield hex, there's no way to embark
the unit. Not even using the pop-up menu. So maybe it doesn't have airborne cap
after all?

Do Soviets have airlift capability so early on with such low shock values? Airlift may
come online later in the scenario.

The best way to get the units on the island of Saaremaa is to ship them out to Riga or
Tallin, takes two turns due to lift capabilities.

You nailed it. My airlift cap is 0 right now so I'm guessing that's why it won't embark.
You must have had this situation come up before to guess right so soon. And about the
island: I wasn't planning on doing anything with the islands but I suppose I should.
I get some sea cap as soon as I capture Talnin so that's not a problemo. I'll have to
get some support from whatever ships I have handy and lots of air support.

As Soviet player you already have sea lift capability

[larryfulkerson]

As Soviet player you already have sea lift capability

You are of course correct. I was thinking of my other game where I'm
the Axis player. I'm getting the two games mixed in my head.

[larryfulkerson]

The Axis units are sneaking up on my Stalin Line but are hitting my front front lines
and will soon be up to my rearward front lines. The roadblocks and strong points are
slowing down Brian's advance but not for long. He's unstoppable.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the troops I got this turn. Notice that most of them are cherry red and need
some rest and refit. I'm going to rail them to near Moscow somewhere and let them
sit as a sort of reserve and maybe five turns from now they will be ready. A lot of
this crop is Cavalry and I lost a bunch of cavalry in turn one so this must be the
guys from turn one.

[larryfulkerson]

This is just some of the aircraft squadrons and it's to give you an idea what the
condition of the aircraft is right now. A lot of them are in reorg and I'm guessing
that they were involved in combat recently because I deployed them out to the field
last turn and they've been in combat and some of them have losses and I'm going to
have to tweak their ranges for their situation and maybe move some of them to suit
the new condition because the front lines have moved.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T5 front lines and I've already moved about 1/3 of the units.
Brian is just about to meet up with my front lines.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T6 front lines before I have moved anybody. Brian is meeting up with my Stalin line.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what Riga looks like right now. Brian has already started the attacks and has gained a hex or two. This front
line is crumbling already and I don't have enough people there to prevent it.