D21 version 4.5

[larryfulkerson]

Rick sent me the version 4.5 of D21 and I thought I'd try it out. It's got multiple
changes and bug fixes and needs some playtesting.

[larryfulkerson]

I sent OKH to Koningsberg to get ready for all the tired planes tht are going to need
an airfield with lots of supply to refit. As one of my first events I'm going to
do a lot of assignment of aircraft to airfield strikes because now is the time to do
away with a lot of Soiviet aircraft. Our air shock is 120 and the Soviet air shock
is 5 so now is the time to get busy.

[Jukipo]

Remember, the first 10 turns are the most important. Be fast and take Smolensk before the surprise element is lost.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Jukipo
Remember, the first 10 turns are the most important. Be fast and take Smolensk before the surprise element is lost.

Thanks for the heads up and yes they are the most important turns and I'll see what I can do this time.

[larryfulkerson]

I spent a while adjusting the aircraft and assigning missions and here's the targets
for the planes. I left some of them unassigned so as to allow them to operate as
needed across the theater. I'm expecting some losses as my bombers are attacking
fighter bases but the shock difference is so high that I don't expect huge losses.
At the end of the turn I'm going to try to leave a lot of the bombers on INT to slow
down the movement of the Soviet units trying to escape and those moving to the front.
I think maybe I should take a hands on role for the aircraft for a while yet.

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

It amazes me to see how many games you have going at once. Wow!

I look forward to seeing how you do against the soviet defence.

All the best,

Mike

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

It amazes me to see how many games you have going at once. Wow!

I look forward to seeing how you do against the soviet defence.

All the best,

Mike

I'm retired and don't have anything else to do with my time. So I play wargames.
It's like chess but a lot more complicated. I've been doing this for a while now
and I've learned a few things and I'm ready to try again.

[larryfulkerson]

I hit the wrong button and instead of hibernate I clicked on shutdown
and lost an hour's worth of work. D'oh. Now I'll have to redo everything.
I've destroyed many a bridge by choosing the wrong menu option.

[larryfulkerson]

I dropped some paratroops to hinder the movement of Soviet, because they are going to
try to escape and I want to destroy them before they get very far. At the same time
I want to get the Panzers on the road and they will need a hole to move through andj
I'd like the opening to be over a road or rail for the supply they afford.

[larryfulkerson]

I was about to move this HQ unit to within range of it's organic arty but when I checked
closer I found no tubes in the unit yet. I hope they get some tubes soon. I think this
means that I need to check the other HQ units.

[700851McCall]

In my second attempt I focused primarily on capturing as much rail as possible and used armoured car units to go way ahead to capture the rail junctions (without moving them onto rail lines I could not defend). That stops the Soviets moving in from the East from getting into blocking positions. They can't attack even weak, isolated German units with any effectiveness at this stage so there is no worry about losing units by doing this.

And go like a lunatic for Leningrad. If you get there early enough, before Ivan gets his reinforcements there, you can get around the city and cut the life road; but it requires complete recklessness. I got there with the SS Totenkopf division and dug them in with 1 percent supply left. Orders were ignore losses and hold the position hand to hand with combat knives and entrenching tools. Fortunately the enemy only made a weak bombardment and we held on. But it was touch and go.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall
In my second attempt I focused primarily on capturing as much rail as possible and used armoured car units to go way ahead to capture the rail junctions (without moving them onto rail lines I could not defend). That stops the Soviets moving in from the East from getting into blocking positions. They can't attack even weak, isolated German units with any effectiveness at this stage so there is no worry about losing units by doing this.

And go like a lunatic for Leningrad. If you get there early enough, before Ivan gets his reinforcements there, you can get around the city and cut the life road; but it requires complete recklessness.
I got there with the SS Totenkopf division and dug them in with 1 percent supply left. Orders were ignore losses and hold the position hand to hand with combat knives and entrenching tools. Fortunately the enemy only made a weak bombardment and we held on. But it was touch and go.

Wow, great report. Thanks for the insights and thanks a heap for posting.

[larryfulkerson]

My 4.1.0.23 wouldn't load my turn just now and so I must have at some point used 4.0.2.0 and now I have to use that version
because it's not backward compatable. It was either that or restart. I'm still in turn one admitedly but I don't want to
have to restart again.

[larryfulkerson]

I've been moving units and I've blown a hole in the Soviet lines that I can shove the
Panzers through. There' plenty of units left to move but I did want to post an update.

[larryfulkerson]

I've been moving units in the south and I've blown some holes and progress is slowly
being made. I need to make a big enough hole to pass the Panzers through so they can
get into the Soviet backfield and stop the escape of these Soviet units and convert
the rail hexes.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on right now. I'm getting through the Soivet lines and into their
backfield and things are progressing fairly well. I'm not through moving alll the turn
one units yet. And I haven't yet launched any airfield strikes and the loss meter is
swelling.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the northern front lines right now. I haven't gotten the start I was hoping
for but it's not the worst either. I think I can make this work. This is the second
combat round and I expect to clear out some of these remnants.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's happening in the middle. I've decided to not push on the western edge
and instead trap them. I've got units streaming around the edges to get an outflanking
kind of motion going on. I'm hoping to trap most of that Soviet stuff and kill it.

[larryfulkerson]

I'm using my Panzers wrong again. They should be rolling through the countryside
cutting Soviet LOC's and converting rail. As it is the are helping to blast a hole
through the Soviet lines and we're almost there. I think maybe another couple of
combat rounds we'll be there.

[larryfulkerson]

It's combat round four and I've blown a hole in the Soviet lines in the south and
now the Panzers can unleash themselves and go baby go.