8MP Team Game - The Axis team

[M60A3TTS]

A reconnaissance in force was conducted by the Coastal Army from Sevastopol. Upon learning what it needed, the units of Coastal Army returned to the fortress city without incident.

Nothing to see here.

[thedude357]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

Nothing to see here.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: thedude357

Turn 27 Army Group South
The Romanians are truly outperforming their expectations during the blizzard so far.

I think a special mention of Rumanian cavalry brigades is in order here.

Commonly new players do start off with enthusiasm seeing all those extra movement points they have. Until they realise that they actually move more slowly than a German infantry division. Moving into enemy territory they would need 3 or 4 MPs per hex anyway at 50-60 morale, plus an extra one as they are brigades usually. So pretty soon they are relegated to rear area garrison duty.

But on the defensive in winter all those disadvantages get reversed. All those extra movement points count as they only need 1 MP per hex to move on hexes they already control. And as a brigade they get a bonus to their probabilities for reserve activating. 9th Rumanian Cavalry Brigade here gave an extra 6 points of initial CV to the 22 that was there. Perhaps in this case it would not have made a difference - in other more marginal combats it would. In addition a Soviet opponent can no longer rely on displayed CV values - they have to consider in every case the possibility that there will be more reserve activating elsewhere. In effect they have to include an extra margin on all other attacks whether or not there actually is a reserve activation.

Rumanian cavalry (along with mountain infantry) have morale bonuses to make them the best places for Rumanian replacements to go to. So in your next game do not leave your Rumanian cavalry in a garrison for winter - that is for a German elite unit to rest until summer. Bring them out to the front lines. Remember a Rumanian pony is not just for Christmas.... it is for at least the blizzard until it gets blasted by Soviet cannon fire!

[Crackaces]

The picture below shows both sides' strategies. The Soviets are advancing on a broad front with cavalry units leading the way. For the Germans, a 2 line front with brigades backing the front line. Where the cavalry advances and I can get at least 2 hexsides - I counterattack and take a hex back. Stay tuned as this becomes Operation "Pegasus Plucked" [8D]

Near Moscow I take back the hexes retreated. This is interesting as I am losing 1 morale for being "caught out" and another for the battle lost. Sometimes I get one back for pushing the Soviets back.

[Crackaces]

You can see the crux of the strategy. We did lose the battle and 8th division retreated. But it was a lot closer with the reserve activation.

[Crackaces]

What this battle report shows is a good exchange. We lose a hex they lose precious cavalry squads. What is important is that cavalry has a fixed replacement rate -- every squad damaged is one less roaming in the backlines of the German front ...

[Crackaces]

The loss ratio's are good in the defense but as you can see the SP flak companies take a hit as 6 AFV's are damaged. The SP flak SU's and 20 mm quad flak are quite effective against cavalry and why they are embedded, but this time infantry units come out to play.

[Crackaces]

I am a noob to this game but not a noob to wargaming. I have been playing AH, SPI, Victory games since age 12. With all its flaws -- WITE is one of the better if not best games I have played. The combination of fluid ZOC's and attention to details that only can be feasibly represented in a computer based wargame WITE is well worth the hours it takes to learn and play.
Fundamentally my strategy is to trade blood (and AFV's) for space and time. I strongly still believe of this turn that the Soviets are weak in manpower and in tubes (artillery). The AAR's show strong 41-42 winter offenses with OOB's that contain 5.5M and/or +1 attack. The Soviets of this turn is 4.7M 43K of tubes. That tells me most Soviets units have sufficient OOB but there are not a lot of Soviet units as compared to other alternate universes out there. Thus my thoughts on counterattacking.

The maneuver I have affectionately defined as the "electric slide" There are two goals. One is to extend the front south. The second is to hold space to get a good jump in the summer. The "electric" part of this plan involves using the attack. To extend the front south I attack a Soviet unit and push them back, then take a unit more Northerly and bring it down. The front slides south. The AGN commander is then extending his front south. Slowly we get meaningful units south of Tula. The supreme commander has allocated whatever is needed to make this happen and I have all the resources I need.

[leverkuhn]

Enjoying every word of this AAR. BTW, Crackaces, can you tell where did you download your mod? I can't find that combination of interface/map/soft counters.

Thank you all [&o]

[Telemecus]

Original: Crackaces To extend the front south I attack a Soviet unit and push them back, then take a unit more Northerly and bring it down. The front slides south. The AGN commander is then extending his front south. Slowly we get meaningful units south of Tula. The supreme commander has allocated whatever is needed to make this happen and I have all the resources I need.

There are two main ways of matching ground commanders areas with changing needs
i) Add and remove forces from each command
ii) Move boundaries

With the exception of motorised or other specialised forces I am very much in the second camp. During 1941 the poor South had to see its boundary with Centre moving ever northwards - for Centre to concentrate on a Moscow capture and then to defend its flanks. Similarly in 1941 Centre pushed its boundary northwards to allow North to capture Leningrad, then the process reversed to the point where AGN was on the same horizontal level as Moscow itself. This inevitably means using what Crackaces has termed the electric slide. But it is far more economical with points as units are not being reassigned for this purpose and command capacities of all army groups and armies are being fully used.

[Telemecus]

Turn 27 24-December-1941 Air

While the accountants back in Berlin rejoice at every factory the Soviets are forced to evacuate, our bomber boys mourn for losing one more target. So the news that our last big name target, the T34 factory at Stalingrad, has gone leaves them bereft. Having moved the entire Red Airforce to the national reserve or the Urals we have been denied an air war. And now they have evacuated themselves out of a strategic bombing campaign as well!

There are still interceptor and tank factories at Gorky - but that would mean starting from scratch on their damage levels. At this late stage in 1941 it is uncertain if we would be able to build on them. Without large damage levels to build up to, the low damage levels a bombing raid will give us are just not worthwhile.

There are other general industry targets available too even after some of those some have been evacuated. But with the crunch in our vehicle numbers looming ever larger the need to release vehicles from use in our airbases takes priority.

However one last target of opportunity catches our eye - indeed an old favourite. Although our opponents have moved their air force out of range of ours, there are still airbases frozen with airgroups in the Caucasus. Our Soviet opponents cannot move them even if they wanted to. And one in particular is in range - Grozny! It has the added benefit of actually not being in the blizzard at this time of year. This is our longest range target so far - mid air refuelling has yet to be operationalised in 1941. The numbers we can send are not huge and the enemy losses are minimal. But it demonstrates again to the Red Air Force that they can run but they cannot hide!

[SparkleyTits]

Is nowhere safe.........

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: leverkuhn

Enjoying every word of this AAR. BTW, Crackaces, can you tell where did you download your mod? I can't find that combination of interface/map/soft counters.

Thank you all [&o]

This is the Jinson mod in the modifications section of this forum.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: SparkleyTits

Is nowhere safe.........

Long range bombers, a depleted Soviet Air force, strategically placed staging bases so the Germans are stationed a safe distance but can reach out and touch someone .. and air power projects and changes the game on many dimensions ..
In this case -- we believe evacuating factories before their time and delaying production as a strategic implication..

Also you have one plane destroyed you do not know how many were damaged and then the logistics phase sent them to the scrap heap.

For the lurker ..These results did not happen overnight or in just a few turns .. It is a steady commitment to a strategy that Telemecus has perfected in no uncertain terms despite nerfing of certain airframes by Matrix [;)]

[SparkleyTits]

Nah it's just hacks and has nothing to do with skill or hard work at all..... [:D]

[Telemecus]

Turn 27 24-December-1941 Economic

Our final priority target, the T34 factory at Stalingrad, has been evacuated to Sverdlovsk joining the T34 factory evacuated from Gorky last turn



If this factory had never been bombed or evacuated it would have produced 2,790 T34 M1941s by turn 55 when the factory converts to produce the T34 M1942. The factory starts the game with a capacity to produce 26 a week and would have expanded to produce its maximum 70 a week by turn 46. Instead it will produce 1,387 and reach a capacity of 43 by turn 54. This is a loss of 1,403 T34 M1941s from this factory alone. If the initial capacity of the T34 M1942 factory is affected by the final capacity of the T34 M1941 factory, then a number of these will also have been lost.

If we had stopped any further bombing and there had been no evacuation the factory would be expected to produce 1,854 and reach a capacity of 55 by turn 54. So implicitly our opponents have told us they expect to lose at least 568 more T34 M1941s, plus possibly some T34 M1942s, due to future action by the Axis.

[Telemecus]

Turn 27 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 27.

[Crackaces]

What you see below is the big picture of what is going on with turn 28nin the center. The multiple red tanks show attacks on a broad front. I have posted results from 3 battles as a sample of the center commander's strategy. You can see the reserve activations and battles that would result in retreats -- hold.
This counts as a defeat for the commander and the unit toward building a Guards unit. This also preserves space and time.

[Crackaces]

This is just one sample of the outcomes of a bigger strategy. The mountain units and better units are sitting back to chop at the heads of the salient. The cavalry units in the winter are to be reckon with. In this case .. flying hoofs go backwards in a rout .. "Operation Pegasus Plucked"

[Crackaces]

In an amusing alliteration .. we have Para's on the Para River (Obviously digging in for the upcoming summer offense)