FITE v.5.0 Ian Soviets larry Axis

[EwaldvonKleist]

Thank you both for the aar.

Seems that Germany is done.
No pockets in 1941 to speak off, advance seemingly already stagnated before the Soviets got special WO boni (?), now the encirclements along the Dnepr.

How is the replacement ratio between both sides, aka which los ratio is acceptable for the Soviets in attritional attacks?

[devoncop]

Hi Ewald.

As the Soviet player I am very conservative in my attacks and so my attrtional attacks tend to use the decent Soviet Artillery rather than launch any head on attacks against fortified troops. The only exception recently has been with the tank brigades of 4th Shock Army in the North which have still been supported by artillery and air bombardment as they have managed to push some mechanized troops back South of the Luga.

On the Luga river line I tried using a Guards Army on one dot attacks but even they got stopped by dug in engineers when I used pontoons to cross so I gave up with that approach ! Encirclement is definitely the way to go. My Soviets dug in on the East of the Dnepr have been managing at least 1-1 losses with much better quality German troops when attacked given they are mostly heavily dug in with artillery support.

Once the line can be stabilised (No easy task) the Germans have a tough ask.

[devoncop]

Soviet Turn 54

Southern Front units continue to push west exploiting the break.Armoured unit close the net west of Nikopol and the eastern most crossing from the northern Crimea is also blocked as the rail line west from Nikopol itself is cut.

Heavy fighting continues at Nikopol itself where the German MP's continue to hold out against multiple assaults supported by a Panzer Grenadier Regiment Larry railed in but which is also now cut off. I am railing more reinforcements in from the East with another 3 Armies designated to assist in the break and hopefully cut off huge numbers of German troops in the northern Crimea where they are in static lines facing the reinforced Cavalry screen just west of Melitopol.

The reduction of the pockets at Dnepropetovsk and Zaporozhe slowly continues though Panzers at Dnepropetovsk are slowing the process being largely invulnerable to to artillery shelling. More Slovak ME109's are destroyed on their airfields and an effort continues to reduce large German artillery concentrations outside Kiev which has been causing a lot of problems for the defenders.

[larryfulkerson]

This is what the Z-town / D-town area looks like now. Most of the surrounded units are going to die eventually because I have no way to save them. I may have successfully contained the Soviets and if so then the war will be fought mainly here for a while. Because of the relative strengths of the various sections of the front line I think it's safe to say that the advance is over. This is about as far east as the lines are going to go I think. I'm going to have to start dropping bridges behind the Soviet lines to temper the fury of his intrusion. Just to slow down the flow and maybe blunt the Soviet advance.

[larryfulkerson]

double post, sorry

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

Well done. I was not sure that you could stop Ian's attack so quickly.

Have a good day,

[devoncop]

Soviet Turn 55

Yes....he's only done it AGAIN !

Just when i thought I could roll sedately through to Budapest its back to protecting my forward spearheads whilst trying to eliminate the fairly substantial pockets as quickly as possible to get the supplies running over the bridges and rails.

To help the supply situation I activate (finally!) the Soviet Winter theatre option to give me a land shock advantage to hopefully help in the pocket reduction operation from next turn onwards. This turn the Zaporozhe bridge is retaken and the pocket there is reduced with attacks on the Rumanian engineers, with the surrounded security regiment just to the west destroyed. The pocket at Dnepropetovsk is also reduced to a strip of 15km and more reinforcements sent into the break out bubble to prevent any relief attempts.

In the north the 4th Shock Army has a set piece tank battle with the 16th Panzer Division and manages to push it aside destroying over 50 tanks and opening up the flank of German lines south of the Luga.

German artillery has hit Soviet lines hard in the central areas again so reserve Divisions are used to rotate the troops in the line that need a break.

The Kriegsmarine has reappearded in force off Narva and is bombarding Soviet lines so the US Naval bombers launch repeated sorties but only a single destroyer is sunk.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T56 front lines just before I have moved anybody. The Soviet Winter Offensive starts this turn and I expect the front lines to change a lot. I expect to get pushed back up and down the lines. The Soviet shock is now 115 and mine is decreased to 90 I think. Anyway, this ought to be interesting.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's some of the losses before the carnage starts. I'm comfortable with 39K HRS's. That's about the most I've ever had I think. I think I saw 40K once a while ago.

This is the corner where the rivers meet by Z-town and D-town, that area. I'm not sure I can contain the Soviets with the low grade units I'm operating with, I'm talking of course of the Axis Minor Country troops of course. The Rumanians at Odessa haven't made much of a dent yet and they've been at it over a month now. I'm not very optimistic.

[MikeJ19]

Hi Guys,

If Ian turns South what will happen?

Looking forward to reading about the winter offensive>

[devoncop]

Soviet Turn 56 ....New Years Eve 1941

A dramatic turn follows as the Soviet Winter Offensive effects begin...land shock of 115 to the German 100 ....not huge but the best of the war so far.

The German turn has seen very heavy assaults by the Rumanian 3rd and 4th Armies against the Odessa perimeter with over 1200 Heavy Infantry Squads in 8 Divisions involved. The Soviet Defenders held however and the Rumanians are beaten back with heavy loss.

On checking the weather conditions it seems an extra cold front has arrived freezing many of the lakes in the north so it is decided to send Shock Army armour and infantry across frozen lake Ilmen near Shimsk and Soviet troops are now at the gates of the city having pushed German rear area artillery aside as the German line was outflanked. This may prove nothing more than a diversion but should serve again to relieve pressure on the Luga river line.

Even further north Soviet armour land behind Finnish lines north of Leningrad and seize the port on the east to again persuade to Finns to divert forces away from the main Soviet defences just north of the city.

The German resistance around Zaporozhe Bridge is particularly fierce and only limited progress is made reducing the pocket of defenders but the Germans at Dnepropetovsk are reduced from a 15 to a 10 Km perimeter and it is hoped the pocket can be eliminated very soon.

Once again the performance of the Soviet airforce is exemplary with claimed losses shown at over 250 for the Germans and only 60 for the Soviets.

Increased partisan activity behind German lines succeeds in cutting rail lines around Minsk.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the breakthrough that Ian wanted I think. I don't have adequate reserves to service both the north AND the south simultaneously. I'm going to have to give ground back to the Lovat river and see if I can hold there. There's several crossings and I need to hold all of them.

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

That is an interesting breakout. What is the supply situation for him going to be?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

That is an interesting breakout. What is the supply situation for him going to be?

I'm not quite sure but it's probable that it's not good yet. Sometimes it takes a turn or two for the supply to flow into that area. I'm pretty sure the supply is 0 on the water hexes so it would behove me to push them onto the water hexes.

I didn't watch the entire combat replay so I'm not sure but I think Ian did some sea movement to an empty port and outflanked my Crimea defenders. He's cut the only supply source for the entire Crimea so I have to pull those people out of there pretty soon. This game isn't working out as I had planned.

[devoncop]

Soviet Turn 57

The Germans restrict their offensive actions to using their considerable artillery resources to hit Soviet defensive lines and using security troops to try and deal with my partisans which for once are not all wiped out.

A final desperate attack by the pocketed 16th and 6th Panzer Divisions at Dnepropetovsk is repelled and during the Soviet turn the pocket is completely destroyed with the loss of over 230 German tanks. The same fate befalls the nearby pocket at Zaporozhe where the units of 3rd and 4th Romanian Army's are destroyed along with a German Infantry Division.

Both bridges are repaired and supply levels to the Front lines in the northern Crimea are now excellent.

Unfortunately despite high hopes the situation in the North following the attacks across the frozen lakes near the Luga River is much more static as Larry again redeploys troops to contain the break. He is not making Soviet progress easy.

The winter offensive effects are nearly over so I decide I may as well try and make the most of them. Soviet Marines and Infantry launch an amphibious attack from Sevastopol across to the western Crimea and strike out and capture the rail bridge and town at Kherson behind the lines of Rumanian infantry and Armour besieiging Perikop at the entrance to the Sevastopol peninsular.

In the far North in Finland Soviet Armour pushes out after landing on the coast behind Finnish lines facing Leningrad and capture Ayrapaa South of Hitola after cutting the main rail line.

All in all the situation can best be described as "fluid" ....

It's a very interesting game .....

Over to Larry.

[larryfulkerson]

Ian came across the lake and trapped some of my units on the wrong side of the river. They will be out of supply soon if they aren't already. Fortunately I have some reserve units standing by that I can use to contain this intrusion. There's no way to introduce the Sweeds into the fight due to an exclusion zone around the entire country. Else I would have sailed them into the fight.

[devoncop]

Soviet Turn 58...7th January 1942

The Germans wipe out more partisans near Minsk though one escapes to blow a bridge nearby.Other than that the Front's remain stable during the German turn as Larry concentrates on defensive bombardments.Though the diversionary attack in Crimea which led to Soviet troops taking the rail artery at Kherson has been contained by Larry though the town remains in Soviet hands. This diversion has had an immediate benefit as the heavy Rumanian guns that were backing up the attacks on the Sivash isthmus were diverted along with other troops to try and retake Kherson.

With 3 more turns of the Soviet Winter Offensive to enjoy the attacks continue. Taking advantage of weakened Rumanian positions as a result of the above developments Soviet troops break through the remaining Rumanians on the western Sivash defence lines and move north whilst in the southern Crimea Soviet troops now free from dealing with the pockets around Dnepropetovsk force their was across the lower Dnepr and head south near Nikopol arriving to the rear left of German defence lines near Melitopol.

In the north the Luga defences are finally breached and Guards Army and Shock Army troops push through south , just to the East of Narva. Off the coast a Heavy Cruiser is sunk by American Dauntlesses.

Further north in Finland (see Larry's picture above) just east of Salla the German 2nd Geb Div HQ and 136th Geb Regiment are still cut off and reduced by further attacks.

Once again the Soviet Air Force targets Italian and Rumanian airbases in the south and Wehrmacht Artillery to good effect.

[larryfulkerson]

Ian is using his shock difference very well, making several breakthroughs in many places in the front lines. I've successfully capped them I do believe but next turn he will make some new ones and I'll be in deep do do. I'm going to have to put in a request for a general pull back to better defensive terrain. I'll do it in an email for speed.

The railroad engineers are running out of rail to repair because the front lines have been stable for so long. The way the war is going I may have to start using them as defenders, at least against the partisans.

My air losses have ballooned lately and I'm running out of planes. Most of them are in reorg and or yellow and can't shoot.

[larryfulkerson]

I've got problems down south too. Ian dropped a bridge and cut off the supply of every unit in the Crimea. I've got to repair it real soon now. Also, Ian used a sea assault to advance a unit to the bottleneck and he dropped the bridge there too. So I'll have to wade across the flooded marshes to get out of this situation.

[MikeJ19]

Ian and Larry,

Well done, this remains really interesting. I love the way you both report on the battle.

Have a good day,