Connect Four Team Game

[weinsoldner]

Air losses this turn

[Erzac]

ORIGINAL: weinsoldner

Air losses this turn

Got to break some planes to make a... victory?

[thedoctorking]

When we report losses those are from the preceding Axis turn through our turn while of course they are going from our preceding turn through their turn. So the numbers are not going to be the same. So for our T8 AAR (coming soon) we have 287 Axis to 787 Soviet. Same battles, different metric.

[thedoctorking]

Connect 4 AAR

Turn 8

This was a better turn for us that we had feared, but still the fascist invaders drive on into our Motherland. As they advance, we bleed them, and our resistance gives time for critical infrastructure to be relocated to the east.

In the northern region, our defenses around Pskov finally gave way to incessant pressure by German 18th Army, led by the best German commander, Model. One corps of 4th Panzer Group, LVI under Manstein, pushed farther into the swamps along the Lovat River, but did not cross in the daring push towards the Valdai Hills that we had feared. The other corps, XXXXI, remained relatively quiescent in the Shelon River area south of Lake Ilmen. It is possible that this corps conducted a headquarters buildup preparatory to a drive either to the north or southeast. 18th Army remains the only German infantry in this region, although it appears to be an overstrength army with at least 16 divisions. A reinforced corps pushed eastwards north of Lake Piepus towards the Estonian border at Narva

[thedoctorking]

Farther to the south, 16th Army captured Velikie Luki, elements of 9th Army pushed northwards towards the Dvina headwaters, and 3rd Panzer Group launched its long-awaited offensive into the “seam” between the upper Dvina and Dnepr rivers. My “shoulder” defensive position held against what appears to have been a deliberate attack by LVII Panzer Corps. As a result, the advancing German armor was held to a four-hex penetration. Two motorized divisions formed the spearheads of this penetration, 20th to the northeast and 14th across the river to the northeast. Meanwhile, a line of infantry moved up to face my forces across the land bridge and southwards, with no attacks south of the armored salient. The troops in the land bridge itself were a mere screen of infantry regiments, letting Zhukov and our 13th Army know how much respect the Germans have for them. German infantry corps from different armies alternated in this region, perhaps suggesting command confusion. Elements of 2nd Army were spotted here as well. Two divisions that started the game assigned to 11th Army in Army Group South were spotted south of Smolensk – further evidence that the Axis consider this their main offensive thrust.

[thedoctorking]

Between Gomel and Kiev, 2nd Panzer Group continued to slog its way through the marshes and across the major rivers. One Panzer Corps from this group is no longer in evidence; perhaps being transferred to the schwerpunkt to the north. German 17th Army is now massed around Kiev, but no attack has yet been made on the city. The Luftwaffe made a major effort to resupply elements of 2nd PG, responding no doubt to the serious supply difficulties in the region but perhaps also signaling an intended offensive.

[thedoctorking]

The mass of German armor that menaced Cherkassy last turn moved southeastwards into the bend of the Dnepr, cutting off a few of our screening units but not breaching the river barrier. This represents a move back towards better supplies and could turn out well for them. Their reported CV values are quite high and at least one unit has over 50% fuel left at the end of its turn. However, there is a major river to cross before they can get to any targets of great strategic interest. And they still don’t have much infantry south of Cherkassy. Pretty much, 11th Army is it, along with a bunch of Romanians, and even 11th is understrength since at least two divisions have been transferred to 4th Army in the land bridge region.

[thedoctorking]

In the south, we took a defensive stance, faced with a large Panzer Group with plenty of gas. We established a solid line behind the Dnepr while the pocketed units broke their pocket. They will no doubt be wrapped up soon, but in the meantime they were able to restrict supply deliveries to the forward elements of 1st PG.

If 1st PG does have reserves of fuel, the defenders behind the river line are not very strong. It would not be surprising to find German tanks on the east shore of the river next turn. This is especially true in the southern part of 1st PG’s position, since those units were not limited in supply delivery by the movements of our pocketed troops. However, I don’t think there will be many of them and I estimate that they won’t be far from the river. The number of movement points necessary to drive through swamp and across a major river make it unlikely that the Axis could cut off Crimea or isolate either of the Dnepr cities this turn.

[thedoctorking]

North of Kiev, Bryansk Front ceded the left bank of the Dnepr to 2nd Panzer Group, falling back behind the Desna at Chernigov. Nortwest of Chernigov, a picket line of cavalry and poor-quality infantry formations stand ready to delay the advancing fascists, so we can hold Gomel and delay the other half of 2nd PG for another turn. It is conceivable that the two halves of 2nd PG could break through their respective fronts and unite behind Gomel, cutting off 33rd and 18th Armies. I don’t think the risk is too high both because of the terrain and because of 2nd PG’s poor supply situation in the southern half of its position. I expect that both river lines will be pierced next turn and we will be obliged to retreat, but I’m not expecting severe losses in this sector

[thedoctorking]

The central sector is the Axis schwerpunkt, their principal area of effort. There, we put our best generals, best air squadrons, and most generous allocation of support units. I have established or strengthened “hedgehog” positions in swamps and behind rivers to slow the advancing fascist armor. Additionally, I counter attacked in several places along the flanks of their armored spearhead, narrowing it and impeding supply deliveries. That said, there is a weakness in our defenses here. Depending on how the Army Group Center commander handles things, 22nd and 29th Armies may be pocketed north of the upper Dvina. If the Germans turn due east, there is a fairly strong defense behind the upper Dnepr, but they could force a crossing of the river. They have infantry support now, though their infantry is spread out down the length of our front rather than being concentrated where it is needed. Still, they have plenty of movement and could concentrate for a few deliberate attacks against my front-line positions to clear the way for armored exploitation.

One of my counter-attacks in this sector failed, again despite a 4:1 superiority in displayed CV, good commanders, air support, plenty of SU… There was a discussion on the forum about this, and one experienced player mentioned that Soviet ammunition production is limited in the early turns. However, looking at the units that participated in the failed attack, I’m not seeing that they are anywhere near out of ammo. So it remains unclear why so many Soviet attacks fail in the summer of 1941.

[thedoctorking]

Finally, to the north, we gave ground behind Pskov, fortifying the Plyussa line behind our boys. The defenses are significantly weaker to the east, in the swamps to the south of Lake Ilmen. The goal here is to encourage 4th Panzer Group to move northward rather than cooperating with their colleagues to the south. We also established a series of strongpoints in the Valdai Hills that will hopefully slow any breakthrough moves in that direction.

[thedoctorking]

We are shifting our method of allocating Support Units. We started with the method where you set all the HQ’s to support level 0 except STAVKA, which is set to 9. Thus, each Logistics Phase – at the start of your turn – your SU’s migrate up the chain of command one level. Then, before you attack, you allocate SU’s as needed, and then at the end of the turn you allocate them for defensive purposes. This means that each HQ has just what it needs at any moment and you aren’t spending AP on moving SU’s around (except for engineer units, which for some reason don’t move automatically). The last couple of turns, our Supremo, Sparkley, has shifted over to locking the support level and assigning SU’s semi-permanently to each HQ. He hasn’t had to use AP’s to shift any units around yet, in part because he has built enormous numbers. We are building few or no Sapper units, since they were nerfed in the latest patch. What we have is enormous numbers of mortar and artillery units, some AT, and lots of AA. Some HQ’s have dramatic allocations: at the end of turn 8, 20th Army, the force defending the left bank of the Dnepr near its source, to the east of 3rd Panzer Group’s salient in the land bridge region, has two Motorcycle Regiments, 4 Corps Artillery Regiments, a Heavy AA Battalion, two Sapper Regiments and two Battalions, 2 RR Construction Brigades, and seven Heavy Mortar Battalions. Sparkley likes the Heavy Mortar Battalions – despite their cost of 191 armaments, they pack an enormous punch and creating a battalion, six guns, costs only 1 AP.

Total losses this turn were 20,743 Axis to 89,968 for us. In the air, they lost 287 aircraft and we lost 748. 51 of their losses were fighters or fighter-bombers, above replacement levels. Quite a few of their squadrons are now showing under 50% of authorized strength. They lost 103 level bombers, continuing a strategic bombing campaign against our IL-2 factories in Voronezh that so far has had little success (they are up to 6% damage) and bombing our airbases pretty much wholesale. We are happy to see them seeking out air to air combat, since we out-produce them four or five to one in airframes. Total deployed manpower is 4,068,809 Soviet to 4,999,285 Axis (3,401,346 German). Deployed aircraft are 5,842 Soviet to 3,696 Axis (2,678 German).

[thedoctorking]

Note: I'm posting these as I wrote them a couple months ago. We have subsequently discovered that those Heavy Mortar Battalions are not too useful because the USSR isn't producing any more of the 280mm guns. What you have at the beginning is what you have for the whole war. Regular mortar units are quite useful, though, with 36 120mm mortars.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking
Two divisions that started the game assigned to 11th Army in Army Group South were spotted south of Smolensk

Are you sure? Which ones?

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking
We are shifting our method of allocating Support Units. We started with the method where you set all the HQ’s to support level 0 except STAVKA, which is set to 9. Thus, each Logistics Phase – at the start of your turn – your SU’s migrate up the chain of command one level. Then, before you attack, you allocate SU’s as needed, and then at the end of the turn you allocate them for defensive purposes. This means that each HQ has just what it needs at any moment and you aren’t spending AP on moving SU’s around (except for engineer units, which for some reason don’t move automatically). The last couple of turns, our Supremo, Sparkley, has shifted over to locking the support level and assigning SU’s semi-permanently to each HQ.

As the Soviets will have HQs on or near rails, the logistical saving can be far less and this can make a lot of sense for a Soviet player in good supply, or indeed in static parts of the front for either side when in good supply. It does cut down on the number of clicks, and with every click there is a chance of making human errors so it is not only a labour saving feature. If there is no real benefit to allowing SUs to flow, it can actually be useful to lock HQs to make sure those pesky engineers and construction do not flow but stay where you want them to.

[thedoctorking]

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking
Two divisions that started the game assigned to 11th Army in Army Group South were spotted south of Smolensk

Are you sure? Which ones?

96th and 98th Infantry I thought started out with 11th Army in the south.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking
Two divisions that started the game assigned to 11th Army in Army Group South were spotted south of Smolensk

Are you sure? Which ones?

96th and 98th Infantry I thought started out with 11th Army in the south.

Do they not arrive on turn 2 at Magdeburg in Germany - still assigned to OKH?

[thedoctorking]

Ah well, shows you what I know. I must have assigned them to 11th at one time and that got into my spreadsheet.

[weinsoldner]

AXIS AAR TURN 9

[weinsoldner]

A sec unit is used to capture the Baltic islands. Will there be a soviet (routed)unit waiting for us?

[weinsoldner]

The Finns keep moving South