Connect Four Team Game

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Farther south, the German offensive in the Gomel-Chernigov region seems to have petered out, even though this turn saw a return to good weather there. Instead, 2nd Panzer Group remained north of Gomel, presumably reloading on supplies. Sixth Army launched attacks across the Desna River, gaining tactical victories but not establishing a secure bridgehead. The Kiev region saw several attacks from 17th Army, cutting off the city from the forces behind it but not capturing the city itself. To the south, 17th Army expanded its bridgehead by a couple of hexes. The Germans continued bombing Soviet air bases, suffering about 20 aircraft casualties in attacks against Western Air Command’s bases behind Bryansk.

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Here, we began a planned withdrawal from the Desna-Dnepr line to shorten our lines and liberate troops for more critical sectors. A small garrison has been left in Kiev to entertain the German attackers, or else to be air supplied until winter comes and we can get them back in contact again. Factory evacuation has been pretty methodical up to this point, but the Axis breakthrough south of the lower Dnepr led us to prioritize evacuation of the Donbass. Bryansk and Ordhonkidzegrad still have their factories, and our 10th Army is trying to stall the Germans in this sector long enough for them to be evacuated.

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Along the lower Dnepr, Axis forces attacked south across the river below Zaporozhye as we had anticipated last turn. They had more movement than we had anticipated and managed to turn the corner and cross the Molochna, the last natural barrier before Stalino. Once again, Italian troops led the charge – they must really be looking forward to that Crimean wine! Interestingly, there is no sign of interest in the Crimea itself – a few Romanian divisions constitute the entirety of Axis forces south of the armored spearhead towards the Molochna. This region is still very light on German infantry, with Romanians and similar rag-tag and bobtail covering the flanks on both sides and supporting the strike force of 1st Panzer Group.

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We withdrew behind the Dnepr to limit the chances of a big pocket of Southern Front. We held Zaporozhye with heavy forces since this is the only place their rail can cross the river. If we can keep their railhead on the Dnepr until snow, we might have a chance to hold the Donbass. The forces at the southern end of our line are very weak, consisting mainly of Experience 13 conscripts with low TOEs. All we can hope is that they slow down the Axis advance and burn up movement points. The Axis forces in this area have little infantry support – just two corps of 11th Army plus a variety of Axis minor allies – meaning that we have only the mobile forces of one (reinforced) Panzer Group to worry about. And one corps of that Panzer Group, XIV, is still on the north side of the river between Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye, a good 20 movement points from the schwerpunkt.

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Casualties this turn were 103,531 for us and 25,513 for the fascist invaders. Air losses were 179 to 677. Deployed troops are 4,267,112 for us (up 16k from last turn) and 5,018,535 for the Axis (down 10k from last turn) (3,416,152 Germans, down 7k).

I would still say this game is going well for us. The Axis have opportunities in the center and south next turn, but I think we have done everything we can to limit their potential gains. Five more turns might see them through the Stalino region, but I’m not expecting to lose Rostov. In the center, they might be outside Moscow but I’m not expecting them to be in the city. And in the north, I don’t think they are going anywhere.

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Connect 4 Turn 13 AAR

The weather this turn was fine throughout the country. Therefore, there was a lot more action than last turn. We scored some significant victories, but there is still reason for concern, especially in the central theater.

In the north, two German armies launched broad offensives along the whole front. They were supported by the motorized infantry divisions of 4th Panzer Group, and led in the sector north of Pskov, by Germany’s best infantry general, Model. Nevertheless, most of the attacks failed. They did not gain any ground on the Narva front, and we still hold the city and our positions on the left bank of the river. To the east, our reserve units are busily fortifying, meaning that it is unlikely that the fascists will break through here. Farther south, they gained a few hexes north of Pskov under the leadership of Model, but they did not dare to occupy their ground, meaning that next turn they will be in the same positions as they started this turn. Their 16th Army and the motor divisions of 4th PG gained a few hexes to the south in the area between the Polist and Pola Rivers. My tracking sheet is getting pretty monotonous in this region. One thing I did notice when I did the tracking sheet at the beginning of the turn, though – the CV’s of the German units here are pretty much uniformly a few points less than they were on the last good weather turn. Either they had a lot of attrition over the mud turn or the attacks and fatigue are wearing them down at last.

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In this sector, we stiffened our defenses and took advantage of the relative absence of motorized units to dig in and offer World War One part two. Just in case, there is a backup line along the Plyussa south of Novgorod. There might be a motorized breakthrough between the Polist and Pola Rivers, but it is unlikely (with only four divisions to commit) to cause us serious arm. General Model is welcome to continue his offensives in the Pskov region. If he keeps up much longer, he will have the right to count himself among such military geniuses as Douglas Haig, Alexander von Kluck, and Tsar Nicholas from the last war.

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The central sector appears to be the principal focus of the Axis side. The armored divisions of 4th Panzer Group have joined the entirety of 3rd Panzer Group in this area. Most of 2nd Panzer Group has come from the south to the vicinity of Smolensk and appears ready to launch an offensive. The “panzerball” made a minor incursion into our positions south of Rzhev but did not press their attack home. It’s possible they are conserving fuel until their friends from the south arrive, or else they are waiting for their infantry support to come up. I have noticed over the last couple of turns that 9th Army’s sector has constricted, and 4th Army, once spread out to the south all the way to Chernigov, is now packed into a smaller area south of Vyazma. What are they planning? Their railhead is right up to Vyazma, so I think that they will be attacking there in hopes of pressing on to Moscow.

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Here, we strengthened our defenses, rescued one isolated division, and awaited the big Axis push. We had sent our Guards divisions to the rear to refit, but with the crisis upon us, we called them back. They still have rear-area positions, but they are positioned to impede any rapid movement of German forces after an armored breakthrough. The big question here is where 2nd Panzer Group will go. They are currently in the vicinity of Smolensk. Are they turning southeast towards Bryansk? Will they hook south of Moscow toward Kaluga? Are they going to go into the main push between Rzhev and Vyazma? Four lines of Soviet armies lie between the fascists and Moscow – which is still full of factories.

To support the struggle in the center, Northern and Southern Theaters extended their areas of operation, permitting Reserve and Western Fronts to concentrate their forces between the panzerball and Moscow.

Oh, and check this out – after a year of doing these AAR’s, I finally figured out how to turn my monitor on its side and get a portrait mode image:

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A thin line of German infantry confronts a similarly sparse line of Russian infantry and cavalry from south of Vyazma all the way to the Dnepr at Cherkassy. Very little is happening in this sector now that 2nd Panzer Group has returned to Army Group Center control and appears ready to join the panzer ball headed for Moscow.

During this turn, the Germans finally captured Kiev, and so 17th Army is now headed rapidly southeast. They have sent an FBD to this region, approaching across the river at Cherkassy. Looks like they are headed for Kharkov, but by the time they get there the skies will be grey. Medals all around, and good jobs for the children of the heroic defenders of Kiev – at least, those who fought to the end and did not surrender to the fascists.

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In the southern sector, 1st Panzer Group, reinforced with some 2nd PG units, turned back to surround Zaporozhye. Thanks to the innovative rail repair strategy the Axis has employed in the south in this game, their railhead is up to Zaporozhye, and another FBD is headed down from the Cherkassy crossing towards Dnepropetrovsk. Our tough defense of Zaporozhye has slowed their advancing FBD rail repair unit. They reacted by surrounding the city, hoping to force its surrender. They can’t launch an infantry assault because they don’t have enough infantry in this sector. There are about eight German infantry divisions south of the Cherkassy/Kremenchug region right now. The German armor battered the defenders, while a thin screen of Hungarians and Italians holds the flank to the south. We salivate looking at those weak Axis Ally units, seeing in them an opportunity to score more victories and promote more units to Guards status.

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As, in fact, we did. A series of successful attacks to the south drove the Hungarians and Italians back and put at least three divisions into the “zone” where Guards promotion is possible (any infantry or cavalry unit in 1941 can be promoted to Guards status if it has at least 5 victories and more victories than defeats – and we have several such units in the south).

At least one corps of German armor in this sector was suspiciously immobile, suggesting a Headquarters Buildup in progress. These units are almost sitting directly on the rail line, so their HQBU costs will be fairly low, both on terms of AP and of Trucks.

We built as strong defenses as we could, though it is clearly possible for 1st Panzer Group to push eastwards towards Stalino. We expect to do our turn 16-17 final fight in that area, and a STAVKA army is already in the area building trenches and training up.

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Our counter-attack to open the Zaporozhye pocket was an epic one. We managed to destroy or damage 40 fascist tanks and put almost 2,000 fascist soldiers out of action. This is a pretty good outcome for 1941. We sent units from three armies and poured on the support units. Our leader – one of the best – also appears to have made at least one of his rolls.

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The Romanians did push into the Crimea this turn. Their pressure is no more than an annoyance for us – ultimately, there is little in the Crimea we want, other than the manpower centers. Any reasonable defense force will be able to prevent the Axis from crossing the Kerch Straits. So there is little to be lost here. What there is to be gained is a possible flanking position on the German line during the winter. I have experience with this from a previous game, where I had to give up the eastern Ukraine because of the flanking threat from Crimea. In the Cherkassy to Bryansk sector, we continued a staged withdrawal, aside from a counter-attack that displaced the German FBD north of Cherkassy.

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Losses this turn were 28,405 Axis to 126,822 for us. Aircraft losses were 755 for us to 196 for the Axis (50 of those were German fighters). Currently deployed manpower is 4,369,567 Soviet (up 102,000 from last turn) to 5,046,716 Axis (3,445,391 German, up 29,000 from last turn).

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Post reserved for commentary on turn 13.

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Connect 4 AAR, Turn 14

Following up on my success with portrait mode images last turn, I made a series of intelligence maps showing the Axis positions with Army sectors and Armor/Motorized division positions marked. The spreadsheet was difficult for my teammates to understand, and probably more difficult for you, my gentle readers. I’m still maintaining it but will not be posting it unless there’s significant demand. Anybody who’s interested can ask me for the spreadsheet. But here are the intel maps, North Theater first. I’m not sure about X Corps in the vicinity of Pskov. It seems odd that they would be under 16th Army and so far from the other corps. It would stranger yet for them to be in 18th Army since that formation would be badly overloaded.

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Here’s the Center Theater map. The “panzerball” in the Rzhev-Vyazma sector is obvious. The infantry to the south of the panzers’ position could be from 2nd Army, 2nd Panzer Group, or 9th Army or a combination, this is unclear.

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And to the south, we can see that 17th Army has sent at least a corps south to help 1st Panzer Group southwest of Dnepropetrovsk. North of the Dnepr at Cherkassy, an Axis FBD suggests a desire to push towards Kharkov.

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The Germans continued attacking in the Northern Theater, clearing a couple of hexes near Pskov but once again refusing to advance. A couple of victories netted us new Guards divisions near Narva and northwest of Pskov. Manstein’s motorized divisions pushed northwards against heavy opposition but no effort was made to penetrate our front. We noticed again this turn that few of the attacks in this sector were supported by artillery. It is possible that the artillery has been concentrated with the panzers. However, if they move any distance from their starting points, they can no longer receive support from their HQ’s for hasty attacks (no SU can be allocated to a hasty attack if the HQ has expended any MP’s). Still it seems an odd choice to make so many infantry attacks with little or no artillery.