A Clash of Titans, Xhoel (Axis) vs Bitburger (Soviet)

[xhoel]

AGS

In the Voronezh sector Soviet Cavalry divisions have crossed the Oskol river and trapped the Hungarian Cavalry Brigade that was sent to help the trapped 6th Army units. An equivalent of 5 divisions are trapped in the pocket right now and they are the most vulnerable of all isolated units to a Soviet attack. Reserves are moving towards the pocket but their advance is slow because of the terrible road conditions. Our units are pulling back, attempting to form a coherent perimeter to prevent further Soviet breaches. The 2 Infantry divisions trapped further south have received orders to hold their ground until relief forces are close to them.







In the Rostov sector the 11th Panzer Division has pulled back north of the Don and the 257th ID has done the same, abandoning Manych to the enemy. 6 Infantry Divisions from the 17th Army are preparing to assault Rostov next turn. The fall of the city would finally allow us to pull back our forces that are located south of the Don river. No immediate relief to the trapped 6th Army forces can be provided by the armored formations of the 1st Panzer Group. Despite a HQ Build Up last turn for the III Panzer Corps, its units had very low MPs this week (in the 4 range), and are not available for operations. The units south of the Don have been resupplied by air.





Crimea

In the Crimea troops are rolling in again, moving towards the front to retake their old positions. The V Rumanian Corps is being pulled back and will be transferred to the Voroshilovgrad sector.





Losses
Ground

Losses continue to be high due to the large amount of units trapped behind enemy lines.



Air

[SparkleyTits]

How are your truck levels doing after the mud shenanigans bud?

[xhoel]

They aren't looking good at all.
142k trucks in the pool but 154k are needed. 71k trucks are in repair.

[SparkleyTits]

Ouch this was a good move by the Soviets, your troops are going to be exhausted and your fort lines very thin in areas as you try to rescue everything

You might need some panzers out for winter, SS and 10th panzer would be your best candidates
If you try breaking them down into regis and mix them with infantry regis then even with low CV and the panzers on 20% toe they will cause huge losses on Soviets in the thousands to budge
That should help out attrition to slow down a Soviet push once they grind themselve down relatively quickly and hopefully help you stabilise your lines quicker
Although keep in mind that it might be a risk of your trucks getting even lower if it doesn't pay off quickly and you need to retreat consistently throughout winter
Trying to reserve as many heavy airframes as you can possibly live without will help your trucks a bit

It could well be a hard fought winter you have coming up if Bittburger plays this well, let's hope you can get away without anything critical coming to pass bud
Good luck

[xhoel]

Thanks for the tips ST. I think I will manage, without putting my armor out there. Once the Leningrad pocket falls, I will redistribute 13 infantry divisions that are being held up in the north. Quick question: do you know how many cav squads the Soviets have a limit on producing? I know there is a limit but have no clue if its 2000 or 20 [:D]

Well it will be a nice read no doubt!

[chaos45]

think its 200 cav squads per turn if I remember right is the limit

[mouse707]

How much of the soviet industry have you destroyed approximately during Barbarossa ?

[xhoel]

@chaos45: thanks for the info
@mouse707: 30 HI, 95 ARM and around 1350 manpower centers are under Axis control. I didn't keep accurate tabs though so those numbers may fluctuate by +/- 5.

[xhoel]

T22, 13th of November-20th of November 1941.
Overview.

Temperatures all along the front have fallen under 0 grad celsius and the ground has frozen allowing us to restart offensive and rescue operations. All operations undertaken during this week have been conducted with the knowledge that our truck pool is in a poor condition and cannot sustain long drawn operations and our armored formations need to be pulled back ASAP before the winter sets in properly. Another very important point is the building of fortifications all along the front, in order for our troops to have a fighting chance when the weather turns.

A Soviet Air offensive was thwarted last week with heavy Soviet losses. We lost 44 fighters in the defensive operation.



AGN

Army Group North begun its final push for Leningrad this week. 13 Infantry divisions allocated for the complete destruction of the pocket were thrown in action supported by numerous artillery and engineer formations and by the powerful Luftflotte 1. The progress has been impressive. Our units have crossed the Narva in strength, destroyed a high number of Soviet formations and linked up with the Finnish troops. An assault on Leningrad proper has not been conducted yet. We expect to move enough divisions across the Narva next week for the assault to be conducted from the eastern part of the city, thus avoiding fighting over the river.

3 Rifle and 1 Cavalry divisions remain in the pocket as well as 2 Fortified Regions. Further to the north, the Finnish have moved on the Svir line again and are building fortifications. Finnish troops will be moving south soon, thus relieving German formations to be moved elsewhere. To the south, the 16th Army remains in position.

Before:





After:



German troops held back at the ste marked in black.

[xhoel]

AGC

AGC had 2 objectives this week:
1) Rescue the infantry divisions trapped behind enemy lines and
2) Eliminate the salient of Soviet forces north of Rzhev.
Both objectives have been completed successfully.

The offensive in the Rzhev sector has been in the planning for the last 2 weeks and we were hoping that the enemy would not reinforce the sector where the offensive was planned to fall. As it happens, the Soviets did not reinforce the sector, preferring to put most of their units in position for eliminating the trapped 162nd ID. The division was able to breakthrough to the west, brushing aside the weak Soviet units screening it and meet the relief forces of the 8th Panzer Division before the offensive begun.

The offensive further to the east started with attacks of the XX Corps and other regiments that were present in the sector. Supported by artillery and the VIII Fliegerkorps. Once a 30 mile corridor was opened, the XXXX and the XIV Panzer Corps drove forward closing the pocket, trapping 16 Rifle Divisions, 3 Rifle and 5 Tank Brigades. Intelligence has reported that within the pocket are 4 of the best Rifle Divisions the Soviets have in their OOB (high morale divisions, 56-70 range) and the number of men trapped in the pocket is estimated at 200k which will be a blow for the Soviet OOB. The move will probably force the Soviets to pull back their units located in the Valdai heights giving us access to prime defensive terrain for the winter and allowing us to shorten the front line.
The armored formations have been moved west of the Moscow-Volga Canal and are heading for the rear areas to prepare for wintering.







In the Tula sector, due to Soviet pressure we have abandoned the Oka bridgehead and pulled back 1 panzer Corps to prepare for wintering. Meanwhile the 4th Army has conducted 2 successful rescue operations, reestablishing contact with the 15th and 34th ID. In the process it has routed a number of Soviet units and managed to isolate 1 Rifle Division. To the south, Reinhardts Panzer Corps has successfully rescued the Infantry divisions located north of Voronezh.

Before:







After:

[chaos45]

Good encirclement- also perfect examples of why not to be to aggressive with the soviets prior to blizzard- as now he will lose 2 entire soviet armies of trained troops right before blizzard start...not to mention the damage and routing he is going to take in the south from your counterattacks likely to continue into next turn.

[xhoel]

AGS

The 6th Army forces trapped south of Voronezh were rescued by the I Corps and the Totenkopf SS Division. Their evacuation has not been fully completed however as 2 divisions remain in a precarious position. We should be able to rectify the problem next week.





Further to the south the rescue operations did not go that smoothly despite our best efforts. Due to a shortage of units in the area we had to rely on our Romanian allies to conduct cross river attacks, which were pushed back from the Soviets. We did however manage to gain a bridgehead over the Donets, which we will probably lose because it is being defended by an understrength Rumanian Cavalry Brigade. The 297th and 24th ID remain isolated but they have been supplied by air. We are hoping to rescue these units next week. Things are looking grim for the 297th Infantry division, and it would be a miracle if they manged to hold for 1 more week.





Soviet holds marked in red.The 297th ID is the 9=6

Rostov has fallen to a direct assault of 6 Divisions, supported by artillery and pioneer battalions. The fall of the city has allowed us to pull our forces north of the Don. All armored formations are pulling back, moving to the rear. Due to the poor state of their TOEs, these formations will be transferred further west and won't be able to act as reserves during the winter. Many Infantry formations have pulled back to in order to R&R. The main objective for our units now is to force back the Soviet Division located north of the Don and the Division located at the port of Taganrog and to establish strong defensive lines.







Units on refit marked in blue outlines, objectives for AGS marked in black.

[xhoel]

Crimea

The supply situation in the Crimea remains dire but we will be able to rectify that soon as the FBD2 is in position to begin rail conversion next week. 2 Rumanian Infantry Divisions have been pulled of the line for R&R while 2 German Divisions are on their way to the front. The objective in the Crimea is to fortify our positions in front of Sevastopol and leave the Rumanians to defend there, while our troops push towards Kerch.






Losses

Losses for the Soviets have been quite high this turn. We have captured 55k men and destroyed a number of formations. These numbers are bound to rise next week as we finish clearing the pockets.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: chaos45

Good encirclement- also perfect examples of why not to be to aggressive with the soviets prior to blizzard- as now he will lose 2 entire soviet armies of trained troops right before blizzard start...not to mention the damage and routing he is going to take in the south from your counterattacks likely to continue into next turn.

Thank you for the comment. I disagree with you wholeheartedly though. The Soviet mud offensive prevented an offensive on Moscow and has put the German Army in a very dire position. We have lost 150k men in 4 weeks, of those, 80k are irreversible casualties (KIA). Add to that around 3k guns lost. The morale and TOE of the units that were recently rescued are in a terrible state and they will need to be put on R&R draining the manpower pool. Moreover from Tula till Rostov we have no fortifications whatsoever (we dont have a stable front even). Add to that the truck situation, as of turn 22 we have 143k trucks in the pool and we need 156k to operate at 100% capacity. That's a 13k deficit before the blizzard has even started.

Considering all that, taking a beating now is not that bad really as the weather will turn soon anyway and the Soviets won't have to be on the defensive although I am sure that those 4 strong Rifle Divisions will be severely missed. From where I am sitting, Bitburgerdraft pulled a rabbit out of his hat and saved Moscow while giving a strong punch to the Germans. Keeping his units that far forward in the Rzhev sector was a mistake but everyone makes mistakes and I doubt he was expecting an offensive there anyways.

[chaos45]

To be honest in blizzard you are going to give up all the ground in the south anyway...the north is where the ground is key to hold in the blizzard.

He is losing 2+ fully trained armies right before blizzard that will hurt his blizzard offensive a lot...if not cripple his ability to make gains in the north at all.

The big loss for you looks to be 2 divisions in south as he should be able to wipe them out his next turn from the looks of maps.

Was a big lesson for you on needing to be spread out in regiments if you are screening a zone like you were in south--also the game makes soviet attacks on german regiments bloody affairs even if the soviets win.

I still think this will hurt him some for blizzard as you should be able to damage his units in the south for at least another week or so before blizzard kicks in...leaving them weakend right before he gets his best bonuses and your units drastically weaken. This to me is a net bonus for u, aside from the 2 divisions it looks like your going to lose.

You really should have fort zones around stalino as well, or units there digging in...the soviets will get there in blizzard and thats where you need to hold.

[SparkleyTits]

I am worried that the Soviets already seem to be able to bring the CV to bear to brawl competently with you in a few areas, that is about to get much worse especially in the area with the trapped units as they will be very tired, degraded and unable to defend sufficently without some added support injected into the lines throughout the blizzard, especially if Bittburger keeps the pressure up right until December hits

I think if I was in your situation, I would play it safe and accept a short term collateral loss on some of my motorised organisation to protect from the possibility of a bigger, long term loss if things go bad and a game ending floodgate is opened (Anything that is 87 morale and lower as these will end up being under the 2mp per hex requirement come spring anyhows so there will be no long term loss of your fighting capabilities)

If it turns out all of this worry was unfounded and your units near Voronezh are allowed to walk out freely from now I would keep the MOT nice and warm in their cities
Of course these worst case scenarios never usually happen but Bittburger has already shown he can be aggresive when given the opportunity so he may jump on this chance too

[mouse707]

ORIGINAL: chaos45

Good encirclement- also perfect examples of why not to be to aggressive with the soviets prior to blizzard- as now he will lose 2 entire soviet armies of trained troops right before blizzard start...not to mention the damage and routing he is going to take in the south from your counterattacks likely to continue into next turn.

I clearly disagree. The soviet situation was clearly critical and there was a direct threat of a big encirlement around Moscow. That would have been a game over. Not only Bitburger has fully stopped this offensive for that year, but also caused a lot of disorders to the German organisation and supply. If it costs 2 armies in the end, it's not that much given the overall gain. Xhoel is not really ready for the blizzard, as he's still trying to escape surrounded units.

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: mouse707

ORIGINAL: chaos45

Good encirclement- also perfect examples of why not to be to aggressive with the soviets prior to blizzard- as now he will lose 2 entire soviet armies of trained troops right before blizzard start...not to mention the damage and routing he is going to take in the south from your counterattacks likely to continue into next turn.

I clearly disagree. The soviet situation was clearly critical and there was a direct threat of a big encirlement around Moscow. That would have been a game over. Not only Bitburger has fully stopped this offensive for that year, but also caused a lot of disorders to the German organisation and supply. If it costs 2 armies in the end, it's not that much given the overall gain. Xhoel is not really ready for the blizzard, as he's still trying to escape surrounded units.

Germans are definitely reeling from the attacks. Which in turn has bought some breathing room before the Blizzard starts for the Soviets. The Germans should be able to get in shape by the last turn of snow but that first month could be dicey on some fronts. Good read and waiting to see the outcome.

[xhoel]

@chaos45: I still disagree with you, but each to their own I guess. He will make massive gains in the north because he has a huge amount of units that have very powerful CVs. He is only losing 4 trained divisions. All the other units in that pocket are rubbish. I just opened the turn and he did indeed destroy 2 divisions. A lesson for next time I guess. I dont have the strength to hurt him in the south, most divisions are at 60% TOE. I'd rather let them recover their strength than throw them into battle again.

@ST: I agree with you, the area around Moscow is looking very scary rn. Really high CV and those units are close to full TOEs too right now. I will have to see how I will proceed. We should be able to bring some order to our frontline till the blizzard hits.

@mouse707: Agree with you partially. I did save all the units except for the 2 destroyed divisions so thats not the problem. The problem is having a stable frontline with some healthy units and fortifications.

@HLYA: Yeah the situation isn't looking very bright but we will have to make do. Thanks for the comment

[mouse707]

Agree with you partially. I did save all the units except for the 2 destroyed divisions so thats not the problem. The problem is having a stable frontline with some healthy units and fortifications.

Yes, that was my point. As you long as you try to save units, you do not dig in fortifications