On the Rumanian border ALL FORCES ARE UNFROZEN - BUT ON THIS TURN AXIS GOES FIRST!
This hook was what I found so interesting about this alternative opening. Unfreezing the forces in Rumania on turn 1 or 2 will mean the Soviets go first and have at least a turn to get away. Here they do not, and the German motorised units start the turn to the east of them. Southern Front is pocketed without even having moved from their start positions on the border.
11th army forms an infantry ball heading east of Kishiniev, and cuts the railine to all the Soviet forces in Besarabia meaning they will be in a pocket by next turn. 11 th army meets XIVPz which has come south forming another pocket around Moldova and Bucovina - XIVPz units now have a dramatically shorter supply path to Rumania now and will be full of fuel again next turn. Rumania gives a slingshot effect as motorised units coming close suddenly speed up again for heading east.
In this game The Rumanian armoured division had some bad rolls leaving it with fewer movement points, usually it would have been able to cross the Dnestr river meaning XIVPz would not have had to turn south westwards but could have cut the Besarabian rail line much closer to Odessa (see dotted line on post 56). Note also circled in red (map in post 56) is one of the most annoying NKVD regiments ever, and that is from a group of units that can be very annoying. In another game this unit retreated the wrong way ten times wasting the movement points of divisions of motorised. Here a motorised unit has traveled ZOC to ZOC just to herd its retreat the right way on the first attack. Again sending motorised units over large distances meant I needed absolute certainty they would not bump into any undetected ground unit - so back to carpet recon. The main corridors through which units had to travel without surprises are clear.
In the south the Bridgehead on the east bank from Kiev remains intact, although Das Reich is kept busy bashing away many huggers. But the infantry ball is now half a turn away and holding the bridgehead now is no longer in doubt. 2nd Panzer group continues to cut rail escape routes for units still in the marshes and is looking to link up on the east side of the marshes with the rest of 2nd Panzer Group. The Zhitomir pocket is unsurprisingly broken, but the units used to break in are themselves now surrounded.
Troops on the Carpathians are carefully placed to prevent Soviet marauders being able to damage Axis towns or rail. Once the isolated troops are cleared a priority for automatic rail repair is to make a rail by pass to allow troops from Hungary and south Poland to be taken by train to the east without passing through Rumania.
I think you should air transfer a Security Divison to the Rumanian border to lock the rail [:D]
