Teun557 (Axis) vs Seminole (Soviet) - Bitter End

[Seminole]

Turn 22

Overall strategic map at the beginning of the turn:



Germans knock on the front and back door trying to get into Leningrad.



Upgrade obselete fighter bombers to a distribution of fighters and fighter bombers that more closely match production capacity.
All bomber trained FBs were transferred to IL-2s
Will emplace air force for Leningrad and make plans for Southern AC allocation to support blizzard offensive.
Want to split 10 IL-2 regiments per breakthrough axis.
Need to decide how bombers and fighters will be split. Planning large concentration of fighters on Leningrad this turn to help provide air cover to port and deter Axis air support for Leningrad assaults.

OoB:



Ground Losses:



Leningrad defenses:



Blizzard offensive formations gathering by lake Ilmen. Zhukov's Northwest Front will push toward Pskov while also aiming to cut the rail link feeding the Leningrad Salient at the closest distance to the front line:



South of Cherkassy on the Dnepr is where the Southern Front concentrates cavalry that will form the northern pincer cavalry corps:



At the lowest reaches of the Dnepr STAVKA gathers the last cavalry divisions for reorganization. They'll report to Coastal and 9th Army under Southern Front to pursue an axis between Nikolaev and Krivoi Rog:



Overall strategic map at the end of the turn:

[Seminole]

Turn 23

Overall strategic map at beginning of turn:



Ground losses are light as the fighting is almost non-existent.



The Volkhov Front comes into being, but is named to cause confusion among the German intelligence efforts. Marshal Timoshenko is given the honor of leading this cavalry heavy force.



Production pools show that manpower is starting to pile up behind the armaments shortage.



Germans knock on the front and back door at Leningrad. Also an effort toward Novogorad is rebuffed.



Overall strategic map at end of the week:

[Seminole]

Can't upload turn 32



Kind of aggravating. I do have it saved at some point halfway through the turn.
Hoping I can try to submit later without the client crashing.
Anyone else seen this error resolve without a problem?
Definitely don't want to replay the turn if this is recoverable.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Anyone else seen this error resolve without a problem?

Lots!

[Seminole]

Well, not me.
As of this morning the program has crashed. The window is just black.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Attempt to save by shift s. It works for me even if tge screen is black.

[Crackaces]

You have a couple of battles there with -36% penalties and the odds ratio was fairly close.This warrants a closer look at command and control .. after you figure out the uploading problem ..

[Seminole]

One of the cores was pegged with the .exe and the fan was running like a banshee so I killed it from task manager before I saw your message.
[:@]

I have my end of turn screenshots, so I should be able to piece back my remaining moves.
Will definitely wait until I hear the server is back online before giving it a try.

[Seminole]

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

You have a couple of battles there with -36% penalties and the odds ratio was fairly close.This warrants a closer look at command and control .. after you figure out the uploading problem ..

That Teun's Germans, although I'm probably guilty of spending too much AP on C3, every little bit helps, especially early on for the Soviets.

[Seminole]

Turn 24

Eve of the Blizzard Offensive

Overall Strategic Map at the beginning of the turn:



Ground Losses in very light fighting:



Air losses:



Still the Germans knock at Leningrad and try to gain a little more space in the Leningrad salient.



The VP situation at the German high tide:



Along the front lines the Germans are turtling up and digging in. They did not spend the snow months trying to create anymore advantages, but instead leaned on their shovels.

Overall strategic picture at the end of the turn:

[Seminole]

Turn 25

Blizzard offensive unleashed!

Overall strategic picture at beginning of turn:



Losses before the offensive commences:



The grind in Leningrad and successful counter offensive at Gomel has reaped two dozen Guards formations:



Blizzard across the front line, but the lower Dnepr is choked with pontoon bridge wrecking ice, and south of Gomel no attacks are launched.



Attacks across the front line, but obvious concentration by Northwestern and Volkhov Fronts:



80% of these attacks are successful, but the Germans extract a significant toll from their fortifications.



A few failures, but nothing strategically significant.



4k more German losses for 40k Soviet. Expecting to see this ratio improve significantly in a week or two as he is dislodged from his fortifications.



A more detailed look from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Leningrad Front does not participate in the offensive. AGN's strongest units are here, trying to hold the advance for a launching point in '42. STAVKA intends to capture the bulk of AGN, and to accomplish this must stretch the line, and keep as many German units to the east as possible.
Zhukov and Timoshenko create cracks in the German front lines, but mobile reserves are unable to position themselves appropriately to exploit gaps produced.
The attacks along Kalinin, Western, and Bryansk Fronts are to increase overall German attrition and start grinding down morale in the blizzard.
Southwestern Front and its sister Fronts to the south are idle this week. While a few units have enough mobility to attack there is no reason to accept the penalties involved. For now the second major operation in the blizzard offensive has to wait.



Overall strategic picture at the end of the turn:

[Seminole]

Turn 26

Overall strategic view at the start of the turn:



OoB:



In the Pskov sector Zhukov's Northwestern Front continues to push west. His forces are generally in front of Timoshenko's and trying to force a breakthrough. 11th Army finds itself wandering farther south seeking weakness.
Timoshenko's Volkhov front is encountering stiff resistance on the direct axis to Pskov, and so he begins shifting the weight of his offensive further south behind 11th Army, looking for a gap in the line his cavalry can exploit.



Kalinin Front and Western Front push along the line, forcing the Germans out of their entrenchments. Liberating Vitebsk is a goal in this sector.



In the center sector Western Front pushes toward Mogilev while Bryansk Front seeks to evict the Germans from Gomel. The attack flows around the city as 2nd and 5th Panzer are still in the area after their unsuccessful efforts to open the Gomel Pocket.



South of Chernigov the river has frozen and STAVKA orders the offensive to commence.
Paratroopers descend behind the lines and sever the main rail line supplying the Germans all the way to Dnepropetrovsk. THe goal is two fold, further hamper supplies and preclude any strategic repositioning of the mechanized formations that are currently in the Dnepr bend.
Southwestern Front seeks bridgeheads south of Kiev, while Guards Rifle Divisions cross north of Cherkassy and threaten the German mountain troops holding the high ground on the western bank of the Dnepr with encirclement.
South of Cherkassy the Soviets engage their main effort. Here is where two armies of Southern Front loaded with cavalry corps and supported with additional mechanized forces who will serve as the northern pincer in a bid to neuter AGS. Gains of up to 30 miles are achieved, and two German divisions and a Hungarian security unit find their flanks overrun.
Additional attacks are launched trying to isolate the German mechanized formations wintering in Dnepropetrovsk.
Further south the ice isn't yet solid enough to allow the offensive to begin. The remaining cavalry corps of Southern Front are forced to wait another week. STAVKA can only hope the Axis don't yet recognize the danger.



Losses this week:



Overall strategic picture at the end of the turn:

[Seminole]

Turn 27

Overall strategic picture at the start of the turn:



Slow progress on a broad front in the push toward Pskov. Timoshenko chases back the German cavalry and wide gap appears in the front line, but the cavalry are unable to exploit it yet.
STAVKA is growing frustrated with the pace to Pskov, but Zhukov and Timoshenko can see the Germans are starting to get stretched, especially at the headwaters of the Sorot river.



Western Front continues their own broad push along the line toward Vitebsk and Mogilev. The Germans are out of their fortifications along the line at this point, and progress and casualties should pick up over the rest of the month.



Germans battle to secure the flanks of Gomel, but the Soviets continue to push them back. Farther south a string of regiments are screening the Pripyat and Bryansk Front pushes them deeper into the swamps.



Southwestern Front continues curling the southern flank of Kiev.
The Cherkassy axis continues to make good progress, and tie up forces that could try to bottle the cavalry of the northern pincer.
In the Dnepr bend the Germans are calling back their armor and trying to stem the tide of cavalry making their way toward Kirovograd. Dnepropetrovsk is held by a single Hungarian security unit as the Germans begin shifting defenses back west.



The Dnepr is finally frozen solid to the Black Sea, and the final major axis of advance is opened up.
This sector is screened almost exclusively with Rumanian forces, only a single German mountain division closer to Zaporozhye is available for support, and it is on the line.
The Rumanians are scattered with a critical exception. The 10th Rum Inf Div hold their ground, even as Soviet attacks push the rest of the line back 20 miles deep. Frustrated that the position had been held against two prior attacks STAVKA ordered the cavalry corps forward. In the haste to participate they were not relegated to local command, and their concentration was squandered, resulting in the Rumanians holding out for a third time, and thwarting a deeper advance by the Southern Army.



Losses before and after Soviet attacks.



OoB:



Overall strategic picture at the end of the turn:

[Balou]

ORIGINAL: Seminole
Turn 26
Paratroopers descend behind the lines and sever the main rail line supplying the Germans all the way to Dnepropetrovsk.

How do you know that ? By mousing over?

[Crackaces]

I might have missed it but is this game +1? Harsh winter? I count the armor formations in contact and this could be devastating in the end.

[Seminole]

Turn 28

Overall strategic picture at beginning of the turn:



In the northern sector Northwestern Front finally succeeds in breaking the rail line from Pskov to Leningrad.
5th Airborne Bde is dropped to snap the rail north of Lake Peipus and prevent an early strategic withdrawal. STAVKA concerned that AGS developments will compel OKH to withdraw AGN from the Leningrad salient before it is too late.
Port at Oranienbaum could prevent isolation of the Pskov Pocket. Port is now acting as rail head for the Leningrad salient, so in a sense we're lucky we made that move right now and noticed the issue. Need to paradrop this facility, which was not in the original plan.



STAVKA orders Northwestern Front to continue their push on the rail line while Timoshenko's Volkhov Front is given the objective of reaching the southern shore of Lake Pskov.
Paradrops will be conducted to isolate the bulk of AGN for liquidation by Northwestern and Leningrad Fronts.
Zhukov bristles at being sidelined and issues his own orders for a 'reconnaissance in force' to lake Pskov.



Along the center sector the Germans pull back, so there is little action here.



Along the southern Dnepr the Axis try to shorten their line and hold their positions.



The new line, without the advantage of fortifications, melts under the broad Soviet advance.
Both the northern and southern cavalry spearheads break into open ground.



As the week comes to a close the cavalry scouts of Southern Army are a mere 30 miles apart. The situation for AGS is extremely dangerous and must have dawned upon OKH by now.



Ground losses:



OoB:



Overall strategic picture at the end of the week:

[Seminole]

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

I might have missed it but is this game +1? Harsh winter? I count the armor formations in contact and this could be devastating in the end.

[xhoel]

Impressive action all around. You made good use of your mobile forces and nice to see that you are using Paratroopers in actual combat drops behind enemy lines.

You are doing a good job (save for that mistake in the south, don't leave combat units under Stavka) but your opponent seems to be making mistake after mistake. I have no clue what his strategy is and it appears that he has not wintered any of his mobile formations, which will give you a really good edge in 1942, assuming the game even goes that far.

[Telemecus]

I think this is a prime example of why you should never put a group of southern allies together to cover whole stretches of the front. Unlike others I do think you should use them on the frontlines in blizzard, they have extensive uses but not like this. The Rumanians and other southern allies need to be mixed in with German units and under the same HQs. You can put southern allies into German HQs, or German units into allied HQs. But above all do not hold a whole section of line just with allies. One possibilty might be alternating allies and Germans, or have a first line of allies and a second line of Germans. The allies simply will not hold long continguous sections of the front exclusively on their own.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

I think this is a prime example of why you should never put a group of southern allies together to cover whole stretches of the front. Unlike others I do think you should use them on the frontlines in blizzard, they have extensive uses but not like this. The Rumanians and other southern allies need to be mixed in with German units and under the same HQs. You can put southern allies into German HQs, or German units into allied HQs. But above all do not hold a whole section of line just with allies. One possibilty might be alteranting allies and Germans, or have a first line of allies and a second line of Germans. The allies simply will not hold long continguos sections of the front exclsuively on their own.

Strongly agree with this. I commented the same thing to Neogodhobo in his AAR against TheLysander. It is a shame to see players repeat the same mistakes over and over again, when a quick glance at other AARs will show them what is a good strategy and what is a no go.