EvK (Axis) vs. mssm45 (Soviets)

[EwaldvonKleist]

T15
(note that T14 is a new post as well)
Soviets cut off Leningrad, dig in in front of AGN/AGC sector while trying to escape the looming pocket between AGC and AGS. The attack along the Black Sea continues. An unknown number of Reds race towards Budapest, as I have learned today the game ends if the City falls. So the game may end quite soon, even though I have a small chance to stop this.

AGN: Luga taken and the retreated and the remnants are forced to retreat another time with heavy losses.
AGC: I try to solidify the line and faint an attack towards Kalinin. If the Leningrad/Moscow rail can be broken, that would be a great result for the offensive therere.
PG 2 and 2nd Army continue the drive South, the Southern flank of the Soviet Central front is a bit in danger there.
AGS: Not much happening there, I try to get reinforcements to the black Sea.

Overall I have significant readiness problems, especially in AGS. Crossing the lower Dnepr was a mistake caused, I did not understand the supply system properly when I made the decision and now the units are stuck there. The idea was to cut off the Soviet Black Sea offensive at Perenkop, but lack of supply/AP has stalled the plan.

[EwaldvonKleist]

T16
Soviets cut off Leningrad with a doomstack and continue to infiltrate along the Black Sea, while running at the boundary between AGC and AGS. The encircled Rumanians in the far South are destroyed.

AGN: I hammer the Soviet stack that encircled Leningrad. Lots of dead Finns. Novgorod taken, minor reshuffling of units. Not sure how to proceed here, Soviet line seems unbreakable.
AGC: Northen flank static. PG 2 and 2nd Army encircle and destroy a few units and kill an Army.
AGS: I try to close the road to Odessa but fail (marked with a red hexagon) in a close battle. Still no bridge over the Dnepr, supply is very low East of the river. I feel like shooting some logisticians. A treck of units moves towards Odessa/Nikosia. The Rumanians are tasked to screen Odessa to the West and North. It is crucial that the lone straggler near Bucharest is cut off before he can the City and end the game.

Are there still people following this AAR?

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
Are there still people following this AAR?

Yes

[EwaldvonKleist]

T17
@Telemecus: Good, this means break-even is reached . Zero PP this turn due to many theatre boundary breaches.

Soviets reinforce AGN sector, one of the armies supported by Zhukov with crazy defensive bonus of 90%. Not sure atm what to do there. Soviets continue to annoy along the black sea. Pocket around Kharkov opened with weak forces.

AGN: Clear out a swamp hex and repositionate.
AGC: Suprising hold result against tank div in the Valdai area. Minor offensive and repositioning towards Kalinin. Flipping hexagons and pushing around weak Soviet on the Southern flank. Not sure what
AGS: Bridges still not repaired, very short on supply on the East of the Dnepr. Pocket around Kharkov closed again. The critical sector is the one along the Black sea. Odessa seems empty but the replay reveals at least one unit is sitting there (and it would be a massive blunder to leave it empty), so I decide to cut off the Bucharest raid instead of entering Odessa, which proves to be the right decision. Not trying another counterattack against the Soviet road to Odessa as my C&C is not yet in place, AP are not so good and Soviets are entrenched already. I hope to be able to conduct a counterattack in one to two turns.

[Richard III]

tuned into this fine AAR.. where someone actually reached Moscow [8D] Go get it !

[EwaldvonKleist]

Thank you
Taking Moscow certainly would be nice. Progress has been slow lately because:
1) Soviet resistance along the direct path to it is strong
2) I had to secure the Southern flank first
3) Constant lack of AP due to the Finnish unit in Leningrad. This means I was not yet able to advance the FSB to Vyazma, which in turn means Panzer Groups can only advance so far.
4) Exhaustion of units.
5) AGC commander Fedor von Bock hates me. Relations with Ritter von Leeb (AGN) are good and with Gerd von Rundstedt (AGS) even superb.

The decision in this game actually falls along the Black Sea. If I can keep the Soviets in check, I should be fine in this game with Leningrad already taken (even if my hold on it is fragile), and little in terms of difficult terrain between AGS and Rostov. On the other hand, if the Soviet unit near Bucharest gets AP for one more hexagon, it is game over.

[Richard III]

Looks like more manageable then WitE ? Own it but not played the AI yet.

BTW; Von Bock says nice things about you:[8D]

"Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock: The War Diary 1939-1945" (Schiffer Military History) Hardcover – August 1, 1996
600+pages.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Re WitE: I think so. DC:B also has a setting which removes some of the roleplay stuff which makes it even more straightforward. This being said, you don't need to master every aspect of WitE to enjoy the game and all the micromanagement is superflous unless you want to defeat strong opponents in multiplayer.

Does he mention Ewald von Kleist positively in his memoirs? When was von Kleist subordinate to von Bock, it must have been in early/mid 1942 during Kharkov and Case Blue, right? In Poland, France and Barbarossa von Kleist was in the von Rundstedt team, and the attack on Yugoslavia was commanded by von Weichs.

As an annotation, here are relationships at the beginning of T18. I am best friends forever with von Rundstedt , on better terms with the Führer than I would like to admit and I like trains very much. On the other hand, von Bock and the Luftwaffe guy would love to put some poison in my tea.

[Richard III]

There are over 80+ listings in the index of " Ewald von Kleist " in Von Bocks book ( above ) I will try and look and report this week.

[EwaldvonKleist]

T18
@Richard: Thanks for looking, am interested in the results of your search!

Soviets make contact in Eastern Karelia. Not sure if this is a straggler or the advance of a greater force. Leningrad is encircled again, but apparently it is a supply source for the Axis as well, so this isn't a problem.
Some reshuffling of defences around Moscow. The offensive along the Black Sea continues, beating back some Rumanian units.

AGN: Road to Leningrad cleared again, one more division sent to reinforce defend the city.
AGC: One pocket cleared, small offensive near Kalinin. FSB moves to Vyazma.
AGS: Advance on Northern flank, small encirclement in the Centre, and a surprisingly failed attack on Nikopol at the Black Sea.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
Leningrad is encircled again, but apparently it is a supply source for the Axis as well, so this isn't a problem.

Is that because it is on the coast/port and is accessible to supply by sea or organic to Leningrad itself?

[question probably betrays that I am a DC noob - apologies]

[EwaldvonKleist]

Possible. Leningrad generates a little bit of supply for Soviet units encircled there. So it could also be a bug because no one thought that Axis units could be encircled in Leningrad at some point. So I am not sure if this is intended by the developer or not.

[JamesHunt]

Great AAR

[EwaldvonKleist]

T19
@Richard: Thank you!

It turns out the Soviets are in Karelia with force. The wall before Leningrad is supported by Zhukov and there is not possibility to dig out troops with 90% defence bonus in forests with deep entrenchment. WW1 there.
Little Soviet activity in AGC area, but they continue to press around Odessa. The offensive is a major threat.

AGN: Additional Finnish forces sent to Karelia.
AGC: Small offensive near Kalinin. Mostly because I have enough fuel to and no other use for PG2. PG4 takes Ryazan and flips hexagons.
AGS: PG1 turns South in a desperate attempt to stop the Soviet attack along the black Sea.
Infantry readiness is the problem Nr. 1 to me. It is low and doesn't want to recover. The Soviets after their attack have better Readiness than my Infantry after their logistics phase.

[EwaldvonKleist]

T20

Soviets continue to push in Karelia. Minor reshuffling of forces in front of AGC.
AGS offensive continues, encircling Axis minor divisions.

AGN: More reinforcements for Karelia.
AGC: Kalinin offensive continues for no justifiable reason. At this point I consider the game pretty much lost: The PP drain from the Finnish units in Leningrad across the no-move-line resulted in bad relations and a disorganized army and supply due to missed decisions. Coupled with the terrible infantry readiness recovery (probably due to leaving armies on Blitzkrieg posture, haven't bothered to understand readiness mechanics in detail yet) means that I won't be able to get near Moscow/Rostov, and I eveng et pushed back near Odessa. Therefore, I to try and rush Gorki. At this point I point I didn't know if taking the city is still immediate game over like under older versions, but it is pretty much the only option left.
If the Soviets are not able to spawn a garrison or army within one turn, Gorki will fall.


AGS: PG1 races South to stop the Soviet attack along the black Sea. I repeatedly try to assault the road to Odessa at various places, but Soviet units are surprisingly stubborn and the Axis divisions have lost their bite. The situation is desperate here.

[EwaldvonKleist]

T21

Soviets encircle Finnish units in Karelia. Miscalculation on my part, I didn't expect them to be able to move so far in one turn. Minor reshuffling in front of AGC. As expected the Gorki push is not cut off.
AGS sees continuation of the Soviet offensive, two minor Axis divisions destroyed.


AGN: Even more reinforcements to Karelia.
AGC: Kalinin offensive called off, nothing to gain here. Guderian takes Gorki, only defended by the Central front HQ and the STAVKA HQ which are both destroyed and Stalin is killed, resulting in Axis victory. Apparently, the Soviets were not able to spawn a garrison in time. My opponents commented that a panic attack made this impossible. Stalin's panic is quite understandable given the proximity of Axis forces.

AGS: PG1 continues to attack South along the Dnepr. More attacks on the street to Odessa fail.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Final statistics
Note the immense PP loss from theatre boundary violations.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Concluding thoughts
Thanks to mssm45/Belgavox for the game and to Erzac for consulting.

What went well: I think I did a good job with operations during the first phase of the game, resulting in a quick advance. Most noteworthy is the double-pincer attack of AGC from T8 onwards that forced the Soviets to give up significant ground and resulted in a sizeable pocket, and the T8/T9 and T14 pockets of AGS. The unusual attack from behind on Leningrad, when the Soviets guarded it only with a HQ, and the raid on Gorky successfully caught the enemy by surprise.
What did not go so well: I hadn't and haven't sufficiently understood the readiness mechanics and my planning didn't take infantry readiness into account until it was too late. Crossing the lower Dnepr into the swamps immobilized multiple infantry divisions during a critical point in the game. I suppose that the readiness plunge was caused by fatigue resulting from not switching to sustained offensive in time.
Capturing Leningrad was a good coup-de-main, but I should have retreated from the city or should have allowed the Soviets to cut the city off permanently to avoid the massive PP penalty. Had the game continued, the lost PP would have been a major problem.
Not taking Odessa may have been an okish decision as it kept momentum, but I underestimated the Soviet counterattack ability and reacted to slow and uncoordinated.

What my opponent did well (from my perspective): Overall good unit manoeuvring. Created unbreakable wall-of-steel in front of Leningrad and Moscow. Blowing-up of bridges was excellently timed in AGN and especially AGC during T4/T5/T6. Congratulations for spotting my weakness in the South and for executing a very effective counterattack.
What my opponent didn't do well: Leaving Leningrad open to attack and not having something to defend Gorki (attention to detail). IMO without these inaccuracies, it would have likely been a secure Soviet win all other things being equal. Exploiting these things was a bit shady but its war after all.

Comments on the game DC:B: Fine game, I especially like the focus on operations and the even distribution of attention-to-detail to the different mechanics. I don't like some rules:
-the 2k default fuel use of Blitzkrieg posture. Instead, Blitzkrieg posture should result in increased fuel cost when (and only when) the units are moving. The rule as-is is binary and weird. If you get 2001 units of fuel a turn, Blitzkrieg will reduce the amount to 1 available, completely immobilizing your mobile forces.
-there should be the ability to get additional corps HQs with a card. The Axis has a small number of big armies, resulting in poor HQ coverage. The Soviets have more smaller armies and thus an unjustified advantage with C&C as the Axis don't has access to corps.
-I don't like the fact that the Soviets can build walls-of-steel that can't be broken already in August. From my understanding, the Axis was quite capable to break through at almost any point in summer 1941 (but not at every point)
-Axis ability to advance/supply fuel seems slightly too big during July/August, resulting in unhistorically fast advance of mobile units during this time

Thanks to all who followed and commented on this AAR.

Regards
EvK

[mssm45]

@EVK Congratulations

I believe that Germans can't afford the PP penalty if the Finns cross the border to take Leningrad. My only regret is that it somehow twist the game flow so I should have defended it just to preserve the natural game path.

Odessa, I love to defend it ... it's a real pain for the Axis ... and I arrived just one hex from Bucharest.

I had a paranoia episode the turn before Gorki was captured. I should have added a garrison there earlier.

Regarding the game, I love it and I wish that it would extend further in 42.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Thank you!

You are right that I wasn't able to afford the PP drain.

Under the assumption that you can't spawn new armies in a non-Gorky-connected city (not sure if it is this way), I believe ignoring Odessa was the right decision to keep momentum, but I didn't react properly to your counterattack and had too low readiness which indeed made Odessa a major problem.