27 December 1942
This update is based on the end of T79
Background
Up to the middle of November, a degree of calm settled over the front. The Germans managed a careful retreat in the south, fending off Soviet attempts to cut off their rearguards. Central and Voronezh Fronts made small gains over the Don and by 28 November had advanced 30 miles west, creating a deployment zone for SW Front [1].
In the far south, elements of the Trans-Caucasus Front had reached the outskirts of Novorossiysk.
Perhaps under-estimating Soviet intentions, the Germans struck back around Orel disrupting the build up on that sector but also drawing off their own reserves to the south.
Lacking local reserves, and mostly reliant on Italian, Hungarian and Rumanian formations, between 6 and 13 December, the German defence fell apart as SW Front exploited up to 50 miles into the rear.
The situation steadily worsened as the Germans tried to slow the Soviet offensive with forces drawn from other sectors. By 19 December, Soviet spearheads were on the outskirts of Kharkov and the Axis forces fighting Stalingrad and Don Fronts were at risk of being encircled.
[2]
T79
The whole of the front from Voronezh to Leningrad has been static during those events. In the far north, this reflects that the two sides are evenly matched. For Western and Bryansk Front it is due to a build up. I don’t want to put too many demands on what is still a fragile supply net and equally I am prepared to wait for the Germans to respond to the breakthrough at Kharkov.
[3]
Anyway, lets skip to the far south.
I have massive supply problems. The Caucasus Front has 1 more army left well to the rear and has just sent another army to the National Reserve.
Things are not much better approaching Rostov.
As with the other formations, both Don and Stalingrad Fronts have armies held back in deep reserve. The situation won’t radically improve till I link up the N-S dual rails. One good thing though is that the AI has similar problems.
In turn, SW Front is running out of steam. A German counter-attack cut off the 2 advanced Tank Corps, so decided to let them sit still this turn. I really need to pull the tanks out of the line to rest but lack infantry as Voronezh Front is caught up on the northern flank of Stalingrad Front.
Comments
As mentioned before, the cost and what you can build varies across the game. As does the limit for certain unit types (so the start of 1943 will close off the option to build more Rifle Divisions or Brigades).
I’ve been in no hurry to created Mechanized Corps. I find late 1942-mid 1943 a period when the Soviets hit a truck shortage till the benefits of the increased LL supply make a difference. My units on average have 85% of the trucks they need and a Mech Corps demands around 2,800 trucks to be fully mobile.
This is down to 2 problems. First, I do have (and need) far more armour than I had in early 1942 and second, my supply lines in the south are horribly stretched. That in turn is why all the northern and central sector of the front is sat still with full depots only a few miles behind the front line. Even on my static sectors, my mobile formations are stuck with MP in the mid-30s.
Especially as the snow levels build up that is not enough to really exploit a breakthrough.
I am also (and many of you will recognise this issue from WiTE1) being cautious about building Corps. I still need a lot of divisions to fill out the long front lines.
So either on-map or in the reserve I currently have 69 Corps. 24 Tank (13 are Guards), 1 Mech, 14 Cavalry (12 Guards) and 30 Rifle (29 are Guards).
On the subject of Guards status:
The maximum % in each category will increase in 1943.
[1] Its not just the time to move, its letting my supply net recover from being pushed to the limits. Want the local depots to fill up so that my armour regain their MP as opposed to losing a lot as their trucks are scattered around trying to find supply and ammunition. If I had attacked immediately, I would have struggled to exploit the breakthrough and would almost immediately be in supply problems.
[2] Pushing that deep was a huge gamble, but I decided I had the brigades to rebuild those two Corps if I lost them. The reward is that has made a huge mess in the Axis rail net and effectively split the formations around Orel from those in the south.
[3] One thing to note there is even at this stage how powerful well rested Gds Rifle Corps are. It is relatively easy to get them to 40-45 CV so a stack can be well over 100. With the 1943 TOE this becomes even more impressive, with the 1944 TOE (& on average higher Soviet morale), you can stack near 200 CV if they are fully rested. That, plus artillery divisions and air support, will dismantle any defensive line.
