Liberation of Mother Russia: Q-Ball (Soviet) v Dodo98 (Axis)--StoB

[Q-Ball]

COMRADES!

I don't see any AAR for Stalingrad to Berlin, so let me be the first (or among the first). I was one of the early testers, and this was my favorite; we skip all the 1941 campaign stuff and get right to the heavy hitting!

I am playing Soviets, and Dodo98 is playing the Axis. From the look of things he's giving a good game to HYLA in the '41 campaign, so let's see how it goes on the defensive as I attack.

Overall Obejctives

This scenario is really about slowly building and molding the Red Army into a killing machine. You start with gobs of Infantry Divisions and Brigades, some Mech and Tank Corps, but it's very much a 1942 army and not the offensive force that's going to roll the Germans.

Toward that end, I'll be including alot of notes on builds. I did this once vs. Loki in testing, and hopefully learned a few things as we slowly liberated the Motherland.

So, to that end, I think the Soviet objectives are:

1. First turn, secure a pocket around 6th Army
2. Generally, destroy as many German units as possible, and kill/capture as many Axis as possible, especially Germans
3. Aim for a manpower loss ratio of 3-1 or better (three Reds for every Axis soldier).
4. WINNING attacks; this builds morale and Guards for us, and drains Axis morale
5. Liberate space; eventually we need to get to Berlin, and that's a LONG WAY from Stalingrad!

So, pass out the vodka and propaganda, and let's get to it!

[Q-Ball]

T1: Making the Kessel Stick

I spent a bunch of time as a tester on The Kessel; some early versions it was a bit easy for the Germans to break out, but I think it's just right now. In the one PBEM I played as Axis, I was able to extract the SUs, and I also flew out a division by air, but that's about it. With a good turn, I think the Soviet player can keep the Kessel shut.

In general, I think making an unbreakable Stalingrad pocket depends on several things:

1. On either side of the pocket, focus attacks on Romanians, and only Romanian units. You need to HASTY attack in a couple hexes of the front in order to push the units while only leaving 1 pt. of delay; that's key to moving deep, you don't want to wreck the hex with a huge deliberate attack.
2. Other than a corridor with minimal move penalties, hit all the other units hard to rout them. Some will rout into the Stalingrad pocket as a bonus.
3. For some reason, in testing I could never rout the pesky 20th Romanian Division just south of Stalingrad. Don't try it
4. Only use Infantry for the initial attacks, and try to save a unit or two with 16 MPs for exploitation.
5. There is a Cav Div west of Stalingrad that won't rout on the first attack most of the time; hit it hard, then plan for one of the Cav Corps to hasty attack it again; that 2nd one should rout it.
6. Sometimes units south of Stalingrad retreat but don't rout; don't panic, but you can hit them again with infantry. Don't use the Cav Corps, you need that to exploit

Once you are off the mark, it's time to make the pocket.

--The earliest the Germans can really help from the outside is Turn 3. So initially, you only have to worry about a Break-OUT.
--Nearly all mobile units in the Kessel are short of trucks; because of this, only one hex is enough to protect you from Deliberate attack from any Panzers. 29 Mot is mobile, but split in 3 and understrength.
--Any breakout will be to the SOUTH.
--To that end, you need to build a wall of units due SOUTH:

For the South, you will need:
--Bring a Tank Corps that starts north of Stalingrad down for part of the wall
--Use a Mech Corps to "flip" hexes in your front, then occupy space
--Use the other to flip a hex, but also maybe take kalach and the depot there
--Bring a Tank Corps from 5th Tank over the river from the West

I forgot to take a picture end of my turn, but did take one beginning of turn 2 and it held! See below!

Elsewhere:

Elsewhere, gains are limited.

I took V-L, and some surrounding hexes from LW Field Regts. Good! I attacked in a couple other areas, though in his turn Dodo98 routed out some infatry units, reminding me to be careful....

Initial Builds

First move was to bring many RIFLE divisions out of the Reserves, most east of Stalingrad. The units around the pocket start at low strength, and to keep that pocket closed you need boots on the ground to the south, even Green troops. So, I bring in Infantry so I can deploy it south of the pocket and thwart any rescue attempts.

I think CAV CORPS are a great investment; good mobility, but they don't use up many trucks. I build 1, and will eventually build them all. Also start building on-map GUARDS RIFLE corps; all initial Rifle Corps will be GUARDS

[Q-Ball]

End T2

End of Turn 2 around Stalingrad Pocket below; we forced the surrender of 2 Romanian Divs at Koropovka, also clearing the depot there, which is good. Otherwise, we managed to surround 22nd Panzer and a Romanian Div outside the pocket to the West; would be good to eliminate 22nd Panzer, an understrength but high-morale unit. Hopefully the pocket holds.

Elsewhere:

So far Germans are holding the Demyansk pocket and Rhzev salients, so not much movement elsewhere. We are starting to advance in the Caucausus, but Germans so far seem determined to hold the line. Let's see if pressure here in the south forces line-straightening in the North, as Axis shift units southward.

Builds:

Another CAV CORPS, a GUARD RIFLE CORPS on-map, and I am also building a Guards Tank Corps; plan to build 3-4 of those using all my Guards Tank Bdes for that

[DeletedUser1769703214]

Playing this Scenario as the Germans is like putting a puzzle together without all the pieces. Good luck to both of you.

[Dodo98]

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

Playing this Scenario as the Germans is like putting a puzzle together without all the pieces. Good luck to both of you.

That is exactly the way I'm feeling. Why the german High Command thought it would be a good idea to guard the flanks of 6th Army only with rumanians and italians is beyond my understanding [;)]

[Q-Ball]

I think the fun for the Axis player is figuring all that out with a dwindling amount of resources. You need to figure out how to get the most out of all your formations, and look for opportunities to hit back and disrupt the Soviets. It's also a balance of trading space for time.

But the puzzle analogy is good. Certainly, the beginning Axis setup is a mess, and not just because of the obvious reason that Romanians are protecting 6th Army flanks; overall, the Germans are overcommitted in the North, and are defending several useless salients that are opportunities for shortening the line and freeing up units to send South. Germans are WAY forward in the Caucausus.

[DeletedUser1769703214]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Germans are WAY forward in the Caucausus.

The Germans should be running faster than "Usain Bolt" for a gold medal to get out of there. But that is just me. Otherwise you are going to have more POW's walking.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Germans are WAY forward in the Caucausus.

The Germans should be running faster than "Usain Bolt" for a gold medal to get out of there. But that is just me. Otherwise you are going to have more POW's walking.

Germans are starting to withdraw with haste from the Caucausus....on T-4 I have already overrun Tatinskaya Airbase, which is roughly 10 hexes from Rostov, so I think they are moving in haste! I think I have a Romanian Mountain Regt surrounded, but otherwise Army Group A is getting away clean

T-3 South

Another picture of the South....as you can see, it doesn't look like Dodo is going to launch a rescue attempt toward the pocket, so probably Festung Stalingrad has been declared and they are going to die for the Fatherland.

This turn, we managed to take both Potimnik and Gumrak airfields; Dodo subsequently whacked my Tank Corps back, but I cleared the Depots. The capture of depots and loss of airfields will hopefully deplete supplies faster as 6th Army has to subsist on shoe leather. I also force the surrender of a division West of the Don, working on clearing that part first. Annoyingly, there were a couple attacks FROM the pocket that were successful, so I guess they still have some ammo to go with that shoe leather.

22nd Panzer also surrendered, along with a Romanian Infantry Div. Another Romanian Division is surrounded, and should be killed off next turn. Trying to kill units out of the pocket as well!

Elsewhere, progress is fairly minimal; Germans are counterattacking weak units that I push forward, reminding me to be a little careful.....2 Cav Corps were hit reaching out toward Tatinskaya.

I pinned some units near Boguchar; they will re-connect through the unguarded end, but I hope to capture the 298th Division, which is a full-strength German Division; that would be helpful! That's what happens when you rely on Italians to guard the flank...

Germans are in retreat in Caucausus, Demyansk pocket, and have pulled out of Rhzev...none of those are surprising and are just a product of the really bad Axis starting position

[SigUp]

ORIGINAL: Dodo98

ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain

Playing this Scenario as the Germans is like putting a puzzle together without all the pieces. Good luck to both of you.

That is exactly the way I'm feeling. Why the german High Command thought it would be a good idea to guard the flanks of 6th Army only with rumanians and italians is beyond my understanding [;)]

Reading Stahel's Operation Typhoon right now. The German high command did a lot of things during 1941 and 1942 that make you wonder what in the world they were thinking.

[Q-Ball]

T-4, Dec 10,1942, NORTH

Finally a screenshot of the North. I also included Losses to date (Note that both sides start with alot of disabled in the pool, 1.2 mil for Axis and 1.4 mil for Soviets). As you can see, fairly limited progress, other than voluntary German pullbacks from Rzhev.

We have captured enough hexes around V-L to build a depot and finish the rail line to the east, so that will hopefully help the supply situation down in that bulge which is.....not good.

If the Germans choose to defend this area strongly, there is a limited amount the Soviets can really accomplish early. Attacking full-strength German divisions in Heavy Woods is usually a good way to get 5000 of your comrades killed in exchange for a couple hundred Fascists. I learned this in other games the hard way!

The Soviets start with alot of units though facing Rzhev; it's best to move them to other sectors where the Soviet set-up is lacking in enough troops but there is opportunity to advance, like the Orel and Voronezh sectors. In those areas, the Germans are much weaker, but you really need more units to exploit it.

BUILDS:

Another Cav Corps, and filling-out the "Free" Guards Para Divisions (they convert automatically from Brigades). They are welcome formations.

Overall, the Red Army is short of guns; AT Guns, 120mm Mortars, Artillery, anything other than Heavy Rockets are short. Losses exceed production. Therefored, I am starting to disband some units in order to fix this:
--AT Regts: I think eventually most of them will go; for now, there are more than you need, and using them to round out Infantry formations. Later in the war, SU Regts are a better bet for defensive AT work.
--AT Rife Bn: These are useless; only 184 men per unit, so just disbanding as I find them
--Artillery: I am disbanding some understrength Corps artillery in the reserves. I need the guns. You need 3-4 Artillery per HQ on the map, but Soviets start with more than that, so there is room to disband some.

[Q-Ball]

T-4, Dec 10,1942, SOUTH

Down south, I am pushing west obviously. Additional tank units are being brought down to exert more pressure.

Near Boguchar, we managed to surround a German Division, the 298th. One of our objectives right now is to pocket as many Axis formations as possible outside of Stalingrad. That will be German Division #2, in addition to 1 Romanian one so far!

So far Dobo98 is withdrawing in order, and holding the line up north. I am starting to see some new formations as he pulls units to Ukriane from elsewhere and shortens the line.

We failed to split the KESSEL in two, but I think we will next turn; that will aid in it's reduction. Most of the Germans are still GREEN for supply, but with no airlift and the depots gone I think that will change soon

[Q-Ball]

T-5, Dec 17, 1942, Central Sector

The terrain north of Orel and Kursk offers opportunities for the Soviets; the at-start forces are not sufficient however. I have brought down some mobile formations, and this turn did something kind of risk; punched a hole in the line, then just drove in the rear. I don't think the Germans have reserves in this sector, so it should force some sort of retreat (hint: It does)

We also pushed back unit and are now adjacent to Orel itself, so the city is threatened

I have not posted a picture of the NORTH, as my opponent has done a good job there with orderly withdrawls from Demyansk and Rhzev salients, all I can do is follow and flip the free gains. Some attacks around V-L, but with supply issues it's slow going.

[Q-Ball]

T-5, Don Sector

A bit of a breakout here pockets 1 German and 3 Romanian divisions that I had ZOC-locked the turn before. The Romanian Arm division should break the pocket and escape, but with all the units I have there I should be able to re-seal it and bag those units. To get that pocket we attacked Axis Allies and German Regts. Axis in general retreat here looking for better defensive terrain, and also probably hoping I outrun my supplies....

In the KESSEL, we have broken the Stalingrad pocket in two, 4 hexes around Stalingrad, and 3 hexes west against the Don; I have all the airbases in between. Next turn we will liquidate as many hexes as possible. They are all max-stacked now, so no more withdrawls, only surrenders.

BUILDS

Soviets are short of guns, but do have Rockets; I am going to build ROCKET DIVISIONS! 2 are on the way. I may need to disband some Light Rocket units because I am short of the mobile rocket launchers, and I think the Light Rocket Bn are too small to be useful....better to deploy those tubes to a unit with some punch in it, like Rocket Divisions. I would prefer Artillery Divisions, but I just don't have the guns to build those without mass disbanding of Corps Regiments.

I want to attach Rifle Brigades to all Tank and Mech corps, but I don't think I'm going to have the trucks for that sadly; a Rifle Brigade will use 600 to 800 trucks attached to a mobile unit, and I don't think that's very efficient. I'll attach them to CAV and RIFLE corps instead, or just disband later if I need the Manpower, which I will.

[Q-Ball]

T-5 Caucausus

Here is the first picture of the Caucausus. I brought a single Tank Corps down here, and it's paying dividends along the rail line, flipping hexes well in advance of the infantry and threatening German formations lower in the Caucausus.

Those Gebrigsjager down by Mt. Elbrus better swap out their skis for running shoes, because they need to start hot-footing it west or they will get cut-off. I think they'll escape, but I think I can beat 17th Army to the Rostov Area; that means they will have to pull back toward the Kerch Strait. They'll escape, but if he wants to redeploy any of those units to the Donbas it's going to take a few turns now.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

...
BUILDS

Soviets are short of guns, but do have Rockets; I am going to build ROCKET DIVISIONS! 2 are on the way. I may need to disband some Light Rocket units because I am short of the mobile rocket launchers, and I think the Light Rocket Bn are too small to be useful....better to deploy those tubes to a unit with some punch in it, like Rocket Divisions. I would prefer Artillery Divisions, but I just don't have the guns to build those without mass disbanding of Corps Regiments.

...

watch out for the truck cost though, if I recall these can be pretty brutal in that regard. Also make sure you deploy to the map near a NSS (so they can actually take on the trucks they need). They ain't as bad as the 1943 assault artillery divisions (which eat trucks for breakfast), but they can cause you problems later in 1943 - when I find it all gets rather tight. 1944 is fine as the evil American capitalists really get into the idea of motorising the Red Army.

[DeletedUser1769703214]

Germans really don't want to lose any more Divisions unnecessarily. I see a catastrophe ready happen if the Germans don't have any units there.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

...
BUILDS

Soviets are short of guns, but do have Rockets; I am going to build ROCKET DIVISIONS! 2 are on the way. I may need to disband some Light Rocket units because I am short of the mobile rocket launchers, and I think the Light Rocket Bn are too small to be useful....better to deploy those tubes to a unit with some punch in it, like Rocket Divisions. I would prefer Artillery Divisions, but I just don't have the guns to build those without mass disbanding of Corps Regiments.

...

watch out for the truck cost though, if I recall these can be pretty brutal in that regard. Also make sure you deploy to the map near a NSS (so they can actually take on the trucks they need). They ain't as bad as the 1943 assault artillery divisions (which eat trucks for breakfast), but they can cause you problems later in 1943 - when I find it all gets rather tight. 1944 is fine as the evil American capitalists really get into the idea of motorising the Red Army.

Great point Loki, you do have to be aware of the limits on trucks, and careful not to build to the point that your trucks are dear. Last thing you want to do is disband veteran Tank Corps just to free the trucks. But I have a solution to this, and it shows that you need to go a little deep to build the Red Army!

Reds make two types of rockets:

1. Heavy 300mm ones (the M-30-4 launcher), with a production of 200; I have over 2200 of those in the Active pool, TONS of them! I won't run out.
2. The lighter, truck-mounted B-13-16 Katyusha; production is 32. Active pool is EMPTY. This rocket is demanded by not just rocket units, but it's in the TOE of Mech Corps. There is a shortage of these.

Overall, the Soviets have to increase unit density, and think about eliminating small units. Attacks can only include 4 support units, so that's a limit of 4 whether it's a big SU like a Tank Brigade, or a small SU like....a Light Rocket Bn.

Light Rocket Bns have only 8 x B-13-16s at full TOE, and because there aren't enough produced, most units are not at full TOE. Worse, these units use about 45 Trucks each. Heavy Rocket BNs use about the same at 100% TOE, but they have 18 Rocket launchers at full TOE. Red Army starts with several dozen of these LIght Rocket BNs. Considering the truck use vs. firepower, and available SU slots, they are very inefficient units.

So, the fix is disband all the Guards Light Rocket BNs. I may even go to the Regts, but we'll start with the Battalion-sized units. That will solve the shortage of B-13-16 in the ACTIVE pool for now, and probably free-up about 2000+ trucks...more than enough to equip the 2 Rocket Divisions in the Reserves. And I would rather have 2 Rocket Divisions than all those Lt. Rocket Bns.

That's my thinking anyway......

[Q-Ball]

T-6, Dec 24, 1942

The risky penetration last turn with Tank Corps results in a general Axis retreat in this sector; Orel falls, and we push closer to Kursk, which I think we can clear before the mud. 3 more Germans divisions are surrounded; that will make 6 total German divisions outside of the Stalingrad pocket. I would like to keep eating German units, but it's going to get harder to do that as the line shortens for sure....

[Q-Ball]

T-6 South

Stalingrad pocket is eliminated! This is earlier than I expected. Stalingrad Front, consisting of 4 Armies, will now replenish formations and then start the long march west. I don't really have the rail capacity to entrain the whole front, so it's going to be awhile before they see action again.

Voroshilovgrad falls to a Tank Corps as the Axis are in retreat toward the Donbas

[Q-Ball]

T-6 Caucausus

Probably the last picture I post of the Caucausus, as the Germans are pulling back toward the Kerch Straits, and I am approaching Rostov up north.

Moving that Tank Corps way south paid dividends, as it set the pace by clearing the railway in advance of everyone