Heading East into the Soviet Union

[carlkay58]

T35 VPs:

Fortunately the initiative can not switch until late 42. I am down 44 VPs from my High Water Mark which would be in dangerous territory for the initiative swap at this point. I will need 25 more VPs by Oct 42 to avoid Sudden Defeat while the threshold is an additional 200 VPs by Jan 43 for a Sudden Victory. My 42 campaign will have to be good in order to win the war before it becomes a slow slide down to defeat.

[carlkay58]

T35 Files:

[carlkay58]

T36 Soviet Attacks:

The Soviets attack 88 times resulting in 1 Rout, 20 Retreats, and 67 Holds. A very good improvement over the past few months. While a lot of attacks over 80% resulted in Holds. There may be an end to winter yet!

[carlkay58]

T36 Supply Net North:

9th and 16th Armies are the problem areas now. Rzhev is now on the front lines and the Soviets seem to be victorious everywhere they really try to capture. 9th Army is just too worn down to be much good.

[carlkay58]

T36 Supply Net South:

Things have quieted down some. There is still a Soviet offensive aimed at Nikolaev trying to cut off the Crimea. You can see where the LW has begun to come back on the map with the Italians and Rumanians helping in the area.

[carlkay58]

T36 Air Phase:

While the LW is back, there are no Air Directives for them as of yet. I have some bombers currently on the map but no directives for them. Mostly need some fighter cover in the Crimea area.

T36 Freight:

Wow the deficit is now only 1K! The infantry armies still pull up short but they are closer now than in the past.

[carlkay58]

T36 AGN:

Trying to hold everything together until this nasty weather ends. The good news is that next turn is March 42 and the combat penalty for failed leadership checks phases out and at the end of March the supply penalties phase out too! One month to go!

[carlkay58]

T36 AGC:

The same situation here as I try to refit some reserves while trying to maintain the line against the Soviet offensive.

[carlkay58]

T36 AGS:

I have four rebuilt Rumanian infantry divisions coming this way to be speed bumps and try to keep the Crimea Soviet-free. I am not afraid of having the rail line cut into the Crimea because the units there have been relying on the port supply lines more anyways. But it would be nice to not have to recapture everything again.

[carlkay58]

T36 Soviet Garrison:

I have 122% garrison but the Smolensk area is level 2 partisans. This is how it looks in the Smolensk area.

[carlkay58]

T36 Files:

[tm1]

I see you have a mix of Div and Reg level units holding the lines which for the most part seems to be working ? I had no choice in games to to have reg level units in past games and the AI rolled right through them even in built forts they seemed unstoppable, then again they smashed through my Div forts too.

I'm hoping in this new game to reach The Dnepr river at Zaporozhye and Dpetrovsky but had ideas that if when I get pushed back to fortify The Crimea and if I get pushed back and the region is cut off I can supply it by sea hopefully.

I see you don't have a lot of forts but I'm not confident yet and are thinking of running a fortification line down the entire length of the map or at least as much as I can for the winter.

[carlkay58]

I don't have a lot of forts because I forgot to build them. I am really rusty with Winter 41 play. I try and keep divisional units if possible in the front lines because the Soviets will go after the regiments with a vengeance and the regiments will not stand up to the pressure. The ideal is alternate divisions and regiments in forts where the regiments get forced out but the divisions can hold the line with ZOCs. In this particular game I did not prepare for winter at all well but I am trying to see what I can hold.

[carlkay58]

T37 Soviet Attacks:

82 Soviet attacks resulting in 1 Rout, 18 Retreats, and 63 Holds. 75% of the attacks result in a hold so things are definitely improving with the weather.

[carlkay58]

T37 Supply Net North:

A solid supply net but 2nd Army is continuing to be brutalized by Soviet attacks.

[carlkay58]

T37 Supply Net South:

The supply net is improved. The Crimea has been cut off by the Soviets. The Kerch invasion force is now isolated.

[carlkay58]

T37 Air Phase:

The LW is beginning to come back onto the map but still no Air Directives.

T37 Freight:

The deficit is 1.7K so better than most of the rest of winter. The Panzer Armies are all in the plus column and all of the infantry Armies are in pretty good shape too.

[carlkay58]

T37 AGN:

Some adjustments to get the panzers out of the front lines and into refitting. I hope to kick off an offensive to take Leningrad as early as possible.

[carlkay58]

T37 AGC:

Kietel is dismissed by Hitler and replaced with Guderian. Guderian is back in Hitler's good graces with a 'master offensive plan' for 1942. We shall see how it turns out. There is some shifting and adjusting to try and bolster 2nd Army's line.

[carlkay58]

T37 AGS:

The main action was the evacuation of the Kerch invasion covered by entrenched Italians. An attempt to defend the entrances to the Crimean Peninsula. Hopefully it will work until the panzers are back to bolster it. I rail the rebuilt Rumanian infantry divisions to help defend Nikolaev from the Soviet push.