FITE2 EARLY START Loveman2 vs thomasharvey

[thomasharvey]

T117 August 2, 1942 Here is a closer view of the Kishinev area. The northern front in Poland has not changed. However, as can be seen Kishinev is only a few hexes away for the Soviet armored recon units. There may be one more defense line there but I think in a few turns it will be crushed.

[thomasharvey]

T118 August 5, 1942 This close up view shows Red tank units take Kishinev. Romania should quit at this point. Kishinev was open and undefended.

[thomasharvey]

T118 August 5, 1942 The Baltic front shows the German defense in depth following some probing attacks. Maybe the bad weather will be needed to break the line.

[thomasharvey]

T121 8/16/42 This shows the new offensive in the south by the Axis. I moved up forces to embrace the Italian, German and Romanian southern offensive. We shall see what the Axis does next. The Romanians refuse to surrender or change sides despite the loss of Kishinev. Maybe 1942 is considered premature and they fight on.

[thomasharvey]

T121 8/16/42 This shows the entire front from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Both sides are now in supply so the offensives and counter offensives will increase.

[thomasharvey]

T123 8/23/42 This is the Romania front where the most action is located. The Axis are attacking with the Italians and some Germans further north. As can be seen the Soviets have a rail line completed close to the action. This will enable unlimited Soviet forces here to try and knock Romania out of the war.

[thomasharvey]

T125 8/30/42 Here is the Italian front in the South. A few attacks on both sides. The Hungarians are entering the fight.

[thomasharvey]

FITE2 8/30/42 Germans pulled out in a few areas.

I did not notice when that happened. I have been watching the South.

[golden delicious]

Thinking about it, it's interesting to speculate what would have happened, politically, if the Soviets had been able to so rapidly and decisively overturn the Axis offensive. Looking at the screenshots, the Soviets have an enormous amount of fighting power already in place and by the end of 1942 I would expect them to overrun central and southeastern Europe.

Under these circumstances, it would become quite plain to the western Allies that within a couple of years, the Soviet Union would be in a position to dominate all of continental Europe. With the Casablanca Conference still well in the future, I think Britain in particular would be pushing for a negotiated settlement with Germany to prevent a complete Communist takeover of Europe.

[thomasharvey]

T126 9/2/42 This view shows the aftermath of an Axis spoiling attack that forced me to pull back for better defense. The destruction of the Axis forces will have to wait until 1943. While great progress has been made in 1942, Berlin will have to wait until 1943.

As indicated, some 1941 fortified hexes are relevant again.

[thomasharvey]

T126 9/2/42 Meanwhile preparations continue to be ready for a massive 42-43 winter offensive along the entire front. This view is the last railhead constructed delivering the goods to the fronts.

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: thomasharvey

As indicated, some 1941 fortified hexes are relevant again.

It's worth noting in this situation that the facing of fortress hexes is purely graphical. A fortress hex facing e.g. southwest will do perfectly well at defending against an attack from the northeast. This is very relevant for an Axis player retreating back over the western Soviet Union.

[thomasharvey]

T131 9/20/42 Here is a view of the Baltic front. In a few more turns the mud will begin. At that point the Axis will lose their shock advantage on the ground and in the air. Then the grand Soviet offensive will begin on the entire length of the front. The Red Air Force will deploy early and start clearing out the Luftwaffe in preparation of the ground offensive.

[thomasharvey]

T131 9/20/42 Here is a view from space showing the entire front. There are enough forces along the entire front to attack when the mud arrives and then pick up speed when the snow arrives. My recon attacks earlier showed the Axis defenses are too strong right now with 120 percent shock effects on the ground and in the air.

For most of the war the Red Air Force has avoided combat. In a few turns they will come out in full force to smother all Axis units on the ground and in the air.

URAH!

[thomasharvey]

T136 10/7/42 The grand offensive has begun. The Axis defense line is very strong and was only broken in 3 small sections. The first is in East Prussia as shown.

[thomasharvey]

T136 10/7/42 The second is further south near Pruznany. It is a slightly larger opening in the Axis front.

[thomasharvey]

T136 10/4/42 The third area is in Bessarabia. There were over 400 attacks in turn 136. I suspect the number of attacks per turn will increase greatly in the next few turns. The Red Air Force is in battle for the first time in the war to stay this time. While it is only late 42, the Axis forces have a shock value of 100 on the ground and in the air. The Soviets have a shock value of 100 on the ground and 90 in the air. On the previous turn the Axis was at 120. Attacks did not work on a large scale at 120 for the Soviets.

Later in the coming winter the Soviets will receive a shock advantage which I hope will bring Berlin within reach before summer.

[thomasharvey]

T136 10/7/42 Here is the air briefing showing the results of turn 136.

[thomasharvey]

T136 10/7/42 Most of the Axis casualties were caused by land attacks, however the combat phase was finished with 228 bombardments of artillery all along the front. The last few results are shown here. I am sure there are many Axis units in the rear that are not visible including panzers. If the panzers lash out and cause serious damage I can always pause the offensive during the mud turns which start on turn 139.

[thomasharvey]

T137 10/11/42 Here is the second turn of the grand offensive. The Axis line has been ripped open in several locations as follows. The first one shown is the Bialystok front.