The Cobra vs the Mongoose

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what it looks like just north of the Prypett Marshes. It's T3 for me and I received moves from Ken this morning early and I've been working since
then and I've already moved about 1/3 of my units that can move. There are of course about 100+ CD guns and garrison units that can't move and they are
listed on the OOB just like every other unit. I'm tempted to disband a lot of those CD guns just to get them off the OOB. Supply levels are great, the
weather is good, we're making a little bit of progress.

[larryfulkerson]

My theater recon value went down to 0 ( zero ) and so I can't see the Soviet defenders until I'm adjacent to them unless they move in which case
sometimes they occupy their hex visibly. So I'm following my recon units for the most part. Soviet units have been relatively scarce so far. This image is
just after the fifth combat round and I'm going around digging people in for the end of the turn phase. That's where I set everybody to ignore losses,
dig them in, and set some of the deeply green bombers on INT and leave the pastel green bombers on CS. All the fighters are on AS but I'm
thinking of putting them on INT as well, since the greatest proportion of the Soviet air fleet has retreated far to the east. I doubt that I shot down
452 Soviet aircraft. It's probably more like half that. About 1/3 of my aircraft are yellow and therefore resting. The weather is still
good and the supply levels are great. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to invest Minsk sometime during the next five turns or so.

[larryfulkerson]

I received Ken's moves early this morning and I just now ( 23:51 tucson time ) sent my moves back to Ken. Whew.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines as of the end of turn three.

[larryfulkerson]

It's 09:40 here in tucson and I've received another set of moves from Ken so I'm going to get
busy and watch the playback etc.

[larryfulkerson]

I found an unguarded intact bridge over the river. That will help accellerate the advance quite a bit. I'm still fighting over the crossing at Riga but it looks like it's about to fall to that will make two intact crossings I can use to stream my troops to the east side of the river. I need to do that quickly to stay on schedule. The inset shows the zoomed in view of the crossing at Jekapils.

[larryfulkerson]

I found my first partisan. It's important to convert all the enemy hexes you can so that these partisans don't go undetected.
The earlier you can find them the less damage they can do to your rails and bridges.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines in T4.

[larryfulkerson]

It's Sunday 7/26/2021 11:47 tucson time and I just received Ken's T4 moves.

[larryfulkerson]

It's T5 already and I feel like I'm behind schedule. This is the Riga area right now and you can see how Ken has placed some roadblocks in my way to
slow me down and make my progress problomatic. I was disappointed that the Stuka's don't have a significant anti-ship value because that's going to make the Soviet
ships almost invulnerable to my aerial attacks. The Axis rail damage value was 0% for the first three turns and now it's 100% so only now are
the RR engineers busy repairing rail but fortunately the rail is already repaired to just past Riga already. The supply levels are in the high
20's. Out near Gesis the level is 28. I'm contemplating moving my RR arty up here to attack the Soviet ships because that seems more efficient
than attacking them from the air, given that none of my aircraft have a decent anti-ship value. I question running my supply lines north from Riga along the
coast. Because of the possibility of Ken cutting off the flow of supply by using one or more of his ships somehow. I'm wondering if Ken moving one of his ships
adjacent to my supply path along the coast will extend an enemy ZOC inland to cut off my supply lines. So I'm planning on building the rail NE to Gesis.

[larryfulkerson]

This is Minsk early in T5. I haven't moved anybody yet so this image is going to change remarkably. Supply levels are between 21 and
30. I'm optimistic that I can capture Minsk this turn. Wish me luck.

[larryfulkerson]

This is right after the sixth combat round in T5 near Riga. I'm expanding the footprint I've created on the east side of the river. Soviet units are scarce
so far. The supply level is 20 out at the tip of the spear. I'm trying to repair rails from Riga to the NE but at the same time I'm wondering
if a line going SE from Riga might be advisable as well. I have a line going to Daugaspils but it's not quite there yet. I'd also like to have
a line leading to Minsk and from there just go due east to Moscow. About 2/3 of my bombers are either yellow or red and are therefore resting.
I tried about half a dozen airfield attacks on Soviet aircraft out near the Urals, far east of the extent of my fighter umbrella and the Soviet fighters chewed them
up pretty good. Lesson learned.

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I was disappointed that the Stuka's don't have a significant anti-ship value because that's going to make the Soviet
ships almost invulnerable to my aerial attacks.

From experience I find that, while ideally you want a 120 anti-shipping value, it's entirely possible to whack ships with "normal" bombers. Worth a try, at any rate.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the front lines at the end of T5. There are several Soviet ships just offshore near Riga and if they are there next turn I'm going to rail
some RR arty into Riga and see if I can't discourage them enough to make them move. Maybe sink one or more. Probably just lose some RR arty tubes. There's
only two more enemy units NW of Riga near the north tip of the peninsula and when they are gone I'm going to need to garrison the ports just in case Ken get's
an idea. I lost enough RR repair squads to total 5 RailRepair squads so far, somehow. I'll have to research the combat results tables to see where they were
lost and how so I can avoid that in the future.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
I was disappointed that the Stuka's don't have a significant anti-ship value because that's going to make the Soviet
ships almost invulnerable to my aerial attacks.

From experience I find that, while ideally you want a 120 anti-shipping value, it's entirely possible to whack ships with "normal" bombers. Worth a try, at any rate.

I'm not all that experienced in attacking ships with aircraft that don't have a substantial anti-ship value but I'll take your word for it. I'll give it a go.
And I thank you for the tip. I applaude your efforts to teach us.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the accumulated losses so far:

[larryfulkerson]

Partisans have started popping up, last turn and this one. I'm wondering how many partisans can operate simultaneously. There were three last turn and I've found
two more this turn so far. There may be more that I don't know about. I just captured Minsk last turn and now the next short term goal is Smolensk. Supply levels are in the high teens in this AO.

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I'm wondering how many partisans can operate simultaneously.

Not sure, but in my game w/ David (I'm on turn 72 as Soviets) I've had about seven or eight pop up for me so far, I seem to be getting more. I should look at replace / reinforce schedule.

And of course one can subdivide those.

[larryfulkerson]

If you subdivide them they can cause a lot more damage in terms of broken bridges and converted hexes ( roads and rails ).

[larryfulkerson]

I'm still moving units nine and a half hours after I received Ken's moves. I'm still in the process of moving units and scheduling attacks for the first combat
round. The supply level is 15 out at the tip of the spear. This is the AO just NE of the Prypett Marshes and demonstrates me handing
off the babysitting to the follow up infantry so that the Panzers can concentrate on their greatest weapon: speed. I try to avoid knife fights involving my Panzers
so that they have more moxie for moving at top speed. I need to get to the Soviet front lines before they have been turned into a fortress. I saw in the playback
where he's already started building a line in my path to Moscow.