A tale from '42 - AlbertN vs MSAG

[AlbertN]

T89 - Air Supply Novelty II

Here counterattacks on the ground were made but they are overshadowed by the change.

Here a more than legitimate (from my perspective) interception as I just decided to deliver on the airfield freshly captured so to replenish to troops that performed the attack.

That is directly on the frontlines so I think this an okay interception even without the need of an air superiority mission.

I assigned escorts - which are present on the first go but not the subsequent ones. (Fighters rebased)

I take the chance to signal what I perceive as next issue. It can be quite tedious and obnoxious to have to do each Air Supply as -SINGLE- mission, but at the same time if I do the -MULTIPLE- bit, the air transports will keep flying even after the escorts cannot fly anymore, as it is the case here.

[AlbertN]

T89 - Final Resume

Went on with the turn without other screenshots as I got short of time.

Air Supply got intercepted up to 8 hexes into my lines, with 100% efficiency. It seems the best way is to do massive 'herds' of air transports and huge runs instead of small scale ones. There appears to be a cap on the fighters escorting and intercepting. So may as well just take 200+ transport planes in a few missions. But the distribution cannot be capillar as it was.

I am not sure which detour the German fighters do but I've suffered an amount of operational casualties in Blizzard from the fighters which got them pratically on par with the Soviet A2A losses due to the escorts...

If before it was cheesy the way air supply was - now to me it's worse. Repeating myself, not until logistics are fixed Air Supply should only intercept 'on the borderline hex' or if flying across enemy controlled hexes.
1 hex behind the combat line ought to be a no go for me (barring air superiority missions but that may come later).

__

The Germans performed some localized counterattacks here and there where the Soviets attacked, and began to brought a Panzer Division back on map from reserve. Alongside some Romanians.

I assume if worst has to happen I'll leave Caucasus, slap a summer Super Depot in Stalino or so and in good weather that thing should sustain the whole region without excess of problems; considering rivers won't be frozen.
I expect the West to East logistic system to work better, with its only digression being Krimea.

On that note in Krimea there is a tiny mix of Italian and Romanian regiments keeping the ports somehow fortified.
I am clueless of how seaborn invasions can happen, in terms of game mechanics.

[Hardradi]

ORIGINAL: AlbertN

T89 - Air Supply novelty

Anyhow - yes - Air Superiorty for interception. One can see the enemy patrols, decide if to risk it or not. Or even counter it with own air superiority mission as a way to wrestle air control.

This is already in the game, to an extent. I can see at least where some enemy AS Air Directives are set up.

Its in the logistics report. Enjoy the air battles.

I hope that behind the lines transport interception issue is not back.

[AlbertN]

The logistic report provides coordinates. Truly.
It's just easier a visual layer on the map than to have to scour hexes for numbers.

I've spent I do not remember how much to check for the Soviet naval patrols before to find them via coordinates in the Caspian last time I tried that.

[Stamb]

That is a UI problem, no normal player will check what hex X,Y is on the map. Especially if he can not click on it from a logistics report. But its nice to know. I would never guess that there is such an info.

[Hardradi]

ORIGINAL: AlbertN

The logistic report provides coordinates. Truly.
It's just easier a visual layer on the map than to have to scour hexes for numbers.

I've spent I do not remember how much to check for the Soviet naval patrols before to find them via coordinates in the Caspian last time I tried that.

Its easy, focus your mind on the second co=ordinate, Leningrad is ~100, Minsk ~150, Odessa ~200. The first co-ordinate is around the front line and you already roughly know where that is in your mind.

ORIGINAL: Stamb

That is a UI problem, no normal player will check what hex X,Y is on the map. Especially if he can not click on it from a logistics report. But its nice to know. I would never guess that there is such an info.

Good to know. I must be abnormal. I don't mind doing a bit of work to get a result. Some say there is a reward in that.

[AlbertN]

T90 - Whimful fortunes of war

Short of time right now - just checking in things and posting the Soviet attacks.

Here the Italian-German corner resisted, astonishingly enough. But by now that Italian division is pratically a German quality unit with National Morale. Italian equipment is still neatly inferior alas.

On the other hand the tragedy consumed south - where pratically a panzerkorp was evirated at once by a brutal attack of massed Soviets.
The VVS made an appearance en mass, with non relevant results and a lot of losses due to ... well operating in Blizzard weather I assume.

The AFV losses for the Germans are pratically annihilating the Panzerwaffe very rapidly considering how many panzers the factories can churn out and how many are lost in battles.

On a note - without showing numbers - the Panzergrenadier infantry is almost useless with a very, very low hit per element ratio. One would expect them to be 'superior' to your mundane other type of infantries.

Russian hits per element are generally low. At times seemingly too low but I suspect there is some hidden penalty for 'the more you have the worse they perform' to avoid some mass obliteration of the side with less forces. Which is a reasoning is agree with - the more bloated is an attack force the harder is to maneuver it at competent level within the 'hex'.

[AlbertN]

T90 - The Hungarian Sector...

Finally the Soviets arrive where I expected them to, some time ago.

Good for them because the Germans are short of reserves at local level, having sent to the reserve an amount of forces.

I was trying not to rail around the troops that were freed up from Leningrad, after I so did with an Infantry Corps over 2 turns and the supply net is so frail where they arrived that it suffered big time.

Anyhow the Hungarians are definitely non combat capable due to a variety of factors - at least so their nominal CV suggests. Understrength German division with low supply have higher CV than fully rested fully CCP'ed Hungarian divisions...

Here the Soviets not only pounded savagely the line of Germans, destroying even more tanks (Tigers inclusive) but have made a firm presence with hard hitters of the Guard and I can see cavalry unit (probably more) ready to exploit once a hole is made.

[AlbertN]

T90 - Moscow Sector

The Germans try to push and shove in this sector, by now the ideal is to attack where it appears favorable.
But it seems the German forces despite winning do not really achieve grand results.

In one circumstance they get a bloodied nose as well failing to advance.

There was a significative X as defensive factor. But it was 'only' a Cavalry Corp and the fortified zone; plus some SUs into it. Alas it has not worked out.

Kimchi on the other hand was seized and there is a minor advance in the north.

Potentially if things went better I could have unleashed the 4th Panzer Army (in truth Infantry army by now) that laid siege to Leningrad and is marching by.

[AlbertN]

T90 - The North

The Russians here try to gain 'troops' for other fronts, splitting their Rifle Corps to form divisions.

The 1st German Corp, pride of the Army and with a very high morale still jumps on 2 of said Soviet divisions, scattering them to the wins.

The Soviet losses are pretty low though.

North of the 1st German Corp the defenders are pratically down to regiments - there are some mix of Soviet forces up there still, cavalries and the like.

[AlbertN]

T90 - Tambov Sector

Here the Soviets attacked - there is no screenshot. They got beated down but the German troops that 'held' were mauled too.
The 2nd attack is just a pure artillery barrage that inflicted some casualties and alas there was no coutnerbattery fire at all from German end.

The Rocket Artilleries did their dirty job and that's it.

German troops got shuffled around, here we keep a defensive postures for the Sovhets have mighty forces fielded!

[AlbertN]

T90 - Don River Bend

The Germans performed a huge amount of counterattacks there - well, HUGE... a variety!
But I sinned of gluttony. In my being casual I've sent 3 Panzer Divisions to attack some retreated corps. And booyah, they hammered the Soviet infanteries that were already battered.

BUT I miscalculated the movement points or well ... have not paid enough attention. And now 1 panzer division will be stuck there.

I've to decide ... if to slip away with the other 2, or keep them all there.

[AlbertN]

T90 - Caucasus

West of the Lake Manych the Romanians shoo'ed Soviet cavalry unit.
The enemy may be scouting the weakmost zone of the whole front there.

South Romanians in the mountains dislodge another Russian brigade trying to infiltrate the perimeter.

A panzer pointee with italian alpini support repel away cavalry scouts. Further exploration stumbles in a Rifle Corps, that is just avoided as the axis forces return at the starting positions, just more tired.

[AlbertN]

T91 - Logistic Nightmares continued

I cannot really get a grip of why the system behaves that way.

Rhyazan got freight, but somehow decides to serve units far far away from it.
Because Tula that got freight too serves the one by Rhyazan.

And Kukinka somehow serves troops further off.

Logic would be that Kubinka serves the ones at the east of Kubinka, that Rhyazan serves the ones around it and Tula then fills the gaps ...

Some distance check and prioritization should be there but seems not.

It's entirely counter intuitive that there are triangulations like the Tula-Rhyazan one.

That aspect is really frustrating me.

[AlbertN]

T91 - Logistic Nightmare continued

Germans not only gets beated - which well was expected, at least for the Panzer Divisions, that got stuck in a rather exposed position.

They simply do not receive adequate supplies. Axis supply tickers are all orange and red... and I've no solution for it except to fall back maybe to broader railroads.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: AlbertN

T91 - Logistic Nightmares continued

I cannot really get a grip of why the system behaves that way.

...

That aspect is really frustrating me.
...

your depot layout and priorities is almost perfectly designed to stop depot-depot freight moves and thus force units into long unit-depot traces. In that layout Tula should be 3 (at most) since its not acting as a storage site due to unit-depot demands, so get the freight up the front line depots, there are others where you could rework priorities with some use.

given that everything is 3 or 4 with no real distinction as to why, then yes, you are inviting the system to make some fairly random decisions as it unpicks what you want to happen

[AlbertN]

T92 - Hungarian Sector

Russian gains here are relatively small.

It is quite astonishing they hammered exactly where the few German divisions are because north of it there is a line of regiments; and south of it pratically a thin line of Hungarian forces that are not exactly combat ready...

Two fresh German divisions arrived from the West and that 15.46 Panzer division arrived from the reserved, being full compliment and all (Factually it was parked in Norway for a long while).

The German combat efficiency here seems to take long to recover, once units suffered their mauling.

[AlbertN]

T92 - Hammerings and Poundings

Here the Soviets just shanked an amount of German infanteries one after the other til the last combat where they got stalled.

German staying power is definitely compromised where troops that were combat ready and integer like the mountain division, got down to a nominal 2 CV.

Mud should be about to save my posterior, I hope...

[AlbertN]

T92 - SS Holdout

Here a Russian massacre.

I am not complaining on the result BUT I do have noticed that the 'Panzer-Infantry-Type' are pretty crap.
Not the first time I notice it, supposedly these guys are among the cream of the cream of German infanterie type, and their performances seems to me many times under what I'd expect them to have.

With their small numbers the Panzer Grenadiers or Panzer Pioneer or MG Sections would not have affected the global outcome much.
Even Motorized squads do not seem to do that well.

The riflemen of the Infanterie Division present here have outperformed the SS troops in fact.

Nonetheless, here the Soviets have tried to best what I suspect is one of the strongest German hexes of the whole front. Definitely satisfied with the final outcome and I hope that Guard Infantry Corps can get mauled too during my turn.

But it's late and about sleep time so my turn will wait tomorrow!

[Rosseau]

Very nice AAR. Regarding the Panzer-Infantry, I am looking forward to the update that allows us to modify "devices" to our choosing. It has been a long wait, but I know Mr. Helpless on this forum works very hard on everything he does! Best wishes to him. Sorry to interrupt. [;)]