TI Strategy On How To Deal With Bialystok Area

[PeteJC]

I play as the Axis against the AI (grand campaign scenario). My strategy in dealing with the Soviet units around Bialystok (north, south & west) is to attack them on T1. I do this after the northern pincer of the 3rd Panzer Group and Southern pincer of 2nd Panzer Group are formed to Minsk BUT not yet closed and after the 1 cavalry division takes Kovel. By not closing the pocket and taking Kovel it ensures that when I attack the Bialystok units that they retreat to the Grodno, Mosty & Volkovysk area.

However, I believe there are players that prefer to not attack the units around Bialystok on T1 and wait until later so that the fortified units suffer 100% losses when they surrender, and it minimizes fatigue and CPP usage of the German divisions. In particular the 9th & 4th armies. I have always chosen to attack and take the Bialystok area as a way to get the 9th army moving east as quickly as possible and I do not like all the depots located in the Bialystok area that can keep the trapped units supplied for a turn.

I was curious to know what others do in regard to this as I am thinking about changing to a more passive approach. Also, will air superiority stop any air transport/supply missions into the Bialystok area. I have not much had much luck stopping air supply with AS but that was a while ago.

[AlbertN]

Roughly there are 2 different philosofies.

But opener wise there is a good guide in some AAR by Carlkay. QUite old but he explains the 'uncorking' moves.

I believe the main difference though is that during T1 German troops sneak around nicely, and do Hasty with 1 MP and Deliberate with 3 MP.
Also German units during T1 have 0 SMP which means they won't recover CCP at all.

Personally I prefer to shrink their perimeter, maul them good with 'cheaper' deliberate, and be able to make Hasty attacks to get rid of the leftovers during T2.

[loki100]

I suspect most people do a mix with some bias one way or the other. I tend to screen as on T2 unstacked FZ will often just surrender if you move next to them so thats a small saving in CPP etc - but then I mentally write off the CPP of the border units and just accept they will tend to a low value and stay there - which of course makes them very efficient for dealing with Soviet screens as a low CPP division can clear out pretty much anything and you save your rested units for the more critical battles.

But I tend to hunt out airbases with damaged planes, so I do some inroads into the region itself to snag them.

I mostly split the wider pocket into 2 so that the Minsk region is separated from BIalystok - I realise most don't but I'm always afraid of losing the encirclement of the outer/Minsk sector and this minimises the losses.

I guess the price I pay is I tend to only finally finish it all off about T4 and others can do this by T3 - so its not good/bad more a trade off that slots into your wider approach

[PeteJC]

Thanks for the input, guys. It is extremely tempting to break up all the security divisions and just ring the whole area. Then turn by turn nibble at the pocket until it disappears but I like to use those units to clear the swamp. By the time they leave on turn 7 they can pretty much clear all that dead space west, north and south of Ovruch. If I use the security units to reduce the pocket some of the regular army units will need to do that (of course it could just be ignored totally until a very large pocket surrounds the entire area later on). This allows 4th army to ignore the whole area and run to Bobruisk as quickly as possible to try to link with 3rd Panzer Group as soon as possible. I have a broader strategy of pushing as fast as I can to at least have a chance at a T16 VP check victory. So, speed ends up taking precedence for me but agree that there are multiple ways to take out the Bialystok area.

[AlbertN]

Where possible I try to have the SEC units round up as many fortified zones on T1 or team them up with a regiment if needs to be (for 10:1 business) - at least in center and north.

They both can save real infantry CCP and fatigue and effort - and train up to better perform later in the TB.
Stuff in the TB will stick to their Morale level so a SEC division that is at 80+ morale will remain at that level for long. While your troops on the map later on due to supply problems will simply drop from 80+ morale to 75ish (Defeats not counting).