Against the Grain – An Axis 1941 GC

[jasonbroomer]

These will be forthcoming from June 42. Just need to get more up to date. I'll cover off the blood bath in May when I'm in the mood

[jasonbroomer]

Early May

Week 1. The mud from the thaw begins to lighten although the whole map suffers from light mud, hey-ho we don't have time to wait. The Soviets had understandably isolated the motorised infantry division in Tambov which was about 60 miles ahead of the main German front line to the north (left hand side). 2nd Panzer continued with its planned southerly repositioning (i.e towards Tambov) and some forward elements reopened supply to the beleaguered motorised ID. We also did an airdrop to the unit, though the valuable freight planes suffered interception losses and only around 20 tons of supply got through.

Elsewhere, Kharkov was captured by elements of 1st Pz. 3rd Pz's offensive got underway to take Rzhev and pressure the left flank of Moscow.

The panzer elements of these formations were only half committed upto now, as they continued their refits after winter. AFV losses in 1941 were small (<1000) and a large stockpile of new kit had been accumulated. As already mentioned earlier, sadly some klutz had moved all the panzer replacement battalions from the national reserve to OKH sitting in Berlin. These immediately emptied the warehouses, leaving most of the replacement battalions with TOEs of 80%. Rather than 'spend' these useful formations kitting out frontline divisions, they were sent back to reserve and the pz divisions re-equipped using the stores built up in the front during the quiet early months of the year. A few panzer replacement battalions were at 100% TOE and were been employed as SU in places such as Model's elite VI Corps (part of 2nd Pz), which was composed exclusively of infantry.

2nd week May

2ndPz and 3rdPz's panzers were now largely fully operational. All 3 of the key SS units were concentrated in these formations, along with the other elite German formations ready for the thrust to Saratov.

The Soviets had re-surrounded Tambov. This was easily broken by elements of 2nd Pz, but the main thrust was south-westerly (i.e. downwards), joining up with 3rd Pz coming up the map.

w2 May 42 Voronezh encircled.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 1804 times

This envelopment trapped around 15-20 Soviet divisions.

Elsewhere, 3rd Pz had taken a relatively short step to capture Ryhev

[jasonbroomer]

3rd week May.

The embarrassment of losing an ungarrisoned Tambov and the envelopment of Voronehz had sent STAVKA into overdrive and formations were flung into action.

A furious counter attack led by cavalry corps once again surrounded Tambov, as well as a couple of the leading German divisions looking to reconnect with it . Attempts to penetrate 2nd Pz's encirclement of Voronehz failed, although a panzer division was badly mauled in one battle. For the first time, Guard corps were observed in the woods opposite Tambov but these were not committed.

w3 May 42 furious Soviet response.png (1.72 MiB) Viewed 1784 times

On the Moscow front, Soviet cavalry divisions infiltrated through the weak regimental screen in the Kalinin woods. While these inroads were deep (60-80 miles), they had been slowed by the difficult terrain and no key supply lines had been cut, nor had it been possible to cut off any Germans.

w3 May 42 Soviet Cavalry infiltration.png (5.11 MiB) Viewed 1782 times

This attracted an equally active Axis response. Firstly the Voronehz pocket was collapsed by elements of 3rd Pz and the 4th Army (from the left).

3rd Panzer's main mobile forces, led by Viking cut a pathway northwards and blocking retreat pathways from 2nd Panzers attacks. 2nd Panzer was now fully repositioned in the Tambov area and it was unleashed against the Soviet counter attack. Carnage ensued and the Soviets were crushed. One cavalry corps was destroyed and many more formations were badly mauled.

w3 May 42 Tambov, the Axis response.png (1.54 MiB) Viewed 1782 times

In the Kalinin woods, 1st Panzers refitting tanks were brought into action, as were the rapid response motorised divisions deliberately posted in this area in case of a situation such as a Soviet attack. These units spilt into regiments to cut off and contain the Cossacks, with the help of LW interdiction and later eliminated.

[jasonbroomer]

3rd week May '42 continued

In the south, 11th Army under assault status opened its campaign by giving the Russians a bloody nose on its attack on Stalino.

w3 May 42 11th Army.png (3.38 MiB) Viewed 1780 times

This week turned out to be a blood bath for the Soviets who suffered 440k casualties and upwards of 800 AFVs

[jasonbroomer]

Final two weeks of May

The Axis offensive continues across the front. Kalinin is captured, so in successive weeks Tambov, Kharkov, Rzhev and Kalinin fell. In the final week of May, 17th Army's failed attempt on Sevastapol blotted an otherwise wonderful haul of VPs during May.

At the same time 1m Soviet men have been dispatched and their OoB has fallen to around 6m despite the 250k bonus manpower that arrived during May. This was all achieved with light mud covering the battlefield. The Axis army, well supplied and managed is an impressive beast in early 1942.

I am conscious of the changes in NM that happens in early July and I need to continue to press as hard as I can in the coming weeks. Thankfully, the ground looks as if it will dry out in June.

I have now reached the stage where I have finally sorted out how to do map saves. The below are my first batch detailing some fronts in the final week of May. These maps will improve as we enter June.

[jasonbroomer]

t50AGN.png (6.57 MiB) Viewed 1767 times

The quiet AGN front, note that 4th Pz is no longer an assault army.

Around Tambov, the Soviets are obliged to deploy their Guard to plug the holes. There are 6 guard corps, so far the Soviets have had very few victories and this corps have been established around airborne units. MSAG and I agreed to limit the number to no more than 12 airborne conversions as this is what happened historically. I suspect that I might have been a little generous, as not all these historically converted units were divisions and I suspect that many in this game were green, freshly raised troops that had never seen battle.

They are of course a bit tough and OKH was unhappy with their position on the battlefield, so determined that they need removing. So probing revealed a weak link in the chain of them which allowed 2nd Guards to be isolated on t49. Coupled with 2 cavalry corps, this 33CV stack poised an attractive target.

Naturally, the soviets broke this pocket on t50

Action Around Tambov.png (2.69 MiB) Viewed 1754 times

[jasonbroomer]

T50 31 May 1942

It had been presumed that the Guards would be deployed around Moscow. Having been committed around Tambov and if the single line railway running through Ryzan was cut, it would leave only one single line railway operational if they were to be redeployed back to Moscow.

1st Panzer had made good headway to Kalinin and was now poised to pressure Moscow from the north. A plan was hatched for 3rd Pz to adopt Manstein's elite LVI corps from 2nd Pz and redeploy to attack Moscow across the Oka River. By T50, Model and his VI Corps had started his march to this front.

Meanwhile 4th Army started the new front with an attack across the fortified Oka line. Once a bridgehead was established over the Oka, 2nd Pz was ready to take over.

t50MoscowFront.png (5.77 MiB) Viewed 1757 times

The picture highlights the 78th ID was had just been attached to Model's elite VI Corps. The 78th is hidden away in the vast German army but is one of the best infantry divisions that it can field with a 90 base moral. Equipped with the right SUs and leadership, this unit is a potential powerhouse that I had overlooked till now and definitely needs to be placed in an assault army.

[Veterin]

An interesting AAR so far! Thanks for sharing it

[loki100]

I feel very jealous about your capture of Tambov ...

[jasonbroomer]

I feel very jealous about your capture of Tambov ...

I got a bit lucky to find it empty. I very nearly didn’t even try for it as if it were garrisoned the motorised unit would have been in a whole lot of trouble. Who dares wins!

[jasonbroomer]

T51

T51 Guards break free again.png (4.83 MiB) Viewed 1673 times

For the second time the Soviets break the pocket around the 2nd Guards and the Das Reich and 12th Panzer are forced to retreat under the withering fire of the virtually the entire Guards army. So we try again and pocket them a further time (helped by some deft retreat route planning which I don't have saves for), sadly the 2 cavalry corps slip away this time.

Totenkopf follows up with a revenge attack on the 1st Guards to seal the pocket.

t51 1st Guards given bloody nose.png (2.63 MiB) Viewed 1673 times

Meanwhile, a little to the south, fresh Panzer divisions are massed to prepare exploitation of the chaos caused by the battles with the Guards, while some motorised infantry start to roll up the flank.

t51 Fresh Pz divisions poised to exploit chaos caused by battles with Guards.png (2.59 MiB) Viewed 1673 times

[jasonbroomer]

T51 Continued

t51 In the south Axis advance to capture abandoned ground.png (1.83 MiB) Viewed 1670 times

and around Moscow, 2nd Panzer's advance units get knocked back.

T51 Soviets push back lunge to Moscow.png (3.19 MiB) Viewed 1670 times

as the Soviets abandon their fortified western Moscow line as it becomes threatened with encirclement

[jasonbroomer]

T51 SitRep

T51 Soviets have taken heavy losses since the end of winter.png (599.43 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

Loving this picture, pounding after pounding as I take advantage of the National Morale disparity. The 410k losses are comparable to losses in t2 when the initial pockets are collapsed (I have found a way to do this very quickly).

Sevastopol falls this turn, so VPs have shot up

T51 VPs begin to pick up.png (574.11 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

This means that I need 90 points for an early win October 1942. Moscow would be 60 and a further 30 could come from either Saratov, Stalingrad or the very possible combination of Ryzan+Stalino+Rostov. Stalino is already isolated and waiting for the 17th Army to return from Sevastopol to deal with it.

The Soviets are running out of ground that they can cede and must face the Axis onslaught. In the open, this is a nightmare for them and even in defensive terrain difficult to withstand a prepared offensive.

Casualties are beginning to mount for the Soviets. In early June, Soviet losses are running at a similar level to loki100's "Grundhilde gets Antsy" ARR at the same stage. The big difference is that Axis losses are running at only 60% of that level in my game:

T52 Losses update.png (414.56 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

Most of my infantry divisions are running with near 100% TOEs, which means they dish out a lot of punishment when they attack and are hard to shift in a counterattack. I also saves on supplies as replacements don't take up rail capacity (which can be significant I believe)

The airwar was very quiet in 1941, as my supplies struggled to keep up with the advance. It was very frustrating not been able to get my fighters to fly to intercept the annoying Soviet interdiction missions but now I have over 1000 trained pilots in the pool and plenty of fighters in the armoury. Currently, we still have supply stockpiles behind the front lines so we can afford to be active with the air war.

T52 Losses quiet air war.png (698.44 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

[loki100]

its always interesting to see where data points meet despite all the inevitable variations of play styles and patches. Does sometimes indicate a baseline outcome given some broad similarities of game. He does seem to have defended forward quite a lot and wonder if that has helped you a bit in that you can attack with force and relatively well supplied - or it maybe that you've been better at pocketing than I managed?

[Veterin]

its always interesting to see where data points meet despite all the inevitable variations of play styles and patches. Does sometimes indicate a baseline outcome given some broad similarities of game. He does seem to have defended forward quite a lot and wonder if that has helped you a bit in that you can attack with force and relatively well supplied - or it maybe that you've been better at pocketing than I managed?

I can vouch that Jasonbroomer certainly knows how to pocket well!

[jasonbroomer]

T52

South Tambov area, the Russian attempt to extract the 2nd Guard fails

T52 Soviet attempt to break pocket fails.png (2.32 MiB) Viewed 1569 times

and it is finally eliminated

T52 2 Guard finally eliminated.png (2.55 MiB) Viewed 1569 times

I'm not sure whether it was worth 3 turns to eliminate this unit, or whether I should have surrounded it and routed when I first had the chance 3 turns ago. At least this way the guard corps is gone for good.

Sadly, just south of here, the fresh panzers of 11th Army found that the Russians had successfully evaded the attemped encirclement, however their retreat provides me with another river line that I don't have to frontally assault.

Further South still, the Soviets counterattack in the Don Valley

T52 Soviet counterattack in Don Valley.png (2.59 MiB) Viewed 1569 times

Prompting a predictable Axis response and outcome

T52 Soviet counterattack in Don Valley gets spanked.png (2.56 MiB) Viewed 1569 times

[jasonbroomer]

T52 - Moscow fronts

In the north, 3rd Pz turns towards Moscow

T52 LIX Corps close win opens up the way tp Moscow from the north.png (3.04 MiB) Viewed 1562 times

Here the LIX gain a fine win despite 2 reserve activation on the Soviet side.

On the south, Model suffers a rare embarrassment

T52 Model's VI is held on the southern Mocow front.png (2.66 MiB) Viewed 1562 times

Germany's best leader, a full battle-ready infantry corps led by the finest Heer division (the 78th) and the full support of the LfW just wasn't enough to over come the outnumbered Russian defence, which admittedly was behind a minor river and sitting in a marsh.

I confess I was a little taken aback by this. The attached Russian rifle brigades were enough to swing the balance and the reserve activation helped too. This is a blot on Model's record, his 5th loss contrast with his 57 victories.

Hmm, taking Moscow will be no cake walk even if the Guards Army is entertained elsewhere

[jasonbroomer]

T53 west of Saratov and Stalingrad

The Axis allies are of no use to man or beast:

T53 allies can't be relied upon to do anything.png (2 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

They tried twice to tidy up this isolated unit. Eventually, a whole German regiment had to be called upon for the coup de grace.

11th Army punch a hole in the Soviet lines, first the infantry hit once to unsteady a Russian division(the screen shot shows the historic battle, the units had moved along by then).

T53 1.png (2.89 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

Then a fresh panzer division lands a second punch to shatter them.

T53 2 - a division shattered.png (1.62 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

A quieter turn for this front and we consolidate our position and set ourselves up for horrible things...

T53 not many battles but forcing him to retreat from river line.png (2.56 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

[jasonbroomer]

T53 Moscow

3rd Panzer continue to make progress from the north

T53 Northern attacks on Moscow.png (2.5 MiB) Viewed 1552 times

There are some heavy woods on the right side of 26th ID's flank, with some entrenched Russian defences. I don't fancy having to dig them out but they are stalling my CPP recovery programme and thus by extension my advance.

T53 Moscow attacks broadened to the west.png (2.29 MiB) Viewed 1552 times

There is a soft spot in the Russian defence that I can exploit below them which has an avenue of half open terrain. The Russians now have the choice of retreating the units in the woods or risk having them isolated, with Panzer poised on their flanks.

To the south, Model tries where he failed last turn and fails again This is just too much!

T53 Moscow south, oh that's a rifle corps!.png (2.61 MiB) Viewed 1547 times

Oh, that's a rifle corps now! At least Model's combat power wasn't modified too far down as it was last turn. At least the LfW had a good day.

I haven't come across any corps of those outside of a Guards unit, I guess I better get familiar with them. I'm not sure the best way to deal with them

T53 throw the kitchen sink at it.png (1.97 MiB) Viewed 1547 times

I guess I'll just throw the kitchen sink at it

T53 throw the kitchen sink at it.png (1.97 MiB) Viewed 1547 times

-It does the job. Phew!

[jasonbroomer]

T53

The Soviet OoB is finally back down to 6m

T53 OoB.png (500.33 KiB) Viewed 1536 times

It's taken a lot to achieve this