Bish Bash Boche - A 41 GC JB (A) & Veterin (S)

[jasonbroomer]

This will be a joint AAR delivered with a 6 turn delay.

House rules: No paradrops, amphibious landings, spam GA/NP and no motorisation after turn 1. No farming guards from airborne units.

T1 Axis

Airwar:

I used the preprogrammed airwar directives, made some very minor modifications such as bombing Oddessa a bit harder. A bit expensive losing 140 odd planes for 3700 Soviets. The attrition continued after completing t1:

AI air war result.png (1.26 MiB) Viewed 4135 times

Seems quite a reasonable outcome and saves a lot of fiddling around. I lost 30-40 bombers unnecessarily, leaving on GS out of fighter range

I haven't saved many pictures from the first turn (an oversight) but a better guide is Tyronec's AARs on what is possible with the Axis. I am getting better but still made some mistakes.I think need to think harder about combat delays. Usiing his example, I redirected some of 2Pz south to help reach the outskirts of Proskurov.

Where I differ is that in the centre, I like to infiltrate the Bailystok pocket. This gets my troops moving forward and allows me to close it down very quickly on t2 as all the retreat routes are closed for the Soviets.

T1 infiltrating the Bailystok pocket.png (3.77 MiB) Viewed 4135 times

[Veterin]

Hi all,

As Jason mentioned, we will be doing a joint AAR providing both perspectives as the game progresses

T1 - Soviet Perspective

1.png (2.28 MiB) Viewed 4090 times

2.png (1.8 MiB) Viewed 4090 times

A very strong opening turn by JB. In AGN, motorised elements are well on their way to Talin/Pskov and around AGC the Minsk pocket is secured with good progress made towards Smolensk. It was an oversight on my end around a house rule on temporary motorisation so this turn does include 3 infantry divisions that were moritised. JB was happy to have a late addition on house rules so no more temporary motorisation will occur.

3.png (1.11 MiB) Viewed 4090 times

A strong opener in AGS too with the rail to Tarnopol safely secured and the spearhead reaching all the way to Proskurvov allowing for fast movement of the infantry next turn via administrative movement bonus. As can be seen across all fronts, JB makes heavy use of regimented units in securing flanks so i suspect i'm not going to get many opportunities for heroic calvery/airborn charges behind the frontlines, cutting of Axis supply for a turn.

4.png (55.71 KiB) Viewed 4090 times

Overall manpower losses at 225k for T1 but the more concerning element is how many units are pocketed and will surely perish next turn. There is a further 510k manpower pocketed along with 8.2k guns and 2.8k tanks. I will need to pick my battles carefully across the next few turns as i need to counter overextended morotised/panzer units otherwise Axis will be in the Urals by summer!

Soviet Airforce
Everyone manages their Airforce differently but there are a few things i like to do on turn 1 that saves me time on later turns. I thought i'd share my approach here:

- Turn all air units over to rest. The VSS is no chance against the LW in the early turns when the LW is well supplied outside of Soviet territory with most soviet units having low morale on T1.
- Go through each Air Front and identify Air Groups that have a low number of aircraft in it. These are mostly the ones that were bombed on T1 however there are other units too
- For those units, i reassign them to North Caucasus Air Command and do so through the entire VSS
- Once i've done this on all units, i then select all NC AC units and move them towards Baku and surrounding airports.
- Set NC AC for "Rest" and "Restricted". We do not want planes/pilots filling up these empty shells until we can adequately fill them.
- Regroup all other air units under comparable groups. For example, i dont want MIGs, YAKs and i-series planes in the same air group, i want them all grouped into like for like groups. I generally only do so for the non i-series planes as the i-series are terrible no matter what you do with them.
- For all other on map aircraft units, make sure they're at Airports where they are safe from Axis advance but close enough to the action to be used if needed.
- I've recently started sending Long Range bombers to the TB as i haven't found a good use for them on map.

[jasonbroomer]

T2

T1 is becoming somewhat scripted for those following AARs although there are plenty of technical complications to overcome. I did't go into this game with much in the way of strategic aims other than having avoided Leningrad entirely in my first game (https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 2&t=383429), I thought I might fancy a taste of it this time just to see how tough it is to crack (I usually manage versus the AI).

T2 is when I really begin to formulate where I might go in reaction to the other player's first turn

AGN/C

Review of T1

T2 Careless to allow blocking moves such as these.png (3.73 MiB) Viewed 4044 times

All my main pockets held but I was a bit careless to allow the joining up of pockets between Vilnus and Minsk as it will slow my rail road repairs by a hex or two, full marks to Veterin for seizing the opportunity.

T2 Functioning rail line from Riga.png (1.84 MiB) Viewed 4038 times

Amazing results from the rail recovery. A complete line eastwards from Riga

Air recon was very revealing. Hat tip to Stamb https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... n#p4991085 for teaching me how to do it

T2 Air recon suggests route open east of Pskov.png (2.09 MiB) Viewed 4044 times

This very much suggests that Leningrad is on

T2 Air recon suggests Land Bridge is undefended.png (1.18 MiB) Viewed 4044 times

The Land Bridge looks undefended and I view this as an open invitation

[jasonbroomer]

T2 AGN/C cont...

So off 4th Pz set, poised to outflank Pskov

T2 Considering outflanking Pskov.png (2.55 MiB) Viewed 4036 times

The Baylystok pocket got squished. The secret here is to block off retreat paths.

T2 SBailystok pocket largely cleared on T2.png (3.97 MiB) Viewed 4040 times

Regiments will clear many things with deliberate attacks against most things though occasionally, you'll need divisional strength to clear marshes. I try to use my most rearward units to expended their CPP/MPs in doing these attacks, allowing the forward units to march on. Some of the rearward units can be kept behind later to recover and be railed forward later - the full force of the army is not really required before t10 and it also saves on supply lines.

T2 Invitation to sieze Land Bridge accepted.png (2.07 MiB) Viewed 4040 times

Invitation to take the Land Bridge accepted

[jasonbroomer]

AGC/S

Review of turn

T2 Gomel looks busy.png (2.03 MiB) Viewed 4035 times

I don't fancy what is lurking around Gomel if my air recon is correct, let's try somewhere else.

I had a small broken pocket just where AGC meets AGS. Normally the cavalry division seals this off but I had sent it off to the marshes (with hindsight I don't recommend that).

T2 Broken pocket shouldn't matter.png (2.19 MiB) Viewed 4035 times

Fortunately this is easily resealed and can be dealt with next turn.

T2 Avoiding a combat delay in an important hex - FBD etc.png (2.45 MiB) Viewed 4035 times

AGS advance had made good progress eastwards but I'd had to leave a couple of Russians sitting on the rail line. This need to be ejected carefully to avoid combat delays but nevertheless my repair progress will be slightly impeded.

T2 Southern front bagged.png (2.11 MiB) Viewed 4035 times

I was very pleased with what I managed to do in the very south. Little, if any of the Soviet southern front line will get away.

[Hardradi]

Did you manage to connect the 1st Panzer Group and Army Group Antonescu?

Good job on pocketing the Soviet Southern Front units.

[jasonbroomer]

Did you manage to connect the 1st Panzer Group and Army Group Antonescu?

Good job on pocketing the Soviet Southern Front units.

Yeah! I forgot to take screens for that, as I kind of that that for granted. IIRC I managed to do this slightly east of the most obvious n-s route which trapped a couple of extra units.

Taking control of Axis is rather like being given the keys to an expensive sports car, it’s very powerful but easy to trash if you go too hard. It takes experience to learn how far to push it. I’m still in the formative stage

[Hardradi]

Excellent. Your opening is looking pretty solid so far.

Have you set up your Baltic shipping routes either from Danzig or Koeingsberg?

[jasonbroomer]

Bay of Danzig ports all go to priority 4 till they fill up, so Stettin in Germany is the initial one.

I've also run some light naval patrols for the Irbe Strait, the access point for the Bay of Riga. This is to negate the interdiction from Kuressaare. I've not done this before but it seems to have worked well. We're at turn 8 so far and I still have 14 cargo ships running in the Baltic which I think is higher than previous games (can anyone else provide a comparison?) and must be good for supply ferrying.

[Veterin]

Did you manage to connect the 1st Panzer Group and Army Group Antonescu?

Good job on pocketing the Soviet Southern Front units.

It was a very strong opening across all fronts. I haven't seen that done to the Southern Front before but i suspect it will become the new norm

[Veterin]

Having just seen JB's turn 2 write up, no wonder he was advancing so well in AGN. That rail recovery near Riga on turn 2 is very strong. Were there even any hexes that needed repairing?

T2 Soviet Perspective

1

1.png (161.49 KiB) Viewed 3953 times

Almost 500k losses this turn with a large amount of guns/SU’s given i was unable to break the Minsk pocket on turn 1. The T1 pockets have been closed aggressively so the infantry will be free too advance quickly without worrying about any breakouts from the pockets. Another turn of low tank losses for my opponent too.

2

2.png (1.6 MiB) Viewed 3953 times

Enemy forces pushing east of Pskov providing fast admin movement for infantry next turn. Usually i expected the enemy to move around Pskov for encirclement but this advance came further east than i was anticipating. I will need to slow axis down as I have little defence between Pskov and Leningrad at this stage. The majority of my infantry reserves to build up defence around the Luga line and will add a large number of engineer sapper battalions when they become available on turn 5 to build up entrenchment. At this rate, i won't have enough time to establish a decent defensive line though.

3

3.png (1017.86 KiB) Viewed 3953 times

It's only turn 2 but panzer/motorised elements are already at the gates of Smolensk. These units have been broken down to regiments and are likely low on fuel/supply looking at their CV values. I will need to do what i can to attack these units this turn even though i don't have much in the area yet.

4

4.png (244.81 KiB) Viewed 3953 times

On turn 1 I was selective in which units I put in refit. An example is this unit right next to the Smolensk deposit that had high experience (for soviets in 1941 anyway). I targeted my highest exp units for turn 1 refit to give me the optionality in counterattacking early.

[Veterin]

T2 Soviet Perspective (cont..)

5

5.png (1.47 MiB) Viewed 3951 times

This is an unexpected advance east towards Gomel as its through poor terrain and doesn't follow the double rails/road. Whilst axis is close to Gomel so early, supply could be a challenge as there is no west/east rail where they have advanced this turn and there is a lot of difficult terrain for supply to trace over.

6

6.png (2.61 MiB) Viewed 3951 times

The extremely quick advance from AGN/AGC required me to pull some units back into reserve from the south so I can reinforce those critical areas. The south will be reinforced over time but I want to prioritise the other theatres first. I did not do a good job of getting more units out of the pocket that was forming so have a number of encircled tanks/mech units this turn.

7

7.png (489.7 KiB) Viewed 3951 times

As mentioned earlier, this was an extremely fast advance towards Smolensk and with the divisions broken up into regiments, i had to do what i could to add a cost for losing so much ground by turn 2. I made 4 counter attacks on motorized/panzer units near the land bridge and managed to cut the spearheads stopping their supply for next turn. In any event, supply lines would be so close to the German border at this stage they probably wouldn't have received supply anyway. These counter attacks including ~40 tank losses from the 3/12th Panzer Division bringing that regiment below half strength AFVs as well as removing CPP in the regiments that were forced to retreat.

[jasonbroomer]

Having just seen JB's turn 2 write up, no wonder he was advancing so well in AGN. That rail recovery near Riga on turn 2 is very strong. Were there even any hexes that needed repairing?

Just Riga. Quite remarkable.

[jasonbroomer]

T2 Soviet Perspective (cont..)


7.png

As mentioned earlier, this was an extremely fast advance towards Smolensk and with the divisions broken up into regiments, i had to do what i could to add a cost for losing so much ground by turn 2. I made 4 counter attacks on motorized/panzer units near the land bridge and managed to cut the spearheads stopping their supply for next turn. In any event, supply lines would be so close to the German border at this stage they probably wouldn't have received supply anyway. These counter attacks including ~40 tank losses from the 3/12th Panzer Division bringing that regiment below half strength AFVs as well as removing CPP in the regiments that were forced to retreat.

Yeah I got a bit too aggressive here. Heyho, yet another learning experience

[jasonbroomer]

T3 - Axis thoughts on Soviet T2

T3 AGC.png (2.74 MiB) Viewed 3888 times

Yes, I was a bit caviller about charging in outside of Smolensk. Now to think what to do about it, I can either entrap them or rout them out of the way.

A further irritation happened on the northern end of the Bialystok pocket, just west of Minsk, where a Soviet escaped to regain a rail hex that I am about to convert. Especially vexing is that it is a marsh hex too.

T3 Good move here to slow down rail repair.png (1.21 MiB) Viewed 3885 times

It may appear small beer, but time of the rail repair units is so valuable I'm kicking myself that an otherwise dead unit managed to slow one of my FDBs down by a few MPs. Good play by Veterin

[jasonbroomer]

T3 Axis AGC

In the Land Bridge, I decided to encircle the counter attacking Soviets and rout them away.

T3 Decided to surround and rout.png (3.48 MiB) Viewed 3881 times

Further down, as Veterin mentioned in his last post, I made a detour around Bobruisk on the way to Gomel as there just looked to be too many units in tricky terrain. There are two major rivers to cross and only one if you go via the marshes. Perhaps this is just inexperience on my part as those defences might have been brushed aside.

I'm not sure how much of 3rd Pz got the pushed towards Leningrad, but when I was sorting out my commands, 2nd Pz ended up with only a handful of units, so I am a bit under strength in the centre. SS Viking has been reallocated to 2nd Pz (still showing 3rd Pz colours in this picture), in exchange for Totenkopf which had been sent south on T1, but this had only just arrived.

T3 Detour north of Gomel.png (2.77 MiB) Viewed 3881 times

Yeah, I will lose trucks but I'd rather outflank good defensive terrain than fight in it. So enough, the path through Bobruisk was opened and I jumped back on to the road and got passed the river crossings nicely.

[jasonbroomer]

T3 Axis AGN

T3 AGN.png (3.59 MiB) Viewed 3875 times

Air recon suggested that the path to the east of Pskov was largely undefended, some 4th Pz decided to flank the city and brush aside any opposition that got in the way.

[jasonbroomer]

T3 Axis AGS

1st Panzer continued in its thrust eastwards, as the earlier pockets got either reformed or consumed. Even the Romanians got some wins. Yeah go-go boys!

T3 AGS.png (1.76 MiB) Viewed 3867 times

We also got close to Kiev and bagged a further sizeable pocket. I seem to recall doing this in my first game, so I think it is difficult for the Soviets to lose something here.

T3 A nice pocket south of Kiev.png (2.37 MiB) Viewed 3866 times

[Veterin]

T3 - Soviet Perspective

JB continues his advance at lightning speed across the motherland.

1

1.png (2.42 MiB) Viewed 3830 times

In AGN front, he Luga line is reached before It can be adequately defended. A lot of my reserves from last turn went here so I’m hoping to push back some of the overextended regiments. Some motorised elements that I thought were moving towards Velike Luki this turn have pivoted north. It is now clear that Leningrad is the primary objective. I don’t think it will be possible to hold Leningrad given how much ground has already been taken. Based on my previous games played, this is the furthest i've seen anyone advance in the north by turn 3 and i think the decision to bypass Pskov for further land gain as the right one (Pskov will fall next turn anyway).

2

2.png (1.51 MiB) Viewed 3830 times

Axis AGC has crossed the Dnepr south of Smolensk. As of last turn it wasn’t clear if they would go north or south of the land bridge but from this turn it’s clear. Counterattacks will be made on the spearhead as well as reinforcing the southern advance to slow down Smolensk encirclement. Infantry would still be a few turns away so despite having weak units in the area, i know that i will not have to deal with Axis infantry yet.

3

3.png (1.24 MiB) Viewed 3830 times

Counterattacks are made by my best infantry/tanks/mech divisions on a number of the panzer regiments with ~100 AFV losses inflicted. 2 security regiments (white units) are moved directly to hug axis units to remove the CPP bonus as I noticed that after flipping hexes, some units had moved back from the frontline, likely to accrue CPP in Assault stance for the next phase. I would love to attack the 2-2 motorised regiment just south west of my counterattacks which would isolate a number of panzer regiments however I don’t have enough units south of the axis advance towards Smolensk yet. In any event, if i were to attack this unit, none of the units i use to attack will make it out alive as they wouldn't have the MP after attacking.

I have redeployed a large number of infantry from my reserve to map this turn, mostly to AGN/AGC theatre and ~8 divisions to SW front. Anything less than 80% TOE and/or less than 40 exp I’ve kept in reserve for now. I may need to bring these onto the map earlier than I’d like depending on how the next few turns go. Most of my initial manpower surplus will be used up by the end of this turn with only ~100k per turn for replenishing units.

I don't have a screenshot of AGS but as JB showed in his turn 3 write up, he was able to create a good pocket near Vinnitsa. I should have been more conservative with these units given his pace of advance. My defence in AGS is very limited and will need to be heavily reinforced over time or i will bleed a lot of VP here.

[jasonbroomer]

T3 - Soviet Perspective

JB continues his advance at lightning speed across the motherland.


3.png

Counterattacks are made by my best infantry/tanks/mech divisions on a number of the panzer regiments with ~100 AFV losses inflicted. 2 security regiments (white units) are moved directly to hug axis units to remove the CPP bonus as I noticed that after flipping hexes, some units had moved back from the frontline, likely to accrue CPP in Assault stance for the next phase. I would love to attack the 2-2 motorised regiment just south west of my counterattacks which would isolate a number of panzer regiments however I don’t have enough units south of the axis advance towards Smolensk yet. In any event, if i were to attack this unit, none of the units i use to attack will make it out alive as they wouldn't have the MP after attacking.

"CPP are gained at the end of the friendly movement phase." so there was no point moving up those SEC units, although they did slow me down a little