T00 Events

[popejohnpaul]

This is what it looks like around Sevastopol right now. I've managed to isolate some of the Soviet defenders and I plan on liquidating them while driving for the port at the same time. I need a lot more arty to be able to make any progress at all because of the extent of the dug-in status of the defenders. I brought most of the Stukas down here because of their superior CS capability. The rails are repaired all the way to the front lines so the supply situation isn't a major problem. The Romanians need bou cou arty to push their way through the Kerch Straits because of the fortresses that the Soviets have accumulated to defend there. I've been holding off attacking there because of the extent of the losses I would suffer. I've been bombing the defenders with my arty and the Romanian bombers but the only lossses from doing that are mine. It's getting a little frustrating.

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[popejohnpaul]

Here's the Odessa area right now. I've managed to get adjacent to the port and have been attacking with backup arty for about 11 consequtive turns now. The Soviet defenders in the hex are all 1-1's and the only thing allowing them to keep the hex is all the Soviet arty they have there. I have no idea how much longer it's going to take to own the place.

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[popejohnpaul]

Here's the Tula area right now. I've managed to surroound a larger group of Soviet units and I'm in the process of making them go away. My idea is to trap them against the major river north of them and pick them off one at a time. The rails are near so supply isn't a factor.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T37 round 2 and here's the Sevastopol area right now. I've managed to push closer to the port and I'm bringing more arty to the party. Odessa finally fell and so I brought all the RR arty over here. I have no idea how long it's going to take to capture Sevastopol but I have until 04Dec41 in order to gain the usage of the Bulgarians. The Kerch Straits is still a problem.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T39 round 1 and here's the front lines as they are right now.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T40 round 2 and this area toward the north, is where I'm making a lot of rapid progress and I think it's because the Soviet units are so sparse. My theater recon value is 25% which isn't very high but it appears to me that there's a lot of places where I can advance further faster and really get into the Soviet backfield. But there are probably units invisible to me sprinkled throughout the map to prevent such movement. IMHO there needs to be a change to the aircraft units in that they need a "recon" value with a range parameter to help reveal the map as they fly as well as where they are parked. As well as a "recon" mission that they could fly to take a look around in the enemy's backfield. With a chance of enemy interdiction for that recon mission. Also, I'd like to see a "night" bombing mission for the bombers. Less chance of a hit but no enemy fighter action(s). Unless it's a night fighter, in which case it would behove the attacker to assign night fighter escorts for the bomber(s) on those night bombing missions. And I'd like to see "strategic" targets for our bombers. Say that a certain amount of "damage" in a city might reduce the reinforcement rate for the city owner's side by a stated certain amount. Say a 1% decrease maybe.

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[popejohnpaul]

This is the Moscow area right now. I've managed to push slightly closer to the city and toward the south I've advanced almost up to the river / stop line that is my immediate goal right now. I expect the Soviet Winter Offensive any turn now. The ground is frozen and I expect the rivers to freeze over soon. But the rails are repaired all the way to the front lines so the supply levels are sufficient and then some. I have 20.5K HRS's assigned and 933 HRS's on hand but I'm still making 428 per turn and the Soviet rate has decreased to 635 per turn which is a lot less than 1,000+ they used to have.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T43 round 1 and this is an area out in the middle of nowhere. But it's illustrative of the kind of battles that are going on. My shock is 115 and the Soviet shock is 98 so I'm taking advantage of the difference while I can. The rails are repaired all the way out here so the supply levels are okie dokie. I've discovered something about Elmer that I didn't notice before. He tends to "go limp" with his units once I surround them and move my forward unis further forward putting the Soviet units in my far backfield. At least that's what seems to be going on. I'm trying to take advantage of that trait. Also, I've been giving some thought to defining some updated waypoints for my formations and letting Elmer move my units. I don't remember ever doing that and I'm thinking I might learn something new. I'll keep you guys posted.

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[popejohnpaul]

This is the area near Tula right now. I'm going to attempt to do a pincer kind of thing on a group of Soviet defenders around Tula. I think I have enough units in this AO to make that happen. We'll see. Please notice that the rails are repaired all the way up to the front lines. I've been keeping the Corps HQ units near the front because I expect the Soviet Winter Offensive to start any turn now and I'll need to use their arty to stand toe to toe with the Soviet units. The rivers have frozen over so I'll need to adjust my front lines to accomodate that potential. It's cold enough out here to freeze the nuts of the Wicked Witch of the West. Your words freeze after they leave your mouth so you have to speak louder to be heard. Barrels of fire are everywhere to allow everybody to warm their hands and upper bodies.

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[popejohnpaul]

This is the area near Voronezh right now. I've blown a hole in the Soviet lines and I'm going to try to roll up the flanks of the Soviet defenders. I'm more interested in killing the units than capturing Voronezh in this case. Near the mini-map in the lower righthand corner of this image please find the inset that I've pasted on top of the terrain image. Most of the progress I've made in this AO is due to how sparse the Soviet units are. Elmer is getting a boat-load of reinforcements every turn so he'll soon have enough bodies to form a solid front line and infiltrating will become harder to perform.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T43 round 3 and I've just now captured Sevastopol. I've been using three-dot attacks to plow a path to the port, rotating tired units with fresh ones and now all my seperate divisions are worn out and really tired. I'll need to give them an extended rest to fatten up and gain their supply again. But at least I get the use of the Bulgarians now. That almost compensates for all my losses getting there.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T45 round 2 and this is the Rostov area as it is right now. I've moved the Bulgarians ( green units ) into the front lines near Rostov and I intend to use them to push south through Rostov. They are a welcome addition to the Axis forces. The 11th Army is still mopping up near Sevastopol and will be for another turn or two. After Sevastopol is clear of enemy units I'm going to use the Romanians to push through the Kerch Straits.

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[popejohnpaul]

This is the area near Novy Oskol as it is right now. I'm going to try to drive a recon unit through the Soviet backfield to cut them off from their supply source(s) thus making it easier to take down the Soviet defenders. The question is are there any Soviet units to prevent such a movement or is it really a simple empty field between my recon unit and the major river to his north.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T45 round 4 and this is the area near Moscow as it is right now. I've created a salient on the south edge of the front lines around the city and if I can continue the push it might give me an advantage somehow that I can exploit. I have idea when the Soviet Winter Offensive will start but I expect it any turn now.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T46 round 4 and this is the area near Babayevo as it is right now. AGN is fighting it's way along the road from Leningrad to Moscow and they've run into some resistance. I think I have enough troops in this AO to surround them and destroy them in two or three turns and then I'll be on my way SE again.

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[popejohnpaul]

Hey everybody: On the first turn of the game I railed OKH to Konginsburg and then dismounted it to give the trucks to some other unit since I thought I'd leave OKH there until after I had captured Minsk and then move it to there to take advantage of the situation of multiple airfields close together. To remount OKH I unchecked the dismount box but it's getting close to turn 50 and OKH still doesn't have it's trucks and it's MP's are 1 of 1. I would have thought it would have gained it's trucks back since there's 6K+ of them in the pools so I'm wondering what else I need do to allow it to get some mobility again. anybody know?

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T47 round 1 and I just now captured Rostov. I sneaked ( snuck ? ) an engineer unit across the river(s) and just walked into an empty hex. And then I blew the bridge to protect my engineers a little bit. I'm pretty confident that I can get some support to that engineer unit within a turn or two. Something has come up that you guys deserve to know. I have only 18.9K HRS's assigned and 454 of them on hand. That's a lot lower than my target level and I fear for the worst during the upcoming SWO especially since the pestilance penalty is applied to the Axis side from now until...I'm not sure when it ends.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T47 round 6 and I just now captured Tula. I'm going to try to surround a large group of Soviet defenders as the first step in their destruction. I'm not at all sure I can make that happen. My units are getting worn out and I'm going to have to give them some rest soon.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T50 round 1 and I just now captured Rostov. I'm going to run the Bulgarians south through the city and approach the Kerch Straits to clear out the area of Soviet units. And then south to the oil rich areas. I've got 18.1 HRS's assigned and 565 HRS's on hand. The weather is clear but cold. I've been seeing a lot of Soviet units evaporate when they attack and I have reason to believe that it's because of my arty backup. Also, my aircraft have been doing a lot of CS which is helpful to say the least.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now the Soviet T50 round 1 and I just stopped their movement to take a look at their losses and I was astonished to discover that their production rate is now over 1K+ and I have no idea why or how long it's going to be that high. I'm wondering what caused it to go that high in the first place. I'll take a look at the events to see what gives.

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