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

[Veterin]

T21 - Soviet Perspective

1

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I take some fairly heavy losses across the map this turn. Often when soviet divisions retreat, if they attacked again they will pretty much always route and JB has used that to great effect this turn. Massed German Infantry and artillery take back the hex near Novgorod and the elite Totenkopf moves over the secure the hex. There will be no pushing Axis back of this hex anytime soon.

2

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Moving my troops forward from Kursk last turn was perhaps a mistake as Axis forces have counter attacked. This was supposed to be a strong point for me with 3 high TOE rifle divisions in a swamp hex however superior Axis manpower and guns made short work of it with a convincing 23:1 victory.

3

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I also took notes to report on this heroic cavalry division. With reserve activations my understanding is there is a higher chance of committing if MPs are high. Given i had a few tanks/mech divisions on reserve, do they have a higher chance to commit compared to infantry or is it based on SMP and not MP?

[Veterin]

T21 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

4

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As much as I would love to attack in Stalino, I just don’t have the CV to do so. All Axis frontline units are triple stacked divisions. There are at least 3 panzer divisions and 2 motorised divisions south of Stalino so I’ve shifted my defences further south as Axis forces north of Stalino aren’t attacking. The screenshot above is after I have moved for the turn. I’ve also moved a NKPS unit to Rostov this turn to make it into a super deposit. With so many units around Stalino, I’m having trouble keeping them all supplied (I’m sure Axis has the same problem but worse!)

As this screenshot shows, i had a lot of units on reserve activation this turn.

5

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I did unit recon of the Axis forces near Kerch and they have already entrenched to lvl 2-3 forts and have multiple units stacked. Looks like there are some Axis allies here so there still might be an opportunity for me to attack next turn. I bring more divisions out of my Kerch fortress ready to strike next turn. Given I am exposed on clear terrain without fortification levels, I place a large number of my units on reserve in the event of an Axis attack next turn.

[jasonbroomer]

T22 Axis

Much of the turn is spent redeploying forces from Leningrad and preparing for winter. Supplies and fortifications are being built up.

The exception to this is in the south where the weather usually arrives later thereby allowing more campaigning time.

We begin to deploy our assault assets and encirlce Stalino. It is obvious what is going on and that Vet has large forces in reserve in the area, so we are going in cautiously

T22 AGS attacks go in.png (2.87 MiB) Viewed 1826 times

For the moment we plug the encirclement with a motorised unit. I know this won't hold but the 16th MD should have the experience and speed to retreat with little cost

T22 AGS pocket won't hold though.png (3.38 MiB) Viewed 1826 times

Advanced units from the 11th army are arriving, and further forces are on there way.

I hope to take Stalino before winter sets in but I won't take it if I am unable to hold it.

[jasonbroomer]

T23 Axis AGN

Winter preparations continue. Around VL our planned operation to disrupt Soviet supply lines through the Kalinin forests commences. We have some nice agile motorised units in the area so hopefully we can launch deeper into the forest, if the blizzards hold off in December, and possibly take out a depot or two.

T23 AGN Raiding enemy and disrupting supply lines before winter.png (3.44 MiB) Viewed 1823 times

further south we conduct various raids to remove Soviet CPP and buy us a little more space

T23 AGC Raiding enemy to run down CPP.png (3.34 MiB) Viewed 1823 times

I am acutely conscious of how close Smolensk is to the front lines. We can't do much about this, although there is some decent defensive terrain between the city and the Soviets


Outside of Kursk, more raids to disrupt the Soviets. Note that 3 Pz has set up a level 1 fortification line to operate from, while the main winter line is begin prepared behind them. By the middle of December, this should become an imposing defensive line.

T23 AGCS Raiding enemy to run down CPP.png (3.57 MiB) Viewed 1823 times

[jasonbroomer]

T 23 Axis AGS

As expected the 16th MD is ejected but we resurround the city with greater strength. Supply is an issue for the area especially for the besiegers, ammunition in particular is a problem.

T23 AGSS Raiding enemy to run down CPP.png (3.6 MiB) Viewed 1819 times

I have finally resorted to bringing up a FBD to D'town and a super depot will begin next turn for this first time in the game.


To the NE of D'town, we spy a rare opportunity to make use of a Rom ID with full CPP. Eyeing up the weakened soviet division, 6-8 versus 2-2, similar morale, I'll throw in some SUs to help. Can we continue the success we have had with using our allies so far?

T23 Use of Rom Item 7.png (1.02 MiB) Viewed 1819 times

err no!

T23 AGS Use of Rom Item 7 - err No.png (3.19 MiB) Viewed 1819 times

I needed some German SUs.

A lot of them

And a German division.


We are now in the second half of November. The situation is about to change materially. I don't have screen shots till T27, so I will pass the lead baton on this ARR over to Vet.

[Veterin]

T22 - Soviet perspective

1

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There’s a blizzard covering half the front which is great for raising snow levels. Unfortunately, next week is forecast to be clear skies so it we won’t be seeing any lvl 8 snow hexes just yet ☹

Most of the front was relatively quiet with a few overpowering attacks on a few soviet units and an isolation of a rifle division near Velikie Lukie. There are at least 2 motorised divisions in the area likely from the Leningrad front so I need to work out if they’re staying around VL or moving towards Vyzama for the winter.

2

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A lot of action in the south. I was expecting the push south of Stalino but I wasn’t on the northern end as well. 5 divisions are now isolated in the Stalino pocket but I think I should be able to break it for 1 turn as there is a ~5 CV motorised division holding one of the sides. This has been a very interesting struggle although I am certainly on the back foot. Looking forward to the harsh winter to help level the playing field. One of the many things JB is doing well at is his support units. He’s not just leaving them in HQs and relying on chance he is directly attaching a large number of SUs to units in key sectors. Looking at the attacks he made last turn around Stalino, it looks like every unit is pretty much max SU’s attached in addition to HQ support. Stalino will fall in the next turn or 2 but I’m glad that I’ve stalled out the VP bonus.

3

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As I’ve pulled forces away from north Stalino and moved them further west over the last 2 turns, I have enough forces in the area to attack the flanks of the Axis advance. 3 attacks are made and subsequent to this screenshot I have pulled my units back as far as I can. There will likely be some counterattacks on my weakened units next turn but that’s ok. I want Axis forces moving around rather than entrenching at the moment. Some units may even be peeled from the Stalino push as I am relatively close to cutting the double rails from this attack (although I won’t be able to do so, hopefully the risk alone cause JB to pull units back).

4

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Defence after I pull back my counterattacking units. One division is left behind due to no MP left (silly me!). If this unit is encircled next turn then I might have another opportunity for a counter attack although all my units in the area are now less than half CPP.

[Veterin]

T22 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

5

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The single motorised division is attacked and pushed back, opening up the pocket. I only used 1 rifle division from within the pocket as I want to move 2 of them into the hex I’ve just taken. The pocket will be easily closed next turn but that’s 2 more rifle divisions that will escape unless the pocket is further widened (which it probably could be given my weakening defences in the area).

6

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I decide to pull my forces back south of Stalino as I am heavily outnumbered and even more severely outgunned. Whilst Axis supply lines would be stretched, I can’t be careless or I won’t have enough strength for a winter counteroffensive. I’m struggling to get enough supply in the area so im assuming Axis forces are having a similar issue.

7

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I was hoping to put some pressure on Crimea over the next few weeks but with defence like that in lvl 3 forts, I don’t think I can. I pull my units back for now and I’ll wait until the harsh winter to reconsider.

8

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It’s a shame this beast will disband on turn 24. It’s up near Leningrad and the line is largely static so looking like I won’t get an opportunity to use it. Almost 17CV on attack! Just shows how strong some units can be when they’re well supplied and full CPP.

[Veterin]

T23 - Soviet Perspective

1

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With the “Iran is secure” event on T23, I can now pull more units out of the Transcaucasus TB. This follows the “Sorge Spy Ring” event on T14 which lowers the TB requirements in the Far East. Up until Dec 1941 where the Soviets receive a one-off +500k manpower bonus, a lot of the growth in the red army comes from new reinforcements on map/TB as well as transfers from the TBs to the map.

2

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What looked like an opportunistic attack last turn around Vekikie Lukie has turned into an Axis offensive with infantry/motorised units continuing to push north along the double rails. Last turn I started redeploying some units to this area as I was understrength here so they will arrive just in time. Both Rhzev and Khalin will yield no bonus points anymore if they fall however the further Axis start their 1941 summer offensive away from those VP the better as this defends the western approach to Moscow.

3

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Some great play by JB this turn around Kursk. Most axis would just sit back and hunker down a few turns out from winter but JB made a number of spoiler attacks on my front-line last turn. He used overwhelming force so his kill/loss ratio were favourable and this also sets my offensive back in the area.

4

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Stalino pocket is reclosed this turn and my forces south of Stalino have been pushed back further so it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to reopen the pocket this turn. Last turn I had a NKPS resting in Stalino so I pulled a massive 47k freight to the deposit (37k of which is still stored). This sector has been low on freight for a number of turns so It’s nice to build a surplus before the winter offensive.

[Veterin]

T23 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

5

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6

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As I expected panzer/motorised elements to attack my defences south of Stalino. I used some Tank divisions defensively rather than holding them back for counter offensives. Most Axis infantry in the area wouldn’t have had the MP’s to move and make a deliberate attack last turn which is why I expected Panzer/motorised units to make up most of the firepower. Not withstanding the standard lopsided kill/death ratio of most battles in 1941, there was enough destruction/damage to Axis AFVs that I was happy with the trade especially when most of my AFV losses were T26 M1937 and BT-7 M1937, obsolete models that do not get used in the Soviet tank brigade TOE.

7

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I tried to attack a weakened infantry division that had a corps HQ but I failed. I must have had too low a detection level as the division looked a lot weaker on the map compared to this battle. Usually I try and attack with 2.5 times CV which gives me a reasonable win rate but I was way of on this attack.

8

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I have more luck further south with 2 attacks on axis forces in the area routing a Romanian reserve infantry division. With so many triple stacked axis divisions around Stalino, the axis forces around Kharkov appear light so I have pushed forward with 2 armies following these attacks. Last turn I moved my NKPS to Kharkov and will keep it there this turn for a super deposit. Going to need all the freight I can get for this offensive. I may have been overly aggressive this turn so lets see if my forward units are attacked. I’ve kept my units as single division on hexes rather than stacking so I can limit the damage if there are counterattacks. I’m on clear terrain without fortifications so stacking units in hexes just gives the Axis forces soviet forces to destroy for the same amount of MPs. I think there is an opportunity to put more pressure on in this area. The 9th TD that you can see at the front circled in orange actually withdraws on t24 which is why I decided to use it now. I’m not sure if it disbands at the end of my turn or at the start of my next turn but in any event, any axis counter attack on it won’t hurt me much other than destroying some ground elements.

[Veterin]

T23 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

9

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As I attacked with these two armies last turn, I decided not to try and attack again this turn. I moved some forces around so I can get increased CPP regeneration. These armies are also part of a Soviet Assault Front so they should regain a lot of CPP next turn in time for the harsh winter. You will see that I have 9 cavalry divisions stacked in the area as I will use these to create 3 cavalry corps as soon as I am able to do so.

10

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I rearrange my units around Stalino, mostly pulling units back the line of contact to build up CPP over the next turn or two, especially those units attached to Assault fronts. I decide to deploy all 102 of my ski battalions this turn so they are embedded in units in time for Dec 41. All units are 100% TOE for a total of 46k in manpower but I was considering leaving them in reserves for more training. I’ve had them training for a number of turns with avg exp ~40 so that’s good enough for now. The rest of the experience will come from successful combat (hopefully!). I also decide to deploy a further ~120k in rifle brigades which are all +80% TOE. They’re still missing the Infantry-AT Gun but that doesn’t start being produced until Dec 1941 so hoping I can get a lot of these filled whilst sitting in STAVKA.

11

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A relatively high loss turns of Axis AFVs and Guns which I am happy about. All of the AFV losses are from the Axis ground turn were JB encircled Stalino with 245 guns and 10k manpower lost from attacks made In the soviet ground phase (8k of which were on Romanians)

[Stamb]

JB, do you remember how many supplies you was getting to a units during this turns?

[jasonbroomer]

Not enough around Stalino!

I tried building a string of depots in the area but I could not sate the demands of such a mass of troops. I ended resorting to a super depot on a depot close to the front. This only brought up an additional couple of k. The solution was moving the super depot to D’town, sited here it brought in around 15-20k IIRC. To funnel it to the front, the following turn I dropped the super depot to 3. This distributes the stockpile and still draws around 10k fresh supply.

[Veterin]

T24 - Soviet Perspective

1

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Stalin has kindly conscripted 500,000 Soviet souls to the war effort. These units are added to the active pool this turn so will be allocated to units’ next turn. I need to estimate how many units I can increase TOE for across the map/reserve as I don’t want to have spare manpower in the pool nor do I want to refit too many units and not have enough manpower to fill them out.

2

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Looks like the majority of Panzer divisions have been sent to Frances for a lovely winter holiday. Panzer units get destroyed in the 1941 winter. JB has likely still kept his motorised elements on map and when the AFVs arrive in the Western TB, it’s likely he’ll transfer Infantry out of the TB onto the map.

3

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You have to love that Soviet logistics in 1941. 61k of freight (101% of capacity) was received at the Kharkov super deposit this turn. I still have 36k surplus freight in my Rostov too from last turns super deposit.

4

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Unless this is by accident (I doubt it), I think this is really smart play by JB here. He could have taken Stalino this turn as it was isolated but I believe he made a conscious decision to leave it. If he takes Stalino now and I take it back before turn 116 I get bonus VP points which are locked in even if I subsequently lose the city again. As he will gain no bonus VP points if he takes it now or in 1942, by leaving it untaken, he now has the flexibility to withdraw from Stalino without any negative VP considerations. Well played Sir.


Not much else to report this turn. I spend a lot of time moving units into hexes that will provide bonus to CPP regeneration for the turn wand rotating high CPP units to the frontline. Other activities this turn included:
- setting up 2 sets of 2 guard rifle divisions + 1 rifle division ready to convert to a guard’s rifle corps next turn.
- created 8 stacks of 3 cavalry for cavalry corps next turn and I’ve attached most of the cavalry divisions to Assault Fronts this turn which will give me +50 CPP as I haven’t moved them this turn.
- Allocating my 102 ski battalions out to rifle divisions (this took a while!)
- Sending most of my rifle brigades to Stavka HQ for allocation to units next turn
- Refitting units as appropriate to soak up the additional manpower.

[Sammy5IsAlive]

- created 8 stacks of 3 cavalry for cavalry corps next turn and I’ve attached most of the cavalry divisions to Assault Fronts this turn which will give me +50 CPP as I haven’t moved them this turn.

My understanding is that units don't benefit from assault status until the next turn from when they are assigned. So given the CPP are awarded at the end of your turn I don't think they will get the bonus.

[Veterin]

- created 8 stacks of 3 cavalry for cavalry corps next turn and I’ve attached most of the cavalry divisions to Assault Fronts this turn which will give me +50 CPP as I haven’t moved them this turn.

My understanding is that units don't benefit from assault status until the next turn from when they are assigned. So given the CPP are awarded at the end of your turn I don't think they will get the bonus.

Yes that's correct. From memory i attached most of the cavalry divisions to my assault front the previous turn. This turn i just didn't move them much for the bonus CPP

[jasonbroomer]

T23/24 Axis

As Vet said, these turns for the Axis are all about preparation for the winter, though sadly uncle Adolf doesn't send 500k in manpower to the Axis front

I have set up the lines that I wish to defend and am busy digging in. The final touches of rail road conversion are being completed. I have materially strengthened the Bryansk-Kursk area these last few turns. Thanks to the threatre box flexibility, the panzers have indeed been sent off to France and infantry divisions are being ferried across to the eastern front.

The weather forecast hints of blizzards in Siberia, I expect these to hit hopefully Moscow (where I am no where near) but I am expecting the Leningrad area to cop some serious snow fairly soon, January would be much preferable to December. I have level 3 forts across pretty much all of this front which are held by divisions in decent defensive terrain so I feel well prepared. The Kalinin forest area is held more lightly but this benefits from deeper favourable terrain, it has little strategic value and is something of a supply headache for the Soviets as I hold the only n-s railway in the region.

As Vet pointed out, I declined to take Stalino this turn as I am unsure whether I will be able to hold it over the winter (the VP process is a little bizarre in this regard). Surrounding it does the job for the moment and kills it as an important rail junction for the Soviets, but the city garrison is restricting my movement. Around this time I got my super depot working, bringing much needed ammo to the forces in the area so we are now looking to press ahead further in the sector.

Winter normally takes a while to get going in the south, so I still have some decent panzer divisions operating in the area. If I can get a further 4-5 turns before any deep snow threatens, I may engineer sufficient terriorty to ensure that I can hold onto Stalino for the duration. We are slowing manoeuvring successfully in the south which is undermining the key Soviet strongpoints to the north of the city.

[Veterin]

T25 - Soviet Perspective

1

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T25 – the start of winter. Taking stock of the game so far, I’m relatively happy with the preservation of Soviet forces with 4.5m on map units and a large number of freshly filled units in reserve (which I’ll send to other TBs and pull out the more experienced infantry to the map). Due to my miscalculation of expected manpower needs and low losses last turn I also have 300k manpower in the pool which will serve well during the upcoming offensive.

Despite the loss of Leningrad and the armies encircled there, I was fairly cautious in avoiding encirclements throughout the game. This means I gave up a lot of ground early but where I wanted to make a stand, I had the strength to do so (Stalino over the last few turns).

JB has most of his panzer units in TB with only 1.5k AFVs on the map. I have a large number of AFVs on the map which I may move to reserve/TB depending on how my losses look.

I made a mistake last turn and changed some leaders before realising that I’m going to need those APs to create my 8 cavalry corps + 2 rifle corps. I have 50 AP this turn so I have to be selective in which units I convert this turn and which ones I have to wait until next turn. I do have some units still building CPP so it’s not the biggest disaster but it is still an unforced error

2

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3

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Ground losses pretty self-explanatory. Air losses for both LW and VSS have been relatively low this game so both are in fairly good shape for 1942.

4

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One of the great things about reaching Dec 1941 is that production starts for Infantry-AT guns. Up until this point in the game, most rifle divisions/brigade require it in their TOE but there is no production until this turn. As It is a generic item with a “need” capacity, a massive 15.6k Infantry-AT guns were produced in the turn filling up all the relevant TOEs that need it.

[Veterin]

T25 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

5

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6

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Whilst the north has clear weather, blizzards cover most of the frontline between Smolensk and Stalino. The forecast for turn 26 is for the blizzard to move further north which is a shame as I would love to have more heavy snow covering the majority of the map. Winter has only just begun so I may have more luck in a few turns.

7

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I start of my offensive near Smolensk. One thing I did last turn I did which worked out well was that I moved a weakened cavalry division to hug 3 axis divisions with lvl 1 forts in the area I was attacking this turn. When a unit is in contact with an enemy unit, their construction value is divided by 5 so this stopped Axis forces from getting a level 2 fort, making my offensive easier in the sector.

I decided to create my two Guard Rifle divisions in the centre and put some pressure on Smolensk over the next few turns as I’m closest to those VPs. I don’t think I will be able to take it with this offensive but this is where I want to cause Axis attrition. My guard rifle divisions are loaded up with 3 rifle brigades each and pack 25 offensive CV each even without full CPP. By creating these 2 rifle corps, I use 40 AP which means I can only convert 1 of the possible 8 cavalry corps this turn so the rest will have to wait until next. All attacks I made were into snow lvl 8 hexes to get full benefit of the blizzard. I try and be conservative with my attacks with all but 1 having greater than 4:1 CV win ratio at the end.

[Veterin]

T25 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

8

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Around the Sumy front i make a few attacks on units where I can. I’m not expecting a breakthrough in this sector but if I do, you can be sure that I’ll have cavalry running all over the rail-lines!

9

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10

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I have a costly failed attack near Sumy losing 4.5k troops with German artillery doing a lot of damage to my units before i could get many shots in. As there appears to be a large amount of damaged/disrupted units in the German divisions I just attacked, I decide to make a follow up attack with 2 tank divisions and a mechanised division leading to 2k kills and close to 100 guns. Given Axis AFVs are largely in the TBs, I feel like I can safely use these units against Infantry if I feel there is a need to follow up like this, especially if my units have obsolete tanks that aren’t used in the Tank Brigade TOE.

[Veterin]

T25 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

11

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South of Kharkov, I advance towards D-town. Axis forces have pulled back over the last 2 turns and are forming a line around 6 hexes north of D-town. I can’t reach it but I will be able to next turn to see if there are any weak points. Whilst around Kharkov I had a decent concentration of forces now that I am advancing out of there my units are thinning out over a larger area. I probably shouldn’t have advanced so far as Axis forces can come off their line, attack me and retreat next turn if they wanted to.

12

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Only 1 attack around Stalino. I was building up CPP last turn so I wasn’t close to the line of contact so I had to move forward. I expect to get a few of my units hit around here which is why I’ve went for depth over strength in my unit placement. Even with snow lvl 8, the defensive CV values on the axis units are huge so I don’t think I’ll find much opportunity around here.

13

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Losses for the turn are ok. Most of the Axis forces were in well-fortified hexes which reduces losses so this turn was about moving them out of those forts, clearing their CPP and forcing them to move through the winter to reform line/adjust defence.

I have deployed ~500k worth of infantry to the map this turn, largely rifle brigades. As all my fronts have all their command points utilised at the moment, I will let new on the map rifle divisions rest and build up CPP until I get 2 new fronts on turn on 27 and turn 28.