Panzerball - a GC 41 case study

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Turn 14 - Sep 21, 1941

Rain falls across much of the western Soviet Union, but a high pressure system in central Russia keeps the rain at bay just west of Smolensk and the German line behind the Dnepr to the south.



Turn summary:

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Overall eastern front map at the beginning of the turn.



A check on the ground battles show little German efforts. The panzer ball should be mid map by now.
AGN has made a limited effort toward the Narva river to link up, but the going is rough.
AGC tries to get more bridgeheads north of Gomel.
AGS continues trying to expand the bridgehead they have northwest of Dnepropetrovsk.

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Soviet air losses exceed Axis by 10,000 air frames this far into the war.

Reminder, AI controlled air war in this game.
Interesting to me is that over 1/3rd of Axis air losses are operational.
The majority of Soviet losses are in air combat.



Ground losses provided with detail on panzers included.



Units destroyed over the last few weeks.

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Leningrad defenses are training ground for an Army reporting directly to STAVKA.
I should have attached construction units directly to these forts to speed them to level 3.



AGN pushes back two of the brigades and encircles the 6th Naval Bde who had been picketing the withdrawal from Lake Pskov by Northwest Front.
The Germans make minimal progress toward the Narva river.
The airborne HQs and their attendant brigades will be sent south next week to provide rear echelon defenses for Central and Bryansk Front, deploying opposite AGC.



The Reserve Front solidifies a strong position in the swamps west of the Valdaii Hills.
STAVKA entertains the idea of a winter offensive axis at the junction of Reserve and Western Fronts to follow the river valley and hook behind Pskov. Unfortunately this is a terrible area to stage supplies and move them forward, and while the offensive would threaten AGN flanks (and encirclement) it would be ripe for counter attacks from the north and south.



The remaining tank and mechanized divisions were all put on rails and sent to backstop Central Front who are currently stretched from Smolensk to Gomel with a wide no-man’s land to German positions on the upper Dnepr river. A large group of these under an Army reporting directly directly to STAVKA or the Moscow MD are currently on the Kalinin-Moscow rail line.

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North of Gomel AGC makes a concerted effort to create more bridgeheads. Bryansk Front rails to their namesake city and takes up the southern half of what had been Central Front’s responsibility. A STAVKA Army is on the line, full of mech and tank divisions it will retreat on contact so we can get infantry on the line to soak up the enemy attacks. These mechanized divisions are on the line now because we’re so thin



AGS motorized corps expanded their bridgehead with some help from the 22nd Air Landing Div.
Next turn I may entertain setting up a trap down here for the German spearhead (assuming the panzerball strike SE to try to recreate the Kiev pocket) for the mech army on rails to ambush on turn 17 before the rains kick in, and possibly with no relief in range.
The red units down here are reporting to Cav Corps HQs that report to STAVKA.



Dnepetrovsk and Zaporozhye remained under soviet control, and farther south the Axis are content to just dig in for now. Soviet cavalry probe the enemy lines while 51st Army continues to build up fortifications in Crimea.

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Order of Battle

The 2nd Cav Corps HQ isn't shown, but is under STAVKA like the 5th and 6th until they disband in a few weeks.

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Turn 15 - September 28, 1941

High pressure holds over central Russia, but mud begins to prevail to the west.



Soviet on map forces continue to grow, but AGC launched an attack that has isolated 5 units.

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Seems like we've lost quite a few Soviet Generals, but things should be stabilized in this regard with the front becoming static.



The Axis will be hard pressed to reach the requisite VP to avoid a sudden defeat at the 1/1/42 check.

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Overall map at the beginning of turn 15:



With rain around the corner I think the panzerball commitment to AGN can be judged a failure.
It is the worst terrain, funneled by impassable terrain largely preventing operational threats to the defenders flanks.

The extreme concentration allowed the Soviets to mirror and commit more than 3 Fronts to the defense of Leningrad while not being concerned about deep operational moves or assigning strategic depth across a large portion of the front lines.

That having been said, we still expected German moves before the blizzard, if only to soften Soviet strength.

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AGN captures the 6th Naval Bde this turn, and makes only two attacks against the Soviet line with mixed results.



AGC mechanized forces launch a flurry of attacks and encircle half of the STAVKA Army that was trying to tripwire the river.



A painful loss of formations we wanted to use in a few weeks. Price of my forward defense, and not just accepting his efforts to turtle behind the Dnepr.

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AGS only makes one attack east of Chernigov aside from continuining to expand their Dnepr bridgehead NW of Dnepropetrovsk.



STAVKA takes command of armies in Crimea and at Zaporozhe and orders Southern Front to organize a counter attack against the German spearhead that has crossed the river and threatens Poltava.
Tolbukhin has been brought south with many of the formations leaving the Leningrad sector.
He makes his presence felt:

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With the re-appearance of the Panzerball in AGC and the threat of breakthrough by AGN abated, STAVKA orders the backstop brigades under the airborne corps HQs to head south.
The rails were congested with tank and mech divisions last week, so they were held back even as the situation obviously improved and the Panzerball was relocating.
They will be deployed next week behind Central Front and Bryansk Front to web any spearheads and prevent a Kiev pocket before or after the rains.

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Turn 16 - Oct 5, 1941

Weather this week favors the Soviets, as the high pressure system gives way to a pair of lows, and heavy rain across the eastern front.



Turn summary, with ground battles shown in the map.

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AGC liquidates the pocket, but recon reveals they have pulled back behind the Dnepr again.
STAVKA no longer expects a pre-Winter Offensive from the Axis, and will begin to reposition forces for the Soviet Winter Offensive this week.



AGS puts a little bit more effort into expanding their bridgehead. The problem they face is they are pulled tight as a drum trying to man the length of the Dnepr.



General Bobkin musters a large force for counter attack, but the Soviet AFVs are slaughtered and the effort fails to push back the AGS panzers.

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Checking the Soviet build list we note that Sapper Brigades are now available, but not yet the Ski battalions.
We have the AP to construct the entire allotment of Sapper Brigades and do so this week.



Soviet OoB finally surpasses 4 million men on the map, as losses exceed 2 million men.







The rain leads to a more subdued air war:

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Turn 17

Weather - Rain!

Summary - Soviet army growing, Axis army shrinking:



Nothing of note this week except that STAVKA begins to pull the mechanized forces from the center and begins to rail them south for the upcoming Winter Offensive while bringing in reserve infantry to take over the line.

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Turn 18 - October 19, 1941

Weather - Mud!



Germans won't quit trying to push this bridgehead.
STAVKA welcomes the effort.

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Turn 19 - October 26, 1941

Weather - Soviet meteorologists insist that the artic circle itself is muddy this week!



Summary view with a look at unit strength concerns highlighted:

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Soviet units are rotating off the front line to refit on depots in prep for the Winter.

STAVKA orders an assessment of cavalry divisions to be pulled from the line and sent south for re-organization and a pivotal role in the upcoming Winter Offensive.

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Overall map at the end of the turn 19. The tank and mechanized forces headed south are visible on the rails.