The Sky’s the Limit- PBEM GC 41 jubjub (Axis) vs. M60A3TTS (Soviet)

[M60A3TTS]

Do you make any use of the U2s? I see a lot in the pool and historically they were a real morale issue for the Germans. It’s not clear to me how to make night operations useful in the game.

R

Since there is no real game mechanic specific to the U2VS, I tend not to use them. They are a poor man's IL-2 with a limited range and since there are so many IL-2s produced, it doesn't seem to match up well in that regard. It may have a use somewhere. Also, like the rest of the armed forces, the VVS is competing for manpower resources and each air unit generates it's own ground support requirements, and supplies for building the requisite airfields.

It is worth noting that the R-Z aircraft aren't too bad in their limited numbers and can chalk up some casualties under the right circumstances.

If you do want to use them, I wouldn't spend any trained pilots on those planes.

[Joel Billings]

Thanks for the entertaining AAR. The 2000 killed/disabled from aircraft will likely be joined by additional casualties in the future resulting from the bombing missions. Assuming additional elements were damaged and disrupted by the bombing (disruption turning into additional fatigue), it's likely that more men will be disabled when the elements return to the pool, or possibly are even destroyed if damaged elements are cannibalized to make a ready squad. Given the weather and supply situation, it's reasonable to expect that more of these "after combat" casualties will occur. Those kinds of losses are reflected in the German logistics phase losses.

[FortTell]

Since there is no real game mechanic specific to the U2VS, I tend not to use them.

Have you tried flying U-2s at night at low altitude as fighter bait? If the Germans make a mistake and intercept them, they will take ops losses on their fighters, and at night at low altitude they can cost-effectively remove German planes (until they get put on day only missions)

[M60A3TTS]

Since there is no real game mechanic specific to the U2VS, I tend not to use them.

Have you tried flying U-2s at night at low altitude as fighter bait? If the Germans make a mistake and intercept them, they will take ops losses on their fighters, and at night at low altitude they can cost-effectively remove German planes (until they get put on day only missions)

I had not, but it sounds like a clever idea.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 33 1 February 1942

No air action due to weather conditions.

We'll throw out this nugget. To date, 719 Soviet pilots have 993 A2A kills. Of these...

70 pilots with 70+ experience have 123 A2A kills
466 pilots with experience 60-69 have 660 A2A kills
168 pilots with experience 50-59 have 194 kills
15 pilots with experience 49 and under have 16 A2A kills

Of these same 719 pilots...

286 are ready
6 are wounded
162 are captured
265 are killed

8 pilots have 5-7 kills and would be eligible to receive the first award Hero of the Soviet Union.

[Shupov]

Do you put air groups / pilots below a certain experience level on Rest to avoid getting slaughtered?

[M60A3TTS]

Do you put air groups / pilots below a certain experience level on Rest to avoid getting slaughtered?

I generally don't want units that have an experience level under 50 on the map. Those I wouldn't worry much about sending to the SR or another TB. Currently I only have 3 such units on the map.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 34 8 February 1942

Little activity in the air.

German observation planes take an interest in our southern defenses.



Aircraft in current production

[M60A3TTS]

Week 35 15 February 1942

Time for another ground update. The end of winter is still some ways off, but the Soviet attacks are soon coming to an end.

Total manpower losses are approaching 4 million. With only 680k Axis losses, their manpower numbers look quite good.



We need to get significantly more men on the map soon.

OOB





His AFV losses have been relatively small during winter and he has had panzer divisions deployed consistently.

Our own AFV numbers dropped significantly in the week when most of our tank divisions were removed from the map. Jubjub took advantage of the opportunity, landing a backhand blow that netted one of our precious guards rifle corps.





Our on-map gun numbers are rising modestly. No new artillery units are being produced, so we just fill in what exists or arrives via scripted reinforcements.

[M60A3TTS]

On map, no real movement at Leningrad.



From Velikye Luki to Orel. Just slugging it out in areas where the forts are weak, but a deep penetration begins to come with risks.



Kursk to Voroshilovgrad. The Axis defenses are not quite a solid here, so some victories have been gained. But no major ground taken.



The Axis remains ensconced at Rostov. Opportunities for major Axis undertakings come Spring exist just about everywhere.



With the Axis proximity to Moscow and ample VP cities in range of their forces, this has the real potential to be a close fight. At least I have 10 guards rifle corps deployed on map. That's a start.

[M60A3TTS]

Theater boxes



When the next event fires, the Northern Front requirements will jump to 110 around April. That means eventually we need to find then some more troops. Transcaucasus does not change at all and Far East rises a modest 10 to 150 CV. Sending some more level bombers and night fighters to these places is planned. Any regular FBs to be sent naturally would consist of obsolete equipment. High and low flak have such low CVs it hardly seems worth sending many of those to the boxes.

[tm1]

Hi M60A3TTS

Maybe I missed it somewhere but looking at the latest map screen shot its hard to tell if Leningrad ( proper ) is still under Soviet control old eyes and the colouring of the tile with city graphics and no units makes it hard for me to tell, could you please confirm the cities status.

The Vyazma / Kluga salient seems very inviting I have no doubt your opponent can see this to, but retake Smolensk and or Bryansk would / could be a disaster for The Axis speaking as a humble PVE player.

On the other hand its an impressive amount of territory your opponent has taken and still controls through the winter if you would be kind enough to post a screen shot of the Turn Summary so its possible to see how close he is to a sudden death victory,
your opponent must close.

Rgards

[M60A3TTS]

Here is the closeup of Leningrad which is still under our control. We will soon see that jubjub has no intention of waiting until summer to finish the job he started last year. Two Soviet armies, 4th Shock and 55th bar the way in.



Here is the turn summary. Only 120 points for the Axis win, and Leningrad + Moscow would net most of that.

Bottom line, Moscow must hold or else.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 36 22 February 1942

Blizzard everywhere and no one is flying. Good thing Osinovets is getting supplies across Ladoga now so the air transports can rest and rebuild. We have a slight overall deficit of Li-2s but that will work itself out in the next week or two.

A slew of 0AP ski brigades are formed in order to send to the NF TB later.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 37 1 March 1942

5 SADs remain left to be disbanded in the coming weeks. I managed to shift some units in an SAD due for disbands to other SADs that are not disbanding, or at least not until the end of the string.

Nothing going on in the air as blizzard has a grip on most of the front except in the south.


This week saw the Red Army drop a significant number of AFVs from the map as most mechanized divisions converted to rifle. On top of the losses of the tank divisions, this has seen a significant drop of on-map AFVs during the last seven weeks. Fortunately the Germans are still coping with low readiness rates, but the end of winter is not far off.



The coming of March sees the P-39D come into the inventory at 5 per week. That rate will be sustained through all of 1942.

Here are the domestic production estimates of all Soviet fighters for 1942, both current and future models:

Yak-1: 2,418
LaGG3-11: 2,210
Yak-7B: 1,925
La-5: 1,056
Yak-1B: 728
LaGG3-29: 520
La-5F: 448
Yak-7A: 340
Total: 9,645

Interestingly, actual figures presented by Soviet sources in 1962 had 1942 total production at 9,643. Only off by 2.

[tm1]

Week 37 1 March 1942

5 SADs remain left to be disbanded in the coming weeks. I managed to shift some units in an SAD due for disbands to other SADs that are not disbanding, or at least not until the end of the string.

Nothing going on in the air as blizzard has a grip on most of the front except in the south.


This week saw the Red Army drop a significant number of AFVs from the map as most mechanized divisions converted to rifle. On top of the losses of the tank divisions, this has seen a significant drop of on-map AFVs during the last seven weeks. Fortunately the Germans are still coping with low readiness rates, but the end of winter is not far off.



The coming of March sees the P-39D come into the inventory at 5 per week. That rate will be sustained through all of 1942.

Here are the domestic production estimates of all Soviet fighters for 1942, both current and future models:

Yak-1: 2,418
LaGG3-11: 2,210
Yak-7B: 1,925
La-5: 1,056
Yak-1B: 728
LaGG3-29: 520
La-5F: 448
Yak-7A: 340
Total: 9,645

Interestingly, actual figures presented by Soviet sources in 1962 had 1942 total production at 9,643. Only off by 2.

looking at map with troop concentrations I see blue Axis icons, they cant be Finnish, firstly there are to many and second Leningrad is still under Soviet control, I gather its just a personal colour change by your opponent.

[M60A3TTS]

looking at map with troop concentrations I see blue Axis icons, they cant be Finnish, firstly there are to many and second Leningrad is still under Soviet control, I gather its just a personal colour change by your opponent.

They are Rumanian from Zovs counter mod.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 38 8 March 1942

Weather remains marginal again this week, so not too much in the way of fighting. Chuikov's 13th Army is pushed back in the area near Staraya Russa.




It is time to conduct some air recon of his air bases. The Vyazma-Kaluga area gets a look as well as the area around Rostov.

We see some Stukas at Orel. Not sure if that means anything but we will keep an eye on the general area.





Finally, Central Front's 5th Ground Attack Corps takes on the German 268th Infantry Division and 900th Lehr Motorized Brigade.



We lose 124 aircraft in the less than optimal weather conditions while taking out 646 German troops. Not a great trade, but not a bad one either. Fortunately there was no intervention from the Luftwaffe.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 39 15 March 1942

A relatively quiet air turn again as snow falls across most of the front. South of Voroshilovgrad, the weather has turned clear.

As for the ground activity, a major change as the Battle of Leningrad has resumed. We will cover the details in the usual ground update on turn 40.

I will report that over the last two weeks, the German on-map AFV count has risen significantly, from 2,157 to 3,311. Our own on-map AFV count drops to an all-time low of 2,414, so we are now outnumbered in that category. We do have over 3,000 AFVs in the reserves but most of those are tank brigades waiting for the tank corps creation to start in April or tank regiments in various stages of training.

We do have an on-map aircraft superiority in terms of numbers at least with 5,447 to the German 2,171 and their allies with 168.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 40 22 March 1942

Time for the ground update.

There are two ground attacks on week 39 on the Leningrad sector. One of these attacks is successful while the other is not. The usual assignment of German pioniers and heavy guns is apparent.




German 40th Motorized Corps, containing only infantry divisions, drives Chuikov's troops from Staraya Russa.




Northwest of Orel, Manstein has made an appearance. A reconnaissance in force on our part fails to net results.




Near Rostov, the Crimean Front sees minor action.




This week, Ferdinand Schoener's LIX Corps is stymied at Pavlovo as Fyodor Tolbukhin's 55th Army holds their position. The fortifications here though are seriously weakened. East of this, another attack by Schoerner sees better success against Vasily Gerasimenko's 4th Shock Army, driving the defending forces from the swamps southeast of Osinovets. Despite being outnumbered 3-1 in troops and having only heavy mortars in support, the Soviet forces here inflict greater casualties than the attackers.




Air battles in the north see many planes in action despite heavy rains in the area. Three areas are the focus of attention. German naval patrols are challenged over Lake Ladoga by the 39th Fighter Division. Five separate air to air actions take place and naval attacks by the Luftwaffe are effectively negated.




Also over Lake Ladoga, 44th Fighter Division fights four air-to-air actions resulting in no German naval attacks despite their committing 600 bombers in total to the action.




In the third air action, 73rd Fighter Division again harries German incursions in three air battles and prevents enemy bombers from completing their mission over Ladoga.




The losses for the week are tallied.




Despite the usual fewer losses suffered by the Luftwaffe, their overall effort here would have to be deemed ineffective. Hundreds of Heinkels and Junkers were unable to affect the situation over Lake Ladoga in any way. Clearly the weather played a factor, but three fighter divisions of Leningrad Air Command certainly played their part.