Workshop for the new guys - Directive 21 (D21)

[larryfulkerson]

This is Moscow in T50. I've advanced a very tired infantry regiment way forward of the rest of his fellows to attempt to cut off a large segment of the Soviet front line from it's supply path. I need to get some unit of some kind into Kolomna and from there I need to grab Voskresensk etc. to make it hard to supply some of his units.

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[larryfulkerson]

I thought I'd give you a peek at what's going on near Moscow right now. I'm on round 4 of the turn and I've decided not to attack quite so much since the land shock values are not in my advantage. My land shock is 90 and his land shock is 120 which tends to disadvantage any of my attacks. I've got a couple of places where my defenders are red and therefore tired and low on supply and need to be rotated out. So I've had to break down my units into thirds so I'll have a unit to refresh while the rest of the unit defends. That's about the best I can do. Also, I've toyed with the idea of putting 1/3 of a recon unit in my stacks to give them a recon advantage. Also, a 1/3 of an armour unit for an associated reason.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is round 1 of T51 and I've moved quite a few units but I wanted to document having managed to surround quite a few Soviet groups and seemingly having gotten into the Soviet backfield in a few places and I've got a few places that aren't holding very well, are about to break and I wanted a "before" picture to compare with what's about to happen in game terms.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is round 1 of T52 and I've managed to force the bridge over the river near Stupino south of Moscow and the only Soviet defenders nearby are two AA units so I may be able to get a foothold over the river. I've pushed further north through the city of Kolomna. I'm also attacking the Soviet supply unit at Ryazan which if successful will give me access to the crossing there for another crossing over the river. This may be the start of the breakthrough I need to open another front for the Soviets to defend.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is round 1 of T53 and I've gotten a good foothold south of Moscow. My boys are tired and need a rest but I can't rest yet because of the opportunities that are available just now. Actually it depends on the case as when a unit is under review. I'd like to rest the tired ones when possible but there are circumstances that come up when some units must take one for the team. The cities that I mentioned in the last post were gained which opens lots of avenues for advance. Which is a good thing.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is what it looks like in T53:

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[larryfulkerson]

This is early in T54 and shows what's going on near Moscow right now. I've turned on the supply bubbles so you can get an idea what my supply situation is. I'm aiming at 70% as the cut-off for when I attack or not. That allows them to have the wherewithal to make it through the Soviet turn when they get at least 4 combat phases to endure. They may turn red but they hold. My ground shock is now 100% and the Soviet ground shock is 120% so I'm only attacking when I'm reasonably sure I'm dominating. Or when the situation needs an attack, even with poor odds.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is the end of T54 and the Soviets made a half-hearted probe near Murmansk and I had to back up and reorganize. My units just south of Murmansk are out of supply and I'm building the rail as fast as I can go with that so save what I can. The area just east of Leningrad shows a small group of Soviet units that I will eventually push back further. But I'm using the Finns in that AO and I'm in no hurry because there aren't any high value objectives up here. Just north of Moscow there's another scattered line of Soviet units that I need to outflank. And around Moscow itself I've been mostly letting the Soviets evaporate some of their units by attacking me in the face of all the arty I have in range. At least 5 Soviet units evaporated last Soviet turn. There's a large gap south of Moscow that I need to fill somehow. I've got some units I can move there but they won't be able to arrive for a couple of turns. I'm adjacent to Stalingrad and it looks like it'll fall soon. Also I surrounded and destroyed all those Soviet units just south of Rostov this turn so that releases a lot of Romanian units that can spread out and convert a lot of empty hexes. I'm driving south for the mountain foothills.

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This is the end of T54 and the Soviets made a half-hearted probe near Murmansk and I had to back up and reorganize. My units just south of Murmansk are out of supply and I'm building the rail as fast as I can go with that so save what I can. The area just east of Leningrad shows a small group of Soviet units that I will eventually push back further. But I'm using the Finns in that AO and I'm in no hurry because there aren't any high value objectives up here. Just north of Moscow there's another scattered line of Soviet units that I need to outflank. And around Moscow itself I've been mostly letting the Soviets evaporate some of their units by attacking me in the face of all the arty I have in range. At least 5 Soviet units evaporated last Soviet turn. There's a large gap south of Moscow that I need to fill somehow. I've got some units I can move there but they won't be able to arrive for a couple of turns. I'm adjacent to Stalingrad and it looks like it'll fall soon. Also I surrounded and destroyed all those Soviet units just south of Rostov this turn so that releases a lot of Romanian units that can spread out and convert a lot of empty hexes. I'm driving south for the mountain foothills.

I thought I'd put my verbage both at the top and at the bottom so you don't have to scroll all the way to the top so remember what I wrote. You're welcome.

[larryfulkerson]

This is T55 near Moscow and a lot of those empty spots in the Soviet line are probably the result of a Soviet unit evaporating as a result of an attack on my lines and my arty chewing them apart. So I've been sitting still and letting them attack me for the past three turns. The difference in our land shock value argues for this tactic. It's working so far.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is T58 near Moscow and I managed to surround a small Soviet group and the defenders north of there are pitiful and it seems like there's not all that much between me and Moscow.

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[larryfulkerson]

Just south of Moscow is giving me a severe problem. All my defenders are turning red and there is no backup. The Soviets are on the verge of breaking through so I need to come up with at least 5 divisions worth of boots on the ground to restore what's about to happen. I may have a crisis brewing here.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is T60, 14Jan42 already. Not much is going on near Murmansk. I destroyed a Soviet division and since then Elmer has seemingly given up. Down south I let a recon unit get a little too far forward and it got ambushed by a Soviet unit of some kind. I'll try to recover next turn if I survive. Moscow is a brutal fight but during the Soviet combat phase Elmer was losing at least 5 divisions to evaporation by attacking into my arty fire. So for the last three turns running I've let Elmer attack me and watched the fireworks. Stalingrad fell about 5 turns or so ago and now I'm attacking across the land bridge heading east. There's not much there defending so it shouldn't be all that hard. I ran my RR arty down here to help and I wouldn't be able to make much progress otherwise. I'm making progress near the Kerch bridge area and I continue to spread out south of Rostov, converting the hexes and claiming all the roads and rails.

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[larryfulkerson]

I noticed that I haven't given much love to the north, not that it's exciting or anything. Just small tactical meeting engagements. That small battle going on at Kochkoma is a small problem. I've surrounded a Soviet division but it's a large one and it's "F" deployed in a city hex. So I've decided the best action for this situation is to starve it out. Let it dwindle on the vine for as long as it takes. I don't have a ship to help out, I don't want to waste aircraft bombarding it because there's a large group of Soviet fighters up here and actually this isn't all that important to the war effort.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's T63 25Jan42 and this is a view of Moscow and Stalingrad so far. Moscow has been a supreme effort but the Soviets attacking into the face of my arty has cost them. I'm about to get a surround on a rather large group of Soviet units.

The Soviets are trying to get Stalingrad back and you can see the extent of their efforts. They waited until the water was frozen and then just walked across on the ice. I was almost caught off guard.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's T68 11Feb42 and this the front lines as they are at the end of the turn. I'm nearing the foothills of the mountains down south. The fighting will get savage then.

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[larryfulkerson]

We've been getting storms the last three turns or so and I was curious about what the weather looks like now and I was shocked. It's practically overcast. I'm surprised that we're getting any air support at all. Oh, and yes, I'm aware that the movie was rough and dirty and not at all up to my usual production quality. I'd just say that I did it in a hurry just to get a view of the weather in T69.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's T70 and this the front lines as they are at the beginning of the turn before anybody has moved. I've arrived at the foothills of the mountains down south. I'm still spreading out converting hexes and grabbing roads and rails.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is just before the last combat phase of T70 and this the front lines as they are. I'm adjacent to Moscow finally. After much travail. And I'm trying to get a complete surround on the defenders of the city.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is the T73 front lines before anybody has moved. Nothing has moved for a long time at Murmansk. He attacks me with his arty every turn but only gets maybe 1% so I don't know why he bothers. I'm still facing bottlenecks SW of Archangel both from the north and from Archangel. But my local supply situation improves every turn now approaching 10 or so. The max is 12 this turn ( on the rail ). The fighting going on near Vologda and Yaroslavl are mostly just for show, to stretch the Soviet front lines and maybe destroy a unit or two. Most of the valuable objectives are a little further south. I've gotten several hexes adjacent to Moscow and I'm setting up my attacks now. The fighting going on near Ryazhsk has almost terminated the remnants of a Soviet group that I surrounded and am now in the mop up phase. Everything from there down to Stalingrad is just me trying to hold back the waves of Soviet troops that appeared out of nowhere and they are aggressive and tenacious. Elmer must have recently received a boat-load of reinforcements and they are now showing up at the front lines almost at the same time. The Soviets keep coming across the river at Stalingrad and attacking me and I'm just minding my own business. In the deep south I'm still spreading out and converting hexes and I'm running into a lot of small groups of Soviet troops. Not necessarily on the roads or rails either. Now that they are defending in the mountains the resistance is getting out of hand.

Edit: The yellow circle near where Rostov would be is supposed to be labeled Rostov but isn't. My bad.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is T73 in the Krasnodar area right now. I'm discovered that what is holding me up down here is the lack of supply so I moved all my RR engineers down here to accelerate the repair rate a little bit. These defenders are in the mountains and are proving to be a bit of a problem. I'm just going to hold what I have and fix the roads for a while.

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