Workshop for the new guys - Directive 21

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines in T115 just before the last combat round. It's round 6 and I anticipate it going directly into the Soviet turn. It's done that for the last four turns in a row. I guess somebody is missing his morale check.

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[larryfulkerson]

I stopped it during the Soviet turn just to get some idea of the size of the Soviet forces. Here's what I found out.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's now T116 and this is one of the hot spots right now. I've it surrounded and now the task is to make it go away. I haven't moved everybody yet so this configuration may change. There is no land unit of any kind where the aircraft are parked but I don't want them to leave yet. I want to get another good strike on that airfield yet. If I can make the Soviet land units retreat into the aircraft hex even better yet. And then I'll have to tackle those pitiful Soviet units on the east side of this battle.

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[larryfulkerson]

We've already captured Archangel so I'll just include the part of the map that has action going on to save space.

Inset 1 shows a huge stack of Soviet units trying to force the river crossing and I think I'm going to use the engineer unit and the recon unit combination to break the bridge to my 5 o'clock, between the Soviet units. Of course the trick is then to back out of there without losing anybody. So you retreat with the engineer unit first and then the recon unit because the recon unit has a better recon ability and probably won't get fired upon when leaving an enemy LOC. The hex that has the yellow-crowded Soviet stack is a broken bridge already. No need to break it. Unfortunately there's a pontoon unit in the stack so I'm guessing he's going to try to repair it. I've got no way to attack just the pontoon unit so I guess there's no way to stop him from fixing it. But I can try to drop it from the air by bombardment. The problem with that is that all the Soviet equipment that has an AA ability will be used to defend the bridge. D'oh.

Inset 2 shows where I shoved some enemy units off the road just to drop both bridges and now that I'm trying to just walk away I feel like I need to disengage first, possibly by killing them or at least making him back up.

Inset 3 shows where I'm trying to back out of the hex without losing anybody so I railed in some arty to help in that endeavor. I plan to try some attacks that will make them back up so I can just walk away.

Inset 4 shows me in the 'before' shot because I plan on whipping out a can of kick ass and eliminate all the red stuff you see in this image.

This is all before I have moved anybody on the map.

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[larryfulkerson]

I thought to myself why not run some small unit up these roads to see what I run into first. And bust all the bridges I cross. And if I run into a Russian I'll just disband the bad boy on the spot.

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[larryfulkerson]

One of the hot spots this turn is the area around Chkalov right now. As you can see I'm about to clear out this sector and move on. I'd like to deal with those Soviet units to my SE just to kill more enemy units so I can quit worrying about any Soviet units coming at me from this direction.

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[larryfulkerson]

Another hot spot is the Yanaul area right now. I've moved the engineer unit down to provide an over river ford spot so that I can get the 384th Infantry Division across the river and into the Soviet backfield. My mission is to cross the river, bombard the Soviet airfield with my organic arty and capture the city of Yanaul to cut the supply path for that 2+ divisions of Soviet equipment. I may not succeed because Elmer has multiple units in that stack that can move. So I may have to cut the road further to the east. I don't know how far east I can go before I run into another Soviet unit. I guess we'll find out.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's now T119 and I've gotten so far south that my Turkish troops were activated this turn. They say that they are "untried" so I'll need to "train" them on easy attacks before I deploy them to combat proper. I'm not sure what I'll have them do, there's only these two divisions of infantry and one CAV division. For now I'll have them catch up with the front lines by converting hexes as they go.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is a T119 view of the Tblisi area right now. Tblisi is my next immediate local goal and I have no plans to go further with significant forces. I can win this war without killing my troops just for real estate. I'd rather just kill Soviet units when I get a chance. If I just hold Tblisi the Soviets will come to me.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is the T119 round 3 front lines right now.

Inset 1 is where I have cut off from supply a Soviet naval infantry unit and I intend to keep it until it turns red and is helpless. That way when it spawns it'll be worthless for a month of game time.

Inset 2 is the same stacks I showed you last time I posted but I brought in some arty and engineered an over-river crossing and it looks like I need another.

Inset 3 is me pushing without a purpose. I should just pull back into the mountain pass and defend there but I'm after the Soviet units and maybe I can put some arty on that aircraft.

Inset 4 is what's going on around the city of Guryev right now. My aim is to destroy all the Soviet units and grab the city and deny passage to or fro. And maybe try to put some arty on that aircraft.

Inset 5 is me trying to stifle the Soviets in the mountain passes and the valley in between ranges. It's slow going but I have reason to believe I'm winning.

Inset 6 is what's going on around the city of Lewaschi right now. I'm after the rail along the coast but he keeps trying to outflank me on the west. So I spread out and he keeps running units out to my west edge so I gotta put somebody out there to put a stop to it.

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[larryfulkerson]

T120:
That spot in the front lines where he has a gigantic stack of troops directly adjacent to my defense. I thought that my troops were quite capable of resisting any attacks the Soviets might attempt. So they did attack me and I suffered no loss. BUT it look like they only bombarded. I'll have to pound his arty to degrade it if possible. I'll need my best aircrew or squadron for the attack as it has an AA unit there. But destroying their howitzers is a tempting target if it will save my defense.

EDIT: I'm giving it a second thought and I'm thinking it might be better to attack his arty with my arty that has a longer range than his arty. Sure, that's the ticket.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is the T121 front lines before I have moved anybody.

Inset 1 shows me running into a Soviet unit and I've decided to attack the unit just to see how big it is and maybe destroy it if possible.

Inset 2 shows me blocking some Soviet units I happened to run into. I see additional Soviet units approaching from the east and I have troops headed that way to act as a roadblock to stop their advance.

Inset 3 shows that place in the front lines that shows a gigantic stack and me blocking it with my own. He leaped the river with the help of engineers and I'm about to make it disappear. I'll establish a blocking force here to prevent any other Soviet units trying to get across the river.

Inset 4 shows me making a huge mistake by going after Soviet units instead of just defending in the mountain passes. I'll see if I can't just disengage somehow and back up into the mountains.

Inset 5 shows me gaining the edge of the map and thereby splitting the Soviet union into two parts. I'm going to try to stop up this entrance into the map so no Soviet units can spawn there.

Inset 6 shows me blocking the Soviets from advancing north and additionally I'm trying to trace the rail all the way down south to get into the oil fields.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is the T122 view of what's going on in the south right now. You can see how thin the Soviets are in the area around Madshlis but I'm pretty sure there are Soviet units closer to Derbent that are invisible so far. In the south inset you can see many more Soviet units and I'm having a harder time down in Georgia. I'm going to have to ship more units down there.

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[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in the east right now. I just got through mopping up on the left there along the road but they are released for other environs and I haven't moved anybody yet so this will change. I flew a bunch of aircraft into the AO for CAP services. You can see how I've reached the vicinity of the east edge of the map and I plan to convert all the east edge hexes so no Soviet units will spawn there. Insurance.

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[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going down near Molotov right now. I've got troops headed this way and I see the Soviets do too so we're having a meeting engagement of sorts. I'm going to use my engineers to leap across those bridges and get into the backfield of the enemy and destroy them.

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[larryfulkerson]

There's been some changes at Tblisi just now. I am trying to take the city away from him but I want to clobber his aircraft with some arty first. Not to make it evaporate but to get some really good licks in for several turns.

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[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on near Yanaul right now. I'm using my engineers to leap across the river in separate places and I got into the Soviet backfield and now I'm rounding them up.

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[larryfulkerson]

It's now T124 and I've started building the rail down to the city of Guryev which is a port on the south edge of the peninsula.

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[larryfulkerson]

This is what it looks like around the city of Derbent right now. I've got a good surround started on the Soviet defenders and I'm going to make them disappear shortly. There are more Soviet units further south, I just can't see them yet.

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[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T125 front lines before I have moved anybody. This game is winding down I think. A lot of these Soviet units are worn out and tired and very low on supply. I think that's because they are shipped to the front lines immediately after they spawn again. They never get a chance to rest, refit, rearm, and get combat ready again. Say three turns or so for most of them. When my troops get tired I pull them out of the line and stack them with their HQ unit when possible. I've lost a number of units that can be counted on one hand. And most of them respawn. I don't think the Axis minors respawn once they get killed. Don't quote me on that.

Inset 1 shows the lead elements of a group of Soviet units coming at me from Lysva. They are separated and easily outflanked and infiltrated. This one has river crossings that need to be gained.

Inset 2 shows the defenders of the city of Yanaul and they don't want to part with it. I'm going to try to outflank them, surround them and move on.

Inset 3 shows the battle for Tblisis. The defenders of the city itself is weak, out of supply, worn out, and easily defeated. I'll own the city this turn.

Inset 4 shows how weak the defenders of the road south. I'm going to push through them and continue south.

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