Multiplayer M60A3TTS & Fulkerson vs Farfarer

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Hermann
.... why RR construction units in 41 ?

Um.......I thought that perhaps the RR construction dudes might come in handy when I go on the offensive in the Blizzard. I wasn't aware that sappers might be better for defensive purposes. I've still got a lot to learn.

ORIGINAL: Hermann
one thing i dont see in your AARs is a clear defensive plan. theres some things that you have to adjust but a few core areas should be laid out. main line of defense fallback line etc.. im having trouble following your strategy.

The trouble with my having a clear defensive strategic plan is that I made one and now it's obsolete. I'm still in 'react mode' all over the map. I had, at one point, thought to defend Leningrad, Moscow, and points south, but now it looks like Leningrad is in trouble, Moscow is threatened, and the points south are slowly being overtaken. I'm railing out industry from the cities as needed, so far, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to fall back quite a bit to keep a handle on this Axis agression. I guess my strategic defensive plan is to rail the reinforcements to where they are needed ( immediately ) and use the rest of the new troops to start building secondary lines
( when able ). So there's not much of a plan now.

ORIGINAL: Hermann
Love the AARs though youre a true master and your tenacity in the face of this offensive is admirable to say the least.

Well, thank you very much. I played Pelton at one time and he mopped up the map with me. With all the HQ buildup's and so on he was able to overrun just about what ever he wanted and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I learned that the Soviets don't really have bottomless resources and there's a limit to what is possible, early in the game. It's not possible to stop the Axis anywhere you have only the ability to slow down the advance somewhat. The troops are just roadbumps. It's only after the Axis is tired and beat down that it's possible to build a stable front line somewhere. And maybe counterattack. Bad weather and blizzard conditions save the day for the Soviets in the winter of '41 - '42. And the Axis pushing starts again in the spring of '42. Only after the Soviets are able to build Rifle Corps are the troops strong enough to hold their ground.

[Hermann]

you can always stop the germans - even Pelton can be locked down if youre aggressive enough. German army in 41 is a very fragile thing - as long as it has momentum its unstoppable but the minute you cause it to pause it has a very hard time restarting. concentrate on the north and work youre way down to stop the germans. it can be done by turn 9 if you play your cards right and you can start shuttling reinforcements south to key areas. Areas like odessa or tallinn create huge delays if defended but most people neglect that - try to anticipate where the german is going by using recon to watch his rail progress and concentrate your defensive efforts opposite the spearheads. if his armor is concentrated the defense is fairly simple but if its spread out youre gonna get pocketed so thin the defenses opposite the inf forward and move to a second line further back and to the threatened penetration areas - dont wait - if you see a pocket forming its too late. in key areas with only 1 rail link space units along the rail line so he cant cut it. try to anticipate where the pocket will close and have a counterattack force nearby to reopen it before it closes.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Hermann
you can always stop the germans - even Pelton can be locked down if youre aggressive enough. German army in 41 is a very fragile thing - as long as it has momentum its unstoppable but the minute you cause it to pause it has a very hard time restarting. concentrate on the north and work youre way down to stop the germans. it can be done by turn 9 if you play your cards right and you can start shuttling reinforcements south to key areas. Areas like odessa or tallinn create huge delays if defended but most people neglect that - try to anticipate where the german is going by using recon to watch his rail progress and concentrate your defensive efforts opposite the spearheads. if his armor is concentrated the defense is fairly simple but if its spread out youre gonna get pocketed so thin the defenses opposite the inf forward and move to a second line further back and to the threatened penetration areas - dont wait - if you see a pocket forming its too late. in key areas with only 1 rail link space units along the rail line so he cant cut it. try to anticipate where the pocket will close and have a counterattack force nearby to reopen it before it closes.

So being a good general involves knowing what the enemy is doing from watching his movements ( provided by adequate recon ). I'm
still learning how to do that.

[larryfulkerson]

This should be the T8 Soviet moves. The offset is me moving from one frame of reference to another so that the front line is more
"framed" in the screenshot.

[M60A3TTS]

ORIGINAL: Hermann

ouch larry - that looks pretty rough. Question. why RR construction units in 41 ? Sapper regiments are the most effective defensive unit. construction uniys build forts, artillery is critical and at and aa helpful, but what for the RR builders ?

one thing i dont see in your AARs is a clear defensive plan. theres some things that you have to adjust but a few core areas should be laid out. main line of defense fallback line etc.. im having trouble following your strategy. Love the AARs though youre a true master and your tenacity in the face of this offensive is admirable to say the least.

It's not quite as rough as it looks. Our opponent is racing all over the map, but he hasn't isolated Leningrad although he is trying hard to do that and trap everyone from two fronts there.

This was our strategy at the start in that area: Try to hold Leningrad until at least turn 10 to delay Army Group North units being released for the drive on Moscow. At the same time be careful of a right hook over the Volkhov east of Leningrad that would cut off troops. It’s important to have balance on both sides of the Volkhov. Generally that requires 3 armies at least.

That objective of keeping Leningrad for 10 turns will be met, even though our opponent did exactly what we were concerned most about- a right hook around the city. But the fact remains that his panzers are still tied down up there, and all the arms and some KV factories got out.

On Moscow- Fortified regions went up along the Rzhev-Kaluga line, but he is simply battering his way through. So we just now built another line of forts behind it. The important thing here is keep Moscow and Tula with its vast arms factories safe until they can be evacuated. Under 1.0.5, keeping Moscow is a much more difficult challenge now.

In the Donbas, our opponent is making the same progress as Pelton did in my game with him. And the results for the most part are similar. T-34s and arms got out of Kharkov, and we've cleared virtually all arms from Stalino and Rostov. So that leaves Tula and Moscow as the remaining big hitters. So far we've lost 37 arms. We'll be ok there I think.

He's also formed pockets in the Donbas, but they are being broken. He's gobbling up scattered units here and there, but he has yet to bag anything significant beyond the Lvov-Bialystok pockets. If he fails to cash in at Leningrad, he stands to be in for a potentially rough blizzard. So I'm assuring Larry that we're ok right now. Multi-player has some drawbacks in terms of C2, but overall we're putting in a respectable effort I think.

[larryfulkerson]

This should be the T9 Axis moves:

[M60A3TTS]

I'm liking this turn. [:D]

This is what can happen to the Axis player who gets a bit too greedy by pushing the mobile forces too far.

[Seminole]

This is what can happen to the Axis player who gets a bit too greedy by pushing the mobile forces too far.

Himmler will not be pleased!
What about the armored (motorized?) unit that outflanked Leningrad?  Going to be able to bag that one too?
Seems to me like the paratroopers by Bryansk might be able to help more by screening the relief through those forests to the unit trapped at Lake Onega.
What is the hex/mp to rail for the panzer spearheads south of Lake Onega?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Seminole
What is the hex/mp to rail for the panzer spearheads south of Lake Onega?

We would have to ask Farfarer about that because as one of the Soviet players I don't have any idea.

This should be the Axis moves for turn 10:

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the T11 moves:

EDIT: Just NE of Smolensk you can see where I've used a bypassed ( isolated ) unit to chase some Axis airfields and destroyed quite
a few damaged Axis planes.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the moves from T11, T12, and T13 all compiled:

[Hermann]

going to be an interesting counteroffensive

[M60A3TTS]

We've had to write off Moscow because he basically beelined for it and the fort line simply couldn't get built up fast enough. I'm not certain that in 1.0.5 Moscow is any safer than Leningrad anymore. We're basically deprived of the time to build up a line that can hold up to a determined attack. Larry has reorganized things so we can try to hold onto as much land as possible south of the Oka. The loss of the two SS divisions in the south has taken some of the wind from his sails down there and we launch selected counterattacks against single divisions, routing one Wehrmacht infantry division.

[2ndACR]

How the heck did he take Sevestopol that quick? Did you strip all the units from there? It looked like he only had 1-2 infantry div down there near it.

Even the AI has 2 good infantry div in place that cause some broken teeth against an entire German Corps.

Oh, and nice move killing those to SS div. That will give any German player a bit to think about.

[Baelfiin]

Nice work whacking those ss motorized.

I dont think its possible to defend leningrad and moscow without pulling almost everything out of the south from the start.

Those two big pockets in the north are going to really hurt also.

[M60A3TTS]

ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

How the heck did he take Sevestopol that quick? Did you strip all the units from there? It looked like he only had 1-2 infantry div down there near it.

Even the AI has 2 good infantry div in place that cause some broken teeth against an entire German Corps.

Oh, and nice move killing those to SS div. That will give any German player a bit to think about.

He did it this way. Blew through the level 5 fort without engineers.

[2ndACR]

Must be nice. I have broken quite a few teeth on those level 5 forts against the AI with a full German Corp packed with engineers. So that is what good dice rolls look like. LOL

[Wuffer]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

I'm not certain that in 1.0.5 Moscow is any safer than Leningrad anymore.

A sad loss.
Yeah, the Dark Side is very mighty now, Leningrad AND Moscwa AND often Rostov is a bit too much AND this didn't end in '41...
OTOH, there is not much evidence now, that the loss of AP really hurts. Let's hope that the crush of his black toys had a morale impact on him, well done!
Blunt his spearheads... This will be a long painful affaire.
And the Luftwaffe - great strike, Larry!

We're basically deprived of the time to build up a line that can hold up to a determined attack. Larry has reorganized things so we can try to hold onto as much land as possible south of the Oka.

Let's hope you have some high(er) morale Cav/Moun/Inf left for the big counterstrike.

@ Larry, like your movie-AARs since TAOW.
great idea.

BTW, I think there are sometimes a bit to fast, you want to keep notice of mech and tanks, counting units in pockets etc. - just a little bit slooooower please ))
And later on, it's sometimes difficult to see at the first look what's before and after.

Keep on and good luck!

[Wuffer]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

How the heck did he take Sevestopol that quick? Did you strip all the units from there? It looked like he only had 1-2 infantry div down there near it.

Even the AI has 2 good infantry div in place that cause some broken teeth against an entire German Corps.

Oh, and nice move killing those to SS div. That will give any German player a bit to think about.

He did it this way. Blew through the level 5 fort without engineers.

hmmm,
looks like the real Manstein was a real noob then seventy years ago...
the game still needs a little bit of help in some aspects

Take it easy!
it's really a challange now to play the SU, it's not about Berlin, it's about survival!

[timmyab]

I think the fort rules are still a bit off.If it was up to me I'd make it that, for as long as the fort is occupied by a combat unit, it couldn't be reduced by more than one level per week and not at all below level one. (or something along those lines).This is especially true since they made it more difficult to build higher level forts.
At the moment they're often more of a liability than anything because they give you a false sense of security.