Feeding the March East - carlkay58 vs Soviet AI

[carlkay58]

T05 Cleanup:

I have 9 Admin Points left at the end of the turn so I start creating priority 1 depots on Hungarian frozen units. They won't become unfrozen until late winter so it is best that they are not using trucks for supplies. It is a simple process - trace the red lines and place a level one depot on the unit at the end of the chain. This should help my truck situation during the coming bad weather.

[carlkay58]

T05 Ground Losses:

A great turn as I reduce almost all of the existing pockets. This nets 324K Soviet prisoners and over 400K Soviet losses overall. This will definitely reduce the Soviet manpower. The Soviet losses in guns and afvs are also very high and a resounding success. The Soviets are now at 1.4M losses since the start of the war.

[carlkay58]

T05 Air Losses:

My use of Ground Support shows in the 477 aircraft lost this turn. Roughly half of those lost were due to operational losses.

[carlkay58]

T05 Victory Points:

My VP total is up to 426 with 17 of those Bonus points. Unfortunately I lost a point due to events. Pskov and Smolensk are out of bonus points and I have to worry about Dnepropetovsk and Kiev next. I am not really close to either of them yet and the large pocket by Odessa will probably require my panzer troops to keep the pocket sealed for at least another turn or two.

[carlkay58]

T05 Files:

[RedJohn]

Can you explain why having so many level 4 depots works? My understanding of it was that level 4 depots won't send freight from one another, and that having too many level 4 depots is inefficient.

Have you noticed vastly increased truck attrition with having your motorised/etc on supply 4? It seems you'll shed roughly 40000 trucks due to attrition from turns 1-18, give or take a few thousand, if using supply priority 4.

[carlkay58]

The way it works is that each depot puts a demand on the NSS to send it supplies. I have not yet started to show how some of these depots have started to fill up with supplies. If the depot fills up and there are no combat units claiming supplies from the depot, I will drop the priority to 3. This will start in turn 7 because they have not been filled yet. This gives me a large pool of supplies near the front when I will need it.

I really can't give you a scientific/math solution to the logistics. I just know what has worked for me. The logistics in this game system is an art - not a science. I put forth the rules I follow and that keeps me going as the Axis player fairly well.

[RedJohn]

I get what you're saying. Thanks for the assistance, I've always treated supply priorities for depots differently. I'll try doing something similar in my games.

[carlkay58]

T06 OOB:

The Soviets are at 3.1M - last turn's losses hurt them badly.

[carlkay58]

T06 Production:

Ammo, fuel, and vehicles are doing well in the units. 34.8K vehicles in the Repair pool is an increase of 5K. The vehicles in pool are pretty solid at 11K.

[carlkay58]

T06 Freight:

Only 3K more delivered than needed. The supply net is not able to keep up with the speed of the advance. 1st PG has definitely out run its supplies (3253 need, 2452 received).

[carlkay58]

T06 Trucks:

Soviet captured trucks are now up to 15.3K. These will be important in the future when trucks are scarce. Note that none of the Black Sea cargo ships are being used while the Baltic Sea ships are all used. This will change when Odessa and other Black Sea ports begin to fall to the Axis.

[carlkay58]

T06 Air Phase:

Pretty much the same as last turn. The Naval Patrol is continued as are the Ground Support Directives. Recon directives are adjusted for new areas looking to define the Soviet front line and reserves. 47 aircraft are lost - only one with the Naval Patrol.

[carlkay58]

T06 Supply Net North:

This is almost a pretty map - until you realize how far those trucks are traveling to support the spearhead of the 2nd and 3rd PGs. The real take from this is that the Axis supply net is moving to the east and is fairly strong.

[carlkay58]

T06 Supply Net South:

Note the lower number of truck lines in Hungary. The new depots are relieving the truck use there. The 1st PG is lacking in supply delivery because of the length of those truck lines. As the Odessa pocket is firmed up and destroyed it will help lower the distance of those supply lines.

[carlkay58]

T06 Supply Details:

Berlin ships out 101.6K, Prague shipped 37K, and Vienna shipped 87.7K for a total of 226.3K a large increase over last turn.

Warsaw is still at level 3 (I must of forgotten to change it last turn) and received 0.9K as it is only getting enough to supply the surrounding units. I change it to priority 4 this turn. Lvov gets 6K and has 9.4K stored now. Minsk gets 3.9K but is unable to store anything yet as it is still supplying front line troops. Daugavpils is in the same situation as it receives 5.8K but has none left to store. Riga (only a level 3 depot as it is a port) got 5.3K and has stored 137 total.

[carlkay58]

T06 AGN:

One pocket eliminated and another formed. Still trying to capture Pskov but a breakthrough to the north allowed some exploitation despite the bad terrain. The 4th PG FBD is finishing up connecting the double rail to the AGC rail net.

[carlkay58]

T06 AGC:

Smolensk falls and the 2nd and 3rd PGs continue to drive east creating a few small pockets. The rail net is improving with help from the AGN FBD.

[carlkay58]

T06 AGS:

Odessa is now isolated. The pocket to the north of the city has hopefully been secured. This is the area where the next great Soviet losses will come from.

[carlkay58]

T06 Ground Losses:

Not the best turn in regards to Soviet losses but enough to lower Soviet manpower to under 3M at the end of the turn. The future elimination of the AGS pocket and Odessa will help in the future.